“Don’t quench the Holy Spirit!” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) is such a powerful exhortation. I have always wondered about this exhortation and a similar one Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God …” Here in these passages it seems that the Holy Spirit can somehow be stopped from moving! Yet in some settings the Holy Spirit moves so powerfully it’s breathtaking! I believe this quenching and grieving of the Holy Spirit have to do with our co-operation and yielding to the work of the Spirit of God and living our lives in such a way that it’s pleasing to Him!
Why do we have these biblical exhortations telling us not to restrict or hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Because only the Holy Spirit can radically change a life! We need the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives, now more than ever before! God wants you and I to be soaked in His Power! One of the Keys to revival is when the Church begins to open up and hunger for the Holy Spirit! God wants us to be immersed in His Presence and power! So full of God we can’t take any more!
There are people, Churches, Communities and even nations that would seek to quench the work of the Holy Spirit. I remember last year in Ethiopia, meeting an elderly Pastor in the City of Ginnir. Missionaries from Europe came into this region of Ethiopia in the 1930’s. They labored in a medical clinic, providing medical treatment, and yet they had no converts to Christ in the twenty years they worked there. Thats’s faithfulness. They Communists took power and they had to leave, but they left behind a beautiful seed. All of their workers and volunteers including this Pastor, had eventually become Christians.
These new converts started Churches and as Pastors they were persecuted and thrown into prison for refusing to renounce their faith. Later, as the Communists transitioned out, they were free to continue their work in this heavily Muslim dominated area. I remember conducting our Gospel Event in that town and seeing the look of joy in the face of this Pastor as thousands gathered to hear the gospel It also gave us great joy preaching and broadcasting the gospel through those speakers throughout that Muslim dominated City!
While nations and individuals have the ability to oppose and reject the work of the Holy Spirit; the Fire of the Holy Spirit is unquenchable! Matthew 3:11-12 says “”I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
You can try and stop the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, but it’s unstoppable! God is saying in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – ‘Just don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit in your life!’ We need His help. The fulfillment of the Great Commission is an impossible mission without the fuel and fire of the Holy Spirit! To see the Gospel go to the nations we need to be filled like never before!
Today I want to encourage you “Don’t quench the work of the Holy Spirit in your life” allow God to fill you and transform you like never before! God wants to more in you and through more than ever before, but it all begins when we say yes to His wonderful work in our lives. It all begins when we yield and surrender our lives to His lives changing Presence and power!
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