"Our Conduct and the Comforter"
Acts 7:51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
Introduction: If you were here last week you will recall that we shared a message entitled "Christ and the Christian" where I laid out the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. This morning I'm going to add three more very important truths that deal with the Holy Spirit or Comforter as our Lord called Him in John's Gospel. What I'm about to share with you may make you uncomfortable but as one preacher said, "I'm here to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted." My job is to feed sheep not entertain goats!
First, there is:
I. The Tragedy of Resistance
Acts 7:51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
a. The sinner's decision
The first point I made in last week's message was about the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting us of our sins which the Bible calls "reproof." God "draws" men to Himself through the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit as He reproves us of our sins. Our response to this reproof it what I want to focus on right now. When we are "drawn" in conviction we can turn to God or run from God. When we turn to God all is well but when we run from God something very serious happens. You can resist the Holy Spirit by making up excuses for not getting right with God but if you do know this; when you do your heart will get harder and harder. I can remember when doctors talked about hardening of the arteries but what I'm talking about is the hardening of your spiritual heart. When you are first drawn your heart is tender but when you resist it gets tougher and tougher. Satan wants you to have the impression that there are no consequences to this resistance but he is a liar and a deceiver. He wants you to think that you can come to God anytime you want to, that you can just decide, "God, come save me," but that is not true. Let me ask you this question. If it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to draw you to salvation, what happens if He no longer draws you or you can't feel His drawing? It is too awful to even think about but it is nonetheless a real possibility. Listen to this Scripture:
Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man...
Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
That will bring a man to another stage which I will call:
b. The sinner's desolation
Proverbs 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
What does it mean to be desolate? It means to be left alone! In a spiritual sense God will say to the Holy Spirit, leave him or her alone. I believe that there are some examples in the Bible of what can happen when God says "leave him alone."
Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
c. The sinner's destruction
Proverbs 1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Friend when you get to the Day of Judgment you can plead all you want to, you can plead for mercy, you can say that you didn't understand how important it was, that you want another chance but like the rich man in hell the answer will be no!
The second thing is:
II. The Tragedy of Rebellion
In Ephesians Paul is speaking to Christians, folks who have already come to Christ, who already know Him and who already possess the Holy Spirit and he says that it is possible for Christians to "...grieve..." the Holy Spirit. What does this word mean? The word used here, lupeite and means properly to afflict with sorrow; to make sad or sorrowful. It is rendered to make sorry, or sorrowful. The verb does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The common meaning is, to treat others so as to cause grief. How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? What grieves Him? Obviously it is sin! Let's read what Paul says prior to verse 30.
Ephesians 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Can I tell you some things that I hope will help you to understand how serious it is to "grieve" the Holy Spirit?
First:
a. The Personhood of the Holy Spirit
Since the Holy Spirit is not something but in fact somebody, a real person, then He can "feel" things like a person. When the Bible speaks this way it is called anthropomorphic, which is what God does to help us to understand Him better. This word is defined as the attribution of a human form, human characteristics, or human behavior to nonhuman things, e.g. deities in mythology and animals in children's stories. He does not feel that way we do but because He is the Spirit of God, He can be grieved.
In his book The Counselor, A.W. Tozer said, "Spell this out in capital letters: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON. He is not enthusiasm. He is not courage. He is not energy. He is not the personification of all good qualities, like Jack Frost is the personification of cold weather. Actually, the Holy Spirit is not the personification of anything...... He has individuality. He is one being and not another. He has will and intelligence. He has hearing. He has knowledge and sympathy and ability to love and see and think. He can hear, speak, desire, grieve and rejoice. He is a Person."
Second, by:
b. The Passion of the Holy Spirit
What I mean is that the Holy Spirit loves you. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit loves you? Dr. Adrian Rogers said something very insightful. He said, "You can only grieve someone who loves you."
Your neighbors kids can break your windows but you kids can break your heart! Your neighbors kids can irritate you like "Dennis the Menace" does Mr. Wilson but your kids can "grieve" you.
c. The Purity of the Holy Spirit
Please don't forget that when we speak of the third person of the Trinity we call Him the "Holy" Spirit so it makes sense that the transcendent attribute of the Holy Spirit is His purity and righteous and it also makes sense that this would be the area of His greatest sensitivity. When a Christian sins the Holy Spirit "feels the sting" with us. Paul mentions several sins that would "grieve" the Holy One in particular. They are:
(1) Open and gross sins. They are particularly referred to here; and the meaning of Paul is. that theft, falsehood, anger, and kindred vices, would grieve the Holy Spirit and cause him to depart.
(2) Anger, in all its forms. Nothing is more suited to drive away all serious and tender impressions from the mind, than the indulgence of anger.
