Sam Storms - Don't Quench the Spirit | PasCon2018

if you have your bibles first thessalonians chapter 5 first thessalonians chapter 5. beginning with verse 19. we read these words do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies but test everything hold fast what is good abstain from every form of evil father we i anyway tremble before this verse it terrifies me in a good and godly way i hope and i pray that you would awaken us this night together to what this means and how we should change and how we should examine our our own souls our own styles of leadership how we preach how we talk how we pray how we live that the spirit of god would be magnified in our lives as we depend upon him for all things so we commit this time to you now in jesus name amen i have to say that at first glance my assigned topic for tonight sounds utterly ludicrous were it not for the fact that no less than the apostle paul commanded us not to quench the spirit who among us would ever have suggested that that is even within the realm of possibility think about this we're talking about the omnipotent spirit of god the third person of the godhead to suggest that he can be quenched somehow limited or hindered or restricted in some manner and what he might otherwise do in our lives in our churches that is treading on thin theological ice we in the reformed community and identify myself with it embrace and vigorously defend the eye in the acronym tulip we believe in irresistible grace we believe that the spirit of god is able to overcome all resistance to the gospel and to effectually bring a heretofore unregenerate person to see the light of the knowledge of god revealed in the face of jesus christ we believe that when the spirit operates in the life of an elect man or woman no amount or degree of human resistance can afford his work in regenerating that heart in inducing heartfelt repentance and imparting faith so how dare we suggest that this glorious and sovereign spirit might be in any sense quenched let me remind you again this is the sovereign spirit of god who as god works all things according to his will and yet in this text in first thessalonians 5 we are told that he has in some sense granted to the christian the power and authority either to release or restrict what he does in the life of the local church i am unapologetically a calvinist i have a high view of god's sovereignty i do not easily embrace limitations placed on what god does and yet paul tells me my fellow calvinist that the spirit comes to us as a fire either to be fanned into full flame and given the freedom to accomplish his will or to be doused and extinguished by the water of human fear control and a flawed theology now certainly the holy spirit can accomplish all that he wills to accomplish but it is also true that in certain instances especially when it comes to spiritual gifts he will rarely if ever force himself upon us may i simply remind you of paul's words in first corinthians 14 32 the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets which i take to mean that the spirit of god does not act upon us as though we were puppets he happily subjects himself to our decision concerning when and how and for how long we deliver prophetic words that is a frightening thought that we can make choices that will determine whether and to what extent the spirit will operate powerfully and freely in our midst this is dangerous ground on which to tread but it is biblical ground and on it we must walk now i know there are some people who would prefer that paul have said or that i might say folks don't give a second thought to the holy spirit he's going to do what he wants to do regardless of what you think or choose to do i mean don't worry about how you orchestrate your your sunday services or your small group gatherings the spirit's going to accomplish his will regardless of what you say or do i'd like to be able to say that but paul's words in this passage won't let me so before we dive into this question of the ways in which we might quench the spirit let's just ask the question how serious a sin is it to quench the holy spirit now for people who have reduced the holy spirit to little more than an impersonal force some sort of ethereal energy that permeates the universe it's not that big of a deal i mean think of it this way no one would ever suggest that to defy gravity by being thrust into outer space on a rocket booster is in any way a moral issue gravity's not offended by that gravity can't be grieved but for those of us who know the holy spirit to be a living thinking feeling loving joyful relational vibrant life-giving person it is far more serious than most of us have until now imagined this is the precious person who has agreed to live in you forever as the temple of god this is the precious person who in spite of often being grieved by our sin preserves and upholds and sustains us in saving faith this is the precious person who gently but powerfully opens your eyes as the psalmist says so that you can not only read letters on a page but behold wonderful things in god's word this is the precious person who lovingly restrains your sinful impulses who supplies you with encouragement and consolation and confidence and joy and peace and hope this is the precious person who never grows weary of directing your attention and riveting your thoughts upon jesus this is the precious person who keeps your heart united to christ when you feel tempted to give yourself to sexual immorality so let's let's be sure we understand what we're dealing with here this just isn't a breathtaking statement in paul's letter it's a terrifying statement now let's turn our attention if only momentarily away from the verb to quench and instead focus on the two subjects involved so there is first of all on one side of the equation the holy spirit he is god he is infinite he is omnipotent he is holy he is spirit and then on the other side of the equation it's you and me we are not god we're human we're not infinite but finite we're not omnipotent but weak we're not holy but unholy we're not pure spirit but also flesh so how is it that a finite weak unholy physical human being can in any sense quench or hinder or deter or successfully resist the divine infinite omnipotent holy altogether spiritual third person of the godhead are you beginning to feel the weight that i do in talking about a topic like this the immeasurable moral gravity involved in the idea of quenching the holy spirit i think there are probably countless ways in which you and i quench the spirit and we don't