Chapter 3 -

Test all voices and messages!

 

 

 

One important area in guidance is testing the voices, messages, and dreams that we may receive. Testing them is important because there are also other channels than God from which we can receive messages, meaning the devil and the evil spirits. We may base all our decisions on some voices without testing them. We may take them as the law, even though they may come from the devil, may be against our better judgment, and may go against the word of God.

   Below, we are going to look at the features specific to the messages from the devil and evil spirits. If you notice the next features in the messages you have received, they are certainly not from God:

 

"Special guidance." First of all, it is common to messages from evil spirits that they strengthen our egos and make us arrogant as to the "direct special guidance" we have received. They make us think that we are more advanced or on a higher spiritual level than others, that we commit no more sins (even though 1 John 1:8 teaches the opposite), that we are very close to God and are led in a very special way, that we have a different road ahead of us and we might be selected for a great and special task. Everything that will happen to us is great and special, and will never happen to others.

   This is described in the next example. This person was in contact with UFOs and practiced automatic writing and the use of a pendulum, the result being that she was driven to "special guidance." She was freed later:

 

I didn't answer him, but I thought that naturally there is no resemblance for he didn’t know God as I did – he hadn't been "taught heavenly matters." I, however, had a direct connection to God and knew what it was like "in the kingdom of God," how there was peace and joy and fellowship. I was on a firm base.

   (...) My heart was filled with a deep sense of peace. It was as if I alone was trusted with the loveliest secret of a wonderland, which soon would be exposed to me so that I could appreciate it in all of its glory.

   (...) In those deep layers which hold hidden our lust for greatness, power, and ambition, I absorbed the sweet promises, according to which I wouldn’t only get to experience great and exciting things, I would also play an important and visible part in them. I would be in the main role of a great play admired by an attentive audience. I would be ridiculed and opposed, but also admired and worshipped – which would in any case be much more exciting than my current unnoticeable life. (18)

 

Crushing. In the previous example, the voices and messages made the person boast, and it is also possible that they can weaken our trust in God. These voices can accuse and crush a person so that he is driven into despair and judging in his relationship with God, being frightened that he has committed an unforgivable sin. (Sometimes this kind of speech may resemble our own internal voice and thinking, such as, "You have committed an unforgivable sin, you are special, you are always wrong, God doesn’t love you and so on.”). The holiness of God might make people in this position terrified and slavishly fearful, afraid to study the source of the voices. In a deep depression, one may even submit to the judgment and criticism of the whole world having been disobedient to the voices he believes to come from God.

   An example of this kind of a wrong fear is described in the following narrative about the life of a well-known Finnish trance preacher Helena Konttinen. If you experience a similar kind of fear, you can be sure that it does not come from God:

 

The beginning of the summer was like this, and I was quite angry with God. Even in trance, the presence of the Savior didn't feel comforting, but made me afraid. I would rather have escaped it. (…)

   19 days after these punishments, I still didn't have peace of conscience. I felt a flame of damnation, and the judgment of God frightened me." (…) (19)

 

To distinguish God’s work from that of the devil, it is good to know that they are quite different, because He never wants His relationship with His children to be crushing, or to lead them into despair. Neither does the right experience of God’s holiness make His children terrified. Experiencing the One True God results in healthy worship, repentance, and a voluntary desire to surrender one's life to Him. He has not given His children the spirit of slavery and fear, but rather the Spirit of adoption, in which we can confidently cry "Abba, father!” He is also the God of comfort as the Bible repeatedly teaches:

 

- (Rom 8:15) For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

 

- (2 Cor 1:3- 4) Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

4 Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God.

 

Compulsive behavior. Messages that come from a false source can be crushing and may contain elements of force, capricious threats, punishment, or sudden hostility. These are, indeed, always from the devil. He tries to force and drive people into all kinds of actions, which seldom lead anywhere and might show them in a bad light or spoil their testimony in the eyes of other people.

   This includes things like public confessions, "testimonies" or "prophecies" that one might feel forced to tell others in order to be "freed." However, we must understand that to be true, a confession of sins should never be forced, but should take place voluntarily and only be offered up to God or to those whom we have wronged. Therefore, it is wise to avoid public confessions that one feels compelled to make.

   To separate God's work from this, we can say that He never forces us into anything, only calls us. We are not forced to do something against our will, even if we have been filled with the Holy Spirit. At all times we can control our speech and our behavior.

   The next two very typical cases are good examples of guidance from wrong sources. They have their beginning in the use of a pendulum and automatic writing, which very often lead people to wrong guidance:

 

This touched Mrs. S to tears and she continued communicating through the pendulum method all night long for months, because she felt an irresistible compulsion to do so. The spirit started to give her commands also by using internal dictation. She had to count all the churches she knew, list the roles her opera singer husband had played, and so on. The spirit was always able to cast away any doubts she had. The effect of the spirit became more and more painful and had perverse, erotic forms, which appeared as compulsive daydreams that had always been strange to Mrs. S. At nights, she had to lie for hours in bed without moving or keep her hand in cold water until it ached. The voices increased; occasionally she had to listen to a whole choir of voices. When suicidal thoughts started to control her mind, she asked for help from a spiritualist movement, so that she could be freed from the spirit that had tormented her.

