Question for those with the gift of discerning spirits.

[Daniel Marsh]

Is casting out demons one of the gifts that Paul lists?

I am not sure, but were they learning their authority over darkness?

Was the King born again? Did Daniel view it as a nightmare to himself?

I am a relearner and I do not have all the answers.

 

[regadoo]

Paul does not list all the gifts that God gives to us, we are only humans, how could we know? Yes, I believe casting out spirits in Jesus name can be a gift, I believe being able to sense spirits, etc. can be a gift.

 

[tturt]

Here's another verse about nightmares:
"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him." Gen 15:12

This is about the covenant Yahweh made with Abram. But you could study it and find out the details.

Everything Yahweh does has a purpose. So if it's from Yahweh, we need to asks Him about it.

 

[Jim Langston]

The "gift of discernment of spirits" is the DETAILED knowledge of a person or situation that is not otherwise available through reason or observation. It is not vague feelings about a person due to their tone or message content.

e.g. You walk into a crowded room, look at a man and know he is cheating on his wife. Not "I read a post and he seems mean", he must have the spirit of <enter nonsense here>".

I would like to know how you know this is the definition of discerning spirits. While you may be right, this is not disclosed in the scriptures, so under what authority do you state this?

I think it is very important when discussing spiritual matters to make the distinction of what is a matter of fact as expressed in the bible and what is our conclusion.

If you have scripture backing up your claim I would like to see it, please. If you do not have scripture then I would like to see the statement that this is your opinion and/or conclusion. Thank you.

 

[Goodbook]

A spirit that is not the holy spirit will act contrary to what is in the Bible..discernement of spirits can be learned.

By the fruits ye shall know them.
So what are the fruits of the holy spirit? Look in Galatians. When you dont see any such fruits or you see rotten fruits eg lying, slander, malice, violence, dissension etc it will be another spirit behind that person manifesting.

With Jezebel it becomes easy to spot as the Jezebel spirit has certain traits that become apparent eg domination and control.

The anti-christ is also one that manifests when a person is resistant or hateful of anytime anyone mentions Jesus Christ. They are UNABLE to profess Jesus is Lord.

Those two are the main ones you see and deal with but there probably are others.

A word of knowledge is different spiritual gift to discerning of spirits. The more you read the bible the more God gives you wisdom in this area.

As far as online goes from the content of posts and because I am a reader (and writer) That is the way I learn I suppose its more developed in me...if someone is posting a lot of things contrary to the word of God and they are driven in some way to post often you can tell that there is some kind of spirit behind it all thats not the holy spirit. The more God pours his holy spirit in to you the more you see the difference between His and others.

 

[Jim Langston]

I have a few abilities that may be descernment of spiruts, or not. The bible is not at all clear what this actually is.

I, like a lot of people, get a first impression of peoe that is spot on. When I meet someone I can sense their heart, so to speak. A lot of times I get the impression not to trust someone, and they turn out to be scandalous (theives, liars, con men, etc...). Sometimes I sense good in people and trust them implicitally. I do not know if this is discerment of spirits or common sense.

I can also sense spirits sometimes, although it disturbs me so I try not to. Also, is is almost impossible to verify if it's a real spirit, my imagination, or satanic/demonic influence.

 

[Widlast]

I would like to know how you know this is the definition of discerning spirits. While you may be right, this is not disclosed in the scriptures, so under what authority do you state this?

I think it is very important when discussing spiritual matters to make the distinction of what is a matter of fact as expressed in the bible and what is our conclusion.

If you have scripture backing up your claim I would like to see it, please. If you do not have scripture then I would like to see the statement that this is your opinion and/or conclusion. Thank you.

Many of the saints have had the gift of discerning spirits, the gift that they describe is exactly what I stated.

 

[Jim Langston]

Many of the saints have had the gift of discerning spirits, the gift that they describe is exactly what I stated.

Please, quote scripture, or is this tradition you speak of?

I am Sola Scriptura so peoples opinions on what the bible means to me is just that, opinions.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Paul does not list all the gifts that God gives to us, we are only humans, how could we know? Yes, I believe casting out spirits in Jesus name can be a gift, I believe being able to sense spirits, etc. can be a gift.

Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 1 Peter 4:11
Prophecy Serving Teaching Exhortation Giving Leadership Mercy Word of wisdom Word of knowledge Faith Gifts of healings Miracles Prophecy Distinguishing between spirits Tongues Interpretation of tongues Whoever speaks Whoever renders service

There are in fact three lists of spiritual gifts. Paul gives two and Peter one.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Here's another verse about nightmares:
"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him." Gen 15:12

This is about the covenant Yahweh made with Abram. But you could study it and find out the details.

Everything Yahweh does has a purpose. So if it's from Yahweh, we need to asks Him about it.

There is no record of Abram even having the gift of discernment.

