"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment " (Phil. 1:9, NASB).
"Those who have insight [discernment] will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven ..." (Daniel 12:3, NASB).
"... So the people without understanding [discernment] are ruined [doomed]" (Hosea 4:14, NASB).
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [discernment]" (Hosea 4:6, NASB).
Isaiah 27:11 (NASB) adds, "... For they are not a people of discernment,
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them."
"But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14, NASB).
"But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD,
And they do not understand [show discernment for] His purpose ..." (Micah 4:12, NASB).
We all have insight into the mystery of Christ, as Paul termed it, but with the privilege of interpreting Scripture, goes the responsibility to do it right! We cannot fabricate our own truths, because no Scripture is of any private interpretation according to 2 Pet. 1:20. "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know" (1 John 2:20, NASB).
We all long for the power of discernment (if you don't use it, you'll lose it), and some of us don't even have a handle on it, as to what it even is. Literally, it is the ability to read between the lines in literature, and to judge character in person as David did to Abigail's husband Nabal in 1 Sam. 14:33 when she said, "[B]lessed be your discernment," but spiritually, it is the ability to know whether something is of God. John exhorts us in 1 John 4:1 to "test the spirits, whether they are from God."
Some of us can smell false doctrine a mile away, as it were and have zeroed in on this gift. The spiritual gift "... [T]o another the distinguishing of spirits" means whether they are of God or of Satan. Similarly, Malachi 3:18 (NASB) says, "So you will again distinguish [discern] between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
We never have the power to read people's minds, for even Satan can't do that--thank God! Jesus was doubted because they thought He didn't know "what manner of woman" she was who anointed Him by washing his feet, and showed no discernment of a prophet. No Christian ever has the ability to judge or discern a person's intent or motives (one of the powers of the Word is its ability to "judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart," per Heb. 4:12 in the NASB), for only the Lord sees the motives (Proverbs 16:2; 21:2). "[M]an looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7, ESV). Taking the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a log in yours is not showing discernment. Don't think that God has put you on a mission to weed out the bad apple or separate the wheat from the chaff as the angels can (we do have the ability to distinguish truth from fiction though, if we are enlightened with the Word).
When Christians become sectarian ("I am of Apollos, I am of Peter, I am of Paul, or I am of Christ" type of thinking), that means they have lost discernment and fail to realize that Christ's body is not divided nor split into factions, but one in the Spirit and all were baptized into the body in the name of the triune God! It is one thing to have spiritual leaders and respect for our teachers, but quite another to blindly follow them and think they are infallible, and one needs to separate or compete with others in a clique or party spirit.
We are to obey and submit to those who have the rule over us, but not blindly. Christians are not in competition with each other but on the same side in the warfare against the devil's turf and domain. It never was God's will to have denominations and so many church splits, but this has only happened because God allowed it to happen because of our frailty and weakness of being human (for the same reason He tolerates divorce). At the Bema or Judgment Seat of Christ He is not going to ask us if we are Baptists or Lutherans, but whether we learned to love and obey Christ in a trusting and faithful manner of life so that we will be rewarded (our eternal life is not in question and our sins are already judged).
What kind of discernment are we to have then? We all are to have discernment and can have it, but some believers have the unique ability to discern the presence of the Holy Spirit when brethren are gathered in Christ's name, and are especially sensitive to when He is quenched. We are never anointed to judge one another, but the church's job is to discipline a member in sin because it always affects the body--if one part suffers, all will suffer. God can give us insight into a sermon or verse that others don't see and it is our calling to share it or put it into practice. The better one knows the Lord, the better discernment and insight he will have in general, including interpreting the Word (not the more education or training he has, but knows the Lord). "... I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants" (Matt. 11:25, NASB).
We are to love the Lord with all our mind, and this means show discernment--it's an imperative. "Do not judge according to appearance [as man sees], but judge [show discernment] with righteous judgment" (John 7:24, NASB). Jesus gave us discernment: "... I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (John 8:12, NASB)" You will be enlightened: "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth ..." (John 16:13, NASB). Caveat: "Therefore do not go on passing judgement before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; then each man's praise will come to him from God" (1 Cor. 4:5, NASB).
Charles Swindoll, pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, and Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary says that if you listen to only one preacher, you will lose your power of discernment. This is very true, because this is how cults such as the People's Temple or "cult of death," led by the Rev. Jim Jones, was instituted--they felt they didn't even need their Bibles anymore because he was speaking the Word to them, and so they didn't need to be like the Christians of Berea in Acts 17 who searched the Scriptures daily to see whether the things that Paul spoke were true. No preacher is so anointed that he is infallible and doesn't need the body to keep him in line or going off the deep end. The Vicar of Christ, as the Pope is known, is supposed to be infallible when he speaks ex-cathedra or from the chair of St. Peter and pontificates; however, no one can fill these shoes except the Holy Spirit.
The prophet of today's church doesn't announce the future or warn of coming wrath, as John the Baptist did, but interprets the times because he has insight from Scripture (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32), and he is able to edify the body and make them see the light of God's will. Many believers can prophesy, but that doesn't make them prophets in this sense. You prophesy whenever you lift up the body in opening their eyes to the Word and expounding it in the light of sound doctrine. Caveat: Isaiah 29:13 (NASB) warns, "For the Heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes ... ." God can and does judge those without discernment as it says in Hosea 4:14 that "a people without discernment are doomed." God is looking for men "who [have] understanding [discernment] of the times, who [know] what ... to do" (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32, ESV). Soli Deo Gloria!
