1 Thessalonians 5:19 “ Do not quench the Spirit….“
We live the Christian life by the Holy Spirit who indwells us. He is our connection into Christ, our channel for the life of Christ to flow in and through us each day. How we commune and interact with the Spirit in us is therefore vitally important to us every day. Jesus explains this relationship:
John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.“
If we fail to connect with or utilize the nourishment and guidance the Spirit seeks to continually deliver to us, we are functionally cut-off from Him and will wither and die .
The Holy Spirit is a refining and energizing fire within us, the conduit for the light and power of God in our living. He is our guide into all truth, whether it is the truth of scripture, the truth He imparts to us in the moment of need either directly or through others, or the truth He speaks through us to others for their need. He is our conviction of both sin and righteousness moment by moment as we traffic through life each day.
Therefore, we must bear all caution to remain consciously connected to the Spirit of Christ in us as much as possible at all times. When we are so connected, we can be aware of His moving, speaking, and influence at almost every juncture of our day. He is able to live freely His life and purposes in us as the scriptures have promised. This is what it means to be “in the Spirit.” We are aware of His presence in us and are in touch with Him, attending to and responsive to Him moment by moment.
Because of the utmost importance of this relationship, Paul warns us to avoid quenching the Spirit of Christ in us. What is it to quench the Spirit?
Essentially, to quench the Spirit in us is to not cooperate with His work in us in a way that hinders his purposes in us and His work in others through us. To quench the Holy Spirit has at its core to operate apart from Him. We cannot do anything to lessen the power of the Holy Spirit in us, but we can refuse His work in us or inhibit that work in others by ignoring Him or disobeying Him.
To quench the Holy Spirit can happen when we ignore Him, not listening for Him to speak or direct. Richard Foster once said that the principal weapons against the Spirit’s work in us are hurry, noise, and crowds, for these keep us from attending to the Spirit. In the presence of these weapons we easily become hard of hearing if not deaf toward the Spirit. He speaks, but we are not listening. He directs, but we are already misdirected toward other things. He leads, but we are already headed in the direction the hurry, noise, and crowds are taking us.
To quench the Holy Spirit is to seek distraction and diversion in life at the expense of our conversational communion with Him. Such diversionary activities, of which our world is filled to overflowing, serve to steer us from the Spirit and drown out His voice within us. The activities might seem “morally good” at the time, but morality is not the best measure of our choice of activity. Many morally good activities are not our God’s will for us in the moment. Examples of such diversion include entertainments, superfluous reading, overbooking our schedules, spending our time seeking worldly or fleshly satisfactions, being drawn into media experiences, whether social or informational media.
When it comes to these diversion, the question we should be asking of ourselves is this: is what I am about to do of the Spirit of Christ? If a diversion is not of Christ, it is of the flesh. As such, it is of death; pursuing it cannot help but quench the Spirit in the person and in others who will be impacted. Furthermore, if it is in fact of death, it is rebellion and will likely lead to sin and the grieving of the Holy Spirit.
To quench the Holy Spirit is to choose to operate on our own power, by our own will for our own ends and purposes. To do this, whether in matters seemingly large or small, is to be functionally godless. It renders the Holy Spirit irrelevant to us in present in the moment.
If we have chosen to live in Christ, we are no longer our own persons. We have been bought with a price and all our living – every moment of it – is to be by the impulse and direction of the Spirit of Christ in us.
Related to the above, to quench the Holy Spirit can happen when we refuse to obey His impulses and directives. Fear of consequences and fear of man can drive this disobedience, as can being in our flesh and not in the Spirit in the moment. The flesh will always war against the direction of the Holy Spirit in us. Sin as well as self-direction can entice us to ignore and disobey the Spirit’s direction or warning. Whatever the cause of this quenching of the Spirit, the result is most often direct disobedience and grieving the Spirit (more on grieving the Spirit in a future post).
Like so many of the very important instructions in the scriptures, Paul’s simple short warning here is of the highest importance to us each and every day. The Holy Spirit is our very life as a disciple. Nurturing that connection is abundantly wise, but neglecting it or quenching it is abundantly foolish.
