Quench Not the Spirit

“Do not quench the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19, ESV)

Most people have had this experience. The power goes out in a community on a dark overcast night. You cannot see your hand in front of your face. So, you scramble around looking for a flashlight. You do not have one handy, but you do have a cell-phone with a built-in flashlight mode. You turn it on and then look for a candle and matches. You light the candle and turn off the light from the cell-phone. The relatively dim light from the candle drives out the darkness and you can see everything in the room. One candle radiating makes a huge difference.

Then you decide it is time to go to bed. So, you wet your fingers and quench the flame that radiates the light. The problem now is that once again you cannot see you hand in front of your face. So, you stumble around by feel until you find your way to bed.

The light shines brightly and it is important. The Lord has placed a light inside of every true believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the light of the world and he stated, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5, ESV). However, upon His ascension, He would not leave the world without the light. The Spirit of Jesus dwells in every believer (Romans 8:9) to manifest this glorious light in the darkened world that needs the light. For this reason, Jesus stated the following.

“You are the light of the world . . .let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16, ESV)

Yet, as a candle can be quenched so that it does not perform its function of illuminating and driving out the darkness, the light of the Holy Spirit can be quenched in the believer so that the believer will not experience the filling of the Spirit by whom the light is to shine brightly through the believer.

Paul commanded the Thessalonians to “not quench the Spirit.” How can the believer quench the Spirit and thus not fulfill this prerequisite for being filled with the Spirit? In the context of the verse in First Thessalonians we read the following.

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19–22, ESV)

The context of this command to “not quench the Spirit,” has to do with the believer’s response to the revealed word of God, the Bible. Believers are not to “despise” that which is forthtold from the sacred Scriptures. To reject the truth of Scripture is to quench the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote that believers were to examine everything presented and to hold to that which is good, that which is true, and to reject anything that was evil, that which is false.

Obeying these commands presuppose that the believer will be actively seeking the truth of God as revealed in the Scriptures. That means hearing the word of God preached and taught. However, it does not stop there. The believer must examine everything presented to ensure that the things brought forth agree with the Scriptures. Thus, ever believer must be a student of the word of God and able to discern what is presented from the truths revealed in the Bible.

You will remember that the Berean Christians were commended for examining Paul’s teaching to ensure it aligned with the truth of the Scripture (Acts 17:11). Speaking of the Bereans, the book of Acts records,

“Now these Jews (the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11, ESV)

These Bereans were excited to hear that which Paul presented to them and to examine these truths.

Yet there is one other presupposition to obeying these commands. That is obedience to the truths presented in the Bible. The word of God is to be obeyed. James wrote, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22, ESV).

So, to obey the command to “not despise prophecy,” the believer must eagerly be seeking to understand the truths of the Bible and obey those truths. It means that the believer will seek the sound teaching of the Scriptures. They will study the Scriptures themselves and examine every teaching received accordingly. Moreover, that teaching which is on point with the Scriptures, they will put to work in their daily lives.

This is the second prerequisite condition for being filled with the Spirit.