'DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT…'

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 10:19:33 +0000

By Jackson Chitanda

WELCOME to to-day’s topic.  This is about not to grieve the Holy Spirit.  Not to make the Holy Spirit sad.  The Holy Spirit is part of the Holy Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity is for those who believe in three Gods in one.  In my church, we believe that we have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit of God (Genesis 41:38).  They are all one. (1John 5: 7)   He has a distinct personality and is part of the God head.   Therefore, there is only one God (Micah 8:18).  Our quotation reads as follows: “Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit, the way you live.  Remember, He has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.”  The Holy Spirit lives with us as believers.  It is a guarantee that we belong to God.  By the way we live a life, we shall be able to identify ourselves, either with Christ Jesus or Satan, the evil one.

We have to make a very important choice of our lives, it is a choice between life and death.  We all know that sin is a complete opposite of our true God.  And it is sin that separates us from God, (Isaiah 59:2).

As believers, we are supposed to live a life as per scripture, because now we belong to God.  We are God’s property.  When we make a personal choice to live a godly life, this should be the case until death finds us.

According to the book of 1st Corinth 1:2, we are a holy people, us who have been called by God to be his own holy people.  He made us holy by means of Christ Jesus. It is this holiness that is supposed to keep us way from sin.  It is this holiness which is to keep us a way from satan.  It is this same holiness which is to keep us away from the evil one. It is this same holiness which will see us enter the highly promised eternal life.

As believers, we are not supposed to compromise with sinful ideas and practices.  We should not blend in with people around us.  We must always do our best to live a life according to God’s standards of morality and never to condone immoral behaviour.

According to the book of 1st Corinth 1:30,  we are supposed to present ourselves as a pure people before our true God of Israel. The starting point in avoiding immorality (sin) is to control what we think.

All bad actions are a result of what we think.  (Matthew 15:19).  We must have the will power to discard bad thoughts that may invade our minds.  In the book of Acts 15:29, the Bible reads: “You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood, or the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

This writing appeals to the Holy Spirit guidance.  It denounces sexual immorality, which should be not mentioned among the believers in Christ Jesus.  This certainly does not only anger the Holy Spirit, but also grieves the Holy Spirit.

In the book of 1st Corinthian 6:13, it is said that our bodies were not made for sexual immorality.  They were actually for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.  Our bodies are part of Christ.  They are a Temple of God. (1st Corinth 3:16).

In the book of 1st Corinth 6:18, it reads as follows: “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clear affects the body as this one does.  For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”  The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and was given to us by God (1stCorinth 6:19).

We are advised in the same chapter that, we do not belong to ourselves, for God bought us with a high price.  Therefore we are supposed to honour God with our bodies.  Even the body of Christ was God’s Temple, (John 2:21).

In the Book of Galatians 5:19, it is written as follows: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasure.”  We all have evil desires, and we fail to ignore them (Romans 3:23).  For us to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we must deal with them decisively.  We must crucify them.  (see Galatians5:24).

We should remember Lot who was rescued by God in the city of Sodom which was destroyed because of immorality; Lot was actually a righteous man. (2 Peter2:7).  Every kind of sexual perversion is sin. It must be dealt with very strongly.  It really grieves the Holy Spirit.

Many people in Zambia have lost their lives or have been maimed permanently due to sexual immorality.  It grieves the Holy Spirit.  It is not humility to commit sexual immorality, because humility brings about honour and not disgrace.  Committing sexual immorality is most likely to bring about disgrace.  It grieves the Holy Spirit.

Another sin that grieves the Holy Spirit is that of killing another person.  The first killing as recorded in the Bible, happened when Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:8-11).  Abel’s blood cried to the Lord God Almighty.  The Lord cursed Cain.  He banished him from the ground which had swallowed his brother.  He cursed the ground, no longer yielded good crops for him.

To kill is sin.  No person has the right of taking life of another person.  Bitterness is the reason for so many killings. (2Samuel 2:26).  This kind of behaviour aggrieves the Holy Spirit.  We must respect the life of one another.

All people have a right to life.  We should not be like the people in the days of prophet Nehemiah, who took killings look like a mere joke. (Nehemiah 9:26).  No person, according to the Law of the Lord, God Almighty is supposed to take the life of another person.

To kill our fellow human being is to belong to the evil one. We can remain in prison for a very long time.  We can then lead a very bleak future. A future of a prison life.  It grieves the Holy Spirit.

