2. The Offenses against the Holy Spirit I. What are the ways in which we can actually offend the Holy Spirit? The word offend means “to give displeasure to, to displease, to affront or to anger.” In its various uses, it can also mean “to transgress or violate.” A. We can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). The word that is used in this passage for “grieve” literally means “to make sorry, to cause heaviness or sadness, or to offend.”

3. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do the following: 1. Lie to one another (vs. 25). 2. Hold our anger and fail to resolve conflict with one another, giving the devil a place to work in our lives (vs. 26-27). 3. Defraud one another by taking what is not our own (vs. 28). 4. Speak evil to and about one another (vs. 29, 31).

4. The word used for “rebelled” in this passage also means to be contentious and disobedient. The word used for “grieved” means to “to hurt, to vex, to cause pain, to torture.” B. We can rebel against or vex the Holy Spirit (Is. 63:10). C. We can lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-4). D. We can tempt the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:9).

5. The word “stiff-necked” means “stubborn, obstinate and headstrong.” The word “resist” means “to strive against, oppose or be adverse to.” F. We can harden our hearts against the Holy Spirit (Heb. 3:7-15). E. We can resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). G. We can insult or despise the Holy Spirit (Heb. 10:29).

6. H. We can quench the Holy Spirit (I Th. 5:19). The word for “quench” in the Bible always refers to the extinguishing of a flame.

7. I. We can blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Mt. 12:22-32; Mark; 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). 1. The Audience 2. The Context 3. The Warning a. He gives the religious leaders a stern warning about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. b. He immediately changes His mode of teaching.

8. 4. The Unpardonable Sin The unpardonable sin is not… a. Making a careless statement in a fit of rage or an accidental slip of the tongue. b. Ascribing “speaking in tongues” to the work of the devil. c. Knowingly doing something that you know you should not. d. Easy to commit.

9. The unpardonable sin is the culmination of all of the above offences against the Holy Spirit. It is a knowledgeable and deliberate sin. It is not a sin of ignorance (I Tim. 1:12-13).

10. 6. Guidelines for Judgment a. God practices His own guideline of forgiveness (Luke 17:3-4). b. Jesus will not cast away those who come to Him (John 6:37). c. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom.10:13). d. Judgment will be based on how we end up not on what we turned away from (Ezek. 18:21-32).

11. II. How can we ensure that we do not offend the Holy Spirit? Thankfully, it is also possible to please the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28). When we keep our hearts and our hears open to the Lord and live in a state of obedience to what the Holy Spirit is saying, we are sure to please the Holy Spirit.