Testing the spirits & Led by the Spirit
Linda Evans
Miracles -- Prophecy -- Casting out demons -- yet Jesus saying: 'I never knew you' Away from Me, you evildoers! (Matt 7:23) How is this possible?
Paul teaches us that the gifts and call of God are irrevocable. (Rom 11:29) Spiritual gifts remain with the man/woman of God, even when the man/woman falls away into rebellion. A gifted - called man/woman of God could continue to flow in the gifts of God, even though they removed themselves out from under the Lordship of God -- Hence the "I never "knew" you" statement by Jesus. This word "ginosko" (know) implies an 'intimacy' in the knowing -- as a man/woman know one another intimately -- like you know your beloveds, we are "to know" and "be known" of God. (see below)
John teaches a spiritual truth concerning this 'not knowing' state of being -- this broken-ginosko relationship state of being... speaking of the last hour: "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us; For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us, but their going showed that none of them belonged to us" (1 John 2:19).
The personal (ginosko) relationship can be broken, and yet the "irrevocable" giftings continue to flow -- and the gifted-one will still be able to cast out demons, work miracles, prophecy (whatever the gift enables) and they are wondrous works!! -- but they are now being accomplished by those who refused to submit themselves to the Lord, in His desired intimate-knowingness ...thus Jesus calls them "evilworkers". Paul described this truth to the Church at Philippi when he told them even though Christ was being preached by some with wrong motives, that they were still to rejoice, for Christ was being preached! (Phil 1:18) Paul obviously believed that God synergizes all things together for Good, to those who Love Him, and are called according to His Purposes (Rom 8:28) -- so even the workings of these miracles -- the prophesying -- the casting out of demons -- were "Good" and were allowed -- for the sake of the one receiving the miracle! (This would be another instance of God using the 'left' hand to accomplish His Good Works!)
How do we test or try the spirits?
How do we (dokimazo) "test, examine, prove, scrutinize, recognize as genuine after examination, approve or deem worthy" the spirits according to Scripture? (1 John 4)
"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:"
First criteria: Know ye the Spirit of God...."Ginosko ye" the Spirit of God
ginosko {ghin-oce'-ko}
1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
1a) to become known
2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
2a) to understand
2b) to know
3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
4) to become acquainted with, to know
Ginosko ye the Spirit of God -- learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of Him, perceive, feel, understand intimately (as a man and a woman know intimately each other); Learn to know Him, by scrutizing the message that the Spirit teaches...
"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:"
Second Criteria: Confesseth....
homologeo {hom-ol-og-eh'-o}
1) to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with, assent
2) to concede
2a) not to refuse, to promise
2b) not to deny
2b1) to confess
2b2) declare
2b3) to confess, i.e. to admit or declare one's self guilty of what one is accused of
3) to profess
3a) to declare openly, speak out freely
3b) to profess one's self the worshipper of one
4) to praise, celebrate
Every spirit that Homologeo that Jesus Christ Is Come in the flesh is of God.
Doc taught us this Homologeo word in a Romans teaching (Rom 10:10) -- He used it in the context of "Same-Word" (For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.) An "in accord" state of being where both the mouth and the heart are saying the same word.
One gifted in "discernment of spirits" recognizes when someone is speaking all the right words -- quoting scripture fluently, yet from their heart/spirit there is also coming forth a blackness -- a heaviness, an oppression; the spirit discerns this lack of homologeo -- for the heart and the mouth are not saying the same word.
Paul teaches in 1 Cor 12:3 "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
Demons can "say" Jesus is the Lord but they cannot say it from the heart/spirit. The mouth they use to say the word, will say the words, but there will not be the "homologeo" state of being.. Paul, when he was speaking to the Romans, told them that he served God in the "spirit of me" (Rom 1:9). It is from the "spirit of us" that the truth is known.. when we or any spirit can say, "Jesus is Lord" and this truth is being expressed in the homologeo -- same word -- state where both mouth and heart are saying the same word, then we are speaking Holy Spiritual Truth -- "no man can say Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit", for we, "in union with Christ, have become one spirit with Him" Demons can 'say' Jesus is the Lord, but "in the spirit of them" they will not be speaking that homologeo word.
"Every spirit that Homologeo that Jesus Christ Is Come in the flesh is of God."
The Holy Spirit will confess "that Jesus Christ IS COME in the flesh." He is not confessing that Jesus Christ "has come" in the past, but He is confessing that Jesus Christ is come... now in the present moment -- and in the middle voice -- for His Sake and not our own!!
erchomai {er'-khom-ahee}
middle voice of a primary verb (used only in the present and imperfect tenses
1) to come
1a) of persons
1a1) to come from one place to another, and used both of persons arriving and of those returning
1a2) to appear, make one's appearance, come before the public
2) metaph.
