MENTORING LETTER #30

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How To Try The Spirits Part Two

KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS

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I do not believe in the doctrine of eternal security. As long as a child of God desires to be saved, he or she can certainly remain so. For as long as we abide in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our salvation is eternally secure. Nevertheless, Satan has assigned a religious demon to each and every one of the elect of God, with two primary assignments: Either to cause us to lose our salvation or to destroy our flesh. Consider the fornicator in Corinth. Paul warned that unless this man repented of his sin, he would be turned over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that the man would not LOSE his salvation. This warning suggests to me that sins of the flesh can cause the saved to become unsaved. Rather than see that happen, God apparently has an agreement with the devil that un-

repented sinners are in his hands and quite frankly, that Satan can kill them as a means to protect their eternal life. So where it comes to trying the spirits in your own life, it is important that you know that Satan is after either your salvation or permission from God to kill you. Certainly the devil would prefer that you lose your salvation but I suspect that he will settle with the opportunity to kill you before your appointed time. This is the reality. In order not to depart from the faith by giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of religious devils, it behooves us to know the enemy. All else is wishful thinking and downright foolishness. Without a doubt, we have an Advocate with the Father who serves as both Intercessor and as Mediator. As our heavenly lawyer, He stacks our case with grace and mercy. Yet Jesus needs us to provide Him with a victorious defense. Therefore, learning about the tricks, schemes, wiles and overall agenda of the enemy cannot be done if we concentrate on God alone. This was the lesson of Job. He was afraid of evil and consequently he wrongfully assumed that ignoring Satan by focusing solely on God would keep him safe. Most assuredly, the enemy cannot stop God from saving us. However, once we have been born again, the enemy has the right to attempt to sift us like wheat and thereby hinder our spiritual growth and render our works as wood, hay and stubble. If or when we enter the kingdom, it is as by the fires of a very narrow escape. So it is crucial to always keep at the forefront of your mind the knowledge that you are in an invisible war. You are either an overcomer or a captive. There is no middle ground. You are either a victor or a prisoner of war. The manner in which you try the spirits is the essential factor in your plan to first of all, "stay saved" and secondly to "not be turned over to Satan for the destruction of YOUR flesh." Jesus Christ of Nazareth must remain the Vine. We are the branches. If we abide in Him, we bring forth much fruit. If we don't, then we are cast forth as a withered branch and we "are burned." (John 15 1-12.) It follows then, that a primary way of trying the spirits among the people in your Christian world is to do as Jesus said. "You know them by their fruits." The first fruit to look at is the fruit of love. The Apostle Paul wrote that we know each other in the Lord by how much a professing believer loves the brethren. Love is most demonstrated by truth and not by meaningless platitudes or words of

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comfort by people pleasing people. Jesus defined love as our faithfulness to keep His commandments. When we do, then we abide in His love. And his first commandment is to love the brethren. In order to love the brethren, trying the spirits is a means of recognizing a child of God when you see one. This is a particularly challenging command in the church age of Laodicea--- an age of rampant spiritual deception where the wheat and the tares are not only growing together in the world but also in the organized church and in various ministries. Counterfeit spiritual births have really muddied the waters where spiritual discernment of the truly saved is concerned. There is an effective way to try the spirits to determine if a person is NOT saved. Simply ask them in casual conversation to share with you how they became born again. If there is no emphasis or even mention of sin, godly sorrow, repentance, the cleansing power of the cross, forgiveness, then the person simply had an ecstatic, mystical experience that did not emanate from the Holy Ghost's ministry of conviction of sin. Do not be fooled if you are told about a miracle that took place if the evidence of repentance is not in the testimony of conversion. Recently I heard the testimony of someone who was instantly healed of a substance abuse addiction, with not even a desire for drugs in years, yet addiction is manifested in other areas of her life, ie. to food, gambling, and other obsessive/compulsive behaviors. In a few days, the lack of love for the brethren was clearly apparent. Besides a Spirit-led repentance, there are other obvious ones who when you ask them to define what they mean when they say "Jesus was raised from the dead," you will discover that they do not really understand the Lord's bodily resurrection. Simply put, you can be assured that salvation did not occur for them. As Paul warned the Corinthians, anyone who does not comprehend this fundamental Christian truth, "their faith is vain and they are STILL in their sins." (I Cor 15:17) What I have discovered lately is that there are those among the brethren whose testimony seems to be completely in line with the scriptures concerning repentance and resurrection, yet they too are not saved. These imposters are extremely dangerous because like Judas Iscariot, they are completely delusional. Once discerned, they should be treated kindly yet held at a spiritual distance as with a long handled spoon and of course, prayed for if you are so led. Those experienced at trying the spirits can discern them

