Participants: Pr John Lomacang (Host), Brian Hamilton, Jill Morikone, Mollie Steenson, Shelley Quinn
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP000011A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:09 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:13 And to be diligent 00:15 to present yourself approved to God 00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:24 Our study today is 00:25 The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 00:33 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:37 If you've tuned in before you know that 00:39 you're in for a tremendous blessing 00:41 because of all of those that the Lord has chosen 00:44 to be a part of this program today, 00:46 so sit down get your Bibles, 00:47 take the next hour or so with us 00:49 as we walk through the Word of God 00:51 in the continual study of 00:53 The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 00:56 It's not enough to be a Christian, 00:58 we have to be spiritual, Amen? 01:01 And so take the time with us to go through this lesson 01:03 and today, we are covering lesson No. 11, 01:06 March 11 to 17, and the focus of this lesson 01:10 is Grieving and Resisting the Spirit, 01:13 a very somber but a very informative topic. 01:16 If you don't have a copy of this lesson, 01:18 go to absg, 01:21 that's absg.adventist.org. 01:26 Now that's not our website, 01:27 that's the website for Adventist Church 01:29 where you can download a copy, a PDF copy of the lesson. 01:32 If you have an iPad or any form of receiving that 01:36 so that you can follow along with us, 01:37 but if you a hard copy, 01:39 that's just the best way to go with that. 01:41 You have your own, as I call it, 01:42 your own snail mail. 01:44 Now the Scripture of our focus today, 01:48 by the way, comes from Ephesians 4:30, 01:51 but just before we receive that what God says to us, 01:55 just want to introduce you to our guests today. 01:57 On my left is Jill Morikone. 01:59 Jill, it's always good to have you here. 02:00 It's a blessing to be here, Pastor. 02:02 I'm so glad to know that you're a woman 02:03 after God's own heart. 02:05 And Brian Hamilton. 02:06 Brian, CFO, as well as a man who loves ministry 02:09 does even after the working hours. 02:11 Good to have you here, Brian. Mollie. 02:13 Mollie Steenson, General Manager 02:15 and Vice President of 3ABN. 02:17 And Shelley Quinn involved in so many things, 02:19 a book author, a traveler, speaker, program director, 02:22 new programming acquisitions. 02:24 We thank you so much for being here also. 02:26 Thank you. 02:27 But before we dive into the Word of God, 02:29 we're going to just lead into Scripture first 02:31 and then we're going to have prayer asking God 02:34 to open our hearts and minds so that He and His Spirit 02:38 can be our lead and our guide. 02:40 Brian, would you have a prayer for us today? 02:41 Sure. 02:43 Father in heaven, 02:47 Jesus our Savior, Holy Spirit, 02:51 we just count it a privilege to be able to open Your Word 02:57 that you've preserved through the ages for us 03:00 who are living in these last days, 03:02 and we're looking at the topic of Grieving the Holy Spirit. 03:07 Oh, we don't want to do that. 03:09 We really don't. 03:11 So bless us in this study not to know how to grieve 03:15 but how to bring joy to the Holy Spirit. 03:19 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 03:22 Amen. Amen. 03:24 This is what I might refer to panel 03:26 as one of those checkup topics. 03:30 Yes. 03:31 A lot of times, we've covered topics on prayer 03:34 and how to receive the ABCs, Ask, Believe and Claim, 03:38 we've done all that. 03:39 But this is one of those topics that say, not so fast. 03:45 We're studying about the Holy Spirit 03:46 and the Holy Spirit is saying to us 03:48 through God's Word that there are some pitfalls 03:52 that I want you to be fully aware of 03:55 and as you become aware of those pitfalls, 03:58 you can avoid falling into those pitfalls. 04:02 I'll use a story. 04:03 I remember this story many years ago told, 04:07 a very wealthy man that was looking 04:09 to hire someone to be his driver. 04:12 And he had three men standing on the side of the road 04:13 and he said, "Well, I travel so much 04:15 through the mountains of Northern California, 04:18 I need someone that can navigate those roads," 04:21 and he had a fairly long limousine. 04:24 So the first driver got in and he drove with confidence, 04:28 and drove with speed and he got pretty close to the edge 04:32 but he never went over. 04:33 And the next driver said, "You know what, 04:36 I'm going to impress him even more. 04:38 That guy got close to the edge but I can get even closer 04:40 to the edge." 04:41 And he sped up even more and got even closer and... 04:45 He took a breath, but he did get back safely. 04:48 Then third driver took 04:49 a completely different approach. 04:51 He says, "You know what, 04:52 I looked at the face of the owner of that vehicle, 04:54 of the owner of that limousine, and he wasn't really happy 04:56 about those two drivers. 04:58 I'm going to stay as far away from the edge 05:00 as I possibly can," and he got the job. 05:03 Now that may be an illustration, 05:04 I don't know if it actually happened 05:06 but it makes the point. 05:07 In our walk with the Lord, the Holy Spirit says to us, 05:10 stay as far away from the edge as you can. 05:14 If you want a saving relationship with Jesus 05:17 and we're living in the day and age 05:18 and we all know this where the world is saying 05:20 get as close to the edge as you can, 05:23 as the devil said to Adam and Eve, 05:24 and you'll still be safe. 05:25 I mean, God knows, it's going to be just fine. 05:28 Live the way you'd like to live, 05:29 do what you want to do. 05:31 But the Spirit of God is saying something different. 05:33 So let's begin with the Scripture 05:35 in Ephesians 4:30. 05:36 And it's been our custom to read that together. 05:39 Let's go ahead. 05:41 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God 05:45 by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." 05:50 One thing we have to really put into perspective 05:53 is sin is alluring. 05:57 It's alluring. 05:58 And everyone has a different sin. 06:00 The devil studies each of us, and he says 06:04 as he studies us in his laboratory... 06:06 There was a book many years ago called "The Lucifer Files." 06:10 You may remember that, it was a book that 06:12 it got a lot of attention because I mean, 06:14 everybody wanted to know what was in The Lucifer Files. 06:17 And the devil studies us, 06:21 and what we have to keep in mind is 06:23 we are no match for the powers of darkness. 