GIFTED (part nine)
We've been covering the manifestation gifts of 1st Cor. 12:7-11. Today we finish up the list.
1) Discernment.
We all need to have discernment, but those who are gifted in discernment have an increased awareness and ability to distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood; the ability to distinguish the real from the counterfeit; the divine from the demonic. They can determine whether something is from God or not and they can tell if someone has spiritual or carnal motives.
We all need to distinguish right from wrong but those with the gift of discernment are able to make these determinations more quickly and decisively. With having the gift of being able to distinguish between spirits, you have the ability to discern the spirit by which someone is behaving. Jesus did it when he rebuked Peter and said, 'get behind me Satan'. Jesus wasn't really speaking to Peter as much as he was speaking to the spirit who Peter was acting in accordance with.
Paul did this in Acts 16:16-18, "Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her."
A demon possessed girl was following Paul around and exclaiming “These men are the servants of the most high God.” Those were the right words. However, it was a demon spirit motivating her to say those things, perhaps to cause trouble for Paul. Paul, by the Spirit, sensed this and cast the demon out of her. He first discerned the spirit that was motivating her, and then exercised the demon out of her.
This would be a situation where it wouldn't be very easy to make that determination. She was saying the right thing. But Paul became very troubled over it. That was his discernment. I'm sure he figured that if it was of God then he would have been at peace with it or even overjoyed but instead his spirit was troubled over it. He knew what was going on and he acted upon it.
There are times when we are facing a situation and for all intents and purposes it appears fine but our spirits are troubled; something doesn't seem right about it. Sometimes it's a misperception based on certain biases but then there are other times when it's not. We're not prejudiced for any reason, we're not suspicious or anticipating trouble it just hits us all of a sudden that someone or something isn't right.
We shouldn't dismiss that. We should proceed with caution-like Paul did. He didn't do anything right away-he waited. The Holy Spirit confirmed his perceptions and increased his inner troubling to the point of knowing he had to take action. But we do need to be careful to not make incorrect discernments.
"A man riding a bus was greatly disturbed at a young boy who was running up and down the aisle screaming and laughing at the top of his lungs, while his Dad just sat idly by. The man could not believe that someone would be so rude and inconsiderate. He then began to notice other less than flattering things about the man. His hair was unkempt so he discerned he was probably homeless. His eyes were bloodshot, so he discerned that he had to be an alcoholic.
Finally, unable to take the child's behavior and the man's unwillingness to do anything about it anymore, the man approached the dad and demanded that he get control of his young son. Seeming as if he were shaken from a trance, the dad apologized to the man and told him that the boy’s mom, his wife, had just died at the hospital after struggling all night and he was trying to think of a way to break the news to the boy."
We need to make sure our discernment is not based on personal feelings. Is it our spirit that is troubled, or is it something else? In discerning between the true and the counterfeit, I talked last time about the fact that there are counterfeit healers and miracle workers. Jesus said in Matt. 24 that false Christs and false prophets will come performing great signs and miracles to deceive people.
2nd Thess. 2:9-10, "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."
It's obvious that counterfeiters can do some pretty neat trickery. And if they got the people hooked with their magic they can convince them to entertain the rest of their falsehood. But if someone is a lover of the truth they will not be swayed. They will be seen for what they really are, whether it's in their demeanor or when they start talking and the discerner will pick up on their contradictions.
Jesus said we will know them by their fruit. But when you have people performing miracles according to the power of Satan it may be difficult to distinguish bad fruit from good fruit. Satan masquerades as an angel of light; he is the great deceiver, so we need to be on our game when we distinguish which spirit someone is acting in.
What is the rest of their lives like? Do they operate in the Spirit with their daily living? I can do things that draw attention to myself and I can appear to do extraordinary things but do I operate in the spirit in the ordinary, non dramatic, largely unnoticed way? Discernment is a precious gift; so much so that when God told Solomon to ask for whatever he wished, this was his response.
1st Kings 3:5-14, "At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Solomon knew that God had given him a great responsibility and he was humble enough to know he needed God's wisdom and discernment to be able to govern God's people. And God was pleased with his answer; not only did he answer his request, he gave him blessings that he hadn't asked for.
We may not be governing a nation but we still need to ask for a wise and discerning heart-to govern our lives. We have responsibilities too-to determine right from wrong and to try to help others see clearly when they're getting involved with deceitful people or involving themselves in deceitful practices.
Discernment of the spirits really pertains to all areas of my life; for example-my finances. I will be faced with making decisions regarding how I spend my money. I need to discern what is right and wrong. I may be able to afford something. But does that mean I should purchase it? No; I need to discern whether or not it's wise to do so. Should I save the money instead? Should I wait to see if the price goes down?
This can apply even in a good way. Remember, Satan is slick. I may have the opportunity to do a good thing for someone. A person needs money; an organization is looking for donations. These are good things? It's better to give than to receive. But what if doing that puts me at a deficit for paying my bills? Now I will owe a late fee or I need to borrow the money from someone else when that could've been avoided.
This can work the opposite way too where God wants me to do something but I talk myself out of it. We need to discern our motives and do our best to discern other people's motives. Distinguishing between the spirits.
