The
Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New
Course: The Gifts of the Spirit
Lesson
8
Lesson Title: Discerning of spirits
Lesson
Text ‘to another discerning of spirits;’ 1
Corinthians 12:7-11
Introduction: What is the gift of the Discerning of spirits?
Discerning
– Greek ‘diakrisis’ which means ‘to distinguish
between’.
It is
the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to clearly distinguish spirits.
There
is no gift called ‘the deliverance from evil spirits’.
Authority
has been given to believers to cast out devils in the name of Jesus.
Discerning
of spirits is sometimes necessary to know what spirit is influencing or
controlling an individual.
Satan
works in the dark.
It is
difficult for the powers of darkness to work evil when the works come to light.
An evil
spirit seeks anonymity to work evil without hindrance.
Evil
spirits are like insects that always seek to hide in the dark.
When
they are brought to light they seek the darkness.
If the
devil comes as an angel of light he is hiding his true identity.
Once an
evil spirit is recognised it will run for the darkness.
The
word spirits is the Greek word ‘pneuma’ which
literally means ‘wind or breath’.
This word
is used in reference to the Holy Spirit, the spirit or inner life of a person,
an evil spirit, or an angelic being.
Discerning
of spirits is the gift of the Holy Spirit that will reveal the nature of a
spirit.
In regard
to the Holy Spirit there should be no need for a special gift to recognise Him.
The gift
is necessary to recognise evil spirits and sometimes to recognise the presence
of angels who are sent as ministering spirits.
Angels
are sent to help believers especially during times of difficulty or to help
believers fulfil a particular task.
The
gift of discerning of spirits is given so that we will know what is happening
in the unseen spirit realm.
An insight into this world is given in Ezekiel
8:7-12.
Ezekiel
chapter 8:7-12
Ezekiel was shown a secret place not far from the
He went into this secret place and saw ‘wicked
abominations’.
It was a habitation of devils.
In this place he saw 70 elders worshipping the
idols on the wall.
It was not the young men but the old men who were there.
The Lord said to Ezekiel this is what the elders
are doing in the imagination of their minds.
These idols are described in Galatians 5 under the
works of the flesh: immorality; occultism; hatred and murder; revelling.
The old men were not doing this openly they were
doing it in the secret place of their minds.
Nobody could see it.
But through the imagination they were dwelling in
this evil secret place.
Testimony: The danger of relaxing the guard on our
thoughts.
It can be relaxing to let down the guard on our
mind and enjoy the pleasure of sinful thoughts.
Preachers and Christian leaders have fallen into
sin because they went into the devil’s secret place in the imagination of their
mind.
Thoughts that begin with immorality can then be led
by a wrong spirit into deeper areas of sin and into the ream of occultism.
It is therefore essential for believers who have
entered into this secret place of the devil to run from it.
The devil always works in the dark, he hates the
light.
If a Christian has become entangled in the sins of
the imagination – pornography etc. then he must first repent which means
‘change our thinking’ then ‘turn away from it’ and finally confess it which
means do not hide the sin but openly talk to other believers about it.
A good way to do it is to talk to someone about
Ezekiel 8:7-12 and express your personal problem.
When you
1) resist
the temptation to sin in your mind and
2) resist
the devil by not hiding your sin but
3)
confessing it as you
4)
fellowship with other believers
then the devil will flee from you in the same way
that an insect that is revealed hiding under a rock will flee to the darkness.
There is freedom in confession but this is not
secret confession that works in the dark, but where we confess to one
another.
Confession in the light of Christian fellowship.
Main
Points
1. The Gift of Discerning of Spirits in
scripture
In the Old Testament
Elisha and his servant
2 Kings 6:17, ‘And Elisha
prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the
LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.’
Discerning of angelic beings - Elisha
prayed ‘open his eyes’ and he saw a host of angels surrounding the Syrian army.
The eyes of the servant were opened so that he saw
the unseen spirit realm.
In this instance the gift enabled the young man to
see angels.
In the Gospels
Woman
with a spirit of infirmity
Luke 13:10-13, ‘And he was teaching in one of the
synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of
infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up
herself. And when Jesus saw her, he
called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, you art loosed from your
infirmity. And he laid his hands on her:
and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.’
Sickness is sometimes caused by a spirit of
infirmity.
Discerning of spirits enables the believer to
recognise a spirit of affliction.
Jesus loosed the woman from the spirit of infirmity
and immediately she could straighten her back.
This was deliverance and the effect was immediate.
The
Boy with a deaf and dumb spirit, Mark 9:16-27.
A father brought his son to Jesus.
The boy could not speak (Mark
The father knew the boy had an evil spirit (Mark
Jesus called the spirit a ‘deaf and dumb spirit’,
so obviously the boy could not hear either (Mark
The spirit caused the boy to ‘foam at the mouth;
gnash with his teeth; and to pine which literally means to be like a withered
branch’ (Mark
The boy was suicidal because the spirit often
caused him to throw himself into a fire to be burnt, or into water to drown
(Mark
The boy had become like this when he was a child.
