Reference: Discerning Of Spirits
American
1Co 12:10, a miraculous gift of the Holy Ghost to certain of the early church, empowering them to judge of the real character of those who professed to love Christ, and to be inspired to teach in his name, 1Jo 4:1; 2Jo 1:7. Compare Ac 5:1-10; 13:6-12.
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But a man called Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira had sold some property, appropriated some of the purchase-money with the connivance of his wife; he only brought part of it to lay before the feet of the apostles. read more. "Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan filled your heart and made you cheat the holy Spirit by appropriating some of the money paid for the land? When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it? How could you think of doing a thing like this? You have not defrauded men but God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and expired. (Great awe came over all who heard of it.) And the younger men rose, wrapped the body up and carried it away to be buried. After an interval of about three hours his wife happened to come in, quite unconscious of what had occurred. "Tell me," said Peter, "did you only sell the land for such and such a sum?" "Yes," she said, "that was all we sold it for." Peter said to her, "How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your husband! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well." Instantly she fell down at their feet and expired. The younger men came in to find her dead; they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
They covered the whole island as far as Paphos, where they fell in with a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet called Bar-Jesus; he belonged to the suite of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and demanded to hear the word of God. read more. But the sorcerer Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) tried to divert the proconsul from the faith. So Saul (who is also called Paul), filled with the holy Spirit, looked steadily at him and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all good, full of all craft and all cunning, will you never stop diverting the straight paths of the Lord? See here, the Lord's hand will fall on you, and you will be blind, unable for a time to see the sun." In a moment a dark mist fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to take him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had happened; he was astounded at the doctrine of the Lord.
one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.'
Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in the world.
Fausets
1Co 12:10. Discerning between the operation of God's Spirit and that of the evil spirit, or unaided human spirit claiming to utter the dictates of God's Spirit. Ac 5:1-11; 8:28; 1Co 14:23,37: "if any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." It is this which assures us of the inspiration of the New Testament The books were accepted as inspired, by churches having men possessing" the discerning of spirits" (1Jo 4:1; 1Ti 4:1).
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But a man called Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira had sold some property, appropriated some of the purchase-money with the connivance of his wife; he only brought part of it to lay before the feet of the apostles. read more. "Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan filled your heart and made you cheat the holy Spirit by appropriating some of the money paid for the land? When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it? How could you think of doing a thing like this? You have not defrauded men but God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and expired. (Great awe came over all who heard of it.) And the younger men rose, wrapped the body up and carried it away to be buried. After an interval of about three hours his wife happened to come in, quite unconscious of what had occurred. "Tell me," said Peter, "did you only sell the land for such and such a sum?" "Yes," she said, "that was all we sold it for." Peter said to her, "How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your husband! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well." Instantly she fell down at their feet and expired. The younger men came in to find her dead; they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great awe came over the whole church and over all who heard about this.
and was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.
one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.'
Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in the world.
Morish
This was one of the gifts in the early church, needful for 'testing the spirits,' because even then many false prophets had gone forth into the world. 1Co 12:10; 1Jo 4:1-3. This gift was especially necessary at the time when the word of God was not fully written.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.'