Post by tomdurst on Mar 15, 2018 18:52:55 GMT -5
GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT
"When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’”—Acts 26:14-15 (NET Bible)
Before Saul (later Paul the Apostle) was converted on the road to Damascus through a direct encounter with Jesus Christ he had been “kicking against the goads” of his conscience. At some point a ray of light comes to every person (Ecclesiastes 3:11; John 1:8; Romans 2:14-16) but many choose darkness and reject whatever light is shown to them (John 3:19-21). In Paul’s case he finally came to a point of crisis in which he made a decision to surrender to the light that had been nagging him for a very long time. We are warned not to blaspheme or grieve the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32; Ephesians 4:30) and further we are warned that “there is a sin which leads to death” and told not to even pray for it (1 John 5:16). The prophet Hosea said "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.”—Hosea 4:17. We are warned not to harden our hearts (Hebrews 2:3; 4:7). It is possible to have a seared conscience as with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2). What all of these verses put together are saying is that we need to be careful that neither through neglect nor outright rejection of the Voice of the Holy Spirit that we put ourselves in a position where the Holy Spirit is no longer speaking to us for we have drowned it out by our own choices. There are millions of people that are merely going through the motions of life without real fulfillment and meaning—like dead people who merely exist (Jeremiah 8:20; Ecclesiastes 12:1-7). My prayer is that each of us will take time everyday above and beyond all other concerns to listen to the Voice of Jesus as He speaks to us through His Spirit (Revelation 3:20). He came to give us LIFE (John 10:10).
"For nourishment, consolation, exhilaration, and refreshment, no wine can rival the love of Jesus. Of this wine – the love of God – let us drink to the full."– Charles Spurgeon
I have written at greater length on this topic in LET HIM ALONE (newly revised), IS THERE EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT? and WHAT AND WHERE IS HELL? Click on the link below:
LET HIM ALONE