Resisting The Spirit Of God - Common As The Cold - Dangerous As A Cancer

“Do not quench the Spirit.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:19 

Has the Spirit of God ever spoken to you [convicted you] about something that was contrary to what you wanted to do?  If you are born again and therefore have been sealed by the Spirit, He has.  Why? Because we tend to follow the ways of the flesh.  The Spirit convicts us of sin, when we are living or doing in a way that is contrary to the nature of God and our new nature.  The question is, “How do you respond when He speaks?”  Do you say “yes Lord”? Or do you “turn the music up to drown out His voice” because you don’t want to do the very thing He is saying – do? The Bible calls that quenching the Spirit or putting the fire out.  

If you recall the story of Stephen in Acts 7?  Stephen told the people; 

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you”  – Acts 7:51 

The people resisted the influence of the Holy Spirit. If you remember their response to him was that they killed Stephen. [It was Paul who held the cloaks of these who threw the stones.] Oh Saint, this life we live in the flesh we live by faith.  (Galatians 2:20)  God through His Spirit will always prompt you to obedience.  The Spirit will convict you of those things that hinder your unfettered relationship with the Father.  You cannot offer anything that is acceptable to God if you do not have “clean hands and a clean heart”.  If you choose to ignore the prompting of the Spirit you are doing nothing more than practicing vain religion.

Praising God with your lips while your heart is far from Him. (Matthew 15:8) You might as well be watching TV for all of the spiritual good that is being derived!  We are a stubborn lot.  Holding on to attitudes and habits that are clearly contrary to who we are in Christ. You are not alone in this struggle, it is the struggle of every Christian.  But God has given you the power to overcome, and the means to live in victory.  You must pick up your cross daily and yield your life to the leading of the Spirit.  That requires faith and that comes from God. But it also requires a choice to be made by you.