Mandate 11

He showed me people sitting on a couch and another man sitting on a chair, and he said to me, “Do you see those sitting on the couch?” “I see them, Sir,” I said. “These are faithful,” he said, “but the one sitting on the chair is a false prophet who destroys the understanding of the servants of God. He destroys the understanding of the double-minded, not of the faithful. These double-minded people therefore come to him as to a diviner and ask him what will happen to them. That false prophet, having no power of a divine Spirit within himself, speaks with them according to their questions and according to the desires of their wickedness, and he fills their souls just as they themselves want. For because he is empty, he gives empty answers to empty people; whatever he is asked, he answers according to the emptiness of the person. Yet he also speaks some true words, for the devil fills him with his own spirit in case he might be able to break down one of the righteous. Therefore those who are strong in the faith of the Lord and clothed with truth do not attach themselves to such spirits, but keep away from them. But those who are double-minded and repeatedly change their minds seek divination like the Gentiles and bring greater sin upon themselves by practicing idolatry. For whoever consults a false prophet about some undertaking is an idolater, empty of truth, and foolish. For every Spirit given by God is not consulted; rather, because it has the power of divinity, it speaks everything of itself, since it is from above, from the power of the divine Spirit. But the spirit that is consulted and speaks according to human desires is earthly and unstable and has no power. It does not speak at all unless it is consulted.” I said, “How then, Sir, will a person know which of them is a prophet and which is a false prophet?” “Listen,” he said, “about both kinds of prophets. In the way I am about to tell you, you will test the prophet and the false prophet. Test by his life the person who has the divine Spirit. First, the one who has the Spirit from above is gentle, peaceful, and humble-minded. He keeps away from every wickedness and vain desire of this age, considers himself lower than everyone, answers no one when he is consulted, and does not speak privately. Nor does the Holy Spirit speak whenever a person wants Him to speak; rather, the person speaks when God wants him to speak. Therefore, when the person who has the divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous people who have faith in the divine Spirit, and the gathering of those people makes intercession to God, then the angel of the prophetic spirit who is assigned to him fills the person; and the person, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude as the Lord wills. In this way the divine Spirit will be made manifest. Such, then, is the great power of the divine Spirit of the Lord. Now listen,” he said, “about the earthly and empty spirit, which has no power but is foolish. First, the person who appears to have a spirit exalts himself and wants the chief seat. He immediately becomes bold, shameless, talkative, occupied with many luxuries and many other deceits, and he receives payment for his prophecy; if he does not receive payment, he does not prophesy. Can a divine Spirit receive payment and prophesy? It is impossible for a prophet of God to do this. The spirit of prophets of this kind is earthly. Next, it does not come near an assembly of righteous people at all, but avoids them. It attaches itself to the double-minded and empty, prophesies to them in corners, and deceives them by speaking empty things according to all their desires, for those whom it answers are empty too. An empty vessel placed with empty vessels is not broken; instead, they agree with one another. But when such a person comes into an assembly full of righteous people who have a Spirit of divinity, and intercession is made by them, that person is emptied, and the earthly spirit flees from him in fear. The person is struck speechless and completely shattered, unable to say anything. For if you store wine or oil in a storeroom and place an empty jar among them, and later want to empty the storeroom, you will find that jar you placed there empty still empty. So too, when empty prophets come among the spirits of righteous people, they are found to be just as they were when they came. You now have the life of both kinds of prophets. Therefore test by his works and his life the person who says that he bears a spirit. Trust the Spirit that comes from God and has power, but put no trust at all in the earthly and empty spirit, because it has no power; it comes from the devil. Listen, then, to the parable I am about to tell you. Take a stone and throw it toward heaven; see whether you can reach it. Or take a siphon of water and spray it toward heaven; see whether you can pierce heaven.” I said, “How, Sir, can these things happen? Both things you have said are impossible.” “Just as these things are impossible,” he said, “so the earthly spirits are powerless and ineffective. Now consider the power that comes from above. A hailstone is a very small grain, yet when it falls on a person’s head, how much pain it causes! Or consider a drop of water that falls from the roof tile to the ground and bores through stone. You see, then, that the smallest things from above, when they fall on the earth, have great power. So also the divine Spirit that comes from above is powerful. Trust this Spirit, therefore, and keep away from the other.”