Elder Ko Swee Chay

 

Quench not the Spirit

19 Quench not the Spirit. 20 Despise not prophesyings.21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.(1 Thess 5:19-23)

 

Introduction

Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit sent by God at the moment of salvation. The Holy Spirit ministers in the believer’s life as a teacher, guardian, protector, director and leader. A Christian’s life lived in the Holy Spirit is a blessed and God honouring life. In the Bible there are several commands from God concerning the Spirit of God and believers. We shall focus our attention on one of these commands recorded in 1 Thess 5:19 "Quench not the Spirit"; albeit with a cursory look at another closely related command recorded in Eph 4:30 "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God". By knowing the meaning and spiritual significance of these two direct commandments from God, we can become more sensitive to the working, prompting, guiding and leading of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life, and thereby receive the rich blessings God has intended for believers.

 

What is the meaning of "Quench not the Spirit"?

The Word of God teaches us the following truths concerning the Holy Spirit:

· The life of a born again believer is life in the Spirit, in that the Spirit of God dwells in him; if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him; the indwelling Spirit gives life to the mortal bodies; the Spirit enables us to mortify or put to death the flesh because of sin (Rom 8:9-13).

 

· Jesus said "But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, which the Father will send in my name, he shall teaches you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26)

 

The moment we believe and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord, by the grace and providence of God, He sends the Holy Spirit into our lives and indwells us. The Holy Spirit begins His work of sanctification - that is to refine and purify us, to teach us things of God and to discern between good and evil, to transform our life by renewing our mind, to quicken and enlighten our soul, to guide and lead each step of our life. The work of the Holy Spirit is multi-faceted to help believers to live obedient, holy and godly lives according to God’s Word and sovereign will. By the indwelling Holy Spirit, believers have the ability to war against "the flesh" and the power not to sin. Our Christian lives must be led and guided by the Holy Spirit, otherwise we would fall into the hand of Satan, the prince of the world.

 

Out of His divine wisdom, God included in the Bible a command "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thess 5:19). The word "quench" means to extinguish, to put out, to cool; as to quench a literal fire. For the fire to continue burning, it requires the supply of fuel and oxygen. The common methods to extinguish or put out a fire is by taking away the fuel, or by spraying water, or by applying fire extinguishing materials (e.g. fire blanket) or agents (e.g. carbon dioxide, foam), depending on the size & type of fire and the prevailing situation. In the spiritual context, the Holy Spirit is considered a fire (Matt 3:11, Acts 2:3) which may similarly be extinguished or put out by believer’s resisting, suppressing, ignoring, neglecting and rejecting the divine roles and glorious influences of the Holy Spirit. The love of the world, worldly desires and lusts, ambition and careless/wasted life are some of the things which quench the Holy Spirit. God categorically commanded believers to stop quenching the Holy Spirit's glorious control of our lives.

 

How can believers quench the Spirit?

The Holy Spirit that indwells us is naturally "burning" within us to lead and guide us along the path of righteousness unless we do something to cause the Spirit’s fire to be extinguished or put out. From the Bible and reflection of our own life we see ample examples of how believers can repeatedly quench the Holy Spirit.

 

· Disobedience to God –This is a common and recurring problem with the nation and people of Israel, and is a major problem with believers today. From God’s Word we know God’s will and expectation for our lives, but we chose to ignore this. We do not do what we ought to do but do what we ought not to do. We are not willing to be obedient to do what God wants us to do with our lives. We want to live our lives our way. We know the problem but refuse to do something about it, and thereby we quench the Holy Spirit.

 

· Lack of love to God – The love of family, friends, recreation, and the world and its wealth far outweighs our love for God. A believer devoting his talents, time and energy to acquire worldly things will have his love for God and service to God diminished, and become lukewarm. We do not put God first in our lives. We do not love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as commanded (Mark 12:30).

 

· Yielding not to His control – We do not want to surrender our lives totally to God, even though at the point of conversion, we pledged to surrender our lives to and have total commitment to God. We fail to keep our promise. We want to control our own lives. We want to pursue things that satisfy our worldly desires and carnal lusts. We want to be masters of our own lives. Let us learn to listen and be careful not to ignore Him.