even know we're doing it unconsciously inadvertently do we speak and preach and lead in such a way that we instill fear in the hearts of people or after listening to us or observing how we conduct ourselves in ministry do they find themselves encouraged and courageous and confident to step out and take risks do we so repeatedly pepper our sermons and small group studies or even our personal conversations with such dire warnings of charismatic excess that we effectively quench the spirit's work in their lives when was the last time pastors elders lay folk that that you've examined the way you structured your sunday services or the tone with which you've written your church bylaws or the unspoken but clearly understood expectations that you have placed on people in your church what sort of attitude or spiritual atmosphere are you laboring to cultivate in your church do you speak and preach and pray and worship and serve one another in a way that makes people more hungry for the power of the spirit or do we cultivate an attitude of cynicism and suspicion and doubt and fear and criticism does our leadership style serve to energize people to pray faithfully for the sick or do we lead them in such a way that they find excuses not to this is the tone of voice our relational style the way we preach does it increase one another's commitment to obey first corinthians 14 1 earnestly desire spiritual gifts especially that you may prophesy although you would never render it this way do people basically hear from you first corinthians 14 1 is saying proceed cautiously when it comes to spiritual gifts and be suspicious of prophecy that's not what paul says with god's help i'm trying to cultivate at our church in oklahoma city an attitude a spirit an atmosphere of faith and expectation i i don't want a subculture of suspicion to permeate our people i want to facilitate not frustrate the presence and power of the spirit do you ever stop and think about the fact that everything you know about god is due to the work of the spirit in your life everything you know about jesus whatever degree of moral transformation you've experienced whatever victory over sin you've had it's due to the spirit of god whatever you understand in his word whatever strength you have received when you're weak whatever encouragement when you're in despair whatever sanctifying influence you feel in your soul you owe to the holy spirit so this is in a very real sense scary ground shaky ground on which to tread now we know from a text like this that the spirit wills to work in our life and in our churches and to use paul's metaphor or analogy the spirit is like a fire notice i said like a fire he's not metaphysically or literally fire paul's point is he's his work is analogous to the effect that fire has for example on dry grass or wood the holy spirit wants to intensify the heat of his presence among us he wants to inflame our hearts and fill us with the warmth of his indwelling power and paul's exhortation is a warning to all of us he's in effect saying folks don't become part of the ecclesiastical bucket brigade that lines up every time the spirit of god begins to move so that you can can douse his activity with the water of legalism and fear and extra biblical rules and control now there are as you know numerous analogies metaphors similes whatever you want to say in the bible to describe the person ministry of the spirit the most common three are wind water fire we could add light and oil to that as well and there are probably others john 3 jesus talks about the spirit moving in regeneration he says it's like unto the wind blowing in titus 2 paul talks about regeneration as mean the washing of regeneration and renewal of the spirit here he's talked about as if he were a fire you know john the baptist prophesied very much the same thing in matthew chapter 3 acts 2 the day of pentecost he manifested his presence as unto tongues of fire second timothy 1 6 and 7 were to fan into flame the gift of god that the spirit of god has bestowed upon us now i understand please understand i really do understand the concerns of my cessationist brothers and sisters many of you who embrace that view and and just like me you've grown weary of fanatical extremes and unbiblical sensationalism and you feel compelled at times to pull in the reins on the holy spirit some not all are growing in their doubts about the supernatural and they fear and not without good reason that some people have actually abandoned the primary and foundational role of scripture to teach us and guide us but none of this i say none of this can ever ever ever under any circumstances be used as an excuse or grounds to justify quenching the spirit now quenching the spirit isn't the only way we can sin against him there may be others but i find six ways explicitly stated in the new testament by which we can sin against the holy spirit hebrews 10 9 verse 29 talks about insulting the spirit jesus in matthew 12 warned about the dire consequences of blaspheming the spirit stephen in acts chapter 7 charged his accusers with resisting the spirit paul warned the church in ephesus about grieving the spirit peter charged ananias and sapphira with lying to the spirit and here paul cautions the thessalonians and us about the tendency to quench the spirit and i think the first three of those sins can only be committed by non-christians the latter three i think are ones that we can be guilty of committing so what is our responsibility do whatever you can within biblical parameters to intensify the heat of his presence don't create an atmosphere in which people are afraid or terrified of making a mistake and being publicly denounced when you discern the spirit's presence when his fire is detected pour godly gasoline on it now before i um go any farther and talking about the ways in which we have quenched the spirit i want to address one error that i think many people make in addressing this issue some think that if they don't read in the biblical text the words spirit or holy spirit that the spirit of god isn't in view that's a profound mistake as i said there are numerous metaphors and analogies and synonyms biblical authors employ to refer to the spirit so even in text where the spirit is not mentioned he is still very much the focus of what the biblical author is saying let me give you one example one example over the last four or five months that has radically changed my perspective on life and ministry it has to do with the greek word dunamis or power i think virtually every time not every time but almost