Sermon Series: ¡§God, The Holy Spirit¡¨
Sermon #3 ¡§Sins Against the Spirit¡¨
Text: Matthew 12:30-32
OPENING JOKE: ¡§Four Preachers Confess¡¨ Four preachers met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, ¡§Our people come to us and pour out their hearts, confess certain sins and needs. Let¡¦s do the same. Confession is good for the soul.¡¨ In due time all agreed. One of them said that he had a problem with losing his temper on occasion. The second confessed to liking to smoke cigars and the third one confessed to liking golf so much that he would fake being sick so he could play on weekends.. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn¡¦t confess. The others pressed him saying, ¡§Come now, we confessed ours. What is your secret or vice?¡¨ Finally he answered, ¡§It is gossiping and I can hardly wait to get out of here.¡¨
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to our continuing study on the Holy Spirit
Last week we took a break from our discussion on the Spirit to talk about Memorial Day. Now we will continue on with the series.
So far in this series we have learned about:
(1) How God revealed Himself in Three Persons
ľ In the Old Testament, God the Father (Yahweh) is revealed
ľ In the Gospels, God the Son (Jesus) is revealed
ľ In Acts, at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit is revealed
(2) The role the Holy Spirit plays in the sovereign act of salvation
ľ He regenerates our hearts
ľ He seals our hearts
ľ He begins the process of making us more and more like Christ
(3) The Ministries of the Holy Spirit
ľ I said it would be impossible to cover them all, so I chose only three to talk about
ľ Illumination
ľ Conviction
ľ Fruit Production
***This week we are going to continue the study with the subject of ¡§Sinning against the Holy Spirit¡¨
JOKE: ¡§Are you for it or against it?¡¨ President Calvin Coolege went to church, and afterwards was asked by a friend what the minister spoke on. ¡§He preached on sin.¡¨ The friend asked what the preacher had to say about sin, and was told, ¡§He¡¦s against it.¡¨
One of the most solemn themes in all of Scripture concerns sins against the Holy Spirit
Believers and unbelievers alike can and do sin against Him. Today we are going to discuss the nature of these sins and how to guard ourselves against committing them.
The first we will discuss is¡K
I. Blaspheming
a. I decided to discuss this first because it is the most feared as well as the most intense of all the sins against the Spirit
i. The reason is clear: It is described in Scripture as ¡¥The Unforgivable Sin¡¦
ii. Mathew 12:31 ¡§Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.¡¨
b. If ever there was a misunderstood and misrepresented passage in the scripture, it is this one
i. Many people live in fear that they have committed this terrible sin
ii. One notable is the father of Evangelist Dr. Billy Graham
iii. Dr. Graham said that his father lived with dread after having went to a revival meeting and heard a sermon about this sin, and then being convinced that he, himself had committed it
iv. He lived in agony ¡V until he realized that the agony he felt was the conviction of the Spirit in his heart drawing him to Christ ¡V which he would not have felt if he had truly blasphemed the Spirit
c. So what is blasphemy against the Spirit?
i. Quote: Billy Graham went on to say, ¡§All other sins against the Spirit are committed by believers¡Knot so with blaspheming the Spirit. This sin is committed by unbelievers¡¨
ii. With that in mind let me take you back a moment to the sermon two weeks ago and ask a question:
iii. What is the ministry of the Spirit concerning the unbeliever?
1. To draw Him into Christ
2. Remember His role is conviction or ¡¥convincing people of their need for a Savior¡¦
iv. If a person resists that drawing, he then cannot be saved
1. Because a person who has not been saved will not receive the forgiveness of sin, he has in essence committed the unforgivable sin
2. Blasphemy of the Spirit is the conscious rejecting of the convicting work of the Spirit in the life of an unbeliever
d. Stephen later refers to this as ¡¥resisting¡¦ the Holy Spirit when he was rebuking the unbelieving Pharisees
i. Acts 7:51 ¡§You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.¡¨
ii. Stephen was saying that just like their fathers in the OT didn¡¦t heed the warnings to repent given them by the prophets¡K
iii. They too were now ignoring the drawing of the Spirit to repent
iv. And they were in danger of death without forgiveness
e. It seems that no one has committed this unpardonable sin who continues to be under the disturbing, convicting and drawing power of the Spirit
i. So long as the Spirit strives with a person, he has not committed this sin
1. I believe if a person is even concerned, it shows that the Spirit is still at work in the area of conviction
2. It¡¦s almost as simple as ¡¥if you have to ask, you probably haven¡¦t¡¦
3. Because if you had, you wouldn¡¦t care to ask!
f. So the unforgivable sin of blasphemy is the irrevocable and deliberate rejection of the Spirit¡¦s drawing to salvation
i. As Christians we receive the unfettered forgiveness of our sins by the payment made by Jesus on the cross
ii. The promise of 1 John 1:9 has no exceptions: ¡§If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.¡¨
iii. Those who are guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit want nothing to do with Christianity because they have totally and finally rejected the truth.
