The Gifts Part 65
Discerning of Spirits continued...
The gift of discerning of spirits is a supernatural glimpse into the spiritual world which allows us to precisely identify the nature, the origin, and the intention of every spirit manifesting itself within the congregation of God.
Although the gift of discerning of spirits might not be as flashy or exciting to some as the gift of the working of miracles, or the gift of prophecy, it is nevertheless a powerful and necessary gift within the Body of Christ, for various reasons.
Granted, for those that have not had any experiences with the spiritual world, for those that as yet do not understand the great battle that is taking place all around us, for those that do not perceive that light and darkness are in a constant struggle for dominance of men’s hearts, the gift of discerning of spirits might not seem thrilling enough. For those however who know, and see and perceive that the spiritual is all around us, and that the spiritual world is as real as our tangible material world is, the true value and worth of the gift of discerning of spirits is readily known.
Since we’ve established what the gift of discerning of spirits is, it is only fitting that we spend a little time and discuss how this gift manifests itself, and the means it employs to determine that which is of God from that which isn’t, even though on the surface, and by employing human logic one would be hard pressed to differentiate and make the distinction.
There are of course ways and means for us to discern whether something is of God even before we get into the area of the gift of discerning of spirits, by employing the biblical acid tests that it prescribes, namely whether a spirit confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, and that Jesus is Lord.
1 John 4:1-3, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”
John not only tells us that we ought not to believe every spirit, but he also goes on to tell us why it is that we ought not to believe every spirit, but rather test the spirits. The reason that we ought to test the spirits and not automatically believe every spirit, even if it comes in power, even if it shows great signs and wonders, is because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Once again, it’s the word ‘many’ that we should be particularly aware of, because there is not a single word in the entire Bible that is out of place, or irrelevant. If the word ‘many’ was included within the context of this scripture passage, than we must give it the requisite attention and understand that those who would deceive, those who would attempt to turn the hearts of believers away from God, are not few in number, but rather many.
These false prophets are led by a spirit, which the Bible tells us is the spirit of the Antichrist, which is now already in the world.
Once again we see the paramount importance of Jesus in everything relating to the work of God, for if Jesus is not the foundation, if Jesus is not the purpose, if Jesus is not confessed and glorified, we can dismiss the work, the word, the sign or the wonder offhand as being of the enemy.
We know the Spirit of God, because the Spirit of God confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, we know the Spirit of God because the Spirit of God confesses that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can go to the Father but by Him.
The false prophets that have been laying siege to the congregation of God are not harmless, they are not inoffensive, theirs is not just another opinion that we must take into account and validate, for these men work under the influence of the spirit of the Antichrist, and their mission is the nullification and invalidation of Jesus as Lord and King of all.
The standard by which we must evaluate both individuals and ministries alike is not whether they are likable, or have a winning smile, are well dressed, or are eloquent in their presentations, the standard by which we must evaluate anyone that comes in the name of the Lord, is if they confess Christ Jesus as Lord, as the One who came in the flesh to redeem mankind from death and eternal judgment.
Rather than ask the all-important question of whether or not an individual is preaching the truth, or if they are glorifying the Christ, we’ve been distracted into asking a plethora of irrelevant and juvenile questions instead.
‘Are they soft spoken, do they make me laugh, do they dress well, do they possess a commanding presence?’
These are the questions being asked in lieu of whether or not someone is preaching the truth, these are the question being bandied about by grown men and women who ought to have attained a certain level of spiritual maturity by now.
We are no longer troubled or perturbed when spiritual leaders, and famous pastors call Jesus a liar to His face, we are no longer troubled or perturbed when they ‘disagree’ with their Lord and King on the most fundamental of issues, yet we’re still hopeful that things will turn around and that the church will awaken from its self-imposed spiritual slumber.
Until we have the strength of character to stand for truth, deception will continue to spread like the wildfire that it is.
1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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