MESSAGE 16 - 1 THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 5:21 – EXAMINE CAREFULLY AND HOLD FAST TO WHAT IS GOOD – NO EXCUSES!
{{1Thessalonians 5:21 “but examine everything carefully. HOLD FAST TO THAT WHICH IS GOOD.”}}
[A]. THE INTRODUCTION
When we consider this short instruction, two questions may come into our minds. Think of what you would wonder about the verse. I expect the questions might be, “What does it mean to “hold fast”, and how do we tell what is good?” Holding fast and defining good!
The first of these questions about the literal meaning tells us the range of usage the Greek word has. It can mean "I hold fast, bind it to me, I take possession of, and it is the same word for “arrest”, and for holding a ship on the right course, by keeping its head.” All that means a conscious effort and a determination. God wants you to take His truth and bind it to you; to take possession of it, and to hold it steady as steering a ship through opposing seas. That which is good needs to be our pursuit, and one of the purposes in our lives. The word for “good” is in the sense of “genuine,” answering to the proper concept of what it intends to be.” The same word is used in the same sense in in John 10 v 11 where Jesus says He is the good Shepherd. The word signifies what is good or fine in quality, as in {{2Thessalonians 3:13 – “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.”}}
When we come to the second question, “How do we tell what is good, or not good?” it is more difficult. Why is that so? Well, it is because of who we are. It is necessary to judge the goodness of something by an exact standard, and we are not an exact standard. We are failures. We are emotional, and we make decisions according to our fallen natures even though we have the Spirit of God dwelling within. Determining what is good or not good, is not easy, though God has given us a lot of help, which I will come back to, later on.
[B]. THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS GOOD
We need to recognise, that what is not good, can not do good things, in other words, good can’t come from evil. The verse from Romans gives the human position outside of Christ – {{Romans 3:10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one. Rom 3:11 There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. Rom 3:12 All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one.”}} Good does not permeate (spread, or soak through), but evil does. Even Nature teaches this. A good apple in a box of bad apples will not make the bad ones good, but a bad one in a box of good ones, will make all the good ones bad.
One can not becomes good by thinking of it or hoping for it. We are evil by nature, not good by nature. It is evil that permeates us – thoughts, feelings, actions, desires; and not good that permeates us. That is why the unconverted person can never hope to improve his goodness (which is not good in the first place in any way whatever) before God or man, without a radical change, the bible calls being born again. It is at that point a converted person receives the God nature, but then the battle begins – the flesh against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
We live in a world today where all the boundaries have been blurred and are increasingly, becoming blurred. We have no fixed point for marriage, no correct lines for morality, no division of good or bad in gender or behaviour or attitudes. There is little concept of God and 60% of Christians in the USA believe that Jesus is just one way to God, according to figures from David Jeremiah and the PEW Research. The absolutes in morality, and theology, and righteousness, have been overturned and substituted by man’s own codes of behaviour and by what is right in his own eyes, according to the days of the Judges of Israel where everyone acted according to what was right in his and her own eyes.
God’s standard has been replaced by man’s framework. Isaiah described these days correctly – in Chapter 5 he outlines 4 woes, which are significant for our time, as for his. {{Isaiah 5:18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin as if with cart ropes - Isa 5:19 Who say, “Let Him make speed; let Him hasten His work that we may see it and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come to pass that we may know it!”}}
THE FIRST WOE here, applies to the mocking scepticism which leads men to harden themselves in sin, men who have no goodness. The men addressed do not believe in the prophet’s warnings of a day of retribution, yet all the while they are consciously doing their utmost to bring about that day of retribution by their behaviour, purposely dragging along iniquity to have it installed. The “cart ropes,” thicker and stronger than the “cords,” represent the extreme stage, when such habits become irresistibly dominant. This woe addresses man’s sinfulness.
{{Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”}}
Now, in THIS SECOND WOE, we have the remarkable verse about what the world has done to good. God’s marriage is good; man says homosexual marriage is good. God promotes the rights of life; man promotes abortion. God upholds justice; man cheats and schemes, and is corrupt in business and Government. God created Adam and Eve; man says evolution did it. What God calls evil, the world calls good. What God upholds as good, the world considers it as evil. This woe addresses man’s intellect.
