GOOD MORNING BELOVED!
Welcome to another edition of the SJMBC Podcast:
“HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WORD OF GOD TO YOU WHEN IT COMES TO . . .”
I am your host Brother Henry Cotton, Jr. and I am also the Pastor of the SJMBC. Welcome to our Podcast. The topic for our Podcast today is:
“HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WORD OF GOD TO YOU WHEN IT COMES TO . . . CHECKING A SPIRIT OUT? “
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 (NIV)
Beloved, I often hear people say that someone has a “spirit.” I have heard people say things like: “He has a take charge spirit,” or “She has a spirit of trickery.” This list can go on and on, but my point is that people seem to be quick to identify a person’s behavior as a spirit; I see different spirits mentioned in the Bible, and the origin of them are also mentioned. But some of these “spirits” that I hear people mention, I don’t see them mentioned in the Bible, so I have a few questions:
- Do we have the authority do say that a person’s behavior is the result of them having a spirit?
- How do we know that that person has a “spirit?”
- If that person has a spirit, where does that spirit come from and how will we know?
As I was pondering over this thought, I came across some interesting scriptures that gave me some answers:
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:1-2 (KJV)
We see way back in the Old Testament book of Isaiah that the LORD allowed Isaiah to be aware that HE was sending seven spirits into the world through His son Jesus! (Expound). This was confirmed later in the New Testament book of Revelation:
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Revelation 5:6 (KJV)
So what we see in 1 John 4:1 is that there are spirits in the world that may not be from God, and we need to test these spirits so that we can know where they come from. The question now is: “What kind of test can we administer to a spirit?”
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” John 15:26 (NIV)
When a spirit comes from above . . . from God, he will speak the truth, and he will testify about Jesus.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16: 13-14 (NIV)
There are at least six (6) things that the Spirit of truth (Take note that this is the Holy Spirit) will also do:
- He will guide you into all truth.
- He shall not speak of himself.
- Whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. The message that He brings will be coming from the Father (GOD).
- He will shew you things to come.
- He shall glorify me.
- He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
So what these passages of scripture left me with is that even though there may be different types of spirits in the world, through the discernment of the Holy Spirit which dwells in every true Believer and the word of God (Holy Bible), Believers not only have the authority, but we are commanded to put the spirits that we face to the test!
Remember, our ZOOM Podcast airs live on Tuesdays at 7:00am:
Pastor Cotton is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82997714213
Meeting ID: 829 9771 4213
You can always reach me through our website and our email:
Website: https://stjamesmbcphilly.com
Email: pastor@stjamesmbcphilly.com
