Don't Judge Me

In this podcast, the hosts discuss the topic of judgment and discernment among Christians. They read and analyze Romans 14, which talks about judging others based on their beliefs and practices, such as what they eat or how they worship. The hosts emphasize the importance of not judging others and instead focusing on our own relationship with God. They suggest offering advice and guidance without being judgmental. They also highlight the need for a positive and understanding attitude when it comes to differences among Christians. Hey, welcome. Another Friday study in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, sometimes we have a few people included from other countries as well. But today, Faber and I are working together on a podcast and others may come in. But we want to know that you're welcome to join in with us and realize the effectiveness of studying God's Word together. God's Word is just a light and illuminates our darkened areas of our life. And we're so appreciative of God's Word, because as He shines the light and we confess and open up our hearts and say, Lord, I need a change. Oh, the Word of God is so powerful. Today, many people for some years recently are asking this question. They say to me, don't judge me. You're judging me. Or ask the question, should Christians judge? I thought we weren't supposed to judge. And there's a lot of confusion and insecurity on parts of Christians to understand. And it's a little bit complex, because the word judgment is used to mean several different things. And the word discernment, which comes in there as well, has a variety of meanings. So today, by God's grace, we want to look into God's Word and to understand, am I wrong to see a fault in my brother? Am I wrong to see that? What should I do with that? Maybe we can. Now, Faber, let me ask you, do they have any of these issues in Nigeria? Are we preaching to the wrong country? Absolutely not, Reverend. We have these issues in Nigeria. Just like it is everywhere in the world. I think these are issues that connect to human behavior, human living. As long as we have human beings, as long as we have Christians, we're going to have issues like this. So it could be helpful to people in Nigeria as well. Good. I'm glad to hear that, that we understand what does God's Word have to say, because the Word of God is truth. And the truth sets us free, and it sets us on a solid foundation upon a rock, so that when the winds come, and the rains come, and the winds blow, that we are not shaken, and our house is not, that which we have built is not destroyed by any kind of calamity coming against us, because our house, and our building, our ministry, and our life has been founded upon truth, and upon the truth of God's Word, and the truth that is God. So let's just begin. I think it's always good to begin with a definition. Let's start with a scripture verse first. In the 14th chapter of Romans, there's almost more than half a chapter that talks about this judging. And so, favor, if you could read today, from verse, chapter 14, from verse 1 to 10, and as he reads, take note of what does this chapter say about judging. Okay, so, Romans, chapter 14, verse 1 to 10. Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat of it, another who is weak eateth hers. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth. For God hath received him. Who art thou that judges another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. One man estimates one day above another, another estimates every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth thanks, and he that eateth not to the Lord thanks. For none of us believeth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to these ends Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead, and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Wow. I think we've quoted from this chapter before here and there, but to read it in context it has a lot of impact initially. And then let's go back and just take a look at this chapter and as they say, let's parse it, meaning let's break it down and look at the words here and there and see what meat comes off the bones, all right? They use an old analogy. See what meat comes off the bones and the structure of this. So the 14th chapter is a good place to start. And the word that's used here to judge, it's a Greek word, and I'm going to pull it up again. I'm going to double check. Romans 14. All right. I'm going to go to King James Plus. Okay. All right. As I thought, I had to confirm because I didn't want to make a mistake. All right. The Greek word is, of judge in almost this entire chapter is this word, krino. K-R-I-N-O. Krino. And it is translated 117 times it occurs in the King James Version. And it's translated judged, judge, judges, and judges, and also determined, condemned, condemning, damned, etc. So many times and the meeting as we look to the definition, it's not incorrect. It's neither correct nor incorrect. It simply means to judge someone, to determine their guilt, and thus, which punishment to subject them to examine someone concerning their guilt, and thus, which punishment to administer. So this word is to discern and judge between right, wrong, and all of that. But with the added implication of adding a judgment, a sentence. So this is the word that's used here in each and every one that I can find. So one more. Let's see. Verse 10. Same one. Okay. So that's the word that's used for judge in this one. Krino. So let's take a look then throughout this chapter. Pretty interesting. Here we have, let's look at, you know, favor throughout this. There are three subjects that Paul addresses, has examples of how people are judging. Two are easy. The third one is a little not so, not so easy. So I'll give it a difficult one first. How he serves. How someone serves. He's God's servant. It's not your business how he serves. And so that one's taken by just looking at the text without it being so clear. But what are the other two, favor? How he lives. Okay. Did you have a verse for that one? The examples that Paul gave of judging another, judging them for what? And it gives two clear examples. And there's a third one that we assume, like how someone else lives or how he serves is the one that's most difficult. And you got it first. The other two are straight in the scripture. The other two are? Yeah, the verse three. I know the network's breaking up, so it makes it more difficult for you. But let's look in verse three then. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not. And let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. So these are the verses I was referring to when I talked about how he lives. So it has to do with eating. Your choice of what is. And I believe he was talking about probably meat that had been offered to idols or meat that did not meet kosher because they did not know if it had been bled out correctly, was strangled, or all of that. So from other scriptures, which we're not going to study, I think, isn't that what it is, favor, something like that? Absolutely. So yeah, I believe that's correct that it talks about meat offered to idols, or perhaps they didn't know if it was kosher, if it had been strangled or drained properly, like that, right? Yes, sir. Okay. The other subject that is an example Paul gives is what? Okay. From verse 5 and 6. Romans 14, 5 and 6. Thank you, Jesus. One man is to meet one day above another. Another is to meet every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regarded the day regarded it unto the Lord, and he that regarded not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks. And he that eateth not to the Lord, he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. So the other one, Reverend, I believe from verse 5 and 6, is talking about the day of worship. Yeah, and days of celebration, special days, feast days, the tabernacles, and the celebrations of Jews, and all those things. And being very religious, people are coming out of very religious backgrounds, you can certainly understand how that there would be contention. And also, even from Matthew 23, we see there's such spiritual pride. You know, we keep this day, we tithe all of this, and our cumin, and our mint, and all the things that they religiously did, and there was such pride in the religion. But God wanted to bring him into another. And with pride comes a sense that you are above your brother. Judgment must place you in the place of a judge, and the other in the place of the one being judged. And so who is higher in that moment, the judge or the person being judged? The judge. Because the other person has no power in the courtroom. They're being examined. And so they're on the examination bench chair, and the judge is discerning whether he's right, or whether he's wrong. And so is it our place to decide if somebody is correct or not, as far as what they eat, or what day did they celebrate, what day do they worship? Is it our place to be that judge? From the scriptures, we see that it's not really our place. But, you know, I'm thinking, but we can give people, like, some good advice, some good direction, as to what we believe is right for them, or good for them, without necessarily sitting in the seat of a judge and putting them down below. That's what I think, Reverend. So there is an attitude where you're very correct, Faber, I believe. And I was coming to this attitude, and you jumped right in, and I'm excited about that. There, in these verses, verse 3, 4, and 10. In verse 3, and verse 4, and verse 10, there's some really key regarding attitudes. So the first is in verse 3. And depending which version you read, you'll come up with a different word. But what attitude do you find in verse 3? Negative. Negative attitude, yes, sir. It's a negative attitude. So it's a negative attitude. But what word is used in your version? Despise. Ooh, despise. Wow. Expand that word. What is it like to despise someone? To ostracize him. Okay. Yeah, to ostracize him, to put him out, and go, like, to segregate against such a person. To ostracize such a person, so to say, to treat them with contempt. Wow. That's the same word in my version here. Regard with contempt. And contempt is the lifting of the lip, like, you're so much lower. You're disgusting. You're filthy. You're unclean. You're unrighteous. Yes, sir. That's all judgment. We've made the call. The discernment has been working. And we've come up with a decision, a judgment. That person is very low and disgusting. Okay. Verse 10. Okay. Yes. For why dost thou judge thy brother? For why dost thou set up naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Same contempt. Yes, sir. To set at naught. Can you flesh that one out? To set at naught. Meaning, to disregard, to consider as nothing. Yes. Because in British English, the word not actually means nothing or zero. Yes, sir. And, you know, the football game was three to naught. They don't use that in the United States. However, I hear that in British broadcasting. And so you're worth nothing. How does that compare to honoring your brother? It's dishonor, right? It's total dishonor. So this is the kind of judgment with an attitude that leads you to set at naught, to despise, and to hold in contempt your brother because of his actions, because of his choices. So what you were starting to go to favor was, it's another thing to instruct somebody and share opinions with them and to lead them to truth of the word of God. But that has a different attitude, doesn't it? