WORD Watchers Ministry
Bible Studies
DISCERNMENT – NOT JUDGMENTALISM
COPYRIGHT 2005
This study came about because
of a prayer I made to Jesus years ago. I
asked God for Discernment. I wanted His discernment so when I would be in
situations where I was trying to help someone or deal with something I wouldn’t
feel like I was dealing with the situation partially blind. I wanted His perspective because it would help
me know how to deal with what ever situation I might be in with a clear picture
of all sides. This way I would not be blindsided by the lack of knowledge
about life and people and things going on around me. It has been a wonderful
awesome help in dealing with life as it has come my way. I noticed though at first within myself that
I didn’t know how to deal with the fact that I began to ‘have feelings’ about
the things I was discerning. Instead
of just leaving it in my spirit it flowed over into my flesh. I found myself becoming judgmental although that
was never my intention. My intentions
were pure in themselves with my prayer to Jesus. But flesh is flesh and God had to give me this
study to help me realize I was doing something that I didn’t even realize
that I was doing. I was ‘feeling’ judgmental.
I hope this study helps others not fall into this trap like I did.
God is a good God. His Mercy
endures forever.
A. HEBREWS 5:14
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.
Discern 1253
diakrisis (dee-ak'-ree-sis);
from NT:1252; judicial estimation:
KJV - discern (-ing),
disputation.
To discern is to
judge. This type of discernment is a
judgment passed down to us from The Judge = God. We do not make this judgment. We are not the
judge. We are receivers of this knowledge
from God.
The judge sets and
listens to both sides of the situation and based on his knowledge of the law
passes down a decision. That decision
stands. Our God is the ultimate Judge.
His judgments are righteous and true and are forever.
1 Chron 16:14
14 He is the LORD
our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
Ps 19:9
9 The fear of the
LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous
altogether.
Ps 119:160
160 Thy word is true
from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for
ever.
b. Good 2570
kalos (kal-os'); of uncertain affinity;
properly, beautiful, but chiefly (figuratively) good (literally or morally),
i.e. valuable or virtuous (for
appearance or use, and thus distinguished from NT:18, which is properly intrinsic):
KJV - X better,
fair, good (-ly), honest, meet, well, worthy.
c. Evil
4190
poneros (pon-ay-ros');
from a derivative of NT:4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or influence,
and thus differing from NT:2556, which refers rather to essential character,
The evil 4190 above and the last half of the explanation
of evil 2556 below show this evil to be something we can see, hear or maybe
feel. Maybe someone is trying to harm us. Someone could try to rob us or attack us.
We might see people angry and yelling bad words at each other or punching
each other. The police may have to be called out for domestic
violence. This kind of evil is the ability to see and be aware
of it as it is happening.
d. Evil 2556
kakos (kak-os');
apparently a primary word; worthless (intrinsically, such; whereas NT:4190 properly refers to effects), i.e.
(subjectively) depraved, or (objectively)
injurious:
KJV - bad, evil, harm,
ill, noisome, wicked.
I was so excited
about the meaning of good and evil. It is Valuable or Worthless. !!! Above in good # 2570 and evil # 2556 we
see this to be true. These are not things
in the ‘every day’ everyday where we live. They are not things that we can see or hear or
feel. It is the area that God sees as
He sees insides each and every one of us. Maybe we are praying about someone or something or with someone about
someone or something. There maybe
things going on that we do not see or know. Something that someone is doing or feeling that
is worthless in their life. Maybe the
person is not aware of this and God is going to use us to help someone get
something out of his or her lives. Maybe
someone isn’t telling us everything. They
come to us and want prayer and help but are not being upfront and honest with
us. If we had discernment from God we
might get an insight into the situation that would help us help them.
I can remember times of a warning where God said' to be careful to
step lightly' or to just 'step back from it altogether and let Him do His
work'. He may want us to be silent but to be prayerful.
God may use a moment to tell us something that is just the thing we
need to get something changed
in our lives. It would be something
we don’t see or know from our advantage point but God knows and can see it
from His advantage point.
The two scriptures
below are 2 reminders that we can easily have a tendency to live with the
evil in our lives that is worthless. We
must remember these ways were cleaned from us when we accepted Jesus.
There is a decision on our part to 'put off' these things as we recognize
them in our lives and remember that they are not pleasing to Jesus.
a. Eph 4:22
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
b. Rom
6:6
6 Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin.
16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long
wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?
fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite:
for I have provided me a king among his sons.
2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear
it, he Will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say,
I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.
3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will
shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake,
and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming,
and said, Comest thou peaceably?
5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice
unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And
he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
6 And it came to pass, when they were come,
that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.
7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not
as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh
on the heart.
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass
before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.
9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he
said , Neither hath the
LORD chosen this.
10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass
before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.
11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all
thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold,
he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for
we will not sit down till he come hither.
