Striving For Sanctification – part 4
Display Discernment
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (19-22)
As you know we are still studying this great passage of Scripture
Which Paul wrote to the Thessalonians.
And in this particular passage we get some very good practical advice
For achieving sanctification.
Again, we know that God is the One
Who will ultimately bring about our sanctification.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
We know that God will be the One who does it.
And of course that is why (according to verse 18)
We give thanks in everything.
However we also know that we have a definite role in the process.
And it is that role that you and I have been talking about
For the last several weeks.
I told you when we began this study that there were eight directives
To be applied in order for us to effectively strive for
The sanctification that God will ultimately bring about.
1) Honor your Leaders (12-13a)
These are men whom God has divinely appointed to watch over your souls and lead you to Christ-like-ness. Certainly then you would do well to honor and submit to such men.
2) Live in Peace (13b)
Because iron sharpens iron, we must learn to not forsake our assembling together, but instead cling to one another.
3) Encourage One Another (14)
This is of course a very practical step in which we literally push one another towards the standard of righteousness.
4) Love One Another (15)
This reveals our perspective that we are willing to give what is needed, not necessarily what is wanted. We seek what is good for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
5) Rejoice Always (16)
And of course this is the perspective of knowing that regardless of the difficulty God is working it for my good and His glory.
6) Pray Without Ceasing (17)
This is a man with his ear attuned to God, only interested in what God would have him do next.
7) Be Thankful (18)
And of course this is the man who gives God glory for all that God accomplishes in his life.
And so we’ve seen some great truth in regard to striving for sanctification
– Honor Your Leaders
– Refine Your Relationships
– Adjust Your Attitude
And tonight we get to the final point as it deals with our role.
And honestly, if you want to get technical we break this passage down
Into 5 more directives, which would ultimately make the list 12 instead of 8.
The reason I leave these last 5 as one directive is because
They all really funnel down to 1 main command here.
It is also the 8th truth.
DISPLAY DISCERNMENT.
In fact you notice that spelled out in verse 12, “But examine everything carefully”
In the Greek, the word “carefully” is absent.
And so literally the verse reads, “Test Everything”
And while there are several other directives in these 4 verses,
They all really come down to the concept of displaying discernment.
This is the final directive of the eight, and it is so important.
It is important, because here Paul takes into account that there
Is more than one person who is seeking to influence your life.
You see, if the only two players in the game where you and God,
Then the first 7 would be plenty and complete.
It would just be you adjusting to God’s will.
But you and God are not the only two players in this game.
While there is on one hand God who promises to sanctify you,
There is also the enemy who seeks to snare you.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
And so this means that all the advice and direction
We receive in life is not necessarily the right direction.
We then, must learn to discern what to listen to and what to reject.
And if we do it correctly, we will find ourselves
Correctly formed by the true and enduring word of God.
If we fail to do it correctly we will find ourselves
Tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine
And possibly even worse off than when we started.
DISCERNMENT IS SO IMPORTANT.
And with that in mind, let’s look at our text this evening.
There are three things we learn here in this text.
#1 RECEIVE
1 Thessalonians 5:19-20
Here you will notice two distinct commands.
And both commands tell us to avoid a certain type of mindset.
“Do not quench the Spirit”
“do not despise prophetic utterances”
Both of these commands indicate to us that
If we are not careful then our natural tendency
May be to do exactly those things.
1) “Do not quench the Spirit”
You may have actually heard this before,
As it is often quoted by proponents of the charismatic movement.
Only they often times do as much injustice to this verse
As those who abandon it altogether.
Often times this verse is quoted as a blanket support of any and everything that “THEY” claim to have been the Holy Spirit.
In other words:
They can engage in all sorts of behavior, claim it was the Holy Spirit who caused it, and then tell you “Do not quench the Spirit”
Obviously then, we must do a little homework
To remind ourselves exactly what it is that the Spirit does
That we are not to quench.
If we had time we could do a comprehensive study
On every time the Holy Spirit shows up and exactly what He does.
