The Spiritual Importance of Discernment

Each of us have been born into a world with truth and error. Spiritual light and darkness, right and wrong, good and evil. The opposing thoughts and ideas have been a part of our life from birth. But each of us have also been provided a wisdom that is from above, as described in James 3 verse 17.

A wisdom that is from above. There's a quote from Charles Swindoll, and I believe it's from the book he wrote called The Strong Family. It says, Wisdom is the ability to see with discernment, to view life as God perceives it. Understanding is the skill to respond with insight. And knowledge is the rare trait of learning with perception, discovering, and growing. It's a lot of words here, so let me read it again. Wisdom is the ability to see with discernment, to view life as God perceives it.

Understanding is the skill to respond with insight. And knowledge is the rare trait of learning with perception, discovering, and growing. Wisdom, discernment, understanding, knowledge, each so vitally important to the lives of a Christian, each necessary for us to continue down the path to eternal life with God the Father and our brother, Jesus Christ. What is discernment? How important is discernment to you? What is the value that you place on discernment as a Christian?

And what does God's word say about discernment and where it comes from? Discernment, one definition, there's multiple definitions, multiple ways that we could apply discernment in our eyes, but one definition for discernment is the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure. The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure, kind of like we saw in the special music, the creation, the beauty, the way that God has done and created so much. Yet, we didn't see him do it, did we?

There's no place we can go and buy a new earth where somebody had manufactured it and it's for sale. Where it came from is, in a sense, obscure to us because we can't see it and we weren't there when the earth was created or life was created. I'd like to share with you a simple fable of the importance of discernment.

It's titled, The Woodcutter's Wisdom, and it's shared in Max Lucado's book called, In the Eye of the Storm. It's a little bit of a lengthy fable, but it's insightful. Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before.

Such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength. People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. This horse is not a horse to me, he would tell them. It's a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend? The man was poor and the temptation was great, but he never sold the horse. One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. You old fool, they scoffed. We told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor.

How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have forgotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone and you've been cursed with misfortune. The old man responded, don't speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know. The rest is judgment.

If I've been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge? The people contested, don't make us out to be fools. We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse. The old man spoke again, all I know is that the stable is empty and the horse is gone. The rest, I don't know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can't say.

All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?

The people of the village laughed. They thought the man was crazy. They'd always thought he was a fool. If he wasn't, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money, but instead he was a poor woodcutter. An old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was indeed a fool. After 15 days, the horse returned. He hadn't been stolen. He had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again, the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us. The man responded. Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him. But don't judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. How can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase? Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment. Don't say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don't. Maybe the old man is right, they said to one another, so they said little. But deep down they knew he was wrong, for they knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses, and after a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again, the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments. You were right, they said. You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now you're in your old age. You have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.

The old man spoke again. You people are obsessed with judging. Don't go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it's a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.

It so happened that a few weeks later, the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded because he was injured. Once again, the people gathered around the old man crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again. You were right, old man, they wept. God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son's accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever. The old man spoke again. It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this. Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.

Sometimes in life, many times actually, we are like those who live in the town, quickly evaluating a situation and concluding that something is a blessing or it's a curse. It's good or it's bad.

But truth be told, many times, more times than not, we don't fully understand how to interpret something until the sun goes down. We sleep on it, and we wake the next day, and we can see things more clearly. And even then, by allowing more time to pass, we can understand more fully the full impact of what has occurred in our lives.

With today's sermon, I'd like each of us to better understand where discernment comes from and the importance of discerning properly.

Again, I'd like us each to consider where to better understand where discernment comes from and the importance of discerning properly.

Again, discernment is defined as the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure, kind of like the old man in the fable.

Not knowing, truly, if this was a blessing or a curse, not jumping to conclusions.

But God has given us the gift of discernment.

We have the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend often what is obscure.

Understanding and discernment go hand in hand and often are used interchangeably through God's Word. Let's turn, as we open our Bibles to Psalm 119, verse 124 this morning. Psalm 119, verse 124.