{{Isaiah 5:21 “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!”}}
THE THIRD WOE relates to the wisdom of man, and is the reason why what is evil, is upheld, and considered good. Man without God, is capable of any, and every error and evil, and distorts goodness into wickedness. Man thinks he is so clever, and the worst of them are found in Universities, and Government agencies and boards and commissions, and the Media especially. This woe addresses man’s mind.
{{Isaiah 5:22 “Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink; Isa 5:23 who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!”}}
THE FOURTH WOE looks at what heroes people are with alcohol, considered valiant and outstanding. Also the corrupt nature of man’s justice is raised. The wicked buy justice with bribes, and basic human rights are denied to the innocent. Corruptness is throughout society and is getting worse in line with biblical prophecy. This woe addresses man’s behaviour.
[C]. THE WORLD’S UNDERSTANDING OF GOODNESS
You hear people’s reasoning that asks, “How can good people do bad things?” Only those who know God’s word, know the answer. We have already considered the Roman’s verse, {{“There is none who does good. There is not even one.”}} A dog will not quack or swim with its head down looking for mud to sift in its mouth. It can’t grow feathers. The problem here is that the world does not know that the dog is not a duck. Its reasoning and understanding, without God, is so distorted, there is no true understanding of good and evil. Satan promised Eve she would know both good and evil, but did not reveal to her that she would know the good and not have the capability of doing it; and that she would know evil, and not have the power to avoid it. Psychologists say all human beings are basically good, and what is needed are schemes and programs to bring that goodness out. They are deluded. That so called “behaviour management” program is the nonsense motivating procedures in our schools and society.
[D]. THIS VERSE IN THE THESSALONIANS CONTEXT
Is there anything in the context of this section in the last half of the chapter to help understand what might be the good that is to be held onto so tightly, and what Paul meant by the expression? Not really, that I can find, but it follows the injunction to examine everything carefully, and seems connected with that. The examination is in regard to the messages and teaching from the bible, and those who minister the word. Therefore I’d say one aspect of it is that we hold fast to the good/correct teaching of the bible and don’t deviate from it. That means, after examination, we must defend it, and support those who are measuring up truly to the truth of the bible. That must be held fast.
Those who don’t measure up to examination, either by their doctrine and teaching, or by their life, must be rejected. We are to retain whatever is good in those "all things" which we are to prove, examine, or test, namely, in the prophesyings (the teaching of the word), but when we are convinced that it is true, it is to be held, no matter what current of popular opinion or prejudice thinks about it, even if it opposes government policy such as on homosexuality; no matter what ridicule may be poured upon it; and no matter even if the belief of it, may require us to die a martyr's death. Hold FAST to that which is good.
[E]. WHAT CRITERIA DO WE USE TO DETERMINE WHAT IS GOOD OR NOT?
This becomes the difficult part. In the world there is so much deception and counterfeit; so much that looks like angels of light; so much that is grey and murky. Remember that the greatest attacks are against truth, and we combat that in society and in the church. What is the scope or latitude of the goodness we are to hold to? This is a difficult one because there is so much in this world we could go and join. Christians think something is good and go off to support it, but I don’t think that is what we should necessarily do. I don’t think the Christian should get caught up in groups and organisations that appear to have good motives. There were those who joined One Nation (a newer political party with more decent policies) and found it to be a conflict of personalities. There are those who were in charitable groups only to find in some, people were milking the system or using the organisation to further their political or positional ambitions. We need to be very careful. We need to know what is truly good.
Yet we need to hold fast to what is good. The principles of God’s word are to be supported. When the bible says to turn the other cheek, that is holding fast to what is good. Our guideline must be what God has instructed us to do. That is good. That is what we must hold fast. I see three aids to help us do this. (a). The witness of the bible – God’s word confirms so much good for us to hold fast. (b). The witness of the Holy Spirit - When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you into all truth. (c). The witness of mature and established Christians - These are to be examples and advisors we rely on.
Once we have distinguished truth from falsehood, we must, “Hold fast that which is good” because there are many that would snatch it from us, and we must hold it fast against all attacks.
