THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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the claim was tru e or false. Every claim to speak by th e S pirit should be tested by a comparison w ith th e teach ings of the w ritten Word (cf. Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11; Gal. 1:8, 9 ). There are those who have th e gift of discerning, i. e., discrim inating betw een tru e and false sp irits (cf. 1 Cor. 12 :10 ; 1 4 :29 ). No m an’s claim to au tho rity and infalli bility should be accepted merely because he makes th e claim. “P rove all th ing s.” T hat which stand s the te st and is found to be good, we should “ hold fa st” (cf. Luke 8 :i 5, R.V.; 1 Cor. 11:2, R.Y.; Heb. 2 :1 ). On th e o ther hand, th a t which proves bad, every appearance of evil, i. e., every form in which evil appears (th e R.V. is rig h t in render ing “ every form of evil,” for th a t is th e though t) should be abstained from. This 20th verse is constantly m isinter preted to mean to abstain from all appearance of doing evil. T h at is not th e though t a t all, b u t to abstain from evil in every form in which it appears. Often one must incur th e appearance of doing evil in order to avoid actually doing it. Jesus healed on the Sabbath and ate w ith publicans and sinners, and th u s to those of His day appeared to do evil. I t is no t so much the appear ance of evil which we should shun, but th e actual doing of it. Of course, we should avoid even the appearance of doing evil if we can w ithou t doing actual evil in order to avoid th e mere appearance of doing evil (cf. 2 Cor. 8:20, 21). Nevertheless, it is no t the outw ard appearance, b u t th e h ea rt and its^purposes a t which God looks (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Luke 1 6 :15 ). Verse 23 contains one of the most remarkable* benedictions to be found in th e Bible. God is spoken of as “ the God of peace,” a very suggestive name. God is the au tho r and giver of peace. It is w orthy of notice th a t in two of the th ree places where th is name of God is, used, it is used in connection w ith our being made perfect (cf. Heb. 13:20; Rom. 1 6 :20 ). Holiness is the necessary condition of . peace. Paul prays, “The God of peace H imself sanc tify you wholly.” In the Greek the “ H im self” is emphatic, the though t being I cannot do it by my own efforts and you cannot do it by your own efforts, God H imself must do it and God alone ca n -d o it. The word for SATURDAY, Ja n u ary 25. 1 Thess. 5 :23 , 24.
in Christ Jesus to usw ard.” A Chris tia n should rejoice every day and every hou r (cf. Phil. 4:4, 6; Rom. 4 :17 ; 12: 12; Acts 5 :41 ; Jas. 1 :2 ). A Christian should pray not in term itten tly , h u t con stantly. The average Christian has periods when he is very much engaged in prayer, and then other periods when he seldom prays. This is no t as God would have it. Every day should be a day of prayer (cf. Eph. 6 :18 ; Phil. 4 :6 ). Only as he prays “w ithout ceas ing” w ill th e C hristian rejoice always. When P au l says, “pray w ithou t ceas ing” he does no t mean th a t we should pray every moment of the time, but w h at he does mean is th a t we should pray w ithout giving up, th a t is to say, th a t we should not pray merely for a few days, for a few weeks and then ceas'e praying, b u t th a t we should keep rig h t on praying, th a t every day should be a day of prayer. “ In everything,” absolutely everything, should the Chris tia n give th an k s (cf. Eph. 5 :20 ; Phil. 4 :6 ). The Christian can give th ank s in everything because “all 'th ing s work togeth er for good to them th a t love God” (cf. Rom. 8 :2 8 ). Christ Himself is an example of constant thanksgiving (Matt. 15:36; 26 :27 ; Luke 10:21; John 3:22, 41 ). The w ill'o f God th a t we should do these things is “ in Christ Jesu s,” i. e., th is is th e will of God as made known in Christ Jesus. FRIDAY, Ja n u ary 24. 1 Thess. 5:19-22. When anyone receives the Holy Spirit he receives a holy fire (cf. Matt. 3:11; Acts 2 :3 ; 2 Tim. 1:6 R.Y. m arg in ). This fire should no t be “ quenched.” We quench th e fire in ourselves by n.ot yielding to the fire th a t burns w ithin. We quench th is fire in others when we throw cold w ater upon them as they seek to obey th e promptings of th e Holy Spirit. I t is a very serious thing to do to quench th e Spirit, either in others or in ourselves. P aul exhorts them to “ despise not prophesying.” There were apparently some in Thessalonica who though t lightly of th e utteran ces of others who spoke under th e Holy Spir it’s influence. There are many today who th ink and speak lightly of w hat some others say though they are moved by th e Spirit to speak as they do. While they must not despise prophesyings they ought not to accept every m an’s claim to speak by th e Spirit, b u t should “ prove all th ing s” (cf. Rom. 4 :1 ), i. e., they should seek to find out whether
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