Testing the Spirits by Smith Wigglesworth

Testing the Spirits

God has never changed His mind concerning His promises. They are “Yes” and “Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20) to those who believe. God is the same yesterday and forever (Heb. 13:8). To doubt Him is sin. All unbelief is sin. So we have to believe He can heal, save, fill with the Holy Spirit, and transform us altogether.

Are you ready? What for? To be so chastened by the Lord, so corrected by Him that, as you pass through the fire, as you pass through all temptations, you may come out as Jesus came out of the wilderness, filled with the Spirit.

Are you ready? What for? To be so brought in touch with the Father’s will that you may know that whatever you ask, believing, you will receive (Matt. 21:22). This is the promise; this is the reality God brings to us.

Are you ready? What for? To no longer know yourself according to the flesh, to no longer yield to the flesh, but to be quickened by the Spirit, living in the Spirit without condemnation, your testimony bright, cheerful, and full of life. This is the inheritance for you today.

Do Not Believe Every Spirit

The message the Lord wants me to speak to you about is in the fourth chapter of 1 John. I would like the day to come in which we would never come to a meeting without having the Word of God with us. The great need today is to have more of the Word. There is no foundation apart from the Word. The Word not only gives you a foundation, but it also puts you in a place where you can stand and, after the battle, keep on standing. Nothing else will do it. When the Word is in your heart, it will preserve you from desiring sin. The Word is the living presence of that divine power that overcomes the world. You need the Word of God in your hearts so that you might be able to overcome the world.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1 John 4:1–3)

If this passage were honeycombed right through our own circumstances, there would be no room for fear. We are dealing with a subject concerning satanic power so that we may be able to discern evil spirits.

We can so live in this divine communion with Christ that we can sense evil in any part of the world. In this present world, powers of evil are rampant. The man who lives in God is afraid of nothing. The plan of God is that we might be so in Him that we will be equal to any occasion. “Beloved” (1 John 4:1). That is a good word. It means that we are now in a place where God has set His love upon us. He wants us to listen to what He has to say to us because when His beloved are hearing His voice, then they understand what He has for them.

The passage continues: You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:4–19)

This is an inexhaustible subject. We should get a great deal out of this message that will serve us for an evil day and the day of temptation.

God is dealing with us as sons; He calls us “beloved.” We are in the truth, but we want to know the truth in a way that will keep us free. (See John 8:32.) I want to help the people who have been so troubled with voices and with things that have happened that they have felt they had no control over them. And I want to help those people who are bound in many ways and have been trying in every way to get free. I believe the Lord wants me very definitely to deal with things that will be of an important nature to you as long as you live.

The fourth chapter of 1 John tells us specifically how to deal with evil powers, with evil voices. It tells us how we may be able to dethrone them and be in a place where we are over them. It shows us how we may live in the world not subject to fear, not subject to bondage, not subject to pain, but in a place where we are defeating evil powers, ruling over them, reigning in the world by this life of Christ. In this way, we will be from above, and we will know it. We will not be subject to the world, but we will reign over the world so that disease, sin, and death will not have dominion.

A keynote that runs through the entire Scriptures is that Jesus has vanquished and overcome all of the powers of the Devil and has destroyed his power, even the power of death. Whether we are going to believe it or not, this is for us. God sends out the challenge, and He says, “If you believe it, it will be so.”

What will hinder us? Our human nature will. This has a lot to do with hindering God: when the human will is not wholly surrendered, when there is some mixture, part spirit and part flesh, when there is a division in your own heart.

In a house where there are two children, one may desire to obey his father and mother, and he is loved and is very well treated. The other is loved just the same, but the difficulty is this: the wayward boy who wants his own way does many things to grieve his parents, and he gets the whip. They are both children in the house; one is getting the whip, the other is getting the blessing without the whip.

There are any number of God’s children who are getting the whip who know better than they are doing. So I want you to wake up to do what you know ought to be done, because there is a whipping for those who won’t obey. Sin is never covered by your appearance, your presence, your prayers, or your tears. Sin can only be removed by repentance. When you repent deeply enough, you will find that the thing goes away forever. Never cover up sin. Sins must be judged. Sins must be brought to the blood of Christ. When you have a perfect confidence between you and God, it is amazing how your prayers rise. You catch fire, you are filled with zeal, your inspiration is tremendous, you find out that the Spirit prays through you, and you live in a place of blessing.

