Do Not Put Out The Spirit's Fire

Title: Do not put out The Spirits fire

1 Thes. 5:19-22

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

Proposition:

Every Time that the church meets together

God desires to manifest his presence in our midst

THROUGH CHARISMATIC GIFTS

To

Strengthen

Encourage

Comfort Believers

and

Convict un-believers of their sin and need for salvation

1 Cor. 14:25

That the secrets of (there) hearts will be laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

There is only one thing that could stand in the way

Of this kind of ministry

Of the Holy Spirit

In our midst

US

1 Thes. 5:19-22

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

PRAYER

Why Does God give prophecies to the church?

1 Cor. 14:3

But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

God wants to strengthen, encourage and comfort the church.

Where would we be without that strengthening, encouragement, and comfort?

• Weak

• Discouraged

• Distraught

The church today has great need for the charismatic gifts

The early church flowed freely in these gifts

1 cor. 14:26 gives us a glimpse at what their services were like

1 Cor. 14:26

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

They had

• Hymns/ worship

• Words of instruction/ preaching

• Revelations/prophecy

• Tongue and interpretations

• All done for the strengthening of the CHURCH…

It was normal to have Charismatic gifts in their services.

But sometimes there were extremes

In scripture we see Paul dealing with charismatic gifts and their extremes in almost every epistle he wrote

What were these extremes?

In Corinth there was EXCESS

1 Cor. 14:39-40

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophecy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

PART OF THERE EXCESS WAS DISORDER

First of all…

1. They were speaking in tongues in their services without interpretation.

1 Cor. 14:23

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

You are out of your mind

Why – because tongues,

except in use as a prayer language or during a specific time of worship

are meant to be interpreted.

Let me mention

Sometimes a message in tongues comes and there is no interpreter

Paul dealt with this

1 Cor. 14:28

If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

Secondly

2. They were all prophesying at the same time.

1 Cor. 14:29-32

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.

They had 2 or 3 people standing up all at once to prophecy

Paul tells them, everyone must be instructed and encouraged to have order…

THIRDLY

3. They were not testing or weighing carefully what was being said.

1 Cor. 14:29 says, Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said

1. Does it glorify Christ? The prophecy may not mention Christ by name, but does the whole message honor and glorify him? This is always the Spirit’s primary work (John 16:14; 1 Cor. 12:1-4).

2. Does it edify the body of Christ? Seven times in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul emphasizes this point when discussing spiritual gifts, especially tongues and prophecy.

3. Is it in accordance with the Scriptures? If we twist the Scriptures, we do so to our own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16).

4. Is the prophecy given in the spirit of love? This is the hallmark of the Spirit’s presence, even in correction or rebuke.

5. Is Jesus lord of the speaker’s life? A false prophet will be known by the fruits of his or her life, said Jesus (Matt. 7:15:15-20).

6. Does the speaker submit to the church leaders? Strong personalities with independent spirits caused splits and divisions in the New Testament church, and do so today. Paul warned the Ephesian elders about those “from among your own selves” who would draw away disciples after them, and so divide the church of God (Acts 20:29-30).