MESSAGE 15 - 1THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 5:20-21 – DO NOT DESPISE PROPHECIES BUT TEST EVERYTHING
{{1Thessalonians 5 v 20-21: “Do not despise prophetic utterances, but examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good.” (NASB)
[A]. INTRODUCTION:
Verse 20 is another very small verse, and combines with verse 21 so we will consider them together. The different versions have translated the verses as –
(KJV) “Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good.”
(NIV) “Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all. Hold on to what is good.”
(ESV) “Do not despise prophecies but test everything. Hold fast what is good.”
(Holman) “Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good.”
(NASB) “Do not despise prophetic utterances, but examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good.”
All versions use “despise”; and “prophecy, or prophetic utterances or prophesyings” in verse 20. Verse 20 is “prove”, “test”, or “examine”. The end of verse 21 is either “hold on to” or hold fast”. The despondency of the Thessalonians over losing loved ones may have led them not only to quench the fervour of the Holy Spirit, but to neglect the positive prophets who preached to them, and that, in turn, had a flow-on effect of quenching the Spirit by degrees in the prophets also.
Others suppose that the Thessalonians had had experience of persons who had abused the gift of prophecy, and therefore were disposed to suspect and dislike prophecy altogether. This view gains support from {{2 Thessalonians 2:2, “that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”}}, and also from the command in 1 Thessalonians 5 v 21 to test, and retain only what stood the test.
Someone said, [[“Some church people neglect attending the ministry of God’s word, on pretence that they are so well instructed that they can receive little or no benefit from it, but let such realise that the spiritual life is maintained and increased in the soul, not so much by receiving new discoveries in divine knowledge, as by the recollection of matters formerly known, and by serious meditation thereon.”]] Don’t forget also the Holy Spirit can open new insights for you as well from scripture.
[B]. EXAMINATION:
To understand these 2 verses, we need to look carefully at these words that are used. First of all, “DESPISE”:-
(1). Despise = to despise, to treat with contempt; to consider something as lacking any value.
(2). “Prophecy” = Strong’s Concordance definition is this – “prophecy, prophesying = the gift of communicating and enforcing revealed truth.”. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon describes prophecy as “discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events. Used in the New Testament - of the utterances of the Old Testament prophets: Matthew 13:14; 2 Peter 1:20, 21. Thayer says of 1 Thessalonians 5:20; - “specifically, of the action of foretelling or prophesying future events of those achievements which one was set apart to teach the gospel and work for the kingdom of Christ.”
[C]. WHAT IS PROPHECY?
Let us look at this passage – {{1Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1Cor 14:2 One who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries, 1Cor 14:3 BUT ONE WHO PROPHESIES SPEAKS TO MEN FOR EDIFICATION, AND EXHORTATION, AND CONSOLATION. 1Cor 14:4 One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but one who prophesies edifies the church.”}}
In this Corinthian church where the gift of tongues to the apostolic church was abused, Paul is very clear that the gift of prophecy was the gift to be desired. The first verse (14:1) demands that love be pursued, and prophecy be desired. In the Christian church today people are trying to put emphasis on the spectacular, even urging themselves to get to the state of ecstasy – this is what you see in tongues and other more fanciful behaviour. However what does this passage tell us? The clause, “but especially that you may prophesy” sets the importance of this gift over others. Paul says the Corinthians are to desire this gift. Let us judge a church, not by the babble of tongues heard, but by the standard of prophecy among them. This is the guideline Paul is setting out here.
We may well contemplate “What do we understand by prophecy?” for this is another gift misunderstood by the modern church. I was in a meeting once where someone said to the church which supported the fascination of perceived gifts, that he had a prophecy from the Lord, and he then spoke that prophecy to the church. In essence it said, “There is a person here tonight who has a back problem and the Lord will heal him.” Now without analysing that any further, I will say one thing. That is not prophecy. It is playing around with New Testament words without knowing what they mean. Beside all that, the revelation of future prophecy finished with the completion of scripture, when all God’s revealed purposes had been finalised for this church age. Prophecy always related to the ongoing purposes of God, not a person’s back problems.
As to what prophecy is, we need go no further than what Paul wrote in that Corinthians passage. It is found in verses 3 and 4. Here it is again – {{1Corinthians 14:3 “but one who prophesies speaks to men for edification, and exhortation, and consolation. 1Cor 14:4 One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but one who prophesies edifies the church.}} There are three special words used in verse 3 – “edification, and exhortation, and consolation”. Prophecy is given for improvement in the church as Paul indicates in verse 4 – “One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies EDIFIES the church.”
