I recently read an amazing clip out of a book with the heading, Discerning the Details. And I wanted to share this with you. The floor of the Princeton gym was being resurfaced. So Princeton basketball standout, later US Senator Bill Bradley, had to put in several practice sessions at the Lawrence School. His first afternoon at Lawrenceville, he began by shooting 14-foot jump shots from the right side. And he got off to a bad start. And he kept missing them. Six in a row, hit the back rim of the basket, bounced out. He stopped. He looked discomforted and seemed to be making an adjustment in his mind. Then he went up for another jump shot from the same spot and hit it cleanly. Four more shots went in without a miss. And then he paused. And he said, you want to know something? The basket is about an inch and a half low. Some weeks later, I went back to Lawrenceville with a steel tape, borrowed a step ladder, measured the height of the basket. It was 9 feet, 10 and 7 eighths inches above the floor, or 1 and 1 eighth inches too low. Talk about a great level of discernment when it comes to playing basketball. Bill Bradley nailed it on that point. And in every area of work, whether it's physical labor or dealing with spiritual issues, there will need to be a certain level of discernment necessary in order to get the job done. Discernment is critical. It's critical. It's important in the mind of God. It's necessary to have within the body of Christ. Here are just some passages that deal with discernment. This comes out of Psalm 119, verses 65, 66. Dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me good discernment and knowledge for I believe in your commandments. So the psalmist is emphasizing that discernment is obtained by God as he is the ultimate source of discernment. And also notice with me what the psalmist says, teach me good discernment, is what he says, teach me good discernment. So this isn't any kind of, just any kind of discernment, it's good discernment. When it came to basketball, Bill Bradley had good discernment. When it came to getting a hoop, Proverbs 26, verse 16, It says, the sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can give a discreet answer. And again, I think that it can almost be by default that we read a verse like this and in our own pride say, well, you know, I'm not the sluggard. I've been a believer for X many years and I know for a fact that I can give a discreet answer. I mean that's the temptation when in reality we ought to examine our hearts, myself included, because reality is this gift that God gives to the church is a very important gift. In fact, what we are going to find today is an amazing truth that should cause us to be extremely grateful, and that truth is this, that it is the purpose of God to gift the church with individuals who can accurately assess and judge God's revealed truth against the lies of Satan. It is the purpose of God to gift the church with individuals who can accurately assess and judge God's revealed truth against the lies of Satan. We need believers like that in our midst, don't we? We do. We need believers like that, believers who can accurately discern truth from error, who can give wise counsel. Well, I need to give credit to where credit's due this morning. I so appreciated Pastor David Thompson's notes on this particular gift. I wanted to mention that a lot of what we will look at concerning this gift today, to a degree, will come from his outline on this spiritual gift to the church. So with that, we're gonna begin our time this morning by looking at that 13th gift that has been given to certain believers within this church age of grace, and that gift is the gift of discernment, the gift of discernment. So again, we're parking on one gift today, and in our next lesson, we will tackle the rest that we have. But we find this gift listed for us in 1 Corinthians 12, in verse 10. where it's been titled The Distinguishing of Spirits, and this is what we read, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 10, and to another, the effecting of miracles, and to another, prophecy, and to another, the distinguishing of spirits, to another, various kinds of tongues, and to another, the interpretation of tongues. So you have there the distinguishing of spirits that has been listed. Dr. Paul Enns gave a very helpful overview of this gift that I'd like to read for you before we begin to break this gift down in order to understand it. This is what he writes, quote, in the early church before the canon of scripture was complete, God gave direct revelation to individuals who would communicate that revelation to the church. But how did the early believers know whether or not the revelation was true? How could they tell if it was from God or a false spirit or from the human spirit? To authenticate the validity of the revelation, God gave the gift of distinguishing of spirits. Those having this gift were given the supernatural ability to determine if the revelation was from God or if it was false. John's exhortation in 1 John 4 1 was to test the spirits. And it has reference to this. In the same way, when two or three spoke, the revelation of God in the assembly of those having the gift of discerning of spirits were to determine if this was from God or not, if this truth was from the Lord or if it wasn't. Well, in order to understand this gift, we're gonna ask just a couple questions that will help us to understand it in a better way. And the first question is, what is this gift? What is the gift of discernment? We want to ask that question. Well, from 1 Corinthians 12, verse 10, the Greek word for distinguishing is diaklesis. It means the ability to distinguish, to evaluate, and this word also means to render a decision or to judge correctly. When Bill Bradley assessed the height of that basketball hoop, He then made a conscious decision, or we might say a correct judgment on what needed to be adjusted so that he could then begin to get the ball in the hoop. And that's sort of the same idea that we have here for the gift of discernment for this Greek word. In fact, Pastor David Thompson had this to say. He said that when Paul wrote concerning this gift, there were many religious systems all claiming they could make you write with God, which were