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DISTINGUISHING GOOD AND EVIL

J. Mitchell

It is in mind to say a word on distinguishing good and evil. It is important and necessary that every question is approached from a moral standpoint. Hence the need to be able to distinguish between good and evil. There is a tendency to approach matters from a natural or a superficial standpoint. The woman of whom we read in Samuel said some good things, some true things, and unspiritual persons would have been carried away by them; but it is necessary that we are able to discern, not only what is said, but the spirit of what is said; and to discern what is working and what is done so that we can really discern the moral substance of matters, and thus be preserved from the wiles of the enemy who is constantly active to draw away the saints from the truth. It is important that we are preserved in the law of truth in order that the saints are protected. It would not be a kindness to the brethren to allow what is evil amongst us in any way, or to allow wrong principles or that kind of thing. That will not be for the protection of the brethren but will expose the brethren to the wiles of the enemy. It is the responsibility of every one of us, but particularly of those who take responsibility among the saints, that they seek to preserve the saints so that the Lord Jesus is not robbed of what is for His own pleasure in them, and also preserve them in the enjoyment of the truth.

There is much that we have together that we enjoy, happy fellowship together, the enjoyment of the truth, speaking over the truth in readings. These are enjoyable matters but the enemy is constantly active to infiltrate what will spoil and what will corrupt what the Spirit of God is pleased to minister among the saints.

I think it is of great import that we value being in the area where the truth is known and where there is

happy fellowship in the truth. We need to encourage the saints to value this very blessed privilege. Most of us have been brought into the truth through the faith of our parents and we are thankful to them for that because we are in the finest place that it is possible to be. I wonder if you appreciate that, that you are where the truth is known and practised. You might say there are other companies where the truth is known, but I say this, as being convicted of it, that you are in the finest place that it is possible to be. Now, if that is so, and I have no doubt that it is so, there is a great need to protect it, to care for it, and to ensure that what there is amongst us is preserved at a right level; so that any inroad, any attack of the enemy may be thwarted and that what we have may not be spoiled. Not only would it be spoiled for Christ but it would be spoiled for ourselves. If the enemy is allowed scope amongst us the very things that we enjoy together would be lost. It is important therefore that we are not superficial but sober about these matters and really care. Paul could say about Timothy that he had “no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on”, Philippians 2: 20. That meant that Timothy was protective of the saints. This exercise of discerning between good and evil, which I am seeking to bring forward, would be for the protection of the saints. It is imperative that it is taken up by us in a sober way in view of that protection going on.

The section of scripture read in 2 Samuel is most exercising. David does not exactly shine, indeed this was probably the lowest point in David’s spiritual history. It is a very sobering consideration, that one who was so active, one who had such affection for God and cared for divine things, an outstanding man in that way, yet for this period in his life he was defective.

It comes home to every one of us to take heed to it, to be assured that we are not swamped by the wiles of the enemy. It requires constant self-judgment and that is needed amongst us day by day so that we are preserved and that “the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal

flesh”, 2 Corinthians 4: 11. The natural side and particularly the natural will, the will of man will always lead us astray. That therefore requires thorough and constant judgment by us in order that we might be preserved in what is right. So David does not exactly shine in this portion of scripture, and Joab gets scope because of that. Joab, as we know, was not a spiritual man, he was a very active and prominent man. It does not necessarily mean that because persons are active or prominent that they are spiritual. That is another sobering matter. Joab was an active man, and he even did some good, but he was not a spiritual man.

He was a man who had himself before him. He was a schemer. He did not reason from a moral point of view at all. That is the point I wish to emphasise at this time, the need of moral reasoning in every matter that comes up.

But Joab had himself and his own aggrandisement before him. Let us judge that element in ourselves, if in any sense it seeks to assert itself, because it will do untold damage among the people of God. It will wreak havoc among the saints, and Joab is that character of man. He discerns that David has a leaning towards what is natural, a leaning towards Absalom, and Joab would exploit that. It is sad to see that David’s heart was really towards Absalom. He did not have the same feelings regarding the death of Amnon as he did for Absalom, a sobering consideration, and therefore what is righteous in the way of judgment is set aside. It was right that Absalom should have been banished. There is no place among the people of God for a man who was prepared to take the life of another for whatever reason. But Joab saw that David had a leaning towards him—that was David’s fault—and it gave the enemy tremendous scope. Through being brought back Absalom is in a position where he can work his wicked schemes, with the result that David is driven from his throne and from Jerusalem, with all the sorrow that is occasioned by that, all because of the natural feeling he had towards Absalom warping his judgment. You might think matters

are small and insignificant but if it gives the enemy the slightest scope it will wreak havoc among the saints.

What a sorrowful time it was when Absalom was in the ascendancy! It was a very humbling experience but David rises to what he is spiritually—thank God for that. There was one thing about David, he was always quick to recover himself. You are thankful for that element among the saints, but at this moment he is weak and he is governed by natural feelings. Joab seizes upon that and he puts the words in this woman’s mouth. She is called a wise woman—

that is what she may appear but the point I am seeking to make, beloved brethren, is not a question of what appears but to approach matters from a moral point of view and see what the real matter is, what the thing is in the sight of God, what the thing is in the light of what is right, what is good and what is evil. That is the way to judge matters. Judge every matter according to that standard. What is it in the light of the truth? How does the scripture bear on it? How do the principles bear on the matter? That is how we should judge things and get a right judgment.

