Word of God. And we ought to be led by the inward witness. "For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).
This verse implies that all the sons of God can be led by the Spirit of God. But the Scriptures
certainly don't imply that all the children of God will have the gift of discerning of spirits
operating in them because we read, "For to ONE is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to
another the word of knowledge [or any gift of the Holy Spirit] by the same spirit" (1 Cor. 12:8).
That verse doesn't say or even imply that everyone would have these gifts in manifestation in
their lives. But Romans 8:14 does imply that every believer can be led by the Holy Spirit. We
need to distinguish the difference.
You see, we can have some facts regarding the spirit world revealed to us by the discerning of
spirits. Other facts are revealed to our spirits by the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. He is our
Guide. But the inward witness is not the same as seeing into the spirit world — the discerning
of spirits.
The Word of Knowledge vs. The Discerning of Spirits
Another way that the Holy Spirit reveals facts to us about the realm of the spirit is through the
gift of the word of knowledge. Howard Carter, who made a thirty-year study of the gifts of the
Spirit, said that the word of knowledge gives one a revelation of anything that can be classified
as existing or having existed. The fact of a spirit possessing a body could be revealed by the
gift of the word of knowledge, but the person wouldn't have a vision of the spirit; he would not
discern the evil spirit.
In other words, if you discerned a spirit, you would see the spirit, because the discerning of
spirits is seeing into the spirit realm. If the word of knowledge is in operation, you may know
that a spirit is present or is involved in a particular situation, but you wouldn't see the spirit.
Remember, the word of knowledge is revelation by the Holy Spirit of certain facts in the mind
of God.
The Spirit of God may impart a word of knowledge to us to let us know if someone is operating
by another spirit and not by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit has done so with me.
Evil Spirit Revealed By the Word of Knowledge
In my own ministry, when praying for folks, I would sometimes know facts supernaturally
before I had ever had any kind of a manifestation of discerning of spirits. I knew them by the
gift of the word of knowledge. No one will know these things every time they are ministering to
someone, because these manifestations are given as the Spirit wills.
One time a man was invited to the platform to speak for a few minutes in a church where I was
conducting a meeting. I had heard that this man was not living right. Of course the Bible tells
us that by their fruits we shall know them (Matt. 7:20).
As I sat on the platform while this man got up to say a few words to the congregation, I heard
the Voice of the Holy Spirit say, "He has a familiar spirit." I looked behind me. I already knew
that no one was sitting behind me; yet the Voice was so real I looked behind me. It was the
Holy Spirit speaking to me.