"BROKEN HEARTED"

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 147:3

He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.

Isaiah 61:1
 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;


Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
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1 Corinthians 15 :20-28     

 

"FIRSTFRUITS"

But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. ²¹For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. ²⁴Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. ²⁷For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him. ²⁸And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.

"A FALLEN STAR"

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

REVELATION 9

 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. ² And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.  

 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.   They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months.

Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.   In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.  They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.   And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.   

They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.   And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates

 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,  saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 

 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.  

 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.   For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.   And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

"THE PROMPTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT"


In all that we have said here about the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we do not mean to give the impression that the Spirit will reveal things to believers that are outside the Bible. He will not reveal to us authoritative doctrine, because Scripture teaches emphatically that everything we need to know has been revealed once for all in the Book of God.

This Bible is the complete, full and sufficient authority for the knowledge of God, for salvation, for the living of the Christian life, and for the operation of churches. All modern claims to fresh information by vision or direct word are totally mistaken.
 
The Holy Spirit, however, constantly stirs the conscience, reminds us of Scripture, enables us to understand the Bible (if we humbly ask, and use the Bible’s own rules of interpretation), clarifies our minds (as we think through issues), and even reminds us of spiritual duties, and of other important things that we may forget.

Frequently he infuses into us immense joy and appreciation of the Word, as we reflect upon its riches. The mighty Holy Spirit, dwelling within, interacts constantly with believers, but never so as to bypass or cause neglect of the infallible Word already revealed by him. The person who says, ‘The Lord told me this,’ following an imagined inner voice, has wandered far from the standard of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit activates the conscience, so that we cannot lightly and easily commit the sinful deed

The gracious work of the Holy Spirit in believing hearts is also described by Paul in Galatians 5.16-17. We are urged to walk in the Spirit, and by so doing to avoid fulfilling the lust of the flesh. There is, says the apostle, a battle in the heart, caused by our residual tendency to sin rising up in desire for gratification, resenting the new nature created by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, however, opposes these sinful desires ‘so that ye cannot do the things that ye would’. He activates the conscience, so that we cannot lightly and easily commit the proposed sinful deed, or say those wrong words. We are pulled up short, and made aware that we are about to offend our God.

But what if we press past the sudden barrier? This is what this article has largely been about. What if we sin in spite of the Spirit-activated conscience?
 
It may be a major matter, or a persistent offence, and we resist (oppose) the Spirit. It may be, however, that we do not express any opposition or resentment, but simply quench (quietly override) his promptings. But either way we shall certainly grieve the Holy Spirit.

‘If ye be led of the Spirit,’ says Paul, ‘ye are not under the law’, meaning that the person who is sensitive to the work of the Divine Resident, and conscientiously obeys, may be assured that he is truly saved, and no longer under the condemnation of the law. The law, of course, remains as the ruling moral standard of our lives, but we are no longer to be judged by it, for Christ has taken away its sting.

‘If we live in the Spirit’, writes the apostle, ‘let us also walk in the Spirit.’ Then, ever being overwhelmed by the kindness of his presence, sensitive to his stirrings, and conscientious in response, we will taste and prove the Spirit’s power and blessing in advancing godliness, joy, peace, understanding and usefulness.
 
Resist not his stirrings in the heart, calling to greater commitment and spiritual service. Quench not his urgings nor his movings of conscience. And grieve him not by neglect.
Finally, resist not, quench not, and grieve not, the Holy Spirit by neglecting the facility of prayer and intercession.

Resist not any duty, and quench not any urgings, for it is the Holy Spirit who perfects and translates prayer into the language of Heaven, helping our infirmities, making intercession for us with an earnestness far beyond our reach, and conforming our prayers to the glorious will of God (Romans 8.26-27).
 

"WHY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT ?"

1. Nature of the Holy Spirit
Clearly the first would be that he is holy. Of course the Holy One is offended when those he indwells prefer to wallow in things that to him are filth and stench. The altogether pure and Holy One stoops to indwell, but we entertain and harbour offensive things in our thought life, to injure him.

2. What He Has Done for Us

The Holy Spirit will also be grieved when we trample on all his past work in our souls. It was the Spirit who opened our hearts to the Gospel by a regenerating act, softening our antagonistic wills, opening our eyes to our spiritual predicament, bringing us under deep conviction of sin, and showing us Christ the Lord, as the only Saviour. We then yielded to Christ, and pledged ourselves to him, but now we pay no heed to the Spirit’s continuing shepherding, and in practical terms we barely acknowledge his existence.

3. What Christ Has Done for Us

The Holy Spirit will equally be grieved bearing in mind all that Christ has done for us. Who knows more than he and the Father how great a price the Saviour paid for the redemption of each single soul? The eternal, crushing weight of sin was taken by Christ to redeem us, so that he is ours, and he will be our visible King in the eternal glory. But how do we repay him? So often by an inconsistent walk, treating slightly the duty of stirring ourselves to holiness, and serving our earthly interests with greater fervour than the work of the Lord.

4. The Consequences for Us

The Holy Spirit is undoubtedly also grieved for our sake, because he knows the consequences we bring upon ourselves by neglecting his promptings, such as the loss of assured communion with God, the loss of instrumentality for the Gospel, the loss of response to prayer, and the loss of deep Christian joy.