every time that word is used in the new testament it's referring directly and explicitly to the holy spirit doesn't mean the spirit is only power he is a person but let me just give you some examples luke 1 35 gabriel says to mary in response to her how can i have a child i've never known a man the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you synonymous parallelism they're one and the same luke 4 14 jesus coming back out of the wilderness following the temptation it says jesus returned in the power of the spirit to galilee luke 5 17 the power of the lord was present with him to heal acts 10 38 peter says you know how god anointed jesus of nazareth with the holy spirit and with power especially clear about the day of pentecost jesus in luke 24 49 said to his disciples behold i'm sending the promise of my father upon you stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high we know that's the spirit because in acts 1 8 jesus says you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you do you know the gospels actually talk about power coming out of jesus i know this freaks some people out jesus remember the woman with the issue of blood comes up and touches him jesus perceiving in himself he felt it it was tangible physically tangible he felt power go out from him so much so that he stopped saying woo somebody touched me somebody with real faith luke 6 19 all the crowds sought to touch him for power came out from him and healed them all he's talking about the presence of the spirit if you if that something you've never heard about for go read luke 4 1. jesus being full of the holy spirit was being led by the spirit of the wilderness that phrase full of the spirits the same greek phrase luke uses in acts to describe what happens in christians jesus was full of the holy spirit he imparted this to his disciples he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons to cure diseases and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom and to heal paul does the same thing first corinthians two verses four and five my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of god first thessalonians 1 5 our gospel came to you not just in word but in power and in the holy spirit philippians 3. paul's paul says i want to know the power of his resurrection what do you think that means i don't think it means i want to know more facts about the empirical reality of his resurrection so i can use them in arguments with unbelievers nothing wrong with learning those facts that's that's not what he's saying he's saying the holy spirit who raised jesus from the dead i want to know that power i want to experience that power do you do you realize that this very power this power that raised jesus from the dead and exalted him above every principality and power dwells in you right now folks that's that's not sermonic hyperbole or illustration or exaggeration the spirit of god that raised jesus from the dead and exalted him to the right hand of the father dwells in you right now paul said in ephesians 1 i'm praying that the father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation now wait a minute these are already christians born again folk justified by faith in whom the spirit already and dwell is dwelling what do you mean what was the father giving me something i've already got well obviously he's talking about some sort of experiential encounter with the reality of the indwelling spirit beyond what you've had up until now because i want your eyes the eyes of your hearts to be enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you he i want you to know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance of the saints now listen and i want him to impart the spirit of wisdom and revelation to you so that you might know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his might when he raised him from the dead and seated in his right hand in heavenly places that selfsame power lives in you if you know jesus that's an amazing text it's asking god the father to impart to these ephesian christians the power of the holy spirit a little later in ephesians 3 paul's praying you know this text i pray that god would grant you to be strengthened with power he didn't say we strengthened with merely with ideas or exhortations or steroid injections no be strengthened with supernatural energy which is nothing less than the holy spirit himself that you be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being notice where this power is and abides it's not on the shelf in your living room it's not in your books it's not in the words of a conference speaker it is in your inner being and then paul closes that prayer by saying that to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think and how does god do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power at work where within us that's that's stunning peter echoes the same thing ii peter 1 3 his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness romans 15 13 you think power is restricted to signs and wonders paul says in romans 15 13 that if you want to abound in hope it's only going to come through the power of the holy spirit colossians 1 11 you need to endure with joy the trials are facing paul says we are strengthened with power to do so second thessalonians 1 11 you you resolve to do something right you make up your mind you make a new year's resolution paul says let every resolve for good and every work of faith be accomplished by means of his power just a daily routine experience for a christian is profoundly supernatural so my point simply is this even in those many texts where the spirit of god is not explicitly mentioned if the word power appears it is in all likelihood a direct reference to the spirit so anytime we ignore or suppress or squelch or somehow diminish or in any way reduce the operation of god's power for whatever it is whether it's hope encouragement endurance belief we are quenching the holy spirit i've always been fascinated and encouraged by paul's statement in colossians 1 19 you ask yourself how in the world did he pull off this ministry god gave him for this i toil struggling now pelagians would stop right there period it's all about the human will struggling that's not what paul says struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me god infuses his very own supernatural energy into his servants and don't think for a moment although you may have been told this that this kind of power is only given to apostles and maybe elders may i remind you that stephen who was neither an apostle nor an elder