Does the Holy Spirit Actually Feel Grief?

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say, time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to have everybody in again, and we always make mention of the fact that Iris has made the cookies for our break time, but this time, since we were gone, why, Laura Aguirre has done it all for, and we always like to give credit where credit is due, so we just want folks to know, even out there in television, that we have other ladies that will gladly come in and help us out, so Laura, we just thank you. Okay, for those of you out on television again, we just like to remind you that all the past programs are available on video, audios, and as well as the little books. They're all a 12-lesson or 12-program format, and they all, of course, are six hours in length, and then the books are transcribed word for word. Jerry and Lorna, sitting right here on the front row today, and they laboriously take all that word for word, and how they do it, I'll never know, but they've been doing it now, and I guess they're getting quite expert at it. So anyway, we were just talking about it coming up this morning, how the Lord has always provided the right person at the right time to carry on this ministry, because we make no apology. When we first started this, we were so ignorant. We just knew nothing about television or any of the technological terms, so we've just sort of had to live and learn. Okay, now let's just pick right up. This is just an informal Bible study, as we usually remind our audience, and we trust that you'll follow along with us in your own Bible, and come in with Ephesians chapter 4, and we just finished with verse 27 in our last half hour, and so now we're down to verse 28. And again, it's going to send us right back to the Old Testament. Paul writes, "...let him who stole steal no more." Well where do you get that? Exodus chapter 20, and let's go back and look at it. Exodus chapter 20, and that of course is the chapter of the Ten Commandments, and right down there in plain view of the Ten Commandments in verse 15, says it plain as day. I know you all know this, but I want you to see it in Scripture. Exodus chapter 20 verse 15 says basically the same thing, "...thou shalt not steal." In other words, you have to respect the other person's property and whatever, and so no one has the right to just simply abscond it and take off with it. It is one of the basic commandments of human society. Now again, I always have to remind people that yes, the moral law is still the best system for society that you can find. In fact when we were back in Exodus, and now you can move on up to Romans if you like, Romans 13. When we were back there a few years ago teaching in Exodus, I think I made the point that if, and of course it can never happen, only Christ kept the law, but if society could keep the commandments, we could send our legislatures home. We could close up the courthouses. We could just simply throw away the code books, because the Ten Commandments cover every aspect of society, and if society could keep them, it's all we'd need. But of course, human nature being what it is, it takes all the code books, and it takes all our courts of law to even keep a semblance of sanity in our societies today. Now if you got Romans 13, you probably got there before I did. Again Paul basically says the same thing, even though we're not under law, we're under grace, but yet these are fundamentals, even for a believer. And so he says in the last part of verse 8, He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law, and for this, because under grace love is the power that makes us operate. And so since love is the fulfilling of the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal. Now going back with me to Ephesians again, we realize that Paul writes to the believer, and we don't expect the unbelieving world to not steal. They're going to do it one way or another, whether it's stealing from their boss's timetable, or whether it's cheating on their taxes, or any other way. People are bent to stealing, it's part of the old nature. Now you can tell then that from these words to Paul's converse, that they too had come out of a society which thought nothing of stealing. And so he says in verse 28, Let him that stole, steal no more. Why does that tell you? They used to, thought nothing of it. And so he says, But rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that he may have to give to him that needeth. Now what's the lesson? If those who have would give to those who need, they wouldn't have to steal. You see I guess nothing irritates me more when I read of some poor fellow that was poverty stricken or whatever, and he is caught stealing what we would say a little or nothing, and yet he ends up in a state penitentiary, and it does happen. I think that's awful. I'm all for punishment, but I'm all for fair punishment. And when a poor person is caught stealing just to supply his daily needs and put him in the federal or the state penitentiary, I think that's ridiculous, totally ridiculous. But Paul is teaching us here that for the community that has more than enough, they shouldn't have to steal, but rather be willing to give to those who are in need. As I read especially the Jerusalem