Quenching the Spirit of Revival
By John R. Van Gelderen
When reading classics on the Holy Spirit one most certainly will read J. Elder Cumming’s Through the Eternal Spirit, Handley Moules’s The Holy Spirit, (formerly entitled Veni Creator), and A. J. Gordon’s The Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Later writers often quote from these works. All three emanate with reverence and biblical precision on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Both Moule and Gordon refer to a concept we might term as the dispensations of the Godhead. These divine dispensations dictate as it were some divine tests of living orthodoxy. Satan’s attack on God’s people then parallels the emphasis of each dispensation.
For example, the Old Testament could be termed as the dispensation of the Father. The person of God the Father clearly is in prominence. The emphasis is on the oneness of God. Therefore the test of living orthodoxy for the people of God during that dispensation was regarding that emphasis. Consequently, Satan’s attack was on that very point. Do we not read repeatedly of Israel’s great sin of idolatry?
When Christ came to earth at the first advent it might be termed the dispensation of the Son. (It will not be the only one.) As you read the Gospels, clearly God the Son was seen in prominence. Now the test of living orthodoxy for the people of God revolved around Jesus Christ. Would those who were orthodox regarding the Father now properly relate to the Son? Therefore Satan’s attack on God’s people shifted to the Son. What does the Scripture say? “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11).
Christ finished His glorious work at Calvary and ascended to the right hand of the throne of power. There He received the promise of the Spirit and sent the Holy Spirit. This event launched what may be termed as the dispensation of God the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has not been sent back yet. Therefore we now live in the age of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the administrator of the church age. The test of living orthodoxy today for God’s people regards the Holy Spirit. Will those who are orthodox regarding the Father and the Son now properly relate to the Spirit? Therefore Satan’s attack on God’s people has shifted to this very point. At the beginning of the dispensation of the Spirit, is it not significant that when Ananias sinned, Peter said “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” (Acts 5:3). Notice Satan’s attack and notice the lie was directly against the Holy Spirit. Why did Peter not say the Father or the Son? Because this is the age or dispensation of the Spirit and inspiration here clearly portrays this very point.
Need I say that over these past 2000 years Satan has persisted with this attack. Although the attack among the lost revolves around all the persons of the Godhead, the attack among the saints pertains primarily to the Holy Spirit. In light of what we have just noted this should not surprise us. James A. Stewart, the missionary evangelist from Scotland who saw revival repeatedly during his itinerate lifetime wrote a book on the ministry of the Holy Spirit entitled Heaven’s Throne Gift. Keep in mind he wrote this book before the Charismatic movement of the 1960’s. In the book he points out that you could take a group of fundamental preachers and they would all agree regarding God the Father and regarding God the Son. But he continues that they would disagree regarding God the Spirit and that the disagreement would be so sharp that some would accuse others of heresy.
Then came the 1960’s with the Charismatic explosion taking elements of Pentecostal thinking beyond denominational lines. Bible Fundamentalists rightly rejected the excesses of the Charismatic movement, although there are many sincere brethren within this movement. However I fear that in the understandable and needed reaction against strange fire, that there has been an over reaction which embraces no fire! Orthodoxy without the life of the Spirit is dead orthodoxy. Satan knows that a believer who is not rightly related to the Holy Sprit is powerless.
Herein we can note a subtle apostasy within biblical fundamentalism. Full-blown apostasy in doctrine often begins with an apostasy in practice. Some who have recognized deadness and powerlessness have sadly embraced a counterfeit life. When worldliness and carnal conduct is ignored or even embraced as a marketing tool there has been an apostasy in practice. Eventually apostasy in doctrine follows. Sometimes it may be the other way around. However where does the apostasy (falling away) begin? It begins with a falling away from a right relationship with the Holy Spirit. This is the cause for powerlessness. This subtle apostasy leads to apostasy in practice which leads to apostasy in doctrine. Furthermore as Moule acknowledges in his book, neglecting the ministry of the Holy Spirit today is on the same level as Israel’s idolatry in the Old Testament and the Jews rejection of the Messiah. Is it not alarming that sound fundamental people today have played right into Satan’s deceptive tactics? In running from the wild fire of others we have stumbled right into the trap of subtle apostasy from the Holy Spirit who indwells believers to enable those who trust Him to do the work of God. As A.W. Tozer said, “The Holy Spirit is the cure for fanaticism, not the cause of it.”
