Our Daily Duty to Discern Spirits | 1 John 4:1

Lord's Day: June 15, 2025 Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Topic: Discernment Scripture: 1 John 4:1; Acts 20:30; 1 Timothy 4:1–3; 1 Kings 3:7–13; 11:1–6; Matthew 7:9–11; 1 Corinthians 12:7–13; 2 Timothy 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22; James 1:5; Matthew 5:37

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

I. “…to see…”

II. Who or what are these “spirits”? Πνεύματα

III. Discernment Defined

• Discernment, in part, is to “know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.” (1 John 3:24)
• Discernment is to “test the spirits to see whether they [too] are from God” (1 John 4:1)

IV. Does discernment really matter to God?

• King Solomon
• Wisdom is not “knowledge applied”

V. Discernment is a good gift from God

• 1 Corinthians 12:7–13
• The gift of discernment is a blessing and benefit of our Union with Christ and His Spirit, the anointing of truth, whereby God equips us with His means to teach us the truth and distinguish it from error

VI. Who then has the duty to discern, and how often must discernment be exercised?

• As “good soldiers of Christ” (2 Tim 2:3), we must know both our friends and our foes, allies and our enemies

VII. Analogy of Scripture

• 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22
• Discernment is a powerful weapon, and a lifestyle

VIII. We discern good from evil, true teachers from false prophets, good churches from bad ones...

• “All congregations in the Christian Reformed Church in North America may allow women to serve in the office of minister, elder, deacon, or commissioned pastor.”[1]
• “God’s Chisel,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqGIHpiqkjg

We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:

• ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church
  4712 Montana Ave
  El Paso, Texas 79903

Contact us at:

• web: ThornCrownCovenant.Church
  call/text: [phone]
  email: [e-mail]

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com

[1] ‘Women in Ecclesiastical Office | Christian Reformed Church’ [accessed 14 June 2025].