nor a pastor but a deacon who waited on tables to free up the apostles and others to do the work that god had called them to is described as full of grace and power now let me tell you it wasn't a junior holy spirit that filled stephen it wasn't a secondary lesser version of the spirit you know some people think that well the first team holy spirit he lives and operates and ministers through apostles and elders and then when we average folk come along they call this minor league spirit who's been sitting on the bench until now you come and you feel these folk no the same spirit that filled jesus that filled paul that filled stephen is in you and me that's the longest introduction i've ever given so now how do we quench the holy spirit well in light of what we've just seen number one the first and most obvious way is when we rely upon any resource other than the spirit for anything we do in life and ministry anything any attempt to persevere remain patient with joy by any means other than the spirit is to quench him any effort or strategy to carry out pastoral ministry other than through his energy that he powerfully works within me is to quench him any attempt to carry out some good work of faith through a power other than the spirit is to quench him anytime we find ourselves mired in doubt and depression and we strive to believe that god really loves us and we don't cry out as paul did in ephesians 3 to be strengthened with power through the holy spirit in our inner being we're quenching him second we quench the spirit whenever we diminish his personality whenever we mechanize the holy spirit you you've heard it as well as i have it's it's tragic when some so-called evangelist treats the holy spirit as some sort of divine equivalent to an electrical current and you hear them say things like stick your finger of faith into the socket of his anointing presence and you'll experience a spiritual shock of biblical proportions somebody say well that'll preach no it won't it might increase offerings and giving but no that will not preach the shameless manipulation and virtual depersonalizing of the spirit has frightened a lot of evangelicals and i understand why it scares me but let's remember the spirit is a person he has a mind he has feelings and affections he has a will that he exercises spiritual gifts given according to the spirit's will first corinthians 12 11. he does all the functions of a person he talks he testifies he enters into relationship with other persons he can encourage and strengthen us and teach us and when we act or minister in any way that loses this dimension of his personality we quench him three i may get myself into a little trouble tonight but i'll be sorted out tomorrow morning by my fellow panelists let me unpack this next one we quench the spirit whenever we neglect or overlook or worse still deny some feature of his multifaceted ministry now you should know that there are some christ-exalting bible-believing brothers and sisters that we'll share eternity with who think that a conference like this is out of line and unbiblical and they're not trying to be mean they're just trying to be true to the passage we've heard this week john 16 where jesus said when the spirit of truth comes he will glorify me see you see the subtitle to the you can't read it it's really small the christ exalting work of the holy spirit i believe that don't you think for a moment that what i'm about to say indicates that i don't but the idea that many draw from that is that the spirit of god will never do anything that might draw attention to himself that he's thoroughly and profoundly christocentric christ-centered well he is christ-centered that that's his primary purpose in fact this is a very healthy reminder for many in the charismatic movement who have severed the person of the spirit from the person of christ and have made experiencing the spirit an end in itself they're profoundly misguided in that but listen to me we must be careful to avoid the error of reductionism big fancy word here's what i mean it's arguing that the whole of the spirit's ministry can be reduced to christology as if the spirit does nothing but glorify christ it's the mistake of arguing that the primary purpose of the spirit is the soul or exclusive purpose of the spirit yes the principal aim of the spirit is to exalt christ but that doesn't mean that it's not the holy spirit when something happens that awakens us to his glory and his greatness my point is simply this nowhere in the new testament does it ever say that the holy spirit only points to jesus or only brings his glory and greatness to our attention now he most assuredly does that and it's his primary purpose and we must never lose sight of it but nowhere in the new testament am i told that he will never draw attention to his own personal work in fact i have numerous texts where he does precisely that and you read acts 8 where simon the magician saw that the spirit of god was imparted through the laying on of hands in other words in some way the spirit was drawing attention to his presence and power when cornelius was saved you read at the end of acts chapter 10 that when they saw and heard that the spirit of god had come upon them they said well what's to keep them from being baptized in water acts chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 it is the holy spirit who gives direction in the midst of a worship service that sends paul and barnabas on their missionary journeys acts 15 28 at the jerusalem council the apostles and elders sought the spirit in their decisions to find out quote what seemed good to the holy spirit guess who inspired that text it was the holy spirit he's talking about himself and what he does the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of god we cry abba father through his ministry he's the guarantee or down payment of the certainty of our future inheritance he gives gifts that manifest his presence about which i'll say more in a moment in fact that's my very next point so don't think for a moment i'm diminishing the reality of the subheading for this conference i'm not i'm just saying don't be guilty of reducing the spirit solely or exclusively to that fourth way we quench the spirit is when we suppress or legislate against his work of imparting spiritual gifts and ministering to the church through them you've heard several mention throughout this week that in first corinthians 12 7 paul says to each has been given the manifestation of the spirit and then he lists nine particular gifts the spirit is himself made manifest