So it tells us here how Joab worked on this woman and he sent her to David. Joab knew that there was that in David that the enemy could touch, that there was an inlet there. David was giving way to his natural feelings at that time in mourning over Absalom, instead of recognising that it was right that he should have been banished. So she comes to David and appeals to him saying, “For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground”. In so far as it went that was a right thing to say, but the motive was to appeal to the weak point in David. If there is a weak point with us we may be swayed by what is presented. What is said may appear to be perfectly right and sound. It is perfectly true that we are “as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again”. That is the way in which we seek to judge ourselves, but it is not the full truth because it does not go on to the truth of resurrection. That is

where the matter fails, it does not go on. Water spilt on the ground cannot be gathered up, but God is not working on that principle. He is working on the principle of life out of death. The natural man will never appreciate life out of death, the reason being that he will never really accept death to himself. Then she says, “God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him”. Now that also is perfectly true—God has devised means that the banished one be not expelled from Him, but this is on a moral basis.

The woman missed out repentance. There must be a moral basis for the banished one being restored. There is no basis other than repentance. Bringing back an offender on any other basis will cause trouble among the saints as sure as can be. We must examine matters from a moral point of view. That is safe for the brethren.

Then she goes on to say of David, “as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad; and Jehovah thy God will be with thee”. Well that was flattery because at that time David was not able to discern between good and bad. Let us exercise our souls to have such discernment. We learn to discern between good and bad as we test it in ourselves. That is the way to arrive at it. It is the truth of Romans 7. You test the thing out in yourself, you examine yourself. It is in the experience described in Romans 7 that we begin to learn priesthood.

Priests are formed on the basis of Romans 7 when you examine things in yourself and you are able to name things rightly, to name the good good and the bad bad. The writer says there, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”—you can label that good, but he says, “with the flesh sin’s law”—that is bad. You are able to discern these things in yourself, and if you are able to discern them in yourself and judge yourself, you will be able to discern them in others. There is a great need of that, as matters come up among the saints, to be able to discern what is working, to see how matters stand from a moral point of view, and to be able to deal with matters

accordingly. So that is what she says to David but it is flattery because David was not able to discern good and bad at that time. He had allowed his natural inclinations to dominate his judgment. What sorrow it caused!

Absalom was against David—that is true—against his own father. You can hardly credit that, but it goes deeper than that. The whole point of the enemy’s thrust was against Solomon.

Solomon was the divine choice, God had said that. He had named him Jedidiah for Jehovah’s sake, the spiritual line was going to go through in Solomon, and Absalom was usurping that.

That was the point of the enemy, the rising up of Absalom was to set aside Solomon. Later on, there are others who failed in the same way, and even Joab failed in that crisis. It is interesting and sobering that God will always bring things to light according to His judgment.

Joab may last for a little while, he may succeed in certain matters, but eventually there comes an issue where Joab fails, and that issue was Solomon. Let us be in no doubt, beloved, that what the enemy is at is what is due to Christ. That is what he is always against. He is against the saints, of course, but he is really against Christ. He is against the place that Christ has in the affections of the saints. Let us see things from that standpoint—it puts a totally different colour on matters. You might think that something is not very much, but let us see that what the enemy is against is Christ, and the place that Christ has amongst the saints. They belong to Him, they are His. He has given His precious life for them and therefore He is entitled to them.

I read the passage in Hebrews because it deals with this very thing. There it says, “For every one that partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe”—

unskilled in the word of righteousness. Well, beloved, let us be concerned to be skilled in the word of righteousness. How do we get skilled in the word of righteousness? It says, “solid food belongs to full-grown men”. Now I think if there is any need at the

present time it is of full-grown men. Full-grown men are produced through solid food. Now what is the solid food? We have been taught that solid food is Christ in the way in which He is presented in the four gospels. Think of that character of manhood that was seen in Jesus.

He was never deceived. You cannot think that He possibly could have been. There was no one who could see through things like the Lord. He had that discernment, speaking reverently, a discernment that viewed everything from a divine standpoint.

I think as feeding on the Christ of the gospels we will feed on solid food and develop into full-grown men. It says, “who, on account of habit, have their senses exercised for distinguishing both good and evil”. On account of habit, that is an exercising thing. That is not only today but all the time. Every matter that comes up is considered from a moral point of view. What is it that is working here? What does this really mean? What is it in the sight of God? How does it bear in relation to the truth? How does it bear in relation to the Scriptures?

That is how matters should be viewed and that is how full-grown men would view them.

There is a need at any time, and certainly at the present time, for full-grown men; men who, like Timothy, can care with genuine feeling how the saints get on. That is the exercise I had, beloved, in bringing forward these scriptures, that we might be among those who in some measure care with genuine feeling how the saints get on. May the Lord bless the word.

Address at Cumnock
15 April 2000

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