Moving Toward Spiritual Discernment-8

MOVING TOWARD SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT-VIII

—1John 3:19-20(3:10--4:21)

Attention:

Unintended Consequences:

On Oct. 15, 2020, 51 year-old Salvatore “Sam” Anello—of Valparaiso, Indiana—plead guilty to the negligent homicide of his 18-month-old granddaughter Chloe Wiegand. On July 7, 2019, Mr. Anello’s granddaughter fell about 150 feet from an open window on the 11th-story of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ ‘Freedom of the Seas’ cruise ship, which was docked in Puerto Rico at the time. She died instantly upon contact with the concrete dock below.?The family has sued Royal Caribbean, blaming them for not having a safer situation on public areas of the ship. Royal Caribbean has denied any legal culpability, saying the blame lies with Mr Anello. The charge of negligent homicide will net the grandfather up to three years in prison. To which he responded, “They can't do anything worse to me than has already happened.” "Chloe being gone is the worst thing ever.” Chloe’s parents said that they are “utterly crushed” by the charges against her grandfather.

18-month-old Chloe Wiegand was the victim of a lack of discernment on at least two levels...?•IF the cruise line had been MORE DISCERNING about the potential danger of glassed-in areas.?AND?•IF Chloe’s granddaddy had only been MORE DISCERNING about his circumstances, then he & her parents would both have been able to hold Chloe in their arms again.

God’s people must see the importance, the seriousness, & the security of their Moving Toward Spiritual Discernment.

The apostle John shed light on a need for Spiritual Discernment in the Church.

Spiritual discernment is a necessity for the Church.

•How is Spiritual Discernment in the Church achieved/accomplished?

--OR--

•What must be recognized in moving ourselves, the church, & others toward spiritual discernment.

Some things we must recognize when moving toward spiritual discernment.

These past weeks we’ve found that:

Moving(yourself, the Church, & others) toward spiritual discernment recognizes...

1. OPPOSING SIDES(3:10)

•Children of God & Children of the Devil.

2. The FOUNDATIONAL MESSAGE(3:11)

•Love One Another.

3. IMPASSIONED BELIEF(3:12-13)

•The world hates you.

4(A-&-B). DECISIVE MOVEMENT(3:14-15)

•Passed from death to life.

5. FREEING EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE(3:16a)?•Knowing Jesus Laid Down His Life For Us.

6. FREEDOM’s(Unhesitating) RESPONSE(3:16b-19)?•Laying Down Our Lives For The Benefit of Our Brothers & Sisters In Christ.

Today we’ll look at the fact that...

7—Moving toward spiritual discernment also recognizes...

A FREEING CONFIDENCE Of The HEART-A(3:19-20)(3:19-24)

Explanation/Argumentation:(3:20-24)

3:19—“And by this we know that we are of the truth, & shall assure our hearts before Him.”

We looked at this verse the last time we met. And we found that by trusting Christ Jesus, we are expected to unhesitatingly lay down our own lives for the sake of our brothers & sisters in Christ...And that we do so in practical ways rather than merely mentally(:17-18).

•We also found that to ‘unhesitatingly lay down our own lives for the sake of our brothers & sisters in Christ’, brings the Christian to a ‘firm, confident assurance’ before the Almighty Creator God.

“And by this we know that we are of the truth,”...

God’s people have a personal ability & desire—thru Christ(:16)— to love both inwardly—by the “heart”— & outwardly—by “deed” & “truth”(:18). And thru that relationship to God in Christ, & the extension of that relationship to their brothers & sisters in Christ, & also to their fellow man, God’s people have a confirming “assurance” that though they are undeserving(Eph. 2:8), they are in fact “of the truth.”

?What does it mean to be “of the truth”?

•To be “of the truth” recognizes that everything driving our thoughts & actions is our relationship with God Himself. WHEN God thru Christ is allowed to ‘directly’ compel the thoughts & actions of His people, then “we are” characterized as being, “of the truth.”

•And in Him, “there is no variation or shadow of turning” so that He cannot lie!(Js. 1:17; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18).

Titus 1:1-2—“Paul, a bondservant of God & an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect & the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,”

Heb. 6:18—“that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

...That is, God’s people become an integral part of, & associated with, the fulfillment of God’s “truth” thruout the world. Being “of the truth”, God’s people become answerable for the proper/correct application of God’s truth.

“Know”[BYZ/TR] OR--“Will Know”[MajT](See 3:16, 20, 24; 4:2, 7, 8, 13)—ginwskw—[TR]Present Active Indicative 1st Plural--OR--[MajT]Future Deponent(middle) Indicative 1st Plural—1) To learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel—1a) To become known; 2) To know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of—2a) To understand, 2b) To know; 3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man & a woman; 4) To become acquainted with, to know. Ginwskw denotes a knowledge grounded on personal experience. Strong—a prolonged form of a primary verb; To "know"(absolutely) in a great variety of applications & with many implications.