Now we come to our four word text in I Thessalonians 5:19 “Quench not the Spirit.” The word quench simply means to extinguish or put out as quenching fire with water. The verb is an imperative. It is a command to every child of God. This implies it is possible to quench the Spirit and thus hinder Christian growth. Therefore spiritual growth is not automatic or inevitable. The verb is also in the present tense which generally indicates continuous action. When the present tense imperative is combined with the negative not as we have in our text, it indicates the need to cease an action that is already in progress. Therefore the command of our text is to stop quenching the Spirit. Stop quenching the Spirit of revival! Stop dousing the flame of God’s Spirit!
Specifically in what ways do we need to stop quenching the Spirit of revival? In light of the Book of Acts and the Epistles we must cease to neglect the Holy Spirit in at least four specific ways.
Stop Neglecting to Honor the Spirit as Deity
Many today recognize the Holy Spirit as God in their creed, but not in their practice. Practically they are not true trinitarians, because although they acknowledge the Spirit as God in their creed, they do not treat Him as God. Yet Jesus refers to the name [singular] of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 28:19). The Spirit is God. He is omnipresent in Psalm 139. Only God is omnipresent. He is called “the eternal Spirit” in Hebrews 9:14. Only God is eternal. The Spirit is Deity; He is God.
Yet some today say that you cannot glorify the Spirit. A preacher once came up to me after I had preached. Quite exercised he exclaimed “You cannot glorify the Spirit!” But where does it say that in the Bible? If you cannot glorify the Spirit, He is less than God and you no longer have a true Trinity.
Some object citing John 16:14 “He [the Spirit] shall glorify Me [Christ].” Certainly this is true, but Jesus never said that we are not to honor the Spirit. Some take a leap at this point, which is not contextually supported. Others object citing John 16:13 “He [the Spirit] shall not speak of Himself.” So they argue that we are not to speak or talk “about” the Holy Spirit. However the word translated of literally means “from”. The Spirit shall not speak from Himself apart from the Father and the Son. They always work in perfect unison. The Spirit does speak about Himself. There are 347 explicit references to the Holy Spirit in the Bible— 81 in the Old Testament and 261 in the New Testament. When you consider the shortness in length of the New Testament is this not a considerable amount? Yet this does not include words like “grace” and dunamis where the Spirit is often implicitly mentioned. Also if you take the phrase He shall not speak of Himself as meaning about Himself, to be consistent you would have to do the same thing in John 14:10 where Jesus said “I speak not of Myself.” If the former phrase means were are not to talk about the Spirit, then the latter phrase would mean we are not to speak about Christ. This of course would be folly.
Who revealed the Father? The Son, for Jesus said in John 14:5 “he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” Who reveals the Son? The Spirit, for Jesus said in John 16:14 “He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” The Spirit shows us Christ. He reveals the Son. Jesus said in John 5:23 “That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” Why? Because the Son is the express revelation of the Father. Then Jesus continued saying “He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father.” Why? Because since the Son reveals the Father, if you do not honor the Son you cannot be truly honoring the Father. Therefore, for example, when the Jehovah’s witnesses claim to honor the Father yet deny the deity of Christ they are deceived. Since the Son reveals the Father you must honor the Son in order to honor the Father. In light of this principle if you desire to honor the Son whom must you honor? The Spirit, for the Spirit reveals the Son. If you do not honor the Spirit and thus rightly relate to the Spirit then you cut off your avenue of seeing Jesus for the Spirit shows us Christ. O if you have a passion for the Lord Jesus, if you desire that He be exalted in your sight, then you must properly relate to the Holy Spirit for the Spirit is the one who will glorify Christ and reveal Christ to you.
II Corinthians 3:17 states “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” Inspiration calls the Spirit Lord. Since He is Lord He should be honored as Lord! He is co-equal with the Father and the Son and may rightly be glorified as such. This is not new. The Nicene Creed of over 1600 years ago says “I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, which proceedeth the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified.” The Athanasian Creed of over 1300 years ago states, “Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.” Keep in mind although there are three persons in the Godhead, there is only one God. We must not forget the oneness of God in all of this. We must recognize that the persons of the Godhead are not jealous of each other! In fact each person uplifts the other two.
What is the Spirit like? He is like Jesus for He is “the Spirit of Jesus” (Philippians 1:19). When Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” Jesus responded with that heart-searching question “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me?” Then He declares “he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:8-9). So perhaps when we cry out “Show us the Son,” the Spirit in similar tones responds by asking “Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known Me? he that hath known Me hath known the Son.”
By way of personal testimony there was a time when although I was saved I did not sense I had a close relationship with the Son. This puzzled and bothered me. However when I began to relate to the Holy Spirit, the Son has risen gloriously in my view! Now seeing Jesus is everything!
