The Spiritual Gift of Discernment (Sermon Audio)

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of second Timothy, second

Timothy chapter four. And the title of this morning's message is the gift of discernment, the gift of discernment.

So what is discernment? Basically discernment is the ability to be able to tell the difference between truth and error to be able to identify that which is from God above versus that which is from below.

I'd like to read the dictionary definition of the term. It is the quality of being, uh, or being able, excuse me, the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

So let me read that again. Discernment is the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

So that means that those who have the gift of discernment, uh, they tend to see things that other people don't really notice.

Uh, they will be able to recognize, uh, things that other people don't see on the surface.

They'll be able to spot a problem while others maybe are either, uh, oblivious to it, or maybe they, they see that something's wrong.

They just can't quite pinpoint it. So those who have the gift of discernment, what do they do? They bring clarity to the church and they're able to offer warnings and words of caution, uh, able to identify dangers that threaten both the doctrinal and spiritual unity of the church.

Now, before we read this, according to Paul in first Corinthians chapter 12, uh, he says that discernment is a spiritual gift and like the other spiritual gifts in order for the church to be operating on all cylinders, the gifts need to be exercised.

So the gift of discernment needs to be exercised in the local church. And I would say we need it now perhaps more than ever because spiritual deception, this is my opinion.

You can disagree if you want. I believe spiritual deception is at an all time high.

And as we move closer and closer to the end times, it's only going to get worse. So the best way to counter spiritual deception is with spiritual discernment.

So look at what the apostle Paul says in second Timothy chapter four, he tells his protege

Timothy, who is a young pastor. He says in verse two, Timothy, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves, teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.

My friends, this describes modern evangelical Christianity perfectly.

People want teachers, not preachers, and they want that because preachers tend to challenge people.

You know, you can teach someone something, they don't have to do anything about it. Preachers will challenge people.

Uh, people don't want to be challenged, you know, generally speaking, and people certainly don't want to be rebuked.

What do people want? They want their ears tickled, right? They want instead of sound doctrine, they want someone to tell them what they want to hear.

Many within the modern evangelical church, they want to be entertained. They do not want the unadulterated preaching of God's word.

For those of us who have the gift of discernment, that is painfully obvious. Can I get an amen?

Now, those who do not have the gift of discernment, you know, they don't see what all the fuss is about. Now I'd like to break this message down into three parts.

Uh, first we're going to look at some verses and passages in the Bible that speak of discernment.

Then we will look at an example where one of the apostles exercises his gift of discernment.

And then we will finish by looking at some practical ways that you can exercise discernment.

Even if you don't have the spiritual gift, you still can be discerning. And we'll talk about how this could play out within the context of the local church.

All right, well, let's look up some passages. Turn to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter two.

And as you're turning there, let me say this. Christians who are discerning are often criticized for being critical, which if you think about it, if you're criticizing someone for being critical, you're doing the same thing that you're objecting to.

But that happens. They say, well, you're just being critical. Well, here's what it comes down to.

It comes down to the truth, the truth, taking what people are saying in the name of God and comparing it to the word of God.

And when you do that, you're going to find out that what some people are preaching and teaching is not correct.

And when you point that out, some people don't like that. So then you get, then you get criticized.

But here's the thing. Discernment is necessary. Pointing out error is necessary.

Jesus did it. Paul did it. John did it. The old Testament prophets did it.

So it's about defending the church, defending the truth. That's what this is all about.

And we are living in a generation that rejects truth. You've heard of this postmodernism that there's no such thing as absolute truth.

So we live in a generation that has rejected truth. And when they hear the truth, it sounds like hate.

And it has been said that the truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.

So discernment is about truth. And when we find ourselves in a battle for truth, we must expose error for what it is.

One quick verse. Before we read Proverbs Ephesians five 11 says that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather we are to do what reprove them, expose them.

The new King James says that requires discernment and it requires wisdom.

And Proverbs is a book of wisdom. Look at chapter two, verses one through five,

Solomon writes, my son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding.

Yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the

Lord and find the knowledge of God. So we see that we need discernment for the fear of the

Lord and the knowledge of God. We need discernment and we see discernment, wisdom, the knowledge of God.

It all goes hand in hand. Now here's a question for you. This is

Solomon writing this. Where did Solomon receive his wisdom?

The Lord. And as Solomon is writing the book of Proverbs, we see if you read through it, you see he mentions the law again and again and again.

His wisdom was from the Lord, but it was rooted in the law of God, the mosaic law.

So here's the point. Many, many modern evangelicals, instead of looking to what the

Bible clearly teaches, because many have rejected the law, they don't like the law.

So instead of looking to what the Bible actually says, many modern Christians go on feelings and emotions.

And when you go on feelings and emotions, you will always bend to popular opinion.

If you're not standing on the word of God, you will bend to popular opinion.

Once you stop testing all things, as Paul said, this was part of the scripture reading first Thessalonians five 21 test all things hold fast to that which is good.

Once you stop testing all things against the revealed word of God and Solomon was, this is the old

Testament, right? When Paul was writing first Thessalonians, what was it? The old Testament was the only scripture that existed at that point.

So when we stop comparing things and testing them against the word of God, then we will go astray if we fail to do that.

So if you ignore God's law and again, many Christians, they don't like the law.

They want to ignore the old Testament. If you ignore God's law, here is what will happen.

The truth will be slain in the streets. And to add insult to injury, it will all be done in the name of love.

But of course they have to redefine the term love. So let's turn to Proverbs 15 discernment is necessary.

It is critical as you're turning there. Let me quote another verse.

First John chapter four, verse one, he says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

I've said this before. I'll say it again. I'll say at some point in the future, I'm sure false prophets.

This is a major theme that runs throughout the Bible. Whether it's the book of Deuteronomy, uh, the book of Jeremiah, it's in the gospels.

Jesus warned about it. Paul warned about it. Peter warned about it. John warned about it. Jude warned about it.

And the Bible ends with what revelation, which warns about the beast and the false prophet.

So false prophets have always existed. And you know what? They are in the church today.

They're absolutely in the church today and to recognize them and their erroneous doctrine.

What do you need? Discernment. You need discernment. All right. Proverbs 15, starting in verse 20, a wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.

Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment. But a man of understanding walks uprightly without counsel plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors, they are established.

So today the church and Christians, we can learn something. We should learn something from Solomon who the

Bible says, at least at this point, he was what the wisest man who ever lived.

So what do we learn from him here? Those who are destitute of discernment, those who have no discernment, what are you going to get when you lack discernment?

He says, folly, you're going to get folly, absurdity, madness, recklessness.

My friends, we need discernment today. More than ever. We need discernment.

The apostle Paul says Philippians chapter one, verse nine. And this, I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.

I had mentioned a moment ago how love is being defined. You don't need me to explain this to you, but instead of a biblical definition for love, and remember

God, God's the author of love. The Bible says God is love, but instead of love as God defines it, what do we have?

People take the term and they inject their own, their own meaning, their own thoughts, their own ideas about what they think love should be.

And in the process, every sin and immorality is currently being embraced all in the name of love.

But what does Paul say? I pray that your love may abound more and more. That's true, but it needs to be in all knowledge and discernment.

So those are a few things the Bible has to say about discernment. Now let's move into a section two of the message.

Turn to acts chapter 16, and there's a lot more we could read.

The Bible has a lot to say about this subject. So we've seen how important discernment is.

Now let's look at the gift of discernment being exercised by the apostle

Paul here. Paul who had the gift, I think probably all the apostles have this gift, but Paul encounters a young woman who has a spirit of divination.

It's also called saying, uh, it's also in the text here. It's also called fortune telling.

Now don't get the wrong idea about fortune telling. Uh, I remember when

I, last time I was in Maine, uh, if you've ever been to York beach, Maine in the village there in the town, there's a little hole in the wall shop with a fortune telling.

