Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart...Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. AND DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, BY WHOM YOU WERE SEALED FOR THE DAY OF REDEMPTION. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:1-3, 17-18, 29-32
A believer never loses the indwelling Holy Spirit. But, through neglect or unrepentant sin, one can lose the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, forfeit the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:11-12), and deplete the sustaining nourishment found in the community of God's people, the church (Hebrews 12:15).
“There is not one single sin against the Spirit, but many. The Spirit may be ignored or refused, having been once accepted, as the Galatians had turned from grace back to the law (Galatians 3:2-3). The Spirit may be resisted (Acts 7:51). The convicting work of the Spirit may be quenched, choked and virtually extinguished by our resistances (1 Thessalonians 5:19).” Thomas Oden, Life in the Spirit, p. 21
“The Spirit makes known the personal presence in and with the Christian and the church of the risen, reigning Saviour, the Jesus of history, who is the Christ of faith. Scripture shows (as I maintain) that since the Pentecost of Acts 2 this, essentially, is what the Spirit is doing all the time as He empowers, enables, purges, and leads generation after generation of sinners to face the reality of God. And He does it in order that Christ may be known, loved, trusted, honored and praised, which is the Spirit’s aim and purpose throughout as it is the aim and purpose of God the Father, too. This is what, in the last analysis, the Spirit’s new covenant ministry is all about.” J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, p. 47
HOW WE CAN GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT:
1. NOT being renewed in the “spirit of your minds” (Ephesians 4:23).
2. Unchecked speech, which is destructive and corrupting to the community (Ephesians 4:29).
3. Lives that are not cleansed from specific sins:
• Bitterness: A refusal to be reconciled.
• Wrath: Emotional outbursts.
• Anger: A settled condition of the heart (Ephesians 4:26-27).
• Clamor: Angry shouting, a lack of restraint.
• Slander: Abusive speech.
• Malice: Hatred in general (Titus 3:2-4).
"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled..." Hebrews 12:15
HOW TO SEEK FRESH ANOINTINGS (EMPOWERINGS) FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT:
1. Be continually renewed in your thinking (be biblically sound).
Ephesians 4:30 underscores that we respond from the position of our security in our union with Christ (“by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”).
2. Replace the “Horrid Six” with the “Magnificent Three”: kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness.
“There are, I believe, only two kinds of Christians: those driven by fear and uncertainty, on the one hand and those drawn by fascination and joy on the other. The former motivate themselves to ‘obey’ with the constant reminder of the dreadful consequences of failure or the shameful humiliation of ‘getting caught’. It is more the terrifying prospect of public exposure than the allure of heavenly joy that accounts for how they live.The others aren’t immune to the promptings of the flesh. They know how appealing the world can be. But their hearts are energized by the incomparable attraction of divine beauty. Their wills are empowered not by the expectations of ecclesiastical authorities but by the enjoyment that flows from having encountered the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Sam Storms, One Thing: Developing a Passion for the Beauty of God, p. 129
3. Labor to stand hard by the cross (Ephesians 4:32).
GRACE-LADEN EPITAPHS:
“A wretched poor and helpless worm. On thy kind arms I fall.” William Carey, Father of Modern-Day Missions (1761-1834)
“John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.” John Newton, Pastor and Author of Amazing Grace (1725-1807)