Matthew 3: 1-12
Preaching of John the Baptist
1 In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea,
2 And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, when he said:
Voice of the one who cries out in the desert:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
Straighten your paths.
4 And John was clothed with the hair of a camel, and had a leather belt around his loins; and their food was locusts and wild honey.
5 And Jerusalem went out to him, and all Judea, and all the province round about Jordan,
6 and they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 When he saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming to his baptism, he said to them: Generation of vipers! Who has shown you how to run away from the coming rage?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,
9 and do not think to say within yourselves: We have Abraham as our father; because I tell you that God can raise children to Abraham even from these stones.
10 And already the ax is laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you in water for repentance; but he who comes after me, whose shoes I am not worthy to wear, is more powerful than I; he will baptize you in Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His fan is in his hand, and he will cleanse his age; and he will gather his wheat in the barn, and he will burn the straw in fire that will never be quenched.
Who does not need a little discernment? We need the help of the Lord to identify truth and reality in a world full of complex gray areas and devilish deceptions.
John the Baptist was a man with much discernment. This crude preacher came to the scene of traditional Orthodox Judaism with a message for the entire Jewish nation. John's mission was to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah. What he had to say was simple: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3.2).
When the crowds came to listen to this singular prophet and repent of their sins, John discerned that some of them were impostors. The Pharisees and the Sadducees had come to investigate it, not to repent. They were hiding the truth behind an apparent religiosity.
A spirit capable of discerning is in tune with the Spirit of God. Since John lived in obedience to the Lord, he received a vision beyond all that could have originated in his mind.
He saw the situation from the perspective of God, and for that reason he rebuked severely to that "generation of vipers" (Mt 3.7). Although we are never as direct as John, there will be times when we will be led to confrontation by a spirit of discernment.
Our heavenly Father wants his children to develop spiritual discernment to protect us from deception. We have to know how to recognize the wrong philosophies and the false doctrines that are introduced in the church. In addition, such divine knowledge can also protect us when relating to others, and even help us see the truth about ourselves.