All believers possess the ability to make a judgment as to genuine teaching from the Bible or moral behavior as God expects and what is not. It’s called discernment, or distinguishing between spirits. This ability grows as the Christian matures.
Some believers have been given an extra dose of discernment, or “distinguishing between spirits” as a gift given by the Holy Spirit, allowing them to discriminate between what is truly of God from or what is of demonic spirits or merely the human spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:10). The verb for “discerning” diakrino, means “to pass judgment” or “make a distinction.” Today’s essay is mainly about the believers who have been given the gift for the church, as opposed to all believers who are supposed to train in discernment for their daily lives.
It’s discernment week here on The End Time! Last week I sought to encourage by posting 6 consecutive essays on the topic of heaven. This week my goal is to hopefully educate on the topic of discernment.
Yes, some people have been given the gift of discernment by the Holy Spirit (I believe I have been given this spiritual gift). But it is still incumbent on every Christian to employ wisdom to all matters based on biblical discernment. We can train up in discernment, as Hebrews 5:14 says,
But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.
‘Distinguish’ is a good word, because the actual gift of discernment is phrased this way in 1 Corinthians 12:10: “distinguishing between spirits”
This is a good and permanent reminder that discernment is a battle between spiritual entities, not people. Believers who are undiscerning need training, correction, and practice in the skill. Unbelievers are undiscerning because they are under the sway of the evil one, the god of this world who blinds their minds so they can’t see the light. (2 Corinthians 4:4). They cannot discern spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14). Until or unless they are saved by grace upon hearing the Gospel, they will remain undiscerning. They may be wise in some matters, but it’s not a godly wisdom which is applied to practical matters in a godly life pleasing to the Lord. It’s just smarts.
So, conclusion #1 is that some people have the specific gift of discernment for use in the church for the edification of the body, but all Christians need to practice it for themselves and their families. Conclusion #2 is that discernment is a weapon in a spiritual battle.
Is it an important weapon? Yes. This is conclusion #3. We all need discernment, we all must hone it because our battle is spiritual, and it’s an important weapon for that battle. John MacArthur said,
"People ask me this all the time, “What’s the greatest need in the church today? What is the most compelling need? What do you see as the biggest problem in Christianity, the biggest problem in the church? It’s simple for me to answer that. The biggest problem in the church today is the absence of discernment. It’s a lack of discernment. It’s the biggest problem with Christian people. They make bad choices. They accept the wrong thing. They accept the wrong theology. They are prone to the wrong teaching. They’re unwise in who they follow, what they listen to, and what they read." John MacArthur, Principles for Discernment
God told Solomon to ask for anything. Solomon said,
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? (1 Kings 3:9).
This not only displays great humility but an acknowledgement that God’s wisdom is needed for whatever sphere in which He has placed us. In Solomon’s case it was administering the kingdom as King. God was pleased with Solomon’s request. With me, my sphere is certainly more obscure and smaller than Solomon’s, but it’s meaningful to God, because He has given me a sphere of operation in church, work, and social circle to display His glory and promote His truth.
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,
You see how important discernment is: Paul prayed they would possess it. They need to approve of what is excellent (and by inference disapprove of what is NOT excellent- discernment is ‘distinguishing between’). The phrase ‘And so’ joins the practice of discernment with being pure and blameless on the Day.
We need discernment to promote the right truth. There is no ‘your truth and my truth.’ There is one truth. It is up to us to extract that one truth from the Bible, the only place where it has been revealed. Heaven is the place of truth and God is the only originator of truth.
What IS discernment? Martin Manser wrote in the Dictionary of Bible Themes-
The sound judgment which makes possible the distinguishing of good from evil, and the recognition of God’s right ways for his people. It is necessary for the understanding of spiritual realities and, on a practical level, for right government and the avoidance of life’s pitfalls. Source: Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.
Word studies in the New Testament defines discernment, “The verb primarily means to separate, and hence to make a distinction, discriminate. … so that discerning implies a mental act of discriminating between different things. Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word studies in the New Testament (Vol. 3, p. 253). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
These days, it is increasingly difficult to convince people that separating good from bad, truth from error, dark from light is necessary. It’s hard because more and more frequently people believe there is no dark and light, right and wrong, truth or error. They have been persuaded that everything can be true, or that it is arrogant to be dogmatic about one truth.
But as we read in Solomon’s verse in 1 Kings 3:7, And now, LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am like a little boy; I do not know how to go out or come in.
We are children. We might live to be 100 years old, but to God we’re kids. We don’t know if we’re coming or going. We need discernment to separate out the good from the bad. You’ve seen babies. They will eat anything. They see a worm, they eat it. They see a moldy piece of bread under the couch, they eat it. They see a marble, they eat it.
We are like that to God. We see a preacher offering to tickle our ears, we accept it. We read a book promising wealth and health, we claim it. We see a person on Social Media twisting the Bible, we like it. We must discern.
Tomorrow, referring back to Hebrews 5:14, how to train up in discernment.
