Stir Up God's Spirit and Grow

Brethren, Pentecost is virtually here. We begin counting the 50 days for Pentecost on Sunday, April 24, the next to the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And now, June 11, this is day number 49 in our count toward the 50th day. And tonight at sunset begins the 50th day. And this is Pentecost, and that is exactly what Pentecost means. In the Old Testament, the name for Pentecost is Feast of First Fruits of the Harvest. But in the New Testament, it's called Pentecost, or 50th. And we read that the church of God is the first fruits of the Spirit. So the festival then pictures those that God is calling out today.

We know that God plans eventually to pour out His Spirit upon everyone. One prophecy in Joel 2 brings out that God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. But today, God is only pouring out His Spirit upon a few, and they are called the first fruits of the Spirit. Today, I want to have us to think about God's Spirit that He is pouring out. What does it mean to have God's Spirit poured upon us? What is the Holy Spirit? And why do we need it? What does the Holy Spirit do? How does it change our life?

How can we have more of the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually? What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit? There's a verse that says, Do not grieve the Spirit of God. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to quench the Spirit? One verse says, Do not quench the Spirit. How can we stir up God's Spirit and grow?

These are all questions that we need the answers to, and we're going to discuss them in the sermon today. First of all, what is the Holy Spirit? You know, for many people in the world, the Holy Spirit is the third personage in a trinity of the Godhead.

They think it's a trinity with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Let me read from our booklet, Who is God? Beginning on page 47, you'll find a chapter, and I recommend that we all read this if we do not understand or need to understand more about this teaching that God is not a trinity. On page 47, a chapter, Is God a Trinity? What about the trinity? Many millions believe that God consists of three distinct persons or entities, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one being. The fact that the word trinity appears nowhere in the Bible gives us reason to reflect.

You just don't find it. The word trinity, and actually the teaching of the trinity, also, you just don't find in the Bible. The truth is, the Bible does not teach the trinity. I'd like to quote on page 48, there is a quote from the New Bible dictionary, The term trinity is not itself found in the Bible. It was first used by Tertullian at the end of the second century, but received wide currency and formal elucidation only in the fourth and fifth centuries.

Think about that. Several hundred years after the apostolic age, you suddenly have the trinity teaching coming on the scene. Several hundreds of years, longer than even our country has been a country, had passed. It wasn't until 381 at the Council of Constantinople that the divinity of the Spirit was affirmed in the Great False Mother Church. So, no, the Bible does not teach that the Holy Spirit is a person in a trinity. Our next chapter in this booklet, who is God, has the title, The Holy Spirit, Not a Personal Being. And this chapter brings out that the Holy Spirit is actually the very nature, the very presence, and the expression of God's power actively working in His servants.

It's actually that power that radiates out from Almighty God. This Holy Spirit is that power. And the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures is referred to as a gift. The Holy Spirit can be poured out. We're baptized with the Holy Spirit. We can drink of the Holy Spirit, one verse says. We can partake of the Holy Spirit. We can be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also renews us and must be stirred up within us. The Holy Spirit is consistently represented by various symbols like the wind.

The Holy Spirit is referred to as fire and water, like a dove, or an earnest or down payment on eternal life. These depictions are difficult to understand, to say the least, if the Holy Spirit is a person. So, no, the Holy Spirit is not a third person in a trinity, a Godhead that is a trinity. The Bible reveals there are just two beings in the Godhead. Just two God beings that dwell together, God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Just those two. And when you read Paul's letters, consistently he says, greetings from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Read the first few verses of each of Paul's letters, and also of some of the others in the general epistles. So, just those two beings, and the Holy Spirit is never then mentioned as being a third person in a trinity.

Well, be sure to read that if you need to, but that certainly shows that what God is not, He is not a trinity. And the Holy Spirit is not a personality in a trinity. Let's go to Luke chapter 1 and verse 35, and we'll get an idea of a little bit about the Holy Spirit, and how the power of the Holy Spirit can accomplish God's will. It can go out, proceed out from Almighty God, and it can accomplish His purpose. What He wants to happen, what He wants done.