But, for time sake, let’s just look at
The preeminent passage on the Holy Spirit in Scripture.
It was the sermon Jesus preached to tell us what the Holy Spirit would do.
The beauty of this passage is that
While the Holy Spirit may operate in various ways,
We know that He will always be doing these three things.
John 16:7-15 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
And there again, not to spend too much time on that text
We are reminded of the three-fold function of the Holy Spirit.
He convicts the world concerning sin
He guides believers into all truth
He glorifies Jesus
And so we can quickly deduce that
The Holy Spirit does exactly as His name suggests.
He is the Spirit who is consumed with holiness.
• Because He challenges sin.
• Because He guides to the truth
• Because He points to the One who can make men holy
And so it is extremely fair and accurate to say that
The work of the Holy Spirit is holiness.
And here in 1 Thess. Paul is saying, “Do not quench the Holy Spirit”
That word “quench” is a word often spoken of as putting out a fire.
Mark 9:45-46 “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]”
And so obviously we understand Paul’s point.
Do not resist or try to stop the work
That the Holy Spirit is doing in your life.
We know that God is working for our sanctification,
And so Paul adamantly says here to let Him work.
Let Him do what He desires.
And this could be true in any and every sense of the word.
However, when we keep this passage in context with what Paul says next,
We understand that Paul is predominantly talking about
Not “quenching the Holy Spirit”
Especially as He works through men who speak the truth.
Notice the second command.
2) “do not despise prophetic utterances.”
Now first:
Don’t get too derailed by the “prophetic utterances” part.
During Paul’s day the New Testament had not been written,
And so God did from time to time reveal His truth through prophets.
However, most of the prophets still spoke the Old Testament Scriptures.
Simply put, when we talk about “prophetic utterances”
We are talking about not despising the preaching of God’s word.
(That is even more true today, since new revelation has ceased)
And so when we put it together
We get a pretty good understanding.
The Holy Spirit is working on you to make you holy,
And He is doing so through the prophetic ministry
Of those who preach the word to you.
Ephesians 4:11-12 “ And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”
Don’t miss that “He gave some” part.
It indicates that God is the one supplying those who minister the word.
And here Paul is saying, that in order for us to strive for sanctification,
Then one of the things we must guard against is resisting those
Whom the Holy Spirit would empower to preach the word to us.
God is using the preaching of His word to make you holy, don’t resist it.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
Now of course not everyone does receive it like that.
Paul wrote to Timothy about those who would not accept sound doctrine,
But who instead gathered around them teachers to tell them
What their “itching ears” wanted to hear.
That is not the path to sanctification.
Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.”
Proverbs 10:17 “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who ignores reproof goes astray.”
Proverbs 15:31-32 “He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.”
If you want to be sanctified as God desires,
Then you must not be resistant to the preaching of His word.
Listen to how James puts it.
James 1:19-21 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”
In other words, if you refuse to listen to God’s word,
Or only argue with what you do hear,
You have no reason to expect that you will ever
Achieve the righteousness of God.
“in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”
If you strive for sanctification, then the first thing you must do
Is receive the word of God, even if it comes in the form of a rebuke.
Receive
#2 REVIEW
1 Thessalonians 5:21a
“But examine everything carefully;”
And this is actually a great statement of balance.
We know that in this world there are preachers all over the place.
We also know that most of them have practically no accountability.
Anyone these days can start a church and become a preacher.
And because of this, it has made many of us pretty skeptical.
Sometimes even to the point that we won’t listen to most people
Unless we know what they are about, or have a trusted recommendation.
Well, we know we must be careful against being too guarded.
We must be careful that in our quest not to hear heresy
That we also fail to hear the truth.
That is part of what Paul was talking about in verses 19 & 20.
(don’t disregard all preachers)
However, while we listen, we must listen with discernment.
If a man claims to be preaching the word of God, then listen to him,
But listen to him with a copy of the word of God in your hand.
Listen, “but examine everything carefully”
We know that not all men who claim to speak for God
Actually do speak for God.