06:27 So that's why I'm always concerned 06:29 when I hear people say, 06:30 "We're going to stamp on the devil's head 06:32 in Jesus' name." 06:33 We got to find the devil's head. 06:36 And we are not able to put ourselves 06:39 finite piles of dust that only live 06:43 for a vapor of time to go against a wily foe 06:47 that has thousands of years of experience, 06:51 million, billions of samples of kinds of ways 06:55 to deceive individuals in his files 06:58 and he tries to line them up with us. 07:01 So what I want to do is I want to walk very carefully 07:04 through two very important points 07:06 as we go to Sunday's lesson "Resisting the Holy Spirit." 07:11 Now instead of going to Acts 7:51, 07:14 I want to go to Revelation 12:10 07:16 because when we talk about the Holy Spirit resisting, 07:19 there are two ways of looking at sin. 07:23 Two ways of looking at sin. 07:26 And I want to go in the avenue of Revelation 12:10. 07:30 You have that, Jill? Mm-hm. 07:32 Read that for us. 07:33 "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 07:36 now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God 07:39 and the power of His Christ have come 07:41 for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God 07:45 day and night has been cast down." 07:48 Now Satan in this case is accusing us of our sin. 07:55 He's pointing out our sin for accusation purposes 07:58 and for the purpose of condemnation. 08:01 That is the... I call that the guilt drive. 08:05 He closes individuals in, he makes us terribly aware, 08:11 leads us in the path of temptation, 08:13 we yield, we fall, and as has been the case, 08:17 he exposes us before God and points out our unworthiness 08:21 to even receive any grace from God. 08:24 As he did to Joshua, you know, but the Lord in His grace 08:28 plucked Joshua from the fire of Satan's accusation. 08:31 But the Spirit of God, when the Bible says, 08:34 and let's go to John 16:8, 08:36 and I'll have Molly read that one for us John 16:8. 08:40 But the Spirit of God works differently. 08:42 We're talking about the Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 08:45 The Spirit of God works quite differently 08:47 when it comes to pointing out our sin. 08:51 Satan does the accusation and the condemnation, 08:54 our unworthiness but the Spirit does something different. 08:57 Molly, John 16:8. John 16:8. 09:01 "And when He has come 09:03 He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, 09:06 and of judgment." 09:08 Now the conviction is amazing. The conviction is amazing. 09:11 He's convicting us and He's doing it 09:14 in the sense of pointing out our awareness. 09:17 You know, in order to be born again, 09:19 you got to know that you need to be born again. 09:21 That's true. 09:23 In order to know that you need Jesus, 09:24 you need to know why you need Jesus. 09:26 Yes. And we're told in Romans 3:23. 09:30 "All have sinned and have fallen short 09:34 of the glory of God." 09:36 But sin is so insidious, I want to point out five ways 09:39 that sin is insidious. 09:41 Five very important ways that sin is insidious. 09:44 And because sin, if Eve knew that 09:47 she was going to die for sure, she would not have, I believe, 09:51 partaken of the fruit but he said to her, 09:52 you will not surely die. 09:54 In other words, in the Hebrew there says, 09:56 "I'm sure you will not die." 09:59 And that's why people fall into sin 10:00 because they don't think it's going to bring 10:01 the consequences 10:03 that can even claim their lives. 10:04 And James talks about that when we when we yield, 10:07 it brings forth the birth, the growth, 10:09 and then finally the death. 10:11 Hebrews 2:3, let's look at the first thing, 10:13 and this is from the examples of the children of Israel. 10:16 Now I know you studied the lesson, 10:18 so I'm going to take for take it to heart 10:20 that you have read the lesson, 10:22 but I want to give you a different viewpoint. 10:24 Hebrews 2:3, the first step of sin is neglect. 10:29 Good. Neglect. 10:30 Neglect to pray, neglect to study, 10:34 neglect to do what you know is right. 10:37 Sometimes a sin of omission, sometimes a sin of commission. 10:40 Hebrews 2:3, let me see. 10:42 Shelley, do you have that? 10:43 Yes. Okay. 10:45 Hebrews 2:3 says, "How shall we escape 10:48 if we neglect so great a salvation, 10:51 which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord 10:53 and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him." 10:57 So sin starts with neglect. Neglect of salvation. 11:01 There's some people that as I saw, you know, 11:03 I've said this for a long time, my good friend Doug Batchelor, 11:07 Pastor Batchelor mentioned this 11:09 when we were at an evangelism together, 11:10 he said he saw a sign on a church that says, 11:13 "Repent now and avoid the rush." 11:16 That's great. 11:18 Because in the days of Noah, when the door closed, 11:21 it was over, lights out. 11:23 When the fires fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, 11:25 whoever didn't come out, lights out. 11:27 And that's going to be the same case. 11:28 As it was in Noah's days, 11:30 it's going to be the same way again. 11:31 So we cannot afford to neglect something 11:33 so great as salvation. 11:34 Sin always begins with neglect. 11:36 Even in the Christian life when we say we are saved, 11:39 sometimes neglect tends to find its way under our door. 11:44 Neglecting study, neglecting prayer, 11:46 neglecting our time with God, it starts there. 11:49 But where does it lead us next? Hebrews 3:19. 11:52 I'll give you that one, Brian, Hebrews 3:19. 11:55 It goes from neglect and it starts to sow 11:57 a different seed. 11:58 Look at this one, Hebrews 3:19. 12:00 "So we see that they could not enter in 12:04 because of unbelief." 12:05 Wow. 12:07 It goes from neglect to unbelief. 12:09 When you're not studying God's Word, 12:10 your belief is beginning to be eroded, 12:13 and then you get to the place 12:14 where you don't believe anymore. 12:16 That's the second step in the insidious nature of sin. 12:20 And when the Spirit brings to us, you got to study, 12:23 don't neglect, your belief is in danger. 12:26 When you ignore that wooing of the Spirit, 12:28 that's exactly what happens. 12:29 The third step, very quickly, Hebrews 5:12 to 14. 12:34 If you could get that, Jill. 12:35 This is what happens, first neglect, unbelief, 12:38 then listen to what happens. 12:39 Read that one for us. 12:41 12-14? Yes. 12:42 "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, 12:45 you need someone to teach you again 12:46 the first principles of the oracles of God, 12:49 and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 12:53 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled 12:56 in the Word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 12:59 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, 13:03 that is those who by reason of use have their senses 13:06 exercised to discern both good and evil." 13:09 The third step of ignoring the Spirit of God 13:12 is you stop maturing. 