Power to Detect Demons by W. v. Grant, Sr

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Chapter I

YOUR SPIRIT

Yesterday at my home, in the front room, I hurt a lady'sfeelings. I didn't mean to.

We had company. Two women were visiting us. Sister B - --was talking about her deaf ear and her ear trouble, how longshe had had it and how it was growing worse day by day. Shewas telling us what the doctor said. She was explaining howher hearing was leaving her.

I didn't say anything for a long time. Finally 1 said, "Themore you confess it, the worse it becomes". I explained to herthat there is nothing so good or bad that talking about it willnot make it more so.

I did not mean to rebuke this good sister. Evidently shetook it as a rebuke.

"Why did I say that?" I asked myself. I searched my ownheart. It was because I detected the spirit of self-pity and

self-sympathy that made her talk about her troubles.Why do people want to make themselves talk the way they

do? Why do they make themselves, their aches and theirpains, the subject of the conversation? Why do they revertthe .conversation back to their doctor, their hospital, theirpain, their ache, their operation, their experience, how theysuffered, what the neighbors said, and what the doctor said?Unconsciously they are in a habit of craving sympathy forthemselves. They like for people to meet them and ask themhow they are getting along. If you do not ask them, they willask you how you are feeling, so you will ask them the samething. Then they start in a long, detailed conversation, pity-ing themselves.

To prevent this, when we meet someone we should ask "Isit well with your soul?" ,

If someone ask you how you are feeling, say, "I have thevictory in my soul." Why be more interested in the shell inwhich you dwell than you are in you?. Sister B - - went to church that night. She prayed throughto victory, received her healing and shouted her shoes off.She went home happy in body and soul, with both ears normal!

Her hearing had returned.

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OUR CONFESSIONJesus is the high priest of our profession. (Heb. 3: 1 ). This

is the same word as confession. He is at the right hand of theFather just now. He is there in the prerence of God for us.He confesses what we confess.

If we say, "I am suffering so badly, I just can't receive myhealing." Jesus will say, "She is suffering so badly, she just

can't receive her healing." Jesus says we have what we say(Mark 11:23).

If you say, "I am getting worse every day," Jesus will say,"Father, she is getting worse every day."

If you say, "Hands have been laid on me and I will recover,"Jesus will say, "Hands have been laid on her and she will re-cover."

If you say "The Lord is the Lord that healeth me," Jesuswill say, "Father, you are the Lord that healeth her."

If you say, "He forgiveth all of my iniquities and healethall of my diseases," Jesus wilJ say, "Father, You forgiveth

all her iniquities and healeth all of her diseases."Last night God healed a long line at people of many differ-

ent diseases. Suddenly' I noticed my wife come into the linefor healing. She got the victory. Through the spirit I called forsomeone who was suffering around the heart . It was she, butI didn't know it. She was healed.

On the way home she explained that she did not want toconfess these symptoms, therefore she had not told me. In-stead, she confessed what God said: "I am the Lord thathealeth thee" (Exod. 15:26) . Therefore her healing developed.

MY BATTLERecently I was riding in my car. One of our dear friends

was riding with my wife and me. She wanted me to help herwith a problem.

She said she could not understand why the Bible told usthat whatever we asked, believing, we would receive. Shesaid she had been asking and she believed, but she could notreceive.

What kind of spirit is it that takes' hold of a dear saint ofGod, that influences her to justify herself and make God outa liar? It is the spiri t of self-just if icat ion, I suppose.

If I go into the house and turn on the light switch, and the

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light refuses to shine, I should not blame the light company.I look to see if there is a fuse that is blown, or if there is a

loose connection.The thing we settle in our heart is this: If anyone is wrong,

it is us. It is never God. He is always right. If we make Hima liar and justify ourself we insult Him; no wonder He doesnot work on our half.

This dear saint kept pressing the issue, declaring that she

had found that this portion of the Word of God did not work.God helped us to detect this spirit that was prompting thedear saint of God to justify herself and blame God.

Like a flash I saw her trouble. "You are not doing whatGod told you to do," I said. "What do you mean," she de-manded. I told her this: "He said if we abide in Him and hiswords abide in us, we will receive what we ask" (John 15 : 7).

I went on like this; "You don't let His Word abide in youif you are saying the opposite of what He says. He says ifyou ask believing, you shall receive. If His words abide in you,you will say, 'Whatever I ask believing, I shall receive'. If you

make Him a liar, His words do not abide in you. You arewavering, and he that wavereth shall not receive anythingof the Lord (James 1 :16). You are like a man who looks intoa mirror and goes away and forgets how he looked" (James1 :23).

The Word of God ceases to be a perfect law of liberty foryou if you go away and forget how you looked.

If you let His words abide in you, then after hands are laidon you, you will say, "I will recover" (Mark 16 : 18). You willsay what God says.

If His words abide in you, you will say, "The Lord is theLord that healeth me" (Exod. 15:26). You will say, "By Hiss tripes I am healed" (Isaiah 53: 5) . You will say, "He boremy sickness" (Matt. 8: 16-17) . You will say, "He delivers myafflictions" (Psalms 34: 19) . You will never say. "I am sick"(Isaiah 33:24).

RULE YOUR OWN SPIRITWe just finished a Bible School in Dallas. While 1was teach-

ing a class on divine healing, I told the people it was God'swill to heal everyone of any sickness or disease. Each timeI would say that, Sister J - - - would yell out, "Then why am I

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not healed? I have tried and tried but I just can't get it.""You have just now told me why you are not healed," I said."What did I say?" she said, as she tried to retrace her

words.She said, "I just can't get it." She was saying what the

devil says. God said she would recover (Mark 16:18). And shewas not saying what God said. She should have made herselfsay what God said. Instead, she let her spirit cause her to

make the Lord a liar (I John 5:10).We have what we say (Mark 11 :23). He that has no rule

over his own spirit is like a city with the walls broken down(Prov. 25:28): The enemy can come in with his spirits if youleave the fence down.

I COULDN'T TALKMy wife and I went to a home to pray for Sister A - - - .

She was a Spirit-filled Baptist lady. She was broken up andready for healing. She seemed to have plenty of faith.

Sister B - - - was there. When I started to say something,

Sister B - - - would talk for about two hours and I had tolisten. If I didn't listen, she would hold me and make me listento her. The talk went like this, "I prayed for a neighbor, Igot the power of God in my right hand. God healed her. Ihave the gift of healing. I felt it go up my arm, etc., etc."

I started to pray for the sick lady but Sister B - - - wouldtell of another case and another case and another case. Thewhole conversation was about herself and how everyone sheprayed for was healed instantly, and how she had the gift ofhealing.

I recognized it was not the right spirit that made her talkall the time, making herself the subject of the conversation.r detected she had an exalted, conceited spirit.

I started home, but she caught me and held me in the frontroom while T was trying to put on my hat. I had to listen toall that over add over and over for about 30 more minutes.If she could not rule her own spirit, she will have no resist-ance when some evil spirit seeks to enter.

