Breaking Down Barriers

Introduction

Most guys know when they've messed up in their relationship. But they don't know before they do it. It's when their wife or girlfriend gives them "the look." Maybe that's why I'm not married yet. Being legally blind makes it hard to read people's faces and pick up, "the look." But that's when he looks at her and says, "What did I say?" or "What did I do?" He knows he did something wrong, but he has no idea what it was.

Perhaps without realizing it we move away from Jesus little by little. We don't mean to, but it happens. It's our heart to move closer to Him every day. But we must ask how we move away from Him so we can avoid doing these things.

When we put up barriers as we walk with Jesus, we must know what they are so we can break them down and draw closer to Him again. You are either moving closer to him on the path to holiness or choosing to walk a path away from Him. Let's look at ways we offend the Holy Spirit and endanger our relationship with Jesus.

Grieving the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)

Ephesians 4:30 ESV

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Consider grieving the Spirit as the umbrella for all the other sins against the Holy Spirit. We can grieve the Holy Spirit by doing any of the other things I'm going to talk about today, except for blaspheming the Spirit.

The verse we just read is in the middle of a sin salad of sins we do to grieve God. It includes speaking falsely, speaking correctly, slander, unrighteous anger, and stealing. Grieving the Spirit is right in the middle.

So what is grieving the Spirit? The word "grieve" that appears in this passage indicates that grieving the Spirit is part of the way we treat others in the congregation. Every other part of this paragraph concerns community sins. We grieve the Holy Spirit if we miss treat one another.

We speak against our brothers and sisters in Christ when we are angry. We can slander their names and reputations, speak corruptly against them, and steal from them.

The specific context of grieving the Holy Spirit in this passage may refer to the corporate language we use to speak to one another. The Holy Spirit wants us to build each other out. When we tear each other down it grieves Him.

But you don't have to be in a Church setting to grieve the Holy Spirit. Any sin we commit against him grieves him.

Some of the ways "grieve" is used in this Scriptures help us to understand what this does to the Holy Spirit.

In Genesis 3:16 God is grieved and suffers pain and sorrow because of the Fall of Adam and Eve.

God's people disobey his commandments and this grieves His Holy Spirit (Isaiah 65:10).

Jesus is in sorrow in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37-38).

Paul is grieved by the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 2:5).

Godly sorrow leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:8-11).

To grieve the Holy Spirit is to cause emotional distress, irritate, offend, sadden, wound, and insult Him. When we grieve the Holy Spirit we cause Him pain and suffering.

When we grieve the Holy Spirit we cause Him pain and suffering.

He has worked so hard on us and in this on God's plan to make us holy sets us back and causes Him sorrow. It's as if we have not progressed as far as He has brought us. Our relapse in becoming like Jesus brings Him pain.

We do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit because we were sealed in Him at the moment of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14). He dwells in us and His authority and reputation is attached to every action we take and word we say. When we sin against the Spirit we insult His name and work in us and wound Him with our actions.

When Israel rebelled against God, it grieved the Holy Spirit and he actually turned against God's people and fought them (Isaiah 63:10-11).

We can grieve the Spirit, wounding and insulting him by

Sinning against the Spirit. Every sin we do grieves the Holy Spirit. We heard His heart and wound him deeply. We think of the legal implications of our sin. But our sin causes him emotional distress. More than the legal implications at stake is our relationship with the living God.

Ignoring the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit speaks to us about our character, our actions, sin in our lives, or a word for us to speak or to take to heart, he is grieved because we choose to listen to other voices.

Lying to the Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about how much money they were giving the Church and He was so grieved they ended up 6 feet under. The Spirit dwells in us and knows our hearts, and He knows when we are telling the truth. We cannot fool Him.

Go the other way.

Confession and forgiveness. You have offended the Spirit of God. When David committed adultery and murder conspiracy, and tried to cover it up, he gave one of the most elegant confession prayers in the Bible (Psalm 51:11). But the Spirit won’t leave us because he dwells in us.

Dead to sin. When temptation knocks on your door, don't respond. If a hunter shoots a deer when he walks up to it and pokes it with his gun, it doesn't move. When temptation pokes you, give it no response.

Pursue Jesus. Forget everything that's behind and pursue Him. Put blinders on your eyes and see only Jesus ahead of you.

Quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV

Do not quench the Spirit.

Under the umbrella of grieving the Holy Spirit comes quenching the Spirit. Paul puts the command to not quench the Holy Spirit in the middle of a paragraph concerning prayer, thanksgiving, rejoicing, prophecy, and abstaining from every form of evil.

Because it is close to Paul's next statement about not despising prophecy, quenching the Spirit probably refers to neglecting and misusing the gifts of the Spirit.

To quench the Spirit has to do with stifling and suppressing His works. It is actively stopping what the Spirit is doing.

Some believe this is a general command. Others believe it is connected to prophecy, and the rest of the gifts of the Spirit.

Quenching the Spirit is to keep Him from His ministry in Christ’s body. Quenching can refer to extinguishing the fire of the Spirit, one of His symbols.

“Quench" is used to refer to the shield of faith that stops the fiery darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16).

