Perhaps you will ask, "What then shall I do?" It is not a matter of what you should do. First, you must have the ability to discern. You must be able to discern that such a brother may have all the reasons, but his very person is wrong before God. If you can exercise your discernment to such an extent, you can help him. Gradually, you may fellowship with him and explain to him, "Brother, in this matter no doubt you are right. All the reasons are on your side. All the blame is on the other side. But brother, let me have some fellowship with you. In this matter, what is your inner feeling before God?" If you fellowship with him in such a way, you will be not only a severe judge, but a serious doctor; he will have no other way but to submit to you. He will say, "Although in this matter I am right, yet in these days my fellowship with the Lord is not as it was before. I do not feel any sweetness within. It seems that the Lord is not pleased with my condition." Once he says this word, you will have many opportunities to help him. Immediately you can tell him, "Brother, you are right. This is my feeling also. Although you were not wrong in this matter, I have been really concerned that your condition before God is off. I dare not speak for your side, because I am afraid that I may damage your spiritual condition before God and cause you to incur more severe dealings in the future." There is no need to speak too much; these few words will suffice; no doubt you will have given this brother some serious help. There is no need to judge who is right and who is wrong. This brother can have his problem solved from within, and solved before God. In the end, both brothers, the one who was right and the one who was wrong, are brought before God by you; both of them receive a solution from within. For this reason, brothers, the ability to discern is crucially related to the administration of the church!

We must believe that all the brothers and sisters are very much under the Lord's grace. On the other hand, we must also admit that we who are under God's grace are not so simple. We are a Jacob, a natural person, but we are also born again as Israel. Our expression is often that of Israel outwardly, but Jacob inwardly. Therefore, many times when brothers and sisters come to speak to you, you cannot believe them according to their words only. You must also have the ability to discern. You must enter into their spirit and touch the feeling of their spirit. For example, some brother may say: "I am saying these things not as slander against the elders." Yet, you can sense that he is altogether trying to slander the elders. Another may say, "I am not at all opposed to the responsible brothers. I can see that they are all quite good." Nevertheless, while he is speaking, you can feel that this person's spirit is definitely an opposing, judging spirit. It is true that they are not intentionally lying, but each of these is one person on the outside, and another inside. Here is the need for discernment. The elders' shepherding of the brothers and sisters and their handling of the affairs of the church, their judgments and their decisions, are all based on their ability to discern. If you have the spiritual discerning ability, nearly no one will be able to hide anything from you when they come before you and present their cases before you. You can discern a person to the marrow of the bone, penetrating him more than an x-ray. You can clearly discern the motive of this person and the spirit of this person, whether they are calm, tender, pure, and single. You can tell if this person is in resurrection or in the natural realm. You can have a thorough discernment of his condition.