Spiritual Discernment

Turn with me please to the book of Philippians again. When Brody started to read, I thought, there it goes. But he didn't read anything that I got on my mind.

Philippians in chapter 2, and we're going to read at verse number 1. Now, last night we mentioned the idea of spiritual preparation. We'll touch that just a little bit. But we're going to look here at spiritual discernment.

Spiritual discernment. Philippians in chapter 2, verse number 1. If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy. That ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless to sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

Holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, and that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Lord, bless to us the reading of his word and what we've been privileged to listen to already this morning. Spiritual discernment.

And particularly, it's been upon my heart as we live in this crooked and perverse nation. We read that here and the Philippians would have understood what that meant as Brodiarty gave the context of the book under the subject of Rome. But many of God's people today are extremely disappointed.

Many of God's people today in this world in which we live, we find ourselves in times that have not been seen in any of your generations that are alive today. How do we behave ourselves? How do we discern spiritually what to do, how to behave, how to act in this present evil age in which we are in? And just very simply, I want to appeal, especially to the young people here this morning, if you're going to be able to discern what to do with your life. And you young people, just to say, you older ones, older than myself, we have no clue what these young people are going through.

The times are very, very troublous. And so you young people, if you're going to make decisions and go on for God, you're going to need spiritual discernment. And I'm not here up here to preach on this because I'm an expert at this.

It's because I struggle with this just like everyone else. But if we're going to try to manipulate through this lifetime, we're going to need God to guide us. And we look to that, but we're also going to understand the context in which we live.

And what I want to say by that is just this, we need to understand where we are in this world. We need to understand where we are. We need to understand what we are as God's people.

If we're going to get help with spiritual discernment, we need to understand who we serve. And if you can keep these three questions in mind as you're going through this life, you're going to be told things that are contrary to what you hear this morning. We're living in a world that is a crooked and a perverse nation.

I love the phrase here that Paul uses to the Philippians. He says to the Galatians, it is a present evil world. This is not new in the big picture of mankind.

What we're seeing in morality and its failure and what we're seeing in sin and its increase is not new to this generation. It's happened over and over and over again. Come with me quickly in your mind to Noah's day.

The thoughts and the intentions of men were only evil continuously. God moved. Come to Sodom and Gomorrah.

And there's a man Lot and his soul was vexed daily, just like yours is vexed daily. With the unlawful deeds of the things that we see and that we hear. So this is not new.

There is nothing new under the sun. It's just new to us. It's just new to us.

And so if we're going to have spiritual discernment, first of all, I want to just mention about the spiritual preparation. Spiritual preparation and Joshua, we read last night, the two times that sanctify yourself is used. One is they were to prepare to receive a blessing and then they were to sanctify themselves when Achan had sinned.

And the secret sins must be revealed. And just to sum that up for those who weren't there last night, and this is going to be important for us for today, because if we're going to have a successful spiritual discernment, we have to be spiritually prepared. And what they had to do in those days is they were going to empty themselves and they were going to be dependent upon God.

They were going to be quiet. They were going to be honest, but they were going to be expectant. And when you come to chapter three, where they're about to cross to Jordan and they were there in all the anticipation of God working a wonder, they were dependent upon God.

They were empty of self. They were quiet. They were honest.

And they were looking forward to the blessing. In chapter seven, it was the same. Israel could not prosper because of the hidden sin.

And again, they would be empty. They would be dependent. They would be quiet.

They would be honest. They would be expecting the truth to come out. And so now you and I, in this world in which we live, how do we live for God? We need spiritual discernment.

And to understand the atmosphere in which we live is a start. You see, the reason there needs to be discernment at all is because of the opposites of where we are. We're living in a sinful world and yet we're part of a spiritual holy kingdom.

Two places at once. We're walking on the sands of time and yet we are in a spiritual kingdom. And so we're going to only be able to be in one place at a time.

And the sad reality is, and I'm not trying to be mean, I'm trying to be honest, most of us are living double lives. Six and a half days out of the week we're conformed to this world. And the other half a day, on the Lord's Day morning, our mind and our focus are here.

I wish I could say it was that way for Sunday night and Wednesday night, but you brethren know in every assembly it's not that way. And so the problem then is our discernment. And we go out into the world and we go to work and we go to school and we go about our daily things and we are conformed to this world while we're in the world.

That's not right. And then we try to turn the switch or flip the switch and we come in to the presence of God's people and we're going to be now spiritually discerning and we're going to do the right thing and the God honoring thing and it doesn't work very well. And could I say this, that maybe in my life that is why my spiritual existence is shallow and spiritual power is weak and maybe the blessing of the gospel is skimpy.

Spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment. This chapter two of Philippians kind of takes in, it takes in the whole idea.

So now remember, this is a crooked and a perverse world. Crooked and perverse. It's a warped and a winding world.

And perverse, it is a misinterpreted world. Everything is twisted. Discernment is necessary.

Discernment is necessary. How is it going to start? It's going to start with spiritual preparation. And last night we made the application of preparing for this conference this weekend and to seeking the Lord's presence and the Lord's voice and the Lord's power.