13:15 The danger of not maturing... 13:17 I did a 5-part series, 13:18 it's available through 3ABN called 13:20 The Dangers of Hebrews. 13:21 You can get that, this is not an advertisement, 13:24 the dangers in the book of Hebrews. 13:25 The five most important dangers that we must be aware of, 13:29 the danger of not maturing. 13:31 Some people have been Christians for a long time 13:33 but all of a sudden you say, 13:34 "Brian, I can't believe that, I heard that about you." 13:38 "Well, you know, I haven't studied my Bible 13:39 I am so busy, my schedule is locking my time out with God 13:43 that's why I like the fact that Shelley goes to bed 13:45 as soon as the sun goes down 13:47 and gets up before it comes up." 13:48 Only on work nights. Only on work nights. 13:51 But spending that time with God will keep us maturing. 13:55 So we don't have to go back after 25 years back to the milk 13:59 when we should be handling solid food. 14:01 The next one, Hebrews 10:38-39. 14:05 Let me go back to Jill. Did you just read that, Jill? 14:07 Okay, let's go to Molly if you get that. 14:10 This is the other one. Hebrews 10:38-39. 14:13 "Now the just shall live by faith 14:15 but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him, 14:19 but we are not of those who draw back to perdition 14:22 but of those who believe to the saving of the soul." 14:25 When you neglect, unbelief is sown, 14:28 when unbelief is sown, you stop maturing 14:30 and then you begin to draw back. 14:32 The danger of drawing back. 14:34 You begin going back, 14:36 we call that backsliding, and there are some people 14:38 that are Christians for a long time 14:39 but they can't see themselves backsliding 14:42 and they won't take counsel that they're backsliding. 14:45 And they begin to backslide and then the final step, 14:48 this is the amazing part about this. 14:51 So the work of the... 14:53 when you resist the Spirit of God, 14:56 you cannot respond and then when you don't respond, 15:00 you neglect, you don't believe, you stop maturing, 15:03 you start drawing back, and the last one, 15:05 the most insidious one, Hebrews 12:25-26. 15:11 Okay, did I get you twice, Brian, or just once? 15:14 Good, Brian, read that for us. Hebrews 12:25-26. 15:18 This is an amazing, this is what we call 15:20 the death knell of neglecting the Holy Spirit. 15:23 "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks 15:29 for if they did not escape who refused Him 15:32 who spoke on earth much more shall we not escape 15:37 if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven 15:41 whose voice then shook the earth 15:43 but now He has promised saying yet once more I shake 15:48 not only the earth but also heaven." 15:51 The final step in neglecting the Spirit of God 15:55 is you begin to refuse God. 15:58 You refuse Him. 16:00 We always say, 16:02 "How could that person walk away from God?" 16:05 I will discover, when you notice the termites, 16:09 they've been there a long time. 16:11 When your house begins to fall apart, 16:13 the termites have been working in secret. 16:15 Don't allow your life, your time with God in secret 16:19 with you and the Spirit of God to lead you to neglect, 16:23 unbelief, a lack of maturity, 16:26 beginning drawing back, and then end up refusing God. 16:29 Don't resist the work that the Spirit of God 16:32 tries to do in your life. 16:34 Jill, what about Monday? That's heavy. 16:37 You know, as we come into, Brian and I 16:40 both have grieving the Holy Spirit, 16:42 part I and part II. 16:44 But as we move into grieving the Holy Spirit, 16:46 thank you for sharing that, Pastor, 16:47 I just think in each one of our lives no matter 16:50 where you are right now, you know, maybe 16:52 someone's watching and you're just saying, 16:54 "I'm not sure, maybe I'm at the step of neglect. 16:56 I've been neglecting time with God or Bible Study 16:59 or I'm at the step of unbelief or stopped maturing 17:01 but," any step that we're at, we can go to God. 17:05 Praise the Lord. 17:06 Ask Him to forgive and to cleanse 17:08 and we can begin anew with the Lord Jesus Christ. 17:11 So this lesson as we discussed 17:14 is not meant to be a discouragement, 17:17 it's meant to be an encouragement 17:19 to keep our eyes focused on Jesus daily, hourly. 17:23 Spend time in His word. 17:24 Make those choices for Him and that makes 17:26 all the difference in the world between resisting 17:29 and going to that final step where we're refusing 17:32 or being connected with Jesus. 17:34 So grieving the Holy Spirit, we're going to stay 17:37 in Ephesians 4 really for this whole part. 17:40 So let's go to Ephesians 4 17:42 which is actually our memory text 17:44 and we're going to read that verse again. 17:47 Ephesians 4:30. 17:52 You have that, Shelley, you want to read that? 17:53 I do. 17:54 Ephesians 4:30, "And do not grieve 17:58 the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed 18:02 for the day of redemption. 18:04 In the Greek, the word for grieve, 18:06 do not grieve the Spirit of God is Lupeo, 18:09 I'm not sure how to pronounce that, 18:11 L-U-P-E-O. 18:12 It means to experience deep emotional pain, 18:17 severe sorrow, or grief. 18:21 Sometimes, and we discussed this 18:23 in an earlier lesson, people say 18:24 where the Holy Spirit is a force 18:26 or the Holy Spirit is God's Spirit. 18:28 But you cannot grieve an object or a force. 18:33 You can only grieve a person. 18:35 That's right. You can only hurt a person. 18:36 If I forget to water the plants, 18:38 which I do all the time, that's why Greg waters them. 18:40 But if I were to forget to water them, what happens? 18:43 They don't hurt. 18:45 They might die, but they don't feel grief. 18:48 They're a thing. 18:49 But this is one of those evidences 18:51 which shows us that the Holy Spirit is a person. 18:55 Grief, deep emotional pain. 18:58 In the New Living Translation, instead of grief, 19:00 it says the word sorrow. 19:02 It says, "Do not bring sorrow to the Holy Spirit." 19:07 And as I read that I think, how many times in my own life 19:11 do I make choices maybe that brings sorrow 19:15 to the Holy Spirit? 19:16 God, by the power of Your Spirit, 19:18 I want to make choices that bring joy, that bring joy. 19:23 The lesson mentioned the verse that you read, pastor, 19:25 in Sunday's lesson, John 16:8. 19:29 One of the tasks of the Holy Spirit 19:32 is to convict of sin. 19:34 So any determination on our part to hold on to sin 19:39 or to downplay the seriousness of sin, 19:42 that grieves the Holy Spirit. 