DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!
By Pastor Paulus Budiono
Johor, Sunday, September 16, 2018
Greetings of peace,
Last Sunday we were reminded through the Word of God by the Apostle Paul that we shouldn’t give any chance to the Devil (Ephesians 4:27) and today we are asked not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God who had sealed us before the salvation day (verse 30).
The warning of “not to give a chance to the devil” and “not to grieve the Holy Spirit” are in one chapter and written not so far apart, only separated by a few verses. This is meant for us to know the position of the devil and the position of the Holy Spirit. “Don’t ever give a chance to the devil” means the devil is outside and trying to break through to overpower someone’s life. Meanwhile “don’t grieve the Holy Spirit” shows that the position of the Holy Spirit is so close to us, He even dwells in us and seals our lives.
Both the devil and the Holy Spirit are spirits; the difference is that the devil is the spirit (an angel) that was created by God who then rebelled against Him and always tried to find the chance to possess someone’s body with the purpose to ruin his/her moral. It is far different from the Holy Spirit who was not created since the Holy Spirit is God in Trinity. The Holy Spirit is in the life of believers and becomes the Helper, also the Comforter who is together with us forever (John 14:16, 26).
As a whole, the roles of the Holy Spirit written in the Epistle of Ephesians are as follows:
Ephesians 1 → the Holy Spirit becomes our guarantee for the coming redemption.
Ephesians 2 → the Gentiles were united with the Jews who become the temple of God, where the Holy Spirit dwells.
Ephesians 3 → we know the love of Christ that is unfathomable, wide, long, high and deep from the Holy Spirit who is in the heart (Romans 5:5).
Ephesians 4 → do not grieve the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5 → do not be drunk of the wine that causes the lusts but be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 6 → use the whole armor of God and pray at all times in the Holy Spirit to attain victory.
Be watchful! We are required not to give chance to the devil who tries to stumble us down and also not to grieve the Holy Spirit in us.
When did the Holy Spirit start to work and how could man grieve Him?
In time of creation, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and God the Trinity created man according to the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:2, 26). At that time, everything went well, there were no signs of sorrows or worries.
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve gave the chance to the serpent (outside) to put in the false teaching/doctrine and they both accepted that false doctrine (Genesis 3). The result is, they fell into sin and this caused God to be tremendously grieved.
After men fell into sin, the wickedness of men was more and more prevalent and even the tendency of their hearts was always mere evil to make God’s heart who had created man in this grievous earth (Genesis 6:5-6). How was the action of the Spirit of God/Holy Spirit? He would not dwell forever in man because man is flesh and the age is 120 years (v. 3).
It is proven that God would feel joyful when He is praised and grievous if ignored. The Bible says that they who do the right and holy things will be more and more righteous and holier (pleasing God’s heart joyfully) but those who committed wickedness and filthy deeds, will be more wicked and filthier (Revelation 22:11) who will definitely make God’s heart sorrowful.
Self-reflection: how many Christians in Indonesia are seriously living in holiness, bringing joy to the Holy Spirit? And how many of them are grieving the Holy Spirit with their behaviors that are not good testimonies for Indonesians who haven’t known God yet?
Is it only the Holy Spirit who grieves? In Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit are certainly grieved too. Therefore, we must be careful in our speech, attitudes and actions. If we hurt the heart of our husband/wife, the Holy Spirit in the heart of our husband/wife will surely be sorrowful. If a pastor hurts his congregation member’s heart, the Holy Spirit living in the heart of the elders is also grieving, making the church growth to be stagnant and unable to reach the spiritual maturity (cf. Ephesians 4:12-13).
All men died in the time of Noah, except Noah and his family who lived acceptably before the Lord. They lived in God's provision. They multiplied because of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Was God pleased with their multiplication? No, He didn't! The more they multiplied, the more arrogant they became. They wanted to build a city with a tower reaching the sky to find a name. Finally, the LORD confused their language and they were scattered to the entire earth (Genesis 11).
God became the Savior of the Israelites. He redeemed them in His love and compassion. He lifted and carried them throughout the ages, but they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, that He turned to be their enemy who fought against them (Isaiah 63:7-10). They remembered in Moses' time when God put the Holy Spirit in their hearts, together with Moses, they were guided to cross the Red Sea and His Spirit brought them to the resting place (vv. 11-14).
The book of Genesis until the book of Deuteronomy were written by Moses; Isaiah who lived in quite a different era, quoted to remind again the attitude of the Israelites who grieved the Holy Spirit over and over.
We ought to give thanks when the Lord reminds us through His Word which shows His love to us. If He does not want to remind us anymore, we will surely be lost. Therefore, we must not take it for granted that we still can hold the Bible in our hands. There are countries that don't believe in God tried. They try to change the content of the Bible by adapting it to their ideology. We can imagine how lost the people who read this "modified" Bible can be! Be serious, love the Bible that we can still buy inexpensively and read in many translations! If the next generations never
read the Bible completely, they will be lost because of reading a scripture filled with mere philosophy. Notice that every author of the Bible was anointed by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16) and marked with blood because of the rejections they received.
