ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF DISCERNMENT

Rom 12:1-2

I would like for you to consider the son of David this morning. That one day all the responsibility of kingship would be placed upon him. Because his father was no ordinary king,

He was the anointed one of God to be King over Israel. It must have been a scary thing to be a son of a king like this. The previous King failed and God was calling/anointing David to be king. “And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."” 1 Sam 13:13-14. Solomon was appointed king by his father and though Solomon was a grown man and he considered himself to but a child, as it related to being the new king.

 

Solomon knew he needed something more in order to govern his people for the glory of God and the battle of the flesh that pursued him daily, so the LORD came to Solomon in a dream. “And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. (v9) Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days." 1 Kings 3:6-14

 

Solomon didn’t seek after wisdom, and fortune, although the Lord gave it to him. What he desired was a discerning heart to govern God’s people. Why was he seeking discernment? Discernment is a gift; it’s not something that comes naturally. 1 King 3:9. The spiritual discernment that Solomon sought after isn’t something that comes naturally or from within. “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Prov 1:2-7

 

Paul said “the natural man can’t discern the things of God” 1 Cor 2:14-15. “Discernment” is the synonym for the word ‘discriminate.’ Which in a way has a negative connotation, but the word itself is not! It simply means “to make a clear distinction”. In fact the Greek verb translated ‘discern’ in the New Testament means “to make a distinction” Discernment signifies a positive line between good and evil, true and false, right and wrong. It is commonly translated into English as ‘insight’ or ‘understanding’. In essence it means to separate things from one another at their points of difference in order to distinguish them. Jay Adams said “The process by which one comes to know or understand God’s thoughts and ways through separating things that are differ.” Discernment is the process of making careful distinction in our thinking about truth. Discernment is a skill we need to live a life that is morally and ethically pleasing to God. Discernment is to test, examine, prove, and even scrutinizes, to see whether this is genuine or fake. Does it pass the “Test of Scripture”

 

John MacArthur said “Discernment is black and white thinking..... the conscious refusal to color every issue in shades of gray. No one can be truly discerning without developing skill in separating divine truth from error”

 

Tim Challies said, “We need to be discerning first in what we believe and then in what we do.”

 

Discernment is a gift and if we are to discover the will of God.

We first need to discern what is pleasing to Him.

 

Discerning God’s will for me, and you, isn’t an easy thing, or process. Why? Because a part of me wants to go to war with the Spirit in my flesh. This is why Solomon prayed for discernment, because he was seeking a discerning heart to do God’s will. The same is true in the transformed life as we are living sacrifices of His grace as Paul explains here in chapter 12. So what is the will of God? There are two ways to understand the will of God.

 

God’s Secret Will…….this is the will of God that has existed since before the creation of the earth. This is the will that God decreed all that would happen. The Westminster Short Catechism says, “The decrees of God are, His eternal purposes, according to the counsel of His will. Whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.”

 

This is evident in Isaiah’s writings as he reminds the Jews in this instance of idolatry; meaning either the Babylonians, or rather the Jews, who had been drawn in by them to idolatrous practices. “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” Isaiah 46:8-11

 

So, God’s secret will is hidden from us, and does not figure into our decision making. So, what God decrees will come to fruition at His perfect timing over creation and His created. God’s Revealed Will…… this is directed to how we live. It’s His revealed will is all those things He tells us to do in the Bible and the things He has written upon our conscience. See the revealed will for my life is simply this summarized in one sentence. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thess 5:16-18. And in this thankful heart, Paul continues to add to this “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” 1 Thess 5:19-24

 

What pleases God? (v2b) Doing what is good, acceptable and perfect is the Christian will for your life. This means…. God’s standards, His desires, His motives, His values, and His practices are to be the center of your life.

