Author's Preface
1. Accepting Or Uniting
   
2. Who Is A Christian?
   
3. "Why Don't You Leave The Church of Christ?"
   
4. The Iniquity Of The Fathers
   
5. Our Judicial System
   
6. "You Are My People Now"
   
7. Serving "Otherwise Than As Prescribed"
   
8. Does Baptize Really Mean To Immerse
   
9. Our Relationship Through Baptism
   
10. Those Gospel Meetings
    
11. A Prelude To Worship
    
12. Worshipping In Spirit And Truth
    
13. The Forbidden Prayer
    
14. "I Didn't Hear Nobody Pray"
    
15. Communion Prayers
    
16. Communion With Bread, Wine, And Money
    
17. Thursday Is The Lord's Day Too!
    
18. Not Forsaking The Assembly
    
19. Acts 20:7 One More Time
    
20. Our Father Who Art Where?
    
21. Does Nature Reveal God's Love
    
22. Copyrighted: All Rights Reserved
    
23. Don't Pour Water On Them
    
24. The Remaining Restriction For Women
    
25. Some Questions About Revelation
    
26. Must One Fully Repent Before Baptism?
    
27. Nicodemus In Context
    
28. Our Respected Myths Of Religion
    
29. Hook's Points: A Potpourri
    

If you do not believe that the Holy Spirit works in our lives today, you will consider that Paul's negative exhortation, "Quench not the Spirit", has no present application. If, however, you believe that He lives in us and empowers us, let me propose to you some applications of this negative exhortation.

Phillips offers this rendering (1 Thes. 5:19): "Never damp the fire of the Spirit, and never despise what is spoken in the name of the Lord." The exercise of Godgiven gifts must not be discouraged. Water is not to be poured on the flames of the Spirit. Spirit directed messages are not to be taken lightly.

Does not each have a gift of the Spirit? Paul declared, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor.12:7). We won't stop here to argue if these are "miraculous" gifts or "inherent" abilities given us individually, for either kind would be of the Spirit. "What have you that you did not receive?" Paul probes; "If you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?" (1 Cor. 4:7). It is most important that we use the endowment given us and to encourage the exercise of the abilities given to others.

We are not just speaking of stifling the Spirit within us by our weak faith, lack of concern, or ignorance. We are concerned here with our disdaining, putting down, limiting, and opposing others in the exercise of their gifts.

Countless good men have had the gift of pastoring whom we have refused to recognize as shepherds because they were not also blessed with children. Even though the Spirit enabled them, through our legalistic interpretation, we have ruled them out. And we have suffered because of it.

Gifted evangelists can proclaim Jesus with much power in our very community and, because they do not follow our party line or wear our sectarian name, we zealously oppose them both privately and publicly. Instead of fanning the flames of the Spirit, we pour water on them.

Teachers who have been illumined with deeper insights into the Scriptures are weeded out of the teaching program when they dare to reveal new understandings of doctrines. And private home study groups are often forbidden by the very elders who encourage individual study. They fear that something new may be taught. From such practice, one might get the idea that Paul said, "Quench the Spirit; despise prophesying!"

On the "birthday of the church" Peter declared that, according to God's plan, women would prophesy. In harmony with that Paul approved their teaching prerogative in the Corinthian assemblies as long as they wore the customary veil, corrected certain abuses, and observed the same decorum as applied to men. But this work of the Spirit through women has been doused with the waters of disdain and prohibition through the centuries. What a tragic loss! And what an awesome accountability we face! His gifts endow while we disallow! "Do not despise prophesying."

Various persons have been gifted to serve God and man in some private ministry only to be informed that they were in opposition to God because they were not working "though the church under the oversight of the elders." Turn on the water!

In accord with my upbringing, I formerly had no problem in dealing with the Holy Spirit in my life. He wasn't there! He did nothing! Neither did he work in others! But no longer do I limit the activity of the Spirit. Because he does not do all the evidently "miraculous" things for me that others claim he blesses them with, I do not limit what he may do in their lives. I don't have to oppose all that I do not understand or experience. I would prefer to be in error by mistakenly crediting the Spirit with good things in the lives of others than to be guilty of quenching, disdaining, and resisting his work in their lives because of my mistaken judgment.

Our oneness in the body is a gift, for the "unity of the Spirit" is not an accomplishment of man but of the Spirit. But the sectarian spirit, which lets us reject other brothers with whom the Spirit has united us in one body, is a work of the flesh directly opposed to the Spirit. When you reject brothers because they do not agree with you, you are guilty of the devastating sin of working against the Spirit.

A sad aspect to this matter is that our people have not been mean, unkind, or rebellious generally. Like the Jews of Jesus' day, we have been a people zealous for the law. But therein is the tragedy. Our misdirection has come mainly from interpreting the law of Christ as a legal code. Our attitude has become as that of the Pharisees. And if Stephen were writing this, he would probably cry out to us as he did to them, "You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (Acts 7:51).

Would we continue to resist by stoning his messenger, or would we accept the enabling Spirit and encourage those whom he endows? Let us no longer pour water on the flames of the Spirit.