The Gift of Discernment

Scriptures: 1Corinthians 12 v 10: "To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:"

Hebrews 5 v 14: "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Human beings are tri-partite beings, we are spirits.  Our spirit is clothed in a soul, made up of will, mind and emotions.  The package is completed by a fleshly body.  When you realize the agenda of the unseen enemy, Satan, to kill, maim and destroy God's creation, it soon becomes realistic to believe that spirits affect our lives.

God is a Spirit and we are made in His image and likeness.  The creator of everything we see is Jesus Christ.  
Colossians 1 v 13 - 16: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 
 14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
 15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
 16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"

He also created all invisible things so we cannot see His full Heavenly glory while we only see with our eyes.  If we are blessed with the gift of discerning of spirits, our eyes, ears, tongue, nose, skin can be used in a spiritually enhanced way.  We can more easily perceive the glory of God.

Satan and his demons are spirit beings without souls and bodies. They need a body of a human or animal to express their nature and confuse and hurt mankind.  These evil spirits conspire to create 'set ups'  with an agenda that will destroy our reputation, character and life.  They are known as disembodied spirits.

Before we are born again we have absolutely no clue as to why we are accident prone, inherit diseases, take drugs, fight, argue, gossip, hate, are gay, commit sex crimes, are racists, commit murder, commit suicide, go insane, have dementia, or Alzheimer's, are manic depressive or bipolar, rape, or any other criminal or bizarre behaviour.  Even after we are born again it takes a while to comprehend unless we have good teaching.

Jesus said that we must be born again before we can perceive the kingdom of God.  That is Heaven, a spiritual place which we call home.  Home is where we originated, a place we know and long for.  Our God sent His Son to die in our place to ensure we could get home to Him.  So what prevents us and turns us into people who need to be saved?

In Genesis the devil manifested through the serpent to bring sin into the world.   First Eve ate the forbidden fruit then gave it to Adam, and whatever that fruit contained, and we can be sure it was the complete opposite of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it caused the whole human race to fall so far from God's standards and perfection into a species He would willingly destroy in a flood about 1000 years later.

The first child born, Cain, became the first murderer as the spirit of murder oppressed him and he slew his brother Abel.  He was jealous because God favoured the offering from Abel over his.  Jealousy is also a demon - it destroys lives in its manic manifestations.  

How many relationships, friendships, marriages, businesses, even churches have been destroyed by jealous behaviour?  How many jealous rages have led to murder?  How many have said after the fact - I blanked out, I don't know how the weapon got into my hand, I never intended to kill her!  It is known that when a demon uses you to kill, maim or destroy it withdraws and leaves the perpetrator with the smoking gun or blood on his hands, to face the music.

Cain's face changed into something hateful as jealousy and murder worked together causing him to kill his brother.  The clue in discerning of spirits starts with a sudden change in the facial expression and especially the eyes.  The pupils change suddenly.  They can either go large or become pinpoints.  The look in the eyes becomes savage, those who survive will say the perpetrator suddenly went from nice guy to monster, the way he looked at me scared me.  That is the moment the demon manifested and caused the person to behave violently.

To those who are involved in deliverance they will know that the Holy Spirit causes any demon in the person they are praying for to 'show itself'.  The correct word is manifest.  Through experience when it is manifesting one discerns its nature and it can be dealt with.  Demons never go solo, there is always a group of them and we need the gift of discerning of spirits to deal with them properly.

I am not making excuses for perpetrators here because they opened themselves up to demons oppressing or possessing them.  An oppressed person who murders someone is usually a once off event.  A possessed person would be a serial killer like Manson or Dahmer.  Doors for such demons to gain entry is through violent video games played obsessively, violent tv games, some music - black metal, rap, rap-battles, violent religions, gangsters, being molested, unreliable as loved anger issues, self harm.

In Exodus an evil spirit possessed Pharoah to kill all male babies to try to prevent God's Deliverer, Moses, from surviving to lead the Hebrew slaves to Israel. That backfired on Pharoah.  It eventually cost the lives of every first born of man and animals throughout Egypt.  Only the Hebrews were safe because they were covered by the blood of lambs painted the doors of their houses.  This was called the Passover, when the Angel of death passed over those houses and killed even Pharoah's son.  That's when he broke and let them go.

