1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 NKJV
“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.”
The word quench means to put out as in to put out a fire. To quench the Holy Spirit simply means to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit. This means to interfere with the work the Holy Spirit is appointed to do.
Think of the words used to describe the Holy Spirit; Helper, Advocate, Teacher, Counselor and so on. When we do not allow the Holy Spirit to fulfill this role in our lives, then we are quenching him. When he teaches us and we do not respond, when he counsels us and we do not take his counsel to heart, when he helps us and we do not accept his help then we are putting off his fire in our life.
When we neglect his gifts and do not put them to use to build up the body, then we are quenching him. Remember Timothy was told not to neglect the gifts that were imparted to him through prophetic utterance and by the laying on of hands, 1 Tim 4:14. The same applies to us today.
When we despise prophesies as well, we are quenching the Holy Spirit. That is something we need to think about today especially because so many self appointed prophets have arisen, we must be careful not to group all prophets together such that we despise every word of prophesy.
When we continue in habitual sin, we are also quenching the Holy Spirit. The important thing every believer needs to ask themselves is this; “If I have the Holy Spirit living in me, is his work evident in my life?” If it is not, then it means that I am quenching him!
In what ways have you quenched the fire of the Holy Spirit in your life? What must you do to ensure that you do not quench the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? Where would you be in your walk of faith today if you fully allowed the Holy Spirit to fulfill his role in your life?