because the Lord will open your eyes "to really SEE them" for what they are. In such instances, you must be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove. Like my Grammie used to say, "When your hand is in the lion's mouth, EASE IT OUT!" The way to discern spiritual counterfeits is rather simple for the Lord said "you will know them by their fruits." The fruit most obvious as it relates to discerning the saved is that born again people will always have a special love for other Christians, even when we may disagree on spiritual subjects that do not hinder anyone's salvation. For example, I recently met some professing Christians who have an irrational rage against "the book of Enoch." When I refuse to discredit the book but simply said something like, "Well I don't know whether or not it is inspired by God as is the bible. I do not see where it contradicts the bible but if you do, then I will take a deeper look at it." People who called themselves "of the brethren" completely dismissed me, became judgmental and even disrespectful. In fact, they turned from me like I had blasphemed the Lord. I was told that if I refused to disavow the book of Enoch, this was proof to them that I was endorsing it. Yet, I listened to a recent interview where these same people asked someone more renown in their eyes than me "what do you think about the book of Enoch?" The response was the exact same answer as I had given them a few weeks before. The man interviewed replied, "I don't consider the book of Enoch as a part of the biblical canon but it makes for interesting reading." Yet, this man remained respected, in continued good fellowship and honored, while I was dishonored and held in ill repute on the exact same subject. After hearing the radio interview, I approached my accuser and asked him, "are you a respector of persons?" He was defensive, even hostile, lied and said "you support the book of Enoch" and refused to apologize. This man is easy to discern. He cannot show love and respect for me, his elder in the Lord, a person who has done him no harm. There is no love in this man for me, even though I am one of the brethren. I have discerned his spirit, according to the scriptures. He is NOT one of the elect of God and it was a blessing that I found this out quickly. So if you really want to try the spirits, get brave enough to go to those who claim to be in Christ and tell them of your offense. If their reaction is belligerent, argumentative, with

no care or concern that they have hurt your feelings, and you are assured that YOU are one of the elect of God, then there is your answer. That person is NOT saved regardless of how many bible scriptures they can quote. They are in disobedience to the word of God where loving the brethren is concerned. I see this kind of thing operative on facebook ALL of the time among people who claim to be "among the brethren." Each so-called Christian puts out a post, in competition to others. If you are not a part of their clique, then they will not comment on anything that you post, unless they can criticize. For example, I posted an article on Eddie Long's sexual abuse scandal and I got a bunch of "that's in poor taste, Pamela". Then everybody got quiet when one of their own posted the same article. They read everything I post, yet they refuse to comment or even press the "like" button. These are people who really have no love for ALL the brethren. They are respectors of persons.

