Hold fast what is good and flee from all evil

Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.Abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22

Do not despise prophecies.

Nowadays, God does not speak to His people through prophecy anymore, but He does speak to us in different ways. One of the most frequent ways that He speaks to us is through His Word, the Bible. He also uses people around us to encourage us to follow Him and also He gives them wisdom that they give to us through suggestions, advice, correction and rebuke.

Another thing we can learn from this verse is that it is reminding us not to despise the preaching of the gospel especially if we hear it a lot (which we should). And if we do “get tired” of hearing it, then we are basically saying that we are prideful people who don't need to hear what wondrous things God has done for us and about the suffering and glory that was revealed in the God/Man, Christ. One of the amazing things about hearing the gospel over and over is that 1. Over time I guarantee that you will see new things and understand truths that you had never heard or read before. 2. By hearing of the sacrifice of Christ for us, it generally makes us more humble, thankful and makes us want to draw nearer to God through the Holy Spirit, prayer and reading the Word.

Test all things; hold fast what is good.

One element that we can take from this is about the teachings we hear, whether they are of Christ or not. Here are some scriptures that give us examples of other “gospels” that were being promoted during Bible times and how we are warned and commanded to avoid them.

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions... 1 Timothy 6:3-4

Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. Hebrews 13:9

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. …they will exploit you with deceptive words...

1 Peter 2:1, 2b

So, test all “new” information you hear based on what you have read in the Bible which hold the true doctrine to see if it is something that you should believe in.

Abstain from every form of evil.

I think this is pretty clear in itself, but I'll try to shed a little more light on the subject by God's grace. Stay away from the appearance of evil, that which seems wrong as well as evil itself.

I thought this was a good portion written on the topic that I found.

There are things, also, where, even if our motive is good we may be regarded as improper. A great variety of subjects, such as those pertaining to dress, amusements, activities and various practices in the transaction of business, come under this general class; which, though on the assumption that they cannot be proved to be in themselves positively wrong or forbidden by scripture, sometimes can have the “appearance” of evil and will be interpreted as evil by others. The safe and proper rule is to lean always to the side of virtue.

I agree that this is ALWAYS the safest route to go, but I confess that I don't always do it.

So basically, I would say just be careful and prayerful in the decisions that you make even though they may be what you would call “simple Christian liberties.” I think all of us can improve in this. 

Always by God's grace,

LoyalWarrior

Loyal, God still uses prophecy.  I have good friends who are prophets that see visions and dreams that come to pass, and God still speaks to me as well.  I know this is taught in many churches, but trust me, God is still speaking to His people!

Joel 2:28-31 /  ²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

 ²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

 ³⁰And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

 ³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.

The Spirit of the Lord is come to lead His people to Mt. Zion.  Prophecy is nothing more than God speaking through a person, who is His mouthpiece.  He still speaks today :-)

I don't doubt the power of God that He can still use prophecy, but I just haven't seen examples of it. Also, as great signs and miracles that Jesus did faded away as in nowadays they don't happen like that anymore, I think that that is what has happened to prophecy as well.

I acknowledge that I'm not real studied in this topic, so I am willing to listen, but I try to go by the Word more than word of mouth.

Loyal, they do happen.  I totally understand, and I would love to testify to you of examples of God moving even in this day and age.

But just take a good look at Joel 2 - that is speaking about end times.  God poured out His spirit in the early 1900's, which was the beginning of the Pentecostal movement.  It has continued to spread since then, far and wide. 

Prophecy is hard to be exact about because it is easy to misinterpret the exact details and timing.  How about this?

Hosea said that Israel would be many days without a king, a prince, and a sacrifice (3:4); and afterward shall return to the land, seek the LORD their God, and seek the kingly line of David (3:5).   Hosea says that they shall be away from the Lord 2 days and in the third day the Lord will heal them (6:1-2).  Psalms 90:4 says 1000 years is as a day to the Lord.

