“Quench not the Spirit.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:19
For the first twelve years of my life, I lived in the small town of Mullens, West Virginia. At the time, the Wyoming Hotel was still open. Occasionally, we would hear a long, extensive siren blare from the top of that hotel. It was the fire whistle. It notified volunteer firemen that the station was being called out for a fire.
After a few minutes, the sirens of fire trucks could be heard as the firemen raced towards the fire. Even though I don't live in Mullens any longer, I know the fire siren is no longer being used there. The hotel has been closed for many years. These days, firemen are notified by modern means when the station is being called out. I think they may even have a fireman staying at the station.
Rural towns and communities rely on volunteer firemen to respond to fires and emergency calls. These unsung heroes do this work without compensation, yet they give of their time to serve, often risking their lives.
There is another time of volunteer fire fighter that we rarely think about. To your surprise, you may be a volunteer fire fighter yourself.
In his first epistle to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul wrote the tiny verse: “Quench not the Spirit.” Literally this is translated to mean, don't put out the Spirit's fire.
What has happened to the Spirit's fire in our churches? Why have our churches become so lukewarm and ineffective? Could it be that we have been putting out the Spirit's fire?
The sad fact is that most churches have no spiritual fire in their services. As Vance Havner once said, “Most church services begin at eleven o'clock sharp and end at twelve o'clock dull.” In an effort to avoid strange fire, we extinguish every fire.
Charles Spurgeon once said, "We never say, ‘Amen,’ or ‘Glory!’ now. We have grown to be so frozenly proper that we never interrupt a service in any way. God send us a season of glorious disorder.”
By the way, what ever happened to shouting in our churches?
When we resist the Spirit's leading, we pour water on the Spirit's fire. We may act more dignified and organized, but we've become lukewarm in the process.
We don't need this kind of volunteer fire fighters in our churches. Certainly we want our worship to stay within the boundaries set forth in Scripture, but we also don't want to be responsible for pouring water on the Spirit's fire.
Without sounding judgmental, I suspect that nearly everyone reading this has been guilty of being a spiritual volunteer fire fighter at one time or another. We have volunteered for this work, because God certainly didn't call us to it. There have been times we were led to say AMEN during a sermon, but didn't utter a word. There have been times we were nudged to witness to someone, but remained silent. We tend to accuse others of being volunteer fire fighters, but if we're honest, we'd have to admit that there have had times we poured water on the Spirit's fire. Even worse, some have nearly become professionals at this work.
The tragic state of the American church can be blamed, in part, on the internal problem of volunteer fire fighters. This would be a good time to turn in our resignation and surrender anew and afresh to the Spirit's work. Yes, we should resist false doctrine, heresy and unbiblical practices. But at the same time, God is calling us to be led by the Spirit. Your life will never be set aflame with revival fire if you continually have a fire extinguisher in your hand, ready to douse any flame.
The real problem is the issue of disobedience. Most of us are apprehensive about surrendering everything to the Spirit's control. We don't like relinquishing our own control. Also, we fear what the Spirit may lead us to do. We don't want to do anything that makes us feel uncomfortable. We don't want the Spirit to ruin our reputation. We don't want others to see us as weird --- even in the church. Since the Holy Spirit is God, we need to realize that when we resist the Spirit, we are resisting God.
Whether we are in church, at home or on the job, we need to heed the Spirit's leading. If there has ever been a time that we need the Spirit's fire to engulf our lives and spread like wildfire to others, it is right now. Quit being a volunteer fire fighter.
Quench not the Spirit.
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