Do Not Quench the Spirit! / Samuel Storm / Text

1Thess5:19~20                    Samuel Storms               source
 Audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNuq7_DvUg
 

Would you please take your bible and turn it to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:19-20

Let me please just say a couple of words of introduction before we read this passage and then pray and turn our attention to it. I must confess to you that I late labored, indeed agonized greatly over what I would share to you all this evening. I can tell you I’ve been emailing back and forth where I can give a sense over what the Lord is leading then I suggested actually two topics that I have set on in my heart. Then I changed my mind. Then I changed it for the third time because I finally came to my senses and thought it might be a good idea to asked God what He thought. And after I did that, I really felt a deep conviction about speaking to you all on a particular passage and theme tonight. And I hope and pray that it would be helpful and instructive and encouraging to your Christian fellowship.

My way of introduction to why I came to this conclusion, I begin to reflect this past week ones again on the wide variety of churches where I have had the opportunity to minister over the last 3 or 4 years. Of all the denominational strives and of all theological orientations, of all kinds of style and substance, and I have come to a conclusion about those churches that would classify themselves, theological speaking, as either Pentecostal or charismatic or third wave or some would like to use the word continuationous because they believe the continuation of spiritual gift. But whatever you want to label those churches, you cannot put them all in one basket as it were. And I’ve looked at them closely and talked with pastors and people that filled these congregations, and it’s very obvious that there is a serious crisis that is occurring within churches, that believe what I would call a robustic view of the Holy Spirit's ministry today.

Again I don’t want to sound as like an alarmist for less a sensationalist when I say this. But it seems to me that in most cases in this kinds of churches they are gravitating to one of two extremes. In fact at the end of the night, I didn’t even mention the topic and fill even says that he has observed this as well in the body of Christ across our country. On the one hand it seems that many of this kind of churches have given themselves over to what only can be called gullibility and naivety that actually boarders on recklessness so often so undiscerning concerning the things that is claimed to be the work of the spirit that they are very near to falling into heresy. At the other hand of this spectrum there are those churches whose still at least  by in terms of their theological affirmation believes in the gift of the spirit but they are so fearful and so cynical because of abuses that they have seen that they are on the verge of falling into what we call paralysis. They are just not moving anywhere at all.

The first group is so desperate for anything that smacks at the supernatural. And often times so biblically uninformed that fanaticism and extremism and embarrassing state of affairs is taken over. As I have said they are in the verge of sometimes committing some serious theological heresies oftentimes scandals whether of a financial or sexual nature have been revealed some of these congregations. Not that the others are immune to that but it seems to be more prevalent in those. And yet in the other hand the second group are so tired and weary of the fanaticism. So of the extremes of the lack of biblical integrity that they have as if were pulled in the reins on what the Holy spirit can do in their midst. They struggle with doubt there’re in increasingly cynical about supernatural. They have become what I have called practical secessionists.

 

A secessionists is somebody who believes that gifts of the spirit ceased in the first century. These people don’t believe that, but they practice as if it were true. In other words they wearily, if ever, pray without expectancy for the sick. They don’t make it possible for the gift to prophecy oprates in the body of Christ. And this division again occures between charismatic churches and evangelical secessionist's churches. It is happening in charismatic churches themselves and it’s a real crisis. It’s very dangerous in my opinion and I believe it is disheartening to our Lord.

So I want to speak to both groups tonight. That especially the second, so with that in mind I want you look with me in a very short passage of scripture. I Thessalonians 5:19-22 (English Standard Bible)

Do not quench the Spirit.

Do not despise prophecies,

but test everything; hold fast what is good.

Abstain from every form of evil.

Let’s Pray.

 

Father help us tonight as we open your words open our  hearts to the truth of what you have revealed here through apostle Paul. Father I pray that if any here tonight particularly given to the undiscerning gullibility to the Spirit. Or if there are some who have perhaps been wounded with extremism in the past and they’re preaching cynical and close. Father I pray that you would speak to each, speak to us all, grant us wisdom and discernment in knowing your ways and knowing your will for your people. Help us father, I pray in Jesus name. AMEN.

