When Paul asks them not to put out the Spirit’s fire he says two things. First, don’t lose that new hope you received through the Spirit. Otherwise you will disappear in a faith of rules just as I did when I used to be Saul. Secondly, watch out how you treat the presence of the Spirit, this new hope, in your life.

How do we treat His presence? I believe you can reason in three ways. Those reasons probably influence your way of life and your view of the Holy Spirit.

1 – You could be convinced that we all still live in sin and with the coming of Jesus the perfect kingdom of God will ultimately be established. Until that moment we live in sin, with sickness and pain. The ‘thief in the night’ only frightens because you don‘t know for sure if you really are saved. Therefore until the coming of Jesus we are hopeless. Someone who lives with that conviction is often scared by the thief and covers it by pretending to be unconcerned.

2 – You also could be convinced that through Jesus’ victory everything is already made perfect of at least should be. Jesus was victorious and therefore there shouldn’t be any sin, sickness and pain anymore. But it is frustrating when you realize that reality is far from perfect. According to your conviction the ‘thief in the night’ should be predictable. We should feel Him coming and that could be any moment. Sometimes we end up in paranoia. The danger is that when the signs of Jesus’ victory fall short we will become disappointed and frustrated and we begin to doubt the assurance the Spirit actually gives us. Or you are so convinced that life must be perfect and therefore you close your eyes for every sort of sin, sickness, pain and suffering – even though the sings of that are obvious.

3 – There is also a third way of how we could perceive the presence of the Spirit. On one side you acknowledge that sin, sickness, pain and suffering are still a reality in this life. And on the other side you know that Jesus was victorious over those things and that His kingdom has already begun in midst of an imperfect world. His Spirit is the guarantee, the assurance that the entirety will come. The ‘thief in the night’ will come unexpectedly. It is not without reason that Paul calls it a ‘thief in the night’ and therefore we don’t need to be frightened and we don’t need to predict. In midst of all imperfection of this world we can have peace, assurance and hope.

Because we acknowledge the struggle with sin, the reality of sickness, and the suffering of people we actually can show compassion and can offer hope. We can expect Jesus’ coming with joy and not in fear, denial, disappointment and frustration. We can be filled with hope, love and peace.

How do you treat the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? Are you paranoid and afraid? Do you have no expectations whatsoever? Or are you assured and full of hope for what is coming in midst of this imperfect world? Do you know this Holy Spirit – the evidence that the future is already present? The Spirit is not only a security system for the case the ‘thief in the night’ comes so that nothing goes wrong. The Spirit is already today a hope giving, peace giving, rest giving, empowering and encouraging assurance. Gods Spirit is the guarantee of a good future of ultimate healing and a perfect kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.