Luke chapter 1, this is when Mary is being told that she would bear the Son of God, Jesus Christ. She said in verse 34, how can this be since I do not know a man? She was a virgin. The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. Here's how it's going to happen. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. So in this verse we see then that the Holy Spirit is that power of God that proceeds out to accomplish His will.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born shall be called the Son of God. And so that happened. The Holy Spirit from God overshadowed Mary. She was a virgin. And one moment she was not expecting a child, and the next moment she was expecting the Son of God. Because the Holy Spirit had overshadowed her, and she was expecting the Son of God and the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. So that shows a little bit about what the Holy Spirit is and how it works. Notice also Psalm 104 and verse 30.

Psalm 104 and verse 30. This gives us a little bit more insight into how the Holy Spirit works. Psalm 104 and verse 30. You send forth your Spirit. They are created. What happens?

God sends forth His Spirit. His Spirit proceeds out from God, and they are created. You renew the face of the earth. So God's Spirit then is able to accomplish God's will. It goes out from God to accomplish what He purposes to be done. Notice also in Psalm 139 and verse 7 that God's Spirit permeates through the universe and sustains the universe and accomplishes the things that God once done. In Psalm 139 and verse 7, where can I go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell or the grave, behold you are there.

So God's Spirit then, there is no place you could go in the universe and that God's Spirit would not be there. God's Spirit just permeates. It goes out. It radiates out. It's just like, well, sunshine. Sunshine goes out from the sun. The sun is 93 million miles away. Here we have sunshine outside from the sun. So God's Spirit just shines out through the universe and through that He's able to sustain the universe and He's able to create and perform as He desires. So God's Spirit is a powerful force and it is a power that is made available to man so that we may become sons of God.

We need that Spirit. In fact, we cannot become sons of God without the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. Let's go to Colossians chapter 2 and we begin to see 1 Corinthians, rather not Colossians, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11. Well, let's begin even up in verse 9. We read that, "'I has not seen ear, has not heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' No man has not been able to comprehend.

Man has a lot of lofty dreams and fantasies, but he's never dreamed of what God has in mind for him. It hasn't entered his heart and mind. Verse 10, "'But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.' God's Spirit opens up our heart and mind to understand His great purpose and plan. For the Spirit searches all things." Yes, the deep things of God. Brethren, that's what God's Spirit does in us. When we have God's Spirit, it begins to open our minds to the plan of God, the truth of God.

And God's Spirit is continually working in us, searching to understand more deeply what life is all about and what we need to be doing. It searches all things, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of the man that's in him? That Spirit of man is man's mind. That the intellect, you know, the mind or intellect of man makes man very different than the animals. Here you are. You're able to read. You're able to listen and understand. You're able to comprehend what is being said here.

But you know, if an animal were in here, he would not be able to catch anything. Of course, if he were in any class, even a class of the world, he would not understand anything at all. Animals just don't get it. They're not equipped. They don't have the spirit, the intellect, the mental capacity that God gives through the spirit of man. That spirit is formed in the womb. And a baby is born already with the spirit in man. And that's the means by which he is able to acquire the knowledge that man has.

So what? Man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man, that is, man's mind and intellect, which is in him. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. So human beings are simply not able to understand the things of God, to really comprehend. They're not equipped with the spirit that enables them and empowers them to see and understand and know the things of God. Verse 12, now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

These things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God. The natural human mind is not equipped or able, it's not empowered, it's not turned on, you might say, to be able to receive the things of the spirit of God.

They're foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. So, brethren, we do need God's Holy Spirit. We will not be able to understand the things of God. We will not be able to understand the kingdom of God and God's plan and purpose, understand God's law and how we are to live by that law.