19:45 I like that. That sentence was in the lesson. 19:47 Any determination on our part to downplay 19:50 the seriousness of sin or to hold on 19:52 to some sort of cherished sin, that grieves the Holy Spirit. 19:56 And what we want to look at Ephesians 4 19:59 is really all about contrast. 20:01 Maybe you could say lifestyle choices 20:03 between walking in God, walking in grace, 20:06 making choices for God, showing godly traits 20:10 or showing traits that are not so godly. 20:13 So we want to look at that. 20:14 We're going to look at some godly traits 20:16 and then we're going to look at the no godly traits. 20:18 Let's go to Ephesians 4. 20:20 Someone wants to read verse 2. 20:22 Okay. Pastor John, you have that? 20:24 I had and I just turned away. 20:26 Okay, so, Brian, you want to read that? 20:28 "With all lowliness and gentleness, 20:31 with longsuffering... 20:35 bearing with one another in love." 20:38 Brian, do you see any godly traits 20:39 listed in that verse? 20:41 Yeah. 20:42 Gentleness, lowliness, 20:45 longsuffering, patience, 20:48 bearing with one another in love. 20:51 All those are descriptions of God's character. 20:55 Molly, you want to do verse 3? 20:56 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit 21:00 in the bond of peace. 21:02 Is there any godly traits mentioned there? 21:04 Unity and peace. Amen. 21:07 Okay, let's jump down, Shelley, you want to read verse 13? 21:10 Verse 13, "Till we all come to the unity of faith 21:14 and of the knowledge of the Son of God 21:16 to a perfect man to the measure of the stature 21:20 of the fullness of Christ." 21:23 Are there any godly traits mentioned in that? 21:25 Oh, we look at knowledge, we look at faith, 21:28 we look at perfection, 21:29 it would be the number one thing 21:30 that jumps out at me. 21:32 Me too, I have written in the margin of my Bible, 21:33 being like Jesus. 21:35 Amen. Yeah. 21:36 Pastor John, you want to read 23 and 24. 21:40 Okay. 21:42 "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. 21:47 And that you put on the new man 21:50 which was created according to God 21:53 in true righteousness and holiness." 21:56 What godly traits do you see? Wow. 21:58 Renewed, also the new man, 22:03 the other one is righteousness, holiness. 22:07 Created according to God, a new creation 22:09 if I could just summarize that. 22:11 It's like Corinthians 5, right? That's right. 22:13 If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. 22:16 "Old things have passed away, behold all things 22:18 have become new." 22:20 Brian, you want to read verse 25? 22:21 Okay. 22:24 "Therefore putting away lying, let each one of you 22:29 speak truth with his neighbor 22:32 for we are members of one another." 22:35 Any godly traits in there? 22:37 I know there are some ungodly which we'll get to, 22:39 but any godly traits? 22:40 Yes, speaking the truth. 22:41 Yes, the truth. Great. 22:44 Verse 29 talks about let no corrupt communication 22:48 proceed from your mouth, and we'll get to that. 22:50 But then it says, "Speak what is good for edification." 22:53 In the Greek that means 22:55 the act of building spiritual advancement, 22:58 instruction that builds a person up. 23:00 And verse 32, "Be kind," there's a godly trait. 23:04 "Kindness one to another, tenderhearted," 23:07 that's a godly trait. 23:08 "Forgiveness." 23:10 Forgiving one another 23:11 even as God in Christ forgave you. 23:13 You know, Greg and I have four nephews. 23:16 And Caleb is five and a half, 23:19 maybe five and three quarters right now. 23:21 He called me on the phone just the other week 23:24 and he said, "Auntie Jill, I want to talk to you." 23:27 And he always likes to talk. 23:29 And I said, "Okay, Caleb, tell me what's going on?" 23:33 And he said, "I gave my life to Jesus." 23:36 Oh, praise God. 23:38 Wow! And I just started to cry. 23:40 And I said, "Caleb, that's the best decision 23:44 you could ever make." 23:45 He's only five and a half. 23:46 Then he said, "I can't read yet, 23:50 so I can't read the Bible 23:52 but every time I want to be mean, 23:55 I ask Jesus to help me." 23:58 Wow. 23:59 That is not resisting the Holy Spirit, 24:03 not grieving the Holy Spirit. 24:06 That is choosing to walk in what is pleasing to God 24:09 and asking Jesus to help you. 24:11 Just quickly, we're almost out of time. 24:14 I just want to look at the unconverted lifestyle. 24:16 This is... if we harbor these traits, 24:21 we begin to grieve the Holy Spirit. 24:26 Ephesians 4:18. 24:29 Pastor, you want to read that, 18 and 19? 24:30 Okay. 24:32 "Having their understanding darkened, 24:36 being alienated from the life of God 24:39 because the ignorance that is in them 24:42 because of the blindness of their heart 24:45 who being past feeling..." 24:47 Ooh, that's... 24:49 "have given themselves over to lewdness 24:52 to work all uncleanness with greediness." 24:56 There's quite a few ungodly traits listed there. 24:58 But... Yeah, that is... 25:02 You know, pastor, you said past feeling. 25:04 That is just... 25:06 I've had inmates tell me 25:10 that they had no feeling at all for their victims. 25:15 No feeling, no compassion, no tender, no feeling 25:21 until they had come to Christ, 25:25 and then they had wept buckets of tears 25:28 for the harm they had done. 25:30 The hurt they had caused. 25:32 And so without Christ, there's no feeling. 25:35 That's a beautiful illustration because that's what 25:37 God wants to do if we don't resist. 25:40 If we choose to come to Him, 25:42 if we don't walk in these attributes that grieve, 25:45 if we ask Him to come in and just transform us, 25:48 He can change these attributes into His image. 25:52 Just a couple more, verse 22. 25:56 "Put off concerning your former conduct the old man," 25:59 we already talked about the new man, but the old man, 26:02 "which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, 26:05 corruption, deceit, lust." 26:08 Verse 25 talks about lying. 26:11 Verse 28 talks about stealing. 26:14 Verse 29, "Let no corrupt communication." 26:18 The word for corrupt is rotten, useless, 26:21 corrupt almost like a vegetable or fruit 26:23 that's decayed that begins to rot. 26:26 Watch what we say, what we speak. 26:28 And then 31, "Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, 26:33 and evil speaking." 26:34 So my appeal to you would be simply ask God 26:39 by the power of His Holy Spirit to cleanse your heart, 26:43 to make you into the image of Jesus, 26:46 and every day make those choices for Him 26:50 so that we don't grieve Him. 26:52 Thank you, Jill. 26:54 And now Part two, Grieving the Holy Spirit. 