Quenched

“Do not quench the Spirit.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:19

“The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.” - A.W. Tozer

As followers of Jesus Christ we must not only receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, but also release the freedom of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to, “release the freedom” of the Holy Spirit? Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote to the brand new believers in Thessalonica…”Do not quench the Spirit.” The word “quench” is a strong word that literally means, “To put out a fire by drowning with water.” One translation simply puts it this way: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is symbolized as a fire…and a fire gives off both light and heat.

Within every believer there is a fire burning called the Holy Spirit. As we live the Spirit-filled life, we are to be shining the light of Jesus to everyone around us. There are things that we can do individually, and as believers together, that will put out the Spirit’s fire and turn out the Spirit’s light. That is why we must not grieve the Holy Spirit by hurting His feelings or quench the Holy Spirit by smothering the fire.

There is a difference between grieving the Holy Spirit and quenching Him. We grieve the Spirit by what we do to Him. We quench the Holy Spirit by what we refuse to let Him do through us. In other words, we grieve the Spirit by doing what He tells us not to do. We quench the Spirit by not doing what He tells us to do.

We don’t have to wonder about things that quench the Spirit because Paul sandwiches this exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 right between list of imperatives to believers individually, and the Church corporately. Failing to do these things quenches the Spirit of God. As believers in Christ we have one job – both as individuals and as congregations…to make sure we are always fueling the fire of the Holy Spirit so that when people get to know us they see the light and are drawn to Jesus Christ.

Application: Read 1 Thessalonians 5:11-22. Are you quenching the Holy Spirit by failing to do what God has commanded?