Now let¡¦s look at the two sins against the Spirit that do pertain to believers¡K
II. Grieving
a. Ephesians 4:30 ¡§And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.¡¨
b. The word ¡¥grieve¡¦ is a love word
i. It refers to the Spirit¡¦s love for us
ii. Romans 15:30 tells us that we receive the ¡¥love of the Spirit¡¦
1. This is a new concept for some of us
2. We talk a lot about God¡¦s love and Jesus¡¦ love
3. But the love of the Spirit is also a blessing ¡V an internal blessing
c. We may hurt or anger someone who has no affection for us, but we can only grieve someone who loves us
i. Anger and hate are feelings we could cause or get from anyone
ii. But ¡¥grief¡¦ comes over people we love or love us
d. So how do we ¡¥grieve the Spirit¡¦?
i. In Ephesians, Paul says that whatever is unlike Christ in our conduct or speech grieves the Spirit
ii. If you consider the personality of the Holy Spirit, it is easy to determine what hurts Him most
iii. He is the Spirit of:
1. Truth
a. (John 14:17)
b. So He is grieved by anything false, deceitful or hypocritical
2. Faith
a. (II Corinthians 4:13)
b. So doubt, distrust, anxiety and worry grieve Him
3. Grace
a. (Hebrews 10:29)
b. So whatever is hard, bitter, ungracious, unforgiving and unloving grieves Him
4. Holiness
a. (Romans 1:4)
b. So anything unclean, defiling or degrading grieves Him
iv. All of these are examples of how we hurt (grieve) the Spirit
e. Illustration: ¡§Unless you are good, I won¡¦t love you¡¨ A father was once overheard telling his son, ¡§unless you are good, I won¡¦t love you anymore¡¨
i. That is really sad
ii. Even though the father had every right to tell his boy to be good, he had no reason to tell him that he would withdraw his love
iii. A father always love his son ¡V even when he has been bad
iv. But when he is bad, his father¡¦s love for him is mixed with pain, sorrow and even anguish
f. It is the same with God
i. He has promised that nothing can separate us from His love
ii. But when we grieve Him, His love is mixed with disappointment and pain
g. We should desire to live a life that is pleasing to the Holy Spirit, and strive not to bring Him grief
III. Quenching
a. I Thessalonians 5:19 ¡§Do not quench the Spirit¡¨
i. The word ¡¥quench¡¦ is the same word that we would use for ¡§extinguishing a fire¡¨
ii. This verse is a warning against ¡¥extinguishing the fire of the Spirit in our lives¡¦
iii. This doesn¡¦t mean we ¡¥expel¡¦ Him from our lives, but we, in essence¡¦ throw a wet towel over His work
iv. This can be:
1. In your own spiritual life
2. In the lives of others
b. Illustration: ¡§Fire¡¨ If you think of a fire, it helps illustrate this point
c. How do you extinguish a fire? Two way:
i. (1) You remove the fuel source
1. What are some fuel sources for our spiritual life?
a. Prayer
b. Witnessing
c. Bible reading
d. Worship
e. Fellowship
2. These are all examples of fuel that keep our spiritual fire burning
3. When we remove these sources, we are putting a damper on the flame of the Spirit
ii. (2) You smother it with a wet blanket or a shovel full of dirt
1. When we bring negativity into a worship experience we are essentially throwing dirt on the work of the Spirit
a. Criticizing
b. Acting unkindly
c. Belittling others
d. Gossip
2. These are all examples of throwing a wet blanket over the fire of the spirit
3. When these things are present, the fire of the Spirit is weakened or extinguished
d. The fire of the Spirit may be ignited in a group of believers, and a ¡¥wet blanket believer¡¦ can come in and quench that flame
i. Their attitudes and actions damper the work of the Spirit
ii. Illustration: ¡§Straight face wins $100¡¨ There is a man who goes around to carnivals with a sign that says, ¡§Make Him Smile, Win $100¡¨. People try and try, but he never makes a move, he is like a lifeless statue.
iii. He is the Guinness Book of Records for feeling and doing nothing!
1. When I heard this, I thought of a lot of church folk I know.
2. They have mastered the art of feeling nothing and doing nothing.
3. Someone lied and told them a long time ago that you could be emotional about some things, but God wasn¡¦t one of them.
4. The few times there is an expression on their face is when they frown because someone clapped or said ¡§Amen¡¨ in church.
iv. Now I am not advocating ¡¥running the isles¡¦ and ¡¥trotting across the tops of the pews¡¦
1. But we should willing to allow the Spirit to move
2. Even if it means that He stirs our emotions
e. Quenching the Spirit is throwing a wet blanket over the work of the Spirit in your life or in the life of someone else
i. And it is a serious sin
ii. One that we should all pray that we avoid
CONCLUSION: The following words may help you to put this sermon into perspective ¡V
¡§Resist not the Spirit¡¦s INCOMING¡¨
¡§Grieve not His INDWELLING¡¨
¡§Quench not His OUTGOING¡¨
QUOTE: (Billy Graham) ¡§We should be open to Him as an INCOMER; Please Him as an INDWELLER; And open to Him as an OUTGOER in His testimony of the things concerning Christ, whether through yourself or others¡¨
