Matthew 16:1-4
[1] The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

[2] He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

[3] And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

[4] A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
There is a difference between natural ability to discern and the spiritual ability to discern.

Luke 12:54-56
[54] And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.

[55] And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.

[56] Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

There are 23 verses in scripture that deal specifically with discerning.

Jacob's deception of his father Israel in pretending he was his brother Esau that he might receive the first born blessing of his father.

Genesis 27:23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

Here is a classic example of why it is important to have spiritual discernment.

We are living in an extremely critical time where people lie and are deceitful and deceive people. If you do not have a discerning of the spirit you can be led astray into partaking in other men's sins and losing your own soul.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Genesis 31:30-32
[30] And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

[31]And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

[32] With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

Solomon's response to God when God appeared to him in a dream and asked him what He (God) would desire for Him to give him.

1 Kings 3:5-9
[5] In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

[6] And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

[7] And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

[8] And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

[9] Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

Ecclesiastes 8:5
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

The day is coming when:

Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

Jonah 4:11
[11] And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? KJV

[11] And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons not [yet old enough to] know their right hand from their left, and also many cattle [not accountable for sin]? Amplified Bible

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthian 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

I believe it is possible to be filled with God's Spirit and to not be able to have the proper discerning of the spirit in one's life.

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
It is possible when people of God do not maintain the proper spiritual connection with God in their relationship. The Apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthian church, a people who had been filled with God's Spirit and who were functioning as a church but one that allowed problems to obscure their proper discerning of the body of Christ. The problem that the Apostle Paul addresses is one of the Lord's Table (Communion). When they came together the church was taken up with great times of eating and fellowshipping and then trying to do something spiritual as partake of the Lord's Table. When some members came together there were some who did not have the same means to be able to provide for the meal as others and so there was disparity among the members. Paul asks the question, "do you not have houses to eat and drink in?"

[18] For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

[19] For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

[20] When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

[21] For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

[22] What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

1 Corinthians 12:10

To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

The discerning of spirits is a gift of the spirit. Does that mean that only a select few are able to possess the discerning of spirits? Good question!

From the Book of Hudson: I personally believe there is certainly

#1. a natural ability to discern things (the scriptures from the beginning of the study verify this)

#2. there is a definite "gift of the spirit" as a supernatural ability given by God to whomsoever He wills to be used for the purpose of God's kingdom(1 Corinthians 12:10 verifies this) and

#3 there is an ability to discern the spirit in living our daily life (1 John 4:2 bears this out) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

HERE IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS MATTER:

There are two things I want to drive home.

#1. In the arena of these last days with so many things that are false and deception is ever abounding it is most important for the child of God to be able to know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error, light and darkness.

Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

For greater clarity consider:

Hebrews 5:12-14 Amplified Bible
[12] For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God's Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food.

[13] For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]!

[14] But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.

There are too many today in the church that never mature properly and grow in God so that they can become productive in the kingdom. Rather they continue to simply feed on the "sincere milk of the word" and continue to be inexperienced and unskilled in working in the kingdom of God. That is not God's will or design for his people.

#2. Living in these last days prior to the coming of the Lord it is imperative that we as a child of God must rely on the spirit in discerning the hour we are living in and prepare ourselves, our families, and others who know not the Gospel for His return.

Luke 21:28 Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.

WHAT DISCERNING OF SPIRITS IS NOT
1. NOT SUSPICION - The gift of discerning of spirits is not simply being suspicious of others. A person who has never had the God's Spirit is suspicious of everyone, and often they are.

2. NOT GIFT OF CRITICISM - This gift is not discerning of faults, but of spirits. It is the spirit of the devil which causes people to accuse the brethren. The devil is called the Accuser of the Brethren in the book of Revelation.

3. NOT THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT - This gift is not simply the ability to discern things, it is the gift of discerning OF SPIRITS. Most anyone can discern different colors, shapes, and sizes of things, but it takes a supernatural gift from God to discern spirits.

4. NOT SPIRITISM - This gift is not to be confused with spiritism, which is condemned in the Scriptures. As spiritism and demon-possessed people increase in number we need the gift of discerning of spirits more and more.

WHAT DISCERNING OF SPIRITS IS:
1. DEFINITION - Discerning of spirits is God's Spirit informing a spirit filled Christian, which type of spirit is being manifested. It is a supernatural look into the spiritual world.

2. APPLICATIONS - This gift can show the kinds of spirits which are working in people today; such as unclean spirits, deaf and dumb spirits, demonic spirits, oppressing spirits, or even the Holy Spirit. This gift is necessary in seeing people delivered from spirits. Without it, those who seek to minister deliverance are simply left guessing at whether or not a demonic spirit is actually present and if so, what type of demonic spirit.

3. PURPOSE - This gift is given to keep the church safe from demonic presence and practices.

BIBLE EXAMPLES
1. PAUL AND THE DAMSEL - A certain damsel, possessed with a spirit of divination, followed Paul and Silas saying that they were servants of the most High God. Instead of making her one of the charter members of the church, Paul cast the demon out of her. Please notice that Paul didn't take her into a special deliverance service and ask her all about her history, he just had a gift of discerning of spirits from the Holy Spirit to know that she had a demon and he cast it out of her that same moment.

2. PAUL AND BAR-JESUS - Bar-jesus sought to turn away Sergius Paulus from the faith (Acts 13:6-10). "Then Paul, FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST, set his eyes on him and said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" But, Paul first discerned that this evil spirit was there before he spoke.

3. PETER AND SIMON THE SORCERER - Philip let one man be baptized without discerning the evil spirit that was still in the man. But when Peter started to pray for him he discerned it and said, "For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity," (Acts 8:23). Simon had believed with his mind, was baptized and converted by Philip, but his heart was not right with God.

If more of us had the gift of discerning of spirits in our churches, there would be a lot less churches which have people with perverse spirits and hearts full of wickedness. They would have to change their hearts as well as their minds if they wanted to hang around the church.

HOW TO TEST A SPIRIT:
1. Observing what a person does.

Matthew 7:15-20
[15] Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

[17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

[18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

[19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

[20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

False prophets are known by their fruit, their conduct and actions.

2. Observing whether a person acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord according to 1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

3. Observing if what a person says lines up with the word of God. 1 John 4:1-3