Grieve Not the Holy Spirit — Richard Sipley

Grieving the Holy Spirit and Walking With God

Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians, chapter 4. My text is Ephesians 4 .30, though there are other passages from Ephesians. Isn't Ephesians a wonderful book? You like it? Marvelous book. Ephesians 4 .30 is my text.

Ephesians 4 .30, God says, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let us bow in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time of prayer that has been in progress this morning.

And now Lord, we confess to you again that without you we can do nothing. O Lord, we pray that you will open our understanding by your Spirit. And also we pray that you will open up our hearts to obey.

We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. In the prophet Amos, chapter 3 and verse 3, God asks a question. He says, Can two walk together except they be agreed? Can two walk together except they be agreed? Now physically, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

We know that. But he poured forth the gift of the Holy Spirit. And by his Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ has come to dwell in our hearts. So he is here for the child of God dwelling within us by the Holy Spirit.

Now, if we're going to make something of this Christian walk, we have to be careful that we walk with God. Do you want to walk with God? Do you? Shake your heads yes or no. Or say, too stiff neck to shake my head.

You know, it does you good to respond to the preacher sometimes. It helps your pride. Do you want to walk with God? Yes, of course you do. Or you wouldn't be here on this Monday morning. So I'm assured of that.

I know that you want to walk with God. And so I have to ask the question again. Can two walk together? Except they be agreed. And if we're alive in the spirit, God says we should also walk in the spirit.

You cannot walk in the spirit. Unless you are in agreement with the Holy Spirit. So I have to ask you another question that I won't ask you to answer out loud. Are you in agreement with the spirit of God this morning?

Can you say that in every part of your life, as far as you know, you are living in agreement with the spirit of God? Do you and the Holy Spirit agree about everything? Or do you disagree about something?

Well, you say generally, you know, the Lord and I agree about most things. But you know, there's one or two things that I don't know. I just haven't been able to see. But you know that God is saying it.

And you're not in agreement with the Holy Spirit about that particular thing. Or maybe it's more than one thing. Do you know that you can be in agreement with the spirit of God about everything in your life except one thing?

And if you're in disagreement with the Holy Spirit, if you're in conscious. Emphasize that if you're in conscious disagreement with the Holy Spirit about that one thing. You can't really walk together.

Can two walk together except to be agreed? Because you're quarreling with God about that thing. There's a controversy between you and the spirit of God over that one issue. You know what it feels like to argue with the spirit of God?

It's uncomfortable, isn't it? Miserable. Terrible state to be in. Now, the book of Ephesians has a great deal to say about the Holy Spirit. And I want you to see this morning quickly with me how important it is that you and I be in complete agreement with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit's Seal and God's Ownership

So I want you to take the book of Ephesians quickly. Take your Bible and we're going to start with chapter one. And we're just going right through the book very quickly and give you a quick panoramic view of how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives.

Ephesians 1 and verses 13 and 14. In whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Talking about Christ. In whom you trusted. In whom also, that is in Christ.

After that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory. The seal of the Holy Spirit on your life is God's signature upon your life.

There's been a contract signed between you and God that says that you are not your own, that you belong to God. And God has purchased you with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And you now are his property and you belong to him as a Christian.

And the Holy Spirit is God's signature upon your life that says you are God's. He owns you. You are his property. And even though you're not totally in his presence at the present time and the redemption hasn't fully taken place in your experience.

Yet you are his and the Holy Spirit is God's signature upon your life that says you belong to God. Very, very important. Then go with me to chapter 2. Chapter 2 and verses 19 to 22. Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God.

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.

In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the spirit. So you are a habitation of God. The church is the habitation of God built together, a place for God to dwell by his Holy Spirit.

But you also have become a habitation of God. What know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God and you're not your own for your bought with a price.

So not only is the Holy Spirit God's signature upon you that he owns you, but you are God's temple. You are a place for God to dwell by the Holy Spirit. So he's come to dwell within you by the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit's Strengthening, Unity, Filling, and Prayer

Chapter three in verse 14. For this cause, I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and ground in love. And it goes on to talk about knowing the love of Christ and growing up into all the maturity of Christ, the fullness of God.

So the Holy Spirit is that one who strengthens us with might in the inner man so that we may know the fullness of God. You see how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives. Go with me to chapter four and verses three and four.

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling. So the Holy Spirit is the one who brings all of us together as Christians and unites us in the body of Christ and binds us to one another.