The disciples were unable to deliver the boy.
The disciples at this time had a delegated
authority but Jesus was the ‘anointed One’.
Jesus told the disciples this kind comes not out
but by prayer and fasting.
Fasting is an aid to prayer.
Deliverance comes through the anointing and prayer.
From the time the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in
Acts 2 the disciples carried the same anointing as Jesus and were able to do
the same works.
2. Testimonies concerning the operation of the
gift.
Missions: Pastor Hsi
Pastor Hsi was a Chinese Pastor in the 19th century.
On one occasion he prayed for a woman with an evil spirit.
The woman was set free but the evil spirit followed Hsi to a man who had been dying but was recovering.
Hsi had, without thinking, given the spirit permission to follow him.
Within a short time after Hsi came into the presence of the sick man, he died.
Can a Christian come under the
influence of an evil spirit?
Christians are
mortal. We have weaknesses. This is why we must put on the whole armour
of God to stand against the schemes of the devil.
We must be very
careful what we do with our bodies and with our minds.
Paul wrote ‘don’t
you know that your bodies are the
Women can become
seriously ill because of the desire to be slim – anorexia is a physical illness
that is linked to a deceptive evil spirit.
Christians must
avoid these things the same as anyone else.
Christians can
come under the influence of an evil spirit when wrong emotions and desires have
been maximised, and these take control of the will.
This can happen by
misusing or not taking care of our bodies.
In these cases
‘discerning of spirits’ works with ‘a Word of Knowledge’ to reveal the reason
the person came under the influence of an evil spirit.
Drug addiction is
physical and mental. It is hard to
overcome any addiction but physical addiction is easier to overcome than mental
addiction.
The mental
addiction is Satan’s stronghold, ‘the realm of suggestion’.
If a Christian
experiments with drugs he or she is in danger of coming under the influence of
an evil spirit.
Discerning
angelic helpers:
Personal
Testimony: As a very young Christian I went to speak
with a lady who was dying of cancer.
I had
gone before but I was a young Christian and left without leading her to
Christ.
I felt so
bad because I had not told her about salvation.
But this
time when I left home to visit her I discerned the presence of an angelic
being. There was an angel sent to help
me, and I knew I would not fail this time.
The
lady’s name was Babs and we had worked at the same
office together. She was only about 50 years
of age but when I saw her lying in the bed she was thin, and looked like a very
old woman
Her
daughter was there and I shared my testimony with her and her daughter.
Everything
went well that evening and I was able to lead the dying lady to the Lord.
After I
prayed for her to receive Jesus as her Lord and Saviour she held my hand and
said that her doctor could not understand why it was she had lived so long, but
she said to me ‘now I know’.
Soon
after this Babs went to be with the Lord.
3. Why is this gift necessary today?
The gift is needed today for the same reason as there are people who need deliverance just as they did in Jesus’ day.
The devil still seeks ‘to kill; to steal;
and to destroy’ (John
There
are spirits of infirmity that afflict people.
The gift of discerning of spirits will enable the believer to see that the person is afflicted not because of a sickness but because of a ‘spirit of infirmity’. A person who is sick needs ‘gifts of healings’ but a person who has a spirit of infirmity needs deliverance.
The effect will be astounding because the person will be instantaneous set free.
It will appear as though a miracle has taken place but it is not the ‘workings of miracles’ but deliverance from a ‘spirit of infirmity’.
There
are spirits that cause depression and suicidal practices.
Young people who cut themselves deliberately need
deliverance.
Depression is a modern day epidemic.
When depression is caused by a physical defect the
person needs ‘gifts of healings’ or ‘workings of miracles’.
But when there is no physical defect then the gift
of ‘discerning of spirits’ will reveal the nature of the depression.
Even in the Church, depression is a major problem.
Christians should not accept this because it is the
destructive working of Satan.
Discerning
of spirits will help believers in spiritual warfare.
Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his servants eyes. (2 Kings 6:17). When the Lord opened his eyes then his fear of the enemy was removed.
When our eyes are opened to the spirit realm we will see that one with God is truly a majority.
Hebrews 13:6, ‘So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.’
Note: When a man or a woman is delivered from an unclean spirit then it is essential for that person to be on fire for the Lord. (Matthew 12:43-45).
The unclean spirit can return with others – making the person’s condition even worse than before.
The person needs to walk in the Spirit
(Galatians
Summary: The gift of
discerning of spirits is given so that we will know what is happening in the unseen
spirit realm.
1) It is necessary in order to bring deliverance to those who are bound.
2) It provides awareness of angelic beings that are sent to help us.
3) It provides awareness of evil spirits that seek to bring sickness, depression and suicidal tendencies.
4) It empowers believers in spiritual warfare.
Entry
from the Journal of John Wesley - Deliverance Ministry