What We Know About Discerning Between
Good and Bad Spirits
Some angels are on God's errand; some are from the realm of Satan
himself. “Believe not every spirit,” John counseled, “but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the
world” (1 John 4:1). The problem that most men have is to discern the spirits
so that they may know what is of God and what is not.
Try the spirits. But how? By what test can it be known whether
they are of God or the devil? If a messenger appears from the unseen world, how
can one know if it is a good spirit or an evil spirit? When there are trances,
tongues, visions, or apparent miracles, are they from above or below? When a
doctrine is proclaimed or a religion preached, how shall we know whether it is
true or false?
To some extent, everyone is given a gift of the spirit of
discernment. This ability is conferred upon people generally by operations of
the Light of Christ (see Moroni 7:12–18). In addition to this universal gift,
faithful Saints receive special discerning power through revelation from the
Holy Ghost (see D&C 63:41).
The Apostle Paul gives instruction concerning spiritual gifts. He
specifically lists the “discerning of spirits” as a gift of the Spirit (see 1
Corinthians 12:10). Modern revelation says, “to some is given, by the Spirit of
God . . . the discerning of spirits” (D&C 46:17, 23). The only sure way to
distinguish between good and evil (Moroni 7:12–18), between righteousness and
wickedness (D&C 101:95; Malachi 3:18; 3 Nephi 24:18), or between evil
spirits and those spirits that manifest the things of God is by the promptings
of the Holy Ghost. There is no perfect operation of the power of discernment
without revelation from God. That is why the righteous are given the gift of
the Holy Ghost (see Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 61).
We might well look to the Prophet Joseph Smith as an example
without peer in the matter of manifestations and angels. “We may look for
angels and receive their ministrations,” he said, “but we are to try the
spirits and prove them, for it is often the case that men make a mistake in
regard to these things. . . . When you see a vision, pray for the
interpretation; if you get not this, shut it up; there must be certainty in
this matter. . . . Lying spirits are going forth in the earth. There will be
great manifestations of spirits, both false and true” (TPJS, 161).
He gives us the key to the whole matter: “The devil may appear as an angel of
light. Ask God to reveal it . . . if it be of . . .God, He
will . . . make it manifest” (ibid., 162). The following is abstracted from one
of the Prophet's lengthy statements on the subject.
“Try the spirits,” but what by? . . .
One great evil is, that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits;
their power, laws, government, intelligence, etc., and imagine that when there
is anything like power, revelation, or vision manifested, that it must be of
God. . . . Is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of heaven
withdrawn, or the purposes of God developed? . . .
Every one of these professes to be competent to try his neighbor's
spirit, but no one can try his own, and what is the reason? Because they have
not a key to unlock, no rule where-with to measure, and no criterion whereby
they can test it. . . . We answer that no man can do this without the
Priesthood, and having a knowledge of the laws by which spirits are governed;
for as no man knows the spirit of the devil, and his power and influence, but
by possessing intelligence which is more than human, and having unfolded
through the medium of the Priesthood the mysterious operations of his devices;
. . .
A man must have the discerning of spirits before he can drag into
daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul-destroying,
diabolical, and horrid colors; for nothing is a greater injury to the children
of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they
have the Spirit of God. Thousands have felt the influence of its terrible power
and baneful effects. Long pilgrimages have been undertaken, penances endured,
and pain, misery and ruin have followed in their train; nations have been
convulsed, kingdoms overthrown, provinces laid waste, and blood, carnage and
desolation are habiliments in which it has been clothed.
As we have noticed before, the great difficulty lies in the
ignorance of the nature of spirits, of the laws by which they are governed, and
the signs by which they may be known; if it requires the Spirit of God to know
the things of God; and the spirit of the devil can only be unmasked through
that medium, then it follows as a natural consequence that unless some person
or persons have a communication, or revelation from God, unfolding to them the
operation of the spirit, they must eternally remain ignorant of these
principles; for I contend that if one man cannot understand these things but by
the Spirit of God, ten thousand men cannot; it is alike out of the reach of the
wisdom of the learned, the tongue of the eloquent, the power of the mighty (TPJS, 203–206).
There are two spirits abroad in the earth. One is of God; the
other is of the devil. The spirit that is of God leads to light, truth,
freedom, and every good thing. The spirit that is of Lucifer leads to darkness,
error, bondage, and every evil thing. They are at enmity one with another, with
conflict between them. The “power” of one is the “spirit” “that now worketh in
the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The other is “revealed” by the
Spirit of God. And no man knoweth “the things of God” but by “the Spirit of
God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).