Look for part 2 on not quenching the Spirit in the next post. Image via author, Becker Lake, Beartooth Range, Wyoming.
One Pursuit 
Tim, this post is so timely. I do not want to do things that quench the Holy Spirit. When I’m not connected to HIM, all day, my disobedience gives only dissatisfaction. The “noise, crowd, and distractions” are SO prevalent in today’s world. Even when I attempt to connect with others who are living in the Spirit, I find that if they are prone to the distractions, it is a battle of the flesh for me, too. It’s so hard to be a disciple. I’ve known that for years. I know how lonely this road can be. I’m supposed to be going “out” and making disciples. I pray daily for the Spirit to work through me all while staying “disconnected” from what will quench the Spirit’s work. Those who I thought walked in this deep manner, are slipping into the water at times (Particularly from fear of what I’m experiencing with this cancer journey) and I’m hearing Jesus say, “Walk and obey”. I will not go under by following HIM and HIM alone. In the middle of the night I prayed to God for forgiveness in allowing distractions to take my focus off of my path to holiness. It brings me to tears when I think of the overwhelming gift of grace that God offers us. Lord, keep me in your will so I don’t get in the way. God bless you, Tim! The picture is beautiful. Your wise words always inspire me!
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Is not the key to avoiding the quenching of the Spirit, to walking and obeying, to not slipping into the water the simple life of loving our Savior above all other loves? The more I am coming to love Him at the expense of any competing interests, the more He is working in my, living through me, communing with me. Here is why the greatest commandment is not to obey or be behave – it is to love Him far beyond any possible love of anything or anyone else.
For so long, my love for my God was adulterated by my love for self, for the world and its things, and by seeking to find my own life. Never fully yielded to Him, I wandered off the path daily, the very essence of the biblical idea of “transgression.” My life was consistently missing the mark of my God’s high calling; missing the mark is the definition of the biblical word translated often as “sin.” Yet the life I was living was considered normal Christian living, the kind promoted in almost every church in North America.
Matthew 10 and Luke 14 provide for us the high standard for the love that will open us up to our God to truly transform us, not simply reform parts of us. To abandon all my living to Him, along with the consuming and utterly joyful assignment to love Him more that self, life, any person and anything has led to unimagined transformation in me. None of it is of my doing, for in my flesh and by my own acumen I can do absolutely nothing to be transformed. That has to come only from my God.
It gives me further joy to have watched this come live in you as well, Karla. Great joy indeed. Thank you for your always-insightful comments. All the blessings of this transformation be unto you in the coming season of enormous and momentous passages in your life.
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Tim, your wisdom helps me so much. Something I think SO MUCH is simply this: if we are to be recognized by our LOVE, then why is it so hard to follow the two greatest commandments given to us by Jesus? To Love God, love others. Obedience, as drilled in my head by my fiery Grandfather, was great for all of those “in charge” of me (teachers at church, school, my parents). Yet, when life’s situations flipped the rug under me I didn’t find love at the church. Condemnation and rules. But wait. What about loving God AND others? Tithing, teaching Sunday School and youth, all of the “Christian” things I did did not keep me from making wrong choices and then, feeling all more guilty. I gave up the rigidity of the rules. I released it all. I’ve surrendered. Like you, I kept “missing the mark” and beating myself up over and over emotionally, mentally, and even physically. Jesus said I was ready for this next step. It was revealed in my release. I pruned that which was killing me. Today, specifically, I had an opportunity to rest and relax. There was something that was completely inappropriate for my spirit and mind. It was in total disagreement with the Spirit and actually, sickened me that it was even on media/TV. I’m so thankful that I have this discernment. And even more thankful my little grands have parents that are heeding this. You’ve helped me, through readings and prayers, to surrender ALL of myself. And only from God, as you stated, does this transformation occur! Praise God!! Your prayers are so appreciated as I head out soon for this next miraculous part of my journey. No matter what, God has me! May he continue to bless you, precious Jackson and Rascal (I’m praying for Jackson!). Finn sends her best too (She only talks to me, tee hee). God bless you, my friend!
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