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What is the difference between “grieving the Holy Spirit” and “quenching the Holy Spirit”?
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you are sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit is a person who can be grieved. Living carnally after receiving the Holy Spirit and the power to overcome certainly grieves Him. Afte…r the great price Jesus paid to redeem us, Christians living like the world (as is written about from Eph. 4:25-31) saddens our Lord.
Quenching the Holy Spirit is something different. Paul writes, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). Quenching means to put out a fire. We received fire with the Holy Spirit, and when we ignore it, it can be quenched, or the flames can be suppressed. We can quench the Holy Spirit when we don’t listen to that “still small voice” within. As soon as we stop listening, the flames die down, and may eventually go nearly out unless we once more fan the embers.
We Need the Fire
Ever hear the expression, “on fire for God?” Without that fire, we can be lukewarm. We need to fan the flames by prayer, praise and worship and seeking revelation from the Word. It is the fire of God that motivates and emboldens us. God does not force Himself on us, usually acting in our lives only when we willingly yield to Him. His action in our lives is limited when we are not sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Attitudes that keep us from appreciating and using our prayer language, despising prophesy (1 Thess. 5:20), and not allowing the gifts of the Spirit to be manifest, quench the fire, the potential for the Holy Spirit to move both in our individual lives and in corporate worship.
And, tying the two words together, when we diminish the wonderful gifts of the Spirit in our lives, not being available to be used in them, the Spirit is quenched, and He is surely grieved as well.
Varnel Watson
good post by Ray E Horton after the samename book by William DeArteaga Hope to be similar in content IF you have not read the book YET you NEED to purchase it TODAY https://www.amazon.com/Quenching-Spirit-Discover-Charasmatic-controversy/dp/0884194329
William DeArteaga
Thank you
Varnel Watson
In recent years, several respected Christian authors and teachers have come against beliefs and practices of charismatics, the world’s fastest growing Christian group. Now updated and revised, Quenching the Spirit gives the most coherent, well-documented response to date.With a brand-new chapter based on Han Hanegraaff and the CRI, and exciting new information, author William DeArteaga shows why the greatest threat to a move of the Spirit may lie within the church itself. Taking an honest look at the merits and mishaps of the charismatic renewal, DeArteaga answers your questions-whether you are suspicious of charismatics or you are one of them. Discover the real Spirit behind the charismatic controversy! https://www.amazon.com/Quenching-Spirit-Discover-Charasmatic-controversy/dp/0884194329
Every once in a while a book comes along that rocks your world. Quenching the Spirit did that for this practicing Continuationist.
This is a book that all Christians who have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives and have seen the reality of the gifts of the Spirit in the world today would benefit from reading. It would also benefit those who are “on the fence” when it comes to the question, “Are the gifts of the Spirit for today?” Cessationists could benefit from it as well if they have an open mind.
The book is well written, well researched and well argued. It brings a lot of insight and understanding as to how so many within the Evangelical world today have ended up subscribing to the disastrous and false doctrine of cessationism. Not only that, the author also shows how destructive this pernicious doctrine has been, both in the church and the work of the Spirit, but also to the unbelieving world we find ourselves living in today. Cessationism has encouraged and contributed to the rise of the secular humanism we see in Europe and even the Neo-Atheism plaguing the Western world today.
DeArteaga takes the reader on a journey through church history, highlighting the various doctrines, sundry movements, and the major players that have contributed and influenced the different camps and their views in the continuationism/cessationism debate. Unlike some books on Christian history, this one kept my attention from start to finish.
I was especially thrilled to hear of some of the important preachers and contributors who influenced the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, people that evangelical historians tend to ignore, downplay, or misrepresent in their recounting of history.
And I especially enjoyed his emphasis that one of the biggest problems in the church today is Pharisaism. I have seen this repeatedly. It amazes me how hard we are on the Pharisees of Jesus day, yet we are so blind to the many ways in which we Evangelicals and Fundamentalists act like them today.
DeArtenga also makes the case that many evangelicals today have moved away from faith-expectancy to an overemphasis on faith-doctrine. He shows how some of the secular philosophies have influenced the church and her doctrine. He even touched on quantum physics which surprised and delighted me.
He also (respectfully) challenged the three most vocal critics of the Charismatics / Pentecostals in recent history – John MacArthur, Hank Hanegraaff, and Dave Hunt. He shows how unfair their hostile criticisms are and how sloppy they are in their books and materials and radio programs when representing the views, and claims, and the positions of their doctrinal opponents. I almost feel embarrassed for these three popular authors. I feel especially sad for those that subscribe to their claims without even a salt-sized grain of doubt or skepticism.
In closing, this book helped clarify and bring understanding to this subject matter on levels I hadn’t anticipated. I am forever grateful to the author for his contribution to the Body of Christ and the efforts he went through to produce this wonderful book. I can’t recommend it enough!!
My biggest regret about this book is that I didn’t read it sooner! This book is an effective theological defense of the revivals of the 1990s which attracted so much (negative)attention from heresy-hunters such as John MacArthur and the self-styled “Bible Answer Man,” Hank Hanegraaff.
DeArteaga has several important insights in this book. Perhaps the most important is his demonstration that Calvin’s theology of cessationism (that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer operative in since the New Testament was completed) led to widespread disbelief and the rejection of Christianity that is in evidence in Europe today. America was spared this deadening effect of Calvinism to some extent because it became a refuge from non-Calvinist Christians fleeing Europe: Quakers, Mennonites, Pietists and the like.
Calvin’s cessationism was intensified by the 19th-century Irishman John Darby, whose ideas were picked up in the Scofield Bible. Due to the influence of this Bible, a century of fundamentalists believed that any healing or miraculous activity was of the devil, which is DeArteaga’s definition of Phariseeism: ascribing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil.
Ray E Horton
Troy Day What a wonderful review of brother Bill’s work.
Varnel Watson
Ray E Horton yes indeed – what a GREAT book
Ray E Horton
Troy Day Even though I am behind iny reading by about 20 books that I want to read, that review inspired me to order it.
Varnel Watson
Ray E Horton YES time for all Pentecostals to read it