Gifts Of The Spirit 5- Propecy & Discernment Of Spirits Series

Gifts of the Spirit 5- ¡§To another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits¡¨ 1 Cor 12:10 WBC 19/9/4 pm

- How can I become more discerning about what is from God and what isn¡¦t?

- How can I be wise about mistakes made in the prophetic yet completely open to what God might be saying?

- Do I have to believe everything that someone says is ¡¥from the Lord¡¦?

Illustr: A young lad, fresh out of university was employed by the US treasury department in their fraud and forgery section. He looked forward to learning all about how forgeries were made: the paper and ink used, the most common routes by which mass forgeries were distributed, the flaws in their designs. But when he arrived on his first day he was sent into a darkened room, filled with hi tech magnifiers and measuring devices ands simply given a wad of $5, 10, $20, $50 and $100 bills- and left on his own with the words: ¡¥study and inwardly digest. Get on with it, then!¡¦.

This happened for 6 weeks to the point where he was concerned he was going to go out of his mind. He stormed out of his cubby hole and complained to his supervisor: you¡¦ve locked me in that room for 6 weeks and then, today, you have the audacity to slip a forged $50 bill into the wodge of notes!

I¡¦m going to share some ways of discerning things, esp prophecy, tonight- but, honest truth, in the end it¡¦s as simple as spending time with the master and getting to know Him through His word. There is no substitute for this.

- Then you¡¦ll just simply KNOW

THE THREE SOURCES (SPIRITS)

Do we have to, unquestioningly accept something that someone says is from the Lord

- can feel a high obligation to do so when someone says ¡¥the Lord told me¡¦

- felt this myself on am of 5th when I shared about a picture I had. ¡¥test this¡¦ (as otherwise how do you deal with it if you disagree?)

Well , 1 John says this:

1JN 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God

So- you must NEVER become closed or cynical to prophecies, etc,

- but you SHOULD test and weigh them

- otherwise you ARE going to come unstuck and end up deluded or disappointed!

1TH 5:19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

What does this 1 John passage mean when it talks bout ¡¥testing the sprits¡¦, and in 1 Cor ¡¥distinguishing between sprits¡¦?

Basically, there are seen as 3 spiritual sources:

- the Holy Spirit (God¡¦s Spirit)

- our spirits (inside us)

o 1 Cor 2:10 shows and distinguishes between these two:

o The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

- And the third spirit is some other fallen, deceptive spirit

And the ¡¥discernment of spirits¡¦ is a manifestation of the Spirit (the Holy one!) to discern in a moment what the source of some ¡¥supposed word¡¦ is

- THIS is a God-given spontaneous thing

- but there is also a skill that can be developed through ¡¥knowing the note maker and studying the notes¡¦

o and that¡¦s what I¡¦m trying to teach you tonight

So ¡V there are three areas

- can overlap in one prophecy! Start in the Spirit and end up in the flesh!

o I remember this at LBC (Uxbridge show)

- Some are v sensitive in the spiritual/prophetic realm and so pick up from both sides! Not that they intend to

o Often they are sensitive, personally, as well

„X So there¡¦s something of their spirits in there

o Can be quite complex!

In my experience- it¡¦s this middle area that is a source of confusion to people

- but I believe it¡¦s fairly simply discerned: by KNOWING yourself

o (or the person giving the word)

- do you¡K do they¡K have a ¡¥leaning¡¦, ¡¥prejudice¡¦, ¡¥scar¡¦ in this area? Do they keep going on about this area?

o Then ¡¥take it lightly¡¦. Have caution. It probably comes from within

- Illustr: me & revival with BK in 97. One friend ¡¥they¡¦re hurt in this area¡¦ (they had a hurt in that area!)

These things are not evil. They are neutral- but can be unhelpful as they don¡¦t produce the fruit of a message from the Spirit

- hence disappointment

Illustr: The (wrong) confusion caused by Evan Roberts and Jessie Pen-Lewis (War on the saints) who attributed ANYTHING not of the HS to evil. ¡¥Total depravity¡¦= EVERY area tainted, not every area EVIL.