Psalm 119, verse 124.

Here, the writer of this Psalm says, deal with your servant according to your mercy and teach me your statutes. Teach me your ways, he's asking. I am your servant. Give me understanding that I may know your testimonies. The word here for understanding in the Hebrew is bien, B-I-Y-N, pronounced bien, and it's used 170 times in the Old Testament. It means to discern, to perceive, to understand, or to consider. This word, give me understanding, could also say, give me discernment, give me perception, give me understanding, or allow me to consider that I may know your testimonies.

Going on, verse 26, it says, it is time for you to act, O Lord, for they have regarded your law as void.

The writer of the Psalm is showing discernment by seeing the difference in those who follow God in his ways and those who don't. The choices that people make that lead to happiness and a life of following God and those who are not. He goes on to verse 27, therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold. Therefore all your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right, I hate every false way. So you're seeing this balance, you're seeing this description of God's word and his testimonies, his laws, being that source of truth, and then being able to discern the counter.

Verse 29, it says, your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them. The entrance of your word gives light.

It gives understanding to the simple.

The importance of knowledge and of his word giving us that light helps us to understand, to discern truth from error, good from bad, evil from good, as we go through this life that we've been born into. Verse 133, it says, direct my steps by your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep, your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.

Verse 137, righteous are you, O Lord, and upright are your judgments. Your testimonies, which you have commanded, are righteous and very faithful. My zeal has consumed me because my enemies have forgotten your words.

That discernment, that ability to see. Again, your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth. Trouble and anguish has overtaken me, yet your commandments are my delight. The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting. Give me understanding. Again, that word understanding.

Give me understanding, and I shall live.

Reading through this whole passage, I couldn't help but consider the word discernment and that difference between truth and error. God's way being that foundation of truth that you and I are living our lives on. That's why we're sitting here today.

But that discernment can only come by first understanding God's instructions and teachings. That's, I guess, Christianity 101, right? That without understanding of God's word that we have in our lives, without being able to read, to study, to understand these words, then we have no discernment because we have nothing to discern by.

God's word provides that truth, that source, His law, His commandments, His teachings. The way that we live our lives based on this allows us then to see, as the writer in this Psalm clearly showed, that they were able to see truth from error. You and I can do the same.

How many of us have cash money with us today? Dollar bills, $20 bills. How many of you have fake money with you today? I see a few hands. I wasn't expecting that.

How many of you have counterfeit cash with you today? I hope no hands go up for this one.

How do you know it's counterfeit?

How do you know that the cash you have is legit?

You know that those who are trained to seek out counterfeit money, what do they spend their time on focusing on? Do they focus on the counterfeit money?

Or do they focus on the real thing?

They focus on the real thing. Because if you know what is real money, you know what is the correct bill, then you can find anything else that's counterfeit that doesn't match what is true. What is the source? What is the original?

So they take that $20 bill, and those who are trained in counterfeit money and spotting it, and they study that $20 bill. They know the paper. They know the ink. They know the prints on it. They know the secret encryption things that the government puts into our money so that it's easier to spot the counterfeit. They know it inside and out. They don't spend time looking at counterfeit dollar bills or $20 bills to learn what is counterfeit. They look at the real thing. They look at the original. And with by knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the original $20 bill looks like, then they can spot the counterfeits when they come.

You and I, as we saw through this psalm, know what the truth is.

We know the source of truth. We know the one truth in God's Word, that this is where we go and we study. Because if we know what's in His Word, the Bibles that you hold in your labs, then we can spot counterfeit teachings. We can spot error when it creeps into our lives, into our minds, into our church.

As we talked about last week, this body of Christ that we are part of, our church, we can spot when counterfeit items creep in.

So, in order to discern, as these counterfeit investigators, these professionals do, in order to discern a real $20 bill from a fake $20 bill, they must know the original. You and I must know the truth, this only source of truth.

Again, that concept that understanding and discernment are both very similar. Understanding in Scripture means often to hear or to listen to.

