QUENCHING THE SPIRIT
I Thessalonians 5:19
What does it mean to “quench the Spirit?”
First of all, we need to define the word “quench”
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “quench as:
1. To put out (a fire, for example); extinguish.
2. To suppress; squelch.
3. To put an end to; destroy.
The Greek word for “quench” is “sbennumi” which means to quench or extinguish as one does to a light or fire. Figuratively, as used in this verse, it means to dampen, stifle, hinder, repress, or prevent the Spirit from exerting His effect or performing His work in the believer. Clearly the reference is not to the person of the Spirit Himself, for He is eternal God and can never be extinguished. The reference is His activity in our hearts.
“Do not quench the Spirit” is a combination of a negative particle (me) with the present imperative, which suggest that the recipients are being told to stop something they have already begun (quenching the Spirit).
It is interesting to note that the verb “sbennumi” is in the second person plural, as are all the commands in verses 19-22, indicating that each command is intended for the entire membership of the Thessalonian church. The first two commands are negative (5:19-20) and the remaining three are positive (5:21; 22)
The command could be paraphrased something like this:
“Stop putting out the fire (of the Holy Spirit). Stop hindering and repressing the Holy Spirit, for in so doing you are preventing Him from exerting His full influence?”
There is a parallel warning in Ephesians where in the context of allowing unwholesome words to proceed from their mouth, Paul command the saints “do not grieve (present imperative + a negative = stop doing this implying that were doing it) the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
I have selected some individuals who have written on this subject to better illustrate to you what the word means.
EDWARD D. HIEBERT comments that the figure of quenching the Spirit points to His sudden and vehement activities in human hearts. It implies “His gifts of warmth for the heart, and light for the mind and His power to kindle the human spirit.
Since fire is always put out by something outside itself, this prohibition is directed against some hindrance to the Spirit’s operation in their midst. It is not indicated whether they are quenching the Spirit in themselves or in others. Both thoughts may be included in this general injunction, yet the connection with I Thessalonians 5:20 seems to indicate that the suppression of prophetic utterances in the assembly was primarily in view.
The precise situation in the Thessalonian church calling forth this injunction is not clear. Many interpreters hold that it arose out the operation of the charismatic gifts in the Thessalonian church.
The general character of the prohibition would certainly leave room for a wider interpretation. Anything that might be permitted in their assembly, or in their own hearts, which was contrary to the nature and work of the Spirit would quench His operation. The Spirit’s fire is quenched whenever His presence is ignored and His promptings are suppressed and rejected, or the fervor He kindles in the heart is dampened by unspiritual attitudes, criticisms, or actions. Certain any toleration of immorality and idleness, against which they have be warned would quench the Spirit’s working in their midst.
They must not allow the operations of the Spirit to be suppressed wither through yielding to the impulses of the flesh or by imposing a mechanical order upon the services that would hamper the free movements of the Spirit.
DAVID JEREMIAH agrees asking, “Do you know what is means to quench the Holy Spirit? What do you do when you quench your thirst? You drink some water and the thirst is put away. When you quench a fire, you put it out, you smother it. How do you quench the Spirit of God? You quench the Spirit of God by not doing something He tells you to do. When you walk in the Spirit and are filled with the Spirit, you don’t want to quench Him. When He tells you do something, you do it.”
F. F. BRUCE feels that as the context goes on to make plain, the activity chiefly in view here is prophecy. In this respect the Spirit may be quenched when the prophet refuses to utter the message he has been given, or when others try to prevent him from uttering it. A good example of the former is Jeremiah’s attempt to speak no more in Yahweh’s name, when the word held back became, as he said, “a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jeremiah 20:9), which could not be quenched or controlled. An example of the latter is found in Amos 2:12, where the people of Israel are condemned because they” commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’”
W. E. VINE writes that as fire is always extinguished from without itself the meaning seems to be “do not prevent or obstruct the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power in others.” Here the tense is present continuous, hence the meaning is “desist from quenching” rather than “do not begin to quench.” With this injunction may be compared that in I Thessalonians 4:8, which is aimed against any refusal to obey Him as this is against any refusal to listen to Him.
The peace, order, and edification of the saints were evidence of the ministry of the Spirit among them, but if, through ignorance of His ways, or through failure to recognize, or refusal to submit to, them, or through impatience with the ignorance or self-will of others, the Spirit were quenched, these happy results would be absent. For there was always the danger that the impulses of the flesh might usurp the place of the energy of the Spirit in the assembly, and the endeavor to restrain this evil by natural means would have the effect of hindering His ministry also. Apparently then, this injunction was intended to warn believers against the substitution of a mechanical order for the restraints of the Spirit.
