How to Test the Spirits
(by Aw Tozer)
Many believing men desire a greater walk with the Lord and increased intimacy with Him. Sometimes our desire for a deeper relationship with our Saviour leads us to new teachings and experiences. How can we be sure that some seemingly profound experience or teaching is from the Lord? This is not a new question. Just because something ‘feels right’ does not necessarily make it spiritually edifying or accurate. Numerous times in the New Testament, the apostles John, Paul, and others addressed the issue of ‘how to test the spirits.’ We need to know the true source behind something that purports to be from the Lord. In his book, Man-The Dwelling Place of God, author A.W. Tozer presented a biblically accurate and God-honouring approach for testing new doctrines and experiences that we may encounter in our walk. With permission from Moody Publishers, the following paragraphs are a small compilation of this content. (For more reading on this topic please note that this book is available for purchase from various publishers.)
Strange as it may seem, the danger today is greater for the fervent Christian than for the lukewarm and the self-satisfied. He longs for some new experience, some elevated view of truth, some operation of the Spirit that will raise him above the dead level of religious mediocrity he sees all around him, and for this reason he is ready to give a sympathetic ear to the new and the wonderful in religion, particularly if it is presented by someone with an attractive personality and a reputation for superior godliness.
Now our Lord Jesus has not left His flock to the mercy of the wolves. He has given us the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and natural powers of observation, and He expects us to avail ourselves of their help constantly. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit,” wrote John, “but test the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
The heart of man is like a musical instrument and may be played upon by the Holy Spirit, by an evil spirit or by the spirit of man himself. Religious emotions are very much the same, no matter who the player may be. Christians are sometimes led into emotional experiences that are beyond their power to comprehend. I have met such and they have inquired eagerly whether or not their experience was of God.
“How has this new experience affected my attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ?” Whatever place present-day religion may give to Christ, God gives Him top place in earth and in heaven. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” spoke the voice of God from heaven concerning our Lord Jesus.
Another revealing test of the soundness of religious experience is, “How does it affect my attitude toward the Holy Scriptures?” Did this new experience, this new view of truth, spring out of the Word of God itself or was it the result of some stimulus that lay outside the Bible? A growing acquaintance with the Holy Spirit will always mean an increasing love for the Bible.
We can prove the quality of religious experience by its effect on the self-life. A good rule is this: If this experience has served to humble me and make me little and vile in my own eyes it is of God. Nothing that comes from God will minister to my pride or self-congratulation.
Our relation to and our attitude toward our fellow Christians is another accurate test of religious experience. Whatever causes us to love the children of God is likely to be of God. “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another” (John 13:35). Any real work of God in our heart will tend to unfit us for the world’s fellowship. It may be stated unequivocally that any spirit that permits compromise with the world is a false spirit.
Aiden Wilson (A.W.) Tozer was born in rural Pennsylvania in 1897. His walk with the Lord began as a teenager after hearing a street preacher declare Tozer’s need for salvation. Tozer pastored several churches in the United States and Toronto, Canada where he died in 1963. His most enduring public legacy has been the prolific exhortative writings he left to the church. He wrote for, and later edited, the Alliance Weekly. He is likely best known for two of his books The Pursuit of God and Knowledge of the Holy. Tozer and his wife had seven children and were known for their simple and non-materialistic lifestyle. Tozer never owned a car and was reported to frequently give away royalties acquired from his many writings.
