Friday 21st March
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
“Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.” (NIVUK)
It is clear the early church held a view that the Spirit was active in the life of believers. Some churches were saturated in the Spirit and sought signs of life constantly. Other churches were more circumspect and sceptical of the various manifestations of the Spirit’s life in the church body.
If the Spirit is likened to fire within the life of the body (and manifested as such at Pentecost) then Paul argues for a controlled burn. The Spirit is central and must not be quenched. Any tendency to dismiss the work of the Spirit in guiding the church, through word or teaching, is not the way forward. All expressions of life in the church body claimed to be inspired by the Spirit must be tested. That which is false must be rejected, but the good must grasped.
How does one test a prophecy? I suspect the simplest test is whether it points people to Jesus. Does it build up the body, strengthen faith and allow people to draw nearer to Jesus and is it delivered sensibly and with wisdom. The work of the Spirit is not chaotic, it is not disorderly. It can and must be tested against the words of Jesus and scripture. A weighty responsibility that falls on the church and each individual within it.
