Title: 3 Admonitions for the Body. Script: I Thes. 5:19-22
Type: Expository Where: GNBC 5-5-24
Intro: What should I do? We ask ourselves this question a lot, from eating breakfast in the morning (“What should I eat?”) to driving to the store (“What road should I take?”) to choosing a career (“Where should I work?”) to purchasing a home (“Where should I live?”). We can’t get away from the “What should I do?” question, and sometimes that can cause us a lot of anxiety, because we don’t always know what we should do. At the same time, however, God has told us what we should do. What we should do is contained in His Word. I know what you’re thinking: But, the Bible doesn’t tell us what we should eat for breakfast. (Taking care of our bodies as a temple of the Holy Spirit certainly has implications for what kind of food we eat (1 Cor. 6:19). The same kind of reasoning from Scripture can be used for other questions: “What road should I take?” Well, whatever the road, commit your way to the Lord (Ps. 37:5). “Where should I work?” Wherever you work, do your job with all your heart (Col. 3:23). “Where should I live?” Wherever you choose to live, make it your goal to live a peaceful and quiet life as you shine as a light in the world (Matt. 5:14; 1 Thess. 4:11). So, God has given us freedom to choose, with parameters about how to choose. He’s gifted us with faith and reason to live in this world. We’re called to trust Him as we make these small and big decisions, because though He often doesn’t tell us exactly what, who, or where, He does tell us how.
Prop: Exam. I Thes. 5:19-22 we’ll realize 3 more admonitions for the church.
BG:1. I Thes. written by Paul in about 49-50 AD, during 18mo stay in Corinth. 2nd Miss. Journey.
2. Theme of I Thes. is the Second Coming of Christ.
3. This final section has to do with actions in the body, the church.
Prop: Let’s look to I Thes. 5:19ff to see 3 more admonitions for the church.
I. Don’t Quench the Spirit. V.19
A. The First Admonition in this Passage is: “Don’t Quench the Spirit”
1. What Does this Admonition Mean in this Passage?
a. I believe that v. 19 marks an important, but often unnoticed transition in Paul’s admonitions of chapter 5. The previous remarks were made for the application of individuals. I believe that at v. 19 we see a transition going on with an application to corporate worship or gatherings. Thus, the three admonitions we’ll be examining today are understood to be in the context of worship.
b. The Bible commonly portrays the Holy Spirit like a flame. In Acts 2 when the HS comes upon the believers at Pentecost, He is visually manifest in tongues of fire (Acts 2:3). The idea of “quench” carries the idea of putting out a light of a torch, lamp, or fire (Matthew 12:20; 25:8; Hebrews 11:34). The Bible portrays the Holy Spirit as both heat and light. As heat, He impresses the reality of God upon the believer. As light, He reveals who God is to the believer.
2. Paul was addressing a specific negative practice that was ongoing at Thessalonica.
a. The language of the text indicates that the Thessalonians were being told to stop something they were doing. In essence, “stop stifling the Spirit.” Illust: When a blade is being made for use as either say a knife or a sword, after the metal is heated to a certain temperature, with the metal glowing red hot, the skilled craftsman takes that metal and dunks it into a vat of oil to “quench” the metal, quickly bringing the temperature down and hardening the steel.
b. The word “quench” carries the idea of putting out a flame of a torch, lamp, or fire (Matthew 12:20; 25:8; Hebrews 11:34). This is the only place in the NT where the word “quench” is used metaphorically. Essentially the apostle is saying: “Stop putting out the Spirit’s fire!” Honestly, we don’t really know what the Church there was doing that they were being warned against.
B. How Do We apply this Passage in Our Lives today?
1. What does this verse teach?
a. Most all of these important words we’ll examine today in this passage our verbs in the present imperative tense. Why is this important to know? It’s a command to do something in the future that requires continuous or repeated action. When its used in the negative like it is here, the implication is to cease doing something that has been happening. I.e. “Quit quenching the Spirit today, and tomorrow, and next week…” “Stop doing this!” Illust: If your diet is way out of balance and trying to eat more healthy, it’s great that eating Romaine lettuce, but also cut out the 2 liters of Mt. Dew. Not just today, but tomorrow, etc.
b. We need to remember that although Paul uses this verse metaphorically, the Holy Spirit is not a force, but rather a Person. In Ephesian 4:30 Paul tells that church: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Now, a force cannot be grieved. “If I am dumb enough to jump off of my roof and I fall with an amazing “SPLAT!” on my concrete driveway, gravity is not grieved! Gravity is a force and has no personality. Technically, I think physicists would say that although electricity can exert forces, it is not a force. Still, if I take it to mind to fix my radio or toaster while taking a bath, I will not grieve electricity. If, however, as a believer, I live in some way, in word thought or deed that is unbecoming the nature of the residing Holy Spirit of God, I grieve Him. Although a force cannot be grieved, a person can, and here Paul tells us that the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity certainly can be grieved by something unbecoming of the Christian life. So he commands the church: Quit doing this!