So test them.
And we have talked about this many times before.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘ Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”
By this point, Israel already had the Ten Commandments,
So it didn’t matter what kind of signs this man performed,
He could not negate the written word.
And we learn that the written word trumps the miraculous.
And so one way we spot a false teacher is
If his doctrine doesn’t align with Scripture.
Paul told the Galatians:
Galatians 1:8 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!”
But of course that is not all.
Peter told us to look beyond the message to the man’s lifestyle.
2 Peter 2:12-19 “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”
• We learned about his boasting arrogance to revile demons.
• We learned about his lust of the flesh to revel in extravagance.
• We learned about his propensity to sin, actually returning to it.
So their words aren’t the only way we spot them.
Even a false prophet will preach orthodox if it benefits him to do so.
And Jesus taught us even another way to spot them,
And that was by looking at their converts.
Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
So there are numerous ways we spot the frauds.
And that is why Paul said, “examine everything”
Not just their words…
Not just their lifestyle…
Not just their converts…
God’s word is necessary to help you achieve sanctification,
But at the same time you must make sure that
What you are hearing is indeed the word of God.
1 John 4:1 “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.”
Philippians 1:9-10 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;”
Jesus even commended the church at Ephesus for this.
Revelation 2:2 “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;”
Don’t get so skeptical that you won’t listen to anyone,
But don’t become so naïve that you listen to everyone.
Find the truth of God so that we may find the path to sanctification.
Receive, Review
#3 RESPOND
1 Thessalonians 21b-22
“hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
And this is really the critical step here.
WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU FIND?
James 1:22-25 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
It does little good to proclaim John MacArthur, or Adrian Rogers a preacher of truth if you won’t do what they say.
Conversely, it does little good to proclaim some other preacher a false prophet if you do follow his advice.
You must listen, you must discern, but really both of those
Are just meant to get you to a place of active obedience.
What will you do with what you’ve been given?
Paul here tells us plainly.
One a positive, and one a negative.
“hold fast to that which is good;”
“abstain from every form of evil.”
But Paul is actually making a play on words.
You may remember earlier in the chapter
When we talked about encouragement.
One of the commands was “help the weak”
And we said the word “help” was ANTECHO
Which meant “to hold against”
ECHO meant “to hold” ANT meant “against”
Here Paul uses two similar words.
“hold fast” translates KATECHO
Which means “to hold it close” or “hold it down”
Meaning, don’t let it get away.
“abstain” translates APECHO
Which means “hold it away”
Paul uses a form of it three times in this passage.
• Hold the weak brother to the truth.
• Hold the truth close to you.
• Hold the evil far away.
And all of them point to you taking an active role.
You must do something with what you have learned.
If we are to be sanctified as God desires,
Then it matters what we do with the truth that He provides.
A man who truly desires sanctification
Will be eager to accept the proclaimed word of God.
And (after testing it) to apply it to his life.
It reveals a man who is genuinely striving for sanctification.
Psalms 1:1-3 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Psalms 119:11 “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
Psalms 119:102-104 “I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”
Listen to the word, test the word, but don’t stop there.
Hold to the word.
And if after testing, you find it to be false, then hold it away.
“abstain from every form of evil.”
If you spot a man to be false, by his words, his character, or his converts,
Then keep him away, he will only work against the work of Christ.
Strive for sanctification, to do this you must have discernment.
Let me close this with one of my favorite passages of Scripture.
TURN TO: PROVERBS 2
And you see there the same principles Paul is teaching.
Receive the Word
Review the Word
Respond to the Word
So there you have it.
If you want to be sanctified:
1) HONOR YOUR LEADERS
2) REFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Live in Peace
Encourage One Another
Love One Another
3) ADJUST YOUR ATTITUDE
Rejoice Always
Pray Continually
Give Thanks in all Circumstances
4) DISPLAY DISCERNMENT
And by following this path, you are doing your part to achieve
The sanctification that God desires for you to have.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