And understanding must come first before discernment because without hearing and without understanding, then being able to discern just doesn't happen. Because if you don't listen and if you don't apply, if we don't read God's Word and know what it says, then discernment doesn't exist because there's nothing to compare against. It's kind of like dealing with an angry child or a crying child. We've all had that. You hear the crying from the other room. You walk in. It's your niece, your nephew. Somebody's crying and somebody's upset. So you walk in there, and what do you ask? What do you do? You say, what's wrong?

What's going on? What happened?

And then you start to listen through the sobs, through the broken words, through the anger sometimes. You start to listen and you start to take in what is being described to you. And then after that, you use your wisdom of being the adult in the room, and you apply a judgment. Hopefully one that is accurate based on what you're being told and things. But we don't walk into the room, suddenly ask, what's going on? And then as soon as the child starts to speak, we turn away and walk out, let them finish a conversation, and then come back without hearing a word they said and make a judgment, do we? Because that wouldn't apply very well, many more times than not. We'd get the judgment completely wrong. Why? Because we didn't listen.

We have to understand what is happening, understand what is going on, and then we can make that proper judgment.

What if we, in a similar vein, came in and said, what's wrong? And they started to explain and got about five words out, and you knew in your mind's eye exactly where they were going. So you cut to the chase, and you say, this is what needs to happen here. This has got to stop. Again, though, we didn't fully listen, did we? We listened to partial. We listened to five words, but then our mind took control, or maybe anger, or frustration took control. And then we jumped ahead and made a conclusion that, again, probably isn't going to be the right one. I've done that before, so I can admit to that. Jumping to a conclusion, I think we've all done that.

We have an example of someone in God's word seeking wisdom and understanding so that he could be one that discerns rightly. Any ideas who this character might be?

It's found in 1 Kings 3, verse 5.

Someone who sought after wisdom and knowledge so that he could discern rightly. 1 Kings 3 and verse 5.

1 Kings 3 and verse 6. To pick up the story here, we read at Gibeon. The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask, What shall I give you?

And Solomon said, You have shown great mercy to your servant, David, my father, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, in uprightness of heart with you. You have continued this great kindness for him, and you have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. Now, O Lord, my God, you have made your servant king, instead of my father, David, but I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. He was actually an adult here, but he's saying, My mind, my wisdom, my understanding, to fill this role that you have placed me in, I'm like a child. I know nothing about what the magnitude and how to do this well.

Saying, I do not know how to go out or to come in. I love that aspect. And your servant is in the midst of your people, whom you have chosen a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to judge this great people of yours? The speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him, Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for long life for yourself, nor have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice.

Behold, I have done according to your words. See, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in my ways, here's that counter to be able to discern. And think, he says, So if you walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all of his servants.

What a prayer to ask, one that we can ask for. We can ask and beseech God for wisdom. We'll get into that here in a bit.

But when writing the Proverbs, King Solomon, same king, spoke of discernment right from the beginning of the Proverbs. So God granted him in that dream what he asked for, that wisdom. And because of that, we have captured for us by his hand the majority of the Proverbs. So let's turn right to the beginning. Proverbs 1.

To start to draw on some of this wisdom, this understanding that God allowed King Solomon to not only understand, but then to capture for our benefit today.

Right from the beginning, though, King Solomon speaks of discernment right here in Proverbs 1, verse 1. We'll start out. It says, the Proverbs of King Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction. He's speaking of this is what I'm capturing here. This book of Proverbs, these Proverbs, this is what they are. To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, of justice, judgment, and equity, to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

I'll pause here for a minute. The Hebrew word knowledge here is dahath, D-A-A-T-H, two A's, D-A-A-T-H, dahath, which can mean knowledge or it can also mean discernment or understanding or wisdom.

The New Living Translation says this for Proverbs 1, verse 4. It says, these Proverbs will give insight to the simple knowledge and discernment to the young. So for our few young ones that we have sitting with us today, King Solomon through the inspiration of God said that these Proverbs can give you knowledge and wisdom, can give you the ability to discern even now at a young age. You don't have to wait till you're old. You don't have to wait till you're 25 and you have a degree or you have technical training. You don't have to wait till you're 85 and you've lived a long life and you've experienced a lot of things. He's saying to the young, so it says give insight to the simple knowledge and discernment to the young.

