Commandment Eleventh. The Spirit and Prophets to Be Tried by Their Works; Also of the Two Kinds of Spirit. He pointed out to me some men sitting on a seat, and one man sitting on a chair. And he says to me, “Do you see the persons sitting on the seat?” “I do, sir,” said I. “These,” says he, “are the faithful, and he who sits on the chair is a false prophet, ruining the minds of the servants of God.219 It is the doubters, not the faithful, that he ruins. These doubters then go to him as to a soothsayer, and inquire of him what will happen to them; and he, the false prophet, not having the power of a Divine Spirit in him, answers them according to their inquiries, and according to their wicked desires, and fills their souls with expectations, ac- cording to their own wishes. For being himself empty, he gives empty answers to empty inquirers; for every answer is made to the emptiness of man. Some true words he does occa- sionally utter; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, in the hope that he may be able to overcome some of the righteous. As many, then, as are strong in the faith of the Lord, and are clothed with truth, have no connection with such spirits, but keep away from them; but as many as are of doubtful minds and frequently repent, betake themselves to soothsaying, even as the heathen, and bring greater sin upon themselves by their idolatry. For he who inquires of a false prophet in regard to any action is an idolater, and devoid of the truth, and foolish. For no spirit given by God requires to be asked; but such a spirit having the power of Divinity speaks all things of itself, for it proceeds from above from the power of the Divine Spirit. But the spirit which is asked and speaks according to the desires of men is earthly,220 light, and powerless, and it is altogether silent if it is not questioned.” “How then, sir,” say I, “will a man know which of them is the prophet, and which the false prophet?” “I will tell you,” says he, “about both the prophets, and then you can try the true and the false prophet according to my directions. Try the man who has the Divine Spirit by his life. First, he who has the Divine Spirit proceeding from above is meek, and peaceable, and humble, and refrains from all iniquity and the vain desire of this world, and contents himself with fewer wants than those of other men, and when asked he makes no reply; nor does he speak privately, nor when man wishes the spirit to speak does the Holy Spirit speak, but it speaks only when God wishes it to speak. When, then, a man having the Divine Spirit 219 Is … God. He who sits in the chair is a terrestrial spirit.—Vat. And then follows the dislocation of sentences noticed above. 220 The spirit of all men is earthly, etc. This passage, down to “it is not possible that the prophet of God should do this,” is found in the Vat. and other mss. of the common translation, with the exception of the Lambeth, in Command Twelfth. [Consult Wake upon omissions and transpositions in this and the former Commandment. And note, especially, his valuable caution against confounding what is here said, so confusedly, of the Spirit in man, and of the Spirit of God in his essence (1 Cor. ii. 11, 12). Commandment Eleventh. The Spirit and Prophets to Be Tried by Their Works; Also of the Two Kinds of Spirit. 54 Commandment Eleventh. The Spirit and Prophets to Be Tried by Their Works;…