3. Discern the difference between a broken person and an apostate
The Bible instructs us to show hospitality to strangers because they might actually be angels and not mere men (see Hebrews 13:2). Angels can and do appear in the likeness of men. If angels can appear like men, is it possible for a demon to do the same? We already know from the Word and from testimony that a demon can masquerade as an angel of God (see 2 Corinthians 11:14), which, again, is why we need the gift of discerning of spirits and need to know how to test the spirits.
Although I have suspected it once or twice, I cannot say that I have knowingly encountered a person who was a demon in disguise. I can say that I believe I have dealt with persons who are what the Bible refers to as “twice dead” (Jude 12–13). This means they have become apostates of Christ. They have denied and disowned Jesus, and I believe they have thus forfeited their eternal home in heaven. Jude describes these individuals as “blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm” and “without fruit and uprooted” and “wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever” (verses 12–13).
This is always a touchy subject for believers who have struggled in their faith and might be wondering, Could this possibly be me? If you have even asked that question and if you care about the answer at all, then I assure you that this is not your story. And remember the apostle Peter’s dilemma. Peter denied Christ three times, but his denial was considered a crisis of faith and nothing more. Furthermore, his restoration as an apostle and preacher of the Gospel was evidence that he had never really left Christ in his heart. A twice-dead apostate, on the other hand, no longer cares. Such apostates literally have no conviction of sin, yet strangely, they still like to attach themselves to Christians and church gatherings.
My point is that most people whom we have spiritually discerned as deceptive or as having specific spirits driving them are truly broken people in need of salvation and/or deliverance. As much as I lean toward being redemptive in all situations, this gift will reveal the broken people from the apostates, so you can respond appropriately. We don’t treat these two the same. One you will minister to, and the other you will need to remove from your circle or church fellowship.
Let me give you a few examples to help explain the difference. I was ministering at a church one Sunday morning, and as I began to pray before the congregation, I felt the presence of a witch in the room. What is interesting is that I had been at this church before, attending a conference, and the guest minister also sensed the presence of a witch in attendance and even addressed it. When I began to minister several months later, I had honestly forgotten that incident, but I really did discern in my spirit a person in attendance who was involved in full-on witchcraft. How, then, do you handle such a thing? It is very disturbing to most people, as you and I both know that a witch is most likely there on demonic assignment.
In that situation, I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to say something like this: “For the person in the room who is practicing witchcraft, and you are here on assignment from Satan for this meeting today, I want you to know that Jesus loves you.” I then began to reveal specific details about this person’s life and past, why he or she got involved in witchcraft, and some more prophetic words that revealed the love of Jesus to the person. I also said, “I’m glad you are here! I believe God is going to meet you powerfully today.”
I left it at that, knowing this witch was a broken person who really needed salvation, deliverance and personal ministry. Based on what the Holy Spirit was leading me to say, this person was not an apostate, but someone still capable of receiving conviction unto repentance.
Only once have I knowingly experienced a person—a self-proclaimed minister, actually—who I believe fit in the category of an apostate. Although I do not believe he was a demon in disguise, I do believe he was definitely an apostate fully given to Satan for his use. Within just a few months of meeting this person, I had such a rebellion in my spirit against him that I knew I was dealing with something I had never dealt with before. I even called out this person’s sins prophetically by the Holy Spirit right in front of him, something I have never done to someone before or since. Remember, these are people who in their current state are unable to repent, because they no longer respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. They are sinful and divisive, pretending to have visions, dreams and angelic revelations, yet there is no real fruit in their lives. They also can and do carry spiritual power, performing false signs and wonders, because they have been empowered by Satan to deceive.
Sadly, this person has conducted scheme after scheme for years to steal money from his parishioners, other ministers and some very naïve ministerial organizations. There have been lawsuits but no arrests, with sinister and targeted persecution of those who have confronted him and called him out on his schemes. Because this person has wreaked havoc with far too many people and churches, he has since been removed and forbidden from many gatherings of believers. Yet he still continues his schemes wherever he finds an open door, namely in those not yet able to distinguish between a broken person and an apostate. A broken person and an apostate can look the same, but the gift of discerning of spirits will reveal the truth.
4. Learn from your mistakes
As we have seen from Hebrews 5:14, there is a connection between maturity and discerning well. I quoted this verse at the beginning of the chapter, but let’s look at it again: “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (NASB). We learn to discern through practice, which implies learning by trial and error, along with a heavy dose of humility.
I have an awesome husband. He is faithful, steady, funny and always reliable. With that said, I have never been suspicious of him or his whereabouts, and I have never doubted his marital faithfulness to me. There was one day, however, when I began to struggle in this area after noticing a change on my husband’s calendar. He had canceled his afternoon appointments, but could not be located at the office or at home. Within a very short time frame, I experienced overwhelming feelings of jealousy that turned to panic and then desperation. These were feelings that came out of nowhere. I was discerning something, but it had turned into overwhelming discernment, and I was losing control. I finally got the courage to send my husband a text message, just to ask him casually where he was and what he was doing.
