The Work of the Holy Spirit
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Don’t Stifle God’s Spirit
Don’t Stifle God’s Spirit
Don’t stifle the Spirit.
Quench not- stop doing, don’t have the habit of doing.
Quench means to stifle, or extinguish a big fire.
The coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 was described with the metaphor of tongues of fire.
Paul told Timothy to fan into flames the gift of God in him.
Don’t smother what the Holy Spirit is seeking to do.
Question: What do I need to avoid to keep from doing this? What could I be doing that would stifle the sovereign Holy Spirit?
Not walking close to God. Macarthur reminds us that the work of the Holy Spirit leads us to not fear but to know that we are adopted children of a Father who loves us.
J Vernon McGee says we quench the Spirit when we take matters into our own hands instead of letting God lead us.
I think anytime God is leading you to do something, and you don’t you are stifling His Holy Spirit. It may be in the context of your private life, or in corporate life of the Church.
Having a higher regard for sin in your life, than following God’s lead would quench the Spirit of God.
Scoffing at spiritual gifts, etc.
If I understand context like I believe I do, we can quench the Holy Spirit by how we approach the Word of God, and prophecy.
Don’t Scoff at God’s Word
Don’t Scoff at God’s Word
Don’t despise prophecies,
Give proper place and value to the preaching, teaching, and APPLICATION of God’s Word
stop counting as nothing.
We should place as first priority the communication of God’s Word. (1 corinthians 14)
The church may have trips to kayak, or to the zoo, or women’s retreats, or trips to Israel, or Bashes in the Bend, or many other activities, but our primary focus, is to be thoroughly saturated in the Word. We may have the best singing, and choir Etowah County. (probably true) but good singing doesn’t trump the place of Prophecy.
The word Prophecy is a combo word.. forth and to speak. Even the “Spirit Filled” Study Bible recognizes that this word is not primarily foretelling but forthtelling the will and counsel of God.
But how do we know if what we are being taught is from God?
Paul Gives directions.
but test all things. Hold on to what is good.
Put it to the Test
Put it to the Test
How do I do this?
Does it line up with the rest of the Word?
Allow the clear teachings of the bulk of Scripture to inform the unclear.
(Don’t go on feelings, traditions, or old-wives tales. Avoid interpretations that are fringe, or that no one else has heard of.)
First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation,
because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Take possession of the good.
Take possession of the good.
hold fast is to keep, lay claim to, restrain in the sense of not letting it go.
Good, fine, praiseworthy, beautiful, useful.
In the Gospels it used to describe good fruit, good soil, good seed, good fish, good shepherd etc.
How do I approach the forth-telling of God’s Word?
Treasure God’s Word
Allow it to be a light.
Allow it to be a comfort.
Allow it to be a discomfort.
Allow it to be a correction.
Hide it in your heart.
Study to be sure what you are hearing is right.
The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Note: Some denominations and people seem to think that open-mindedness means to move beyond the Scripture to a cultural understanding of Christianity. For these believers, the opposite was true… they were so open minded that they wanted to know what God had to say, and follow His Word above all else… so they studied it, and obeyed it.