But we need spiritual discernment in this world in which we live. We need spiritual discernment in the assemblies of which we form a part of. And you've just heard about that in an aspect.

So how are you going to know what to do? How are you going to know when to do it? How are you going to know how to do it? It'll be when we're empty of self, when we're dependent upon God, when we're hushed in our spirits, when we're honest before God and we look to him expectantly, to his word to be a light unto our path. This is Christianity 101, brethren. We need to confess our sin.

We need to read our Bibles. You want to know what to do in your life? Keep a short account with God and read your Bible. It's that simple.

The spiritual discernment, understanding where we are, we're in a place that hates God. It's kind of like Daniel in a godless world. And there the young men were and did they not need spiritual discernment? What happened when they got there? Oh, their menu was changed.

Their food was changed. Their name was changed. They tried to change everything about them and the world is trying to conform you to its image and change everything about you as well as about me.

But those men had spiritual discernment. They had conviction and they knew that they needed the God of heaven. Those men were willing not only to suffer reproach and not only to suffer persecution, but to honor their God.

They were willing to trust him with their life. Can you trust him this morning? You must trust him this morning. And what we have here is understanding just a little of where we are.

Let's look at this a little about what we are. What we are. What are you in Christ? You're a son of God positionally.

You're chosen. You are sanctified. You are set apart.

You are holy. You see the conflict. Perverse versus holiness.

It is the battle that rages inside of every one of us. How do I know what is right in this world? So we understand where we're living in this world. But to understand what we are, you have been placed here, every Christian here, by divine providence, by divine plan to live in this day and age.

Smile, please. God has made you who and what you are, the way you are, for it's by the grace of God that we are what we are. And God has made you who and what you are by his grace.

And he has placed you in this world at this time. For a very specific purpose. That only you have been gifted, have been called, have been chosen to do.

That gift should give you the chills. The tingly should go up and down your back. Do you understand what that means? When God takes a human being, when God takes one of his creations, and he moves them and he places them where he wants them, at the time that he wants them, there is no greater privilege upon this earth.

Think about that for a moment. When you see Adam and Eve placed in the garden, God said they may have everything but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil belongs to God.

God expected Adam and Eve to obey. That's all that they needed to do. But they sinned.

Eve was deceived. Adam sinned willfully. They disobeyed God.

And all God's what he had called very good was contaminated by sin. For you and I, God has put us here. What does he expect of us? To fight the battle on our own? No.

He expects us to obey. Just like he expected Adam to obey. God placed Adam in that place for a purpose, for a reason.

And Adam's responsibility was to obey God. And he failed. Our brother mentioned about being a slave this morning.

Not only we are the chosen of God, we are the bond servants of God. We are laborers together with God. Now what I'm hoping the spirit of God will do, what he has done in me, is give you a light, a feeling, more than a feeling, a reality of optimism.

Optimism. For most assemblies that I visit, when we talk in the interval or wherever, it seems like we're always talking about the negative. We're talking about the world.

We're talking about the drought, the dryness. We're talking about all the bad things in this world. God has placed you as a light in a dark world.

Again, chills down your spine. He has placed you here as a representative of himself and of his kingdom. And we do need spiritual discernment.

So that's where we're living. And that's who we are. And you can see now the spiritual battle that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places, principalities and powers that are even greater than us, but they're not greater than our God.

They are not greater than our God. And so in this dark world, if we are spiritually prepared, we will shine as lights for God. It's about time for tears now.

That should melt your heart to tears that God has chosen you and God has chosen me to be witnesses for him. And perhaps the final days of this age, you are blessed beyond measure. The third thing we need to understand a little bit is who we serve, who we serve.

This whole chapter is all about the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we're going to have spiritual discernment, we would do well to learn of him. The one who always did the will of the father, the one who was absolutely perfect in every way, brought joy to the father's heart.

And that is our goal, is it not? To be more like him. And here we read of this one and how he lived in this world. And again, you'll see here the spiritual preparation.

There was the attitude of humility. The mind is mentioned four or five times in these few verses that we have read. And the Lord Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

And so we'll understand here that if we're going to have spiritual discernment and our humility, we are going to be available. For whenever God is placed in front of us, whatever God has fitted us for, whatever God has gifted us for, we're going to be available in humility. And so that when the call comes, the heart is prepared spiritually to say, Lord, send me, send me.

That was the mind of Christ. Who shall I send? And the son was willing to come and he humbled himself and he became obedient unto death. He had the attitude of humility.

How many people in this world do you read about every day with an attitude of humility? You must go to a special website on the computer where all the humble people put their name because they're so humble. There are none. There are none.

Are there any in this conference today? Loaded question. Oh yeah, I'm a humble one. The point is this.

When we look out into the world and we see all the self-exaltation and the self-glorification, when we come to a gathering like this in local assembly capacity, an attitude of humility should fall upon every heart. Wrong. An attitude of humility should have been seen in every heart all week long.

That was the Lord Jesus Christ. And some of you are great at business and you are what the business world might call sharks. You know how to make a deal.

