I meet Christians who are virtually powerless in the area of discernment. Many have absolutely no knowledge about the Holy Spirit’s gift of “discerning of spirits”, I Corinthians 12:10., or its availability to them. These people excel in their love for God, are eager to serve Him, sincere in their worship, but remain spiritually naive in detecting Satan's devices. The result is tragic. The high divorce rate among Christians is primary proof of what I say. Deception tears good couples apart. Families, individuals, even churches, frequently have long histories of wrong decision-making. In many cases the only evidence they have is superficial, inconsequential, and root causes remain deeply hidden. This cannot be the will of God. He is not honored when the world makes fools of His children. There are none so deceived as those who falsely believe they know all the truth.
Speaking of the Messiah’s anointing, the Old King James quotes Isaiah as saying: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him ... and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." Isaiah 11:2,3.
The New King James says: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him ... His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears.” Isaiah 11:2,3
Which translation is correct?, “Quick understanding in the fear of the Lord?” Or, “His delight is in the fear of the Lord?” Answer: Both are correct. And the message they mutually bring is vital to you. Here is why:
God wants us to succeed and has provided the truth which makes that success possible. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32. Too frequently, however, truth and freedom are not what believers experience. Theoretically, what they observe in daylight hours, many Christians recognize well. When darkness falls, they are helpless as anyone else, easily victimized by "those who lie in wait to deceive". Ephesians 4:14. When the thief comes to "kill, steal, and destroy," John 10:10, they are quickly exploited.
God has provided adequate protection against this hazard through the Holy Spirit's gift of "discerning of spirits". I Corinthians 12:10. But this gift does not operate automatically; it has to be sought, nourished, and lovingly developed. A casual attitude toward it will produce superficial results; an earnest seeking of it will bring remarkable discretion and judgement. The choice is ours. While we are told to “seek ... desire ... pursue” spiritual gifts, I Corinthians 12:31; 14:1, 39, many believers spend their entire lifetime knowing nothing about them. Though Paul exhorted, “Concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I would not have you ignorant,” I Corinthians 12:1, there is probably no other subject in which churches are more illiterate and in the dark.
In the New Testament day, the word "discern" was a Greek medical term which meant "to cut surgically and look below the surface". With this spiritual gift in operation, one does not merely rely on things as they appear but may know them as they actually are. Let me illustrate why the Isaiah-passage I quoted in two different versions is important: In ancient Israel, sheep herding was a vital part of life. During the day, it was easy for the shepherd or sheep dog to see a wolf and protect the flock. Nighttime was a different story; when darkness fell, the shepherd was powerless. Not so with the dog. Even in the dark, when he could not "judge after the sight of his eyes or reprove after the hearing of his ears", the dog could smell a wolf. This may surprise you but some dogs’ sense of smell is 100,000 times greater than a humans. It was this “other sense”, one not dependent upon daylight, which Isaiah said would typify the Messiah.
The key to understanding the operation of "discerning of spirits", is wonderfully exposed by comparing the two versions of Isaiah 11:2,3. These two editions use very different language in translating the same word "ruach". Where the Old King James says, "Shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord," the New King James says, "His delight is in the fear of the Lord." "Quick understanding" and "delight", seem contradictory translations but each is correct. But here is another mystery: If you are acquainted with the Hebrew language, you recognized that ruach is the same word translated as "spirit, wind, or breath". Genesis 1:1. While the word used by Isaiah is identical in spelling and very similar in other ways, the two do not have the same meaning.
The problem translators face in working with ancient languages–as in modern English–is that they sometimes have a wide range of words from which to choose. Fortunately, the combined messages of the original King James and the modern version bring a valuable revelation about discerning of spirits. What I say may seem technical--but if you want to be able to “cut and look below the surface”it is vital that you stay with me. When translated as "delight" in the New King James, ruach refers to the inhaled breath; specifically, as "the delight of smelling flowers". The original King James, instead of referring to the pleasure of smelling, refers to the result. In both cases the subject is “inhaled” breath.
When the Scripture says, "The Spirit of the Lord shall ... make Him of quick understanding," that is, "quick to smell", it literally means the Messiah will be able to "smell a wolf in the dark". That, my friend, is the clearest, most perfect illustration of the Holy Spirit's gift of discerning of spirits you will find. It means that those who operate in this blessed endowment are not left helpless simply because night has fallen. Not so.
I will never forget the Sunday morning service at Central Baptist Church, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, when I was doing the “hands-on” ministry and a woman visitor dropped at my feet in wailing intercession. After she regained composure, she said in a fearful voice, “You are in danger on your flight this afternoon.” I paid careful attention because I had not told her I planned to fly home that day. Whether the gift operating in her was a “word of knowledge,” “prophesy” or “discerning of spirits,” I cannot honestly say. I do know in that moment she was able to “cut and look below the surface.” Finally, she told me to take spiritual authority over the problem when I boarded the aircraft.
