Spiritual Gifts part 153: Discernment is distinguishing between the true and the false.

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Sunday,
August 14, 2011


Spiritual Gifts Part 153:   Discernment is the skill in distinguishing between the true and the false.
The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts


Point 3:  What is a “Spiritual Gift”?

A spiritual gift is a supernatural ability graciously given by God the Holy Spirit to each believer ( without regard to merit) at the moment of salvation …

…so that the Holy Spirit might manifest Himself in effective service for the benefit of the Royal Family, ending up with God the Father  being glorified through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your spiritual gift becomes operational as you grow spiritually.

Act 6:3 “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.”

Notice the qualifications to wait on tables in the church:   Good reputation Full of the Spirit Full of wisdom
Wisdom is knowing and doing the will of God.

Wisdom is defined as knowledge of what is true or right combined with good judgment.

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

Wisdom is the sum total of the teaching of Bible doctrine under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit AND the positive response to that doctrine!

Psa 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Therefore, you have to have humility in order to attain wisdom.

Pro 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

Wisdom is the capacity and the will to rightly apply the word of God to novel or challenging situations in your life.
Sound wisdom and Biblical discernment are linked.

Discernment is the ability to be able to consistently see or read a situation accurately according to the standards of the word of God.

Wisdom is making the proper decision or application of the word of God on a consistent basis.

1 Thes 5: 21 But examine everything carefully;  hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.

The ability and practice of examining everything carefully is discernment.

The lifestyle of holding fast to that which is good and abstaining from every form of evil is a lifestyle of wisdom.
 
δοκιμάζω
dokimazo
to test (literally or figuratively); by implication, to approve:
to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing be genuine or not), as metals:

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