27:00 The lesson guide had a statement 27:04 right up at the very top in that first little paragraph, 27:08 the second sentence, it says, God is affected 27:14 by what we decide and how we live. 27:17 God is affected by it. 27:20 And I just twisted that into a question. 27:24 I asked myself, "Is God affected by our actions?" 27:30 I like that. 27:31 What we say and what we do, is God affected? 27:35 And so then I begin to say, 27:36 "Well, let me find illustrations 27:39 that would help me catch how God does have affect," 27:44 sometimes we view God as being... 27:47 He's so in control of all aspects of His being 27:52 that He's almost totally emotionless, you know? 27:57 But no. 27:59 God has emotions, God has feeling. 28:03 One of the evidences we know that 28:05 is we're created in His image, and guess what we have? 28:08 We have emotions, we have feelings, 28:11 we are affected by what other people say 28:13 or do to us. 28:15 So God must be too. 28:18 Genesis 6:5, 6. 28:22 I think we all know this one but, Molly, 28:26 if you grab that one, Genesis 6:5, 6. 28:31 Okay. 28:33 This is talking about the generation of people 28:37 who lived before the flood. 28:40 Genesis 6:5, 6, "Then the Lord saw 28:44 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth 28:47 and that every intent of the thoughts of His heart 28:50 was only evil continually. 28:53 And the Lord was sorry 28:55 that He had made man on the earth 28:57 and He was grieved in His heart." 29:01 So I asked the question, 29:03 "Is God affected by what we do?" 29:07 And here was a whole generation of people 29:10 living at a certain point in earth's history 29:13 that God was grieved in His heart. 29:19 That's emotional pain, okay? 29:23 Turn to Psalms 78:25-41. 29:29 I'm going to read this. 29:31 I'm going to read this in the New Living Translation. 29:34 Now I don't use that particular Bible 29:37 as my study Bible, 29:40 but when the people wrote in Hebrew 29:45 or they wrote in Greek or in a little bit of, 29:48 I think, Aramaic in Daniel, 29:53 the language flowed. 29:56 But when you translate it into English, 29:58 it doesn't always flow so easy, okay? 30:01 When you're trying to word for word equivalence 30:04 and all that, it's just not smooth. 30:08 The point of the New Living Translation 30:11 is to give the power of the English language smoothly, 30:15 so let me read this. 30:16 This is about an incident as recorded in Numbers 11:31-35 30:23 if you just take note of that. 30:24 That's the incident, but now the Psalms is talking about it. 30:28 It says, "And they ate the food of angels... 30:31 Verse? Verse 25. 30:33 Psalm 78:25. 30:39 "They ate the food of angels. 30:42 God gave them all that they could hold. 30:46 He released the east wind in the heavens 30:48 and guided the south wind by His mighty power. 30:51 He rained down meat as thick as dust, 30:56 birds as plentiful as the sands of the seashore. 30:59 He caused the birds to fall within their camp 31:02 all around their tents, and the people ate their fill. 31:06 He gave them what they craved." 31:09 Now what they were doing is they were lusting for this. 31:14 This was one of the uncontrolled passions 31:17 of their heart, was their appetites, okay? 31:20 And this appetite for meat was only the tip 31:24 of the iceberg. 31:26 That was only one of the symptoms 31:27 of a whole characteristic of their lives. 31:30 So they craved it. 31:32 "But before they satisfied their cravings 31:35 while the meat was yet in their mouths, 31:38 the anger of the Lord rose against them..." 31:42 And the way this translation puts it is, 31:45 "He killed their strongest men. 31:47 He struck down the finest of Israel's young men." 31:50 Now if you read it in Numbers, it will say that, 31:54 "He struck them with a very great plague." 31:58 In other words, they reaped a result 32:01 of their overindulgence. 32:03 That's probably what happened. 32:05 "But in spite of this the people kept sinning. 32:08 Despite His wonders they refused to trust Him. 32:12 And so He ended their lives in failure 32:15 and their years in terror. 32:17 And when God began slaying them 32:19 they finally sought Him, 32:21 they repented and took God seriously." 32:25 It says, "But it says then they remembered that 32:27 God was their rock and God Most High 32:30 was their redeemer. 32:32 But all that they gave Him was lip service." 32:37 So even while they turned back, it was lip service. 32:40 "They lied to Him with their tongues. 32:42 Their hearts were not loyal to Him. 32:44 They did not keep His covenant, yet He was merciful 32:48 and forgave their sins." 32:49 This is again talking about the emotions 32:52 and the feelings of God. 32:53 In spite of all that they were putting God through, 32:57 He's still, you know, He was forgiving to them. 33:02 "Yet He was merciful forgave their sins 33:03 and did not destroy them all. 33:05 Many times, He held back His anger 33:08 and did not unleash His fury," okay? 33:12 "For He remembered that they were mere mortals, 33:15 gone like a breath of the wind and never returns. 33:18 Oh, how often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, 33:22 grieved His heart in that dry wasteland. 33:26 Again and again they tested God's patience," 33:29 and this says provoked, The New King James says, 33:32 "limited the Holy One of Israel." 33:37 Wow. That's heavy. 33:38 Okay? 33:40 We can do the very same thing, you know. 33:43 Think about that as we... 33:46 And it has to do with our life, how we live our life. 33:50 These people were living their life 33:52 in a self-consumed way. 33:54 They were thinking about their own desires 34:00 and it grieved God. 34:02 That's what makes the human families 34:06 so dangerous. 34:08 I think that originally, now this is "Brian speaking" 34:13 but I think I have some evidence for it. 34:15 I think originally, God gave us, 34:20 programmed into us, 34:22 the ability for self-governance, 34:25 okay, our minds were in perfect balance, 34:28 you know, the feelings, the emotions, the desires, 34:31 the lusts, the cravings over against the reason 34:35 and the judgment the conscience, 34:38 everything in perfect balance. 34:40 But I believe at the fall, we became unbalanced. 34:45 Oh, yeah. All right? 34:47 And the whole goal of the plan of salvation 34:51 is to rewrite the law of God, 34:55 it says in our hearts and in our minds. 34:58 When it says in our hearts, it means all our feelings 35:01 and emotions, desires, passions, 35:03 lusts to write God's law 35:06 and even our feelings and emotions 35:10 as well as in our mind. 35:13 Amen. So that is the goal of it. 35:17 And when we resist His efforts to do that, 35:23 I believe it grieves God. 35:26 It just hurts Him, pains Him. 35:30 We can make Him jealous too, you know? 35:33 A couple other examples, you know, 35:35 Jesus was on earth... 