How do we test for spiritual truths? Are feelings or emotions a valid way? Can we trust our heart? Is prayer a part of this process? Is just our intellect enough? Let us first look at what the Bible says. Some of the verses below are paraphrased, they are in my words.
Can We Be Led Astray By False Information?
Can We Be Led Incorrectly By What We Think Our Heart Tells
Us?
We have been
warned that some will bring a false gospel and a different Jesus.
* There are those who would bring another gospel. If
they do let them be accursed. (Gal. 1:6-9)
*
There are those who would bring another spirit, gospel or another Jesus. (2 Cor.
11:4)
From these two verses we see that the Apostle Paul was
concerned that some might teach a false gospel, spirit and a false Jesus and
that some would believe them. Paul is warning us that not everyone can be
trusted.
Can we use our
hearts and mind as the prime way to distinguish spiritual truths? Not according
to the following biblical verses.
* He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso
walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (Prov. 28:26)
* The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it? (Jer.17:9)
From these two verses it is clear that the heart only, and/or feelings only, can lead a person into error. We must use wisdom. The Bible says only a fool would trust only his heart. I am not saying that the heart is always wrong, but it can be wrong. Many who have left a false religion can testify to this. I am one of them. From the following we learn that what might seem right is not necessarily so.
* There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Prov. 14:12)
What we hear, read and think about can seem right to us, but be wrong. So what do we do then if the heart can lead us astray, we can think we are doing right, but really are wrong?
Then How Do We Determine Spiritual Truths?
James 1:5 tells us to pray for
wisdom.
* If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)
We ask God, in other words pray. But keep in mind what wisdom
is. There is a Greek word for "knowledge" and it is not used in this verse. The
Greek word for "wisdom" is used. Wisdom is the proper use and application of
knowledge. In other words we ask God for the proper use of the knowledge
we have obtained. But there is more.
Let us look at a few examples of what
some biblical people did to determine truth.
* Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to determine if what they were being told was so. (Acts 17: 10-11)
These people in Berea compared what they were being told to what God had already said (the O.T.)
It Is Written
Our Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles and
disciples used the phrase "it is written" about sixty (60) times in the New
Testament. "It is written" was referencing Moses, the law and/or prophets, what
we now call the Old Testament. As they taught they frequently used the authority
of Moses, the prophets and the law. A few examples of this can be found in Matt.
2:5, 4:10; Lk 19:46; John 6:45; Acts 1:20, 7:42, 13:33; Romans 10:15; 1 Cor
9:9.
In his epistles the
Apostle Paul gave us another clear statement on how to test for spiritual
truths.
* Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thess. 5:21
How do we prove all things? For
doctrinal items we compare, what we hear, or what we read, or what we feel or
what we think to what God has already said in the Bible.
How about the spirits that may come to
us? Can they be trusted?
* ...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)
In other words even spirits, or what we think are spirits, can
lead us wrong. How do we try "whether they are of God?" We must try the spirits
that come to us, even from prayer, even from hearing, even from reading.
How? Again by comparing to what God has already been given us, the Holy
Bible.
What are we to do
with those who do not teach or have the right doctrine?
* Not have doctrine, then receive not. (2 John 10)
This is similar to some above - if someone brings us false doctrine, a false gospel, a false Christ (Gal 1:6-9, 2 Cor. 11:4) we reject it, we do not receive such people. How do we know they are false? We compare it to what God has already told us. The idea of avoiding false doctrine is also found in Rom 16:17 and 2 John 10.
Should We Use Our Intelligence?
The Bible tells us to use
our intelligence, along with the other tests. In Isaiah 1:18 the Lord says, "let
us reason together." In Matt 22:7 our Lord tells us to, "love the Lord thy God
with all they heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind." In other
words, using our heads is part of the equation. Acts 17:2 and 18:4 have similar
messages. The Apostle Paul reasoned with them and out of the Scripture. He
didn't say pray about it. In John 20:27 Thomas is told to touch the Lord. In
Luke 24:39 our Lord Jesus Christ asked his disciples to touch him to prove He
was not a spirit. He did not say pray about it. He used physical evidence.
Is The Bible Reliable and Suitable As A Standard For
Truth?
This subject
is another paper in itself. My article #A-4, "Why The Bible Is Reliable," on my
web page, the address is at the end of this message, covers this subject. But
let me just touch on the subject here. In John 17:20 Jesus prays for those who
would believe in him, for those who believe in Him through the word of His
apostles and disciples.
When you look this verse up note what Jesus said, "through their word." Jesus is
telling us to have confidence in "their word." In Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4 the
Apostle Paul reasoned out of the Scriptures. In Eph 6:17 he told us to use the
sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Did he tell us to take up a
defective sword, a rubber sword? No! In other words, use the Bible, because it
is reliable.
On another
point, if the Bible is not reliable then we would have to say that God is not
capable of giving us a reliable book, or did not want to. We would have to say
that the Holy Spirit, the apostles, the disciples and the people they taught and
trained did a poor job, were dismal failures (1 Cor 2:5, 12-13; 1 Pet 1:23; 2
Pet 1:15; John 14:26, 16:13; Acts 1:8; Is 40:8). I cannot accept this. God is
capable of giving us a reliable Bible, he does want the best for us, and He did
give it to us.
What Others Might Say
Mormons would have us test truth the Book
of Mormon way.
*... I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Moroni 10:4)
Note that this is a test for not being true. The assumption is that the Book of Mormon is true and the prayer is asking if it is not true. This in not a biblical test. James 1:5 tell us to pray for wisdom, Acts 17:10-11 tell us to use the Scriptures. Our Lord said, "It is written" to support what He said. 1 John 4:1 tells us to test spirits, to try them. 2 John 10 tells us to not receive those that have wrong doctrine. Gal 1:6-9 and 2 Cor. 11:4 warns us about those that would bring another gospel and/or another Jesus, which is what the Mormons bring.
The Burning Bosom Test
The Bible uses the term "heart" as the place
where spiritual perception (under-standing) resides. (Ezek 11:19; Matt 5:8; Luke
8:12, 9:47, 12:34; John 12:40; Rom 2:15). The gospels give examples of those who
heard the truths that Jesus Christ taught and how they were ignored because of
their hard hearts (Matt 23:27; Mark 3:5).
Some LDS (Mormons) have pointed to Luke
24:13-32, the story of the two men walking to the village of Emmaus, who are
joined by Jesus Christ. In verse 32 they said, "And they said one to another,
Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and
while he opened to us the scriptures?" LDS will use the phrase,
"Did not our heart burn within us" to support the idea in Doctrine and Covenants
(a Mormon Scripture) 9:8, "...and if it is right I will cause that your bosom
shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right."(1) [this
is an end note.] From Luke 24:27 we learn more about "while he opened the
scriptures." This verse says, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
In other words Jesus Christ took them through all the verses about himself, all
the teachings about himself. He did not say rely on your burning bosom, as the
Mormon missionaries do. It was the truths found in what we now call the Old
Testament that spoke to them and caused their hearts to burn. The burning of the
heart was the result of the verses they heard, not the proof of the truths. They
had become teachable, not hard hearted, and their hearts were evidence of this.
The burning of their hearts was a by product, the evidence that they had become
teachable.
What Jesus
Christ taught them was true, no matter what they were feeling, or did not feel.
The truth taught by Jesus did not hinge on what the two men felt. But He did
open their eyes, opened their hearts, and they recognized that.
In Summary
We test the spirits that come to us. We
test the doctrine that comes to us. We test our hearts and feelings. To the best
we can, we test what we think are answers to our prayers for wisdom. We test
what we read and hear. We do this because the Bible tells us to and because of
the experiences many of us have had. Feelings have led many down the wrong path
in the past and some have learned from this (I am one of these). What is
the ultimate test for spiritual truth? What God has already given us, the Holy
Bible. It is our standard for testing truth.
END NOTES
1. If your heart does not "burn within
you" does this mean that something is not right, not true?
D&C 9 is a revelation for
Oliver Cowdery. Cowdery, the primary scribe for Joseph Smith during the
translation of the writings on the gold plates, had failed at trying to be a
translator himself. In D&C 9:8-9 we find,
John Farkas
Berean Christian
Ministries
P.O. Box 1091
Webster, NY 14580
E-mail: bcmmin@frontiernet.net
Web pages:
Mormonism:
http://www.bcmmin.org
Jehovah's
Witnesses: http://www.bcmmin.org/jwstd.htm
art/truttest
5-23-98