"Those who have insight [discernment] will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven ..." (Daniel 12:3, NASB).
"... So the people without understanding [discernment] are ruined [doomed]" (Hosea 4:14, NASB).
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [discernment]" (Hosea 4:6, NASB).
Isaiah 27:11 (NASB) adds, "... For they are not a people of discernment,
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them."
"But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14, NASB).
"But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD,
And they do not understand [show discernment for] His purpose ..." (Micah 4:12, NASB).
We all have insight into the mystery of Christ, as Paul termed it, but with the privilege of interpreting Scripture, goes the responsibility to do it right! We cannot fabricate our own truths, because no Scripture is of any private interpretation according to 2 Pet. 1:20. "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know" (1 John 2:20, NASB).
We all long for the power of discernment (if you don't use it, you'll lose it), and some of us don't even have a handle on it, as to what it even is. Literally, it is the ability to read between the lines in literature, and to judge character in person as David did to Abigail's husband Nabal in 1 Sam. 14:33 when she said, "[B]lessed be your discernment," but spiritually, it is the ability to know whether something is of God. John exhorts us in 1 John 4:1 to "test the spirits, whether they are from God."
Some of us can smell false doctrine a mile away, as it were and have zeroed in on this gift. The spiritual gift "... [T]o another the distinguishing of spirits" means whether they are of God or of Satan. Similarly, Malachi 3:18 (NASB) says, "So you will again distinguish [discern] between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
We never have the power to read people's minds, for even Satan can't do that--thank God! Jesus was doubted because they thought He didn't know "what manner of woman" she was who anointed Him by washing his feet, and showed no discernment of a prophet. No Christian ever has the ability to judge or discern a person's intent or motives (one of the powers of the Word is its ability to "judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart," per Heb. 4:12 in the NASB), for only the Lord sees the motives (Proverbs 16:2; 21:2). "[M]an looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7, ESV). Taking the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a log in yours is not showing discernment. Don't think that God has put you on a mission to weed out the bad apple or separate the wheat from the chaff as the angels can (we do have the ability to distinguish truth from fiction though, if we are enlightened with the Word).
When Christians become sectarian ("I am of Apollos, I am of Peter, I am of Paul, or I am of Christ" type of thinking), that means they have lost discernment and fail to realize that Christ's body is not divided nor split into factions, but one in the Spirit and all were baptized into the body in the name of the triune God! It is one thing to have spiritual leaders and respect for our teachers, but quite another to blindly follow them and think they are infallible, and one needs to separate or compete with others in a clique or party spirit.
We are to obey and submit to those who have the rule over us, but not blindly. Christians are not in competition with each other but on the same side in the warfare against the devil's turf and domain. It never was God's will to have denominations and so many church splits, but this has only happened because God allowed it to happen because of our frailty and weakness of being human (for the same reason He tolerates divorce). At the Bema or Judgment Seat of Christ He is not going to ask us if we are Baptists or Lutherans, but whether we learned to love and obey Christ in a trusting and faithful manner of life so that we will be rewarded (our eternal life is not in question and our sins are already judged).
What kind of discernment are we to have then? We all are to have discernment and can have it, but some believers have the unique ability to discern the presence of the Holy Spirit when brethren are gathered in Christ's name, and are especially sensitive to when He is quenched. We are never anointed to judge one another, but the church's job is to discipline a member in sin because it always affects the body--if one part suffers, all will suffer. God can give us insight into a sermon or verse that others don't see and it is our calling to share it or put it into practice. The better one knows the Lord, the better discernment and insight he will have in general, including interpreting the Word (not the more education or training he has, but knows the Lord). "... I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants" (Matt. 11:25, NASB).
We are to love the Lord with all our mind, and this means show discernment--it's an imperative. "Do not judge according to appearance [as man sees], but judge [show discernment] with righteous judgment" (John 7:24, NASB). Jesus gave us discernment: "... I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (John 8:12, NASB)" You will be enlightened: "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth ..." (John 16:13, NASB). Caveat: "Therefore do not go on passing judgement before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; then each man's praise will come to him from God" (1 Cor. 4:5, NASB).
Charles Swindoll, pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, and Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary says that if you listen to only one preacher, you will lose your power of discernment. This is very true, because this is how cults such as the People's Temple or "cult of death," led by the Rev. Jim Jones, was instituted--they felt they didn't even need their Bibles anymore because he was speaking the Word to them, and so they didn't need to be like the Christians of Berea in Acts 17 who searched the Scriptures daily to see whether the things that Paul spoke were true. No preacher is so anointed that he is infallible and doesn't need the body to keep him in line or going off the deep end. The Vicar of Christ, as the Pope is known, is supposed to be infallible when he speaks ex-cathedra or from the chair of St. Peter and pontificates; however, no one can fill these shoes except the Holy Spirit.
The prophet of today's church doesn't announce the future or warn of coming wrath, as John the Baptist did, but interprets the times because he has insight from Scripture (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32), and he is able to edify the body and make them see the light of God's will. Many believers can prophesy, but that doesn't make them prophets in this sense. You prophesy whenever you lift up the body in opening their eyes to the Word and expounding it in the light of sound doctrine. Caveat: Isaiah 29:13 (NASB) warns, "For the Heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes ... ." God can and does judge those without discernment as it says in Hosea 4:14 that "a people without discernment are doomed." God is looking for men "who [have] understanding [discernment] of the times, who [know] what ... to do" (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32, ESV). Soli Deo Gloria!
No comments:
Post a Comment