GRIEVING THE SPIRIT

Eph 4:30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let's look at some of the things that grieve God.

WICKEDNESS

Gen 6:5-8, Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. {6} And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. {7} And the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." {8} But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

FORGETTING GOD AND DISBELIEF

Psa 78:11, And they forgot His deeds, And His miracles that He had shown them.

Psa 78:22, Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.

Psa 78:32, In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonderful works.

REBELLION

Psa 78:40-42, How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! {41} And again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. {42} They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,

Isa 63:9-10, In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them; And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. {10} But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

GRUMBLING

1 Cor 10:1-13, For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; {2} and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; {3} and all ate the same spiritual food; {4} and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. {5} Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. {6} Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved. {7} And do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY." {8} Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. {9} Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. {10} Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. {11} Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. {12} Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. {13} No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

There was a grumbler who couldn't find anything about which to give thanks or praise. Although financially he was a very successful farmer, because of a very sour attitude, no one enjoyed his company. Nothing seemed to please him. His pastor tried to help brighten the outlook, all to no avail. At the time of the potato harvest, the disgruntled farmer enjoyed a bumper crop. Wanting to strike a more cheerful note, the minister suggested, "Brother I understand you've had a tremendous season with potatoes this year. That certainly must be cause for rejoicing!" The chronic complainer never even smiled, but sourly responded, "Yes, it's true. The harvest was good enough. But my problem is, I don't have any bad potatoes to feed my pigs."

That reminds me. Have you ever heard anyone complaining because their freezer was too full and they had no place to put anything? Or their closet? A thankful heart is not only a virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.

New Testament Grieving

Grieving the Spirit also includes our response to one another in the Body of Christ. Paul explains this as he illustrates how we can keep from grieving the Spirit.

Eph 4:29-32, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. {30} And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. {31} Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. {32} And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

One of the main goals of the Holy Spirit is to achieve the unity of the Spirit in the Church. Things that work against that Grieve Him. He works to help the members of the Church maintain right relationships with one another and use their gifts to serve others.

Eph 4:12-13, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; {13} until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.

GRIEVED WITH SUFFERING REQUIRED

Mark 14:32-36, And they came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." {33} And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. {34} And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." {35} And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. {36} And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt."

HARDNESS OF HEART

Mark 3:4-5, And He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. {5} And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Over 1,000,000 acres that once held oxygen producing trees are paved over every year. Oxygen is the source of life for man. In paving our tree-producing soil, we are cutting one source of life-sustaining oxygen.

How like the person that hardens his feelings against God's leadership in one area of his life at a time. He is ultimately hardened against God's will and is lifeless. The Scripture says:

Rom 2:5, "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,"

SELF-EFFORT ALONE

Gal 3:3, Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

A person down south years ago, wanted to join a church. So the deacons were examining him. They asked, "How did you get saved?" His answer was, "God did His part, and I did my part." They thought there was something wrong with his doctrine, so they questioned further, "What was God's part, and what was your part?" His explanation was a good one. He said, "God's part was the saving, and my part was the sinning. I done run from Him as fast as my sinful heart and rebellious legs could take me. He done took out after me till He run me down."

My friend, that is the way I got saved also.

RESISTANCE TO THE SPIRIT

1 Th 5:19-20, Do not quench the Spirit; {20} do not despise prophetic utterances.

LEGALISM

Mat 15:6,... And thus you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

2 Cor 3:6, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Believers who are motivated by legalism are always anxious to know what is expected of them. They want to do only what is necessary to make themselves look respectable. They crave specific rules so they can know precisely how to behave. They plod along hoping that someday their efforts will pay off.

According to the New Testament such people are legalists; they are using the law to establish their righteousness. Christ's answer to legalism is that external obedience to the moral law must be coupled with a corresponding inner attitude of love and honesty. Christ's teaching was not intended to abrogate obedience to the moral law, but to add to its intended spirit.

Consequences of Grieving the Spirit

Isa 63:10, But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

The Holy Spirit will not leave us, but if we grieve Him, He man temporarily withdraw His fellowship and power. The Holy Spirit never forces Himself upon us. At times, we may wish He was more insistent, that He'd whack us on the hand and shout, "Don't do that .. it makes Me REALLY mad." Instead, He quietly, gently, convicts us of sin and leaves us to choose:

Will I please Him? Or grieve Him?

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