Hinder Me Not!

"Hinder me not" (Gen. 24:56). 

These words were spoken by the servant of Abraham, when he had found the God-appointed bride for Isaac. Now Isaac here, as all Bible students know, is a type of Christ; and as this servant went into a far country, seeking out a wife for him, so is the Holy Spirit sent into the world to seek out a bride for Christ. And as this servant was to direct, and lead, the bride to Isaac, so the Holy Spirit is sent to pilot us through this world of snares, to the Groom of the sky. And He can only do this as you and I not only cooperate, but fully abandon ourselves to His leadings, and obey on all lines. So His voice comes to us through the words of this text, saying, "Hinder me not!'

We will now notice some of His lines of work. His first is to make us feel our need-yes, feel our need. And this He faithfully does, to every man and woman on earth, yea, both saint and sinner. Jesus said, "And when he is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16: 8). Notwithstanding, we may throw the conviction off, and try to stout it oi4t; nevertheless He makes us all feel our needs keenly. For instance, an unsaved man comes into a meeting; though he may be careless, and have no thought of God whatever, before he gets out the Holy Spirit will in some way make him feel the need of the Savior. Again, if a Christian man does not realize his need of a clean heart, the Holy Spirit will make him feel it even though he has to give him a stubborn horse, or a cross employee, or a stupid servant, or a kicking cow. Yes, at some point He will not only point out his inward trouble, but will make him feel really the need of deliverance; and after he has done this, He can proceed no farther in getting us to heaven, until we get that newly revealed need supplied. So, brother, friend, if the Spirit has shown, and made you feel, your need of some advance step in God, He cannot go any farther in preparing you for heaven until you measure up to that need. So He is saying to you through this lesson, "Hinder me not." Remember, He is hindered and cannot do one thing more, until you move up to that revealed need. You may consent to do a thousand other things, but that will not suffice. You must do that one thing, or else give up your hope of heaven, for His hands are tied (so to speak) until you do that one thing.

2. His next office is to break the power of sin, and disconnect you from every evil habit, and make you "free indeed." However, He cannot do this without your cooperation. He first condemns the sin, or the habit, by letting light on it and causing you to know the thing is wrong. Then He can go no farther until you give up and renounce it; then He proceeds to take away the desire for the thing. For an instance, a man may be addicted to the use of tobacco, and he may be in a community where they have no light on it, and don't know it is wrong to use it. Hence he may come to the altar and get converted and still go on using his tobacco for a week or so. Now there may not be a man in fifty miles of that place who preaches against the use of tobacco, but the Holy Spirit will in some way speak to that man and make him know that it is wrong to use it. Then he will wait for that man to cooperate with Him, by taking the tobacco out of his pocket and throwing it away. Now this is the man's part of the matter. And this the Spirit will never do. But if the man cooperates, by throwing the tobacco away, and taking a firm stand against using it again, the Holy Spirit will proceed to destroy the appetite.

3. His next business is to bring every Christian up to the standard of New Testament purity. We hear folks pray sometimes, "Lord, make me purer, give me a purer heart," etc., and at the same time they are bitterly opposed to sanctification and holiness. They seem to be blind to the fact that the standard of purity for entering heaven is laid down in the New Testament, and that is holiness of heart (Matt. 5:8; Heb. 12:14; Col. 1:21, 22; Rev. 21:7), which means to be cleansed from every unholy trait and temper which was not in the heart of Jesus Christ, for He is our pattern, our standard of purity for heaven; anything below the purity of Jesus will bar us out of heaven. We read in 1 John 3: 3, "And everyone that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He [Jesus] is pure." We also read in Eph. 5: 26, "Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify, and cleanse it, with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it unto Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." So, friend, if there is any unholy trait or temper in your heart, that was not in Jesus Christ, you are not ready to enter heaven. However, the Holy Spirit is striving daily to get you up to that standard, by letting you hear holiness preached, and by letting you read about it in the Bible, and other books, and also by letting you see some one live it; but He can go no farther with it until you cooperate with him by seeking and meeting the conditions of the experience, and then He will proceed to work the things in your heart by the blood of Jesus, and then take up His abode in your heart. Praise God! O, friend, "hinder Him not!"

4. His next office is to live out through you "New Testament piety." All that the generality of Christians aim at these days, is to keep from getting under condemnation, and get to heaven when they die. They look back at the life of Enoch, and the holy men of old, with amazement, thinking they were specially favored of God, above ordinary people. But, friend, it is your and my privilege, and not only our privilege but our indispensable duty, to live as holy a life as any man ever lived upon earth. Jesus was our pattern and we are to copy His life, i. e., walk and live as holy and as uprightly in all things as He lived while upon earth. What saith the scripture "He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2: 6). Again, we read in 1 John 4: 17, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because, as He is, so are we in this world." Again we read in St. John 12: 26, "If any man serve me, let him follow  me." "Be ye followers  of God, as dear children" (Eph. 5: 1).

So, friend, this is the life the Holy Spirit is trying to live through you daily; but He cannot succeed without your cooperation. Now if you are not obeying and cooperating with Him on every line, your preparation for heaven is at a standstill until you do that last thing He has bid you do. He only tells you to do one thing at a time, hence your failing to obey at one point stops the whole work. O, "hinder Him not !"

5. His next desire is to bring you up to the standard of New Testament power and usefulness. O, what a mistake the Christians of these days have made, in thinking that the days of miracles are over! God says, "It shall come to pass in the last days, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh" (Acts. 2: 17), and in the 19th verse, "I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath." And we will agree that these are the last days. Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark. 17: 17, 18). Now the Holy Ghost would work in these last days on this line if He could get the man and woman who would not hinder Him.

 We now proceed to mention some ways people hinder the Holy Spirit. 1. The fear of man, that bringeth a snare. How many precious souls hinder God on this line. 2. A failure to walk in all the light and promptings of the Spirit. 3. Limiting God, i. e., setting a stake for Him and calling any manifestations beyond their stake fanaticism. 4. Again we hinder Him by failing to readily obey His leadings, His advice, His checks, His reproofs. If He leads us to private prayer and meditation, we should promptly obey. If He advises us to refrain from some conduct, or lay aside some other needless adornments, or make some confession, we should promptly obey. If He checks us, when in the act of making some light or foolish remark, we should refrain from it immediately. If He finds occasion to reprove us on any line we should not cause Him to have to do so the second time. 5. Again we hinder Him many times by giving vent to our appetites and passions. No man can retain a close walk with God and unduly indulge in any line of intemperance. O, how many holy souls are shorn of their power on these lines. 6. Again, we hinder Him by not submitting to let Him fully and completely crucify the self life. O, how people are hindered from making God-intended progress by fostering and petting and humoring the old self life. They patch it up, and make excuses for the manifestations of pride, anger, impatience, etc., when they should get down before God in old-time earnestness, with fasting and prayer, and not let up until the Holy Ghost makes an end of old self, so that they will be thoroughly cured from shallowness, lightness, looseness, lustful stirrings, anger and impatient feelings; and from wavering, doubting, faultfinding and from holding onto worldly dress, such as ribbons, laces, jewelry, feathers, silks and costly adornments. O, reader, do heed the voice of the Spirit now speaking to thy soul, saying:

"Hinder Me not !"