GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

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SHEEP IN THE WORD MINISTRIES Rev. Robert C. Lewis
Glendale Baptist Church Houston,
Texas quicknotes.org 2007
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GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

• Ephesians 430

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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption
(Ephesians 430).
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SIN PRODUCES GRIEF

• sin produces grief in our relationships with
  others
• feelings are hurt and sadness, emotional pain,
  and anger result

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sin also produces grief in our relationship
with GodHe is saddened by the sinful things we
say and do
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the first half of this verse speaks about
grieving the Holy Spirit And do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God the second half about the
sealing ministry of the Spirit by whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 430).
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GRIEF IS AN EMOTION
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the word "grieve" implies the Holy Spirit is a
divine person who has feelings and can be hurt
emotionally
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the Holy Spirit has a mind (Rom 827), emotions
(love, in Rom 1530 grief, in Eph 430), and a
will (1 Cor 1211)
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the Holy Spirit teaches (John
1426),testifies (John 1526 Rom
816),guides (Rom 814),
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convicts (John 1678),restrains (Gen
63),commands (Acts 829),
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does miracles (Acts 839),calls men for special
service (Acts 132),sends them forth into
Christian service (Acts 134),and intercedes
(Rom 826).
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The Holy Spirit can be obeyed (Acts
101921a),lied to (Acts 53),and blasphemed
(Matt 1231).
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these things can only be said of a
personthey're all meaningless if the Holy
Spirit is just a force or influence
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"DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD!" IS A
COMMAND
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the imperative mood of lupeo grieve is a
commandthe plural number is addressed to all
Christians
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the iterative present tense envisions a
repeated grievingwith the negative, "Don't
make a practice of grieving Me!"
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GRIEF IS SADNESS, MENTAL SUFFERING, AND ANGER
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the term "grieve the Holy Spirit" occurs only
once in the New Testament
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definitionto grieve the Spirit is to make
Him sad, sorrowful, unhappy, to cause Him mental
and emotional pain,to hurt Him deep down inside,
to irritate and make Him mad
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lupeo is common word for mental and physical
painit may connote sadness, unhappiness, hurt
feelings, emotional pain, irritation, and anger
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it may connote sadness and griefthe
disciples were very sad when Jesus told them he
would soon die (Matt 172223)
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it may connote being hurt and a little
irritatedPeter was grieved when Jesus asked
him a third time "Do you love Me?" (John 2117)
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it may connote angerthe king and slaves were
sad and angry when a forgiven slave refused to
forgive another slave a small debt (Matt 1831,
34)
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Herod the Tetrarch was angry (not sad, Matt 145)
because he had been set up by his wife to kill
John Baptist (Matt 149)
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it may connote something irritating, annoying,
and painfulof ill-fitting breastplates that
chafe the wearermaking him mad (Xenophon, Mem.
310.15)
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it's possible to be unhappy, sad, grieved,
hurt, irritated, and angry all at the same time
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the opposite of lupeo is euphraino, "to cheer,
gladden"the opposite of grieving the Spirit is
making Him happy
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obedience, resisting sin (beforehand),
confessing sin (afterward), being filled, and
walking in the Spirit makes Him happy
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SIN GRIEVES THE HOLY SPIRIT
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disobedience grieves Himthe Spirit would
have been grieved had Paul spoken the word of God
in Asia (Acts 166)
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lying to HimHe was grieved when Ananias and
Sapphira lied to Him (Acts 53)
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ignoring Bible teachingHe is grieved when
people ignore His teaching ministry (John 1426
cf. 1 Tim 24)
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rejecting divine guidanceHe is grieved when
Christians refuse to let Him lead and guide them
(Rom 814)
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He is grieved when unbelievers insult,
blaspheme, or resist His convicting ministry
(Matt 1231 Heb 1029 John 16811)
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both believers and unbelievers may grieve the
Holy Spirit (cf. hithpael of bAxDo "was grieved"
in Gen 66punishment follows grief)
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since disobedience, lying, and blasphemy are
clearly sins, we may conclude that personal sins
grieve the Holy Spirit
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LIST OF SINS IN THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT OF
EPHESIANS 430
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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption
(Ephesians 430).
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the command not to grieve the Spirit occurs
near the end of a list of sins that may be
committed against one another
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nine virtues are listed that make the Holy
Spirit happy and eleven sins are listed that
grieve Him (Eph 42532)
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these eleven sins are, for the most part,
balanced with alternatives or oppositesthings we
should do for each other
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the following eleven sins are prohibited and
grieve Him(1) lying to each other (425 cf.
Prov 617 1222),