So the Holy Spirit is that one who unifies us and binds us together and makes us one in Christ. Aren't you getting excited about the Holy Spirit? He's a wonderful, wonderful person of the Godhead, and he does all these marvelous things for us.

Then look at chapter five and verse 18. But be not drunk with wine were in his excess, but be filled with the spirit. And then it goes on to tell what that means. So the Holy Spirit is the one who fills us and who empowers us and who gives us this wonderful life that is set forth here.

Then chapter six and verse 17, he says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So we find that the Holy Spirit is the sword of the spirit because he's the one who inspired the word of God, who gave the word of God.

And he's the one who makes it powerful in our lives and in our hands as we serve him. And then verse 18 of chapter six, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. So we must also learn how to pray in the spirit and the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us to pray, who enables us to pray, who prays through us when we aren't able to pray or don't know what to pray for.

I just I had to take you on that quick walk through the book of Ephesians this morning to give you some idea of the importance of the Holy Spirit. And this importance is set forth right in this same book where it says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.

Why? Because he's so important in our lives. He seals us in the body of Christ. He indwells us as the spirit of Christ. He strengthens us with might in the inner man so that we can grow up into Christ.

He unifies us in the body of Christ and binds us to the other people of God in that body. He fills us with all the fullness of God. He becomes the sword of God in our life, in our lips, from our voice and from our hand as we serve God.

And he enables us to pray as we ought to pray. That's just the beginning of what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. And when you see how important the Holy Spirit is, is it any wonder that God says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed into the day of redemption.

I wonder this morning if there are any of God's people sitting here in this lovely sanctuary who are even this morning hurting the spirit of God, offending him. Do you know that he is a person? He is God.

He can be hurt just like you can be hurt. He can be offended. He can be grieved. He can be resistant. He can be quenched. It's a very serious business how we treat the Holy Spirit. Can two walk together except to be agreed?

Are you in agreement with the spirit of God this morning? You say, Pastor, is it really all that serious? My, you're making it sound so serious. Oh, yes, it is. In fact, I wonder if it's possible for me to be able to make it sound as serious as it is.

Ananias, Sapphira, and Tempting the Holy Spirit

Will you turn with me to the book of Acts quickly? And chapter five, I want you to see how serious it is. And God has put this account in the book of Acts to let us know. Book of Acts, chapter five, beginning with verse one.

But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price. His wife also being private to it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet.

Now, it didn't really matter that much how much they gave to God, but they said they were giving it all. And that was a problem. But Peter said to Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?

I want you to see now it's what I'm talking about. The Holy Spirit is the one involved here. And he says, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land?

While it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou has not lied unto men, but unto God. You see, the way we deal with the Holy Spirit is the way we deal with God because he is God.

And if we want to walk with God, we have to walk with the spirit and to walk with the spirit. We have to be in agreement with the Holy Spirit. But Ananias and Sapphira were not in agreement with the Holy Spirit.

In fact, they were trying to lie to the Holy Spirit, a useless exercise. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. He fell dead right on the spot.

And the young men arose and wound him up and carried him out and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me, whether you sold the land for so much?

And she said, Yes, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord? We're still dealing with the Holy Spirit. Oh, brother and sister, don't tempt the Holy Spirit.

It is not a small matter. It's not a small matter to come to a weekend like this and to sit and listen to the servants of God preach the word of God. Don't tempt the spirit of the Lord. Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out.

Then fell she down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things.

See, I've read that story to you this morning because I believe God wants to get through to our hearts that this matter of walking with God is not a light matter. And this matter of being in agreement with the Holy Spirit is not a light matter.

I've been a pastor for many years and I have become totally convinced that there are many things that happen to the people of God and happen among the people of God that are directly related to how they relate to the Holy Spirit.

I'm sure every man who served as pastor for very long has become very familiar with the way people treat the spirit of God. My dear brother and sister in the Lord, we cannot walk with the Holy Spirit unless we are in agreement with him.

Grieving the Spirit Through Rejecting God's Ownership

Now, there are three ways set forth in the Bible whereby people offend and hurt the spirit of God. Three different words are used and I want us to notice those very quickly. The first one is this word grieve, and we've already read it from Ephesians 430, right in the middle of the book of Ephesians.

Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. And then he goes on to talk about being a purchased possession, someone who belongs to God. Now, what is this matter of grieving the Holy Spirit?

How do I grieve the Holy Spirit? Listen carefully. The grieving of the Holy Spirit in this passage of Scripture is connected with the seal of the Holy Spirit, which speaks of God's ownership. Now, listen.