Israel has been without a leader for about 2500 years.  But in 1948, they returned to the land and had a leader in the land again (a prince).  This is 2.5 days to the Lord.  The temple will be rebuilt and the sacrifice will resume soon as far as God is concerned.  The Orthodox Jews have funds and plans waiting for the site to be cleared.  To us it could be almost 500 more years for the third day to the Lord to arrive.  They will seek the Lord and eventually realize whom their Messiah is (kingly line of David).

Joel 3:2 says God will judge the nations that part the land of Israel and gather them together in a valley.  The rest of the chapter says that God will fight for Israel and will destroy those nations.  Since its founding the UN has passed more resolutions regarding the land of Israel than any other subject.  The typical vote count is 150+ against Israel and 2 or so for (Israel and US), then the US veto’s.

Zechariah 12:1-8 says all nations will gather against Israel, God will strengthen Israel and fight for Israel.

Ezekiel 38:5-6 says a coalition of nations including Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, one from the North, and one more will attack Israel prior to the war in Zechariah and Joel. 

The US has one of the most anti-Israel presidents in its history.  Thank God we are currently still on Israel’s side, but for how long?  Israel and Iran are close to war.  Will Iran abandon its nuclear program and prevent war for now?  Is this present tension the beginning or will it relax and many more years go by?  Other nations have a stake in the nuclear program of Iran as they have helped build it and money is involved.  Or (if superpowers) they just may want the US to stay out and get involved that way. Egypt and Libya has turned much more hostile to Israel as a result of the ‘Arab Spring’ with the US President’s help (active air intervention in Libya and encouragement for the Egyptian president to ‘step down’).   

How is Ethiopia getting involved?  I do not know.  Who is the Northern nation?  I do not know for sure.  However I see prophecy being fulfilled in my lifetime.   Matthew 24:34 suggests that some of those alive when these events start to unfold will live through all of it.  How long is a generation?  Exactly when does it start?  I do not know.

Like all prophecy this is a best guess and tentative.  I have changed my view of things many, many times over the years and as I re-read the text. 

I wanted to encourage you to read your Bible by exposing what I see as prophecy being fulfilled.  If I spend all my time on prophecy, I will fail as a Christian.  My task is to spread the gospel whenever and wherever I can while I have time.  The gospel is God becoming flesh, dying for our sins, being buried and rising again.  Time is running out because Jesus is returning soon.

Thank you for your exhortation. I have been studying end times prophesies over the past months. 

I had one question about that. Why do you think God would want another Jewish Temple to be built so they could sacrifice again when Jesus has already come and now we can pray to God instead of doing all the sacrifices for our sins? Jesus already paid for our sins once and for all.

He doesn't want sacrifice to happen.  Sometimes when something is said, it doesn't mean that it is in line with His perfect will, although He allows it.  There are a LOT of things He allows that are not according to His perfect will. 

But, even deeper...

Revelation 4:11 - Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

All things were created for God's pleasure - even the wicked.  Out of all of this mixture, there will be a remnant that will come forth, a chosen people that will praise God's name in spite of the trials and tribulations this world offers.

It might be good if you reference scripture also with the questions, so we can discuss specific parts of the Bible.  This is not only fruitful for discussion, but also for others who may be wanting to learn more of the Word. 

They are His perfect will in a sense BECAUSE he allows them to happen. Otherwise, you are saying that He allows things to happen that aren't in His will which means that He is not in control of those things, right?

I often reply in a hurry, but I should use scripture references . Thanks for the reminder. 

It is often referred to as PERMISSIVE will vs. perfect will.  Jesus was in God's Perfect will.  There are a ton of things that God allows.  However, he knows the end result of all things is going to be a people that are "warriors", if you will.  They have been through the fire, and they are not afraid to praise His name.  

That makes sense. I agree. 

You are wiser than I am, so thanks for conversing about different topics that I am earnest about.

Hey Loyal, I don't know about all of that :-)

God has allowed a lot of things.  If you even consider the story of Adam and Eve, God knew they would fall into sin - He knows all things before they happen.  This is due to the gift of free will - He lets us make the choice to overcome, or to fall into sin.  BUT He always warns us of the consequences and blessings beforehand.

Yes, I agree. Many people get mixed up about what free will is and what it involves.