Quench Not The Spirit
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· 1 viewJune 26, 2022 Morning Worship
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
This morning we are going to be looking at the subject of Quenching the Holy Spirit.
And specifically how we are to NOT quench the Spirit of God when He moves on us, in us, and through us.
And for our focus this morning we are taking our primary idea from John 16:7-15; Ephesians 4:30; and 1 Thessalonians 5:19, all of which talk about the dangers of quenching the Holy Spirit.
And while that is where our focus is rooted, we are going to see that there are many places in the Bible where this is talked about and broken down for us.
However, this subject is very important because in the 21st century church it appears we have developed a major problem with the Holy Spirit.
It seems that we have developed a form of godliness but have denied the true power of the Holy Spirit that Paul warned Timothy about centuries ago when he told Timothy . . .
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
And if we are going to be 100% honest, which we are, a major part of the problem is the wholesale abandonment of the Holiness Doctrine.
We are no longer preaching Holiness and Entire Sanctification.
And this has led to an overall attitude of quenching and grieving of the Holy Spirit.
And it is imperative that in order for the 21st Century Church to thrive we MUST return to the foundation of all Chrisitanity.
And that foundation is Holiness.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to . . .
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
And when we hear “holiness” we get these pictures in our heads of some staunch, stern person looking down at the rest of the world.
That is not what heart holiness is and not what the Bible is talking about.
So, this morning we are going to look at this abandonment of Holiness and how this has led to the grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit.
Now, we also hear a lot today about not "quenching" or "grieving" the Holy Spirit, but there is a misconception of what this really means as well.
We want to think in terms of Worship Styles and allowing this or that type of Worship or not allowing certain STYLES of Worship in a church.
And the way it usually works is, if the Worship Style is not like what we are accustomed to or not what we agree with, then it must be bad.
But that has nothing to do with it.
Grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit is dangerous because ultimately leads to blaspheming the Holy Spirit and know the danger of that that Mark shares with us . . .
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
That is the end result we are all trying to avoid, but WORSHIP Style is not what we are talking about here.
There are things that are much more pervasive and common in the church today that leads to the grieving or quenching of the Spirit.
Bigger fish to fry, if you will.
In a book by G. B. Williamson (Nazarene evangelist, pastor, youth leader, college president, author, teacher, and general superintendent) called Sermons For Holiness Evangelism in which Williamson lists four main things that cause the grieving or quenching of the Spirit.
These are:
Some quench the Spirit by persistent refusal to answer His call to a life of full-time Christian Service
Some quench the Spirit by turning a deaf ear to the checks and promptings that He speaks to those who have ears to hear.
Some quench the Spirit by living in too close proximity to the world.
The fire of the Spirit may be smothered by constant preoccupation with the legitimate cares of this life.
Dr. Williamson wrote these things in 1974 and they have not changed.
In fact things may have even gotten worse since then.
And that is what we want to spend a few minutes on this morning looking at.
But first, let’s read our Scriptures that set the foundation for our sermon this morning.
Starting in John 16, verse 7 . . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
Now, take a look at Ephesians 4:30 . . .
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
And finally, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 . . .
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;
Refusal to Answer the Call
Refusal to Answer the Call
So, like I said that lays the foundation for what we are talking about this morning, which is the sending of the Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit intercedes in our lives, and how we are supposed to interact with the Holy Spirit.
But one of the major problems is that people quench the Holy Spirit, because they refuse to answer God’s call to Christian Service.
And before you say, “I ain’t no preacher,” or “I haven’t been called,” are you so sure?
Are you sure that God has never called you to do anything?
I would argue that all of us have bee called in some way.
Look at what Paul says in these passages.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
And . . .
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.
And finally . . .
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called—
So, it is clear that we have all received a calling, but what is it?
Well, honestly, I don’t know what anybody else has been called to, only what I have been called to.
However, there is a calling that ALL of us share.
And that calling is a call to Holiness . . .
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
And . . .
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
And finally . . .
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
So, when we start talking about refusing our call, we are talking about alot here.
We are talking about refusing the calling to whatever “jobs” if you will, that God has called us to.
But we are also talking about refusing the call to live a holy life.
To live a life where our heart is the Lord’s to do with as the Lord pleases.
Where our desire is to serve and please the Lord in all things.
And the big problem with this is, when we refuse the call, we are not refusing the Church or the Pastor, we are refusing and rejecting God.
Saul had this problem . . .
And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
Hosea dealt with a whole generation of people who had this problem . . .
my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
So, what is your calling?
What skill, talent, work has God given you?
Are you doing it, or are you quenching the Holy Spirit?
Remember, the skill, talent, and work God has given us all is for a purpose...
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Ignoring When the Holy Spirit Speaks
Ignoring When the Holy Spirit Speaks
So, how do we do this?
How do we get to the place in our lives when we refuse the call of God?
Well alot of it has to do with the fact that we turn a deaf ear to the checks and promptings that He speaks to those who have ears to hear.
That says a lot but, what does all that mean?
When God calls you to go or do something, you either do it or not. That is what it means
For instance, if God told you to give someone $10, would you do it?
If God told you to go and visit someone would you do it?
If God told you give a testimony would you do it?
If God told you not to drink that beer or take that drug would you still do it?
If God told you not to smoke that cigarette, would you smoke it?
If God told you not to tell that dirty joke, or go "clubbing" would you listen to God?
That is exactly what it means.
Do, we listen to God.
Jesus said 3 times in Matthew . . .
He who has ears, let him hear.
And . . .
He who has ears, let him hear.”
And . . .
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Do we have an ear?
Are we hearing what God is saying to us?
Are we responding to it?
That is what we are talking about here.
Living Too Close to the World
Living Too Close to the World
And I could go on but another big point here is sometimes we quench the Spirit because we are living too close to the world.
And, this may be the biggest problem that the church today faces.
Living in too close proximity to the world.
Being a friend of the world.
Wanting the church to be more like the world than the world to be like the church.
The fact is, the Holy Spirit will not reside in the same place that worldliness and sin does.
“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
And Jesus . . .
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
And going all the way back to Joshua . . .
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Folks, we have to make a choice and the world is NOT the right choice.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
And . . .
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
And the choice is, do we choose God or choose the world?
And sometimes that choice is hard because the cares of life choke out the Holy Spirit.
We spend all our time going to and fro, wearing ourselves out.
But we need to remember that God is there with us and for us . . .
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
And . . .
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
The question is, where do we stand with all of this?
Do we fall into one of the categories we talked about?
Are we quenching the Spirit by persistent refusal to answer His call to a life of full-time Christian Service?
Are we quenching the Spirit by turning a deaf ear to the checks and promptings that He speaks to those who have ears to hear?
Are we quenching the Spirit by living in too close proximity to the world?
Is the fire of the Spirit being smothered by constant preoccupation with the legitimate cares of this life?
If the answer to any of these questions is "yes" I invite you to come to the alter and give it over to Jesus.
We can never be where God wants us to be until God is in complete control.
Let’s pray . . .