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So now in these verses, I see four reasons that we should honor and not set at naught or hold in contempt. There are four reasons why we should not judge with that attitude. Let's go again to verse three and then verse four, and we can find in those three different ones why in verse three should we not judge and condemn. Number one, for God has received him. God receives him. What does it mean to receive someone? Example in the Bible, Esther. Yeah, Esther, when she approached the king without invitation, she was received or she could have been rejected. What was the one you're thinking in favor? I was thinking about the Prodigal Son when he was received. Yeah, he was accepted. Yes, that's an excellent example. So those two examples very clearly show us for he is accepted by God. So who are you? That's the question. Like really, who are you? If he's accepted by God, loved by God, paid for by the blood of Jesus, like who are you to condemn and to set at naught such a person? Wow, that's strong. That's strong, sir. That should bring the fear of the Lord upon us. The next one, verse four. Wow, that one's powerful. Verse four. Why should we not judge in verse four? The second reason is that God is able to make him stand. Okay, that's correct. To make him stand. And the meaning of that definition is to cause a person or thing to keep in his own proper place. So God's able to put him in his place. God's able to hold him steady. God's able to deal with him. So who are you? But the first one is earlier in the verse. Yeah, he says, yea, he shall be holding up. Okay, he says to his own master, he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up. So God is able to make him stand. Yeah, so he'll have to answer to God is what it's basically saying. There's one before that. Now I'm pushing you, right? For God had received him? Start at the beginning. Okay, him that is... Verse four. Start at the beginning of verse four. Okay, who are thou that judges? Who are you? Who are you? What? Who are you to judge what? Another man's servant. Is that your servant that you're judging there? No, sir. The man of God standing there? The mother of the church? Is that your servant? No, sir. Hmm. Who are you to stand as judge of God's servants? I will not go to the telephone company and begin to correct their workers. What place? I'm not the one paying them. I am not the one who trained them. I'm not the one who instructed them. I can criticize and judge them. But what would be my correct approach if one of the workers from the telephone company had come to my area, was doing some service work, and I had an exception with what he was doing and the way he was doing it. What would be my correct response? Should I go to that worker and begin to correct him and be disgusted with him? Would that be correct? No, sir. You should go to his employers. Oh, to his employers. Okay. So that pastor that y'all making fun of, and that you look down on, because they don't talk right, and they don't preach it the way you think it ought to be. What should you be doing with that preacher? I should be talking to the Lord. Telling the Lord, well, I don't understand. I should make my complaints before the Lord. Yeah. Not to say there's not a place. Should God give us that place, as they did with Priscilla and Aquila, to teach them a more excellent way? Wasn't that who it was? Yeah. And show them the more excellent way. And so I think there's a place for that. But is it your place, unless the boss sends you, it's not your place. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And if we do approach somebody like that, would it be to despise them, or hold them in contempt, or set them as a useless preacher? We'll set them as... No, it won't be to despise them or contempt them. To hold them in contempt. It will be to set... I didn't get the last sentence. Set them as useless preachers? Yeah. Are they useless? Call them a useless pastor? No, sir. That shouldn't be our attitude, right? Our attitude should be to build up, and to edify, and to encourage, and to lift up the servant of the Lord, as God helps us. So the love and the edification is... So it's interesting, as we get the meat off the bones in this chapter, there's a lot of human nature, and we can see ourselves more clearly than reading it just in the King James, and passing over some of these things. That's God's servant. Yes, sir. Number one, God accepts that person. And then two, God knows how to set him in his place. Yes, sir. And he knows how. He stands before God. And it's kind of like when you stand before the judge, you know? So he has to, and basically he has to answer to God. And then verse 10 makes it even more clear. It says at the end, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of the true judge of God. Yes, sir. So what are we doing in that condemning seat? So that's the kind of judgment that people are correct. We should not judge. They are correct. We should not judge. Yes. In that manner. But you notice how that there's that negativity that's attached to it. And in my notes, I can, I will share, there's a number of scriptures that are attached to that word, who said it not, or to treat lightly and with scorn. Exsufino, if I said it right, exsufinio, that word is exactly the word that is used, and it's used in a number of places. If you really want to flesh out your own negative attitudes about people, read some of these verses. To treat with disregard, to treat as contemptible. Of small account, of no worth, to reject. All of these are contained in this word that we just studied. That is an attitude that goes along with incorrect judgment. So does that help already, favor? Absolutely, Reverend, it does. Yeah, so in Matthew, Jesus said, do not judge, lest you be judged. And I think we understand that pretty clearly. Now it's the, the story Jesus told of the speck in one eye and the log in the other. And that story also brings out the fact that we don't see very clearly a lot of times. Because we often will react to our own, okay, our own logs by pointing out other people's specks. Yes, sir. Because I can see in other people what I'm familiar with in my own life. And so it's a function of the human nature to protect my weakness areas by being judgmental of others. All right. That's true. That's in Matthew 7. I don't think we'll read it. I think it's a familiar passage. The log and the speck. Do not judge, lest you also be judged for with the same measure that you meet. And the word meet means to, it means to meet out judgments. So you owe 5,000 pounds, you owe 7,000 denarii, you owe 3,000 naira, like that. That's what it means to meet. The same judgment you measure, it'll be measured out to you again. So be careful of that kind of judgment because it brings you, Jesus help us. You either are a judge of the law, and if you're a judge of the law, by the law, then you must keep every part of the law. But when you enter into grace, we must walk by faith, and we must walk humbly. And we can't do both. I want you to be judged by the law, and I will judge you by the law. But as for me, I need mercy and some grace. I need mercy and some grace. So we want to have two standards. You need to pay fully for your, but for me, mercy and grace, as I understand, you know, that's hypocrisy. That's double standards. And that's what he says. Don't judge unless you be judged, because either you're going to be a doer of the word or a judge of it, according to the law. So we all stand only by the grace of God. So another one is John 7, 24. And this one, this one says, if you could read that, favor John 7, 24. Are you still in a place to read? Yes, sir. John 7, 24. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. So doesn't that make you curious of what words are used there? Well, it's actually the same word, only a little different. The first one that was cathedrino, now this one is crino. And this one means to determine, to resolve, to form a judgment or a decision. To decide, estimate, or to pronounce an opinion. So this one is a little lighter term than the previous one. And it doesn't include as much the pronouncing of a sentence. And the negative attitude is not seen as strongly in this one. Okay. But the meaning of this verse is to judge not according or by the appearance. What does it say? God doesn't look on the outward appearance, but he looks at the heart. So we judge by what we see and hear, but God judges by the heart. The intent, the intent and motives of the heart, as it says in another place. Where is it? First Samuel 2, verse 3. Thank you. By the, I'm going to put this in my notes so we can add it. By the outward appearance. And so that was regarding Saul, right? No, it was regarding Samuel looking at and going to anoint one of the other brothers than David. Isn't that the story? Yes, sir. But this is where Hannah was saying that God is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed. So I was only making a reference to a scripture that connects two intentions. First Samuel 16, verse 7. Good. Of David. Yeah. Yeah. Because God told Samuel that he should not look at how handsome the guy was, but God was looking at the heart of David. So good. That's a good reference then. Hallelujah. Amen. Because of time, let's jump to discernment. Okay, sir. And in the notes, you'll find that government authorities need to judge. And carry the sword. They're a minister of God. Romans 13. And you'll find that Paul judged the one that had done that sin in the church. And he's asking them, don't you judge inside the church? Anyway, that's it. We'll get to that. So now let's go to discernment. To discern, to separate and understand good from evil. Amen. Now, where did this word come from? I did a quick study on it. Google is very quick to come up with. It comes from the late 1500s. Its base word, to discern, derives from Latin. Means, you know, it says discerne, however it's pronounced. Meaning to separate or to divide. And it comes from dis, as in discern. Dis meaning apart. And cerne, to separate. To separate apart. And the suffix ment, it's the process of separating apart. So the process of separating apart is the Latin from the 1500s where that word was used. And that word was chosen in the 1600s to translate the Bible into King James. And so that word was used. Jesus talks about this kind of judging in John 8, verse 15 and 16. There is a discernment which is not incorrect. There's a judgment which is not incorrect. And Jesus begins to talk about it in John 8, verse 15 and 16. John 8, 15 and 16. John 8, 15 and 16. Can I read it for you? Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true. For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. Well, so there's a kind of judgment that you do on your own. And there's a kind of judgment that even Jesus didn't do. Yes, sir. He refused to judge on his own. I say, if Jesus refused to judge on his own, even though he's the righteous judge and will stand before him at the feet of the seat. But he says he judges together with his Father. I wonder what that means. How would you understand that meaning? Verse 16, Reverend? Yeah, judging together with God. How would you understand that? Is that something we can do? Let me read that again. Yeah. And before verse 16. Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true. For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. And so first off, I understand this as the Lord saying, I don't judge anybody. But even if I were to judge, I have the moral justification to do that. I'm in a position to do that. Yet I choose not to do that. And if I do not do that, that should be an example to you. That's what I feel. Because he says that should be an example to us. But it's interesting how the verse 15 started because he says, we judge after the flesh. We judge by the outward appearance, just like the last scripture. Right, right. We judge by what we feel. And yet he says, I do not judge any man. And then he says, however, if I do judge any man, my judgment is true. Then he says, for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. So he means I am in the position. I am not alone. My judgment is true because it is a judgment that it's in line with the principles of heaven. It's in line with the Father. And it's in line with the truth. So that's what I think. Right, so there's two things that you made very clear. One, we judge by outward appearance and opinions and our past prejudices, our culture, but not by the heart. We can't see the heart of a man, but the Father can. And Jesus, I think you're correct. If he's in the Father or with the Father, he would have the authority to judge as the Father directed him, according to Father's principles. But I think that it also is that the Father can release an understanding of judgment, that if we did judge, it would be according to truth, according to the same heart, the same principles, the same as the will of the Father, meaning that the Father sees the heart. And if we are in the Father and with the Father, perhaps this begins to open a door to understand that could we, in fact, judge man's heart as the Lord gives us discernment. Jesus exercises this kind of discernment in John chapter 2, verse 24 and 25, a kind of discernment without that judgmentalism. John 2, could you read 24 and 25? 24. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of him, of man, for he knew what was in man. He knew what was in the heart of man. Interesting. So he's judging by the heart, knowing what was in the heart. So this kind of discernment, Jesus said, I'm not going to trust myself to those people, because he knows what's in man, in mankind, how people can be. But then he goes deeper. He knew what was in their heart. So I think Jesus modeled a different level of discernment. He didn't judge them or condemn them for it. He just decided not to put himself in an insecure situation with those people. A little wisdom in that, right? Yes, sir. So we begin to open the understanding that we don't have to be a doormat. We don't have to enter into unwise situations, just because we're going to be trusting everybody. That's not what he says. In the whole balance of Scripture, there's a little different inflection on this, a different understanding. And that understanding is, if you know man's heart, by the help of the Holy Spirit, you can make wise decisions. You can separate good from evil. So you can see we're transitioning from a judgment of the outward appearance, a judgment where we are alone, out the Father, and to a judgment where we are moving with the Holy Spirit. You still okay, favor? Yes, sir. First Corinthians 2, 2-14. First Corinthians 2, verse 14. First Corinthians 2-14. But the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. What is that spiritually discerned and knowing the things that come from God? What is that? Can you hear my question, or are you just thinking? You read it in context. It's not exactly being used in the same way. Yeah, it's more like the things of God, the principles of heaven, can't be understood by someone walking just in the flesh. We need the Holy Spirit to understand the principles of God. Yes? So that's the, in context, I believe that's the meaning of this verse. So just like I said, maybe this is going to be a little bit of a deviation, but just like I said, the scripture I shared with you was revealed to me from First Corinthians 1-17, where it says the righteousness of God is being revealed. So now I tried to tie First Corinthians 2 and John 2-24. The natural man, for instance, would not understand why the Lord Jesus wouldn't want to commit himself to men. He would say, but I thought it's your mission to reach out to the people. I thought you were sent to preach the gospel, to reach to everybody. But the Lord Jesus, not being in the flesh, he discerned all men. And like you said, the discernment came with wisdom. So he knew not to play and not to play out the insecurities, not to play to their tune and to, you know, be foolish in relating with them. Not necessarily like he was judging them, or you are no good, you people are going to hell, you guys are not, you know. But he knew also by the same discernment and wisdom, he knew, okay, I'm not going to commit myself to these people. I'm not going to commit myself here because I know what's in your heart. I know how it's playing out. So I was just, you know, just maybe a little bit of deviation, but I was, you know, trying to tie it to see how that Paul was saying that the natural man received it, not the things of the Spirit of God. He doesn't understand such livings. He doesn't understand such, yeah, such dimension, you know, in discernment. It's just like if you were to be in Nigeria and any part of Nigeria, like when you come and then a lot of people want to come around and they're so excited about you. But, you know, by discernment, you feel like, well, yes, I'm going to reach out. I'm going to minister to them, but I also need to keep my space. I also need to maintain the boundaries. You see, if a natural person was there, they're going to be looking at you like, why is he doing that? Because that one's trying to steal my wallet. Yeah, right. Why is he doing that? Why is he that, you know, and that's because he's natural and he wouldn't understand that. And then he may even go as far as saying, well, I thought he says he's from God. He's supposed to come and be with all of us and not, you know, just be as free as anything. Sometimes when they say these things, they have ulterior motifs, but they will not talk about their ulterior motifs. They will just point fingers at the Scripture, at the man of God, rather. And that is because they are walking in their naturalness and they cannot understand the things of the Spirit, how that it applies to discernment, to the right establishment of boundaries and all of that. So, to them, it is foolishness. So, this was just a little bit of, you know, where... I think you're launching into exactly where, because the title of this little area that I'm talking about is spiritual discernment. And so, it's not fleshly judgment, but it begins to be spiritual discernment. You see, for a natural man, the only inputs, the only testimonies that he's going to receive to his understanding is natural. What he sees, what he hears, what he has experienced in the past, and that's all. And he'll make a decision based on that. So, we have other inputs, and the other input begins to be the Word of God, the principles of the Kingdom, and the speaking of the Holy Spirit. How He speaks to us, how He leads our spirit. Simple enough is, I don't feel right about this person in my spirit, and it's enough. Listen to that. Yeah, or this person, I feel a oneness of the Spirit, and that's enough. You don't have to know if they're a doctor of anything, or what denomination they're from. You don't have to know what they believe about exogenesis, or any of those kind of things. I can't even pronounce all the words, but those things become so important to other people. But Paul says, I don't know any man after the flesh. He says, don't know anyone after the flesh, but know them by the Spirit. And so, I wonder what that means in real life. I don't think they understand it without a revelation. How about Hebrews 5 and 14? There's a few more, and then we can have a good summary of this area. Hebrews 5, 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. So, there's two things here. One is maturity, and also spiritual practice, and exercise, and experience. A level of maturity. So, a level of maturity would be those who are not in their flesh, but now are walking after the Spirit, now are growing up into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Ephesians talks about maturity. We begin to walk as led by the Lord, and we practice this. We have some experience, and our senses, our discernment has begun to be trained. So, we can correctly discern good and evil. And also means those who are good, and those whose hearts are evil, their intentions. We cannot know the intentions of a man's heart, but it can be revealed to us, I believe. So, this again is launching into a spiritual discernment, a level of maturity, not young, in the Lord. How about 1 John 4, verse 1? 