"Discerning of Spirits" Kathryn Kuhlman Gifts of the Spirit talk 7 of 13

Well, sir, get your Bibles out. I'm a stickler for the Word of God. Oh, do you want to know something? There is no substitute for the Bible. I mean that with all of my heart. When you realize that every human being Adam to the last person who will ever be born. From the very beginning to the very end, every person one day will be judged according to, thus saith the Lord, the Bible. It makes it a mighty important book, believe me. This is the very word of God. Men and women need to get... Back to the Bible, to thus saith the Lord. All right, get it out. And again, we are continuing our little heart -to -heart talk regarding the gifts of the Spirit. Today, we're going to talk about the gift of the discerning of spirits. The 12th chapter, 1 Corinthians, and as the gifts of the Spirit. or named, we have these words, to another discerning of spirits. Now, this may seem to contradict what John teaches in the fourth chapter of 1 John, when he tells us to cry the spirits. This might seem to some to be a contradiction. The matter of trying the spirits and the matter of the discerning of spirits. Now, there is a difference between trying the spirits and discerning the spirits. They are not the same. Know that. When John said, try the spirits, He was not talking about the same thing that Paul was talking about here in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. The discerning of the spirits. Believers are instructed to try or to test the spirits. That's what John was talking about. How are we to try the spirits? How are we to test the spirit? to find out whether it is the spirit of God, the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, or whether it is the spirit of the evil one, whether it is demon power, whether it is the wrong spirit. We're told to try the spirit, to test the spirit. But how? We test. the Spirit by the written, revealed, inspired Word of God. Any spirit that operates contrary to the Word of God is not of God. Always know that. Do you really know how important the Bible is? That's what's wrong. Many of us have gotten so Far away from the Bible. We've gotten so far away from the Word of God. So far away from the teaching of Christ that we scarcely recognize the Scripture. When we hear it taught, when we read it, we need to come back again to the Bible. And I don't care who you are, what church you attend. Whether you're Protestant, whether you're weak Orthodox, whether you're Catholic, whether you're Jew, whether you're Gentile, humanity needs to come back again to thus saith the Lord. Come back again to the Bible. Yes, ma 'am. And when John was talking about trying the spirits, he was talking about believers. putting the Spirit to the test, and to test them by the written, the revealed, the inspired Word of God. This gift that the Holy Spirit gives, this wonderful gift that's mentioned here in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, is something different entirely. The gift of discerning spirits. I want you to know something. It is not natural judgment. Some people are just born with a natural sensibility. They just naturally sense certain things. It's a natural intuitiveness. But that which is spoken of in the Word of God is not natural judgment that some people have. It's not merely having the supposed ability to detect demon power in people. I really believe that any born -again, spirit -filled person can detect demon power. It is something that when you are sensitive to the spirit, when you are filled with the spirit, you can just naturally detect, sense demon power. No. That's not what is involved here in the discerning of spirits. And then, you know, I've seen a couple old sisters in my lifetime who were dead sure that they had the gift of discernment, and all on earth they had was the gift of judging, and they were awful good at that. At least they thought they were. Oh! You know, they really went in where angels feared to tread. They judged their neighbors. They judged everybody in the church. Oh, you got them in your church, too. Don't sit there. You know, in your own church, in your own assembly, you have some dear sister who's dead sure she's got the gift of discernment. She can tell you everybody in church who's demon -possessed. She can tell you what's wrong with everybody in the assembly because she professes to have the gift of discernment. Forget it. All on earth that she has is just a spirit of judging. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. And it is not of the Holy Spirit. Let's get right down now to what this discerning of spirits really is. How should one define the gift of the discerning of spirits? And I think I can best give the answer in just these few words. We might say that the discerning of spirits is a gift of the Holy Spirit is enabled to see into the spirit world. Lot saw something that those around him did not see. Oh, I just love this portion of the Word of God. I think I have never owned a Bible, but what I've had this portion of the Word of God march. with a red pencil. Just for my own satisfaction, I read it ever so often. The 19th chapter of Genesis. And you will remember that when I had a previous series of messages on angels, I read this portion of the Word of God to you. You can see how real angels are. Oh, believe me. Angels are real in my life. And when David said he shall give his angels charge over you, he meant exactly that. This very hour, I believe that out there on the battlefield, there are legions of angels who are protecting. Our boys. That mother's son. Listen, precious mother, you have not prayed in vain. Precious little grandmother out there, and I feel sorry for the boy who does not have a godly mother or a godly father or a precious old -fashioned grandmother or some saint of God who's praying for him. given to individuals is the power of prayer. And he has literally tens of thousands of thousands of angels who guard, who protect, who care for the children of God. Little do I know, little do you know how near we have come to danger. had it not been for the protection of the angel, the Lord. That's scripture. That's the word of God. And yet, I have never seen an angel. I can tell you that I have really seen an angel. But there's one who has. I wish right now I could bring him and say, sit down, Mr. Lott. Sit down by my side. Tell me all about that wonderful experience. When you were the possessor of that wonderful gift whereby you were enabled to see into the spirit world. This is what he saw. And there came two angels to Sodom it even, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them. And he bowed himself with his face toward the ground, and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you. into your servant's house, and carry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in unto him, entered into his house, and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, And they did each. I do not believe that anyone else saw what Lot saw. But he had been given that wonderful gift, which enabled him to see into the spirit world. These were angels. Angels with bodies. And angels... are just as real in your life and just as real in my life as they were in the life of Lot. Only he was given a gift whereby he could see into the spirit world and he saw them. I do not believe that anyone else around him saw what Lot saw. When an angel appears in the presence of a number of God's people in spirit form, Only those who have the gift of the discerning of spirits will see the angels. Ezekiel saw the overwhelming revelation of the glory of the Lord. What the cherubim beneath the throne, no one else saw. No one else saw what Ezekiel saw. Later, while Ezekiel was sitting in his house, elders of Israel before him, he was carried away in the Spirit to Jerusalem. And he saw the things that were taking place in that city. The Holy Spirit had given him a gift whereby he could see the things that were taking place in that city. Read it. It's in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel. No one else around him saw it. One of the greatest things, and oh, they're just portions of the word that mean an awful lot to me. It's all wonderful, of course. But there's something about the seventh chapter of Acts. It's the stoning of Stephen. Let me read it to you. For, beloved, this is one of the greatest examples of that which I am trying to say to you. And the best way that I can express it is just letting the word of God speak. And when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, And remember something. This is just before his martyrdom. He was standing in the council. He was not on the streets. He was not at this moment being stoned. He was not dying at this moment, as some would have you think. Some would have you believe that he was in a coma. Some would have you believe that he was dying. He had all of his senses. It was as he stood in the council and he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one cord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. But remember something. God gave him that glorious gift of revelation. That glorious gift of looking into the spirit world before a stone ever touched his body. Oh, that's thrilling. And I do not believe that there was one in that council who saw what he saw. Not one. Even that man nearest him saw. what he saw. Let me ask the question and answer it again. How should one define the gift of the discerning of the spirits? We might say that the discerning of spirits is a gift of the Holy Spirit to an individual. to a person by which the possessor is enabled to see into the spirit world. Remember, over and over this gift was exercised by Jesus. In the 10th chapter of Luke, the scripture says, he saw Satan as lightning. fall from heaven. That's the word of God. Amen.