Dr. Bernard, Ephesians 430, Paul in Ephesians 430, Paul issues a warning. He says,

do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

So I grew up in a Pentecostal church, and there were several times the elders would make a reference to not grieving the Holy Spirit.

It was said always with a certain gravity.

You don't want to be guilty of grieving God's spirit.

I was always looked at as a very serious thing.

But what does Paul mean when he says not to grieve the Holy Spirit?

What kind of attitudes or behavior is Paul talking about?

Because I think most of our audience would want to avoid being guilty.

Yes.

Well, let's talk about this.

We as apostolics, we believe that we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

And that itself is an interesting concept because is it a physical

filling? Where? In your bones, in your heart and your stomach? So obviously we're talking about

a spiritual metaphor. And so I think what that really means is you are controlled by the Holy Spirit,

not against your will, but as you submit to God's will,

you are led by the Spirit. The Spirit guides you and leads you and you submit. So that means

you're living a holy life, you're bearing the fruit of the Spirit, you're not committing sin,

you're not doing the lust of the flesh. And so Romans chapter 8 talks about these contrasting ways of being

led by the flesh, led by the spirit, and says only those who are led by the Spirit are the

children of God. So it's not just if you receive the Holy Spirit one time in your life, but are you

currently being led by the Spirit? Likewise, Galatians 5 talks about the flesh and spirit warring

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