To quench is to extinguish or put out a fire. God implies the holy spirit in us is as a fire and should not be dampened.
Matthew 3:11:I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Hebrews 12:29:For our God is a consuming fire.
It is interesting to note that on the day of Pentecost the apostles saw a vision of "tongues as of fire." They then manifested forth the new spirit within by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4).
We have been given so much ability to exercise the power of God. Our freedom of will determines how much of that power we will bring forth.
We have the powerful Word of God at our disposal as well as the spirit of God within us. People hear a lot of words spoken but rarely do they see the genuine power of God unless a believer is manifesting it. God wants us to use it not quench it.
I Corinthians 2:4 and 5:And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The connection in which the exhortation, "Quench not the Spirit" occurs, shows to what it refers. The next sentence is, "Despise not prophesyings." It has to do with the gifts of the Spirit and their exercise in the holy liberty and power of the Spirit.
"Quench not the Spirit" would go further, and warns us against any attempt to shut out, or impose limits on the free action of the Holy Spirit in the gifts He has entrusted to the saints. The word quench means to suppress or stifle. "Quench not"--as if it were a candle flame,--a fire, which might be extinguished.
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Don’t throw cold water on someone else who is operating under the power and fire of God!
Do not throw water on yourself from doing the same thing by resisting the move of the Spirit and smothering it out.
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The Pharisees restrict the flow of spiritual experiences until religion becomes a purely intellectual and theological exercise, and the Spirit is quenched. Pharisaism was heretical in spite of its theological correctness.The Pharisee's real problem was that they drastically overvalued the role of theology in spiritual life and made theological correctness the chief religious virtue. They had a man~given confidence in their theology. Their faith became intellectualized. Their center of faith moved from the heart to the head. A sign of this was the way that they bombarded Jesus with theological questions.
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The Pharisee's self~evaluation was that they were on the forefront of what God was doing for Israel. Jesus judgement of them was different:
Matthew 23:29-33 (King James Version)
29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
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Although they believed themselves to be the protectors of orthodoxy, the Pharisees were really the opponents of the Holy Spirit. All Pharisaism contains tragic elements of missed opportunities.They stood in the way of the person of the Holy Spirit at work.
They are "witch hunters" who like to point out errors and win their case.
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On the other hand, well meaning workers in ministry want to help individuals from being presumptuous. When Christians begin to appropriate specific promises in Scripture as being applicable to themselves and nothing happens they can become very confused and disillusioned. Yes the Holy Spirit can and does speak to individuals, and it is often through Scripture. But one must use discernment, is it really the voice of God or is it presumption?
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We want to encourage and to inspire others to move out in the power of the Holy Spirit while helping them to avoid presumption. A very fine line, if we are not careful we could 'throw the baby out with the bath water.'
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Many people were upset with Jesus because He claimed to know the mind and heart of God, to speak directly for God, to reveal God's mind and heart towards an individual or group of individuals. Therefore they threw Him out with the bathwater! They missed Jesus Christ, Almighty God the Master Creator because of their resistance to what He was and what He was saying. They clung tightly to their orthodoxy and their drastically overvalued theology and therefore they missed Jesus for who He truly is.
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Are we upset at those who attempt to have an active faith idealism?
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Ephesians 3:20 (New King James Version)
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
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I like that, "ask or think." What are the implications of this scripture? Can we have faith with a vision? Can we think while using our minds eye to see our thoughts realized. Can we see ourselves ministering to others before it happens? Lonnie Frisbee did and look what he accomplished in his short life time.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=668a381a25f0c5744f51
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Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
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God does call us to serve Him. He does give us a hope for a future. If you know that you know, that He has called you to a task. And you hold that vision dear, what will be the result?
There will be opposition from those who hold to rigid legalistic rules with tight boundaries. "You can't do that! Your a dreamer!"
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Genesis 37:5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
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And yet Joseph was the deliverance for all of his brothers and their kin.
Do you have a vision a dream? Are you willing to suffer the contempt of others as you pursue your dream, your vision? Will you hold true to your vision and your dream through the years knowing that our God cannot lie?
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Titus 1:2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
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You know that you know, that God has planted a vision and a dream within you. A passion! Circumstances matter nothing whatsoever in the light of what God has placed within you. You know your God. You know what He has done and what He is capable of doing.
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Sight is a function of the eyes; vision is a function of the heart. You don't see anything happening at all and yet you know that you know that God will perform that which He has promised. You see what will be.
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You know what will be!
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"Where there is no vision, the people perish."
King Solomon Proverbs 29:18
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Do you have a vision? Jesus had a vision and He knew it.
"For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth."
John 18:37
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It is important for you to know your vision. To know what you are meant to do. What has God prepared you for?
Don't bury your dreams. Don't give up on your God given vision. You have a reason and a purpose for your life and you know it.
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"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."
Ecclesiastes 9:10
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Your purpose is your passion. It gives you hope and keeps you going because you know that what God has given to you to accomplish cannot be stopped by anyone! You are immortal here on earth until God's will in your life has been accomplished.
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But you have to fight for it, you have to believe in it, you have to put your whole might behind it. You have to stay in the race and see it to completion.
You have to believe in the gift or gifts that God has placed within you. "A man's gift...brings him before great men." Proverbs 18:16.
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"For this reason I remind you to fan to a flame the gift of God, which is in you." 2 Timothy 1:6
You have a human responsibility to fan to a flame your gift. Stir up the gift of God. No one can activate your gift but you. You have to do it yourself.
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You do this by reason of usage, just as a bodybuilder does with weight resistance to accomplish growth. Stir up your own gift and don't seek other people's gifting. You are created uniquely to be what you are to better to do God's will. You are an original, not an imitator.
Be who you are and God's.
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David Sloane
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