1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 - Prophecy and Gifts

20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

Target Date: Sunday, 11 June 2023

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Despise - ἐξουθενέω ĕxŏuthĕnĕō - to reject or to hold in contempt.

And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. – Luke 23:11

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? – Romans 14:10

Prophetic utterances - προφητεία prŏphētĕia – prophecies

Can mean predicting or simply speaking the words of God.

Examine - δοκιμάζω dŏkimazō – examine, prove

so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; - 1 Peter 1:7

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1

Hold fast - κατέχω katĕchō – hold fast, cling tightly, even greedily

Thoughts on the Passage:

There are some who make an assumption that the Thessalonian leaders were, in some way, trying to prohibit or curtail the gifts of the Spirit in the congregation. I do not find this in any way convincing for the following reasons:

1. There is no elaboration on any local practices that Paul is trying to stop. If there had been a real, actual problem, he would have dealt with it with at least a little more explanation.

2. The placement of this instruction is in the midst of very terse general lists of reminders. For these things, it is a fair assumption that the Thessalonian church was doing well, or as well as they knew to do. These reminders are to encourage them that these are important things to continue building.

3. There has been no companion teaching in this letter that would make this a wrap-up of the subject. This comes completely out of the blue, unescorted with any other antecedent.

4. There does, however, remain the possibility that his current circumstances, or his history with the Greeks at this point, would have prompted him to include this in the final sentences of this letter. There could certainly have been concerns among the Greek Christian community of having any resemblance to Greek oracles like Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, who were pagan seers.

It could also (pure supposition) be that Timothy has observed something vaguely troubling that might have led to some contempt over this spiritual gift.

We must be careful if we believe that the miraculous gifts recorded in the New Testament are not normative for today. The danger lies if we take it a step further to declare that God has ceased working miraculously. That is false – God still works miraculously, even if His power is veiled.

Many of the listed gifts would often be used as qualifications for roles in the church (Teaching for Elders, etc.). It is well within the Holy Spirit’s prerogative to raise up and cease individual manifestations of gifts.

This could be done according to the measure of faith of the person.

This could be done to avoid misuse or temptation toward pride for the gifted person.

It could also be done because the work was limited in time or scope. Once the work of the Spirit is complete, the gift is not necessary for the further edification of the body in its present form, so it lapses.

The proclamatory gifts (prophecy, tongues) would be most useful in the absence of the full revelation of the work of God in the Bible.

This would have been true through the OT to the NT times, and even beyond.

These gifts would have enabled the proclaimers to “prove” the divine source of their instructions in the absence of Scripture to confirm their truth.

Even with prophecy in the book of Acts, sometimes the application seemed to be flawed when the revelation of God was correct.

Just because one speaks prophecy does not make that person a prophet.

The word in Hebrew is navi, which indicates an announcer or spokesman. It is these who spoke the words they were given by the LORD; in some cases these pointed to future things, and in others, they pointed to current sin.

For most of the prophets, we have a very limited selection of what was likely a bit more frequent messages from the LORD,

But not everything the prophets said originated from the LORD.

All do not have gifts of healings, do they? – 1 Corinthians 12:30

Notice the word gifts is plural, not singular as is most often heard today. He does not speaking of one having the “gift” of healing, but “gifts”. Each individual healing done in that day was its own gift, and the same could be understood for prophecy, tongues, giving, or any other gift. These were not necessarily persistent; they could be cultivated and grown.

But earnestly desire the greater gifts. – 1 Corinthians 12:31

Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; - 1 Timothy 4:14-16

In listing his own gifts (roles) in 2 Timothy, Paul does not make mention of these “lesser gifts”:

for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. – 2 Timothy 1:11

All gifts should be practiced in the same spirit. Humility must be a part of its use, and no one properly using spiritual gifts will aggrandize themselves.

Q. 28. How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?

A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by this Word and Spirit, the will of

God for our salvation. (John 1:18; 14:26; 15:15) – Keach’s Catechism

Today, the analogy to prophecy is the preaching of God’s Word. This means that to fuel the flame of God’s Spirit, we must devote ourselves to the ministry of the Bible, in personal reading and especially in the preaching ministry of the church. Either the Word of God will shape our thinking or the message of the world will drown out God’s voice and quench the ministry of God’s Spirit.

Nowhere are spiritual gifts said to be given to assure you of your salvation. They are for the edification of the church, the building up of the saints. They are not even, save for a very few things the Bible calls “signs”, for the support of our testimony to unbelievers.

What is the Good News of this passage?

The Spirit of Christ has given God’s word and the men to help us interpret and apply it. We should not only listen to them, but seek them out when we are uncertain of a response or direction.

This is one of the major reasons one of the qualifications of an elder is the ability to teach:

An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, - 1 Timothy 3:2

Teachings:

Do not simply rely on your private interpretation of Scripture; listen to those who have been called to teach and preach.

Do not trust a person simply because they have a name or a reputation, nor despise them because they do not have a national platform; test all their claims on the authority of Scripture.

