What Spirit is that? (1 Cor 12:10)
- Why do we need this gift? 2 Cor 11:14; 1 John 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:1; Matt 13:25
- We can see that the enemy likes to work in secret and in hidden ways
- So, we need to be able to distinguish what the enemy is doing.
- The Greek word here for “discerning” is diakrisis which means: discern, distinguishing, passing judgment.
- The root of this word comes from the verb krino which means to judge.
- The word translated as “spirit” is the Greek word pneuma, which simply means spirit.
- Is where we get the English word Pneumatic or pneumonia.
- What is important to note here is that the word Pneuma in Greek is plural.
- So, there is more than one spirit being judged here.
- As part of discerning this is also sometimes the ability to tell when someone is lying.
- Acts 5:3 may be a good example
- This gift often works very closely with other gifts, especially prophecy or words of knowledge.
- Whether it was from God or not. (See 1 Cor 14:32; 1Thes 5:20)
Nest question: What does this look like in Scripture?
- Our best example is probably: Acts 16:16-18.
- Paul was able to discern or distinguish spirits so he could tell that this was not from God.
- In fact, she had an evil spirit that came out of her at his command.
- Another example: Acts 13:8-12
- This one is less definitive but Paul again seems to be able to see more than just the physical realm.
- This gift also allows us to see the positive of what God is doing in the Spirit realm not just demonic stuff.
- Acts 14:8-10 is a good example of seeing the positive of what God was doing in the Spirit realm.
- Another example that emphasizes the discernment Acts 8:17-24
If you see a spirit or discern that something is not of God, what do I do?
- If you see or discern something in the context of a church service tell the pastor or elder.
- If you see something in the context of praying for someone in a group, tell the group leader.
- If you see or discern something in the context of praying for someone yourself, begin to pray based on what you saw.
- If you are praying for healing and you discern something, that may be cause of the illness or injury.
- Pray against that first, then return to praying for the healing.
- If you see or discern something in a public place use that for intercession.
- Don’t take on any territorial spirits directly by yourself.
- What is a territorial Spirit? see Daniel 10:12
- Book: Unnecessary Causalities of War John Paul Jackson
- Acts 19:15 shows how bad it can get.