1 Thess 5:21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,

Commentary: Test the prophecies that people make around us. That is not easy because so many prophecies depend on whether people that are part of such prophecy are obedient or not.

The standard tests for whether the prophecies are coming from the Lord are:

-Does the prophet live in harmony with God’s revealed truth and God’s character in his/her life?

-Is the prophecy harmonious with the corpus of the Scriptures?

-Has the prophecy that this person made come to pass - so we can trust him/her?

Prayer: As we move forward dear Father, please guide me to know Your will. May I follow such revelations so that You can be lifted up dear Lord. Amen

Commentary: Cross reference verses for this verse 21 are:

Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

Commentary: According to Daniel 1 and 2, Daniel and his three companions that ended up in the Babylonian captivity were described as men of noble character. The Bereans had great eagerness to examine the scriptures daily. What an ideal for us to work towards!

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

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Commentary: It seems that there are spirits of this world and then there are spirits that come from God. The Scriptures and the Holy Spirit would be able to help us discern where certain spirit comes from.

1 Corinthians 14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.

Philippians 1:9-10 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, / so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

Commentary: This depth of insight can come as we get together and pray and hear each other’s, for as the Bible says, in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom.

Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

Reflection: To me this verse is saying that I ought to feed myself on the solid food of the Bible, continue to pray and practice sharing that which God has revealed to me.

1 John 2:20-21 You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. / I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth.

Commentary: Whether a person is anointed would depend on whether he or she knows the truth as found in the Bible, the truth that is harmonious with the character of the Holy One.

Ephesians 5:10 Test and prove what pleases the Lord.

Reflection: It is not always easy to know what God wants from us. We can grow in knowing what pleases the Lord.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you fail the test?

Commentary: According to this verse, we are not to examine others as much as ourselves. As we read the Scriptures prayerfully, we can ask the Lord what does “this mirror” of the Scripture have to say to me personally.

Proverbs 14:15 The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps. (yes)

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.

Job 34:4 Let us choose for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.

Commentary: Close to the end of his book, Job is inviting his friends and us as readers to get together and wrestle in order to find that which is right and that which is good.

Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. (yes)

Malachi 3:18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

Commentary: It seems that Malachi is inviting us to serve the Lord as He wants from us. That will put us on the right path to know what His will is.

Jeremiah 23:28-29 Let the prophet who has a dream retell it but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD. / “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

Commentary: God’s Word will outlast all other ideologies and hypothesis because the word of God speaks of Christ Jesus as noted in John 5:39.

Prayer: May I be obedient to the word You have revealed to me Jesus, and may I share it tactfully with those who seek You. Amen

Peter Caran

Pastor of Cobourg and Harmony Churches