The Trying of the Spirits
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
This is the writing of a man filled with the Holy Ghost, and it is written to other people who were also spiritual and who were making the Christian pilgrimage. The writing addresses a certain reality and the great necessity of trying the spirits. This trying of the spirits is not the exercising of an assumed prejudice, nor is it a knee-jerk response to differences in doctrine and belief. Trying the spirits is a sober-minded look at the reality of what is on hand; it is a consecration to fairness and justice in the fear of God. The trying is not just for the ones who are not right; it is a searching and proving of those who are right, as well. In the trying of the spirits, a child of God finds a transforming power, a heavenly renewal, to such a degree that it can be said, “that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) This trial of our faith searches us and brings us close to God in a way that we can testify with Brother Paul, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) Insomuch as it is possible for human beings in the flesh to discern and know the spirit world, this trying arises from a conviction that one must know the truth. This disposition brings one to the question that Zechariah kept asking the angel: “What are these, my lord?” (Zechariah 4:4; 6:4) These spirits exist, whether we discern them or not, and they are exerting influences and causing things in human beings, whether or not we realize what is at the bottom of what we have on hand. They are everywhere; the world around us is crowded with them. It means a great deal to take to heart this commandment to try the spirits, and it puts us at significant disadvantage to not be able or to neglect to try the spirits.
The liberal side of professing Christians abhors the spiritual counsel of Brother John. They are dedicated to the idea, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) There is no trying of the spirits if there is no judgment. The consequences? Such a way of living produces a licentious group of people—a people who use their liberty for occasions to the flesh (Galatians 5:13).
The puritanic, pharisaical side of professing Christians abhors this liberal side and is consumed with zeal for judgment. On the surface this appears as a welcome change from the tendency of human nature to let down and ease up. This way of living places great emphasis on the appearance of spirituality and on “voluntary humility.” (Colossians 2:18) The Pharisees were full of this spirit, and our Lord spoke of them, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:27-28) This emphasis on outward appearance avoids emphasis on “inside-out,” preferring “outside-in” or just “outside” instead. So the sepulchers are carefully whitened on the outside, and there is much posturing and affectation, as well as hair-splitting, quibbling, and litigiousness. There is not much living-from-the-heart among the legalistic, nor do they respect depth of personal conviction (involuntary humility) that is the real foundation of how God deals His children. The puritanic rigidly hold to outer standards, not acknowledging that careful outer standards are only valuable as fruit of a rightful inward condition.
Now this trying of spirits is not some great mysterious thing, but a simple manifestation of different things. Basically, it is the manifestation of the one and only Holy Ghost against every other kind of spirit. Of this, Brother John says, “Many false prophets [spirits] are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1) And many of these spirits are very seductive; they appear wholesome and beneficial. They induce the soul to believe that the false spirit is really the Holy Ghost, exactly as the distributor of counterfeit money substitutes the false money for the authentic. And in the world of professing Christianity, there is hardly anything but counterfeit money, so to speak, and relatively few people have much experience with the kind of Holy Ghost living that Brother John and others of that blessed fellowship enjoyed. What is virtuous among the world of professing Christianity is so intermingled with bogus ideas and values, that the good is tainted with the bad. There is a great need to “take forth the precious from the vile.” (Jeremiah 15:19) The command to try the spirits is only possible for people that have the true Spirit, else it is only people comparing the false with the false, i.e., counterfeit with counterfeit.
