Amen. Thank you for tuning in tonight. I'm Darryl Bailey. As we get into the wonderful word of God tonight. Amen. We'll be talking about wounds to the spirit. We'll be coming out of three different texts tonight that we'll have. Acts 7, verse 51, Ephesians 4, verse 30, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 19. Here we talk about wounds to the spirit. You know, have you ever stopped to reflect on the weight of our actions? against the Holy Spirit. You see, the Spirit of God is no ordinary presence. It's the third person of the Trinity, holy and sovereign. And so, to sin against Him is not just a minor offense. It's an act of deep rebellion against His divine nature. J. Oswald Saunders once said that the magnitude of an offense is determined not alone by the nature of the offense itself, but by the dignity of the one against whom it is committed. And so how much more serious then are our actions when we are directed against, when they're directed against the Holy Spirit? And so, we'll be talking about three specific ways that we can wound the Spirit through our actions and our attitudes tonight, you know. And so, wounds to the Spirit, what am I talking about? When we look at it, we look at as we understand our response to the Spirit's presence. resisting the Holy Spirit, grieving the Holy Spirit, quenching the Holy Spirit, blaspheming the Holy Spirit, ignoring the Spirit's voice, and denying the Spirit of God. Now, I'll only be dealing with about three things tonight, but there's six different things that we can do to wound the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God is sensitive. And so as we get into that tonight, and we begin to talk about those things before we go any further, let's get into a word of prayer. And then I want to remember a man of God that I just heard today that Mike Cowan had passed away and went on to be with the Lord. And so I just want to remember his family and them and honor him. What a wonderful man of God. What an humble man of God as well. And especially in our days with Oakland Heights Baptist Church of attending regularly and going places with the choir and just having a wonderful time with all of his family and the Cowan family. And so we want to honor him tonight. We may sing a song that that he sung to honor him. But before we do anything else, let's open up with a word of prayer and let's ask God to intervene in our our lives tonight, because there's nothing that we can do That that's quite like what the Lord can do for us especially when you let the genuine Holy Spirit begin to speak through you and begin to work through you. If you're a singer, there's a big difference in singing in the Spirit and just getting up and singing. If you're a preacher, there's a lot of folks who can get up and preach, but if you're preaching in the Spirit, boy, I can listen to you all day. But if you're not preaching in the Spirit, I'd be like someone who'd get a newspaper out and read it while they were preaching. And so, you know, I just assume go to sleep. Then here's somebody that's up carrying on and they're not even in the spirit of God. And so I thank God. Let's pray tonight and remember all of the families that are still grieving the families and Bethel Crossroads Baptist Church that are going through very difficult times as well. All of our families. I thank again for my sister getting home from the hospital and pray for her recovery as well. and pray for all of our families as we all come together in Jesus's name. Father, thank you for saving us by your marvelous grace. Lord, we know that we're nothing without you. Lord, hold our hand tonight. And Lord, guide us, give us that that we need. Only you can give us, Lord, the spiritual nourishment that can come from you. And so tonight, Lord, we thank you for saving us by your marvelous grace. We pray for the Cowan family, all of them, Lord, knowing, Father, where our brother in Christ, Brother Mike, is, Lord, he's in the presence of the Lord, to be absent from the body, to be present with you. But Lord, how hard that it'll be with him not physically being with us, as we know for a fact with our own best friend, Darrell Pruitt. Lord, with all of our loved ones, and Lord, I pray God that you'll just touch that family, wrap your loving arms around them, be with all the ones that speak to comfort the families. And Lord, may it be a healing as it helps them in their time of grief. In Jesus' marvelous mighty name, we pray. Amen. All right, here tonight, when we look at wounds to the Spirit, each and every one of us, as we reflect on how bad that we can really wound the Spirit of God, as we understand our response to the Spirit's presence. I'm glad, as Acts 7, 51, you do always resist the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4.30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. And 1 Thessalonians 5.19, quench not the Spirit. And so, here tonight, three ways that we can wound the Spirit through our actions and our attitudes. Now, let's hold it right there for just a moment. As we get out Brother Mike Cowan's song, we're going to attempt to try to sing this, and we won't be able to sing it as good as Brother Mike. Brother Mike was a great singer, along with a group of all the group that sung together at Oakland Heights Baptist Church. What phenomenal singers. Always enjoyed hearing Brother Mike get up and sing bass. And Brother, I tell you, all of his family, what a blessing that they are. You pray. