{"id":28080,"date":"2010-12-01T21:08:09","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T03:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=28080"},"modified":"2020-12-01T21:10:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T03:10:40","slug":"mans-duty-to-prove-all-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mans-duty-to-prove-all-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Man’s Duty To “Prove All Things”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby B. C. Goodpasture\n

Men are prone to go to extremes.\u00a0 This has always been true. Paul seems to have been guarding against this tendency when he wrote, “Despise not prophesyings; prove all things; hold fast that which is good<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:20-21).\u00a0 In his day, there were those who claimed to “prophesy” by the Spirit, and did; and there were those who claimed to “prophesy” by the Spirit and did not.\u00a0 The result was that, at least, some “despised” all “prophesyings” by reason of the false claims of the pretenders.\u00a0 Such a wholesale rejection of all “prophesyings” was unreasonable and unsafe.\u00a0 It was wrong.\u00a0 It is not right either to reject the truth because some are false or to accept the false because some are true.\u00a0 Paul indicated the safe course: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.<\/em>”\u00a0 If there had been no evil mixed with the good, the admonition to “prove all things<\/em>” and to “hold fast that which is good<\/em>” would not have been necessary.<\/p>\n

What is the meaning of the word “prove?”\u00a0 In this connection, it cannot mean that the genuineness of “all things” is to be established, for the simple reason that the “all things” to be “proved” are not all genuine.\u00a0 It rather signifies to try, to put to the test.\u00a0 The word is employed elsewhere in the New Testament in this sense (Luke 14:19).\u00a0 It means that we should examine everything we hear before we receive it or reject it, as the case may be. At this point, Adam Clarke said, “Whatever ye hear in these ‘prophesyings’ or preachings, examine by the words of Christ, and by the doctrines which, from time to time, we have delivered unto you in our preaching and writings.\u00a0 Try the spirits – the different teachers – by the word of God.”<\/p>\n

In the words of the prophet, “To the law and to the testimony!\u00a0 if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them<\/em>” (Isaiah 8:20).\u00a0 The conduct of the Bereans was in keeping with the spirit of the command under consideration, for we read, “Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so<\/em>” (Acts 17:11 ASV).\u00a0 The people of Berea put what they heard to the test, using the scriptures as their standard of examination.\u00a0 They acted rightly and wisely.<\/p>\n

Why will people not do the same today?\u00a0 It is common for the message of a modern preacher to be accepted without thought, testing, or investigation by those who are his friends religiously, and just as common for the same message to be rejected, without consideration, by his prejudiced religious enemies.\u00a0 These two unreasonable extremes are two of the most unmitigated curses of Christendom.<\/p>\n

Let it be observed that this passage which\u00a0allows the right<\/em>\u00a0also\u00a0enjoins the duty<\/em>\u00a0of proving, testing, and investigating what is heard.\u00a0 It does not permit one to be an indifferent and passive listener.\u00a0 This some seem to prefer.\u00a0 They attend the services, not to be taught, not to bring into use any faculty of discernment or testing, but to be impressed, and that without effort on their part.<\/p>\n

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world<\/em>” (I John 4:1 ASV).\u00a0 All professed Christians should endeavor to become “full grown\u00a0men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:14).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by B. C. Goodpasture Men are prone to go to extremes.\u00a0 This has always been true. Paul seems to have been guarding against this tendency when he wrote, “Despise not prophesyings; prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:20-21).\u00a0 In his day, there were those who claimed to “prophesy” by the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,169],"class_list":["post-28080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-prophecy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2676,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-acts-217-18-prove-women-can-be-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":28080,"position":0},"title":"Does Acts 2:17-18 prove women can be preachers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been talking with a person who says Acts 2:17-18 gives women the right to be preachers. I showed him I Corinthians 14:34-37 and I Timothy 2:11-12. I said woman have divinely been given a place, but that place is not to be in authority over a man. Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32268,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-answer-the-claim-that-the-scriptures-have-some-truth-but-cant-be-infallible-because-men-were-involved-in-its-writing\/","url_meta":{"origin":28080,"position":1},"title":"How do I answer the claim that the Scriptures have some truth but can’t be infallible because men were involved in its writing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was talking about the inspiration of Scripture with a friend. He claimed that the Scriptures had some truth and were inspired by God, but were not infallible because men had to have messed it up in our fallibility. He also said that there was no way God forced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15122,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prove-all-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":28080,"position":2},"title":"Prove All Things","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary Dennis Jones In feudal times, so the story goes, there were two rival kingdoms, one of which sent out a messenger to spy on the other. When the spy got to this kingdom, the inhabitants were all a-flurry, being in the midst of forming an army to kill\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/examine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6953,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":28080,"position":3},"title":"Prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Jeremiah 23:9-40 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the founding of the church, Peter quotes the prophet Joel - Acts 2:14-21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A part of the foundation of the church were prophets - Ephesians 2:19-20 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People in denominations claim that prophecy continues \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some claim they have prophets in their midst \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Others essentially claim they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-shouldnt-call-people-false-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":28080,"position":4},"title":"You shouldn’t call people false prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for\u00a0the information about Mr. Clement. I do, though, have a comment to make, not necessarily about Kim or really whether he's right or wrong but generally speaking. I just don't know of him well enough to speak out about him since I work long hours and time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10295,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-prophet-need-to-be-an-official-minister-before-they-can-prophesy\/","url_meta":{"origin":28080,"position":5},"title":"Does a prophet need to be an official minister before they can prophesy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What about prophecy in a church? Should the prophet ask the minister to check the word before it is given? 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