Endorsements

The seer anointing is a current invitation from God for the Church in this hour. It is time for us, like Jesus, to see what our Father in Heaven is doing, and do it! Jon Welton has studied this subject and moved in this realm for many years. In The School of the Seers, he shares insight from the Word of God that will help you grab hold of this anointing.

Patricia King

Extreme Prophetic

Jonathan Welton is brilliant. When he teaches, you remember what he has said. God’s Spirit is upon him, and the anointing he carries will impact your life.

Harold R. Eberle

Founder, Worldcast Ministries

We are constantly surrounded by the unseen realm of spiritual forces both good and bad. In his work, The School of the Seers, Jonathan Welton reveals valuable insights on how anyone can sharpen his or her own spiritual discernment. By sharing his precious revelations learned through the study of Scripture, church history, and prayer, Jonathan explains to the conventional Christian how to interact with the unseen realm.

Robert Stearns

Founder/Executive Director, Eagles’ Wings Ministries

I have passed on a lot of my gifting and grace to younger men and women in the next generation. Jonathan is one of them. He is prototypical of the prophetic Timothys that I have been honored and privileged to speak into in many countries. Jonathan is clearly an emerging prophetic gift to the Church. His ability to teach and demonstrate the revelatory gifts of the Spirit makes him a true double threat!

Dennis Cramer

President, Dennis Cramer Ministries

Jonathan Welton’s The School of the Seers will help you discover that the supernatural can become a normal way of life. In this training manual, Jonathan is speaking from experience, not theory, about the many different aspects of seership. Just as blindness and deafness are serious handicaps in the natural, so are spiritual blindness and deafness in the spirit realm. May you begin to see into the unseen realm as you study this manual.

Gary Oates

Author, Open My Eyes, Lord

International Conference Speaker

I have known Jonathan Welton for years and I appreciate the man, ministry, and message. Jonathan teaches what he knows and reproduces his anointing in others. This book is an impartation from a man who carries the message and mantle of a seer. You cannot separate between what Jonathan teaches and who he is; this gifting is in his DNA. The School of the Seers will open the realm of the invisible so you can do the impossible. This is the gift that will bring the Body of Christ into the supernatural realm. My prayer is, “Open my eyes, Lord, so that I might see!”

Leif Hetland

Global Mission Awareness

I have been asking the Lord to raise up the next generation of theologians and teachers who will articulate a theology of the Kingdom with signs and wonders to the Body of Christ in the next season. I believe Jonathan Welton is one those new breed of theologians and teachers. He deeply loves the Body of Christ and he carries an anointing for revelation, teaching, and seeing that the Body needs in order to be properly equipped for the days ahead.

Rev. John S. Baylor Jr.

Masters of Divinity, Fuller Theological Seminary

Jonathan opens the eyes of his readers to the exciting life that is available to those who learn to see the spirit realm. He powerfully unveils Scripture to show how many of the leaders in the Bible were able to see into the spirit realm, commune with God and receive divine direction. Few others have taught that this is possible for us today as Jonathan has in The School of the Seers.

Dr. Art Mathias

President, Wellspring Ministries

Jonathan Welton has a passion for God that overflows into his teaching and ministry. His teaching allows you to view the power of the Holy Spirit through the lens of God’s Word in new ways. The School of the Seers will challenge and encourage you to change the way you view the world by opening your eyes to the unseen spiritual realm.

Brian Stebick

Regional Director, CSB Ministries

Bachelors of Biblical Studies Baptist Bible College

OTHER BOOKS BY JONATHAN WELTON

Normal Christianity

Eyes of Honor

Raptureless

© Copyright 2013- Jonathan Welton

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION¨, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All emphasis is authors own. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version. DESTINY IMAGE¨ PUBLISHERS, INC. P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310

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Acknowledgments

I would like to start by saying thank you to my wife, Karen, the most important person in my life. You have been the most profound representation of Jesus I have ever known. Your walk of love, humility, forgiveness, gentleness, and faith challenge me daily. You are the biggest sign in my life that there is a God, because I can see Him in your heart daily. I thank the Lord for such a perfect match for my strengths and weaknesses. The trust that you have in my ability to hear from God causes me to walk in a deeper level of the fear of the Lord.

