QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT

1Thess. 5:19

Morning Meditations 1/19/16

I have been studying the work of the Holy Spirit for the past few mornings. The last was “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” This morning we will look at “Quench not the Spirit.”

The word “quench” (sbennumi) meaning according to Strong, “to extinguish, to quench; of fire or things on fire; metaph. to quench, to suppress, stifle.” It is a present active imperative verb. The present tense means that Paul is addressing a present tense situation in the Christians at Thessalonica. You know we get the idea that the Christians in those early churches were super saints and did not have the problems that we do today. Just remember. Flesh is flesh no mater what particular time in history that you find it. I believe in this last chapter in this Epistle a lot of last minute things enter Paul mind that he wants to mention that will help them. He gives these thoughts without elaboration. He says, and I will paraphrase, “Do not continue to quench the Spirit.” The present tense represents continuous action going on at the present time. The active voice is where the subject acts. Therefore, these Christians must make a choice. We are not robots. God will not act for us. We must decide. Are we going to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in and through us? Or, are we going to quench Him? This verb is also imperative. This means that Paul by inspiration of God is giving a command. This command expresses urgency. It is a matter of urgency in the Christian life for the Holy Spirit to be allowed by our voluntary cooperation to do His work in and through us. Listen! Everything a Christian does apart from the Holy Spirit is flesh. Operating after the flesh is carnality. Nothing but death can come out of that. It is all “wood, hay and stubble.” The new life in Christ cannot be lived on this earth apart from the Holy Spirit. For a Christian to live after the flesh is to cause harm and confusion on earth in the body of Christ. It is urgent that we cease to quench the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit builds a fire in us. I know this experience. My heart burns to do His will. There is nothing that I want more. Does that originate in the flesh? Absolutely not. We can know God’s working in us in this matter because it corresponds exactly with this text. The Holy Spirit builds the fire in us to worship and serve the Lord. We are urged, even commanded, not to quench the Spirit in this matter. When a person gets up on Sunday morning to go an play golf or some other thing that will take him out of the assembly (Heb 10:25) he will quench the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never give us a vacation from worship. Sure, God will forgive us. But remember this. We not only have the sin of putting something before worship, we have the sin of forsaking the assembly and the sin of quenching the Holy Spirit. That is three just to start with. Now I’m not putting us under rules to bring us into bondage. I’m reminding us that we have the Ruler living within to help us know when we are thinking wrong. It is not rules we are under, it is the grace of His indwelling. It is better to have the Ruler than rules. We have to quench the Holy Spirit to go wrong. He is the Resident Boss.

There are times when the Holy Spirit fills me with joy (Gal 5:22) over the salvation of a soul, or, when I am fellowshiping with the Lord as I study His Word. I am not to quench the Spirit. It is not wrong to express joy. God wants others to know that He is real and at work in our lives. When they ask, “Why are you so joyful?” It is an opportunity for testimony. We are living in a time when the world is seeking joy. That is all they live for. But for them it takes vulgar jokes and course language to make them laugh. This kind of laughter is shallow at best. There are those comedians who are making millions because people are so stressed out that they will pay it to be entertained. The only alternative, I say the only alternative, to the joy of the world is the joy that comes from Christ and He has given it only to believers. John 15:11: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” I have seen people saved because they witnessed the joy in the life of another Christian. We are not to quench the Spirit when it comes to joy.

The Holy Spirit in a believer moves in him to get into the Word. The Word is inspirited by the Holy Spirit. It is the Word that washes us. Eph. 6:26: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” Let me give you a personal testimony. Years ago I felt such inadequacy, both in ability and the knowledge of the Word, to pastor. I looked at other men in the ministry pastoring large churches. It went to the conferences to learn how to do it. I came back inspired with a heart burning to reproduce what they were doing in my church. I didn’t try long until I began to understand that what they were telling me was not working for me. I became depressed. Have you ever been there? I knew God had called me to be a pastor - teacher. So, after my disillusionment, I began to rise early in the morning and read my Bible on my knees. I went to the Pastoral Epistles. I copied them out in longhand for the purpose of concentration. What I found in God’s “how to do it books” did not correspond with what I was being told in the “How to do it conferences.” So I reset my course. I went back to school to get the tools to find out what the Bible was saying in the verses, phrases and words. I majored in Bible languages.

When I came to Shady Grove Baptist Church I knew I wanted to teach the adult department. So in Sunday School and all my pulpit ministry, my philosophy became this: if I explain the Scriptures to the Church under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Lord can build the kind of Church He wants. I do not have to be a great organizer. He is building His Church and He is doing it with His Word. So I did that over the years. Most of you know a little about what God has done at Shady Grove. It has not been Earl White. It has been God. And I am weeping as I write the lines for sheer joy that it is true. Since I got all that straightened out, I have never wanted credit for what God is doing. Quench not the Holy Spirit. We are not building the kingdom, it is He. But He uses insignificant men who are willing to “quench not the Spirit” to teach the Word so He can take it and build His body.

I am happy to tell you that God allowed me to help train the man that the Church called to take my place. He is continuously giving out the Word, exegetically and expositorily. Again I take no credit. I would have quenched the Spirit if I had not done it this way. Brother Blankenship is his own man. He will have to work our his own salvation with fear and trembling. But he is doing it and God is blessing.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Earl White, Gal. 2:20