Testing to Discern

Psalm 138 / Romans 12:1-2

Living Sacrifices

This requires intentionality

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.”

This is a daily thing

“The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar,”

This is all-inclusive (present your bodies)

v3-8 - Use your gifts for others, especially the local church

v9-21 - the text I cherry-picked from at the end of last week’s sermon

Do Not Be Conformed

It’s not worth it

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet - John 13

John 13:9-10 “Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.””

Testing to Discern

This is a plea from your pastor! Not only am I pleading that every child of God take this instruction from the Word of God, I am begging you and charging you to hold ME to this standard as your pastor, and the chief teacher of this church. Also, hold every teacher and preacher you consider electing, sit under, or elect for others to sit under to this standard. That said, I want to introduce 2 categories to discuss

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 27.45 δοκιμάζω; δοκιμή, ῆς; δοκίμιον, ου; δοκιμασία, ας

27.45 δοκιμάζωa; δοκιμήa, ῆς f; δοκίμιονa, ου n; δοκιμασία, ας f: to try to learn the genuineness of something by examination and testing, often through actual use—‘to test, to examine, to try to determine the genuineness of, testing.’

The Mind - straight from Paul’s words in the text

Our MINDS must be renewed. We must seek this! We must ask God for this, though it seem counter-intuitive, we must pray to God to change the way we think and what we desire.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but BE transformed by the renewal of your mind, THAT BY TESTING you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

THE MIND? NOT THE SPIRIT?

1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Spiritually discerned does NOT mean here a spontaneous subjective experience; rather putting Paul together with Paul… those who have been reborn are enabled, empowered, to have their intellects and pursuits of study guided, illumined, and prospered in ways that the unsaved cannot.

Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

John 3:3 “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

So spiritual discernment is ABSOLUTELY a gift of the Spirit, but it is not without humanly pursuit. Remember that Jesus promised The Spirit to teach us all things, and bring to our memories what we had learned from Him. That is true of ALL disciples.

There is little to NO promise for spontaneous encyclopedic download of knowledge and understanding, rather it is a thing we are commanded to pursue

This requires intentionality!

Proverbs 4:5-9 “Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. 7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. 8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. 9 She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.””

So we need GOD to renew our minds. We need to seek it!

As it applies especially to teaching and preaching: we need to understand the Word. This is mind work. Study. Thought. Reading. Listening. Learning.

“If you haven't read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren't broad enough to sustain you.” - Retired USMC General Jim Mattis, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

The concept is higher than books, it is about the pursuit of knowledge to gain wisdom; in short to have discernment. How much less true is this concept on the topic of God’s word, especially in the realms ot parenting, teaching, counseling, and preaching?

Examples:

Understanding the meta-narrative (the all-connected BIG picture) of the Bible, like our midweek series on The Story of the Bible

Understanding the genre of each text: how is a Psalm different from a narrative, different from a New Testament Epistle?

Understanding point of view (who is speaking, and to whom?)

So this is the standard to which we must aspire, enabled by God’s promise to aid and enable our imperfect attempts. We must continually and prayerfully seek knowledge and gain understanding. If we are born again, then we have The Lord always with us, among us, and promising to enable this. Let us seek it. Let us REQUIRE of teachers and preachers to be lifelong students; disciples in this way.

The Heart - a balance that is easily backed up in other Biblical texts, but introduced by 2 statements from pastors who have influenced me greatly; both made in years past at sessions of Old Union Ministers’ School:

Jerry Reynolds - “Always preach with a full heart!”

Without backing away from anything I have said about the realm of study and the facet of worship that is the life of the mind, it is NOT MERELY mind! This is hear work as well!

Jeremiah 20:9 “If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”

2 Corinthians 5:13-14 “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;”

James Keen - “Never preach a text until you have first let it cut on you.”

Matthew 23:2-4 ““The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.”

Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

Oh that we would begin with self and ONLY then work outward, lest we infect others with our own faults rather than help them.

Let us minster to others, whether formally or not, from hearts that have been cut, healed, and filled from prayerful time with The Lord in His Word!

Church Family, this is my plea; God help us and renew hearts AND minds! Family, let us seek ever more to gain godly knowledge and wisdom. Let us endeavor to have minds renewed by God to His Glory, our good, and to be equipped to minister to others, and may we ALWAYS hold teaching and preaching to these Biblical standards.