35:37 If you want to turn to Mark 3, 35:39 and I just have another minute left. 35:41 I want to flip this to the positive too. 35:44 But Mark 3:1-5 is a story about 35:49 what I call is a Setup at Church. 35:53 A Setup at Church. 35:55 And if someone wants to read, pastor, you have that one? 35:57 Sure. 35:58 "And He entered the synagogue again, 36:00 and a man was there who had a withered hand. 36:03 So they watched Him closely whether He would heal him 36:06 on the Sabbath so that they might accuse Him. 36:09 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, 36:11 'Step forward.' 36:13 And He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath 36:17 to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' 36:20 But they kept silent. 36:22 And when they had looked around at them with anger 36:26 being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, 36:30 He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand,' 36:33 and he stretched it out and his hand was restored 36:36 as whole as the other." 36:38 But do you notice how the hardness of our hearts 36:41 grieved the Lord. 36:43 There's other text, you think of the lost coin 36:45 and the lost sheep. 36:47 And they call a party. 36:49 He said rejoice with me 36:51 for the lost was found, you know. 36:53 So you see the joy that comes from God 36:57 when we respond to Him. 36:58 I like this one, this is what I end with. 37:00 This is Zephaniah 3:16,17. 37:03 "In that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem, 'Do not fear, 37:07 Zion, let not your hands be weak. 37:09 The Lord our God is in your midst. 37:12 The mighty One will save. 37:13 He will rejoice over you with gladness, 37:17 He will quiet you with His love, 37:19 He will rejoice over you with singing.'" 37:23 I love this. 37:25 Yes, one of my favorite verses. 37:26 Go ahead, Molly. 37:28 Okay, I've got Wednesday. 37:30 And Wednesday is Quenching the Holy Spirit. 37:33 So Pastor Lomacang had Resisting, 37:36 Jill and Brian looked at Grieving, 37:38 and now Quenching the Holy Spirit. 37:41 And, you know, those three are very closely related. 37:46 I wanted to just maybe differentiate a bit 37:49 between quenching and grieving. 37:51 Quenching is what we do to the Spirit. 37:55 Grieving is how He responds to what we did. 38:00 Grieving speaks of the personal anguish 38:04 of the Holy Spirit when a believer, 38:07 when we quench the holy fire 38:10 that He has kindled in our hearts. 38:13 We don't quench the Holy Spirit 38:15 without grieving the Holy Spirit. 38:18 And we don't grieve the Holy Spirit 38:20 unless we quench the Holy Spirit. 38:23 They are simply two sides to the same problem. 38:27 One describes what we do, 38:29 the other describes what He does. 38:33 We quench, He grieves. 38:35 He grieves because we quench. 38:38 So if you don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit, 38:43 then don't quench the Holy Spirit, 38:45 don't resist the Holy Spirit. 38:47 It's 1 Thessalonians 5:19 that says, 38:51 "Do not quench the Spirit." 38:54 Now that's not a suggestion. 38:56 Does that sound like a suggestion at all? 38:58 That sounds very much like a direct command. 39:02 That's right. 39:04 And we've mentioned this before. 39:07 The number one purpose of the Holy Spirit 39:10 is to do what? 39:11 Convict the world of sin. 39:13 So it was the Holy Spirit that convicted... 39:17 every one that has come out of darkness into light, 39:19 everyone who's made Jesus Christ 39:22 The Lord of their life, been born again, 39:24 the Holy Spirit drew you, convicted you, 39:29 and you responded in a positive way. 39:32 Okay, now once the Holy Spirit draws you out of darkness, 39:36 you become a Christian. 39:37 Does He just quit working with you? 39:40 Now what becomes His prime directive? 39:42 His prime directive now is your sanctification. 39:47 The purpose of the Holy Spirit now in your life 39:50 is to continue to draw you out of darkness into light, 39:53 into that sanctification. 39:56 Now the word quench, 39:57 if you think of the word quench, 40:00 what do you quench with this glass of water? 40:02 You can quench fire, you can quench your thirst. 40:06 But quenching means to put something out, 40:09 does it not? 40:10 Now it suggests fire. 40:13 I want you to look at fire. 40:15 Ephesians 6:16, "Above all, taking the shield of faith 40:20 with which you may be able to do," what, 40:23 "to all the fiery darts of the wicked one"? 40:25 To quench. 40:27 So that would suggest that there is something 40:30 about the Holy Spirit that is like fire 40:34 that can be extinguished. 40:38 John the Baptist tells us in Matthew 3:11, 40:42 "I indeed baptize you with," what, 40:45 "with water unto repentance, but he who comes after me 40:50 is mightier than I whose sandals 40:52 I am not worthy to carry, 40:54 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." 41:00 Now let's look at the day of Pentecost. 41:03 Where were the 120? They were in the upper room. 41:07 And they were in unity, they were in harmony, 41:10 they were in one accord, they were praying, 41:13 seeking God because Jesus had told them 41:16 don't leave home without it. 41:19 Don't leave Jerusalem 41:20 without the promise from on high. 41:22 Remember that old American Express commercial, 41:25 "Don't leave home without it?" 41:26 Jesus gave them that same directive. 41:28 Don't leave Jerusalem without the promise 41:31 that I promised you. 41:33 "When the day of Pentecost did fully come, 41:35 they were all with one accord in one place, 41:37 and suddenly there came a sound from heaven 41:40 of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house 41:43 where they were sitting, then there appeared to them 41:46 divided tongues as of," what? 41:49 "As of fire and it sat upon each one of them 41:52 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit 41:55 and began to speak with other tongues 41:57 as the Spirit gave them utterance." 41:59 So fire and the Holy Spirit are all put together, 42:04 they are associated with the Holy Spirit. 42:08 How many of you have received the Holy Spirit? 42:11 Do you know that means that there is fire? 42:13 Remember Jeremiah, the weeping prophet? 42:17 Well, remember he got a little huffy with God, 42:21 and he told God, I'm not going to speak 42:23 on Your behalf anymore. 42:24 Remember Jeremiah, and then he went on to say 42:28 but there was fire shut up in my bones. 42:32 He could not because he didn't want 42:36 to intellectually but because of the power 42:38 of the Holy Spirit that worked within him, 42:40 he couldn't not. 42:42 There is something all Christians 42:45 that have made Jesus Christ the Lord of their life 42:48 are indwelt by the Spirit of God. 42:50 You all know that to be the truth. 