I was told. one preacher testified like this, H I used to bereally conceited, but I was prayed for. I was delivered fromthat. Now J am the nicest person that you ever saw in your

life. "

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THE MOVING MANI have watched him. He spends about all he makes moving

his family from one city to another. He goes from o~e stateto another state, from one country to another country.

This dear brother buys a new car when a new model comesout. He does not like that one, so he trades about every timethe moon changes. He spends all that he ever makes movingfrom one place to another.

When he is in California he wishes he were in Arkansas.When he is in Texas he is wanting to be in Arizona. He is agood Christian man, but he is really miserable. He tradesfurniture; he changes jobs; he changes friends.

He is a godly man. Paul was talking to him when he says,"Godliness with contentment is great gain." John the Baptistwas talking to him when he said, "Be content with yourwages." I am sure Paul had him in mind when he said, "Ihave learned in whatsoever state I am to be content."

If your spirit is discontented, then you are like a city withthe walls broken down. Some enemy can come in very easilybecause you have no resistance.

You must build up that weak spot, just as a farmer buildsup a weak spot in his fence to keep the break-fence hog fromentering his corn-patch. You must pray each day. "Search me,oh God, and know my heart."

Oh how we need to pray daily, "Create in me a clean spirit,oh God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalms 51 :10).

You have power over that spirit of discontentment and youhave power to train your spirit right.

NEW HOMESNew homes are nice, but when a man goes to build a new

home several times in a lifetime, it keeps him torn up all thetime. He will never have a chance to settle down and enjoyliving.

Sister N - : - lets her furniture go back and buys morefurniture each year. After several years, he)' husband is stillpaying on furniture. She finds fault with the kind she has.H is 110t the right model or it doesn't look just like SisterJones' furniture.

She complains about the house and says Ow kitchen is too

small. The ceiling is too low. The cabinets do not have enough

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You are in error, and you have the spirit of error, if youthink you must sin every day and can't keep from sinning allthe time. The next time you will accept the doctrine that onesin is as bad as another. Then you will yield to the worst ofsins, since you think that it is impossible to keep from sin-ning.

I would not trust a man who says he can not keep fromsinning. I would not trust him to deliver milk to my h,ouse.

He might try to attack my wife, and he would say he Icouldnot keep from it. I would not trust him to count my money,because my money would come up short. He would say hecould not keep from stealing. I would not believe anythinghe told me, for he cannot keep from lying. I would not besafe sleeping in the house with him for he might get up andshoot me, or 'might rob me and then he would say he couldn'tkeep from it.

If we believe right at the beginning, if we ask God to createwithin us a right spirit, we will not yield to the spirit of error.

doors, or the closets are too small. Her husband 'builds heranother house.

After he builds several times, after he has sacrificed all hiseffort and time, after he has tried again for six or eighttimes, he no longer has any courage to try, and he has noenergy to start life all over again.

Sister N - - - still murmurs and complains. She is old nowand the habit is formed. There is no use in her trying to

change. Her spirit has crystalized.She is like the large tree out there in the forest. It wasbent while it was a bush. It grew that way and you cannotstraighten it. It is too late.

Sister B - - - never learned God said that He would put anew spirit within us (Ezek. 11: 19; 36 : 26).

The Lord tells us to have a part in correcting our ownspirit.

"Cast away from you all your transgressions and make youa new heart and a new spirit" (Ezek. 18:31).

WRONG BELIEVINGWrong believing does make a difference, you know. If I

were a woman, I would not want to marry a man who be-lieved wrong. While I was overseas, I was talking to apreacher from the States. In the conversation he said all ofus had to sin every day. He said that no one could keep fromsinning all the time.

I tried to reason with him and get him out of the spirit oferror. He would not listen to me. He had an unteachable spirit.

A few years after, I heard that he was smoking. Then hebegan to drink a little beer. Then he was caught drinking

wine. He was caught in a night club. Then he came homedrunk, cursing, shooting, beating his wife and breaking hisfurniture. Then he left his wife and began to date anotherman's wife. Then he took that man's wife away from him,ran away with her and married her. When the truth cameout, he had been running around with other women forseveral years.

You say, "That is more than his own spirit. That is thespirit of the devil." I will agree with you, but Satan wouldhave never entered in had he corrected his own spirit. Heshould have built up the weak place in the fence.

OUR WEAPONS

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mightythrough God for the pulling down of strongholds (II Cor.10:4).

Too many people have a carnal fighting spirit. They fightpeople instead of the Powers of darkness. We fight not againstflesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in highplaces (Eph. 6:12).

Peter probably was not under Satan's power when he wasfighting for his Lord. I suppose he was heavily anointed with

his own spirit. He cut the high priest's servant's ear off.Many people want to fight for their Lord. They yield to

that fighting spiri t.I have heard them while they were testifying in church.

They take that occasion to fight the church which they usedto belong to. Not every time, but usually they give the impres-sion that they know more than the church.

I have heard people take advantage of people from thepulpit. They fight, fuss and foam at the mouth. They slur,criticize and smear someone and say God told them to do it.We can finally detect that they have formed a fighting spirit.


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They must get hold of themselves before it is too late. Theymust ask God to create within them a right spirit.

MEEKNESS NOT WEAKNESSMeekness is not weakness. Moses was a strong man, yet he

was a very meek man. Jesus was the meekest of all men, butHe was far from being weak.

I have seen people go unshaven, without a bath or a hair-cut. They would not brush their teeth or put on clean clothes.

They thought they were being humble.A filthy spirit is not an humble spirit. You do not need to

drive a T-Model Ford or a Volkswagen, and have a flat everymile in order to be humble. You can even 'take a bath once inawhile with lifebouy soap.

Paul came to his church in the spirit of meekness (I Cor.4 :21). He told us to discipline people in the spirit of meek-ness (Gal. 6: 1). Yet who can say that Paul was meek? He setpeople right. He did it with authority and dominion. Heturned people over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.He commanded us to do the same thing (I Cor. 5 :5). Moseswas a strong man, but yet if you will read how he correctedhis people, even brought judgment upon them, how strong hewas in the Lord to correct three million people, then youwill see that the meekest man was not always the weakestman.

Moses caused the earth to open up and swallow the trouble-makers. Jesus set the Pharisees right (Matt. 23). We aretold to reprove and rebuke, but to use longsuffering anddoctrine.

In all of this we must learn to detect the difference in the

spirit of filthiness and the spirit of meekness.ENCOURAGE YOURSELF

David encouraged himself in the Lord (I Sam. 30 :6). IfDavid encouraged himself, you can do the same thing. Every-one has power within himself to be either encouraged or dis-couraged.

It takes so much courage for you to get out of the bed,shave, wash your face or put on your shoes.

In the Bible times they had a law which would not let adiscouraged person go to war. He would discourage the heartsof the others.

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Gideon could do more with 3 uO men who hac] courage, thanhe could have done with 32,000 men with no courage.

The Lord spoke to me and said, "Have faith in yourselfand in God." He meant this: Regardless of how much faithyou have in God, if you do not believe that you can do whatGod says that you can do, then you will be a failure.