(1). ONE OF THESE ATTACKS COMES FROM MAN’S REASON
Reason wants to ride over in judgment upon the truth of God, but this is not its purpose. Its proper position is to judge whether the Scriptures are a revelation from God for you, but when that is determined, faith is then to claim whatever God has spoken, and the highest response is to submit ourselves to God with the simplicity of a little child, willing to listen and to be taught. When therefore, reason tries to oppose the declarations of God, don’t let it have control, and remember that the scriptures are the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes it.
(2). ANOTHER ATTACK COMES FROM THE OLD NATURE
That old nature fights against the truth of God, and no wonder, for the word of God condemns every unholy desire, and requires us to put to death the flesh with its carnal desires and lusts. Our corrupt nature does not approve of a book, which instructs us to “cut off a right hand, and to pluck out a right eye,” lest by sparing either one or the other, we plunge both body and soul into the fire of hell? We must continue to hold fast the word of God, the good seed. Holding fast to what is good will be opposed by the flesh, the old nature which is careless about the good and hates the good.
3. OF A MENACING WORLD
The world is waiting in wickedness and always has, and ever will, and will set itself against the doctrines of the Gospel. We are not to make a sacrifice of divine truth, to please man, for if we want to please men, we could not be the servants of Christ. The very desire to retain the friendship of the world, is a certain mark of enmity against God. This world is at enmity with God and does not seek the divine good. Whatever men may say, or whatever they may do, we must be faithful to our God, and cleave unto him with full purpose of heart. Having been brought into the truth, we must never sell it. Hold fast the truth and goodness we have, and let no man take them from us.
[F]. HOW TO DISTINGUISH WHAT IS GOOD
Remember, that the doctrine which exalts the Saviour, humbles the sinner, and promotes holiness, must be “good” whilst every thing which has an opposite tendency is erroneous and bad. A man who has applied the proper tests, and has found out what is truth, is bound to embrace it and to hold it fast. He is not at liberty to throw it away, as if it were valueless, or to treat truth and falsehood alike. It is a duty which he owes to himself and to God to adhere to it firmly, and to suffer the loss of all things, rather than to abandon it. There are few more important rules in the New Testament than the one in this passage. It shows what is the true nature of Christianity, and it is a rule whose practical value, must be felt constantly in our lives. Other religions require their followers to receive everything upon trust; Christianity asks us to examine everything.
[G]. CONTINUE TO DO GOOD
Holding fast the truth and applying it to the good, is true in practice as well as in opinion. To have it in opinion, is academic, as we uphold the bible, but to have it in practice is a wonderful thing as we do good to others. Doing good is not to score brownie points with God, for if you do things with any sort of “receiving motive”, then God will not accept that. The reason we do good is that, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are walking in His footsteps, motivated and empowered by Him; and doing good to your fellow Christians, should come naturally. To help them is the outworking of the Lord with you. Jesus Himself went about doing good as we read here – {{Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him.”}}
Here is a verse we looked at when we did Galatians – {{Galatians 6:10 “so then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”}} In Luke 6:27, the Lord said to “do good to those who hate you”; and to return good for good is no use as He said in {{Luke 6:33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you for even sinners do the same?}} In Luke 6:35, He told His disciples to “love their enemies and do good.” AND, if any of you are rich then Paul writes to you with this – {{1Timothy 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”}} Paul’s command to Timothy was {{1Timothy 6:18 “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.”}}
[[In the years 1509-1518) - After a great rejection of Catholic teachings under William Smith, bishop of Lincoln, England, a growing group of people were noted and termed among themselves the name of “known-men” or just “fast-men”, and now they are called Prostestants. These men stood against 4 points in the church of Rome. In pilgrimage, in adoration of saints, in reading scripture books in English and not Latin, and in the carnal presence of Christ's body in the sacrament (the mass).
It was said of them they were keen to win their neighbours, and to speak of the sacrament, and the truth of God’s word, and going good. To see their travails, their earnest seekings, their burning zeal, their readings, their watchings, their sweet assemblies, their love and concord, their godly living, their faithful conduct with the faithful, may make us now, in these days of free profession, to blush for shame.]] (“The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe” By George Townsend).
[H]. CONCLUSION. {{Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. CLING to what is good.”}} kolláo (from kólla, "glue") – to bond (cleave), adhere to (literally, "glued together"); to cleave, join to; (figuratively) intimately connected in a soul-knit friendship. (kolláo) is used "frequently in ancient medical language of the uniting of wounds".
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