Explain his lack of discernment,

Genesis 12:

10 During this time there was not enough food in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live. 11 Just before they arrived in Egypt, Abram told Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptian men see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife.’ Then they will kill me and keep you alive because they want you. 13 So tell them that you are my sister. Then they will be good to me because of you. In this way you will save my life.”

14 So when Abram went into Egypt, the Egyptian men saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 Even some of Pharaoh’s officials noticed her and told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. So they took her to Pharaoh’s house. 16 Pharaoh was kind to Abram because he thought Abram was Sarai’s brother. He gave Abram sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and men and women servants.

17 Pharaoh took Abram’s wife, so the Lord caused Pharaoh and all the people in his house to have very bad diseases. 18 Pharaoh called Abram and said to him, “You have done a very bad thing to me! Why didn’t you tell me Sarai was your wife? 19 You said, ‘She is my sister.’ Why did you say that? I took her so that she could be my wife, but now I give your wife back to you. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh commanded his men to lead Abram out of Egypt. So Abram and his wife left that place and took everything they had with them.

If Abe had the gift of discernment, then Ishmael would not have been married.

Also, Abe would not have laughed here:

Genesis 17:17
Abraham bowed his face to the ground to show he respected God. But he laughed and said to himself, “I am 100 years old. I cannot have a son, and Sarah is 90 years old. She cannot have a child.”

Please, show a time when a demon appeared to him and he identified it as a demon. ????

 

[tturt]

Post #40 and 43 are in response to your question, ".
What does the Bible say about nightmares?"

In regards to discerning of spirits, it's like all of the other manifestations of The Spirit (I Cor 12), the information has to come from Yahweh or it's just us. Though we need discernment.

Paul had discerning of spirits in the Acts 16:18 account. What she was saying was the truth but Yahweh revealed to Paul what spirit was behind her words. Paul had the right attitude by being against the demonic spirit and grieved for her.

Some think that it's discerning of demonic spirits but an example of discerning of a Godly spirit is when James, Cephas, and John perceived the grace that had been given to Paul (Gal 2).

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

An aspect of the gift of discerning of spirits is the operation of the gift in view of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. If a person is conducting him or herself according to, say, kindness, we can discern that they have a kind spirit, or a gentle, self controlling, faithful, joyful, loving spirit depending what fruit we discern is prominent above the others.

in contrast, we look at the works of the flesh in the same chapter, and then we can discern a person's spirit in relation to what we see in that list. We could then say if a person is behaving in a certain way, that the person has a jealous spirit, or an envious spirit, or whatever spirit is express by the particular type of fleshly conduct.

We must link the gift with the Word. I have linked the gift with a particular section of Galatians. We could also link it with 1 Corinthians 13 to confirm our discernment that the person has a loving spirit.

I can quite confidently say that when a Bible teacher asserts that Pentecostals and Charismatics are speaking by the devil when they are speaking in tongues, I can say quite confidently that they are influenced by a demonic lying spirit.

We can discern a lying spirit in any doctrine that is not consistent with the clear teaching of Scripture. Paul discerned that the apostles who came to the Galatian churches and taught that the new believers needed to be circumcised and comply with the Law of Moses, were false apostles teaching a spurious gospel.

Even though the Philippian slave girl was saying the truth, the fact that she was a fortune teller, and that she kept on chanting the statement caused Paul to discern that it was a demonic inspiration so he cast the demon out of her. Paul could have quite easily seen that because she was not a believer, she could not have been inspired through the fruit of the Spirit.

In the same way Philip discerned that the Samarian wonder worker, who actually got converted to Christ, was coming from a self-seeking spirit when the guy offered money to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Philip would have discerned him on the basis of the principles of 1 Corinthians 13 that love "does not seek its own."

Of course, these are just a few ideas that have come to me that might be of interest to consider, nothing more.

 

[Widlast]

Please, quote scripture, or is this tradition you speak of?

I am Sola Scriptura so peoples opinions on what the bible means to me is just that, opinions.

The question is whether or not what they said is true, not whether somebody calls it "opinion".
Everything that the Bible means to you is opinion, your own opinion, and nothing more.

 

[Jim Langston]

The question is whether or not what they said is true, not whether somebody calls it "opinion".
Everything that the Bible means to you is opinion, your own opinion, and nothing more.

Yes, but just saying something is true does not make it so. Remember, there are at least 35 different Chriatian religions in the US who do not agree with each other on some aspect. I believe truth to be absolute, not subjective. So if one of these religions was 100% correct that would mean there are 34 teaching falsehood. Most likely, however, there is no one religion that is 100% correct, so every christian religion teaches at least one thing that is wrong, which is why I am non-denominational.

That being said, if something is written in the bible I know it is correct if read correctly.

This is why I am quick to say, I think, the bible says, or this religion says, so you know if it is truth or conjecture.

