*GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT* THE SEAL OF THE SPIRIT * “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption,”/ EPH 4:30. When we fall short *of our calling unto sanctification, it does not alter God’s purpose according to election. Our evidence may grow dim; we may come to a coldness, and the Lord withdraws. We may not have hope or evidence, but from God’s side, it has not altered our election. The Lord also uses His chastening hand to restore the Spirit or the mental disposition of Christ, which is our seal of the Holy Spirit of God. (David grieved over his sin; he had many grievous circumstances in his life as a result of his sins, but David’s election was not altered.) AMO 3:2-3 says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” We see wicked people living in sin; they kill, rob, steal, lie, and swear. It seems as if God ignores them, but because He has known you from eternity, you will be punished for your sins. Now let’s consider His reasoning for this. Can we walk with the Lord and have a heart filled with the things of this world? No. Can we walk with the Lord and have our hearts’ affections set on things below? No. We can’t walk together that way. So the Lord tells us that because He knows and loves us, He will punish us for our iniquities. Why? It is to make sin become exceedingly sinful to us. It gives us more of the Spirit of Christ and a desire to know and do His will. If we have not the mind of Christ, how can we walk together? In His intercessory prayer in JOH 17:14-17, our Saviour pleads with the Father. “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [If we are not of the world, we have the mind of Christ; and we can walk together with Him.] I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” We must remain in this world to strive against sin and the powers of darkness. We cannot live in the world and be one with the world and walk with Christ. Do you understand the beauty of the Lord Jesus’ prayer? Two cannot walk together unless they can be in agreement. Do you see the beauty of that principle? Christ cannot dwell within us if there is no harmony between us in mind and thought and spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the impression that is stamped upon us as the seal of the Holy Spirit. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth,” is what Christ prayed for in His intercessory prayer for His bride, the church. But our text *sternly admonishes us, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” We have the election of grace; we have the Spirit of Christ that was given to us because we are sons. Therefore, we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit. David grieved the Holy Spirit when he fell in sin, and David’s heart bled the rest of his life. We are warned, “grieve not the holy Spirit of God.” Just because we have a hope, the consolation and the assurance of the seal of the Spirit that we are His elect, we don’t have a license to live carelessly. We have a duty to walk humbly with our God; “…grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” * There is nothing *recorded in Holy Writ that is more grievous unto the Lord than a wrong attitude toward God’s will and our fellowman. See the context of our text! We have been commanded to love one another as He has loved us. If we violate that principle, we grieve the Lord. Let’s be mindful of the context of the verse we are studying. EPH 4:30-32 says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: [All of those characteristics are grievous to the Holy Spirit of God! Can a person harbor a heart of bitterness toward his brother, and have the love of Christ in his heart? This quenches the Spirit of Christ!] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” When we have bitterness in our hearts, we drive the Spirit out. As bitterness and clamor come in the door of the church, the Holy Spirit leaves. Our evidence of salvation is lost when we grieve the Spirit; we lose the Spirit of Christ. Verse 31 lists grievous sins; put them away with all malice. Then we are to follow Christ’s example and forgive others. If we ever see a glimpse of all the sin Christ has forgiven in us, we will never have a stone to throw at another person, regardless of what he has done. Our sins, which are so numerous, have been graciously pardoned; that is why evil speaking, bitterness, and anger against our fellowman are so grievous to the Spirit. Amen.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 19:43:12 +0000
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