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(2) letting your anger cause you to sin (426),
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(3) giving the Devil an opportunity to cause you
to sin (427 cf. 1 Cor 75),
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(4) stealing from one another (428),
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(5) speaking rotten words to each other (429),
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(6) expressing bitternessmakes you wince
emotionally (pikria 431 cf. Acts 823 Heb
1215),
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(7) wrath (431),
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(8) anger (431), and
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(9) malice toward one another (431),
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(10) shouting at each other (431 in a quarrel
Acts 239), and
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(11) slandering each other (431)
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these sins are mental (bitterness, wrath,
anger),verbal (lying, rotten words, shouting,
slander),and overt (stealing, malice)
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the Spirit is grievedboth sad and angryif we
commit any of these eleven sins
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BALANCING LIST OF VIRTUES IN THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT
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the following nine Christian virtues are
commanded and do not grieve Him(1) speaking
the truth to each other (425),
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(2) being angry without sinning (426),
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(3) not letting the sun go down on your anger
(426),
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(4) not giving the devil an opportunity to cause
you to sin (427),
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(5) not stealing any longer (428),
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(6) working for a living and sharing your surplus
with those who have needs (428),
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(7) speaking edifying words that give grace to
those who hear them (429),
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(8) being kind to one another and tender-hearted
(432), and
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(9) forgiving one another as God has forgiven you
(432)
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these nine virtues make Him happy, not sad or
angrythey're all things He desires and has
commanded us to do
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GRIEF IS THE SPIRIT'S EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO HUMAN
SIN
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the greater the love the greater the painso
infinite love is deeply hurt
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He feels grief immediately when you sin because
He is omniscientas soon as you sin, every time
you sin, He's grieved
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why would you want to grieve the Holy Spirit?
He has done so much for you!
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GRIEVING AND BEING FILLED
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grieving the Spirit results in carnality, loss
of fellowship, and divine discipline
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grieving the Spirit blocks your prayers and
quenches His ministry in your life
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you can't grieve the Spirit and be filled with
the Spirit
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if you grieve Him, confess your sins(1 John
19)your fellowship with God is restored and
the Spirit will be happy once again!
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SEALING MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT
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What does it mean to be sealed with the Holy
Spirit?
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being sealed with the Holy Spirit is mentioned
three times in the New Testamentin 2
Corinthians 122 and Ephesians 11314 and 430
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Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and
anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave
us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge (2
Corinthians 12122).
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In Him, you also, after listening to the message
of truth, the gospel of your salvation having
also believed, you were sealed in Him with the
Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge
of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption
of Gods own possession, to the praise of His
glory (Ephesians 11314).
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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption
(Ephesians 430).
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God the Father seals believers at the moment of
salvation (2 Corinthians 122)and this sealing
preserves us until the day of redemption
(Ephesians 430b)until we receive our
resurrection bodies (Philippians 32021)
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the word seal (sfragiß) refers to physical
seals such as signet rings that made
impressionsand to the impressions themselves
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on some occasions the impression was equivalent
to a signature sometimes seals were among the
decorative attachments to clothing
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physical seals were widely used in ancient
times, as documented by Herodotus statement that
every man possessed a staff and a seal
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SEAL OF BARUCH
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SEAL OF JEZEBEL
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SEAL OF KING AHAZ
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SHIP ON ISRAELITE SEAL
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ASSYRIAN STAMP AND CYLINDER SEALS
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AGATE CYLINDER SEAL FROM ASSYRIA
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things were sealed for three reasons(1)
inaccessibility(2) authorization and
certification(3) ownership and possession
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INACCESSIBILITYto keep people out
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various objects were sealed in order to prevent
others from tampering with their contents without
being detected these include vessels, money
bags (Tobit 95), a pagan temple (Bel and the
Dragon 14, 16), and letters (to be opened only by
the intended recipient who would break the seal)
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examples