 

I doubt if many of you have heard the name of Octavius Winslow. A man died in 1878. I want listen to something that he said about the Holy Spirit. And quoting, “All that we know spiritually know of ourselves, all that we know of God and of Jesus and His word, we owe to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. All the real light sanctification, strength, and comfort we are made to possesses, in our way to glory, we must ascribe to Him. Where his honord and adoring thought of his person and tender loving views of His work are cherished then our experience in as enlarged degree is quickening, enlightening, sanctifying and comforting influence.”

I don’t even remember where I found that quote in Winslow’s writings, but it expressed the truth that I believe, we as Christians, men and women need to hear today, especially today. Think again about what he has just said. Everything that you know about God the Father to the degree that you understand His attributes, His love, His power, His grace, His majesty. Everything you know about God the Son, the fact that you come to faith with Jesus, you have put your confidence on His work to the cross, you owe to the ministry and the work, and the illumination that the Spirit of God has brought to bear in your soul. Whatever change you’ve experience as a Christian whatever degree of conformity to the image of Christ you have experienced, to whatever extent you understand His word whatever encouragement you have felt in the time of despair, whatever consolation in the time of depression, and it is all due to the work of the Spirit of God.

 

That is why Winslow says correctly (where) he is honored and adoring thoughts of his person and tender loving views of his work are cherished. Then Christian men and women, experience as he says in an enlarged degree, the glorious benefits His work. The anti-thesis, the opposite of honoring the spirit, the very complete and utter anti-thesis to cherishing Him in His person and His word, is what the bible calls "quenching."

I can’t imagine a more serious offense to the heart of God than when the people who have been the objects and the recipients of these glorious work of the Spirit in turn conduct themselves, and speak, and act, and orchestrate ministries in the local church in such a way that they quench the very Spirit of God.

The spirit of God wants and wills to work in our midst. I hope you know that. And here in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul describes the Spirit under the imagery of fire. He is a flame as it were. Whose flame we must be very careful not to extinguish. It’s a stunning image; the spirit as it were longs to operate in our midst, to make known His presence, to inflame our hearts, to fill us with the warmth of His indwelling power, and what do we do in response so many times? We organize in the church what I would call a Christian Bucket Brigade and we try to douse the flame of His presence and His power with all sorts of warnings, and extra biblical rules, and legalism, and fear, and a fraud theology that says he doesn’t really do today what he did in the first century. We have all sorts of ways of quenching the work of the Spirit.

It’s interesting when you look at the New Testament. As vast as I can tell there are at least five primary sins that can be committed against the Holy Spirit. As you know

-Ephesians 4 Paul warns about grieving the Spirit.

-In Acts chapter 7, Steven in his servants accused the religious leaders about resisting the Holy Spirit.

-Here we read about quenching the Spirit.

-Matthew 12, Jesus warned about blaspheming the Spirit.

-And in the book of Hebrews, He talks about insulting or outraging the Spirit.

 

I happen to believe that I can’t go on to that blasphemy of the Spirit and outraging the Spirit can only be committed by unchristian. But we if we are not careful could easily grieve, resist, or quench the spirit of God.

Now before I say anything more about how it that we quench the Spirit is and what we need to do to cover that. Let me just say a brief word about the mere fact that it is possible for us to do these. That’s remarkable concept that Christian men and women can actually quench, put out the fire of the work of the third person of Godhead. It’s amazing to me that the apostle would tell us that the spirit of God has in a sense, granted to the Christian the power and the authority either to restrict or to release His work in our midst.

