Flirting With Satan

"But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil"  (Heb. 5:14, ESV).
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil..." (Isaiah 5:20, ESV).

Some Christians think it's cool to dabble in the occult and experiment with its luring temptations. The most popular and largest segment of the occult is astrology, which has been around for at least 4,000 years, as an adventure into supernaturalism.  It seems "innocent" enough, but it opens the door to satanic activity in your life, such as using Ouija boards, palmistry, Yoga, TM, crystals, seances, tarot cards, or channeling.

Paul encountered sorcerers in Ephesus in Acts 19 and, when they repented, they brought all their sorcery texts and burned them publicly. Remember, Simon the Great had been a sorcerer and, after believing, sought to buy the gift of God with money, and today this heresy is known as simony.   King Saul sought advice from the witch of Endor, a medium, and was punished with death with his sons as a result. 

Of course, they don't see the harm, but a mature believer realizes that this domain belongs to the devil and will steer clear of it--it's no joke!  You cannot partake of the Lord's Table and the table of demons!  The Bible clearly condemns astrology and any type of star worship in Isaiah 47:13 as follows:  "You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you."

Contrary to popular thought, the magi were not astrologers but noticed a sign in heaven and knew the Scriptures were being fulfilled from a prophecy of Jacob.  Nowhere does God condone astrology and a believer in Christ is disobedient to lend it any credence.

Why is this so serious?  Even if you don't take it seriously and are just playing around, your testimony is jeopardized and it speaks of your lack of faith in God.  Also, you have a responsibility to obey Scripture and not to do anything that makes your brother stumble (cf. 1 Cor. 8:12).  We don't play around with Satan but take him seriously as our adversary.  Anyone who is into occult practice, such as consulting the stars for advice, is doing the work of the devil and in league with him, and will be judged--i.e., we are not to call evil good (cf. Isa. 5:20).  If you don't worship God, you'll still find something or someone to worship--it's our God-given nature!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Hearing God's Voice

"For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.  He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.  He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings"  (Job 33:14-16, NLT).

"My sheep hear my voice..." (cf. John 10:27).  Jesus speaks to His children through any means, even the voice of a child, as in the case of St. Augustine.  God speaks once, yea, twice, and man hears Him not, according to Job:  "Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it.  In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction"  (Job 33:14-16, NASB).  No one can claim they've never been the recipient of God's messages, no matter how limited--when he reacts positively, he opens the door to more opportunity.  C. S. Lewis has said that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, and shouts to us in our pains!

Mystics claim a special ear to God's messages like Joan of Arc did, and to put some trust in them is not in the one firm foundation--this is how cults begin.  If God speaks to you on a personal level for encouragement, that's between you and God, and is personal--don't feel you should share it.  To prophesy to the church is another gift of communication.  In these last days, the Word of the Lord is rare and, since we have the complete revelation of God in the Bible, it is not needed--the Word is all we need, clear and sufficient!  If God speaks to you, you must test it with the truth of Scripture.  We are not receiving new revelations anymore since God's Word is complete and the canon is closed, and to add to His Word brings on a judgment of God.

Now, to the point of God speaking to everyone:  God woos His elect to open their eyes to the truth of the gospel message and to soften their hearts--no one would otherwise believe.  If you believe that God woos everyone, you must also ask if He woos everyone equally.  If He woos everyone equally, why do some respond and others don't?  You are faced with either believing in the sovereignty of God's grace in salvation or the necessity of some kind of merit of the person getting saved.

The Arminian will not admit that God doesn't even woo some, but he doesn't know why some people respond to the gospel, and others don't!  Romans 5:21 says that grace reigns through righteousness. Grace is sovereign and efficacious, in other words, and that means that God gets the desired effect and it works for His purposes, not being wasted.  God isn't frustrated and doesn't say,  "Well, I tried to save you, but you were too far gone!"  We are all bad, but not too bad to be saved!

Some people do need greater wooing and more intense grace to become believers, but they are not a bigger challenge to God, just more opportunity to demonstrate His grace and how effectual it is.  God doesn't destine people to hell as if they had no choice in the matter like some blind fate or kismet; however, He does let some go their own way without His intervention of grace--He doesn't owe grace to anyone, or it would be justice; God doesn't have to save anyone!

