Quench not the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19
We watched the blacksmith working on a horseshoe that he was making for one of the neighbour’s mares. He had heated the horseshoe in the forge until it glowed red, then almost white. While it was hot, he could hammer it and bring it into exactly the right form for the hoof of the mare. When he had the horseshoe as close to perfection as he could, the blacksmith picked it up from the anvil with a long set of tongs, and plunged the horseshoe into a small vat of water that was beside the anvil. The horseshoe sizzled when it went into the water, but when it came out a few seconds later, it was no longer glowing red. ‘Why did you put it into the water?’ my sister asked. The blacksmith replied, ‘That is called quenching. When I put the horseshoe into the water, it cools very rapidly, and it makes the horseshoe very hard. By quenching it, I make sure that it will not change its shape in any way.’ Aha! There is a lesson that we can apply to today’s text!
We know that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in each believer when we are saved. That is far more amazing than we often realize; the very presence and Person of God lives in each one of us as believers. His purpose is to bring us into spiritual maturity, to make us more like our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing this, He encourages us to godly behaviour, opens up the Scriptures to our understanding, and provides us with the power to live and witness for our Lord. He is like the fire from the anvil’s forge that enables the blacksmith to fashion a meaningless piece of metal into a useful horseshoe. The Spirit’s presence within us enables God to fashion us into a happy and profitable child of His. But if the Spirit is quenched, we become hard and impossible to change into what the will of God is for us. So how do we quench the spirit?
For one thing, quenching the spirit is not something that we need to learn how to do. It comes natural to us, because it is the result of allowing our old nature to work in us. Quenching the Spirit includes living for the world instead of living for our Lord. It includes feeding our souls on the literature, entertainment, and wisdom of the world instead of on the Word of God. It includes keeping company with unbelievers instead of with the Lord’s people. It includes setting our sights on obtaining material things and reaching worldly goals instead of devoting ourselves to the things of God. If we do these things, we become cold and hard, and the Holy Spirit is unable to mold us into what God wants for us. He is quenched.
The Holy Spirit is striving to make us more like our Lord. But He can’t do that if we quench Him. – Jim MacIntosh