Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh… I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE ASSERTION, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man"? It is implied: — (1) that the Spirit does sometimes strive with men; (2) that men resist the Spirit. II. WHAT IS NOT INTENDED BY THE SPIRIT STRIVING. It is no form of physical struggling or effort whatever. It is not any force applied to our bodies. III. WHAT, THEN, IS THE STRIVING OF THE SPIRIT? It is an energy of God applied to the mind of man, setting truth before his mind, reasoning, convincing, and persuading. IV. HOW MAY IT BE KNOWN WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD STRIVES WITH AN INDIVIDUAL? (1) When a man finds his attention arrested to the great concerns of his soul; (2) when a man finds himself convinced of sin; (3) when the mind is convicted of the great guilt and ill-desert of sin; (4) when men see the folly of seeking salvation in any other way than through Christ alone. V. WHAT IS INTENDED BY THE SPIRIT NOT STRIVING ALWAYS? Not that He will at some period withdraw from among mankind, but that He will withdraw from the individual in question. There is a limit to the Spirit's efforts in the case of each sinner; at some uncertain, awful point, he will reach and pass it. VI. WHY WILL GOD'S SPIRIT NOT STRIVE ALWAYS? (1) Because longer striving will do the sinner no good; (2) because sinners sin wilfully when they resist the Holy Ghost; (3) because there is a point beyond which forbearance is no virtue. VII. CONSEQUENCES OF THE SPIRIT'S CEASING TO STRIVE WITH MEN. (1) A confirmed hardness of heart; (2) a seared conscience; (3) certain damnation. ( C. G. Finney..) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. |
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