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather be His than have riches untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand. than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause. I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause. I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I'd rather be true to his holy name than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today. He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom. He's sweeter than Honey from out of the cold. He's all that my hungry spirit needs. I'd rather have Jesus and let him lead. than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. Brother Mike Cowan, praise his holy name i thank god for brother mike we'll see him again one of these days a man this old bodies is slowly uh... and uh... it is quickly sometimes passing away uh... each and every day uh... as this body is not me uh... to be in the presence of the lord we'll have that glorified body when we come back with a little bit but this old body is perishing away each and every day But what God has promised to be the keeper of this soul, it is guaranteed, because the word of the Lord is one of the things of a promise that you can always count on. Amen? And so, when we look at the wounds to the spirit, amen, tonight, We begin to look at three specific ways that we can wound the Spirit through our actions and our attitudes. And one of the ways that we can do that is the consequences of rejecting the Spirit's call to salvation. Amen. As we look and realize that in Acts chapter 7 verse 51. I'll bring that up in just a minute. But A.W. Tozer said the Holy Spirit never enters a man and then lets him live like the world. You can be sure of that. And I'm glad that when the Holy Spirit is truly indwelling a believer, amen, you will not be allowed to do and live in your way, at least not to get by with it because you will be convicted by the Holy Spirit of God. And so he says, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. You know what? I'm glad that Stephen accused the Sanhedrin of saying, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. Here he revealed their persistent rejection of God's truth and grace. And this rejection wasn't passive. It was an active resistance to the Spirit's invitation to salvation. Amen. Well, I'll tell you, when you look and realize that the Holy Spirit that is in the defense before the Sanhedrin as he accuses them, praise God. I'm glad all of God's messengers, including Moses, the prophets, and now even Jesus Christ, Those stick-necked and uncircumcised and hardened ears draws from the Old Testament imagery where Israel's rebellion is likened to stubbornness, amen. And the heart that symbolizes the spiritual immaturity, Stephen connects their continual rejection of God's work to the ancestral's pattern of resisting the Holy Spirit of God. And so, Acts chapter 7 recounts Stephen's speech a weeping history of Israel's unfaithfulness to God's covenant, amen, culminating in the rejection of Jesus, the righteous one. And I tell you, this chapter highlights the continuing of resistance against God, contrasting with Stephen's vision of God's right hand. And so, when we look and realize that Felix, the governor of Judea, embodies this rejection, when Paul reasoned with him about faith, Felix delayed saying, when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee in Acts chapter 24, verse 25. But tragically, that convenient season never came. There's some out there that's listening to me now tonight, that they have no recollection of ever having the Holy Spirit indwell them. How often do we feel the Spirit calling us to repentance, but turn away? Many people today don't even go down to the altar anymore. Why? They're afraid of the altar. They're afraid of getting down in the altar and praying. But resisting the Spirit in salvation is not only dangerous, but it's final if persisted in. Salvation requires yielding to the Spirit's gentle prompting, amen, and accepting Christ's gift of grace, amen. Listen tonight. Are you resisting the Spirit's call to salvation? Will you trust him tonight and receive that eternal life that he offers you? Each and every one of us as we go through life today, can you imagine looking at a picture of a dam holding back a powerful river out there. And when the gates are closed and