Stop Quenching the Spirit - I Thessalonians 5:19

In I Thessalonians 5:12-22 the apostle Paul gives a series of brief commands to the church at Thessalonica. Most of what he said to this local church was extremely positive. Even though they were relatively new believers, Paul doesn't do a lot of correcting at this point. Mainly he commends them for their faith, love and godly example (see 1:2-10). Even this series of commands near the end of the letter is generally positive and not accusatory. But in verse nineteen he says, "Do not quench the Spirit." Now because this is a present imperative, it can be referring to action already happening and thus could be translated, "stop quenching the Spirit." Because Paul takes the time to specifically address this, and follows it with an admonition not "despise prophetic utterances" (v. 20), it is almost certain in my mind that the Thessalonian believers were already quenching the work of the Spirit in this area. For some reason they were not willing to accept the legitimate prophetic work of the Spirit during this early time in the church when the canon of Scripture was still being given and written. What I want to focus on today is a few key lessons from this verse.

First, even believers who are mostly walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and generally living exemplary Christian lives can be suppressing the ministry of the Spirit in one or two areas of their lives. We cannot ever think that we are so spiritually mature or obedient that we are above doing this. Even so called "spirit-filled" believers like Swaggart and Bakker were guilty of suppressing the Spirit in their lives. So this is a spiritual warning to us all..no exceptions!

Second, the verb itself does not limit the length of time that the quenching could have been going on. In other words, the Thessalonians could have been quenching the Spirit for an extended time. My experience as a pastor indicates that Christians can say "no" to the Spirit in certain areas of their lives for months, even years. This is not to say it will continue indefinitely without the Lord directly intervening, but I have seen it go on for long periods of time in certain people's lives, including people who I am absolutely certain are saved as Paul was about the Thessalonians (see 1:4).

Lastly, having said all this, this is why we need as Christians to be open to seeking the Lord periodically about some area in our lives where we might, even unconsciously, be quenching the Spirit. I am not at all sure that the Thessalonians knew they were rejecting the prophetic work of the Spirit. My best guess is that they did not. Like David we need to say from time to time, "try me and see if there be any wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:24). Along with this, we need to be open to counsel from other godly people who may discern that we are suppressing the Spirit in some area of our lives. None of us is beyond this possibility. In the case of believers who are knowingly quenching the Spirit, I am convinced that they are disappointed or disillusioned with other Christians, the Christian life or God Himself. I am not suggesting this is acceptable in any sense, but it is reality, especially today. For more insight and discussion about this subject, see my first book, Why Christians Sin.