Dealing with Evil Powers

There are many people living today who are called Spiritualists. I call them “Devilists.” I never give any quarter to them. If I see a spiritualism meeting advertised, I say, “There is a Devilpossessed meeting.” I never encounter a Christian Scientist without knowing he is also working the powers of darkness and that he is on the Devil’s side. I never meet a Jehovah’s Witness without knowing that he has changed the Word of God, and I know that God has removed him from the blessing.

On the housetop things will be declared. God will bring everything to light that has been in darkness. There is not one thing but what will have to be judged, and in the present time the believer in Christ is in the position of judging the Devil. The Prince of this World is judged, and God is fulfilling His divine power when He is bringing us into perfect order through the Spirit, so that we voice the power of the Word of God, so that we deal with satanic influences, satanic power. In this world we are to overcome until we deal with every demon power, so that Christ comes at the top and reigns over us, because He has given us power and authority over all the power of the Devil.

So God, by the power of the Spirit, has given us a revelation of our position in Christ. Whatever happens in the world, we must see that every demon power must be dislodged, cast into the pit forever. We must recognize that God’s Son is placed in power over the power of the Enemy; we must understand that anybody who deals falsely with the Word of God nullifies the position of authority that Christ has given him over Satan. What did Christ say? In a very definite way, He said: If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire; where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:43–48)

It is better to go into the presence of God with half your faculties than to go into hell with all your faculties. Jesus knew that hell was a reality, and He gave no quarter to it. And when He was dealing with demons, they were referred to as “unclean spirit[s],” (Mark 9:25 kjv), meaning that there is no clean demon power. All demon powers are unclean.

God wants a clean people. He is cleansing us from all the filthiness of the flesh so that when the Devil comes, he will find nothing in us. (See John 14:30.)

Judge Yourself by God’s Word

There are two ways of being in the place where God wants you to be. One is to see that you obey. The next is to examine yourself to see that “you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5). If you do not judge yourself, you will be judged (1 Cor. 11:31). But if you judge yourself by the Word of God, you will not be condemned with the present evil world (v. 32).

Spiritualists Removed

One day we were having a meeting after the Holy Spirit came upon us, and the word got around that we had received the baptism of the Spirit, as we called it, and were speaking in tongues. Many people said we had received satanic power and were speaking in tongues through the power of the Devil. So the whole city was awakened. At this meeting there were two rows of Spiritualists—these demon-possessed people. The power

of the Spirit was upon me, and I began speaking in tongues, and these demon powers began muttering, shaking, rolling, and all kinds of things.

I went off the platform, stood at the end of the two rows, and said, “Come out, you demons, in the name of Jesus!” The two rows of people filed out of their seats and went down the aisle and outside. When they got outside, they cursed and blasphemed and said all kinds of evil things. But thank God they were outside!

Mediums Hindered

One day I met a friend of mine in the street, and I said, “Fred, where are you going?”

“I am going—. Oh, I don’t feel I ought to tell you,” he said. “It is a secret between me and the Lord.”

“Now, we have prayed together, we have had nights of communication, we have been living together in the Spirit,” I said. “Surely there is no secret that could be hidden between you and me.”

“I will tell you,” he said. “I am going to a spiritualism meeting.”

“Don’t you think it is dangerous? I don’t think it is wise for believers to go to these places,” I said.

“I am led to go to test it according to Scripture,” he replied. “They are having some special mediums from London.”

He meant that they were having some people from London who were more filled with the Devil than the Spiritualists we had in our city of Bradford. They were special devils.

“I am going,” he continued, “and I am going with the clear knowledge that I am under the blood of Jesus.”

“Tell me the results, will you?”

“Yes, I will.”

Now, beloved, I advise none of you to go to these places. My friend went and sat down in the midst of the séance meeting, and the medium began to take control. The lights went low; everything was in a dismal state. My friend did not speak, but just kept himself under the blood, whispering the preciousness of the blood of Jesus. These more possessed devils were on the platform. They tried every possible thing they could to get under control for more than an hour, and then the lights went up. The leader said, “We can do nothing tonight; there is somebody here who believes in the blood of Christ.” Hallelujah! Do you all believe in the blood, beloved?

