Discerning God's Will

Discerning God's Will

ROM. 12:1-2

SUBJECT: CHRISTIAN DEVOTION

THEME: As Christians, We Knows That We Were Created by God That We Might Glorify Him. Therefore, our Ultimate Goal is to Dedicate ourselves to His Glory and Service.

RELEVANCE: May the Lord help us to become Living Sacrifices. The work of God can only move forward as individual believers began to take seriously commitments to Christ. Making purely superficial decisions is not life altering and character shaping, but employing real discernment involves us in God's activities which have eternal consequences. 

INTRODUCTION:

Romans 12:2, ...“what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

God's will is what is “good,” what is “acceptable” (to God), and what is “perfect” for each believer. Believers who are being transformed, who know and do God's will, also discover that what God plans for them is “good,” “acceptable” to God, and “perfect” for them.   

MESSAGE:                                                            

WE CAN DISCERN GOD'S WILL.

There are many Believers who walk right into Satan's traps and never know what happened to them. One of them might say, “I can't imagine what went wrong.” A person with a discerning spirit will be quick to explain, “Here's the trap Satan set and here's how you fell into it.”

              1.  Discernment is Deciding What is Truly Right and Wrong.

Hebrews 5:12-14,   For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. [13] For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. [14] But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

                      A.  What Discernment Is.

Each of us needs to develop a discerning spirit if it is our purpose to live as a sacrifice for Jesus Christ.

 A discerning spirit is rooted in a knowledge of right and wrong. It is the ability to perceive or distinguish between good and evil, pretense and reality, image and substance, true and false, and right and wrong. The time to begin learning discernment, and teaching right and wrong to others is immediately after being saved. We begin after the new birth and continue throughout our Christian lives.

APPLICATION: Understand that the elementary teachings of the faith are essential for all believers to understand.  This is where discernment begins for us all.  Everyone needs to first learn the ABCs before being able to read complex books. The elementary teachings about Christ include the importance of faith, the foolishness of trying to be saved by good deeds, the meaning of baptism and spiritual gifts, and the facts of resurrection and eternal life (Heb 6:1-3). This is where we begin to know the difference between true and false, fact and fiction, right and wrong, good and evil. However, to have a mature understanding, we need to move beyond (but not away from) the elementary teachings to a more complete knowledge of the faith. This is what we must do (Heb. 6:1). And finally mature Christians should be teaching new Christians the basics.  Who are you teaching?  What are you being taught?  Do you understand that there are absolutes?  Do you know enough of God’s truth to detect Satan’s lies?

                   B.  What Discernment Does.

Mature Christians have disciplined themselves on “strong meat”— solid food, that is, they have learned about and appropriated the high-priestly role of Christ (Heb. 5:12-14).  Spiritually mature Christians constantly examine themselves, turn away from sin, and learn what actions, thoughts, and attitudes will please God. These blessed saints ‘have trained themselves’ — “their senses exercised to discern,” to distinguish good from evil. They have trained themselves like an athlete training and exercising through much practices.

APPLICATION: Had these believers been mature, they would have recognized that the temptation to abandon Christ was "evil." They were not mature, however, because they didn't understand the significance of Christ's position. Therefore, they were ready to drift away from Him (Heb. 2:1).

In order to grow from infancy to maturity, we must learn discernment. We must train our consciences, senses, and minds to distinguish good from evil. We must incorporate from the word of God principles of right thinking and right action whereby we can correctly judge moral situations that occur. Can you recognize temptation before it traps you? Can you tell the difference between a correct use of Scripture and a mistaken one? How much time do you spend reading the word of God? Do you spend greater amounts of time watching TV or reading the newspaper?

           2.  We must Know Right from Wrong Not Only in Theory, but in Practice.

Ezekiel 44:23-24,  And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. [24] And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

Matthew 7:6,  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 

We must know how to apply God's truth to our lives and how to live in obedience to His commandments.

ILLUSTRATION: That's why Moses said that we are to teach God's commandments throughout the day, not just in a half-hour Sunday school lesson (Deut. 4 & 6). We are to say plainly to them, “This is right behavior, this is wrong behavior. This is God's commandment. This is the consequence for breaking God's commandment. ” An education in right and wrong must occur twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year.  In addition the Lord Jesus made it very clear that Christians should exercise sound discernment and discretion in our relationships with the lost of the world.

                  A.  A Discerning Believer Will Avoid Satan’s Traps.

Proverbs 22:3, A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. (Also Prov. 27:12).

A prudent person is a thinker, planner, and cautious person.  They examine their current situation with an eye on the future.  They anticipate problems and Satan’s traps and decisively plan to stir clear of them!  It is the simple-minded person who gets caught in Satan’s traps.  A child of God who is thoroughly trained in God's commandments and has been taught right from wrong has very little trouble discerning Satan at work.  He quickly picks up signals that tell him when things are not right; his conscience is sensitive to God's will.

                  B.  A None Discriminating Believer Will Not Recognize the Dangers.   Proverbs 22:3

A child of God who is not taught right from wrong—a person who allows themselves to do whatever he wants to do without considering the consequence.  A person who follows their feelings and desire for pleasure.  A person who has been told that all things are relative and that there are no absolutes —becomes a slow-moving target for the enemy. He never sees what hits him.

APPLICATION: 

1.  There is the Danger of Wrong Friends.  Prov. 1:10-19; 2:11-22

2.  There is the Danger of Wrong Beliefs.   Phil. 3:7-10

3.  There is the Danger of Wrong Practices.  Gal. 4:7-11

4.  There is the Danger of Wrong Ideals.  Col. 2:6-10

5.  There is the Danger of Wrong Values.  Prov. 3:13-26; Prov. 8:10-25; 16:16

Wisdom here also means practical discernment. It begins with respect for God, leads to right living, and results in increased ability to tell right from wrong. God is willing to give us this wisdom; but we will be unable to receive it if our goals are self-centered instead of God centered.  To learn God's will, we need to read his Word and ask him to show us how to obey it. Then we must do what He tells us.

           3.  Every Believer Should Develop Spiritual Discernment.

1 John 4:1,  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

There have been times when I've entered a room full of people and immediately sensed in my spirit that something was not right. It's as if an inner alarm had gone off. At times the room was even occupied by a group of Christians—but my inner spiritual radar told me that something was amiss, something wasn't right before God. In every case, I've discovered that this inner discernment was correct.

Eccles. 8:5-6,  Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.  [6] Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

I believe each Christian can and should be developing and exercising this kind of spiritual discernment. God does not want His people to live in darkness or to be without an ability to detect evil at work. He has made every provision necessary for us to acquire and grow in our ability to discern our enemy.

           4.  God's Provision for Us Is Twofold: His Word, and His Spirit. The Bible is our source-book for right and wrong. God's Spirit is our teacher in helping us to choose good in our daily walk with Christ.

                  A.  The Scriptures.

Hebrews 5:13-14,  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. [14] But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

                  B.  The Spirit. (1Cor. 2:9-16; Jn. 14:25-26; 16:12-15; 1Jn. 2:26-27)

 CONCLUSION:

Ultimately we must dedicate ourselves to God's glory and service. This is the goal with each advancement and decision we make. May the Lord Jesus continue to help us to become living sacrifices who discern God's will. The work of God can only move forward as we take seriously our commitments to Christ. Let us move beyond mere superficial decisions employing real discernment involving ourselves in God's eternal activities and life changing character.