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1 Thessalonians 5:19
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19 Quench [sbennumi] not [me] the Spirit. [pneuma] KJV-Interlinear
19 Do not quench the Spirit; NASB
There are two concepts used in the Bible to refer to the dysfunction of ones spiritual life. Here is the reference to the ‘quenching’ of the Holy Spirit, and in Eph. 4:30 is the reference to the ‘grieving’ of the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 4:30
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. NASB
Grieving is a reference to the function, of ones spiritual life. Or rather the improper function of ones spiritual life. When you have so much given to you in the form of spiritual resources, and choose to sin or otherwise live in the carnal sphere rather than in the spiritual sphere of life, then that is a form of grieving, or an act of disappointment to the one who supports you in this life.
The Holy Spirit is your support mechanism. This is like a child, you, who is given much in order to have a great life, but the child, you, squander or do not appreciate the gifts given to him. The parent in effect is grieved or disappointed because of the phenomenal indifference.
And to quench the Holy Spirit, means to pour water onto a fire thus putting it out. Your fire is the burning desire within you, pursuing, rushing, anxious to learn and understand and to grow up in your faith. To pour water on that desire, in effect is putting it out by indifference or some misdirection you have taken in life.
You can see a lot of children fail in school and in life, simply because they do not want to learn. They do not want to make the effort to learn. They are indifferent and/or unconcerned about the subject matter. They do not see the relevance of the subject to their daily life, so they ignore it. They are not concerned with the consequences, because they haven’t yet occurred, or life hasn’t been bad enough yet to teach them the lesson, or life is already bad or boring, so they figure, ‘Why try at all?’
And what do we learn from those kinds of kids? They end up in gangs, in low paying jobs, living a life in miserable conditions, they end up in jail or worse, they discover too late that their whole future has been compromised because they didn’t care, when they had the chance to design and define their life.
And so, the spiritual life is far greater and has far greater consequences than your temporal life in this world.
If you choose to ignore responsibilities in this life, then what should you expect from the next life.
And pretending that the next life doesn’t matter now, is not a very smart plan for your life either. After all, how many folks do you know that are still alive from the beginning of the world? None. How many folks born in the 1800’s are still alive? Probably none, if not just a very few. Even most folks born in the early to mid 1900’s are now dead.
So since Adam and Eve, many billions and probably trillions of folks have left this world. None could manage to keep themselves here, alive.
And as for you? What plan do you have to make yourself live forever in this life? None.
So, you will have a next life. The only question is, are you going to design your own future, or are you going to let the world erase your future for you because of your apathy toward life. Are you not defeating yourself by this attitude?
So, again, we say so, do not pour water on the fire that should be burning within your own heart.
Remember our study in Colossians, about the journey through life to discover or write your own song or story.
Somewhere within yourself, you need to find that spark and feed the fire of learning desire for doctrine, such that you will advance through life and grow up in your spiritual life, and be built up by God, such that you will be able to deal with any situation that might be brought into your life, in this life, and come out a spiritual hero with a song and story about yourself, second to none.
One of the many objectives of your spiritual life is to grow up and become independent from this world, and autonomous from the many troubles that will certainly enter into your life.
By default, since you are alive in this world, you will face difficulties. You can face them alone, or you can face them with God. The Holy Spirit is the driving force and power, that holds you up in all matters. And no, you cannot see, feel, or detect Him in any way, but through doctrine in your soul, you will have access to all of His abilities, which He uses to serve your life.
Ponder that last thought for a moment.
So again, you can go it alone and lose, because you will lose, or you can approach life with God, and win.
The difference between the two? Your attitude, or the lack of it, for doctrine.
