What does it mean to test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21)?

Such were the apostle's exhortations to guide their walk with others. As regards their personal state, joy, prayer, thanksgiving in all things, these should be their characteristics. With respect to the public actings of the Spirit in their midst, the apostle's exhortations to these simple and happy Christians were equally brief. They were not to hinder the action of the Spirit in their midst (for this is the meaning of quenching the Spirit); nor to despise that which He might say to them, even by the mouth of the most simple, if He were pleased to use it. Being spiritual, they could judge all things. They were therefore not to receive everything that presented itself, even in the name of the Spirit, but to prove all things. They were to hold fast that which was good; those who by faith have received the truth of the word do not waver. One is not ever learning the truth of that which one has learnt from God. As to evil, they were to abstain from it in all its forms.

(V. 20). “Despise not prophesyings”. From the Epistle to the Corinthians we know that he that prophesies “speaks to men to edification, encouragement, and comfort” (1 Cor. 14:3). We are to beware then lest we lightly esteem what God may have to say to us through His servants.

(V. 21). “Prove all things”. While we are not to despise ministry, we are, none the less, responsible to “prove” it by the word. There is the ever present danger of receiving truth on the authority of the teacher. The Apostle can say, in another Epistle, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge.” (1 Cor. 14:29).

“Hold fast that which is good”. Having proved what we hear we are to hold fast the good. The tendency, too often, is to remember what is unprofitable, and to let go the good.

(V. 22). “Abstain from every form of wickedness” (N. Tn.). It is easy to hold aloof from certain forms of evil which may not appeal to us, and to severely condemn sins to which we are not prone. The exhortation is to hold aloof from all wickedness, whatever form it may take.

There is, of course, a very close connection between verses 19 and 20. To "quench not the Spirit" involves a genuine consideration of others and of that which the Spirit of God may be seeking to say through one or through another. It may be that prophesyings would be the most likely type of ministry to be despised, for this is not teaching to appeal to man's intellect, but whether in the assembly or otherwise, it is that ministry that would speak to the heart and conscience - for edification, exhortation, or encouragement (1 Cor. 14:3) - and may be searching. Let us never think lightly of this, for it is a continual need for the intellectual, just as for all others. In fact this is the very character of the book we are considering.

But on the other hand we are not to accept anything that is said without subjecting it to the test of the Word of God. We are to "prove all things." However, young in the faith, this was the personal responsibility of every saint. Nothing was to be taken for granted or taken merely on the word of another; Scripture was their one real authority. And what is good we are to hold fast, allowing nothing to slip of the precious truth of God. This too was essential if they were to "avoid every form of evil" U.N. Darby). For evil will assume most attractive and deceiving forms just as readily as more gross forms, and only the heart holding fast what is good will be protected.

"Prove all things." By what standard? My own comprehension, or God's revealed word? "Hold fast that which is good."

The Holy Spirit would Himself teach by the written word, those who when taught are to teach others. The Holy Spirit would equally aid the hearers in ascertaining whether, what is taught agrees with the revealed and inspired word of God. "Prove all things," says the apostle, "hold fast that which is good." Reject, of course, what is otherwise. Even in the case of apostolic teaching, those who heard were commended for comparing what was said with what had been already revealed and written, as we see in Acts 17:11, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Never has there been a case of the Church usurping authority, either to teach, or to appoint those who are to teach, without grievous injury to souls, and what is worse, without contravening the authority of Christ, and hindering the sovereign action of the Holy Ghost. Nothing illustrates this more than the case of the Sacraments, utterly misplaced and perverted, to exalt the pretensions of a mere human priesthood. A multitude of collateral truths suffer through the attempt to maintain and justify this prime evil.

We are not to despise prophesyings, nor are we to receive everything that presents itself, even if professedly given by the Spirit, but to "prove all things," and "hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:20-21). If the truth ministered is proved by Scripture, and held in faith with God, we shall not waver in our convictions with every wind of doctrine. As J. N. D. has remarked, "One is not ever learning the truth of that which we have learnt with God." Again he has remarked, "If I do not believe the Word till it be sanctioned by someone else, I do not believe it at all; it is the sanction I believe." When, however, the teacher is exalted into a false position, and we accept what he says because he says it, without putting it to the test of the Word, we are in danger of being led into perversions of the truth, and losing the truth we once professed to hold.

"But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God" (ver. 28). If what he has got to say cannot be made understandable to others, it is of no use — it is excluded. "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge" (ver. 29). Not to permit this when the Assembly is gathered together is to quench the Spirit. That is as clear as daylight from another scripture, where the apostle says, "Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:20-21). To despise or hinder the freedom of the prophets is to quench the Spirit. Solemn reflection. I could not, and would not, recognise anything as the Assembly of God where this liberty of the Spirit of God to use any member of the Assembly He willed was not maintained inviolate; nor should you; to do so is going clean in the teeth of God's Word. We are not supposed to swallow, but we are told to judge what every one says, and I do not expect you to lightly swallow what I say, but God's injunction as to the liberty for two or three to speak we must each of us heed, if we are to please Him and keep a good conscience. Whoever speaks must do so as "the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11). That is his responsibility, ours is to "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." We are bound to judge of what is spoken, not critically, but so as to know what is right, and not to sanction what is wrong.

A favourite exhortation of Paul's was "Hold fast." In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 he calls upon the saints to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." How much sorrowful strife and division would have been avoided if saints had heeded this brief word of exhortation. In Acts 20:30 we have this warning to the Elders of Ephesus, "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Often has the need of this warning been evident. How often, in a time crisis, have leaders, on some plausible pretext, persuaded whole companies of Christians to follow them in a path not according to the truth of God. But the blame lies not only with the leaders, but also with those who give blind submission to them, and who thus shirk their responsibility to judge matters for themselves in the Lord's presence, as the Bereans of old, who searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).

Please remember that you have the responsibility to "test all things, hold fast what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21). The apostle Paul commended the Bereans because they "received the word with all readiness, and [then] searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). You are responsible to do likewise! Only by looking up all the references for yourself, asking the Lord for an understanding of His Word, will you have the assurance that you haven't been led astray.

Let us not allow any person to instil into our minds anything that would undermine the authority of holy Scripture. Let us be careful that we do not receive any teaching but what can be substantiated by the word of God. We read that the Christians at Berea were more noble than those of Thessalonica in that they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether the teaching of the great Apostle Paul was in accordance with them. They are praised in Scripture for their carefulness; surely an encouragement to us to test everything by the word of God, from whomever we may hear it.