false systems fooling many. You had Judaism, Greek mythology, Roman polytheism, asceticism, mystics, cults, and many false prophets. These systems were demonic and their leaders were well disguised, but were ministers of Satan. Each system sounded good and looked good. That is why this gift was needed. So there obviously was a need to distinguish between what was true, what was false within the early church. That brings us to the second question, what is its purpose? What is the purpose of the gift of discernment? Well, the primary purpose for this gift was to be able to make judgment decisions between truth and error. Someone with this gift has been magnificently guided by the hand of God to understand things that others might not be able to see or understand. I believe one of the main purposes for this gift was for the church's protection. In order for the church to do well, it needs believers who can accurately make sound judgment calls concerning things that are both physical and spiritual. And that brings us to our third question that we want to ask, what kind of judgments are to be made in the church? What kind of judgments are to be made in the church? It certainly is true that this gift was around during the foundational period of the church, where it was highly needed before the completion of God's word, but we also find it to be important for the times in which we live today. There are judgment calls that need to be made today. And we're gonna look at at least three areas of life where judgment calls are to be made. The first area of life is in relation to false teaching. There ought to be judgment calls regarding false prophets. And we know that false prophets are individuals, they possess a satanic nature. promoting teachings that are not only demonic, teachings that are not only demonic but also dangerous. It's important to understand that false prophets may outwardly appear to be nice people. They might display sincerity, deep religious devotion, and a certain level of righteousness. Oftentimes, they are very gifted in the area of communication and are easy to listen to. However, it is crucial to recognize that behind their seemingly pleasant demeanor, false prophets are operating under the influence of Satan himself. While false prophets have the ability to present messages that are interesting, stimulating, challenging, and even exhibit some level of morality, it's imperative to note that their teachings do not align with the truth of God's word. And it's worth mentioning that false prophets often speak of Jesus Christ and even advocate for belief in Him. However, their teachings and interpretations of Christ's message are tainted, they're twisted, and they will distort the very essence of God's grace. And as a result, false prophets are to be regarded with condemnation as they mislead and deceive others, hindering them from experiencing the truth and the unadulterated truth of God's love and salvation. They are sneaky, sly boogers, those false prophets. You've got to watch out for them. They can make a mess of things in a real hurry. The Apostle Paul makes a great point here. This is what he says in 1 Timothy 4. Verses one through three. But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. And is that not happening today? It sure is. You know, as a society, we don't know which way is up, we don't know which way is down. Our culture is confused on so many things, and a large part of that has to do with the fact that there are smooth talkers out there, and it's easy to gain access to those smooth talkers through the internet. The second judgment call is for those who resist biblical truth. Those who resist biblical truth. I'd like to ask you to turn with me to 2 Thessalonians, let's go there, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, an amazing book. There were false teachers there disturbing the saints in Thessalonica. And that prompted the Apostle Paul to make the following statement here, 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 14. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him so that he will be put to shame. So critical in the mind of the Apostle Paul was this special teaching that had been handed down through the apostles. He says here that they should not associate with one who has rejected the instruction that had been given to them by the apostles. In Romans chapter 16, verses 17 and 18, we read, now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause, what, dissensions and hindrances. Contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. They are there. Again, we find in the New Testament this call to urgently watch out for those who cause dissensions and hindrances aimed at what? Aimed at the clear teaching of the word of God. that they had received. In the mind of God, biblical truth holds immense significance. It's meant to be safeguarded and nurtured. However, since the days of the church, the early church, Satan has been diligently laboring to distort and to disrupt a clear transmission of God's truth. And this strategic endeavor by our spiritual adversary extends far beyond the early church and traces its origins back to the garden. And we can go right back to the garden, right? We can. Brothers and sisters, wherever you have faithful men and women proclaiming God's truth, Wherever you have faithful pastors who stand on the word of God, and wherever you have a good work of the ministry that centers itself around the truth, around God's truth, you had better believe that Satan will be there to oppose that. He'll be there to oppose that work. And in the mind of God, he wants his children to understand that wherever you have someone who opposes that biblical truth, God says, take note of them and turn away from them. The third judgment call would be for believers who choose to continue in sin. Believers who choose to continue in sin. This is another area of life where judgment calls need to be made. This is very clear. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5. If you would turn with me there for a moment, 1 Corinthians 5, we're going to read out of that text in just a few short moments, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. It's interesting because he concludes that believers are to judge those in the church but not those who are lost in their sin or dead in their sin. And of course the rebuttal to that is Matthew 7. Some will say, well, didn't Jesus say, do not judge so that you will not be judged. So then how do we reconcile what the Apostle Paul says here and what Jesus Christ himself says? How do we reconcile what Paul said and what Jesus says? Context, right? Context, context, context. So important. When Jesus made those statements in Matthew 7, He directed those statements towards the hypocritical Pharisees who were questioning the ministry of Jesus Christ. And if you go on to read that Matthew 7 text, the context reveals that we are not to judge hypocritically, which is why Jesus says in verse 5, you hypocrite, stay in 1 Corinthians, but in Matthew 7 verse 5, Jesus says, 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. So the context between Matthew 7 and 1 Corinthians 5 is so different. In Matthew 7, Jesus was speaking to the hypocritical Pharisees who were doubting his ministry. In 1 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Corinth about an individual who was not repentant. That is, he did not acknowledge his sin, instead he continued in his sin. In Matthew 7, the church wasn't even born yet. But people will go, they'll take you to Matthew 7, see, we're not to judge anybody. The Apostle Paul sure did. 1 Corinthians 5, verses 11 and 12. But actually I wrote to you, not to associate with any so-called brother, if he is an immoral person or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or a swindler, not even to eat with such a one, for what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? Then he concludes with, but those who are outside God judges. Well, who is outside of the church? The world, those who are dead in their sin, lost in their sin, who've rejected Christ, those who consistently reject the gospel of Jesus Christ will ultimately be judged by God himself. But then Paul says, remove the wicked man from among yourselves, to the Corinthian believers. Paul says, look, as believers, as hard as it is, we are to make correct judgment calls within the church. So it is very clear that God wants believers to make judgment calls. He wants us to make good judgment calls. In fact, when the church in Corinth failed to make a good judgment call, Paul rebuked them for it. And that leads us right into our fourth question today. That fourth question is, well, what about the duration of this gift? What about the duration of this gift? When it comes to the gift of discernment, some believe that this gift was temporal, operating during the foundation of the church. There are others who believe that this gift is still for today. I believe that there are solid Bible teachers and scholars on both sides of the issue when it comes to this gift. Is it still being given today to those within the church? I'll tell you where I personally landed. I believe that this gift is still for the church today, and I'll give you a couple reasons why I believe this. First reason is that there's no passage of scripture that suggests that this gift has ceased. When it comes to the spiritual gifts, and what we've already seen in this series, has been that when you have these spiritual gifts listed, there are some that are temporal. And the scripture will make that clear. For instance, if you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 8 and 11, you can write that down, 1 Corinthians 13. verses 8 and 11, you'll discover that there are some gifts that are in fact, that have ceased, that are temporal. And they have ceased with the completion of God's word. The second reason why I believe that this gift is still for the church today is because there are many false prophets and teachers who are working overtime in the present. There are many false prophets and teachers who are working overtime in the present. Pastor David Thompson stated, that although the gift of prophecy ceased with the completion of the scriptures, the satanic team of false prophets did not cease and will not cease until Satan is destroyed, which indicates to me that there is still a need for this specific gift within the church. You don't have to go very far before you end up with some kind of weird teaching on your hands. I mean, it's out there. 2 Peter 2 verses 1 through 3 says, but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned and in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Yet Peter wouldn't be the only one to warn of false teachers. Jude writes in verse 4, for certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons. who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Oh, there are individuals who may incorporate the Bible into their teachings and discuss the concept of grace, but when you examine closely the teachings of false religions, one will observe that they distort the true meaning of grace to some extent. And that leads us right into the third reason why I believe this gift is still for the church today, and that is because there are passages in the Bible that suggest that the church is to make some kinds of judgments. And we saw this point earlier, but it's true that there is a need for biblical truth to flourish within a local church context, and one with this gift will certainly help out in that way. And that is our 13th gift. that we've had the privilege of studying in our time together. Today we were able to answer four questions concerning the gift of discernment. And in our time together today, when it came to the gift of discernment, we asked what is it, what is its purpose, what kind of judgments are to be made in general, and whether this gift is operating today or not. In fact, we were able to see this truth, that it is the purpose of God to gift the church with individuals who can accurately assess and judge God's revealed truth according to the lies of Satan. You know, I am convinced that if you have a real hunger for the Word of God, and if you make it your priority to study His Word, on your own time, you will inevitably have your senses trained to be able to discern what is biblical and what isn't biblical. Reality is, there may be some who have this gift within the body of Christ. But as believers, we are all called to be discerning so that we can be on guard against the