Fervent in Spirit

“Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19. This is a brief and serious exhortation. The seriousness lies in the fact that we have the power either to continue being fervent in Spirit or to let Him be quenched.

Spirit, fire, and Pentecost belong together. Luke 12:49. All those who have been baptized with the Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost are obliged to keep the fire burning. The golden altar must not be lacking our prayers, so that incense will be used in abun­dance. Revelation 8:3-4. We have a pattern in Leviticus 6:12, “And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out.” In the new covenant, the fire is kept burning with everything that would keep us from praying, from meditating on God’s word, and from pre­senting our bodies to serve. When these things are put on the fire, we remain fervent in Spirit, ready to serve one another as good stewards. 1 Peter 4:10. We have an outward ministry serving one another, and we have an inward ministry for the purpose of finding our life and losing it.

According to the law of Moses one lamb had to be offered on the altar in the morning, and one lamb at twilight. Exodus 29:38-39. This is how we must be offered according to the flesh all day long, reck­oned as sheep for the slaughter. Romans 8:36. We can always be fer­vent through the fire of the Spirit and by putting to death our self-life.

Grieving the Holy Spirit leads to quenching the Spirit. He will depart if we do not serve with zeal. Jeremiah 48:10.

In 1 Timothy 4:6 Paul exhorts us to be nourished in the Word. The Spirit and the Word are inseparable. The more our hearts are filled with the Word, the more Spirit and fire we possess. We can have a knowledge of what it says in Psalm 23—“The Lord is my shep­herd,”—but we will only know Him as a shepherd in the day of trial if we have nourished ourselves with this word.

By prayer, meditating on God’s word, and always presenting ourselves to serve, we will be preserved fervent in Spirit, so that He is not quenched.