We just cannot understand it without the help of God's spirit. God's spirit enables, empowers the human spirit so that we are able to begin to really comprehend. That's why Jesus said that the flesh profits nothing. Human beings, on their own, cannot really understand the real deeper purpose and meaning of life. But the spirit, Jesus said, gives life. The Holy Spirit makes it possible to understand the things of God and begin to live by the things of God.

We'll understand more how this works as we go along. We receive this Holy Spirit by repenting and believing the gospel and being baptized, and with the laying on of hands, God has promised to give us his spirit. And he will not renege on that promise. You know, if you were sincere when you repented, and if you are a baptized member of the Church of God, if you were sincere when you repented and you were baptized and a minister of God laid hands upon you, you received the Holy Spirit.

It was just a beginning portion of it. And we need to grow and to increase and have more of it as we go along. What does the Holy Spirit do when we receive it at the time of baptism, right after baptism? God uses the Holy Spirit to write his character upon our hearts and minds. Or to put it another way, he writes his laws upon our heart and mind. Things begin to happen.

You may not notice it right away. You won't see all kinds of, you know, you're not a totally different person the very day you're baptized, or the next day, or the next week.

Little by little, though, God's Spirit will be working and writing his character, writing his nature upon your heart and mind. So that as the years go by, you will have more and more of the mind of God, more and more of the character and the nature of Almighty God. Let's see how this will work in Romans 8.

Go back to Romans 8. This has been called the Holy Spirit chapter. There is a lot about the Holy Spirit in this chapter. Romans 8, verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, even though we have this struggle that Paul talks about in chapter 7. There's no condemnation, though, even though we have this tremendous struggle going on. No condemnation to those who walk in Jesus Christ, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Brother, are you striving to walk according to the Spirit, or are you walking according to the flesh?

Well, hope is the Spirit. Verse 4, The righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us. God's character, God's nature, the very laws of God, can be written in our hearts and minds. Us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh.

They're just interested in the physical things. They're paycheck, paying all the bills, having maybe some pleasure, and just the physical things of this life. But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. You know, those who are led by God's Spirit come to see that this physical life is nothing. You know, it's nothing at all.

If our life is cut short, then we still, if we have, if we have prepared for God's kingdom, then there's the resurrection. And of course, there are Christians whose lives have been cut short. And if we live out our days, then there's that hope of God's kingdom. Our hope is in God's kingdom. It's not in this present life here and now. Verse 6 goes on to say that to be carnally minded is death, just to think about here and now and all the physical things and pursuits.

That's death. It's not going to get us anywhere in the long run. But to be spiritually minded, to set our minds on God's kingdom, is life, eternal life, and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, that natural mind that we have at birth, just enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. What do you think about most of the time? You think about God's kingdom most of the time, and how you're even your job, and all the things that you do during the week. That fits into seeking first the kingdom of God, doesn't it? Everything fits into seeking the kingdom of God. Your job and being able to pay the bills and mowing the grass, whatever we do. It all fits into our search or our seeking of God's kingdom first in our lives.

We should be meditating upon God's kingdom as we go about our job and all the things that we do. But what about your life? Are you more spiritually minded, or are you more carnally minded, just thinking about the here and the now, the physical things more? That's a question we all have to answer for ourselves. But those that are in the flesh, just thinking about the flesh, cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.

And if Christ is in you, so we see there is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, they're the ones in same spirit. But you know at the time of baptism, the Spirit is from God the Father. That's why He is the Father, not Christ. Christ is not our Father. God the Father is our Father. So at the time of baptism, God the Father sends His Spirit, which unites with our spirit. And there is a spiritual conception that takes place. Just as much, but it's much more real really because it's eternal than that conception that took place when you were conceived in your mother's womb.

Two things also met at that time, and that was the beginning of you as a human being. And at the time of baptism, God the Father sends His Spirit to unite with our human spirit. And there is a spiritual conception that takes place at that very moment. And then the Spirit of Christ is that Spirit that comes in us as a member of the Church.