Post and some of these other periodicals, as much as I may disagree with Judaism and much of the Jewish Old Testament religion, I always have to give the Jewish people credit for one thing in what they are. They are tremendous philanthropists. They'll give by the millions if they've got it, and they don't give it under the same auspices that we do with the same motive, but there is just something about their makeup that if they have it, they give it. Well Paul is making that very point for us as believers, that if we have it, we should be willing to share it with those who need it, and keep them from being prompted to steal in order to survive. But it's just basic again, just good common sense, and of course it's according to the Law, even though we're not under it, that we no longer steal, but rather work and get to the place where we could be philanthropists. Now the verse 29 is a little harder to define, but we're going to keep moving along here. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Can you tell the world that? Well they laugh at you. That's the only way they can talk, most of them. They can't talk any other way. But for the believer, this is not to be a part and parcel of our conversation. We are not to have corrupt language as part of our daily experience. So he says, don't let any of it proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, in other words to build up the other person, that it may minister grace to the hearers. Now you see all of this, as we've been coming down through all these, is to the believer to help us to be a vehicle to approach lost people. And no believer is ever going to get to first base with a lost person if he's got foul language. It won't fly, because even the unbeliever knows that much. And so here again is where Paul is admonishing us then as believers, not to get angry, not to steal, to recognize the wiles of Satan, and to be a philanthropist. Give not just the tithe, but as he taught the Corinthians, to give as the Lord has prospered us. It's all such common sense. I've always said, as long as I can remember, Christianity is so logical, aside from the fact that we can never comprehend the power of the Gospel. But when we enter into the everyday Christian life as Paul teaches it, it's so logical. It's just plain common sense, and that's why I guess I enjoy teaching it. So we're to minister grace to the hearers. Let's just move on quickly to verse 30. Paul says, "...grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption." Now I imagine most of you know this, but maybe not. Do you know the Bible never speaks of the Holy Spirit getting angry? There is no wrath of the Holy Spirit. There is no anger referred to by the Holy Spirit. This is the harshest word you can find in all of Scripture with regard to the response of the Holy Spirit, is to grieve Him. He will not get angry, evidently. Now that's something to think about. And so when we go contrary to the Spirit's leading, He's not going to pour out His wrath on us because of our disobedience, but rather He's grieved. He's hurt. In fact I just told one of my little grandsons the other day, that I guess when I was a kid growing up, I had such a love for my own dad, that I wouldn't do anything that would hurt him, or would grieve him. And I think it's what kept me out of a lot of places that were devious, because I knew that this isn't where he would want me to be, and I wouldn't grieve him. Well you see, this is what I told my little grandson. I said, not only for your dad, but I said, just remember, whatever you do that would be in trouble, and it hurts me. And so you take that same thing into our spiritual life. The Holy Spirit doesn't want to be hurt. He's not going to get angry. The Holy Spirit isn't going to browbeat us, but we are not to grieve Him. All right, now when it comes to Paul's teaching of the Holy Spirit, there are so many places I hardly know where to go first, but I think maybe I'll go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And as you remember when we taught the book of Romans for the first seven chapters, Paul hardly ever mentioned the Holy Spirit. Almost without mention, it might have been once. And then all of a sudden from chapter 8 to the end of the book of Romans, he used the Holy Spirit over, and over, and over. Now as you come on into his next letter, the Corinthian letter, you come to chapter 3, and you drop down to verse 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16. Now it's that same Spirit that he admonishes in Ephesians that we're not to grieve. In other words, we should know without a shadow of a doubt what is pleasing to the Spirit, and that's what we are supposed to be prone to do, that which is pleasing to Him. All right, now come on over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and we have another reference from the pen of the apostle regarding the indwelling Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6, and dropping down to verse 19. What, he asks, don't you know that your body, this physical body, is the temple or the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit who is in you, which you have of God? In other words, the Holy Spirit was given the moment we became a believer, and you're not your own. Well of course, Peter uses the same kind