08/28/2022 - Divine Discernment

Grace Place Atlanta COGBF 4700 Mitchell Street Forest Park, GA 30297 Website: atlantacogbf.org Email: info@atlantacogbf.org Phone: (404) 241-6781 Wayne D. Mack, Pastor / Pastor Wayne D. Mack Sermon Notes August 27, 2022 Divine Discernment Matthew 16: 1-4 NKJV 16 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. 1 Corinthians 2:14 14 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. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 5:14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 1 START HERE . . . Did you know that one of the greatest gifts God gives to every believer at the New Birth is the Gift of Discernment? In an informal kind of definition, discernment is the equivalent of being able to see through brick walls. Not really, but the results are the same. It is the ability to see things as God sees them or how He would have you to see them. This morning, I want to talk about Discernment as a way of making you aware of a divine spiritual reality and ability that God has given to us to govern our lives in a way that pleases Him and that keeps us from being blindsided by life. This message is important to me because my hope is that it will stir up your pure minds to the times we’re living in, cause you to examine yourself closely, and to raise your attention to the traps and schemes being laid by Satan. However, more importantly, I pray that this message will cause you to use your God-given gift of DISCERNMENT as a virtue that empowers you to see God at work in your life and in our times. Before we go deeper, lets define “Discernment”. What is it? First of all, true discernment is “divine” which means it comes from God. So, to be accurate, we’re talking about “divine discernment” [also known as or spiritual discernment]. Any form of discernment that is not “divine” or “from God” really has no value. Divine Discernment is defined as the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is not perceivable in the natural. Spiritually, Discernment is the process of determining God's will and desire in a given situation or for a person’ life. It occurs when God guides His children to help them arrive at the best decision. [That’s huge when you don’t know whether to go right or left]. It also differentiates the true nature of a thing, such as discerning whether a thing is good or evil, or holy or unholy, or right or wrong. One of the best things about Divine Discernment is that it belongs exclusively to God’s children: 1 Corinthians 2:14 says . . 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. 2 So, why is the need for divine discernment so important. Because the times we live in are perilous and can’t be navigated safely without Godly discernment. According to Matthew 24:5-7 NKJV, Jesus, our Lord said the following: 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. Also, 2 Timothy, Chapter 3 verses 1-5 NKJV . . . It warns: 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! Unfortunately, many believers are attempting to govern their lives under these very conditions without relying on the discernment of God. And now, more than ever, we need divine discernment because of the shape the pandemic has left the church in – so much uncertainty, division, and upheaval. Right now, the answer to all the uncertainty is Godly Discernment. Coupled with the Holy Spirit, nothing else will speak so profoundly! Jesus knew the importance of discernment for His children; He also knew the hypocrisy that dogged true discernment. So He confronted it by facing off with a group of religious leaders who put more stock in natural discernment than divine discernment. Let’s look at the account in Matthew 16: 1-4 NKJV 1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. 3 Jesus here is rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders of His day, for being so concerned with heavenly signs that they could not even interpret the signs of the times all around them – primarily His presence. These leaders refused to accept Jesus as the Son of God, so they told Him to show them a sign and from heaven and they would believe He was the Christ. The truth was, He Himself, standing right in front of them was from heaven. Jesus’ rebuke for them was “how dare you apply your discernment to predicting good weather from bad weather” but lack ability to divinely discern spiritual matters. The word here translated sign means much more than simply a miracle or a demonstration of power. It means “a wonder by which one may recognize a person or confirm who He is.” In other words, the Pharisees and Sadducees were saying prove you are who You say you are by showing us a sign from heaven and not just from earth. The tragedy in all of this is that these religious leaders had the long-promised and long-awaited Messiah, Jesus the Son of God right in their midst and they still refused to acknowledge Him. This same warning is to us today. Let’s not be so discerning of temporal non-essential matters until we abandon applying divine discernment in times like these and miss God’s clear message for the Church in this season. God clearly has a message of divine discernment for His church in these turbulent times. Here are four of them (many, many more): • • • • Christ is the Head and Supreme Authority of the Church. The purpose of the church is to glorify God in the earth as one Body of Believers. The church works in cooperation with God as He accomplishes His purpose in the world. The church is currently under real threat of becoming Laodicean –that is, not being hot or cold but Lukewarm in this present age. How you say: By abandoning Christ in God as being The Amen (The God of Truth), the Faithful and True Witness (completely trustworthy and perfectly accurate to the truth of God), the Beginning of all creation. Revelation 3:14-22 4 The lines of life are blurring. Tragically, the people of God are being lulled by the blurring – showing very little fight to make their spiritual walk with Christ a high priority. We must not abandon things like serving one another, meditation time (medicating the mind with the Word of God); witnessing to others the Love of Christ, Wholesome Study of the Scripture, Corporate and Personal Prayer, and Fellowship with the Saints – and much more in the way being Salt and Light for Christ. How do we reach a point of laxness in our divine ability to discern? In other words how do we become rusty? • Lazy in our efforts to apply the Word and the virtues that God has provided us. 2 Peter 1:2 – 9 NKJV 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence [persistence], add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Also: Hebrews 5 and 6; Isaiah 7:14. Satan would like nothing more than for us to compromise our gift of Divine Discernment. In doing so, he knows he can overtake you! Don’t let it happen. But it’s not enough to rely on natural discernment because it is incapable of comprehending the things of God. And it’s those things that we need so desperately in our lives right now. We need divine, spiritual discernment. 5 What is that? Let me reiterate: It is the ability to sense God when He is guiding us, His children, to ensure we arrive at the decision that represents Him and His Kingdom. In simple, divine discernment is the supernatural ability to discern between good or evil, or holy or unholy, or right or wrong. Listen to these passages that reference Divine Discernment: 1. 2 Samuel 14:17 Your maidservant said, ‘The word of my lord the king will now be comforting; for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king in discerning good and evil. And may the LORD your God be with you.’ ” 2. Proverbs 15:21 Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, But a man of understanding walks uprightly. 3. Ecclesiastes 8:5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, 4. Ezekiel 44:23 “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 5. Jonah 4:11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” 6. Malachi 3:18 6 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him. Discernment helps us distinguish that which is God’s, that which is the devil’s, and that which is yours. Only one of these matters. Discernment is about hearing God’s voice, and learning His Way, His Will, His Warnings, and His Word. God the Holy Spirit is the ultimate Discerner of our Present Age – thereby speaking to us by His Word: Hebrews 1:1 (and the Word was God); and Hebrews 4:11-13. Finally, let me close by saying that you can heighten your divine discernment by doing three things: 1. Developing an appetite for God’s Word: Reading and Studying. [Thirst and Hunger after Righteousness Matthew 5:6] 2. Walking in the Spirit so as to not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 3. Trying God, Testing Him . . . to build trust that He is faithful and that He will lead and guide you into all truth and righteousness. Malachi 3:10 Can you see why we need divine discernment? Is yours at work? Divine Discernment END 7