19Do not quench the Spirit; 20do not despise prophetic utterances. 21But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good …
Much debate goes on between charismatic or non-cessationist Christians and non-charismatics or cessationists; between those who believe that all the gifts of the Spirit are operative today and those who think some are limited to the apostolic period. Would that the gift of healing were valid today, for we could clear out the hospitals in short order, and faith-healers would not need to wear glasses or catch colds. But, alas, we still live in a fallen world, and all eventually die of that terminal disease of death.
But do we quench the Spirit if we do not fully embrace all reported manifestations of the Spirit’s work? Is it wrong to question or discourage someone’s spiritual experience lest we douse the Spirit’s work? Not at all. We must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Rom. 16:19). We must test the spirits (1 John 4:1).
But doesn’t Peter chastise those who “put the Spirit of the Lord to the test”? Not at all. He was speaking to Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to the congregation of God’s people and to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:9). That had nothing to do with a miraculous gift and everything to do with violating the trust and community of believers with their deception of generosity.
Without getting into the debate mentioned above, we are commanded here not to quench the Spirit. The underlying word for “quench” carries a larger meaning of “to cause an action, state, or faculty to cease to function.” This means we should do nothing to hinder the genuine work of the Holy Spirit. We disobey this when we sin against others, when we refuse to rejoice always, pray without ceasing or give thanks in everything (1 Thess. 5:16–19), the very things about which Paul just wrote.
We are to “not despise prophetic utterances.” Paul may have had his own teachings in mind, but he could be speaking of those whom God raised up in the period of time before all the inspired NT documents were written and began to circulate. Certainly, it is not a good thing to reject the foundational gifts on which the church is built (Eph. 2:20). Praise God for supplying those who could communicate God’s truth during the apostolic times.
Paul was not one given over to unexamined experiences. He never promoted a mindless, anti-intellectualism as the basis for spirituality. That was because of his passion for that which is good. We should hold fast to only that.
Lord, I commit to not quenching the Spirit with unexamined “spiritual” experiences but to test everything by the prophetic Word of Your Scriptures.
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