Grieving The Holy Spirit
Grieving the Holy Spirit and quenching the Holy Spirit are two different things. We are commanded to do neither. This post is focused on grieving Him.
When the Holy Spirit is grieved He withdraws His manifest presence. For example, perhaps you can recall being a part of a fellowship or a revival where the preaching and teaching was anointed. The worship was spontaneous and heavenly. The gifts of the Spirit manifested in the different members in prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues, healings, etc. People are getting saved, backsliders are returning to their first-love, and the possessed/oppressed are getting delivered. There seems to a be a season of “revival” or visitation. In reality, this should be the continuous state and life of the church. However, one begins to notice something is different. Something has changed in the atmosphere. The same people are ministering. The same songs are sung. But the anointing does not seem to be present. Often one is tempted to think, “Well, maybe it is just me.” Nobody says anything. However, attendance begins to drop off. Some people leave with sharp criticism and dissatisfaction. The common complaint is, “I wasn’t getting fed.” What happened? The Holy Spirit was grieved. Sin entered the camp.
What grieves the Holy Spirit? There are specific sins which grieve Him. People forget that Ruach Hakodesh is God. He hears and sees everything. When people gossip and slander outside the church service, during the week, He sees it. He also sees the heart. A person can be praising the Lord and testifying with a hear full of unbelief or unforgiveness. These are the primary sins which grieve the Holy Spirit: sins of the tongue (slander, gossip, backbiting, accusations, lies, insults, boasting, whispering), unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, hatred, envy, pride and arrogance. These sins are a direct contradiction of “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (see Romans 5:5). How do we know that these are the things which grieve Him? These are the things mentioned in the context of the commandment in Ephesians, most of them being mentioned immediately before and after the following words: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30 KJV).
Just as the anointing is withdrawn from church services when Ruach Hakodesh is grieved, the same thing happens in our individuals lives. Check yourself! What words have been on your tongue? Have you been talking about others? Have you been accusing others? Have you been complaining or expressing anger? Have you been grumbling against your circumstances? Have you been exalting yourself or Yahweh with your words? Do you have bitterness or unforgiveness in your heart? Do you have unbelief in your heart? Do you have selfish ambition in your heart? Have you been contentious?
These are all manifestations of the flesh. Repent and get out of your flesh. The anointing oil cannot and will not be poured on the flesh. Confess your sins and His blood will cleanse you. You are a new creature in Christ. These deeds are not part of the new creature. You have been born from above. Being born of God means to be born of love. He is “the Father of lights.” If you are His child, what does that make you? Let us walk by faith in the death, burial and resurrection. Let us walk by faith in the indwelling Son. Let us walk in love by the power of the Holy Spirit, and guard against grieving the one Who has sealed our redemption.
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Other post by Nick Conner
The Apostles, The Early Church and The Name of Yeshua
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