Quenching the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:20)

Do you know some people who in the past were eager to witness that they were Christians, but now no longer do so? Do you know anyone who once delighted to read the Bible, but now no longer does so? Can you recall someone who used to enjoy the means of grace but now regards them as boring and dry? What has happened to them? One answer is mentioned by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:18-20 – they have quenched the Spirit and he no longer affects their life.

The idea behind quenching is to put out a flame or a fire with water or by ground, which is why some translate the exhortation as ‘Do not put out the Spirit’s fire!’ So it is appropriate to consider what is meant by linking fire to the Holy Spirit. We may think of the prediction of John the Baptist when he said that Jesus would baptise with the Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11-12) and wonder if that is what Paul had in mind. Or we may recall that something like tongues of fire appeared on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on God’s people after having been sent from heaven (Acts 2:1-4). John’s prophecy, from the context, is about judgement that Jesus will bring while also sending the Spirit and the tongues of fire at Pentecost indicate the divine presence of the Spirit. There are references in the Bible, however, to fire as a picture of divine purification (e.g. Mal. 3:2-3), and that is likely what Paul is warning his readers in Thessalonica about – they could resist the sanctifying work of the Spirit in their hearts and lives.

The church in Thessalonica

From the details given in this letter, the church there was both a young church and a growing church. Only a few weeks had passed since Paul and his colleagues Silas and Timothy had been forced to leave the city because of increased opposition against him and his message, and he had only been there for about a month before then, having been used by God to commence a church in that city (Acts 17:1-9). So it was a young church as far as its existence was concerned.

The manner of their acceptance of the gospel message was dramatic (1 Thess. 1:4-5). The conviction Paul mentions here refers to the inner certainty that was given to the converts by the Holy Spirit about the truth of the gospel, and not necessarily about their own conversion. So the church had a good beginning. The question is, would that continue? Does the letter say anything else about their spiritual state?

Paul’s letter also reveals that the church was spiritually healthy. Because of its brief time in existence Paul had been worried about their progress and had sent Timothy to see how they were getting on. Timothy had come back with a good report (1 Thess. 3:6-7). In the first chapter of his letter, Paul mentions that the church had and were engaged in widespread evangelistic activities (1 Thess.1:8) Further, they were examples of brotherly love (1 Thess. 4:9-10). Brotherly love is a good sign of the genuineness of one’s faith in Christ.

So we can see that the church was convinced about the gospel, wanted to share it with others, and was marked by brotherly love. Why then would Paul warn such a church against quenching the Holy Spirit? Two reasons can be suggested: first, he wanted them to make further progress; second, he knew that they would come under spiritual attack from the devil.

The context

The apostle places his appeal about not quenching the Spirit in the middle of a list of seven exhortations that he gives. His list is ‘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 Thess. 5:16-22). The first three describe what happens when the Spirit is not quenched and the last three are different ways of avoiding quenching the Spirit.

Living with the unquenched Spirit

Three features of such a life are mentioned by Paul: constant rejoicing, constant prayer and constant gratitude. Those activities are said to be the revealed will of God for those who are united to Christ by faith. His description with its emphasis on continuity indicates that such spiritual stamina is possible for the Thessalonians because of the help of the Spirit. This focus on continuity does not suggest that those experiences would be flawless, but it does suggest that each should be present in the Lord’s people.

What set of circumstances allowed Thessalonian sinners to rejoice always? Surely, such rejoicing was the consequence of knowing the salvation that God had provided for them. They had been told about the gospel of Jesus and had discovered the forgiveness of God, they had been brought into his family, the Holy Spirit now indwelt them, and they were on the road to heaven. Such a momentous change of circumstances and prospects meant that they had many reasons for rejoicing. Often, people search for joy in itself, not realising that joy is a consequence of focussing on God and his grace. When we do that, we will have joyful praise, joyful prayer and joyful discipleship.

Praying without ceasing does not mean that a Christian prays all the time. He does not pray when he is sleeping and, usually, he does not pray when he is speaking to another person. Rather, praying without ceasing means that a person has an attitude of bringing everything to the Lord. It is a reminder that a believer can pray at any time, that sometimes prayer may be a sigh rather than words, and that prayer is always appropriate. Prayer does not need to be a certain length, for it can be short or long. Paul is indicating that living with the unquenched Spirit results in much prayer to the Father, of constant approaches to him through Jesus.

Giving thanks in all circumstances means that believers acknowledge God is at work wherever they are as his people. Those circumstances are part of the ‘all things’ that he is working together for their good. There will be something to be thankful for in every circumstance, which means that we should be considering our providences to identify what we can be thankful for.

How to quench the Spirit

A believer who has the attitude of rejoicing always, of praying as necessary, and of being thankful in all circumstances is walking in step with the Spirit. How does he avoid moving away from this manner of life? Paul mentions three matters that every believer should be careful about.

First, he should not despise prophecies, but test everything. Here Paul referred to one of the ways that God communicated with his people in the early church. There were individuals to whom he had given the spiritual gift of prophecy and they with the apostles are described by Paul as the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20), which implies that both would exist for the same period at the onset of the New Testament church. It was possible for a person to say something ridiculous or sinful and claim that it was a prophetic utterance, and such a claim would be despised. That wrong use did not mean that the same response should be made to real prophecies sent by God and given through a believer. Instead, all claims to prophecy from God had to be evaluated, and Paul refers to this process in 1 Corinthians 14:1-9, which he wrote some time after his visit to the church there in Corinth.

One of the important uses of such prophecy was that God spoke through them to his people about what they should believe and how they should live. With the completion of the Bible, we no longer need gifts like prophecy. But we do need to interpret the Bible correctly. There have been many Bible interpretations which have turned out to be nonsense, and it would have been more appropriate if such explanations had been assessed before being announced. Misinterpretation of the Bible can lead us to engage in behaviour that puts out the Spirit’s fire in our souls. 

Second, they were to hold fast what is good. The implication is that someone was trying to snatch good things away from a believer. Obviously, the devil would try and do so, as would other opponents of his spiritual progress such as false teachers who aimed to replace truth with the distortions that they advocated. Good things could include blessings such as the possession of assurance or a commitment to obey God’s commands. Obviously, in order to have them, the believers must know what those blessings are, and for that to happen they need to know the teaching of the Bible. Once they have discovered a treasure, they should not let it go, and as they accumulate further treasures from the Word, they will have more to hold on to with the mighty help of the Spirit. Holding fast requires a determination to resist any attempt to remove them as well as dependence on God for the power to resist. The Holy Spirit will empower those who desire his help, but sometimes temptations can loosen our grip on what is precious.

Third, Paul instructs them to ‘abstain from every form of evil’. His words indicate that there are many forms of evil. There are too many forms for one Christian to get involved in, but there will still be plenty for him or her to face. Inevitably, there will be a wide range of them confronting a church composed of numerous believers. Abstain is a comprehensive word. If a doctor told a patient not to take a certain food because it was not good for her, he does not mean that the patient should reduce the amount to a lower quantity. Rather, he means that the patient should not take any of it. Regarding forms of evil, there are forms that interest us personally and there are forms that interest others. Paul’s words tell us not to touch either kind. If we take a little, we quench the Spirit’s purpose of purification in our lives.

We began by asking if we know professing believers who seem to have lost the spiritual vibrancy they once had. Then we considered what is meant by quenching the Spirit. Now we must consider if we have lost the spiritual vibrancy we once had, or are we rejoicing in our salvation, praying frequently and grateful in our providence?