Now as was mentioned to you from the subtitle of one of my books. I have Calvinist. I have a very high view of divine sovereignty. Some people tell me to high of you. So I do not take easily to any suggestion that limitations can be put on what God does. Certainly the Spirit of God is omnipotent, He can accomplish his will. But the fact remains that the Spirit comes to us, Paul says, as it were like a fire of flame either to be fanned into the fullness of the heat, as it were that it wants to bring to bare in our lives, or to be dust by the water of human fear and control and flood in theology.

 

Especially when it comes to spiritual gifts, manifestation of the miraculous and supernatural, the Spirit of God will rarely, if ever, forced Himself upon us. For example, let me just remind you of Paul’s remarkable statement in 1 Corinthians 14:32, here Paul is giving guidlines and instruction on how spiritual gift operate the local body. Specifically address the issue of tongues and prophesy as you know. And yet we often times hear people say, “well you know when the spirit comes it’s just so powerful it’s just overwhelming I just can’t help myself and I step outside of the Pauline instruction. If I violate those guidelines well it was just the Spirit who took over and took control and I can’t help myself.” And Paul says in direct response to that, “Spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets.” His point is that the spirit does not act upon us as though we were a robot or puppets. He happen to subjects Himself to our decision concerning when and how we deliver prophetic words. In particular that’s what he had in view in 1 Corinthians 14. People this is a frightening thought. What an incredible responsibility is placed upon us that we can make choices that determine in when and how and to what extent the Spirit will manifest His presence in our midst.

Paul doesn’t say here, hey folks don’t worry about the Holy Spirit, don’t worry about theology how you operates, don’t give a second thought to how you structure your services, and your worship, and your times in prayer and the ministry. I mean the Spirit is going to do whatever the Spirit the Spirit wants to do regardless of what you say or do. That’s not what he says. That’s not as easy for me to acknowledge it, but here Paul tells us the Thessalonians and you and me today. If you so choose you can quench, extinguish, doubt, and diminish the work of the spirit in your midst, don’t do it.

That’s a very serious exhortation that is delivered to us. Our responsibility is to fan the flame of the Spirit’s fire. To intensify the heat, to rekindle what may have grown cold through our neglect in our indifference, facilitate in the spirit’s work. Teach about how the Spirit operates. Encourage people. Make it safe for them to follow the Spirits guidance and His lead. Don’t create an atmosphere of hesitancy in which people is terrified in making a mistake and being denounced in public or cast out of the church. Don’t forbid the speaking of tongues. Don’t despise prophetic utterances. When you discern the spirits' presence, throw gasoline on the fire.

◑ Now having settled that, let me mention if I may, the time we have, very quickly. Seven ways that we quench the spirit of God, seven ways that we need to be very careful less we extinguish the work of the Spirit of God wants to do among us.

 

▼The first one, we quench the Spirit whenever we conduct ministry in such a way that His personality is ignored, or we pursue life as Christian men and women in such a way that the Spirit is described or spoken of as if He were no more than an abstract power or energy.

Gordon Fee was a great New Testament scholar today, comment it in one of his book about his student who’s having a hard time dealing of the personality of the Spirit. He said the student wrote on one of his tests. “God the Father makes a perfectly sense to me. God the Son, I can’t quite understand. But the Holy Spirits is a great blur.” I understand that I can relate to it. We don’t have any problem thinking about God the Father within the trinity God the son. Because father and son are personal terms but the spirit it almost strike us as more like the force of star-wars or some sort of pervasive vibrating energy that gives life to all of us. It’s hard to hug the Spirit or to be hugged by it.

 

There are times, tragically, when people in the body of Christ, well meaning, no doubt, talked about the Spirit of God as if He were somehow the divine equivalent to an electrical current. Stick your finger or faith into His anointing of socket and you’ll get the jolt of your life. This kind of mechanizing the Spirit, this reducing the spirit to some kind of impersonal force, is offensive. It diminishes all what the spirit will accomplish in our midst.