We quench the Spirit when we try to control Him instead of letting Him control us.

Intentionally stopping the gifts from being used is a sin against the Holy Spirit, quenching His powerful voice in His Church.

If we "miss the Spirit" or "act in the flesh" we can be forgiven and move forward under His prompting again.

We quench the Holy Spirit by

Not using the gifts. Many churches believe the gifts of the Spirit are too sensational and emotional to use. They intentionally stop any use of the gifts.

Misusing the gifts. Unintentional misusing the Spirit's gifts includes

"Missing the Spirit" – not following or realizing the prompting of the Spirit to use your gift or using your gift at the wrong time.

Operating "in the flesh" – using our gift without the prompting of the Spirit.

Illustration: My mentor once told me about an experience in his church where a man got up in a moment of silence in worship and began to "prophesy." He went on and on saying, "You've heard of the garden of Even. And you've heard of the garden of Gethsemane. But I tell you, there is another garden, the other garden…" His worship leader was completely annoyed with this because it went on and on. After church, my mentor wrapped his arm around him and said, "You’ve heard of the garden of Eden. And you've heard of the garden of Gethsemane. But I tell you, we're going to the other garden, the Olive Garden." Sometimes the leadership addresses these issues in private has teachable moments.

How do we follow the Spirit?

Use your gifts. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Disobeying the Spirit can make spiritual gifts messy. But we must respond to His prompting. Be prepared for the Spirit’s prompting and use your gift.

Don't misuse your gifts. Don't act in the flesh. Only use your gift when the Spirit prompts you. Do not detract from His ministry to the Church.

Be teachable. If you make a mistake allow the leadership of the Church to lovingly guide you and help you grow in your gifting. God placed them in your life to help you be as effective as possible in your gifts.

Blaspheming the Spirit (Matthew 12:31-37; Mark 3:29-31)

Matthew 12:31–37 ESV

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

We have been discussing how it is possible to choose a path away from the Spirit, putting up barriers to His ministry. So far, a Christian can grieve the Spirit and quench Him. But the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is different.

A person who commits blasphemy of the Holy Spirit has been in relationship with Jesus and turned away from Him. This person has chosen to leave Him for good.

The Bible discusses in several places that a believer can fall away from Jesus. Hebrews 6:1-4 gives one example of this.

Grieving and quenching the Spirit begin gradual steps away from Him and slowly harden a Christian’s heart. People who blaspheme the Holy Spirit have hardened their hearts and walked away from Jesus first.

People who blaspheme the Holy Spirit have hardened their hearts and walked away from Jesus first.

Believers who talk to me about the blasphemy of the Spirit are concerned they have committed and unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:29).

Please understand that it is unpardonable because the person doesn’t want God’s forgiveness. That person has burned their bridges.

What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Matthew 12 explains it.

People bring a demon-oppressed man who is blind and mute to Jesus. It's unusual to see both demon possession and sickness together. But demons can oppress people through sickness.

Jesus heals the man by the power of the Spirit (Matthew 12:28). The evidence of his deliverance from the demon is that he can speak and see. Jesus heals his body and his spirit.

The religious leaders who know God gave credit for the miracle to the devil instead of to the Spirit.

So the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is getting credit for the Spirit’s works to the devil and his demons. These religious leaders should know God but their actions show they are following away from God.

Who can commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? A person who has known Jesus, fallen away from Him, and as a final act of separation with a hard heart gives credit for the Holy Spirit’s works to the devil.

Illustration: Soft or Hard Hearts The more steps we take away from Jesus the harder our heart toward him becomes. When the God the Potter works with soft clay he can mold it to his desires. But if the clay becomes hard, the only way for Him to work it is to break it into pieces, water it down, and start over. We must have soft hearts before the Lord to be molded by Him into the people He wants us to be.

We must understand how we slowly walk away from Jesus so we avoid doing it.

Steps to walking away from God

Ignoring sin and not confessing it

Outright rebellion against God

Severing your relationship with God/Falling away

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

Application: If you are concerned that you have committed this sin, you have not. People who commit the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit do not care that they did. In fact, they do it on purpose, willfully and knowingly.

Conclusion

(Invite worship team and prayer team to the front)

We grieve the Holy Spirit in different ways, but it's so much better to draw close to Jesus and grow in Him. If we grieve or quench the Spirit, we can break down the barriers we create and be restored to Him. The Holy Spirit wants us to grow in Jesus, not away from Him.

Look for these weak spots in your relationship with Jesus. Don't let a moment go by without breaking down any barriers you have. As soon as you feel the conviction of the Spirit address it with Jesus. We can avoid these pitfalls as we walk the path to holiness with Him.

For unbelievers: Maybe you are here today and you haven't begun your walk with Jesus yet. After hearing about the barriers we create against God in our lives, you don't want to leave here today before you start walking with Jesus. He has been waiting for you for a long time. (Ask people to approach the prayer team)

For believers: Maybe you find yourself on this list of things not to do. But you know how to respond. You know how to receive Jesus' forgiveness. Break the barriers so you can be fully empowered and effective for Jesus. (Call Pastor Zac forward)