And of course I walked right by it. No Christian has any business going to see a psychic medium or a fortune teller.

Now here's the thing about fortune tellers. They're con artists. They do things like cold readings or they tell you what they think you want to hear.

And they're basically just swindling you out of your money. Okay. That's the least of it.

There are some people certainly in the Bible we're going to read about, but there may be people today who have a demon spirit within them.

It's called the Bible says the spirit of divination. You say, well, I don't believe in that stuff.

Do you believe the Bible? Where'd it go? Where'd all these demons go? All right. Acts chapter 16, starting in verse 16.

Here's what a spirit of divination does. It's a demonic spirit that possesses a person and speaks through that person.

Acts 16, starting in verse 16. Now it happened as we went to prayer that a certain slave girl possessed with the spirit of divination met us who brought her masters much profit by fortune telling this girl followed

Paul and us, and this is Luke writing. So the girl is following the apostle

Paul and she cried out and she was saying, these men are the servants of the most high

God who proclaim to us the way of salvation. And this she did.

The scripture says for many days. How would you like that? You might wonder why would a demon spirit wants to be speaking to Paul?

These men are servants and proclaiming the way of salvation. Why would a demon want to do that? Wouldn't that be self -defeating?

Well, no, because people knew there was something wrong with this girl that she had a demon spirit within her.

And by saying this, what was she doing? She was discrediting the message of the apostle

Paul and Paul, when he's preaching, he doesn't want someone demon possessed to be there shouting, following him around all the time.

I mean, that would get pretty old, wouldn't it? And that's why Luke writes in verse 18, but Paul greatly annoyed.

I bet he was, but Paul greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit,

I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her. And he came out that very hour.

Now, what does this have to do with discernment? Well, in first Corinthians 12, 10,

Paul refers to the spiritual gift of discernment. He calls it the discerning of spirits.

So Paul had the ability to recognize that this woman wasn't just putting on an act.

She didn't just have an illness. She was demon possessed and Paul had the ability to discern the spirit that was within her.

Now, to be clear, when we talk about discernment in the church today, that's typically not what we are referring to.

Uh, that kind of scenario is, uh, uncommon, I think. Uh, but I can honestly tell you,

I don't think I've ever shared this with anybody. Uh, there's only been one occasion where I knew

I was in the presence of someone who was demon possessed. I've seen a lot of people act like the devil, but that's not the same as being demon possessed.

I was in, listen, if you want to be skeptical about this, go ahead.

But you know, when you know, you know, I was in target shopping several years ago and I remember it very clearly.

I was with, um, my daughter and we were in the electronics section and all of a sudden

I heard this voice and these noises and honestly it didn't sound human.

Uh, then this smell kind of came over the area. It was indescribable.

The worst smell. I don't even know how to describe it. And I looked and there is a man just standing in the middle of the aisle.

The look on his face is me. I tried not to look directly at them, but the sounds coming out of his mouth, it wasn't babbling.

It didn't sound like Jim. It sounded like a language, but it was like nothing I had ever heard before.

And it was enough to make the hairs on your arm stand on end. So I put my arm around my daughter.

I said, let's go over here. We just walked away. Now, maybe if somebody came into the church like that,

I don't know, maybe I would, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of him. I didn't,

I didn't do that, but I have no doubt in my mind that man was demon possessed.

But again, that's just one element of the gift of discernment. And typically when we talk about discernment, that's not the kind of thing that we are referring to.

What are we referring to? Again, discerning truth from error, the ability to recognize something that others, maybe they just can't see it.

But I'll also say this, the gift of discernment, this can be a big burden.

This is a burden to me because when you exercise the gift of discernment, again, people just think that you're out there and you're looking to be critical.

That is not the case. Uh, there are discernment ministries.

How many of you have heard of discernment ministries? Um, there's some websites, there's some

YouTube channels, discernment ministries. Let me tell you what these guys are not very well liked.