spiritual lies that our enemy would hurl at us. If you would turn with me to 1 Peter 5. We're gonna end out our time on this section here, 1 Peter chapter five. We obviously know that the Apostle Paul, or Peter, is the one who wrote this letter. And in chapter one, verse one, we read, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout. And he gives a list of places where these believers were located. Then to these believers we read, Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting what? All, all your anxiety on him. Why? Because he cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Though it may be true that God gifts the church, With the gift of discernment, it is evident that all believers who are in Christ are called to guard their hearts. Peter writes here to be of sober spirit. That Greek word for sober is the word nepho, and it carries this idea that we're called to curb the controlling influences of emotions or desires so that we are in essence reasonable So you think about emotions and desires, those can be powerful things that can get us off track from where we should be in the Christian life. Peter says we are to be of sober spirit regardless of the fact that you may or may not have the gift of discernment. Peter goes even further with this. He says be of sober spirit, but then what? Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert, be on the alert. That Greek word for alert means to be aware. It carries this idea of staying awake. Have you ever had one of those sleepless nights? You wake up, two o'clock in the morning, oh, can't get back to sleep. Your mind is going, you can't get back to sleep. When things are going well in life and in ministry, be mindful of the fact that it doesn't take much to end up with some kind of difficulty or hardship Why? Peter answers that question. We have a very real, spiritual enemy. He wants to devour someone, that is, to destroy someone. My brother went on a missions trip to Honduras this year, and when he got back, I was chatting with him about how it went, and he said something that didn't surprise me one bit. He said, last one, right before that missions trip, I experienced a spiritual attack, and that didn't surprise me one bit. I mean, he was a bit shaken up by that. And then he said, after the missions trip, that attack kind of subsided. It went away. I mean, that's just it. We need to get past this wrong thinking that in the Christian life, it's all roses and sunshine. There are things that are difficult, that come up, that need to get worked through, and as we do, we need to have a level head about those things. Peter says, be of sober spirit, be on the alert. And I don't want to sound pessimistic here, But I think it's wise to always be aware of the fact that if you know Christ, if you're serving him, there is a spiritual target on your back. And we need to be reminded of that. I opened up our time this morning with Bill Bradley, who was able to carefully assess in a moment's time how far off the basketball hoop was from the ground. And when he did, he made the appropriate adjustments that allowed him to make the accurate basketball hoop. So I wanna ask us this morning, What adjustments do we need to make in our personal lives? As we go through this week, what adjustments do we need to make in our personal lives that'll bring God greater glory? I think that's worth asking. It may be that you don't have the gift of discernment. But my next question then would be how can we grow in discernment? we need to grow in being discerning. Because reality is, we need to be so careful in our assessment of certain things. I recently read a funny story that happened to Chuck Swindoll, and then we'll close out our time here. While delivering a sermon at a Christian camp, Swindoll noticed a man who expressed his anticipation of hearing him speak for the first time. Throughout the week, Swindoll observed that the man would often fall asleep during the messages. Initially, Swindoll assumed that the man must be tired from a long day's drive and dismissed his behavior. However, as the same pattern continued, Swindoll grew increasingly frustrated, questioning why the man continued to doze off if he genuinely desired to hear Swindoll preach. So on the final night, the man's wife approached Swindoll and apologized for her husband's lack of attention during the sermons. And she revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with, that he had been recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, and that the medication he was taking to manage that pain caused extreme drowsiness. So despite his condition, it had always been his lifelong dream to hear Dr. Swindoll speak before his passing, and now his dream had been fulfilled. You know, sometimes things are not the way they seem to be. So in the middle of it, we need to be mindful of our walk with Jesus Christ, resting in Him and trusting that He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who have been called according to what? his purposes and that's the challenge because we don't know what his purposes are sometimes but we need to trust him he has purposes he has plans for our lives heavenly father we give you praise that you do we thank you for your love we want to thank you for uh... this particular gift that you've given to the church uh... the church has benefited from this gift tremendously And we thank you for that. I pray that as your people, we will, as we go through this week, make it a priority to grow in our discernment of biblical truth, biblical accuracy. Help us to make decisions in life that are honoring to you. that will bring you glory, that will be the best for the body. Father, we submit these things to you, and we ask that you'll give great wisdom in every way. Father, for those that may be here or are listening online who have never made the decision to trust Christ, a relationship with you begins with a decision, and that decision is to trust in Jesus Christ alone to save from our sin punishment. Lord, we have a great need. Help those that have yet to make that decision to see that need and to know that Jesus Christ is the only way that they can be saved. We give you praise. We thank you for your love and for the sacrifice of our Savior. In your name I pray, amen.