This epistle to the church in Thessalonica is considered to be the first of Paul’s inspired letters. And most Bibles have this note after the end – “The first epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens.” After preaching Christ in Thessalonica, Paul made a brief stop in Berea before sailing for Athens, Greece. So just a few weeks after leaving Macedonia, Paul, with a bit of time on his hands, redeemed that time by writing to his persecuted friends in Thessalonica.
Prior to Athens, Acts 16-18 shows us Paul and Silas being released from jail in Philippi where they were held for preaching the gospel and healing a demon-possessed woman. Oh, how excited they were. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and with joy at God’s victories. They passed thru a couple of small communities in Macedonia before carrying their joy to Thessalonica. Then Paul, as his manner was, went into the synagogue, reasoning with those Jews from the Old Testament scriptures. Some people recognized the truth and believed on the Messiah – the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, tried to crush Paul and his gospel ministry. Specifically they declared, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”
For the sake of a lesson, I’m going to make a bold assumption at this point. Since Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica a very short time – (some say only a matter of weeks) – yet a flourishing church was formed… And since the Jews accused them of turning the world upside down… My assumption is that they were in the process of turning Thessalonica upside down. I am going to assume that, the Lord, through His evangelists, were lighting a spiritual fire in city. There were both Jews and Gentiles to whom the Lord was giving new hearts and minds – regenerating them. And these new Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit to such a degree, we could say they were ablaze. They had become spiritual arsonists, setting new fires – additional fires – all over town. They may not have used the term, but the church in Thessalonica was in the midst of a “spiritual revival,” the likes of which they may never enjoyed again.
Fire has always been one of man-kinds’ fascinations. There has always been a kind of love/hate/fear relationship between human beings and fire. Maybe that is one reason that the Holy Spirit uses fire as symbol of Himself and the God-head generally. There is a love/hate/fear relationship with the holy God, just as there is with fire. For example, Moses first glimpsed God in the fiery bush, and then again in the fire and smoke on Mount Sinai. And as I pointed out on Wednesday, when he came down from that mountain after spending forty days with the Lord, his face radiated the glow of that spiritual fire. “Our God is a consuming fire.” “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.”
There are many other parallels between God and fire throughout the Bible. For example, on the great Day of Pentecost, some of God’s saints were filled with the Holy Spirit, and above their heads, and probably filling their hearts there were visible tongues of fire. Those flames were apparently a picture of the presence, approval and sanctification of God. That Pentecostal experience was a reflection of the day when the great glory of God filled the temple. It also reminds us of the Pillar Fire which led Israel through the wilderness of Sinai. The church in Jerusalem, on that very early day in Christian history, was filled with Holy Spirit revival.
Fire is often a Biblical picture – “a type” – of God, the Holy Spirit. And with this, I return to Thessalonica, following the Spirit-empowered ministry of the Apostle Paul. The city was being turned upside down – not by Paul and Silas, but by the God the Holy Spirit. Despite the hatred of the Jews, Thessalonica was on the verge of becoming a conflagration. So the Jews stirred up opposition and even persecution against the believers in Christ Jesus. But that persecution did not accomplish what they hoped. It was acting more like gasoline than fire retardant.
And the fact is – the fire of God is rarely going to be extinguished by outside forces. The Jew’s persecution of Jesus’ disciples spread the gospel throughout the world – Antioch and even Thessalonica. The hatred of ungodly people and even sanctimonious people like the Pharisees, didn’t douse the flames of God. That hatred fanned those flames. History shows us that the flames of revival are far more apt to be quenched by the burning material itself than by outside forces. Christians are more apt to put out the fire of the Lord themselves, than demons or demonic people.
And this brings us to our text in the last chapter of I Thessalonians. Paul says in verse 19 – “quench not the Spirit.” The word “quench” perfectly translates the Greek word which speaks “putting something out” or “extinguishing a fire.” And notice that our translators properly considered the word “Spirit” to mean “the Holy Spirit,” by capitalizing the word.
When it comes to fire, we usually want one of two things – either we want that fire to go on – or to stop. We want to control that fire to cook our food and warm our house. Or we want to put it out, so that it doesn’t burn our food or burn our house down. Of course, in case fire of the Holy Spirit, Christians should never want to quench Him in slightest degree. We need the ministry of the flame of God – conviction, comfort, communion. We need Him as the Spirit of Truth who will guide us into all Truth. And the world needs His guidance, radiance, performance and regeneration through us. Our Christian hearts demand more and more of the Holy Spirit. Without Him our world turns into tribulation. It is the presence of the Spirit in the children of God, today, which slows the work of Satan. II Thessalonians, in speaking about the Holy Spirit says, “the mystery of iniquity – Satan often in a hidden way – doth already work: only he who now (limits or hinders him) will (continue to limit him), until he be taken out of the way.” When the Spirit of God will be taken out of the way, then shall that Wicked One be revealed. We need the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, or we will find ourselves in some degree of tribulation, as it will be in the world during the upcoming time of Jacob’s Trouble.
