Being Filled with The Spirit, not Hindering Him
Eph. 5:18
To live the Christian life, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and not to be hindering His work . The Spirit regenerates us [Tit.3:5], and seals us unto the day of redemption [Eph.1:13-14].
The Holy Spirit:
Comforts us – [Jn.14:15-18]
Teaches us the truth – [Jn.14:26, 16:13-15]
Leads us – [Rom.8:14]
Intercedes for us in prayer – [Rom.8:26-27]
Reveals the spiritual things to us – [1 Cor.2:9-10]
Washes, Sanctifies, and Justifies us – [1 Cor.6:11]
Bears Fruit in our lives – [Gal.5:22-23]
Do you see these things taking place in your life? Do others around you see any of these things happening in your life? If not, you may not be filled with the Spirit, and if this is so, what is hindering the work of the Spirit of God in your life? Let’s look at six (the number of man) things that man does to hinder the work of the Spirit of God.
- [Acts 7:51] Resist the Spirit
- Stephen gives the history of Israel’s unbelief
- [Heb.3:12] unbelief connected with departing from God
- Most common area of unbelief is in the judgment of God, [Ecc.8:11]
- [Eph.4:30] Grieve the Spirit
- Hard Heart [Mk.3:5]
- Grief to the father, foolishness [Prov.17:25]
- Grief to your authority, unprofitable to you [Heb.13:17]
- [Acts 5:3] Lie to the Spirit
- We pretend to be more spiritual than we are
- [Matt.23] Pharisees had this problem
- [Heb.4:12] God knows your intentions
- [Heb.10:29] Despise the Spirit
- Willful disobedience
- You know what you are doing is wrong, rebellion
- [Prov. 13:13] brings destruction
- [ 1 Thes.5:19] Quench the Spirit
- To quiet, or extinguish
- You can get to the point where He stops speaking to you or you can’t hear Him
- [ Isa. 63:10] Vex the Spirit
- To irritate or anger
- Verses 7-14, 17 Israel got to the point that things started to work against them.
- We need His help not his anger.
The wonderful thing about the Holy Spirit is that he is always ready to be part of your life, you just need to stop hindering and let Him help you.