The Trademarks of a Mature Christian Series Part 2

Mature in their Discernment

By: M. S. Shiflett

(This series of messages was preached in October 2004 at Calvary Independent Baptist Church, Bloemfontein South Africa)

Tonight we want to look at the trademarks of a mature Christian in this area of discernment.  There is a great need, as far as I am concerned, in our churches today, among Christians, for discernment.  Let us look at 2 verses. 

Ezekiel 44:23,  "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

Now in Hebrews 5:14 it says, "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."

In both these passages of Scripture we see discernment.  So we are going to look at it tonight.  As I looked at these verses, it was encouraging to me to see that we can have discernment.  The interesting thing is that in both of these verses, discernment comes only after teaching and training.  Let me show you.  In the Ezekiel verse it says that they shall teach my people the difference, and cause them to discern.  Somebody is teaching somebody else right from wrong!  Not only are they teaching them right from wrong, but they are also teaching them how to discern for themselves right from wrong.  Big difference!  To tell somebody something is wrong is one thing; to teach them how to discern right from wrong is much more difficult.

Then in Hebrews 5 it says that those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  That word, "exercised," means it has been built up.  Just as you and I might be involved in some sort of an exercise program where we try to build up our body or we try to make our muscles that are inactive active or whatever, that is the way that discernment comes about.  I think it is important that we see here that Christians that get saved, newborn babies in Christ, do not have a lot of discernment.  That is something that comes with time.  That is something that is taught.  That is something that is picked up.  Obviously the more discernment that you use, the more you get. 

It is not like you can read your Bible one day and say, "Thank you Lord," and now you know right from wrong.  It is not that way.  Now, you say,  "Well, goodness, Brother Stacey, why did God make it like that?  Why did He make it to the point to where we cannot know right from wrong from the very beginning?"  Well, He is not talking here about murder, or adultery, or fornication, or pornography.  Those things we know are wrong.  You do not have to do a whole lot of studying to know that.  What we are talking about is that as we mature into a mature Christian.  As we grow, there are things that are not always crystal clear, and you have to have discernment.   Now the problem with our churches today, the problem with so-called Christians today, is a lack of discernment.  They have not yet figured out the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, the profane and the holy. 

Recently, I publicly and without apology denounced the alcohol that is in this church function next-door.  I publicly condemn that.  For a 'church' to have whiskey, wine and liquor involved in their fund-raiser is a severe lack of discernment.  If you asked them, every one of them would no doubt say it is all right.  They do not know the difference between the holy and the profane.  They do not know the difference between right and wrong.  I am not saying that they are not saved; I am saying that they do not have any discernment whatsoever!  I am very safe in saying that this evening.  I wonder how many of us as Christians when it comes to a vital decision; when it comes to a time in our lives that we have to make a judgment, we cannot do it because we lack the discernment. 

In our verse in Ezekiel 44, I wanted to look at one other verse that is in that chapter.  It says in Ezekiel 44:23 - 24,  "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.  And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments."  That is what we are talking about tonight.  We are talking about saying the same thing about something that God says about it.  That is where discernment comes in.  "...and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths."  So what He is saying here is, He says that the people need to be taught how to asses the situation just like He would. 

God says, "What I want my people to do, is when they look at a situation, they say the same thing about it that I say about it, and they see the same thing that I see."  We are not blinded.  It is not distorted, it is not foggy, and it is not smoky.  It is clear.  That is because of discernment.  We need discernment. 

2 Timothy 2:7,  "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things."

1 John 5:20,  "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."

I have here four things that we need to be able to discern.  Look at these closely.

       I. Able to Discern the Spirits

Number one, we need to be able to discern the spirits.  The Bible talks in several places about different spirits.  The verse that I am thinking about specifically, is in 1 John 4:1,  "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."  That word, "try," means to test them. 

Then in 1 John 4:6 it says,  "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."  So there is more that one spirit.  Understand that.  Understand that for everything that God has ever had, Satan has a substitute; Satan has an alternative.  It looks many times very much the same, but it is not the same.  Now in 2004, we need to be able to discern the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, because if you do not you are going to get in a mess. 