The easy to read version for Proverbs 1, verse 4 says, it says, these Proverbs will make even those without education smart. I will sometimes the easy to read version just because it just makes it really simple. These Proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned. It will teach them what they need to know and how to use what they've learned. This version describes that critical understanding between knowledge and discernment, as we saw in the psalm earlier. Knowledge is what we need to know and discernment is how to use what we have learned. Going on, Proverbs 1, verse 5 says, a wise man will hear and increase learning and the man of understanding will attain wise counsel. To understand, and this is that Hebrew word being again, b-i-y-n, which means to discern, to perceive, to understand. He says, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and the riddles, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. So having that proper respect, that proper fear of respect and awe for God is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Let's turn ahead one chapter, Psalms 2, verse 1. I'm sorry, Proverbs 2, verse 1.

He says, My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her, and her is speaking of wisdom in this passage, so saying if you seek wisdom as silver in search for her wisdom as for hidden treasures, then you will understand. Here's that Hebrew word being again. You will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth comes knowledge and understanding, just like King Solomon asked for it and received it. From God, it pours forth this wisdom, this knowledge and understanding that you and I have access to today in our lives. It says, He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints. Then you will understand, again the Hebrew word being, you will understand righteousness and justice, equity, and every good path. Towards the end of the Proverbs, King Solomon captured this thought in Proverbs 28.

Let's go to the end of the book now. Proverbs 28 verse 10.

Proverbs 28 verse 10. He says, I want to read again this passage from the New Living Translation. It makes it a little clearer to understand. It says, Proverbs 28 verse 10. Those who lead good people along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the honest will inherit good things.

Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.

Have you ever seen that in your own lives? Rich people may think that they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.

In verse 12, when the godly succeed, everyone is glad. When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding.

I really like, again, the New Living Translation version because when I read, rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them. I think of some of our senior members, some of our senior ladies that's lived life that has seen people come and go.

Some of you here who can spot somebody out when they walk in the door and they're a little bit too big for their britches. You've lived life. You know you have discerned from God's Word, truth, and error, right and wrong, and you can see straight through them when they walk in that door. That is that discernment that is being spoken of here on a physical level with people, yes, but it's still the same. It's discernment.

And when the godly succeed, everyone is glad, but when the wicked take charge, people go into hiding. I can visually see this one in my mind because we've all been there. Maybe you've had a bad boss and you do everything you can to avoid him or her. Maybe you've had that bad neighbor and you're just like, I want nothing because every time I say anything, they turn it back on me, things like that. That lack of discernment that many have causes others to run and to hide because we don't want to be alongside of them for their walk and their ride because we know where that's going to end up. King Solomon didn't just write about understanding and discernment, but he used it as he was given the opportunity by God to make judgments. Let's go back to 1 Kings chapter 3 because we have an example of him doing just that. 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 16. 1 Kings 3 verse 16 again with King Solomon says, Now two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. And one woman said, O my lord, this woman, and I dwell in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then it happened the third day after I had given birth that this woman also gave birth, and we were together. No one was with us in the house except the two of us in the house. And this woman's son died in the night because she lay on him. So she rolled over and he was smothered and he died. Verse 20. And so she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your maidservant slept and laid him in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne. Then the other woman said, No, but the living one is my son and the dead one is your son. And the first woman said, No, but the dead one is your son and the living one is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.

This is no way of making a similar comparison, but this is like two kids who are arguing in the other room and you walk in and you're trying to discern. They're both saying the opposite about each other. But in this example, it's a much more dire situation of these ladies.