I would like to honor my parents, Jim and Carolyn Welton. I am so thankful for having parents who are the most humble, affectionate, gentle, kind, and compassionate lovers of God that I have ever seen. I love you both so much.

I would also like to thank the following heroes in the Body of Christ; you have been a tremendous example and influence in my life: Randy Clark, Harold Eberle, Patricia King, Dennis Cramer, Cheryl Schang, Watchman Nee, Kris Vallotton, Bill Johnson, Heidi Baker, Gary Oates, Joe McIntyre, Tommy Tenney, John Shoemaker, Bob Sorge, Leif Hetland, and Lance Wallnau.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Jonathan Welton’s book, The School of the Seers: A Practical Guide on how to see in the Unseen Realm, is a helpful study for anyone desiring to grow in the prophetic/seer realm. I believe Jonathan is one of the next generation of prophetic ministers. He is well-read, has a great spirit based in love and grace, walks in humility, and has pursued training and advanced degrees in his pursuit of excellence in his gifting and calling.

Jonathan not only writes about the subject, he also models what he teaches by ministering in churches and conferences in the gifts he has written about. I believe Jonathan has learned a lot about character and integrity through healthy role models that began in his home. He comes from a solid family with healthy relationships. He has watched his parents move in prophecy in church and in their ministry. This is such a great foundation to build upon, and it serves him well in his writing, teaching, and prophetic ministry.

Jonathan is one of the young men I have had the privilege of speaking into and have watched him grow rapidly in his pursuit of God and His purposes. I am excited about him and other young prophetic ministers who are arising in this generation. I believe they will go higher, dig deeper in the Word, and experience more at a younger age than many of the past generations. I believe there is a degree of revelatory teaching coming from this generation that will cause us to see truth that we have missed in the past. I have often echoed what my friend Pastor Bill Johnson has so often said: “Our ceiling is the next generation’s floor!”

I am excited to welcome to the public Jonathan’s book, The School of the Seers. I know that power to work miracles is dependent on revelation from Heaven. The clearer the revelation, the more faith it creates, and the greater the faith, the more powerful the miracle or the healing. Seeing is a biblical concept and principle. Seeing on the part of God’s people continued in the history of the Church. Seeing is important for the Church today. What Jonathan has done is write a book that helps us “see” what is in the Bible, and from that truth discover the right of believers to “see” into the unseen realm.

Evangelist Randy Clark

Global Awakening Ministries

Author of There Is More!

Preface

Jonathan is a gifted teacher and a humble leader. As his wife and best friend, I respect him tremendously for the unique anointing he carries and the compassionate heart he has to see every believer rise to the fullness of his or her destiny. His influence in my life and the lives of many of our friends has changed us forever. I still encounter people thanking Jonathan for the profound impact his encouraging words and teachings have had on their lives many years ago. I remember the early days when Jonathan first began to experience the “seer” gifting. I will let him tell you the full story in the following pages, but allow me to share with you my perspective.

Jonathan first began to “see in the spirit” when we were both attending a college-age charismatic youth group in upstate New York. At the time, we were close friends and both passionate for Jesus. I remember Jonathan pulling me aside at youth group to tell me about these strange experiences and what he was “seeing.” He seemed to be equally freaked out and excited by what was happening to him. Although he did not openly share these experiences with others for a long time, he felt that he could trust me with this information. I remember listening in awe and wonder.

Jonathan explained seeing strangers walking down the street; some had a light or aura around them, and he knew they were filled with the Holy Spirit. He could see a dark cloud surrounding others, and he knew they were depressed or tormented by demons. Even more exciting to me were the angels they usually radiated light or fire. He could describe the color and style of their garments, their facial expressions, and many other details. Certain angels carried staffs or swords, and some, but not all, had wings. Some angels were the size of men; others stood at eight or ten feet tall or taller. Occasionally, he would see angels who were assigned to specific Christians.