 

A civilized artist, Mrs Bn, experienced a total change of personality as a result of her experiences in automatic writing. She raged, continually massaged her temples, and screamed, “Lord help me, Lord help me.” She might kneel on the street and pray, or refuse eating, because she would go to hell if she ate after six o’clock. (20)

 

Inconsistency. One characteristic of messages coming from evil spirits is inconsistency. Even though the messages might be very accurate excluding the possibility of chance, they may also be very conflicting, imperfect, and incorrect so that the things promised do not come true or their fulfillment is continually delayed.

   The changing nature of the messages is one of the most important signs that they are from a wrong source. Therefore, if there is even a single inconsistency in the message, or the promises do not come true, we have reason to doubt that the message is not from the Spirit of God, but from misleading spirits.

   The next example shows what this is all about. In the example, the promises did not always come true and the person tried to suppress all doubts she had, which is very common. However, she was freed from what she had been drawn to through automatic writing and UFOs:

 

That was all that was needed, for me to close my eyes from clear warnings. It was strange that the fulfillment of the promises was constantly delayed. Why did He, who was from the kingdom of love, torment me so and sometimes speak to me like an insulted little child? Why was He so indecisive and ignorant of simple things – isn't God omnipotent and omniscient? I ignored all the questions, for they wouldn't have endured critical inspection. My will suppressed them. (21)

 

Another thing worth noting is that we would never reject help from other people in the area of guidance. If a person has a definite attitude that he is never wrong; if he thinks he is directly receiving special guidance and is in connection with God, then he is in great danger of being led astray. He lives in false confidence and fallibility and does not pay attention to the opinions of others, which could lead him in the right direction.

   Smith Wigglesworth has described this in one of his books. He describes a woman who received conflicting information but did not test it. The woman also refused other people’s help because she believed she was receiving special guidance straight from God:

 

On this, the information was incorrect. There was no bank open at 7.30 a.m., and research showed that the bank in question wasn’t even in this town.

   How did this message affect her? The young woman listened to it. She paid so much attention to it that she did not listen to anyone else.

   I tell you the danger in this: If you cannot discuss it, you are wrong. If you are right and everyone else is wrong, but you do not tolerate any examination, or if your truth does not bear to be studied under daylight, you are wrong, no matter who you are! You will be saved from many troubles if you listen to what others say. Do not say, "Naturally I know. I KNOW that I am right.” (22)

 

Sudden suggestions and fruitless results. Other indications that guidance is coming from the devil include sudden suggestions and  fruitless results. It is possible that a compelling, demanding, and persistent voice demands sudden actions, and sometimes even uses verses from the Bible to support them. (The voice of God is never like this; it is like the peaceful voice of a good friend and produces a sense of peace. For example, in the Old Testament, young Samuel first thought that the voice he heard was priest Eli, who took care of him.) The voice might, for example, advise you to leave your family or resign from your job, "…because Christ is coming back soon. Immediately resign from your job and start to live a life of faith!”

   However, the Bible says, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1 Tim 5:8) and "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." (2 Thess 3:10).

   When a person is under the influence of these voices that come from the wrong source, he may drift into having curious habits: he can dress in worn-out clothes "because of humility or obedience", or deny himself food and sleep, or experience "birthing pains" for souls still lost, or suffer for others. Under some misdirected sense of obedience to God a person might be afraid to make even the smallest attempt to do simple things such as going to the shop or cleaning the carpets or deciding on which coat to put on. This kind of a person does not understand that God has given us common sense and freedom of choice in such things so that we can choose how to act and when.

   Listening to wrong voices will only shipwreck the person and spoil his testimony in the eyes of others. A good example of wrong guidance is seen in the next case, in which a person was dealing with UFOs but was later freed from the wrong guidance:

 

I calmed down again and felt, if possible, even happier and more hopeful. Why would I be afraid, since someone was supervising every step I took!

   Again and again I bent my head backwards and looked at the stars in the sky. Would they come? How? When? I was ready, I wanted to go up there – into the distance – at that moment it was my only desire. I had burnt all bridges behind me, at least almost all of them. I was ready to leave my work as a teacher, as I had been informed a couple of days earlier, and my belongings would be sold as soon as possible – my scooter I had already sold for a very low price. The money I received I would give to charity, as “greetings from angels." All according to the Scripture. But I wished that they would fetch me this evening and forget to return me back on Earth, for there was nothing here that could compare to the paradise of my sisters and brothers. (23)