Hearing Aids, pt.1: Discerning Good from Evil

There are numerous ways that God speaks to us, such as: dreams, visions, revelations, through friends, preaching, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and His audible voice.

Knowing the ways that God speaks to us is vital, but it is also only part of the formula for hearing His voice.

The other part of the formula—the most important part—is the condition of our heart.

A heart that’s after God’s heart will always hear His voice. A heart that’s after what this world has to offer will rarely, if ever, heart God’s voice.

We are the only barrier to hearing Father’s voice.

Daily He speaks to us and demons cannot deafen us unless we allow them. It’s up to us whether we hear His voice and how often we hear His voice.

This teaching begins a three part series that discusses three of some of the biggest hearing problems that Christians in the United States face today.

When God appeared to Solomon to give him anything he asked for, Solomon requested wisdom. In his request, he asked, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (1 Kings 3:9) Solomon knew that discerning good and evil was critical to successfully governing a country (as well as himself).

Discerning good and evil is accurately identifying the source or nature of everything we encounter, no matter how obvious or seemingly benign. Obviously, pornography is evil. But not so obvious is the neighbor who appears very nice, friendly, and is well liked. Yet against popular opinion, you feel a warning in your spirit that something is wrong with that person. 

Discerning good and evil is our primary weapon against deception. Satan is the father of lies and his children do what their father does. When we discern good from evil, we will not fall prey to their deceitful traps.

We must be constantly consistent in training ourselves to discerning good from evil. We must make this a habit, something we do daily and naturally.

Hebrews 5:14 reveals that we will hear more from God and more about God when we have trained ourselves to distinguish good from evil. “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Discerning good and evil requires our effort to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and our willingness to accept His leading even when it is totally opposite to what we see in the physical realm and what is popular opinion.

The Corinthian church had a situation in their midst where they did not discern good from evil and Paul sharply rebuked them. A man was having sexual relations with his father’s wife and the church not only accepted it, but was actually proud of this relationship! This is the same church where, two chapters earlier, Paul told them that they were not ready for solid food. ”Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.” (1 Corinthians 3:1–3a)

How prevalent is sexual immorality in our churches today? And how prevalent is discerning between good and evil in our churches? There are many that profess to be Christian, yet are living with someone of the opposite sex. And many of these couples are even having children out of wedlock. 

There are even many in the church that do not see homosexuality as evil.

Not discerning good from evil is preventing a lot of Christians from hearing God’s voice and from hearing greater revelations of God and His Word.

Here are three examples of failing to discern good from evil:

The new employee in an office was a handsome, charismatic, man with a wonderful sense of humor. Within a few weeks, he became very popular and well-liked. Several women in the office began giving this single man prepared food and small gifts. Some began flirting with him—even the married women. Soon, phone numbers were exchanged and thoughts and conversations about the man increased. In just a few months, two of the woman (one married) began a sexual relationship with this man. The Christian women in the office saw no harm or evil in the flirting and sexual innuendos, nor did they see the seducing and manipulating spirit in the man.

During the 2000 Presidential race-recount, Governor Bush worked on his ranch and prayed. Vice-President Gore ranted and threatened law-suits. I asked several Christians who they hoped would be our next President. Several said, “I don’t care—they’re both politicians and liars.” The contrast between these two men was very obvious—to those who discern good from evil.

Facing high school graduation with no planned future, Susan was aimless. Her father was an alcoholic and was never there for support and guidance. She soon met a guy who was years older and in trouble with the law, but he made her feel accepted and desired. Her mother had accepted Christ as her Savior and was baptized in the Holy Spirit many years earlier. But she did not discern good from evil and accepted the guy even though he was a powerful force in destroying Susan’s future. Within one year, Susan was pregnant. She and her boyfriend moved into an apartment and soon after giving birth, she was pregnant again. Susan’s mother continues to support that relationship.

When we fail to discern good from evil, we become easy prey for the enemy.

We need to get off the bottle of the milk of God’s Word and through constant use, train ourselves to discern good from evil. Only then will we hear and understand the solid food from God and hear directly from Him the revelatory things that He desires us to know.

Many of us are content with learning something new about God every once in a while.

We can no longer be content. Time is short. God is calling His people to be continually growing. God is calling His people to discern good from evil, to go from milk to solid food, so that they can stomach the revelations that He is pouring out onto His people.

It is my prayer for you that Father will continue to help you to hear His voice, and more and more frequently.

With God’s grace and in His peace,

Gary

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