In verse 23, though, we see the wisdom and the discernment of King Solomon. He says, And the king said, The one says, This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead one, and the other says, No, but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one. Then the king said, Bring me a sword. So they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other. Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son. And she said, Oh, my lord, let her give her the living child, and by no means kill him. But the other said, Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him. So the king answered and said, Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, and they feared the king. For they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

They saw the discernment that the king was able to utilize through wisdom, through understanding, that God had given him in a similar vein that the wisdom and understanding God has given us through his word this king had. And because of that, he was able to discern and administer justice properly, as we have recorded in this case. The classic example of King Solomon's wisdom and discernment Again, the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure through listening and that gaining of the understanding, and King was able to administer justice properly.

So you may be sitting here listening today and thinking, This is about as basic a sermon as I've ever heard in the church. We need wisdom. We need understanding. That leads to discernment. Check. Done. When's he going to wrap this up? Got it.

But I have to ask the question, is that all there is to this concept that I've shared with you today? Just knowledge, wisdom. We need to have it. It's good things. With it, we can discern.

Are we doing anything to gain this knowledge, this wisdom, and this discernment?

Are we really applying discernment in our lives? As we wrap up today, I'd like to leave you with a couple of thoughts that I hope we can take.

What God says about understanding and discernment, and then more fully apply it to our lives.

Because we can have the knowledge. Knowledge is abounding in society today. All we have to do is Google something, and even for a minister, a pastor like me, knowledge is out there on the internet for me to Google and to find scriptures, to find the Hebrew, to find definitions, all these things. But it's what I do with that. It's what you do with that knowledge. It counts. It's not just that it's there. What do we do with it? So the first thought of the two. Do you pray for wisdom and discernment? Do you pray for wisdom and discernment? We've already looked through the importance of, we have to know God's Word. We have to have this knowledge. We have to understand it. Because without it, then I might as well sit down because I have nothing else to say. If we don't understand that, the importance of studying God's Word and understanding it to the point that we know what God's Word says. So that's a given. But the first thought, do we pray for wisdom and discernment? Let's turn to James 1, verse 5.

1 Peter 2 Peter 1 Peter All you kids who are learning your Bible books, they come in handy if you ever become a pastor. 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 Peter 1 1 Peter 1 1 Peter 1 Peter Here the half-brother of Jesus writes, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. Let him pray. Let him go before God. Let him seek out wisdom from God. Let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach. So he's not saying, yeah, he'll throw you a scrap from the table. He'll throw you a little piece that you can gnaw on for a little bit. It won't be filling. No, he's saying he'll give it fully. He'll give it so that your wisdom overflows if you ask and without reproach, and it will be given to him. Remember, King Solomon asked for wisdom and understanding to carry out the job that was before him, but he did not simply ask God to just do the jobs. That was before him, did he, though?

He could have prayed that prayer and said, God, just take care of these things for me. Take care of my problems. Take care of these tough decisions. Make it clear without me having to do anything. But he didn't do that. He said, give me wisdom so that I can do what you need me to do.

Often, many times, our prayers are requests to God to fix things in our lives. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. We need his hand. We need his help. We need his favor to go before us in ways that we can't do it on our own. So I'm not saying that that's bad to ask God to help fix our problems. But consider Solomon's example. Sometimes God wants us to do the things ourselves in our own lives with his help. He wants to work through us. Maybe it's sharing encouragement or being empathetic with somebody here in our congregation. God could offer that encouragement to the person without us being involved at all. He could cause the Scripture to come to their mind. He could allow them to interact with or to see something on the internet, to open their Bible to that perfect verse they need. He could do that, and he often does. But he so often works through us. He lets us be part of that process. He will inspire us to go and talk, to go encourage somebody, or that person to come up to us when we have that need. God so often wants to work through us. And as we think and evaluate decisions or things that we need to do in life, we should think and consider, is fill in the blank, fill in your own blank, something God wants me to do? Is this something that he's just going to do for me? Or is there something, fill in the blank, that I need to do myself? This is where praying for wisdom to understand and to discern God's desire for our lives is critical. Because he will answer those prayers time and time and time again. As we go to him, we ask for wisdom with the situation. God, is this something I should be doing? Is this something I should be more hands-on with? Show me. Make it clear to me. Help me to see. Help me to discern whether or not I should do this or go forward with it. And if after some time we feel like the answer is a yes, this is what I believe God wants me to do, then we can pray for the wisdom and the courage to follow through on what he's encouraging us to do. And praying for wisdom isn't just for the sake of having knowledge, but also praying for the ability to make wise decisions to discern in challenging circumstances. We all know of some people that are very knowledgeable.