the water's force builds pressure causing cracks to form, we look at Acts chapter 7 verse 51 that describes those who always are resisting the Holy Ghost. The spirit is like closing the gates on God's work, amen, creating some kind of spiritual pressure and eventual damage. Listen, are you closing the gates of your heart to God tonight? You need to open them up through prayer, through scripture, and through obedience, amen, tonight. And so as we look and realize D.L. Moody, the old shoe salesman from Chicago, said that the spirit tells me what I ought to know and not what I want to know, hallelujah. And so I thank God as we look at the three ways that we can wound the Spirit through our actions tonight and our attitudes. We see not only the consequences of rejecting the Spirit's call to salvation out of Acts chapter 7 verse 51, but we look at the pain of offending the Spirit in sanctification. in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30, amen. The Word of God says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. I'm telling you, tonight, that many of us, that we're sealed under the day of redemption. But let me tell you tonight, Paul is instructing all believers to avoid actions that grieve the Holy Spirit, such as bitterness. such as wrath, such as malice, amen. Grieving the Spirit causes sorrow through sin, disrupting the fellowship between God and His people. Why man, you're probably one of those ones that come in and because of your wounding the Spirit of God, the church service can't even run right. Why nobody can't get saved because you're the barrier causing all of the problems in the house of God. Amen. And so, you know what? Paul is emphasizing that the Spirit seals believers, making them as gods. Listen. possession until the final redemption, praise his mighty name. And so Ephesians chapter 4, it focuses on the unity and the maturity of the church tonight, urging all believers to live in holiness, putting, listen, putting off the old self and putting on the new self in Christ, praise his mighty name, amen. And so I thank God how much pain that you're causing the Holy Spirit tonight, how much distress you're causing the Holy Spirit tonight, amen. And so The Spirit's personal nature and deep care for all of us as believers, amen, is one of those things, amen. And so we're marked with a seal for security. We have ownership on us tonight, hallelujah. God has marked every one of us with his wonderful seal of God, amen. And so the pain of offending the Spirit in sanctification that he warns, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, amen. And so, to grieve the Spirit is to cause him sorrow, often through deliberate sin or neglect of holiness, amen. And so, as I say, the examples of grieving the Spirit, lying, bitterness, anger, malice, immorality, foolish talk, covenants, wounding the Holy Spirit involves action, attitudes, and choices that resist grief. and hinder the Spirit's work in all of our lives. And so, when you resist the Spirit, you reject salvation, you ignore or reject the Spirit's conviction about sin and the need for Christ, amen. A disobedience to God's word, you refuse to act on the Spirit's guidance found in the scriptures, amen. Prideful stubbornness, a hardening of one's heart against the Spirit's prompting due to pride or self-reliance, amen. Neglecting prayer. Oh, yes. Yeah, you're upsetting the Holy Spirit. Failing to seek the Spirit's direction and decisions on a daily basis. Amen. And then not only do you resist the Holy Spirit, you grieve the Holy Spirit. Amen. Because your sinful attitudes of harboring bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and malice. Amen. Unforgiveness, refusing to forgive others. as Christ forgave you, amen. Corrupt speech as well, using language that's unkind, untruthful, or hurtful, amen. Hypocrisy, living contrary to the values of Christ while claiming to follow Him, amen. Worldliness as well, prioritizing all of the worldly pleasures over the spiritual growth, amen. And so we see also that you quench the spirit of God, amen. And the ways that you do it is you suppress your gift, ignoring and dismissing those spiritual gifts, both in oneself and others, that God has given you those spiritual gifts to use. And you're not using them for the honor and glory of God. You're using them to get your own recognition today. You're using them to get your own spotlight in society today, amen. And so you're neglecting worship as well, failing to maintain a spirit of gratitude and worship, amen. Disregarding prophetic truth and the biblical teaching rooted in scriptures, amen. Compromising the holiness of God, allowing sin to dominate one's life and stiffening the spirit sanctifying work, amen. and apathy in faith as well, becoming spiritually complacent or lukewarm, as Revelation talked about. And then there's the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as well, where