Fire Extinguisher

Jan. 11

The Transformed Life; Lesson 9

Read: 1 Thes. 5:12-28, Eph. 4:25-32

Fire Extinguisher

“Do not quench the Spirit… And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (5:19,4:30)

Spirits can be “quenched” and spirits can be “grieved”. We see this in the word of God; the Holy Spirit can be both “quenched” as well as “grieved”. What does this mean though? How do we avoid both of these short comings? And what about our own spirits?

Grieving a spirit:

The idea of grieving is much more familiar to us as opposed to “quenching”. The term used here simply means, “to affect with sadness, cause grief, or to throw into sorrow.” Sometimes it can mean to “offend” and even “to make one uneasy”. To “grieve” the Holy Spirit is to sin… to think, act, or speak in such a way that it “saddens, throws into sorrow, offends, and or makes uneasy” the Holy Spirit within us. A quick look at the Ephesians 4 passages shows us the sorts of things that “grieve” the Holy Spirit; and the truth is that if our own spirit has been made alive in us by Christ those things grieve OUR spirits as well. We may not realize it at first, but some of our own sadness, depression, anxiety, and angst in general may be coming from the Holy Spirit and our spirit grieving within us. When we “sin” it makes the Holy Spirit sad. When we sin it makes our own spirit sad. Sin has no lasting life, and brings so lasting joy… only sorrow and sadness at the spiritual level. This is an interesting idea to reconcile with the modern / popular mantra that “God loves us no matter what”. God may still love us, but he is saddened by our actions… the Holy Spirit can be grieved.

A great deal of energy is poured out amongst God’s people in regards to working to “stop us from sinning”. There is plenty of energy and communication around the idea that we need to not be “naughty”. Jesus himself says to “go, and sin no more.” (cf. John 5:14,8:11) This is the churches effort to no “grieve the Holy Spirit”. But what about “quenching” the Holy Spirit?

Quenching a spirit:

We are probably most familiar with quenching in terms of thirst and fire. Both of these familiar contexts involve “killing” something… or doing away with it. We drink a beverage to get rid of our thirst… to “quench” our thirst. We pour water on a fire to put it out… to “quench” the flames. Sp what does it mean to “quench” the Holy Spirit? How do we “put out, extinguish, or kill” the Holy Spirit? This is different than saddening the Spirit. To quench is to allow to wither… to diminish…hinder the work of the Holy Spirit. This comes in many shapes and sizes. Some of us don’t even think the Holy Spirit works in this world anymore. We do not expect the fruits of the Spirit and we ignore the gifts of the Spirit. When the spiritual… the supernatural… does present itself we want to explain it away or ignore. We scoff at dreams, visions, tongues, healings, miracles, and the casting out of demons. Most of us function as if God cannot or does not work supernaturally in this world anymore… even if we would never say it. When these “spiritual” experiences pop up we run away, or “throw a wet blanket” on them to quench the “fire” of the Holy Spirit. (It is interesting that the Holy SpIrit shows up like a flame in Acts 2, and God is a pillar of fire in the OT.) Think of when Jesus started his ministry and came to his own home town. When he went to speak the Spirit was moving… and then someone pipes up as says, “isn’t that just Joseph’s kid?” In an instance, the fire of the Spirit is quenched. Jesus says, I can do no miracles here…” (cf. Matt. 13, Mark 6) When we view the world through purely physical eyes (primarily through the body / material) we quench the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is quenched then OUR OWN spirit is quenched. Take for example the 1 Thes. passage above; notice how it says: “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” You see, Paul knows we are tempted to “despise” or dismiss out of hand the gift of prophecy when it first shows up! This is an example of how we reject spiritual gifts or ignore them… a case study of sorts. In short, our spirits are killed when we “quench” the work of the Holy Spirit and live lives that are void of the spiritual. Why do you think so much of the church is “dead”!?!

Which would God rather us do?: Grieve the Spirit or Quench the Spirit? The answer is NEITHER. They are both EQUALLY crucial for the life of the believer. Sin and spiritual inactivity kill us from the inside out… it makes us like zombies… like the walking dead! This is why we MUST learn and use our spiritual gifts. This is why we must make a mental parking spot … make room for … the supernatural … the “spiritual” in our lives so that we do not grieve nor quench the Holy Spirit and in turn our own. We must seek personal holiness and stop the active pursuit of sins (which grieve) and this will come about through vibrant spiritual life… which itself comes about through NOT QUENCHING. Ask God to open your eyes to his miracles. Begin to seek out your own spiritual gifts in community. Stop “despising" dreams, visions, prophecy, the Word of God, and conversational prayer! Stop trying to “explain away” God’s goodness and work in your life. Watch as your own spirit comes to life! Love you guys. - JDP