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Grieve Not the Spirit, February 21
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto
the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30
.
Conscience is the voice of God, heard amid the conflict of human
passions; when it is resisted, the Spirit of God is grieved.
Men have the power to quench the Spirit of God; the power of
choosing is left with them. They are allowed freedom of action. They
may be obedient through the name and grace of our Redeemer, or they
may be disobedient, and realize the consequences.
The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not lie in any
sudden word or deed; it is the firm, determined resistance of truth and
evidence.
It is not that God sends out a decree that man shall not be saved. He
does not throw a darkness before the eyes which cannot be penetrated.
But man at first resists a motion of the Spirit of God, and, having once
resisted, it is less difficult to do so the second time, less the third, and
far less the fourth. Then comes the harvest to be reaped from the seed
of unbelief and resistance. Oh what a harvest of sinful indulgences is
preparing for the sickle! ...
On the other hand, every ray of light cherished will yield a harvest
of light. Temptation once resisted will give power to more firmly resist
the second time; every new victory gained over self will smooth the way
for higher and nobler triumphs. Every victory is a seed sown to eternal
life.
God destroys no one. The sinner destroys himself by his own im-
penitence.
No one need look upon the sin against the Holy Ghost as something
mysterious and indefinable. The sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of
persistent refusal to respond to the invitation to repent.
There is no ... hope of the higher life, but through the submission of
the soul to Christ.
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