Christ is head of the Church. He's the vine. We're the branches. We'll read that later. And the Spirit of Christ also has to come and flow into us. So the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are really that one and same Spirit. Even though the origin points there would be slightly different.

Verse 10, But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who dwells, or which dwells in you. So God's Spirit will lead us toward life eternal in God's family. That's the purpose of God's Spirit. It gives us the power to become the sons of God.

Verse 12, Therefore brethren, we are debtors rather not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if you, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. See, there is a put into death the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, those deeds of the body. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Brethren, God's Spirit will not drive us. It won't drive you to do what's right. It will lead you, though. It will empower you and encourage you, but it will not drive you. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. That's not why we need God's Spirit to be led by it, empowered by it, so we can understand spiritual things and so we can grow and change and take on the nature of Almighty God. Verse 15, you do not receive the Spirit of bondage, again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father.

And Abba, Father is a very intimate, warm, close expression of our relationship with our Father. God doesn't hold us at arm's length. He embraces us in a close and intimate relationship. Abba, Father. The Spirit, and it should be itself, why the New King James translator put himself, I don't know, except the Trinity idea, the Spirit itself, you know, in the English language, Spirit uses the neuter.

We don't give gender to spirit, it, the Spirit. And even in the Greek language, the word Spirit comes from pneuma, p-n-e-u-m-a, and pneuma carries with it, is neuter. In the Greek language, pneuma, sometimes the Holy Spirit is from the Holy pneuma, which means breath or wind. Sometimes pneuma is translated wind, you know, the wind that blows through around us. The breath of air that we breathe.

And we don't think of breath as having gender, do we? Or the wind? Spirit, pneuma, should be neuter, it. The Spirit then itself would be correct in English as well as in even the Greek language. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Notice that our human spirit and God's spirit work together in burying this witness. That we, that things are happening in our life. We know that changes are taking place. We know that we are doing things and behaving in such a way that we did not behave at one time. And doing things we would not have done without God's Spirit guiding us.

We wouldn't be here today, would we? We'd be going to church tomorrow. Well, we are going to go to church tomorrow. In this one case, yes we do. But we'd be going there every Sunday, wouldn't we? We'd be like people in the world, or do it. And we'd be thinking we're going to go to heaven when we die and all that sort of thing. We would not have the truth that we know that we have been given from the Bible.

So, yeah, God's Spirit does bear witness with our spirit that we're the children of God. And then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if we suffer that we may be glorified together. So, yes, we need God's Holy Spirit, alright, to help us to become a Son of God. It's not possible. It's not possible to become a Son of God, to have eternal life without God's Spirit.

That is the power that God has given to us, the power to sonship. Let's see how this works a little bit more. John 16. How God's Spirit works with our human spirit once it joins with it. It guides us, brethren, to all truth. Notice in John 16, beginning in verse 7, Jesus said here, night before he died, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.

It's better for you if I do leave than go away. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send... Here goes the King James Trinity idea again. I will send him, should be it. Helper is translate... This is the English language, it should be it. The Helper, I will send it to you.

Now, it's true in the Greek that the word is parakletos, which means comforter, and that word comforter can carry with it the masculine pronoun. So, we'll bring that out. Verse 8 shows how the Holy Spirit will work when it has come, it will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment. Brethren, that's what happens to us when we receive God's Spirit. We begin to be convicted about sin. We knew that sin was very bad and that we should come out of sin and put sin out. And the righteousness, we begin to learn God's laws are righteousness altogether. God's way is so good, so holy, so righteous. And then judgment, we realize that if we do wrong, that there will be judgment. If we do right, there will be judgment. The judgment for wrong, we don't want. The judgment for doing right, we do want. The judgment, maybe, to be counted worthy to enter God's kingdom. Verse 13 says, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you to all truth. It will not speak of its own authority, but whatever it hears, it will speak. It will be from the mind of God and will tell you things to come. So the Holy Spirit of God works with our human spirit. It leads us to conversion. It leads us to sonship in God's family, in God's kingdom. God's Spirit empowers us to overcome the works of the flesh. Let's turn to Galatians 5.