That afternoon I carefully obeyed her instruction. But the plane went nowhere. An engine failed before take-off, the flight was cancelled, and everyone was put off the plane. When I returned to the church for the evening service an usher told me, “The lady who warned you about your flight is here. She said the Lord told her the flight would be cancelled, you would be back tonight, and she brought her husband for you to pray for.” The knowledge this woman had did not come from human ability; she experienced the Holy Spirit’s miraculous gift of “seeing below the surface” and was able to give me warning. She had “quick understanding” in the darkness of that moment.
A similar story is told that when John Wesley was preaching in the London Armory, a little lady interrupted him to explain that they needed to leave the building. Wesley obeyed, everyone filed out, and had gotten a short distance from the Armory when the building exploded. Gunpowder stored in the building detonated and demolished the structure. Had they remained inside everyone would have been killed. Did the woman experience a discerning of spirits or a word of knowledge? I don't know. I only know I want whatever she had. Nor will I argue with God that such miraculous gifts "passed away". You shouldn't either --- unless you want to blow up.
Besides exposing things that are evil and dangerous, the gift of discerning spirits also discloses the good and beautiful. Soon after my Baptism-in-the-Spirit in the late 1970's, I returned to a small congregation in Florida where I felt isolated and in need of friends. Because of my theological changes, my former pastor-friends deserted me. One morning I made my first visit to a pastors' meeting in West Palm Beach and then went alone to a large cafeteria for lunch. As I sat at the table, trying to fight-off feelings of abandonment, a young man appeared in the serving line whom I had never seen. In that instant, the Holy Spirit spoke, "He is your brother. I want you to meet him." When I finished my meal, I went to his table, asked if I could join him, and said, "The Lord told me you and I are 'brothers'." He gripped my hand, "Praise God!," he said, "I am glad to meet you!" Instantly, we experienced a fellowship as deep as if we had been friends for years.
While we talked, the Holy Spirit told me to show him a business card in my pocket. It was one that another pastor had given me at the meeting a few hours before. Removing it, I handed it to him, "Do you know this man?," I asked. He looked back at me and said, "Yes!, he is my prayer-partner and brother in the Lord. Where did you meet him!? How did you get his card?!" Briefly, I explained.
The significance of that event was not about the man at the table, the card, or the person who gave it. Rather, the Holy Spirit was showing me how His gifts could bring new friends into my life, bless, protect, and direct me even in the smallest ways. He was demonstrating that I need never be afraid, feel alone, or think I was helpless. As with Philip and the Ethiopian meeting in the desert, Acts 8:26-39, He could cause men’s paths to cross in crowded cafeterias. Please hear this: Had that man been in the restaurant been a "wolf" whom I was planning to trust in some vital way, the Holy Spirit could have cautioned me. In California one time, while praying for a friend whose office was on Wall Street in New York City, the Holy Spirit accurately gave me names of two men in his New York office who were plotting against him. I had never heard of either of them but my friend confirmed that both were there and he had worried about their motives. That day the Holy Spirit protected him by allowing us to “look below the surface.”
I am not saying that we will function perfectly in any of the gifts; I certainly do not. At best, we are imperfect vessels. What I am saying is that we can function much better than we are presently doing. Nor do we seek gifts of our own choosing. We seek the Giver, then we are free to tell Him the areas in which we feel our greatest need. It is my understanding that when we receive the Baptism-in-the-Spirit we receive all the charismatic gifts. I Corinthians 12:4-11. From that time on, all are potentially present in us but not all are active. Instead, the Holy Spirit distributes “to each one individually as He wills.” Paul is very emphatic in telling us to “desire spiritual gifts,” but “especially to prophesy,” and to “come short in no spiritual gift,” I Corinthians 1:7; 14:7. My point is this: If you are one of those who has been easily deceived, gullible, naive, you do not have to stay that way!
Perhaps I should ask you another question: Have there been times when you made imprudent, costly mistakes, because you depended on your eyes and ears and not your spirit?
The answer, of course, is yes. We are all guilty. Were there other times when you had a deep, deep "sense of warning" which you ignored? Again, all of us must admit we have. Had you known that God had a provision to protect you from many of those blunders, would you have accepted it?
Before you answer, let me explain that "discerning of spirits", is only part of the Holy Spirit's package. Acts 1:4-8. I Corinthians 12-14. Other endowments come with it. All are wonderful, good, precious, blessings from Heaven. Even so, some well-intended, but wrongly motivated Christians scorn them. Not every church or denomination believes in the “package”–the Baptism-in-the-Holy Spirit. Many churches have been victimized by deception, stripped of power, left in a spiritually-dead state--but still adamantly insist nothing is wrong. Year after year, they continue their downward spiral. Seemingly, they can see everything except the presence of this crippling deficiency in themselves.