Some of them, I got to meet one man when I was at the shepherd's conference back in March, a man named

Justin Peters. Um, he's fairly well known, but you know what? A lot of people don't like him because he's pointing out the error with all the

TV preachers. So listen, these men, while some people don't care for them, they are doing

God's work. Do they make mistakes? Sure. Can I make mistakes?

Of course nobody is perfect, but we need discernment.

And just like the old Testament prophets, those who have discernment, they act as a type of watchman on the wall.

Remember Habakkuk? We talked about the prophet Habakkuk. He was a watchman on the wall for Judah.

I just want to read what Dr. John MacArthur says about those who have the gift of discernment.

He says that Christians with the gift of discernment have the God given ability to recognize lying spirits and to identify deceptive and erroneous doctrine.

It is essential to have people in the church who are discerning.

They are guardians, the watchmen who protect the church from demonic lies, false doctrines, perverted cults, and fleshly elements.

And as it requires diligent study of the word to exercise gifts of knowledge, wisdom, preaching, and teaching, so it does with discernment.

So let's move on to the final part of the message and how this plays out in a local church.

Again, you can be discerning. If you just put in a little work, every one of you, and of course, many of you are, we're going to look at how to do that.

And before we turn to our scripture, let's remember within a local church, especially within a local church, we always need to be exercising discernment.

Yes, but we also need to exercise love, love, and that's love.

How the Bible defines it. All right. Being patient with one another, not behaving rudely, not being self seeking.

And of course, what does Paul say in first Corinthians 13, that love does not rejoice in iniquity rather it rejoices in what the truth, the truth.

So, you know, someone can smile, they can act friendly, they can act all kind and compassionate, but if they're not speaking the truth, it's not really biblical love.

Okay. True love requires truth. It's so simple, but we don't think of it.

True love requires truth. And there are preachers who are able to do this.

They can smile. They got the whitest teeth and the greatest head of hair, and they have a charismatic personality and they look like a sheep.

But when you hear what they're saying, they're not speaking the truth. You realize that they're actually a wolf.

So discernment is about protecting the flock, protecting the flock and preserving truth, taking what people say in the name of God and comparing it to the word of God.

All right, let's turn to Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17. Now within a local church, we want to be faithful to God.

We want to preserve unity. Amen. Don't we want that? So discernment should not be used in such a way to where if you feel that you have discernment, that you take it upon yourself to correct every wrong and to just go around and pick every little thing apart.

That can be a temptation. We don't want to do that. We want to preserve unity, act in a loving manner.

And just as love can be used as an excuse to accept all sorts of sin and immorality, discernment can be used as an excuse to always be fighting and judging other people.

We do not want to do that. Now, Christians are called to make righteous judgments. That's what

Jesus said. And again, I've given this advice before. If you see something, if you hear something, if you can let it go, let it go.

If someone in the church annoys you, if I annoy you, that that's not possible though, right?

I probably annoyed a couple of you in the sermon. I'm sure. So, but yeah, if, if something bothers you, let it go.

If you can let it go, let it go. Now, if you can't, um, that's another story.

We'll talk about that. But discernment, here's the point is should not be used as a club. The spiritual gifts are given for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, to serve

God and to serve one another. So when we exercise discernment, let's be gracious in our interactions.

And I believe this is key when practicing discernment, address the issue, not the individual, not the individual.

Now, before we read from act 17, I just want to expand on this point, uh, address the issue, not the individual.

I think, and I'm not going down this rabbit trail. Okay. But I think this is one of the reasons why so many people are disgusted with politics because instead of intelligently discussing policy and what's best for the

American people, what do you get? It's just nonstop ad hominem attacks.

And it's really easy to get in the flesh and to join right in.

We need to try to resist that. Now, the same goes for discernment case in point.

I will not mention any names, but there is a very famous woman who is considered a

Bible teacher. She doesn't really read and preach the Bible, but she is regarded.

I mentioned the discernment ministries. She is regarded by pretty much all of the discernment ministries.

