Grieve Not nor Quench the Spirit

Introduction

Today we continue our series titled ‘Having Communion with God’. A series focusing on the Holy Spirit. Thus far we looked at:

The Overview / Introduction

The Promise; The Power; The Performance; The Presence of the Spirit

Then we began examining the commands concerning the Holy Spirit - what God expects of us in our interactions with Him.

Be Filled with the Spirit

The Cause of the Filling; The Contrast of the Filling; The Culmination of the Filling (What it looks like when someone is Filled with the Spirit)

After that, we looked at the book of Galatians, Walking in the Spirit

Walk in the Spirit

The Circumstance (of the Epistle)

The Gospel was being Perverted; The Law was being Distorted; Men were being Misguided

The Correction

The Difference between Liberty and Bondage; The Spirit has Ability the Flesh Doesn’t; Walking in Liberty of the Spirit Leads to Love and Service; Walking in Licentiousness Demonstrates Depravity

The Concept

Implies Progress; Intimates Consistency; Indicates Exercise

The Completion

Acknowledge the Spirit

His Power; His Place; His Performance

Allow the Spirit

Be in Awe of the Spirit

Next we looked at multiple verses concerning the topic Pray in the Spirit. In this message we looked at three different Scripture concerning praying in the Spirit

Pray in the Spirit

The Admonition

Jude 20 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,”

It’s Importance, Under His Influence, In His Ideology, As an Imitation, In Intercession

The Armament

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

The Connection, The Continuance (always), The Context (with all prayer)

The Ability

Romans 8:26–27 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

He Understands our Infirmities, He Knows our Inadequacies, He Makes Intercession for Us

Last week we examined John 4:23–24 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Worship in the Spirit

The Charge

Of the Present; Of a People; Of a Praise; Of a Passion

The Contrast

Worshipping in the Flesh vs. Spirit; Worshipping in Truth vs. Lie

The Connection

One must have the Other

Truth without the Spirit is Dead

Spirit without Truth is Vanity

The Character

She had a Past; a Problem; a Perception; a Peace; a Proclamation

Today we’re going in the other direction. What I mean is that up till now, all of these have been positive affirmations - ‘Do THIS’ (Be Filled; Walk; Pray; Worship). Today we’re dealing with two negative admonitions, in other words ‘DON’T Do THIS’

The two that we’re going to examine concerning the Spirit to some may seem very similar, however they each hold very different meanings, and therefore, very different applications.

I. Don’t Sorrow the Spirit (Eph. 4)

Grieve (def) to distress; reflex. or pass. to be sad:—cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.

So don’t hurt, sorrow or cause the Spirit to be in heaviness

So HOW do you NOT cause sorrow to the Spirit of God?

Beware of your Path (v1; 17-19)

Ephesians 4:1 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,”

Paul in v1 is ‘beseeching’ them to walk worthy of the ‘vocation’

Beseech (def) To entreat; to supplicate; to implore; to ask or pray with urgency

Vocation (def) Divine calling; occupation or profession (job)

Paul has spent the first 3 chapters praising God for what he’s done for them: (Eph. 1:6-8; 2:8-9; 13-14; 3:6; 14-17. NOW he’s telling them what to do with it. This begins in earnest the application, and he says first - walk worthy (def) appropriately in other words - how a Christian - who has been blessed so greatly - SHOULD walk.

Then you look over to v17, and Paul gives us the contrast - the OPPOSITE OF WALKING WORTHY

(read v17-19)

NOT AS THE HEATHEN

Not after vanity

(Not like you are what really matters)

ignorant, without understanding - because THEY ARE BLIND

who’ve given themselves to licentiousness

The Bible tells us that we as Christians are TO BE DIFFERENT! Our FOCUS, our AFFECTIONS, our ACTIONS should mirror the BIBLE instead of the WORLD!

1 John 2:15–16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Proverbs - the book of wisdom declares the difference: Proverbs 4:14–19 “Enter not into the path of the wicked, And go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, Turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.”

If you’re intent on NOT grieving the Spirit, then you must beware of your path!

Reflect on the Pattern (v20)

We see in v20, Paul is saying - you know better. You’ve learned better.

I’d shared a devotion this week based on Jude 20 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,” the devotion was this: ‘You are the architect of your character’. Your parents, your teachers, your pastor can’t build it for you - they can hand you good corner stones, but you must build it yourself. You have to lay those and build up a foundation upon which is sold & sure - that which is CHRIST-LIKE!

Many of you have had the privilege of being in church many years. You’ve been under sound preaching for weeks of years. You have LEARNED CHRIST! You have LEARNED what it means to live CHRIST-LIKE - let me ask you, how’s it going?

The Pattern which has been preached to you, is it evident in your life?

The Pattern that you have of Christ in the Bible, are you a worthy image-bearer?

Reflect on the Pattern

Check your Position (v21)

Ephesians 4:21 “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:”

IF. That’s the key word there.

One thing that we must consider is ‘have you heard him, as the Shepherd’.

Jesus said speaking to the Pharisees: John 10:25–28 “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Have you heard Him as the Shepherd. Not as a historical figure, not as words on a page - but have you heard the Shepherds voice. In other words, are you truly born again.

There’s a truth that is unfortunate, and that is there is a multitude of people who have a profession of faith, but no possession of faith.

(Ill.) We have a plague in our country. We have boys dressing up as girls and claiming they’re girls (and vice-versa). The BIGGER problem is that there are many more goats claiming to be sheep. They do their best to put on a sheep’s clothing (much like the Pharisees) and say that they are sheep - when in fact they aren’t.

For many people, they can’t grieve the Spirit, because there’s no Spirit within them to grieve.