42:53 And the Holy Spirit is there like fire not to be quenched 42:58 but to be fanned into a full flame. 43:03 Now I wanted to look at how we can quench 43:09 the Holy Spirit. 43:11 If you have a fire going 43:14 and you don't feed that fire 43:17 or you don't fan that fire, 43:20 what is going to happen to that fire? 43:22 It goes out. The fire's gonna go out. 43:24 Now remember 43:26 when you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, 43:28 you invited the Holy Spirit to set up residence with you. 43:33 The Scripture says, "What know ye not you are the temple 43:35 of the Holy Spirit." 43:37 The Holy Spirit resides, abide, has set up residence 43:40 on the inside of you. 43:42 Now if you don't feed it, if you don't fan it, 43:45 that fire within you will go out. 43:47 Who wants the fire of God to go out within them? 43:50 You know it was Paul that told Timothy. 43:52 Remember what Paul told Timothy? 43:54 Stir up that gift that is within you. 43:58 So how do we feed the Holy Spirit 44:03 that is within us? 44:04 Pastor Lomacang, I'll throw that to you. 44:06 How do you feed that fire that is within you? 44:11 You respond to the Holy Spirit. 44:13 That's what I would be, 44:15 as far as one of the first steps, 44:17 you respond and you continue putting in 44:20 what I would refer to as fuel the Word of God. 44:23 Fuel, Prayer. Fuel, Believe. Fuel, Trust. 44:27 And then a life of service which are all ingredients 44:31 in what the Spirit of God wants to do, work on us, in us, 44:34 and then finally through us. 44:35 Right. 44:37 You feed that with prayer, with the Word, 44:41 spending time in God's presence. 44:45 And I wrote down again my little idioms, 44:48 what you feed grows, what you starve dies. 44:52 You feast on God's Word and that Word will grow 44:56 within you, you become what you behold. 45:00 And as you feed on that Word, spend time in God's presence, 45:05 then you are going to that fire within you is being fanned 45:10 and it's growing and it's getting 45:12 brighter and brighter. 45:14 The indwelling Holy Spirit is like that fire 45:18 and you express that in your actions. 45:22 And the Holy Spirit, remember the purpose 45:24 of the Holy Spirit first and foremost 45:27 is to draw you out of darkness, to convict the world of sin, 45:30 now it's your sanctification. 45:32 So as the Holy Spirit shows you circumstances and situations 45:38 and draws you into areas of obedience to God 45:42 and you resist that or you grieve Him, 45:45 you are in effect quenching the Holy Spirit, 45:49 you are dampering Him, 45:51 you are pouring water on that fire. 45:54 But as you respond to the Holy Spirit, 45:57 you are allowing Him to burn brighter within you. 46:01 I have a friend, or had a friend, 46:04 he's passed now, and the Holy Spirit 46:07 was convicting him and drawing him 46:10 in a certain area, and he knew that was happening 46:13 and, you know, he didn't do what the Holy Spirit 46:17 was showing him to do. 46:19 And he felt that lessening of the fire within him. 46:25 He felt that quenching. 46:27 And he started because it was as though 46:30 not the Holy Spirit had departed, it was that 46:33 but the Holy Spirit quit dealing with him. 46:37 And he prayed and he sought God, "Oh, God, 46:40 I invite your presence back." 46:42 You know, the Holy Spirit did come back 46:46 and convict him in this area again, 46:49 but it wasn't immediate, it took a while. 46:52 He had quenched the Spirit. 46:54 He had poured water on that fire that was in him. 46:58 And in doing so, his relationship with the Lord 47:03 suffered greatly. 47:04 Quenching is what we do and the end result 47:08 of quenching the Holy Spirit of God is that 47:12 we grieve the Spirit of God. 47:14 Oh, that was, you know, I know that 47:16 I am guilty of grieving the Spirit of God. 47:18 If you backbite, if you gossip, I mean, 47:21 it's just during the day, anything, you know, 47:24 if you're talking about somebody behind their back, 47:26 you're grieving the Spirit of God 47:28 because it's against His commandments. 47:29 And there are times when God will come 47:32 and you know you're resisting Him, 47:35 He's trying to get you to go change that. 47:37 I know I'm guilty of grieving, I know I'm guilty of resisting, 47:40 I know even in the past, I mean, 47:43 usually I don't resist very long 47:45 but I know in the past, I'm guilty of quenching 47:48 because I have neglected what you were saying. 47:52 That's beautiful, Molly, about fueling. 47:55 The one thing I'm sure I've not done is blasphemy 47:59 against the Holy Spirit. 48:01 And I want to encourage you at home. 48:04 We're going to look at Thursday's lesson 48:07 which is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. 48:11 And I just wanna say this, God is, 48:15 His grace is all encompassing, it is for everyone, 48:20 it's just absolutely amazing. 48:22 But there is the possibility 48:28 of putting yourself 48:31 beyond the reach of divine grace. 48:34 We see in Scripture what man has dubbed an unpardonable sin 48:38 and I can't find that anywhere in Scripture. 48:41 It's not mysterious, it is not something 48:44 that's undefinable. 48:45 We're gonna see that it is calculated, intentional, 48:48 it is a persistent pattern of sin 48:52 that sears the conscience and hardens the heart. 48:56 And it makes a person completely insensitive 49:00 to the Spirit's call to repent. 49:04 I think it's interesting. 49:06 This sin is not that it just won't be forgiven, 49:12 but it's because the person who has committed it 49:16 has finally gotten to that point, 49:19 they've so quenched anything of God 49:22 that they have no desire to repent. 49:24 And so God cannot and will not forgive them 49:28 because they have... 49:30 what they've done when they turn away 49:32 from God for so long, 49:35 there's eternal consequences to it. 49:37 Now in Scripture, 49:39 we only have time to look at one of them. 49:40 Let's turn to Matthew 12:31, 32. 49:44 We find this in Mark 3:28, 29 and in Luke 12:11. 49:49 In Scripture, we see in the context that 49:52 it is defined as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. 49:56 And, Brian, why don't you read 49:59 Matthew 12:31, 32? 50:04 "Therefore I say to you every sin 50:07 and blasphemy will be forgiven men 50:12 but the blasphemy against the Spirit 50:15 will not be forgiven men. 50:18 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man 50:21 shall be forgiven him 50:23 but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, 50:27 it will not be forgiven him either in this age 50:31 or in the age to come." 50:33 Boy, this used to just scare me half to death, 50:35 and I know we get a lot of phone calls 50:37 from people who are worried that they have committed 50:39 the unpardonable sin that they cannot... 