Colossians 2:8 says this,  "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."  Beware.  This is a caution.  There means you are studying out the situation.  There are philosophies, there are teachings, and there are things that are not of God that people are trying to get you and I to accept.  If we do not have discernment, we may very well receive those things as being of God.  There are two things that we are to be able to discern about the Spirit.

              A. Discern His Working

We are to be able to discern His working.  I am amazed many times, and I am also disappointed at how many times Christians cannot perceive the working of the Holy Spirit.  They are not discerning of the fact that God is doing something.  That is why it is one of my biggest disappointments for me to preach a message and during the invitation, during the altar call when God is working, people in the church are putting their coats on, putting their cell phones on, they are doing this, they are doing that, getting all their things together, and they go to the restroom. That is not being very discerning!  That is the time when God is working and we need to be discerning of His working.

If you are in tune with God, when I am up here preaching, you ought to be able to sense that God is trying to do something.  If you are really in tune with God, you might even be able to sense the fact that He is working with the person beside you or behind you as well as yourself!  That is part of being a mature Christian.  You can sense what is going on.  You are aware.  You are alert.  You are not just sitting there.  You are in touch with what is going on.  That is the working of the Holy Ghost.  God is working, and we need to be discerning of His working.  With this comes a caution.  With this comes a warning.  The working of the Holy Spirit of God never contradicts Scripture. 

                     1. It never contradicts Scripture; it never glorifies the flesh or man

If you see something that is going on, and somebody says,  "Boy, is not God doing something great here?"  If it is contradicting Scripture, it is not of God.  It is important that you realize that, because there are a lot of things that are going on in our churches today under this label of the working of the Spirit, and it is not the working of the Spirit.  It is the work of flesh, it is the work of men, and it is dead works.  It is not God, but we have got to the place where we can fake it.  That is why he said,  "Test the spirits.  Try the spirits whether they are of God."  In other words he is saying that there is going to come a time when you got to ask yourself a question,  "Is this of God or not?" 

I am thinking specifically about a dear Brother who lives down in Port Elizabeth.  He was sitting in my house one night telling me story after story after story of things that was going on in his former church there in Port Elizabeth.  He said that the people would go into the prayer room, and they would pray and they would come back out and he said that they would have gold dust all over them.  They called it a manifestation of the Holy Ghost.  Gold dust!  He said,  "I am not telling you something I heard.  I saw it."  He said,  "I was sitting in a meeting one night, where Rodney Howard Brown was preaching and the guy beside me said, ‘Here, pass this down.'  I grabbed it and it was a ball of cold air in my hands.  I passed it to the guy beside me and he took it and it was not on my hands anymore."  He said,  "I am not telling you something that I heard about."  He said,  "I saw it."  He said,  "I went home and my wife and myself asked ourselves the question,  ‘Is this of God?'"  Needless to say, they concluded it was not of God and left that church!

Try the spirits.  They are out there.  They are very much real.  The Holy Spirit of God does not manifest itself in a cold ball of air that you pass around in church like an offering plate.  What am I saying?  I am saying that Satan will do anything!  He will think of things.  This Brother in Port Elizabeth said, "I saw a man's tooth turn to gold in front of my eyes.  I saw it.  His tooth turned into gold!"  It is those things that people see that cause them to roll on the floor and bark like dogs and crow like chickens. 

I saw a video of a man by the name of John Scotland.  If you do not believe it, you can come to my house and I will show you.  This man is standing in the pulpit at a Charismatic church in Toronto, Canada, and the guy is crowing like a rooster!  Cock-a-doodle-doo!  He starts to quote his verse and he stops and crows like a rooster again and he calls it manifestations and the working of the Holy Ghost.  Friend, that is blasphemous.  There is no discernment there.  None.  Zero.  I believe a lost person can look at that and say,  "This is a bunch of garbage," but we have so-called believers saying,  "Oh thank God for manifesting Himself to us tonight."  Here is a man that is mocking God, and mocking the Word of God.  We need to be able to discern the spirits.  A lot of things done under the pretence of being done in the Spirit are not in the Spirit.  It is done in the flesh.  Plain and simple!  

