Don't quench the spirit

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. – 1 Thessalonians 5.19-21

When Christ left for heaven He left His Holy Spirit behind for us. At salvation the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in and with us and we become 'the temple of the Holy Ghost. He comes to teach us. He comes to admonish us. He comes to remind us of our sin. He comes to inspire us.

The Holy Spirit is an integral part of our lives, and yet too often He is the One part of the Godhead that seems to be most neglected.

The Holy Spirit inspires us through His word. He can do this when we read His word or when His word is taught or preached. Here the word prophecies probably refers to the preaching of God's word. The apostles still had the authority to proclaim direct revelations. Those revelations became the word of God and that is what is preached.

Paul says that the church was to not quench the Holy Spirit by despising these prophecies. Where God's word should burn like a fire in our souls it is possible to quench that fire by rejecting His word. We must be careful that we don’t ignore the preaching of God’s word and thereby quenching the fire of the Holy Spirit.

At the same time we need to be sure that we test out the things we hear. We need to be Berean like examine the scriptures to make sure those things are true. Then we cling to the things that are true.

Don’t despise prophecies – but do check them out.