JOHN WALVOORD writes that it may be concluded that quenching the Holy Spirit is to suppress, stifle, or otherwise obstruct the ministry of the Spirit to the individual. In a word it is saying, “No,” and replacing the will of the Spirit with the will of the individual. This, in brief, is the whole issue of morality, whether man will accomplish what he wants to do or whether his life is surrendered and yielded to the will of God.
RAY STEDMAN in his down to earth style feels that verses 19 and 20 give simple commands: Do not ignore the Spirit’s prompting (verse 19) and do not despise the Scripture’s wisdom (verse 20). The Spirit’s prompting always come in two areas: Stop doing what is wrong, and start doing what is right. If you are a Christian at all you are familiar with the inner feeling that says, “God wants you to do something,” or “God wants you to stop doing something.” We all have felt this inner guidance. What the apostle is saying is, “Give into those feelings.” When the Spirit prompts you to show love to somebody, do it, do not hold back. I once heard of a man who said, “Sometimes when I think of how my wife works and blesses me, it’s all I can do to keep from telling her that I love her!” There is a man being guided by the Spirit, but he is quenching the Spirit. Do not do that. Go ahead and tell her you love her. You may have to pick her off the floor afterward, but do not quench the Sprit!
G. L. GREEN writes that the verb “shennumi” at times describes and action that makes something disappear completely, such as a person’s very existence when death comes, but elsewhere it carries the more moderate meaning of “to attenuate” or “to restrict” something. The exact nuance Paul has in mind is not easy to ascertain, but the first sense is the most likely in the context of prophecy. Some Thessalonians appear to have attempted to prohibit manifestation of the Spirit in their church. Since the presence of the Holy Spirit in the community is compared with fire, and the verb “to quench” would aptly describe the attempt to eliminate these manifestations. On the other side, Paul exhorts Timothy about the Spirit’s activity in his life by saying, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6). The manifestations of the Spirit’s presence are for the good of the community and for that reason should not be eliminated.
M. MILLS takes similar approach writing that quenching the Spirit means nullifying His power in your life, for you manifestly cannot extinguish Him on a universal basis! How do you nullify His power? Well, simply by living an unsanctified life, for if you profane your vessel He, who is perfectly pure, will not reside in it. But how do I remedy it when I sin and profane my vessel? I John 1:8-9 answers this, for if I confess my sin God will forgive me.
J. VERNON MCGEE writes that to quench the Spirit means that you refuse to do the will of God; that is, you are not listening to the Holy Spirit. You refuse to let the Holy Spirit be your Guide to lead you. You and I quench the Holy Spire when we take matters into our own hands. This is the same teaching that Paul gave to the Ephesian believers: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). You cannot grieve a thing; you grieve a Person. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and He is grieved by sin in our lives. Also, He is quenched when we step out of the will of God.
We can sum up of this with this story: BE SAFE – NOT SORRY
Two young women lost their lives in a fire that swept through their apartment as they slept. Their home was equipped with a smoke detector that was in good working order, but it hadn’t gone off.
Why?
Fire inspectors concluded that the device had been deactivated for a part the night before. The unit had been disconnected to keep it from sounding off because of the smoke from cooking and candles.
In Acts 5 we have another example of two people who apparently deactivated an alarm system that could have saved their lives. Ananias and Sapphira must have quenched the Holy Spirit by turning a deaf ear to their consciences, believing they had plenty of good reasons for doing what they did. But their action cost them their lives.
We need to realize that the Holy Spirit was not given to annoy us like a sensitive smoke detector. He doesn’t sound false alarms. When He activates our conscience by bringing to mind a principle or warning from God’s word, it is really His love and wisdom in action.
By weighing the warnings of His love against the cost of our foolishness, we will soon realize that it is always better to be safe than sorry.
M. R. DeHAAN II (Our Daily Bread)
Can we be forgiven for quenching the Holy Spirit?
I believe that we can we truly acknowledge what we have been doing and repent.
How do we quench the Spirit?
A. B. Simpson has some interesting thoughts about what it means to quench the Spirit writing that if it has reference, perhaps, mainly to the hindrance we offer to His work in others, rather than to our resistance of His personal dealing with our own souls.
Among the various hindrance which we may offer to the Holy Spirit may be mentioned such as these:
1. We may refuse to obey His impulses in us when He bids us to speak or act for Him.
We may be conscious of a distinct impression of the Spirit of God bidding us to testify for Christ, and by disobedience, or timidity, or procrastination, we may quench His working, both in our own soul and in the heart of another.
2. We may suppress His voice in others, either by using our authority to restrain His messages, when He speaks through His servants or refusing to allow the liberty of testimony.
Many hold the reins of ecclesiastical authority unduly, and thus lose the free and effectual working of the Holy Ghost in their churches and in their work.