But even if one has a real and genuine upper-room experience, the nature of trying the spirits necessitates the utmost humility and holy soberness of soul. “And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts….” (Mark 3:5) The contention was supposedly about the sacredness of the Sabbath day, and the Lord had already dealt with the matter scripturally, as recorded in the previous chapter. This dealing was not received by these people; they were full of accusation, and after Jesus ignored their ruling and healed a man on the Sabbath day, “the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” (Mark 3:6)
The keeping of the Sabbath was an idol to them, and their spirit was tried by the manifestation of the Son of God in teaching and healing. This trying revealed some spiritual reality to any who had ears to hear or spiritual eyes to see. When two things do not fit together—do not harmonize, do not blend—there is always a reason. It may appear that it should be in unity, but if it is not, there is a reason. As to perceiving what that reason is and why it exists, a great deal depends on what kind of spiritual condition you are in, especially whether you are totally subdued to God, endued by Him, and walking in the light He shines on your path. This is what Brother Paul, another Holy Ghost man, told the saints at Ephesus: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (Ephesians 4:13-14) Only the Holy Ghost can keep us from the sleight of men and their cunning craftiness; only the Holy Ghost can shelter us from the compelling force of some of the winds of doctrine that beat vehemently upon Christians. Jesus told us that things are out there which can deceive even the very elect (Matthew 24:24).
Now all fellowships which are based on something other than the thorough dealings of the Holy Ghost will manifest sin, sooner or later. The work of the Holy Ghost will be characterized by purity of heart, and those who possess this purity will act as Jesus did and does. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” (Galatians 6:1-3) The man or woman who has been washed in the blood of our Lord and sanctified with that Holy Spirit of promise is most concerned with doing what is right in God’s eyes. “Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” This inward standard will not believe that “the end justifies the means.” Purity in the inward parts is completely concerned with staying pure in the inward parts before the all-seeing eyes of God. I have seen this in operation, and I count it one of the great privileges and blessings of my life to have seen it. I must also sadly add that I have seen dealings with others where this was not true, and I have experienced being on the receiving end of both kinds of dealings. I have been dealt with by Holy-Ghost-filled men and women and I have been dealt with by some-other-kind-of-ghost-filled people. Those who are filled with the Holy Ghost are full of a burden and desire for you to be clear before God, whereas the other kind are full of a burden and desire for you to submit to them. In the latter case, whether your conscience is clear and whether you are convicted of right or of wrong in what is required of you, does not matter very much. This is because they are not truly spiritual, no matter what their profession, and this lack of true spirituality before God will come out in specific acts and statements that will, in time, bring judgment from God upon them. For God keeps a watchful eye over His little ones, and He says, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6) Again, “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.” (1 Thessalonians 4:6) Go beyond what? Beyond holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:7). As a brother said, “If you have to step outside of holiness to defend holiness, you have already lost it.”
As I write these words, I think of all the wounded and crippled children of God who have been presented with stumblingblocks by the zeal of those who are not led by the Holy Ghost. God has allowed the trying. God can turn even that which seems to harm us into everlasting joy. God can sanctify to us our deepest distress. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (1 Peter 4:12-16) This scripture reveals some of the depths of grace and holy refining that God has for His little children. What a blessing it is not to be ashamed! If you have done right and are reproached for it, the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Praise God! This will bring the leap; this will set the joy bells ringing in the soul. “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” (Luke 6:22-23) Yea, “By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.” (2 Corinthians 6:8) It is blessed to be lied about, to be branded as evil and harmful, yet to know that the report is false and a misrepresentation, and that “I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:12) Yea, O Lord, at Thy command, we will return to be stoned again.
But there is another side to this trying of the spirits. Whereas it brings the spirit of glory and holy refining upon the children of God, it also brings woe and loss to those who are in the wrong. “For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.” (Luke 19:26) We find this principle working in the trying of the Pharisees when truth was manifested to them by the Lord Jesus. “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” (John 9:39-41) A great deal of light shone upon them in the trial of their spirit, and this manifestation of light was from God. At the final judgment, it will be clearly brought out that they rejected the Lord of Glory, not through ignorance, but from envy. They saw something, realized something in their hearts—namely that they were wrong down deep inside, but were unwilling to admit their need and humble their hearts. There was a spirit in them that was not right, and this spirit manifested itself over and over as Jesus tried them by simply manifesting the reality of truth in the inward parts to them.
