Discerning of Spirits - A Spiritual Gift
Discerning of Spirits - A Spiritual Gift
Discerning of Spirits - A Spiritual Gift
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of-wisdom-becca-haney.html
Chapter Six
of
God's Detective
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21856546/God-s-
Detective
Chapter Six:
Discerning of Spirits: A Spiritual Gift
You will notice in the above verse that testing of spirits was
connected with identifying false prophets. That is what I am doing in
this book. All God's gifts are good to have and are not burdensome or
oppressive. They do not disconnect people from reality but have the
opposite effect. The gift of discerning spirits is a work of the Holy
Spirit and it is an amazing and wonderful gift to have. Here is an
example of a deluded person's behaviour, one who claimed to have the
gift of discerning spirits.
I sat down to lunch with a Christian friend and their guest. The guest
who I will call Nelson was supposed to have been baptised in the
Spirit and could see demons. He informed us that there were demons
in the room. Nelson then opened a window so they could leave and
commanded them to go in Jesus' Name. However, he noticed one
was still hiding under the salad bowl so he picked up the bowl and
shouted at the demon to leave....
As ridiculous as his behaviour may seem it was quite orthodox for his
‘Jesus Only’ church – a Pentecostal sub group. Everything he did was
related to their teaching. For example he needed to open the window
as they regarded demons as somehow bound by physical obstacles. He
needed to shout as they believed demons could not hear thoughts and
had to know also you meant what you said. Also shouting was seen as
spiritual authority as when men are convicted of something deeply
they often raise their voices... It was however, pure lunacy. I do not
use that word as an insult. This kind of religion does drive some
people mad and gives others mental problems.
Remember then Jonathan, this very simple fact that among those who
are full of hot wind and false, sensational claims there is a sense of
unreality and fantasy but among those close to Christ there is a
deepened sense of reality. Above everything spiritual reality is needed
in the real fight against Satan’s kingdom.
Discerning of hearts
Had it occurred to you that each human has their human spirit - their
inner self? It is obvious to those with the gift that human hearts can be
discerned. This happens in two ways. The gifted may discern the
leanings, inclinations and basic character of a person or they may
literally sense and discern their spirit. The latter only happens with
those advanced in the gift...
When I meet people, and if I take the trouble to think of them, I feel
and know what they are really about. Wherever I have had the
opportunity to confirm what I have sensed I have had 100% accuracy.
Sometimes this gift is very revealing but the Holy Spirit assures the
privacy of those we perceive spiritually. Today I literally used this gift.
I met a new teacher at my child's school. On the surface she was
friendly and warm but I remember some horrible teachers I had that
were friendly and warm to my parents. After sensing her heart
however, I knew that God had given her a gentle heart and she would
present no problem to my child in the future. Also there was an
element of sensing the future... (Update: Since then that teacher has
moved on and she was no problem but had remained a positive
influence for her whole time at the school.)
Discerning demons
Finally we get to it! Yes of course this gift is designed by God as a
great weapon against demons. By the exercise of this gift you become
strong. It must be so or how will you grow? It is about standing firm
on Scriptural principals. Discerning demons sometimes means seeing
demons. It can be scary. We learn to fear God and not to be
intimidated by Satan. It is metaphorically, like a bloody battlefield
strewn with corpses of good men. In the midst you stand, scarred,
sometimes weary, but ever vigilant and ever mighty in the Name,
Amen.
Demons in Christians
Christian counsellors sometimes need to counsel Christians regarding
demons that are oppressing them or to some extent controlling
(possessing) them. You will see a lot of this fight to free captives from
demons, often 'religious demons' such as false tongue speaking
demons- in missionaries, counsellors and others who see the reality of
the spiritual warfare around us. However, Christians need to pick
their counsellors wisely.
Spirit of Christ versus Antichrist
I am not advocating what I observe but reporting it. In terms of the
struggle of emerging Christians from churches, like butterflies
emerging from their cocoons, there is a movement of Christians away
from churches and from the spirit of Antichrist. Hopefully this will
lead to a latter gathering together of saints... It is not necessary or even
advisable for believers to leave their churches if their churches seek the
Lord to be revived, reformed and remade in His Image... In the
meantime you will probably see in coming years fragmentation,
disintegration and union of churches. Much of this will be a sifting
work of God and some judgement, but also the devil will be
gathering his disciples who go by the name 'Christian' in preparation
for building his own peculiar brand of religion for the Antichrist
himself. God of course wants one Church united in Biblical truth and
filled with His Spirit.
WARNING
If you have felt oppressed or frightened in what you have read so far
do not read any further in this chapter. Also pray before reading and
leave off reading if it is too much for you. Not everyone is given
grace to deal with such things as I am about to reveal.
On the outside the spiritual realm seems mystifying and weird but in truth
it is well designed and planned; full of stratagems and orders of powers
and legions of demons under the control of higher spirits; that are
themselves under the power of fallen angels whose chief is Lucifer that
once was - Satan.
Spies are one of the most common forms of demons and therefore one
of the most common appearances of demons is in the shape of
animals and insects.
Demons as evil looking people: It is often the case that demons appear
as men and women with gruesome and malevolent features. These kinds
of demons are those that have possessed humans. It is normally these
kinds of demons that are cast out of the possessed. Such demons also
work as spirit guides to occultists of various hues and they operate in the
guise of the Holy Spirit to deceived 'believers' in cultic groups.