50:43 So in context here, it's blasphemy 50:45 against the Holy Spirit because they were attributing 50:49 the work of Christ to the power of Satan. 50:52 So the power of the Holy Spirit, 50:55 they were equating that to the power of Satan. 50:57 Essentially they were saying, "Hey you're demon-filled 50:59 and this power is demonic." 51:02 And, you know, when you think about this, 51:05 when Jesus at His baptism, 51:08 what happened at Jesus' baptism? 51:10 He was filled with the Holy Spirit. 51:13 He was endowed with the Spirit. 51:15 And then He went around and He raised the dead, 51:18 He healed the sick, He cast out demons 51:22 all by the power of the Holy Spirit, 51:25 and He was continually giving this evidence 51:29 that He was there to destroy the devil's kingdom 51:32 to set up God's Kingdom. 51:34 And, you know, it's interesting. 51:36 The more clear evidence that He gave, 51:40 there was this certain group of Pharisees. 51:42 Now the Pharisees were very educated men, 51:45 they were doctors of the law, 51:47 they were very knowledgeable in the Word of God, 51:50 they knew and they knew everything 51:54 from the miracle of His birth on down 51:56 as they saw Him working these miracles, 51:58 they knew, "Hey, He's on the scene." 52:03 There was this group of them 52:05 though who the more clear evidence that He gave, 52:09 the more they opposed Him 52:10 because they liked their position. 52:13 They liked being, you know, the top dog, 52:17 and they wanted to dampen or actually demolish 52:21 the influence of Christ's ministry. 52:24 So these were people who essentially now are saying, 52:31 "Oh, no, He's doing this by the power of Satan." 52:33 They knew this was a lie. These were deliberate acts. 52:38 You used the word calculated, they were very calculated. 52:41 Yes. And they were very persistent. 52:42 Yes. 52:44 And that therein is the explanation of this sin. 52:50 They did not do this in ignorance. 52:53 They continually were... 52:56 I know the Holy Spirit was trying 52:58 to get them to repent but they were persistent 53:01 and they were doing this with full knowledge. 53:04 You know, Ellen White has an interesting quote. 53:06 Let me read this to you. 53:08 She says, "To speak against Christ, 53:10 charging His work to Satanic agencies 53:13 and attributing the manifestations 53:15 of the Spirit to fanaticism is not of itself 53:22 a damning sin." 53:23 Well, what? Wait a minute. 53:25 We just got through saying that this can be a damning sin. 53:28 No, because when you think about it, 53:30 Jesus' own relatives stood outside the door, 53:33 they thought He was crazy, they thought He was fanatical, 53:35 they were ready to go in and bring Him out. 53:38 But He didn't charge His relatives with sin. 53:42 He didn't say, "You're guilty of this sin," 53:46 because they did it in ignorance unlike the Pharisees 53:51 who were doing this absolutely with full knowledge. 53:56 We don't have time to read this. 53:57 But in Numbers 15, just jot this down. 54:01 Numbers 15:24-26 and Numbers 15:30. 54:07 Let me just read what happens here in Numbers, 54:11 God is speaking of sin that's unintentionally committed, 54:15 unintentionally committed. 54:17 He sets up the sacrifices for these people 54:20 and then to give them a sin offering 54:22 so that He can pardon their sin. 54:24 And He says in verse 26, "It shall be forgiven 54:26 the whole congregation of the children of Israel, 54:28 the stranger who dwells among them 54:30 because all the people did it unintentionally." 54:35 It was done in ignorance. 54:37 So God always makes a way to forgive for someone 54:41 who's done something in ignorance. 54:44 But then He goes on in verse 30, 54:45 Numbers 15:30, He says, 54:47 "The person who does anything presumptuously 54:52 whether he's native-born or a stranger, 54:54 that one brings reproach on the Lord 54:57 and he shall be cut off from among his people." 55:01 So the Pharisees or anyone 55:03 who through a protracted process 55:06 of just continually rejecting the Holy Spirit 55:11 and His invitation to repent, you've placed yourself 55:16 beyond the reach of divine grace. 55:20 What happens is persistent and deliberate sin 55:23 becomes a habit that hardens your heart 55:27 and then it's impossible for you to repent. 55:32 Real quickly, Hebrews 6:4-6. 55:38 Hebrews 6:4-6. 55:41 It says, "It is impossible for those 55:43 who were once enlightened and have tasted 55:45 the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit," 55:48 these are Christ-saved, spirit-filled Christians, 55:53 it's impossible for them, 55:56 "after they've tasted the good Word of God 55:58 and the powers of the ages to come, 55:59 if they fall away to renew them again to repentance 56:03 since they crucified again for themselves the Son of God 56:06 and put Him to open shame." 56:07 When someone apostasies, 56:10 when someone turns away from the truth, 56:13 I heard of a pastor, an Adventist pastor, 56:17 who just turned away and said God's not real. 56:20 Now that is such a hardening of the heart. 56:23 I don't know how he could ever come back. 56:28 But the unpardonable sin is willful 56:32 and intentional defiance of the power of God. 56:34 It is never committed unconsciously 56:37 or out of ignorance. 56:39 It's never just a single act, it's persistent resistance, 56:43 persistent hostility. 56:45 If you are apathetic, indifferent, and neglect, 56:48 which you brought up so beautifully, 56:50 if you refuse to grow in the Spirit, 56:53 you're leading to a hardening of the heart. 56:56 So when Ellen White says, 56:58 when the Spirit is thus finally rejected, 57:01 there is no more that God can do for the soul 57:05 'cause the enemy has completed his work in them. 57:09 They have disdain and disinterest. 57:11 There is no fear or anxiety in those people. 57:14 So if you have fear or anxiety that you've committed to this, 57:19 that is actually the conclusive evidence 57:22 that you have not. 57:24 So we suggest that you surrender, yield control, 57:27 stay vitally connected to God so that you won't be overcome 57:32 by the enemy of your souls because remember, 57:34 greater is He who is in you than he who's in the world. 57:38 Wow, what a lesson study. 57:39 I mean, this is just a powerful thing 57:40 that we have been able to participate in today, 57:44 Resisting, Grieving, Quenching and Blasphemy. 57:47 And as we look at this, we are praying that 57:49 you will allow the Spirit of God 57:51 to work in your life so that these experiences 57:54 would never come to the place 57:55 where the Spirit of God leaves you. 57:57 Our prayer is that God works in your heart 58:00 to prepare you for His eternal kingdom. 58:03 God bless you till we see you again. 58:04 Amen. |
Revised 2018-04-26