2a) to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find
place or influence
2b) be established, become known, to come (fall) into or unto
3) to go, to follow one
The True Spirit will teach: Jesus Christ IS COME in our flesh. He will teach us this Kingdom reality -- He will awaken an understanding in our spirit-consciousness that Jesus Christ IS COME -- and IS living in us.. (((Christ in us))) the Hope of Glory -- This is the message the true Spirit will homologeo to our spirit! And this is how we are to prove and test the true Spirit from the false!
"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. "
"Kai pas pneuma hos homologeo me Iesous Christos erchomai en sarx esti ou ek theos kai touto esti antichristos hos akouo hoti erchomai kai nun ede esti en kosmos"
Any spirit which will not confess that Jesus Christ IS COME in the flesh is not of God...but is the spirit of the antichristos!
The antichrist spirit will deny this truth!! The natural man, who cannot receive the things of the Spirit, will join the antichrist spirit in this denial, and is joining and denying it -- even now! The natural man will claim that it is not "safe" to believe any Spirit that teaches that Jesus Christ "is come" in the flesh -- That Jesus is come to be manifested in the flesh, for he will confuse this message with the serpent's lure: to be "like God" -- and for fear of presumption, he will walk in unbelief, entangled in the twisted serpent's lie. Fearing to presume too much, he will deny the Holy Spirit, and embrace the antichrist spirit instead.
Yet the Christian Message is (and has always been) that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh -- again and again, over and over again, He is come in the flesh! Present Tense -- Middle Voice! Any spirit which denies this, is the antichrist spirit according to John.
We, as Christians, do not claim to be "like God" but we do claim that God, in Christ has come to inhabit His People.. He is come in the flesh.. and the Kingdom of God is here, as we walk in accordance with His Spirit -- keeping in step with His Spirit, He is Himself in and through us, and the Father is pleased to reveal His Son, Jesus Christ in us... in flesh. Anything less than this, is a doctrine of demons that has been accepted in the Church, as being the gospel, when it is not.
May this cause us to truly seek the Lord for His Truth and His Wisdom and His Teaching!
In Love,
your sister, Linda
References: 1 Cor 12:3; Matt 7:23; 1 John 4:1; Rom 11:29; Phil 1:18; Rom 8:28; Rom 1:9; Rom 10:10
"Grace flows deepest in the Bottomlands, where the myrtle trees grow and where
the Lord, our God, will make His Habitation -- with those who Love Him and are
His servants." [promised to Beguine by the Holy Spirit]
Led by the Spirit
3-18-01
levans@netw.com
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become (ginomai) the sons (teknon) of God, [even] to them that believe on His Name: (Jn 1:12)
ginomai {ghin'-om-ahee}
a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb;
1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being
2) to become, i.e. to come to pass, happen
2a) of events
3) to arise, appear in history, come upon the stage
3a) of men appearing in public
4) to be made, finished
4a) of miracles, to be performed, wrought
5) to become, be made
Mat 5:45 That ye may be (genomai) the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be (genomai) as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the Master of the house 'Beelzebub', how much more [shall they call] them of His Household?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
teknon {tek'-non}
from the base of 5098; TDNT - 5:636,759; n n
1) offspring, children
1a) child; a male child, a son
1b) metaph.
1b1) the name transferred to that intimate and reciprocal relationship formed between men by the bonds of Love, Friendship, Trust, just as between parents and children
1b2) in affectionate address, such as patrons, helpers, teachers and the like employ: my "child"
1b3) in the NT, pupils or disciples are called children of their teachers, because the latter by their instruction nourish the minds of their pupils and mould their characters
1b4) children of God: in the OT of "the people of Israel" as especially dear to God, in the NT, in Paul's writings, all who are led by the Spirit of God and thus closely related to God
1b5) children of the devil: those who in thought and action are prompted by the devil, and so reflect his character
1c) metaph.
1c1) of anything who depends upon it, is possessed by a desire or affection for it, is addicted to it
1c2) one who is liable to any fate
1c2a) thus children of a city: it citizens and inhabitants
1c3) the votaries of wisdom, those souls who have, as it were, been nurtured and moulded by wisdom
1c4) cursed children, exposed to a curse and doomed to God's wrath or penalty
Jhn 11:52 And not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children (teknon) of God that were scattered abroad.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children (teknon) of God
Rom 8:17 And if children (teknon), then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [Him], that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children (teknon) of God.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children (teknon) of the flesh, these [are] not the children (teknon) of God: but the children (teknon) of the promise are counted for the seed.
Phl 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons (teknon) of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
1Jo 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (Teknon) of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
1Jo 3:10 In this the children (teknon) of God are manifest, and the children (teknon) of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jo 5:2 By this we know that we love the children (teknon) of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments.
huios {hwee-os'}
apparently a primary word; TDNT - 8:334,1206; n m
1) a son
1a) rarely used for the young of animals
1b) generally used of the offspring of men
1c) in a restricted sense, the male offspring (one born by a father and of a mother)
1d) in a wider sense, a descendant, one of the posterity of any one,
1d1) the children of Israel
1d2) sons of Abraham
1e)) used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower
1e1) a pupil
2) son of man
2a) term describing man, carrying the connotation of weakness and mortality
2b) son of man, symbolically denotes the fifth kingdom in Daniel 7:13 and by this term its humanity is indicated in contrast with the barbarity and ferocity of the four preceding kingdoms (the Babylonian, the Median and the Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman) typified by the four beasts. In the book of Enoch (2nd Century) it is used of Christ.