I don’t often talk about personal experiences on this blog, because frankly, I don’t think most people are interested in me, lol. We are all more interested in Jesus, and His soon return.
I was thinking today about a few times in my life when I felt fearfully spooky for no reason. These occurred before I was saved. However, all my life I could feel the emotional and spiritual temperature of a room. When I got saved by His grace, the Holy Spirit delivered to me the Gift of Discerning of spirits, also known as the distinguishing of spirits (1 Cor 12:10). So now I can use that ability He planted in me from birth to His glory as a child of God
Discerning of Spirits is discussed by Alexandra Clair on her blog. Her definitions of terms in my opinion are scripturally apt and well-written to boot. So what is discerning of spirits?
One of the biggest problems the church has, maybe THE biggest, is a widespread lack of discernment. It’s true that many have infiltrated the church who are not true converts, so it stands to reason they lack discernment. But many true believers have failed to hone their discernment through training (Hebrews 5:14). There’s another reason that the church may lack discernment besides infiltration of false believers, and the presence of true believers who haven’t grown much: the Lord.
He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders. (Job 12:20).
John Gill (1697 – 1771) was an English Baptist pastor, biblical scholar, and theologian who also wrote a commentary of the Bible. He says of the Job 12:20 verse in Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible -first Gill addresses the different ways that God takes away speech of the wise, “it seems strange that he should remove the speech of “trusty” or “faithful” men, that speak the truth, and are to be credited and believed; and as the preceding words are understood of ecclesiastic persons.”
“He removeth away the speech of the trusty,…. Speech is proper to mankind, and a benefit unto them, whereby they can converse together, and communicate their minds to each other. This is the gift of God, he gives to men in common the faculty of speaking; –to some the tongue of the learned to speak various tongues, either in an ordinary or in an extraordinary manner; and he that gives can take away; –he that made man’s mouth or lip can make it speechless, as he does at death; when he takes away man’s breath, he takes away his speech; the state of the dead is a state of silence; –and sometimes he does it while living, by striking dumb, as he did Zechariah the father of John the Baptist; –as in the builders of Babel, he took away the speech they had, and gave them another; –and sometimes he suffers not men to speak what they would, but what is contrary to their inclinations and desires, as in Balaam, who would willingly have cursed Israel, but could not. –end Gill Commentary
As for the lack of discernment, the LORD takes it away in various ways, too. Gill continues in the second part of the Job 12:20 verse-
and taketh away the understanding of the aged; or “elders”; elders in age, with whom understanding, reason, judgment, counsel, and wisdom, by all which the word is interpreted, may be thought to be; yet all this God can take away, and does when he pleases, and they become like children in understanding.
–through the infirmities of old age their memories fail them, –their reason is impaired, –their understanding and judgment are weakened, –they become unfit to give advice themselves, –are easily imposed on and drawn aside by others as may be observed in Solomon, the wisest of men, when he was grown old. –end Gill
The Bible Knowledge Commentary by RB Zuck et al says, “Also all people are under God’s control. He humbles counselors (was Job referring to his three friends?), judges.… kings.… priests, well-established officials, advisers … elders.… nobles, and the mighty. By stripping away their wisdom and power, God reveals His superior wisdom and power.”
The Lord God is on control of all things; the earth, universe, angels, demons, and humans. He is in charge of all humans’ intellect. He gives discernment and He takes it away. We don’t know if the dearth of discernment plaguing the church currently is due to a failure of humans to be biblically illiterate and train themselves, of God’s judgment on humans, a mixture of both, or something else entirely. One thing we know for sure, it was Paul’s fervent prayer that the people would grow in discernment. I think the old adage “Use it or lose it” applies now!
In 2016 I wrote a discernment essay raising troubling concerns about Ravi Zacharias. I noted his slide downward, his praising of Catholic mystics, some untruths regarding his credentials, and his refusal to take a position on whether the Catholic Church is false (saying the two churches have merely ‘doctrinal differences!), creationism vs evolution, the Doctrines of Grace, or most of eschatology.
A Christian Apologists’ job is to take a stance on the doctrines of the Bible and proclaim and defend them, so the refusal to be clear on 40% of the Bible seemed a nonstarter to me. I’d also noted that I had attended a live speech event, and had listened to many of Ravi’s other speeches online. I said that he seemed to me more of a spellbinding anecdotal storyteller and secular philosopher than a Christian Apologist or evangelist. Lots of mentions of Jesus, not a lot of talk about sin, wrath, and repentance.
I wrote later that year that Ravi had spoken at false teacher Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church and called Warren’s church “one of the greatest”. I’d noted that he had also appeared on false teacher Joyce Meyer’s television program, and said Joyce puts out “great Bible teaching.” His partnering with false teachers spoke volumes both about his lack of discernment and his lack of courage.
Two months ago, in December 2020, I updated the situation when the Ravi Zacharias International Ministry (RZIM) itself had investigated their founder (who had recently passed away). They announced confirmation of newly revealed sins Mr Zacharias had performed. RZIM made this preliminary report public. The RZIM organization promised to be forthcoming with the conclusions of their hired investigation ended. I attached the RZIM updated facts to a discernment lesson, here.