I’d like to use the illustration of fire to introduce our message for this afternoon. There are a handful of little fires burning in our church – there is a ministry of the Spirit among us. The Lord is doing things here that we haven’t seen in some time. And several of our people have recently been set afire by great preaching and godly fellowship. They have brought those flames back to us. But as we have seen before – over time fires can go out. Furthermore, fires can actually be put out – doused, quenched.
The few verses of our text remind us of two ways in which the fire can be extinguished – they can be quenched and the can be starved. They can be robbed of oxygen or they can be covered with dirt. What do we need in order to keep from putting the fire of the Holy Spirit out? And what can we do to keep the fire burning well? This scripture, whether intentionally or unintentionally, refers to these sorts of things.
If you want to fire up the fire of God in your heart – FEED the FLAME.
There were most likely church members in Thessalonica, whose hearts burned within them, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, because they had been with Jesus. There were people newly saved, or recently reignited; people enthusiastic about the things of God. For example, they were looking for Christ’s return. And they were concerned about unsaved friends, especially in the light of the Second Coming. They were spending time in prayer. There was a spiritual glow about them, and their joy in the Lord was spreading. Metaphorically, they were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, walking on the water toward Christ Jesus. But… perhaps slowly… they were forced to look at the waves. It could even have been instantaneous. Their hearts were in Heaven one moment, but then circumstance immediately brought them back to earth. They felt the wind and all the other circumstances of life, forcing their eyes away from the Lord. And immediately they started to sink. Why does spirituality wax and wane in our lives? Why does our zeal come and go? What can we do to keep an even keel or to continue to walk on top of the tumultuous waves?
To keep the fire burning, consider adding some of the combustible material of verse 16 – “Rejoice evermore.” We can feed the fires in our hearts, and the fire of the Holy Spirit, by learning to constantly rejoice. It doesn’t matter if our rejoicing is in God’s great blessings or His sustenance during periods of trial, rejoicing in the Lord is always good fuel for spiritual fires.
When was last time you physically felt 100% – when was it you were thoroughly happy with your condition? For most us it is been awhile. You are tired; you have some achy joints; yesterday you had that headache; today you are hungry. You may say that you haven’t felt 100% in years. We can ask the same sort of question and hear the same sort of answers about our emotional lives. And the same things may apply spiritually as well. But no matter how bad things may be at moment, or how bad they appear to be, we could be a lot worse. The last time that I did the math, 80% of something good was better than 30%. And we can – and we should – rejoice in that 80% or even in 65% if that is the case. Furthermore we should learn to rejoice even when only 30% of our lives seem to be going smoothly.
We can always find things about which we can rejoice, if we purpose to do so. For example, when was the last time that you had a toothache? When was the last time that you rejoiced that you haven’t had one in several years? Yes, there have been a lot of colds and flu in your family recently, and you’ve been sick yourself. You are tired of it, and you’re tired; you’re prone to be grumpy; you’re unhappy, maybe even miserable. But how long has it been since there was death in your family? When have you been attacked with stone throwing? No matter what trials and tribulations you’ve had recently, you haven’t experienced the worst. “Rejoice evermore” – not only for what you have not experienced, but for what you have. I can say with confidence that the Holy Spirit loves to hear your rejoicing. Feed the flame. That rejoicing will fan the flame of revival in your heart.
And of course, we can be more specific than that – “pray without ceasing.” Pray your praise – pray your joy and express your thanksgiving directly to the Lord. There probably isn’t a person alive, who doesn’t like to hear a little honest praise now and then. And most people when they hear it – they try just a little harder to earn more of it. I won’t put the Lord in the same camp as ourselves, but I can’t imagine the Lord being upset with hearing our thanksgiving for His recent blessings. I think that the flame of the Holy Spirit most likely flairs up when He hears our praise. “Pray without ceasing.”
Of course, not all our prayer will be praise, because we are still needy creatures. And yet in our praying – our pleading with God – we are brought into a tighter relationship with the Spirit. “The Spirit … helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” When a saint of God prays, he is implying and hinting at many of the Lord’s wonderful attributes. He is suggesting that God is omnipotent and sovereign over the things of the world. He is saying, by faith, that the Lord can heal the sick and solve insurmountable problems. These sorts of things cannot but please the Holy Spirit and stir him up within our hearts. Prayer and praise are two different kinds of fuels which we can apply to fire of the Spirit in our lives. Such things will keep the fire blazing.
Obviously, this is just the opposite to quenching the Spirit.
Sadly, there are many things which we might do to actually quench the Spirit.
When a lady is frying chicken or ocra or something else, and somehow the grease catches fire. If she has the lid to the pan close at hand, dropping it over the fire would end the problem. I’ve heard that another plan of attack is to douse the flames with baking soda. Probably the best plan is not to have the fire in the first place, but when it is there, something must be done before the house burns down. What we are doing is robbing the fire of the oxygen that it requires to keep burning. And metaphorically speaking, the fire of the Spirit needs certain things to continue to burn. Certainly, when we throw dirt or other sinful things on His flame, He will wither down.