the spirit works to make his reality his person his presence and power known by operating through the spiritual gifts he has imparted to you spiritual gifts are the presence of the spirit coming to relatively clear even dramatic expression in the way we do ministry that's why i believe that to reject spiritual gifts to turn from them is in a sense to turn away from god why because they are the manifestation of the spirit who is god all right i'm going to say it you're wondering if you're not you're going to sam are you saying that the doctrine of cessationism is a quenching of the spirit how many of you all were wanting to know if i was going to answer that question before that i need to make a very important distinction it's the distinction between conscious intent and ultimate consequence i do not believe for a moment that my cessationist brothers and sisters consciously intend to quench the spirit i do not believe that i've never met one yet who i didn't consciously intend to do it for the first 15 years of ministry when i was a cessationist but i do believe the ultimate consequence the unintended consequence of that theological position quenches the spirit how can it not if the gifts which they are now denying and maybe legislating out of their church life are the manifestation of the spirit how can that not be quenching him now i know what my cessationist friends say it's what i used to say i want the spirit to work in whatever way i believe is biblically justified they just simply don't believe that the operation of miraculous gifts today is biblically justified so they couldn't be guilty of quenching him i understand that but the unintended practical effect of cessationism i believe is to quench the spirit number five we quench the spirit whenever we create an inviolable sanctimonious structure in our corporate gatherings our worship services even in our small groups that does not permit spontaneity or the special leading of the spirit now i'm not going to say much about this i i talked about this at some length yesterday in my seminar on how we quench the spirit and preaching and let me just say that in arguing for the the importance of spontaneity pastors i'm not suggesting that it's uniquely holy or more honoring of the spirit for you to wait till saturday night to prepare your message or maybe even walk into the pulpit on sunday without having done any study or preparation i'm not saying that's never okay it might be on occasion spurgeon did it i can't the spirit of god is just as active and it can work just as spontaneously and surprisingly on monday morning as he can on wednesday night as you can on friday or saturday or sunday morning or right in the middle of your sermon so again as i said on monday let me just say it again since all of you are here i fear that sometimes not always but sometimes the appeal to spontaneity is more of an excuse to be lazy than it is a reason to delay sermon preparation until the moment you stand behind the pulpit that being said i think there's an important place in our worship services for the spirit to break in and do something that isn't written down in the bulletin can it be i have a particular interpretation and it's probably a minority view that when paul in ephesians 5 and colossians 3 talks about hymns psalms and spiritual songs i don't believe he's being redundant i don't believe he's being unnecessarily repetitive i think they're three different things i think they the psalms are obviously the old testament psalms that they sang hymns were likely things like philippians 2 and colossians 1 hymns constructed around the person work of christ so what are spiritual songs why would he use that adjective with regard to these songs i'm just suggesting you think about it that they are probably spontaneously evoked by the spirit himself unrehearsed unscripted improvised melody's chorus is extolling the beauty of christ it happens virtually every sunday in our worship services it's a beautiful thing could it be just asking you could it be that we quench the spirit's work either by denying the possibility that that might happen or by so rigidly structuring our services that there's virtually no opportunity for it to occur just a question sixth this brings us back to first thessalonians 5. we quench the spirit whenever we despise prophetic utterances notice if you would the parallel between verses 19 and 20 do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies maybe the most important word in this passage is the word but that begins verse 21 rather than quenching the holy spirit by despising prophecies examine everything the word everything or all things in verse 21 is a reference to the prophetic utterances of verse 20. and that leads me to the conclusion that the good in verse 21 to which we are to hold fast and the evil in verse 22 from which we are to abstain are also references to the prophetic utterances mentioned in verse 20. now i know that sounds strange to you but i think paul is saying that sometimes alleged purported prophetic utterances can be damaging and destructive and contrary to scripture those are the bad ones abstain from that judge them weigh them and identify them for what they are but when they are good and helpful and beneficial and consistent with scripture embrace them you know the interesting thing about this is that it tells us how similar the first century church is to the 21st not everyone in the early church was completely happy about the gift of prophecy obviously some were very disenchanted and what makes this text so surprising is it's found in a letter to what was probably the most mature church to which paul ministered the church in thessalonica why would those thessalonians have been tempted to despise treat with contempt as the niv renders it prophetic words for the same reason that you and i do the gift probably had been abused in the church of thessalonica maybe some people were using it to control someone else's life claiming to know what god's will was for them by the way if anybody ever comes to you and says i got a prophetic word for you god told me what his will is for your life just stop them say thank you very much i'll ask him myself i guess some of the in thessalonica probably appealed to the gift to increase their sphere of influence and power prophecy is a pretty powerful gift when it's operating well some people may have overused it or overemphasized it maybe words were just going out and people were gullibly and naively swallowing everything that people said without testing it we tend to do that because