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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 30, 2010
“Find Out What Grieves the Holy Spirit, and Stop Doing It”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“From veteran pastor to younger pastor, what is the one piece of advice you would give me?”
That’s what a young pastor asked Dr. R.T. Kendall, who was the pastor for a quarter century at Westminster Chapel in London, and who spoke in Tallahassee this weekend.
So what do you think he said to that younger pastor?
What advice would you give?
Maybe you would have told him to “stay in the Word,” or “be disciplined in prayer.” You might have said, “Don’t let worldly ideas creep into your thinking,” or “don’t forsake your family while doing church work.”
Well here is what R.T. Kendall said, his one piece of advice to younger pastors: find out what grieves the Holy Spirit, and stop doing it.
Here it is again. Find out what grieves the Holy Spirit, and stop doing it.
Ephesians 4:30 says, “…do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…”
What does it mean to “grieve” the Holy Spirit?
I like what Charles Spurgeon said. Grief is a combination of anger and love.*
Yes, there is anger at the offense, but since there is also great love for the person, the combination becomes grief. The Spirit of God, who loves us so much, is grieved when we are part of anything offensive, anything unholy or unrighteous; anything that is sin.
What do grieving people usually do? They withdraw. They pull away. You hear from them less.
Dr. Kendall said it is fitting that the Holy Spirit is represented by the dove. He said the dove is a sensitive creature, and will withdraw without much provocation.
So if you don’t want the Holy Spirit to withdraw, then don’t grieve Him.
What grieves the Holy Spirit?
Well the Bible doesn’t include a precise “grief list,” but Galatians 5 gives us some idea. It says, “…the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other…”
Then it says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”
I would say that if you want to make a list of things that grieve the Spirit, that’s a pretty good start.
Find out what grieves the Holy Spirit, and stop doing it.
Do you want God’s blessings in your life? Do you want His anointing? Do you want His power flowing through you? Do you want a living and vibrant relationship with the Lord? Do you want to be able to read your Bible and get something out of it? Do you want incredible times of prayer? Do you want to be able to reach others and change the world in Jesus’ name?
Then find out what grieves the Holy Spirit and stop doing it.
Sin grieves the Holy Spirit.
“But Doug, we can’t stop sinning.”
Jesus told people to stop sinning. For example, when he healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:14. “See,” Jesus said, “you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
Sometimes I think we have the idea that we can do certain things and it will be okay because, after all, we are children of the King! We are saved by grace! Our sins are forgiven, forgotten, forever!
But if we are casual about sin, about unholiness and unrighteousness, we are in danger of grieving the Spirit of God, and something bad will come of it.
Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you.
But if we sin, we can repent and ask for forgiveness and be “cleansed from all unrighteousness.” In a sense, we can “ungrieve” the Holy Spirit. We can be clean before God and renew our fellowship with His Spirit.
And that’s where we want to be, walking in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians 13:14 refers to the “communion of the Holy Spirit.”
Galatians 5:25 talks about keeping “in step with the Spirit.”
We want to be walking in the Spirit, hearing from the Spirit and receiving from the Spirit. We want the Holy Spirit to bear His wonderful fruit in our lives.
And all the more so if we are in a place of Christian leadership, which brings us back to that great answer by Dr. R.T. Kendall. When asked what one piece of advice he would give to a young pastor, he simply said this.
“Find out what grieves the Holy Spirit, and stop doing it.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
* http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0278.htm
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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