Point in fact:  Distinguish between the inward and outward call of the gospel; the inward one is from God and is effectual, and the outward call from man sometimes falls on deaf ears and can, therefore, be ineffectual.   God's Word says that He's never let the world without a witness (cf. Acts 14:17)--everyone has had the opportunity to hear from God!  Paul says He is not far from every one of us!

In summation, we are not to seek "voices" or special revelation, and we shouldn't feel left out if we have no extra-biblical experience, such as a vision, divine voice, or visitation.  The existence of Scripture as God's written Word does not preclude God's audible voice or any oral communication.  God has promised to speak to us in His Word which is all He has to say to us and need not be improved upon.  We must be faithful to the Word first, though other forms of communication are not retired!  The sheep hear God: "... Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice"  (John 18:37, ESV).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Friend Of Publicans And Sinners

"The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray" (Proverbs 12:26, NKJV--italics and boldface mine).

"...to depart from evil is understanding"  (Job 28:28, NASB).

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil"  (cf. Proverbs 8:13).

"You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean" (cf. Lev. 10:10).

"A people without discernment will come to ruin"  (cf. Hosea 4:14).


Jesus was called the "friend of publicans and sinners" but did not say that of Himself ("You are my friends if you do what I command you," Jesus, in John 15:14, ESV), it was only assumed since He went where they were and was not afraid to get down and dirty with mankind. Jesus said that His friends were those who obey Him.  But it's the sinners who admit it that are closer to Him than those who think they're righteous   He was with them but did not condone their behavior, nor alter His mission to save man from sin.  He was not influenced by their sin, which is not something we can boast:  "Do not be deceived:  'Evil company corrupts good habits'" (1 Cor. 15:33, NKJV).  Note that He saved and loved us before we were His friends.

Are we to justify our friendship with the world as being like Jesus?  He who is the friend of the world, is the enemy of God, according to James 4:4. If we spend most of our time with sinners and little of it with God's people, who will influence us the most?  Jesus could be exposed to sin and no corrupted by it because He is holy, but we are highly influenced by our surroundings and environment, not to mention the kind of people we choose to associate with.

We can not justify watching sinful programs that are indecent, lewd, suggestive, disgusting, and risque, because we are "friends of sinners" (like Jesus).  Show discretion in entertainment choices.  Don't be like Demas who loved this present world and departed from the faith.  God has given us a discerning mind to know good and evil and we are to use it, to be wise as serpents, but innocent as doves.

You are what you think about.  It is also said that you're not what you think you are, but what you think you are. "Keep [guard] your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring [flow] the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23, NKJV).  "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," Prov. 23:7    Be aware of the wiles of the devil and don't be ignorant (cf. 2 Cor. 2:11). "Come out from among them and be separate."2 Cor. 6:17.    

We are all vulnerable and susceptible to Satan's influence: He is the god of the media, entertainment world, academia, and even this world-system, and we are not to be influenced by this, but come out of it and be separate--that is what holiness is about.  "....without holiness shall no man see the Lord..."  (cf. Heb. 12:14).  We are to be cheerful that He overcame the world (cf. John 16:33).   He who walks with the wise will become wise, according to Solomon and a "companion of fools suffers harm."   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Power Of Discernment

"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!

Taking Our Stand And Making Judgments

We must realize when we became Christians that it might cost us something; salvation is free but not cheap.  We will have to take stands when the truth or testimony of Jesus is at stake; it is the coward who stands by and stays neutral. Remember, Christians are on Satan's hit list and can even use believers for evil by inspiration or enticement.  Christ calls us to be advocates and come to the aid of each other. God can deal with someone willing to take a stand, even if wrong, but not cowards who are really weak-willed and wishy-washy.  ("Stand up, stand up for Jesus!")  Recall Pontius Pilate washing his hands of the affair.   Jesus rebukes the Laodiceans in Rev. 3:19 because He doesn't know where they stand.  We cannot be on both sides of an issue. Christians must defend each other and come to their aid when an adversary comes in aggressive attack mode.

