First Thessalonians 5:19 says, "Do not quench the Spirit." In Romans 12:11 Paul said, "Not slothful in zeal, burning in spirit, serving the Lord as a slave." We may be cold, but the Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, within us is not cold or idle. Rather, He is burning within us. Second Timothy 1:6 says, "For which cause I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands." The divine Spirit is burning within us, but this burning may not be strong. Therefore, Paul tells us not to quench the burning, but to fan it into flame.
As genuine Christians we have several divine facts before us. First, we have repented and believed in the Lord, and we have received Him. Even if we neglect or forget this, it is still a fact which cannot be denied. It is also a fact that our human spirit has been regenerated and that the Lord Jesus as the divine Spirit is now in our spirit (John 3:6; 2 Cor. 3:17; 2 Tim. 4:22). We should count on these divine facts. We are not trustworthy, but we do have One within us who is altogether trustworthy. We may be cold, but He is never cold. He is burning and working in us. There is never a time when the Lord is not working in us. We should not think that as Christians who love the Lord we are hot, while the Lord Himself is cold and needs to be stirred up by us. The Lord does not need to be stirred up by us. Rather, He is already burning. We simply should not quench Him.
We may consider that to be filled with the Spirit involves an ecstatic, exciting feeling. This is not correct. We do not need to pray in an extraordinary way to be stirred up and filled with the Spirit. The disciples in the early church were living, worshipping, attending the meetings, and working in a normal way, being filled with the Spirit. In our Lord's Day morning meetings everyone may not be excited, but many function in a normal way. This is what it means to be filled with the Spirit.
We should not seek an ecstatic feeling or anything spectacular. To do so will quench the burning within. The New Testament does not charge us to seek an ecstatic experience. Rather, it charges us to be sober-minded (Titus 1:8; 2:2, 5, 6). Seeking a spectacular experience may be coMpared to starting a fire with too much fuel. When lighting a fire, it is best to start with a small burning and then feed it with some fuel as it is needed. We should simply learn not to quench the burning within our spirit, but to fan it and feed it. Some among us have been ecstatic in their experience of the Lord. At a later time, however, they may not have experienced the Lord for a long period of time. This is not proper. We must stand with the fact that we have a mingled spirit and that we have the Lord Jesus within us. We should not be excited, but rather fan the flame in our spirit. For this we need to pray, call on the name of the Lord, read the Word, and pray-read a few verses. Then we will grow and be consistent in all things. We should not be too "hot" or stir other people up. Stirring people up may be compared to making artificial flowers. Many artificial flowers can be made in a short time, but they are not real, living plants. As the saved believers, we have the Spirit of life within us, and we must grow in the divine life. However, patience is needed for the growth in life.