Quench Not The Spirit

"Quench not the Spirit." (I Thess. 5:19)

"Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel." (II Sam. 21: 17)

"The Targum is," says the learned John Gill, "thou mayest not extinguish the kingdom of Israel,'' the light and glory of it." (Commentary)


The Greek word for "quench" (KJV) means "to extinguish, quench" as "of fire or things on fire," "to be quenched, to go out," and "metaphorically to quench, to suppress, stifle," of resisting, as in the above citatinos, "divine influence." (Strong)

Some things, like some fires, ought to be quenched and extinguished. Some things, on the other hand, ought not to be extinguished. God give us wisdom to know the difference!

"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." (Song of Solomon 8:7)

God's love, like his wrath, CANNOT be successfully quenched or extinguished, for it is sovereign love of omnipotent being.

If you die in his wrath, as an unbeliever (see John 3;36), such wrath will not be quenched. (Isa. 34:10; Jer. 4:4; Mark 9:43; etc.)

Instead of quenching the Holy Spirit, we ought to be praying for him to "light us up"! We should be seeking for him to "ignite" us! Asking him to "Set us on fire"! Praying for him to "Revive us"!

Jesus spoke to us a parable about "ten virgins," five of whom were designated "wise" and five designated as "foolish." (Matthew 25) Wherein did the wisdom of the one, and the folly of the other, consist? How was each displayed and manifested?

The folly of the one class was manifested in their failure to "keep their lamps trimmed," and failure to "keep oil in their lamps." The wisdom of the other class was manifested in their carefulness to be ready and prepared, in their being responsible to keep their lamps trimmed and fully oiled?

How is it with you today my friend? Are you like one of the foolish virgins? Have you trusted that you will be finally saved because you attend church, give money to the poor, and do other good deeds, and yet you have an "evil heart of unbelief"? (Heb. 3:12) Are you careless about life and the judgment to come? Do you not know that God's keeping you alive yet is an act of mercy? He has given you another day to ponder your situation.

When you hear the Lord and his Spirit calling you, convicting you, do not resist or quench that "sweet influence." If you knew what an eternal fountain you are working to extinguish, what glorious fire of love you are trying to drown, then you would not quench it, but would rather swarm to it as to a warm campfire on a cold night, and keep throwing more fuel into the fire rather than letting it die out!

The word of God is compared to fire. "Is my word not like fire, says the Lord?" (Jer. 23:29)

Love too, as Solomon said, is like a fire and one difficult to extinguish.

Are we extinguishing love when we ought to be extinguishing hate? Are we quenching the word and Spirit of God when we ought to be quenching our lusts and the spirit of this world? Are we putting out fires that are good and useful instead of "wild fires," fires out of control, and that are only destructive?

What fires are burning in your heart? The fire of divine love, the fire of the word and Spirit of God, or the fires of lust and depraved passion? If the latter, then I beg you to flee to the only one who can, as the best spiritual fire fighter, put out those evil fires, and replace them with new fire, fire that is only productive. If he put not out those evil fires, then surely you will be destroyed forever in similar fires, in the "fire that shall not be quenched."