Last week, we discussed the first four of eight commands that the Lord commands us to do. I pray that you were blessed by the first four. This week, let's take a look at the last four commands. We started in I Thessalonians
5:16 last time, and we're going to pick up in verse 20 today.
5. Despise not Prophesyings. Prophesying means preaching and teaching. Some people prophesy of the present and the future; despising those prophesies means that we don’t want to hear any more teaching or preaching. Since prophesying tells us what God is saying about what’s
going to happen or what’s happening right now, we must not despise those who are bringing the word of God to us and we must not shun it. Instead, we should open our ears and our hearts to receive the words the Lord is sending to us.
Prophesying is not always about giving a message out, no, most of the time it’s just about listening
to the word of God. Let’s not despise
inspired instruction, exhortation or warning.
6. and 7. Prove all
Things and Hold Fast to that which is Good. We don’t need to hold fast to something
if it's not good, but before we throw it away, we should prove it. You prove something by searching
the word of God to see if that’s what the word is saying. When we take the time
to dig into the word to see if that’s what the Lord is saying, He will give us a clearer
vision of it and He will quicken it to us. We must be able to prove that God is the head of all things and that He
is in all things. Always go back to the
word, prove it, study it and then allow God to unveil His word to us. We can (and should) hold fast to the name of Jesus. We should lift it up and refuse to let it go, because it will save us. Proverbs 22:1 tells us that "A good name is rather to be
chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold;" to that, we must hold fast.
8. Abstain from all
Appearances of Evil. Even though we may not
intend to be evil in a certain situation, if it looks evil to someone else, God says that we should abstain. People are
always watching and looking to see if what we are doing is Christian-like (i.e. if we are behaving the way they believe a Christian should behave). If what you are doing looks evil to them, they may start pointing fingers. It’s not always the case that we have done something wrong, however, that may be everybody else’s perception of the situation. If there's a possibility that something we are doing could appear to be evil to someone else, we should
stay away from it... even when we have no evil intentions in our mind and our
heart is pure. Just remember, if it appears evil, go the other way!
I'll leave you with these words from I Thessalonians 5:23, "And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through, separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete and found blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah." (Amplified Bible)
As always, be blessed my friends!
With all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!
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