Amen. Let's turn in God's Word.
First Thessalonians chapter 5. We're reading today from verse
19 right through to verse 28. First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verse 19. Let's hear the word of God.
Quench not the spirit, despise not prophecy, prove all things,
hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of
evil, and the very God of peace. Sanctify you holy, and I pray
God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved.
Blameness unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it.
Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an
holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that
this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen. Amen.
Now this morning we are continuing with our series of
expository sermons in the book of First Thessalonians Today.
My text is taken from First Thessalonians 5 verses 19 and 20
and it reads as follows. Quench not the Spirit, despise
not prophesying. Here's the call to the church to
a life of Christ centred consistency.
Notice, as the Apostle Paul brings his letter to this young
persecuted church to a close, he does so with a series of short,
Christ centred, spirit LED, urgent exhortations that help
define and shape the ordinary Christian life.
Now, as I pointed out last Lord's Day morning, these are
not just random commands. Instead they are righteous
commands, not just spontaneous exhortations, but spirit LED,
Spirit guided exhortations. The last Lord's Day I set before
you 3 commands to this Christ centred church, namely REPWC.
And in everything give thanks. Why?
Because this is the will of God for the true born again believer
individually and for the true church congregationally and
universally. The will of God for all in
Christ Jesus is to rejoice evermore.
And I've explained that last week, but it's not what it is.
And also it's the will of God to pray without ceasing.
And I did the same, set it forth negatively and positively.
And the third command is to give thanks.
Then Paul adds to those 3 commands two additional
commands. Quench not the Spirit, Despise
not prophesying. Now notice these 5 commands are
all interconnected. They are not isolated commands.
You see, let me put it this way. A joyless church that's a
prayerless church will not only be a thankless church, but a a
joyless, prayerless, thankless church will end up becoming a
spirit quenching church, and then it will become a word
denying church. And that's the big danger.
And that's a real danger for the Free Presbyterian Church of the
75th anniversary year. It's interesting that Doctor
Martyn Lloyd Jones 75 years ago stated in preaching this text is
the tax for the church that was true in his day 75 years ago.
And if it was true back then, 75 years ago, surely it's even more
true now. What are we called to do in the
ordinary Christian life? Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing in everything.
Give thanks, for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus
concerning you. And then he throws in two
additional commands. Quenched not the Spirit, Despise
not prophesying. You see, the true Church must
never ever be found guilty of quenching the Spirit and
becoming a word denying church. The moment it does that, it
ceases to be a true church. Look at the text.
Listen again to the words. Quench not the Spirit, the spies
not prophesying. What can we learn from these 7
words this morning? You know, when we look at these
words, think about them. We should pray even as David
prayed. Teach me, teach me as a prayer.
We've come to the House of God, we've come to worship the Lord.
We've come to offer praise to him.
We've come to pray even a silent prayer in our heart.
And you can pray in your heart right now, not even audibly.
You can just pray those two words.
Lord, teach me, teach me as a prayer.
May the Lord give us a teachable spirit.
Three things in the text that come to me.
One, the person that is mentioned, look at verse 19,
quench not the spirit. Now who is the apostle Paul
referring to the spirit. There's two options.
One, there's the human spirit or the Holy Spirit.
I do not believe it's a reference to the human spirit to
the spirit of man. I believe it's a reference to
the Spirit of the Maker. This is a reference to none
other than the Spirit of God. Notice the capital S quenched,
not the Spirit. This is a reference to the third
person of the Holy Trinity, one who is Co equal.
It Co exists and Co eternal with the Father and with the Son.
Now, I believe that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the
most neglected doctrines in the church today.
The Holy Spirit is often ignored, misunderstood and
misrepresented. Yet, as I said on Friday night,
what we believe about the Holy Spirit is foundational and
fundamental to Bible believing Christianity.
If we are an error in connection to the doctrine of the Holy
Spirit, that will lead to false worship, lead to a false
assurance, and lead to false salvation.
Now let's learn what the Bible teaches about the Spirit.
The person that is mentioned, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is
a actual person. The Holy Spirit is not merely an
influence or a spiritual force or an impersonal power.
The Holy Spirit is not an it. The Holy Spirit is a real person
and he possesses intellect. He displays emotions and he
exercises a will. I'm just going to quote the
references. I'm not going to turn to them
for having time this morning. He has a will.
First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 11 he speaks.
