TUESDAY February 21, 2023

Resisting the Holy Spirit

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…
Hebrews 3:7

God was using Stephen’s life. He was one man chosen among seven who was full of Holy Spirit and faith, to serve tables. He spoke with the Pharisees and Sadducees ––men who made up the Sanhedrin. They were very offended at Stephen’s words and frustrated that they were unable to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6:10).

These wicked men gathered false witnesses against Stephen to accuse him of making blasphemous statements against the Temple and Moses’ Law. In doing so, they were resisting the Holy Spirit. Maybe you know people who have resisted the Holy Spirit. You have shared the Gospel with them, but they willfully reject God’s Word. Listen again to the exhortation in Hebrews 3:7: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion….” Israel did this in the wilderness; they were stubborn and rebellious.

Like Israel, people hear the truth of the Gospel, but they willfully reject it. Even though people see your good testimony, when you speak about Jesus, they change the subject or they become angry. This is a person with a hardened heart. No one can come to the Lord unless they are convicted by the Holy Spirit, so there is nothing you and I can do about it except to pray for them. Pray God would be gracious and give them another opportunity to come to Christ; otherwise they are going to be eternally lost.

One of the hardest things for me to see is when children in High School, who have grown up in a Christian home, walk away from Christ. As they become adults, they have hardened hearts. Yet I have witnessed hard- hearted people, who I thought would never receive Christ, get saved through the power of the Holy Spirit. God speaks to their hearts.

Has God spoken to your heart? If you have heard His voice, respond.

A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him… and he is saved.
~C.H. Spurgeon~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!