THE QUIET HOUR

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 28 May 1932, Page 13

THE QUIET HOUR

(Contributed on Bebalf of tbe Hawera Ministers’ Association.)

(By “Epsilon.”.)

GRIEVE! NOT THE I-lOLY SPIRIT OF: GOD I (Eph. 4-30).

In writing to you to-day about the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians it is necessary to say a word as t,o the possibility of losing His fulness by wilful disregard of the simple laws which govern His abiding presence. To be forewarned is to be forearmed for many who once enjoyed the blessings of which we have spoken about, are now baak again to the' old powerless ness and uselessness, and stand out as w’arnings to those who have been led on to accept the gift of the Spirit. “Let him that thmketh take heed lest he fall.” Let us remember that purity tends; greatly to establish our Christian character and root and ground us on the ; Hock of Ages. it is significant to note the treatment to which the Holy Spirit may be v suhjected where there is unwillingness for His control. He may be. — Grieved —And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye arcs sealed unto the day of redemption. Eph. 4-30. Resisted —Ye stiff necked, and uncir-c-iuncised in heart and ears, ye do al-j ways resist t-lie Hjoly Spirit; as your < father did. Acts 7-dl. |

Vexed —'Rut they rebelled, and vexed the Holy Spirit, therefore he was turned to be their enemy, < and he fought against them. Isaiah 63-10. Lied unto and tempted—Rut Peter said, Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost. Aots 5-3.

,/Rone despite unto —Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and. hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith lie was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? Heib. 10-29. Quenched —Quench not the. Spirit (Thess 5-19), and this is always possible, even to one who has previously known His fulness. The only safeguard to such a fall is a continuous walking “by the Spirit” ;(Gal. 5-25) in glad obedience to all His directions. He is the sensitive Guest who is easily grieved, but who on the other hand is also easily pleased. If it is remembered that His object in all His dealings with us. is to make real to us our identification with the Lord Jesus in His death and risen life, then it will be seen that what grieves Him is any unwillingness on our part for the actual process of heart-conformity to His image. Many begin with Him, and then as the Cross is applied to their lives they shrink from the cost of submission, and so arrest His work and cause Him to withdraw His manifested presence from them. In order that others may -be. kept from failing similarly to co-operate with Him either in the renunciation of new command, this two-fold precept cannot be too strongly enjoined: Trust and Obey! It is not possible to tabulate the many causes by which. He is frequently grieved and His fulness lost in many lives, but it may help some to lia,ve knowledge of a few' of the commoner reasons for the loss of His active presence, that they may be- on the watch against giving them any place. The Holy Spirit is grieved by— Any departure from the attitude of entire surrender and consecration to G od ; Any unwillingness to yield ought which He condemns in the life; Any disobedience to His call to ser- 1 vice, and the employment of any methods in service other than those He directs; Any wilful seeking of sell-glory as an outcome of His indwelling; Any deliberate choice of things unclean and admittedly contrary to the known will of God; Any neglect of the Word of God and prayer.

Ehoh of these will be recognised as a contravention of the three-fold principle of faith, obedience, and dependence, which may be taken as an aJlcomprehensive statement of “the law of the Spirit of Life.” Therefore, to maintain the fulness which lias been received and to daily enjoy an'increased measure of the Spirit’s influence and power, this threefold attitude must be continued towards Him unbrokenly. Then there iis a fulfilment of all that Cod has promised, and “we all with unveiled face reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are transformed into the same image from glory' to glory even as from the Lord the Spirit.” (il Cor. 3-18.)

Work on, then, Lord, till on my soul Eternal light shall break, -And in Thy likeness perfected I satisfied shall wake.