They are super smart, but we also see that they don't make the wisest of decisions at times.

This is why praying for wisdom and discernment is something I hope that we each are doing.

We are reminded again by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12. Let's start to turn there in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12 of the wonderful gift that we have received from God in his spirit that he has shared with us. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12.

We heard about that in the sermonette today. We heard about it last week on the Holy Day.

We've heard about it a lot this spring with each of the Holy Days. In the preparation before and in between, we're going to hear about it again. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12.

Here the Apostle Paul says, Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit, capital S, who is from God, or which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. One of those things is wisdom. Understanding. These things that we can pray for and God will give.

Verse 13. These things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches. We've got plenty of man's wisdom around us, but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Don't lose sight of that. They are spiritually discerned. The things that you and I understand from God's Word, the way that we've allowed it to impact and to change our lives, the way that we are parenting our children based on His Word, the way that we're looking after our grandchildren and parenting them as well, our nieces and our nephews, He's saying all these things that we're doing is because they are spiritually discerned. Again, this is why it's not just about the knowledge, but in how we use this knowledge. And proper usage of this knowledge is definitely something we should be praying for in our lives. So that's that first aspect, the first thing to consider. The second thought I'd like us to consider, am I judging or discerning properly or improperly?

Because it's not just about not enough about knowledge, understanding, discernment, because we could walk out the door and say, yep, check. Wait, how are we doing? How are we doing with this? Am I judging or discerning properly or improperly? Let's turn to Romans 14 verse 1.

Romans 14 verse 1. Here's the apostle Paul again writing. So that's this. Romans 14 verse 1. He says, Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things.

The word here for disputes is diacrices, which means a distinguishing or a discerning or a judging, meaning we're not to get into judgments or these types of discerning things over doubtful things. It's what Paul is saying. Verse 2.

The point is we start to read through this passage, and we're not done yet, but the point as we start off here is that there are certain things that are matters of opinion in our lives. We shouldn't fear or avoid disagreements in certain things, but handle these differences in proper love for one another. Through the sharing of ideas, we can often gain greater understanding of one another and to see where another person is coming from. Differences of opinions should never cause division or hard feelings between us, but we can all think of the times that a difference of opinion has caused issues and has caused problems, maybe in your own personal family. I know I can account for siblings. I've got four of them, and we can dispute things. We can talk about things, and we can get kind of riled up to the point that our in-laws, our wives and all my in-laws, all the ones that have married into the family when we're sitting around the dinner table as a family, before we know it, we're looking around and they've all gotten up and went to the other room because this is not their cup of tea. Yet the siblings, we're all sitting around each other still going at it, not in a necessarily bad damaging way, but we're not holding back in our opinions. I can think of where hard feelings have even come up at times. Not so much anymore, but thankfully through God's grace.

Maybe, though, that's happened here in our own family, in the Ann Arbor congregation. Maybe we've had differences of opinions that have grown to the level of creating disagreements and a wedge between some of us. Let me be perfectly clear. I'm not saying that we should compromise the fundamental things that we hold fast to in our lives. Those that are expressly forbidden are commanded by God through His Word. I'm not talking about those types of issues.

But when we really get down to it, we must discern if a difference of opinion is based on God's Word or just our own thoughts. For example, God's people congregating and observing the Sabbath, that's not a difference of opinion. We don't sit here and dispute or debate whether we should be here on God's Sabbath, whether Saturday is the Sabbath. We don't dispute about those things because Exodus 20, verse 8, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. In it you shall do no work, nor your sons. And then He goes through all the different people, the households, and everything else. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. No dispute. This isn't something that I'm talking about here.

