The Weapons of our Warfare – Tactics 2 – Discernment

For useful background reading for this topic, see:

The Importance of Discernment which is quoted below

A W Tozer How to try the spirits – his seven tests are also repeated below as headings, but this is the detail!

Following on from our overview of Spiritual Gifts, we are honing in on the topic of discernment. We aim to de-mystify the topic, as it’s often seen as the preserve of some class of ‘super-saints’ or prayer warriors, and we don’t know how to grow in discernment, or even if that’s possible, so end up praying for the ‘gift of discernment’, which is NOT mentioned in any list of gifts in the New Testament (although training your self in, and exercising, discernment will utilise other faculties which will include spiritual gifts like wisdom and knowledge)..

There is a gift of discernment of spirits, but there are many exhortations in the New Testament for us to train ourselves to discern, assess, approve, even to judge – not in the sense to condemn (which Jesus tells us not to do Matt. 7:1) but in the sense that we judge what is good to eat and what is not, what is the right thing to do and what is not – the sort of decisions we make all day long – and which Jesus tells us that we are to do in Matt. 7:15-20 regarding teachers and spiritual food.

Jesus gives us the tools in this passage and the surrounding teaching:

1. V. 13-14 It is a narrow way and not popular – beware of populist movements and shortcuts to success – there are none!
2. V.21-23 It is a matter of eternal significance and external signs are no guarantee of authenticity. Doing the will of the Father is the only guarantee. How do we do that? See following point
3. V. 24-27 Putting Jesus words into practice!

The one test that Jesus proposes is fruit. The nature of a man or doctrine or movement can be rightly estimated only when the results have had time to develop.

F. B. Meyer “Through the Bible Day by Day” [1914]

So, in the meantime, we need to be training ourselves and assessing

Heb. 5:12-6:2

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. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

“Constant practice” (training, exercise) requires self-discipline 1 Tim. 4:7 (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15) and a mature approach to the Lord’s discipline Heb. 12:11

The teacher has to suit his pace to his scholars. How much we miss because we are such inapt pupils! Milk is food which has passed through another’s digestion. Many cannot get their spiritual nutrition direct from God’s Word, but have to live on what others have obtained and have passed on in speech or book. Seek a first-hand acquaintance with the things of God. We grow by feeding and exercise.

We must leave the first principles, as a builder leaves the foundation; he is never so much on it as when farthest above it.

ibid.

Go on from the foundations. Build on them. Go on to maturity.

Desperate need for ‘men of Issachar’ (1 Chron. 12:32) Over 300,000 men of war, armed for battle – but there were just 200 who were ‘men that had understanding of the times and knew what Israel ought to do’ – you don’t need many (think Gideon’s army, David vs. Goliath, Jonathan attacking the garrison of the Philistines with just his armour bearer).

Quotes from The Importance of Discernment article (see link at the top of this page for the full article):

God requires us to use our mind and reason and education in matters of faith. As we’ll see later, John challenges us to learn to discern between truth and error, and to identify deceivers and avoid them.  This is not presumption but a Scriptural command.

There is an urgent need for discernment among Christians. In an age of celebrity, some of these “super-apostles” claim special authority based on divine revelation or “anointing” or “prophetic mantle” to validate their teachings.  It is a tragic mistake to have a misguided tolerance toward false teaching.  Only healthy teaching can result in healthy living.

The question of who does and who does not speak for God is an issue relevant to every generation. To identify the true from the false, we must examine their message and their moral life and character. (Todd Bentley)

Some Christians have not carefully examined their beliefs and consequently accept every new opinion and follow uncritically the guidance of every new teacher.  Whereas we should carefully examine what is truth and become firmly grounded in what the Bible teaches.

The Importance of Discernment

You might be careful with what you read and teachings you listen to, but do you think about what you sing? For example:

• “God is working His purpose out” and “We’ve a story to tell to the nations” – post-millennial
• “Glorious things of thee are spoken” – replacement theology
• Many 19^th cent, hymns are a-millennial e.g. “My Hope is built on nothing less” and giving it a modern tune does nothing for the theology of the last verse!
• Many 19^th and early 20^th century hymns and Gospel songs are Arminian – fine if that is your theology, but other hymns, like “Rock of Ages” are based on Calvinistic theology
• Modern songs by Graham Kendrick/Gerald Coates/Noel Richards – post millennial
• Many modern songs are theologically vacuous or trivial, or badly thought out. A couple of examples- what’s wrong with:
  • “Your buried body began to breathe”? (Living Hope – Phil Wickham) This is resuscitation not resurrection. Compare Stuart Townend’s much more accurate “Then bursting forth in glorious day” Resurrection involves a new body of glory, not a resuscitated mortal body. To give Phil Wickham due credit, he does go on to say “Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion Declared the grave has no claim on me”
  • ‘Let the weak say “I am strong”‘? (Give thanks with a grateful heart – Henry Smith) This is a quote from Joel 3:10 where the Lord is challenging His enemies beat their farm implements into weapons and pit their pitiful strength against His! Paul states in 2 Cor. 12:9-10 that our weakness is what enables the power of Christ to rest on us, but the sone gives the impression that strength us something that we can boast in – Paul boasted in his weakness!

