Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 1Thessalonians 5:19-24
The fire of God’s Spirit is to be a driving force in the life of a believer. Jesus tells His disciples after His resurrection, and before His ascension: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The apostles had already experienced the Holy Spirit’s saving, guiding, teaching, and even miracle working power. And now they were promised by Christ’s departure back to the Father, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, a new dimension of power for witness. So we can know that God has empowered us to be His witnesses about the kingdom of God, and His plan of salvation. But we are always to be reminded of what can nullify all of this. We are told by Paul here in our text, not to quench the Holy Spirit. How do we quench the Holy Spirit? Did you know that one of the greatest quenches of the Holy Spirit is a lack of love? The work of the Spirit of God in our hearts and in our lives can be hindered by bitter feelings, by hatred, and jealousy, by animosity, and those things that represent our old fallen sinful nature. To operate under these conditions is to quench the Spirit of God in us. What are we to do whenever any of these feelings arise? We are to confess them to God. Let Him know that we are unable to stop these feelings that surface in our flesh. That He has to take them away by the power of His Holy Spirit in us. Guess what? When we are that transparent with God in prayer, His peace will begin to rise within us and replace all the feelings of bitterness and resentment. And so we are told “Do not quench the Spirit” It is really telling us, that work of God in us, don’t quench it by doing these things. The fruit of the Spirit you see, is love, and that is what the Spirit is speaking to, is seeking to produce in you that love of the Spirit. We are to respond to this by opening up to God’s love, and to be a channel of His love to meet the needs of others.
Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast to what is good—Here is something that may refer to the spoken revelation from God (Acts 11:27-28), but most often refers to the written word of Scripture (2Peter 1:19-21). Now these “prophecies” are authoritative messages from God through His ordained messengers, or recognized spokesmen, and because of their divine origin, should never be taken lightly. But be sure we are to test all things against the Scriptures. I’ve said here in this blog writing before, never, never just take my word for what you read me say. Take the time for yourself, and read through the text. Be diligent to present yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, but is rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Now that is Scriptural, now that is where truth lies. Does what I’m hearing or reading from another man line up with the Word of God? Then hold fast that which is good.
Abstain from every form of evil—Here is one of the most criticized activities a Christian finds himself in. Why? I do think we need to be very sensitive on the appearance of things, to make every effort to shun the appearances of evil. There are those couples that often come and say, “Well, we’re living together in the same house, but God knows how we feel?” We are in love. We’re eventually be getting married, it’s just not the right time, etc. To your neighbors it may all look normal, but to God, and your fellow believers, it has the appearance of evil. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1Corinthians 6:18-20) A Christian’s body belongs to the Lord, and is a member of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Every act of fornication, adultery, or any other sexual sin is committed by the believer in front of God, and in the midst of His holy dwelling place. We seem to think that we are alone, in the dark, behind closed doors, therefore, no one really knows what is really going on. From God’s viewpoint, this will never be accepted by Him. It is an act from which Jesus Christ, has already died for, to forgive us from this type of sin, then empower us by His Spirit to resist this type of behavior. We don’t want to stumble anybody. So here is why I think we can receive such criticism from others, who want to water down the Holiness of God. So what is found to be “good” is to be wholeheartedly embraced. What is “evil” or unbiblical is to be shunned.
And the very God of peace sanctify {set you apart} wholly {or completely}; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless—Having concluded with these exhortations, Paul’s ending benediction acknowledged the source for obeying and fulfilling them all. It is not nor ever will be with human effort or strength to be sanctified in all these ways, but through the power of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). The God of peace (Jehovah Shalom) “Himself” can separate you (us) from sin to holiness “completely.” The three parts of man’s being: body, soul, consciousness and spirit. Spirit, which is dead, until we receive the Lordship of Jesus Christ and we are made alive. Once we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but now we are alive unto God through the Spirit (Romans 6:23). It is only when we are made alive to God that we can then understand the spiritual things pertaining to God. But the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit, and neither can they know them because they are spiritually discerned. That is your whole man is God is referring to. God, preserving me physically, my body, God, preserve my mind, my consciousness. And God, preserve my spirit, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, Greek word, parousia: refers to the rapture of the church.
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it—How glorious it is to be called by God. And because God is faithful and having begun a good work in us, (Philippians 1:6) He will continue to perform it.
Beloved friend, Living for Christ today requires perseverance and commitment. A great love in our heart for Christ, and His Word of grace, to increase our knowledge of Him. This love for God is given to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and the quality of this love enables to suffer long in doing what others say they can never do. Our families need this kind of love to be shown to them. The love of Christ, which loves them unconditionally, just the way Jesus loves us. Will you join me in showing this type of love to others? It could indeed make the difference in someone’s life today.
May the Lord bless your walk with Him today.