Rejection of the brethren is a major strategy of the devil, particularly when another alleged "child of God" is the messenger. I spent 25 years of my spiritual life around counterfeit believers who had no love in them. Yet, because they were so religious, it never really crossed my mind that they were not saved. Remember that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against devils and demons. Therefore, devils and demons are forced to use people as their messengers. Consequently, the enemy's natural and spiritual emissaries are usually false brethren. I have found that once my spiritual discernment has been exercised sufficiently to recognize good from evil, a counterfeit emissary cannot remain around me for very long. There are times when I am contacted by email by people who have either visited my website or read one of my books or articles who sense that we are on the same spiritual track. Yet as soon as a difference comes to the surface, they behave in unfriendly, unseemly and even disturbing ways. No one should have to agree with you on EVERYTHING for them to continue loving you. Christian love is manifested as tolerance and acceptance. Whether you left their home church or not, if they are true Christians, they ought to accept the fact that you love Christ and you are in obedience to Him, even though your path may be different from theirs. So a lack of tolerance, flexibility and acceptance is a sign of a religious demon and or a counterfeit birth. True

brethren may not approve of your doctrine or even your lifestyle but to them, acceptance and understanding is essential to Christian love. Rejection based upon doctrinal differences is of the devil. So keep this in mind. Since the religious demon assigned to you has an agenda centered on causing YOU to lose your salvation, he will use human vessels to bring you to a point of discouragement by any means necessary. Whatever causes you to feel hopeless and without God in the world, is not the same factors that can be effective against someone else. So this demon will use different strategies but the goal is the same. He will do whatever he is permitted to do by God in an effort to seduce you to hate God. Like Job's wife, the enemy will find someone in your life to say by their actions and their message, "Curse God and DIE!" So in order to defeat you and to set up his purposes to derail you, the religious demon has to counterfeit God Himself, both His presence and His workings. The pretense is cleverly planned with all of your weaknesses in mind. The goal is to obtain YOUR cooperation as the demon must obtain the consent of your will. To cause you the disappointment that he is seeking, the religious demon must first build up your confidence as a means to tear it down at the crucial and set time. He will use counterfeit believers, even family and friends to set you up for rejection. His intent is to penetrate your spirit with feelings of acute darkness, confusion, strife, chaos and anxiety in the mind, often felt like a knifelike pain in your chest. Here is an example of how a setup is implemented. You have what appear to be "divine dreams" about your calling or your ministry. Then you learn of people like TD Jakes or Juanita Bynum and if you are a person of color, you then say to yourself "Wow. What is possible for them is also possible for me." You look at their ministries as your "confirmation" and you become a mega-wannabee. Then some opportunities begin to open up for you but they all turn out to be closed doors. Now you begin to get impatient. Then jealous of the megas. Then downright bitter. Then you are sent some supporters who are about to put your name up in Christian lights. Once again, the people you were depending on shut the door in your face. Now you are angry at God, so much so that you are about to "curse God and die." If you do, then you are caught in the demon's trap. There are so many scenarios. Most of them involve the

human need for a mate. The goal is to get you into the sin of fornication. At least with a lust of the flesh, Satan can have your body to destroy.

TRYING

THE

SPIRITS

TIP

FROM WAR ON THE SAINTS BY JESSIE PENN LEWIS

To maintain his defensive position, the believer needs to know what evil spirits can cause to be done to him, and about him, and be especially on guard lest he yields to their workings,

thinking he is submitting to God. He must know that lying spirits can "burden' other Christians about him; give visions to them, and misinterpret things about him; cause these 'burdened" ones to write about him to others, and suggest thoughts to others to his detriment; in brief, use every possible device to move him from his position of victory over them in his own personal life and environment. The greater his position of triumph---"having overcome them all"---the keener the new schemes of the wily foe to dislodge the victorious one from his armour-encased position. If by any of these means they can get him to turn from the aggressive warfare upon them, or be disturbed by the apparent misjudgments of others, or beguiled into looking upon these things as a "cross" he must bear, he will have failed to discern the tactics of the wily foe. But when the believer knows what evil spirits can do to them, and about him, he can distinguish their workings through others, and, standing steadily in his defenced position, he protects himself by aggressive warfare upon them as they work in these special ways, and does not settle down to accept all these things as 'the will of God', but sets himself to extinguish them by a systematic and persistent countercampaign of prayer.