In the Book of Samuel, Saul was possessed with an evil spirit that wanted to kill David before he could become king. David would play on his harp to calm Saul and the spirit would depart from him.  Saul pursued David for years and it eventually cost him his life and his sons lives all on one day, which gave David the Throne of Israel.  You cannot outwit God!  He has plans for us that demons attempt to stop.  They play into His hands until He turns the tables on them.  That is why we need to pray always in line with the will of God to set the captives free.

In the Gospels, Jesus prayed daily for those with evil spirits to be set free of lunacy, fever, epilepsy, deaf and dumb spirits, blind spirits etc. Seventy percent of His ministry was spent in healing and deliverance from evil spirits. He anointed His disciples to cast out spirits and heal the sick.  They had power over evil spirits and so do we.  We must obey the Lord and learn to fight spiritual battles for our family and our children.

Why do our children rebel and cause us pain?  Why do they join gangs and misbehave or become involved with criminal activity?  It is because we did not discipline them properly when they were young, and teach them the true ways of God.  They are indulged, pampered and spoilt, and that word spoilt means exactly that.  They have no boundaries and so have no respect for other people or their property.  The feel entitled and that stealing is not a crime in their eyes.  These are other doors through which demons get hold of our offspring.

In Mark 5 Jesus discerned that the Gadarene lunatic was possessed with a demon called  Legion. A Roman Legion consists of 6000 men. This demon was a ruling spirit with 6000 demons under his control. Jesus had a conversation with Legion the demon who said they did not want to leave that place. Jesus sent them into a herd of pigs who jumped into the sea. The Gadarene man was instantly free and in his right mind.  Whereas he was before it left him suicidal and self-harming, now he was clothed and sane again.  It was an instantaneous change from total demon possession to perfectly normal.  This is the wonderful victory of deliverance done correctly.  Jesus is glorified!

In Acts 19 v 19 the sons of Sceva, an exorcist, tried to cast a demon out of a possessed man. The demon knew Jesus, and Paul but said to these 7 Who are you? And he leapt on them and they ran naked and wounded out of the house. So you need to believe in Jesus and have the gift of the Holy Spirit to help people get free.

When you properly discern spirits you can sometimes smell a horrible odour where there is no source for it; sometimes you hear a demon speaking through someone in a strange voice; sometimes you get a strange metallic taste in your mouth, or you actually see a demon in someone's eyes.

If you have visited a psychic or fortuneteller an evil spirit will be sent to put her predictions into being. It will turn sceptics into believers. You would need to be loosed from her words which bring bondage and fear. Acts 16 v 16.

Serial offenders of various awful crimes are controlled by demons. People who are involved in witchcraft and satanism open themselves up to demonic control and get involved in evil practices forbidden in the Bible.  Children experiment with witchcraft at school and these spirits cause havoc.  They succeeded in driving Christian prayer out of schools, however they still learn how to cast spells in junior school.  Rebellious behaviour is related to witchcraft.
1 Samuel 15 v 23: "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

False prophets and teachers deceive those who are seeking to know Jesus with false revelations which the Lord says in Deuteronomy 13 will cause them to be put to death. The numbers of people being led astray is increasing and our only hope of surviving is to stay as close to Jesus as possible.

Be in tune with the Holy Spirit and know your Bible thoroughly to be able to spot false doctrines and teaching. False experiences are based on lies which will cause those relating them to be rejected on the Day of Judgment.

Trust Jesus to answer when you ask about falseness in the Church. He is the way the truth and the life. Use the gift of discernment wisely and be a blessed tool in the Hand of Jesus.

Prayer: Father God please raise up helpers in the Body of Christ filled with the Holy Spirit and able to discern spirits of good and evil. Spirits of good are discerned in the hearts of believers. Spirits of evil are in the perverse and ungodly people. Raise up the workers in Jesus' name. Amen.