Discernment Part 2: Horse Sense 

A. Scripture Foundation: 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Greek Insight: Discernment (aisthēsis) from dia (through) and krises (to perceive), means seeing through situations to discern God’s truth.

Discernment distinguishes light from darkness, truth from error, righteousness from unrighteousness, and principles from pragmatics.

• The natural person (unsubmitted) lacks spiritual understanding or discernment, viewing God’s truth as foolishness.

• Spiritual discernment is required for the things of the Spirit of God. 

• You cannot sense this with your carnal flesh, experiences from the natural, or with your unrenewed mind. 

INTRODUCTION: So why do so many people call themselves Christians but don’t act like it and seem to have no discernment? 

What is Horse Sense? Submission invites clear discernment. 

• A discerning Christian is like a tamed horse, moving from wild rebellion to trust and obedience under God’s guidance.

• An unbroken horse resists the rider, like an unsubmitted Christian bucking against God’s truth.

• When discernment comes, they buck like a wild horse,” get off my back!”

• But you cannot give yourself to the rider and hold on the the reins. 

• You cannot “chomp at the bit,” originally “champ at the bit,” and be impatient for something to start before the rider does. The idiom refers to a horse that is restless and gnaws at the bit in its mouth.”

• God uses brokenness to tame us, preparing us in His training.

So Horse Sense: Practical judgment, like a horse’s ability to recognize its owner’s voice, navigate home, and respond to subtle cues.

 Horse Sense: Practical Judgment

• Horses show remarkable instincts:

  • Voice Recognition: Studies show horses match voices to faces, lingering when aligned.

  • Navigation: Horses use spatial memory to find home, recognizing landmarks.

  • Rider Cues: Horses respond to subtle signals like weight shifts or gaze direction.

• Discernment lets believers hear God’s voice (John 10:27), recognize His direction, and navigate life with spiritual sensitivity.

Does everyone who calls themselves “Christian” have biblical discernment? 

• Let’s let Jesus answer that question: Matthew 7:21Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

B. Context of a Carnal World

• We live in a deceptive world where truth is relative, not absolute 

• Rebellion is the spirit of the age, which is anti-obedient..

• Morals shift based on personal desires and preferences. “This is my truth, this works for us.”

• Theology and doctrine are shaped to fit lifestyles, social media, what friends and family think, and the direction of the herd,  rather than aligning life with biblical truth.

• Romans 12:2: Calls for mind renewal and discernment of God’s will, contrasting the carnal mind’s blindness.

  • Carnal people chase sensuality, appetite, and the lusts of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life (1 John 2:16).

  • Mark 8:18 Jesus said, “They have eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear,” 

C. Need for Spiritual Discernment

• Isaiah 5:20 Warns of a culture that calls evil good, good evil, darkness light, and bitter sweet.

• I Timothy 4:1 The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons.

• 2 Corinthians 11:14: Satan masquerades as an angel of light, requiring discernment to detect deception.

But Discernment is selective; God gives it to the obedient, not wasting His Word, which never returns void (Isaiah 55:11).

• James 1:22:“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, or you will deceive yourselves”. 

II. DISCERNMENT: BALANCE IN THE SADDLE

A. The Saddle as the Spirit-Directed Life

• The saddle represents a life led by the Holy Spirit, with God’s providential presence.

• The enemy aims to unbalance us, indifferent to which side we fall from, as long as we leave the saddle.

B. Love and Truth in Balance (Philippians 1:9-10)

• Philippians 1:9-10: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.”

  • Paul prays for love to grow with knowledge and discernment to approve what is excellent.

• Love alone can be blinded by emotion; discernment sees beneath the surface.

• Knowledge without discernment fails to apply God’s Word to relationships, home, work, or daily choices.

• John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 

  • Obedience to Christ brings the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive but abides in believers.

  • Speaking truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) maintains balance, both to others and ourselves.

