How NOT to Grieve the Holy Spirit Opening Hymn 270 Responsive Reading 809 Closing Hymn Can the World See Jesus in You? Advent Youth Sing # 11 Delivered by Earl Gwinn By Pastor Laurie DeWitt Today we are going to touch on the topic of the Holy Spirit one more time before taking a rest. Next Sabbath, we will be having the Communion service. It would be appropriate to spend this week preparing your heart for that service. Our theme texts are: I Thess 5:19 Quench not the Spirit. Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Quench, Grieve. What do you think of when you think of those words? If you were a blacksmith a hundred years ago you would understand that. When they would work with iron they would heat it white hot, then pound it into a shape. When they would finish they would often dunk the hot metal into a pail of water to cool it. Take the heat away. Put out the fire. Can we do that with the Spirit? I don't think that I need to elaborate on the word grieve. Most of us at one time or another has sorrowed so deeply that it couldn't be expressed in words. When one that we love has hurt us, or one that we love has been hurt, when other sorrows descend upon us, we can experience grief. Can we do that to the Spirit? Is that what the unpardonable sin is? May get back to that later. Let's move on. Why should we not quench the Holy Spirit? First, We should not quench the Holy Spirit because he is essential for our salvation. Jesus in the book of John explained how the Holy Spirit was to teach us and guide us. Second, we not quench the Holy Spirit because it is through the Spirit that God dwells in us. Christ in you the hope of Glory. Christ lives in you through the Holy Spirit. The third reason that we should not quench the Spirit is that it is through the Spirit that we become sons and daughters of God Romans 8:14 tells us "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons (children) of God." The fourth reason that we should not quench the Spirit is because the Spirit that gives us life. Go back in your minds to the second chapter of Genesis. God kneels down and forms a man from the dust of the ground. He shapes the feet, the legs, the torso, the shoulders, arms and hands, and then the head. And there is a beautiful mud man. Dead as a doornail as some would say. Lifeless, useless except for art, cold. Then God bends over this form and breathes into it Spirit. I believe that means breath and spiritual being. And man becomes a living soul. Following through with this thought John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Earth without breath is dead. People without the Spirit are spiritually dead. How do we quench the Holy Spirit? We quench the Holy Spirit by living according to the flesh. Gal 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. {6} For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. {7} Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. {8} So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We avoid quenching the Holy Spirit by receiving the gift of the Spirit. 1 Cor 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. We quench the Holy Spirit by misrepresenting Christ 1 Cor 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. We quench the Holy Spirit by making vain efforts to save ourselves 2 Cor 3:6 (Jesus) who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Gal 3:2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Gal 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? We quench the Holy Spirit by our hateful attitudes towards our brothers and sisters Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. We quench the Holy Spirit by causing divisiveness. Jude 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. If there is anything that we can learn from the first part of the book of Acts, it is that the Spirit was poured out on a UNITED group, not on a quarreling mob. We quench the Spirit by counting that which is holy as common. Heb 10:29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? We have lost the sense of awe and respect in our world today. Sometimes as Christians we become so comfortable with the familiar in Christianity that we fail to give it the reverence that is due to it. How can quenching the Spirit affect our church? "The object of spiritual gifts is to maintain the living work of God in the church. They enable the Spirit of God to speak in the correction of wrongs, and in the exposure of iniquity. They are the means whereby God teaches His people when they are in danger of taking wrong steps. They are the means by which the Spirit of God sheds light upon church difficulties, when otherwise their adjustment would be impossible...... J.N. Andrews It is the Holy Spirit that is to bring to our remembrance the words of Christ. R&H 11-15-92 The talents that Christ entrusts to His church represent especially the gifts and blessings imparted by the Holy Spirit. C.O.L. 25 What do we do? Do you seek to glorify God, and honor him in your life? You should seek and pray for a spirit of thankfulness for all the blessings you enjoy, and seek earnestly for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. If you do not possess the Holy Spirit, there is a fault, and the fault is in you; for Jesus says, "If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." With such an assurance as this of the willingness of your Father in heaven to give you his Holy Spirit, how can you remain away from him? YI 02-01-56 Eph 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 2 Tim 1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Where are you with the Spirit today? (Words to "Can the World See Jesus in you?")