Grieve Not the Holy Spirit, Part 2

So given the fact that when we sin we grieve the Holy Spirit, and are not then being led of the Spirit…God has directly given us in His Word directions regarding how to deal with sin in our lives.

First, God has provided that the sin of His children may be prevented.

We do not have to sin.

While it is true that ...We do sin, and we will never be sinless, even from this point on.

But it is also true that we do not have to sin.

Secondly, He has also provided a way to deal with the effect of sin in our lives.

When we sin, our lives may be cured of the effects that this sin has on our lives.

So what is this cure that God has provided for the effects of sin?

Well we saw that just as one word describes the whole responsibility of the unsaved in order to come into right relationship with Christ - “believe”

Likewise one word sums up the cure for the effects of sin in the Christian’s life - “confess”.

Confession - The Word confession means to agree with God.

It is not repentance - that is something different - that is a change of mind that will lead us to a change of behavior.

Confession is agreeing with God what He has already said, that what we have done…whether a lie, a wrong thought, a theft, an unkindness…whatever we have done… we come to God and confess - we tell Him that we agree and recognize that what we did was sin.

We then began, last week, looking at seven major passages that teach us bout the restoration of the believer from this sin effected life.

First we looked at John 13, where we saw Jesus in the upper room.

Jesus gave us an incredibly deep picture of the Christian and the need for confession.

A. Only Christ Can Cleanse from Sin

John 13:1-11

As Christ is the only one who can cleanse from sin, He himself took upon himself the form of a servant, and washed the disciples feet.

As Peter at first began to stop Jesus from washing His feet, Jesus explained that Peter just didn’t understand what was going on here.

Peter relented and said wash all of me then.

But, Jesus know what He was illustrating, said the Christian does not need to be washed all over…because he is already completely washed, he only needs to wash the feet…the part that get’s dirty as he walks through the roads of life.

The Christian does not need to seek salvation again, and again.

The Christian only needs to confess the dirt that has gotten on him since he last washed.

What a beautiful picture!

We are wholly clean, if we know Jesus as our Savior!

We only need to confess, and remove the taint of the sin we have committed since then.

B. Confession is the One Condition

The Second passage we looked at is 1 John 1:1-2:2.

1 John 1:7–9 KJV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we confess our sin, we are forgiven, we are cleansed and we have fellowship with God.

There is only one condition for which we can be cleansed, forgiven and have fellowship - and that is Confession.

When we sin, we grieve God, the Holy Spirit.

When we are convicted of that sin, we must quickly renew that fellowship and be forgiven and be cleansed by confessing —agreeing with God—about that sin.

The third passage we looked at was 1 Corinthians 11:31-32.

Here we learned that:

C. Self-Judgement Saves from Chastisement

1 Corinthians 11:31–32 KJV

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

If we judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

God is waiting for us to judge ourselves…here the conviction in our heart from the Holy Spirit and God’s Word…and confess our sin.

But if we do not…we are chastened of the Lord.

We learned from Hebrews 12 that...

D. Chastisement is Correcting

Hebrews 12:6 KJV

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

This is where we had to stop last week, and so let’s pick up where we left off and look at:

E. An Old Testament Saint’s Example

Psalm 51:1–19 KJV

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done this evil in thy sight: That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, And blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15 O Lord, open thou my lips; And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

David had very greatly and very publically sinned.

Here he lays himself open for all to see his broken and contrite heart.

It is interesting to note that he didn’t pray to have his salvation restored, but instead he said, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.”

One of the benefits of confession and repentance is the fruit of the Spirit growing once again in our lives.

We will once again feel the joy of the Lord, and the love that God always has for us.

When we are experiencing the chastening of our fathers, love is not really what we are feeling.

“This hurts me more than it hurts you.”

Because they loved us, and it hurt to discipline us.

But all we saw was “Yeah right!!! I’m feeling the pain!!”

But once the chastening is over, and our heart has changed, we feel the love that was always there.

There are aspects to this prayer, here in Psalm 51, that cannot be applied to us in the Church age.

In verse 11 he says, “take not thy Holy Spirit from me.”

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit had not yet come to indwell believers.

However the Holy Spirit would come upon believers to accomplish things God wanted accomplished.

For the Church Age Christian, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit which is our seal until the day of redemption.

But what a great testimony of godly sorrow, confession and repentance!

F. An Example of Christian Repentance

This is found in 2 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians was written by Paul to correct the church and admonish the church for the sin that was in their church.

In Second Corinthians we see that they heard, were convicted and repented.

2 Corinthians 7:8–11 KJV

8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Here we see a brilliant picture of the conviction displayed.

As true sorrow is shown by the Christian.

In Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, He rebuked them for sins in the church.

The Holy Spirit convicted them, and here he speaks of the godly sorrow for their sin that they have expressed.