In youth group, when we worshipped the Lord with abandonment, countless angels would flood into the room. They would join with us in praising, singing, and dancing. Sometimes, when the worship was cut off, Jonathan saw them crying, knowing that the will of man had overruled what the Holy Spirit wanted to do. He described these experiences in profound detail, as if he saw them as clearly as he saw me.

Had I not known that Jonathan was an emotionally stable, well-respected leader who knew the Bible better than anyone I had ever met, I would have understandably been more skeptical. Instead, I wanted to know everything. I asked him endless questions: “What do you see right now? Do you see anything around me? Are there angels in this room? How do angels look to you? Can you see them physically, like you see me, or are they transparent, as if superimposed over the physical realm? Do you see things in your mind’s eye?” Many times during worship, I could not bear my excitement any longer, and I would lean over to Jonathan and whisper, “What’s happening in the spirit realm right now? Do you see any angels? Where are they?” Most of the time he kept this information to himself, but if I was lucky, I could prod it out of him, and over time he grew more comfortable sharing with others.

Jonathan began a long journey of studying and writing about this gift, delving into the Scriptures and any book he could get his hands on for deeper revelation. The product of his study, seven years later, is the book you are holding in your hands.

Jonathan is a teacher in the true sense of the word. If there is one trait I respect most about teachers, it is not extensive knowledge, charismatic speaking, or even profound revelation. Although all of that is good, I incline my ear to those who continually submit their minds to the Holy Spirit, holding their knowledge not as a trophy but as a clay vessel that the Lord can mold and transform. Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2). I have seen this process eloquently modeled in my husband. Like all true teachers, he has never stopped learning.

Jonathan’s experiences opened up a whole new world to me. I believed in angels and a spirit realm before, but his encounters made what I read about in the Bible so much more real. Since those early days, I have learned how to grow in my own discernment, experience the spirit realm, and sense angels. Sometimes I can’t help but feel like I have an unfair advantage with a seer as a husband! Of course, as you will read, true discernment goes far beyond the ability to see angels. There is a realm of revelation and experience that God has hidden for His children, not from them. If you are sincere and hungry, you will find it.

My early fascination and curiosity with the spirit realm is shared by many others, both in the Church and outside it. Most of the questions I pestered Jonathan with are the same questions he receives from people when they first hear about his ability to “see in the spirit.” God created us to have an appetite for the supernatural. I once heard it said, “We are not physical beings who occasionally have a temporary supernatural experience; we are supernatural beings having a temporary physical experience.” The spirit realm is all around us, and it is more real than the physical realm we live in and experience every day. Whether we believe in it or not, our lives are intricately affected by the invisible spirit realm.

Many people have encountered this unseen realm through the New Age, meditation, or other supernatural experiences. These individuals grasp the reality and power of the spirit realm, but the Church does not understand it and often condemns it. Because there is little biblical teaching in the Church today about the spirit realm, many believers have drifted away from the faith, sometimes hurt or confused, because their hunger for the supernatural was quickly rebuked.

Other Christians in the Church have begun to experience supernatural phenomena, such as dreams, visions, open visions, or seeing angels and demons, but they lack solid biblical teaching and become what we have termed seer orphans. These individuals are desperately looking for someone to train them, encourage them, and release them. If the Church does not embrace its “seer orphans,” then the New Age movement will.

God is restoring the seer anointing and the gift of discernment to the Body of Christ. Jonathan shows how any Christian can safely and biblically experience the spirit realm through Jesus Christ, who is the source of all Truth. Whether you are a “seer orphan” searching for solid teaching or an individual longing to experience the spirit realm for yourself, this book will give you the tools you need to activate and sharpen your own discernment.

Above all, I pray that you would encounter the Lord beyond all your expectations. In fact, before you begin Chapter 1, I dare you to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal himself to you supernaturally before you finish this book. I am convinced that God will always answer this prayer because He promised to draw near to us when we draw near to Him (James 4:8). May this book create a hunger in you to pursue the presence of God, discover the secrets of God, and open new realms of possibilities that you never dreamed existed!

