Ephesians chapter 4. I'd like
to read one verse of Scripture. Ephesians 4, verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God. whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption. Let's pray together. Our Father, this morning we thank
you that we can pray, which is actually a response and an agreement with Our blessed
Lord and Savior, who ever liveth to make intercession for us,
as He prayed, we pray. And we thank You that for Christ's
sake, You hear our prayers. Though we realize that, Lord,
when we pray, oh, how we realize the frailty in which we speak.
But thank you for the promise that, Lord, when we ask in accordance
with His will, you hear and you answer, and you do so for Christ's
sake. Lord, bless the Word today. Bless it to our heart and our
understanding. Help us as we try to worship. For Christ's sake we pray, Amen. This verse of Scripture, I've
heard many comments on it. And all the comments that I've
heard, I've just never really heard
something or read something that I felt was truly consistent with
the way that I know things are. The Spirit of God is God. God Almighty who knows, sees, ordains, He who knows that we are but
flesh, and the very word grieve, grieve, it's to disappoint, to
cause to be sorrowful, to give one that you love a spirit
of dissatisfaction. And I think as I read this scripture, it's usually been set forth in
a way in which the Lord is watching and He's discerning and then
He sees something that we do and it disappoints Him. And he's grieved over it. That's
the way they put it across. And I know that in us, that is
in our flesh, there's nothing good. There's no way in which
we're able to walk. A man at his best state is altogether
vanity. He's just struggling. Here this morning, as I said
a moment ago, even as we ask the Lord in prayer, Lord, help
us to worship. Now, don't you know that the
best that we're going to do this morning is going to be sub to
what is pleasing to Almighty God? In itself, if you just think
about it, the best that I've ever done, the best that you've
ever done, Man is just a frail creature. What can I do but grieve the
Holy Spirit? Well, knowing that, setting forth
that as the basis of looking at this Scripture, grieve not
the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Oh, I don't want to do that.
Whatever that means, whatever the fullness of that is, I don't
want to do that. I don't want to grieve God. I
don't want to make God sorrowful. But in that same thought, I realize
that everything that I do and say and think, I'm already in despair because
I know just a little bit about what I am. Well then, obviously, knowing
that, we pray the Spirit of God might truly give us some understanding
as to what this Scripture does mean. I believe and I do pray this
morning that the Spirit of God help me and help us to hear and
to understand because this is serious. Life is but a vapor. We're going
to stand before God. It's going to be over. I mean,
just heartbeat. One last breath. It's over. As
Brother Scott said, I'd like to just turn over one more time.
Just leave this world. And he did. This blessed scripture gives,
I believe, a great word of caution, but I believe that this verse
of scripture is absolutely one of the greatest words of comfort
to the people of God. This is a great, great word of
encouragement. Let me preface the word of caution,
that great word of encouragement. Let me just preface the first
part of it, that is, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Let me
just look at the last part of that verse being a great word
of comfort. Here it is. Whereby you're sealed
unto the day of redemption. Now whatever the first part means,
I'll tell you what the last part tells me. God's kept us and will
keep us and will sustain us. I know that. Whereby you're sealed. Oh, how gracious is our God to assure the timid minds of
His people of their security in the Lord Jesus Christ." Whatever
that first part, we'll look at it in just a second. Whatever
that means, listen to this. According to the last part of
it, 1 Peter 1.5 says, "...who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time kept. Whatever that first part means,
I know this, we're kept by God. John 10, 28, 29, I give unto
them eternal life and they shall never perish. Whatever happens, For that one that God has called
out of darkness, that one that the Lord has regenerated by His
grace, they're never going to perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. That includes
this man. This man cannot pluck this man
out of the hand of Him who has everlastingly loved me. That's
a great comfort. My Father which gave them Me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
My Father's hand." Kept. Sealed until the day of
redemption. So in the midst of the realization
of my unworthiness and my wavering and my forgetfulness toward Him,
take heart. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Now, I know this. Whatever the
grieving of the Holy Spirit is, which I'm convinced is a word
of indescribable mercy to the people of God. And I'll show
you why in just a minute. Whatever it does mean, let us
set forth and establish this truth. God Almighty is going
to keep His people. Though we ever change, ever waver,
He never changes. I have loved you with an everlasting
love, though we fail in our consistency in our love toward Him. Now,
let's just be honest about it. I'm telling you, our love, our emotions is so
wavering, divided, inconsistent. It's embarrassing when we consider
how we really are in light of who He is. But His love never
fails. Our interest in that eternal
covenant of God's grace never arose because of our desire,
or our love, or our obedience toward God. Our interest in that
eternal, everlasting covenant of grace is found totally upon
His will and His purpose to show mercy to whomsoever He will.