1 John 4, verse 1. The Lord believeth in every spirit, but by the Spirit, whether they are from God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Does this connect with anything we've been talking about? Absolutely, Reverend. Testing what? The spirits, yes. But you know, Reverend, this is beautiful. This is really interesting, because, you know, you made a point, which I believe, thank you for bringing it in, I believe it's very key to understand how to balance between judgment and discernment. Because when people, if people understand discernment alone, without understanding the place of the right attitude, they'd be like, okay, if I discern a situation, and I find it to be evil, am I not supposed to speak against it? Am I not supposed to speak up? Am I not supposed to point fingers at the source of the evil and whoever is involved? And at that point, if not with the right attitude, they could be running at the risk of committing the sin of judgment. Yeah. So I think the emphasis is on the right attitude. Because I find from the last scripture, Hebrews 5, verse 14, it says, "...strong meet, long deaf, to them that are of full age." So maturity, just like you said, Reverend, it says, "...even those by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." So they have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So I see the place of the application of wisdom in their discernment, right? From this Hebrews 5, I see the place of wisdom in their discernment. So also, John chapter 2. The one we just read, 1 John 4, 1. Yes, 1 John 4, 1, okay. So I believe we're talking about testing every spirit. Because when you discern by the spirit of the Lord, definitely you're going to find out the spirit that is evil and the spirit that is false. You're going to find out by the spirit of the Lord, okay, this is false and this is not of the Lord. This is right. But I'm thinking about Paul writing in Hebrews, he talks about maturity. So now I'm trying to tie it up. So here, John speaking, says, "...do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are going out into the world." So now I also see the need for the right attitude and for wisdom in order to express the discernment that you have, the discernment that you've made. Because just like you started from Romans 14, we realize that the master of this one, oh, thank you, Jesus, is aiming to make you stand. If I discern and I find that the person is sharing false doctrine and he's a false prophet, I discern that from the teaching we're having tonight. The Holy Spirit requires me also to undergo training, to come up in spiritual maturity. His strong needs belong to those who are mature. He expects me to undergo spiritual training maturity so that that which I have discerned, I can rightly make use of it to the saving of that one, to the helping of that one. That's what I believe. That's what I'm helping. Yeah, to the helping of that one. I saw a clip, I think it was the day before yesterday, and a man was at a church and the woman gave him... He was a minister, because I don't know when it happened, but I just saw it on all of these short clips on Facebook. So the minister, the write-up has it that the minister, the woman, and her husband are false teachers. And so I don't know how true that is, but then this man comes, and this man comes and he wanted to expose them. He comes with the intention to expose them, but I think unknown to these people, he finds his way to the altar. They hand the mic to him. She was actually holding the mic, but then they give him the opportunity to say something. And so he begins on a rather maybe appreciative note, and then towards the end, he just said something like, well, I just want all of you to know that this woman right here, you should not listen to her. She's a false preacher. And the woman tells him, you know, she was shocked. She didn't see that coming. But, you know, as I thought about it, and the person who posted that short clip and was saying, watch and see the twist in this video. Obviously, the person seemed impressed by what this other man did, but I wasn't quite impressed. Now, let's assume he really, his discernment. Is that the way you, is that the correct way to handle it? Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So let's take it. His discernment was accurate and he was, but I do not feel that is the correct way to handle that because she was coming under the guise of the gospel. You know, she was proposing, she was professing the gospel of Jesus Christ, right? So I don't know. Maybe she's false. Maybe she's right. Let's assume she was false, but she was professing the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And now there are people in that meeting who probably, their faith wasn't, or isn't as strong, right? And when they see two people, two ministers, so to say, obviously having such a brow on stage, it's going to make them think, oh, so yeah, you know, I have always, it's going to weaken their faith, right? It's going to affect how they take the gospel of our Lord Jesus because you're going to be like, what's all this? What's all this? So I would just ask, did that man do it alone or did the Lord send him? And that's the point. Because there is a time to protect the sheep and there's a time to protect the sheep by doing that same thing in a meeting with a pastor or something. He was a... Did the Lord send him to protect the sheep or did he harm the sheep? Did the Lord send him or did he go