Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22).
As we obey these commands, it is important that we begin with a healthy attitude. We certainly do not want to be found working against God—“Do not quench the Holy Spirit.” And when we test anything of a religious nature, we should test it because of love. We are not trying merely to be critical. Our primary motivation should be love for God. Because we love God, we love His truth. We want to follow God instead of Satan, truth instead of error. Secondly, we love our fellows. Our friends and neighbors are either on the broad road leading to destruction or on the narrow road leading to life eternal (Matthew 7:13-14). We do not want anyone to suffer for lack of honest investigation of truth. It is our intention in this brief study to do what the Bible commands about testing, and to do it with a loving approach— bitter against none and helpful to all.
God gives His command to “test” in the context of respected prophecies (1 Thessalonians 5:20). Therefore, in this study, we consider modern prophets and the miracles—often faith healings— that support their claims. Some may feel that there is nothing to be investigated. They have experienced for themselves amazing powers and are convinced beyond question. They hold their favorite faith-healers in the highest regard. Some subjects, they think, are too sacred to be questioned or investigated. However, Scripture makes no such exceptions. It says, “Test everything.”
One reason for testing everything is given by John the apostle. He wrote,
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).