CAN AN IDOLATER BE FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? NEITHER CAN HE WHO DOESN'T LOVE HIS BROTHER! By Josimar Salum

CAN AN IDOLATER BE FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? NEITHER CAN HE WHO DOESN'T LOVE HIS BROTHER! By Josimar Salum

        

Not everything that glitters is gold. Not everything that seems as it is, truly is. Judging a person based on what they say can lead to a huge mistake. Any superficial person will judge everything by appearance. He will never read everything, he will never analyze everything. Said person will rush and draw emotionally immature conclusions. 

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." James 1:16‭, ‬19‭-‬20 

          

Read this text well! Read it carefully!

"They help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!” Isaiah 41:6 

         

How many times have I recited this verse at youth meetings.They chose this verse as an theme for young people. One companion encouraging the other to strive to move forward on his journey with Jesus. But that is not what the text says.

“They help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!”  The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.  “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,  I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:6‭-‬10 

“Tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.  But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable." Isaiah 41:23‭-‬24 

But you are the chosen of God! He elected you. You are a descendant of Abraham.

“I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?  So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." Galatians 3:2‭-‬3‭, ‬6‭, ‬9 

You don't have to cower and fear! The Lord is with you! Don't be surprised! It is the Lord who strives. You don't need an incentive to produce an idol. The Lord is the one who helps you. You don't need help from any man. The Lord is the one who supports you with the right hand of His Justice. You receive His Righteouness by faith!

““With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?  Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it.  They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles.

Isaiah 46:5‭-‬7 

Don't you know what the Lord has clearly commanded?

““You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4‭-‬6 

What happens to the one who makes an idol? What happens to the one who worships and adores him?

“Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.  But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.  They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.  They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.  Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.  All you Israelites, trust in the Lord — he is their help and shield." Psalms 115:3‭-‬4‭, ‬6‭-‬9 

“Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.  Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons." 1 Corinthians 10:14‭-‬21 

Can anyone live in idolatry and be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Can someone sow strife, be conceitful and be filled with the Holy Spirit?

“And do not get drunk with wine, where there is strife, but be filled with the Spirit,” Ephesians 5:18. 

The wine of many believers today may not be the fruit of the vine, but it is intolerance, anger, hate, readiness to condemn, an excess of carnality.

Can someone be filled with the Holy Spirit and hate his brother? 

Hatred manifests itself in speaking badly, cursing, cutting off relationships, not forgiving, letting the root of bitterness spring into the heart, living well with the person all the time and in the first failure that the person commits to break the friendship, not showing respect anymore, filling the heart with anger and hurt. It is appropriate for a boy and a girl to act like a child, it is understandable, but old believers who act with immature and untimely reactions is no joke.

“He who loves his brother is in the light, and there is no scandal in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where to go; because darkness has blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2: 10-11

Can someone be filled with the Holy Spirit and be bitterly jealous?

Can someone be filled with the Holy Spirit and hide feelings, be pretended?

Can someone be filled with the Holy Spirit and be immature?

Can one be filled with the Holy Spirit and be filled with the devil at the same time?

“But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , he has rejected you as king.” 1 Samuel 15:22‭-‬23 

True LOVE is obeying the Word of the Lord.

““If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John‬ ‭14:15‬

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." Galatians 5:13‭-‬15 

Idolatry is sin. That means all idolatry. Every single one. Without distinction.

#ASONE

Translated by: Filipe S.S.Gouvea