himself? Absolutely. Absolutely, Reverend. So this is where discernment and wisdom and obedience to divine instruction come in handy because I think his approach probably wasn't the best. It wasn't done in wisdom and assuming his discernment was correct, I don't think he handled the situation as correctly as he should and that's the place of wisdom. So I believe that Paul said, as Apostle John is saying in 1 John 4, I believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. I believe that he was drawing our attention to discernment and I also believe that a huge part of discernment is the place of wisdom, right? So that you can even... So that after you have discerned, you can be careful to use that discernment to the glory of God. See, because we're not discerning these things to make ourselves judges, to put ourselves in the seat where we're judging other people. You know, some people just discern and they go like, well, yeah, his teachings are false or this is a false preacher and based on this, based on that, look at the scripture, look at that. But as they see all of those things, they are unconsciously and some others consciously even putting themselves, they're exalting themselves, right? Putting themselves in the seat where they go like, without humility, right? Without humility, yes. I'm better informed, I can tell who's doing it, who's getting it correctly and who is not getting it correctly. And that also, I don't think that's the right attitude. And we started off on that note, right? Romans 14 says, remember... Right, and so remembering that even a false prophet or a prophet that's prophesying falsely, he may still be a servant of the Lord. And still not correct, still not come into the right spirit. You know, it's easy to miss it. Anyway, this word, which is translated to try the spirits, I'll try to pronounce it, dokimazo, dokimazo, okay? Dokimazo, D-O-K-I-M-A-Z-O. And it's a term that comes from evaluating medals. To assay, it means to assay medals, which means they weigh it, they test the purity, and they have tests and proofs to be able to accurately judge the value of a medal. So that definition is to test, examine, prove, scrutinize, make sure it's genuine or not. As when you take a jewel to the jeweler, and is this real gold? Is this a diamond? Is it fake? So with a purpose to recognize if it's genuine and to approve its value and worth. So this word is try the spirits. So if you want to know what it, how to test a prophet, you try the spirit. Many people want to say, well, this is not accurate according to the word of God. And that's a good, there's scripture for that. But this particular scripture tells you how to test a false prophet. Test number one, test that spirit. Does this spirit confess that Christ has come in the flesh? Does this spirit, or is it the spirit of the Antichrist? Is it for Christ or is it against him? Is this spirit, this prophet, is this prophet lifting up Christ or lifting up itself? What spirit is moving? And I've seen spirits in prophets that are very competitive and they will prophesy, you know, the end times. And there's an arrogance and a competitiveness and I cringe. And I said, be careful. That's not a good idea to carry that arrogance. That you really know all scripture and you understand and can correctly describe the end of time. Be very careful. What spirit that's of, are you drawing people to yourself? You know, the test of a prophet in the Old Testament, there were two, and you could die for either one of these tests. Test number one, does their prophecy comes to pass? Test number two, they're stoned for either one. Do they draw people to themselves and away from God? You can find those in the Old Testament. I don't have the references in front of me, but those two tests are pretty clear. So spiritual test of spirits means we need a spiritual discernment. Without a spiritual discernment, we don't have a hope of discerning that spirit. Are you doing favor? You got a few more minutes in you? Well, it's such an interesting subject and it's pretty, yeah, it's pretty long because there's so much to it. But if we don't see the whole thing, it's not so easy to see it. First Thessalonians 5. First Thessalonians 5. Verse 21. Six, seven, eight words. Eight words and they're very powerful. First Thessalonians 5. Verse 21. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good. Beautiful. So what's the implication of that? All things. Would it be surprising to you and helpful to know that that first word prove is the same word, dokimazo, which means to us safe. Okay, now go ahead. Yeah, but remember when you say asay, would you spell it? Because I'm thinking. Okay, A-S-S-A-Y. And it's a term from metallurgy, you know, from gold, silver and other metals. Oh, to prove the genuine, the worth, the value, the genuineness, the purity, the hardness, all of that is done in. There was once a job description of an assayer. In the gold rush, they had to have an assayer to determine the value and therefore the dollars that would be given to an individual for the amount of gold they brought. And you had to have an assayer. So one skilled in testing, improving and testing. They had to have an assayer, someone that was good at determining the genuineness and the value of that gold. And then give them dollars equivalent of the worth of it. That was the job of an assayer. And so that's when it says prove all things, it says assay all things. Yes. You know, it's an interesting thing about my digestive system. I can eat a lot of things and even some things which are not valuable or good for me or helpful for my giving life to me. But my digestive system has a very good way of ignoring those things and just passing them on and yet holding fast to that which is good. So you hear a lot of things and you see a lot of people. Amen. But we can assay all things. And when we come across truth that has a ring of love to it, we hold on to that. A lot of other things, we just didn't let it go. What was that verse that we were looking at the other week in Proverbs? Was it 1911? Was it? Or was it 9? 