If the Bible says that you can du all things through Christthat strengtheneth you, then you must say, "I can do all thingsthrough Christ that strengtheneth me."

If God says, "Nothing shall be impossible to you,"then youmust say, "Nothing shall be impossible unto me." (Matt.17:20)

If you have the spirit of timidity, or a spirit of inferiority,you will always hold back and never try to do anything. Youwill be a failure in each thing that you begin.

Many girls would get a better husband if they would keeptheir courage and keep trying. Thousands of boys settle forless and get a second best wife, because they did not keep uptheir courage or self-confidence. Every young person should

encourage themselves and never settle for the second beston anything.

When Paul was on his voyage to Rome, in spite of thestorm and the shipwreck, he "thanked God and took courage."He finished his voyage and fulfilled his mission, which he wassent to accomplish (Rom. 1 :15). Why don't you take cour-age? If you want courage, then take it. Take courage, becauseit is offered to you now.

God told Joshua that he would have a good success (Joshua1 :8). How would he be successful? God told him, "Be strongand of a good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be thou dis-mayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee wheresoever thougoest" (Joshua 1 :9).

If you want to prosper in anything, then take courage(I Chron. 22:13). He that has courage can have anything.

Whatsoever you start to do, read I Chron. 28 :20. Do it andthen you will be prosperous.

"And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and ofgood courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: forthe Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he willnot fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished


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They can say with Caleb, "Give me this mountain." Courageis more powerful than the atomic bomb.

And he set the priests in their charge and encouraged themin the services of the Lord (II Chron. 35 : 2).

We must all encourage one another. Lift them up and neverknock them down.

"So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith and he thatsmootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil" (Isaiah41 :7).

all the work for the service of the house of the Lord"(I Chron. 28:20).

"They helped everyone his neighbour; and everyonesaid to his brother, Be of good courage" (Isaiah 41 : 6).

"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shallstrengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psalms27:14).

ENCOURAGE OTHERSTen thousand teenagers would do great things for God and

their country if 'they had a little encouragement. You havethe power to encourage them or discourage them. It dependson the spirit you display before them.

The Lord had a little talk with Moses. He told him thatJoshua could take the children of Israel over and possess theland, if he had some encouragement. He said, "Encourage him,for he shall cause Israel to inherit it" (Deut. 1 :38).

Moses encouraged Joshua and he never forgot it. He broughtback a good report when the ten spies came back discouraged.The ten spies died in the wilderness. Nobody knows theirnames. Joshua divided Jordan and marched over to possessthe land.

Why did he do all this? It was because an older ministerencouraged Joshua. After the older minister passed on, hiswords lived on and on. They were encouraging words .. Theyencouraged thousands, and teeming thousands, of people; theyare still doing so.

The devil told a preacher that he was discouraged and thepreacher said, "No, I am not discouraged. You are a liar andthe father of it." This discouraged the devil; so the devil left.

I charge you to go encourage some young preacher today.Your ministry will live on and on. Moses' 'ministry is stillliving. "But charge Joshua and encourage him for he shallgo over and before his people and he shall cause them toinherit the land which they shall see" (Deut. 3 :28).

One time Hezekiah encouraged the priests and the Levitesby commanding the people to bring tithes of all they pos-sessed (II Chron. 31 : 4). Many of God's ministers may be en-couraged today. With a little encouragement they can dowonders. They can win souls; they can take cities. They cango over into the promised land. They can chase the enemy.

BEITER THAN THE MIGHTYIf you are slow to anger, you are better than the mighty. If

you rule your own spirit you are better than the man whotakes a city.

Brother J - - - held great tent meetings. He would go intothe largest cities. There he could cast out devils, heal the sickand win thousands of converts to the Lord. He could take thelargest cities. People admitted his ministry was strong. Theyadmired him. After all this, his temper would flare up. He ranhis friends away. He could be a friend to someone for ten

years and suddenly turn against him in ten minutes. He couldnot get along with people. He was a bad public relations man.He could not rule his own spirit. God says you are betterthan Brother J, if you have control over your own spirit(Prov. 16 :32). .

Alexander the Great conquered. the whole world at the ageof about thirty-three. He cried because he did not have moreto conquer. Yet, he could not rule his own spirit. He died analcoholic.

I know a good man who could take cities.' Yet he had a hastyspirit. He spoke when he should have been listening. Thisgot him into trouble and he became a fool (Prov. 14 :29).

Some of the best businessmen play the fool and lose whatthey have. They become proud and haughty. A haughty spiritgoeth before a fall. When you learn to rule your own spirit,then and only then, ~an you become strong.

One of my best friends died at middle age. It was because hehad a hurry spirit. Sure, he prospered. But what good did itdo him to. prosper when he couldn't control his own spirit,when he did not put any of it in the work of the Lord? Youcan hurry yourself to death. You can die at middle age. You

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can hurry up and get to where you are going, but you havenot really prospered. You have not done yourself justice. Youhave displeased the Lord.

Brother W - - - is a man of quality and talent, but no .onecan work with him. He will not listen to anyone's viewpoint.You cannot tell him anything. He is a very poor public rela-tions man. God calls that man's spirit an obstinate spirit.He will not even listen to the Lord (Deut. 2 :30).

If you rule your own spirit you will not yield to a spirit offilthiness which causes you to tell dirty jokes and think in'the gutter all the time. If you let your own spirit go wild, ifyou do not discipline your own spirit, then the enemy maycreep in with his spirit. If you cannot detect your own spirit,how can you detect the spirit of the enemy?

Get Your Spirit Sanctified'I know a lady who says she is saved, but she still has a bad

spirit. It causes her to think and talk about vulgar things.She has cleaned up her body, her soul is saved, but God saysfor our soul, spirit and body to be sanctified holy (I Thess.

5:23)I have a dear friend, but I have quit keeping company with

him. I cannot be with him over ten minutes until he is talkingabout sex in a low, degrading manner.

If we get our spirits sanctified as God commands us to dothen people will be glad to meet us. They will feel good in ourpresence.

We will not have a diverse, or unclean spirit, or any suchthing. So watch your spirit. That is one of the most prized'possessions that you will ever 'have.

p ASTOR BARNES' VISITPastor Barnes went to pray for a dear sister who had bpt>nsick for twenty years. .

He detected her spirit. He told her that she did not want tobe healed because people would stop sympathizing with her.He saw that she had a spirit of self-pity and would sym-pathize with herself.

She cri.ed awhile and then received her heaiing. She justthen reahzed that she had a spirit that kept her bound. Itkept. her from wanting to be healed for twenty years.

Did you ever try to deal with a ma who had a wounded

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spirit? The Bible says that he is hard to bear (Proverbs18:14) .