What Satan specializes in is mind-games and psychological warfare--he likes to mess with our minds! He accuses but doesn't convict--the Holy Spirit will perform an open-and-shut case without a doubt of a sin, not just try to make you feel bad or guilty.  Does Scripture have a basis in the judgment or not?  Our judgments are not to get personal and not related to the Word by way of criticism.

Sometimes we can be right but say it in the wrong way.  Methodology is important to God ("Quench not the Spirit"), and He looks at the heart and not at the appearance as man sees--is the heart in the right place, not whether he made a mistake or did something in error.  One of the worst sins is betrayal or squealing on someone or to get personal revenge or get even--fight your own battles and if you hold something against someone, keep it between you and the person in question.  If someone is not part of the problem or of the solution it can become gossip.  If we don't stand up and defend the truth, our friends, and even what we believe in, what makes us think we will stand up for Jesus.

When we do judge we are to make sure we are right and do it in the Spirit of love ("Speak the truth in love" according to Ephesians 4:15--what is our motive?).  Remember also that Jesus also said, "When you judge, judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). When we are called to show a brother his fault or the error of his way we should avoid labeling ("You theologian!") or any insults and name calling--we must resort to Scripture and how it applies.

God will judge those who are outside the church,  but judging per se is impossible to avoid because then we would show no discernment and fall prey to the devil and be under his condemnation. If a man claims to be a Christian and is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness (cf. Gal. 6:1).   If we are too strict or harsh in our judgment (in the measure we use it shall return to us), God may hold us accountable.  Above all, we must practice what we preach and not condemn ourselves by judging someone and doing the same thing in turn as hypocrites.  If you tell someone to repent, for example, you are required to make sure you need no repentance and are righteous in God's eyes (righteousness consists in having a right relationship with God and being at peace with man as far as it is possible with you).

We must not justify our own sin (one psalmist said that the people loved their sin too much to detect it). "For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated" (Psalm 36:2, ESV).   We all have a sin which easily besets us (cf Heb. 12:1), but when we sin we show our slavery and don't demonstrate our freedom.  If you are a slave to sin, how can Jesus be Lord--"For sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace."  "His name shall be called Jesus because He shall save His people from their sins."  Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death (cf. Romans 8:2).  Christ sets us free from our old sin nature at salvation (the old man) and restores us with a new nature in His likeness.

We are all works in progress (cut some slack!) and must realize that God isn't finished with us yet. The goal is to win him over not to alienate him or sever the relationship.  Scripture exhorts us to make allowance for each other's faults and to accept one another even as Christ has accepted us. Most believers should be willing to take any admonishment if done in the Spirit and not resent it or do unto them as they have done unto you (the "iron rule").  We conquer evil with good and refrain from reviling or insulting in return.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Powers Of Discernment/Judgment

When a preacher claims to be pronouncing prophetic utterances and exercising his discernment to insult the parishioners, I think he is out of line and is really judging. Actually, it could be the preacher's fault and not the congregation's that they are not saying "amen" enough to his satisfaction and encouragement. I believe in the power of discernment to notice people's eye's rolling, people falling asleep, people chattering, or sighing, but not to the extent of telling whether a person is "in the Spirit," as John would term it. Some people are less demonstrative and more stoic or phlegmatic. I can see how a Pentecostal preacher might react to a Baptist or Presbyterian congregation.

The hireling has no care for the flock and is only concerned with making an impression; the wolf in sheep's clothing scatters the flock and does not feed it. Good storytelling, anecdotes, jokes, and witty sayings are no substitute for the exegesis of the Word. The pastor of the church is responsible for the content of what the guest preacher says and should show discernment and not just "amen" everything.

God gives us all discernment and it grows with maturity, but we do not have a license to judge (and I mean insult) our (especially another pastor's) congregation. One has to ask, "Who do you think you are?" The Scripture says in Prov. 16:21 that "the wise in heart shall be called discerning." Chuck Swindoll says that the power of discernment is the ability to read between the lines. It is the power to perceive spiritual truth, not the ability to judge or read minds.   Soli Deo Gloria!