They Sense the Holy Spirit and They Hate Him

Unbelievers can sense the Holy Spirit in us, they think something is wrong with us because we make them uncomfortable but it's not us, it's the presence of the Holy Spirit in us that intimidates them.

This is why many unbelievers, even pretenders in the church feel disquieted in our presence, they must make up an evil story about us to justify their hatred toward Christ in us.

To give a funny example of an incident that happened to me with a man who claims to be a Christian, I must tell this short story.

This man who claims to be a Christian acts angry all the time, is nice to everyone but me, and is very uncomfortable around me.

We disagreed on a Biblical principle once and I reminded him that we must trust the Holy Spirit. He leaned his head back and laughed as though I said something foolish. My only guess was that he thought I was trying to seem spiritual and that the Holy Spirit is just an idea we throw out there when we want to sound superior.

This man walked into the room looking angry before we even spoke. He sat in a chair across from me and folded one leg over the other. His face was turning red and he folded his arms over his chest. When he spoke he said: "you seem angry." I was clearly not angry and thankfully my husband saw this too. The man in the chair with red face, folded arms and crossed legs accused me of what he was and I was not.

I never figured out why he was angry or why he wanted to accuse me of being angry, except that the mention of the Holy Spirit in an earlier discussion upset him greatly. He had to make me look mean and wrong because of his discomfort toward the Holy Spirit.

Those who are pretenders often think everything is just ideas or concepts in the Bible not worthy of obedience. They often act as though they think the Bible is a book of suggestions that we are free to ignore. Often they use the excuse that principles of God "were for back then" but do not apply now. I cannot count the number of times pretenders have used this excuse to disobey God. They believe love is accepting all ideas no matter how much they dishonor God. These people choose what they like and ignore and even spurn those principles they don't like.

I have met many people just like this pseudo-Christian who like the love concepts but are irate when we suggest the Bible is the Word of God to be followed, all of it because we love Christ.

Another thing that is obvious to me in my many encounters with pretenders is that they will never hear us all the way out, to be able to learn why we think as we do. They cut us off, mock us, rage at us and will not listen to anything that may make them feel threatened.

No matter how calmly and politely we say something if it bothers their demons they refuse to discuss it. They only dominate and exclude but never discuss anything to be able to come to an agreement or to be able to learn something.

Born-again believers love to listen and to learn. We enjoy calm lovely conversations even if we might disagree. Did you know God commanded us to agree? Hard to believe isn't it?

1 Corinthians 1:10-11

"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers."

How is it possible to come to an agreement over a discussion when there is disagreement? It's really quite simple, we should be going to the scriptures together, praying together for God to show us the truth. And, above all standing firm on the things He shows us while letting go of the things that He has proven wrong.

There are very few disagreements among those who love the Lord. And the conflicts are not over vital matters, but small ones that do not make a difference in our salvation or our walk.

There are only fights and arguments among those people who feel a need to be superior to others, dominating conversations and raging to shut down those who want the truth. More people hate the truth than love it these days. Most people want their own way and despise anyone including God to instruct or teach them differently from what they want.

2 Timothy 4:3

"3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"

So, what should our response to this "end times world" be?

We must keep speaking the truth but not to the same people over and over. We must tell it once and if we are rebuffed and rejected we must shake the dust from our feet and move on to new people. You will find that there will soon be almost no one left in your sphere of influence who wants to hear because we are in the end times.

The way Christ was treated with such disdain we also will be treated.

Isaiah 53:3-4 "3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4 Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.…"

Matthew 10:22-30

"22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant[a] above his master.

25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign[b] those of his household."

James 1:2-8

Profiting from Trials

"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Personally, I am grateful for all the lessons I have learned about dealing with those who hate God and love to be superior. I need not be intimidated by them or coerced into submission to cultural norms or false teaching.

Our freedom in Christ brings confidence and love that no devil can overpower.

Jeremiah 17:7, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”

Hallelujah!!!!!

Those Who Decide to Become a Christian

Many people decide they want to be Christians but do not want Christ. They say what others expect of them to be able to join the Christian club but they have no desire to be changed into a new creation by them. They do not have the Holy Spirit so all they do is based on their idea of their own interpretation of Scripture and according to the culture not the principles of Christ.

These people are pretenders and think they have a ticket to heaven but in fact if they do not repent for real they will hear these terrible words from God when they meet Him face to face;

Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Those who have based their idea of salvation on words only and works they like to do will be shocked and surprised when they are not allowed into heaven.

Those who operate this way, very proud of how good they think they are and what wonderful deeds they have done or what cultural rules they followed that God never made are much harder to reach with the authentic gospel than others who have never been born again and who never professed Christianity.

The modern church is full of pretenders who are proud of themselves.

James 4:6-7

"Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Matthew 23:1-24 "23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;

6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;

7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Religoius Leaders of Today have much in Common with the Religious Leaders in Jesus' Day

Nothing has changed, religious leaders of today act no differently from those in the time of Jesus Christ. Proud and restrictive, judging by their own rules and ideas they oppress those they lead while refusing to be taught themselves by others who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Eight Woes of the Pharisees

13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’

17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?

18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it is obligated.’

19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.

21 And the one who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it.

22 And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [ab]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

34 “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,

35 so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

We do not see persecution as blatantly as described in the days of Jesus Christ but we do see very subtle hatred that comes in the form of isolation from the group, indifference to God's Word, dismissiveness when we speak the principles of God as well as lies that are told against us to remove any support system from us.

God said if we so much as hate our brother it is the same as murder. There are those within the organized church who hate those who speak the truths of God's Word. They exclude them in subtle ways while demeaning them to others in mocking.

The modern church and its hierarchy are no different from the Pharisees in the days of Jesus Christ. People still elevate the leaders as special, the leaders desire to be obeyed and expect obedience as though they are a king. This is not the order of God's gathering as described in the New Testament. The leaders are to be plural and they lead by example and teaching but it is only the Holy Spirit Who has authority over the born-again believer.

Leading does not mean dominance over and it does mean service to the people out of a humble Spirit desiring to love all brothers and sisters with a sacrificial love that can only come about by the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord open our eyes further as we seek the Holy Spirit and His Word for wisdom.