2c) used by Christ Himself, doubtless in order that He might intimate His Messiahship and also that He might designate Himself as the head of the human family, the man, the one who both furnished the pattern of the perfect man and acted on behalf of all mankind. Christ seems to have preferred this to the other Messianic titles, because by its lowliness it was least suited to foster the expectation of an earthly Messiah in royal splendour.
3) son of God
3a) used to describe Adam (Lk. 3:38)
3b) used to describe those who are born again (Lk. 20:36) and of angels and of Jesus Christ
3c) of those whom God esteems as sons, whom he loves, protects and benefits above others
3c1) in the OT used of the Jews
3c2) in the NT of Christians
3c3) those whose character God, as a loving Father, shapes by
chastisements (Heb. 12:5-8)
3d) those who revere God as their Father, the pious worshippers of God, those who in character and life resemble God, those who are governed by the Spirit of God, repose the same calm and joyful trust in God which children do in their parents (Rom.8:14, Gal. 3:26 ), and hereafter in the blessedness and glory of the life eternal will openly wear this dignity of the sons of God. Term used preeminently of Jesus Christ, as enjoying the Supreme Love of God, united to Him in affectionate intimacy, privy to His saving councils, obedient to the Father's Will in all His acts
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
(huios) of God.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons (huios) of God
Rom 8:29 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate [to be] conformed
to the image of His Son (huios), that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren.
Rom 9:26 And it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto
them, Ye [are] not my people; there shall they be called the children
(huios) of the living God.
For as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are the "Sons of God"
Led by the Spirit.......
Paul speaks of the early church being led in a open, direct manner by the Holy Spirit. The church was "led by the Spirit" manifesting the reality of their relationship to the Father as His sons. Why do we who believe we are living "The Faith" that was delivered to the apostles, not live in this state of daily-direction by the Spirit of God. Has He quit speaking? No... He speaks to us constantly, and yet we are so busy with "our" lives, we aren't really listening all the time... and so we miss what He has to say. Would you describe your life as being "led by the Spirit of God"?
As we look at Jesus' manifestation of a "Son of God's life" -- an expression of what it is that our Father is transforming us into (conformed to the Image of the Huios of God) -- we see Jesus had no such 'separation' between the Father and Himself. He lived, He said, only to do the Father's Will... and He said, we too are Technon of God; as we allow the Holy Spirit to remove from our lives everything that is not conducive to this life of Union with God -- We too have the opportunity to Live only to do the Father's Will.
Jesus shared with us, that when we do.. when we truly live in this relationship with the Father, that that obedience sets us apart as His family -- He said those who do the will of His Father ARE His mother, His brothers, sisters... that willing/desired obedience to God -- faith being worked out in Love, re-establishes us as "His Family", for this IS the Kingdom relationship we were intended to live. Not independent of God -- not in the separation that is "normal" -- manifested all around us -- but instead we have chosen to willingly come back into this spiritual-rightness with the Father.
He is the "Father" of our spirits, the Scripture says .. and our spirits, through union with Christ, are made one with His Spirit. (Paul said that to the Corinthians).. and as long as we live on this earth, what greater JOY is there in Life than being an instrument of the manifestation of the Father's Will on earth??? Since we have tasted the Lord and found Him to be GOOD, we want only to share that Goodness with all that we meet... and our hearts are enraptured with the LOVE that Father sheds abroad in us through His Spirit in us. His Love doesn't condone sin, or sickness, or darkness of any sort -- for His Love is LIFE.. it is the Glory of God -- but His LOVE enables us to look through the sin-sickness and see the broken hearts of the hurting ones.. and to speak His Words of Life and Spirit into their hearts... giving hope and forgiveness and cleansing, only as we are extensions (branches) of His Vine, His Life.
Sons/daughters of God, living on earth, only for the Father's Will to be manifested in and through us -- so simple isn't it -- and yet, we have to come through enough "death" to self -- mortification of our own carnal, selfish, self-centered lives -- before we can hear clearly enough to walk in this daily obedience to His Spirit -- as He speaks to our hearts the Word (Rhema word -- outpouring, flowing utterance) of God, to our spirits -- going where the Father sends us, saying what the Father is saying -- doing what the Father is doing. Living the life that Israel typified: "God-governed" people; Kingdom people -- who have come through the wilderness of training and knowing of ourselves, our wicked and rebellious selves, yet now transformed -- having wrestled with the angel of God, laying hold by faith, of our Inheritance in Him... Laying hold of what was once ours, and now through Christ, which has been restored.
May we live only to do the Father's Will!
your sister in His Love,
Linda Evans