 

· Not walking in the Spirit – We choose to walk in the world and indulge in the attractions of the world, its wealth, luxuries, fashions, entertainments. "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal 5:25).

 

· Not living a sacrificial and holy life – "…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom 12:1b) is too far fetch for us. We continue to live like the "old man".

 

· Bear not the fruit of the Spirit – After 5, 10, 20, or 30 years as Christians, there are no visible changes in our lives. We are barren, with no sign of bearing the fruit of the Spirit "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance" mentioned in Gal 5:22-23. These are just plain words in our vocabulary. [Note: a believer that does not bear the fruit of the Spirit is not a believer.]

 

How to avoid quenching the Spirit?

Thank be to God, He gives the answers to this question in 1 Thess 5:20-22.

· "Despise not prophesyings" (Eph 4:20) – "Despise" means to look down on, or to take it lightly or carelessly. It is the opposite of "esteem". "Prophesyings" are to be understood as the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, and the interpreting and application of the Scriptures. God and His Word, the Bible, is the only source of "prophesying". We are commanded by God to stop despising the Word of God. We must receive God’s Word and God’s authoritative messages with esteem and attentiveness from those who teaches and preaches His Word faithfully and fervently, for our spiritual nourishment and growth. Not only that, we must spend time to study and search the Scriptures that we may grow in the faith and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. After hearing and knowing God’s Word, we must keep and obey God’s Word. If we do all these, quenching the Spirit will not happen.

 

· "Prove all things" (Eph 4:21a) – The word "prove" means to examine, scrutinize and test. We are to prove all our thoughts, our actions and every aspect of our lives as well as the works and words of others, especially preachers and teachers of God’s Word against the standards of God in Holy Scriptures. By knowing and obeying the Word of God, with practice we will develop this spiritual discernment to "prove all things"; "Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Eph 5:10-11). Once we have this spiritual discernment to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error, we will not quench the Spirit.

 

· "Hold fast that which is good" (Eph 4:21b) – "Hold fast" means to retain, grab, cleave to, cling to or hold on tightly. Paul in his epistle to the saints at Philippi gave a list of things which are good: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Phi 4:8). Paul said "…. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." (Rom 12:9b). "Prove all things" and "Hold fast that which is good" and excellent in the sight of God and profitable to our souls – this will help us avoid quenching the Spirit.

 

· "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (Eph 4:22) – "Abstain" means, keep/stay/turn/run away, or set apart. We must abstain from all evil and sin, as well as all which looks like evil and sin. We must avoid going to places, or joining bad company, or situations where we will be drawn into temptation.

 

"Quenching the Spirit" leads to "Grieving the Holy Spirit of God"

The Bible also commands believers to "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God" (Eph 4:30). Both quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit happen when a believer ignores or rejects the working of the Holy Spirit; instead choosing to follow his or her own worldly desires and carnal lusts that leads to sin and iniquities. However, the two have a kind of cause-and-effect relationship. First the Holy Spirit that dwelled in us is quenched or extinguished when we ignore, neglect or even reject the working of the Holy Spirit. When we live a worldly life and indulge in carnal lusts and affections, we then cause the Spirit of God to grieve for our disobedience and sins. Ephesians 4 & 5 lists a string of sins that grieve the Holy Spirit: blindness of heart, lasciviousness, greediness, having deceitful lusts, lying, stealing, corrupt communication, evil speaking, bitterness, unjust anger, wrath, clamour, malice, unforgiving spirit, sexually immorality, uncleanness and covetousness. The Word of God commands us "to put off concerning the former conversation the old man; which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" (Eph 4:22) and to "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph 4:24), as well as to put away all sinful living, acts and conducts.

 

Conclusion

All born-again believers have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. From the moment we believe and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord, by His grace and providence Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. He refines and purifies us; rebuke and direct us to know and obey God and His Word; not to do evil but to do good and bear the fruit of the Spirit. The Word of God commands us to "Quench not the Spirit" and "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God". Fervent studying and obeying His Word and persistent praying, together with "Abstaining from all appearance of evil" are divine instructions that will keep us from quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. May we yield our lives wholly to the control and blessing of the Holy Spirit and may this be our constant prayer: "And the very God of peace sanctify you (us)wholly; and I pray God your (our)whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph 5:23). AMEN.