After preaching much of a week on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in a local church, we sang “Victory in Jesus” on a Thursday night. The pastor later commented to me that his people were singing that song on a new level! He then said that although we were dealing with the truths of the Spirit, yet the effect was an exaltation of Jesus Christ!
Once at the end of a Spiritual Awakening Conference in Myanmar (Burma) which deals with a progression of truth on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the preachers commented that “This is Christ-exalting preaching!” Praise the Lord! The Spirit glorifies the Son. So if you have a desire to exalt Christ and every child of God must seek with a passion to glorify the Son, then honor the Spirit. For when you are rightly related to the Spirit, He will show Christ to you in deeper ways than you have ever known before!
In order to stop quenching the Spirit of revival, we must stop neglecting to honor the Spirit as Deity.
Stop Neglecting to Interact with the Spirit as a Person
The Spirit of the living God is not an impersonal force, yet for many He is treated as such. He is not a sign post pointing out which direction to take, yet many treat Him as an inanimate object. God the Spirit is a Spirit and yet He is a person. Interaction is necessary to cultivate personality. You may be introduced to someone and thus you know who they are. But it takes interaction to really cultivate their personality. Even so every one born of the Spirit has, in a sense, been introduced to the Spirit. But it takes interaction to cultivate personality.
In John 14-16, the sacred treatise on the Holy Spirit spoken by Christ Himself, Jesus repeatedly refers to the Spirit as “Him” and “He”. He, not it, brooded over the face of the waters in Genesis chapter one and so forth throughout Scripture. He, not it, is a person who lives in you if you are born of the Spirit. As Walter Wilson says in his practical and immensely helpful book on the Holy Spirit entitled Ye Know Him “personal presence automatically carries with it privileges of conversation.” The issue here is communication.
What kind of marriage would a couple have if only one party in the marriage did the talking? (We won’t go where we could go with this!) This kind of marriage would be weak. To have a good relationship each party must relate. Two-way communication is necessary for a strong, healthy relationship. Romans 8:16 says “The Spirit [Himself] beareth witness with our Spirit.” The communication is to our inner man, not outer man. But notice the Spirit communicates with individual believers. Is this communication supposed to be only one direction? For many in practice it is merely one way, thus the Spirit is not treated as a person.
But, “what saith the Scripture?” II Corinthians 13:14, an inspired benediction says, “the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” It is God’s will for all believers to commune with the Spirit. The word translated from koinonia, means fellowship, partnership, participation, sharing. By definition, communion, demands a two-way communication.
In John 14-16, Jesus said that although He was leaving, He was sending “another Comforter.” The word another used here means another of the same kind. The term Comforter or Parnclete means among many nuances one who stands in another’s stead. Did the disciples interact with Jesus as a person? Did they communicate with Him? Then since the Spirit is another of the same kind coming to stand in Christ’s stead, should not we today interact with the Spirit in like manner as the disciples did with Jesus? No wonder Jesus said, “I will not leave you comfortless [as orphans]: I will come to you” (John 14:18).
The issue here is communication, not necessarily praying. In a marriage relationship when a husband and wife communicate with each other, they are not praying to each other (unless the wife is asking for the wallet!) The issue is interaction through communication.
At the same time it is not inappropriate to ever address the Spirit in prayer. People at the time of Christ cried out to Jesus as the Son of David to have mercy on them. Peter as he, began to sink in the water cried out, “Lord, save me.” Should we not cry out to the Spirit as people did to Christ? Some may object that that was different because Jesus was personally standing there before them. But that’s the whole point! The Spirit of Jesus is just as real and personally present. This is what many today seem to not truly comprehend. The Spirit lives within the body of the believer (1 Corinthians 6:19, Galatians 2:20).
More specifically Jesus said in Matthew 9:38, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” Who is the Lord of the harvest? The context definitely leans toward the idea that Christ is here referring to someone else other than His specific person. Who descended in mighty power on the day of Pentecost so that 3,000 people were harvested? We are explicitly told this was the Spirit. Who told Philip in Acts 8 to “Go near and join thyself to this chariot” so that the Ethiopian Eunuch was harvested? We are explicitly told this was the Spirit (Acts 8:29) Who said to Peter in Acts 10 “Go with them doubting nothing” so that Cornelius and his household was harvested opening the way to the Gentile harvest? We are explicitly told this was the Spirit (Acts 10:19-20). Who said to the church at Antioch in Acts 13 “Separate Me Barnabus and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them” which was the first missionary journey of multiple harvests? We are explicitly told this was the Spirit (Acts 13:2). Who forbade Paul in Acts 16 to minister in Asia and Bithania in order to get them into the Macedonian harvest? We are explicitly told this was the Spirit (Acts 16:6-7). So who is the Lord of the harvest? The Book of Acts certainly implies this is the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.