                     2. It never adds or takes away from Scripture

These extra-biblical workings; these extra-biblical prophesies; these statements that people make and all of a sudden it is almost like a fortuneteller.  I have seen them on TBN,  "I am getting vibes.  God is speaking.  Hold on a second.  It's the Holy Ghost.  Thank you God.  Thank you Holy Ghost."  Then they come up with a bunch of nonsense that is supposed to come from God.  It is not from God.

Another way to test the spirits, another way to test the wonders and the workings of God is if it adds or takes away from Scripture, it is not of God.  I like what one preacher said.  He said,  "All these supposed visions and revelations that people have, that is supposed to be from the Holy Spirit, why is it when they share it, people do not listen?  If it is from God, why do not we listen?  Why do they not write it down and add it to the back of their Bible with the rest of the Word of God?"  We need to be able to discern the spirits people.  

              B. Discern His Wonders

So we need to be able to discern His working.  We need to be able to discern His wonders.  Let me say something to you tonight.  I do believe the Holy Spirit of God, and God in His power could perform wonders in this day and age.  He saved some of you, did He not?  Let us be honest tonight.  Brother George, it is a miracle and a wonder from God that you are here tonight saved and living for God when twenty-six, twenty-seven years ago you were cursing God and denying His existence.  Now if you can come up with a better wonder that that then I want to hear about it. 

We have taken the wonders of God and the working and the miracles of the Holy Spirit of God, and we are not happy with them so we have to think of something else.  We have to call people up, we have to slap them in the head and they fall over backwards 'slain in the Spirit'.  We have to throw the Spirit around like a baseball in a crusade.  We have to try and impress people with these wonders, but I wonder how much of it is not the Holy Spirit of God but is another Spirit.  We need to be able to discern.  You say,  "Brother Stacey, I have seen it."  I know you have seen it, but that does not mean it is of God.  I am serious in what I am saying tonight.  Were is our discernment?  Where is our discernment so that when we see something, we say,  "That does not line up with Scripture; that is not in my Bible." There are good wonders and there are bad wonders.  Let me give you an example. 

Good wonders - 2 Corinthians 12:12 says,  "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds."  You say,  "See that Brother Stacey?  God is in wonders."  He sure is.

Bad wonders - 2 Thessalonians 2:9 is talking about the antichrist.  "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders."  Wonders in and of itself are not always right.  It is important that we realize that.  Satan can fake, and Satan can imitate the work of God.  If you will read your Bible, you will find out that the antichrist will be able to do just about anything.  He would probably raise the dead and he is the Devil incarnate.  Where is our discernment people?  Why is it that when something is going on we cannot say, "Hold on a just a second.  Let us test this spirit.  Let us try this spirit.  Let us see whether or not this is of God."  If what is going on is supposed to be the work of the Holy Ghost, but it does not magnify the Holy Ghost, it magnifies a person, they are lying.  Plain and simple.  If what somebody does is supposed to be under the influence of the Holy Ghost, but it does not magnify the Holy Ghost, and people aren't saved from it, they are lying!  That is the only reason why signs and wonders were given in the Bible in the first place.  It was given to draw people to salvation, not to impress somebody with your spirituality.  So we need to try the spirits.  We need to be able to discern the spirits.  Can you tell the difference?

       II. Able to Discern the Signs of the Times

We need to be able to discern the signs of the times.  Now I do not know whether you knew it or not, but we are in the last days.  You say,  "They have been saying that for 2000 years."  Well, we are 2000 years closer to it than they were.  We are in the last days, and I am going to show you.  Look in I Thess. 5:1-2,  "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."  He wrote that 2000 years ago.  He says,  "You do not need me to write to you the signs and the times."

       A. The Manifestations

Look at 2 Timothy 3:1,  "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."  That word, "perilous," means dangerous.  In the last days dangerous times will come. 

One of the dear men here in the church told me yesterday that he had been personally robbed three times in his life.  Held up and robbed at gunpoint.  Three times.  It is dangerous times.  A little statistic you might want to tuck away.  The police have estimated that 10,000 cell phones per week are stolen in South Africa.  Fifty percent of the people working in Johannesburg work in some security related or crime prevention career.  Security guards, fence and wall installation, police, etc.   It is dangerous times, people.  We are in the last days.  It cannot get much worse, but let us read on. 