May I remind you that although the Greek word for spirit is neuter in gender. That doesn’t have anything to say about whether there is personhood to the Spirit because Jesus on many occasions refers to the Spirit with masculine pronouns. The Spirit has all the qualities of person. In fact if I’m going to ask you, what are the differences between Feel and this lectern? You would say things, well a person like Fill has a mind, and he can think, he has self-consciousness, he is moral, he makes choices, and he has affections, feelings and emotions. This lectern is lifeless, it’s just an object, and it’s a thing. Well, all of these attributes are predicated of the Spirit of the bible. Talks about His mind, He thinks, talks about the fact that He has feeling He can be greed, Ephesians 4 says that. He can be insulted; he can be sinned against according to Acts 5. He exercises his will, that’s according to spirit’s will that certain gifts are distributed to certain people. The Spirit performs all the functions of a person. He talks, testifies, as I said He can be lied to, He can be tested or tempted. The Spirit can get into a relationship with people. He encourages, He strengthens, He teaches and all of these I have a multitude of text that confirms these. So we need to be careful when we talk about the work of the Spirit so that we do not reduce the glorious precious Spirit of God some kind of impersonal energy. We need to realize, we are talking about one with whom we have intimate relationship.

▼Secondly, we quench the Spirit whenever we neglect, or over look, or we still deny some feature of His multi-faceted ministry.

There are a number of people in the evangelical world who don’t believe that we should even talked that much about that Holy Spirit and they appeal to something Jesus said in John 16. Remember in the upper realm Jesus said this:

“When the spirit of truth comes he will guide you in top all the truth or he will not speak on his own authority. But whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He that is the Spirit will glorify me, Jesus. He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the father has is mine; therefore I said that he would take what is mine and declare it to you.”

That is a great passage, but the point that they derive form this is the Spirit therefore will never draw attention to Himself. In other words his divinely appointed task in the economy of redemption is to shine all of the light on God the Son. To instruct us concerning who Jesus is, in other words He will glorify the Son and therefore His ministry is supremely Christ centered or Christocentric. And therefore even for me to be speaking to you tonight about the Spirit and talking in the terms that I am. Some would say, “You know that it’s even not biblical that it’s what Jesus said.” We must be very careful to avoid the air of what I call reductionism. What I mean by that simplly is that we try often times to reduce the ministry of the spirit to Christology. As if the Spirit does nothing else but shines a light on Christ. Now make no mistake, I believe that the primary rule of the spirit of God in your life and in this church is to illuminate and to make known and to exalt the personal work of Jesus Christ. That is the primary rule of the Spirit but it is not the sole rule or task of the Spirit.

 

Don’t make the mistake of arguing that the primary purpose of what the Spirit does is the exclusive purpose of what He does. All I need to remind you about is the hundreds of verses in the bible in where the Spirit who inspires the text talks about Himself the many instances in which the Spirit makes His presence known. Read acts chapter two in what happen to Pentecost. Take note of that .The fact that the Spirit of God gives direction to the church, Act chapter 13. Acts 15 is this spirit who guides and leads the apostolic community to draw the conclusion they did so called Jerusalem council. It is the Spirit who awakens in us, according to Galatians 4, the awareness of the adoption as God's children is the spirit who provides the guarantee your down payment that what we have now will be consummated, in everyone in this arenas to the degree that  we neglect that truth, we’re quenching the spirit. So the fact that the matter is where the Spirit’s primary work is Christological nature? That’s not the sole or exclusive thing that He does and to the degree where we neglect, or ignore, or even deny this multi-faceted work of the Spirit of God we throw water on the fire of His presence.

▼The third way: We quench the Spirit, whenever we suppress or legislate against his work of imparting spiritual gifts and ministering that to the church through them.

Now some people here may say that, and they response by saying Sam does that mean that you’re same of that the doctrine of secessionism, the idea that gifts of the Spirit ceased in the first century, that doctrine, one of this thought and one that is allowed to govern the life of this church, are you saying that that’s quenching the Spirit? YES! Let’s just get that question right away. Absolutely, that’s what I’m saying without hesitation. People / the church is in a desperate state today. Do I need to remind you of that? The church needs every resource that God has been pleased to provide.