Did you ever try to get your members to come to church,when they had a spirit of slumber, or a spirit of heaviness?Did you ever try to deal with a man who was sorry for him-self? He told you all the work that he had done and every-thing that he had to do. How busy he was! He was workeddown. No one seemed to care about him, He tried, but hedidn't have a break. Maybe he told you how he had been mis-treated by everybody, and how people had lied on him, andhow they had accused him. The next time you saw him he hadthe same story to tell. Didn't you hate to meet him? Hewould even dampen your own spirit if you would let him,There is no faith in that kind of atmosphere to even pray forthe man, bec~use if you pray for him, when he meets the nextperson, he will still be telling' them all of his troubles,' andhow people have lied on him, what a hard time he has hadand how that he feels like the Lord has even forsaken him.But the Lord said, "I will never, never leave thee and I will

neve'. never, never forsake thee." He is with you always,even to the end of the world. If you have the wrong spirit,yOI~will even make God a liar and justify yourself.

\\ hen you are sorry for a man like that, that makes himworse. You cannot afford to sympathize with him. You willspoil him. He does not realize that he has developed a spirit"f self-pity, but he has. You cannot afford to ask him howhe is getting along. He will pour out complaints a mile long.He can pour out words of sympathy and self-pity until thesun goes down if you will listen to him. When he is throughyou will really be feeling' badly. He will be feeling very badlybecause he has talked himself out of faith. I have started topray for people. They tell me all of their troubles. I havestarted to pray for them and they would hold my hand andsay, "Wait a minute, I am not through telling you yet. Youare not supposed to pray for me till I get through tellingyou", just like God doesn't know all about it.

To talk like an invalid is to act like an invalid. To act likean invalid is to feel like an invalid. To feel like an invalid isto be an invalid.

One dear lady said, "I feel bad every time I feel good, be-

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cause I am thinking how bad I am going to feel when I quitfeeling good." Neighbor, it is up to you to develop a goodspirit, so you can sympathize with others, or a bad spirit, soyou sympathize with yourself.

PATTERN AFTER DANIELDaniel was not only a servant of God, but he developed a

very fine, human spirit. This caused the people to sit up andtake notice of him. Twice it .is recorded that he wa.s a manwith an excellent spirit (Dan. 5:12; 6:3).

Jesus was a human being with a body, soul and spirit. AsHe grew up, He set us an example that we should follow Hissteps. John the Baptist also waxed strong in spirit (Luke1:8).

It was Jesus, after He had His spirit tested in many ways,who said for us to take heed to our spirit. The Lord tells us,"Ti.erefore take heed to your spirit" (Mal. 2 :15). It would bewell for everyone of us to take heed to our own spirit, andk.t the spirit of God search our heart. Let the searchlight

Hom glory come and search the very motive and the intention0" our human spirit. Jesus was concerned about your spirit.Evil spirits can come in if your spirit is broken down like acity with no walls. Evil spirits cannot come in until your spiritceases to be controlled.

You must have a steadfast spirit if you want to please theLord (Psalms 78: 8) .

"Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth notiniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile" (Psalms32:2).The Lord declares that you must be holy in body and in

spirit (I Cor. 7 : 34). A lot of people live a holy life, they think,but they do not have their spirit under subjection. They eitherhave spiritual pride or they are a little bit conceited. We needto sanctify our spirit. He will create within us a clean spirit(Psalms 51 : 10). The Lord expects a woman or a man to have

meek and quiet spirit (I Peter 3:4).If you are found with an excellent spirit, a spirit without

guile, then you will be trusted to see into the spirit world,for your spirit will be kindred with His spirit.

There is something wrong with a person who can discernbad spirits and not discern good spirits. For we must first

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discern the good spirits before we can discern the evil spirits.

Chapter II

THE SPIRIT OF GOD

There is something wrong with a man or woman who saysthey can discern evil spirits in people, but cannot discern thegood spirits. Perhaps they have a gift of imagination, suspi-

cion or criticism.If you have the gift of discerning of spirits, you know which

gift is in operation in a certain service. You know what theHoly Spirit wants to do next in a service.

ENTERTAIN STRANGERSSome have entertained angels and did not even know it

(Heb. 13 :2). In this case, they had a good human spirit, but:

they had not yet come to the place they had the gift of dis-cerning of spirits.

Angels appeared to Abraham. Abraham recognized themas men sent from God, although he did not detect their identi-

ty at that time (Cen 18 :2).At that time Abraham became a great intercessor for God.These same two angels appeared to Lot later or. in the form

of men. Abraham had such an excellent spirit that the Lordwould not keep from him what He was about to do in Sodomand Gomorrah (Gen. 18: 17). Had Abraham not had the dis-cerning of spirits working in his life to detect that these menwere sent from God, he could not have been an intercessor.Lot's family probably would have been destroyed.

Men with discerning of spirits today know when the HolySpirit wants to intercede through them for someone in greatdanger. They immediately go to prayer.

Abraham's intercession caused these two men to visi t Sodomand rescue Lot.

In Sodom there were wicked men who were so evil that theycould not detect that these men were angels sent from God.They wanted to treat them in a vile manner.

Even Lot's OWI1 wife did not seem to discern that these men

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were true messengers sent from God. She turned her back onLot and went back into Sodom. That is a true picture of howthings will be at the second coming of the Lord. Jesus says,"Remember Lot's wife."

Many people are so carnal that they do not recognize a truemessenger from God when he comes. Why? It is because theydo not have an excellent spirit. They should pray for a meekand quiet spirit. Then an angel might appear to them. Then

it will be given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdomof heaven.

A DIVINE BEING

One night a man came into my room and talked to me. Heasked me if I would hold a little girl's funeral service. Thisman walked out of my room. In a few minutes; the doors wereclosed.

Did I see an angel? He did not have wings. I am sure hadthere been someone else in 'the room he would not have seenthis heavenly messenger.

This little girl, this divine visitor spoke to me about, sud-denly became ill. In about two months she passed away. Shelived eight miles out in the country. One night the same mes-senger returned into my room and said, "The little girl is deadafter two months."

The next morning some people came and told me the girlpassed away and asked me to hold the funeral services.

King Herod had Peter locked in jail, intending after Easter,to bring him to the people so they could cut his head off. Thepeople made prayer unto God without ceasing for Peter. Sud-denly, an angel of the Lord came upon him. He smote Petera~d told hi~ to arise and put on his sandals. Peter obeyedhim, He raised Peter up and told him to put on his clothes.Peter followed instructions.

Peter walked out of prison. The doors and gates were allopen. Peter did not know until later that he had seen an angel.He had an excellent spirit. That is why the angel came to him.Yet he did not detect an angel at first sight (Acts 12).

. ~nother time Peter came in contact' with some heavenlyv~sItor~, Moses and Elijah by name. This time, Peter was be-SIde himself and did not know what he was saying (Matt.17:4).

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We must have power to see into the spirit world and seegood spirits if we are to know the bad ones when we meetthem.

The experience Peter had in the mount convinced Peter thathe was an eye-witness of His majesty (II Peter 1 :16-18). Thisexperience had a tremendous effect on the life and ministry ofour beloved apostle. I am sure it would have a good effect onour ministry should we be visited by some heavenly beings,

although if some of us should entertain these heavenly beings,we would not be aware of it. Let's pray that God will give usan insight into the spirit world.