We are called upon to remain calm when provoked.  It is never the end of the world.  No matter how much we are provoked, killing a person should not at all materialise. Such thoughts should be discarded from our thoughts.  We should be holy as God is holy.  And killing another person removes the holiness in us.

It is written in the Book of the Deut. 32:9, thus: “Look now, I myself am he! There is no other god but me! I am the one who kills and gives life: I am the one who wounds and heals, no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!”

It is only God Almighty, Jehovah Jireh, who has the right to a person’s life.  It is only Him who gives life. The right to take life belongs to Him, the Lord God, the Most High God of Israel. It is sad, it is abominable to take another person’s life.  It grieves the Holy Spirit.  We should instead let the Holy Spirit use us according to His will.  Only to do what is good in our life, and not to take somebody’s life.

We can also make the Holy Spirit sorrowful if we steal.  To steal is to take something which does not belong to us, with the intention of not bringing it back.  There is a common concept called: “UBOMBA MWIBALA, ALYA IFYA MWIBALA.”  Unfortunately this concept has attacked all strata of human society.  Stealing is sin. (Exodus 20:15).  But some think it is a way of life.  It is wrong.

Out of stealing a person may get rich but such riches are wrongly gotten.  It is written in Proverbs 11:18 thus: “Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the Godly will last.”

First and foremost, it is evil to steal.  It does not matter where you steal from.  It either be from an individual or from the government.  We must all be prudent and have fear of the Lord.  It is written in Proverbs 22:4 as follows: “True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honour and long life.”  This clearly states that wealth attained by fear of the Lord, that is not stealing, will lead to honour, long and enjoyable life.  This is because the Lord God Almighty will protect you and guard you against the evil one.

This is because the Lord God Almighty will always delight in those with integrity.  And He punishes those with crooked hearts.  Benefits of stealing are of a temporary measure.  But benefits of a sincere and honourable heart are for a lifelong.

In trying to get rich, there is no point in trying to outdo your friend with stolen riches.  It is written in the book of the Romans 11:33, which says:   “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!” How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways?” Only God’s riches are great and not stolen money.  It is written in Deut 8:18 thus: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to make wealth.”  Wealth comes from God, and that is what you will only enjoy.  Wealth that comes by stealing, may not last.  You may be arrested and suffer in jail.

To steal is to rob. A person handling some body’s money should be trusted, honest and be of integrity.  In the book of Jeremiah 7-9, the Lord is asking the people of Israel as follows: “will ye steal, murder and commit adultery and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Ball and walk after other god’s whom ye know not”

We are children of God, because we believe in His Word.  We should follow His command not to steal, not even from government.  This grieves the Holy Spirit.  To teachers of the Word, when you teach others not to steal, indeed you should also not steal from them. (Romans 2:21).

Do what you teach.  A believer should not make himself an idol.  It is abominable in the sight of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High. (Exodus 20:1-2).  This kind of behaviour grieves the Holy Spirit.

Pray to God for all your needs, and the Lord God Almighty will answer your prayers.  The Lord God the Most High will meet your needs at the right time.  This must be a prayer of faith.  Knowing that no person pleases God without faith.  Hebrews11:6 where it is written: “And it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him, must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him”.  (James 1:5-6) we have got to believe in God, in earnest and truth.  We have got to believe that our prayers are heard and will be answered.  We have just got to believe in the existence of God and in His power to answer prayer.  Anything apart from this will cause sorrow to the Holy Spirit.

You must never testify falsely either in the court of law or elsewhere against any person.  This kind of behavior riles the Holy Spirit.  It is sin. (Exodus 20:16).

Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. (Exodus20:7).  Do not make any vows! Do not say: “by heaven, because heaven is God’s thrown (Matthew 5:34).  This kind of behavior is wrong and it riles the Holy Spirit.

Failure to do what is right in the sight of our Lord God Almighty is sin.  And causes sorrow to the Holy Spirit. (James4:1).  We should not use dirty language and dirty deeds (Colossian3:17).  That is we must be not in a habit of doing things with impunity.  But instead we must live to please the Holy Spirit (Galatians 6:8).  May the Lord God Almighty bless us all.

May the Lord God Almighty continue to bless our Republican President with the blessings of wisdom, peace and love upon our nation, Zambia.  Amen.