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 named Ananias, in partnership with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and, with his wife's full knowledge of it, kept back for themselves a part of the money and brought only a part of it and put it at the disposal of the apostles. read more. And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan so completely possessed your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourselves a part of the money received for the land? As long as it was unsold, was it not yours, and when it was sold, was not the money at your disposal? How could you have the heart to do such a thing! You did not lie to men but to God!" When Ananias heard these words, he fell dead, and a strange awe seized everybody who heard it. The younger men, however, got up, wrapped up his body, carried it out, and buried it. About three hours later, his wife came in, without having learned what had taken place. Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it." Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too." She instantly fell dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Then they went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they found a Jewish magician and false prophet whose name was Barjesus. He was an intimate friend of the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor sent for Barnabas and Saul and in this way tried to hear God's message. read more. But Elymas the magician -- for this is the meaning of his name -- continued to oppose them by trying to keep the governor from accepting the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, because he was full of the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye and said, "You expert in every form of deception and sleight-of-hand, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked! Right now the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be so blind that you cannot see the sun for a time." And suddenly a dark mist fell upon him, and he kept groping about begging people to lead him by the hand. The governor, because he saw what had occurred, was thunderstruck at the Lord's teaching, and so came to believe.
to another, power for working wonders; to another, prophetic insight; to another, the power to discriminate between the true Spirit and false spirits; to another, various ecstatic utterances; and to another, the power to explain them.
Dearly beloved, stop believing every so-called spiritual utterance, but keep testing them to see whether they come from God, because many false prophets have gone out into 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 named Ananias, in partnership with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and, with his wife's full knowledge of it, kept back for themselves a part of the money and brought only a part of it and put it at the disposal of the apostles. read more. And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan so completely possessed your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourselves a part of the money received for the land? As long as it was unsold, was it not yours, and when it was sold, was not the money at your disposal? How could you have the heart to do such a thing! You did not lie to men but to God!" When Ananias heard these words, he fell dead, and a strange awe seized everybody who heard it. The younger men, however, got up, wrapped up his body, carried it out, and buried it. About three hours later, his wife came in, without having learned what had taken place. Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it." Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too." She instantly fell dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. So a strange awe seized the whole church and everybody who heard it.
and now was on his way home. He was seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.
to another, power for working wonders; to another, prophetic insight; to another, the power to discriminate between the true Spirit and false spirits; to another, various ecstatic utterances; and to another, the power to explain them.
Dearly beloved, stop believing every so-called spiritual utterance, but keep testing them to see whether they come from God, because many false prophets have gone out into 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
to another, power for working wonders; to another, prophetic insight; to another, the power to discriminate between the true Spirit and false spirits; to another, various ecstatic utterances; and to another, the power to explain them.