Quench Not The Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:19 - Quench not the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit works within a believer like an inward fire. He makes us alive and gives us spiritual power. He purges and He refines.

Will we stifle the fire – or will we stir it up?

It is possible to:
STIFLE THE FIRE
Quench not the Spirit. Don’t put out the Spirit’s fire.

Quenching a fire - like throwing water on it - brings coldness and darkness.

A fire can be quenched: We can pour water on it, or cover it with something that won’t burn, or take away the fuel.

We can be guilty of being a squelcher. A wet blanket. Our faith can fizzle - we can quench the flame in others, too.

Is there something that dampens our passion for Christ? God’s Spirit can be quenched when we disobey the Word of God. What are some ways we can dampen our fervency - our faith:
• Lack of faith
• Neglect
• Sin
• Worldliness
• Carelessness
• Pride
• Ungodliness
The devil would love to dampen your faith – to cool your affection for Christ. He wants your church to fizzle out. The devil wants other loves to come in and take the Lord’s place. For you to get busy with anything but the things of God, so He gets crowded out. The cobwebs of neglect overtake your spiritual life – neglect, of Prayer, the Bible, of fellowship.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit do His work in your heart.
Don’t lose that burning conviction – that godly zeal. That glow of God’s Spirit… You can Stifle the Fire - OR - you can…

STIR UP THE FIRE
Keep the fire burning. The Holy Spirit – like fire – can be snuffed out – or we can burn more fully and intensely. Paul directs Timothy, “Stir up the gift of God;” 2 Timothy 1:6, in other words fan it into flame.
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How is your love for the Lord? Will we fan into flame God’s gift - God working us? Will we go the extra? Give the extra? Love the more. Go above and beyond expectations? Will we fire up our faith and be all aglow for God?

Let His Zeal consume you. Let it burn up the dross - all the vain things that would hinder your spiritual life. All the things that would take His place.
God wants us to be on fire. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire. Pray for a deeper love for Christ. Pray for a personal revival.

What are some ways we can stir up our faith?
• Assemble - Support your church
• Pray
• Study
• Yield - personal surrender
• Crucify the flesh
• Stand for Christ
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit… Be being filled. A continuous command. A moment by moment relationship.

Let’s not settle for shallowness – but, rather, go deeper. Ezekiel 47:1-12.

Paul prayed that his readers might be "filled with all the fullness of God”, Ephesians 3:19. The believer can know a filling, a fulness. It is a heartfelt, inner work, as we draw closer to Christ. We can know a fruitfulness - in contrast with the Unfruitful works of darkness - Ephesians 5:11. God’s desire is that we be productive, fruit-bearing Christians - fruitful in every good work.

God calls us to fervency. Romans 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; God warns us against a lack of zeal - Woe to them that are at ease in Zion - Amos 6:1.

God is sick of the lukewarm church. How’s your spiritual temperature?

Leviticus 6:13 tells of the fire on the altar - The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. Keep the fire burning.

We can know a soul-stirring, passionate faith. We can know a zealous, flaming, red-hot devotion to Christ.

Psalms 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

God wants His people ablaze, glowing, bursting into flame. Refuse the apathy - the indifference. Pray that God thaw out – and melt the frozen.
Seek after God for a red hot, boiling heat.

It’s said that there’s three things involved in decision for Christ. Up in your head imagine three little men sat on a bench. One is named Intellect, another Emotion, and another Will. Intellect says: I know that I am a sinner. I recognise my condition before God. Emotion says: I am sorry I am a sinner. I don’t like sinning against God. Will is sitting in the middle and takes Intellect with one arm, and Emotion with the other, and says, Come on fellows, let’s do something about it.

You can agree intellectually with what you have heard. You can agree that you need to take action. Emotionally, you can also be moved to take action. But it needs more. It takes your will to make action happen.
Have you been quenching the Spirit? So, what will you do about it?

The Bible says we can grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30. We can hurt Him. We can disappoint the one we should love the most. What a shame that is!

Will you let God do a work in you? He wants to take the spiritual deadness away. He wants to activate and empower us for God’s service.

Don’t be a squelcher.
Be filled with the Spirit. Fire up your faith.