all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. In Matthew chapter 12, verse 31, the ways that people blaspheme today, attributing God's work to evil, They claim that the Spirit's work is of Satan, as the Pharisees did with Jesus' miracles. They deliberately have rejection, persistently rejecting the Holy Spirit's witness to Christ, leading to a hardened heart and an ultimate unbelief. They ignore the Spirit's voice as well, because the writer of Hebrews said, today if you'll hear this voice, then harden not your hearts. but listen the ways that many ignore this the spirit's voice is delaying obedience putting off what the spirit prompts you to do he says do it right then right now amen not later when you get back home do it right then right now amen you got a testimony get up right then amen praise god and so not only delaying obedience, but disregarding conviction, amen. Ignoring the feelings and the guilt over sin. Neglecting God's word, amen. Failing to meditate on the scripture where the spirit speaks out of 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, hallelujah. And so we dishonor the spirit as well, because Paul said, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? Ways that we dishonor, we abuse this body. We engage in all of these sinful behaviors such as sexual immorality, and substance abuse today. We have a lack of reverence for this body. We treat the Spirit as insignificant and irrelevant in our spiritual life. The unfruitfulness that can be there, failing to bear the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5, amen. And then lastly, even though there's so many, we deny the Spirit's power because the Spirit has power. And I'm glad 2 Timothy 3.5 says, how in the form of Godless but deny the power thereof. The ways that we deny the Holy Spirit is we live in fear. Acting as though the Spirit cannot provide strength or guidance. 2 Timothy 1.7, trusting in self and depending on one's own abilities instead of relying on the Spirit of God and then rejecting the transformation. Resisting the Spirit's ability to change one's heart. mind according to Romans chapter 12 verse 2. And so, you know what? Leslie B. Flynn shares the story of a Christian woman whose temper grieved the Holy Spirit and drove her husband away from faith. And after repenting and seeking the Spirit's help, her transformation softened her husband's heart, leading him to Christ. You know what? The Spirit indwells us. and it seeks to conform us to Christ's image. And when we live in an unrepentant sin, we cause the Holy Spirit pain and we hinder our spiritual growth. And so what sins in your life might be grieving the Spirit tonight? Will you repent? Will you ask for his cleansing tonight? And so, as we look and realize from the movie Fireproof, hey man, you know, I said, I was preaching the other day about the newest one the Kendrick Brothers has out called The Forge. And I'm glad that in the movie Fireproof, Caleb learns that his actions, his anger, and his neglect are damaging his marriage. And even when he doesn't realize it, out of our own selfish anger and sin that grieves the spirit, disrupts our fellowship with God, just like Caleb in the movie Fireproof, we must repent and pursue restoration, just as Caleb applied the love Dare to restore his marriage. Challenge. I'm going to tell you, I want to challenge you tonight that the dare to listen and obey the Spirit's prophet. I dare you to listen to the Spirit tonight. Amen. Because when you listen to the Spirit, You'll never go wrong. When you're behind the pulpit, amen, when you get up and do anything, if the Spirit tells you to do it, you'll never go wrong. And so I thank God. That's the fireproof that we all need in our lives. Three ways that we all can wound the Spirit through our actions and our attitudes. The consequences of rejecting the Spirit's call to salvation out of Acts chapter seven, verse 51. and the pain of offending the Spirit's sanctification out of Paul's writing of Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30. But last and closing, the danger of suppressing the Spirit's power. in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 19, that the word of God says, quench not the spirit, Aban. Can you imagine when we look and realize that Paul admonishes the Thessalonians not to extinguish the spirit's work? in their lives and particularly I tell you regarding the spiritual gifts and the prophetic utterances that the Thessalonians were going through to quench the spirit is to stifle its influence and akin to putting out a fire that needs to be on fire but you are trying to cover up the flame that God is igniting through the Holy Spirit of God in the service that's taking place. And you're the problem, you're the cause. And so here we see that it provides the practical instructions for the holy living, emphasizing the readiness for Christ's return and the encouragement