The Church in Noble - Cornerstone
August 23, 2026
      • Bible Trivia
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      • Proverbs 30:5NASB95

  • To God Be The Glory
  • All Hail King Jesus
  • Doxology
  • How Deep The Father's Love For Us
  • Love Lifted Me
  • Goodness Of God

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22NASB95

  • Spiritual Detox

    ILLUST: A world of detox - You can detox from anything.
    Your body is built to detox - but damage occurs
    The challenge - to NOT “tox” in the first place
    Not getting to the point where you NEED to detox.
    Spiritually - many need a good system detox
    Do you have in you what is needed to do so?
    TODAY - what it takes to detox and stay de-toxed….
    READ 1 Thess 5: 19-22

    1) Let the Spirit Work in You

    Do not “quench” the Spirit
    As in, not put the fire out
    My prior learning - pushing back against the Spirit, or living in rebellion to the Spirit’s guiding
    (It helps to know HOW the Spirit works in believers…Wed. study)
    The context, back story…
    Scripture is not complete at this point
    The church - struggled to know who to listen to
    1 Corinthians 1:12 NASB95
    Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”
    Galatians 1:6–7 NASB95
    I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
    Some teaching was false - Paul will die on the hill of the truth
    1 Timothy 4:1 NASB95
    But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
    The Spirit says some will not listen to the Spirit - and those led by the Spirit to bring truth
    How was the church to manage?
    ILLUST: Ships maintaining trim, balance and tilt - to weather storms - “even keel”
    The church could become cynical
    The church today can struggle with who and what to believe
    The church today can become cynical
    The Spirit is active - indwelling believers
    The Word is living, active - the INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT Word of God
    Quenching the Spirit is to take on the attitude that it’s useless to follow the Spirit and the Word
    And that attitude leads to action of the same kind

    2) Discern the Truth

    Our advantage - we have the full Word!
    You CAN know the Word, and you CAN follow the Spirit
    It is CLEAR as to Whom to follow!
    But this will make little sense if you do not know the Word
    Then you will tend to quench the Spirit
    And follow self - b/c that’s easier
    Or follow someone who is attention-getting and sounds good
    CONTEXT: Prophetic utterances/gift
    Prophecy is proclaiming God’s Word
    REM - The entire Bible is not written at this point
    This book - the first NT writing, actually
    “Prophets” did not tell the future, they proclaimed the word, gifted by God to do so
    ASIDE - We have the Word, complete, there are no “prophets” today - unless you consider pastors as such, since pastors proclaim the Word
    CONTEXT: Thess. had heard false teaching, about Jesus’ return
    So, many then listened to nobody, OR
    Some bought into anything anyone said, if it sounded good
    Those who listened to no one - basically said “forget it”
    TODAY - People have been hurt by church”
    So therefore, no church is good enough
    I don’t need church
    Just because I am a Christian…
    LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT - Heb. 10:25 - Not forsaking the assembling together….
    And…there are entire churches who have quenched the Spirit - by way of fully embracing false teaching - fully embracing what is not Biblical
    Prosperity Gospel
    Moral compromise - God just wants you to be nice and feel good about yourselves
    Hyper-grace - God has forgiven you, so live however you want - His grace is more, after all…
    Diluting Biblical Christianity with cultural norms - such as in Counseling
    So, what can we do?

    3) Hold Fast & Abstain

    But….
    EXAMINE - EVERYTHING
    That’s some potentially hard work - yes it is
    A word on motives and actions
    The Bible is our guide, our absolute authority
    Isaiah 40:8 NASB95
    The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
    Wisdom of this world is passing
    EASY - What the Bible makes clear (Thou shalt not…)
    TOUGH - Using wisdom
    The remedy? Check your motives
    Why are you making that decision?
    To glorify God?
    Never thought about it? You should
    If your motive is:
    “Because the Bible never says I CAN’T”
    “Because I want to, because I am free to…”
    “Because this feels good”
    CHECK YOUR SPIRITUAL HEART
    Proper motives:
    “Because this will help me grow as a believer”
    “Because this will encourage, build up others?”
    Why and how?
    Then, exercise Christian liberty, wisely
    Hold Fast (to good)
    The picture - gripping that root…
    Also - restrain - tie up so it cannot get away from you
    That is how closely we need to be to the Word
    Abstain (from every kind of evil)
    Some say “avoid”
    “Be distant from” is better
    Must do BOTH - hold fast AND abstain - BOTH
    Modern Christianity in a snapshot:
    “Christians” appear reckless
    Following the popular author, podcaster, social media videos, cultural trends
    (Amazing teaching in 30 seconds…)
    Never examining what they say or do, it takes effort
    The balance is crucial
    Don’t quench the spirit - can get to the point to not listen to ANY teaching
    The opposite is dangerous as well - trusting anybody, b/c they seem credible
    Examine everything
    EVERYTHING
    Realize there is good teaching out there
    But is has to, MUST, come directly from HERE (BIBLE)
    And you had BETTER examine me, and be ready to let the Bible decide
    CLOSE
    Question - How much toxin is inside of you?
    You can do a full body scan
    You can run tests - chemical load, parasites, etc.
    DO YOU WANT TO KNOW??
    Spiritually - are you open to know where you need to grow?
    And…would you like to get healthy?
    We all need an examination - a careful examination (v. 21)
    We all need to examine what it is we allow to affect and shape us
    Some of what you take in, ingest, partake of
    Is spiritually unhealthy
    Some aspects of your life are motivated by me first
    And that affects you, spiritually
    You don’t hold fast to the Word, because you don’t know the Word
    You don’t stay away from forms/kinds of evil, because there is no examination
    Believers - the level of spiritual toxin in you should be cause for concern
    What you listen to, what you watch, what you read or don’t read
    The attitudes you adopt
    The desires that you feed
    Decisions made
    “Does this honor God?”
    “Will this bring glory to Him?”
    The world…
    Follow your heart
    Trust your feelings
    Love yourself first…
    NO - NO - NO
    HOLD FAST TO WHAT IS GOOD - GOD’S WORD
    PUT DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU AND THOSE KINDS OF EVIL YOU HAVE ALLOWED
    Invitation (show Psalm 139 slide)
    Take a spiritual examination
    Spend some time with God today, this week
    What evil is affecting you, and God is telling you to let go, flee from?
    What Bible truths have you been distant from, and you need to (grip) hold fast to again?
    Ask the Lord to examine you, search you, expose the unhealthy
    And then start that detox
    Best way to spiritually detox?
    Start filling with what is good
    Start holding fast to what is good
    Start today

      • 1 Corinthians 1:12NASB95

      • Galatians 1:6–7NASB95

      • 1 Timothy 4:1NASB95

      • Isaiah 40:8NASB95

      • Psalms 139:23NASB95

  • Change My Heart Oh God
  • What He's Done

      • Psalms 119:89NASB95

The Church in Noble - Cornerstone
cornerstone@wabash.net
618-723-2779
https://cccnoble.faithlifesites.com
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