Spiritual Gifts: Discernment
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Introduction
Holy Spirit still works today. The supernatural work of Christ did not end when He ascended, nor when the last capital “A” apostle died. In fact, Jesus said greater things we would do! He said it was better for Him to leave so His Spirit could come. He sent His Spirit so we could co-labor with Christ and expand Kingdom territory. The gifts are given for the common good and for the edifying of the body. We all get a gift. We can have more than one gift, we can ask God for more gifts, but no one gets them all because then we wouldn’t need the body. We may operate in some gifts for a season or to fill a need, but only Christ could walk in them all because Christ was the PERFECT model for us! Now, there are a number of spiritual gifts. Each one of those spiritual gifts fall under at least one category. They are: the Gifts of the Spirit, the Gifts of the Son, the Gifts of the Father. Today will begin with one of the gifts of the Spirit: discernment.
Discernment is the gift that everyone thinks they have, but few actually walk in.
Yes, it is true that we are all called to discern. Hebrews 5:14 makes mention of this when we are admonished, as maturing believers, to train ourselves in discerning good from evil. However, there is a discernment that is given as a supernatural gift of the Spirit.
It is not the “premonition” you got from your grandma and all of the women in your family have it. Even before Christ you’ve had it. No. That’s called witchcraft and it is demonic. Not from our side.
The discernment I am speaking of today is given to a born again, Holy Spirit filled believer as a supernatural gift. Which means, it is a gift from God…that cannot be achieved in your own strength or passed down from your mother or father. It is an inner working of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in your life.
What is discernment?
Discernment is the ability to recognize, identify and distinguish between various kinds of Spirits.
4 Spirits we are able to discern:
Spirit of God
Jacob when he wakes up from the dream in Bethel (a holy place)
Gen 28:16
Angelic
Paul recognizes an angelic presence on the ship during the storm
“Everyone will survive and you will stand in trial before Caesar”
“An angel of the God I serve stood beside me…” Acts 27:23
Demonic
Paul & Silas against the spirit of divination
Woman prophesied accurately: “These are men of the most High God and have come to tell you how to be saved”
Her master had hopes of gaining great wealth through her, but Paul casted out the spirit
Acts 16:16-18
Spirit of Man
Jesus & Nathaniel
“Here is a genuine son of Israel, a man of complete integrity.”
John 1:47
Why are we given discernment? What is the purpose?
To lift the veil that covers the unseen spiritual world
“We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against rulers and principalities of the unseen world.” -Ep 6:12
To enable us to see as God sees
“I don’t look at the outer appearance of man, but at the heart” -1 Sam 16:7
To protect us from deception
Paul and the false prophet
To see people’s motives and their root
Jesus and Nathaniel
He is genuine. Why? Because he is a man of integrity
Biblical example
Nehemiah is a great example of discernment and its purpose.
The first 6 chapters of the book tell us the story of Nehemiah. He was a man living in Babylon during the Jewish exile. His relatives come to him with terrible news. The walls of Judah are in ruins. Nehemiah is devastated and prays to God for favor with the king. He longs to return to his land with resources and men to rebuild the wall. The Lord grants Nehemiah favor with the king to rebuild the wall. However, when his enemies find out what is happening they plot against him. They begin to mock him and make plans to confuse him.
How many of you know that when you are on assignment the enemy begins with plans to mock and confuse you? This is how his attacks against you begin.
You can hear the accuser say: “You can’t hear His voice. He would never call you to do something like this. You aren’t capable. Did he even call you to do this? This was probably your idea anyway.”
Nehemiah ignores their attempts to distract him and he continues forward in rebuilding the wall.
In chapter 6, we read that Nehemiah’s enemies begin to request several meetings with him, but Nehemiah discerns that they are only plotting to harm him.
Finally, on their 5th attempt to distract Nehemiah, they say that there is a rumor going around. The rumor is that Nehemiah is rebelling against the King and has hired prophets to proclaim about him “Look there is the King of Judah!”
Nehemiah was on assignment. Nehemiah understood the call over his life and the task laid before him. He was confident in the work that God had called him to do. Nehemiah also operated in the spiritual gift of discernment. He was able to see the deception. He was able to see the true motives. He discerned there was a spirit of intimidation at work here. The spirit was sent to discourage him so that he would stop the work of the Lord. (Neh 6:4-9)
It gets so intense that his enemies send a “prophet” to tell Nehemiah “Listen, you have to meet with these men because if not, your enemies are coming to kill you tonight!”
Nehemiah was able to discern that this was not a true prophet of Jehovah God, but was hired to prophesy against him in hopes to intimidate him and then one step further to accuse and discredit him.
This is how the enemy works. He will intimidate you, he will accuse you and he will try to discredit you!
“If you don’t meet with these men, the king will know you are in rebellion against him, that you betrayed him and are fake!”
The enemy plays these games with us too!
“You have to do this now. If you don’t do this now you’ll regret it, people won’t take you seriously, they will know you are incapable.”
*Remember, the enemy drives you. The Holy Spirit invites you.
This is why we need the spiritual gift of discernment. Some of you may say, “well, I don’t have it” and to you I say, “This is why we need the body.” One of your brothers and sisters does have it. This is why we need community and the body because we work together for the common good. We work together, each bringing our gift to the table so we can advance the Kingdom of Heaven together. So that we can come against the schemes of the enemy and take back what the enemy has stolen from us.
Too many of us do have the spiritual gift of discernment and we operate alone, for our own benefit. We discern things and we stay silent. We discern things and we run away from the battle, when God is actually calling us to build the kingdom, expand kingdom territory and expel the enemy! That is what gifts of the Spirit do! They build the kingdom, expand kingdom territory and expel the enemy.
Nehemiah had the spiritual gift of discernment. He was able to see as God sees, he was able to see beneath the threats and into the spiritual realm, he was able to see the true motives of these men and he was protected against the deception of the enemy!
The enemy did not win because the wall was built in record time (52 days) and all recognized that God was surely with Nehemiah. (Neh 6:15)
Discernment is essential to remaining in the will of God and fulfilling the work He has called us to do. It is key to remaining faithful, to good stewardship and removing distractions. Remember it is not about the gifts, it's about the fruit.
Personal Testimony
NOTE: Discernment is NOT for the purpose of judgment! Discernment sees things rightly, but does not condemn. The Holy Spirit gives us discernment so we can get a holy perspective on a situation.
***”For everything you discern, there is a deeper, more original thought about it in God’s heart.” Shawn Bolz (Translating God, pg. 85)***
For years, I knew I had the spiritual gift of discernment. I would meet someone and almost immediately be able to see people’s motives. I was proud of this because I felt it enabled me to protect myself and those I loved from harmful relationships.
I would meet someone who I discern had good motives and I would let them in. I would discern if someone had bad motives and I would keep them out. Until the Holy Spirit corrected me.
“I am allowing you to discern this for a reason”
To see how He sees
To gain a holy perspective
To set the captives free
For the common good of the body
To build the Kingdom
To expand Kingdom territory
To expel the enemy
God exposes to set us free.
We have an opportunity today:
Repent for our misuse of the gift
For selfish gain and not for the common good
Repent for keeping it to yourself
Ask God to be baptized in the Holy Ghost and receive the spiritual gift of discernment.
“Let love be your highest goal and earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit.” 1 Cor 14:1
“Earnestly desire the most helpful gifts” 1 Cor 12:32
Commit to using the gift to build the Kingdom of God, expand Kingdom territory and expel the enemy.
