Spiritual Discernment — John Murray

The fifth chapter of the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, of the twenty-first verse. First Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, at verse twenty-one. Through all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil.

The Bereans’ Daily Search of Scripture

Apostle Paul and Silas, on one of their missionary journeys, departed from Thessalonica and came to Berea. And you have a very striking commendation of the Bereans in comparison with the Thessalonians.

We read, these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. Now there are a few observations that are worthy of mention in connection with that characterization.

And the first is that these Thessalonians were not searching without any standard or criterion. It was not the kind of searching that we have in detached, neutral investigation. It wasn't with a detached mind that these Bereans searched.

And the second thing is that the searching that they made was conjoined with a readiness of mind to receive the word of God. That is to say, they had the true openness of mind. Although they did not have a detached investigation of things, nevertheless they did have a mind that was open to receive the word of God.

And the third thing was that it was a searching of the scriptures. A searching of those scriptures which they then found, which must in this case refer simply to the Old Testament. And the fourth is that this was a daily occupation.

They had an absorbing interest. It wasn't simply the kind of searching that took place on a rare occasion, perhaps once a week, but they touched the scriptures daily whether these things were so. And it is well for us, of course, to examine ourselves in the light of these commendations.

Is it a daily searching of that criterion and standard which God has given us, but whereby we may know the truth and hold fast to it? The commendation that is given to the Bereans is all the more remarkable because they had with them an inspired apostle.

Discernment as a Neglected Christian Virtue

And yet there is the commendation that they just did not take anything for granted. They searched the scriptures. They used that divinely given standard, that divinely given source of truth, that divinely given criterion by which they could know whether the things that were spoken were in accord with the will of God.

All this evidences a great virtue. And it is a virtue that is rather uncommon in the professing Church of Christ in these days. It is the virtue of discernment, the virtue of discrimination. There are people who can listen to something that is very good and say it is fine.

And they'll also listen to something that's very bad and they'll also say it is fine. Why? People listen perhaps from the radio to a perfectly orthodox preacher and then listen to a preacher that is after the pattern of Harry Emerson Postick and say both are very excellent.

It is just because they do not have discrimination. They do not have discernment. They are carried about with every wind of doctrine. By the stripes of men, they go with wind and tide. They are carried away by as it were the elephants and they do not do what the Bereans are commended for doing.

It is such the scriptures say whether those things were so. And it is one of the most exasperating experiences for a preacher of the gospel, for an earnest, devoted preacher of the gospel, to find that people take his say-so simply because he says it.

He does not wish people to receive anything simply because they say so. And it is one of the most encouraging true preachers of the gospel to discover that those to whom he preaches the gospel exhibit this very characteristic which characterized the Bereans.

But they search the scriptures daily whether those things were so. The first great lesson that is emblazoned on that witness board of the Bereans is the lesson that is enjoined in our text. First, that which is good abstain from all appearance of evil.

The Three Exercises of the Mind

And at first it is very obvious that there are three exercises of mind commended in this text. This text doesn't enumerate all the exercises of mind in which people should be engaged. But nevertheless it does instance three exercises of mind that are very important.

Proving, and you know very well of the exigencies of life, how important these three exercises of mind are, must be covered by these three exercises of mind. Proving is on these three that I wish to draw, to which I wish to draw your attention for a few minutes.

In the very order in which the apostle gives these exhortations, perhaps we might wish to reverse the order in order to put them in more logical order. There must be some reason why they are given in this particular order.

And it is that order that we should seek to maintain. Proving, proving all things. Prove, he doesn't mean what we mean by proving a proposition, a mathematical proposition. Giving, as it were, a demonstration that something is true.

In mathematics you have a certain proposition, and you exercise it to demonstrate that that particular proposition is true. That the three, the two sides on the hypotenuse of a wide-angle triangle are equal to the base.

You prove the proposition. You don't, as it were, try to find out whether the proposition is true, but you demonstrate it. That which the apostle Paul is enjoining in this particular instance is not precisely that.

Testing Hidden Defects in Spiritual Teaching

He is using the word prove in the sense of test, of trial. In the very same sense as we have in our version when John says, whether they be of God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

But to try them, but to test them, but to apply to them the touchstone of truth. The reason why it is necessary for us to prove certain things is that the defects are not all. If you are asked to prove a horse that you were made by as a farmer, you are asked to prove him if the seller says you can take him home and prove him or test him, well, it's perfectly obvious that the horse wouldn't be a horse with three legs, because that's perfectly apparent.

There's no need to prove a horse that has only three legs, because the defect is immediately apparent. It's just because there may be some more concealed defects in that horse, and that horse may be more useless and, in fact, and sometimes more dangerous than a horse with three legs.