He didn't take counsel with anybody. He didn't look down in time to
see who would, who wouldn't. God Almighty chose whomsoever
He would. He set His affection on them
based totally on His good pleasure and purpose. And He chose, gave, whatever the fullness of
those words mean, He considered them and looked to the surety
as all of their hope and all of their salvation and looked
only to Christ. He has never looked to the sheep
for any obedience whatsoever for their salvation toward Him.
We are saved by grace through faith. We know it. We know it by faith. And that
is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. what He
has eternally purposed to do. That is, save them from their
sins. He's going to do it. Unworthy
as we are, we're accepted in the Beloved. So here's the great
comfort to all that's been regenerated by grace. All that worship God
in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence
in the flesh. You're sealed. till the day of
redemption. That's good news. Now, knowing
that, that's a fact. It's established. But there's
also a word, it's a word of caution. It's a word of warning. But I'm
telling you, you that believe, this word, and grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God. That is a word of indescribable
mercy to God's sheep. You say, how so? Well, knowing
that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's
profitable, it's helpful. It's helpful for doctrine and
for reproof, that is, for conviction. Profitable for correction, that
is, restoration. And for instruction in righteousness,
that is, in education concerning being accepted by God. All Scripture
is given to be helpful and convicting and restoring in our education of being accepted
by Almighty God. that the man of God may be perfect,
fitted, throughly furnished, equipped unto all good works."
So knowing that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God
to be helpful, to be instructive, to be restoring, what does it mean when the Spirit
of God says through the Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus,
how is this instructing. How is it merciful? Grieve not
the Holy Spirit of God. How can that be given for our
good? Well, we're warned here against
something that we absolutely don't want to do. Now that's,
you know that's so. We're warned against doing something
that by nature, by that new nature, you don't want to do this. I
don't want to make him to be grieved, and all the while knowing
that he's God himself. To understand that he's not as
we are, and properly speaking, Spirit of God Himself is not
subject to human passions as we are. I understand what it
is to grieve somebody. I understand. I can grieve you. I can grieve a friend. I can
do something that is disappointing to you. And when I do that which
is disappointing to you, When I do something that grieves you,
it causes you to react toward me in a way, in a response, because
of the way I've acted toward you. It causes you to want to
back away. It causes you to, there's a break. In fellowship. It's a. It's a reaction. If I do something. To grieve you. If I if I do something
to disappoint you, you're going to react to me in a certain way. And we're not going to have until
that fellowship is restored. There's not going to be that
that. Kindred. Sweet spirit of fellowship Knowing that Almighty God, His
ways are not our ways. In His mercy, He speaks to us
in a way that we can understand what He's telling us. Disappointing one that we love
and the effects that are produced because we've disappointed one. that we love is something that
you and I can enter into between us. But when it comes to Almighty
God, it's not that He was fooled. It's not that He didn't know.
It's not that He didn't realize what we would say. I told you last week or a week
before, remember when the Lord told Peter, He says, before the
cock crows twice. You're going to deny me three
times. He knew he was going to do it. He knew. Almighty God
knew before the foundation of the world. He knew what I would
do, what I would think, what I would say, even after conversion. He's not fooled. Something is not coming in to
new knowledge to him today. I did something today that disappointed
the Spirit of God and grieved Him. It just kind of slipped
up in on Him. Who do we think we're dealing with? This Word
right here is not given for any other reason but to teach us
God's mercy toward us. Grieve not the Spirit of God."
Understanding that I can see and can realize the reaction
between me or you. I slipped up on you. You didn't
realize I was going to do that. Oh, I can't believe Marvin did
that. I thought I knew him better than
that. Man, that grieves me. I just don't think I want to
call him right now. I may call him after a while
and talk to him about it, but right now I'm hurt. I didn't
know he was going to say that about me. I thought we had a
better relationship than that. And fellowship is broken. In the wording of the Holy Scriptures,
this teaches us not that God is fool, Not that something came
into his realization that he didn't know was going to happen.