And God's Spirit gives us the power that we need.

I'll tell you what, there's nothing that with God's Spirit we cannot overcome. Whatever weakness we may have, whatever fleshly desires or desires, the pride of the, the pride of, and vanity of human life, whatever it may be that we need to work on, God's Spirit will empower us to overcome it and take on the nature of God. Galatians 5, verse 16, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So there's the key, be filled with God's Spirit, walk in it. And the flesh lusts against the Spirit, verse 17, and the Spirit against the flesh.

And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. We can't go the way that just appeals to our human nature. But if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now, if we're led by the Spirit, then we are within the law, not under its penalty for breaking it. The works of the flesh are evident, adultery, fornication, idolatry, jealous, envy, murders, and so forth.

These that practice such things do not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit, verse 22, is. And who would not like to just be filled with these spiritual fruits or qualities? And guess what? With God's Spirit, you're going to see these things, this type of fruit being born in your life. Love. You are going to grow in love, the love of God. Joy.

Your life is not going to be empty, it's going to be full and abundant. You know, the Christian life is the only life that is full and happy and abundant because it focuses on the real meaning and purpose of life. We can't be happy seeking after physical things. They don't satisfy. It may give a momentary satisfaction, but it's not lasting. But God's Spirit gives a lasting joy.

This is real abundant living. That is, when we are led by God's Spirit. And so, one led by God's Spirit will begin to see love. You'll see changes then in his life. He'll have the love of God, the joy, the peace, long suffering. He'll begin to be more patient and bearing with others. Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. So those who are led by God's Spirit will begin to see this fruit more and more and more.

As you go along week by week, month by month, year by year, you will see this fruit being born. If you are led by the Spirit of God. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh. There's that struggle that goes on continually to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. We have to continually fight it against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. As Paul describes very well in Romans 7, there's a struggle going on. God's Spirit is pulling us up to holiness and righteousness and human nature and the world all around us is pulling us down.

So we have to continually fight that battle. Well, let's keep fighting it with God's Spirit. We'll win. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us then use God's Spirit to empower us to grow and to overcome.

And whatever the problem might be, you know, sometimes those fleshly desires, the lust of the flesh or the eyes can be very strong and powerful. But God's Spirit will help us to control that. You know, today on television there are immoral sexual scenes being shown all the time in advertisements and that sort of thing. And you just have to turn away and look the other way.

Mr. Herbert Armstrong once said many years ago that he once was out shopping, and he saw this ill-clad woman overexposing everything in the store where he went. He was talking to some of the ministers at that point of the ministerial meeting, and he said, You know, men, I just look the other way. You know, you can't sometimes help seeing what you see, but you don't have to dwell upon it. You can look away quickly. So, you know, we're fighting the fleshly passions and desires and the lusts of the flesh and the eyes continually.

If you don't think we are, you just aren't alert or aware of what is going on. Yes, we are. And you have to continually use God's Spirit to have the right thoughts in your heart and in your mind. And that is possible with God's Spirit.

Sometimes an addiction, you know, we deal with people sometimes that get into heavy addictions with certain passions of the flesh. Well, things like even alcohol and certain drugs, cigarettes, and maybe even food. People that are addicted to eating too much food, or maybe too much alcohol. And so we have to, you know, work with them and encourage them. Sometimes they'll go two steps up out of the problem and fall back one.

Well, we try to encourage them to keep on fighting. Don't give up. And God's Spirit, you can lick it. There's no problem that's too big for God's Spirit if we will use His Spirit to help us. Now, each and every one of us can apply what I'm saying in a personal way. You may not be addicted to something, but we all have our struggle day by day.

You need God's Spirit to help you in that struggle. None of us is perfect. So we have to fight the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And the way the world is coming at us and the way that we are just human beings and not made to just naturally obey God's laws.

