1 Thessalonians 5
A People of Growth in Actions

The church as it is supposed to be is:

1) a people of encouragement (1:2–10);

2) a people of self-sacrifice (2:1–12);

3) a people of controversy (2:13–16);

4) a people of joy (2:17–3:13);

5) a people of purity (4:1–8);

6) a people of work (4:9–12);

7) a people of clarity (4:13–5:11);

8) a people of unity (5:12–15); 

9) a people of growth (5:16–22).

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil. ²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify^[g] you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. ²⁵ Brethren, pray for us. ²⁶ Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. ²⁷ I charge you by the Lord that this ^[h]epistle be read to all the ^[i]holy brethren. ²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

A people of growth

Growing in attitude, knowledge, and action

Three phrases today; 19 Do not quench the Spirit 21b hold fast to what is good 22 Abstain from every form of evil

But how do I not quench the Spirit? The other two fall under that; hold fast to what is good 22 Abstain from every form of evil

I have a pretty good idea what they mean.  But how do I not quench the Spirit?

It would seem like a simple notion.  But, because of the Charismatic movement in our country, teaching about the Holy Spirit has become more complex—tongues, words of prophecy, name it, claim it, dreams, healing, manifestations of supposed Spiritual activity like being slain in the Spirit, dancing—so even the idea of being led by the Spirit becomes a larger topic.

I did a search on Amazon.com. “How to be led by the Spirit.”  3,000 results in Amazon books.

The Spirit-Led Heart: Living a Life of Love and Faith without Borders

by Suzanne Eller and Jennifer Lee | May 1, 2018

Spirit Led Instead: The Little Tool Book of Limitless Transformation

by Jenai Lane  | Oct 7, 2013

by Kenneth E. Hagin  | Oct 1, 2009

by Lynne Hammond and Mac Hammond | Nov 22, 2000

by Greg Heisler  | Jul 1, 2018

by Gregg Chenoweth | Jun 1, 2021

by Thomson K. Mathew  | Jul 31, 2017

by Lisa Romero and Laura Summer | Dec 31, 2018

by Megan Tietz and Laura Oyer  | Mar 28, 2012

by Dwight J. Zscheile  | Nov 1, 2014

by Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft | Sep 1, 2016

by Ché Ahn and C. Wagner | May 1, 2008

by Nenita Shannon  | May 18, 2019

by Seth Dahl and Bill Johnson | Dec 1, 2020

by Francis C Pompei and Trish M Pompei | Mar 12, 2021

by Thomson Mathew | Jul 19, 2020

2 impressions you get from reading all these titles;  This is complicated, there is some secret to Spirit led living.  And if I can find that secret, inside knowledge, a whole world of the supernatural and miracles, will open up to me.

Well with 3 simple direct commands Paul dispels both of those notions.  The Spirit led life is not complicated, there is no secret knowledge, and it results are not a life full of the miraculous and supernatural, but something rather simple; obedience.

We are going to conclude 1 Thessalonians over this week and next with 3 questions about the Holy Spirit;  What does the phrase “Quench the Spirit mean? How do I quench the Spirit?  What is the ultimate goal of God’s Spirit in my life?

Today

¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.

What does the phrase, “Quench the Spirit” mean?

4 truths from “Don’t Quench the Spirit.”

1.     Every believer has the Holy Spirit. 2. The Holy Spirit is powerful. 3. The Holy Spirit is active in the life of all believers.  4.It is possible to quench the Spirit.

1.     Every believer has the Holy Spirit. 

This almost shouldn’t need to be stated.  But many in the Charismatic movement have taught that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a second blessing.  That you can be saved but not have the indwelling Spirit.  We’re not going to go into deep study here, but there are a number of Scripture passages that we can turn to that tell us that all Christians have the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

And this passage, “Don’t quench the Spirit,” by silence, implies the same truth.  Paul didn’t say, “If you have received the Holy Spirit, don’t quench the Spirit.”  He simply says, “Don’t quench the Spirit.”

In fact, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 4 times in this epistle, and in all of them Paul speaks to the Thessalonians as though they already have the Spirit.

 1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,

1 Thessalonians 4:8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

2.     The Holy Spirit is powerful.

The Holy Spirit is often symbolized as a flame/fire in Scripture. “Don’t quench the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 2:2-4  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them ^[a]divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Revelation 4:5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Looking at the word “quench.”  Interesting, it is used for small flames, like a lamp, but it is often associated in Scripture with a raging fire.

Hebrews 11:34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

This is the faith chapter; by faith Abraham, or Moses.  Here, by faith some quenched the violence of fire.  It’s talking about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace and being protected by the angel of the Lord. 

I was remembering how intense that fire was; those who threw them in died from the heat.  The Holy Spirit is a fire

The fiery violent attacks of Satan

The fires of hell

Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—

All of those flames were powerful flames.  But the Holy Spirit of God is an even more powerful fire.

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire, He is all powerful

Do you ever think about all that God’s Spirit is doing in the world?

What can the Spirit do?

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holy-spirit/10-roles-of-the-holy-spirit-in-christian-life.html

In John 14:26 Jesus told his disciples, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26, ESV).

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:7-8, ESV).

“These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except for their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” (John 16:13-15).

