The danger of sliding back

Imagine going down a hill in a vehicle with no brakes running backwards. That is how I should feel every time that I throw a damper on the Holy Spirit of God.

Today’s devotional reading is about how that happens and what I need to watch out for in my life. While it seems a terror to avoid, stifling the Spirit of God happens far more easily than one might suppose.

Out of this passage, Chambers selects the shortest line: “Do not quench the Spirit” . . .

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14–22)

How can the Holy Spirit be quenched? Chambers says that the Spirit’s voice is so gentle that only those in perfect communion with God will hear Him. Obviously, one way to quench the Spirit is by not listening, being too busy with other things to listen, to push Him away with noise, ear buds, and activity.

Chambers also says to beware of living on memories under a refusal to walk in the light today, saying, “Years ago, Jesus did this or that” rather than, “This morning I heard God speak.” When I spend more time talking about His work in my life back when, then I’m likely hiding unconfessed sin and refusals to listen somewhere in the past. I need to get on my knees, find out what it was, and confess it to God so that I am no longer quenching the Spirit. 

Another ‘opportunity’ to quench the Spirit is when God brings a crisis and I don’t quite get through it. So He engineers a repeat, but in the repeat His voice is less keen and I become more annoyed with my disobedience. This is a serious change of focus from being concerned about my relationship with God to caring more about my performance. In this, I am quenching the Spirit. If I continue, the crisis may or may not be repeated. The danger is that the Spirit has thrown up His hands and left me to become very sick of myself. I can waste a lot of time and energy in self-pity and beating up myself.

If I am making excuses for my disobedience and feeling sorry that I have to give up that which is an affront to God but an enjoyable habit to me, I am quenching the Spirit. I have forgotten that God has to slay whatever it is that I am using to please myself instead of pleasing Him.

Besides Chambers’ words of wisdom, the context of this passage offers more. If I envy or join the idle instead of admonishing them, or if I ignore, put down, or become impatient with those who struggle, I am quenching the Spirit. If I repay evil for evil or even put up with the evil that others do, I am quenching the Spirit.

I’m to rejoice always, pray constantly, and be thankful in all situations. This is the work of the Spirit in me, His fruit. If I don’t do these things, I am quenching Him.

Finally, if I resent and resist the Word of God through those who speak it, or if I don’t test what I hear and make sure it is good, or if I do any form of evil at all, I am quenching the work of the Holy Spirit in me.

Five words of instruction translate into an entire life, into all that I think, say, or do. Once I stop listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit, I am moving backwards and away from God. This is a most serious thing and horrifying, like going downhill backwards and out of control.

God lights the fire and keeps it burning

Many years ago I was driving a country road near the home of my parents. I saw smoke and came to a place where someone had obviously thrown a burning item into the dry grassy ditch. A half circle had already burned and the flames were rapidly moving toward nearby trees. This wooded area was dry as tinder. Several nearby homes were in danger. I found a phone and called the local fire department.
 

The controlled use of fire was an early human discovery. Fire adds light and heat, cooks plants and animals, clears forests for planting, and was used to treat stone in making tools and clay for pottery. Technically, fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in a chemical process of called combustion. The visible flame is glowing hot gases and can vary in color and intensity depending on what is burning. Most fires can be extinguished. 

In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is sometimes compared to or illustrated by fire. Fire is a powerful purifier as well as giving light and heat. The Holy Spirit is also a purifier, giving spiritual light and a burning motivation to obey God. The Bible commands me to be filled with the Spirit and follow His direction in obedience. The following passage tells me not to put out this holy fire.

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:12–22)

Christians are supposed to respect their leaders in love because of the work they do. We are not to fight with one another, but positively urge those who are idle, timid or weak. This is to be done with patience. If someone treats us wrongly, we are not to strike back but do good to all. 

These can be tall orders at times, but some spiritual disciplines can that help us. In this passage, we are told to practice joy, pray continually, and be thankful. This runs contrary to the way the world responds, but it can be done — IF we test and hold to sound teaching, say no to every form of sin and are careful to not put out the fire of the Holy Spirit. This is one flame that must be allowed to keep burning as it purifies and energizes our lives, making obedience possible, even when it seems impossible.