AN ANGEL IS NEARAn angel encamps around about all of us who fear the Lord,

to deliver us (Psalms 34 :7). If a third of the angels were castout of heaven, God still has two angels to the devil's one, annone angel has power enough to bind Satan by himself (Rev.20:2).

Whether you see it or not, this angel is nearby. Elisha couldsee the elements full of heavenly beings to protect him andhis servants. The servant could not see this heavenly host, sohe was afraid. Elisha prayed and asked the Lord to open hisservant's eyes so he could see that there were more on hisside than there were against him. When the servant's eyeswere opened, he was no longer afraid (II Kings 6:17).

When we get our eyes opened, we can see those that are onour side. Then we are no longer afraid. Then we know thebattle is already won.

At first Joshua did not discern who a certain man was thatappeared in the camp. This visitor did not have wings, yet he

was from heaven. Joshua did not entertain him unaware.Moses had laid hands on Joshua and anointed him to take

his place. (Deut. 34:9) He had encouraged him because he hadan excellent spirit. Moses prayed for Joshua to be anointedwith a spirit of wisdom.

After the death of Moses, Joshua led God's people acrossJordan. The river had closed behind him. What could he do?It was too late to go back into the wilderness. He was in thepromised land now, but he had to do something in order topossess the land. We are in the promised land, but we mustkeep up our courage and faith.

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We must discern evil spirits. We must not fight againstflesh and blood, but we must fight against spiritual weaknessin high places. We must cast down high imaginations. Wemust do some fighting of some large giants in order to possessour possessions. The devil is already defeated and he knows it.So God gives us power, faith, and courage to go forth and con-quer the land.

Maybe no one else could see this messenger except Joshua.

And for a while, Joshua was so carried away into businessthat he did not notice him. This stranger from the other worldhad a sword drawn in his hand.

Joshua didn't know whether he was one of the soldiers fromJericho, or a man from a space ship. So he asked, ..Art thoufor us or for our adversaries?" This stranger' told him thathe was captain of the host of the Lord (oJshua !) :14).

There was not only one angel there; there was a whole hostof them. This one was the captain. Joshua only saw the cap-tain of the whole host. The Lord has plenty of angels. They

encamp around about them that fear Him to deliver them.When Joshua saw that the armies from heaven were pres-

ent to do the fighting, he was no longer afraid. This was agreat encouragement to this warrior.

It would be a great encouragement to us to have a visitorfrom heaven to appear to us just before we entered battle andtell us that a heavenly host has us covered. This has happenedto me a few times before I entered a long revival. The Lordwould appear to me, a heavenly messenger, and tell me thatHe was sent to say that the battle was God's and not mine.I would see many hundreds of people set free from sin, filledwith the Spirit and delivered from demons. I saw great heal-ings and miracles take place, not because of what I did, butbecause that the heavenly host was there to do the fightingfor me.

The angel of the Lord told Joshua to loose the shoes fromoff his feet. This was saying that the battle was the Lord's.Joshua did not need to go out in his own strength to do thefighting.

Joshua had an excellent spirit. That is why he could detectthe spiritual man nearby. A carnal man would never have

recognized that God's messenger was here. He would havestayed full of fear and lost the battle.

How did Daniel know that the angel was there in the lion'sden? Well he could discern the spirits, of course. Angels areministering spirits. Nebuchadnezzar, the King, walked backand forth at the door all night long, Nebuchadnezzar was fullof fear. He didn't see an angel there. He wanted to know ifDaniel was still living the next morning, but the angel was

there just the same. Daniel had an excellent spirit, so Godpossessed him with the spirit that he could discern that theangel was nearby. Had it been some of us, we would not haveknown the angel was there, and we would have laid there sofull of fear, we wouldn't have recognized the angel. The lionswould probably have eaten us.

TAKE HEED TO YOUR SPIRITGideon was a mighty man of valor. Gideon was only a pea-

thresher behind the winepress. God saw he had an excellentspirit. He felt a fear, but he had a very sensitive spirit. Heknew when God was talking to him. He detected that the mes-senger was an angel from God. He thought he would not livebecause he had seen an angel (Judges 6: 22) .

This young man obeyed the Lord and tore down the altarsof Baal. This shows us that he had a meek and quiet spirit,which hated sin and loved righteousness.

With the sword of the Lord, Gideon had courage to goagainst the sinful Midianites.

If we had the gift of discerning of spirits we would recog-nize the heavenly host is with us to do our fighting. We would

not need to depend on worldly gain and carnal methods to putthe church over. A revival would be in our midst.A heavenly messenger came into my room about five o'clock

in th: mornin~ and told me to go to Seattle, Washington. Thiswas III Oakland, California. I had planned to go to Hawaii, butHe changed my plans. I arose and phoned the minister inSeattle. He said that they had just prayed before they went tob~d that we would come to that city. We went, and stayedmne weeks. We saw teeming thousands of people delivered.God fought our battle for us.

Any of us can go conquer the enemy if we know God will

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go with us. Too many of us have a carnal spirit and do notrecognize God's voice when He speaks. .

ANGELS UNA WAREManoah's was nice to a man when he came to visit her.

~he entertained an angel unaware. Too many people are look-mg for angels to have wings.

An angel of the Lord came to Mrs. Manoah. That was in thetime that the people had not received a visitation from God ina long time. Many people believed the days of miracles hadpassed. The visitors told this Godly woman that Samson wouldbe born to her. She thought that she had seen an angel butwas not certain.

"Then the woman came and told her husband, saying,A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was likethe countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but Iasked him not whence he was, neither told he me hisname", (Judges 13:6)They prayed that the messenger from God would return.

So it is in order to pray that you will be visited by a heavenlymessenger. God answered their prayer. The messenger return-ed and confirmed the message that he had given to Manoah'swife.

To really convince Manoah and his wife that they had seenan angel, this messenger ascended to God in the fire on thealtar used as a sacrifice.

T~is gave this godly man and woman so much courage andconfidence that they never were the same again. They weretold that a child would be born to them and for them to raisehim a Nazarite. They were instructed just what to feed thisboy that God had given them.

They kept their faith. They were faithful to their instruct-ions. They raise the child that was one of /the heros of faith.He destroyed thousands of Philistines. He judged Israel fortwenty years.

If more people could be sensitive to the spirit, God wouldappear to them and share His secrets and plans with them.Lord help us to have an excellent spirit that we may recognizeit when you do visit us.

MEN OF TWO WORLDS

.It is a wonderful life to be in connection with two worlds.

Elijah was a man who lived to' himself in the woods most ofthe time. He was in connection with the Lord and knew thevoice of God. He could tell the people and the king what Godsaid. We can't very well do that if we listen to television allday.

No wonder Elijah could tell the widow woman, "Thus saiththe Lord." According to his word, the meal barrel was neverempty. The dead boy rose and the heavens withheld the rains.

