Prove All Things; Hold Fast That Which Is Good.

To speak prophetically means to proclaim something God revealed to you.   When speaking of the end times Joel 2:28 said there would be many who prophesy in these days but the tricky part is discerning whether it is true prophecy or not.  1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 tells us not to despise prophesying's (in other words don't just automatically scoff at or dismiss someone's prophetic claims) but test it first.  If it's biblically solid hold fast to it as truth.

1 Thessalonians 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
 

The apostle John put it another way when he said:

1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

I think of it like this:

·    God is the Judge of all things. 

·    We are like detectives who have to go before God in His court of law to prove the things we have been told are either lies or the truth. 

·    Our witness as to whether or not we've been told the truth is the bible.   As a detective questions a witness to a crime to ascertain the truth, so we are to read the bible to learn if what we've been told is really of God.

Whatever our opinion of the messenger has no bearing on whether what he or she said is true.  Likewise whether we like or don't like what we heard has no bearing on whether or not it's true either. 

Sometimes we believe something because it "feels right".  Is there anything wrong with that?  Possibly.  Where the problem lies is when we don't investigate further.  Using the detective analogy again, sometimes detectives have a "hunch" about something but going before a judge and just saying I had a hunch the suspect is guilty won't get a conviction.  They have to follow up on the hunch and find evidence to back it up right? 

Well as Christians we sometimes have "hunches" too but instead of saying "I have a hunch" we might say "the Holy Spirit revealed" this or that to me.  But is it safe or wise to accept something because it feels right?  I'm not aware of anywhere in the bible telling us to trust our hearts or go with our emotions - but I have seen where God says to reason together with Him (Isaiah 1:18).  Reasoning is using logic.  Going with your heart or trusting your feelings is letting your emotions do the thinking for you.  The bible warns us to test the spirits and prove all things because God knows we let our emotions get the better of us far too often. 

We all know the bible uses words as symbols.  Can a symbol in the bible mean anything you want it too?  I certainly don't think so.  Case in point; in bible prophecy a beast represents a king or a kingdom (see Daniel 7:17 and 7:23).  Suppose I had a hunch the beast was mankind in general because we treat each other so badly... "we behave like beasts!" I might say.  Then I might think the mark of the beast is simply hatred for other people.  I might even be fully convinced the Holy Spirit revealed that to me, but did He?  If you believe something that doesn't harmonize with scripture then no, it was not from the Holy Spirit no matter how right it felt.

Prove all things. 

Be like the people of the city of Berea from Acts 17:10-11.  They searched the scriptures daily to see if the things they were told were true.

Amen.