For every Youtube, podcaster, or Facebook famous preacher, there are hundreds in pulpits across the world who are proclaiming the same or greater level or truth, many with greater moral excellence and understanding.

And there are hundreds who are preaching a flawed or false gospel for their own motives, power, pride, or enrichment.

Sermon Text:

This morning we continue to look at these final instructions of Paul and Silas in this letter to the church in Thessalonica.

And this morning we come to a very divisive subject in the church today.

Not that I really expect a great deal of division with the congregation here, although we might have some discussion over some details.

We really began the path to this subject last week when we began studying verse 19: Do not quench the Spirit.

Because, you may remember, I said last week that this would include failing to use the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to each believer.

This week, I would like to look specifically at prophecy;

Next week, if the Lord is willing, I would like to take a look at the entire question of spiritual gifts and describe the biblical teaching on the subject in general.

But in the context of these verses, I think it is important for us to know exactly what we are talking about when we speak of things like prophecy in particular and spiritual gifts generally.

Because almost from the beginning of the church, people have defined these things to their own benefit.

This might seem a new phenomenon in the church, perhaps in the last 125 years or so with the errant and misleading doctrines taught by many in the so-called Charismatic denominations,

But it is truly far older, with some of these same errors taught by some in the church only 125 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ.

And misrepresentation of spiritual gifts, particularly prophecy, was apparently common even during the time of the Apostles, since each one of our authors has strong words to say against false teachers or false prophets.

In our passage today, the apostles warn the church to examine or prove everything carefully.

Peter warns us in 2 Peter 2:1-3:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

And John tells us:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1

And importantly, even our Lord Himself warned us:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. – Matthew 7:15-16

These certainly are not the only passages, but only examples of the great concern all the apostles had for the truth of the gospel to remain pure in the hearts of believers.

But to understand what our passage is telling us today, we must first understand what prophecy is because that word, like so many other terms relating to the gracious gifts of the Spirit of yesterday and today, has been redefined.

The word prophet is a transliteration of a Greek word – that means we just took the Greek word and used it in English.

Nothing wrong with that – the word “baptize” is a transliteration from the Greek word meaning “to immerse”.

The word for prophet means “announcer” or “spokesman”.

In the common use of the day, it was used almost exclusively for someone who announced or spoke for a god, whether the true God or an idolatrous one.

And so the message from God would be called “prophecy” when it was spoken.

That is precisely the word we have here as “prophetic utterances”. Literally, it is prophecies, which are understood to be spoken or announced.

Many people think that these prophecies are about things that are going to happen, like telling the future by the Spirit of God.

This is certainly not unknown in Scripture.

As Paul was returning to Jerusalem from his third journey, a group in Ephesus and the prophet Agabus both told him he would be arrested in Jerusalem, and the Scripture makes it clear that the Spirit had revealed it to them:

I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. – Acts 20:22-23

As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” – Acts 21:10-11

But the plainest meaning of the word, the meaning even the Hebrew word had that is translated “prophet”, is one who speaks the words of God.

We see this clearly in the message God had for Pharaoh:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. – Exodus 7:1-2

To explain, this second time Moses proclaimed his inability to speak properly, God told him that Aaron would be his prophet.

That the same dynamic God’s prophets had with Him would be displayed by the message Aaron spoke to Pharaoh on Moses’s behalf.

And those messages were not PREDICTIONS of what would come about, but commands to be followed: Let My people go.

There was not a warning of the signs they performed; it was only the commandment of God to be obeyed or else.

Perhaps you have heard it this way: biblical prophecy is not necessarily foretelling, but forth-telling.

It’s a witty saying that explains the truth that for most of the prophecies we have in Scripture, it is God speaking to his people for that time.

And most often – it is a call to repentance.

So then, let us move on to how we need to examine “prophetic utterances”.

The good news is that it is much easier for us than it was for the Thessalonian believers.

They had the teaching of the apostles and, possibly, a copy of at least part of the Old Testament.

But we have the full, complete Scriptures – the full revelation of the word of God.

If you need something to add to your thankfulness prayers, add that: God’s completed revelation in your hand.

The word “examine” there means to “prove” or even “assay”, like determining the quality of a precious metal like gold.

It is that word we saw earlier in 1 John 4:1: test the spirits…

And it is the word used twice in 1 Peter 1:7:

so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Back at the time Paul and Silas were writing, the prophecies they spoke of were the teaching of the Spirit before the Bible was complete.

So they got to see great workings of the Spirit of God in revealing to them what we have revealed in the Bible today.

And so the nearest thing we have to prophecy today is preaching and teaching in the church.

It is still the proclamation of God’s word.

I would hesitate to classify this completely as prophecy per se,

But I can tell you any preacher or teacher that is proclaiming the word of God faithfully will be praying during his preparation and during his message that he would speak only those words that the Spirit guides in truth.

Modern authentic preaching is trying relentlessly to NOT create novelty, new ideas, in the practice of the believer.

We are trying to accurately and persuasively communicate what the Scriptures ALREADY tell us to do.