See that you keep your heart in a place where the blood is covering you, where the wicked one does not touch you, for has He not given “charge over you to keep you in all your ways”? He will send His angels, and “they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” It is the Lord your God who overshadows; it is the Lord your God who protects, for He “will not slumber or sleep,” but He keeps you in the perfect place, like “the apple of His eye,” in perfection.

Greater Is He Who Is in You

“Test the spirits, whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). Be ready to challenge the Devil. Don’t be afraid. You will be delivered from fear if you believe. You can have “ears to hear” (Matt. 11:15) or ears that do not hear. Ears that hear are the ears of faith, and your ears will be so open to what is spiritual that they will lay hold of it.

When the Word of God becomes the life and nature of you, you will find that the minute you open it, it becomes life to you; you will find that you have to be joined up with the Word. You are to be the epistles of Christ (2 Cor. 3:3). This means that Christ is the Word, and He will be known in us by our fruits. (See Matthew 7:16–20.) He is the life and the nature of you. It is a new nature: a new life, a new breath, a new spiritual atmosphere. There is no limitation in this standard, but in everything else you are limited. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). When the Word of Life is lived out in you because it is your life, then it is enacted, and it brings forth what God has desired. When we quote something from the Scriptures, we must be careful that we are living according to it. The Word of God has to abide in you, for the Word is life and it brings forth life, and this is the life that makes you “free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

How to Test the Spirits

There are evil thoughts, and there are thoughts of evil. Evil thoughts are suggestive of the Evil One. We must be able to understand what the evil is and how to deal with it. The Word of God makes us strong. All evil powers are weak. There is nothing strong in the Devil; the weakest believer dethrones the Enemy when he mentions Jesus. “Young men, you are strong because you know the Word.” (See 1 John 2:14.)

There are evil thoughts and thoughts of evil. Where do thoughts of evil come from? They come from the unclean believer, the man who is not entirely sanctified. Remember that the Devil does not know your thoughts; that is where the Devil is held. But God knows your thoughts; God knows all things. Satan can only suggest evil thoughts to try to arouse your carnal nature. Yet if you are disturbed, if you are weak, if you are troubled or depressed, then you are in a wonderful place. If you never tell anybody about your evil thoughts, and you are not disturbed about them, the carnal powers have never been destroyed in you. But if you tell anybody, then it is proof that you are clean; it is because you are clean that you weep. If you are not disturbed, if you have no conviction, it is because of your uncleansed heart; you have let sin come in.

Overcoming Evil Powers

How can the believer believe so that he will not be tormented? The question is: How can we be master of the situation? We must know this Scripture: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2). Did Jesus come in the flesh? Mary produced a Son in the likeness of God. In a similar way, the eternal seed that came into us when we believed produces a life, a person, which is “Christ in [us]” (Col. 1:27) and which rises up in us until the reflection of the Son of God is in everything we do. Mary produced a Son for redemption. God’s seed in us produces a son of perfect redemption, until we live in Him and move by Him, and our whole nature becomes a perfect Son of God in us (Acts 17:28). In the name of Jesus, cast self out, and you will be instantly free.

The Holy Spirit has all power and all language. If you won’t tell anybody when these suggestive evil powers come, it is proof that you are not sanctified. A Spiritualist will never say that Jesus came in the flesh. The Lord wants us to understand that spiritualistic evidences, and the like, are of the Devil.

A Place of Discernment

We must be in a place where we can discern evil things and evil spirits. There is a place where we can bind these evil powers and, loosing the people, set them free. Read the ninth chapter of Mark. There is an exchange of life, of power, until it is absolutely as the Word says: “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). God can change you until you will not be afraid of anything.

Life comes after you have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Get down and pray for power. You ask, “What is the problem when I come away from prayer and nothing changes?” There are two reasons for this. First, when you go into your place, lock the door. Should you pray silently? No—pray loudly. The Devil has never disturbed anybody who prayed aloud. There the Holy Spirit’s power is a proof.

Next, if you will, you can rebuke, you can cast out, satanic powers. Rebuke Satan. Never cast a demon out twice, or he will run about and laugh at you. He will know you did not believe it the first time. “Ask, and you will receive” (John 16:24). The moment you ask, believe you will receive, and you will have it.

Now I am going to pray, “Father, in the name of Jesus, increase my compassion.” Thank You, Lord, I have it. I know I have it.