    • “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

III. DISCERNMENT: AVOIDING THE WRONG HORSES

A. The Danger of Unequal Yoking in relationships and agreements (2 Corinthians 6:14)

• Saddling the wrong horse is dangerous for both the rider and the horse. 

• Don’t assume every saddle fits every horse and that every horse is truly ready to be ridden. 

• Believers ignore warnings against unequal yoking, convincing themselves that poor choices will succeed.

• When chaos ensues, they question, “Why did this happen?” after being thrown off.

B. Illustration: The Blind Leading the Blind

• An elderly woman, hesitant to cross a busy street, trusts a seemingly confident man who is blind.Their erratic path through traffic reveals her mistake, as his blindness endangers them.

• Matthew 15:14: “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

  • Without discernment, we misjudge others’ intentions, expecting safety but finding chaos.

C. Seeing What God Sees (2 Kings 6:17)

• Elisha’s Prayer: “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” God reveals an unseen army of horses and chariots of fire.”

  • Discernment is divine revelation, not human intuition nor following the lead of man. 

  • God grants discernment through a relationship with Him, speaking from the unseen realm to our spirit.

  • All relationships must come after and be subservient to your relationship with God. 

IV. DISCERNMENT: THE MARK OF A MATURE HORSE

A. Maturity Through Training (Hebrews 5:14)

• Hebrews 5:14: “Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

• Discernment develops through disciplined training and a lifestyle of submission not automatically.

• 1 Corinthians 2:15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things,

  • The spiritual person discerns all things, unlike the soulical or carnal.

B. The Journey from Wildness to Submission

• Wildness to Surrender: An unbroken horse is dangerous, like an unsubmitted Christian resisting God’s truth.

  • Training to Taming: A horse follows subtle rider cues (weight, pressure, gaze).John 16:13 promises the Spirit guides believers into truth.

  • Unusable to Useful: An unbroken horse is unfit, but a tamed horse is valuable. A submitted Christian fulfills God’s purposes.

  • Surrender of Control for Gain: A horse trades wild autonomy for safety. A Christian surrenders self-will for an abundant life (John 10:10).

  • Humility and Trust: A tamed horse trusts its rider; a Christian seeks a “broke” heart, a contrite spirit (Psalm 51:17).

C. The Exclusivity of Discernment (Matthew 13:11-15)

• Matthew 13:13 For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand,

• Jesus spoke in parables to reach the right audience, not all people. (Matthew 13:11): “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”

• Two Audiences:

  • Disciples with open hearts gained discernment through the Spirit, asking Jesus for explanations.

  • Those with calloused hearts, fulfilling Isaiah 6:9-10, heard but never understood, saw but never perceived.

• Parables taught the obedient and protected truth from the rebellious.

God grants discernment to those who surrender the reins, not those sharing control.

F. Maturity Through Dependence (Proverbs 3:5-7)

• Illustration: The Rich Man and His Son

  • A father gives his son a large annual allowance, but the son squanders it, returning only for more. To build closeness, the father switches to a daily allowance, requiring daily visits.

  • Moral: Maturity comes from daily dependence on God for ongoing discernment.

V. CONCLUSION

• Proverbs 3:5-7:

  • Verse 5:“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

    • Hebrew sha-an (lean): Let God bear your weight, not personal experience.

    • Like John leaning on Jesus’ bosom (John 13:23), believers rest in God’s strength.

    • Trust and worry cannot coexist; trusting God brings rest.

  • Verse 6: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

    • Acknowledge God’s Lordship in all areas—finances, relationships, and entertainment.

    • Submission precedes direction; discernment flows from surrender.

  • Verse 7: “Do not be wise in your own eyes.”

    • Reject self-reliance, choosing Christ over common sense, revelation over information, and the Spirit’s counsel over earthly wisdom.

• Practical Application:

  • Reflect: Have you surrendered all areas to God, or do you rely on yourself?

  • Discernment requires submission, not just information, to guide our paths.

• True Wisdom Defined: Not self-confidence, but trusting God and acknowledging Him in all things.