Yes, you can sing these songs and hymns with discernment, and applying your own theology to interpret them and still praise the Lord with them. But it has been said that most Christians get their theology from the songs that they sing! Might that explain the confusion re theology and the faith that many recent surveys of Christians bring to light?

Dangers inherent in both discernment and lack of discernment.

Discernment

• Judgementalism Job 11:4-6
• Pride Job 12:2
• Control
• Divisiveness
• Self-deception
• Self-interest

Lack of discernment

• Broken cisterns Jer. 2:13
• Perishing for lack of knowledge Hosea 4:6 (gone into captivity Isa. 5:13; Prov. 1:7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Prov. 9:10 )
• My people love it this way Job 35:11; Jer. 4:22, 5:31; 8:6-7
• Opens us up to the Lord’s discipline (1 Cor. 11 not discerning the Lord’s Body)
• Ultimately brings judgement (letters to 7 churches in Rev. 2-3 – tolerance of evil doctrine Pergamum 2:14; tolerance of evil people Thyatira 2:20; total lack of discernment Laodicea 3:17) 2 Thess. 2:10-11

Failure to discern between error and truth leaves the Christian immature, vulnerable to false teaching and at risk of being “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14).

So what does the Bible mean by discernment?

We need to discern between knowledge, discrimination, perception, understanding, evaluation and judging. Illustrated in:

Php 1:9-10 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

What is excellent G1308 diapherō to “differ”, or (by implication) surpass – distiguishing

Three word groups in NT:

1.     Based on krino – to judge, investigate

Anakrino:

Strongs G350, “to scrutinize”; Vines “to distinguish, or separate out so as to investigate (krino) by looking throughout (ana, intensive) objects or particulars,” hence signifies “to examine, scrutinize, question, to hold a preliminary judicial examination preceding the trial proper”

In Luke 23:14, Pilate uses it regarding his preliminary examination of Jesus. In Acts, Luke uses it several times regarding questioning of the disciples and Paul by various authorities. But he also uses it of the Bereans, who ‘searched the Scriptures daily’.

Here’s our starting point – the Scriptures. The Bible is the touchstone of our discernment, but it’s not available to the natural mind 1 Cor. 2:14-15; John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

diakrino

Strongs 1252 “to separate thoroughly”; Vines: signifies “to separate, discriminate”; then, “to learn by discriminating, to determine, decide.”

• Mat. 16:3 interpreting the sky, but you cannot (interpret) the signs of the times.
• 1 Cor. 6:5 of judging between contrasting claims – was there no one wise enough to do this?
• 1 Cor. 11:29-31 of discerning the Lord’s Body in Communion and of judging ourselves before partaking – separating ourselves from our sin
• 1 Cor. 14:29 of assessing prophetic words given in the Church – to separate the wheat from the chaff
• Jas. 2:4 of distinguishing between rich and poor and becoming judges (krites) with evil thoughts
• Jude 1:22-23 And of some have compassion, making a difference, but others save with fear

diakrisis

Strongs 1253 judicial estimation; Vines “a distinguishing, a clear discrimination, discerning, judging,”

• 1 Cor. 12:10 translated “discernings” of; “discerning” spirits, judging by evidence whether they are evil or of God.
• Heb. 5:14 the phrase consisting of pros, with this noun, lit., “towards a discerning,” is translated “to discern,” said of those who are capable of discriminating between good and evil
• Rom. 14:1 the word has its other sense of decision or judgment, and the phrase “doubtful disputations” is, lit. “judgments of reasonings”

2.     Based on dokeo (G1380) – to think, assess

dokimazo

Strongs 1381, primarily, of metals (e. g., the Sept. of Prov 8:10; 17:3), signifies “to prove,”

e. g., 1 John 4:1, more frequently to prove with a view to approval, e. g., In Phil 1:10 the apostle prays that the saints may “approve the things that are excellent” or “things that differ,” i.e., “approve” after distinguishing and discerning.

