Feeding the Lambs - Sorrow of the Holy Spirit
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
-The Apostle Paul, writing to the early believers in EphesusEphesians 4:30
[29th message of the New Believer Series]
Continuing with our mini series (on the Holy Spirit) within this series (New Believers), today we read an excerpt from the letter of Paul to the early Ephesian believers.
In this passage Paul was reaffirming that the Holy Spirit is a person. How so?
Because Paul wouldn't write what He wrote if the Holy Spirit is not a person -- Someone who has emotions and Someone who can be grieved.
Grieving the Holy Spirit
Verse 31 tells us how we would not grieve (or hurt or offend) the Holy Spirit:
By letting
all bitterness and indignation (unrighteous anger) and
wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and
resentment (anger, animosity) and
quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention)
and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from us, and with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).
The Holy Spirit is against all of these, so if we find ourselves in the middle of any of these things, we know we aren't being guided by the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is gentle and do not force Himself on anyone. He "speaks' to believers from the inside (in a still small voice). He is not loud. He is not proud. He convicts and does not condemn. He does not shame anyone or put a guilt trip on people. He will direct our path or tell us what to say or do, but ultimately He does not determine whether we do so or not.
Uplifting the Holy Spirit
Now if we can grieve the Holy Spirit, the opposite is also true -- we can certainly lift Him up. How? It says so on the following verse, verse 32:
...become useful and helpful
and kind (loving) to one another,
tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted),
forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
Uplifting the Holy Spirit
Now if we can grieve the Holy Spirit, the opposite is also true -- we can certainly lift Him up. How? It says so on the following verse, verse 32:
...become useful and helpful
and kind (loving) to one another,
tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted),
forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
These things are what He is about.
Our Model
The Holy Spirit always points us in the direction of Jesus. And once we fix our eyes on Christ, then His attitude rubs off on us -- making us Christlike (this is what makes believers Christians).
Now this is a process and every step the Holy Spirit is there to guide us, of course some days we might grieve Him, and other times we would lift Him up high. And the more we get to walk like Christ, the less we grieve Our personal Teacher, Advocate (Counselor, Attorney), Comforter (Friend) and ever present Help.
The Lord revealed through the Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit is the evidence that believers were sealed up until the Lord comes back for us or until He takes us away from this world and into eternity.
Our Model
The Holy Spirit always points us in the direction of Jesus. And once we fix our eyes on Christ, then His attitude rubs off on us -- making us Christlike (this is what makes believers Christians).
Now this is a process and every step the Holy Spirit is there to guide us, of course some days we might grieve Him, and other times we would lift Him up high. And the more we get to walk like Christ, the less we grieve Our personal Teacher, Advocate (Counselor, Attorney), Comforter (Friend) and ever present Help.
The Lord revealed through the Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit is the evidence that believers were sealed up until the Lord comes back for us or until He takes us away from this world and into eternity.
Comments
Post a Comment