Any time that I act contrary to the fact that I belong to God, I am grieving the Holy Spirit. Any time or anything in my life that contradicts the ownership of God upon my life grieves the Holy Spirit.

Any time I resist or reject the ownership of God, I am grieving the Holy Spirit. Do you know that when you become a Christian, you become totally God's? Everything. And, you know, our brother Wilf didn't know what I was going to speak about.

Isn't that beautiful? He's saying about giving your entire life to God. Recently, I have just finished preaching a series of sermons in my own church on tithing. Do you like to hear the pastor preach on tithing?

You say you're getting me uncomfortable already. Do you know what God says about the person who withholds their possessions from him? He calls them a thief. That's right. When is a thief not a thief? Not just when he stops stealing, but when he goes to work.

It works with his hands and earns so that he may have to give. That's what it says in Ephesians, the same wonderful book. You see, it's marvelous how God keeps saying to us that we belong to him. And during this weekend, I am sure that there are many of God's people who have been struggling over this matter of God's ownership of their life.

And we say to God, yes, Lord, you can have this and you can have this and you can have this and I'll give you this. But not this. This is mine. This part of my life is mine. And God says that the seal of the Holy Spirit, which is connected with the grieving, that that seal is God's signature that says we belong totally to God.

And anything in my life that contradicts the ownership, the total ownership of God upon my life, grieves the Holy Spirit. My wife belongs to God. My children belong to God. My possessions belong to God.

My body belongs to God. My time belongs to God. My voice belongs to him. The love of my heart belongs to him. My intellect is his. My mind is his. I have no right to think anything that he doesn't want me to think.

I have no right to watch anything with my eyes he doesn't want me to watch. I have no right to read anything that he doesn't want me to read. I haven't any right to spend any of my time in any way God doesn't want me to spend it.

Everything that I have, everything that I am, everything I ever will be or ever could be, it all belongs to him. And at any point in my life where I resist or reject or contradict his ownership upon my life, I began to grieve the Holy Spirit.

I began to hurt him. And I can't really walk with him that way. Grieving the Spirit of God. The second word is the word resist. Look with me, please, at Acts 7 .51. Let's turn over a couple of chapters from Acts 5.

Acts 7 .51. And we have a verse taken out of the sermon of Stephen. Stephen was a deacon in the church. He was not an apostle or a pastor, but he became a preacher. But he was a deacon, layman, as we would call it.

And God was mightily using him and giving him such power that anyone who tried to debate with him was defeated. And finally, some of them became so angered at the tremendous wisdom and power with which he spake that they brought him before the Sanhedrin and put him on trial.

And he preached that great sermon with great power. And talk about the fear of man, a man fearing spirit. I tell you, the Holy Spirit had delivered him from that. What a sermon. And finally, he came to this place in his sermon where he looked these religious leaders in the face.

And he said, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Resisting the Holy Spirit. I believe that first we begin to grieve the Holy Spirit and we move progressively in this.

We begin to grieve him by contradicting his ownership in our life. And then when we continue to do that and we begin to break that fellowship and we're not really walking right in step with the Holy Spirit, then we come to the point where we begin to resist the Holy Spirit.

You see, he keeps speaking to us and dealing with us and trying to get us to listen and trying to get us to yield. And to give everything into his hands. And we keep saying no and we keep grieving him and we start finally resisting him.

So we're not only grieving him and hurting him and offending him, but we start to resist him. And the resisting of the Holy Spirit, again in the context of this passage, is connected with the word of God.

Because he is proclaiming to them the word of God and he says you have always resisted the word of God. He said you resisted it in the prophets and you resisted it in the Lord Jesus Christ and you're going to resist it now when I'm preaching it to you.

And they did. In fact, they were so full of resistance against the Holy Ghost that they actually gritted their teeth together with anger and they rushed upon him and they dragged him out and stoned him and put him to death.

So when we start to resist the Holy Spirit, we better be careful because we don't know where it will take us. Always say it would never take me to the point of murder. Well, don't be sure about that. Because when Saul, King Saul, that our brother spoke about last night, when he began to resist the Holy Spirit, he finally came to the point where he tried to kill David, God's servant.

And would have if he could have. So when we begin to resist the Holy Spirit, there's no telling what kind of trouble we'll get into. And resisting the Holy Spirit means to disobey the revealed will of God in his word.

I'm very conscious sometimes when I'm preaching. That there are people listening to me who are rejecting the word of God that I'm preaching. You know, when you're a pastor and you've been preaching for many years, that's a painful experience.

