Grieve Not The Holy Spirit of God
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Last week I told you that after all the blessings we receive in the Person of the Holy Spirit, that the last two messages we would look at would be warnings concerning Him. We spoke last Sunday morning about “Quench Not the Holy Spirit”.
Paul warned the church at Thessalonica not to “quench” stifle, smother, to extinguish the power or energy of the Holy Spirit!
Remember that the Holy Spirit is the promise of power that helps us live a holy life unto the Lord!
Today we are going to look at Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus and his warning to them to “Grieve Not the Holy Spirit of God”.
Text; Eph. 4:30
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
1. Grieve; 13a
1. Grieve; 13a
Grieve- to cause pain, sorrow, sadness, bring distress, vex [frustrate]
“Do not Grieve the Holy Spirit of God”
As the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has a personality and the ability to feel emotions like joy (Luke 10: 21), outrage (Hebrews 10:29, ESV), and sorrow (Ephesians 4:30, NLT).
Luke 10:21 (NKJV)
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Paul pulls from the Old Testament scriptures about God’s Spirit being “distressed”
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.
33 Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
All these scriptures show the love of God towards mankind in creation/Israel in redemption and their inappropriate response to His love.
2. Sealed for Redemption; 13b
2. Sealed for Redemption; 13b
Paul reminds the church that they were “sealed” by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit is God’s personal mark of authenticity on us, His stamp of divine approval. He is the guarantor of our eternal redemption!
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
How would you like to live with somebody who was always grieving your heart by their conduct? G. Campbell Morgan
That’s what was happening here in Ephesus! There is no coincidence that Paul spoke of the same thing that the Apostle John did on the Isle of Patmos concerning the church at Ephesus in the Book of Revelation.
4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
3. Grieve Not the Holy Spirit; 25-31
3. Grieve Not the Holy Spirit; 25-31
Just like Paul described to the Thessalonians what we need to do so we do not Quench the Spirit of God, He tells us what not to do so we “Grieve Not the Holy Spirit of God”.
Paul has been sharing about holy living to the church. He reminds them that after salvation they are to “put off the old man” and “put on the new man in Christ” [vs. 23-24/read].
We are a new creation in Christ so we can’t continue to live in our old ways, or walk in the flesh!
[25] We grieve the Holy Spirit when we don’t speak truthfully; Lying is deceiving, misrepresenting things, harmful and even fatal. One lie leads to another.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.
[26-27] We grieve the Holy Spirit by being angry without a cause;
Angry without sin; righteous indignation, anger at evil.
It’s okay to be angry about abortion, but you don’t kill the clinic workers!
It’s okay to be angry with child molesters and pedophilia, but let the law take it’s course
It’s okay to be angry with our government, but change it by voting not being a vigilante
It’s okay to be angry with SIN, but killing the sinner won’t solve the problem, only Jesus can
But even righteous anger can easily turn to bitterness, resentment, and self-righteousness by “giving place to the devil”.
Paul says be angry, but don’t become bitter by not addressing your anger by the end of the day. If you go to bed harboring anger in your heart, the devil will use it in your dreams to make you wake up with a vengeful heart!
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
[28] We grieve the Holy Spirit by stealing; to steal is to cheat or take something that isn’t yours. You might say, “well, I’m not a thief”.
Time; every minute we have in life is on loan to us from God and we need to be good stewards of it and quit cheating Him of glory due Him by our selfish living!
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Talents; God given combination of genetics (music, art, carpentry) and surroundings (growing up in a musical family will aid one in developing a talent for music). Quit stealing and start sharing your talent for the Lord!
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
Tithe; giving to God what is His. Since God gives us breath [time] and our ability to work [talents], then the money [tithe] in your pocket is His to start with! Quit stealing from God and start sharing in His ministry!
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
[29] We grieve the Holy Spirit with corrupt communication; worthless talk, rotten, foul, polluting words that tear down instead of building up.
2 For their heart devises violence, And their lips talk of troublemaking.
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?
[31] We grieve the Holy Spirit when we act like the old man; We need to let go of the past and quit holding grudges.
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
If anyone had the right to hold a grudge it would be God. But he didn’t hold grudges against us sinners, He gave His Son to be our Savior! And since we have been saved, we need to act like it and forgive others!
What happens when any person is grieved by another? It breaks the fellowship they had with that person. They don’t talk to each other anymore. They don’t hang out with each other anymore.
The Holy Spirit cannot work in our life when we have grieved Him, because fellowship with Him has been broken.
Remember the Holy Spirit is our Helper! Why would we want to break fellowship with the One who wants to give us joy and abundant life in Him?
Close;
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
Put on the wardrobe of righteousness in the Promised Power of the Holy Spirit.
It looks better, smells better, and we look a lot better in it!