Wir sind bettler. Hoc est verum.

When one thinks of the phrase “quenching the Spirit” one does not immediately think of Pentecostals. After all they are the ones who usually are criticized for being too “Spirit” focused. I am also sure that most evangelicals would reject the notion that their churches too, often quench the Spirit. So, the question is, do they? I believe they do quench the Spirit more often than not, and it has to do with rightly understanding how He (the Spirit) works.

The job of the Spirit is to fill and comfort believers after Christ’s ascension. To spread the word and create the Church. He works from the command of Jesus and the Father. So, if we look at Scripture how do we see Him normally working? We see Him working through pretty ordinary means, although there are some significant exceptions, we never see the exceptions made into the rule nor do we see them lifted up as needed to be in future generations. I propose that the Spirit mainly works through ordinary means such as: Word and Sacrament, while in rare cases works through other means.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says in question 88: “What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?”

Answer: “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.”

If I am right, and the Spirit works through ordinary means, and that is His main goal and purpose – to work like that – while the “exceptional” workings are rare and thus not ordinary. When something isn’t ordinary, but rare, then it isn’t to be sought after as ordinary or expected.

Here is where I think the Pentecostals, and many other Evangelicals, have gone wrong and are, with out meaning too, actually quenching the work of the Holy Spirit (discussions about how this might work out according to God’s sovereignty are for another time). The Spirit intends to do most of His work (Christ intends to use the Spirit this way) through the Sacraments (the passing on of spiritual blessings and realities through ordinary means) of Preaching the Word, Communion, and Baptism; while these churches put these on the back burner and rather focus on other more sensational “works of the Spirit”. This is not a discussion on have the gifts ceased or not, because we know at least that the Spirit mainly works through these three common elements and not through tongues, miracles, or prophecy. He can work through any means He desires, we are not limiting Him, but rather commenting on the fact that He might limit Himself for His purposes.

When a Church doesn’t rightly preach the Word, or rightly see the importance of the Sacraments (Communion and Baptism), it actually is diminishing the roll of the Spirit no matter how much they talk about being Spirit centered. If a farmer talks constantly about how much he loves farming and growing corn, but rarely ever gets on the plow and tends the soil or prays for rain, we would think him a fool for not using and emphasizing the normal ways in which corn grows. Likewise if we ignore how God intends to normally work in people’s lives unto Salvation and rather focus on minor things by which God doesn’t make important, we actually are actually diminishing God’s work not supporting it. In other words it is like seeing Jesus walk on water and we thinking that is how Jesus intends to always cross bodies of water. What we are doing wrong is taking a special circumstance and making it into the rule, when Jesus would normally just cross in a boat without a lot of pomp and circumstance. God isn’t like us, He doesn’t feel the need to use His power to do everything in a big showy way, like we would if we had His power.

If we go back through the ministry of the early church we will see the Spirit normally working through ordinary things like preaching. Peter preached, and 3000 were saved. Paul preached and many were saved. Yes, there were miracles mingled in there. What if the miracles were only intended for the Apostles to put God’s seal on their ministry, and once that ministry has been sealed with heavenly proofs, there is no need for it to be sealed in every other generation. This is not to mention the fact that all the Apostles taught their disciples to work through the ordinary means of Preaching, Communion, and Baptism, and not by majoring in some other “spectacular” gift (as if the Holy Spirit drawing and regenerating wretched sinners through preaching isn’t spectacular).

If someone comes up to you and asks you for the proof that your message is from God, don’t point him to brother Tim who speaks in tongues, but rather point him to the work of the Spirit in the Apostles time and the miracles there, and then to the word being preached and spread in our time, through ordinary people, in ordinary Churches – which isn’t so ordinary come to think of it.