GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT
Wednesday – January 25, 2017
Praise the Lord for yet another day to build this Kingdom of God. Greetings from The Three Minute Word publication and Eastern Gate Ministries International. God is so good, kind, and faithful to His Word.
Ephesians 4:27-32 (KJV)
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
The following very short verse in 1 Thessalonians is similar to, or perhaps we could think of it as going hand in hand with Ephesians 4:30. To grieve means to make one sad, in this case God the Holy Spirit, and in the context of our study this sadness in brought on by sin, disobedience, and of course the same thing quenches or stops the work of God, the move of the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 (KJV)
19 Quench not the Spirit.
Let’s say you own a business purchased at the greatest expense possible and you have convinced a group of people to join you in this business at no expense to themselves. As part of the deal of joining you have given them a Policy and Procedure Manual, an extraordinary benefits package, part ownership of the business, all authority for their assignments, all powerful assistants, and 24/7 access to you for consultation. However, they join you with great enthusiasm but then go about doing their own thing and giving you credit for it. The business is not growing and in fact has come into disrepute (disgrace, disrespect, disregard, discredit, shame, and dishonor) due to factions, failure to adhere to the Policy and Procedure Manuel, failure to consult with you (head of the business), and a lack of focus on the goals of the business. However this same group is very focused on the benefits package and ownership package. Do you suppose that you would be grieved and that your ability to work with this group would be quenched?
I believe I should take a moment and review the Bible Numerology associated with the verses I have just been talking about. Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament and ten is the number of responsibility. Four of chapter four is the number of creation, authority, and power. Verse thirty, the number thirty is associated with the blood of Christ. That verse talks about us being sealed by the Holy Spirit, which was only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit enabling Jesus (Hebrews 9:14) and the eternal redemptive shed blood of Jesus. We are responsible to use the Blood bought authority and creative power of God according to His will.
Second, First Thessalonians is the fourteenth book of the New Testament and fourteen is the number of deliverance. The number five of chapter five is the number of the Holy Spirit, the Grace and Glory of God. And verse nineteen, nineteen is the number of faith. If we ignore our deliverance that came by the power of the Holy Spirit by faith we quench or extinguish His work in our lives. Over and over again I am amazed at the light that can come through looking at the numerology. God is so good.
Ephesians 4:30-32 (KJV)
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Now look at the thirty-first verse in the Amplified translation of the Bible. These are all descriptors of corrupt communication. Each of us must examine ourselves, judge ourselves, repent, and on purpose make the needed corrections in our thinking, talking, and acting.
Ephesians 4:31 (AMP)
31 Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
