I Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Quench not the Spirit.” The first word in this sentence is “quench.” “Quench” means to “suppress.” The word “not” we know to be an adverb that means “negation.” The word “the” is an adjective denoting the Noun. The Noun of the sentence is “Spirit.” “Spirit” as used here refers to the Holy Spirit. There is one God, James 2:19. The Holy Spirit and Jesus are God in the sense that they are One with God the Father, John 1:1-17, I Corinthians 2:9-11, and II Corinthians 13:14.
The Holy Spirit speaks unto man today through His written Word, because miracles have ceased. The purpose of miracles was to give God’s Word and to confirm the Word being preached and taught to prove that it was from God, Mark 16:20 and Hebrews 2:3-4. Miracles fulfilled this purpose and ended in the First Century, just as God had said in I Corinthians 13:8-10. The revelation was completed in the First Century. II Peter 1:3 says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” II Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” All Scripture was breathed of God, and there is no work that we must do to go to Heaven that is not told unto us in the Holy Scriptures.
Here in I Thessalonians 5:19 then when God says, “Quench not the Spirit,” He is warning those in the First Century to refrain from stifling the expression of miracles. When people rejected God’s messengers, they quenched the Spirit. The word “quench” here is metaphorical, because a person cannot literally suppress the Spirit. Now in the Twenty-first Century, the Holy Spirit speaks through the Written Word as we have seen. We must still apply the sentence, “Quench not the Spirit,” to our lives in the sense that we should not suppress the influence of the Holy Spirit in our own lives by resisting the Spirit’s teaching by way of the Holy Scriptures. If we oppose a Preacher or Teacher who speaks the whole counsel of God as found in the Holy Scriptures, then we are quenching the Spirit (Acts 20:27). If we refuse to hear a Bible-based lesson and if we refuse to study God’s Word, we are quenching the Spirit (II Timothy 2:15). If we refuse to apply a Bible-based lesson to our own lives and if we refuse to do what the Bible says to do, then we are quenching the Spirit (James 1:22). As Christians, we are to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The more we study God’s Word and obey Him, the more we will walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). Let us be a temple of the Holy Spirit, allowing the Spirit to cause us to be enthusiastic about the work of God (Titus 2:14). Let us not suppress the Spirit, but rather let us take His Sword, which is the Word of God, and allow it to be as a burning fire in our bones as it was for Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20:9 in so much that we want to obey it fully and spread it!
-Jason Gann
