Paul's Counsel - 1 Thessalonians 5:19-28

5:19 - Paul’s advice continues, “Quench not the Spirit.” The use of the word “quench” is interesting here because it implies the use of water. The definition for “quench” is “1. to satisfy one’s thirst by drinking 2. To extinguish a fire” which presumably means with water and the example sentence says “an act of quenching something very hot.” If we apply that to the Spirit, and we know that the Spirit is represented by fire because of it’s burning and purifying capabilities, then the act of “quenching” the Spirit seems more complicated. The IM says, “To quench the Spirit means to extinguish or stifle the influence of the Holy Ghost in one’s own life.” It continues by quoting Elder David A. Bednar as teaching, “If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing… Because the Spirit cannot abide that which is vulgar, crude, or immodest, then clearly such things are not for us… As we become ever more immersed in the Spirit of the Lord, we should strive to recognize impressions when they come and the influences or events that cause us to withdraw ourselves from the Holy Ghost.” I feel like this is such a hard thing to do in our society today because everything is just so tainted. It’s hard to find the balance between what is ok and what is not. And I think it’s different for everybody at different times in their lives. Like something that was only slightly less offensive than usual is a step forward at some point, but some time later, even that mildly offensive thing is now unbearable to have around. As we progress spiritually, we slowly refine our surroundings to reflect where we are. I think this is absolutely a situation where there are hard and fast rules at the extreme end, but everything up to that point has to be worked out for with the Spirit. We have to pay attention to when the Spirit is with us and when it is not, and then work to surround ourselves more with when it is there. And that might change over time to become more and more refined. 5:20-21 - “Despise not prophesyings.” This is kind of abstract because if we don’t want to believe the prophets then why stay in the church at all? So why would members of the church “despise prophesyings?” I think the word “despise” has a connotation of active hatred but in this instance I think it more means “irritation” or “dismissal.” Another way to phrase this might be “Dismiss not prophesyings,” or “don’t get irritated at prophetic counsel.” There is a quote in the IM that basically talks about the difference between having a testimony based in logic and one based on the Spirit. I know it’s been said by Joseph Smith before that the person who relies on logic and reason only has half a testimony and misses out on the most profound and powerful aspect of a testimony. But then this begs the question, what about when we don’t agree with prophetic counsel or we don’t understand how to apply it in our lives? Paul answers that with the next verse saying, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” The word “prove” is cross-referenced with 1 John 4:1-6, part of which says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” We are entitled to personal revelation when it comes to following Church leadership, and we can have it just by asking and being worthy to receive the answer. But the flip side of that is that when we get our answer, we have to actually do it then and that might be the “despise” part. 5:22 - Paul’s next bit of counsel causes a lot of problems for Church members today. He says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” And while that’s good counsel, I think it’s been corrupted to the point that members won’t engage in relationships with people outside of the church because they don’t want to “appear like they are condoning evil.” This is the reasoning people use to disown and kick out their LGBTQ kids or family members. This sentiment has been used as justification for hurting everyone’s feelings, “I can’t be friends with you” or “I can’t talk to you because you engage or believe in something I consider to be immoral, and I can’t appear to be sinning.” I also think that the word “appearance” has warped the minds of some believers because, while obviously it is meant for us to control our own behavior, people take it to mean that it’s what is seen that is important. This lends to the hypocrisy and illegitimacy of those “Sunday Christians.” On the flip side, it is still good advice. It is not enough to simply abstain from wrong doing, it takes an active effort to avoid the little traps that brings us into evil. And, again, because my missionary philosophy is “live your life so that other people will want to know Christ because they know you,” then appearances and examples are important sometimes. This is one of those things that like King Benjamin said, we can’t be told how to act in all circumstances because there are “divers” ways for us to fall into transgression. But this also means that we need to keep the Spirit with us so that we can know what to do and when. If we live a life that is worthy of the Holy Ghost, then when situations arise that are iffy, we will be able to be guided towards the right course of action. 5:23-28 – Paul finishes off his first letter to the Thessalonians by promising them that by following his counsel “the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” He asks for prayers on behalf of the leadership and tells them to “greet all the brethren with an holy kiss,” which the JST changes to “salutation,” which I’m not exactly sure what that means. At the end it says that this first epistle was writing in Athens, but there is a cross-reference here saying, “More recent scholarship concludes that 1 and 2 Thes. Were most likely written from Corinth.”