For example, Paul says, “Despise not prophesying.” Most people unnecessarily limit the meaning of the word “prophesy.” In the Bible it refers to any kind of speaking for the Lord. There are two kinds of prophets in the Bible – which are often confused. There were “seers,” and there were ordinary “prophets” – their offices often overlapped, but not always. A seer was someone who saw things from God which others couldn’t – He had visions and dreams. He was the person who could look into future, as directed by the Lord, and see upcoming events. Daniel was a “seer” like that, as was Joseph, Isaiah and the Apostle John. But not all “prophets” were “seers.” The Prophet Samuel was a spokesman for God, but not much of a seer. And John the Baptist was considered a prophet, but he wasn’t a foreteller of future events. To “prophesy” is to speak for God – and usually it is nothing more than the preaching of God’s Word. I am not a “seer” but in a limited way I am a “prophet” of the Lord, as are some others amongst us.
While Paul got settled in Athens, word came to him that some of the saints in Thessalonica were losing their zeal for the Lord – the fire was going out. They had been set on fire under the ministry of the Apostle Paul. But now that the missionary had moved on, and there was another man who was pastoring that church. Perhaps that second man preached in a different fashion from Paul. Different styles, a different emphasis, different pastoral priorities do not negate the authority of God or the divine authorship of the second message. That struggling Thessalonian saint may have decided that he didn’t like the new pastor, and he didn’t like the preaching – the prophesying – of the new man. But if that message came out of the pages of God’s Word, then he was obligated to receive it.
“Despise not prophesying.” The word “despise” is a derivative of the Greek word meaning “to set at nought” – “to lightly esteem.” Looking down on the preaching of God’s Word is guaranteed to quench the Spirit.
Maybe some of the believers from Thessalonica had visited Philippi and had been stirred by the preaching they heard from lips of the converted jailor. They heard the testimony of that man, including his near to death experience and how gracious God was to him. The testimony and the preaching these visitors from Thessalonica heard in Philippi set their hearts ablaze. But then they had to return home – back to their old jobs, their old neighbors, and their old preacher. Their spiritual excitement might have taken an immediate hit. Their old “prophet” wasn’t as thrilling as the “ new prophet” they had heard in Philippi.
It shouldn’t matter who the prophet is – to despise Godly prophesying is a sure way to quench the Holy Spirit. I believe every Christian ought to read the Word of God, to study it, and to memorize it. But personal study cannot replace attendance to the preaching of the Word. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” You might say that it is the powerful fuel of God. Any Christian who forsakes the place of prophesying is stomping on the flames of the Spirt in his heart. He may have excuses for his lack of attendance, but it doesn’t change the reality of his neglect. And if his absence is deliberate, then the quenching of the Spirit may come much more swiftly. To deliberately ignore the application of the prophesy is another way to despise it. To care so little for the preaching of the Word that someone refuses to pray for its blessing is to despise it. To not care whether others hear or are invited to hear it is to despise prophesying. “Despise not prophesying” – it is like baking soda tossed onto the fire of the Spirit inside of you.
Paul continues, “Prove (test, examine, try) all things, hold fast what which is good.” There is a reason that this verse follows on the heels of the preceding. All things need to be tested and examined, and that includes the prophesying that Christians hear. Often, when a church loses the flame of the Holy Spirit, the cause is the pastor and his preaching. It is the fear of the pastor that he might unintentionally quench the fire of God in a person’s heart. But what does it mean if five people hear a particular message and four people are blessed while the fifth is not? Isn’t that an indication that the fifth Christian is somehow starving the flame in his heart?
Obviously, it is not just the prophesying we hear that we should prove and test. “Prove ALL things, hold fast that which is good.” That which is good will act like pure oxygen on the flame of the Spirit. But that which is not good becomes just like fire redardant.
So, test all things, and then “abstain from all appearance of evil.” The word “appearance” doesn’t refer to the arrival or manifestation of evil. It is not saying, “Refrain from approaching things which appear to be wicked.” It is not telling us to run every time evil approaches – even though that is good advice. This is talking about abstaining from evil in every fashion and shape. No matter what appearance evil has – avoid it, shun it, abstain from it. Just as Satan’s demons can appear as angels of light, sin has a million different disguises. It is our job to learn as many of them as we can, and to avoid or abstain from them as we learn to recognize them. Because any form of evil will quench the Holy Spirit in your soul.
We know that water puts out fire – no matter what form it is in. Clean, purified water can quench a fire as easily as dirty, filthy water – perhaps even better. Ice can put out a fire, absorbing the fire’s energy and smothering it even before it melts. I suppose that even heavy water (H3O) can put out fire. That is the kind of water which is used in cooling certain forms of radio activity.
It should be the desire of every child of God to be filled with and governed by the Holy Spirit. If we can use the word this way, “revival” should be our normal Christian experience. It should be our desire to constantly have the fire of the Holy Spirit burning brightly in our hearts, in our lives and in our church. That means we all must take seriously Paul’s exhortation – “Quench not the Spirit.” Generally speaking, the brightness of the Spirit in our lives is dependent on God’s blessing. And conversely, the dimness of the Spirit is due to things we permit into our lives which quench the Spirit. “Quench not the Spirit.”