2 Timothy 3:2-4,  "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection...." That is your homosexual crowd right there, and that is your abortion crowd too by the way.  A mama that can rip a baby out of her womb is lacking natural affection."  "...trucebreakers..." You can sign contracts now, fourteen feet thick, and that is not worth a flip.  If you do not want to do it, you do not have to do it.  If you do not want to keep your word, you do not have to keep your word.  There is nothing they can do about it.  They can take you to court and everything else, but you can get out of it.  In days gone by, you could shake somebody's hand and that was your word and that was your bond.  Trucebreakers.  "...false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." 

Have you look at the statistics?  Have you looked at the numbers of how much money is spent every year on sports as opposed to world evangelism?  It will blow your mind.  It will blow your mind at the percentage what families spend on entertainment in one month as opposed to what they put in this offering plate right here.  They spend on eating out, they spend it on Cokes, they spend on the movies, buying videos and DVD's, and this and that, and they will go to ballgames, but they will drop 5% or 8% or maybe even 10% in the plate and they will think they did God a favor.  Lovers of pleasures more that the lovers of God.  That is where we are at.  We are in the last days, people. 

2 Timothy 3:5,  "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."  It goes on and on and on.  These are the signs of the times.  A true, born-again, mature Christian will be able to discern the signs of the times.  "What is the significance of knowing the signs of the times?" you ask.  "We know Jesus is coming back.  He can come back any second.  What is the point?"  The point is this.  It is so easy for us to get distracted and to get caught up in the very thing that we are not supposed to get caught up in.  It is so easy for us to say,  "Yeah, Jesus us coming back," and we go and we still love pleasure more than we love God.  That is not discernment.  That is data.  That is just information that is in our heads that is not helping us in our walk with God.  A true, born-again child of God, since we are living in the last days will say, "Jesus is coming back.  I need to get busy, I need to get to work, I need to watch how I spend my money, I need to watch where I let my kids go, I need to watch where I go."  That is what discernment is all about.  It is not just knowing;  it is acting on that information. We are in the last days, and we need to act like it!

Sometimes people criticize my wife and me because of certain things we do not let our kids do, or we do let them go.  You know what?  I am just so cautious because in this day and age I do not trust anybody.  You say,  "Brother Stacey, you do not trust me?"  Of course not!  I do not trust myself;  why should I trust you?  I am being honest with you.  I do not trust myself.  The Bible tells me not to.  It says,  Philippians 3:3 ...and have no confidence in the flesh."  The flesh is weak.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!  Where is our discernment? 

Parents let their kids go and spend the night with heathens.  Where are your brains?  What have you got between your ears anyways?  Do you not remember when you were a kid what you did while you were spending the night with your friends?  Remember what you talked about?  What you got involved in?  Well, guess what?  It is ten times worse today!  You let your kids go spend the night with somebody that you do not know that well or the kid is not saved and serving God and on fire for God and filled with the Holy Ghost.  You are out of your mind.  You say,  "I do not like that."  That is fine.  I know a lot of preachers that did not like it either and their kids were going to sleep at other kids in the church, and girls ended up having to get married.  While they were supposed to be at Susie's house, they were crawling out of Susie's bedroom window and going to Johnny's house.  We're talking about discernment here!  Hello!  Where are our brains?  We have got our heads in the sand, people.  We need to be discerning.  The sign of a mature Christian is discernment. Things are bad.  Realize it and act accordingly.

              B. The Meaning

 Jesus said in Matthew 16:2,3, He is talking to the Pharisees, "He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?  He says,  "Ye know that when the sky is red at night, that you are going to have a good day.  If the sky is red in the morning you are going to have bad weather."  He basically said,  "You know all this, but you do not have enough discernment to figure out what is going on right here in front of you. Wake up!  Acknowledge reality!"  That was a severe rebuke. 