(3) Licentious thoughts and desires. The Spirit of God is pure, and he dwells not in a soul that is filled with corrupt imaginings.
(4) Ingratitude. "We" feel ingratitude more than almost anything else; and why should we suppose that the Holy Spirit would not feel it also?
(5) Neglect. The Spirit of God is grieved by that. Often he prompts us to pray; he disposes the mind to seriousness, to the perusal of the Bible, to tenderness and penitence. We neglect those favored moments of our piety, and lose those happy seasons for becoming like God. Barnes Notes
Do you know why many of you do not have joy or peace or a lot of other things that Christians are supposed to have? It's because the Holy Spirit is resident in you but not president in you! You have so much clutter in your life that it is impossible for Him to work in you. He literally has "no room to work" because of all the junk! The junk and clutter is unconfessed sin, whether is actions or attitudes or affections. I read this short story recently. It's called:
"EMPTY THE GARAGE" by Gene Gregory
"Driving around Deltona, it is amazing the number of people who have garages with no cars in them. Why? Their garages are filled with other things. If you are going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you must make room. Get rid of the things that grieve Him. Confess your sins. Get rid of those things."
Have you ever seen the reality show called "Hoarders?" It depicts people who have collected or accumulated so much stuff in their homes that they can't move around, or sleep on a bed, or take a bath, or anything else because of their stuff and when someone comes to help them reduce the amount of stuff they have panic attacks and get angry and go all to pieces over the thought of losing this stuff. Obviously unconfessed sin no matter what it is in the life of the believer is a serious issue and my illustration was not intended to minimize our sin. Fortunately for us Christians have a way to get rid of all the sin that one writer said, "...so easily besets us..." and we find it in God's Word:
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Finally, there is:
III. The Tragedy of Repression
There is another command in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit and we find it in:
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
This word means to "smother a flame." Many times in Scripture the Holy Spirit is represented by fire but we need to remember that this flame is a gentle flame. Part of the blessing of having the Holy Spirit within us is His sensitivity to our tears, our trials, our troubles, our temptations and our tribulations. It is this very sensitivity that makes the Holy Spirit vulnerable to our "quenching" I want to mention three things that are affected by our behavior. First, we can quench:
a. His guidance
The Holy Spirit is our guide but the Holy Spirit doesn't shout; He doesn't shove, He speaks in a still small voice," and we must make sure that we are not quenching that voice and smothering that flame. We have to "be still" and listen to His voice if we are to benefit from His guidance. This is the reason we need a devotional time, a quiet time if you want to call it that, so we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
b. His gentleness
Another metaphor that is used in Scripture of the Holy Spirit is a dove. Now I know something of the nature of doves and they are gentle. Think for a minute about the baptism of our Lord.
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
There is so much that the Holy Spirit wants to do in the life of a Christian but He is a perfect gentleman, He will not force Himself on you. He is in you to lead you, guide you, teach you, grow you, bless you, help you, and love you but you have to listen to Him and love Him in return. He is Jesus in you!
FILLING UP WITH THE SPIRIT
Speaking to a large audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, "How can I get the air out of this glass?" One man shouted, "Suck it out with a pump!" Moody replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass." After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by "sucking out a sin here and there," but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.
SOURCE: Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 30.
Does anyone know what that piece in the middle of the washer is called? The part in the middle that moves back and forth and shakes the clothes back and forth? What is that called? I'm going to call it an Agitator.... What is the purpose of the Agitator?
As far as I can tell, it sole purpose is to cause havoc for the dirty clothes... it's there to shake and separate the clothes from all the dirt and grime and money that may be in or on the clothes, right?
As soon as we are saved, the Holy Spirit moves into our hearts, but He doesn't have our heart to himself... there's still a lot of things in there... the main one being our own selfish desires...even though we have been saved from our past sins, there still remains some things of the world that we are still fond of... these things of the world have a way of attaching themselves to us like dirt on clothes... they can stain us, they seemingly won't come out. The Holy Spirit, being Holy....His nature doesn't allow Him to live in a dirty environment, so He begins to gently and lovingly, He begins to agitate, to shake... to convict us of the things that need to leave our heart.... You see God wants us to be filled with His Spirit... and only when we come to a place in our lives where we are willing to remove all the dirt...can we truly be Filled with His Spirit. Until then, many times our spiritual life fills like we are in a washing machine.... The Holy Spirit constantly, because He loves us so much, constantly agitation within us, convicting us of the things that need to be removed from our lives.... The truth is it is God's will for all to be filled with the Spirit.... But it's your choice... it's up to you... If you willing to surrender every area of your life... every area... past, present, future... habits, control, finances, family... everything that means something to you.... Total surrender