of language with regard to the blood of Christ. You have not been bought with silver or gold, but with what? The precious blood of Christ. We are a purchased possession, and so Paul reminds us that not only are we indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but since we've been bought with the blood of Christ, we are to respond by glorifying God in our body. Now on the way back to Ephesians chapter 4, you can stop in chapter 1, and a verse that we looked at quite in depth several weeks ago, and that is in Ephesians 1 verse 13. Ephesians 1 verse 13. Ephesians 1 verse 13. And all of these hopefully in your mind that is in mine, all fit together, that this is the same Spirit that we are to be careful not to grieve. And that happens only when we go contrary to the revealed will of God. And the Holy Spirit is hurt, He's grieved, but He will never respond with anger or wrath as God does in general. All right, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13. Speaking of Christ in verse 12, in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, again speaking of Christ, in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. See how the Holy Spirit functions in the life of the believer. He indwells us, He motivates us, He directs us, He keeps us. In fact, now I'll take you back to Romans. Another verse just comes to mind. Let's come all the way back to Romans chapter 7. I may have to look a second. Romans chapter 7, yeah, Romans chapter 7, starting at verse 5. Romans 7 verse 5, for when we were in the flesh, that is as an unbeliever, the motions, or the acts of sins, plural, which were by the law, in other words, all the things that the law condemned, the average person did sooner or later to some degree or less or more, and you can just name them. Taking the Lord's name in vain, stealing, gossiping, adultery, coveting, that was all part and parcel of the lost person's activity. See, and so that's what he's referring to. The motions or the acts of sins, which were by the law. They did work in our members, that is in our physical body, to bring forth fruit unto death. Well, just put your finger there a minute and hold it, and just skip across the page, at least in my Bible, to Romans 6. These are all statements that are there to have an impact, whether we're lost or saved, as to how God and the Spirit work. Now remember what he just said, that the things of the flesh work, and they will bring forth their fruit, not to life, but to death. Now Paul puts it in a little different way in verse 23. Romans 6.4 "...for the wages of sin is death." But the flip side is, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a comparison! Lost people work, and work, and work, and work their whole lifetime to earn eternal death. We as believers on the other hand, under grace, we just sit there with our open hands, and what do we take free for nothing? Eternal life! Isn't that amazing? The lost person is working his head off just to go to a devil's hell, and we as believers just stand here and take God's eternal life as a free gift. That's what it says. Now listen, you all know plain language. What are wages? That's what you get for working. The wages of sin is death. Now I put it in plainer language, and I know I do. You work yourself to death, eternal death. But the gift of God, and a gift, how much do you work for a gift? None, absolutely none. Usually it comes at least to me. I'm not used to getting gifts, but when they come, it's just a total surprise. That's the way it's supposed to be. Not anything you've earned, not anything that you say, hey I got that coming to me. No, and so that's what eternal life is. All right, now flip back up to chapter 7. So the work of the sinful life brings forth fruit to death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, we should serve in newness of what? Spirit. Now see this is what a lot of people don't understand. When I teach, you're not under law, you're under grace. Now to be under grace doesn't mean that we're lawless. It means we're not under the heavy hand of the law. But we are still responsible to God through the working of the Holy Spirit to basically do the same thing the law demands. Because the Holy Spirit will never turn around and say, okay you're a believer now, you're under grace, you can steal if you want to. You can go ahead and covet if you want to. No, never. That wouldn't even be sensible would it? But now instead of having the law and all of its pressure to do and not to do, the Holy Spirit guides us. Just like I always use the analogy of a young mother lovingly teaching her little one to walk. Just simply guiding it and taking the next step, helping it learn to work. Well that's the way the Holy Spirit works in the life of the believer. So he says in verse 6 again, that we should serve in newness of spirit, that is through the leading and the directing and the power of the Holy Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter which was the law. And what a difference that makes. Now let's see, where was I heading back to Ephesians? I had one more, Ephesians 1. I think we were there and I got sidetracked. Back to Ephesians 1, back in verse 13. So after we trusted and after we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also after you believe. I had a