In regards to the above two types of demons you will notice that in the
story of the demon possessed man and the Gergesene swine the demons
left the man to go into the swine… [Matthew 8:28-34]
Sometimes ghosts are really such demons but not always. Ghost
phenomena can relate to other things I will not go into here.
Monster demons: These are those that take the appearance of fearsome,
half human creatures. They may have fangs, long claws, scaly skin etc.
Their purpose is to appear as frightening as possible to intimidate those
who see them. Often the real appearance of the evil spirit is not the one
they reveal to the viewer. The more powerful demons can change shape
and appear as one thing or another as it suits their schemes. Intimidation
is a principal they use against the servant of God to frighten them away
from spiritual warfare.
To go further into this subject I would need to talk about fallen angels but
it is not suitable for such a book as this. Few of you will ever come up
against a fallen angel. Yet, if you do:
“...He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” [1 John 4:4]
The reality is that although there is a lot of nonsense written and put out
by publishing houses to make money – and sensationalism sells- and it is
also true that those in genuine deliverance ministry often are dealing with
things that aren’t that dramatic: Yet there exists for some a revelation of
evil that goes beyond anything any one could possibly imagine and no
Hollywood movie with machine gun toting angels out to save the world
could compare to. The depths of spiritual things – both good and evil and
the powers with them are beyond human imagination. Any true ‘spiritual
warrior’ has therefore had their mind stretched and their eyes opened to
what the world cannot possibly conceive.
The worst kind of demons: Demons are lesser spirits but they vary in
degrees of power and intelligence. The worst are those that influence you
without you knowing it. It is the awful fate of the human race. If you have
ever sinned you have been deceived. What I am going to tell you is one of
the secrets of the spiritual realm and this will be particularly hard to
accept by persons who see themselves as spiritual warriors: Satan often
uses seasons of demonic oppression to hide his real workings. They are
merely a distraction. The believer goes through a tremendous battle and
gets the victory. They are pleased and grow stronger. All the while Satan
had been secretly planting something elsewhere in your life without any
sign of his working.
If you are discerning this tactic would have been used against you. You
have been deceived by this distraction, of spiritual warfare and victory,
which you could hardly ignore- which allowed Satan to work in secret on
something else. Ruses, diversions, distractions are standard in human
games, martial arts and warfare: While general A fights and wins a great
battle on the plain his enemy general Z has secretly sacked his castle! It is
always best in dealing with demons to assume you don't know what is
going on, even if you are enlightened, and to pray in principal this:
“Father, in Jesus Name, deliver me from the unseen realm, the unknown
stratagems of evil and from the seeds of evil that will bear fruit in years to
come if You do not root them out today!...” - Something along those
lines. You need this information and this idea.
Here is a more comforting secret of the spiritual realm: God does His
greatest works in silence. Deep within you, unseen, unfelt and not
guessed, you have seeds of grace that will bear fruit in their season if you
will persevere, Amen.
I implied that demons will make the spiritual warrior appear foolish,
insane or proud to observers.
Christians of strong faith are like the Ark of the Covenant: They are a
great blessing to people of faith and can be a great terror to those who are
opposed to God. The world’s Dagons will fall but blessings abide upon
the dwellings of the righteous.
Satan
I said I would not go into talk of fallen angels but I can hardly teach upon
this subject without speaking of their chief. Satan rarely bothers
Christians directly - and this will be the opposite of everything you have
ever heard. He uses lesser demons. He will take a look at the stronger
Christians and appoint far more demons to attack them. Therefore if you
know for certain that Satan has taken an interest in you then you must
have given him cause to. Like Napoleon Satan is a skilled general and
strategist and not easily defeated. He is usually busy with the great ones
on earth and only if you defeat some powerful evil spirits will Satan
personally take an interest in you. If he does most of the books you have
read will be of little use to you but the Bible will come alive in ways you
never imagined.
If you have received the gift of discernment of spirits it will take time
for it to develop but even so the veil of the spiritual realm will quickly be
torn away. You will either stand or fall. I you fall GET UP AGAIN, and
again and again. The time will surely come when you will see Satan
tremble at your feet.
Satan’s army
This is just an introductory chapter to the subject so it is neither
comprehensive nor thorough. One more thing I should mention is that
Satan organises his servants as a great army. Just as in any army you will
have sappers, sharpshooters, pilots, gunnies, technicians in
communications etc. and of course the all important propagandists, so it
is similar with the powers of darkness.
Strategies
In any army you have long term strategies for conquering territory so it is
with Satan’s army. Among strategies in recent history are these: To keep
the Middle East in a constant state of instability. This is a first move at
aiming at a Third World War. (I am certainly not saying he will be
successful.) Another stratagem is to prepare the world for a pseudo
scientific belief in God since evolutionary theory has been falling from
within. A ‘scientific’, impersonal god is useful to Satan. A third stratagem
is the keep the Church divided. There are literally thousands of
denominations and as long as Christians are proud of this instead of being
ashamed of it- it is a great travesty – the enemy will continue to conquer.
Only a united Church of Biblical truth can defeat Satan.
None of these views came from reading others’ opinions. All are my own
personal views formed by my relationship with God in the context of the
gift of the discernment of spirits.