Those with a NIV have, for those 3 words, “strengthening, encouraging, and comfort”. The ESV uses “upbuilding, and encouragement, and consolation”. All these words in these versions are strong words dealing with the support for Christians and maintaining the church fellowship, and making it strong in the faith. Prophecy is the heart pumping in the life of the church. Woe betide any man with church responsibilities who plays around the edges and neglects the pure word of God; who has a fascination with the spectacular, but does not study the Bible to know the mind of Christ; who has not the leading of the Holy Spirit in expounding the inspired word of God. The prophet does. It is the desirable position! The church must be taught to be edified.
The reformer John Calvin wrote:- [["By the term 'prophesying’, I do not understand it to be the gift of foretelling the future, but the science of interpreting Scripture, so that a prophet is an interpreter of the will of God. This essential gift, it would seem, was apt to be despised, and the inferior, miraculous gift of tongues to be preferred before it”.]] That was a terrible state of affairs. The Corinthians loved to have their ears tickled, loved flirting with the spectacular, the catchy, the tantalising, the exciting, the alluring. However they neglected the basic fundamentals of the health of the church, that of PROPHECY that would edify them, making the church approved by God, instead of God having to outline sin after sin in their midst. They were weak, carnal Christians, and were careless with God. Why? Because they had neglected prophecy! They wallowed in the shallows and did not venture into the depths of a life with God. They despised the proper teaching of the word of God = (Old Testament in their case, as the Old Testament were the scriptures of the early church), for their attention was on flighty things.
A church walking with the strength of God is deriving that strength through the God-led prophecy in the midst, which was an inspired and inspiring preaching. Show me a mature church, that glorifies God and where the saints are established steadfastly in their faith, and I will show you a church where the gift of prophecy has not been neglected, nor despised. The faithful men of God have been edifying, and exhorting, and consoling the members of that church.
Let me say this to you. Wherever you might be in the future, note if the steadfast ministry in that church exists, and if the people are established, then you know the faithful teaching of the word of God has done it. If a church likes the spectacular and is craving experiences, or has no steadfastness, then beware. Where you know God has placed His hand on a man’s prophetic gift, then listen with attention and reverence to the ministers of Christ, while they interpret and apply to men’s consciences the Holy Scriptures, or speak to them by way of instruction, warning, reproof, exhortation, or comfort: and own the authority of God as speaking in, and by his appointed messengers.
[D]. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE THREEFOLD MINISTRY OF PROPHECY
(a). EDIFICATION:-
From the Greek, “oikodom” - meaning mainly, a building (edifice) serving as a home; it can include constructive criticism and instruction that builds a person up to be the suitable dwelling place of God, i.e. where the Lord is "at home." At home in YOUR life!
Edification builds grace – {{Ephesians 4:29 “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.”}} The aim of edification is for spiritual advancement. Edification is the act of one who promotes another's growth in Christian wisdom, understanding, stability, piety, holiness, and happiness". This is the position of prophecy, that gift that Paul said to desire.
(b). EXHORTATION:-
It means to implore, to supplicate, to make entreaty for. It looks at the relevant facts (the evidence). This word, paráklesis, (meaning "holy urging") is used of the Lord directly motivating and inspiring believers to carry out His plan, delivering His particular message to someone else. The core-meaning of this Greek word is "personal urging”, and covers, according to the context, any of these – “exhortation, warning, encouragement (comfort)”, etc. Part of the ministry of those with this gift is to urge and exhort the believers to live for their Lord, and to study and know their bibles, and apply God’s word to their lives. This is the position of prophecy, that gift that Paul said to desire.
(c). CONSOLATION:-
The Greek is “paramythía” meaning “a speaking closely to anyone” which is a getting alongside someone, - from (para, 'near'; mythos, 'speech'). It denotes “consolation, comfort,” with a greater degree of tenderness than the last word we looked at - “paráklesis". The Greek word only occurs once in the New Testament. This is the position of prophecy, that gift that Paul said to desire.
Summing all that up, the elements that make up a prophet’s ministry, or the ministry of prophecy, are edification, exhortation and consolation. It is not that the man tries to include all that in his message; he just does it automatically because God’s gift has been given to him for that propose, and the Holy Spirit leads him in that way.