In your body

In your sexuality

In your speech

In your walk

In your singleness

In your marriage

In your raising of children

in your finances

In all your decision making

In how you study Scripture in how you determine what is right from wrong

 

Doing God’s will demonstrates sacrificial living. Doing God’s will gives evidence to a transformed life. This means putting off something, and putting on something. This is the transformed life that we exemplify Jesus Christ, not Mike Andrews. Why? John Newton said, “The wisdom that is from above, is not only pure, but also peaceable and gentle; and the lack of these qualifications, like the dead fly in the jar of ointment, will spoil the fragrance and efficacy of our labors. If we act in a wrong spirit—we shall bring little glory to God; do little good to our fellow creatures; and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves! If you can be content with showing your wit, and gaining the laugh on your side—you have an easy task!” And this is not a discerning man or women who desire to please a holy God if you gain the world to be like Mike. Our lives are hidden in Christ and we are to emulate Him and His gospel.

 

Paul wrote earlier to the church of Thessalonica, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” 1 Thess 4:3-7

 

Paul here in our text this morning said, “Do not be conformed to this world.” (v2) But what? Discern the will of God in your life. Discern and apply what is good, acceptable and perfect in your life because this is what gives God the most glory in your life. If we are to ever understand the will of God, we first must discern what is pleasing to God. This is the battleground we are faced with each and every day. The question is! Whose will are you going to succumb to? The flesh or the Spirit? 

We live in an upside down world system

Up is down

Down is up

Left is right

Right is left

Wrong is right

Right is wrong.

 

This reminds me what Paul said in opening of this letter. “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Rom 1:28-32

We live in a time when it’s increasingly common for biblical views

on social issues to be labeled insulting.

 

Everything we do as believers is countercultural to the norms of society. A counterculture is, “A culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.” We as God’s children don’t follow the world footsteps, though we live amoung them. The gospel has called us to love people without compromise, and to be a light and hope of the gospel as we live for God.

 

We don’t conform to the culture, we become transformed by

the Spirit through the gospel confession.

And this is why in the new nature we test all things in accordance with Scripture and not according to the culture norms of the day. Paul says we do this how? By testing, or prove” something that has a purpose result. What is Paul saying? When a believer is transformed he, or she’s, thinking ability, moral reasoning, and spiritual understanding, are able to properly discern everything and accept only what conforms to the “will of God” (v2)

 

This is why we seek and ask God for this gift so that we can

accept only what conforms to the will of God.

 

Discernment requires a teachable spirit with a readiness to grow as they test all things. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11. This discerning heart is eager to test all things; not just the pastor on Sunday morning. But also the culture at large, the government, higher education, science & health, and every other teaching that try to get the culture to fit into latest social norms. Though we are sheep in the Scripture, God has called us to be like the Bereans. 

We are Christians! This new live we know live is completely a radical change of form; the Christian life is not mere conformity, but a transformation. Discernment is a sign of spiritual maturity that grows as others rather stay as children. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 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 5:12-14 

Discernment is what we are to seek after because we

want the will of God for our lives.

 

God’s will for each of us is….. That we grow into spiritual maturity, that our lives become more fully set-apart and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Our minds are not to be changed by what the culture thinks and says; but by what the LORD has revealed in His Word. This is what is good, acceptable (holy living), and perfect (complete).

 

Our imperfect will must always be always be

subject to His perfect will.

 

This is the will of God for your life as you test all things for your spiritual food and growth. “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God…” 1 Peter 4:1-3

 

This is your supreme act of spiritual worship and this is what we lay on the altar of sacrifice. A living, breathing, example of grace, in a cultural that is blind and deaf to biblical truth. A culture that sees everything opposite to what God desires for His image-bearers As Paul said, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Cor 2:14-16

We have the mind of Christ

 

The bible cries for you to seek after it so you can live, so you can grow, and so you can mature in your faith. And this can only happen when we say that His will is our greatest delight. In honoring this will, we must always exercise discernment as we distinguish between choices that are consistent with Scripture. We need to daily seek God to know the God of the Scriptures, so that we can discern what is holy and complete.