Read Revelation chapter 2 and 37 references in those two chapters
to these words. He that appears to hear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
You see the Spirit speaks. He intercedes for us.
Romans chapter 8 verse 26 He commands.
Acts 16-6 and seven separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work
pour unto I have called them. He guides us into all truth over
there in John chapter 16 and in the verse 13 we read.
How be it when he, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide
you into all truth, For He shall not speak of himself, but
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show
you things to come. He can be lied to.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5 and
verse 34. Why has Satan put it in your
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? You've not lied to men, but
you've lied to God. He can be insulted.
The book of Hebrews and Hebrews chapter 10 and in the verse 29
actually tells us something that's interesting.
It says, Of how much sore punishment suppose ye, shall he
be thought worthy, who have trodden under foot the Son of
God, and have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he
was sanctified and holy thing, and have done despite unto the
spirit of grace. The word despite means contempt.
He can be insulted in a very contemptuous manner.
He can be blasphemed Matthew chapter 12 verses 31 and 32.
He can be grieved. Ephesians 4 and 30.
Grieve not the Spirit of God, for by your sealed unto the day
of redemption, and he can be quenched.
First Thessalonians 519. Now all of these human actions
and responses describe personality.
Only a real person can, will speak, teach, guide, be laid to
be grieved, quenched. The Holy Spirit is not a force.
He's not a force like gravity. He's a real person.
And in the Bible he has about 15 titles that describe his person
and work. These are 15 names whereby He's
known by, and one of them is the lovely name Comforter.
And that title Comforter demands and displays personality in John
14, verse 16. And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide
with you forever. And then in John 15 verse 26, he
says this. But when the comforter has come,
we will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father.
He shall testify of me. And again in the upper room
discourse. This is the third time, John 16,
verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, For if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. Three times the Lord Jesus
called him the Comforter. No, that implies a person,
doesn't it? A person who comes alongside you
in your circumstance and situation.
A person who comes alongside you to help you, to counsel you, to
care for you, to comfort you. In other words, one who comes
alongside, who relates to you personally, who who understands
you despite your current situation and circumstance.
You see, a power can energise, but it cannot comfort.
Only a real person can take up that role.
True comfort is not mechanical, it's relational.
And of course, on top of that, there are personal actions of
the Holy Spirit. John 14, verse 26.
He shall teach you all things. He shall testify of Me.
He shall guide you into all truth.
These are not merely symbolic activities, but spirit LED
activities and they all require intelligence.
They all require will. They all require communication
and action. Now here's something I told them
on Friday night at the Bible study.
The personal work of the Holy Spirit in John 16, verses 7
through to 15. Read it carefully.
John 16 verses 7 through to 15 the Lord Jesus deliberately uses
the masculine demonstrative pronoun 12 times.
That masculine demonstrative pronoun is econos and it
literally means that one he to refer to the Holy Spirit.
So 12 times the Lord Jesus in that positive scripture referred
to the Holy Spirit as that one he of John 16, seven through to
15, rather than use the neuter gender Puma, which means spirit.
I believe that the Lord Jesus was deliberate.
He was making a theological, grammatical statement.
The Holy Spirit is not in it. The Holy Spirit is that one he.
He's a real person very quickly. He's also a divine person.
The Bible explicitly calls him God.
John 424. God is a spirit.
Acts 5, three to five. Peter said to Ananias and
Sapphira that was not lied to men but unto God, making direct
reference to the Holy Ghost. In Second Corinthians chapter 3
verse 17, we read the Lord is that spirit.
We'll add to these references where he's explicitly called
God. He possesses divine attributes
of eternality, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience.
He He is the creator and giver of life.
Job said Job 33 and 4. The Spirit of God hath given me
life. He's involved in the doctrine of
the Trinity included. He is included in the baptismal
formula, Matthew 28 and 19. He's included in the Apostolic
benediction, Second Corinthians 13 and 14.
The Holy Spirit is not just a real person, he's a divine
person, and the Holy Spirit's an active person over there.
In John chapter 16, verses 7 to 9, we read this.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth is, it's speeding for you
that I go away. For if I go not away, the
comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will
send them unto you. And when he has come, notice
those words, that one, he, when he has come, he will reprove the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement
of sin, because they believe not in me, of righteousness because
I go to my Father and you see me no more of judgement, because
the Prince of this world is judged.