2. We need to Examine Ourselves Individually and Corporately to See if We are Quenching the Spirit’s Operations in our Church.
a. There are a handful of very common ways that Bible believing churches quench the ministry of the HS within them. Immorality. Pride. Dissension and Strife. In my very unscientific polling, that would undoubtedly cover a significant majority of the
b. Do you or I have an attitude or are we involved in actions that are hindering your local church’s work? Do you take a negative position on most things? Are you on the negative side of every positive issue and the positive side of every negative issue? It is incumbent upon Spirit-filled believers to be in step with the Holy Spirit’s leading and ministry in the local church. We must be careful not to stifle the Spirit in our church. When we do this, we are spiritual anarchists against the work of God in our church. “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10).
C. Applic: We need to ask ourselves especially on a Sunday like today when taking communion: Is there anything in my life that I am doing that is in disobedience to His leading and causing the Holy Spirit to be “quenched” in either our lives individually or corporately.
II. Don’t Despise Prophetic Utterances. V.20
A. What Did the Apostle Mean When He Wrote this Admonition?
1. Again, it is always important to understand the context of a passage.
a. In English we read two words “Prophetic Utterance”, but in Gk it is one word: “propheteia” – which could describe ministry of prediction, or the office of “prophet”, or the action of prophesy (Predicting or more commonly “forth-telling”.).
b. Again, if we consider the writing of I&II Thes., in roughly 49 AD, So, most likely, the only complete NT letters that had been written prior to this letter would have been James (45+/-AD), Galatians (48+/- AD), maybe Mark (I don’t think so.). Now, at the time of Paul’s writing, the Holy Spirit had empowered certain office gifts, including Apostle and Prophets for the giving of Scripture. You see, apostles and prophets were under divine inspiration actively involved in giving the Church the authoritative and inerrant WOG. So, in the context, “neglecting or despising prophetic utterances” could be as simple as discounting or despising apostolic authority in the Early Church.
2. As Christians today we are not to despise the WOG in our lives.
a. Paul admonished the Thessalonian not to “despise” the propheteia. The word “despise” means to make of no account. We can make prophecies of no account and treat them with contempt. “No account” is less than one. We can treat the Bible as nothing. It is dangerous to treat with disdain what God says or reject with contempt God’s revelation.
b. The person with the gift of prohecy could directly receive revelation from God before the Bible was completed. The gift of prophecy and apostleship for the creation of the Canon came to a conclusion with the formation of the bible. The prophetic gift not only dealt with future things but things in the present (Acts 13:2). “Prophecies” include both a prophetic element and a proclaiming element. These were oral proclamations before the revelation of the New Testament. The prophetic element came to close but in a sense, the preaching element continues to this day. It’s most likely that some folks in Thessalonica may have been self-professed prophets without any divine authority or calling and not recognized by the apostles. As such they would have pushed their own agenda. People today pawn off their personal ideas about God by claiming that they have special contact with God. Others despise the teaching of God’s Word by falsely interpret and twist the Bible to suit their biases. The believer who treasures the Word is the believer who honors what it says.
B. How Can this Passage Be applied to Us Today.
1. The Most Common Way We Can Despise Prophetic Utterance Today: Neglect the WOG.
a. Illust: One of Dickens’ classics “Our Mutual Friend”. There is one scene in which there is a confrontation between two men over their mutual affection of one woman. One man, Mr. Bradley Headstone, is a poor schoolmaster, who comes from a poor family and has worked his way thru diligent studies and hard work to the profession he now has. The other is Eugene Wrayburn, a foppish son of the gentry who has done nothing with his life until he meets Lizzy, the woman of their affections. Headstone becomes angry and charges that Wrayburn looks down on him because of his humble beginnings and meager salary. Wrayburn interrupts the schoolteacher, and contemptuously states: “I think of you less than I would think of… Then slowly and methodically with scorn and contempt: “I don’t think of you at all schoolmaster.”
b. Christian, can I tell you the number 1 way we most commonly despise the WOG in our lives is when we DON”T THINK OF IT AT ALL! (The Bible is God’s love letter to you! It is God’s manual for life! It came at the price of shed blood!) Can you and I go days w/o reading the WOG? We are treating it contemptuously. Don’t ignore Bible study! I think I can pretty confidently state that if we are not reading and studying the WOG we’re not going to be walking with the Lord. Illust: 2014 Pew Research Center Poll (35k Americans) on The Frequency of Christians Reading Scripture: 45% at least 1x per week. 12% 1-2x per month, 9% a few x per annum, 33% never.
2. Prophecy was a special, temporary gift before the completion of the canon (the writing of the New Testament books) of the New Testament. By this gift, God revealed His mind and will to a prophet so that Christians could understand New Testament truth before the New Testament existed. Today God succeeded the prophet by the pastor/teacher who expounds the mind of God already revealed on the pages of completed Scripture. Do we value the WOG in our lives as what it is: God’s Truth to you and me!