We need the power of God's Holy Spirit to help us to do it. But remember this, whatever your problem might be. Maybe you've got a hot temper. Maybe that's it. God's Spirit is able to help you overcome it and has never met its match because it proceeds out from Almighty God. There's no problem that we cannot overcome if we will use the power of God's Holy Spirit. It may take time. You may have to keep fighting it. And some problems may dog us year after year, but hopefully progress is being made.

That's the important thing, that we're growing and making progress. How can we grow spiritually, brethren? We have to stay close to God in prayer and Bible study. Let's go to John chapter 15. We have to stay close to the head of the church and have him strengthening us and living in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said that he lived his life. It wasn't his own, but Christ was living in him. So that is the key to growing spiritually. Have Jesus Christ. Invite him to live in you every day by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In John chapter 15 and verse 1, Jesus said, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. So the Father is the one that owns the whole vineyard. He owns the whole thing. But Jesus says he's the vine. I'm the true vine. And every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. God expects us to bear fruit, expects us to grow.

And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes. That means to correct and shape and form and cut off anything that needs to be cut off. So that it may bear more fruit. Verse 4 says, He's the vine. I am you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit.

For without me you can do nothing. And aren't these... isn't this the key then to spiritual growth? If we are to grow spiritually, we must abide in the vine. And that means as a branch, and we're firmly abiding in the vine, the nourishment, that means the Holy Spirit from Christ, the head of the church, is going to come flowing into us as a branch. And then we're going to be able to bear fruit. We're going to be able to grow and do what is pleasing to God.

We will grow spiritually and we'll, of course, be doing the work he wants us to do. And Jesus said in verse 8 here, By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. So brethren, we do need more of God's Spirit. There's nothing we need more than just more of the Spirit that comes from Almighty God, our Father and Jesus Christ.

Let's go to Luke 11, something we may not be doing, and we could have more of God's Spirit guiding us every day. If we began to do this, every time that we pray. In Luke 11 and verse 9, Luke 11 and verse 9, I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find, knock, and it will be open to you. Yet we do have to ask. And then in verses 11, 12 and 13, If a son wants bread, will the Father give him a stone?

Or a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or an egg, will he give him a scorpion? Of course not. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Please underscore the word ask. We do need to ask for God's Holy Spirit. And our Heavenly Father is so willing to give us more of the Holy Spirit.

And Christ is so willing to come and to live in us as a branch. Let the nourishment flow from Him the vine to us the branch. But we do need to stay close to God. And if we do and have more of His Spirit, we will grow spiritually. And we will bear much fruit. And we will use our talents and our abilities to serve and to do the work of God. So every day, make sure that when you pray, God, give me more of your Spirit.

This year has just been underscored in my mind that we need to be sure to ask. And so I'm encouraging all of us, remember to ask for more of God's Spirit in your life. You need it. It enables you. It empowers you. It helps you to fight the daily battles. It helps you to grow and to overcome. We need more of God's Spirit. And the way to have it is to ask. Ask for more of it. Let's get into two or three things now that warn us about neglecting of God's Spirit. What does it mean to grieve the Spirit of God?

Turn to Ephesians 4 and verse 30. Ephesians 4 and verse 30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let me ask you, what does it mean to grieve the Spirit of God? How could a person do that? Could you grieve the Spirit of God?

Brethren, you could. Are some of us? Have we? You know, it's likely that we have grieved God's Spirit at some point in our Christian life. And we could yet do it. What does it mean to grieve the Spirit of God? Well, the answer is, let's go to the context. Go back to verse 22. It talks about our calling to grow and become a new person. That you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

You know, God's Spirit will lead us then to overcome that corrupt old man. And be renewed in the Spirit of your mind. God's Spirit will renew us in our minds. And that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. That's what God's Spirit is going to accomplish.