I thought I was being calm, but my husband could tell by the tone of my text that I was upset about something. He replied, “Why?”
I explained my mysterious feelings of jealousy and then justified them with his sudden absence and canceled appointments. I know he was laughing when he did this, but he texted only a one-word explanation: “Envy.”
I shot-texted back, “I know! Now where are you?”
He then sent me a picture of a receipt stamped with the date and time from the store he had just finished shopping in. Can you guess the name of the store? “Envy.” I was having strong feelings of envy while my husband shopped in a store named “Envy”!
These were the moments that left me shaking my head and begging the Lord for help. I can laugh now, but it was one of many alarming experiences along this journey of learning how to walk out the gift of discerning of spirits. It is true that this gift can feel as if you have a loaded gun and you are firing it without knowing where the target is. Sometimes you don’t even know you are firing the gun! When you are unfamiliar with the operation of this gift and are still learning how it flows through you, it can be quite disturbing and sometimes scary. I was receiving real information from the Holy Spirit about my husband, but I did not know how to process it. I then began walking down the road of false accusation, based on what I was feeling. On top of it, I did not realize there was something supernatural going on. Without consulting the Holy Spirit, strong feelings from nowhere began to drive my emotions, and I did not know how to pull out of it. I learned a good lesson that day about the gift of discerning of sp
irits. Now that I can recognize overwhelming discernment, I have learned to stop and process these extreme and sudden emotions with the Lord and with other mature Christians to get needed clarity on them. I still experience overwhelming discernment on occasion, but now I know what I am dealing with, and I have learned to wait and not overreact.
Recently, a woman was complaining to me that other people, especially leaders, were not receiving her gift of discerning of spirits as valid. She was a sincere woman, very thoughtful, and came across to me as compassionate about the plight of others. She then decided to share with me some things she was discerning. What she shared was very negative about someone in my church, as well as about a guest to our church. On top of it, she used highly spiritual, almost cryptic language to describe what she believed she was discerning.
This is a classic example of a person who still needs to practice her gift in a mature community of believers before she launches out in it. We can learn from her struggle, however. First of all, she had no investment in the persons she discerned as having deep spiritual issues. As a leader, I don’t entertain such things from outsiders, largely because they have no investment and they don’t carry my heart. Their “discernment” is suspect in its source for those reasons.
Secondly, using overly spiritual language does not give us credibility with others. We have to speak plainly and use words that people can understand. This woman used a lot of New Age–sounding words and made reference to some demons that most people don’t ever talk about. I am actually versed in those terms and phrases, only because I work with so many who have come out of New Age and pagan communities and into Christianity. I have learned their language, so I can be a bridge to start teaching them mine. Still, we have to communicate points of discernment in plain language, which is easier said than done and takes a lot of practice.
Was anything this woman negatively discerned accurate? Yes! She had a few points of accuracy. On those points, I did lead her in prayer to close some spiritual doors to possible demonic activity. My hope for her is that she will feel safe enough to begin dialoguing through her discernment and get the coaching that she needs in it.
A Word to the Wise
As I conclude this book, I sense such a strong burden to urge you and the Body of Christ not to let this gift of discerning of spirits become diluted, misapplied and misused, or counterfeited. God is releasing this book at this time because of what He is doing in the earth. He is giving us the ability to discern through our senses like never before, because as things get darker and darker in the earth, His Church becomes more and more glorious. We cannot become that glorious Church if we continue to remain blind and deceived regarding spiritual realities. The gift of discerning of spirits is God’s way of raising the standard in His Church so that we can victoriously rise above dark deception and successfully navigate what is to come.
You are going to see many books and much training on this subject in the coming days. There will be new books and training from mature and credible leaders who are road tested in this gift. There will also be a rekindling and increased demand for strong deliverance ministry, even in churches that seem more conservative. This gift will be a lead agent for making deliverance ministry more effective than ever.
You will also see a counterfeit of this gift offered to you and others by Satan himself. It will be a perversion of the gift that is more self-centered than God-centered. It will be presented as spiritually opportunistic for personal and even materialistic gain. This counterfeit will downplay the demonic and ignore our mandate to set the captives free. It will appear highly spiritual, but will arrogantly reject the truth and liberate no one. When the counterfeit comes, don’t take the bait!
