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1-20-12 / Quench Not The Spirit of God

http://godtalklouisvilleky.blogspot.com/2012/01/1-20-12-quench-not-spirit.html

I have begun a blog on www.blogger.com, so I am beginning to post my messages on there, and then post the link to the page here.  

This message focuses on 1 Thessalonians 5:19 - "Quench not the Spirit."  God Bless!

Comments

  • 4 months ago

    BirdBrain

    1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “19Quench not the Spirit.”

    This was the scripture I heard as I was rising out of bed this morning.  Does God talk to people today?  YES – the question is – are you listening?  Are you seeking to hear His voice?  Do you have a desire to hear and learn from the Creator of all things?  If we hear something from Him, it is of utmost importance.  Therefore, we should seek to hear His voice.  In His voice are words of power, to change our lives from the dreadful sin-loving old man, the carnal man, into the nature of Christ. 

    As I woke up, I heard nothing more than this scripture.  However, with it, I began to see visions that went with it.  Nothing memorable, nothing particular – but it made even more sense now than before.  God was not giving me a grandiose vision, but rather a simple lesson in the Word of God!  I am TOTALLY happy about that!  As a matter of fact, I was PUMPED!  I got excited, and jumped up out of bed, just so I could share the good news here!

    Although this scripture is only 4 words long, we still should seek to understand what it is saying.  God was giving me some real down-to-earth coaching on this scripture, and what it means biblically, in relation to how we live our lives. Let’s take the time to understand the words that are written.

    “Quench” comes from a Greek word “σβέννυμι” (sbennymi), which means “to extinguish or quench a fire, to suppress, to stifle (divine influence)”.  The parentheses in the definition is from implied meaning, since the word is used in the Bible only once for quenching God’s Spirit. 

    Can I really extinguish the fire of God?  Well, in terms of making God disappear – NO. It is impossible to put out God’s fire – the Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:29, “For our God is a consuming fire.”  However, the fire that He puts in our hearts that burns for Him, to do His good will, and to be a light for the world to see – that fire we can extinguish.  We will cover this more in a minute – let’s take a look at the next word for study in 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

    The word “Spirit” comes from the Greek word “πνεῦμα” (pneuma), which has a variety of meanings.  It can mean “the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Godhead”, “the spirit of a man”, “the spirit of angels or demons”, “a disposition or influence that governs a person’s way of thinking”, or even “a movement of air, the wind”.  With all of these meanings, how can we be sure that the Bible is telling us that it is talking about the Holy Spirit in this passage?  If you understand what is being written – “quench NOT”, you will understand that God is giving us a command to take heed to what we do.  God has not told you to bow to any spirit of man, nor of angels or demons.  His Word is supposed to be what influences our way of thinking, and through His Word we have power over things that happen naturally.  It is evident that God wants us to give heed to the Holy Spirit, and not to quench Him.

    Let’s get down to some basics, and to do this, we are going to have to go to the Old Testament.  There are many teachers that refuse to teach out of the Old Testament, saying that since we are no longer under the Mosaic law, then it is not important to understand what happened there.  However, for one, Judaism is the religion from which Christianity is birthed – it is important to know your roots.  Further more – AND MUCH MORE IMPORTANT – what was established there also carried a shadow of importance in our growth as Christians.  There were literal laws that the Jews had to fulfill that we do not have to fulfill.  However, we can still learn things from those laws that teach us about Christ, and our walk with God.


    We read this in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  17That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”  For any church to say that the Old Testament is not good to teach out of, they need to review their Bible.  


    Remember – Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude did not have a New Testament to reference – they were writing it!  However, they used the principles from the Word of God that were established in the Old Testament to teach principles that were a part of the New Testament, which is through the blood of Christ!


    We also read in Hebrews 10:1 – “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”  That word “shadow” comes from the Greek word “σκιά” (skia), which means “a shadow, shade caused by the interception of light, an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object, a sketch or outline”.  In the natural, if we see a shadow approaching, we can tell that something is causing that shadow to appear.  We can foresee the person or thing that is casting the shadow, and somewhat determine what is creating the shadow.

    In the Word of God, it is no different.  There were literal laws that God established with His church in the Old Testament, but within those laws were principles that God would use to feed His people eternally.  The law gave a shadow of things to come.  For instance, in reading “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, …” in Exodus 21:24, we begin to learn of the judgments of God.  But even deeper, as we walk with God, we begin to understand that we are all guilty, and technically speaking, we have struck at God’s truth in our own sinful life, deserving the punishments that are written in the Word.  From there, we begin to seek God’s mercy, and it births understanding within us that “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” is not only to teach us righteous judgment – it is also to convict our hearts of our wickedness against God, and cause us to turn from our righteous soapbox of pride, seeking instead the mercy of God, and covering ourselves with the ashes of humility.