C. Applic: As the canon was being formed apostles and prophets were to be tested and then respected and their word was to be honored as being from God. Today, we are to honor the Bible by reading, living, and applying it.
III. Don’t Forget to Be Careful. Vv. 21-22
*Illust: My father: “Be careful out there!” Always concerned about safety “Keep an eye to the sky and an ear to the ground.” “What do you think I am dad, a lizard?!” Well, as Paul begins to conclude this section of admonitions, he is clearly concerned with the average Christian being careful about what goes on in public worship. As such, he gives three clear directives on how to be careful.
A. “Examine everything carefully”
1. Paul was challenging Believers to Examine Carefully the teaching of those in the Church. Since false prophets would arise as the Lord Himself warned (cf. Matt. 7:15; 24:11, 24) there had to be careful discernment of the message or utterances of a self-proclaimed prophet. The ultimate issue is the message, not the person (Although that too should never be neglected.), his claims or personality. “Examine” is dokimazo, “to put to the test, examine,” and then, based on the result of the test, “to accept as approved/approve.” Here is a warning against gullibility and a call for biblical discernment. This is why the church is to have pastors and elders. To examine and help with maturity and discernment.
2. Illust: Recently my mother-in-law found an old US $10 bill. It was a great curiosity. She and my brother-in-law looked at it and compared it with a site online. Appeared to be worth A LOT of money! My son in law’s father is a very serious hobbyist. He examined it and let us know what he thought and then he took it to a friend who is a professional and collector and came up with his appraisal. Sadly, was not worth as much as initially thought. Now, each individual examined that old note carefully. Some were better trained and had access to more information to help make a very informed decision. Examine carefully. Understand that there are resources in the Body of Christ to help you grow.
B. “Hold fast to that which is good.”
1. What is the picture being drawn here for the believer?
a. “hold fast” – katecho – to retain or detain a person, to hold secure a possession. Obviously, then, once what is heard is discovered to be “the good,” i.e., true and in accord with the revelation of God in Christ, we are to tenaciously hold on to it, for God’s revelation alone is a sure foundation and an anchor of the soul.
b. Illust: Over the years I’ve told a few stories about my GG grandfather who was a POW in the Civil War. When the war ended and POWs were being repatriated, he and over 1800 men were put on a paddlewheel steamer to be sent up from the deep South to Cairo, IL. That year the Mississippi River had seen its worst flooding to that date. At around 2 a.m. on April 27, 1865, when Sultana was a few miles north of Memphis, its boilers suddenly and violently exploded, killing, scalding, and burning hundreds instantly, and within minutes throwing the remaining survivors in the swelling current of the river. Nearly all of these men were half starved POWs. Water was cold. Alligators. My relative was found 2 mi down river, clinging to a piece of board blown off the side of the ship. He had clung to that scrap of board with every ounce of his strength. Those who didn’t…died. Friend, can I tell you I believe in the Perseverance of the Saints, but I believe those who persevere “hold fast” to the WOG. We are living in a time, when culturally speaking, society has its feet firmly planted in midair! Hold fast to the WOG.
2. Obviously, Paul is using this term figuratively/metaphorically. He minds to hold fast in one’s mind or heart. We would say that we purpose or develop a conviction. What is it we wish to retain? - “that which is good” – morally excellent – Drift today in the Church to celebrate what 15 yrs ago morally abhorrent.
C. “Abstain from every form of evil”
1. The Greek text employs a verb meaning “shun.” It has connotations of abhorrence, loathing, and revulsion. It is the proper response to anything impure or morally filthy. It’s the very same word Paul used when he wrote, “Abstain from sexual immorality” (4:3). Peter used the same word in a similar context: “Abstain from the passions of the flesh” (1 Peter 2:11). But in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul is specifically talking about truth-claims—prophecies, doctrines, spiritual principles.
2. “Paul is instructing the church to turn away completely from false prophets and purveyors of novel doctrines—to repudiate them altogether. He gives no latitude whatsoever for blending nuggets of gospel truth with popular ideas borrowed from other religions, cultural fads, highbrow philosophies, lowbrow entertainment, secular psychology, or whatever is currently popular in the world. In fact, we’re warned frequently in Scripture about the subtlety of Satan. He disguises himself as an angel of light. He quotes Scripture. He makes arguments that sound reasonable. But his specialty is twisting the truth, mixing it with lies, giving evil the appearance of good, but corrupting everything that is truly good.” (J. MacArthur, 9/2014)
Illust: A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the ludicrous events that took place at a Charismatic men’s conference. Two weeks ago I read where local Presbyterian and Lutheran churches were bringing in a drag queen singer for a youth outreach event. This past week the UMC ‘made history” as held a “historic vote” to reverse it’s previous ban on allowing LGBTQ ordination and accommodation for ALL types of marriage. I have one thing to say in response. (Read entire passage again.) It’s just as important today as when Paul wrote it to the church at Thessalonica.
