1 Thessalonians 5:19-20
5:19 a Do not stifle the Holy Spirit: Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers not to put out the Spirit’s fire (Matt 3:11 b; Acts 2:3 c; 2 Tim 1:6 d) by prohibiting prophecy in the church (Jer 20:9 e; 1 Jn 4:1-2 f).Summary for 1Thess 5:20-21: 5:20-21 g Prophecy, meant to build up the church (1 Cor 14:1-4 h), should not be rejected. Instead, the Thessalonians should test the prophecies (1 Cor 12:10 i; 14:29 j) to discern their origin, to check their agreement with the teaching of the apostles (2 Thes 2:2 k; 1 Jn 4:1-3 l), and to gauge the character of those who utter them (Matt 7:15-20 m). Early Christian teaching said, “Not everyone who speaks about spiritual things is a prophet, but only if the person’s conduct is like the Lord” (Didache 11:8). They should hold on to what is good—namely, prophecies that have been tested and found to be genuine.
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