“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then thou shalt see clearly to case out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5
BY THE FRUITS:
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know (discern) them.” Matthew 7:20
BY/THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST:
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal....discerning of spirits...” 1 Corinthians 12:7,10
THE LORD DESIRES THAT WE GROW IN DISCERNMENT
“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (perception, discernment); That ye may approve (test, discern) things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-10
DISCERNMENT COMES FROM BEING EXERCISED IN GOD'S WORD
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 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.” Hebrews 5:13-14
ALL LEADERS WHO ARE TRULY FOLLOWING CHRIST, TEACH THEIR HEARERS DISCERNMENT
All leaders who are truly following Christ teach their hearers to discern. The Good Shepherd is all about protecting the sheep of His pasture (Jer. 3:15; John 10).
“And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Ezekiel 44:23
The enemy of all souls always has a counterfeit in religion in order to deceive. His agents “lie in wait to deceive” as he “walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” (Eph. 4:14; 1 Pet. 5:8) Yet his devices are “common to man.” (1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 2:11) “There is no new thing under the sun.” (Eccl. 1:7) Mixture is his most deceptive and effective tool to draw even well-meaning believers into sin, bondage, and delusion. Only those who love, study, and embrace God’s truth will escape (2 Thess. 2:10-12). Satan’s tricks are age old and must be observed through an historical biblical perspective and by the Holy Ghost living inside each saint (Acts 17:11; 1 Cor. 12:10; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16; Heb. 5:11-14; 1 Jn. 2:20, 27; 4:1-3). The person who believes every spirit or teaching is in direct disobedience to the LORD. Testing every spirit and weighing all teachings in the light of Holy Scripture is a divine mandate (Jude 3-4; 1 Jn. 4:1-3). The LORD hates mixture and this is why He has ordained that all who seek and serve Him learn and “teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” (Ezek. 44:23)
The Unspoken Creed of Modern Hirelings (this is some of the evil learned from their church growth marketing industry gurus)
Cardinal Rule #1:Thou shalt not obey Jesus Christ and preach repentance. This is what He prescribed in order that He might grow His true Church as He wills. Ignore the severe truths of the Bible because it won’t make you successful in men’s eyes and maximize your monetary earning potential in this life. Instead, seek out popular men who can tell you how to be a good church growth student and farm your community to grow your church business.
Cardinal Rule #2:Thou shalt not teach people that God is holy, that sin separates men from Him, and that without exception He requires all who will be eternally saved to “be ye holy for I am holy.”
Cardinal Rule #3:Thou shalt tend only to the light fanfare of fun things like coping, financial prosperity, physical healing, getting blessed, pop psychology, and light things catering to building up the self life which Jesus commanded men to “deny.”
Cardinal Rule #4:Thou shalt entertain sinful goats who think they are saved and not feed sheep. Only say things that make the largest segment of society feel comfortable at all costs. This is how you will be able to build a large church business. Never ever, ever tell the people that Jesus Christ requires them to deny themselves, take up their cross daily and really and truly follow Him are they are not His.
Cardinal Rule #5:Thou shalt make people feel like they are apart of a community. Make them feel like they belong and that they are accepted without question or exception and that God okays them in their sins whether they repent or not.
Cardinal Rule #6:Thou shalt be friendly and sensitive to seekers while ignoring the need to fear God and preach the undiluted full-counsel of His Word. Oh, make sure you use one of the many artificial, corrupt new versions of the Bible that are supposedly easier to read and have removed and distorted the central doctrines of the Christian faith. Beware because using the real English Bible (KJV) would convict people of sin and might actually cause people to have to learn new English words, increasing their vocabulary and making them smarter and wiser and able to discern who you really are (Ps. 19:7; 119:99-100).
Cardinal Rule #7:Thou shalt not preach on the vivid reality of hell and eternal judgment to come and how Jesus spoke more about hell than Heaven. This might make people feel uncomfortable in their sins and not patronize or pay you to continue to lead them astray.
Cardinal Rule #8:Thou shalt purposely ignore and dodge all the myriad of Scriptures that deal with crucifying the self life, denying sinful pleasure in this life and truly following Jesus. This would offend and alienate people from your cause.
Cardinal Rule #9:Thou shalt not preach any convicting word that brings shame on sinful consciences. If so you would run some off and they would no longer help you build your local church business.
Cardinal Rule #10:Thou shalt act as if you believe the Bible is God’s Word and yet don’t really spend much time getting directly into it. Rather, bring in fad books written by best selling authors who do not exalt Jesus Christ by declaring His Word - undiluted. If you want to grow your own financial portfolio, do not preach the full-counsel of God’s Word - holiness, repentance, being born again, hell, denial of self, judgment to come, etc. Make sure you do not make one of God’s 66 glorious divinely-inspired books the text book for smaller group studies. People might get convicted of their sins, repent, and begin to personally learn God’s Word for themselves and won’t allow you to continue to mislead them and will not see the need for you (“Pastor Wonderful”) to tell them what to believe.
Cardinal Rule #11:Remember that your whole goal is to look successful in the eyes of men and to grow your congregation numerically and not spiritually. Thou shalt not specifically and by name preach on sin and call men to repent of their life of iniquity. The blessed and ancient altar call must be removed. Since you won’t be preaching repentance from sin before a just and holy God and Judge, you will not need an altar call. Obeying Christ by calling men to repent is not conducive to your own personal cause and popularity among men and may cause people to get truly saved and begin serving Christ and having an eternal perspective and not buying in to your selfish interests to build your entertainment club disguised as a church. Be careful to remember that people who truly know and fear God do not support false prophets and if you truly preach the Word some will repent and see who you really are and leave your circus act.
Cardinal Rule #12:Thou shalt completely ignore the New Testament book of Acts and the baptism in the Holy Ghost which would empower and make His disciples true witnesses of the KING of all kings and draw their allegiance to Jesus and advancing His eternal kingdom which would take away their heart affections and energies from your own self-serving program and cause.
Cardinal Rule #13:Thou shalt not truly and ceaselessly preach the Word of God since that would make true disciples. If so they might realize they really don’t need you but rather the nail-scarred risen Savior and LORD and go forth doing His bidding ministry - building up the saints and winning the lost - which would lessen your own importance and position.
Cardinal Rule #14:Only deal with surface issues like self-esteem, relationships, coping, and things pertaining to selfish interests. Make sure those in your little bless me club are comforted in their sin and believe they are eternally secure no matter what filth and wickedness they get into after their initial profession of faith. This will tickle their ears and embolden them to continue to live in sin and enjoy being led to believe that God will still accept them into His holy Heaven. This is another good way to get people to feel good and continue to come and give their money to your little entertainment club. Do not preach God’s Word as Paul told Timothy to do. Most people want to be told ear-tickling lies and so in order to have a large following, you must be selective about what you preach.
Cardinal Rule #15:Jesus told you that you must lose your life in this world to gain it. If you were to obey what He said, you would then lay it all down and truly be Christ’s and serve Him and no longer be a “deceitful worker” and pawn of Satan (2 Cor. 11:12-15; Phil. 3:17-19). Also, be aware that if you truly repent you will no longer be a hireling wolf who preys upon people, using them as a means to your own selfish end. If you were to really get right with the LORD you may lose the riches of this fleeting world and begin laying up eternal treasure.