 

[Widlast]

Yes, but just saying something is true does not make it so. Remember, there are at least 35 different Chriatian religions in the US who do not agree with each other on some aspect. I believe truth to be absolute, not subjective. So if one of these religions was 100% correct that would mean there are 34 teaching falsehood. Most likely, however, there is no one religion that is 100% correct, so every christian religion teaches at least one thing that is wrong, which is why I am non-denominational.

That being said, if something is written in the bible I know it is correct if read correctly.

This is why I am quick to say, I think, the bible says, or this religion says, so you know if it is truth or conjecture.

Just saying it is false does not make it so.

That is why you need to use your God given brain and check out what has been said.
Is it plausible?
Does it agree with known truth?
Is the source reliable?

I take what the Saints have said seriously because it agrees with known truth and was said by someone who obviously knew God as was demonstrated by their works.

BTW, I have no use for religion, yours or any other.
And yes, the vast majority of various denominations (and so called non-denominational groups) teach falsehoods, some to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent.

 

[Jim Langston]

Just saying it is false does not make it so.

That is why you need to use your God given brain and check out what has been said.
Is it plausible?
Does it agree with known truth?
Is the source reliable?

I take what the Saints have said seriously because it agrees with known truth and was said by someone who obviously knew God as was demonstrated by their works.

BTW, I have no use for religion, yours or any other.
And yes, the vast majority of various denominations (and so called non-denominational groups) teach falsehoods, some to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent.

If you are told something do you believe ut? Like you just said, no, you check what was said. How can you check what was said if not given the source?

You may take the doctrine of men to be equal to that of the bible, but there are a number of us that do not.

If you do not wish to cite yoyr source then what you say is but the doctrine of men and easily ignored without guilt.

 

[Widlast]

If you are told something do you believe ut? Like you just said, no, you check what was said. How can you check what was said if not given the source?

You may take the doctrine of men to be equal to that of the bible, but there are a number of us that do not.

If you do not wish to cite yoyr source then what you say is but the doctrine of men and easily ignored without guilt.

You did not make any specific requests about any specific statements by any specific saint.
How am I supposed to give exacting replies to vague requests?

Ask a SPECIFC question and you will get a specific answer.

Your statements up to this point would lead one to believe that you hold the view that "if it aint in ma Bible, it aint true".
Which is a completely absurd position.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Post #40 and 43 are in response to your question, ".
What does the Bible say about nightmares?"

In regards to discerning of spirits, it's like all of the other manifestations of The Spirit (I Cor 12), the information has to come from Yahweh or it's just us. Though we need discernment.

Paul had discerning of spirits in the Acts 16:18 account. What she was saying was the truth but Yahweh revealed to Paul what spirit was behind her words. Paul had the right attitude by being against the demonic spirit and grieved for her.

Some think that it's discerning of demonic spirits but an example of discerning of a Godly spirit is when James, Cephas, and John perceived the grace that had been given to Paul (Gal 2).

Thank you, I am at home very sick and have memory problems.

In the verse before, "The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation."

According translators helps, it is correctly translated as her saying "a way of salvation" which would not take a spiritual gift of discernment to know something is off base.

It would take the gift to determine if the source was her or another spirit thou.

 

[Jim Langston]

You did not make any specific requests about any specific statements by any specific saint.
How am I supposed to give exacting replies to vague requests?

Ask a SPECIFC question and you will get a specific answer.

Your statements up to this point would lead one to believe that you hold the view that "if it aint in ma Bible, it aint true".
Which is a completely absurd position.

My view is this: if it's not in the bible it could be true, or it could not.

I do not take anything as fact because some man said it (unless in the bible), therefore when someone states something as fact I want to know the source so I can find out if it's true or not.

In every, I repeat, *every*, church I have attended I have found the preacher/pastor/priest teach things that the bible contradicts. If it contradicts the bible then I take it as falsehood.

If someone says something as fact, without giving the source, I have no idea if it's something some man vame up with or the bible actually says it, which is why I ask for the source when someone states something as fact. If they can't/won't state their source I ignore what they said to not polute my mind with falsehoods.

Yes, it is quite possible I am ignoring truth, but without some means of validating it I can not in my own mind accept it as fact.

 

[tturt]

Daniel sure hope you are feeling better by today.

Well, we’re all trying to learn. Right? Since she had the spirit of divination, it would mean that the information is gotten from a source other than Yahweh.

Looking a little more: In the Mark 5:7 account, the demonic spirit knew who Yeshua was and said so. Even though it spoke the truth, Yeshua cast that spirit out. In Mark 3:11, the demonic spirits identified who He was and stated the truth. Also, the Acts 19:13-17 account is interesting and contrast with other accounts. Those who tried to cast out the evil spirit stated “I adjure you by that Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” One result was “…fled out of that house naked and wounded.” So the individuals who tried to cast out the evil spirits must have been using the terminology that they had seen or heard but they weren’t believers of Yeshua and the evil spirits knew it. They didn’t know Yeshua but wanted to have that power and authority and exercise control.

The vital aspects of the discerning of spirits includes the source of the information and its purpose.