What is the gift of discernment & how it is supposed to work in the church? Part 2 - Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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In part 1 of this two-part series, yesterday I’d written about what discernment is, and that there is discernment as a skill that all Christians are to train themselves in (Hebrews 5:14), and discernment as a gift of the Spirit given to some. (1 Corinthians 12:10). (Let's quote the passage. 1Co. 12:7-11:

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

The author is a cessationist, yet appeals to a passage in support of her gift, which also contains gifts she doesn't believe in. Notice that Paul begins this with "Now to each one..." That is, each person has some sort of spiritual gift, and that all these mentioned are in operation in someone in the Body. So how is it the author can find scriptural support for her gift of discernment, but dismiss the balance of the passage?)

In this final part 2, we look at how the gift of distinguishing of spirits is supposed to work.

One might think from the mushrooming of discernment blogs lately that all the discernment folks do is go around crying out all day like the Monster Shouter in the movie The Stand. Not so. Speaking is the very last thing a discernment person does after first employing other steps (this is in my opinion, developed from experience. Your mileage may vary). (Our observation about discernment folks is that they do indeed go in with guns ablazing. Many of them shoot first and ask questions later [if at all]. The author is the very first person we've seen in "discernment" ministry that has suggested a restraint that is founded on prayer and patience.)

(...)

Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are relevant to today, recording Jesus’ displeasure over tolerating lying prophetesses in the church, allowing false doctrine, being busy without love for Jesus, coasting on reputation, or being lukewarm in faith. The discernment person warns, exhorts, suggests, having seen and sensed the false prophetess early, the false doctrine when it crept in, the cooling of fervor, and so on. (This description makes us curious regarding how the writer would define the prophetic gift. We're starting to wonder what the difference is in her mind.

Also, we would note that these letters spoke directly to the church's situation via the "angel." That is, the angel [or messenger] delivered the message to that particular church. This speaks to the fact that "discernment ministers" should be ministering in the local body, not taking shots at some pastor 1000 miles away.)

I was a new member of a church once, where the pastor was very popular and had been at his post a long time. The church was growing in leaps and bounds. Yet I was distressed after hearing the sermon every week. I was disquieted in my spirit. (Supernatural information?)

I seemed to be the only unhappy one around. Discernment work is often lonely. Each week my mind kept nagging that the sermon was ’empty’ or as Gertrude Stein famously said about the city of Oakland, “There’s no there there.” I prayed for the Spirit to help me discern what was happening. Was my disquiet on my side, being unsubmitted, sinning, or displaying an unholy discontent, or did my disquiet have a moral or doctrinal basis?

Eventually the agitation grew to an unbearable level. This is where I moved beyond prayer, waiting, and patience, and entered the research stage. I googled some of the pastor’s main points and quotes. I compared to the Bible. It turned out that he was plagiarizing other sermons word for word and had been for at least 4 years before I got there. Some of the sermons were from Joel Osteen and Rick Warren. No wonder the goats were filling in the church, there were goat words issuing from the pulpit.

It was the Spirit’s gift of discernment that graciously allowed me to hear the emptiness behind the words. There was no truth to them because they were from a different spirit. It was His mercy that kept nagging at my mind and heart until the critical mass was reached. (Supernatural information?)

However I did not go forward based on a feeling. I prayed, researched, compared to scripture, and discovered that the words from the pulpit were lies from other liars. Jeremiah 23:30 addresses pulpit lies, false prophets stealing words from each other and claiming they are from God.

It was then I brought my information to an elder. The men took it from there. Once delivered to the men, my part as a person employing the gift reverted to the prayer level. I prayed that they would do the biblical thing in a biblical way.

It’s admittedly difficult as a woman with the gift of distinguishing of spirits. I need to be bold but humble, strong but meek. In this scenario described above, my role would not be to go all around to other members speaking and proclaiming what was going on behind the scenes, mounting up allies. It would not be to pressure the men. It would not be to confront the plagiarizing pastor. Instead, I prayed for the elders and deacons (and the pastor).

Anyone employing the gift should employ it humbly. It would be a terrible thing that instead of using the gift in proportion to our faith as Romans 12:6 advises, to go forward in incomplete information, pride, or bias.

Always, scripture says that the gifts are to build up the body. An individual training themselves up in discernment uses discernment when they hear a sermon or chooses a book. Those with the gift of discernment use it for not just themselves but the local body to build it up.

strive to excel in gifts that build up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:12) (Interesting. Paul is in the middle of talking about tongues, and concludes the chapter with 1Co. 14:39:

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.  

But as mentioned, the author is a cessationist. Her support passage contains material she disagrees with!)

A person with discernment relies on the word of God. (I was disquieted in my spirit.)

Test all things against the word, (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1). A believer with the gift of discernment is accountable to God for its use. Pouring Bible into one’s mind and heart is the best and only way to ensure that when a counterfeit comes along, the discernment person will be able to detect it early and certainly. (I prayed for the Spirit to help me discern what was happening.)

And, prepare to operate the gift in loneliness. Everyone loves the woman with the gift of mercy. She brings cake. She comforts. The discernment person lol, not so much. She brings distress. “What do you mean that the book I’m carrying around is authored by a different spirit? I love that author!” And they edge away from you in the pew.

It is all worth it though, if your discernment work builds the body, if it fulfills your ministry, and if it honors Christ. Again, as with every spiritual gift, honor Christ with it.

(Absent from the author's presentation is a discussion about the agitation and disquiet she felt and how this can be considered a biblical test. That is, the author's discernment was based on a "feeling." She didn't read a Scripture and compare it to what was preached. She had the "feeling" first and then got out her Bible.

This is startlingly charismatic in approach. For charismatics, the prophetic word comes to mind, and the person considers it, prays, looks to Scripture, and finally presents it. We have just described the operation of a gift the author believes has passed away, which bears a stark similarity to what the author describes about her discernment.

So if the Holy Spirit is giving impressions to the author about discernment, why wouldn't the Holy Spirit give impressions of prophetic words to others? What about a message of wisdom, a message of knowledge, or faith, or healing, miraculous powers, tongues, or interpretation of tongues? On what basis would the author exclude these?)