Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, March 18, 2012 MESSAGE 5 in Getting To Know The Holy Spirit Sermon Series Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Sinning Against The Holy Spirit Message 5 in Getting to Know The Holy Spirit Series Ephesians 4:29-32 (NKJV) Today as we continue with our series on Getting to Know The Holy Spirit we are going to be dealing with one of the most neglected teachings in all the New Testament and that is the subject of Sinning Against the Holy Spirit. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians the fourth chapter. Ephesians 4:29-32 (NKJV) 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 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, even as God in Christ forgave you. P R A Y E R ***************************************************************** I N T R O D U C T I O N The Holy Spirit is called the Holy Spirit for a reason. His primary focus is HOLINESS. He is not called the Happy Spirit because our happiness is not His primary goal for you and me. His primary goal is to lead you and me into a life of holiness, so that we might be holy as God is Holy.
Now why is it important that we know this? It is important because when you and I understand that the Holy Spirit s goal is to lead you and me into a life of holiness it should make a difference in how you and I respond to Him. We should desire to yield control of our lives to the Holy Spirit in order to allow Him to do His divine work in our lives. And when we do not cooperate, we are guilty of sinning against the Holy Spirit. That brings us to the subject of today s message. The Bible teaches us that Christians and non-christians alike can be guilty of sinning against the Holy Spirit. First, let s consider. I. When A Christian Sins Against the Holy Spirit 1. The New Testament mentions two specific sins we must guard against when it comes to the Holy Spirit. (A) Christians must guard against GRIEVING the Holy Spirit. v. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. We know what it means to grieve don t we. Most all of us has grieved over the loss of a loved one. Perhaps as a parent you have grieved over a son or daughter who took a sinful path in life. Remember in our first message in this series we learned that the Holy Spirit is not an it. The Holy Spirit is a person. He sees, He hears, He thinks, He feels emotion. And one of those emotions felt by the Holy Spirit is grief intense, agonizing sorrow. What is it that grieves the Spirit? SIN! There is no one more sensitive to sin, especially in the life of a Christian, than the Holy Spirit.
Why does the Holy Spirit grieve when we sin? -He grieves because He knows what misery and sorrow our sinfulness is going to bring upon us. -He grieves because He knows the guilt and shame we will experience because of our sin. -He grieves because He knows our sin will incur God s loving discipline. -He grieves because He knows how sin disrupts our sweet fellowship with God. -He grieves because He knows sin will take away our appetite for God s word and to spend time in prayer. You see, it is not for HIMSELF the Spirit grieves, but for US. When you look at vs. 25-32 you see a list of various types of sins that grieve the Holy Spirit. a. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we LIE. (v.25) b. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we sin in ANGER. (v. 26) c. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we STEAL. (v.28) d. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we refuse to WORK. (v. 28) e. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we use FILTHY language. (v. 29) f. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we are consumed with BITTERNESS, ANGER, CLAMOR (which means to be overly demanding) (v. 31) g. The Holy Spirit is grieved when speak EVIL, which would include such things as gossip, slander, and spreading rumors. (v. 31) h. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we are filled with MALICE (which is malicious hatred with the intent to destroy someone s life or reputation. (v. 31) i. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we are UNKIND, UNMERCIFUL, and UN-FORGIVING. (v.32)
It is absolutely amazing when you stop and think about it, that Almighty God, Who created all things and rules over this universe desires to be in such a close, intimate relationship with us, that His Spirit is deeply affected by our sinful actions. The next time you and I are tempted to sin, may we be keenly sensitive to the grief and sorrow we will bring upon the Holy Spirit if we yield to temptation. (B) Christians must also guard against QUENCHING the Holy Spirit. Please turn with me to I Thessalonians 5:19 (NKJV). v. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. The word quench is used in several ways in our English language. 1. When we are thirsty and drink a big glass of ice water or iced tea, we quench our thirst. 2. When you have a fire and you throw a bucket of water on it, you quench the fire. 3. Have you ever been in a meeting and someone brings up a great idea and they are all excited about it, then someone throws a wet blanket on the whole idea by saying something negative? That s called quenching enthusiasm. 4 When a blacksmith heats iron in the fire then sticks in a bucket of cold water to cool it down that is called quenching. Think of the Holy Spirit as the spiritual fire in your life. There are two ways in which to put out a fire. One way is to SMOTHER the fire. When you and I fail to yield to the Holy Spirit s leading in our lives it is just like throwing a bucket of water or a wet blanket on a fire. We smother the Holy Spirit s influence. We dampen the spiritual fire He is trying to stir within us.
