DISCERNING GOOD FROM EVIL

Introduction:
	A. Story:  Preacher does a sermon on drunkenness; teen asks her father if that means
	     she cannot go to the senior party. Dad says to be quiet about it and the preacher will
	     never know.
	B. How do many people determine what is right and wrong today?
		1. Put it to the test...
		2. The desire test - If I want to, I will. If I don't want to, I will not.
		3. The “can-I-get-away-with-it” test.
		4. The “who's-gonna-know test?” - If I can keep my brethren from finding out
		    about it, I will.
		5. The world no longer has ethics, let alone morals.
		6. Getting to the point where many professed Christians look so much like the
		    world, that if they didn't claim to be Christians, no one would ever know.
	C. God gave us a mind to reason with and a will to act upon what our mind decides.
		1. He desires that we develop knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
		2. Prov. 23:23
		3. James 4:7-8 – He wants us to use what we have learned in order to resist
		    Devil and submit to God's will.
	D. Have you observed a brother's words or actions and wondered, "Isn't he aware that
	     it's wrong?"
		1. He might not have thought it out or put it to the test.
		2. Heb. 5:11-14; 2Cor. 5:14-17, 21
		3. Learning to put our choices to the test is a demonstration of our maturity as
		    Christians.
	E. 25 tests... "How can I remember all of them?"
		1. "Those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
		    good and evil."
		2. These tests are very personal matters, designed to stimulate us to grow out of
		    weakness into strength, from apathy to zeal, from fearfulness into boldness,
		    from sin into righteousness.
		3. By means of...
			a. Daily examination of God's word,
			b. Devout resolution to grow and overcome temptation,
			c. Purposeful pursuit of godliness,
			d. Continual prayer for strength and forgiveness.
		4. Hope this lesson us all to better answer the question: "Shall I participate or
		    shall I forbear?"

1. THE SCRIPTURAL TEST
	A. Does the word of God approve or forbid the action?
	B. Matthew 4:1-11 - the temptation of Jesus
	C. 1Peter 3:15 - Requires a knowledge of scripture
	D. If God has already said no, I have no business even considering it.
		1) As a parent, how would you react to a child who disobeyed your explicit
		    instructions?

2. THE IDENTITY TEST
	A. Will this activity identify me with Christ or His Adversary?
	B. Gal. 2:20; Matt. 5:14-16
	C. If someone was to say to me, "And you call yourself a Christian," I need to re-
  	     examine my decision to act.

3. THE SACRIFICIAL TEST
	A. If I do this, will it pollute the sacrifice?
	B. Rom. 12:1-2
	C. Sin covers one with corruption.  A bath and a breath mint can remove external
	     evidence of drunkenness or fornication from the night before, but the sin hasn't been
	     cleansed away.
	D. 1Cor. 6:18-20 - We have polluted what God wants holy.

4. THE PERSONAL TEST
	A. Will doing this trouble my conscience, thus causing me to sin?
	B. Rom. 14:22-23
	C. I cannot assault my conscience without consequence; it is not only a sin, it hardens
	     the gift that was designed to keep us from sin.

5. THE EVANGELISTIC TEST
	A. Will my doing this hinder me from leading others to the Lord?
	B. Matt. 5:13 - Will my actions make others more or less interested in the Gospel?
	C. Our example is our best soul winning tool; we must not dull it.

6. THE PRACTICAL TEST
	A. Will this decision be desirable and helpful in every day life?
	B. 1Peter 3:10-11; Eph. 6:1-3
	C. Prodigal son's wastefulness; drunkard's poverty; fornicator's fear:
		1) Discovery, divorce, disease, and death.

7. THE UNIVERSAL TEST
	A. If everyone else was doing or not doing this, what kind of world/church would this be?
	B. Matt. 20:25-28 - We will be judged based on what we have done or have failed to do.

8. THE STEWARDSHIP TEST
	A. Will activity be a waste of my time, ability, potential or money?
	B. 1Cor. 4:2 - "It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." 
		1. What we have, we have in trust from God.

9. THE INFLUENCE TEST
	A. Will my example help or hinder other Christians?
	B. 1Tim. 4:12
	C. Is my decision encouraging my brother, or possibly leading him to weaken in resolve.

10. THE CHARACTER TEST
	A. Will this build my integrity and strengthen my spiritual backbone?
	B. Phil. 1:20-21
	C. Can even nine out of ten people tell you what integrity means, let alone practice it?
		1. Character means being true to established principles.

11. THE FAMILY TEST
	A. What effect will this have on my family?
	B. Gen. 18:17-19; 1Tim. 5:8, 14
	C. Will it interfere with their future health and happiness?
		1. Will it disrupt good family relationships?
		2. Will it shame them?

