Ephesians 4:17-19: So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
In this passage Paul describes the sad situation of a person, who is committed to living a life separate from God. Paul lists several characteristics of the person, who chooses to walk in darkness:
1. Futile in their thinking.
2. Darkened in their understanding.
3. Separated from the life of God.
4. Ignorant.
5. Hardened hearts and no sensitivity.
6. Indulging in all types of sensuality and lusting for more.
I want to focus this week on the issue of sensitivity and the hardening of the heart.
As human beings we are spiritual beings living in physical bodies in this natural world. Those without Christ have little sensitivity to the spiritual realm. Sadly, the average Christian has little sensitivity to the spiritual realm.
God created you to walk with him. In Galatians 5 Paul instructs us to live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. The writer of Hebrews, quoting the Old Covenant, exhorts us, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. The Holy Spirit lives in you. He wants to lead you and to guide you.
As a believer learns to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and then obeys that guidance, that believer will learn to become more sensitive to God, and to the realm of the spirit. But, a believer may also choose to harden his heart to the Spirit of God. A believer, who continually resists the Holy Spirt, will begin to lose that sensitivity to God and to the realm of the Spirit. He will come under the control of his own lustful desires.
In the late 1970's I was seeking to learn to be led by the Holy Spirit. A pastor friend and I visited the office of McComb, Mississippi, newspaper. As I sat in a small office, I was suddenly impressed to get up. I did so, and moved across the room. A few seconds later a woman entered the office and sharpened her pencil. She used the pencil sharpener that was immediately behind where I had been seated. If I had not moved, I would have been in her way.
Obviously, the purpose of learning to be sensitive to the Spirit is far greater than allowing someone to sharpen their pencil without hindrance. But, God used that episode to illustrate to me, that the Spirit of God could lead me in even the most minute details of life.
My pastor friend's son loved to play tennis as a teenager. One weekend his son wanted to borrow the car to drive to Baton Rouge to play in a tennis tournament. My friend was not comfortable with that request. On the inside he did not feel right. In spite of his hesitation, my friend gave into the pleading from his son, and allowed him to borrow the car. On the way to Baton Rouge his son was involved in an accident. Fortunately, his son was not killed or even hurt seriously. But, in retrospect my friend saw that the Holy Spirt was trying to alert him to danger.
During the 1980's I pastored in West Point, Mississippi. My family drove about 20 miles one Friday evening to Columbus, Mississippi, for dinner. While driving to Columbus, we crossed a bridge just outside of West Point. I felt a heavy sense of foreboding. But, the feeling passed, and we enjoyed our trip to Columbus.
We returned to West Point later that evening. As we approached that particular bridge, we saw the lights of numerous emergency vehicles. A tragic automobile accident had killed grandparents along with 2 or 3 of their grandchildren.
I realized that the Spirit of God was trying to alert me to the tragedy that would soon occur. Often I have wondered, if the intercession of my family could have averted that terrible tragedy, if I had been more sensitive to the Spirit of God.
As believers we must learn to grow in sensitivity to the Spirit of God. We must learn to discern the schemes and the strategies of the evil one.
Prayer is a major area in which believers should learn to become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
My pastor said years ago, that we should not try to pray for too much. Rather, attempt to be sensistive to the Holy Spirit in prayer. He said it is better to pray for a few and make a difference.
I attempt to follow his counsel in my own prayer life. Like most believers, I know I could and should pray more. But I do attempt to discern how the Holy Spirit wants me to use times of prayer. At times I have prayed for others in the spirit for several hours at a time. On rare occasions I have prayed for another individual in the spirit for several days. The Holy Spirit knows who is in need at the present time.
There is nothing more important than doing what the Holy Spirit wants you to do right now.
True sensitivity to the Spirit of God requires that you give attention to God. It also requires that you choose to not walk in the lustful, sinful ways of this world.
But, what great joy to know that the Spirit of God can lead you into a productive, fruitful life of prayer. Your sensitivity could mean life or death for yourself, or for someone else. Your sensitivity could mean victory or defeat for a brother or sister in Christ.
In Ephesians 6:18 Paul said, And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Be alert. Be sensitive. God gives you the opportunity to be a world changer. Don't delay. Today, if you hear his voice.....
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org