It's the Holy Spirit's work to regenerate the dead Sinner into
newness of life. The Holy Spirit is the one who
applies Christ to the soul upon the gift of repentance and
faith. John Calvin said the Spirit is
not a dead thing, but a living fountain which must not be
obstructed. The Spirit of God is not a net,
He's not an impersonal force. The Spirit of God is none other
but God Himself, dwelling in the hearts of lies of His people
through faith in Christ. Remember Paul says in Romans
8:00 and 9:00, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he, if
none of his, how do you know that you're in Christ?
How do you know you belong to the Saviour?
Not just because you give personal witness and testimony,
but here's the seal of God, the witness of the Spirit.
The Spirit of God has indwelt your human body.
You're indwelt by the Spirit, not just born of the Spirit.
So that's the person that's mentioned in our text.
Now let's go back to the text. OK, Quench not the Spirit.
Here's the prohibition that is addressed.
Quenched not the Spirit. Despised, not prophesying.
Now what does the word quenched mean?
Let me suggest. The word quenched means putting
out a fire. You you imagine a fire's lit in
your house and to quench it, you have to put it out.
Or maybe we'll simplify it. Think of without electricity and
you're going to bed and the candle's lit and you get into
bed and you've got the little flame in the candle and you want
to put it out. Well, rather than just blow it
out like what I would do, they used to have a little thing that
that smothered the flame on the candle, and then that quench
didn't put it out. You see, that's the picture
here. The word quench means to smother
the flame or to to put it out. Now the Holy Spirit's work in
the soul of man is like a a fire.
The word quench doesn't imply the Spirit's work like a fire is
powerful, yet it can be resisted.
It can be quenched. It can be smothered over.
Now we know what the Holy Spirit does.
He regenerates the dead Sinner and the newness of life.
That's one of his works. And you have they quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins.
He can warm up a cold heart. Think of somebody going through
a winter time period in their Christian experience, and then
they're brought into a summertime period.
The Spirit of God warms up that heart.
He's the one who can purify and subdue our sinful activities.
He's the one who enlightens our dark mind, brings us
understanding. He's the one who leads and
guides us into all truth, the truth according to the Holy
Scriptures. Only the truth according to the
Holy Scriptures. He's the one who testifies of
Christ. He gives us an understanding of
who Christ is in his personal work.
And yet the amazing thing is this.
We've only discovered this, thought of this.
The spirits work. Can be hindered, opposed, and
quenched in the souls of men, even though it's operating like
a powerful fire. That fire can be smothered over
almost to the point where it can be put out very quickly.
Our time has already gone. Think of ways to quench the
Spirit's work. You see, we can quench the
Spirit by tolerating any unrepentant sin.
That's true personally. That's true congregationally.
For an individual to practise and persist in knowing sin by
indulging in open and secret sin.
That sin indulged in is like water thrown onto a fire.
The water puts the fire out. It was Thomas Watson who said
that sin is like the devil's sponge to wipe out the motion of
the spirit. Sin literally puts out the fire.
Sin extinguishes the flame of God's presence and power.
Sin remembers the transgression of the law of God.
The law of God is summarised in the 10 commandments and in the
context here. Thinking of the last verse,
verse 18, the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, you
see, to indulge in persistent and practise.
No one's sin is rebellion against the will of God.
And by refusing to obey God, by refusing to do his holy will is
to resist that will to smother and dampen and extinguish the
fire of the Holy Ghost in our soul.
Here's another way. By resisting conviction, the
Holy Spirit convicts us. Conscience speaks to heart and
mind speaks the word of God to our soul, and then we silence
that word. Let me illustrate.
The Bible talks about Revelation 21 and eight, but the fearful
and unbelieving. Maybe you're here this morning.
You're not a born again Christian, but you know that you
need to be saved. You know you're a Sinner.
You know you've gotten the mortal soul.
You know that only Jesus Christ can save you.
You know you need to repent. You know you need to receive
Jesus Christ as Lord and Redeemer as He's freely offered
in the Gospel. You've heard this.
You've heard it repeatedly, but you've never actually followed
through on what you've heard. In other words, you've heard but
haven't actually obeyed. It was John Owen who said, when
the Spirit calls us to duty and we delay, we do as much as is in
us to stifle his voice. Is that true of you?
You've stifled the call to repent and believe.
The Bible says, behold, now is the accepted time.
Now is the day of salvation. Lord Jesus we read in the Book
of Revelation in Revelation chapter 3 and the verse 20,
which of course is directed primarily to the legacy in
church, could be used in the gospel.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into
him, and will Sup with him, and he with me.