It's going to help us to put away or put down the old corrupt man. And it's going to help us to put on the new man with the character and the nature of God. Verse 25 now, Therefore, since that is what God's Spirit is, the way God's Spirit is leading us, put away lying. Speak truth to your neighbor. Lying would grieve God's Holy Spirit.

Misrepresenting the truth in any way would grieve the Spirit of God. Do you ever misrepresent the truth? Ever tell a half truth and a half lie? Well, that is grieving God's Spirit. Verse 26, Be angry and do not sin. To be angry and sin would grieve God's Spirit. Nor give place to the devil. Let Satan begin to get through to us. That would grieve God's Spirit. Let him that stole steal no longer. Because that would certainly grieve God's Spirit.

Verse 29, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Just think of that. That's a pretty tall order, isn't it? Don't let any corrupt communication, let everything be said in love. Any of us are perfect in that one. Never have anything slip out of our mouth that should not. Anything that's not according to God's will would be corrupt. So let no corrupt communication, that would grieve God's Spirit.

In verse 31, Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Those things would all grieve the Spirit of God. So, brethren, when we go contrary to God's law, and we allow that to continue, when we see that we're not doing it right, and then we allow it to continue, that does grieve the Spirit of God.

When we allow ourselves to coexist with our shortcomings and sins, then we do grieve God's Spirit. When we allow sins to go uncontested, if you have a weakness that you're having to fight against, keep fighting it. If you make a mistake, get up and go again, and ask God to forgive you and continue fighting the struggle, the battle. But if we allow sins to continue uncontested, then we do grieve God's Spirit, because His Spirit is there to help us overcome sin and overcome our shortcomings.

So, we grieve God's Spirit when we do not change, when we do not grow, when we don't become more of God's mind and more of God's character, we certainly grieve that Spirit, that power that has been given to us to take on the nature of Almighty God. So, let us not grieve God's Spirit. Instead, let us use God's Spirit. Let it just let the Spirit flow into us to help us live a life that is pleasing to God and use that power to make changes.

If we fall short, use that power to help us to grow. And then we will not be grieving God's Spirit. Brethren, what does it mean to blaspheme the Spirit? Well, that gets more serious, doesn't it? To blaspheme God's Spirit. Let's read about that in Matthew 12. Matthew 12, verse 31. Jesus here said, Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men.

But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. This is very, very serious. It will not be forgiven. He goes on to say, Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Brethren, this is most serious. We do not want to blaspheme the Spirit of God. Those who blaspheme the Spirit of God will not be in the kingdom of God. In other words, they fail, and they will be burned up in the lake of fire. But what does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?

How could that happen in your life? The book of Hebrews helps us to understand. Let's read a few verses in the book of Hebrews, beginning in chapter 2 and verse 3. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 3. This book is a warning against those who were in danger of blaspheming God's Spirit. And it begins here with a warning, chapter 2 and verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and confirmed to us by those who heard him? So brethren, to neglect such great salvation would begin to get us on the road toward blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

That begins to turn us in that direction. If we begin to neglect our calling such great salvation. The message, the warning, intensifies, chapter 3, as we go through the book, the warning intensifies. Hebrews 3 and verse 12, Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it's called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

So again, a warning, an evil heart of unbelief would lead in that direction of the blasphemy of God's Spirit, a sin that will not be forgiven. Hebrews 6 and verse 4, It is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come.

These would be members of God's church. They've been enlightened. They have taken of the Holy Spirit, tasted the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away to renew them to repentance. That is serious. We don't want that to happen. To turn away from the calling that God has given to us. And in chapter 10, the warning gets to its strongest point in this book of Hebrews.

Chapter 10 and in verse 23, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. Some were not even coming to church anymore.