2) Tongues/interpretation of tongues.
The ability to receive or impart a spiritual message in an unknown language for interpretation that the saints may be edified. 1st Cor. 14:26-33a, "What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace."
Although the same Greek word is used in both instances, the tongues of fire in Acts 2 is different than the gift of tongues. In Acts 2-they were able to speak in different languages and each one heard them in their own language. But the tongues spoke about in 1st Cor. 14 is a spiritual language known only by God.
And this language doesn't get translated, like a language does, it gets interpreted. The ability to translate isn't a spiritual gift; it's an acquired skill. If I speak English and Spanish and I translate one into the other it is something I learned how to do. But the interpretation of tongues is different. It's the ability to divinely interpret what God has revealed in an unknown language. One person may have both gifts; they may speak and interpret.
Orderly worship. Paul indicates that there were multiple things going on at the same time during their services and it wasn't orderly. Unfortunately, you see the same thing today in many tongues speaking churches. A lot of people are speaking at once and no one is translating. That's not how it's supposed to be done. In the case of multiple people speaking in tongues no one in the church is benefiting; no one is enlightened.
Earlier Paul said in vs. 12-19, "So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue."
If I speak in tongues but neither I nor someone else interprets then I have no idea what I just said. And if I'm doing it in church and no one interprets then really all I'm doing is being disruptive. It's all noise with no valuable instruction or insight. That's why Paul said what he did in verse 19.
I'm not here to legitimize or de-legitimize tongue speaking in today's churches. I've been involved in a tongues-speaking church before and I think it's something that can be easily faked. I could be in a situation where I feeling pressured to do it. I'm seeing those around me do it and I may be made to feel like I'm less spiritual because I'm not doing it so I start babbling to fit in and feel more spiritual. I've talked with someone recently who did this very thing to fit in.
I remember when I was younger I befriended a co-worker who a follower of what is known as The Way. They took their name from what followers of Jesus were known as before they were called Christians (Acts 9:1-2). We were speaking about speaking in tongues and I revealed that I hadn't done it and he said, "I can teach you how to do it." I suddenly got an uneasy feeling. I declined and the subject was dropped. People cannot teach you to speak in tongues. If it's going to legitimately happen it will be the product of the Holy Spirit and uncontrollable. That's why it's a manifestation gift.
This is from a sermon by Christopher Lanham, "Early in my Christian walk I heard about speaking in tongues. I was intrigued by the notion, the idea that the power of God touched someone in such a way that he began speaking in a language unknown previously. There was something very inviting and mysterious about the whole thing that captured the imagination.
I really wanted it to be true – in the universal sense, I mean. You receive Christ, you start speaking in another language that only God knows what you are saying. Unless, of course, someone happens to be there who speaks the language God gifted you to speak.
I became acquainted with a guy who claimed to be gifted with tongues. Now, I am not going to say that the guy was lying or intending to deceive or any such thing, but as he and I talked about how his gift manifests itself and how it was used in his life, I became suspicious. You see, he literally described this gift as something he could turn on and off at will.
God had apparently given him this wonderful ability for his own personal use. He had the power of God harnessed, so to speak, so that he could use it to his own advantage whenever he felt the need. Granted, the gift only benefited him in the arena of faith, still it was a powerful tool in his arsenal if it were true that it worked the way he described it.
To put it in an old folk proverb, you can’t put lightning in a bottle. And if you do, you better not open the bottle ever again because you have no idea what will happen next. The Holy Spirit indwelling us – and it is his power at work in us in holiness – is not a spigot to be turned on at our convenience and then turned off again when we no longer need special power.
We can no more control how the Spirit works in our lives than we can control the earth’s rotation around the sun. All we can do is gratefully receive the power of the Spirit and pray for wisdom that we respond to it wisely. Any talk of controlling the manifestation, the use of or the outcome of the power of God should immediately raise the hair on our necks and send us running the opposite direction."
We need to be careful. Some people place a lot more emphasis on this gift than they should. It's wrong to perceive that someone is more spiritual because they can do this. Some go so far as to say that if you don't do it you're not a legitimate Christian. But it's not the charismatic manifestations that prove someone is a true Christian; it's their daily walk.
Some get hung up on experiences and misperceive them to mean they are some sort of super Christian. They base spiritual maturity on how many spiritual experiences they've had. Yet their daily walk is subpar. That is dangerous. Since they place such an emphasis on having a spiritual experience they miss the mark about what true spirituality is about.
What kind of character do they have? Are they people of integrity and morality? Are they loving towards others? Do they hunger and thirst for knowledge, wisdom and understanding? How deep is their relationship with Christ? How is their prayer life? What are they reading, what are they watching, what are they listening too?
The answers to questions like these are how you will determine one's spiritual maturity-not whether or not they can speak in tongues or receive revelations. These things are important and yes, many of those who were converted in the first century church did speak in tongues but to conclude that if one can do so that puts them at a higher level that the one who doesn't is not an accurate assessment. Like Paul said earlier, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. That's what it's all about; building up the church.
