Acts 17:11

I Thessalonians 5:19-22

• All five of the statements in this verse are related. They are not independent thoughts.

• v19

  • See Acts 7:51. Moses commanded through writings.

  • Do not extinguish the message from the Holy Spirit.

  • The two most important words in Bible study: Keep reading! Verse 20 explains verse 19.

• v20

  • Prophecy often means foretelling future events. It can also mean simply telling the mind of God. It can mean both foretelling and “forthtelling.”

  • See Jeremiah 36:19-26

• v21

  • The meaning of “all things” is context dependent. It very rarely means absolutely all things.

  • I John 4:1 – Check to see whether people and messages are from God!

  • When we find something to be from God, we should hold tight to it. Proverbs 23:23

• v22

  • “Evil” here refers to teaching that we examine and determine is not good. We should stay away from the teaching. It is not saying we have to literally avoid everything that appears to be evil. That is impossible and Jesus did not even do it.

• Compare I Corinthians 15:33. The context is false teaching on the resurrection. The “bad company” are the false teachers on the resurrection. If you listen to them and believe there is no resurrection and no accountability, you will start acting like it!