The work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life is an on-going process of becoming holy through sanctification. Through the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit, believers will not indulge the sinful acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-21) but will bear the good fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).

That just scratches the surface of all that the Holy Spirit is doing.  Our God is a consuming fire.

As powerful and consuming as any fire you’ve experienced is, as powerful as you imagine Satan’s attacks are, as powerful as the fires of Hell are, the fire of the Holy Spirit is more powerful.

Two truths from this command “Do not Quench the Spirit; The Holy Spirit is present in every believer.  The Holy Spirit is powerful. There is a third truth;

3.    The Holy Spirit is active in every believer.

Again, the impression you might get if you began to peruse the Christian book store on the topic of “The Spirit led life,” is that you’ve got to do something special to be led by the Spirit.  You need a second blessing.  You need to speak something into the universe.  You need to find some secret knowledge.  You need a new revelation.

There is a third truth here.  Let’s look again at the word “quench.”  We first gathered that that word compares the Spirit to a fire.  But the word itself means “to extinguish.”

“Don’t extinguish the Spirit.”

But the truth we can glean from “Don’t Quench the Spirit” is, first, that the Spirit is already active in every believer.  You don’t have to quench a flame that isn’t burning.  You can’t quench the Spirit, if He isn’t present or already active in your life.  And the converse is also true, if we don’t quench the Spirit, His work in us will proceed unhindered. 

So, Paul is telling the Thessalonians, “Don’t extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit.”  This is an exciting truth. 

Many of us, as believers, have longed for a greater working of God’s Spirit in our lives.  Sometimes, if we have been exposed to some of the “Holy Spirit” movement in our country, the healing, tongues, supernatural movement, we might have thought that maybe we were missing something.  Maybe if I pray these words, or claim something.  But what was the sum total of Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonians about their relationship to the Spirit?

He said, “Don’t quench the Spirit.”

You don’t have to tell me not to put out a fire that isn’t already burning. 

If you are out in the middle of farmland in western Kansas, you know that they often burn off acres and acres of fields.  Dead grass. And those who are in charge of the burning are standing by with water, or fire suppressant, to keep the fire from getting out of control.  They want the fire to burn, to do its job of consuming dead grass.    

So, let’s say that I’m recruited to help.  I’m standing there with a water hose.  Now, what’s my first instinct if I see grass on fire?  I’m standing there with a water hose, someone in charge might have to tell me, “Don’t put out the fire.”  But if there is no fire going, I don’t have to be told that. 

What do I have to do to see the blazing fire of the Holy Spirit at work in my life?  Don’t put out the flame.

Say the right words; bind this or that, release this or that, positive confession,

But the Holy Spirit is a blazing fire, He is already in you.  God is a “consuming fire.”  You don’t have to activate God, He’s already on fire inside of you.

And there is a fourth truth we can gather from “Don’t Quench the Spirit.”  First-all believers have the Spirit, second- the Spirit is powerful, an all consuming flame, third- the Spirit is already active, in all believers, but believe it or not

4.     It is possible for a believer to suppress the Spirit’s work in their life.

“Do not quench the Spirit.”  The very fact that Paul has to say it, tells us that quenching the Spirit is possible. Isn’t that amazing?  We can quench the work of God’s Spirit in us.

Let’s back up for a moment and talk about a person’s relationship to the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit can be resisted and blasphemed by unbelievers.

 Resist

Acts 6:10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

Blaspheme

Luke 12:10 “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

1 Peter 4:14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

But the Holy Spirit can be quenched and grieved by believers.

Quench

Current passage

Grieve

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

What’s the difference?  Quenching the Spirit is what we do on our side.  Be grieved is the Spirit’s response to what we do.

This is a remarkable truth; The Holy Spirit of God is in every believer, and active.  He has the power of the flame that can begin with one spark, and consume an entire forest, but yet, you and I can quench that Spirit.

How is that possible?  We’re talking about God here.  I can suppress God’s power and work in my life, and through me? 

Doesn’t that imply that God’s Spirit is not powerful? Can’t God do anything?  How can I quench the work He’s doing in me? How is that possible?

It is possible because as powerful as God’s Holy Spirit is, He is a gentleman.  He does not force himself on you.  If you say “no,” He steps back.  If a sinner resists the conviction of the Spirit, God doesn’t say, “I don’t care what you want, you belong to me.”  If a believer ignores the voice of the Spirit, the commands of the Word, or out in out disobeys, the Spirit is grieved and steps back. 

He doesn’t leave the believer.  The flame is still there.  But He steps back.  It’s sort of like the pilot light on a gas stove.  It’s always there. It’s always lit.  But it does no cooking when you turn down the burners. 

I, at the same time, hate and love this analogy.  I don’t turn on the Spirit.  The Spirit chooses.  I hate the analogy because it implies that I am in control of the Spirit.  But I also love the analogy, because the fire is always there.  I am the switch that impedes the fire from doing it’s intended work. 

As remarkable as it sounds, I can throw a wet towel on the Spirit’s work in me.  How do I do that? How do you turn down the burners?  Is this some secret knowledge? No, this is the second of the three parts to this section

I.                    How do you suppress the work of the Holy Spirit; disobedience

1.     Abstain from all forms of evil.

2.     Hold to what is good.

We will pick that up next time.