Phil.1:9-10 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment (aesthesis – see below), so that you may approve what is excellent,

dokimos

Strongs 1384 From G1380; properly acceptable (current after assayal), that is, approved: – approved, tried.

• 1 Cor. 11:19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
• 2 Tim. 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
• Jas. 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life

3.     Based on aio “perceive”

aisthesis (from which we get our word ‘aesthetics’) Strongs 144 properly, the brand of sense-discernment which “cuts through” hazy ethical (moral) matters to really “size things up” (used only in Phil 1:9).

Phil. 1:9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment

aisthētērion Strongs 145 a neuter noun derived from aio, “perceive, discern through the senses” – properly, “the organ of sense” (BAGD), emphasizing the result of sensory experience (sensation) – i.e. moral feeling to know what is right or wrong in God’s eyes, used in the plural in

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Summarize what it is

Discrimination, in the best sense of the word – e.g. a discriminating palette. To Biblically decide between right and wrong, truth and error, good and evil.

How do we use it?

Beware of the source of your discrimination

• The world – wants to co-opt us onto its agenda. Gnosticism and Platonism are alive and well – “physical reality doesn’t matter; what’s inside, the ‘real you’, is all that’s important”. Contemporary ideals are self-discovery, self-awareness, self-actualisation and self-salvation – plays directly to:-
• The flesh – Self-deception, self-interest
• The devil – angel of light, deception

Sources that need confirmation

• Intuition (N.B. wives subject to their husbands! 1 Tim. 2:13-14)
• Human philosophies Col. 2:8
• Prophetic words 1 Cor. 14. ; 1 Thess. 5:20; (Micaiah)

Good sources:

• Divinely and Biblically inspired Insight – Spirit and Word together John 6:63
• Learned experience and knowledge but beware Prov. 3:5
• Experience with the Lord – learning to hear the Shepherd’s Voice John 10
• Listening to the Holy Spirit
• Discipline (constant use as in Heb. 5)

• life,

Moses: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psa. 90:12

• prayer

David The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him; and He will show them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord Psa 25:14-15

Solomon: “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” I Kings 3:1-15

• and study

Do your best (study) to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Tim. 2:15

• Humility and the Fear of the Lord

Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (Matthew 11:25-26)

Psa 31:19-20 Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you … In the secret place of your presence you hide them

And then we need to learn How to use these tools for discerning:

• The signs of the times (the topic for next Wednesday) Men of Issachar
• What is Spiritual food and what is not Heb. 5:14 (by their fruit per Matt. 7:20)
• Prophecy  1 Thess. 5:20-21; 1 Cor. 14:29
• Spirits 1 Cor. 12:3,8; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 Cor. 11:13-20
• Of man 1 Sam. 16 (Samuel/David); 2 Kin. 5:20-26 Elisha/Gehazi; John 1:37-50; 2:25
• Of God 1 Cor. 12:1ff
• Angelic Heb. 13; 2 Kin. 6:17
• Demonic Matt. 16; Acts 8:23; Acts 13:9-10; 16:16-18
• False teachers and deception Rev. 2; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; Jude 4-18; Matt. 24:11; 2 Tim. 3:1-17; wolves and sheep Matt. 7:15-20
• By their Fruits Matt. 7:20
• Understand what is the Gift of the Holy Spirit (discernments of spirits) and what are the faculties that we are required to develop 2 Pet. 1:5-9; Heb. 5:14

Tozer’s 7 tests – How to try the spirits

How has what I or others have discerned affected my attitude toward and my relation to

• God,
• Christ,
• the Holy Scriptures,
• self,
• other Christians,
• the world and
• sin.

(See link at top of this page to the full article with all the details for each test.)

John’s first epistle gives us lots of tests whereby “we know” (percieve, understand, discern):

What we know	Condition	Ref.	Text
End times	Many with the spirit of anti-christ, who depart from the faith	2:18-19	Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Error	Refusal to accept the Apostlic teachings	4:6	We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Spirits	Jesus’ humanity (Test for Gnosticism) (see also 1 Cor. 12:3 Jesus is Lord – deity)	4:2-3	By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God
We know Him	Obedience	2:3	And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
We belong	Obedience	3:18-19	Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;
We belong	Obedience	3:24	Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
We belong	Obedience	5:2	By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
We belong	The indwelling Spirit of God	4:13	By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

Key to discernment? “I, being in the way, the Lord led me” Gen. 24:27