The man was a messenger of God to the people.We are men of like passions. While he was sleeping an angelcame to him and fed him on angel food. He went forty dayson the strength of that food. That was a feast of a fast.

After Elijah contacted the messenger from heaven, henever ran from his enemies again. He went back from wherehe fled, near Ahab's palace. He pronounced judgment uponthe wicked 'king and queen. He seemed to be a citizen of twoworlds from then on. He took authority over all the opposition.He fought an offensive battle instead of a defensive one.

If you want to live a life of triumph, you should contact thespirit world. Intercede with God. A heavenly messenger willcome and send you a message. You will preach like a man fromanother world. You will take authority over all your opposit-ion. You will tromp down the power of the enemy. You willput the enemy to flight that has got people bound, and youwill let the people go free! You will open the prison doors andturn them loose.

If you tarry before God, if you get your spirit sanctified,you can detect His presence when he appears, and you can letthe peop!= know that they are in the presence of God.

ONLY CERTAIN MENNot all men can see into the spirit world. Daniel had an

understanding of the spirit world. He was on speaking termswith the invisible world.

Gabriel appeared to him and made him to understand vis-ions (Dan. 9 :21). Later on another angel visited him (Dan.10:6).

Daniel saw the vision. The men with him did not see it.They were afraid. They ran and hid themselves like lots ofpeople do today who come into the presence of the Lord. Yousee the back of their head as they run out. Carnal men are

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afraid to get near the presence of the Lord because they areafraid that God might see their sins. When Jesus appearssome of the great men and mighty men will run and hide inthe' caves under the rocks and cry for the mountains to fallon them and hide them from the wrath of God (Dan. 10 :7).

Daniel was told that a great battle was in existence in thespirit world. If we are intercessors for God, if we can discernthe spirit" that wants to intercede through us, then we can

tarry in His presence; we will know the battIe is on.Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. The men

with him did not see Jesus. They heard His speak (Acts 9 :7).The Lord may appear to you. The people nearby may go

home not knowing the Lord is even near the place. Some peoplethink .the only gifts that we have manifested in the churchare tongues, interpretation, and prophecy. It is because theseare the only gifts that they can hear with their natural ear.The other six gifts work silently and they go home not evenknowing a gift was in operation. They may even criticize theman or woman who heard the voice of God and told peoplewhat God told them. That is because they are carnal andwalk as men.

The angel of the Lord appeared unto Zacharias and toldhim about John the Baptist, who was to be born to him andhis wife (Luke 1 : 11-22).

Gabriel appearel to Mary, telling her of Jesus, which wouldbe born to her. Angels appeared to shepherds telling themthe same glad message.

An angel came and turned the apostle out of prison and said,"go, stand and speak in the temple. Tell the people all the

words of this life" (Acts 5 :20). Had we been at any of thesescenes, we might not have been in connection with the Lordenough to even see these angels. And had we seen them, wemight not have seen any wings whatsoever.

An angel appeared to Cornelius as he was praying and toldhim to send for Peter.

One time an angel stood beside Paul while he was in astorm. The angel told him that God had given him all thatsailed with him. That was the means of 276 men escaping suredeath.

Suppose Paul had been carnal and had not known when the

angel came by. All the men would have drowned. They wouldhave gone down into watery graves. Their lives would havebeen lost.

How many people will be lost in eternity, if we are carnaland do not detect it when the Spirit of God is working withus, wanting us to intercede for people who are lost?

If we have a sanctified spirit, as did Paul, then our spiritwill detect it when God's messengers come to us with a mes-

sage. They may not always have wings, nevertheless, theyare sent to us with a message. Let's deliver the message tothe waiting people that their lives and souls will not be lost ,so help us God.

DESIRE SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Do you know which one of the spiritual gifts God wants tooperate in a given service? Covet earnestly the best gift.

Can you tell when the Spirit wants to intercede through youfor someone that is in trouble, maybe miles away across the

continent, across the waters? Can you save a soul or save alife?

Do you have the mind of the Spirit when you go to service?Then you can deliver the message that God wants the peopleto have. You can save a soul from death. How can you delivera message if you do not have a message to deliver? How canyou have a message if you have not been in the presence ofGod? If you are watching carnal things all day long? If youare watching some program from Hollywood? How can yoube spiritually minded and carnally minded at the same time?If an angel were to appear to you, you might not know it ifyou had your mind upon stories, telling of people robbing,stealing or watching the ads on television, people blowingsmoke and drinking beer.

Do you have an insight into the Word of God enough soyou can say, "It is written", as Jesus did when Satan pre-sented himself as an angel of light?

If you first know the mind of the Spirit of God and can trythe spirits by the Word of God, then God can trust you todetect evil spirits.

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CHAPTER 3

EVIL SPIRITSthis. They would say, "It is written, that I must not temptthe Lord my God."

We should pray, "Lead us not into temptation:' Peopledeliberately walk into about nine-tenths of their temptations.God does not lead them. They do not have the spiritual insightto recognize temptations until they have already yielded. Itis not a Sill to he tempted, but is is a sin to yield to temptat-ions.

If we were more spiritual; if we prayed more ; it we had allexcellent spirit; if we stayed in His presence until we arebetter acquainted with His Spirit; if we had a better insightinto His Word, then we would recognize temptations whenthey present themselves. We would say "no" to them. Wewould resist the devil and he would flee.

DETECT TRIALSYesterday I went to pray for Brother L ... When I arrived,

I saw that he was already healed. He was yielding to symptomsand did not detect them as such.

I told him to resist the devil and he would flee from him(James 4:7). He began to resist the devil. He arose and wentto work driving a truck all day. He was at church last night,smiling and happy.

If you could not resist the devil, then God would not havecommanded you to do so. Each of us have the power to resisthim or accept his lies. If you will resist him, he will alwaysrun away.

Most of the people lose their healing because they do notknow the voice of the enemy that brings back the symptoms,

doubts and fears.If you believe you are healed because you feel better, thenwhen you feel badly, you do not believe you are healed. Youmust have something more substantial than feelings to standon. The W.ord will stand when the heavens and earth aremoved out of their place.

Had JeSUS gone by feelings, when He was so hungry, Hewould have surrendered to Satan. I am sure lIe was not feel-ing so well when He was so weak, as the lions, bears, tigers,snakes and all the animals were attacking Him there in thatwild wilderness.

Would a pain hinder you from believing that Jesus is coming

Satan sometimes comes to us as an angel of light. Hepreaches to us. Had Eve the gift of discerning of spirits soshe could have detected the devil's intentions, things may haveturned out differently for Adam and all of us. We must knowto whom we are listening. Many Christians count it an insultif you even hint that Satan may be influencing them throughtheir thoughts. They do not seem to know the evil spirits.

One time Jesus told two holiness preachers that they didnot know what manner of spirit they were of (Luke 9:55).They had a secretarian spirit for one thing. They forbade agroup of people that would not follow them. They wanted tocall fire down from heaven to destroy another group. Theywanted to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And theywanted to sit in certain seats, next to Jesus.