Some days I don’t feel like giving the Spirit that much attention or freedom in my life. While quenching Him can be a sudden thing, like throwing water on a bonfire, it can also happen slowly. Each time I say no to God’s  commands, the Spirit’s fire is less intense. If I say no enough times, He is barely there, nearly extinguished. Such folly makes me my own worst enemy as far as living a Spirit-filled life goes. This is why I need a Savior, and this is why I love the next two verses from the above passage . . .

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24)

I fail often, throwing water on the fire God lights in me. But God set me apart and is working in my life so that He can say “not guilty” when Jesus comes for me. As my Savior, what I cannot do on my own, He will do it. What I keep doing on my own that is counter-productive, He will stop it. He was faithful to call me to this life and He is faithful to be all that I need to live it.

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Lord, I need Your fire so that I can obey Your Word. Some days I feel like a big wet blanket, not wanting to do anything other than my own thing. Yet I know that without You, my efforts are like wet ashes, disgustingly useless to produce obedience and godliness. Thank You for the Holy Spirit. Thank You for guarding my foolish efforts to quench Him — and for re-igniting His fire whenever I’ve done so.

Singed? or left alone?

A huge fire in the south side of our city last weekend put hundreds of people out on the street, many in their pyjamas. The fire started around 5:15 a.m. in a three-building, four-storey, 149-unit complex under construction and quickly spread, totally destroying nearby duplexes and damaging at least 76 more homes. Hundreds were left without a place to live, and some with only what they were wearing.

We drove by the site the next day. It looked like a bomb had been dropped on a large city block leaving blackened earth and very little else. Any homes left standing were either charred shells, or at the very least had their vinyl siding buckled and melted in the heat.

I thought about this horrid mess this morning when I read 1 Thessalonians 5:19. It says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” I don’t know gallons, but the fire department needed a huge amount of water to quench that fire. In the homes less damaged, water would have ruined anything that was left untouched by the flames. I wondered: how much water, or whatever, does it take to quench the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is said to be like a fire, not to utterly destroy like real fire does, but to detect sin and make us aware of it, often with a burning heat in our conscience. As we pay attention to that heat and confess our sin, the Holy Spirit purifies us from that sin, if we let Him. That is the negative, unpleasant side of His fire, but we are not supposed to put it out.

A more positive metaphor is the fire or zeal for righteousness, justice and goodness that the Holy Spirit produces. Like a flame in our heart, He moves us to be champions for all that God is and wants done in this world, either through prayer or action. We are not supposed to quench that fire either.

Fire scares me. It also moves me to action. I recall one fire someone started with a cigarette along a country road. We found it moments later, a small blackened arch rimed with flame, but spreading rapidly. This was before cell phones, and I vividly remember my scramble to find help, to get people to the scene. This fire moved so fast, and I can still see in my mind its flames leaping from tree top to tree top before it was quenched.

A few weeks ago we had another experience with fire and my stomach still tightens at the memory. I posted those memories on another blog and can still see the flames in my mind.

I wonder why fire puts such impressions in my heart. Maybe this is a good thing, at least when it comes to the fire of the Holy Spirit. I’ve realized with Him, if I quench that first fire, His purifying heat, then I will never experience the second one, His zeal that sets me in motion.

However, that first fire isn’t difficult to quench. To put it out, all it takes is noise, any noise. Plug in the CD, put on a tape, turn on the radio, or the television, call someone. To hear His convicting voice generally requires silence, willingness to listen.

Even if I won’t listen, He is persistent. Just as a small flame can burst into a powerful fire, so can the Spirit become more powerful, more insistent. To use a different metaphor, if I won’t listen to His gentle tapping, He is quite able to get out a bigger hammer or a two-by-four. Better to have a quiet time with Him and pay attention.

It bothers me to see so many people plugged into noise; I-pods, headsets, cell phones. Silence bothers some people so much that they cannot stand being in it and like a blank wall, must spray it with the graffiti of sound.

For Christians, this is not what God wants. We need that fire because it can burn into us the likeness of Jesus Christ. Another verse, Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world (take that ear phone out of your ear), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (listen up and let Him change how you think), that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Silence is a spiritual discipline. Paying attention to God is hard work. Quenching the Spirit is the easier choice of saying no to His voice, of pouring in so much noise that He quietly goes away and leaves me alone. I don’t like fire, but that alternative is much worse.