There is ales direct way, however, of politely silencing Him by forcing Him out, and so filling the atmosphere with the spirit of stiffness, criticism, and certain air or respectability and rigidness that He gently withdraws from the uncongenial scene, and refuses to thrust His message upon unwilling hearts.
3. The Spirit may be grieved by the method of public worship in a congregation.
It may be so stiff and formal that there is no room for His spontaneous working, or so full of worldly and unscriptural elements as to repel and offend Him from taking any part in a pompous ritual. An operatic choir and ritualistic service will effectually quench all the fire of God’s altar, and send the gentle dove to seek a simpler nest.
4. The Spirit may be quenched by the preacher, and his spirit and method.
His own manner may be so intellectual and self-conscious, and his own spirit so thoroughly cold and vain that the Holy Ghost is neither recognized nor known in his work. His sermons may be on themes in which the Spirit has no interest, for He only witnesses to the Holy Scriptures and the person of Christ, and wearily turns away from the discussion of philosophy, and stale show of critical brilliancy over the questions of the day or the speculations of man’s own vain reason.
Perhaps his address is so rigidly written down that the Holy Spirit could not find an opportunity for even a suggestion, if He so desired, and His prompting and leading so coolly set aside by a course of elaborate preparation which leaves no room for God.
5. The spirit of error in the teachings of the pulpit will always quench the Holy Spirit.
He is jealous of His own inspired Word and when vain man attempts to set it aside He looks on with indignation, and exposes such teachers to humiliation and failure.
The spirit of self-assertion and self-consciousness is always fatal to the free working of the Holy Spirit.
When a man stands up in the sacred desk to air his eloquence and call attention to his intellectual brilliancy, or to preach himself in any sense, he will always be deserted by the Holy Spirit. He uses the things “that are not to naught the things that are.” And before we can expect to become the instruments of His power, we must wholly cease from self and be lost in the person and glory of Jesus.
6. The spirit of pride, fashion and worldly display in the pews, is just as fatal as ambition in the pulpit.
Such an atmosphere seems to freeze out the spirit of devotion, and erect on the throne of the lowly Nazarene a goddess of carnal pride and pleasure, life the foul Venus that the Parisian mob set up in the Madeline at Paris in the days of the revolution, as an object of worship. From such an atmosphere the Holy Ghost turns away grieved and disgusted.
7. The quickening and reviving influences of the Holy Ghost are often quenched in the very hour of promise by wrong methods in the work of Christ’s church.
How often, on the eve of a real revival, the minds of the people have been led away by some public entertainment in connection with the house of God, or its after-fruits withered by a series of unholy fairs and secular bids for money, and the introduction of the broker and the cattle-vender into the cleansed temple of Jehovah, as in the days of Christ.
8. The spirit of criticism and controversy is fatal to the working of the Holy Ghost.
The gentle dove will not remain in an atmosphere of strife. If we would cherish His power we must possess His love, and frown down all wrangling gossip, evil speaking, malice, envy, and public controversy in the preaching of the Word.
Sometimes a single word of criticism after an impressive service will dispel all its blessed influence upon the heart of some interested hearer, and counteract the gracious work that would have resulted in the salvation of the soul.
A frivolous Christian woman returning one night from church with her unsaved husband was laughing lightly at some of the mistakes and eccentricities of the speaker. Suddenly she felt his arm trembling; she looked in his face and his tears were falling. He gently turned to her, and said, ‘Pray for me, I have seen myself tonight as I never did before.” She suddenly awoke with an awful shudder to realize that she had been frivolously wrecking his soul's salvation, and quenching the Holy Ghost.
And so, public controversy is as fatal to the Spirit’s working as personal criticism.
It is when the children of God unite at the feet of Jesus, and together seek His blessing, that He comes in all the fullness of His life –power.
The Spirit may be quenched in the hearts of our friends by unwise counsel, or ungodly influence.
The little child may be discouraged from seeking Christ by a worldly parent, or the ignorant assumption that it is too young to be a Christian, or too busy with its studies, or its social enjoyments, for such things.
The attractions of the world and claims and pressures of business may be interposed in the way of some seeking heart, and we find in eternity that we put a stumbling block in our friend’s way, from which he fell into perdition.
Let us be very careful lest, in our willfulness and pride, we not only miss ourselves the inner chamber of the kingdom of heaven, but hinder those that would enter from going in.
Oh! if we would cherish the faintest breath of life in the rescued waif that has been snatched from a watery grave, if we could fan the expiring flame of life in a friend’s bosom, let us be careful lest we quench the spark of everlasting life in a human soul, and stand at the last, responsible for the murder of immortal beings, and crimson with the blood of souls.
Quench not the Spirit! (A. B. Simpson. Walking in the Spirit)
Are you quenching the Holy Spirit?
DAN WILSON
EPHESIANS 4 TEACHER
ephesians4teacher@hotmail.com