In Christ,

Karen Welton

Introduction

For many years I have heard Christians talking about angels, spiritual warfare, prophecy, and the spirit realm. There have been multitudes of books written on each of these subjects, with many different teachings for each of them. I have asked myself many times, why write another book on this subject? How can I make it unique?

I am a fervent reader of all books about Christian spirituality and the supernatural. What I really enjoy, though, is finding something fresh, profound, and new. As one who is hungry to pursue more of God, and as a seeker of deep truths in the Word, I am attempting to write a book that no one else has written. My desire is to bring you fresh and deep revelation from the Word.

My goal is to create a practical manual for teaching the typical believer how to interact with the unseen realm. In our daily life, we are surrounded by spiritual forces and activities. However a lack of understanding exists inside the Church about how to interact with this reality. This is disturbing, considering that “New Agers” outside the Church tend to be very comfortable with the unseen realm and sometimes understand truths that the typical Christian hasn’t been taught.

The foundation for the teaching in this book is the Word of God along with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is important to remember that satan operates his kingdom by counterfeiting the true Kingdom of God. When making a counterfeit, such as money, the goal is to make the forgery look as much like the real as possible. A counterfeit tries to imitate the truth, yet it will never be the truth. Although some of the teachings in this book may seem controversial, by measuring them against the Word of God, we should be able to discern the difference between the truth of the Kingdom of God and the lies of the kingdom of darkness.

A counterfeit looks very similar to the real. We can’t run away from the real just because there is a counterfeit. Unfortunately, that is what many Christians have done. You would not throw out your money just because there are counterfeiters in the world. Neither should we throw out understanding the spirit world and operating as born-again spirit beings just because there are counterfeits in the world.

Many Christians consider themselves inadequately equipped to understand deep things of the Spirit or operate in the supernatural. Perhaps this has been the case, but training now exists to bring the Church into maturity. That is the very purpose of the book in your hands—to equip the Body of Christ with the information needed to mature in walking in the supernatural.

Scripture gives confirmation to the idea of training people in the supernatural. Take, for example, the following story from the Old Testament.

In First Kings 19:19-21, Elijah, the famous prophet of Israel, takes on an apprentice named Elisha. There was a significant increase of spiritual power when Elijah went home to be with the Lord, and Elisha received double the anointing that was on Elijah’s life (see 2 Kings 2:12-14). In fact, Elisha has exactly twice as many recorded miracles as Elijah. Elisha then took on a servant of his own named Gehazi (see 2 Kings 4:12a).

It is my personal opinion that had Gehazi pursued a double portion of the anointing on Elisha, the Lord would have granted it to him as well. However, Gehazi’s greed disqualified him from becoming Elisha’s successor (see 2 Kings 5:20-27). He not only was disqualified, but was cursed with leprosy! At this point in the story, Elisha took on a new servant whose name is never revealed, so I refer to him as the “no-name” servant.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17).

(Author’s note: This portion of Scripture is rich with examples, so you will see it quoted several times throughout this book.)

The intention of this book is to lay a foundation for the Body of Christ to experience what the “no-name” servant experienced. I pray that the Lord would literally open your spiritual sight so that you may see into the unseen realm.

ACTIVATION

A study guide and activation exercise follows each chapter to assist you in applying the knowledge you’ve gained into practice, to help stretch your spiritual muscles, and prepare you to walk in the anointing of seeing in the spirit and discerning of spirits. The truths in this book are deep and stretching. In order to get the most out of this book, I strongly recommend that at the end of each chapter you stop, put in your bookmark, and do the activation exercise. You will receive the best assimilation of this material if you take my advice on this. Most of all enjoy, and have fun growing!

CHAPTER 1

The Mantle of Fire and Water

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

How would you feel if a well-known prophet stood you up in a church service and prophesied that you would begin to see things in the spirit, that you would have a gift for discerning spirits, and that God would even teach you about being a “seer?” As many of you probably would be, I was excited, confused, and soon-to-be quite freaked out. To give some clarification, I have included the exact prophecy I received from Prophet Dennis Cramer:

March 7, 2002

You’re a young man with a tremendous call upon his life, very, very strong call…you have had some rumblings lately of prophetic ministry. And you thought maybe you were losing your mind. You thought, Lord, my mind is going off. What’s wrong with my mind? You’re also a man that is going to begin to discern spirits more than you ever wanted to. So, the Lord told me to tell you, Jonathan, you are not losing your mind; you are simply beginning to discern spirits as never before. There is a good prophetic call upon your life…But also, as I said, especially discerning of spirits.

