The Discerning of Spirits
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1 Corinthians 12:4-11 "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of
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- Hello. In this video, I just want to give a brief definition of the spiritual gift of discernment.
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- I had noticed that Remnant Radio did an hour -long video explaining all this, and while it's good to go in -depth, sometimes what the average person needs is a more simple definition.
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- So here it goes in three minutes or less. What is the spiritual gift of discernment, or discerning of spirits, as it's called?
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- In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul is teaching on the spiritual gifts.
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- He says in verse 4, there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit, referring to the
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- Holy Spirit, who is the giver of gifts. And then in verse 10, he mentions that to some is given the gift known as the discerning of spirits.
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- So what is this? Well, since we're on YouTube, maybe you've heard of Discernment Ministries, and for those who have that gift, they are able to see things that other people can't.
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- Or at least they're able to see things first, long before others. And really, once the false doctrine or the error gets a lot of attention, and people are talking about it, and it's explained, then a lot of people will come around and they will see the issue.
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- But those who have the gift of discernment, they saw it before everyone else. And because they saw it first, and they were the ones speaking up when no one else was speaking up, yeah, you catch a lot of flack when you have the gift of discernment and when you exercise it.
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- Now, John MacArthur says about the gift of discernment, Discernment is the ability to tell which things are from the
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- Spirit and those which are not from the Spirit, distinguishing truth from error.
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- This gift serves as protection for the church. Of course, because those who have this gift are on the front lines, sometimes they get shot at, and they even receive some friendly fire.
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- But discernment is a spiritual gift, so whether people recognize it or not, it's necessary.
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- And in the end, it does serve to build up the body of Christ. One last thing, Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said about discernment, and I really like this, he said,
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- Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong, it's knowing the difference between right and almost right.
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- Proverbs 15 .21 says, Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, but a man of understanding walks uprightly.