In fighting spiritual gifts, we Christians merely wound ourselves. God says these gifts are real. More importantly, He wants us to have them. They are part of Jesus' provision for the Church. In our denial, we leave ourselves wide open for more deception by the wolf. Acts 20:29. If you want spiritual gifts, they are your's for the asking--provided you will love them, protect them, nourish, and encourage them. That requires submission to the total New Testament message. It requires time in prayer, fasting, communion with the Holy Spirit. Pride, ego, self-seeking, carnal ambition, must go.
If a wolf comes to you, your family, your business, your church, under cover of darkness, you can still know who, what, and where, he is. To achieve that you must turn loose of resistance to spiritual gifts. Let God impart “understanding”,making you “quick to smell” when eyes and ears are no more help. Tell Him you want to be able to “cut and look below the surface.” You will be very glad you did. ___
Charles Carrin
Many of you are aware that it was a young, Spirit-filled prisoner in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Tom, who laid hands on me in 1977 when I was filled with the Holy Spirit. At the time, I was a pastor in Atlanta and had been going to the prison weekly to be his counselor. God stopped me. Instead, He said, “Listen to what Tom has to say--he has your answer." At the time, I was in desperate need of the Holy Spirit’s renewal. The Lord's instruction began a long series of visits to the prison that climaxed the day I bowed my head for an amazing imparting of power. In the same pattern Ananias laid-hands on Saul of Tarsus, Saul later laying hands on Timothy, Timothy on others, Tom laid hands on me. I could never have imagined how far reaching that moment would take me. Since then, it has literally reached around the world, bringing thousands of others to freedom in Christ. Drug addicts, alcoholics, suicidals, people suffering from scores of ailments have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. Nearly 30 years later, I thank God for the phenomenal transformation it brought..
A few ago I found an old letter from another prisoner, Jerry, who was a cell-mate of the young man who laid hands on me. At that time, Jerry was a confirmed agnostic who ridiculed the rest of us. But one night, in a quiet moment, he picked up one of my Newsletters. This is what he wrote about the experience:
"Another prisoner has been sharing your Newsletters with me and last night while everyone was asleep I re-read the one on 'The Serene Life and the Holy Spirit.' The Scripture you used was John 14:26: 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you ...' Pastor Carrin, when I read your words, 'Not all God's people enjoy the “peace which passes understanding”-- many are caught in the web of worldly involvement and are seemingly helpless to free themselves,' I believe the Lord reached into me with the Holy Spirit and I was washed clean--I knew God's peace. I became so filled with peace and happiness that I wanted to wake Tom and John to pray with me. Though I didn't wake them, I did have the most wonderful time of prayer with the Lord. Praise God ..."
Immediately after his conversion, Jerry began witnessing to other prisoners. He wanted them to find the "Serene Life" that had come to him. Many did. Like his own previous attitude, however, others wanted nothing to do with his new-found faith in Christ. In time, they quit coming to his cell. Wonderfully, new brothers began appearing. Jerry left the Penitentiary years ago but his witness, like Tom's, is still there, burning in the hearts of life-time prisoners who discovered that Jesus' offer of the Holy Spirit was also meant for them. The question before each of us in the "outside world" is this: Are we leaving behind a line of new believers "washed clean and Spirit-filled" to take our place? Is our witness causing others to be "filled with peace and happiness?” Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He will gladly show the way. _ CC
AN AMAZING STATISTIC Eighty percent of Protestant church growth world-wide is now among Christians who believe in the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Of the world’s 2 billion Christians, one-quarter--or 500,000,000--now believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the fullness of His gifts. The Catholic Church in Latin America, which has sovereignly been invaded by Renewal, is in a desperate attempt to stop the loss of millions of members to Charismatic-Pentecostal Churches. Conservative opinions estimate that some 20,000 Latin American Catholics convert daily to Evangelical congregations. One-third of the population of Guatemala has already converted; in Venezuela, it is one-fourth. In Bogota, Colombia, one young Charismatic Church has more than 100,000 members --- all former Catholics. Chile's Jotabeche Church claims more than 350,000. In Peru, one of the Presidential Candidates is pastor of a Full Gospel Church in Lima. (I preached to this wonderful congregation.)Before his death in Argentina, Pastor Omar Cabrera, served a congregation of more than a quarter-million.
These Latin believers have discovered the Holy Spirit’s wonderful presence and are rushing to get under the anointing. Latin America, which, in 1900, probably had less than 50,000 Protestants, today has some 100,000,000. The current Revival is impacting more people than Luther did in the Reformation. In 1997, Catholic Bishops from North and South America met for a month-long Synod in Rome to study the crisis. But the flow of converts cannot be stopped; the balance of power has already shifted. Traditional Catholic and Protestant denominations will either change or decline. Of the 500 fastest growing churches in North America more than 450 are not members of mainline denominations. _
