Quench Not the Spirit 1 Thess. 5:19 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Quench means to: extinguish, repress, check, stifle, still, quiet, and destroy.   Today, we’re going to preach on these four words Quench not the Spirit.

So here is one of these anti-Calvinism verses that says you can actually work against the Spirit of God.  Unbelievers can resist the Holy Spirit, but believers can quench the spirit.

Paul says this because we get spiritual amnesia.  The Holy Spirit convicted us of sin, introduced us to Jesus Christ, baptized us into the body of Christ and as we go on down the road amnesia sets in.  We begin to think that what was started by the Holy Spirit of God can be completed by the flesh; by some new idea, new process, new thing we need to do.  Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Another thing to notice about this verse is that it tells you and I the Holy spirit is currently working.  He is not an inactive spirit.  He is not on standby.  He isn’t waiting on orders; God’s holy Spirit is presently at work.  Find out what he’s doing and start moving in that direction with Him.  So let’s find out what the Holy Spirit’s job is.

COMFORTER – The Holy Spirit can be quenched when we find comfort elsewhere

• John 16:7 if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you
  • Temptation looks like relief.  And it can feel that way, but it has deadly consequences.
  • We quench the Spirit when we find comfort in the old life.  Simon Peter did even after he was told there was a transition coming.
  • We quench the Spirit when we substitute psychology to comfort the mind.
  • We quench the Spirit when we make sure our faith never gets uncomfortable.  Decisions based on feelings.
  • Temptation looks like satisfaction – If you do it just this once, you won’t ever have to do it again.  That’s how sin is presented.
• Allow the Holy Spirit to comfort you which means look for the relief, for the comfort to come from Him.

REPROVER – The Holy Spirit can be quenched when we fear preaching

• John 16:8-11 Reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment
  • Temptation also looks like compromise.  We tell ourselves we’ll build a friendship and then tell them about Jesus Christ, but we never get around to it.
  • Temptation says, No one will know if you don’t do preach this hard truth.
  • God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
  • We would rather manipulate than preach.
• Don’t quench an impulse or an opportunity to preach hard truths.

FOLLOW the Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit can be quenched when we choose to be guided by our own flesh

• John 16:13
• Paul said it this way in Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
• Struggle of the will is not your battle with sin, it is your battle with the will of God.