1 Corinthians 12:8-10 “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, (10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
The third gift that falls into the category of the revelation gifts, is the gift called discerning of spirits. This gift is not called the “gift of discernment” as so many misquote it to be, for there is no such gift mentioned in the bible. So just what is the gift of discerning of spirits? To better understand this gift we need to look at the office of the prophet, for as with all the revelation gifts, this gift also forms part of their ministry. Under the old covenant prophets were initially called seers, and the reason they were called seers is because the Holy Spirit enabled them to see into the spirit realm through visions and dreams (1 Samuel 9:9). One who is called to stand in the office of prophet will operate in at least two of the revelation gifts plus prophecy. And so prophets are used by the Lord to prophesy, give both words of wisdom and words of knowledge, and a number of them (not all) also operate in the gift of discerning of spirits. And so that is what the gift of discerning of spirits is; it is the ability to see into the spirit realm through visions and dreams. As with all of the gifts of the Spirit, there are different levels in which the gift of discerning of spirits operates. The first level for this gift is called a spiritual vision. At this level the individual is enabled by the Holy Spirit to see into the realm of the spirit with their spirit while they sleep. In other words these are dreams from the Lord. The second level for this gift is called a trance. At this level the individual falls into a trance as their physical senses are suspended, and they are then taken out of the body into the spirit world to see that which God would have them to see. The third level for this gift is what is commonly referred to as an open vision. This level of vision operates in one of two ways. The first way is when the person from the spirit realm manifests themselves in this natural world, and interacts with the person who is seeing the vision. The second way is when the Lord takes the individual physically into the realm of the spirit to show them things and then returns them to the natural world. As with all the gifts of the Spirit, this gift is only manifested as the Holy Spirit wills and not as the individual wills.
Acts 2:17 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.”
In this current dispensation, the church is meant to prophesy, see visions and dream dreams. That truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, and the reason for that is because all the gifts of the Spirit are available to the saints in the church age. As we have already established, the gift of discerning of spirits incorporates both vision and dreams. So why does the Lord want His saints to experience visions and dreams in this current dispensation? As we will see in the examples discussed in this section, the Lord uses visions and dreams to communicate His will to the saints. So if that is the case, then why does the Lord not just use the gifts of prophecy, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge to communicate His will? The answer to that question is that Lord can communicate far more detail to His saints through the mechanism of visions and dreams than through any of the other gifts. For example, showing the apostle John what the New Jerusalem looked like in a vision was far better that describing to him what it looked like through prophecy. Another advantage to the gift of discerning of spirits is that unlike the other gifts, the Lord is able to interact with His saints more easily using this method. Visions and dreams are also far more impactful on the saint than the other gifts, and so the Lord normally uses this gift when He deems the instruction given to be of significant importance. As an aside, as we will see in the examples discussed, many visions incorporate both words of wisdom and words of knowledge anyway.
Michael E.B. Maher
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