God's Spirit Will Not Always Strive
And the Lord said, my Spirit shall not always strive with Tnan. — Genesis vi: 3.
That God should give his Son to die for this rebellious world — that Christ should consent to assume our nature, and suffer in our stead — and that salvation should be freely offered to the children of men, is an exhibition of astonishing mercy. And that all with one consent, should begin to make excuse, and refuse to accept of offered mercy, is proof of astonishing depravity. We should naturally expect that God would do no more for such ungrateful creatures. But he has given his Holy Spirit to strive with them. This may properly be styled God’s last effort with sinners.
On this blessed influence, every preacher of the gospel must depend entirely for his success. Without this influence, no sinner will ever be brought to embrace the Saviour. Though he may listen to a preached gospel, he will listen in vain. He will continue to reject the counsel of God against himself, till the day of grace is past.
We will consider L The fact that the Spirit does strive with men. n. The fact that he will not always strive.
HI. The consequences of his ceasing to strive.
I. That the Spirit does strive with men is evident from the whole tenor of the gospel. Every one who prays, admits the fact, that the Spirit has access to the minds of men.
But what is the object of the Spirit’s strivings? Not to make men free moral agents; nor to make it their duty to repent and believe the gospel. If they were not moral agcnls, they would not be sinners, and would not need the strivings of the Spirit. But he strives with men to convince them of sin. It is just as natural for men to conceal and cover their sins, as it is to commit sin. They love darkness rather than light. Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, and will not come to the light, lest he should be brought under conviction.
The Spirit comes to demolish the excuses of sinners — to destroy their self-flattery, and to show them their lost condition. He commonly commences by troubling the conscience in view of some overt act of sin. Then he lays open to the sinner the plague of his own heart.
The Spirit strives with men, not merely to show them their guilt and danger; but to show them their need of a Saviour, and to incline them to come to Christ. When they see their need of Christ, they are unwilling to come to him. “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” ‘’No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” Now the Spirit comes to draw reluctant hearts. If it were not for this awful reluctance of the sinner to come to Clnist, this drawing would not be necessary.
The language of the Bible in relation to this subject, is very striking. It is martial language. “Thewea|>- ons of our warfare, are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strong holds; castmgdown imaginations, and every high thing which exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” All this is the work of the Spirit, and without his agency, none will be saved.
Some may, perhaps, think they shall come to Christ, if the Spirit ceases to strive with them. But this is a delusion. They will certainly persist in sin, as they have heretofore done, till they awake in the world of despair.
I will mention some tokens of the Spirit’s strivings.
When the Spirit strives, the sinner loses all interest in the concerns of time. The world is seen to be vanity. He has no relish for its pleasures. The noise of mirth fills him with distress. A dreadful sound is in his ears. Every thing is shrouded in gloom. As the poet expresses it:
“Darker and darker still, the darkness grew,
His interest in life.
In being ceased
The blue heavens withered; and the moon, and sun, And all the stars, and the green earth, and morn And evening withered; and the eyes and smiles And fears pf all men and women withered; Withered to him; and all the Universe Like something that had been, appeared; but now Was dead, and mouldering fast away.”
When the Spirit strives, the sinner is filled with fear and trembling. However courageous he may have been, he is now afraid to be alone. He is afraid of God, and is ready to say in the language of the psalmist, ‘’ Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence?”
When the Spirit strives, the sinner is troubled about that great change of heart which the Scriptures teach him he must experience, or he cannot be saved. He is troubled about beginning to pray. He knows it is his duty to worship God, and yet his proud heart resists the conviction. When the Spirit strives with the sinner, there is an awful struggle between his conscience and his heart. His conscience pleads for God, but his heart still cleaves to sin.
Let us consider,
n. The fact that God’s Spirit will not always strive with man. TJiis is clearly asserted in the text. Some have tiied to flatter the sinner that there is little or no danger of the Spirit’s ceasing to strive. But the text speaks a diflerent language. ^’And the Lord said, my Spirit shall not always strive with man.”
How long the Spirit will strive with any individual, we cannot tell. With some he strives longer than with others. Some live longer than others. In this God acts as a holy Sovereign. He has a right to cut off’ the sinner at any moment, and put a period to his day of salvation. And though the sinner may continue to live, it is by no means certain that the Spirit will continue to strive v.n’th him.
The Bible speaks of some who were given up of God. ^’Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone.” Our Saviour addressed his hearers as if some of them were given over of God. ‘’ If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace — but now they are hid from thine eyes.”
Many are given up because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. ^’ For this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they might believe a lie, that they all might be damned, because they received not the love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” ‘* Wo unto them, when I depart from them.”
The sinner may be given up while young. He may have done such despite unto the Spirit of grace, as even in youth, to be given over to a hard heart, and a reprobate mind. ‘Turn you at my reproof,” said Christ. ^’ Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you.” Then he adds, with awful solemnity,” Because I have called,
and ile refused then shall they call upon me, but
I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.”
But how do sinners resist the strivings of the Spirit?
Sometimes, by rushing into thoughtless company, and into scenes of amusement. This they may do through ignorance, not knowing that the Spirit is striving with them. They are, not unfrequently, ad-^ vised to this course, by ministers and parents who do not believe in conviction and conversion. In this way, they sometimes succeed in banishing their religious impressions ; — and sometimes these things only increase their distress. Not unfrequently they are advised to journey, to divert their minds, and in some instances, medical aid has been sought. So it was in former times. The celebrated Dr. Darwin was often called to prescribe in such cases, but he could do nothing for the relief of his patients. He called the disease ‘^ Timor ora” — the fear of hell; and although he was an infidel, he acknowledged that he could prescribe nothing better than the gospel of Christ. For allhongh the patient had lost all his interest in the concerns of this world, he said he might be cheered by the prospect of a happy immortality. Poor Darwin — O that he could have known from experience the value of his own prescription.
Sinners resist the Spirit by postponing the subject of religion, like Felix, to a more convenient season — by self-righteousness — by an unwillingness to see the worst of their case — by refusing to retire from the world to confess their sins to God — and by being ashamed of the subject of religion.
Let us consider,
III. The consequences of the Spirit’s ceasing to strive.
When the Spirit has departed, the sinner may be
cheerful He may feel little
concern for the salvation of his soul
He may even laugh, and make sport of the subject of
religion He may listen to a preached
gospel — to the most solemn warnings, and to the most melting invitations; — but it will be all in vain. He will slumber on in impenitence till he awakes in hell, and his soul is lost forever.