DON’T QUENCH THE FIRE OF THE SPIRIT
1 Thess. 5:19
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Presence of God
1. It sounds like a made-up story, but it’s true. Some years ago a church in Carter County, Tennessee had an attorney draw up a deed for their property. He wrote the deed naming The Lord God Almighty as the owner.
2. That was fine until some years later the church wanted to sell the property and relocate. They went back to the same lawyer. He said it would not be a problem. The court could issue them a new deed. But as part of the process of writing such deeds, it is necessary that it be determined that the previous owner could not be found.
3. So the Sheriff was given the papers to sign. He swore that “The Lord God Almighty was not to be found in Carter County, Tennessee.” The newspapers picked that up and saw in it a story. The headline read, “Lord God Almighty Not to Be Found in Carter County.” (The article went on to say that His Infernal Satanic Majesty, however, could most certainly be found in Carter County, Tennessee.) [Robert Shannon, Preaching; March/April 1998]
B. PAUL WARNS US NOT TO RESTRICT THE HOLY SPIRIT’S INFLUENCE IN OUR LIVES
1. The Bible warns against "grieving the Spirit" (Eph. 4:30), "quenching the Spirit" (1 Thess. 5:19), “resisting the Spirit” (Acts 7:51), and ultimately "insulting" the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29) which may be equivalent to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
2. God is not a Person to be trifled with, to mock, or to insult. We must always be respectful, humble, and repentant in the presence of the Creator. He graciously extends to us the olive branch of mercy, but He owes us nothing. God is a debtor to no man.
3. He is longsuffering with our ignorance, but a wicked, prideful attitude, if maintained after enlightenment, will harden His will, like concrete, to be just as devoted to our punishment & correction, as He was to our salvation!
4. Be careful not to try to force God into your frame of reference. Who are we to tell God how to run His universe, how to save the world, or how to run His church? Do we think we are equal with God? Are we as wise as He? Did we pre-exist Him or His Word?
5. Our place is but to humbly serve and obey; to take His Word as we find it, not to rewrite it to fit our theology.
C. THESIS
1. Tonight we look at 1) How important the Holy Spirit is to us, 2) What we do which causes Him to pull back, and 3) How to restore His presence to our lives.
2. The title of this message is, “Don’t Quench the Fire of the Spirit.”
I. REASONS WE DESPERATELY NEED THE SPIRIT
A. WITHOUT HIM WE COULD NOT PRAY!
1. The Holy Spirit is the only avenue by which our prayers ascend unto the Father; “We have access by one Spirit unto the Father” Eph. 2:18.
2. If the Holy Spirit were to leave us, we could have no communion with God. We must have the Spirit or else our great resource and remedy of prayer becomes unavailable! Thank God for our access!
B. WE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND TRUTH
1. Next, the Spirit of God is given to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). For all who lack wisdom – He takes of the things of Christ and make it known to us.
2. It’s the Spirit of God that illumines the Word for us; He opens our minds to understand God’s truth. What would we do without the Holy Spirit, our patient and infallible teacher (Luke 12:12; John 14:26)? He teaches us what to say and remind us of everything Jesus has said to us.
C. WE WOULD HAVE NO COMFORT IN TROUBLE
1. We need the Holy Spirit as our Comforter. One of His names is the Paraclete, the Comforter. He has come to heal our griefs and comfort our sorrows.
2. His mission is to bring us joy and peace (Gal. 5:22). Our adversities may be many, but in the Holy Spirit’s gracious presence we’ll rise above them all.
D. WE COULDN’T BE PURIFIED FROM SIN
1. The Holy Spirit is our sanctifier (Rom. 15:16; 2 Thess. 2:13)! He “strives” to keep us from sinning (Gen. 6:3). When we feel sin raging within us, how could we hope to conquer that nature without His aid? If He left us, we’d be defeated before we even started.
2. I would rather die a thousand times than lose the convicting presence of the Holy Spirit! How else could we ever become holy and acceptable to God?
E. HE’S OUR SOURCE OF DIVINE LIFE
1. Remember, Church, that we were born again by the Spirit. He’s the Spirit of Adoption that makes us Sons and Daughters of God. Without the Spirit, we would cease to be the children of God!
2. The Holy Spirit is not a luxury, but a necessity; if any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His! Without Him you and I are separate from Christ, foreigners to the covenants, without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:12).
F. THE SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE THROUGH LIFE
1. “...by the Spirit of the Lord...You guided Your people...” Isa. 63:14. What other guide is so close as to speak His direction into our very hearts (John 14:17)?
2. Jesus said we’re not “orphaned” because He’s left the Holy Spirit behind for us, similar to a guardian, to teach us and guide us in our growth as children of God.