12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was
ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint
him: for this is he.
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed
him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David
from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
KJV
6 And it came to pass, when they were come,
that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.
7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. KJV
1. One of the meanings for the word seeth, in the Hebrew, in
the Strongs Concordance, #7200, is discern.
2. In this instance, Samuel did not judge. The Lord judged, and passed the information down
to Samuel for Samuel to use to make the wisest decision for Him. Men use their minds to reason things out and
make decisions based on the information presented to them. But God has an ability that goes beyond our ability.
He can look into people’s hearts. He
can see hidden things we can never see because we do not have the ability
to see into other people's hearts. We
can't even see what is in our own hearts. The
things God sees in us and others are hidden from our eyes.
Without His help we could be deceived in certain situations and be
tripped up by the things we cannot see. It’s a judgment, we don’t make it,
but God does and passes it down to us to help us and to maybe help us help
another person. In this example of Eliab,
God does not say why he didn't choose him just that He didn't. We don't have to know the reasons that God discerns
something to be a certain way. We just
have to do our best to listen and to use the information passed down to us
to the best of our ability for God.
C.
GOOD AND EVIL
I. Matthew 5:22
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say,
Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
KJV
a. Raca
#4469
rhaka
(rhak-ah'); of Aramaic origin [compare OT:7386]; O empty one, i.e. thou worthless (as a term of
utter vilification): KJV - Raca.
b.
Fool #3474
moros
(mo-ros'); probably from the base of NT:3466; dull or stupid (as if shut up),
i.e. heedless, (morally) blockhead, (apparently) absurd:
KJV
- fool (-ish, X -ishness)
Worthless-fool-stupid. God does not want us to attack a person himself
or herself. No person is worthless.
We are bought with a very high price, the blood of Jesus.
A very valuable person may do a worthless deed, or have a worthless
thought. They may need to repent and get back on track with God.
People are not worthless. God
wants us to discern between good and evil – valuable and worthless, lest we
be in danger of council and or hell fire.
2.
We are bought with a price = VALUABLE
a.
1 Corinthians 6:20-7:1
20 For ye are
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God's. KJV
b. 1 Peter 1:18-19
18 Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
KJV
D.
GOD IS THE JUDGE
1. Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. KJV
2.
Discerner #2923
krites (kree-tace');
from NT:2919; a judge (genitive case or specially): KJV - judge.
God is THE JUDGE. He
is the only one who can judge. He discerns
the thoughts and intents of the heart. God
never intended for us to judge. In fact
He tells us if we do judge then we will be judged. When God shows us something, [when we discern
good and evil], then we have a choice. We
have to choose not to let our reactions to “what the person has done or said”,
reflect on the person himself or herself and become JUDGMENTAL. God loves that person. They are valuable, bought with a very high price-the
blood of Jesus.
God shows us the evil - the worthless stuff - or just basic information we need to know that
we can't know on our own. This information
could be like it was for Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. To help him make a right decision for God and
not get tripped up or deceived by false information that was coming into his
mind. It could also be for restoration
like in the scripture below in Galatians. God
may use information on a worthless thing to help a valuable person get their
life straight with Him again. It could
be through prayer or confrontation. But as we see below God's purpose is to have
His valuable children restored back to Him.
What an awesome love that our God has for us.
3. Galatians 6:1
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. KJV
4.
Judgmentalism Judgement
- Random House College Dictionary. #5,
the forming of an opinion, estimate, notion, or conclusion, as from circumstances
presented to the mind.
God wants us to be able to hear from Him and to discern but
not to judge. He does any judging that
needs to be done. The scripture that
this study is based on is basically broken up into 3 parts. The 1st is learning what it is to
discern.
The 2nd part is to know that there are two types
of things to be discerned. One is good
and one is evil. Good is represented
here as something that is valuable and evil is represented as something that
is worthless. This good and evil is
something God sees and shows it to us. This
evil is in contrast to the evil that we can recognize by seeing it.
The 3rd part of this study I learned is that God
always wants us to separate people's deeds from themselves. People are valuable
even if some deeds or thoughts are not. This
goes for things shown to us for ourselves by God or by others from God.
Don't beat yourself up over sin. Confess
it to Jesus and go on. Remember God's purpose is for restoration to
Himself. Don't run from God, always
run to Him as fast as you can. Discernment
is an ability that God shares with us. It's
to be used for Him, not to be abused.
LORD GOD PLEASE HELP US TO DISCERN GOOD AND EVIL. HELP US PLESE TO GUARD OUR HEARTS AND NOT TO
BE JUDGMENTAL AND REACT TO A PERSON PERSONALLY IN A NEGATIVE WAY OR BE A GOSSIP.
WE NEED TO BE PRAYERFUL AND COMPASSIONATE AND OBEDIENT TO YOU.
LORD PLEASE HELP US, GUIDE US, AND TEACH US.