And yet, often times, despite the Neil pierced hand knocking
at their heart's door to gain entrance, calling out for you to
repent and believe, you have stifled that voice by remaining
disobedient to that 'cause that's what we mean by resisting
conviction. Another way, of course, is by
neglecting the means of grace. A fire dies out, you know, by
pouring water on it. That's one of the ways.
But a fire can also die out by withholding fuel, like a little
fire in your home. And don't keep adding logs or
fuel or peat. Then it goes out.
In other words, here's another way that we quench the Spirit.
We quench the Spirit by neglect. And how many today in the
professing church are neglecting the means of grace?
And one of those means, of course, is prayer.
Prayerlessness is a big sin today.
One Samuel 12 and 23. There's little private or public
prayer. And when there's little prayer,
there's little sense of God's presence and God's power.
And it's his will that we pray. Matthew chapter 6 and six.
When ye pray, enter in to the closet.
You think this morning of those who are out of Christ in our
family circles, our family members, where is the wrestling
with God for their conversion? Where's the cry heavenward,
Lord, save my children. Where's the pleading with heaven
as we stand in His mighty promises, asking not only for
the souls of our children, but asking for the souls of our
community and fellow countrymen? What about prayer for the
well-being of our country? One of the great prayers of the
past was John Knox. John Knox of Scotland and his
little house in the corner of Princess St there.
John Knox, a former converted Roman Catholic converted to
Christ, often prayed. He was heard to pray as the
people tramped past the street. Give me Scotland or I die.
You know, it's great to have Bible studies, great to spend
time and having fellowship and socialising, but we mustn't
neglect time at the throne of grace.
Sadly, today many souls are neglected and we neglect the
souls of our families and our children and our friends by
being prayerless in relation to their need.
Have we so little interest in the children that we haven't
given ourselves to prayer? Prayerlessness is linked to
thanklessness. You see.
Prayers expected, prayers commanded to neglect it.
We're we're, we're, we're really guilty of sin.
Another means of grace, of course, is Bible reading and the
study of the word and meditation.
King David said, oh, how I love thy law.
Psalm 119, verse 97. Job said, I've esteemed thy word
more than my necessary food. The Lord Jesus said, what are
Matthew chapter 4 and verse four?
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
And I believe, of course, in the word of God.
We have the word of God here in our English Bible, a God braved
word. And every word is pure and
precious, and, and, and, and plead and preserved and
powerful. And yet we often neglect it, we,
we misunderstand it. Queen Victoria said the secret
of England's greatness is the open Bible.
There should be room for Bible reading in our lives.
Maybe there should even be a room in the church for people to
come and and enjoy engage in Bible readings just in its own.
Another neglecting of the means of grace is absence from public
worship. Hebrews 10 and 25.
Forsake not the assembling of yourself together as the manner
of some is. We have to be honest.
Some deliberately don't come to the House of God in the day of
God to worship God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
They've got so careless that they really can't be bothered as
another way. Not a a cool formulism and
worship without the power and presence of God.
A a mere outward ceremony and performance, a loss of a living
quality. We have religion today in
Northern Ireland, rites and ceremonies, Paul says, a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof.
How many love the ritual, the routine, the robes, the
possessions, the chants? And yet it's all meaningless.
What about a love for the world above the word?
James four and four first. John 215 and 16.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. A heart in love with the world,
the trinkets, the things of the world, but yet not full of a
love for the word of God. What about an evil tongue not
speaking the truth, cursing, lying, sowing discord?
The Bible says let no filthy communication come out of your
mouth by ignoring the inner promptings of the Spirit.
And here's another means, by despising the preaching of the
Word. You see, we cannot separate the
Spirit from the Word, the Word from the Spirit.
They go together. They are interconnected.
To despise preaching is to quench the Spirit.
The the Spirit works through the Word, never apart from the Word.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon said far too many, and he was in the 18th
century. Far too many today are sermon
tasters rather than truth receivers.
All of these means that I've mentioned are ways to quench the
Spirit very quickly. Warning against quenching the
Spirit. You see, what is the result of
quenching the spirit? Is there a serious consequence?
The answer is yes. The word quench means putting
out the fire, extinguish the flame.
And what's the result quickly? A spiritual coldness in the
individual Christian life, The life of the church.
A love for Christ cools. A spiritual loss of real
assurance, the spur of adoption whereby we were sealed.