March 9, 2002

Jonathan, you have a strong seeing edge already developing in your life. You are uncomfortable with this because you don’t know what you are seeing. It’s caused you some distress. You’ve almost begun to feel a little rejected. But the Lord says all He is doing is teaching you about being a seer. Your own unique seeing gift and dimension. The Lord says just keep your mouth shut; don’t get too verbal about what you are seeing because you are still in the beginning stages of understanding this. So, the Lord says a seeing dimension is going to be well developed in your life in the years ahead.

THE GIFT Is ACTIVATED

The day that I received this word, I began to see things in the spirit around me. I had never had this gifting activated before, and so I was very startled with this new experience. I began to see colors in the spirit, words imposed over the physical things in front of me, body parts randomly appearing, fire or water descending on things, places, or people. I would on occasion even see angels or demons. When I first started seeing these things, I was surprised and even confused. I had to grow, learn, and come into understanding about what was happening. Even now, as I reread the second prophecy from Dennis Cramer, I see such wisdom in his statement, “The Lord says just keep your mouth shut; don’t get too verbal about what you are seeing, because you are still in the beginning stages of understanding this.”

When I first started seeing these things, I was surprised and even confused.

I was really taken aback by this whole new gifting, especially since I didn’t have anyone to mentor me in seeing at the time. There are precious few in the Body of Christ who are willing to share their experiences. The Lord had to personally teach me about the things He was showing me.

FLIPPING THE SWITCH

About a month after Dennis Cramer prophesied over me, the frequency of the visions began to diminish, and again I was confused. I thought, did I commit some sin that is hindering my seeing ability? Have I done something wrong? What is happening to my gift?

The Holy Spirit showed me that in the previous month He had sovereignly demonstrated to me the potential of my seer gifting. Now the Lord would teach me how to activate my gifting. In the spirit I saw a large switch, much like a typical wall-mounted light switch. On the switch were the words “On” and “Off,” and then in my spirit I heard the meaning. In the first month the Holy Spirit had flipped my switch “On” to enable me to see in the spirit realm around me. Now He was flipping my switch to “Off,” and things would be totally normal again. The Holy Spirit told me that He would teach me how to flip the switch myself.

WE MOVE THE SWITCH BY FAITH

With all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have a role in activating them. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will move sovereignly and heal someone, but most of the time faith must be activated. When we read the Gospels, we often see Jesus telling people to take an action—to show themselves to a priest, to wash the mud from their eyes, or to pick up their bed and walk. These were each acts of faith that, when activated, released the gift of healing.

If the Holy Spirit tells me to give a prophetic word, then I must take part in cooperating with the Spirit and deliver the word. When you activate faith, then you have stepped over into the things of the Kingdom realm: healing, prophecy, miracles, discerning of spirits, and so on. The Lord was moving me from relying only on sovereign experiences, into activating my faith to believe for the gift of discerning of spirits to function (see John 5:8; Mark 2:9; John 9:11; Luke 17:11-19).

IN MY EXPERIENCE

From my personal experience I can tell you that when God first opens your spiritual eyes as He did mine, it can be very scary, even terrifying. When it first started, I was not expecting to see into the spirit realm. I wasn’t against such experiences—I was just unaware of them.

I would look at a fellow believer and see a background of illuminated light behind him, or I would see a nonbeliever and a darkness or cloud of depression on him. I would see large demonic presences hovering on or above certain buildings. I would see large warrior angels standing guard around certain buildings and churches. There were times I could see angels dancing among us at church during worship. At other times, I would see the worship get cut off by a speaker who was not following the Holy Spirit’s leading, and I would see very sad expressions on the angel’s faces. It looked as though they were crying because they knew what we were missing out on by worship being cut short. I would see angels carry in strange-looking internal organs that they would put inside of people, and then those same people would later testify to having been healed. I found these experiences overwhelming, and I want to clarify that I didn’t read any books that encouraged or directed me in any of this.

