THE VIRTUE OF DISCERNMENT | 1 Kings 3:8-10

SCRIPTURE:  1Kings 3:8 “And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? 10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing."

OBJECTIVES:

1.     To gain insight on the value of discernment as a front line fighting Army in the Battle for God's Kingdom.

2.     That as leaders being raised by God for His task, we may use discernment as a powerful tool.

INTRODUCTION:

➢   The background of our Scripture was when King David transferred his crown and throne to his son Solomon, before he died.  So, young and inexperienced as Solomon was, he began to rule the kingdom of Israel.  After offering to God a thousand burnt offerings, the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, " “Ask! What shall I give you?”  (1Kings 3:5).  This is a very clear Biblical principle, that a servant of God who is willing to pay the price, to sacrifice at the altar, God comes with an answer. 

➢   Perhaps Solomon made no particular request after making his generous offerings, so God has to come into his dream in order to know his request.  Wow! What if all the people of God would come at the altar of sacrifice and offer to God their burnt sacrifice?   Their precious time, service, talent, and even their treasure, would not God be happy to ask them the same question?  "Son or Daughter, Ask! What shall I give you".   Our problem however is that, we have so many requests, but we are not very willing and ready to bring our burnt offering at the altar of sacrifice.

WHAT WOULD YOU OFFER AT THE ALTAR?

➢   As the New Covenant people, God's temple is you and me, and our bodies are the dwelling places of the Holy Spirit individually and corporately.  (1Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?).

➢   And where a Temple of God is, there is of necessity for an altar, that every one who comes into God's presence can offer his burnt offerings, but or course in our case, our offerings are a living sacrifice.  (Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.")

➢   Our thought life, our conversation, our action, these are our living sacrifices offered on a daily basis at the Altar of God set before His Holy Temple.  Are these, by God's standard, to be considered as holy and acceptable?  Are we doing the things that we do for the glory of our King?

THE BEST OF DESIRES.

➢   What could be the best request a king could have asked of God?  Long life?  Riches? Or the lives of his enemies?  No! He asked for a wise and understanding heart or discernment to rule with justice.

➢   (1Kings 3:11"Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.")

➢   God was well pleased with King Solomon's petition.  It was not a self-seeking, self-gratifying desire!  It was the attribute that was required of his position as a king over the lives of his subjects.

DISCERNMENT: UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE

➢   Discernment. If you can make out, pick out, or distinguish something, you can discern it. This is a word for recognizing and perceiving things. Discerning has to do with being able to see or hear something which is not obvious from the surface.

➢   Biblical Discernment in its simplest definition, is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about  a person, a situation, an activity, or a teaching.

➢   God gives this gift as we meditate upon His Word.  Setting His Word in our hearts as the standard of right or wrong, we can use this gift in understanding the people and world around us.

➢   A sense of anticipation should go with discernment.  You must see beyond to determine what action needs to be taken or avoided to escape an en enemy's trap or calamity. 

DEVELOPING AND USING THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT

1.     DISCERNING GOOD AND EVIL

➢   1Kings 3:9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.

➢   As leaders and emerging leaders in God's Kingdom, we need to develop this gift into becoming a virtue in our lives to be able to guide us in ministering or serving the people that God brings our path.

➢   By the mere observation of a person or situation, we can tell the truth or error through the knowledge imparted to us by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.  A short background or story of a person could give you a glimpse of the spiritual influences and activities behind their attitudes and reactions.  (Night-shift call center agent, working in Malate, near Quiapo Church, expressions)

2.     DISCERNING THE SPIRIT

➢   1Corinthians 12:10 "...to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues."

➢   Discerning of spirits as one of the Spiritual Gifts, gives us the ability to identify various spiritual agents for their moral influence.  This is very useful in deliverance and pulling down of strongholds in the life of a person you are ministering to or sanctifying a place of demonic activities or a certain situation you are dealing with.  Far away from being judgmental, discerning of spirits helps us identify what kind of spirits are at work and how to deal with them. 

➢   Spirits at times are dumb unless you can identify their name or nature.  But the moment you can identify them, you can easily deal with them. (Spirits of false doctrine, deception, error, religiosity, idolatry, vices of alcoholism, nicotine, drugs). You need to call these by their name and cause them to bow and obey the Name of Jesus Christ.

1.     DISCERNING THE THOUGHT

➢   Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

➢   In counseling or talking to people, discerning plays a crucial role in understanding a personal circumstance or situation, thereby a counselor could give an appropriate advise to the person ministered to.

➢   Like a physician diagnosing a sickness, you can prescribe an appropriate Word to address the need. (Sleeplessness, Too worried, anxiety = Phil 4:6-8 / too shy and timid = Romans 1:16)

CONCLUSION:

➢   In conquest or helping people find their way back to God, discerning plays a major role if we are to be effective servants of the Kingdom of God.

➢   Like King Solomon, ask God to give you a discerning heart to lead people that He brings to your life.