Do’s and Don’ts
1 Thess. 5:19-22
Pastor Jerry Koller

Verses 19 and 20 deal with things Paul does not want the church to do. In verses 21 and 22, he addresses things he wants the church to do.

Don’ts
• Do not quench the Spirit; (1 Thess. 5:19)
• Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; (NIV)
• Quench means to extinguish, to put out, suppress, thwart.

Spirit comes from the Greek word pneuma.
• The command to not quench the Spirit is a very broad command that would include who the Spirit is, what He does, or how He manifests Himself through the lives of those who are in Christ.
• The command to not quench the Spirit includes them all.

In vs. 22, Paul does mention a specific thing that pertains to the Holy Spirit. He tells the church: do not despise prophetic utterances. (1 Thess. 5:20)
• Prophetic utterances can also be called prophesies.
• They encompass both the foretelling of future events and the forthtelling of God's will.
• The one who prophesies is referred to as a prophet.
• Prophetic utterances can be made by a person who has the spiritual gift of prophecy, and they can be made by those who do not have this gift.
• The word despise means to treat with contempt, to regard as nothing, to ignore. This word is used in the New Testament to describe the act of despising or treating someone or something as of no account or value. It conveys a sense of looking down upon or disregarding the worth or significance of a person or thing. As such, the word carries the idea the negative attitudes of arrogance or superiority.

Do’s
• But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; (1 Thess. 5:21)
• Example: Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5)
• Test means to pierce or scrutinize, to intentionally test someone or something with the purpose of discovering something.
• Examine means to be approved or to be sanctioned. It means that something is tested to prove whether it is what it claims to be or not, whether it is genuine or counterfeit.
• Examine prophets and prophetic utterances: See Deut. 18:21-22

After careful examination of everything, Paul tells the church to hold fast to that which is good. (1 Thess. 5:21b)
• Hold fast means to keep secure or hold firmly to.
• That which is good refers to that which is genuine or approved.

While the saints are to hold on firmly to what is good, they are to abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thess. 5:22)
• Abstain has to do with the act of refraining from certain behaviors or practices.
• The word evil has to do with that which is morally or ethically evil, wicked, or malicious. It often refers to actions, thoughts, or individuals that are contrary to God's nature and commands.

With that said, let’s address these from a reverse order just to see where that takes us. Look again at today’s passage: Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thess. 5:19-22)

• Abstaining from evil is proper for all who are in Christ Jesus.
• In addition, we must hold fast to what is good. We must hold on firmly to them.
• We come to know good by examining everything.
• We should examine prophets and prophetic utterances.
• We must realize that the Holy Spirit often uses others to help us be conformed to the image of Jesus.
• Do not quench the Spirit for it is He who conforms us into the image of Jesus.

• James Thomas (friend of Bruce & Vasha Ferguson) has been diagnosed with ascites, a very serious disease often associated with cirrhosis.
• Louann Pranger (Tracy Marshall's mom) continues to recover from a C Diff infection; pray that reoccurrence doesn't happen
• Derrick (grandson of Bruce & Vasha Ferguson) is recovering from a stroke.
• Curt Bales has returned home and continues to recover from a broken knee.
• Vasha Ferguson is recovering from parathyroid surgery.
• Miriam Bryant is having difficulty with both of her hands being numb, tingly, and extremely painful. Please pray that her doctor can find something to help alleviate the discomfort.
• Vincent Bryant (Miriam's son) is traveling back and forth to Grand Rapids as he is being evaluated for a kidney transplant. Please pray for safety and that he will be approved for a procedure soon. He's been on the transplant list for several years.
• Jeremy Price is scheduled for surgery at U of M Hospital on 3/18 for a spinal infusion and adding a cage to the L5S1 joint in his spine. Pray that surgery is successful, and his pain will be alleviated.
• Beth Bocock continues to recover from ulcerative colitis.
• Cam (18 yar-old son of Tracy Marshall’s co-worker) has mosaic trisomy 3, is having seizures, and a brain tumor was discovered, but they don’t think the two are related so he continues testing.
• Linda Newell · is recovering from surgery for a herniated disc in her lower back.
• Judy Jones (wife of Pastor Grady Jones/friend of Pastor Jerry) is recovering from a successful surgery and doctors believe they removed all of the cancer. She is waiting for biopsy results to decide how to proceed with treatment.
• Lennon McKamey (son of Kyle & Sarah) needs surgery on his shoulder. Please pray that preparing for surgery goes smoothly.
• Check out our monthly prayer card on-line at southhavenfbc.com under “Weekly Bulletins” for a list of those with on-going needs.

First Baptist Church
1635 76th Street
South Haven, MI 49090
269-637-1291
southhavenfbc@gmail.com