When He Is Come - Media Sabda Org

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WHEN HE IS COME by Joshua Stauffer Chapter 24 OFFENSES AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT We read of the anger of God and of the wrath of the Lamb, but we never read of the anger of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit possesses every attribute of Deity; therefore, He is infinite in His love. His love is very great. It is not His office to express anger, for He acts for and in behalf of the Father and the Son. He is gentle, possessing comforting, wooing, and drawing powers, and for this reason He is easily grieved when His offers are rejected. I. Grieving the Holy Spirit "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30). The Holy Spirit as a Person has the capacity for joy and sorrow. We may bring joy or sorrow to Him. Grieving means causing grief or distress, sorrow, or sadness. The above text should be considered in the light of the context. The things which are mentioned in the context are sinful anger, giving place to the devil, theft, indolence, corrupt communications, bitterness, wrath, evil speaking, and malice. These are some of the things which grieve Him. The following things also grieve the Holy Spirit: indifference to His wooings when He is seeking to draw us into the deep spiritual things; indifference in our attitude toward carnality; indifference in our love toward Christ; indifference toward a practical holy life; indifference toward evangelizing the world; indifference toward spirituality and the heavenly realities; spiritual nearsightedness; doing things which are inconsistent to holiness, or anything that is unChristlike. Many dishonor Him by not receiving Him into their hearts in His sanctifying and witnessing power. The Spirit is grieved when we treat Him as a mere impersonal force, or by speaking of Him as "it." Those who speak of Him as an "it" generally think of Him as such. The Spirit is grieved when we regard Him as a mere creature, and not as God. He also is grieved by an orthodoxy without any spirituality. He's grieved when there is the employment of substitutes to revive the work of the church, to create interest, or to increase attendance by such as the following means: ice cream festivals, penny 'uppers, chicken dinners, lawn parties, picnics, oyster suppers, operatic music, club drama, yard games, lotteries, card parties, and other like activities. None of these things can take the place of the operations of the Spirit. When these are substituted for Him and His workings, He is greatly grieved. What is needed is a humbling of self before God; a separation from worldliness, then the seeking of an outpouring of the Spirit upon the church. The more a church relies on substitutes, the more the Spirit will be grieved and withdraw His operations. Those who have not recognized or received Him are those who are inclined to depend on substitutes for His Person and power.
II. Quenching the Holy Spirit "Quench not the Spirit" (I Thess. 5:19). This Scripture is addressed to Christians. The word "quench" means to put out a fire by water, or by smothering it. Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. He is represented as a fire because of His illuminating, penetrating, refining, enlightening, and enlivening character and ministry. The baptism of Christ is mentioned as being with the Holy Spirit and fire. The word "quench," as used each time in the New Testament, expresses the thought of putting out a fire. We read, "Smoking flax shall he not quench," "Where the fire is not quenched," "Quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," and "Quenched the violence of fire." The Holy Spirit may be quenched along different lines. One way is by failing to add fuel to the fire. The way to add spiritual fuel to the fire which bums on the altar of our hearts is by reading the Word of God, meditation, prayer, taking time to be holy, and by Christian activities. He may be quenched by suppression, that is, by turning the damper on His operations and failing to open the spiritual draft, or by failing to stir up the heavenly fire. The Spirit may also be quenched by failing to recognize His operations in others, or by despising others who are under the influence of the Spirit. III. Resisting the Holy Spirit "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye" (Acts 7:51). Resisting the Holy Spirit means to resent His doings, to oppose and hate righteousness, and set self in array against Him. While Christ lived and labored among men, He was resisted, rejected, despised, hated, and not accepted. The Holy Spirit has come into the world, and He too, empowers, blesses, and helps all people who accept Him. As people rejected Christ while He was on earth, in the same manner many reject the Spirit while He is in the world, and those through whom He works. This is resisting Him. IV. Undervaluing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit "Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money" (Acts 8:19, 20). The spiritual and heavenly gifts should be valued more highly and desired more than material and earthly possessions. When people value the material, present, physical, and the natural things more than they do the spiritual and heavenly things, the Spirit is greatly grieved. The Spirit was greatly grieved with Esau because he sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. The Spirit could not forget the act of Esau, who did not value highly the birthright, the Abrahamic blessings, and the promises which God had made to Abraham. Two thousand years later He made mention of this fact and called him profane. This profanity consisted of placing a higher value on the present things than on the eternal things, on the natural things than on
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WESLEYAN HERITAGE Library WHEN HE I
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WHEN HE IS COME by Joshua Stauffer
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infirmities. He is well qualified t
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esurrected life of Christ and impar
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the gospel to all people. It is the
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II. Personal Characteristics Ascrib
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V. Personal Treatments Predicated o
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will do for each of us all we will
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Then the Holy Spirit is omniscient.
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"Judgment" here refers to convictio
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the beautiful type of Christ our gr
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VII. Wine Wine also symbolizes the
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second Person of the Trinity out of
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Christ was not baptized with the Ho
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performed; the manner in which His
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(Acts 1:22). He did not ascend in H
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flesh and humanity; the brass, that
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III. The Vessels Unto Honor The Lor
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When He Is Come - Media Sabda Org

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