letter again the other day. Do I have to work and work and work and pray and pray through to receive the Holy Spirit? Not according to my Bible. It's not in here. You don't do anything to receive the Holy Spirit except believe the gospel. That's one of the automatic fringe benefits. As soon as you believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes in automatically. And that's what Paul is saying here. In whom also after you believe, plus nothing, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And what is the Holy Spirit of promise? He's God's down payment. It's God's down payment. He is the earnest of our inheritance until. Now there's a time word, so that means there's coming a time, month, day and year I always put it, somewhere out in the future where we'll experience the redemption of the purchased possession, which is our body. Now remember our soul and spirit are already redeemed. That's a done deal. But the body is still in its old corrupt state. It's still heading for death if the Lord doesn't come. But if it dies, they lay it in the ground. Yet it's going to experience the day when it too will be redeemed when it is resurrected. And so this is what the Holy Spirit's work is, to guarantee that even if we pass off the scene that God will one day resurrect this body, and we will as Philippians says, have a new body fashioned like His glorious body. Well the role of the Holy Spirit I think is sometimes dangerously maligned, and is sometimes what shall I say, taught falsely. Other times it's neglected totally, and that's just as bad. But rather we have to understand that the Holy Spirit has been a part of our salvation. He's indwelling us, and that He is the one who reproves us. He is the one who takes the place of the law. All right, so now then back to Ephesians chapter 4, and we'll hopefully finish now. We'll be able to go into the next chapter. Ephesians 4, verse 30 again, "...grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed," as we just saw in Ephesians 1.13, "...whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption." Now stop and think a minute. Once we're redeemed physically, bodily, in other words let me show you, turn over a couple pages to Philippians. Now again I always have to remind myself as well as my audience, this is a Bible study, and we're just going to search the Scriptures. Philippians 3, 20 and 21. We use these verses periodically because they are so descriptive of what we're looking for. Philippians 3, verse 20 and 21, "...for our citizenship," a better word than conversation, "...our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, at His coming. And when He does," verse 21, "...who shall change," see it's the same language that Paul used in 1 Corinthians 15, 52, 53, "...who shall change our vile body," this one that's prone to sickness, and pain, and death. "...but this body will be changed, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." Now I think too many times people don't really understand the impact of the transfiguration. Remember that great event up there on the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, James, and John were with the Lord up there on the mountaintop, and then all of a sudden right before their eyes He was transfigured. In other words, He became glory, personified. And then here comes Moses and Elijah into the midst, and the amazing thing is that Peter, and James, and John didn't have to ask the Lord, Who's that? They knew. Well what does all that tell us? The same way we get the glory, everybody we see. I don't care from what time they lived, or what and when, we're going to know them. But the thing I want you to see here is how that the Lord Himself was transfigured with all of His glory for just that moment of time to give us a little window of what it'll be like to fashion like His glorious body. People sometimes say, well are we going to wear clothes in eternity? Who cares? Who cares? We're going to be covered with that kind of glory. And if clothes are part of the deal, I don't know, but whatever. I know this much. We're going to be fashioned like unto His glorious body. And like they knew Moses and Elijah, we're going to know everybody we see, instantly. We're not going to have to be introduced, it's going to be as if we knew them forever. Now then Philippians says back in verse 21, where we just left off, Our time is gone. Who shall change our vile, this old body that is corrupt and prone to die, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Well what does Paul say? We're going to be joint heirs with Christ, we're going to be like Him? Oh what a prospect! I told some young people the other day, don't get too hung up on this 60 or 70 years, because it's nothing compared to the glory that's going to be revealed to us. And that's beyond description. There's no way I can tell anybody, because the Bible doesn't go any further than that. Paul said, I have not seen or heard all the things that God has prepared for them that love Him. All I know is it's going to be glorious, and we're going to appear glorious, and all of this is the prospect of the believer, and then we get so prone to cast all that aside for maybe just a few years of the so-called good life here. Well actually, it's a poor gamble. 1. Fox 760, Kenta, OK 74