They felt sorrow and that sorrow led to repentance.

Worldly sorrow is sorry they got caught.

Godly sorrow always leads to repentance.

It resulted in carefulness or eagerness to repent

It resulted in their clearing their conscience.

It resulted in indignation and fear.

The word indignation speaks to anger or annoyance by the sin that had been committed.

Godly sorrow also resulted in vehement desire - great longing to make it right.

Zeal to keep it right...

What revenge…this can be confusing at first but the word revenge is used here in the essence of justice being met.

It is under the blood, confessed, forgiven and made right.

This is the transforming power and the lasting effect of true repentance and confession in the Christian’s life.

The Seventh and final passage is found in Luke 15:1-32.

G. The Three-Fold Repentance Parables

Here in Luke 15 we hear the Parable of the Lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.

Luke 15:1–32 KJV

1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. 11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The value here of these passages is seeing the heart of the Father.

The emphasis is on the Shepherd not the lamb.

The emphasis is on the woman, not the lost coin

The emphasis is upon the father, not the son.

It is vitally important to note that these parables were written to the Jews not to Christians!

The application to Christians from these parables are only in what we have in common between with the Jews.

That is we both must confess when we come to God.

The Jews here (the Pharisees) were murmuring and complaining that Jesus received publicans (Jewish tax collectors) and sinners and ate with them.

So Jesus spake this parable unto them…it addresses the murmuring pharisees and scribes.

There seems to be an almost universal thinking that these three parables are illustrating salvation.

It is not…It is a picture of restoration.

The Sheep already belonged to the shepherd

The coin already belonged to the woman

The son was already a son to the Father.

If this were talking about salvation it would be a great picture of salvation, then universalism (the believe that every human will be saved) must be true…because the Shepherd seeks until he finds that which is lost.

No this is not a parable of salvation, it is a parable of the backslidden Christian.

When the shepherd found the sheep, he returns it to the ninety and nine that were safe in the sheep fold.

Does that look like good proportions in comparing the saved (99) and the lost (1).

No there are far more lost than saved in this world.

If it were talking about salvation, then 99 should have been lost, and one in the fold.

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Although repentance is a part of salvation, we must change our mind about our condition…it is also a part of our daily lives in the flesh.

The second parable is the lost coin, the coin belonged to the woman the whole time.

It had just been misplaced.

There is a seeking and finding that which was lost.

The emphasis is on the joy of the one who finds the repenting sinner.

The third division of the parable is of “A certain man...”

Here a very personal look into the heart of the Father is shown in the heart of this father.

The prodigal son chose to leave the care, and blessings of the father’s house for the temporary fun and pleasures of the world.

The Father did not stop him, I’m sure he pleaded with him not to go, but he watched broken hearted as the son went into the world.

Our Father does not stop us from straying from Him, but his Holy Spirit pleads with us.

I’ve often said the most miserable person in the world is the Saved man who backslides.

In Jewish eyes there is no further that this son could have gone than to disrespect his father like this, and end up in a field feeding swine.

Yet by repenting, the son was able to come home.

By confessing to his father his sin, he was able to enjoy once again the benefits of being the father’s son.

He was a son and returned to his father as a son.

The unsaved person cannot return home!

The unsaved person becomes a son in the first place, when he repents.

We would think that this boy would need to be punished and severely chastised.

He needed to be taught that what he did was wrong, and taught to never do it again!

But no, he is welcomed with open arms by a father who waited on the road side looking for his sons return.

Why no chastening?

1 Corinthians 11:31 KJV

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

True confession is real and transforming in its power

2 Corinthians 7:11 KJV

11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Conclusion

From these seven major passages it can be concluded that the effects of sin on the spiritual life of a Child of God is promised if we will repent and make a genuine confession of your sin to God.

We as believers are called to live holy lives.

We are left in this flesh that wars against the spirit to do what is right.

There will be times that we fail.

When we fail we will see the effects of our sin on our lives.

We will see chastisement from the Lord

We will see a feeling of shame as the Holy Spirit reproves us and convicts us.

We will see the effects of unconfessed sin show up in our lives with fear, nervousness, anxiety, sickness and many other ailments.

To the end, unconfessed sin will lead to death.

But God has given us a plan to help us be cleansed, forgiven and back in fellowship with our Father, with Christ our Savior and with His Holy Spirit who wants to fill us, and lead us in the paths of righteousness.

Is there anything today that stands between you and the sweet fellowship of the Father?

Is there anything that is stunting the growth of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, Spirit-Controlled)?

Confess - Agree with God that it is sin

Repent - Change your mind about it

and walk in newness of life that has been given to us.

Do you want to live the Great Life?

Keep short accounts with Christ!

Make it right with God today!

"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

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