And the writer here has to warn about that. But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching, you see these people were neglecting such great salvation. They were allowing the deceitfulness of sin to get to them and have an evil heart of unbelief, even to the point of not coming to Sabbath services anymore. And notice verse 26 and verse 27, For if, and here is the blasphemy of God's Holy Spirit, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

Yes, brethren, the sin that is willful, where we neglect such great salvation, and where we fall into the deceitfulness of sin, and sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, then there is no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation that will devour the adversaries. And that would be the lake of fire. Those who then commit this sin, get into a willf... it's an attitude of mind where they will not repent. And they just neglect their salvation to the point that they no longer care.

And it's a willful type of sin, an attitude that they get into. And so they don't use God's Spirit anymore to grow and to overcome. I briefly stated the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is when we refuse to use the Holy Spirit to take on the nature and the mind of God. We no longer use that power that God has given to us that prepares us for His Kingdom, for sonship.

We refuse using power that is the only way by which we can become sons of God. The message to the seven churches, think, some lost their first love. Danger of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Lose your first love. God says, repent of that. Some turned to false doctrines and teachings. They got away from the truth. God said, you had to repent.

Others began to allow false churches, Jezebel. Others were spiritually dead. Others were lukewarm. To all of those, God said, repent. That's the danger of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Losing out on God's Kingdom. So they were warned that they should repent or they would be in danger of blaspheming God's Spirit. Brethren, how can we stir up God's Spirit? Let's turn to a couple of two or three more verses at the end of the sermon. First Thessalonians 5 and verse 19. First Thessalonians 5 and verse 19. Simple little verse. Do not quench the Spirit.

The word quench in the Greek means to extinguish. Do not extinguish or put out the light of God's Holy Spirit. No, let God's Spirit be very active. Do not let it die out. Do not let it become inactive. Do not extinguish God's Spirit.

Second Timothy chapter 1 and verses 6 and 7. Second Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power and love and a sound mind. This verse certainly shows that God's Spirit can become somewhat dormant. Oh, you can just kind of let the Spirit lie there, not using it that much. You can let the fire kind of die out. And by the way, the word stirrer here, stirrup God's Spirit, goes back.

The great word is anozopareo, and it goes back to fire. And it means to re-encendle the fire. It's just like if you go camping and you have a big campfire at night and you go to bed and sleep. The next morning you may have some embers. There are some coals there. You can put some kindling on it and blow on it, and you can get that fire to bloom, or let's say to fire up once again and break out into a flame. So this word means to rekindle the fire and to fan it into a flame. How can we do that?

It's going to take daily Bible study. It's going to take prayer and closeness to God, meditation upon God's laws and God's way of life. There's simply no other way that we can stirrup God's Spirit. It's going to take fasting on occasion, and maybe more often than we are doing. In order to fan and stirrup God's Spirit. To tell you fasting does stirrup zeal and commitment for God's Kingdom, and we need to do it more often.

If you'd like some good reading for tonight before services tomorrow, I'd recommend those two chapters referred to earlier, that God, the Holy Spirit, is not a trinity. It's not a personal being. But this booklet here, Transforming Your Life, has some very good chapters on how God's Spirit helps us to grow, and is that agent by which our lives are transformed, and we're converted and prepared to become the sons of God. So let's pray that God will help us to grow in His Spirit. Let's stir up His Spirit. It can become just, well, it can become not as active in our life as it should be. And we could neglect it where the flame is burning out, and we need to stir it up. Let's ask God to help us then to have more of His Spirit. We need that Spirit. Jesus said that those who believe in Me, then out of their heart, will flow rivers of living water. Who would not like to have that? You know, for the rivers of living water to flow out of us, first of all, we have to have rivers of that Spirit of God. And Jesus was talking about the Spirit of God when He said that, but we have to have rivers of living water flowing into us. That means an abundance of God's Spirit flowing in to us so that it then is able to flow out. I tell you, that does satisfy, that does quench the thirst that we all have. And Jesus also said the Holy Spirit becomes a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. Let's think about these things as we prepare for Pentecost. Let's certainly pray that God will be with us. There's nothing we need more than more of God's Holy Spirit. And let's pray that God will pour out His Spirit upon His people this Pentecost.