New Wine Christian Fellowship’s
“From the Pulpit” Series
June 2006
Increasing Your Ability to Perceive Things in the Spirit
by Chris Simpson
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account . Hebrews 4:12-13
I have been reading it for over thirty years, and it has never lost its freshness or its ability to speak to me in new ways. One of the reasons I am convinced that it is truly the Word of God is because of the resistance I feel whenever I sit down to read it. Have you ever noticed this? You sit down to read your Bible, and all of a sudden you’re remembering all the other things you need to be doing. Or, maybe your mind just won’t stop wandering, or you just can’t stay awake. There are definitely forces that do not want you to read your Bible. Let me tell you why.
Satan dwells wherever there is darkness. God’s Word is a sword, piercing through the darkness in our souls. When we read our Bibles, we allow the light of God to expose these places where the enemy wants to hide. Paul, if he were around today, might have compared the Word to a laser beam because it pierces past the surface and exposes what lies beneath. Therefore, Satan knows he risks exposure whenever you are “in the Word.”
The Greek word translated “discerner” in this passage from Hebrews is “kritikos,” which means a “distinguisher.” Paul is telling us that God’s Word can distinguish the very intents and motives of our hearts. There is nothing in our interior lives that can hide from its light. The Word is itself a discerner, and if a believer is going to walk in discernment, he or she will have to know the Word. In fact, discernment exercised without knowledge of the Word will become criticism and judgmentalism, a bludgeon that destroys rather than a surgeon’s scalpel that heals.
Gaining wisdom by reading the Word of God is the key to having discernment about ourselves. In fact, there are few things as sad as a believer who lacks spiritual discernment. Let’s look at a passage from the Old Testament that shows us God’s heart concerning wisdom.
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?" And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 1 Kings 3:5-12
What we see in this passage is that a believer who pleases God will prioritize wisdom and discernment. Because Solomon’s priorities were right, God tossed in all the other “stuff” as well, and he ended up being the richest, wisest man on earth.
WHAT IS DISCERNMENT?
To “discern” is “to perceive or recognize; to make out clearly; insight; keenness in understanding in dealing with a situation.” Or, in other words, it is “the ability to see through a situation to the root causes of what is going on.” How many of us need discernment? Don’t we need it in our jobs? Don’t we all wish we had had more of it in our past relationships!
Perception is very much like discernment. It is “insight or intuition; the ability to comprehend or grasp something; awareness.” Perception speaks of the ability to be aware of what is going on in the spiritual realm. The problem is that most believers are very limited in any real, tangible spiritual perception; they operate from the soul rather than from the spirit. We see in Hebrews 4 that there must be a division between soul and spirit. We must be able to perceive that which is of the spirit, and be able to distinguish it from that which is of the soul.
Even Christ’s disciples were clueless in these areas most of the time. He would say things to them that were of the spirit, and they would interpret them from the soul. For example, He said to them, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees!” and they said, “It’s because we forgot to bring bread” (Matthew 16:6-7). They did not understand that He was speaking a spiritual truth to them. Unfortunately, most Christians are just as clueless about the things of the spirit, yet scripture tells us, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
Let me show you an example from Scripture.
“And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.” Luke 6:41-42
Jesus addresses here what happens when a believer is lacking in spiritual perception. He makes it plain that the ability to see clearly to help another person depends on whether a believer has seen himself clearly. When we attempt to help others, while remaining oblivious concerning our self, we become hypocritical. In fact, Jesus gives three conditions here that must be met if we are ever to be of any help to others.
The first condition is that you must have a clear perception of yourself, including your failings, faults, and shortcomings. Most believers are far more “discerning” of others’ problems than they are of their own. The irony is that it is usually “what bugs us in others” that is the key to understanding what our own problems are. A certain trait or habit in another that pushes your buttons is usually indicative of something inside of you that you have never really faced. Have you noticed that there are certain shortcomings in others that you can be gracious about, but there are other kinds of shortcomings that you cannot tolerate? Why? It could be that you are guilty of similar problems in your own personality, but unaware of it. And, because you have no personal revelation about this shortcoming in yourself, you tend to be touchy and quick to judge when you see the same in others.
The second condition is that you must be willing to see and admit your shortcomings before you can effectively help others. The problem is that many believers fall into what I call the “victimization, blame-game trap.” This is the tendency to not take responsibility for our own problems, and at the same time, to judge and blame others for theirs.
The third condition is to receive deliverance. When Jesus says to remove the plank from your own eye, the word he uses is the Greek word, “ekballo,” which means “to cast out.” This is the same word used in Mark 16:17 when Jesus tells the disciples, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils.” Cast out the beam! You need to be delivered of whatever it is in you that is hindering you from ministering to others.
Next time…
We will consider another picture from scripture of an individual greatly lacking in perception to see what we can learn about becoming and staying spiritually sharp.
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