RZIM’s hired investigators submitted their final report this past week and what they found was disheartening in the extreme.
Founder’s Baptist Church led by Dr. Richard Caldwell, held a conference over the weekend. It is called the Truth in Love conference. The theme this year was “Discernment, Faith, and Fidelity to the Truth.” Some of the speakers were Steve Lawson, Phil Johnson, Ken Ramey, Owen Strachan, and several others, including Paul Washer and John MacArthur. Discernment! I’m all in! Phil, Paul, and John! I’m triply in!
Sadly, Paul Washer and John MacArthur ended up not being able to attend, more on that in tomorrow’s blog. But for now, I’d like to report on the wonderful preaching available on Youtube from this conference.
I love the topic of discernment. The Spirit had gifted me with the gift of discernment, and I strive to hone it and employ it to the benefit of my local church and online ministry to whatever extent the Spirit will bestow. Even if you do not have the gift, developing the skill is important in order to maintain your own spiritual health.
I am sure the rest are just as terrific. David Doran’s was my favorite. I learned a lot.
If you would like to learn more about discernment, what it is or why it’s important, please do avail yourself of some of these video sermons and lectures.
The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.(Proverbs 16:21).
And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, (Philippians 1:9).
Two days ago I published an update to theRavi Zacharias situation here on this blog. I’d posted about the man other times, first in 2016, later that year here, and again in 2019. With the news that the Ravi Zacharias International Ministry (RZIM) had engaged a private investigative company to look into certain allegations against the now-departed Ravi, and that the Ministry announced this week allegations seemed to have merit, I published those facts Saturday.
No one likes it when a tower falls. Ravi was globally well known, a Christian celebrity if you will. His many decades of apologist speeches all over the world had affected many. Of course we would all prefer that any man of faith stay above reproach, but sadly, many do not. The Bible is replete with these sad facts, and it addresses them forthrightly.
It is a good question and it’s timely. When I talk with the younger women in the faith who seek and apply discernment, they acknowledge that it’s hard to really trust anybody (without doing significant pre-vetting before buying a book, subscribing to a podcast, liking on social media, etc). I was asked just this week ‘who is out there that we can trust?’ (Note: not blind trust, discerning trust).
It’s a grief to ask this question because it’s a grief to see friends and even women we don’t know follow false female teachers. (Or any false teacher). Won’t it be a relief and a joy in the eternal state with no sin and perfect trust in all whom we meet! Until that day, we must ask the question, ‘Where are all the discerning women?’
When I was brought to a Beth Moore Living Proof weekend I mourned over the tens of thousands of women filling the arena and the picture of all of them adoring Moore haunts me today. We ask the question not because we’re smarter than anyone else, frankly, many of us discerners have a woeful tale of having squandered time in sanctification because we followed the wrong crowd or teacher. It’s one of the reasons we’re so fervent about being discerning. (I myself followed Joel Osteen for over a year at the start of my walk!). It’s because we have been graced with a spiritual gift that allows us to spot false teachers (and good teachers).
The Holy Spirit dispenses gifts as He pleases. (1 Corinthians 12:11). One of them is “distinguishing between spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10) known in modern times as discernment. The people given this spiritual gift in the global body, operating within local churches, are the church’s early warning system.
Recently a young woman asked me to recommend any good Christian books by Godly women or about Godly women. I turned to Banner of Truth books because I know Iain Murray had written a short bio of Amy Carmichael and Banner of Truth had also published the bio of Selina Countess of Huntingdon. Banner of Truth lists 293 authors. Fourteen were women, comprising 4% of the list, if that gives you any idea of the ratio of solid male theologians to female. I believe this ratio holds in the wider global church, too, given the number of false women teachers we see running around.
So the question Where are all the the discerning women? is a good one.
I don’t know this lady. A virtual friend on Facebook shared this video.
Dawn Hill repents of being a false prophet and for being part of the NAR. She urges women everywhere to discern properly, test all things, focus on Jesus Christ, and not swim in emotionalism and prophetic words that are only vain imaginations and fleshly lusts. She pleads with her audience to throw away her work, her book, and any and all of her old material. She urges women to submit to the authority of the Bible as the only sure word.
A reader asked me my opinion of a certain author, which happens a lot. In this case it was Linda Dillow. I had not heard of her or her ministry.
It is encouraging to me when women are careful before getting involved rather than asking me how to get out after they already have been grabbed by false teachers.
I was not familiar with Linda Dillow. As I went about searching for information on her, I thought it would be a good idea to present how I vet an author. Mine isn’t a foolproof method, and there are undoubtedly things I’m overlooking, but I feel it gains me enough information initially as to whether to proceed in absorbing the author’s material or recommending her to others. My discernment radar is always up after accepting an initial positive assessment. Discernment’s not a “one and done” kind of thing.
As always, check yourself, check ME out, and pray for wisdom.
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