We shouldn't have a difference of opinion if we should be observing Saturday as a Sabbath.

But what about going to a park on the Sabbath? Or what about allowing your children to swim on the Sabbath? God gives some leeway on how each of us keeps the Sabbath holy. Can we talk about what we do on the Sabbath with one another? Sure. That's okay. We can talk about it, but how do we talk about it? Is it coming from a heart of love and understanding to encourage one another to consider something? Or is it coming from the side I'm going to beat over your head my view of how the Sabbath is to be kept? And if you don't agree with it, then you're the one out. Is that the approach that we have? Is it coming from a self-righteous attitude and a heart?

Are we discerning that a matter of opinion or personal conviction is now a sin that a person is committing? Is that what we are doing? This is where we must ask ourselves if we are judging or discerning properly or improperly. An important concept is we must be discerning of ourselves first.

We must be discerning of our motivations, our attitudes, our hearts, our approach.

Because if we can take God's Word and we see the example that we have in Jesus Christ, that perfect example that none of us matches up to, but we still have that perfect example is my attitude, my way of thought, my behavior matching that of Christ.

Because if it is, then I'll be able to discern these matters of opinion. I'll be able to discern if I'm discerning properly or not. But if we allow some of these things to rise to the level where we're not discerning of ourselves first, we can become self-righteous.

We can have that attitude of mind or of heart.

Paul goes on to say, let's keep reading Romans 14 verse 7, For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the lords.

For to this end, Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother, or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

We are each accountable to God, not to others. Yeah, we're family.

Yeah, family looks after each other. Family can sit down, and as I shared, we can laugh together, we can cry together, we can encourage one another, we can even admonish one another if we see something isn't right, but we have to make sure that we're doing it with the right attitude because each of us have to stand before Christ and to account the way that we have handled our lives, even the things we have thought, even our thoughts.

But again, we in the church must not compromise the fundamental things we hold fast to that are expressly forbidden or commanded by God through his word. We do not compromise. This is not a matter of opinion on murder, on lying, on adultery, of stealing, of tithing, of the Holy Days. None of these things are up for opinion. We don't waver back and forth on these. This isn't a wow. I think I can only just give a 5% tithe. No, it's not an option. This is not what I'm talking about. But we must be careful not to invent our own rules and regulations that we then impose on others or make them feel bad about going on in Romans 14. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. Verse 16, Therefore, do not let your good be spoken of as evil, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, for he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. So we are allowed to build up, to edify, to strengthen one another. And sometimes that does come with tough love. But we must be discerning of ourselves first and foremost. What is my motivation to what I'm about to say? What is my heart behind this thing? Is it that I'm more righteous and everybody else needs to be keeping the Sabbath the same way that I do? It's those types of thoughts. That's why we have to, again, take these two concepts to heart. Pray for wisdom and discernment. Ask God to show you. Ask God to show you yourself. That's a tough one to pray for. Ask him to be gentle with you as you pray for that one. Pray for wisdom and discernment. And consider if you are judging and discerning properly or improperly. And let me leave you with a final passage in Philippians. Philippians 1, verse 9.

Philippians 1, verse 9.

And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that your love may grow, that God's Spirit within you, where that source of love comes from, will grow in more knowledge. That's the word of truth that we have on our laps. That's living life, that experience of gaining knowledge and all discernment. Paul right here is desiring that they have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, good and evil, and then to do it through love. And he goes on to say in verse 10, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

It's Paul saying we have to do all these things in love. We have to pray for wisdom, pray for discernment, evaluate are we using it correctly as we discern right from wrong, and is love the motivating factor of what we're doing here? Because he says if we do, if this was right, we will be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are of Jesus Christ. And that gets down to the crux of it all. So getting back to the beginning of the message today, each of us have been born into a world with truth and error, spiritual light and darkness, right and wrong, good and evil. We haven't been able to escape these counter thoughts or ideas, and nor will we while we live this physical life. But each of us have also been provided a wisdom that is from above. May we each continue to pray for and use this wisdom as we properly apply discernment in our lives.