Discernment II
From "The Pastor's Pen" in the May 2006 Voice of the Valley, the monthly newsletter of Valley Bible Church, by the Reverend Frank C. Emrich. Reposted here with permission.
~ ~ ~
You may remember (I hope you remember....) last month I began an article on the issue of discernment. And I said that discernment (the ability to think biblically about all areas of life) is indispensable to an uncompromising life. It is incumbent upon the Christian to sieze upon the discernment that God has provded for in His precious truth. Without it, Christians are at risk of being "tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine."
Now you might be thinking, "How, then, can I become a discerning person? Here are some simple steps.
#1: DESIRE
Discernment comes out of desire borne of humility. A humility that says, "I don't know and I don't trust my own judgment, I must become discerning." A desire that comes from the fact that I believe the Word of God and the truth of God and I understand I can be deceived. For it is written, "If you cry for discernment, if you lift your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern." When you want it, when you desire it, when you hunger for it - this is what drives the whole thing.
#2: PRAYER
King Solomon once had the following exchange with God:
The balance, of course, in terms of desire is prayer. I can desire discernment but I must depend upon the LORD for the process of becoming discerning, like Solomon in prayer. I plead with God to teach me discernment, to grant me that.
#3: Learn from the discerning
You're going to find in your life and in the church that there are people who have capability to discern. Mature Christians can discern. They have their senses exercised to discern good and evil, it says. Mature people have discernment.
#4: Depend on the Holy Spirit
You must walk in the Spirit. You must be filled with the Spirit because He is the true Discerner. He is the One, Jesus said, Who will lead you into all truth. That's His role and His task. It is also written that the only One Who knows perfectly the mind of God is the Spirit of God. When, therefore, you have the Holy Spirit you have the mind of Christ. "You have an anointing from God so you don't need any man to teach you...that anointing is the Holy Spirit." Depend on the Spirit of God, and as you're filled with Him and walk in Him in obedience to God, dealing with and confessing sin, living a pure and holy life, yielding to the control of the Spirit of God through the Word, the Holy Spirit will make you a discerning person.
#5: Study the Scriptures
Lastly and most importantly, diligently study the Bible. Diligently study the Bible. Did I mention diligently studying the Bible? And oh, by the way, just as a reminder, diligently study the Bible.
You will never, EVER become discerning - no matter how much you desire it or pray about it or how dutifully you follow the lead of a discerning mentor or how mature you want to be or how much you depend upon the Holy Spirit - unless and until you diligently study the Word of God.
From study of the Scriptures you will learn the principles of discernment by learning the truth. Remember the noble Berean church, just new in the faith, yet they searched the Scriptures diligently to see whether the things the Apostles had been teaching them were so. Here they were, coming out of sheer pagan ignorance, but they knew where to look and so they dug into the Old Testament to verify the Apostles' teachings.
Discernment flourishes only in an environment of intensely faithful Bible study. That is why when Paul was so worried about the Ephesian elders, he said, in part:
God bless you as you drink deeply from the well of God's Word.
~ ~ ~
You may remember (I hope you remember....) last month I began an article on the issue of discernment. And I said that discernment (the ability to think biblically about all areas of life) is indispensable to an uncompromising life. It is incumbent upon the Christian to sieze upon the discernment that God has provded for in His precious truth. Without it, Christians are at risk of being "tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine."
Now you might be thinking, "How, then, can I become a discerning person? Here are some simple steps.
#1: DESIRE
Discernment comes out of desire borne of humility. A humility that says, "I don't know and I don't trust my own judgment, I must become discerning." A desire that comes from the fact that I believe the Word of God and the truth of God and I understand I can be deceived. For it is written, "If you cry for discernment, if you lift your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern." When you want it, when you desire it, when you hunger for it - this is what drives the whole thing.
#2: PRAYER
King Solomon once had the following exchange with God:
"So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"
It was pleasing in the sight of the LORD that Solomon had asked this thing. God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.
The balance, of course, in terms of desire is prayer. I can desire discernment but I must depend upon the LORD for the process of becoming discerning, like Solomon in prayer. I plead with God to teach me discernment, to grant me that.
#3: Learn from the discerning
You're going to find in your life and in the church that there are people who have capability to discern. Mature Christians can discern. They have their senses exercised to discern good and evil, it says. Mature people have discernment.
#4: Depend on the Holy Spirit
You must walk in the Spirit. You must be filled with the Spirit because He is the true Discerner. He is the One, Jesus said, Who will lead you into all truth. That's His role and His task. It is also written that the only One Who knows perfectly the mind of God is the Spirit of God. When, therefore, you have the Holy Spirit you have the mind of Christ. "You have an anointing from God so you don't need any man to teach you...that anointing is the Holy Spirit." Depend on the Spirit of God, and as you're filled with Him and walk in Him in obedience to God, dealing with and confessing sin, living a pure and holy life, yielding to the control of the Spirit of God through the Word, the Holy Spirit will make you a discerning person.
#5: Study the Scriptures
Lastly and most importantly, diligently study the Bible. Diligently study the Bible. Did I mention diligently studying the Bible? And oh, by the way, just as a reminder, diligently study the Bible.
You will never, EVER become discerning - no matter how much you desire it or pray about it or how dutifully you follow the lead of a discerning mentor or how mature you want to be or how much you depend upon the Holy Spirit - unless and until you diligently study the Word of God.
From study of the Scriptures you will learn the principles of discernment by learning the truth. Remember the noble Berean church, just new in the faith, yet they searched the Scriptures diligently to see whether the things the Apostles had been teaching them were so. Here they were, coming out of sheer pagan ignorance, but they knew where to look and so they dug into the Old Testament to verify the Apostles' teachings.
Discernment flourishes only in an environment of intensely faithful Bible study. That is why when Paul was so worried about the Ephesian elders, he said, in part:
"I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.Beloved, if you will follow these steps you will be a discerning believer.
"And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
God bless you as you drink deeply from the well of God's Word.
posted by JASmius at 5:29 PM
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