Jerome M. Julien is pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church of Pella, Iowa. Beginning next month, THE OUTLOOK plans to present a series of eight articles by Rev. Julien on the very important matter of church worship, under the overall title, The Sacrifice of Praise.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were scaled unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
This is a very practical sentence. There are many other practical words such as these in Ephesians. Chapters 5 and 6 are full of them. Of course, as is true elsewhere in Scripture, the practical words come because of the doctrinal teaching.
The first chapters of Ephesians tell us of God’s wonder of grace. We read about how God saves and why He saves. We read about His love for the Church. Then comes a list of duties for believers. As we read we learn how we are to live as Christians. Among the list of practical directions given by Divine inspiration is this command – “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.”
What does Paul mean as he writes these words?
Well, Paul has a message for Christians. There are no two kinds of Christians—one with the Holy Spirit—the other without the Holy Spirit. Every Christian—every person born again by God—possesses the Holy Spirit. And for Christians Paul has a word about their lives and the Holy Spirit who dwells within.
Paul is writing here that there is a way that Christians live which brings about a reaction on God’s part. He is grieved when we live in sin.
God is grieved. Though this sounds strange to us, perhaps, this is not an unusual way of speaking of God’s reaction to the sin of His people—or for that matter, to sin itself. For instance, as Isaiah the prophet spoke of God’s lovingkindness to Israel he had to add, “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit: therefore, he was turned to be their enemy, and Himself fought against them.” God was grieved by sin.
On that Sabbath day when Jeslls was in the synagoguc, Jesus was grieved when it was obvious that the hearts of the Pharisees were filled with unbelief.
And there are other passages where that same word is used to explain God‘s reaction to sin.
How, then, is God grieved? By sin, by rebellion, by unbelief, by careless living God is grieved, that is, to put it literally, God is insulted or wounded.
“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God” Scripture says. And this command comes because you and I do that very thing in ever so many ways. God, who has loved us with an everlasting love—so much so that He would send His only–begotten Son—God who applies that great salvation by the Holy Spirit, is grieved, or insulted by our way of life.
How do we grieve Him? How do we bring suffering—as it were—to the Holy Spirit? The whole passage that we read from Ephesians 4 gives us the answer. We grieve the Holy Spirit by not living as new men in Christ. We grieve the Holy Spirit by giving place to the devil in our lives.
And Pnul lists a number of ways in which we do this very thing.
We read in verse 25, “Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor . . . .” In a word, we grieve the Holy Spirit who lives in us by lying—by being party to falsehood.
Of course, lying is a common way of life. It’s condoned by the world. Businesses are built on lies; fortunes are amassed through lies; jobs are procured by means of lies; tests are passed because of cheating or lying!
And believers are not exempt from this way of grieving God. Honesty does not always characterize us. We give way to so-called “white-lies.” And our way does not praise the Lord!
You realize that lying is more than something done with the lips. We can act a lie, as well as speak one. We can join company with Gehazi and Ananias, both of whom thought that it was more profitable to engage in falsehood. But such insincerity and sham grieves the Holy Spirit who dwells within the Christian.
Moving on in this chapter, we read, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” All too often this anger is a black mark on the Church of Jesus Christ. The anger that grieves the Spirit is that which is caused by pride—by jealousy—by selfishness. It‘s an anger that is expressed in a desire for revenge.
I know a dear Christian lady who one morning gave place to the devil and became terribly angry with her hushand. He left to work in his little garden as she continued to stew. The sad thing is that shortly after he left for the garden she was called to come quickly because he had suffered a heart attack. She never was able to speak with him again. And she has never forgiven herself for her anger—in spite of the fact that many have counseled her on the nature of forgiveness. How many of us are harboring anger in our hearts today? May it not be that we have a similar experience to this dear sister!
Oh, be careful of anger! Remember the results of Moses‘ anger? Don‘t give the Devil a foothold. Don’t let that anger smoulder within your breast until a great fire breaks out. “Let not the sun go clown on your wrath.” Confess. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.
Reading on, we find “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, hilt such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.” Unwholesome speech grieves the Spirit. And this is not something that characterizes the world alone. While the world is full of vulgarisms—so is the Church. Behind the closed doors of Christian homes is corrupt speech. In places of business where most of the workers are professing Christians corrupt speech is heard. Oh, yes, there are still people like Peter who deny the Lord. With the same mouth is made confession and denial. This grieves the Spirit.
This doesn‘t end the list of examples of how we grieve the Holy Spirit. There are many more, stealing, laziness, bitterness, wrath, malice, harboring an unforgiving spirit, and many more examples could be given.
And do you know what happens when we grieve the Spirit? He shows it! And we know it! By our sins we grieve Him into silence—if we can put it that way.
The consciousness of our salvation becomes very dim. The joy that we know ought to be ours, we don’t experience! It seems as if spiritually we are in a desert. We lack security and the assurance of faith. Is that your experience? Could it be that you are grieving the Spirit?
And sooner or later the Church is going to experience the result of your grieving the Spirit, too. We are one body in Christ, and what one part of the Body experiences we all experience. ·When one rejoices, we all rejoice. When one grieves, we all experience the sorrow. When one grieves the Holy Spirit, we all experience the results. Tragic to say, the spiritual life of our congregations will be dampened by our grieving the Spirit. Remember Achan‘s sin and its terrible effect on Israel as the people were engaged in the conquest of the promised land?
Thankfully, that is not the end of it all, however. Though He is silent in us for a time, He still lives in tis. One day He will say with heart-piercing effectiveness, “Thou art the man” and we will grieve over our sin. We will confess and know the blessedness of forgiveness. Perhaps that’s happening right now. Denying Peter was restored; and praise God, He restores His own even today.
Do yon know why the Holy Spirit is grieved at our conduct? He loves us. Grief and sorrow have to do with an object of love. He loves us.
Why is it that parents grieve over their straying children? Why is it that they pray earnestly and weep because of the rebellion and carelessness of life of those children given them by the Lord? They love them with a love that is almost impossible to explain.
Why is the Holy Spirit grieved at our conduct? Because He loves us with a love that defies explanation.
Think of it! These words in our text remind us of “the love of the Spirit” who “yearns for us even unto jealous envy.”
Of course, we desire that joy and assurance that are rightfully ours for life. Perhaps we ought to ask ourselves whether we are grieving the Spirit. Perhaps we ought to pray:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.