BRAZIL

Six months after Dennis Cramer prophesied into my life, and five months after God began to teach me how I could activate my gifting, the Lord led me into the next level of training.

I took an opportunity to intern for Evangelist Randy Clark for a month in Brazil. While there, I met two seers who greatly encouraged me in my gifting. The first was Pastor Gary Oates. He had traveled with Randy the previous spring and had his own powerful encounter, which activated his spiritual eyes.

His story and experiences are similar to my own, especially in the sense that neither of us were seeking the ability to see—it was something God chose to give us. He is an excellent example of modern seership. God sovereignly opened Gary’s eyes in an encounter where Gary had an out-of-body experience, and the Lord took him to Heaven. He writes about this in his book, Open My Eyes, Lord.¹

The second person that I met was one of the foremost worship leaders in Brazil. The Lord has blessed him with a very strong ability to see into the spirit realm. When we met, I asked him to lay hands on me and pray for an increase in my gifting. He was in a hurry to get the worship service started, but he still took a few minutes to pray for me. After he had prayed, he went off to lead worship. The following is what happened to me in that evening worship service.

A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

I don’t usually respond physically to the Holy Spirit, not because I am unwilling, but I do not easily experience rolling, falling, laughing, or the other manifestations that people have in response to the Holy Spirit. Understanding that about me will help you understand how powerful the following experience was for me.

As worship began, I saw two angels standing on the stage, and they were unlike anything I had ever seen.

As worship began, I saw two angels standing on the stage, and they were unlike anything I had ever seen. They were about 15 feet tall, and there was fire coming out of them—six feet in every direction. I was standing in the front row of the church with Randy, so I was closer to the stage than the rest of the crowd around me when the closest angel began to walk toward me. I wanted to turn and run or get out of his way, but I was unable to move.

He came straight at me and reached out his hand. When he touched my chest, I collapsed to the floor on my side in the fetal position. The spiritual fire from his touch remained on me, causing me to create my own puddle of sweat on the cement floor of the church. In that moment, I began to see more clearly in the spirit than ever before.

The church held about 6,000 people, divided into six sections of chairs. Over each section I saw another angel of fire about the size of a human man, and the fire only emanated out of them about six inches. As the worship intensified I saw more of these smaller angels come down through the ceiling and join the crowd of worshippers. The worship grew so intense that at the height of worship, while the fire angels continued to join in, the crowd looked like a field of grass on fire, an extreme wild fire of worship.

Then I saw a dark cloud over the crowd, and there was lightning flashing across the cloud. I heard two words in my spirit, “New mantle.” Randy Clark, knowing that I could see in the spirit, came over to ask me what I was seeing, and I shared with him all that I have written here. Then I asked him to flatten me out on my back because I was in an awkward and uncomfortable position. He flattened me out, and I still did not have control of any of my body below my neck.

While stuck to the ground, I looked down at my body and I saw three angels on me. There was one on each of my legs holding me down with their hands. A third angel was sitting next to me using his right hand to press down on my chest. I could see that the two 15-foot angels of fire were still on the stage watching.

I felt a splash of water come across my chest as if someone had taken a water bottle and poured it on me. I looked around but couldn’t figure out who had done it. Then it happened two more times a few minutes later. This felt so real in the natural that I was actually getting annoyed. I didn’t understand what this was until later.

Eventually the worship ended, and I was able to make it back to my seat with some help. Later on, I found an interpreter and spoke with the worship leader. I asked him what he had seen that evening, and he told me exactly what I had seen in his own words. He even included that the large angel of fire who had touched me at the beginning had told the worship leader that he was going to step off the stage and minister to me. Also, he saw the three angels lay a mantle over me. It had flames on top and water dripping from the bottom, which is why I had felt the water on my chest and heard in my spirit the words, “New mantle.” I had been confused about seeing the dark clouds in the meeting, and then the Lord showed me in His Word about His presence coming in a dark cloud:

“…the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness” (Deuteronomy 4:11 NKJV).