The other way to put out a fire is to STARVE it. Let s say you have a fire going in your fireplace or wood-burning stove. If you don t keep adding wood to the fire and stir the coals, eventually that fire is going to die down, it will be quenched. When we fail to study God s word and spend time in prayer we starve the spiritual fire within us. We quench the Spirit. Max Anders gives us this insight on quenching the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, in addition to convicting us of sin, also supernaturally helps us understand the Bible, leads us, and guides us. The Holy Spirit places a thought or urging or conviction or sense of ought-ness in our minds to do something good and right. When we respond in faith and obedience to this work of God, then we are strengthened, spiritually enlarged, enlightened, and increased in our capacity to respond to something even greater next time. That is honoring the Spirit. But when we ignore His leading or procrastinate, or make excuses, or simply disobey, that quenches the Holy Spirit. (What You Need to Know About the Holy Spirit by Max Anders, p. 134, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, TN, Copyright 1995 ) Now that we have a better understanding of what it means to GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT and QUENCH THE HOLY SPIRIT, I pray that you and I will be extremely sensitive the Spirit s presence within us and that you and I will exercise due diligence not to sin against the Holy Spirit. ************************************************* Now let s turn our thoughts to the SINS a non-christian can commit against the Holy Spirit.
II. When Non-Christians Sin Against the Holy Spirit 1. The New Testament reveals two extremely dangerous sins a non-christian can commit against the Holy Spirit. (A) Non-Christians can RESIST the Holy Spirit. Turn with me to the Book of Acts, chapter 7. Shortly before he was stoned to death, Stephen addressed the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. In his address he rebuked them for their sin of resisting the Holy Spirit. Let s pick up the record in verses 51-53... Acts 7:51-53 (NKJV) You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. Think back to Jesus words in John 16 when He told His disciples He would send another Helper. John 16:8-11 (NKJV) And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. The Holy Spirit seeks to speak to the hearts of unbelievers for the purpose of convicting them of their sinfulness and lead them to Christ. And yet countless numbers of people resist the Holy Spirit and refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. How serious of a sin is this? Well consider this; the longer the non-christian resists the Holy Spirit the harder and harder his or her heart grows toward God, thus putting them in grave risk of never accepting Christ.