Ironically, the Israelites went out of Egypt led by the clouds (symbolizing the Holy Spirit), but they murmured continually on their journey. Isn't it true that they caused the Holy Spirit to be grieved by their behaviours? But He was consistent with His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and kept leading them. When the cloud went down, the tabernacle was set up and God was present above the tent. He was so close to the Levitical priests surrounding the tabernacle and to the rebellious Israelites. The Spirit of God guided this rebellious nation for forty years in the wilderness.
It turned out that God the Trinity was ever hurt and sorrowful, proven as follows:
God the Father had to eradicate men in the time of Noah except Noah and his family (8 people) who received the grace by obeying His Word.
God was also truly sorrowful of the Israelites' attitudes, yet He continued to love them.
Jesus, the Son of God, wept over Jerusalem whose eyes were 'blinded', so that they didn't see the enemy surrounding and pushing from every direction, trying to destroy. Jerusalem also didn't know when God would come for them (Luke 19:41-44). Jesus wept for the salvation of men.
Honestly, we often don’t realize that Jesus is in a salvation mission because the devil is not pleased to stay quiet if he is defeated/cornered. Therefore the devil is eagerly seeking for a chance in difficult times to stumble us down.
Don't mourn for self pity or over vain worldly matters! Weep for the salvation of our family and friends who haven't known the Lord!
Jesus reminded that the incident in Noah's time will happen again (eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage) before the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37-38).
Isn’t it true that nowadays we can find restaurant and culinary businesses everywhere? We don’t even bother to go to the venues, because they provide delivery service to our doorsteps. The many promotions of eating and drinking are the signs that the time of Noah is being repeated. Apostle Paul reminded us of eating and drinking that we must not be overpowered by it for it can lead to fornication. Our body is not our own. It is the temple of God where the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 6:12-13, 19).
Jesus didn’t only weep over Jerusalem but took further action by entering into the temple of God to sanctify it in order to make it the house of prayer, not the den of thieves (Luke 19:45-46).
Did everyone respond positively toward Jesus’ actions? The Priests and Scribes were prominent people who tried to destroy Him, but they did not know how to do it because the whole people were enchanted to Him and wanted to listen to Him (vv. 47-48).
Self-reflection: do we still love the Word of God and surrender our body as the house of prayer? This surely makes the Spirit of God joyful. The fact is, it is not easy to be the house of prayer. What can be the proof is that the Sunday Service is generally packed with people, but there will
be less who come to the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting, moreover on a fasting service, there will be less who attend, while the Holy Spirit actually plays an important role in the house of prayer. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit, moreover to blaspheme Him that will lead to no mercy (Luke 12:10).
Jesus as a Man wept lamenting in mourn when facing the cross (Hebrews 5:7), but He was willing to be crucified to fulfill the plan of His Father. He willingly died on the cross. That is why we commemorate His death that we must be serious when we have fellowship with the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Communion.
The Holy Spirit grieved over the evil word and all the wickedness that we do (Ephesians 4:29-32).
Do you know that the words we utter are often influenced by our feelings? When we (our hearts) are happy, the language we use is in a joyful tone; if our hearts are sorrowful, the language will be melancholic; if our hearts are filled with anger, the words we utter will be harsh and painful. Therefore, we need the Holy Spirit who can ease the sorrow or anger in our hearts that we won't easily be emotional but tactful in our speech.
There is no better word than the Word of God; so Paul said that "The Word of God is near you, on your lips and in your heart (Romans 10:8).
Before Saul/Paul repented, his mouth was filled with blasphemes toward Jesus to fight for the Law and Pharisee’s teaching. But after he repented, he gave his heart to be sanctified by the water of the Word and the blood of Jesus that he experienced complete transformation. Therefore, he then wrote "do not have filthy words uttered from your mouth". He even exhorted us to live in love by blessing those who persecute and not cursing them (Romans 12:14).
Application: we should be blessings for others when we are underestimated, or even cornered, we must be able to forgive them as given examples by Jesus. In a tortured body on the cross, He still could say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
It is necessary to know that the One who could remove our transgressions as far as the east from the west is only Jesus (Psalm 103:12) through His sacrifice on the cross in Golgotha.
Apostle Paul experienced the amazing love of the Lord that he was able to bless those who persecuted and imprisoned him, and he even could accept that the Lord didn't grant his prayer when he was ill and asked to be released from a thorn in his flesh. He confessed to be gladly glory in his weaknesses that the power of Christ may rest upon him (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). What about us? Do we feel that the power of God is present only when we are prosperous, rich, flattered and honored?
We could forgive others if we are sure that our sins are forgiven by God through Jesus Christ. Then we won't be easily provoked to be angry, when noticing someone lie, slander, and so on, because we did the same thing before, yet receiving forgiveness from God.
If we are not grieving the Holy Spirit, He will guide us to be mature spiritually, taking the example of Christ who showed perfect maturity when He was crucified. And also if the Holy Spirit fills in our hearts and controls us, we are renewed to obtain the true knowledge according to His Image (Colossians 3:10). Amen.