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The Holy Spirit grants Discernment of Spirits to some Christians.

“A friend took her 4-year old son to an art exhibit adjacent to an art museum. The child stopped when they entered the exhibit tent and said: ‘Mommy, we cannot go in here, because this place is bad.’  Teri sensed the same presence of evil. The mother and the son later realized they had the charism of discernment, because a satanic cult had sponsored the exhibit.”

Paul encountered an evil spirit.

“As we were going to a place of prayer, we met a slave girl with an oracular spirit, who used to bring a large profit to her owners through her fortune-telling. She began following Paul and us shouting, ‘these people are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ She did this for many days, Paul became annoyed, turned, and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ Then it came out at that moment.”  (Acts 16:16-18)

The Mystic Body of Christ yearns Discernment because of false prophets’ proliferation. Discernment distinguishes between truth and deceit, good and evil, and determine if their source is divine, human or satanic. The charism senses into the spiritual world, but many Christians dismiss this charism, because it is so supernatural in origin and manifestation. “Beloved, do not test every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

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