Ecclesiastes 8:5 says,  "Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment."  There will be times, as a parent, where you will have this deep gut feeling that your kids should not do something.  When you say,  "No," they say,  "Why?"  You may not have an answer.  First thing you need to do is you need to deal with them for saying "Why?"  My kids do not ask me why.  When daddy says,  "No," it means no.  I do not have to give you a reason.  You say,  "That is wrong."  No, that is not wrong.   When God tells us to do something are we supposed to ask Him why or are we supposed to do it?  The way that you teach your children to obey God is the way teach them to obey you!  Kids do not like that.  They say, "Daddy, can I go?"  You say, "No."  They say, "Why?" You say,  "You better watch your mouth."  That is what I tell my kids.  "You better watch your mouth.  You do not ask me why."  You say you do not like it.  That is just tough!  I have got in my stomach, I have got in my heart a reason why, and I may not even be able to put it in words.  It is called discernment.  I tell them,  "No, you cannot."  It is not popular, but we have a lack of discernment in our churches.  We have a lack of discernment in our homes.  Anything goes.  We do not know right from wrong.  We do not know profane from evil.  God have mercy.   We need to be able to discern the signs of the times. 

       III. Able to Discern the Saints

Another trademark of a mature Christian is they are able to discern the saints.  They are able to discern other believers.  I want you to listen closely to me.  I am going to walk a very thin line here tonight between discernment and being judgmental, but I want you to bear with me now.  We need discernment concerning each other.  We need discernment concerning other professing Christians.  I am calling them saints, but the first thing you need to do, is you need to discern whether or not they are truly saved. 

Listen to this verse.  Malachi 3:18, "Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."  I think one of the very first tests you ought to put to a new acquaintance or a new friend or whoever is, "Are they serving God or not."  Now listen.  When I say, "Put them to the test," I mean test them on it, and be firm and rigid with it, because anybody can talk about God.  Since I have been in South Africa, (and there are a lot where I came from too), but since I have been here the last couple of years, I hear people talking about how much they love God, but by looking at them you would never know it!  There is absolutely no talk to match the walk.   Don't be fooled by cheap talk.  Use discernment!

Can I give you a really sad example?  I met a girl one time; some of you have met her, who talked about being such a wonderful, bubbly Christian.  She said she loved God, but guess what her motive in life; her number one ambition in life was to be?  A Hollywood actress!  Okay.  Immediately red flags are going up.  You say,  "There is nothing wrong with that!"  Now I've got red flags going up about you!  What in Heaven's name does a good, godly Christian young lady have to do in Hollywood?  Tell me.  How many movies are they shooting today that a good, godly, Christian, pure, chaste young woman could go play a part in that movie and not compromise her convictions and her standards?  None!  She says,  "Oh, I am a Christian.  I love God.  I pray and I talk about God."  Yeah, but you are not serving God!  Discernment.  Am I being judgmental?  No I am not being judgmental!

I am going to read you a couple of verses.  I want you to look at them with me.  Look right here.  Matthew 7.  He is talking about false prophets, but it applies either way.  Matthew 7:15,  "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing."  In other words, hypocrites.  They are not content to be a Hollywood actress, but they want to be a Hollywood actress, and they want you to think that they are a good, godly Christian young lady at the same time.  Well, you cannot do that.  So you have to put on the sheep's clothing.  "Which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves."  Verse 16,  "Ye shall know them by their fruits."  Are we being judgmental yet?  I am just looking at the fruit.  I did not put it there.  I am just noticing it.  "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"  He is being sarcastic.  Do you go to a thorn bush and get grapes off of it?  No, you do not.  Do good, godly young Christian people get involved in those kinds of things?  No, they do not.  So if they are doing it, guess what you know?  They are not a good godly, Christian young person.  Hello!  It will not take a whole lot of discernment to realize that you are not going to get grapes on a thorn bush. 

Verse 17 and 18,  "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."  So if it is yielding corrupt fruit, it is a corrupt tree!  Two plus two equals four. Always! Let us read on.  Verse 19 and 20,  "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."  We are not talking about judging.  We are talking about discerning. "Brother Stacey, you should not be judgmental."  I am not being judgmental.  I am just a fruit inspector!  I am just looking at your fruit!  You say you are an apple tree, but you've got oranges hanging off!  Um, something is not right!  You say you love God, and you say you pray, and you say that you want to live for Jesus, but you love the world and the things of the world.  My Bible says that if you love the world and the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in you!  Something does not add up here!  Where is our discerning concerning other saints?  People say,  "Oh, I am saved," and we go,  "Oh, thank you Lord, they are saved.  Oh that is great. Let us go spend some time together.  Let us go to each other's house.  Let us just become best friends."  Hold on just a second.  Time out.  It'll take more than that before I am going to befriend somebody and get real close to him and spend a lot of time with him and confide in him.  Again, that is a sign of maturity.  Somebody that does not do that is not as mature as they need to be because they are not discerning. 

