Are You Resisting The Spirit?

Acts 7:51-53

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Over the last six months or so I have witnessed many people resisting the Spirit of God as Christ is being manifested in this earthen vessel.  The scriptures testify about Jesus and the disciples being persecuted by unbelievers, but I had no idea what it would be like in the natural, in my mind I thought it would be physical persecution for the gospel, and it has been that, but I have witnessed and felt the most opposition and resistance to the Spirit, grace, and word of God in the spiritual. It is one of the most saddening things in this world to me as those who are lost have no clue of the judgement that awaits them unless they repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

In the above scriptures Stephen gives an indepth and detailed testimony about Abraham, the Patriarchs, and Moses while filled with the Spirit and wisdom of God. You would think that the high priest, the elders and those in attendance would have repented in sack cloth and ashes after the word that Stephen spoke, but no! Instead of repentance and weeping we see anger, gnashing of teeth and stoning. How could this be? I have been wondering how could anyone resist the Spirit? The Lord has been teaching me through everyday experiences how this is possible when those who hear the voice of the Spirit and feel the grace of God harden their hearts and set their will on denial, resistance, and opposition of the one who is sent by God to proclaim the good news.

I also wondered how could the Pharisees and Jews resist Jesus Christ who is God manifested in the flesh and while He walked this earth the fullness of the Godhead dwelt inside of Him! But yet He was rejected and crucified by His own creation, by the same people He came to save!

John 8:42-47

"Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

How would you respond if Jesus came and told you that you were not of God?

Many professing Christians today think they are born again because they repeated a 'sinners' prayer or mentally agreed with the scriptures and say they believe in Jesus but yet they don't obey His commands and when they are told the truth about their conversion they say things like, 'who are you to tell me I'm not saved!', or 'who are you to tell me I don't have the Holy Spirit in me!'

John 8:48-53

"Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

Jesus is being manifested in His bride in these last days, are you ready to hear the true word of the Lord spoken by true apostles and prophets filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom of God?

How will you respond when the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, righteousness, and judgment?

Paul was also strong in the Lord and filled with the Spirit but He was resisted by many people when he preached.

Acts 19:8-9

"And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus."

It's so sad to see people willfully resisting and fighting against the one true God who loved them so much that He gave His only Son Jesus as an atoning sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for their sins and mine.

Hebrews 3:7-15

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Are you resisting the Spirit and hardening your heart? Let us all examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith.

In Jesus,
Tyrone