Genesis 6:3

Genesis 6:3

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's 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, Sermons on Gospel Themes,p. 264.

God strives with man in many ways by the working of His blessed Spirit within him: by the working of our own conscience, by various warnings from without, constantly strewn in our paths; but if we grieve and resist the Holy Spirit of God, then He will not always strive with us, but will give us over to a reprobate mind.

I. Consider the great mercy of God in consenting to strive with man at all.

II. The striving of the Spirit is a means of resisting the flesh.

III. The Spirit of God strives in many ways. His strivings have a meaning, a message, and a warning to us all.

Bishop Atlay, Penny Pulpit,No. 556.

References: Genesis 6:2. G. Calthrop, Words Spoken to my Friends,p. 149. Genesis 6:3. C. Kingsley, National Sermons,p. 362; J. Wells, Bible Echoes,p. 217; J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons,p. 328; J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year,vol. iii., p. 161; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. vii., p. 43, and vol. xvi., p. 23.Genesis 6:5. J. Laidlaw, Bible Doctrine of Man,p. 138.