[E]. THE ROLE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS
{{Ephesians 2:20 “having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.”}} In context, this Ephesians passage Paul is speaking about the Church, that magnificent Body of Christ. In verse 20, he states two facts – (1). The cornerstone IS the Lord Jesus Christ. Then (2). The foundation was established by the apostles and prophets. The prophets mentioned here could include the teaching and writing of the Old Testament prophets, virtually the whole of the Old Testament which was the full scriptures in Paul’s time, and prophets like John the Baptist. The New Testament prophets may have had a small part as well.
[F]. THE CORRECT USE OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
{{Romans 12:3 “Through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith, Rom 12:4 for just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, Rom 12:5 so we who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Rom 12:6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; Rom 12:7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; Rom 12:8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”}}
These are very practical verses. Pride, or the feeling of self-importance is just so wrong in the openness we should have with God. The distribution of these gifts is according to what grace God has given to you (v 6) and how He has gifted us. We fail if we do not hold our gift in the highest regard in service for God, no matter what gift or ability it might be. Prophecy is said to be exercised according to the proportion of the person’s faith.
[G]. THE PURPOSE OF THE GIFTS
{{Ephesians 4:11 “and He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, Eph 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to (in) the building up of the body of Christ, Eph. 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”}}
EPHESIANS -> These 5 gifts mentioned above (including prophecy) have a six-fold purpose. This passage spells them out very clearly. Do you see them? (1). To equip the saints for the work of service. (2). To build up the body of Christ. (3). To cause all to attain to a unity in the faith. (4). To attain the knowledge of the Son of God. (5). To grow into maturity and stature (in the Christian life). (6). To have the fullness of Christ. So, then, you see, these gifts given to the Church are so important in seeing the correct ministry happens, but man has mucked it up. All those 5 gifts mentioned continue except for Apostles and the future aspect of the prophet’s ministry. Agabus was one such prophet when he stood up and prophesied, and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world which took place in the reign of Claudius. He also warned Paul that imprisonment awaited him if he went to Jerusalem, where he would be bound by the Jews - found in Acts 11 and 21.
NOW WE LOOK AGAIN AT 3 WORDS - A teacher explains the bible to give understanding. A prophet applies the word to the lives of the believers. The essentials in a prophetic ministry are edification, exhortation, and consolation.
The EDIFICATION is to build up each Christian and the body also, to make them strong, as in edifying a structure to make it stand up against this world’s cyclones. This goes back to faith, for it is faith in God that must become established else the person is tossed around by every trouble, and conflict, and new doctrine, etc. We need strong Christians. We need them as the gnarled trees that grow on a sea cliff with strong, wiry trunks that may grow at an angle, and their branches indicating they are in a battle with the tempests, but they won’t be broken.
EXHORTATION means pleading and convincing Christians to remain faithful to the Lord, and not to fall into sin, and to challenge the people as to holy living, to be good servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to reprimand, and urge the people, and encourage them in their lives to be sold out to God. Exhortation will draw attention to the importance of the bible and to remain in fellowship with one another and with Christ. The prophetic ministry challenges and persuades. It will not compromise the principles of the bible or tone down God’s message because some may be offended or threaten to leave.
CONSOLATION is the third plank of the prophet’s ministry. It is the practical application of the bible to a person’s difficulties and failures, and depression, and sorrow. It is a ministry of healing and support and breaking down the bread of life to feed the needy soul. It also means preaching and teaching what are the resources to be victorious in these struggles. It is equipping fellow believers to be comforted in their faith, and in their sorrow, and to get back onto the path when they stumble off it.
The ministry of the prophet is a vital one, but the very fact that Paul had to write to the Thessalonians telling them not to despise prophesies and prophesying, meant that church may not have been giving the rightful place, or their time, to being instructed in God’s word. They were instructed not to be like the Corinthian church, having a fascination with lesser things and neglecting the important means of becoming mature in God. I think they were doing well but Paul was warning them in this regard to be on their guard.
I was speaking in England on one occasion and a dear old lady said to me, “You can’t go on for more than 20 minutes because we have roasts in the oven!” It was too much to ask if they had to listen for 30 minutes, or whatever time it might be, to the communication from God.
Just as in our days, with the snobbery of academic positions, if persons have not had a liberal theology education, and do not understand Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, though they have ministerial gifts from God, and are capable of explaining the word to edification and comfort, they are set at nought and rejected by religious institutions, which should not be. It is God who gives the gift.
NOTE
[The next part shall be considered next time – “but examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good.”]
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