5 Harm to the Gospel

Surely, also, the Holy Spirit will grieve because of the blow our poor spiritual walk delivers to the cause of Christ, as younger believers receive from us no example of holiness and zeal, and as watching eyes, especially unconverted people close to us, see our coldness and inconsistency

"THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GRIEVED"


It is madness and self-injury combined to resist the Holy Spirit,
so what induces us to do so?

In his remarkable sermon to self-righteous Jews, Stephen, the first martyr, cried – ‘Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.’ The Greek word means to fall against, such as when one puts one’s shoulder to a door to prevent it being opened.

To resist is to oppose the Holy Spirit. Stephen’s hearers resisted salvation, but as believers we may also resist the clear will of God at times, perhaps by refusing to put away a great sin, or by taking a path of self-indulgence, or by ignoring a clear call of God (in the Word) to take up a spiritual duty or a burden of service.

We know what is right, and yet we put our entire weight against the door of obedience, resisting the Member of the Godhead who acts within, that sublime, infinitely kind and glorious Custodian of our ransomed soul.

It is madness and self-injury combined to resist the Holy Spirit, so what induces us to do so? Surely it is because we lose touch with the staggering, marvellous realisation that the Most High God has lodged within, and that it is his promptings and urgings that we resist whenever some standard or duty of the Bible is laid on our heart, and we slam shut and barricade the door.

Sometimes resisting the Spirit even leads believers to articulate opposition to biblical standards (as many Christians do today over the commands to separate from worldly activities).

The second term for offending the Holy Spirit appears in 1 Thessalonians 5.19: ‘Quench not the Spirit.’ The Holy Spirit’s work is pictured here as a flame of holy conviction, zeal and warmth generated in the heart.

Quenching the Spirit suggests the idea of overriding him and his work. He is not violently opposed, as he is when resisted, but his stirrings and urgings are suppressed and the mind simply passes over them and moves on. The believer may remain faithful in doctrine, but is no longer so amenable in areas of conduct.

The flame or fire produced by the Holy Spirit is love and zeal for the Lord, for the Truth, and for lost souls. It includes conviction of sin when it leads to godly sorrow, indignation against our own wrongdoing, coupled with carefulness, vehement desire and zeal to reform. (All these terms are found in 2 Corinthians 7.11.

The flame of the Holy Spirit may urge us to witness, or to go with compassion to the aid of another person.
Do we quench the holy fervour of godly aims kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit?

Do we quench and suppress the promptings of conscience? Is the maintaining of spiritual zeal sometimes inconvenient, because it is contrary to our mood, or too costly for us? Do we therefore turn from praise, prayer, thankfulness, dedication and good works?

How can we do this, as Christians? Simply by forgetting that it is the ever-present, mighty Holy Spirit of God who is the author of all godly sensations.

We do not merely have a Divine Visitation, which would be wonderful, but something vastly greater – a Divine Resident who ignites the dying embers of spiritual activity, restoring them to full vigour. But we lose sight of both the doctrine and the reality and smother this reviving, energising work of God within.

The Holy Spirit grieves over our backslidings and failings, as we do over our mishaps and misfortunes

The third term describing our insulting treatment of the Holy Spirit appears in Ephesians 4.30 – ‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’

This exhortation opens to our view the invisible heart of the Spirit. Surely one of the ‘deep things of God’ is the disclosure that he is grieved, which literally means caused distress and sorrow, by the disrespect and waywardness of believers.

Our infinite, all-powerful Divine Resident may be offended, injured and wounded in heart by the indifference of those he is taking to Heaven.

The Holy Spirit is grieved when his work in us and for us is ignored. The fact that the invincible, indestructible Spirit may be pained is largely beyond our understanding, but revelation tells us it is so.

The Holy Spirit’s love for us – like Christ’s love – is so great, that he feels for people who are tiny specks of dust before him.

A mysterious question in James 4.5 asks: ‘Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?’ This has been more helpfully rendered thus: ‘ . . . the Holy Spirit who yearns jealously over us’. With powerful protective love he grieves over our backslidings and failings, as we do over the mishaps and misfortunes of our own children and loved ones.
 
If only we were more constantly aware of the Spirit’s sufferings over us, what a difference it would make to our care over our walk, and to our conscientiousness.

Paul seems to have been very aware of his debt to the Spirit, saying, ‘I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit . . .’ (Romans 15.30). How he loved the Holy Spirit! In this passage he says, in effect, if only we would love the Holy Spirit, we would strive in prayer as never before for the progress of the Gospel.

The exhortation to ‘grieve not the Holy Spirit’ is made in the context of holy living, putting off the old person and putting on the new. Corrupt speech is to be curbed, whether boastful, worldly,  dishonest, exaggerated, unclean and lustful remarks, or bitterness, gossiping, and hurtful words.

How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? By ignoring the pangs of conscience that the Spirit activates, and failing to check the offensive words or deeds. If we suppress these promptings, and sin regardless, then they will eventually cease, conscience will become dormant, and we will fall headlong into unrestrained sinful speech and action, forfeiting real communion with God and blessing from him.

Similarly, if we fail to pray for and implement active personal kindness toward others, with tenderheartedness and forgiveness, then we grieve the Holy Spirit who works to promote these virtues within us (Ephesians 4.29-32).

Would we not take the stirrings and urgings of conscience much more seriously if we remembered and respected that it is our Divine Resident who works to purify and develop us?

Perhaps it will help if we consider some of the possible reasons why the Holy Spirit is grieved over us.

"PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS ASCENDED"

 

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.   And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.  Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  

 

 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.   Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.   And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.   The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”