we don't like to be critical we don't like to be confrontational some are probably just saying you know it's just weird it's weird it gives me the willies or maybe some were you know taking this hyper spiritual holier and that holier than thou posture because they had the gift and somebody else didn't or maybe they're saying because i hear from god in this way i'm spiritually special highly favored uniquely anointed and you ain't for whatever reason listen people listen to me for whatever reason anybody despises prophetic utterances paul says don't do it it doesn't matter how badly people may have abused the gift bring correction bring instruction bring it in line with the word but it still is a sin to despise prophecy that's in your bibles too i'm not reading the sam version here this is the this is this is the word of god don't treat prophecy with contempt don't treat it as if it were unimportant don't trivialize it now that doesn't mean that anything goes paul doesn't just say don't despise prophetic utterances what does he say rather instead judge them weigh them test them assess them you know what the greatest need in the church today really is it's not so much people with a prophetic gift it's people who are sufficiently biblically and theologically literate that they can sniff out error and heresy when they hear it paul says hold fast to that which is good abstain from every form of evil that is those gifts that are ineffective unfruitful that could do damage to the body of christ by the way this this means and i hope you hear this i wish i had more time to go into this that there is a vast difference between prophesying falsely and being a false prophet i have prophesied falsely what that means is i thought i may have heard from god or had an impression from the spirit and i delivered it and i was wrong okay i'm human paul says in first corinthians 13 we prophesy in part false prophets in the new testament are virtually every time people who deny the incarnation of christ false prophets are unbelieving enemies of the gospel not christian men and women who humbly are trying to exercise these gifts in the best way they possibly can so it is crucial to the life of the individual believer and especially to the spiritual health of the corporate body that we make it our aim not to quench the spirit by treating prophetic utterances with contempt or disdain may god help us to test them judge them weigh them embrace what is good godly and edifying rejecting what is bad misguided and destructive a seventh way we quench the holy spirit i talked about it a minute ago one of the more important ministries of the spirit one of this i know as precious to you as it is to me ephesians 3 it's the spirit of god strengthening me which means i'm weak i'm i'm struggling to believe something struggling to feel something he strengthens me in my inner being with power so that i might actually sense know believe even feel the profound affection that my father has for me an affection that is so rich and deep that according to zephaniah 3 17 he sings over you and me that's not figurative language god's audible voice is heard all through the old testament sometimes in the new people heard it with their physical ear why would we have a problem with the idea that god could sing i don't have a problem with that what makes him sing the work of grace and redemption and christ-conforming life that he is producing in his children through the holy spirit he looks at you and he says oh man let me tell you how much i love you i wish i could sing like god does but i can't so i just won't go any further there but the spirit of god wants to awaken and intensify in our hearts the joy of feeling loved by god anything that you and i might do or say that would hinder that kind of prayer or make people hesitant to pray that prayer is quenching the holy spirit eighth the holy spirit also works in us to alert us and awaken us to the glorious and majestic truth that we are children of god you know those texts romans 8 15 and 16. you've received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out abba father galatians 4 verses 4 through 7 the same thing interesting thing about those texts the experiential felt assurance of our adoption as the children of god is the direct result of the work of the spirit in our hearts so to whatever extent we diminish that experiential dimension of the spirit's work we have quenched him to whatever extent we fail to lead people into conscious felt awareness of their adoption as god's sons and daughters we quench the spirit ninth i'm circling back around to something i said earlier just the most basic and routine of christian duties and experiences are attributed to the work of the spirit romans 8 2 the spirit sets us free from the condemning power of the law romans 8 verse 5 and 6 the spirit enables us to set our mind on the things of christ it's the holy spirit who overcomes the paralyzing effect of shame it is the holy spirit who is abundantly working us romans 15 13 to enable us to have hope rather than despair it's the spirit who cultivates fruit love joy peace patience kindness goodness and so on in our lives that is why we we need to spend time praying for one another oh spirit of god would you just awaken my heart and and those of people around me to the magnificent beauty of the gospel would you strengthen our faith and the truth of all that god is for us in jesus spirit would you just just work in me that i might know in a more profound way i'm an adopted child of god the spirit would you break the stranglehold of lies and deception that satan has been speaking to me for my whole life he wants to undermine your intimacy with christ he wants to convince you that he that god would never want fellowship with someone like you the spirit of god would you work in me to overcome that lie to drive out that deception shine the light of the knowledge of god's love for me as his child into my heart pray that the spirit would indelibly imprint on your heart the deep and abiding conviction as i just said that god rejoices over you with loud singing that he would quicken your heart to feel the love of christ to enable you to repent honestly folks to the degree that for whatever reason we don't pray in those ways we're quenching the spirit tenth i didn't tell you up front i didn't want to scare you i've got 12 points so i'm almost done 10th we are guilty of quenching the spirit whenever we suppress or legislate against or instill fear in the hearts of people regarding the legitimate experience of heartfelt emotions