You know what leverage is and you know how to use it. That's the way the business world works as a Christian with spiritual discernment. Although you may have a job to do, be humble, be humble.

The Lord Jesus had the greatest, he had the greatest responsibility, didn't he? And he was the most humble. Spiritual discernment, humility. The next one as we just trace down through these imperatives really is, is in verse number 12.

He says, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. They were obedient.

I appreciated as these thoughts were coming to me that they were just not obedient when they were being watched by Paul. They weren't just obedient when somebody was keeping an eye on them. They were obedient in his absence also.

When there's no Christians around, no overseers around, are you consistent in obedience? Consistent in obedience. That is spiritual discernment. Okay, they're there and they're telling me at work to be crooked.

They're telling me at work that I need to, that I need to cut the corners like we heard. They're telling me there that I need to cheat the grade. Push it a little bit more.

That was always in my industry. Push the grade a little bit more. Can't do that, can you? Can't do that.

Why? Because we're going to be obedient. See, when we're humble, when we're obedient, discernment takes care of itself because we're spiritually now prepared for God to guide us and God to direct us. And always remember that it's always, it's always God that does the work.

It's always God. And so these Philippians, they were obedient and they were working out their salvation and they were living it out and feeling and trembling. They weren't, their works weren't their salvation and they were living out the enjoyment of their salvation and the responsibility of their salvation and they were living the gospel.

And that's a great way to find spiritual discernment. And Brody's already touched on this quite extensively. Live according to the gospel.

According to the gospel. That nothing would hinder the work of the gospel. The spiritual discernment, who we serve.

The Lord Jesus, obedience. Obedience. Sometimes God doesn't give us what we want.

He gives us what we need. He always gives us what we need. He gives us probably every need.

But can we be honest today? Do I really want to obey Him? Some, there may be some here and it's never crossed your mind. That you profess to be saved and now you've been saved for many years and you've never shown any act of obedience really per se, personally for the Lord Jesus. If that's you here today, something's wrong.

I have no desire to please the Lord. I have no desire to go on. Just go with the flow.

And then the old brethren say any old dead fish can go downstream. But when the time comes and there's a stand that needs to be taken, sooner or later even, the Lord brings out the secret disciples like Joseph of Arimathea. What was it that brought Joseph out of hiding? It was the fact that as he waited for the kingdom of God, the king had been rejected.

And our king has been rejected. And the Lord Jesus has been despised and rejected of men. Does it not stir an affection of love and motivation for His honor to be obedient unto Him? His obedience.

Number 14, verse 14, it says, Do all things without murmurings and disputings. Be safe to say then, if we're murmuring and grumbling and complaining about everything that we're involved in that we're maybe not very spiritual discerning. Christians are great complainers, aren't we? We really are.

We're good at it. Because after all, we're justified in it, right? We're only complaining about the sin of others, by the way. We're only complaining about the shortcomings of others.

And we're murmuring. Children of Israel murmured against God. I hope none of us are murmuring against God.

Children of Israel, they murmured against God. God had to move in judgment to correct their thinking. That's not out of the realm of possibilities for us.

And if we are murmuring against God, maybe we should pray that He would change our thinking. How many people do you know in this world that aren't murmuring? Everybody's complaining. Everybody's murmuring.

You see why we're lights in the world? How many happy people are there in this world? You folks here live in rural America. And the farming communities are still somewhat friendly. Somewhat friendly.

They're busy. They don't have time for you. But they're still somewhat friendly.

But I can tell you this. You go to a metropolis somewhere, and you go down the street, and you can't get anybody to look at you, let alone smile at you. I was in Pennsylvania having breakfast.

There was some, I don't even remember what it was. It was gross. They wanted to have me experience some Philadelphia breakfast thing.

It was there, and the waitress was an older lady. And the brother who took me to this place, he had to take a phone call. And I was just being friendly.

I was being Midwest friendly to a Philadelphian. And the brother comes back, and she says to him, what's the matter with him? Just being friendly. Just being smiley.

Just not complaining. Just being humble is spiritual discernment. You know, it's a choice.

It's a choice. And he was absolutely without murmuring, wasn't he? As a lamb dumb. As a sheep before his shears is dumb.

He opened not his mouth. The bitterest agonies of the olive press of Gethsemane, where he sweat as it were great drops of blood. He was still always in the will and in the mind of God.

He didn't grumble. He didn't murmur. He didn't argue.

He's our example. Last point, verse number 18. It says, for the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me.

Joy and happiness, you know, are not the same. They are not the same. There can be true joy and sorrow.

There can be true joy and suffering. And oftentimes it is, in retrospect, the greatest times in our lives of joy when suffering was upon us and the Lord was near. And for those of you that have gone through those trials, some of you have said that you wouldn't trade them for anything in this world.

To know the nearness of the Father of heaven. How are we going to live in this world? How are we going to finish out our days? We need spiritual discernment. We need the word of God.

We need each other. We need the teachings of the doctrines of the scriptures. We need a clear conscience.

We need clean hands. We need Christ. We need Christ.

Are you spiritually prepared today to be used of God? Are you discerning the call from his voice? For spiritual discernment. And Lord bless his word.