“He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning” (Psalms 18:11-12).

“Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles” (Psalms 97:2-4).

Since these experiences in Brazil, I have received this new mantle in my life. The Lord has increased my vision and ability to understand what is happening in the spirit. It is from these experiences that the Lord directed me into my call to teach others about the spirit realm.

ACTIVATION

The Lord taught me about activating my faith and “flipping my switch.” In this activation I direct you to prepare your heart for the Lord to teach you about flipping your spiritual switch. As a symbol of activating your faith, I recommend that you anoint yourself with oil. Go to your cupboard or pantry and find some olive or other safe food oil. Take a small dab and place it on yourself—you could put it on your forehead or wherever. As you do this, say this prayer in your own words:

Lord, I receive Your anointing. I desire to grow in my walk with You. I open my heart for more of Your work in and through me. I desire to fulfill the call on my life. I ask for Your anointing to run down upon me now (see Ps. 133).

ENDNOTES

1. Gary Oates, Open My Eyes, Lord (Dallas, GA: Open Heaven Publications, 2004).

CHAPTER 2

Spiritual Senses

Because the gift of discerning of spirits is one of the more perplexing gifts, let me clarify some of my language about seeing in the spirit. No believer has the “gift of seeing in the spirit” because there is no such thing. The gift that is actually functioning when someone says that he or she is seeing in the spirit is the gift of discerning of spirits.

Discerning of spirits is a true gift of the Holy Spirit found in First Corinthians 12. The emphasis in this book is seeing in the spirit, which is just one way that discerning of spirits functions. Seers function in a high level of discerning of spirits, usually through spiritual sight. Later I will discuss more about the role of seers in the Church.

DISCERNING OF SPIRITS

The gift of discerning of spirits is a communication gift through which the Holy Spirit makes us aware of our spiritual atmosphere and environment around us. The main way that this functions is through our five spiritual senses that God placed within each of us at creation. To understand how we function in discerning of spirits, we must understand our spiritual senses. Most people only realize that they have five physical senses. The truth is that we have three sets of five senses.

Science has learned that the physical body has five senses that enable us to interact with the environment: taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. In addition to your five physical senses, every person has five senses in their soul and five senses in their spirit.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Scripture has hundreds of verses that lay out clearly that we are a three-part being consisting of a spirit, soul, and body.

SOUL SENSES

Experience and culture dictate our own individual reactions to taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight through our soul. For example, smell brings back memories. If I were to give flowers to one individual, it may bring back good memories like flowers from a wedding, but if I gave the same flowers to another person, it may bring back bad memories from a funeral. This is not a physical reaction to the flowers or their smell; it is a reaction from the individual soul.

If two people are walking together and they cross the path of a dog, one individual may like dogs and begin to pet the dog; however, the second person may be afraid and begin to feel uncomfortable. This is also a response from the individual soul senses. The way we see the world, and the way we hear others, is affected by the condition of our soul. Also, the willingness to touch certain things like a snake may be easy for some or terrifying for others, depending on the condition of the soul. Even the taste of some foods will bring varied responses from different people.

The human soul has senses just like the physical body. Each category of senses has a realm that it interacts with. The physical senses interact with the physical realm, the soul senses interact with the interpersonal realm. And the spirit has senses that interact with the spiritual realm.

Although there are hundreds of books that can help develop the soul or the body, this book is focused on the developing and operating of the spiritual senses.

SPIRIT SENSES

Author and teacher Harold Eberle offers great insight regarding our spiritual senses:

Just as we have five senses that provide us with information about the physical world, we also have senses in touch with the spiritual world. The spiritual senses are just as important as the physical senses. Unfortunately, most of us have not developed our spiritual senses.

Many Christians do not even believe they have any spiritual senses. I like to ask them, “Has the devil ever tempted you?” Of course, they answer yes. Then I like to say, “Well, how did you hear the devil? You could not hear him if you did not have spiritual ears.” It is sad, but many people have more faith that the devil talks to us than that God talks to us. In reality, the Bible makes it clear that we all have spiritual eyes and ears.

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