1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 “Do not quench the Spirit. (20) Do not despise prophecies.”
The question is asked, as the ones who have received the gifts of the Spirit, what part do we play if it is the Holy Spirit that actually works the gifts through us? The answer to that question is that we must be continually open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and respond by speaking that which He tells us to speak and doing that which He tells us to do. For the Holy Spirit never forces the saints to operate in the gifts, and so it is really only the saints who can prevent spiritual gifts from being manifested through them. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul instructed the church in Thessalonica not to quench the Holy Spirit and not to despise prophecies. The reason Paul wrote these instructions to the church at the time, was because there were reports of some in that church that had complained about the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit in their meetings. Sadly many Christians prefer to have structured meetings that start at a specific time and end at a specific time; and everything in between should be structured as well. It is therefore inconvenient to them when the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in their meetings through His gifts, because then their structured meetings are “disrupted” and they are no longer in control, but rather the Holy Spirit is then in control. And so their solution to their problem is to discourage the saints from operating in the gifts of the Spirit in their meetings, thus they quench the Holy Spirit and despise prophecies.
Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place--unless you repent.”
When churches begin to discourage the gifts of the Spirit from being manifested in their meetings, then there is a consequence. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Lord Jesus tells us what that consequence is, for He warns churches that He will remove the lamp stands from those who no longer do the works they did when they first came into the kingdom. Part of the first works that the Lord Jesus is referring to in this passage are the saints operating in spiritual gifts, for all churches planted by the apostles initially operated in all the gifts of the Spirit. And so the lamp stand that our Lord Jesus threatens to remove in this passage, refers to the anointing or power of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord Jesus removes the power of the Holy Spirit from a church, they very quickly degenerate to become a religious organization without any life. Nevertheless just as whole churches can quench the Spirit, in the same manner individuals who have been given a spiritual gift can just as easily quench the Spirit, when they refuse to obey His prompting to use their gift. One who does this often enough will eventually lose the anointing for that gift, i.e. our Lord will remove their lamp stand so to speak. And so those who wish to be used by the Holy Spirit in spiritual gifts, need to be open and obedient to His slightest prompting. When believers are obedient and step out in the faith that they have received to operate their gift, the Holy Spirit will do the rest and the church will be blessed, for we are called to be God’s fellow labourers (1 Corinthians 3:9).
Michael E.B. Maher
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