1 Thessalonians 5:19

The thought of quenching the Spirit pictures the Spirit as fire. We cannot help thinking of Pentecost, with its divided tongues of fire. That was the display in each person of the heavenly power that had come among men... Here in fact is one form of quenching the Spirit. Each one should serve another with the gift he has received (1 Peter 4:10). Instead, what the Spirit has given is ignored. The ministry that love urges is held back, and the Church suffers.

It is not at all the same as grieving the Spirit. Ephesians warns us about that. Grieving Him is a personal question. Quenching Him is just as plainly about others — mainly, I suppose, in public action, or at least in the use of their gifts. I am not to hinder another. I am not to raise difficulties about how the Holy Spirit shows Himself in any brother. It may be a great work or a very small one. That is not the question at all. The question is: is it of the Spirit? The Holy Spirit is present and at work in the Church in all sorts of ways. Respect for that would keep the greatest from quenching the Spirit in the least.

Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit may be resisted (Acts 7:51), grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19). That makes what we do in the assembly a very solemn thing. The command "Do not quench the Spirit" is very often pressed on unbelievers. It warns them not to trifle with the convictions the Spirit works in their souls. I have preached from it many times in that sense. But however true that warning may be, it is not really the mind of God in this text... These words are not addressed to unbelievers but to the Church. They come with another command: "Do not despise prophecies." That shows the Spirit's working in ministry is what is in view.

"Do not quench the Spirit" is a command not to hinder His action through the prophets or others when the saints gather. The next verse or two shows this. The Spirit who lives in the Church claims the right to order its gatherings. Men must not interfere with His voice or quench it, whatever excuse they give. Most of Christendom ignores this command. There, people have brought in organizations and set forms of service to place everything under the control of one man or a few men.

Both commands assume the free action of the Holy Spirit in the assembly. Not even the least member of Christ may hinder His general movement there. Nor may anyone despise the highest form of dealing with souls — prophesying. On the other hand, no one should impose on the saints with high or exclusive claims. The truly spiritual never need such claims and would find them repulsive. The saints were to prove all things, hold fast what is good, and keep away from every form of evil.

To quench the Spirit is to refuse to follow His leading. It is also to refuse what the Spirit may give through others. Take the apostle Paul. If he had refused the Spirit's urging to preach the gospel among the Gentiles, he would have quenched the Spirit, and most of the book of Acts would never have been written. Here is another case. The Spirit of God may urge a believer to meet the material needs of a poor believer, or even of an unbeliever, and he does not do it. Then the Spirit is quenched.