And so you have to test him. You have to put him in harness, you have to put him in a cart, you have to put him under a yoke to see if that horse is worthy of that which he is alleged to be. You see, we need to test things because the defects, if there are defects, are not immediately apparent.

And that is precisely in connection with those things of which the apostles speak, that we are asked to prove all things. Now, Paul doesn't mean all things in the universe. He's not writing to these, to these, these Thessalonians and asking them to prove all that mathematical propositions or all that medical devices or something like that.

He's using the word all things in reference to those particular things that concern the Christian faith and to them in connection with the truth of the gospel. That's it. It may be alleged to be the truth of the gospel.

Satan’s Strategy of Mixing Truth with Error

These things are to be proved. If the error is the horse, if that is the reason why you prove a horse, why you prove an automobile, the defect may not be immediately apparent, does that apply to those things of which the apostle Paul, as he is speaking?

It's just because there is so much defection, that again, that it is necessary pertaining to our faith. He is the great arch-enemy. He is the most insidious enemy and the most skillful enemy. He is the great arch-enemy of the kingdom of God.

We can learn a great deal from some of the things that are recorded to us in scripture with reference to the strategy of the great arch-enemy. At the very beginning, what was that particular temptation with which the cancer seduced?

A lot of people would say that he seduced her by presenting something that was in the category of the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eyes. Oh, that misses the point. That with which the tempter seduced Eve was this.

Ye shall be adorned, he said to the woman. It wasn't the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes in the first instance. That was the tempter of the temptation of seduction. Ye shall be as God. No need to translate it.

Ye shall be as God. But ye shall be as God, loyal, good and evil. Now if you examine the whole of scripture, you'll find that that wasn't just a non-mixed lie. In that which the tempter said to the woman.

Because later on, God himself said, Behold, the man has become as one of us. And so you just got to twist the strategy of the great archer. To state the truth from its true meaning, true purpose. And that is precisely the temptation she described to him in the 91st Psalm.

Ye shall be with angels, charged over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways against a stone. He didn't misquote the scripture. Just as he quoted a certain element of truth. To ye, ye shall be as God, loyal, good and evil.

The scripture, it just doesn't have to be given in the 91st Psalm. Peter alone built this church. Because it was Peter, with all the apostles after Pentecost. Who is so openly reproved for all the wicked.

Peter went to Antioch. And before certain came from Cain, he ate with the Gentiles. But when certain came from James, from Jerusalem. He withdrew and he separated himself. He dissembled. He dissembled with their disciples.

While Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face. Because he stood condemned. Because he was to be blamed in declaring in that epistle to the Galatians. To such an extent that he said, if we are an angel from heaven.

Preach unto everyone here the gospel and that which we have received. Let it be anathema. And it is just the instruments of propagating untruth. The instruments of wrongdoing. That it is ought to take heed to this injunction.

Seeking Wisdom and Spiritual Discernment

Prove all things. All facts. That which is good. And blessed be God. That, then, that which in which there is no error. And by which we shall mend to the divine injunction. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.

Who giveth us the law. And it shall be given him. And blessed be God. He hath not only given us an objective criterion. That one merely does astray. As we in simplicity and humility subject ourselves to it.

He has given us to lead us. These things, wise men and women, that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you. And ye need not but earn him and teach him. Ye have anointed him from before you.

And ye know all things. And my friends. That seduce you. And bear in mind. We accomplish daily. Whatever things we're told. He's got against us. We're hobnobbing. It doesn't mean the negative and the positive.

Positive is something that is affirmed. Something against which you ought to think. It's far and more. It's hurt. Than to put the positive second. But that's not the way. The apparel for us to observe.

Abstaining from Doctrines of Demons and Every Appearance of Evil

It's jerk. It's negative. You go back to Eden. He did war. What happened to thee? The typical commandment. The crucial commandment. In that instance. The knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that we did thereof there shall be.

The knowledge of good and evil. Thou shall be. For exhortation or commandment. Situation. Because expressly. That in the latter times. Some shall depart from the faith. Giving heed to seducing spirits.

And doctrines of demons. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. You would think that the apocryphal is dealing there. With some great theoretical heresy. The very central doctrines of all Christian faith.

Giving heed to seducing spirits. And doctrines of devils. Doctrines of demons. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Thanksgiving of them which they refused. It would be received with thanksgiving.

For it is sanctified. By the word of God and prayer. There were those obsessives. Who were arising at that particular time. Of these obsessives. Were by it prohibited. Certain things. Which thanksgiving.

Are honest. Of propaganda. Of seducing spirits. You have a word. The absolute. We may just do a little evil. That good may come. That a greater good may be. That this principle is as prevalent. To be confronted with death.