The church as it is supposed to be is:
1) a people of encouragement (1:2–10);
2) a people of self-sacrifice (2:1–12);
3) a people of controversy (2:13–16);
4) a people of joy (2:17–3:13);
5) a people of purity (4:1–8);
6) a people of work (4:9–12);
7) a people of clarity (4:13–5:11);
8) a people of unity (5:12–15);
9) a people of growth (5:16–22).
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify[g] you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 25 Brethren, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this [h]epistle be read to all the [i]holy brethren. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Saviour and applied for membership in a local church. “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?” inquired an old deacon. “Yes, sir,” she replied.
“Well, are you still a sinner?”
“To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever.”
“Then what real change have you experienced?”
“I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved. I’m a sinner running from sin!” she was received into the fellowship of the church, and she proved by her consistent life that she was truly converted.
A people of growth. We haven’t arrived. We’ve been in this last section for a couple of weeks, and I hope I’ve been able to convey to you that the Church is a people who should never stop growing spiritually.
Look at the goals that Paul concludes this letter to Thessalonica with; 8 very realistic goals;
Vs 16—no matter what happens to you, be joyful
Vs 17—pray at all times
Vs 18---find something to be thankful for in every circumstance
Vs 19---don’t do or say anything that is a grief to God’s Spirit
Vs 20—never ignore or disobey the Word of God
Vs 21—study all teaching to insure that is the pure Word of God
Vs 21—anything that is a good thing to do, do it
Vs 22---anything that is bad, don’t do it
We’ve considered the first three under the heading; attitudes
Be joyful always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks
We’re going to look at the remainder under two headings; knowledge and actions.
Under knowledge I want to look at
Vs 20—Don’t despise prophecy; never ignore or disobey the Word of God
Vs 21—Test all things; study all teaching to insure that is the pure Word of God
Under actions I will put
Vs 19---don’t do or say anything that is a grief to God’s Spirit
Vs 21—anything that is a good thing to do, do it
Vs 22---anything that is bad, don’t do it
So, today we are considering our continual growth in knowledge. Just as our attitude is in a constant state of adjustment during our Christian walk, so is our knowledge. And Paul gives two very basic, but very profound commands regarding knowledge.
Don’t despise prophecies, and test everything. They are complementary processes when dealing with “words from God.” They compliment each other. On the one hand, if you hear the Word of God being taught or preached, or read, don’t despise it. On the other hand, listen with a keen ear to ensure that what you are hearing is indeed the Word of God.
One of the constant areas of growth for any believer or any church should be in knowledge. Despite the dominant belief of our day, it is not enough to just, “Love Jesus.” We are admonished by Scripture to continue growing in our knowledge, and to continually put new doctrines to the test of Scripture.
One of the principle things that happens in the church gathering is;
1st listen to the prophetic word. “Don’t Despise prophecies.”
What are prophecies?
When we think about the word “prophecies” in our world, we may think of many things; We may think of the prediction of future events, we may think of the Word of God. Depending on our background, if we came out of a charismatic background, you may think of some word that someone spoke in a charismatic service that was presented as coming straight from the mouth of God by His Holy Spirit. And the word prophecy has been associated with pseudo-Christian groups or individuals. The Mormons consider their presidents to be modern day prophets. Christian Science has its prophets. Going even further afield, we know that non-Christians have their prophets in Nostradamus, or the Imams of Islam.
So, when Paul tells this church in Thessalonica not to despise prophecies, to what prophecies is he referring. The obvious first qualifier is that the prophecies that we are not to despise should be prophecies from God.
To get that answer we have to go to the Word of God to see how it defines prophecies from God.
2★
Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army
In my opinion, although the word "prophesy" is often associated by people with the foretelling or predicting of future events, the root meaning of the word (which is derived from the Greek prefix "pro-" (meaning "for" or "on behalf of") and the verb "phenai" (meaning "to speak")) is "to speak on behalf of". In this sense, the word in a Christian context means "to speak on behalf of God", or (more commonly) "to preach" -- that is, to deliver a message that is intended to provide inspired spiritual guidance or direction from God, as if it were spoken by God Himself, with the aim that those hearing the message can understand and apply it.
There are two kinds of prophecy described in Scripture. “Foretelling” and “Forthtelling.”
What is “Foretelling?” It is when God gave to one of His prophets foreknowledge of an event that was yet to come. And the prophet was to proclaim that message, that knowledge, to the people in a call to some action. Now, we could cite a number of Old Testament examples of this, prophets who told kings that they would win or lose a battle, or die in battle. Prophets who told Israel that they would go into captivity, or return from captivity.
In the New Testament we are reminded that many prophets predicted the coming of Christ.
Matthew 1:21-23 King James Version21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Matthew 2:4-6 King James Version4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
1. Matthew 2:15
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
2. Matthew 2:23
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
This is “Foretelling” or predicting a future event. There were prophets like that in the New Testament.
I think the best example of this type of foretelling, comes from the New Testament. Anybody remember the name “Agabus?”
Acts 11:26-28 King James Version26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Remember this-a prophet in the church predicted a worldwide famine, and it happened.
Another occasion
Acts 21: 10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And it happened
Evidently this individual, a Christian of the early church, had a special gift. God occasionally gave him inside specific information about future events.
And it’s likely that there were others in the early church who had this same gift.
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
So, that’s one type of prophecy. Is this what Paul is referring to when he says, “don’t despise prophecies?” but I want you to know that I don’t believe that is what Paul is talking about here when he says, “Don’t despise prophecies.” We’ll get back to that in a moment.