Before you do anything church, you want to check your position - because you’re in one of two places: You’re either IN Christ, or you’re NOT.

You must check your position. If you’re sure that you’re good there, then you must Be Mindful what you Put On

Be Mindful what you Put Off and On (v22-32)

Because we’re in this flesh as Christians, getting saved doesn’t automatically make us live a Holy life. WE ARE NOW CAPABLE, but it’s not automatic - it’s a deliberate action (Ill.) Like a change of clothes

He says there’s some things that we need to ‘Put Off’

The OLD man

He’s corrupt by deceitful lusts

He doesn’t care about others, only himself

He’s been deceived by the things of this world

This is the way you WERE, but that’s the OLD man.

Then he says there’s something we’re to ‘Put On’

The NEW man

He’s after God

He’s created in righteousness & TRUE holiness

Not False or fake holiness like the Pharisees…

Consider some of the things which Paul mentions specifically as to what grieves God:

Lying (v25)

Anger THAT LEADS to sin (v26)

Giving the Devil space in your life (v27)

Stealing & Selfishness (v28)

Corrupt speaking (v29)

(v31)

Unkindness & unforgiveness (v32)

Notice he didn’t mention ‘murder, rape, child-molestation’. Most Christians think that if they just stay away from the ‘big’ sins, then God is pleased. God is ok with my ‘pet’ sin - as long as I’m not ‘too’ bad.

God isn’t calling us to just ‘put off’ the ‘BIG’ sins, BUT SIN ITSELF! He’s given us the power to do so by the Spirit of God living within us! (IF so be that ye have heard Him)

We must be mindful of what we put off & on, and remember His Presence

Remember His Presence (v30)

Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Those of us that have been saved are SEALED.

I like that song “I’m not going to Hell!”, Cause you know what? He is not going anywhere! BUT CHURCH, UNDERSTAND - HE’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE - HE’S ALWAYS THERE!

We’re talking about ‘Grieving’ the Holy Spirit. (def) to distress; reflex. or pass. to be sad:—cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.

The reason Paul is admonishing them not to grieve the Holy Spirit, is because when we live in the ‘old man’, when we walk as the lost do who know not God, it causes God grief. It makes him sad, with a heaviness - DO YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE WE’RE DRAGGING HIM ALONG WITH US IN OUR SIN! We are causing Him to endure the wickedness we are engaging in.

The language that you use at the workplace, would you do it in front of your children?

The content that you consume on the internet, would you share it with your mother?

The places that you go, the things you listen to, the stuff that you drink, the movies that you watch, would you do them in the presence of your pastor?

Well, if your answer is ‘no’ then why not? Because you are quite literally dragging God along in your filth - and it grieves Him.

Remember His presence - grieve not the Holy Spirit

Don’t Sorrow the Spirit. Next (and lastly) Don’t Suppress the Spirit

II. Don’t Suppress the Spirit (1Th. 5:12-23)

Quench (def) to extinguish (lit. or fig.):—cause to go out; To still; to quiet; to repress; to stifle

As I stated, these are two separate admonitions.

Don’t Sorrow vs. Don’t Suppress

Don’t Hurt vs. Don’t Hold Back

We are called to not Grieve (Sorrow or Hurt) the Spirit

We are called not to Quench (Suppress or Hold Back)

The Spirit should both be pleased with the life we live and shine forth in the life we live

As we examine the surrounding verses we see that we’re not to Suppress the Spirit in…

In our Walk (v12-15)

As we go down through here we see first that we should not suppress the Spirit

…in the way we esteem and love your pastor (v12-13a)

As we read that, it’s not an easy thing to admonish another. Some things that need to be said are not easy to say. The Bible (not me) is saying that you should ‘esteem them very highly in love for their works sake’.

The Spirit will lead you to do this. The problem comes when our flesh bucks up because of the admonishment itself.

… in our peace one with another (v13b)

We all are faulty. We all have the ability to get on each others nerves. We all can disagree on things - but we should be seeking to be at peace one with another.

… in our dealings & interactions with men (v14-15)

Look at the different commands:

Warn the unruly

Comfort the feebleminded

Support the weak

Be patient to all

Don’t render evil, but follow good

Church, these are attributes of Jesus Christ!

Jesus esteemed His Father, warned the unruly, supported the weak, was patient to all & didn’t render evil but followed good! Now, if you are not quenching the Spirit, then this is the way in which you will act, because that’s the way the Spirit will lead!

In our Walk

In our Worship (v16-18)

1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice evermore.”

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

The Spirit will Rejoice in what God hath done, is doing & will do - unless we quench it!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

We should be in constant communion with God - if we’re not quenching the Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

We give thanks because if we’re not suppressing the Spirit we rest in Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

This of course ties right in with the message last week concerning Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth

In our Worship

In our Witness (v20-23)

Notice v21 - ‘Prove all things’

Prove (def) ’test, try, check’ - we Christians shouldn’t simply assume that whatever we deem acceptable God would - we are to prove them, against the Perfect Word of God!

v22 - ‘Abstain from ALL Appearance of Evil’

The Spirit will not only keep you from DOING evil, but even giving off the very appearance thereof!

v23 - ‘sanctify’ - this is the witness that the Spirit will give!

The Spirit - if He is in control - will desire to be a witness with a strong testimony of Godliness - so as to draw others to Christ!

Conclusion

Church let me ask you: Are you guilty of Grieving the Spirit?

Have you put off the old man? Put on the new?

Are you taking the Spirit of God places He’s got no business being?

What about Quenching the Spirit?

Are you shining for Jesus, or Suppressing the Spirit?