Jude 1:4,  "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

              A. Discern their Conversion

The first thing that you need to do is discern their conversion.  First thing I asked people when they said they want to join the church.  I say,  "It is great.  I want to hear about when you got saved.  I want to know where you were at.  I want to know everything about it."   Now understand me.  My spirit many times bears witness with their spirit the first time I meet them.  The first time they walk in that door, my spirit says,  "There is a brother.  There is a sister."  But there is always that possibility that the spirit is not what it ought to be, or my spirit is not as sensitive as it ought to be, and I am supposed to test the spirits.  So he says he is saved, I believe he is saved, but I want to hear it.  Discern their conversion.  Are they really saved?  Get their testimony.  Don't always go by feelings.

              B. Discern their Condition

You say,  "Brother Stacey, I understand so-and-so is not at all right with God, but I want to befriend them because I want to help them."  That is fine as long as you realize that. However, do not come to me talking about how spiritual they are when I can see with my eyes closed that they are as carnal as the devil.  Do not lie about it.  Do not deceive yourself.  Some have come to me and said, "I have a friend, I have got a real good friend.  We pray together."  I'll ask them, "Does she go to church?"  They say, "No."  Okay, she is not as spiritual as you think she is.  You say,  "You are being mean."  I am not being mean, but let me tell you something.  I have a problem with people that talk the talk, but they do not walk the walk, and we, if we had any discernment at all, when they told us these things, we would take this information and we would process it.  We would discern their conversion and discern their condition and not be deceived by their smooth words.

              C. Discern their Companionship

Discern their companionship.  Is companionship with this person going to help me, or is it going to hurt me?  You know what?  I would like to try to have friends that help me.  I do not say that I cannot be friends with people that is not, I mean that is my job, I have to help everybody, but you know, people I really like to spend time with, is people that help me and encourage me.  They talk about the Bible, and they talk about stuff that I have never heard of before.  They show me things in there I have never seen before.  That is the kind of people I like to spend time with. 

When I was in construction, every now and then there would be a man that would call and say,  "I do not have anything to do, I'm caught up on all my jobs.  May I come over and help you?"  I would say,  "By all means. Please come help me."  I would pay him $25 an hour to come over and show me how to do stuff because he has been doing it for 20 years.  He knew more about it than I did.  I did not enjoy working with a guy that couldn't read a tape measure!  I did not like that.  I wanted to be with somebody that could help me and teach me.  I wanted to be with people that improved my life!

Why is it that as Christians today we are on a guilt trip if we are not best friends with people that are not saved and not right with God?  It does not make sense to me.  It does not make any sense at all.  There is no logical explanation for why I have to spend half of my day with somebody that does not believe what I believe and does not think the same way about my God that I do.  I do not owe them anything.  I owe them the Gospel, but that is it.  Companionship requires compatibility.  Can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos 3:3  If you can be real close friends with a carnal person, then it might be because you are carnal too, because light has no fellowship with darkness.  That is what the Bible says.

              D. Discern their Commitment

Discern their commitment.  Are they committed?  "Well, I have this really, really good friend that I just cannot get into church."  Well you might want to drop that friend.  He is not really committed.  "I have this really, really good friend, but you know he is trying to get me to do this that is not right."  You need to drop that friend.  Come on.  Where is our discernment, people?  I want to give you an example. 

Look at Acts 8:13-24.   This is an excellent example in our Bible of what I am talking about here this evening.  Look at verse 13.  This is good stuff!  This is Bible.  We are just going to go through here and see what God is saying.  "Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done."  So a man gets saved, he gets baptized, he now begins to follow Phillip, he begins to watch, and he begins to see what God is doing.  It said that he continued with Phillip okay?  He did not just hit and miss.  He came to stay!  Verse 14-16, "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:  Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)"  This is a transitional period in the book of Acts where the people received the Holy Ghost from the laying on of hands.  Today, you receive the Holy Ghost when you get saved.  That is not what I am going to preach about, but I just wanted to mention that. 