The gift of discerning of spirits was not working in the

lives of these preachers at that time. At least it was not focus-ed on themselves. Jesus also detected that there was an evilspirit influencing Peter, who tried to tempt him to bypass thecross and miss the purpose for which He had come to thisworld (Matt. 16 :23). These preachers were not devil possess-ed, for a Christian cannot be possessed with the devil. Theywere influenced by Satan. They yielded to temptations. Hewas attempting to carry out his purpose.

DETECTING TEMPTATIONSJesus stayed in the wilderness, fasted and prayed until He

knew God well enough and knew the Word of God enough toknow when something was the temptation from the enemy.

Jesus was a man. He had just received the Holy Ghost. Hewas tempted in all points as we are (Heb. 4 :15). He had noteaten anything for 40 days and he was very hungry. He wastempted to turn the stones into bread. He was tempted toshow his power.

Satan tells many people today to prove that they are anoint-ed by deliberately picking up a rattlesnake, drinking poison,or raising someone from the graveyard, who has already livedout all their days and been dead for 40 years. If they knew the

Word, they would know that no one in the Bible times did

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soon, or any part of God's word? Suppose that a boy is savedtonight. He shouts and runs over with joy. Tomorrow he doesnot feel that way. Satan tempts him and tells him that he isnot saved because the good feelings are not there, becausehe is tempted. If he says he is not saved because he is feelingbadly, he would not be saved.

We need to be so much acquainted with God's Spirit that wewill recognize the temptation and trial from the enemy.

PHILIP'S REVIVALDiscerning of spirits was not working through Philip at one

time. He had a great revival. Many people were saved andfilled with the Spirit or healed.

Simon believed and was baptized. Many preachers take peo-ple into the church today by letter, by confession, by baptismor most any other way. They believe and are baptized, butthey are not saved. Brother Peter came along to BrotherPhilip's revival, conducting a Holy Ghost rally. It seemed thatall Philip's converts received the Holy Ghost except Simon.Peter perceived that he had only believed with his head. Hisheart was not right in the sight of God (Acts 8).

We would not have so many sinners in the church if we hadsome preachers today who would lie on top of the house asPeter did and pray until they knew the voice of God (Acts 10).

Then God could show them when someone was not rightwith Him.

Peter first came to the place where he could know goodspiri ts before he discerned the wrong spirits.

PAUL'S MIRACLESA lady testified in Paul's meeting for several days before he

did anything about it. She testified that Paul was sent by God.That would have been all right had God anointed her to dothat. Paul finally detected that it was the devil causing thislady to testify that way. The devil wanted to disturb theservices and cause Paul to have an exalted spirit (Acts 15).

Paul had been' praying in the Spirit before he went tochurch, so he knew the Spirit of God. He knew that that spiritwas foreign to God's power. He stood it about as long as hecould; he would not let the devil do him just any way. So hecast out the devil and delivered the lady.

How could he have delivered the lady had he not first de-

26

tected that it was the devil that prompted her to disturb theservices? How could he have detected the spirit had he notfirst seen that this spirit was not of God?

JOB'S AFFLICTIONThe devil afflicted Job with boils (Job 2 : 7). The devil took

his sons and daughters (Job 1 :13-18). Satan sent the Sabeansto kill his servants and kill his camels. Lightening struckJob's servants. Satan sent the Chaldeans to take the camels.

Everybody blamed God for all this. Job even said that Goddid it (Job 2: 10). The servant thought that God sent thelightening (Job 2 : 16). His wife blamed God and told Job tocurse the Lord (Job 2 :9). Although Job was a good man, hethought it was God that did all this. He even expected God toslay him (Job 13:15).

It would have been a great help in those days had the giftof discerning of spirits been operating in Job's life.

Job is said to be the first book of the Bible to be written.No doubt, it was written to show us that Satan is the cause ofsuffering sent on mankind (Luke 10:19).

Job was a good man, but he was bound by tradition thatmade the Word of God of none effect in his life at that time.

When Job found that it was the devil who afflicted him, hestopped blaming God. He repented for his blaming God andwas healed.

Many people are in ignorance today concerning God's will.They blame God for what the devil did. They say that theirsickness is a blessing, that God gave it to them as a thorn inthe flesh. They have been taught that it is the will of God forthem to be sick.

We need to know the Word in order to say, "It is written."We would cast out the spirits with His Word. We need thegift of discerning of spirits. This we can have if we keep ourown spirit pure and clean. God will appear to us.

SIGNS TO FOLLOWIf we have the Holy Spirit we can usually detect evil spirits.

We can cast out the evil spirits. (Mark 16:17) That is one ofthe signs to follow the believer.

If we knew the Word, we could cast out spirits with HisWord. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost to heal allthat were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10 :37).

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He immediately knew that it was a spirit of infirmity thatcaused the woman to be bound eighteen years (Luke 13 :11).Had he been some modern ministers, he would have told herthat God put the affliction on her for a blessing. He could haveblamed God for what the devil did.

Jesus knew that the deaf spirits made people deaf (Mark9 :25). That blind spirits made people blind (Matt. 12 :22).that dumb spirits made people dumb, and that unclean spirits

caused people to be filthy (Mark 1 :23).Saul tried to kill David because he had a murder spirit

(I Sam. 18:9-11). People were bound by epileptic spirits (Luke9 :39) and insane spirits (Luke 8 :29). All their actions wereinfluenced by some spirit or another.

Jesus knew that Mary Magdalene had many devils, thatanother man had a whole legion of devils (Mark 5 :9).

Tf we have the anointing of the Holy Ghost, we are expectedto do the same works that Jesus did (John 14:12; Luke 4:18).He set us an example that we should follow His steps. Thatis why the disciples were first called Christians. They wereChrist-like. They did like their Master.

ELISHA ASKED A HAHD THINGElisha wanted a double portion of Elijah's spirit. lIe dis-

cerned that the prophet had developed a wonderful, excellentspirit. lIe wanted a double portion of Elijah's spirit.

Elijah told him that if he would develop t he gift of discern-ing of spirits so he could see him as he wont up, he could havea double portion of his spirit .

Elijah knew it was not an easy thing". for I';lisha would haveall kinds of opposition. So does every preacher who tries towalk closely 10 the Lord and have the P()\\'l '" 1\1 detect spirits,

Elijah was a man of two worlds. Ill' could I une in 011 theother world and know when Sat au \\'a:-; i lll'lul'lll'ing the king todo wronz. Elisha wall ted the ministrv to (li.-;('(" II also,

Elisha forsook the carnal things a nd ga\ l' himself whollyto the milli:-;tr,Y of t he spirit. The rt-sull \l'(H when Elijahwas translutcd. Elisha .\'('1 saw him, lie eve-n saw the chariotsand horses from heaven, From that mumcut he became aminister with the gifts working in his minisl i v. IIe could seeinto the Spirit world. lie knew what God wanted to do, He

knew there was more 011 his side than Iher \\ as on the side

of the enemy (II Kings 2 :10). He became also a man of twoworlds for he had contact in the other world. He had contactedthe supernatural.

