June 27, 2010 - SpiritFire:

Absolute Disregard (Luke 12:10; Acts 5:3; 7:51; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; Hebrews 10:29)

Key Question:  What is the sin against the Holy Spirit? How does a person quench the Spirit? What do I do if I have quenched the Holy Spirit? Does God ever take the Holy Spirit from us?

Kernel Message:

1. We sometimes talk about "the sin" against the Holy Spirit, meaning the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus spoke about in his earthly ministry. This, Jesus says, is an unforgivable sin. This sin is attributing Jesus work and miracles in his earthly ministry to the work of Satan. This would seldom, if ever, apply to someone who is seeking to follow Jesus today -- except in the sense of Hebrews 10:29! (see Luke 12:10 & parallels) We know what this is NOT from these other descriptions of sins against the Holy Spirit -- things that are very very serious, but can be forgivable with repentance.
2. However, there are a number of sins against the Holy Spirit that the NT lists:
   • Lying to the Holy Spirit
   • Testing the Holy Spirit
   • Resisting the Holy Spirit
   • Grieving the Holy Spirit
   • Quenching the Holy Spirit

Practical Pieces of the Message:

• Scenario: Plumber came to my house, found out I was a minister. Confessed that he was going to hell because he had once cursed at and about the Holy Spirit and knew he was guilty of an unforgivable sin. But he loved Jesus, took his family to church, and sought to honor God so he could guide his family to heaven even though he wouldn't make it! Needless to say, the plumber did more listening than working on pipes as we honestly opened the Bible. A couple of years later, he came to work at our house and told me not to prepare my sermons, but just go a couple of hours early to church, sit in the parking lot and pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance as I looked through the Scriptures and then stand up and preach under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit without preparation! I told him that I found that inspiration seemed to come more regularly when I had spent a lot of time in preparation and prayer before Sunday morning! The bottom line, however, is this: on that visit to fix the broken plumbing at our house, he discovered the truth about the sin against the Holy Spirit, and he recommitted his life to honor the Holy Spirit in his own life!
• Promise: If we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives as believers, God will send the Holy Spirt to be at work within us. But, the Spirit is the polite presence, and the Spirit will not step in unless we ask that God reigns in our hearts! That's one of the reasons that Jesus taught us to pray, "Your Kingdom come ..." and also promised us that God would send the Holy Spirit to us! (Luke 11:13)

Key Point:

• Our call is to more intentionally invite God's Spirit to have control of our lives and commit to not oppose his work in our lives!

Key Scriptures:

• Luke 12:10
• Acts 5:3, 9
• Acts 7:51
• Ephesians 4:30
• 1 Thessalonians 5:19
• Hebrews 10:29

Drama, Media, & Connecting Pieces:

• Pre-video:
• Key Video:
•   
• God Story Videos:
•  
• Scripture Reading & Prayer: Please read all of these at both Daybreak & Refresh for our Scripture reading out of the TNIV!
• Matthew 6:9-13 from the NKJV including "For yours is the Kingdom ... Amen."