Verse 17 - 19,  "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.  And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost."  Now let us just stop for a second.  Simon has been saved, he has been baptized, he is continuing with the men of God, he is watching what is going on, he sees people receiving the Holy Ghost which is a good thing, he wants to be a part of it, he wants to be an instrument, he wants to be a tool, and he is willing to pay for it.  So sacrifice is part of his nature.  Looking at this you'd say,  "Wow, I would like to have a whole bunch of these people."  Oh, okay.  Well, there is a little lack of discernment here.  Verse 20-23,  "But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.  Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.  Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive (there is your discernment) that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."  Guess who Peter is talking to.  Another baptized believer!  He just blew him out of the water!  He said, "You need to get right with God.  My discernment tells me that your heart is not right with God."  Judgmental?  No.  Discernment?  Yes.  You say,  "Well, goodness Brother Stacey if we do that it is going to run people off."  Not if they are saved it won't!  Verse 24-25,  "Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.  And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans."  Guess what it did?  It helped him!  He was saved, and he was willing to pay for the ability to give people the Holy Ghost.  On the surface that looks good.  Peter said,  "Hold on a second.  Something is not right with you pal.  This is not right.  You need to get right with God.  I perceive that you need to repent!"  Simon said,  "You are right," and he repented and he got right with God.  A lot of people would have said,  "Oh Simon, come go with me.  I am so glad to have somebody that is willing to spend their money to do things for God.  I am so glad to have somebody that has been baptized.  I am so glad to have somebody that got saved."  Many would have not dealt with the problem.  Discernment.  When you look at a situation, do you see what God sees or do you see what you want to see?  The person talks about being saved, and he has a lot of money or this or that, so you want to befriend him, so you befriend him and you do not really, really, really discern the situation.  We need discernment.  The sign of a true mature believer is discernment. 

       IV. Able to Discern the Sinners

A mature Christian is able to discern the sinners.  Let me ask you a question.  Are you so in tune with God that when you are with somebody that is not saved, you can discern his needs and how to help him?  Do you even care? 

In Acts 8 the Spirit spoke to Philip concerning:

       A. Direction - Acts 8:26,  "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert."

Think about Phillip.  Phillip is preaching at a meeting in Jerusalem.  A big meeting no less.  I mean he was the big-time evangelist.  The Bible said that the angel of the Lord came to him and said,  "Go."  There is the direction.  Then the Holy Spirit gave details.

             B. Details - Acts 8:29,  "Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot."

Then he went to the desert and he saw the chariot and the Bible says, "And the Spirit of the Lord spake unto him and said, ‘Go and run thither and join thyself to the chariot.'"  There were the details.  The Holy Spirit of God gave him direction and gave him details.  Are we listening?  Can we discern where another person has a need?  Can we discern when another sinner is in need of help or would we rather talk about the rugby game, politics, or something stupid instead of discerning that God maybe allowed your paths to cross so that you can share the Gospel with him. 

Paul had that kind of discernment.  In Acts 14:9-10 it says, talking about a cripple man,  "The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked."  Paul could look at this man and tell that he had the faith to be healed.  Now that is discernment.  Imagine if I was up here preaching, and I could discern that somebody in the service was under deep Holy Ghost conviction, and was that close to getting saved, and I could say,  "Bow your heads and close your eyes.  You right there.  Won't you come and be saved?"  That is discernment.  Paul looked at him and perceived that he had faith.  That is discernment friend. 

Paul also had discernment on Mars' hill.  Acts 17:22,  "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious."  He said,  "I discern here that you guys have some issues.  Let me preach to you about them."  We need to be so in tune with God that we can discern when God is working in a sinner and take advantage of it!

How discerning are you?  The way to determine how much discernment you have is how many areas in your life fall into that gray area that should not be in the gray area.  How many times in the Bible does it talk about gray areas?  The only place I can think about is Romans 14:1 where it says,  "Doubtful disputations."  The whole rest of the Bible talks about right and wrong.  Profane and holy.  Good and evil.  I think we put way to many things over in that gray area.  If we had discernment, we would know.  Either it is right or it is wrong.  Period.  One of the trademarks of a mature Christian is they will be discerning.

Mark 13:35-37 "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."