Do not the hymnists of the past reflect a proper understanding of appropriate times to address the Spirit in prayer? For example “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart,” Breathe on me, Breath of God,” “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me” and “Holy Ghost, with Light Divine.” Charles Wesley wrote “Come, Holy Ghost, our Hearts Inspire,” “Come, Thou Everlasting Spirit,” and “Spirit of Faith, Come Down.” Isaac Watts wrote, “Eternal Spirit! Praise We Bring.” All of these examples directly address the Holy Spirit in prayer. Were all these hymn writers misled? Are congregations sinning every time they sing one of these prayers? Obviously former generations had a better understanding of this issue than the present generation.
How can the Comforter truly be a comforter if we cannot tell to Him our tale of sorrows? Throughout the day, when you pray, “Lord, give wisdom,” “Lord help with such and such,” and so forth, who are you praying to? Yet many object saying that since there is no example of praying to the Spirit in the New Testament, we should not ever pray to the Spirit. A point valid enough but an argument from implication not explicit teaching. However to be fair most of the arguments I have just set forth are also implicit arguments. But one is not and this should settle the debate of our day. Again I cite II Corinthians 13:14 which says “the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” If words have meaning and language has integrity, then communion demands a two-way communication! If there was no other evidence, (and there is), this is the inspired Word of God.
Having said all of this let me hasten to qualify the issue. Generally speaking based on the Lord’s Prayer we address the Father, on the merits of the Son, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is generally the form. Yet this does not mean it is never appropriate to address the Son directly. Many people get saved asking Jesus to save them. Some of the prayers recorded in Acts address “Lord” which usually refers to Christ. The Spirit is also called Lord in II Corinthians 3:17 and may be appealed to as Lord since He is Lord. Yet I am not suggesting in any way to neglect the Father. Nor am I intimating in any way to neglect the Son. The goal of every believer ought be “that in all things He might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). I am saying that we need to stop neglecting the Holy Spirit as truly God and truly a Person.
The issue is communication. An evangelist friend of mine years ago heard Walter Wilson preach. Wilson began by asking the audience, “How many of you have spoken to the Holy Spirit today?” There was little response. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit is a person who lives in you if you are saved. That means He is always with you. Now to have a person always with you and yet you never speak to Him, that’s not very nice!” This little anecdote certainly helps put the issue into perspective. As John R. Rice said, “When you know the family, you can speak to all the family members!”
Now I recognize, especially in light of the overreaction of our day, that many may have never thought much about interaction with the Holy Spirit and are not willfully neglecting Him. This is one matter. It is entirely another matter to willfully neglect interacting with the Holy Spirit as a person. When this is the case it reveals on the part of the one involved a lack of honoring the Spirit as truly God and a lack of treating the Spirit as truly a person. This reveals a lack of understanding of the genuine Spirit-filled life of Galatians 2:20. This is what keeps God’s people from accessing the victory of Christ for holiness and service.
It is a sin that must be confessed to slight the Spirit of God. To neglect the Spirit is to neglect heaven on earth. We must stop neglecting to interact with the Spirit as a person. Otherwise He is merely an impersonal force or an inanimate object. We must stop quenching the Spirit of revival.
Stop Neglecting to Yield to the Spirit as Lord
I Corinthians 3:17 says “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” We must recognize the Spirit is Lord and we must yield to Him as Lord. The concept of the second phrase of the verse can mean “where the Spirit is Lord” the idea being “where the Spirit is yielded to as Lord.”
Romans 12:1 urges “I beseech you therefore, bretheren…that ye present your bodies…unto God.” Which person of the Godhead indwells the believer? The Spirit. Now why does Romans 12:1 urge believers to present their bodies to the Spirit of God when I Corinthians 6:19 states, “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you.” Because when you got saved the Spirit specifically moved into your spirit. Romans 12:1 presents the body to the Spirit so that He who dwells in your spirit may possess all of you.
How many would bring a guest into their home and show him into the guest room only to lock him in? If you are saved the Spirit indwells your spirit, your innermost chamber. What do you do if He steps into the kitchen of your appetites? How do you respond when He opens the door of your closet of hidden sins? If we deny Him access to any chamber of our lives we are not giving Him full control of our lives. Remember, He can be quenched. Is it not amazing that although He is almighty God, the Spirit as the Heavenly Dove does not force Himself on the human will. On the other hand, He is Lord whether or not you recognize Him as such, but in order for you to fully benefit from His Lordship, you must recognize Him as Lord.
