Criticising the Holy Spirit. Test all things

If you feel uneasy about what is happening within a Christian meeting can you question what is going on or is that criticising the Holy Spirit?
Where does ‘test all things’ from the Bible fit in?

Or do we have to trust our leaders when they say that all the manifestations are from the Holy Spirit?

Can we speak up if things don’t seem right, that we cannot believe the things that are happening are from the Lord, or shouldn’t we query our leadership and is that criticising the Holy Spirit?

Or are we resisting God by not going along with it?

1. Too scared to question things which might be criticising the Holy Spirit

Have you ever seen bizarre Christian behaviour but are too scared to ask whether this is right or not, because you may be seen to be criticising the Holy Spirit?

This is a series of articles, it’s probably best to take them in the correct order.
You could start with: Toronto Blessing review: laughing shrieking shaking falling over

When it comes to the area of the Holy Spirit it can be quite a scary thing to suggest that something is wrong because Jesus did say:

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Matthew 12:32 NIV

After reading the verse above it seems to be a very reckless thing to speak against, doubt, or question spiritual things.

If it is of God and it is the work of the Holy Spirit then we could put ourselves into an area of never being forgiven.
But that is misunderstanding the verse.
Matthew Henry in his commentary says:

We have reason to think that none are guilty of this sin, who believe that Christ is the Son of God, and sincerely desire to have part in his merit and mercy:
and those who fear they have committed this sin, give a good sign that they have not…
As in the then present state of the Jewish church, there was no sacrifice of expiation for the soul that sinned presumptuously;
so neither under the dispensation of gospel grace, which is often in scripture called the world to come, shall there be any pardon to such as tread underfoot the blood of the covenant, and do despite to the Spirit of grace:
there is no cure for a sin so directly against the remedy.”

Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1674). Peabody: Hendrickson.

A Christian will not want to criticise the Holy Spirit – in fact, it is completely against their nature to do so.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to save people from their sins and bring them into the Kingdom of God.
So to speak against the Holy Spirit is coming from someone who is outside of that kingdom and who is actively resisting the Holy Spirit’s work to get them to surrender to Jesus.

So hopefully we can see that anybody criticising the Holy Spirit and who speaks against the Holy Spirit is in the group of people who despise his work of saving souls and who trample the only cure that could save them.

2. Is it right to test all things if it criticises the Holy Spirit?

We are told to test all things and to question things for our spiritual safety.
In the verse below, we are encouraged in the things of the Spirit, but we are also told to test all things:

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;
do not treat prophecies with contempt.
Test* everything.
Hold on to the good.
Avoid every kind of evil.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NIV

The word ‘test*’ comes from the Hebrew ‘δοκιμάζω’ (dokimazo) which means ‘to test, prove with the expectation of approving.’ (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.)

Someone with a criticising spirit will complain about everything because they want to destroy things.
On the other hand, anyone who wants the good in the things of the Spirit will want to test all things to see if it is from the Holy Spirit and prove that it is not a deceptive spirit.

Here is an example of the religious leader’s lackeys asking Jesus a question, so would it be wrong for Jesus to doubt their motives – to test them?

Keeping a close watch on him, they (the religious leaders) sent spies, who pretended to be sincere.
They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” “

Luke 20:20-22 NIV

Should Jesus trust that they had good intentions? No, he looked at the situation and saw through it – he tested it.

He saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public.
And astonished by his answer, they became silent.”

Luke 20:23-26 NIV

On other occasions, the religious leaders would question Jesus because he was demonstrating miracles of healing.
Is this good, perhaps they were testing the situation to see if it was from God or not?
No, their motive was totally wrong because they were jealous of Jesus and because he was attracting huge crowds they wanted to kill him.

Testing and proving the things of the Spirit and prophecies, etc is expected from all believers for our safety.
In fact, we need to test all things and prove everything in our lives.
On a similar note, this verse uses the same Greek word ‘test, prove’:

Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test* the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:1 ESV

Yes, the Bible greatly encourages us to test the spirits, it’s for our spiritual safety, and it isn’t criticising the Holy Spirit!
Don’t think: ‘Oh that was then when false teachers were around’.
Satan is continually trying to deceive, derail, confuse and destroy even in the 21st Century!
Jesus said, speaking of Satan as the thief:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

John 10:10 NIV

Satan has not changed since Jesus’ days on the Earth, he still is deceiving and destroying wherever he can, we still need to test all things.

3. The Lord won’t judge us for testing things of the Spirit

So the Lord has said ‘test the spirits’ therefore he won’t judge us for questioning and investigating any bizarre behaviour – even when it carries the ‘Christian’ label and even when people say that they have been healed.

The dragon, Satan, in Revelation at the end of the world, creates an illusion that the beast’s head had been healed:

Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea…
And the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.
One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded.
But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marvelled and followed the beast.”

Revelation 13:1 & 3 NIV

It is debatable whether Satan can heal, but if he can’t, then he still makes it look very authentic.
Another verse here shows Satan at the end of time doing false signs and wonders:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 NIV

Signs, wonders and healings are not solely God’s working – they can be counterfeit which is why we have to test all things in these situations.
God wants us to do this for our spiritual safety and the spiritual safety of others. See ‘Is the Devil Able to Miraculously Heal the Sick?’ by Don Stewart. Blue Letter Bible. ¹

Here are some clips of Todd Bentley. Do you think that this is of God?
If yes, why? If not, why?
Do you think that the Lord will judge us for questioning this behaviour, for testing all things?

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You may think that I am wrong, but I question the extreme things that have been seen with what is known as the ‘Father’s Blessing – Toronto Blessing – The River and the Fire – Third Wave’.

I want to see the Lord performing miracles, and pouring out His Spirit upon people, and for His Presence to cause weeping or joy, because Jesus’ followers cried out:

…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:29-30 NIV

But we must not force God’s hand (as if we could!), and we must not use coercion and suggestion to push people into unreal situations.

4. Test all things, be wary of abandoning the mind

Before we are born again of God, our mind hears the gospel and thinks ‘What rubbish’. The Bible agrees with this:

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

Then the Holy Spirit breaks into our lives and we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our minds become renewed and are continually renewed:

when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds“

Ephesians 4:23 NIV

The Christian faith is reasonable, once our minds are made new, then our minds delight in the TRUTH of the Bible.
The doctrines and teachings of the Christian faith are pleasing to the mind – even if we do not understand it all.

So, when we are told in church meetings to let go of our minds or let the spirit bypass our minds, to lay aside any rational thought then we are getting into a dangerous area.

The Spirit does not work independently from our mind, because; “the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

The Bible tells us: “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober” (1 Peter 1:13) – we are never told to push the mind aside because that opens the door to weirdness.

Here the Bible tells us why our minds need to be involved and renewed:

be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:2 NIV

The mind is the main part of how we judge whether something is of God or not.

Be wary of fresh revelations and ‘new teachings’ and things that are spectacular and even foolish.
Our minds are there to protect us from false things and false spirits.

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See how the Toronto Blessing began, starting from before 1987 Claudio Friedzon an Assemblies of God pastor in Argentina…
See an article on the 1950s Belgian Congo revival.
Should we be Bible-based or Spirit-led?
If we hear that God is moving somewhere near us, we should ask: ‘What is the core focus?’

5. Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

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1. ‘Is the Devil Able to Miraculously Heal the Sick?’ by Don Stewart. Blue Letter Bible. ↩