biblical & spiritual discernment vi test every spirit
TRANSCRIPT
BIBLICAL & SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT
VI
TEST EVERY SPIRIT
Dr. Kenneth W. Jones, Pastor, Practical Living Ministry
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12/2/2015
copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
Spiritual Discernment
1st John 4:1: Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of
God: because many false prophets are gone
out into the world.
Hebrews 5:14: 14: But strong meat belongeth
to them that are of full age, even those who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil.
“senses trained” – Creating a sensitivity to the
workings and the movings of the Spirit of God12/2/2015
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This is Not a Suggestion
This is a Requirement!
Testing the spirits means that one must know how
to “examine the Scriptures.” Rather than accept
every teaching, discerning Christians diligently
study the Scriptures.
Realize that there is a spirit behind every teaching.
A spirit that will either motivate and encourage you
to pursue an action or thought; a transfer of
knowledge; to strengthen, hinder, or destroy you
emotionally, spiritually, and physically12/2/2015
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Believe Not Every Spirit
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15
KJV)
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Can You Find the Wolf in
this Picture?
Don’t Tolerate Evil or False
Spirits
Revelation 2:20 - But I have this against you: that you
tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a
prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and who is teaching
and leading astray my servants and beguiling them into
practicing sexual vice and eating food sacrificed to idols.
"Because many false prophets have gone out into the
world." It is a huge problem and the undiscerning are
victimized
God has given us His indwelling Spirit but John now points
out that there are other "spirits" loose in the world. If we
have the Spirit, we ought to "test the Spirits."12/2/2015
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To Discern: Be Careful to Do:
Don’t Judge
Christ’s purpose was to save, not tear down; Please allow the
scriptures and the power of the Spirit to tear down walls of
deception, unbelief, etc.
The judgmental carnal mind usually sees the image of oneself
in others (Matthew 7: 1-5) – Therefore keep the “beam”
removed from your eyes
Stay in an attitude of love: the Love of God is the work
of the Spirit of God
The spiritual gifts, which includes the gift of discernment
worketh by love
Guard your heart – It’s difficult to discern if we are bound by
sin 12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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To Discern
There should be a certain godly character and spiritual
fruit associated with our ability and maturity to discern
Never try to discern, teach , or recover anyone with a
sense of Pride
Pride taints our discernment which is why pride cometh
before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov
16:18)
1 Corinthians 10:12 - Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall.
Hopefully the final outcome is not to tear down but to discern in
order to recover yourself and others from false
teachings/spirits12/2/2015
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How to Test a Spirit
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Observing what a person does. In Matthew 7:15-20,
Jesus explains that false prophets are known by
their fruit - by their conduct and actions.
Observing whether or not a person exalts Jesus
Christ as the Son of God and as Lord and Saviour (I
Corinthians 12:3).
By listening to what a person says (I John 4:1-3).
Does their confession line up with the truth of God's
Word?
Testing the Spirit
1. Christology – What does the person say about Christ?
1. Number one test, the confession of the divine Lord. Let's call it
the confession of the divine Lord. Verse 2 again, "Every spirit
that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from
God."
2. There's one thing demons will inevitably deny in all their
demonic systems, and that is they will deny the deity of Jesus
Christ (1 John 4:3)
2. Before you accept any teaching, be sure of their view
of Christ, their view of salvation, and their view of
Scripture.
3. How do they operate in the Spirit? It is consistent with
scripture and not your interpretation?12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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Example
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Prosperity without
accountability
“Ye are Gods!”
‘Super Grace”teachings
God doesn’t see your sin anymore
Spiritual Discernment
So, how does one increase spiritual
discernment?
First, recognizing that God is the only one who can
increase wisdom, pray for it (James 1:5; Philippians
1:9).
Then, knowing the wisdom to distinguish good from
evil comes by training and practice, go to the Bible to
learn the truth and, by meditation on the Word,
reinforce the truth.
Spiritual discernment is the ability to tell the difference
between truth and error. It is basic to having wisdom.12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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Knowing Their Thoughts
Matthew 9:4 - And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why
are you thinking evil in your hearts?
In the earlier verse, Jesus saw a person’s faith
Matthew 9:2 - And they brought to Him a paralytic lying
on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic,
"Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven."
In the Book of Mark, it says, “Jesus perceived “in his
spirit” that they so reasoned.” The power of searching
the heart, and of knowing the thoughts of people,
belongs only to God
Spiritual discernment may allow you to see the spirit of
people, their motive, and to judge them according to the
Word of god12/2/2015
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Spiritual Discernment
Some have mistakenly defined spiritual
discernment as a God-given awareness of evil
or good spiritual presences—the ability to tell if
a demon is in the room. While some people may
possess this capability, it is not the biblical
meaning of discernment.
