Stephen tells the spiritual leaders of the time when he was standing trial, “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. “(Acts 7:51, BSB)
To be stiff-necked means to resist or be stubborn and obstinate. It means that we are prompted in one direction, but we go in another direction instead. It is associated with being hard hearted. We have our own agenda and purpose and we follow this instead of following the Holy Spirit.
It is rooted in unbelief. Their eyes are blind and ears are deaf to the things the Holy Spirit is doing. To resist is the Greek word antipiptó, and it means to actively go against or strive against in opposition. If I resist someone, I am determined to go in the opposite direction as them.
We see this with salvation. Obtaining salvation by means of self-effort through the flesh and works instead of having it transferred by faith is not possible. It is received as a gift through faith so that no man can boast. To not receive Christ is to be living as an unbeliever who is blinded by the god of this world and whose understanding is darkened (not enlightened by the Spirit).
Salvation through faith as a gift of grace was a stumbling stone for religious leaders because they thought they were entitled to it as children of Abraham. In the verse in Acts where Stephan is standing trial, those he was speaking to who were striving against the Holy Spirit and going in the opposite direction were the Sanhedrin in this case. They were the elders of the church and those who were to lead the people into the things of God. However, they were not leading by faith and giving grace but leading by self-determined force. They were also protecting themselves and their positions over protecting the things of the Kingdom or the people’s relationship with God.
Their decisions were rooted in pride and unbelief in God. Pride is independence where humility is rooted in dependency. As David Wilkerson notes, a proud person acts and thinks on his own, using his own reasoning and abilities. Wilkerson goes on to contrast that we are called to be those who depend wholly on the Lord for everything, in every circumstances. We know that if the Lord does not direct, empower, and quicken us, we are dead, ineffective and useless without that direction. [1]
It is as we humble ourselves and enter by faith that we receive the Kingdom of God. When we think we know the answers ourselves and our way is best, we are not in a position to humbly receive. We will easily become offended and resist the will of the Lord in unbelief. We will think our way is the right way. So if we try to enter into the kingdom by pride and self-sufficiency, we will miss the mark.
Paul says in Romans 9:30-32 (TPT),
“Here’s the irony: The non-Jewish people, who weren’t even pursuing righteousness, were the ones who seized it—a perfect righteousness that is transferred by faith. Yet Israel, even though pursuing a legal righteousness, did not attain to it. And why was that? Because they did not pursue the path of faith but insisted on pursuing righteousness by works, as if it could be seized by another way. They were offended by the means of obtaining it and stumbled over the stumbling stone.”
What makes you offended? Your offense shows your place of resistance. Is your offense potentially rooted in unbelief? Even with believers, there is a level of resistance. We see this today with the gift of tongues. Rather than wanting everything the Lord has for us out of a place of hunger, some of the gifts of the Spirit are judged from a place of pride and unbelief as weird or offensive in some cases. We see this at Pentecost. People thought the ones filled with the Spirit must be drunk. Also, at the same time that some resist, some folks, in a desire for the gifts rather than a hunger for God’s Spirit in their lives, can act weird and try to force the gifts to come.
Instead of being resistant and stiff-necked, we are to be dependent, obedient and receive the Spirit’s direction in our lives from a place of receiving God’s love and then giving it away. Having the Holy Spirit flowing through our lives means having less resistance to Him. Instead of acting out of spiritual pride and self-sufficiency, we operate out of an overflowing love.
Paul says in Romans 8:14-16 (TPT), “The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And you did not receive the ‘spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the ‘Spirit of full acceptance,’ enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, ‘Beloved Father!” For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, ‘You are God’s beloved child!”
Mature children are filled with the Holy Spirit and He flows through their lives in such a way that they do not resist Him. Rather than self-effort, an anointing flows to do the will of the Lord as we enter into it. Our lives are filled to overflowing with His love and acceptance not only for us but for all those around us.
Psalm 84:5-7 says, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.”
A fresh baptism of the Spirit will burn away the chaff in our lives that makes us resistant and operating from a place of our own strength. I once had an experience like this in a baptism of fire. At the time, I literally felt like I was on fire and this passion rose up in me for holiness. Afterwards, there was a period of time where I was very sensitive to sinning and my heart was deeply grieved at the thought; I could feel fire rise up at the thought of sin.
Mario Murillo, in A Fresh Fire notes that a fresh baptism of the Spirit purifies us, fuels us, illuminates us and warms us.[1] In illumination, we see things from the Lord’s perspective. The Word comes alive to us. We may have visions and dreams.[2] We see into the heavenly spiritual realm and it becomes more of a reality and perspective. Elisha saw Elijah being taken up with chariots of fire in a whirlwind for example.
Perception is huge. How we see things determines how we respond. When the eye (perception) is flooded with light, the whole body is good, healthy and wise. And when it is dark, so is the body. I had a dream just the other night that a brand new huge television was delivered to my home and put in front of this swimming pool in my house waiting to be unwrapped. The television speaks of perceptions, my house speaks of my church and the swimming pool filled with warm water speaks of the Holy Spirit filling my church with comfort and giving the congregation a new / His perception.
