SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

Because spiritual warfare is just that--spiritual--it must be understood with a spiritual
mind. In our natural, sinful state we cannot understand spiritual things:

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. (I Corinthians 2:14)

It is necessary to use spiritual discernment to understand spiritual things.

Perhaps one of the best examples of natural and spiritual discernment is recorded in II
Kings chapter 6. It is the story of a natural battle in which troops of the enemy nation of
Syria had surrounded a small town called Dothan where the prophet Elisha was staying
.
When Elisha's servant, Gehazi, saw the great host of the enemy he became fearful. Elisha
prayed that God would open Gehazi's spiritual eyes so he could see the angelic hosts
surrounding and protecting them. On this occasion, God actually opened the natural eyes
of Gehazi and allowed him to visibly see the superior forces of God aligned for battle.

The story of this battle at Dothan is similar to present spiritual conditions in the Church.
There are some, like Elisha, who see clearly into the realm of the spirit.