    That may be a mouthful, but in short, God’s Word is not only designed to be taken for face value.  HOWEVER – you cannot unlock the understanding of His Word on your own – it must be unlocked by Him.  For instance, this morning, as I lay in bed, God began to speak 1 Thessalonians 5:19 to me.  I understood it before, but I understood it to a greater detail now. 

    Now, to the Scripture – how can I quench the Spirit of God on the inside?  Go back to the Old Testament – there are “shadows” that the OT law taught that provide some spiritual light on this situation.  Let’s go back toLeviticus 6:13 for some understanding about the fire of God.  We read in Leviticus 6:13 – “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.”  What altar are we talking about?  We read a bit more about it in Leviticus 6:12 – “And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.”

    This was an altar that God commanded the Israelites to build for use in their worship.  It was where all sacrifices took place.  We read in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, that God commanded Moses to build an altar for sacrifice (Exodus 27:1-8).  It is the only piece of equipment that God commanded to be built for the purpose of the sacrifice.  People would bring different types of offerings in obedience to the law – whole burnt offerings, freewill offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, etc.  God gave command as to how each offering was to be brought, and how it was to be received, and what was to be done with each offering. Notice that God gave specific commands as to how to bring offerings.

     A willing, cheerful heart would never have a problem bringing God the best he or she had to offer, realizing that God’s provision was worth WAY MORE than any small gift they could bring.  A covetous heart would not want to give away what was already required by God, a prideful heart would not think they needed the atonement of the LORD, and a lazy heart wouldn’t want to take the time to give God what was due to Him.

    But how about today?  We don’t still give animal sacrifices – what can we do to keep the fire burning on the altar?  Notice – in the Old Testament, the altar was in the tabernacle.  It was the first piece of furniture that the Jews would come to.  And where did the fire come from?  From God!  We read in Leviticus 9:24 – “And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.”  God supplied the fire, and gave a requirement to the Jews to keep the fire burning forever.  They disobeyed His commands, and let the fire go out.

    Today, we have the fire of God that lives within our hearts!  This first began in Acts 2, when the day of Pentecost had first come, and the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost!  The Spirit of God came to live within man!  This does not make the man a part god, part man – rather, it means that God sanctified the body, or vessel, as holy, through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, the Spirit of God was able to come into the heart of man, and abide there!  He comes to bring light, and to heal all things that are sinful and offensive in our lives!  He has come to lead us in the ways of God, and to operate through us!

    When we choose to disobey the command of the Lord by not being led of the unction of the Holy Ghost, we are in effect refusing to continue to burn the fire upon the altar.  God provided the fire of the Holy Ghost – it is our job, as ministers of the temple, to be obedient to His commands.

    What kind of sacrifices can we give God today?  How about the continual sacrifice of praise?  We read in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 – “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”  Paul knew that there was no good reason to refrain from praising God.  The Spirit of God within him led Him into a joyful, continual praise, understanding that He was blessed so richly by the King of the Universe!

    How about the sacrifice of repentance?  We are talking about true repentance – not just a simple “Lord forgive me” and continuing right on in the sin.  That type of repentance is empty and without meaning.  It is like telling your spouse that you love them while you are cheating on them with another.  That may sound harsh, but when you offer God empty repentance, you are leaving the marital bed with God to commit spiritual adultery with the sins of the world.  We have all committed spiritual adultery – we are all guilty.  What God wants out of us is a genuine willingness to “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4).  He knows that if we continue in the sin, He must judge us accordingly, and He does not want us to fall into destruction.  He craves to have an intimate relationship with us. 

    Are there any other sacrifices that we can give to God?  OF COURSE!  When we choose to give our heart whole-heartedly to Him, we have no problem doing this – as a matter of fact, we seek the LORD even more whole-heartedly each day! 

    Other sacrifices we can give is our tithes and offerings.  We can give our time (spent reading the Word of God and spreading the gospel).  We can sing to the LORD.  We can pray for others in need.  We can seek to help others in need with the gifts that God has given us.

    A willing heart will continue in obedience to the LORD, and the fire that God has put in their heart, the Spirit of God, will continue to burn brighter and brighter as it consumes the darkness that fights for control.  REMEMBER – THE MORE YOU GIVE IN TO GOD, THE LESS CONTROL THE DEVIL HAS IN YOUR LIFE!  The devil seeks to control your thoughts, your emotions, your finances…how much control do you want the thief to have? 

    I pray that as you read this message, God ministers truth and grace to your heart, so that you can be filled with the fire of God, which burns away all things unholy, making room for God’s love to penetrate your heart!  God bless you!
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