Can you imagine a contracting with someone to come to your home to do repairs or remodeling and they show up with hammer and screw driver, and that’s it? You know, we need every tool, every instrument, and every resource that God has provided to do the work of the kingdom and in building up the body of Christ. I mean all of the gifts; I’m not just talking about controversial gifts of 1 Corinthians 12. I’m talking about the gifts of teaching, administration and of mercy, and of serving and of evangelism and of giving. To the degree that we do not instruct and encourage and release people in to this arenas. We are quenching the Spirit of God in our midst.

▼The fourth way that we quench the Spirit: We quench the spirit whenever we create what I call a inviolable and a sanctimonious atmosphere in our corporate gatherings or in our small groups’ maybe. Such that the spontaneous work of the Spirit is virtually impossible. In other words in my mind, so constructing on how worship is done, or so controlling the flow and the developing of a class or a small grouping that the especial leading of the Holy Spirit on how we pray, teach and peach, sing and worship is not permitted.

Now again please tell me something. I am not advocating chaos, I’m not saying anything goes, I’m not suggesting for a moment that should your pastor’s leadership provides guidelines and instruction that therefore guilty of quenching the spirit. Go on records and saying that right now. That’s not what I’m suggesting. What I am talking about is creating an atmosphere that is dominated by fear. In which people are just on edge hesitant if they ever sense the Spirit is doing something or saying something because they are terrified of being rebuked and marginalized in the life of the church.

 

And so in emission begins to rule rather than freedom and they’re disinclining to contribute well in fact, the spirit may will, be seeking to minister to. They’re anxious about what others might think because we create this kind of atmosphere. I confess to you for years of my ministry I quench the spirit of God in my preaching. I was absolutely terrified of ever departing for the notes that I have in front of me. For me that somehow was dangerous if I ever felt a prompting or the moving of the Spirit to move in a different direction or speak in a particular theme or emphasize something even, “Lord behold feel that they might have a revelatory word that was given to me. I would find a way to justify ignoring it.” Everyone who’s ever preached the word of God will tell you those remarkable occasions that happen all the time or even often. When the spirit of God as it works, takes over and leaves a message. To do something that maybe wasn’t even planned on. Or consider how it takes effect on our worship. I know you’re all familiar in Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5. Colossians 3:16, Paul exhorts us to teach and admonish one another with Psalm, and hymns and spiritual songs.

Have you ever thought about distinctions about the songs, hymns and spiritual songs? If you haven’t you need to. Songs, nobody disputes that, his talking about the Old Testament soldier those 150 psalms of hymns of prayers. Hymns, most likely was Paul’s way of describing the compositions that were coming for the early churches that primarily focused on Christ. I think for example, Mary’s hymn of praise in Luke 2 called, “The Magnifica”, or Paul’s Christological hymns in Philippians 2:6-11, or the one in Colossians 1:15-17. But what in the world are "spiritual songs"? There are some who say well that’s just the other way in saying the other to. Well if it were, then why would Paul even bother? Why be so redundant?

Psalms and Hymns are songs and psalms and song are certainly are spiritual. But there is something in spiritual songs that goes beyond what happens when you sing a song or you singing hymn. And I am convinced that what Paul is talking about is "spontaneous outburst of praise" that just comes through an individual or through worship leaders that were planned that are spontaneous improvise. They can be prophetic in nature, but where you just have an atmosphere, and those of you who have been in these kinds of services often, or worship services, or conferences, or small groups, you know what I’m talking about. Where the spirit within us is given free reign to declare and to praise and to sing something that isn’t in the book or on the overhead transparency(OHP), or in the bulletin. And in the same marvelous and edifying, and Paul says, instructive, admonishment toward other believers as we minister to one another in this way.