for all of us to pursue a spirit-led life. And so, to extinguish or suppress the Spirit of God is one of the worst things that can happen. Paul admonishes, quench not the Spirit. And to quench the Spirit is to stifle the work, whether through unbelief, through disobedience or neglect sometimes. And so we quench the spirit is like extinguishing a fire that was meant to bring warmth and light. A lack of prayer and neglect of scripture or refusal to obey his promptings can douse the spirit's influence in all of our lives. And so the spirit desires to empower and to guide us, and by refusing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we lose the blessings of His presence and the joy of His work in and through us. I wonder how many times have we all got up in the flesh. We've all got up in the carnal and sung a song. We've all got up and begin to try to teach in the flesh. We've all got up and tried to preach in the flesh. Are there areas in your life where you've silenced the Spirit's voice? How can you and I rekindle the Spirit's flame in our hearts tonight? And so I'm glad that each and every one of us, as we look and realize John Wesley's experience described his heart, being strangely warmed when he surrendered fully to the Holy Spirit's call. Quenching the Spirit is one of those things that a lot of people do, and we extinguish the flame that fuels our faith. And so, Wesley's revival showed what happens when the Spirit is welcomed rather than stifled. Fan the flame of the Spirit through daily devotions, through worship, and through fellowship. Ask God tonight to reignite any areas where your spiritual fire has went down and went low. And so, as we look and realize, Oswald's Chamber said, the spirit is the first power that we practically experience, but the last power we come to understand. And so, as our applications tonight, each one of us, we look and we realize that most of us resist the Spirit. We ignore God's voice through the distractions, like the social media tonight, all the materialism, all the busyness. We schedule daily time to pray and listen for the Spirit's leading. Ask the Lord, what are you saying to me today or tonight? And so many are resisting that spirit. We're ignoring God's voice. We're grieving the spirit. As we said, as we re-emphasize our message in the closing, we engage in gossip and harbor bitterness and choose selflessness over selflessness. But we need to write down one behavior or attitude to surrender to God and ask forgiveness and invite the Spirit to transform that area. Would you do that tonight? And lastly, out of 1 Thessalonians 5.19, we quench the Spirit. Neglecting the opportunities to serve and evangelize or to use spiritual gifts, we need to actively seek ways to serve others, to share the gospel, this week and fan the flame of the Spirit by stepping out in faith. Boy, that's hard sometimes when we do that, ain't it? But I'm going to tell you, as I get ready to close out, and I'll tell you as we say this, listen to what I'm fixing to say. Resist no longer. Stop delaying. Obedience. Be obedient to God's call tonight. Resist no longer. in those areas where God's calling you to service, where he's calling you to repentance, where he's calling you to evangelism. And so resist no longer. What area of life that you need to surrender to the Spirit? Resist no longer. Secondly, I leave with you, live to please the Spirit. Replace that bitterness, replace that anger with the kindness, with the forgiveness, and we honor the spirit that's within us. Are your words and actions uplifting those that are around you? And then thirdly, I leave with you, not only do we resist no longer, not only do we live to please the spirit, but thirdly and closing, fan the flame of the spirit. Step out in faith. Use your spiritual gifts and encourage others to do the same. How can you and I let the Spirit's fire grow even brighter in our lives? I believe I've told you that tonight. By being mindful of how we treat the Holy Spirit, we can nurture a relationship that glorifies God and transforms our lives. The Spirit of God is deeply sensitive and holy, and to reject His call, is to salvation, to grieve him through sin, or to quench his power, is to dishonor the very one who brings us life and sanctification. Let us walk in obedience tonight, sensitivity and dependence on the spirit of God, and may we honor him in every aspect of our lives tonight as I get ready to close out. Father, help us to be obedient to your spirit where we've wounded it. Lord, I pray for an old lost sinner tonight. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, I pray that tonight they'll kneel wherever they are and give their heart and life to Jesus and say, Lord, be the keeper of my soul. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart and life and dwell. And all of this we pray in Jesus' marvelous mighty name. Amen. Happy New Year to all of you.