The second type of prophecy is “forthtelling” or telling forth the Word of God. This is simply an individual who stands up and says, “Thus says the Lord!” And they are not giving predictions of future events. They are opening and explaining the Word of God. They study to understand its meaning, and then deliver that message to God’s people. Let me give you an example.
The mystery of Christ
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Those who proclaim the Word of God are called prophets.
So, there are two types of prophets and their prophecy is delivered in three different forms; by mouth, by Scripture, and by mouth again.
By mouth
This kind of prophecy was an oral proclamation of God’s Word.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The original message was given to a prophet who spoke it to the people.
By the Scripture
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
All those prophecies regarding Jesus’ birth, were quoted from the Scripture.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Then prophecy comes by mouth again. In other words, those who are preaching the Word of God, speak that Word.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
So, we did all that to answer one question; “What prophecies does Paul not want me to despise?” Prophets who foretold, forthtold, the original words, the written word
That is a very relevant and pertinent question for today. Because some, in the Charismatic movement, have taken this passage of Scripture as a command to hold their modern prophets, and prophecies in high regard.
the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement that believes that biblical-style apostles and prophets exist today and are meant to guide the church.
They say that “not despising prophecies” should be applied to those they call modern day prophets. They take this as a command to elevate their prognostications as coming from God.
The real question-we would all agree about the Bible—but are there new prophecies that we are to “not despise?” I say no for 3 reasons;
Of course, I disagree with this interpretation of what “prophecies” Paul is referring to. 1st reason; I think that these kind of predictive prophetic gifts were part of the sign gifts that died out with the disciples. 2nd reason; And as evidence for that, we find that modern day “prophets” keep getting it wrong.
One of the biggest controversies in the Charismatic church today is how many of their prophets were publicly predicting that Trump would be reelected. And they were presenting it as a Word coming from God. 3rd reason; Foretelling future events is not the natural course—there are not many Agabus’s in Scripture. Most Biblical prophetic utterances are “forthtelling.”
So, what prophecies are we not to despise? Simple, when a faithful preacher or teacher proclaims the Word of God. And when you go to the Word, you find that what they said is true. Then you do not despise, or have contempt for that prophetic word. You heed it. You believe it. You obey it. You repeat it.
Go back to “do not despise”
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Proverbs 23:12 12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
20 Do not despise prophecies. Very simple
And what does it mean to despise prophecies.
What does it mean to despise prophecies? Is it an action? Is it an attitude? Yes
Despise means to hold them in contempt.-that’s an attitude. Set at naught. – that’s an attitude and an action. Esteem less. That’s an attitude. Reject. That’s both attitude and action
Don’t receive the Word of God in such a way that you fail to follow through with obedience
How do you do that? There are a number of ways. I thought of 3.
I can illustrate it with how we tell our children to do some chore. We tell our children to put away their laundry. They can despise our directions in 3 ways; “I didn’t hear you.” “I’ll do it later.” Which leads to “I forgot.” Or they can outright say, “No, I’m not going to.”
You can despise prophecy, the Word of God, by saying, “I never heard.” When you choose to not be in earshot of the teaching and preaching of the Word. If I don’t go to church or Bible study, if I never crack open a Bible on my own, if I fill my mind with everything else in the world, we despise the prophetic Word. It is meaningless to us.
How else can we despise prophecy? We can say, “I’ll do it later.”—seed among thorns, the cares of this world, choke the Word. Satan swoops in and removes the seed of the Word. And we become forgetful hearers. “I’ll do it later” turns into, “I forgot.”
But it’s despising prophecy.
How else do you despise the Word? outright disobedience to the Word
Instead, we are to come with fresh ears and hearts every time the Word is opened. We are to say, “Lord, what do you have to say to me today? And then, What do I need to do to be obedient to this new Word?
This is difficult to do. And I speak for myself in that matter. I get up and preach a sermon, and sometimes I’ve no more finished today’s sermon, and I’m thinking about the next one. I struggle to hear my own sermons, and use them to look at my own life, determining what God would have me do with that truth.
And that’s where we interject the second command for today.
Test all things. In other words, when you hear a sermon or teaching from anyone. Test it. Prove it. Examine it.
2 Corinthians 13:5 King James Version5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
And the reason for that is obvious. There are always counterfeit teachings coming. There never seems to be an end to the “isms” and “schisms” that plague the church. And frankly, there seems to be more of counterfeit Christianity than real.
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
The modern church in America has worked really hard to remove anything offensive from its message. So much so, that we have arrived at the place where people call themselves Christian who don’t know the Bible, and refuse to believe its teaching if they are told about it.
So, we must be growing in our knowledge, and ever testing what we hear. And that growth comes from to responses to the Word of God; obedience and testing.
When we examine ourselves, we look ourselves over—if you thought you had skin cancer—you’re looking at every mole—is it new? Is it suspicious? You’d be looking between your toes, you’d call your wife over—is this new, suspicious?
It’s the same when we hear the Word preached—is this new or suspicious?
1 John 4:1 King James Version4 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
So, how do we test prophecies? How do we test the teaching and preaching that we encounter?
2 ways—really one way—truth
Does it line up to the Word
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
I’ve mentioned before that many churches have individuals who claim to be modern day prophets; they give predictions of the future. They have taken on themselves a grave accountability. They will be judged by the truth—Are they teaching in alignment with the Word of God, do their predictions come true. In Old Testament Israel, if not, they were to be put to death, which tells you how God views that false prophecy.
So, we are to keep growing in knowledge—of the Word, constantly testing the teaching of the Word always moving forward.