THE SIGNGIFT MINISTRYPeter discerned good spirits because he was a man of prayer.

He knew it when the begger was ready for healing. He sawthat this begger had faith to be healed. He commanded himto rise and walk (Acts 3).

Paul saw a man had faith to be healed. The man obeyed andwalked for the first time in his life (Acts 14).

Jesus saw a man had faith to 'b e healed. He told him torise and walk (Mark 2). ,

He marvelled at the centurion's faith (Matthew 7). Also atthe Syrophenician ~oman's faith (Matt. 15).

I went into an auditorium and saw that one woman had faithto be healed. I commanded her to get out of her wheel-chairwhich she had been in for over six years. I was made to knowthat the others were not ready so I walked out.

I went into a place where about 309 people were seeking theHoly Ghost. Only about a hundred had faith to receive instant-ly. They all received the Holy Ghost and J walked out.

How was this possible? J had no food for weeks. I had beenin the presence of God. I knew lIis voice. lie showed me lastSunday night what- J was to preach. I wanted to preach asermon which I had preached several times. Instead J prayeduntil God showed me the mind of the Spirit and 1 began toknow people's needs. Miracles and healinzs followed. Peoplewere slain, saved and filled with the Spirit. They were deliver-ed from habits. How easy it would have been to deliver axerrnon and walk out.

Do you want to have the gift of cliscernirur of spirits'? Youhan' asked a hard thing, but you cnn have it if you will followdosely,

WE DO NOT lJ~E THE (;IFTSTh gifts of heuling were expoct od 10 operate through Elisha

;lIld heal Nuamun, but the gift of dis(PJ'lling' of spirits operatedinstc:]. Naamun thought surely 1hat t hr - prophet would comeIIII t , s trike his hunrls over his I We ll 1 a lld say, "Be thou made.vhle." Actuullv Elisha would lil: t II have done t his. Elisha

diYIrrued that Nauman had!'l

spirit of pride and was not

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ready for his healing. The gift that God wanted to operate wasthe gift of discerning of spirits. In this case, Elisha discernedthe spirit of God and the evil spirits of pride in this captain(II Kings 5).

Had Peter been given his choice I am sure he would havechosen for the gift of miracles to be operated through himas it was already operating. He would like to have seen Simonfilled with the Holy Ghost. God showed him that Simon was

not ready for the Holy Ghost. Another gift worked insteadof the gift of miracles. It was the gift of discerning of spirits;it helped him to detect that Simon had an evil spirit in him.

One day Peter walked down the street where there weremany sick people. They were healed as they were put in hisshadow. I am sure he wanted everyone h~aled. In this samechapter another gift worked through him as two liars cameup to him. He discerned the spirit that made them lie. Alsothe gift of miracles operated through him and struck thoseliars dead; the church rolled on.

Gehazi was a faithful worker. No doubt, it was in Elisha'smind to promote him. In fact Elisha offered to let the gift ofmiracles work through him once, but he did not have enoughfaith to operate it (II Kings 4 :29). I think Elisha would havebeen glad to lay hands on him and given him a double portionof his spirit. Gehazi had a long record of the times he helpedElisha as Elisha performed miracles.

One day Elisha was praying. The spirit made him to knowthat Gehazi had yielded to the power of the devil. He hadlied to Naaman and received money from Naaman to pay forNaaman's healing. After the gift of discerning of spirits work-

ed through Elisha and made him to know this, the gift ofmiracles operated, not for Gehazi, but against him. Elisha toldhim that the leprosy that left Naaman would come on himand cleave to him as long as he lived (II Kings 5 :27).

AS GOD WILLS

The gifts are not for us to use at will; they are God's whodivides them as He will (I Cor. 12).

Achan was cursed because he had taken of the accursedthing which God told him not to touch (Josh. 7). First Joshuamissed it and did not detect that there was sin in the camp.

After he saw that the blessings of God were not on them

anymore, he sought God until he could detect that Achanyielded to Satan and had taken the accursed thing.

We need more preachers in the church today Who can tellwhen the wrong spirit is in operation. The other day I startedto conduct a service. It was on Sunday morning. Suddenly theLord would not let me deliver my message. I arose and toldthem that Satan influenced them to yield to sin. Two women at

the church confessed that they had yielded to Satan and gonewrong that week.I told the people one night that there was a spirit-medium

there. Two spirit mediums came forward and we deliveredthem. A fortune-teller came forward and was saved and filledwith the Holy Ghost.

Two men came in the line for healing. It was revealed thatthey were not sick. Then they confessed that they just plannedthat to see if the anointing was real.

Jeremiah said that God's people would go into captivity.Hananiah preached a sermon and said that they would not go

into captivity. Jeremiah discerned the spirit and put a stop tothe trouble. The man fell dead.

"Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah theprophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sentthee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. There-fore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from offthe face of the earth :this year thou shalt die, becausethou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiahthe prophet died the same year in the seventh month"(Jeremiah 28:15-17).Tobiah came into the house of God. Nehemiah perceived

that he and another fellow were spying, seeking to destroyhim. He exposed them.

"And, 10 , I perceived that God had not sent him; butthat he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiahand Sanballat had hired him" (Neh. 6: 12).

We need some men like Nehemiah in the church today toexpose all the Tobiah's that are against the power of God.

A woman came up to an evangelist for healing. He justpushed his mike away and told her that she had been runningwith another man. It happened that the next person in linewas her husband. He heard it. As he began to raise trouble,

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the evangelist turned and told him, "You did the same thing."He told him the time and the place. There were reconciledto one another and were delivered of the spirits that boundthem.

The Lord does not want us to expose people and break uptheir homes and cause trouble. The secret of the Lord is withthem that fear Him. We must be careful when to let thesecrets of the Lord be known. He will tell us more if we keep

His secrets.Sometimes it is necessary to bring sin to light. One pro-

phet went to King David and exposed his sin. The led Davidto repentance (II Sam. 12:1). We need more power to bringhidden sins to light.

Heavenly Father, we bring every reader to you just now.Please convict them of any unconfessed sin in their lives. Helpthem to take heed to their own spirit. Sanctify them wholly,soul, spirit and body. Help them to be so full of your Spiritthat they will know your voice when you speak. Anoint themto know and detect every evil spirit that comes against themand others. Give them power not only to detect them, but tocast them out, just now, in Jesus name. Amen and amen.

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Dear Brot her Grant ;UPlease enroll me in the Faith Clinic Bible Course. As soon as you receive this slip,send me postpaid 64 titles of your faith books, on Bible deliverance as a loan withtrue and false exam sheets. I am willing to send $4.00 per month tuition.[Jl am a Christian over 15 years old.DIt is understood that after I send the tuition for 15 m onths, I may keep all the 64books to be used in God's work.[JOn the completion of this course, I will receive a purple and gold certificate.DAs 1 c omplete the second course. I may receive my license to preach.DAnd aDD Degree if I finish all the courses.

Name .... _..

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