19, I think. I remember that one. The discipline of the man, defer it, he is younger, that it is good to pass for great transgression. Yes, sir. So brother Faber, we really don't have to fight with every single untruth we come across unless we're a follower of the law because that dear brother, sister might be totally sincere and love God with all of their heart and they know as much as they know and they want to share with a pure heart and yet now we're going to knock them down because they said the wrong verse or they said they didn't know that Noah was in the ark. They thought he was in the ark for 140 days and so we're going to contend with them over an issue rather than receiving the message that they have. It's good to have a good digestive system, spiritual discernment. Yes, sir. Is it more important that they get every fact correct or is it the spirit of what they're ministering which is really most important? The spirit of what they are ministering. And we often get it wrong. They are dressed funny, they talk funny, they don't get their facts right and they got that accent that's hard to understand. All of those things can easily enter into our flesh beginning to complain about them and judge them. Spiritual discerning. There's a lot more. Hallelujah. So that's the word. Dokimazo, to prove, try, examine, scrutinize. Yeah, go ahead brother. Before you sign up, brother, you had said something. You said you had asked me what skill is required to prove all things. I didn't quite get the answer to that, brother. Because I didn't know how to answer that so I was looking forward to hearing you share that comment on that. And that's back, I think, by Hebrews, the fifth chapter. And I think the answer is in that. First of all, it's the one that talks about and solid food is for the mature who because of practice or who because of exercising have their senses trained to discern good and evil. First thing is the mature. The second thing is that person is eating solid food and solid food and strong practice in a mature person improves their skill in discerning good and evil. Eat solid food in the Lord and exercise those senses. What are senses? The ability to discern, sense beyond the outward appearance. Other senses than just the eyes and the ears, spiritual senses. In fact, some versions say their spiritual senses train. So solid food, developing maturity. Maturity is developed by going through trials and strengthening your faith, you know. Having been through some things in the Lord, have their senses trained. So the skills. So then again, I'll ask on that basis, favor, what skills are being developed? What senses and skills? Um, first Reverend, if I am to recall what you already said. Yes, it's hidden in that already. Yes, you're right. The skills required maturity. Yes. Eat strong meat, which is maturity. The ability to discern good and evil. An accurate ability to say, or to discern, to test. So this kind of testing is what some people call judging. You know, when you stand before a judge, whether you be guilty or perfectly innocent, you will be assayed, tested. And how are you tested? You are tested by the lawyer, not the defense lawyer, but what is the other one called? Prosecution. And the prosecution's job is to ask you the hard questions. And by poking and asking and testing, if there's a flaw in you, they will find it. Many have broken under excellent questioning of the prosecution attorney. This is another testing, assaying, discerning, judging, and getting back to, is not the body of Christ supposed to discern and test and judge themselves? Should we not be asking our brother the difficult questions? Brother, how are you doing with the anger that you were having? How are you doing with your temptations? How is it going with you? Is there not a place in the body of Christ for that kind of help of each other? You see, I think we're afraid to go there because of incorrect judgment. Incorrect judgment causes us to fear transparency. And it's very damaging. So can we correctly discern with the motive of helping somebody? Paul lays it out when he talks to you, if any brother is overtaken in a fall. You who are spiritual, mature, what are you to do? With a false, and we're not on a different subject, it's exactly in line here. What are you to do with a false prophet? Well, restore such a one with a spirit of meekness, lest we ourselves. So first we discern, and we judge, we assay that the brother's having a hard time and is being overtaken in a fall. And so if you're truly spiritual and mature, you're trained to discern good and evil. By practice, your senses have been improved. You can tell when somebody's just being devoured by depression and they're putting on a good face. You can discern that spiritual discernment. And what are you going to do with it? Edify, build up, restore, and see that one saved. See them built up in Christ. That is correct judgment, discernment, and assessment. Amen. Hallelujah. So that's really the full circle of it. There's a lot more meat on those bones, but I think we have a skeletal view of this one. And I hope it's helpful. I'm going to post this, these notes, and there's a lot more to it, but I'm sure it's getting late. And so we've had enough for today. Fathers, thank you today for your word and for helping us to understand and to see and to read. Lord, when we see your whole word put together in all of the scriptures, we can begin to understand that we don't sit in the seat of a judge in order to condemn. But God, we desire, Lord, that we would have our spiritual senses trained that we could discern and assess and we could perceive, Lord, not to condemn but to help and to build up. Even as a doctor, when we go to the doctor, the doctor wants to know what's wrong with us. And they want us to tell them what's going on with us. Oh, Lord, we go to church, we hide our things. God, it needs to come to a time, Lord, when we come to church in order to unload our things and to be made whole, to be restored and to be made holy. God, you help us, Lord, as we learn to find the joy of bringing to the light those things the enemy has used to destroy us. And God, I pray, Lord, that you'd raise up elders in these churches that would be able to serve, oh God, with wisdom and discernment and authority. God, we pray for that in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen.