How to Test the Spirits

By Erik Aguaze

Today, many churches have become personal businesses for inheritance wealth and franchises for theological opportunism, resulting in a weak doctrinal foundation, spiritual retardation, lack of biblical discernment, humanism, deism, doctrines of demons, and worldlinessthe conspicuous display of wealth.
Whole denominations, even many where the gospel was once proclaimed clearly, have been left spiritually bankrupt because doctrines of demons and unbeliefs were tolerated. So-called men of God have become fame-obsessed celebrities, eager to please their congregations with human wisdom.
There is a spirit behind every teaching. Why do people listen to irresponsible teaching that is spawned by seductive spirits? How to Test the Spirits and Understanding Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Demons may be taken as a testament to that effect.
This is clearly a last days occurrence within the church. It is every believers solemn duty to resist every attack on the truth by the master of the clever twist of the gospel, the Adversary; to abhor the very thought of falsehood; and to test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524665647

Erik Aguaze

Erik Aguaze is an elder at God’s Able Army Ministry. He works in conjunction with Dr. Sim, in partnership with local assemblies and churches, to bring up a generation of youth who will uphold the Word of God. Also, the author of “Has God Abandoned Nigeria” A biblical perspective, “Aso Rock Is Broken.” He is a PRINCE2 Practitioner and currently studying Aerospace Engineering at Queen Mary university of London, UK.

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© 2016 Erik Aguaze. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/15/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-6566-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-6565-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-6564-7 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

Contents

Opening Prayer

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

What Is Occult?

What Is a Cult?

Who Are You to Judge?

What Is the Faith?

Contending for the Faith

Transformation

Why Are People Unwilling to Put Up With Sound Doctrine?

Reasons for Testing the Spirits

Testing the Spirits

How to Test the Spirits

Command to Test the Spirits

Confession of the Divine Lord

Do These False Teachers Possess Divine Life?

How Do You Test Your Revelation?

Another Jesus, Another Spirit, Another Gospel

Another Jesus

Another Spirit

Another Gospel

The Church that Refused to Endure Doctrines of Demons

What Weight Was the Ephesian Church Under?

The Dead Church

Form of Godliness, Denying the Power of God

The Solution for a Dead Church

What Is Being Judged?

Conclusion

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How to Test the Spirits

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To the few who fearlessly preach the whole will of God, in season and out of season, without apology.

Opening Prayer

Eternal Father, the church has simply turned away from you and your Word. You command us to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Tales of necromancy, idol-worshipping, another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel, and the conjuration of demons abound. Diabolical charades with so-called men of God in cahoots with the devil are set up to snare the unwary and lead them to the broad way, where sacred souls are being prepared for slaughter. Father in heaven, you forbid every heathenism. Help us to realize we are in evil times. We pray that you will make us diligent contenders for the faith once delivered to the saints.

May we be faithful and loyal to the truth and fight for it. We grieve in our hearts at how unwilling so many are to defend the faith. How easily they abandon it for the sake of popularity or to be well spoken of. They abandon the truth to make some earthly gain. It is so tragic!

I pray for the pastors and all the people following these men to repent. I pray to God to direct my mind and to lead me to the portions of Scripture that are most relevant to this subject.

I pray, O God, that you raise up many who will earnestly contend with grace and love in your Word to bring biblical truth to bear on all that is taught, to expose error and proclaim truth. I pray that the church will not defect or depart, that it will not lose its nerve, its conviction, and its commitment, as so frequently seems to occur in every generation. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Foreword

I write as an eyewitness of the incident of a young, promising man of God who could not wait for God’s visitation for his ministerial assignment. Instead, he decided to seek power in other ways.

This young pastor in my local community in Nigeria once visited the church I pastor and asked me how long I had been a pastor. I told him since six years ago, in 2009. He said to me, There is a way to fill up your church within a short time. I stopped him immediately. I did not want to talk about the issue because I was not interested.

He and two other pastors decided to seek power at the hand of a voodoo priest. The voodoo priest asked them to sleep in the cemetery for seven days and seven nights. They went to the cemetery, but after two days, his friends could not stay longer. He remained for seven days and seven nights as instructed by the voodoo priest.

As soon as he completed his assignment, he contacted the voodoo priest and started performing wonders and miracles and prophesying. People began to take notice of him. Before long, he was roaming about the famous Archbishop Benson Idahosa University. One day, he ran stark naked into the campus and was held down. Upon interrogation, he confessed what he had done.

Against this backdrop is this book written. It derives from a pastoral context and is marked by clarity of thought. It leads us through the difficult subjects of seductive spirits and the doctrines of demons, even denied teachings in Scripture and the church at large.

Anyone who grasps the message of this book will apprehend the Bible’s essential teachings on how to test the spirits and how to understand seducing spirits, the doctrines of demons, the church, and Christian life.

