Once upon a time, there lived a girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination. She appointed herself as the herald of two preachers. By that evil spirit, she told crowds that the preachers should be listened to because they are servants of the Most High God. However, one of the preachers got spiritually disturbed by this girl and cast out the spirit of divination.
In all affairs of life, we, the children of God, are supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit. The primary way the Spirit leads us is by the unction within our hearts where He resides. That unction, commonly referred to as the inner witness, is the inward sensation of the ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’ of something by which we know all things (1 John 2:20). The secondary ways by which the Holy Spirits leads us include prophecies, visions, and dreams (Acts 2:17), yet even these must be certified by the inner witness (and the written Word of God). I believe that it is by the inner witness that the preacher in the story above sensed that their self-appointed herald was possessed by the devil. This story is not made up, but found in Acts 16:16-18.
Seeing, then, how important the inner witness is, all effort must be made to develop it so we can easily pick up what the Spirit is communicating. The spirit man is developed by meditating on the Word, praising, and worshipping God. Summarily put, the more time you spend communing with God, the more developed your spirit man will be and the easier it will be to pick up the inner sensations.
Carnally speaking, we are unfortunate to live during this time when man has greatly advanced in the areas of advertisement, marketing and mass communication. We have become so conditioned to being led externally by what we see and hear. Yet as children of God, we are not to be led from the outside, but from the inside - by the Spirit of God within our hearts.
As we draw closer to the return of the Lord Jesus, deception is going to intensify. When asked about the signs of the last days, Jesus said, “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). That means that deception is characteristic of our generation. Paul, in agreement with Jesus, said, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). Later, Paul, by the Holy Spirit, found it crucial to repeat this warning when he wrote that in the last days, evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:1,13).
The only way we are going to survive being deceived is by listening to the unction within us.
Most people think that as long as someone is using the Bible and they are saying good things, then they are serving God. Not necessarily so! Jesus said, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). That means that deceivers too will actually preach that Jesus is the Lord. As we have seen in the earlier referenced story of Acts 16:16-18, we cannot say that someone is of Christ just because they are preaching Jesus.
We cannot even go by supernatural manifestations. Jesus said, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive” (Matthew 24:24).
People, our only security against deception in these last days is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If we depend on what we see and hear, we are in great trouble. Therefore, let us do all we can to develop the inner man, to easily pick its leadings. After you have received uncomfortable sensations, do not take them lightly; go to God and ask Him what exactly He is trying to communicate.
God bless you.