I can’t begin to tell you the countless occasions which I have been so richly blessed when the Spirit of God has given the freedom to operate in that passion. Now again, it’s not something that is to be given such free reign that there are no guidelines. It’s difficult you’ll talk to musicians. You’ll talk to the worship leaders, even the best will say to be discerning to be able to know what the Spirit of God is doing is not easy and it can’t just be a free for all. But at the same time we need to facilitate that kind of manifestation of the Spirit’s work among us.

▼The fifth way that we quench the spirit is whenever we make others feel hesitant unsure or even fearful of following the spirits leading in their life. Not simple what we do within our own souls but when we actually conduct ourselves in such way that others will begin to recoil, to constrict as it work in their spirit.

I have to confess to you, for about the first 15 or 16 years of my marriage and of my ministry. I quench the spirit in my wife. I never consciously thought of that what I was doing but I have created in her mind an image of what a godly Christian was supposed to be and I have taught her what I thought the spirit would do or not do today. And she was very faithful and very loving and very submissive in the way that she yielded to my leadership in that regard. I still believe in the leadership of the husband in the family but I have to tell you, not like that. Because I suppressed and I quenched what the Spirit of God could otherwise have accomplished in my wife.  I think one particular vivid example of this stands out in my own experience and I shared the story in my book “Convergence”. Just briefly I’ll tell you back, in October of 1970 long time ago. When I was a sophomore of the university Oklahoma I got out the way.

I had a life changing encounter with the spirit of God and God very graciously and mercifully bless people with the gift of tongues. And I was very active at that time in ministries of campus crusade for Christ on the campus for the youth. In fact I was the student leader. I housed all of the corporate gathering that was on the steering committee in the staff members. But in that day any charismatic expression was absolutely forbidden in campus crusade for Christ. And I’ll never forget after this happens, I went back to my fraternity house I called one of the staff members, he is my leader and I still have to share something. Then he immediately came over, picked me up, got me of the car I hadn’t said a word, however he said 'you have spoken tongue tonight did you?' Then I said YES! It was incredible. Then the next words, “You can’t do that staying involved in campus crusade.

I just remember this, it’s just punctured the balloon I’m just deflated, the air just went out of my life. I said, “What!” He says, you see we just don’t believe that that is a legitimate spiritual experience in this day and time. And if you’re going to remain a student leader and be part of the leadership team. You’re going to have to renounce that just promise me you’ll never do it again. The Spirit of God was quenched on me as I yielded to that man’s instructions and his leadership. Consequences of the next two decades of my life, I won’t even go on the detail, it was just horrific.

▼The sixth way that we quench the spirit: (I’m using here the work of John Piper.)

In talking about the work of the Spirit in the church and wanting to facilitate it, John once said that we quench the Spirit through what he called the verbalized institutionalization of caution, the verbalized institutionalization of caution. And what he meant by that was when leaders will stand in the pulpit or small group leaders would share or an adult bible class or even one on one and we say, “Oh yes and of course we believe in the gifts of the holy spirit, of course we believe in the opreation of prophecy in our midst.” And after we made that confession, we then launch into the long impassioned or still warning about the entire horrific thing that might happen if we go too far. This long verbalized institutionalization the caution. And whatever could we may have accomplish in our instruction and encouragement in the Holy Spirit. We may just immediately destroy and robbed from people’s heart. Be weary of affirming on the one hand, your belief in what the Spirit is doing.

Don’t misunderstand me, sometimes we need warning, sometimes there are thing we do need to be cautious about. But if it done in such a way that people are still discouraged to be open to the spirit’s work and not feel judged and quenched.

▼Seventh and finally, and this brings me, believe it or not it took me this all this time to get to my passage, that is an introduction people. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5 the seventh and final way and the primary manifestation of Spirit quenching is when we despise, prophetic utterances. Look again at Paul’s language. I want you to see very clearly what he does here. Do not quench the Spirit do not despise prophecies that most new testament scholars will point out to you that when Paul says do not Quench the Spirit his thinking primary, not exclusively, but primarily of the despising the prophetic utterances. Don’t savor these two elements in Paul’s language here. The way you don’t quench the Spirit is by facilitating the exercise the prophecy. Look at the parallel of between verse 19 and 20. DO NOT QUENCH THE SPIRIT, and if I can just paraphrase here, do not quench the Spirit which consists of despising prophecies. But rather test everything and hold fast what is good and abstain any form of evil.

