Chapter 5
1Thess 5:19
Quench not the Spirit.
Sorry for my absence, anyway, onward, verse 19: “Quench not the Spirit.”
The Spirit is given to us upon our belief in the gospel that saves us. He seals us. He is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of our bodies. He is there for the long haul and will not be taken from us.
Eph 1:12-14
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Eph 4:30
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
The Spirit is given to us as a gift. And provides abundantly the love of God in our hearts, in the inner man.
Rom 5:5
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
The Holy Ghost sanctifies us.
Rom 15:16
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
He places us or baptizes us into the body of Christ.
1Cor 12:13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
By the Holy Spirit we are taught by the word of God.
1Cor 2:12-14
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The Spirit cleans us up, regenerates and renews us.
Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
(and I am sure we can find many more, but I shall cease for the moment)
Now to quench is to: To extinguish; to put out; To still; to quiet; to repress; To check; to stifle.
Now we know from some of these verses that (1) the Holy Spirit was a gift and (2) by him we are sealed and (3) he is an earnest payment until the catching up of the body of Christ – so unlike the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, where he could be taken away from the individual after pure neglect or disobedience [e.g. Samson (Judges), King Saul (1 Samuel); and David prayed for the Spirit not to be taken from him after his adultery and murder episode (2 Kings, Psalm 51)], the Christian in the body of Christ, after the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord does not need to fear the possibility of the Holy Spirit being taken from us.
So we are taught as stated in First Corinthians 2 (above) that the Holy Ghost teaches us; he teaches us using words “not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth”. So we are going to be taught out of the word of God, out of scripture, and the Spirit will help us to understand and be edified and to do God’s will. This helps us to “walk in” and “after” and “led” of “the Spirit”:
Gal 5:16-18, 25
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. ...
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Rom 7:25 -8:5
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
That “mind” and that “law of the Spirit of life” comes from the indwelling Holy Ghost couples with the scriptures to grow into the perfect man, walking in wisdom and circumspection and pleasing to God.
When we “quench” the Spirit, we are not following scripture, we are not listening to scripture, we are not reading scripture, we are not interested in scripture, we are not understanding scripture, we are ignoring scripture, we following man’s wisdom and ultimately the flesh, and as a result of the quenching, we grieve that indwelling member of the Godhead:
Eph 4:30
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
And also, the effects on the Christian become evident:
Rom 15:13
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
When you lose that belief in Scripture with the Spirit, the joy goes, the peace goes, and the hope goes as you are basing your walk on the flesh and your own mind and rationality.
It is a bit of a prophetic statement for the Thessalonians, as when we get to Second Thessalonians we see they seemed to lose their hope as they are swimming in their situations and circumstances and have not followed the command, but I digress.
I meant to get through more verses, but I have been a rambling man already I suppose.
Grace and Peace James.
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