He has grieved Romans 815 and 16.
There's a spiritual decline in biblical holiness.
The process of sanctification slows down.
Sin gains the upper hand. Sin is manifested in the life
and witness of the individual. And in the church there's a
spiritual prayerlessness that prevails.
The attitude is elders and ministers.
We don't go in for that type of thing.
A spiritual life within the soul and the life of the church
departs. It's all mechanics and and and
motions, but it's dry, it's cold, it's formal, it's lifeless
without the power of God, without the presence of the
Lord, a spiritual love for the truth of the word of God.
It's it's lost. You see, if if preaching of the
word is despised, and John Calvin took the word
prophesying, and by that he says it means the public exposition
of Scriptures. And where is the faithful
preaching of the word of God? Men are called to preach the
Word. That's what I do every Sunday
night and morning. Preach the word on Wednesday
night. And yet preaching is despised.
How do we despise preaching? We neglect the means of grace,
be indifferent toward it, level criticism against it, become a
selective hearer, accept the comfort that it brings, but
reject the challenge, reject the correction that it brings.
Many professing Christians can't say with David, Oh, how I love
thy law. They don't love every word.
To them it's not precious and pure and powerful and pleaing
and preserved. The Lord gave the word, every
word. The third thing I want to say,
and it's this, the prevention that is needed.
Quench not OK. In other words, do not do this.
We need the fire of the Holy Ghost.
The Spirit of God is the divine fire within the soul of the
regenerated Sinner. And how can we fulfil this?
Quench not, despise not, let me suggest, as we finish, cherish
communion with the Lord. There has to be a life of daily
prayer, a daily reading from the Bible.
God's presence and precepts should be sweeter and richer and
fuller and better. As we meditate in the Word, we
enter into a life of daily dependence on the Lord.
We grow in our relationship. As I said, the relationship gets
sweeter and richer and fuller and better.
Spurgeon never prayed for any more than 15 minutes at one
time. But then he said he never went
15 minutes a day without prayer. You see, he lived a life of
daily prayer. He lived by meditating on the
Word. He lived a life of daily
dependence on the Lord. You and I should cherish
communion with the Lord very quickly.
We should cultivate consecration.
We should present our bodies to Him dearly.
That's what we're told in the book of Romans.
In Romans chapter 12 there and verses 1 and 2, Paul says this.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
having preached or written 11 chapters in Romans, all about
the work of Christ, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service, if you go back to being indwelt by the Spirit.
And where his and where his blood bought possession, where
his offspring, the blood marks upon us, and we testify, Well, I
am his and He is mine. Then we will cultivate this
consecration. Our motto and mindset will be
holding us unto the Lord. I'll tell you something else.
As we come to a conclusion. There's constant confession.
We pray in the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us.
Confession of sin is daily. I must do it daily.
I must do it quickly. Let's learn to keep short
accounts with God. John Owen said be killing sin or
sin would be killing you. And we must kill sin daily.
We must kill it quickly, and if we don't do it then we will
quench the Spirit. I'm not talking about the sin of
murder, drunkenness and adultery.
What about the sin of pride, the sin of jealousy, the sin of
envy, the sin of covetousness, the sin of gossiping, sowing
discord? What about not loving the Lord
with all our heart and soul and mind and strength?
What about the sin of being just fearful?
Can't trust the Lord? He tells us to let go of our
figures. Whatever situation, whatever
struggles you have. What about the sin of unbelief?
You see, all of these need to be confessed.
We must cherish communion. We must cultivate consecration.
We must be constantly confessing our sins.
And lastly, there has to be continuous conformity.
If we're in Christ, as this text suggests.
The will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
In Christ we will learn quench not the Spirit.
In Christ we will learn. Despise not prophesying where
His were bought with the price, the precious blood we're born of
the Spirit and for his then his goal is to conform us into his
image. And again it was Calvin said
what we behold we become. And if we become like him, then
we will obey the Spirit's promptings.
Can I say this morning, let's learn to never slight the
sermon? If it's a word from God, don't
silence the Spirit who's prompting you to a richer and
deeper and greater relationship with the Lord.
And don't suffocate the grace of God in these ways that we quench
the Spirit that I mentioned. Let's heed the warning and let's
seek to it that we have the signs of grace in our heart.
May the Lord take these few thoughts and bless them to us.
We're going to sing in closing 465 and we're only going to sing
the first verse, and I'll pronounce the benediction 465.