304-415-NEWS
Definition of Discernment: TO SEE AND IDENTIFY BY NOTING DIFFERENCES
Luke 12:54-56 (NKJV) Jesus said to his disciples "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
What’s the big deal?
What’s so important about “this time”?
Why did Jesus call his own disciples “hypocrites”?
Acts 10:44-45 (TEV) “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message. The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also.”
The Big deal is somebody’s got to speak spiritual truth so that the Holy Spirit can draw and save another Jew or Gentile!
How many people have you shared you testimony with?
Luke 12:8-9 (TEV) Jesus said "I assure you that those who declare publicly that they belong to me, the Son of Man will do the same for them before the angels of God. But those who reject me publicly, the Son of Man will also reject them before the angels of God.”
Mark 8:38 (MSG) Jesus said "If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels."
If you want to hear from God – START SHARING YOUR FAITH! No! than you’re a hypocrite!
Webster defined a hypocrite as: A PERSON WHO PRETENDS TO BE WHAT HE IS NOT!
STOP PRETENDING YOU’RE A SON OR DAUGHTER OF GOD!
If you are a child of God and God doesn’t speak to you, you changed!
1 Corinthians 1:17 (NKJV) Paul said “For Christ did send me … with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.”
A FEW OF YOU ARE SHARING YOUR FAITH, HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY OF YOU ARE NOT!
How do I know this? When was the last time you brought someone to church on purpose to get their live changed?
The majority of you have not, therefore, Christ as been divided and the Gospel is non-effective. You have trivialized God’s truth!
The Holy Spirit will not speak to your friend’s heart, until you bring Jesus up in a conversation.
1 Corinthians 1:18 (TLB) “I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God.”
IN ORDER FOR GOD TO SPEAK TO ME, I HAVE TO START:
1 Corinthians 1:10 (NKJV) “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 1:17 (NKJV) Paul said “For Christ did send me … with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.”
2. STOP believing my life style will lead my friends to Christ
1 Corinthians 1:21 (GW) “The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe.”
3. DEMONSTRATING my faith is in the power of God not human wisdom
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NKJV) “…not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
4. DEPENDING on God’s Spirit to give me the words to say to my friends
1 Corinthians 2:13 (TLB) “…we use the Holy Spirit's words to explain the Holy Spirit's facts.”
5. SHARING the words the Holy Spirit is teaching me with my friends
1 Corinthians 2:13 (NIV) “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
6. BRAGGING about God instead of me
1 Corinthians 3:16-21 (Phillips NT) “…God's Spirit lives in you?...If any man among you thinks himself one of the world's clever ones, let him discard his cleverness that he may learn to be truly wise…So let no one boast of men.”
7. CONSIDERING what I was before God called me to be a Christian
1 Corinthians 1:26-30 (GW) “Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes. But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame. God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises—what it considers to be nothing—in order to destroy what it considers to be something. As a result, no one can brag in God's presence. You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our righteousness, our holiness, and our ransom from sin.”
I want each of you to discern what you are right now: a hypocrite or one who discerns the times?
Prayer:
God, I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I want you to speak to me. From now on, I will start speaking about Jesus to my friends, I will stop believing my life style will lead my friends to Christ, I will start demonstrating my faith in the power of God, I will begin to depend on God’s Spirit to give me the words to say, I will use the words the Holy Spirit gives me, I will begin bragging about you instead of me. Jesus I will start considering what I was before you called me to be a Christian, In Jesus name, Amen.
Publisher's Note: Gerry White is the pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church and Christian Academy in Hurricane.