But the reaction of the Spirit of God toward us is such that
we understand what happens. Whenever we do something, and
we knowingly, don't kid yourself. I mean, we think we don't know.
But we know. We know. when we're insensitive
toward Almighty God because He teaches us. We're taught by the
Spirit of God. This grieving right here is the
reaction of the Spirit of God toward us just as if we would
have done it toward you or I. If there's a broken fellowship,
it's because of our rebellion But here's the mercy of it that
he would tell us about it. Only a believer understands something
of broken fellowship toward God. Only a believer is grieved over
doing something that would cause there to be an apparent to us
alienation. If the Spirit of God ever alienates
Himself from you, hides Himself, and I'm telling you, you that
believe know something about this. There is nothing that is
lonelier in the feeling than the realization of broken fellowship
because of what I've done. We understand what it feels like
to grieve a friend. If I'd done something to you
that I know and I love, I just couldn't go to sleep tonight.
If I'd hurt your feelings, I'd said something out of unkindness
or disrespect or something. I'd have to call you. I said,
listen, I just can't sleep. I am so sorry. Please forgive
me. I don't know why I was so foolish.
I don't know what I was thinking. I'd want to get it right. I don't
want to wake up in the morning thinking about it. I want to
reconcile right now. Is that not the way that we are
toward our Lord? Is that not the way that we react
whenever we act in a disrespectful way whenever we realize that
we have offended more than a friend here, we have done something
disrespectful. We didn't fool him, but he graciously
teaches us the reaction that we're going to have when we realize
what we've done toward him. He loves us with an everlasting
love, but I'm telling you, That's chastisement. Grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed into the day of redemption.
How merciful Almighty God is that He would teach us and tell
us the broken fellowship that you're going to feel. Believers
will feel. God Almighty, He's not going
to forsake us. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. But He will teach us. And I'm
telling you, if you want to know what aching feels like, let the
Spirit of God reveal to you what we've done in rebellion against
Him. And I'm telling you, it hurts.
Listen to this Scripture in closing. Jeremiah 2.19, Thine own wickedness shall correct thee. Thine own wickedness shall correct
thee." Here the Lord is taking that
which we do, that which we are, and for our good and for His
glory, takes it and corrects us with it. I'm telling you,
a believer longs for fellowship with his Lord. He's not satisfied. It's just a little hit and miss
now and then, every once in a while. No. I want to walk after Him. I want to. And Lord, I realize
the frailty of my flesh. Continuing in Jeremiah 2.19,
"...and thy backsliding shall reprove thee." You think, you mean my rebellions
will be turned for my good? Yes, you're going to smite for
them. God's going to teach you what you've done. Speaking in
scriptural language, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. That's
given for our sake. Oh, the pain and sting of indwelling
corruption. You that know the Lord, you you
dread the apprehension of grieving God and there being a break fellowship. And I'm telling you, only a believer
understands what it's like. You sit down, you try to read
scripture. And try to pray. And I'm telling
you until. Almighty God brings you to cast
yourself upon him, say, Lord, help me. The Lord told Peter, he said,
you're going to deny me three times, and I'm telling you, one
of the writers says that when Peter heard that rooster crow
that second time, he said he went out and wept
bitterly. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Is God not merciful
to teach him that? And oh, you cannot wait for the
restoration. Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation. Lord, I want to be where You
are. And the more I'm telling you,
the more sensitive a man is toward fellowship with God, the more
he grows sick of himself. Job says, I loathe myself. Oh, the frailty of this flesh. David said, keep back thy servant
from presumptuous sins and let them not have dominion over me.
As Lot was vexed daily with a filthy conversation of Sodom, a believer
is vexed daily with the sin that dwells in himself. Grieve not
the Spirit of God. You know, it's unbecoming to
act disrespectfully toward the Holy Spirit, number one, because
of His greatness. It's ungrateful on our part to
act with insensitivity Because of his goodness. And thirdly,
it's unwise for us to disregard his leadership and his teaching.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God and a believer sees that
and say, Lord. Help me. Because I'm going to
be the great loser here. Not eternally. Because you said
that I'm sealed into the day of redemption and Lord, when
I think about what you've done for me. and how disrespectful
I've been to you. I'd like to just find a corner
somewhere and crawl in it and just cover myself up so that
God can have mercy on me, a sinner. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake and our good. Amen. All right. Let's take a few minutes break.