All of us have known people who sat in Church and heard the gospel and wondered to ourselves, How can they just stand there during the invitation and not go down the aisle? Its not because they don t know what to do, is it? It is because they are resisting the Holy Spirit. (B) A non-christian can BLASPHEME the Holy Spirit. In three of the four gospels Jesus mentions this sin of all sins, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:31 32 (NKJV) "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come" Mark 3:28-30 (NKJV) Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation because they said, He has an unclean spirit Luke 12:10 (NKJV) And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. Let s consider the meaning of the word blaspheme. The word blaspheme, blasphemy or blaspheming appears some 55 times in the New Testament. It means to speak EVIL of or to SLANDER that which is HOLY. Blasphemy is a SIN of the TONGUE. And Jesus makes that clear in Matthew 12:32, Anyone who SPEAKS a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever SPEAKS against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Now in order to get an understanding of what Jesus meant by blasphemy of the Holy Spirit you have to study those warnings in the context in which Jesus spoke them. In Matthew 12 we learn that a demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus to be healed. After Jesus cast the demon from this man, the multitude that witnessed the miracle marveled at Jesus supernatural power, and asked, Could this be the Son of David? When the Pharisees saw the crowd s reaction to Jesus, they immediately set out to discredit what Jesus had just done. They declared that Jesus had cast the demon from the man by the power of Beelzebub, which is another name for Satan. Jesus proceeded to explain that a kingdom divided against itself could not stand. In other words, if He was casting demons out by the power of demons, then He would be defeating Himself. But if He was casting demons out by the power of the Holy Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. It was at this point Jesus warned the Pharisees of this unpardonable sin called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. And in Mark s account of this warning, verse 30 explains exactly why Jesus issued the warning: Because they said, He has an unclean spirit. So let s consider WHAT BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT and WHAT BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS. (1) What blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is NOT. Remember blasphemy is a sin of the tongue. Some suggest MURDER is the unpardonable sin. Murder is not a sin of the tongue is it? As awful as murder is, it is not the unpardonable sin. Remember David, arranged for Uriah to be murdered in battle. After David confessed his sin and repented of it, the Prophet Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die (II Samuel 12:13 NKJV)
Some believe ADULTERY is the unpardonable sin. But in I Corinthians 6:9-11, the apostle Paul lists ten sins the Corinthian Christians had been forgiven, and one of those sins on the list was adultery. Adultery is an awful sin, but it is not the unpardonable sin. Some believe HOMOSEXUALITY is an unpardonable sin. Indeed homosexuality and lesbianism are abominations in the eyes of God. But included in that list of sins in I Corinthians 6, that the Corinthian Christians had been forgiven of, was homosexuality. Some believe SUICIDE is an unpardonable sin because it is the last act the suicide victim commits and because he cannot repent of his sin. Remember the only sin Jesus classified as unpardonable was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Suicide is not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The truth is there are many horrendous and heinous sins we might lie to see added to the list of unpardonable sins, and yet Jesus said there is only one.only ONE! (2) What the unpardonable sin IS. Simply put, the unpardonable sin is to attribute the work of the LORD to the power of the DEVIL. It would be the same as saying, The devil created the heavens and the earth. The devil parted the Red Sea. The devil brought down the wall of Jericho. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO BLASPHEME THE HOLY SPIRIT TODAY? Bible scholars are divided on their answer to that question. Some say it is NOT possible to blaspheme the Holy Spirit because the circumstances in which Jesus warned the Pharisees against committing this unpardonable sin do not exist today, in that Jesus is no longer here in the flesh, but seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father. Others believe it is STILL possible to commit this unpardonable sin today, because at the root of this sin is heart that is so hardened toward the Holy Spirit s conviction they blatantly reject the truth just as the Pharisees did.
Regardless of whether it IS or ISN T POSSIBLE to blaspheme the Holy Spirit today, you and I have the assurance we have never committed this sin because we have brought our sins under the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. The fact that you would ever be concerned that you may have committed the unpardonable sin is evidence that you haven t, because if you had you would have no sense of conviction at all if you had. C O N C L U S I O N My prayer is that God will use this message today to instil in you and me a greater appreciation of the work the Holy Spirit is trying to do in our lives and that we would become more keenly aware of those things we may be doing that are hindering His work in us. May we guard against doing sinful things that GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. May we be conscious that the Holy Spirit is with us everywhere we go. He sees everything we do. He hears every word we say. He knows everything we watch and everything we listen to. And He is deeply, deeply grieved when we do things that dishonor Christ. And may we guard against QUENCHING THE HOLY SPIRIT. When He is leading us to spend time studying God s word and prayer, may we not brush Him off and find something else to do. When He is leading us to reach out to someone who is hurting or someone who is in need or someone who is discouraged, may we not ignore His leading. Spirit Transform Me To self I am dying, Myself I'm denying, As I am yielding Myself unto Him. The Spirit is flowing, His power bestowing, As I am yielding Myself unto Him. Spirit, transform me To be like Jesus; To die to myself And to live unto Him. Right now, I sense His holy presence. I die to self And live to Him.