It's a painful thing to be standing in a pulpit and have a congregation that you love dearly sitting before you. And you would give your life for them and you know so many of them. And they're sitting there and you're preaching the word of God and you know their lives.

And you know that they're sitting there listening to the word that you're preaching and you can see their face stiffen up. Ever see that, Bill? You can just see it happen right in front of you. And what happens later shows that they have sat there and refused to obey the word of God.

I've talked to people and they said, I'm not going to do that. I said, but it's right there. Isn't that what God says? And they said, yes, I know it, but I am not going to do it. All that's serious. You see, it's not resisting the preacher.

It's not resisting the church or some doctrine taught by your church. The question is, are we being disobedient to the word of God? And when we're disobedient to the word of God, we are resisting the Holy Spirit.

I've seen so many terrible things happen because of this. Well, the third word that's used in the scripture is the word quenching. And you'll find it in First Thessalonians 5 .19. Very short verse in the Bible.

First Thessalonians 5 .19. Four words. Quench not the spirit. Quench not the spirit. Now, as soon as you hear the word quench. What do you think of? You think of putting something out, don't you? When you quench something, you put it out.

What do you put out? The fire. The Holy Spirit, of course, is a fire. And God speaks about being baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And there is the fire of God. The Holy Spirit is typified as fire.

And I think this speaks of the power of God within us to do his work. And God says quench not the spirit. I studied and prayed over this for a long time. And I finally became convinced that what God is talking about is the fact that some finally come to the place in dealing with the Holy Spirit, where they not only grieve him by refusing his ownership in their life, and they not only resist him by disobeying the word of God and the will of God, but they actually progress to the point where they begin to fight against the work of God.

In other words, they seek to put out the fire of the spirit. And they actually start to oppose the work of God. What a tragedy. You know, as soon as I stand up here and say that this morning, it just immediately jumps into my mind.

Actually, I can see some people. People that I watched progress all the way from grieving to resisting to opposing the work of God. You say, oh, Brother Sipley, I would never, never oppose the work of God.

Well, you know, there are board members in churches who have been Christians for 30 and 40 years, and they have heard enough preaching to convert the world. But somewhere back in their Christian life, they started grieving the Holy Spirit and then they started resisting the word that was preached, and now they still occupy a prominent place in the church.

But they are a hindrance to the work of God. They oppose every effort of the pastor or the other people in the church to accomplish anything for God. And they believe that they are doing God's service and opposing the work of God.

What a tragedy. Hindering revival. Holding back the blessing. Keeping souls from being saved. Actually fighting against the work of God. Some progress so far, of course, that they finally openly fight against the things of God.

Saul's Descent From Obedience to Rebellion

There's a man in Canada who used to be a great evangelist. He was called the Billy Graham of Canada. You know his name, don't you? Recently, I was in a bookstore and the title of a book caught my eye.

And there was that man's name as the author. And today that man is fighting against God. Actually opposing the work of God. Writing novels that blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ. On talk shows and television interviews in which he mocks the things of God and scoffs at Jesus Christ.

How could he go all that way? From preaching in vast auditoriums and seeing hundreds converted to opposing the work of God. It was very interesting. That was his latest book. I did not read it. I wouldn't take the time to read it.

But I looked at what it said on the back cover. It was very interesting. It's the story of an evangelist who drew great crowds and preached to bring many into the kingdom of heaven. But behind the scenes allowed immorality and sin to get into his life until it destroyed him publicly.

And I said, I wonder if that dear man is telling his own story. Can two walk together except they be agreed? No, they cannot. In closing, let me just bring to your attention one man from the word of God.

King Saul. King Saul went through all the stages. He was a great man of God. He was called of God. He was chosen by God. The word of God says that the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and that the Lord gave him a new heart and changed him into a different man.

In fact, he was so filled with the spirit of God that it was said is Saul among the prophets. And he prophesied. There were many marvelous things about this man. He was gracious. He was kind. When he was lifted up to be king and they said, bring those men who wouldn't have Saul and we'll put them to death.

And Saul said, no, no one will be put to death today. Many beautiful things about this man. But this man went down those same steps of not being in agreement with the Holy Spirit. You remember, his first one was at Gilgal.

He came there and Samuel had said he was to wait for him. And Samuel was to come and offer the sacrifice and then they were to go into battle with God's direction. There was Saul and the army all gathered around him waiting for Samuel and the preacher was late.

And they waited. And they waited. And they waited. And then finally some of the army started to go home. And that man fearing spirit that our brother McLeod spoke about began to get a hold of Saul. And he saw that the army was slipping away from him.