It is possible to purchase a product, possess the title deed, and yet not have the product delivered to you for hands-on possession until a later time. Likewise when you trusted Christ as Savior, Jesus, who purchased you with His own blood, took the title deed of your life in hand. Romans 12:1 is simply delivering to the Spirit of Jesus what He already owns for full hands-on possession.
Ephesians 5:18 commands “be filled with the Spirit.” The grammatical idea here is yielding to the control of the Spirit. Literally “keep on allowing yourself to be controlled by the Spirit.” Some impulsively say “I’ll just let the Spirit take over the steering wheel of my life.” But that would take your responsibility out of it because if He was behind the wheel you would have to go where He goes. To use this analogy, as my father often taught, the Spirit would say “No, you stay behind the wheel. I’ll stay over here in the passenger seat. Just do everything I say. Go when I say go. Stop when I say stop. Hold your tongue when I say so. Look away when I indicate for you to. Turn that program off when I say to. Witness to that person when I tell you to.” When you yield to His commands, you are yielding to the control of the Holy Spirit.
We must surrender to the Spirit’s leadership. This implies a dependence on the Spirit’s leadership. Our will must be brought into union with His will. When this is truly the case all known sin will be confessed. Doubtful things will be done away with until convinced fully from the Scripture instead of giving the devil the benefit of the doubt. Reconciliations will be sought when you have wronged a brother. Restitution will be made.
For some “controlled carnality” is preferred to really yielding to the control of the Spirit. Corporately some churches prefer their tradition over really yielding to the Spirit as the administrator of the church. So we must stop neglecting to yield to the Spirit as Lord and thus stop dousing the flame of revival.
Stop Neglecting to Depend on the Spirit as Enablement
When Ephesians 5:18 commands “be filled with the Spirit” the definite article the is actually absent indicating an emphasis on the power or operation of the person. Not only are we to yield to the Spirit’s leadership, we must depend on the Spirit’s enablement to follow that leadership. The Spirit not only gives us orders, but when depended upon, He empowers us to carry out those very orders! Again II Corinthians 3:17 says “Where the Spirit of the Lord is [or where the Spirit is Lord] there is liberty.” Not just the right to do right, but the liberty to do right. This is true Christian liberty. Not the freedom to do as you please, but the freedom or power to do right. This is liberty indeed!
Spirit-enablement accessed by faith liberates the personality for God’s service and glory. No longer is the personality animated by mere human life, but rather by divine life. This gives carrying power to a formerly powerless child of God. The confusion comes on the extent of surrender. Some sincere souls cry out “I surrender all and I’m going to do it.” The problem is you cannot live for God in your power. It is not His will, your way. If you surrender to the Spirit’s leadership, but then depend on your power to attempt to carry it out, you really have not surrendered to His leadership. This leaves the “surrender” empty and powerless, and the believer is left perplexed and discouraged. True surrender depends on the Spirit’s leadership and His enablement to follow His leadership.
Just as one does not believe in Jesus until he depends on Jesus as Savior, so you really do not believe in the Holy Spirit until you are depending on the Holy Spirit for everything. It is then that the Spirit of Christ gives you practically the sufficiency of Christ which you already possess positionally as a child of God. This is why we must stop neglecting to depend on the Spirit as enablement and thus stop quenching the Spirit of revival.
Conclusion
I know of many individuals who have experienced the radical transformation of personal revival when they began to be rightly related to the Spirit. I know of several churches which have been greatly impacted by the Spirit’s presence and power when the leadership began to unashamedly depend on the Holy Spirit as Deity, as a Person, as Lord, and as Enablement. I know of several cases where genuine revival followed in the local assembly and I use the word revival very carefully. I have witnessed outpourings of the Spirit where His manifest presence melted the hearts of those present turning prayer meetings following the preached Word into hours of basking in God’s presence. I have witnessed when the people of God began to be rightly related to the Spirit of God. The transformed lives and churches bring glory to God. O that we would stop quenching the Spirit of revival!
In Jonathan Goforth’s account of the mighty revival in Korea in 1907 he emphasizes that the Korean saints honored the Holy Spirit. When they began to honor the Spirit, they stopped quenching the Spirit of revival and the fires of revival swept Korea. May we too stop quenching the Spirit of revival!
Used by permission from Preach the Word Ministries