G. BETTER TO LOSE ALL ELSE THAN THE SPIRIT!
David prayed, "...and take not Your Holy Spirit from me!” (Ps. 51:11). That should be our heart’s cry too. David would rather have lost his crown, his possessions, and maybe even his life rather than to lose the Spirit!
II. WHAT MIGHT CAUSE THE SPIRIT TO PULL BACK?
A. WANDERING, SIN & WILLFUL RESISTANCE
1. It’s not the great sins which are the greatest danger, but the continuation of small sins which gradually alter our direction toward sin and away from God.
2. The journey to Hell begins with such trivial things as being distracted by the cares & affairs of life, setting our hearts on the world (like Lot’s wife), refusing to listen (Jer. 13:10), or hardening our hearts toward Him -- resisting Him.
3. The Holy Spirit says, “Those who honor Me I will honor, but those who despise Me will be disdained” 1 Sam. 2:30.
B. NEGLECT OF RELATIONSHIP
1. Jesus talked about staying grafted into the Vine (John 15:1-8), that is, to stay in relationship daily with God, to feed on Christ and receive His Spirit. If you don’t eat every day, but only once a week, you will die. This is true of spiritual life also; we must partake of Christ, His Spirit, & His Word every day if we wish to be spiritually alive.
2. Paul outlines three steps of God’s withdrawing from a person by the words, “God gave them over” in Romans 1:24,26,28.
3. This means that at each stage we may repent and turn back to God. Thank God that’s it’s not until death (Heb. 9:27) that our condition becomes permanent.
4. Praise God His mercies are “new every morning.” Just as sin separates us from God, heartfelt repentance – “plowing our unplowed ground” – causes us to be restored to God and His good favor.
5. Great are the words of Isaiah 43:25; “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
III. HOW TO RESTORE THE FIRES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOUR LIFE
A. SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO GOD’S PURPOSE
1. Samson was a Nazarite, consecrated to God. Spiritual power always begins with consecration. Surrender your life completely to God; then He’ll use it. As long as Samson’s life was consecrated, the anointing was available. Same with us.
2. “But you shall receive power after the H.S. comes on you and you shall be My witnesses…” Acts 1:8.
B. WHEN YOU SENSE THE SUPERNATURAL, DON’T THROW WATER ON IT!
1. “Quench not the Spirit” (KJV) or “Do not extinguish the Spirit” (NET) or “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (GWT) 1 Thess. 5:19.
2. This Greek word translated “QUENCH” means:
a. Don’t suppress the emotions, to lessen the hunger or power of the Holy Spirit;
b. Don’t take away the "fighting strength" or remove "the magic of love" of the Holy Spirit;
c. Don’t allow the vision to fade and the passions to no longer be stirred! [Kittel’s TDNT, sbennuo]
d. It’s easy to lose our PASSION for Christ; our HUNGER for God; our FIGHTING SPIRIT; and especially our FIRST LOVE for the Lord! If we’ve lost any of those, we’ve quenched the Spirit.
C. INSTEAD, FAN THE SPIRIT’S PRESENCE IN YOUR LIFE!
1. Paul said, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God” 2 Tim. 1:6. “Fan the flame” is the Greek word “anazopureo” = “up-life-fire.”
2. According to Guthrie, it means first to:
a. “Kindle afresh” – Are we fanning the Holy Spirit’s presence in us into such heat that it bursts anew into flames?
b. Secondly it means “to keep in full flame.” Can you honestly say you’re keeping the Spirit’s fire in “full flame” in your life?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Secret of His Confidence
1. John Ortberg, when young, was out surfing. The ocean and the beach were deserted, except for one man the size of Goliath doing tae kwon do on the beach.
2. After a while, a tiny wisp of a kid came paddling up out of nowhere—John couldn’t believe he was out there by himself. He pulled up next to John and started chatting like they were old friends. He told John his name was Shane.
3. John asked, “How long have you been surfing?” “Seven years.” I asked, “How old are you?” “Eight.” He said, “What I like about surfing is that it’s so peaceful. You meet a lot of nice people here.” John Ortberg said, “You’re a nice guy, Shane. That’s why you meet nice people.”
4. Then Ortberg asked him, “How did you get here, Shane?” “My dad brought me,” and he waved at the Goliath doing martial arts on the beach. He waved back. “Hi, Son!”
5. Then Ortberg knew why Shane was so at home in the ocean. It wasn’t his size, or his skill; it was who was standing on the beach. His father was always watching. And his father was very big. Shane wasn’t really alone at all. Neither are we! [John Ortberg, I’d Like You More If You Were More like Me: Getting Real about Getting Close, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.]
B. THE CALL
1. We have the Holy Spirit with us at all times. We can choose to encourage His working or to discourage it. God’s Spirit is a great gift to us. We ought to treasure and treat Him with all hospitality and respect.
2. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to forgive us for slighting Him and ask Him to fill us and constantly commune with Him the rest of our lives. PRAYER.