12. THE BLASPHEMY TEST
	A. Will my actions lead others to blaspheme the word when they see my unfaithfulness?
	B. Titus 2:1-5

13. THE PUBLICITY TEST
	A. Would I want my parents, fellow Christians, or elders to know that I am doing this?
	B. Eph. 5:11-12 - What lengths am I going to in order to keep it secret?
		1. Few secrets remain hidden forever.

14. THE FINANCIAL TEST
	A. Will this keep me from giving as the Lord commands; am I spending money that
	     should be given to God?
	B. 1Cor. 16:1-2; 2Cor. 9:7
	C. Contribution is often the first thing cut when the monthly budget gets tight.
	D. When it comes to feeble excuses given by brethren as to why they fail in this duty,
 	     they are second only to missing services.

15. THE COMMON SENSE TEST
	A. Is this activity foolish and nonsensical?
	B. Prov. 1:20-22, 2:10-11
	C. Many consider sound advice thoughtfully offered to be a form of control; "It's my life!"
	D. Hindsight is 20/20, but it's too late to change what was ruined by foolish choices.

16. THE FAIRNESS TEST
	A. Is this activity honest and fair to others, as well as to myself?
	B. Matt. 7:12; Rev. 21:26-27
	C. Do I really want others to treat me the way I have treated them?

17. THE MILLSTONE TEST
	A. Does this decision make my brethren love me or loathe me?
	B. Rom. 14:13, 20-21; Matt. 18:6-7
	C. The only thing the Bible teaches us that we are to contend for is the word.
	D. Jude 3; Phil. 2:3-4

18. THE CONSISTENCY TEST
	A. Is this in character with what I say; does it prove my spiritual stability?
	B. Eph. 4:13-15
	C. If someone says to me, "That's just not like you," I need to re-examine my choice.

19. THE WEIGHT TEST
	A. Is this activity slowing down my growth as a Christian?
	B. Hebrews 12:1-3
	C. There is nothing inherently wrong with: overtime, school sports, band practice,
	     vacations, and parties UNTIL they interfere with serving God, attending services,
	     Bible study, or teaching the lost.

20. THE APPEARANCE TEST
	A. Does this activity carry a hint or suggestion of evil?
	B. 1Thes. 5:22
	C. Many people in the world, though rife with sin, can still detect a trace of sin in some of
 	     our choices.
	D. Gal. 5:21 - "And such like..."  God put this in there because some folks will say, "Well
	     the Bible doesn't come out and name it."

21. THE FLESHLY DESIRE TEST
	A. Will this activity cause me to dwell on carnal thoughts?
	B. 1Peter 2:11 - "Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
		1. Sinful thoughts are as habit forming as sinful actions.
	C. While many will not engage in sin, they have no problem with being voyeurs,
   	     watching others doing it on TV and in movies.
		1. Would we be comfortable asking our grandmother to sit and watch it with us;
		    how about the Lord?
		2. We cannot put our mind in the gutter on Saturday night and on the Lord's
		    Table Sunday morning.

22. THE CHILD PARTICIPATION TEST
	A. Do I want my children doing this?
	B. Prov. 14:26, 1
	C. Will my children be more or less inclined to obey God as a result of my example?
	D. Our actions teach the following to our children (whether we believe it or not):
		1. Worldliness teaches lasciviousness,
		2. Materialism teaches indifference to God,
		3. Quarrelsomeness teaches disrespect,
		4. Gossip teaches contempt.

23. THE AWARENESS TEST
	A. Do I mind that God sees and knows that I am engaged in this?
	B. Hebrews 4:13
	C. For many the question has become, "Do I even care?"
	D. Joseph in Egypt pursued by Potiphar's wife.

24. THE COMPANIONSHIP TEST
	A. Will this activity put me in with the wrong company?
	B. 1Cor. 15:33
	C. Area where Christians lie to themselves the most often: "I can handle it."
	D. Even if I do not participate in their sin, I will get the name.
	E. Need to ask, "Why have I chosen these as companions instead of a fellow Christian?"

25. THE YOKE TEST
	A. Will this decision bind me in such a way that I must choose between it and my
  	     relationship with God?
	B. 2Cor. 6:14-18
	C. "I have already obligated myself." I obligated myself to God first when I was baptized.
	     If I cannot keep that straight, I have no business calling myself a Christian.
	D. God knew what a trial it would be for Christians to be yoked so as to be forced to
	     choose between Him and worldly relationships; that is why He said not to get into
	     them in the first place, and if in one already, come out and be separate.

Conclusion:
	A. We must put all of our choices to the test.
		1. We must cease an activity when we learn is wrong or bad judgment.
		2. We must increase an activity when we learn is truth and right.
	B. Our likes or dislikes do not happen to be a test of right or wrong.
		1. 1Thes. 5:21-22
		2. In so doing you will please God, mature as a Christian, and build up others
		    around you. If I flirt around with sin, and I end up in hell, I have no one to
		    blame but myself. God has given everything I need to know right from wrong.
		3. 2Peter 1:3; Phil. 4:8-9; 1Tim. 4:16