He got all concerned about it. And he started to grieve the spirit of God by refusing to recognize God's ownership in his life. He was called to be king, not to be the priest. He was to be the king. He had his gifts and his place in the work of God.

He was not to be the priest. He was not to offer the sacrifices. He was not to touch those things. There was another man God had chosen to do that. And Saul resisted the ownership of God in his life. And he went and offered the sacrifice to try to hold the army together.

And as soon as he finished, Samuel came. And he said, what have you done? Well, he said, the people were scattered from me and I forced myself. And he grieved the Holy Spirit of God. And Samuel said, you know, God would have established your kingdom forever.

But now he's going to take it away from you and give it to someone better than you. But he still allowed Saul to be king. Now, he's just started on the way down in this matter of walking with the spirit of God.

He has grieved the Holy Spirit. But things are not final yet. And he's not totally away and out of God's blessing. The next one is with Amalek. And Samuel came to him and said, had not the Lord said, you're to go and utterly destroy Amalek.

And I mean utterly destroy them. You're not to leave anything alive, man, woman, child, animal, oxen, sheep. You're to destroy them completely. That is the word of God. That is the will of God. Yes, Lord.

And Saul went out to battle. And God blessed him mightily and gave him a great victory. And God's power was on his life. But when he came back, he brought King Agag, picture of the flesh, and some of the sheep and oxen.

And Samuel came to meet him. And he said, why have you disobeyed the word of the Lord? Oh, he said, I haven't disobeyed the Lord. He said, I have obeyed the word of the Lord and brought back some sheep and oxen.

He said, you know, the Lord said, go and utterly destroy the Amalekites. Oh, he said, but we brought them back to offer unto the Lord your God as a sacrifice. And he says, does the Lord have as great delight in sacrifices and in burnt offerings as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

See, that's what God wants from us. He wants obedience to him. He resisted the Holy Spirit. He resisted the word of God. He refused to obey the word of God. And down he went. Finally, the day came when Saul, this once great king, was out with an army chasing after David, trying to hunt him down and trying to put him to death.

Because God had anointed David to be king in his stead. And this man, who one time was filled with the spirit of God and a great power for God and led the people of God to victory. This man was now opposing the work of God, seeking to quench the spirit.

Personal Surrender and Obedience to the Spirit

A disastrous picture of grieving the spirit of God. Can two walk together except they be agreed? No, they cannot. You know, I was sitting here last night and listening to my brother, Bill, and I was saying, amen.

Preach it. I was sitting back there behind the glass. You couldn't hear me say. I was wishing I was out here where I could say it loud enough for Bill to hear. Preach it, Bill. That's what the church needs.

Get rid of this man fearing spirit and be full of the holy boldness of the Lord. And I was sitting there thinking about the time a number of years back when God touched my heart and broke my foolish pride and delivered me from a man fearing spirit and set me free.

And I got well into the sermon and the Lord said, yes, but you know, this sermon is for you tonight, too. Lord, I said, I don't have any of that anymore. The Lord set me free from that. And the Lord said, yes, you do.

So I started to listen. And the Lord, you know, it's very interesting. You don't notice these things. But the Lord very, he's so gentle, very gently put his finger on two areas in my life where I had allowed a man fearing spirit.

To cause a problem. You say, what were they? I'm not going to tell you. None of your business. But it's very real. And, you know, after you've been walking with God for years, it doesn't take you half hour to get a thing straightened out.

You know, you just sit there and you say, oh, yes, that's right. You're absolutely right, Lord. You should always say that to the Lord because he is always right. You try to argue with him and you find out quickly.

And I said, yes, you're right. And yielded it to the Lord. You can get it taken care of so quickly. And that was it. It was all taken care of. And so then we got to the end of the service and the Lord said, now you go to the prayer room.

I said, it's all taken care of. You know, we we accomplished it in two minutes. The Lord said, I know that's true. I know all about it. It's all taken care of. It's settled. And that's fine. Grateful for that.

But you go to the prayer room. I said, well, what for? Well, the Lord says, not really any of your business. You just go to the prayer room. And so. You won't believe this, but I stood there and had an argument with the Lord about that.

Now, you wouldn't do that, but I did. I stood there and argued with him until he began to get kind of grieved with me. And then I tried to think it out. That never works. Reason it out. Justify it. None of it was working very well.

And then finally the invitation was over and somebody said, we need help in the prayer room. So I went to the prayer room and helped others. And all the time the Holy Spirit was saying. That was very foolish.