and affections especially in worship if i may be allowed to quote john piper quenching the spirit means shutting down your emotions when joyful spiritual expressions are called for i get that from ephesians 5 18-19 do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery but be filled with a spirit addressing one another in psalms hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to the lord with your heart so the vibrant fullness of the spirit he writes overflows in appropriate expressions like singing and making melody from the heart to the lord and if you don't like those expressions and you resist it and fold your arms i'm not going to do that sort of thing i'm not going to sing you are quenching the spirit thank you john now no one wants emotion for its own sake but when the spirit ignites our passion for the son of god when the truth that comes into the mind inflames the heart it's hard to sit quietly and feel and say and do nothing may i remind you just in keeping with that luke chapter 10 verse 21 jesus is described as rejoicing in the holy spirit the spirit of god even touched and aroused and awakened the affections and the emotions of jesus number 11 allowing your life and ministry to be dictated or governed by the fear of guilt by association can easily degenerate into a quenching of the spirit what i'm talking about is the tendency to shut ourselves off from the work of the spirit for fear of being linked too closely with those people that we believe are a disgrace and an embarrassment to the gospel now are some people believing and teaching and living in a way that is a disgrace and does bring shame upon the name of christ yes but be careful that your fear of being even remotely linked with them doesn't shut down your heart where you basically say i'm not going in that direction i don't care what god says or anybody else i've told this story many times i tell it in my books i tell it again i can remember vividly i was sitting on my couch in ardmore oklahoma this would have been about 1988 or 1989 and i was watching a late night christian tv show and a very well-known tv evangelist whose name you would immediately recognize was ministering to people and it was horrible it was so offensive so manipulative so irreverent to god and i turned off the set and i actually threw the remote across the room i said if that's what it means to be open to and pursue the gifts of the spirit i don't want any part of it and i mean the lord i didn't hear an audible voice but i mean the lord brought conviction through the spirit to my heart sam why do you think that it's permissible for you to justify your disobedience to my word because you don't like the way somebody else has messed up boom isn't it amazing that paul in his language in first thessalonians 5 doesn't correct the abuse by saying disuse he says no proper use do it right i don't make vows to the lord i made a vow that day by god's grace i've kept it i hope i will till the day i dies i said lord with your help by your grace i will never again justify disobeying the disobeying the commands of scripture because others have abused the gifts of the spirit or been manipulative in ministry i just simply won't allow it in my life i'm not suggesting that you try to be weird whether you go out of your way to be offensive to people the bible calls us to be sober minded and above reproach and clear-headed but folks if the fear of rejection is quenching our willingness to embrace a move of the spirit we must embrace the stigma of appearing foolish in the eyes of men and finally traditionalism can quench the spirit now i didn't say tradition i said traditionalism j.i packer put it this way there is a subtle tenacity abroad that remains wedded to the way things were done a hundred years ago it thinks that it renders god's service by being faithful to these outmoded fashions it never faces the possibility that they might need a mending today if we are ever to communicate effectively with each other and with those outside our circles crap packers point if i can use this language is don't let your grooves become graves after all he writes the holy spirit is not a sentimentalist as too many of us are he is a change agent and he comes to change human structures as well as human hearts change for its own sake is mere fidgeting but change that gets rid of obstacles to god's fullest blessing is both a necessity and a mercy i want to do something tonight that i've never done one of these conferences before i hope it's permissible i think in light of how john concluded last night that it is i want us to engage for just a moment in a time of prayer and this time is going to be different for a lot of people for some of you it might be a time of confession and repentance you heard those 12 ways plus the multitude of texts to talk about god's power which is the spirit and you might be able to say i i don't do any of those i'm not guilty of quenching the spirit praise god but you're the exception i find myself even not just inadvertently but sometimes consciously quenching the spirit and i he brings conviction to my heart and i'm just asking you and i'm not just talking about pastors or elders i'm talking about men and women who serve in any in all capacities in the local church whatever that may be are you guilty of quenching the spirit of god do you realize how grievous this is how serious a sin it can be and maybe the time is right right now just just for you to say yeah guilty but forgiven that's the great say guilty yeah but forgiven so i'm going to ask you to do something i don't know if it's going to fall flat on its face but i'm going to ask you anyway i'll ask you to do something very courageous if you have been convicted by the spirit it's another one of his ministries and when we suppress and deny that conviction we're quenching them if you've been convicted by the spirit and you you just want to say to the lord tonight god help me i i've been walking in fear and control and manipulation and creating laws that aren't in your word to try to control control things i don't understand lord i want you to work powerfully your energy coursing through my life my words my hands my prayers my preaching my ministering to people help me to do that fill me afresh with your power tonight and give me the resolve as paul said in thessalonians every resolve and every good work is by the power of the spirit if that is applicable to anyone would you just stand i'm not asking you to come up front i just want you to stand up i didn't mean everybody um this kind of ruins it because i