The gift of discerning of spirits comes with a price tag for its revelation. It requires that those who have it be selfless to the core and be co-laborers with Christ’s agenda to establish His Kingdom on the earth. As much as I have struggled to walk this gift out successfully, I would not trade the results for anything. I have seen people, places and churches become powerfully liberated largely because of how this gift has operated in me and in others. Are you ready to pay the price for the powerful revelation that this gift offers? I pray that you do. It will be well worth it.
Kingdom Principles
We usually know what to do with the good, but what do we do when we discern evil in people?
When you discern by the Holy Spirit something about another person, remember that God has just told you a secret. Secrets remain in the secret place, meaning between just you and God in prayer, unless God gives you permission otherwise.
Philippians 1:9 instructs us that love needs to be balanced with discernment, and discernment needs to be balanced with love.
When you discern something negative in an individual, love not only considers the individual with the spiritual problem and/or evil agenda, but also the impact of that individual on others. A mature leader can pastor that individual through the situation without compromising an entire organization in the process.
Hebrews 5:14 shows us that there is a connection between maturity and discerning well. We learn to discern through practice, which implies learning by trial and error and having a heavy dose of humility.
Thoughts for Reflection
When you have discerned that a deceptive or possessed person has come into your life or into your church, what, then, does love look like?
Are you able to pray discreetly and redemptively for others, even when you have discerned something evil in them?
Have you ever communicated something you have discerned to a leader, only to have it rebuffed? Why do you think that happened? What could you have done differently?
Have you ever made a mistake in what you have discerned? What did you learn through that experience?
Are you practicing this gift in a faith community? Why or why not?
Appendix
Can a Christian Be Demon Possessed?
As a new Christian, I underwent a very serious deliverance from spiritual bondage in direct connection to my occult past. As I mentioned in chapter 1, a woman at a weekly house prayer meeting I was attending saw a spirit of sorcery standing over me. As soon as she expressed that, something picked me up and threw me against the wall. Next, I went into a grand mal demonic manifestation. I wrote about this incident in more detail in my book The Intercessors Handbook (Chosen, 2016), but what happened to me at this prayer meeting was challenging to my pastor and to others in my church. They believed that Christians could not manifest demonically if they truly had the Holy Spirit.
I did have the Holy Spirit, but I still manifested demonically, as those areas of occultism had to be firmly addressed and dealt with. The good news is, I found my spiritual authority in Christ during that season and learned to walk out my freedom.
Since then, I have encountered Christian after Christian needing various levels of deliverance such as what I needed. After hearing my testimony of deliverance, Kyra (not her real name) came forward at the end of a church service to receive ministry from our altar team. She could barely walk forward, however, before she fell to the ground in a strong demonic manifestation. Keep in mind that Kyra is a Christian woman. She has accepted Jesus into her heart, and she has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Still, she manifested demonically and, like me, needed deliverance from her occult past, her issues being caused by satanic ritual abuse as a child.
With that said, it is a huge myth to believe that Christians cannot be demonized. Notice, however, that I use the word demonized and not the word possessed. This is where most of our confusion has come from. We have confused possession with demonization, and they are two different things. The late Derek Prince explained his objection to the use of the description demon possessed in certain passages of the Bible, claiming it is a mistranslation, such as in this passage: “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed” (Mark 1:32).
“The word possessed suggests ownership . . . by
a demon,” Prince said. “Now I don’t believe that any born-again, sincere Christian can be owned by a demon . . . but the Greek word that’s used can easily be, and should be, translated demonized.”1
He went on to explain that many born-again Christians are still demonized. He said there are areas in their personality where the Holy Spirit is not yet in complete control because there is a demon that has to be dealt with.
John Eckhardt, overseer of Crusaders Church Chicago, wrote something similar in an article for Charisma magazine:
The word “possessed” is an unfortunate translation because it connotes ownership, and we know that the devil cannot own a Christian—that is, have complete control of him. But in the Bible, there is no real distinction between being possessed and being oppressed, digressed, suppressed, obsessed and so forth. All these terms mean that a person is, to some degree, under the influence of a demon.2
The question remains, then, How much of a Christian can a demon possibly possess? In examining this, we need to recognize that we are all made up of three parts: spirit, soul and body. When Jesus comes into your life, He comes into your spirit and takes up residence. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). I believe Charles H. Kraft, president and founder of Deep Healing Ministries, says it best: “A demon cannot live in the Christian’s spirit—that is, the person’s central core, the part that died when Adam sinned, because Jesus now lives there.”3
So, then, how does a person know if he or she is under the influence of demons or not? I admit discussions like this can make people doubt their spiritual condition if they are not strong in the written Word and don’t know who they are in Christ. It can also leave us with the impression that deliverance from demons will always be a big fight. The truth—and I hope this gives you reasonable assurance—is that demons will only do what we have allowed them to do. The disciples, too, discovered this when they ministered, and then told Jesus, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (Luke 10:17).
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