Experience can be defined as our spirit being affected by the Spirit (or spirits) around us. These effects touch all of our senses. They are real and valid. For example, every day we are assaulted by the spirits around us. If we are filled with God’s Spirit, we encounter the Him moving in our life. But the real question that needs to be resolved is, “How do we know if our experiences are from God’s Spirit or from the spirits of this world?”
Since experience is the result of our spirit reacting to the spirits or the Spirit of God around us, it is imperative that we test our experiences by the word of God. All experience is not from God, it can come from evil spirits wrapped in a camouflage of light.
I have often heard from many good well-meaning Christians, “This was my experience. You cannot deny its validity.” My response, “True, but I can test your experience against the Word of God to determine what spirit is affecting your encounter.” We are commanded with great earnest from John to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Note: false prophets often come from among the body of Christ not outside of it. They know just enough of the truth to be dangerous to the flock of God. To know the difference between a true teacher of God and one who is false is to test their every word, experience, and teaching against the truth of God’s Word.
All experience is not to be embraced. James tells us clearly, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you” (James 4:7-8). A clear command is given: resist the experience that does not align itself with the Word of God! It doesn't matter if the experience is real. The devil works in the real, so he can deter us from the Lord. Those who embrace experiences for the sake of experience can dangerously walk into a spirit world that will destroy them in the end. Yes, like sin, the new phenomenon may give a sense of power, but that is how the devil works: power precedes ruin. Ruin is the prize a person seeking only experience wins.
This is why our worship must encompass the spirit and the truth. As Jesus said, “…true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23). It is also good to note, that just because we call ourselves Christians and just because we are filled with the Spirit of God does not mean we can’t be lured away from God by the evil spirits around us. The quickest way to be the devil’s prey is to dismiss the Word of God from our daily life and only embrace “feel good” experiences.
One of the ways I can tell if a brother or sister in Christ is testing their own experiences by the truth is when their experience is confronted by another believer. Their response says it all. If they respond with a humble grateful acceptance to the discussion, they have a heart that seeks the truth. If they haughtily defend their experience without proving it by the word of God – beware. You may very well have encountered one who is slipping into the realm of other spirits. Pray for them!
Now it is also important to take into consideration that testing the spirits by the truth is NOT testing experiences against our personal preferences- this would be judgment and slander against a brother or sister. There is only one Judge and Lawgiver James tells us – that is God, Himself. His Word is what we test all by not our own likes or dislikes.
Likewise, our worship is not to be sense (less) -without senses. “…true Spirit-led worship does not deny the five senses. We see other believers; we sing and hear the hymns; we taste and feel the elements of the Lord’s Supper. But these external things are but windows through which faith perceives the eternal” (Weirsbe). Our goal is to experience God in our life, not to experience experiences for the sake of encounters alone.
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