Any novelty at all would come in helping to apply the truth of Scripture against the novel ways the world has developed to sin and to tempt us from God.

So if we are to examine the teaching and preaching we hear, what are we supposed to look at?

1. Look at the life and walk of the preacher.

This is both the most important and the scariest for us teachers.

But this is the thing Jesus said in the Matthew 7 passage earlier – check their fruits.

You will know the false teachers by their fruits.

That means the teacher will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.

Their life and teaching will be characterized by love and humility.

Beware a smug or harsh teacher:

I will allow that those methods might be appropriate at times, or that a good and godly teacher may sometimes struggle with smugness and pride, but if this is the characteristic of their life and teaching, be careful in taking in everything they say.

Be careful of a teacher that glories in the fall of their opponents.

There is nothing wrong with being quietly grateful to God for removing an errant teacher, but to celebrate their humiliation shows the teacher is more concerned with the debate than the person.

All teachers will have lapses and even failures at times.

Because all teachers are still being taught as well.

But part of that “proving”, that “testing” is to make sure these times of weakness are the exception, not the rule.

After all, it is possible to find a sour persimmon under an apple tree, but if the branches are hung mostly with sour persimmons, it is a sour persimmon tree.

2. Look at whether their message accurately reflects the Scripture.

False teachers are experts in taking things out of context.

They pick phrases or groups of words to prove their errant doctrine with no regard to what is actually being said in the passage.

That is, if they use Scripture at all.

How many churches or self-appointed prophets preach to the church of Jesus Christ that we are violating their newly-created values and ethics?

And then argue that the Bible is silent on the subject?

Brothers and sisters, the Bible is not silent on ANYTHING necessary for life and godliness.

Warnings against gambling? It’s in there.

Condemnation of aberrant relationships? It is in there.

Warnings to treat foreigners and aliens with dignity and respect? It is in there.

And even if it something technologically new, we have the two great commandments to light our way to the truth:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

So if the message of the so-called prophet carries you even a little bit away from these things, shun it.

And that leads us to:

3. Look at whether their message accurately reflects the entirety of Scripture.

Even if a teacher has something that looks good in its context, we know not all Scriptures are equally clear.

Some are even a bit confounding to us.

So we always must let the clear passages of Scripture interpret our understanding of the more difficult passages, not the other way around.

No doctrine of the church is founded in a single Scripture passage alone.

And no teacher has a right to create a doctrine from a single passage.

So part of our examination of a teacher is whether their teaching adheres to the entirety of Scripture.

Whether it can be supported from other passages.

Or whether it is called into question by another passage.

4. Look at whether the sum of their messages accurately teach the Scripture.

This is another case of knowing a tree by its fruit.

A false teacher can have a good, accurate message on occasion.

Just like a good and godly teacher can preach a stinker.

But what is the sum total of their work?

We are not looking at percentages really, like if they are 51% right, they are ok.

No, our standard needs to be a bit higher than that.

If I handed you a glass of water and told you it was only 1% poison, you probably wouldn’t feel good about drinking it.

So our “proving” here is whether, when confronted with their error, they repent or they double down on their error.

Will they humbly receive correction consistently?

Not just once – anyone can be humble on occasion when people are looking.

Will they allow themselves to be held accountable by the elders and the congregation they serve?

Or do they fight back, even if they did teach bad doctrine?

False teachers tend to go from bad to worse, so as the fruit of error grows, it will be more and more apparent.

One last thing before we close: we need to look at what it means to despise prophetic utterances.

It means to hold them in contempt, put them at a distance.

And for those who are accurately teaching the word of God, we are told not to despise their teaching.

What does that mean?

1. Give them the benefit of the doubt over your preconceived ideas.

It is easy to sit and listen to a lesson or a sermon, looking at whether the teacher agrees with you or not.

But it is also a very prideful thing to do.

I have been guilty of it, but recently I was able on a Sunday away to worship with another church and listen to another servant of God preach.

And I was encouraged by the grace of the Spirit when I allowed myself to see through his eyes.

Too many times in the past, I have judged the “performance” of the preacher rather than opening myself to the word of God.

If the preacher or teacher is boring, there is a good chance it is more a problem in your heart or attitude than in his preaching.

Anyone will be boring if you do not engage in what they are saying.

Listen to them; hear them; and try to understand why they found what they did in the Scripture.

Even if you didn’t initially agree with their conclusion.

Even if you know there is some minor theological point on which you have disagreement.

Don’t despise their proclamation if it is faithfully done from the Spirit of God.

2. Seek out the elders and teachers the Lord has given you in his church for help.

This one is hard – ask for help when you need it.

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. – James 5:14-15

3. Seek to apply the suggestions they make that conform to God’s word.

This goes along with giving them the benefit of the doubt.

When we judge the teacher rather than listen to the teacher, we tend to despise the applications they suggest.

But, rather, let us try to put those things into action in our lives.

If we thought of other applications – that is great!

But do not ignore the applications the called servant of God just gave you as well.