Now you understand she had judged her father, and found him lacking, and now unlocked against herself a real cycle of issues that would then go through the rest of her life, so that's what judging is about. Discerning has more to do with being an observer than a judge, for example, a judge will stand up, or a judge will usually be seated in an elevated position. You go into a court, the judge is in the high position, so when the Bible talks about judging, it's speaking about elevating yourself up, as though you know everything and why people do things, and then passing a judgement on someone against them. You've found them guilty, see? And now you've condemned them. Right, now this is different to discerning. Discerning, you're not coming from the high ground of pride, and being above everyone else. You're coming down from, you're actually a human being yourself, understanding that people do have issues and make mistakes, and you're looking as an observer, to see what God says about the situation. So God shows you the root of this is a spirit, the root of this is bitterness, the root of this is this. It's informational. It's not judgemental. It's to inform you of the nature of the problem, not step up on the high ground and look down, and find the person guilty and condemn them. That's the difference.
Now many people think that Christians shouldn't judge, but the Bible says the spiritual man judges all things. Notice what Jesus just said in those verses. Notice He said: don't give what's holy to dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn on you. Clearly He's saying you need to know what to share, and who to share it with, because some people, if you share it with them, it's like casting something out before pigs. They'll trample it underfoot and turn on you. He's not being judgemental. He's just saying that you have to look at people, and look at situations, and be understanding of where they're at, and how they receive things. He said: you don't give everything you have to everyone, so the Bible's very clear. A spiritual man judges all things, but that means he looks right through to what the real issue is and identifies it, not as one sitting up high looking down, condemning, but as a fellow traveller, looking and observing and seeing that something is like this. You getting the idea?
Okay then, so for example - and the more you have examples the easier it is to see it, so discerning then is to be able to look through, and see what is behind this matter. I know what they're all saying, or I know what I can see, but what lies behind it - that's the driving factor? We need discernment, because in the world, and in the church, people have all kinds of agendas, and it shouldn't be that way, but that's how people are. People have usually hidden agendas, and the agendas are not so obvious, but if you are discerning of spirits, you can pick what lies behind it, so there are a number of Bible examples of that. We shared with one of you in the last session, and that was found in Acts, Chapter 8, where Peter discerned the motives of Simon the sorcerer, so everyone was coming up and saying: we want the power of God, we want the power of God, we want the power of God. He came up and said listen, I'll give you some money, just give me the power of God. He was able to look in and say no, you have got an issue. He said underneath this desire for the power of God, is a deep rooted bitterness and a crookedness, that makes you seek power so you can promote yourself. You've got a deep rooted issue of insecurity in your life.
Peter discerned it. He saw right to the root of it, and confronted the man about it. Getting the idea? So discernment enables you to see what is really there. As you'll see shortly, we'll need a word of wisdom to know what to do with it, so in Luke, Chapter 13 - I'll just find another example in Luke, Chapter 13, Verse 10. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and behold there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, was bowed down and could not lift herself up. Jesus saw her, called her to Him, and said to her: woman, be loosed of your infirmity. He laid hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. Now Jesus is in a synagogue, a place of prayer and there's a woman who has an incredibly serious back problem. She's bent and crippled right over. Now to everyone who looked, it's a back problem, and she has a back problem, that's true. But He saw the root source is a demonic spirit. There's a spirit attached to her spine, and when she was delivered, immediately she was set free.