 

Please know carefully how Paul’s argument unfolds here. Perhaps the most important word in this passage is that we’re but which verse 21 opens. Paul said it in a contrast. Rather than quenching the Spirit by despising prophetic utterances, examine everything in other words the word everything or all things here in verse 21 is a reference to the prophetic utterances in verse 20. That leaves to the conclusion that the good that he mentions in verse 21 to which where we hold fast, and the evil in verse 22 from which where to abstain, or references to the prophetic utterances in verse 20.

How many times have you said to somebody when you want to get them to do something right, and the word you said, “Oh don’t you remember Paul’s word? Hold fast to what’s good and abstain from all form of evil.” That is a good advice but that’s not what’s Paul's talking about here. The good are those prophetic word that after being judged and weighed and assessed are concluded to have indeed come from God, we’re to hold to them, Paul said. The bad, the evil are those alleged prophetic words which after being judged we have determined are not from God or either carnal, or fleshly, or perhaps even the council of the enemy himself. You know the fact that Paul has to write this is stunning in another self.

The church of Thessalonica may well have been the most mature in the ancient world. Pau’s glowing endorsement of them in chapter one of his first letter, had they received the word of God, not as the word how they have embraced it with much affliction. And yet stunningly in that church there are people who were disenchanted with the spiritual gift of prophecy. Might I say, why? Why were they inclined to despise and disdain prophetic utterances? And the answer in for the same reason you are. Think about it for a moment.

Perhaps you have watched the people with a gift of prophecy use it to control the lives of other and great damage unto them. And you just go, Uhrg! I don’t like that. Or maybe there were cases where an individual with the gift of prophecy use that to expand their power base on the church and then perhaps argue that they deserve a place in the table of leadership but in fact they are not qualified for that. Or perhaps the gift of prophecy has in a congregation or small group been over used and over emphasized, almost as if it’s the only thing about you in the Christian life. Or maybe you’ve watch how words of comfort and they weren’t judged they were just kind of hanging right there and you do not know what to do about that and it ended up coming up to nothing. Or maybe it’s just because you think it’s weird. It’s just weird, it makes your skin crawl and it’s embarrassing and maybe people who really have genuinely have the gift of prophecy. You know, present themselves like they are highly favored. And God really has blessed them in a way that He hasn’t blessed you. Or maybe words were spoken in your life but they didn’t come to pass.

I can go on and on and on. You know what I am talking about. And you know what happens deep within. You say to yourself silently if not to others, that’s the spiritual gift is all about. I don’t want to do anything about with it, and I don’t want to be part of a church that does anything with it.

It doesn’t matter how badly people would have abused this gift. It is a sin to despise prophecy. If Paul commands the Thessalonians, he commands us do not despise prophetic utterances. If you find yourself dealing contempt and disdain and frustration over the abuses and they exist, don’t mistake about it. In the exercises of these gifts and you just clench your fist and your teeth and you kind of resolve in your heart. I have just undergone there. That’s sin.

 

Now you say, wait a minute Sam, is the alternative is that it is either I quench the spirit by despising prophetic utterances or I just throw open the gates to anything that claims to be prophetic? Absolutely NOT! Look at what Paul says. It isn’t anything goes. The alternative to not quenching the Spirit is what? “Examining every word, judging every word, evaluating, and assessing” Paul doesn’t correct the abuse by commanding disuse. He corrects the abuse by saying, judge it, and bring the light of the scripture to bear on what is happening. There is a real light baby in that bath water if you want to throw out. Be careful. It’s biblically informed discernment that he calls for. We neither gulliverly believes every word nor let it go unjudged because it’s just weird and out of control. We are to judge and evaluate and asses. That is our responsibility in the body of Christ today.

How do we do it? Obviously you know that you apply the authoritative and unfallenable word of God. I say this so many times. But I don’t know if people really grasp what I mean. We have no any idea how much conclusion and bed doctrine and abuse and all sort of fanaticism in the body of Christ can be eliminated if we just have a basic biblical literacy in the body of Christ. If we understood the fundamental principles in the book of proverbs alone, you could eradicate virtually so much of the chaos, confusion, and ethical compromise among Christians today. When people say God told me I can do this, I felt led to do that. If we just misunderstood to principles of proverbs? Wait I minute, time out. God didn’t say that to you because God said this in his infallable word. We’re so quickly and cavalierly say what we need to judge prophecies in the light of God. We don’t really understand what that means. Why, because we were basically illiterate when it comes to the ways that God acts.

If we understood the principles according to which God operates in relation with his people. We just look in the biblical history. And then when somebody comes along with somehow laddish and outrageous playing that they heard the voice of God, tell them this or you do that, as best as I can tell, that is not the God of the bible operates. Here is how he operates; we bring these prophetic words to the test of 1 Corinthians 14:3 where Paul says that there purpose is to encourage, edify, and to console. Ask, did that word encourage or did it discourage, did it build people up or tear them down, did they console them or confuse them. That’s a good way of testing words.

The test of love, does it contribute to mutual affection in the body of Christ. The test of Community, what if otherwise leaders and Christians, and mature believers, that many years in the Lord say about it? And the test of first time experience, does it come to pass? Isn’t it amazing that the Apostle Paul himself, although he knew he was operating, and speaking and writing and be inspiration in the spirit commanded them because they wouldn’t take him. As he wrote run a test and look and examine in the light of the scriptures to see if these things are true. Paul wouldn’t have all offended them, in fact he applauds them. We could do that today.

So many times, I hear some outrageous things as you do. I can still remember the prophecy of the man on television who told us of the day of that the second coming of Christ. That was about 15 years ago, well we are still here and he isn’t. Or the prophecy that I heard just a few years ago from so called well expected individuals, well I’m not saying they don’t have the gift of prophecy, but who said that California is going to suffer such a devastating earthquake and that half is going to fall in the Pacific ocean. Well maybe it should but it hasn’t. Or you know this vague pious platitude that espoused, you know people would sit there and say, you know my 8 year old understand that and mention the same thing to me the other day. And it’s vacuous and empty and it doesn‘t seems to be of benefit. These things exist and it causes us. Often times subconsciously, unaware to our own hearts to withdraw, to recoil and in the process we pour water and we extinguish the fire in the spirit of our midst.

 

The bible does’ not call for us to be gullible or naïve, which operate in an anything goes atmosphere because were so afraid of the quenching the Spirit. But neither does endorse a hyper, critical, cynical, skeptical, censorious attitude that pours water on his fire. You may disagree with some of the things I have said tonight. You may want to reject my suggestions. Don’t buy my books, but please I beg of you, I plead with you. do not commit a sin. Any of these sin of quenching the Holy Spirit of GOD.

 

Let’s pray.

Precious father, we need your help. We need the illumination of your word. We need the wisdom as seasoned saints in the body of Christ. We need all these things and more that we might facilitate and make possible the turning up of the heat of the Spirit’s fire in our presence. Father what an awesome thing you have set upon us. The spirit of God so manifest itself in our midst that we can never extinguish and intensify what His doing. Lord, forgive us for having neglected what the Spirit is doing and who the Spirit is. Forgive us about having fear to dominate in our lives. Give us wisdom the maturity in Christ that is needed do that this precious gift and all the gifts and all the ministries that the Spirit awakens and energizes in us can be accomplished for the Glory of Christ and the Praise of His name and the edification of these people. We pray this in Christ name and for His name AMEN.