Spiritual Discernment is not Suspicion Either,
Nor is it just being a good judge of character –
These are carnal abilities
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How to Grow in Spiritual
Discernment
The only way to grow in spiritual discernment
is
Learn to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit
who indwells every true Christian, and
Studying God’s Word, the Bible
Train your senses through practice and
sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
Relying on the discernment of others (not
always the best option, but a useful one) –
God has provided the five-fold ministry to
assist you
12/2/2015
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The Inward Witness
Connected, Inspired, and Guided by the Holy
Spirit
Provides a way by which one may discern
things spiritually through the inward voice
The inward witness can be best defined as a
joint testimony, possessing a sense of
agreement, or knowing whether something is
true or not true. 12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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Reason or Imparted
Carnally minded believers respond to understanding
truth through their feelings, or through their physical
senses – Genesis 3:5
Mark 2:8 - Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they
were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them,
"Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
Reason – trying to resolve in your minds; debated within
oneself
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of
you know the truth. 1 JOHN 2:20
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“You Know All Things”
Ye know all things - Every truth Of God necessary to
your salvation, deliverance, healing, and prosperity
As believers, we are divinely taught – Either by men and
women inspired and filled by the Spirit or through the
unction of the Spirit
And you know all things: Because of the anointing of
the Holy Spirit given to all believers, they possess the
resources for knowing the truth and validating God’s
principles
This does not mean waiting at home while the Holy Spirit
teaches you. Why did God provide the five-fold ministry?12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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Discerning of Spirits – The Gift
Discerning of spirits is the supernatural ability given by
the Holy Spirit to perceive the source of a spiritual
manifestation and determine whether it is of God (Acts
10:30-35), of the devil (Acts 16:16-18), of man (Acts
8:18-23), or of the world.
It is not mind reading, psychic phenomena, or the ability
to criticize and find fault.
Discerning of spirits must be done by the power of the
Holy Spirit; He bears witness with our spirit when
something is or is not of God.
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Paul and the Woman of
Divination
Acts 16:16-18: It happened that as we were going to the
place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met
us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-
telling.
17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying,
"These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who
are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."
18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was
greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I
command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her!" And it came out at that very moment.
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The Woman with Spirit of
Divination
It actually says, She had a spirit of Pythona. That does
not mean much to most of us, which is why it is not
translated literally. But pythona was a certain kind of
snake – a python. It is used here because the python
was associated with the god Apollonot far from Philippi,
in this very area of Europe, there was a shrine to the
Pythian Apollo. (Boice)
The demon-possessed slave girl preached for Paul,
giving a demonic testimony to their divine credentials
and their message
Paul recognized by discernment (gift of discernment) a
spirit in the woman 12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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Why We Shouldn’t be Mingling with
Occult and Spirits
One of the only named spirits in the Bible, the python spirit is a
coiling spirit that works to squeeze out the breathe of life (the Holy
Spirit) and cut off your lifeline to God (prayer).
To accomplish its deadly agenda, this spirit will remind you of
wounds from your past, surround you with ungodly influences that
tempt you to compromise the Word of God—or just barrage you
with circumstances that knock the wind out of you
Symptoms of a python attack may include weariness, a loss of
passion to worship and pray, feeling pressured, overwhelmed,
helpless and even hopeless. The severity of those symptoms
depends on how long this enemy has been coiling itself around you
and how much pressure it has applied12/2/2015copyright@PLM TEACHINGS
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Spirit of Divination
The word divination comes from the Latin divinare, meaning
“to foresee” or “to be inspired by a god.” To practice
divination is to uncover hidden knowledge by supernatural
means. It is associated with the occult and involves fortune-
telling or soothsaying, as it used to be called.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or
his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or
a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD,
and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them
out from before you" (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)
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Paul Was Annoyed By This
Spirit
It could be said that Paul was grieved by the condition
the maid was in, being possessed with such a spirit: and
that the people were so imposed upon and deluded by
it.
Why did the woman profess that they were servants of
God?
Could be as the demon who ran to Jesus and called him “Son
of God.” (Matthew 8:29)
Why did Paul wait three days? Possibly to give people
time to see that this woman was possessed so that a
demonstration of the Power of God would be
acknowledged by all
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Spiritual Deception is Inevitable
1 Corinthians 11:19 - For there must be also heresies
among you, that they which are approved may be made
manifest among you.
There must also be factions: We usually think of
factions and divisions among Christians as nothing but
a problem. But Paul reveals a purpose God has in
allowing factions: that those who are approved may
be recognized among you. God allows factions so
that, over time, those who really belong to God would be
made evident.
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What To Do?
You discern a false spirit/teaching or an evil spirit. What
should you do?
As you discern the spirit of someone or some thing, you must
discern and consider your actions
You can ignore it – (Not recommended) – Develop a mentality
that it won’t affect you
You can confront it – Ensure you are led and empowered by
the Spirit
Be Wise as Serpents, Harmless as Doves
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Practical Living Ministry
Practical Living Ministry exists to assist individuals, groups, and
organizations to operate to their full God-given ability by sharing
life changing principles for spiritual growth and development.
If this message touched you, please let me hear from you.
If you would like to encourage us financially to keep sharing these kind
of messages, please go to our donation section on our website at
www.practicallivingministry.org
If you would like to contact Dr. Jones for a speaking engagement at
your church or event concerning biblical leadership, mentoring,
and Christian culture. Please contact Pastor Kenneth Jones at
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