• (1) when Darius the Medo-Persian king was
  manipulated into throwing Daniel into the lions
  den, he sealed it with his signet ring to prevent
  anyone from having access to Daniel (Daniel 617)

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(2) the chief priests and Pharisees asked Pontius
Pilate to seal Jesus tomb to prevent His corpse
from being stolen so that His followers could say
He was resurrected (Matthew 276265)the seal
was affixed to the stone to close the tomb
officially by governmental edict
101
at the end of the Great Tribulation an angel
hunts down, captures, and binds Satan with a
great chainhe escorts him to the Abyss, opens
the door with a key, throws Satan in, then locks
and seals the door for a thousand years
(Revelation 2012)
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AUTHORIZATION AND CERTIFICATION
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the kings seal extended his royal authority to
the one who possessed it it thereby certified
that the person was the kings official agent
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examples

• (1) Pharaoh gave Joseph his royal seal,
  authorizing him to enact his policies (Gen.
  414244).

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(2) Jezebel placed King Ahabs seal on her
letters concerning Naboth (1 Kings 218).
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(3) The Persian kings signet ring was used by
Haman to seal his decrees against the Jews, thus
putting royal authority behind the decrees
(Esther 310 cf. 88, 10).
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important documents were agreed to and
certified by means of a seal examples include
a marriage contract (Tob. 714), a deed of sale
(Jer. 32912, 44), and a covenant with God (Neh.
938101)
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OWNERSHIP AND PROTECTION
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examples

• (1) God had one of His servants place a mark on
  the foreheads of those who protested the
  abominations done in their midst (Ezekiel 934)
• its purpose was to protect them from Gods
  wrath in His judgment since they were His
  property (96)

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(2) in the Tribulation the 144,000 will be
identified by a seal on their foreheads
(Revelation 734) the seal on the foreheads
of the 144,000 will be the name of the Lamb and
the name of the Father (Revelation 141)
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in the fifth trumpet judgment the locusts will
be allowed to harm only those people who will
not have the seal of God on their foreheads
(Rev. 94, NIV)
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the purpose of this seal will be to label Gods
people as belonging to Himas His possession
what He owns, He also protects from the disasters
predicted for the Tribulation His protection
will guarantee their survival this will give
them comfort, assurance, and security, even in
difficult circumstances
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pagans expressed their commitment to and
possession by their god by bearing on their
bodies the distinctive mark of a seal
representing the god (Herodotus 2.113). this
supposedly brought them under the protection of
that god. worshipers of Dionysius had their
gods sign, an ivy leaf, burned on thema
procedure described by the verb sfragizein (3
Maccabees 329 ).
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(3) being sealed with the Holy Spirit certifies
Gods ownership and protection of His people
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believers are sealed, the Holy Spirit is the
seal, and the Father does the sealing
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we are sealed at the moment of salvation when
the Holy Spirit begins His indwelling. as a
result of this action the salvation of believers
is secured
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believers are Gods inviolable property and He
will protect them as a result, we can enjoy
complete security in our relationship with Him
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the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit is a
strong argument for eternal security
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sin grieves Him but you won't lose your
salvationthe Holy Spirit is your seal, your
security, your guarantee of eternal life
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His indwelling is permanentYou are"sealed
for the day of redemption" (Eph. 430b)and no
one can break the seal
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SHEEP IN THE WORD MINISTRIES Rev. Robert C. Lewis
Glendale Baptist Church Houston,
Texas quicknotes.org 2007