“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. He is the One sent by Jesus to live in us, to accompany us at all times and to be with us in all things. He guides us, leads us, teaches us and corrects us. (John 14:26; 16:8-11,13) He is always speaking, leading and teaching us through our spirits, that part of us that is born of God, holy, pure and eternal. As spirit beings we are to hear from the Holy Spirit, Who is in union with the Father and Jesus, and influences our soul (mind, will and emotions). It’s with our soul that we make decisions to act and to speak.
The moment we believed; we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. God put His stamp on us and branded us for eternal life. It’s a guarantee of His promise. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:13) We know that we know that because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are guaranteed forgiveness and a life of eternity with the Lord. We have the assurance of His presence with us. We have supernatural wisdom, understanding and knowledge living in us. And we have continual fellowship with the Godhead, Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is One with the Father and Jesus. He is continually speaking to us, leading and guiding us to what pleases the Father and Jesus.
When our minds are filled with TV shows and movies and the things of this world, it influences our will and emotions. Our speech, our deeds and decisions will be carnal. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:6-9) If indeed we do have the Holy Spirit, we belong to Jesus. We will not want to act in the flesh. And we will not act in the flesh. It is contrary to us and contrary to the Holy Spirit living in us.
There are some who have said they belong to Jesus and have done atrocious things. This didn’t happen overnight. They either never belonged to the Lord or have yielded one step at a time to the flesh until they finally lost their way completely. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) They failed to obey the Holy Spirit. It began with a selfish desire to please self. The first time someone decides to disobey the Holy Spirit, is a very hard thing. It’s acting against their very nature. But then after a while that becomes comfortable and again, they disobey until they don’t hear His leading and guiding anymore. It gets easier with time until they can’t hear the His voice and His leading anymore.
And the Holy Spirit is grieved and in sorrow. He is grieved because He lives in us. He is present in the sin, disobedience and rebellion. When we realize that because the Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead and always in union with Jesus and the Father, the Godhead is present through the Holy Spirit. When a person sins, the Holy Spirit is regretting to have made His home in them. Eventually, He will not be there. “Quench not the Spirit.” (1Thessalonians 5:19) The word “quench” means to extinguish or to annihilate. Their continual disobedience will cancel and void His life in theirs. “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:26-27) This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. And when it happens, especially if it’s a renowned minister, everyone knows. We find it hard to understand. But it didn’t happen suddenly.
God is longsuffering and patient with us. He knows our weaknesses and defects. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2Peter 3:9) He will never abandon us. As long as we have not extinguished the Holy Spirit completely, we can repent and be returned to fellowship with the Lord. This not a license to do whatever we want because we know there will be forgiveness. That kind of thinking shows that the person is already alienated from Christ and not led of the Holy Spirit.
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