Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 12:22-31

I am so grateful for the gift we have in Holy Spirit.

We, who live in the church age, have a gift that is worth more than we can understand!

To have God living in us all of our Christian life.

Guiding us, teaching us, molding us.

He brings conviction of our need for a Saviour.

He illuminates the Scripture so that we can grow in His Word.

He empowers us to share God’s word.

He helps us to grow in Christ.

What a gift God has given us!

But the Bible teaches us that we can sin against the Holy Spirit.

A sin against the Holy Spirit is especially dangerous because He was sent to be our guide and teacher.

When we sin against Him, we stop that power from being used in our life.

There is one sin against the Holy Spirit that only unbelievers can commit.

And there are two that only believers can commit.

First let’s look at the one that only unbelievers can commit.

I. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

the passage we read earlier told of the sin that cannot be forgiven.

All other sins can be forgiven, except that of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was casting out demons and the Pharisees accused him of casting out devils by the power of Satan.

Jesus responded,

There have been many who have been concerned that they had committed the unpardonable sin.

But those who are concerned about this are usually feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I believe this unpardonable sin has two sides to this same coin:

A. Resisting the Conviction

Stephen was preaching just before he is martyred.

He said,

Just as these men’s fathers had resisted the Holy Spirit through the prophets mouths, so now they are resisting the Holy Spirit through Stephens mouth.

This is a continual resistance to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

and so therefore the other side of this coin is the...

B. Refusal to Repent

I have seen the man gripping the pew in front of him, just trying to make it through the invitation.

I have seen the mocking spirit of the teenager who believes he knows more than the God who has revealed himself to him.

I have seen the scientist who refuses to give in to the conviction and tugging of the Holy Spirit, because it did not line up with what he had defined as rational thought.

I have seen the homosexual and promiscuous men and women who have chosen to believe, if it feels good, how can it be wrong!

The refusal to repent and the resisting of the Holy Spirit’s conviction is the sin that will lead them to Hell itself.

It is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

It is what is spoken of in Romans 1:28 when the Bible says,

God gives them over because they have refused to yield to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

This person cannot be saved.

This is not a sin that a Christian can commit, because they have already yielded to the Holy Spirit’s conviction.

But there are two other sins that the Christian can commit, the first one is...

II.

Grieving the Holy Spirit

Turn with me to Ephesians 4:30

Notice that Paul does say that we are sealed by that very Holy Spirit that we are grieving.

This sin does not cause us to lose our salvation, or that sealing!

But rather when we are grieving him because we are doing the things that are contrary to His nature.

The nature of the New Man that has been created in us.

Look back beginning at verse

Ephesians 4:24-32

We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not follow the Holy Spirit into the new life.

The Holy Spirit wants us to live in that new man that is created in us.

We grieve the Holy Spirit when we go against who God has revealed the Spirit to be.

So what has God revealed about the Holy Spirit?

A. Spirit of Truth

So anything false, deceitful or hypocritical grieves Him.

Eph 4:25

B. Spirit of Faith

Ephesians 4:13-15

So doubt, distrust, anxiety, worry all grieve Him.

C. Spirit of Grace

So then whatever is hard, bitter, malicious, ungracious, unforgiving and unloving grieves Him.

Ephesians 4:26, 29

D. Spirit of Holiness

So then anything unclean, defiled and degrading grieves Him.

Ephesians 4:31

The answer then to how not to grieve the Holy Spirit is to put off the former behavior of the Old Man and be renewed in your mind

Walk in the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to help you put on the New Man that has been created in righteousness and true holiness!

a manager of a textile mill where hundreds of looms were busy spinning cloth said, “the machinery is extremely delicate, in fact if a single thread out of the whole thirty thousand which are weaving at this moment should break, all of these looms would stop instantly.”

The manager demonstrated this by stepping to one of the machines and breaking a single thread.

Instantly the loom stopped until the thread had been fixed; then they went on automatically.

This really gives a great picture of the spiritual realm as well.

When I commit one sin, one disobedient act, one step away from the will of God, the ministry and work of the Holy spirit is impaired.

When we grieve the Holy Spirit we lose the power of the Holy Spirit on our life.

He does not disappear, or leave us.

But he will remove His power from our life.

His power to comfort

His power to Help

His power to guide

This is what is spoken of in Psalm 51:11

As soon as we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Are you struggling today to make it through the day?

Do you feel the despair, depression and draw of this world more profoundly than before?

Perhaps you have grieved the Holy Spirit through some choice you have made.

Confess today, and the Holy Spirit will begin work immediately in your life again.

Grieving the Holy Spirit speaks to the feeling we cause when we willfully sin.

The Other sin that the Bible speaks about is ...

III.

Quenching the Holy Spirit

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:19

The word grieve suggests the sense of being hurt, or making someone sorrowful.

The word quench means “to put out, to put a damper on.”

The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as a Holy Fire.

When we quench the Spirit we put that fire out.

The Holy Spirit wants to work through us in the lives of others around us.

But we can quench that power.

A fire goes out when the fuel supply is withdrawn.

What is the fuel supply of keeping the fire of the Christian life burning strong?

It is the Word of God, and prayer!