was going to ask those still sitting to lay hands on you and pray for you but you're all standing but let's let's just do this um you're probably here with someone you know somebody close people your spouse friends church members um i'm just going to ask you just kind of mutually and be very discreet and careful and just kind of lay a hand on somebody's head or their shoulder or take them by the hand just do that right now and if you came alone and there's nobody around you just kind of look to someone who can extend a hand of prayer and let me lead corporately for just a moment then i'm going to ask you to pray for one another okay oh precious precious holy spirit would you move in power now father you tell us in your word to ask you and you will generously and abundantly give the spirit lord you tell us to pray that you would impart to us you would give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we might know in a way we never have before the immeasurable greatness of the power that has toward us who believe the very power that raised jesus from the dead father we're asking you now we're asking you now father you have heard perfectly the thoughts that have raced through the minds of men and women who've been sitting here and now standing you know what they're crying out to you concerning you've heard the confession you've heard the the impulse of the heart the sigh of repentance the desire to to be fully open to anything the spirit of god wants to do you've heard people confess in their own hearts and maybe even already out loud oh lord i've been guilty of suppressing and pouring water on the spirit i just so terrified of this fire i don't know what was going to happen oh lord forgive me lord you've heard those prayers you you minister to us powerfully in response to those prayers come holy spirit father i want to ask now for the sake of those who have been longing to operate in a certain gifting and i don't mean to insert preaching into my prayers but i need to overcome an objection if you think that the only spiritual gifts you'll ever get you get at conversion you're wrong paul tells in first corinthians 12 13 tells the person who prays in a tongue pray that you may interpret so he's telling a person who already is saved and has a spiritual gift pray that you'll get another one so maybe it's the gift of teaching maybe it's the gift of evangelism maybe it's serving maybe it's mercy maybe you've become aware of the hard-heartedness of your own life toward others you say lord i want to have mercy lord i want to i want to administrate lord i want to prophesy lord i want to pray for the sick and see them healed cry out right now and just say father i've been afraid to ask i'm asking you now and i know as paul said the spirit gives them according to his will i'm not trying to twist your arm father i'm not trying to somehow manipulate the spirit as if we could ever even do it oh spirit of god would you be pleased according to your will to grant me this spiritual gift and you need to name it some of you need to say it out loud and don't be ashamed of it come holy spirit and and empower and impart these gifts to equip these men and women to go back to churches where they are so desperately needed and that they can serve and minister and preach and lead worship and pray and and conduct evangelism and serve the poor and feed those who are hungry and they do it in your power lord bless them now with that yes lord yes lord yes lord i know that's probably the prayer of many lord you've heard your children cry out for that would you do that father i pray right now that for these who have stood up and if they're in their minds and maybe even on their lips they're saying right now here's how i've quenched the spirit of god i i know i've done it father forgive me lord turn their life around now by your spirit so that they will leave that in the past and intensify the sensitivity of our hearts father to the ways in which we quench your spirit lord don't let us grow calloused and indifferent and unable to recognize it when we do it lord sensitize soften our hearts increase our discernment to know when we're doing this oh holy spirit we thank you for your ministry thank you for your love now i'm just going to be quiet and i just want you to take 30 seconds to a minute and just pray for one another just you might even need to ask somebody what can i pray for you what is the gift that you long for how can how can i pray that the spirit would bring encouragement and power into your life just do that for just a few minutes a few seconds [Music] relationship um father we thank you we honor you lord jesus christ we desire that your glory the centrality and supremacy of jesus would be ever more present in our hearts and in our lives and in our speech spirit of god help us to that end oh how you love enabling us to love jesus how you enjoy drawing hearts than minds that are given to the filth of this world and riveting them on christ so that the glory and the beauty of who he is outshines all else and i want to close tonight with just this reminder my life has been turned inside out by a passage i've known for decades you know it as well ephesians 3 20. now i love the translation now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us what in the world am i doing bringing puny little prayers to this god as if somehow i'm going to ask him for something he's incapable of accomplishing he can do exceedingly abundantly beyond what you ask or think make your prayers as audaciously big as the god to whom you pray i'm not telling you to name it and claim it i'm talking about bringing your petitions to a god who who has genesis 1 on his resume exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think and you know how god pulls that off it's according to the power at work inside me inside you not out there that you're such stunning i'm i'm i'm going to bring to god some really impossible prayers because he knows no such thing they're there's things that i think there's just no way god could pull this off in my life or my church what do you know to whom you're talking when you pray it's the god who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that you ask or think according to the power at work within us to him be glory in the church and in christ jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen thank you [Applause]

Channel: Bethlehem College and Seminary

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Id: dmcqMGaYAhs

Length: 67min 10sec (4030 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 10 2020