A minister was forbidden to distribute literature among a group of people. So he asked: “Was there anything wrong with the literature?” Not only was there nothing in error in the literature, but the people forbidding the distribution were not even familiar with what was being distributed. At one point, the confronted minister was told that he would not want other literature distributed among his people, so it was only fair that he not distribute among them. But this was not true, and the brother replied that they were welcome to come and distribute their literature among the people where he worshiped. This trying of the spirits brought out a profound difference. The people who thus rejected the truth were dedicated to the control and manipulation of the people who listened to them, whereas the minister who distributed truth among them was dedicated to spiritual liberty, openness, and the God-endowed right of men to have access to all the facts and to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. The rejecting group was leaning toward a fear of God “taught by the precept of men,” (Isaiah 29:13) whereas the opposed brother was of the scripture, “Provide things honest in the sight of all men.” (Romans 12:17) As a consequence of this trying of the spirits, he was roundly condemned as a sheep-stealer, a deceiver, and unworthy of the confidence of spiritual men and women. Strenuous efforts were made to brand his literature and his influence as subversive, yet the literature was wholesome and so was his influence. There were no examples of sheep stealing to support the accusations with which he was branded; no one had lost out with God or descended into spiritual trouble as a result of his ministry. So strong was the prejudice against him that it led to misrepresentation and a fabricated story, which was published and believed by many who knew nothing of the details.
The trying of the spirits brings out things that are obscure or hidden. When Jesus was speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth, the spirits that were in the hearts of the listeners first manifested themselves in wonder that He spoke so well (Luke 4:22). Then He crossed them by telling them the truth. He told them that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, yet the prophet was sent to a Gentile widow. He told them that there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha, yet none of them were cleansed except for a Gentile, Naaman the Syrian. And this trying of the spirits produced an immediate and violent reaction. “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.” (Luke 4:28-29) Is this not amazing? At one moment, the people are rather flattered that a local boy could speak so well; in the next moment, they are filled with the spirit of murder and begin to attempt to the destruction of a man who only told them the truth—truth that they had long chosen not to hear or consider—truth that revealed the awful condition of their hearts to themselves, if they would receive it. The same spirit manifested itself in the trying of the spirits in which Brother Paul was involved, as related in Acts 22:21-23.
There was a minister, used of God, who was one of the Lord’s rough vessels of clay. He was about as far from speaking smooth things, of tickling people’s ears, as it was possible to get. Among the people to whom he preached, there was a rising disposition to choose their own ministers. And so the Lord used this brother to try the spirits. How did He use him? He gave him a message each first Sunday of an annual meeting, and the brother delivered the message that was given to him. There was a steady, then rising, opposition to the brother’s messages. After the brother had once again preached on the first Sunday of the meeting, another man of God was burdened to speak. He said to the people, “We must be willing to accept what God has to say to us, by whomever He chooses to say it, and however He sees fit to send it.” This was true, and it was God’s mercy to the listeners who were rejecting the truth of the message because they did not like how God went about it.