She's regarded as a false teacher. And I would absolutely agree with that. I will not mention her name, but I will tell you what she taught.

She once taught that human beings are gods. She taught that when

Jesus died, he went to hell to be tortured by demons.

And he would have stayed there. If God, the father didn't save him and cause

Jesus get this, she said, Jesus was in hell and he had to be born again to get out and friends.

That is the most rank heresy imaginable. This woman also preaches what is known as the prosperity gospel, which is also a heresy.

And there's so much wrong with her teachings, but you know what people usually criticize her for her looks in her voice, in her hairstyle.

My friends, you are shooting yourself in the foot. When you do something like that, we need to be addressing the doctrine.

Discernment should be about doctrine. When we're addressing spiritual things, we're operating in the spirit.

When we're getting into fleshly things, we're operating in the flesh.

And let me just put this in the context of this church. If I say something in a sermon, and like I said, uh, if you can let it go, let it go.

But if I say something and you are convinced that, Hey, that's not right.

According to the scripture, then come to me, have chapter and verse prepared and say, pastor,

I heard you say this, but here's what the Bible says in this, in this passage, can you talk to me about this?

You know, I respect that. I absolutely respect that. And I would be more than happy to have any conversation like that.

But if you approach me and you're mad and you have no chapter and verse, no scripture to back it up, and you're just willing to give me a piece of your mind, the conversation's over before it begins.

I mean, I'll, I'll take a little abuse, I guess, but that's not the Christian way to behave and attacking somebody personally about their person, especially attacking a woman and her looks that that's not the

Christian thing to do. But again, people get wrapped up in the flesh and you know, we all say things that we shouldn't say, but you need to be discerning and be careful about the words coming out of our mouth.

What does Jesus say? Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.

As much as depends on you live peaceably with all men be as gracious as you can.

Discernment should not be used as an excuse to fight. It should not be personal.

It should be doctrinal. Okay. Now look at Acts chapter 17.

Here is a very practical way. Every Christian can be discerning if you're just willing to do a little work, you know, shooting off an opinion that doesn't take any work at all.

We can all do that. This will take a little work, but this is what we should all be doing. Acts 17 verse 10.

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.

When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair minded than those in Thessalonica.

Now, do you want to be fair minded? Say amen. If you do. Okay. These were more fair minded than those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so think about this.

They heard the apostle Paul and they still tested what he said against the revealed word of God.

And they were called noble for doing that. So if you want to be considered noble by the

Lord, do these two things, receive the preaching with all readiness. And then number two, search the scriptures to make sure these things are true.

This is why we always encourage you to carry your Bibles with you, right?

Carry your Bible with you during the sermon, have it open. Uh, when I turn to a passage, you should turn to that passage.

Make sure what I'm saying is in line with what's on the page, whether it's this pulpit or any other, whether it's something you see on TV or radio, it needs to be tested against the word of God.

I take it a step further. Everything you hear in your life, everything out there, your friends, any thought that pops into your head, everything should be filtered through the word of God.

You say everything, everything, every single thing should be tested against the word of God.

So if you go home and you turn on CNN, filter it through the word of God. If you go home and turn on Fox news, filter it through the word of God, a thought pops into your head, filter it through the word of God.

Christians must be discerning. So search the scriptures, incline your ears toward the truth.

Test all things. If you do that, you will never be led astray. Amen. All right, let's close in prayer.

Father, how thankful we are for your word and how thankful we are that you sent your only begotten son to die on the cross for our sins and to rise again the third day.

If anyone listening has never put their trust in Christ, I pray that you would give them discernment this very moment to recognize the truth of the gospel.

And Lord, we ask that you would protect your church from worldly ideologies, movements that seek to break down all that is holy and just.

And we thank you for those who have the gift of discernment and have the courage to speak up on things when it certainly is not popular.

And finally, we ask that you would put a renewed hunger in your people to not only read your word, but search it out, search it diligently and apply all of it to their life.

give us wisdom, give us discernment. We pray it all in Jesus name. Amen.