The Gift of Discerning of Spirits

Years ago, for quite a long time I wondered how to know for sure when to initiate ministering deliverance to someone.

Sometimes it’s obvious even to non church-goers that someone is possessed—but often it isn’t obvious, or it isn’t obvious what spirit may be the main cause.

We were seeing deliverance happen spontaneously quite a bit in our church. And I personally didn’t want to come behind in this particular commission.

But at the same time I felt it wouldn't ever be very nice to command an unclean spirit to come out of someone, if the person somehow wasn't ready for deliverance, or if the spirit in them had a different name to what you might think, or if the person didn't actually have an unclean spirit at all.

And if it’s possible to go into excess, I wanted to avoid that—but some people swung so far the other way they seldom cast devils out at all anymore. I didn’t want that either.

After a long time thinking it through, I eventually asked the Lord about it.

A short time later, I happened to be at a tent meeting at Mt Gravatt, Queensland. An Evangelist said to me by the Spirit:

"You've been asking the Lord about some things: you'll know, when you're in the Spirit".

I felt the power of God on me quite strongly: it was difficult to keep standing.

So that was my answer, I would know, when I'm in the Spirit.

John was "...in the Spirit..." on the Lord's day, he said. Notice what John experienced when he was in the Spirit:

𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝟏:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟐

𝟏𝟎 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭,

𝟏𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭: 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬...

𝟏𝟐 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬.

When John was 'in the Spirit' he heard something and saw something - 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 and 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, in the unseen realm of spirits.

When you’re in the Spirit, you might hear and see unseen spirits.

In the unseen realm:

"GOD is a Spirit" (John 4:24);

"And of the ANGELS he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire" (Hebrews 1:7);

There are also "...the spirits of DEVILS..." (Revelation 16:14);

And there is "...the spirit of MAN which is in him..." (I Corinthians 2:11) - the 'hidden man of the heart' (I Peter 3:4).

So, when you're in the Spirit, like John you might hear and see the Lord, or angels, or unclean spirits—you might also know the secrets of a man's heart, his spirit (see I Corinthians 14:25).

It's the Holy Spirit who grants this, according to His will:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟐:𝟕

𝟕 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥.

𝟖 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭;

𝟗 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭;

𝟏𝟎 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐲; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐒; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬:

𝟏𝟏 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥.

The ancient Jewish prophet Joel foresaw a time when God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters "...shall see visions...", he said, and the old men shall "...dream dreams..." We are living in that day, the apostle Peter said!

One afternoon when I was on my way to a meeting—it was an overnight youth-meeting, at someone's house—I felt the Lord ask me, "Which gift of the Spirit would you like Me to demonstrate tonight?"

We'd already seen the gifts of tongues, the interpretation of tongues, and prophecy poured-out abundantly in previous meetings. So I thought about it, and I answered: "Discerning of spirits".

That night, the eyes of many of the young people were opened, and they saw into the realm of spirits. They said they saw a fierce-looking group of spirits over near the stair-well. They also saw other spirits around the lounge-room. Some of the youth huddled-together in fear at the horrendous sights.

I had to reassure them that they needn't fear evil spirits—the spirits were subject to them, in Jesus' Name—because Christ has given us "...power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease" (Matthew 10:1).

I asked the youth to tell me where in the lounge room they could see the spirits. There we found decorative objects, each with some sort of insignia or connection to idolatry: like elephants.

The youth told the household members what they were seeing, and prayed with them.

Several days later, the household testified that there'd been a new and lighter atmosphere in their home ever since; they'd stopped arguing—and the whole family felt freer to go on with the Lord.

That was the gift of "discerning of spirits" in demonstration!

But seeing unclean spirits isn't the only function of discerning of spirits.

One time I was asked to pray for a couple who'd been in a long marriage-counselling session, to receive the joy of the Lord.

I laid my hands on the couple, and said, 'Receive the joy of the Lord'.

Instantly, with my eyes open, I saw an angel arrive. The angel had two wings; and with two arms he held out a golden package to the couple, which I knew was the joy of the Lord. No-one else saw the angel: that was the gift of discerning of spirits too.

The couple ended-up so filled with joy and laughter, they were still laughing when they got home, and when they went to their church the next day, the joy and laughter spread to the whole congregation, they said.

That was a good way to improve the atmosphere at home!

We also read in the Bible that the Lord, the disciples, and others cast out unclean spirits—without explicit mention that they'd heard and seen in the realm of spirits. They were just operating with the anointing, and they 'knew' what to do, by the Spirit.

“When the even was come, they brought unto him [Jesus] many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick” (Matthew 8:16).

It doesn’t state whether or not Jesus knew each spirit’s name.

Paul, also, "...turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour" (Acts 16:18).

It was already somehow obvious that it was a spirit of divination, yet it doesn’t say Paul addressed the spirit by name.

They didn’t necessarily have a vision, but they were anointed to just cast out the spirits.

By the anointing, I've similarly experienced just 'knowing' when someone needed deliverance, and sometimes even what a spirit's name was—without asking any questions. Other times it wasn’t necessary to know the spirit’s name. I found myself spontaneously commanding the spirit to come out, without any premeditation or second thoughts at all.

But two different people have had seemingly the same problems, yet with one person the cause was a spirit of 'rejection', while with the other a spirit of 'nicotine' was the cause—even though both people exhibited the same behaviours and habits. In each case I found myself just knowing, by the Spirit— it wasn't something I'd ascertained with my understanding.

One time I found myself commanding some spirits to come out of a lady, and I sensed in my spirit what sort of spirits they were—but I didn’t need to say so: they came out anyway. That’s appropriate sometimes.

One time, after a spirit had already manifested, Jesus still asked the spirit its name:

"And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many” (Mark 5:9).

Sometimes a sickness can be caused by a spirit—then in another case of sickness, an evil spirit may not be the cause at all.

But even without necessarily hearing or seeing in the unseen realm of spirits, you can cast out spirits, and know—not in the natural, but by the anointing.

It'll feel like the easiest thing you ever did! Afterwards you’ll wonder and marvel at what God did. Because it's all of Him and none of us.

"...these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils," Jesus said (Mark 16:17).

So we can expect it—but at the same time we want to carry-out the ministry of deliverance always with considerateness as well as power.

We also saw in many meetings, after a congregation had been filled with the Spirit and with joy and laughter, a wave of deliverance would sweep over the congregation and unclean spirits came out of many—spontaneously, without even praying for anyone—just as we allowed the move of the Spirit to take its course unhindered.

Observing this, a church-leader remarked, "That's better than filling-out a questionnaire," which can potentially be personal and embarrassing to someone. A far less traumatic way to receive deliverance!

We can avoid excesses in the ministry of deliverance—and we can also avoid coming behind in this commission to cast out devils—by not relying on our understanding alone, but by trusting that we’ll operate with the anointing, also asking by asking for the gift of discerning of spirits—more and more.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also..." (John 14:12).