Fueling us, Mario uses the example of Saul who no longer had to strive to enter into the things of God. He writes, “Saul cowered before the destiny Samuel described for him. ‘How can I do this thing?’ Saul asked. Hear the prophet’s resolute reply, ‘The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will be changed into a new man.”[3]
When the Spirit fuels us, it changes our mode of operation from self-effort to that of being Spirit led. Psalm 66:9 says that “He’s the one who keeps us faithfully following Him.” The Lord helps us to fulfill His will as the Spirit fuels us.
Warming us, Mario speaks of being filled with joy. [4] The Spirit also warms our hearts and makes us more sensitive to His love and loving others. I have experienced this kind of baptism when I was a new Christian that God spoke to me that He created me in the center of His heart. It was so powerful, I went around weeping for a week. It also made me incredibly sensitive to others in having love and acceptance for them.
But over time, like with Saul who was so filled that people thought he was among the prophets, this filling to overflowing eroded. So what eroded it? In the case of Saul, it was his resistance to the Spirit due to unbelief. He began making choices that moved further and further into sin. His motives changed and he failed to trust God and let God deal with him in his places of sin.
As faith, a hunger for God’s purposes and entering into those purposes will fill us with the anointing of God for fulfilling them, resistance and unbelief puts on the breaks. When we move towards doubt, unbelief, self-effort and striving outside of the will of God that is unrepented, we drain the fuel that fills us. Our lamps become emptied.
For me, I know that resistance and having this filling eroded comes from my striving in self-effort. Self-sufficiency has been a struggle for me. When things are difficult, rather than surrender and trust, I often grit my teeth and push ahead in my own strength. I want to make it happen rather than recognizing that the Spirit may moving in another direction.
Then out of this place of self-sufficiency, I become self-righteous and legalistic. My tone becomes cold and my heart feels hard as I lack care for others. I can tell when I am legalistic as I operate out of judgement rather than love. I hurt others and then feel devastated and disappointed in myself. Then I beat myself up about not getting it right, usually leading to over eating too as I tell myself I will work harder and do better next time… uggh.
Psalm 33:16b-17 proclaims, “Even if a warrior went to battle, he could not be saved simply by his strength alone. Human strength and the weapons of man are false hopes for victory; they may seem mighty but they will always disappoint.”
Let that sink in. Operating out of our strength outside of God gives us false hope and will always disappoint. In gaining the victory for ourselves, it is superficial and lacks true value. It is empty and vain. In gaining, we lose what is most treasured.
Titus 3:8-9 says, “This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.”
Brother Lawrence walked in this place of deep dependency on the Lord, clinging to Him for everything. He never felt competent in his own strength and struggled with even walking when he ran errands as one leg was shorter so he needed to count on God for not stumbling. He had this incredible relationship with the Lord. He was not a significant person of renown during his life. He waited tables. But everything He did was for and with the Lord. He was a gentle and humble soul who walked so close to God that his life was a prayer out of this place of deep intimacy.
I have read his letters over and over and over again as it is so counter at times in how I operate but something I deeply desire. He chose what is most treasured in his relationship with God. Paul grew in dependency when he had a thorn in the flesh. As he was given these incredible visions and was taken up to heaven like Brother Lawrence, it was his weakness that kept him humble and close to God.
He was filled to overflowing because of his dependency and not because of his own strength. Because of this he proclaims, “So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I’m not defeated by my weaknesses, but delighted!”
As Paul notes, he had many reasons by the world standards to boast. But he counted it all as rubbish because in boasting and focusing on his own strength, it did not truly profit him. What profited him in his relationship with God was his weakness that caused dependency.
Out of this wisdom, Paul tells Timothy, “Whatever builds up your faith and deepens your love must become your holy pursuit.” (1 Timothy 3:22, TPT)
Strength and getting it right in our own self-effort lead to pride and distance from God. We see this with the church of Laodicea. The Lord tells them, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17, NKJ)…Their strength had blinded them to the truth.
I recently had someone boast in a weakness to me. It almost offended me as I thought, ‘Why tell me that about yourself and how you fell so short in that circumstance when you are a spiritual leader?’ However, perhaps it is a good practice to follow in sharing weaknesses rather than strengths. It wasn’t what I expected but it drew me into intercession for this situation and for this issue in the body of Christ.
I find myself wanting to hide my weaknesses, letting them make me feel inadequate over them and beating myself up about them at times. But it is in brokenness that there is such power. It is also a place of healing. The fifth step of AA is to admit to God, ourselves and to another being the exact nature of our wrongs.
There is a story in Judges 7:20 where Gideon, with a small group of 100 brave warriors were going into the Midian camp to attack this huge army by faith. They blew their trumpets and shattered their jars, releasing the light within. As they did, the power of the Lord set the camp into confusion and all the people turned against each other and fled.
This is a picture of the power of brokenness. The shattering of our self-sufficiency in brokenness, embracing our weaknesses and shortcomings, releases and causes the light to shine brightly as the power of God falls and the enemy is set to flight in confusion.
The Lord draws near in our brokenness. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Lord, Forgive me where I so often fall into operating out of my own self-sufficiency and want to get everything right. Help me to be more comfortable with my weaknesses and allow them to make me more dependent upon You. Let us not be stiff-necked or resistant to Your will. Fill us with Your Spirit and power and help us to carry it out to wherever we go. Most importantly, let us be overflowing with Your love and acceptance for all those around us who need it.