Pastor Simon Adenekan

God’s Able Army Church

Preface

I let an apartment to the two pastors who only stayed for two days and two nights in the cemetery. The third was always with these two pastors. As a matter of fact, I have heard these pastors pray at several times in different circumstances. I was convinced these men of God were called. I have yet to hear others pray at a comparable level to their biblical prayers. These men were in no doubt solidly grounded in the Word of God. I used to call them young Timothys.

A couple of weeks before they embarked on their mission, the barber narrated how the third pastor boasted at his shop. These were his exact words: If I do not own a private university like the late archbishop Benson Idahosa, that means I am not called by God to preach the gospel. At that time, people were already falling at the wave of his hand. We must remember that the Bible denounces all occult practices.

I was an eyewitness to what happened on that fateful day when the seduced pastor was interrogated at the campus. I was called on the phone to come and see.

I couldn’t take this incident lying down. My mind was continually troubled. I had sleepless nights, and thought about how these young pastors, who seemed to have everything going well for them on the surface, could in their respective ministries abandon the faith.

The first question that rushed into my mind was, When did they start listening to seductive spirits for the pursuit of power and popularity, to emulate their mentor? More questions followed. Were they tired of hearing the Word of God over and over again? Were they tired of preaching the truth because people will not endure sound doctrines? How long had they been in the instruction of the devil before they were exposed? When did they agree that the Word of God was insufficient for today’s living and decide to make a pact with the devil? When were they sucked into demonic seduction? Are such deceptive occult practices disobedient to the will of God and harmful to the soul of man? What happens when you depart from the faith?

These are the questions that prompted me to research the subjects of apostasy, testing the spirits, seductive spirits, demons, and the occult. My research led me to acknowledge that seductive spirits and doctrines of demons go hand in hand with false doctrines and worldliness.

This book was birthed from this true story. How to Test the Spirits and Understanding Seductive Spirits and Doctrines of Demons may be taken as a testament to that effect.

I am exceedingly grateful, for without God’s support, I would have nothing to say. I am again indebted to my friend Deacon Eric Ehikhamenor for his invaluable aid in critiquing these chapters. I am grateful for your friendship and your encouragement.

In addition, my thanks go to Pastor Simon Adenekan.

I also offer special thanks to AuthorHouse, the publisher of this book.

Introduction

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14).

I refer to and quote the Bible many times throughout this book because I have nothing to offer but what the Scripture says.

There is very little teaching on how to test the spirits. This book is based on a handful of books, articles, sermons, websites and other resources by discerning Christians. My research led me to worship in churches purporting to be churches on the surface, but on the inside, the Scripture was being subverted and perverted by so-called men of God.

The most evil place on the earth is the church (Revelation 2:13). Satan has launched an all-out effort to get people to deny and disbelieve that he really exists. He knows his time is short. He is soon to be destroyed and his kingdom brought to an end. Therefore, he is feverishly working to get people to deny the reality of his existence. His success in this great effort has been profound, and the extent of his achievement would be astounding if we knew how far-reaching and thoroughly penetrating it is. We must know of his work and operations or we can never hope to be delivered from his snares.

Today, many churches have become personal business for building inheritance wealth instead of proclaiming the truth, resulting in weak doctrinal foundations, spiritual retardation, spiritual laxity, lack of biblical discernment, compartmentalization of faith, humanism, deism, syncretism, schism, false doctrines, worldliness, and so on. Whole denominations, even many where the gospel was once proclaimed clearly, have been left spiritually bankrupt because errors and unbelief were tolerated. Self-proclaimed men of God have become fame-obsessed celebrities, eager to please their congregations with human wisdom. How to Test the Spirits may be taken as a testament to that effect.

Ecclesiastical offices, which were once upon a time respected, are mostly for show now. Today, the pulpits are oozing with false teachers who preach another gospel of grace. There is no sense of respect for the pastoral office because the office is so polluted by gimmicks. Everybody becomes a suspect. The breath-taking arrogance of these phoney pastors soliciting for money and making all kinds of false claims, saying to their congregants, You are now born again, has caused many outsiders to look in and speak evil about the faithful. Sadly, when you turn on the gospel channels, it appears the naysayers are right.

How many times have you heard people say things like, I went to the church over there that preaches serious baiting messages? There are a lot of hypocrites who don’t care about anyone. The pastor broke up her home, embezzled money, and is still preaching. The pastor raped my only son that I entrusted to him. He impregnated a married member. The pastor deceived a widow with persuasive words to sell her property and donate it to the church, and the money ended up in his pocket.

How do you know for certain that the way to salvation you have heard preached and taught is God’s true way? All ministers, all teachings, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, and all practices should be proved to be the Word of God before they are accepted. A biblical false prophet was not a believer but a servant of the devil, attempting to