We see that this is God’s way, this trying of the spirits. David tells us of Joseph, “The word of the Lord tried him.” (Psalm 105:19) What there was in Joseph’s heart was proven—tried. He was refined and prepared to be meet for the Master’s use by the trial. We read also of the Israelites, “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” (Exodus 20:20)
From the standpoint of how God regards this trying of the spirits and of how He teaches His children to regard it, the most important thing is for the child of God to keep saved. A child of God must exercise himself (perhaps quite vigorously) to keep a conscience void of offense toward God and man. And not only outwardly, but inwardly. He must battle to forgive completely from the heart; he must consecrate to bear injustice, to suffer loss of reputation, to bear the label of a troublemaker—an insignificant little “nobody.” He may appear to “lose” the confrontation; his statements may appear as Brother Paul recorded was said of him, “his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible,” (2 Corinthians 10:10) but the outward appearance of winning or losing is not the point. If the cause of truth appears to be weakened outwardly, it is well to remember that God is still in control and that He allows sheep to be assaulted by lions and bears to manifest the nature of meekly holding the true position, standing firm. As the out-talked mother said to her college-educated son, “Well, Johnny, you’ve become educated and can talk better than your old mother, but,” placing her hand on her heart, she continued, “in here, I know it is not so!” Here is a text that speaks with great authority: “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (2 Timothy 2:24) In Abraham’s confrontation with Lot, he does not look impressive to the flesh at all. Indeed, it seems that the conclusion to the problem of the wells for cattle is resolved to Lot’s advantage, but it was a trying of the spirits, and it was significant and was recorded for our benefit. Note the outcome of that trial: “Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” (Genesis 13:12-13) Note the attitude of God toward the result, as the record continues. Lot “won” to his own undoing. The true picture emerges in its entirety when the angels take him by the hand to lead him out of Sodom before its destruction. Many a child of God has been put aside, reviled, their name cast out as evil, when God knew they were keeping saved, whereas their opposers were undermined and subverted. And thus is brought to pass the warning to the rich: “Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.” (James 4:6)
Consider this allegory:
Finally, one day, Miss Vanity noticed that her intendant [Mr. Hypocrisy] was looking quite pale, and upon inquiry, found that he had been eavesdropping and had heard a conversation between those unruly ones, Miss Perception, Mr. Steadfast, and his wife, Humility. There was also with them a cousin of Mr. Sincerity by the name of Mr. Holy Boldness; and the conversation went thus:
Miss Perception: “I simply can’t see black white, or white as black; it matters not what they say.”
Mr. Steadfast: “No, none of these things move me at all, and I for one will stand against it if it takes me to the chopping block.”
Humility: “I am praying the Lord to shake the scales from the eyes of the little ones, if He has to use an earthquake to do it.”
Mr. Boldness: “Yes; I will pray also, but perhaps there is something we can do to answer our own prayers. Let’s quit ourselves like men, and expose and fight the thing.”
At this Mr. Hypocrisy nearly sank into a swoon for hitherto he had been overlooking those “insignificant ignoramuses,” as he had always called them.
Upon this news the committee was hastily called together to consult as to what should be done with these troublers. The decision was to tar and feather them as liars and accusers of the brethren; and thus make them an example to the flock.
[Lottie L. Jarvis; A True Story in Allegory, “Trouble with the Faithful Ones”]
Notice how this appears to end. God’s little children do the right thing, regardless of the cost, and God allows His little children to be tarred and feathered as liars and accusers of the brethren. As was said of our Lord, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief.” (Isaiah 53:10) “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
God doesn’t think as we think (Isaiah 55:8-9). Men imagine that God is a certain way; they construct their boxes of belief, deceiving themselves in thinking that their creeds describe God and His ways accurately. They believe that God will honor their efforts, even as the Pharisees imagined that when the Messiah came, they would be approved and commended. They thought that they would fit with Him. But God, in mercy to them and to us, tries our spirit and shows “the house to the house” (Ezekiel 43:10-11) to prove what is in our hearts. What will we do with the trying? Will we be ashamed of any revealed iniquity? Will we be willing to measure the God-given pattern? Will we be willing to say, “I see that I am off. God didn’t teach me that part. Something else has been working on me. I have made an idol. I have made an Ishmael, and now I see that I must send him away. I have constructed a creed and made a way of going about things that I thought God had taught me, but now I see that He is bigger than my box, and I must abandon it if I am to have His full blessing.”
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” (1 Peter 4:12)
We are experiencing that it takes a man wonderfully burned out for God to publish a paper that is simply true to Jesus and up to the Bible standard of salvation from all sin. A thousand points of expediency and policy must be disregarded, and the eye fixed on God alone. O reader, you that love God and the truth, do not forget to pray for us.
[Daniel S. Warner—quoted in Andrew L. Byers; Birth of a Reformation, “The Gospel Trumpet”]
The work of God continues as He has ordained. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10)