Holy spirit contending

HOLY SPIRIT CONTENDING
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Genesis 6:3 3Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not
contend with humans forever, for they are mortal;
their days will be a hundred and twenty years."
New Living Translation
Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not put up with
humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal
flesh. In the future, their normal lifespanwill be no
more than 120 years.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Probation, Approbation, And Reprobation
Genesis 6:3
R.A. Redford
And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, &c. The life of
man, whether longeror shorter, is a time during which the Spirit of God
strives with him. It is at once in judgment and in mercy that the strife is not

prolonged; for where there is continued oppositionto the will of God there is
continual laying up of judgment againstthe day of wrath. The allotted time of
man upon the earth is sufficient for the required probation, clearly
manifesting the direction of the will, the decidedchoice of the heart. Here is -
I. THE GREAT MORAL FACT OF MAN'S CONDITION IN HIS FLESHLY
STATE. The striving of God's Spirit with him.
1. In the order of the world and of human life.
2. In the revelationof truth and positive appeals of the Divine word.
3. In the constantnearness and influence of spiritual society.
4. In the working of conscienceandthe moral instincts generally.
II. THE DIVINE APPOINTMENTOF SPIRITUAL PRIVILEGE at once a
righteous limitation and a gracious concentration. Thatwhich is unlimited is
apt to be undervalued. Not always shall the Spirit strive.
1. Individually this is testified. A heart which knows not the day of its
visitation becomes hardened.
2. In the history of spiritual work in communities. Times of refreshing
generallyfollowedby withdrawments of power. The limit of life itself is before
us all. Not always canwe hear the voice and see the open door.
III. THE NATURAL AND THE SPIRITUAL ARE INTIMATELY
RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE LIFE OF MAN. He who decreed
the length of days to his creature did also strive with the evil of his fallen
nature that he might castit out. The hundred and twenty years are seldom
reached;but is it not because the evil is so obstinately retained? Those whose
spirit is most in fellowshipwith the Spirit of God are leastweigheddown with
the burden of the flesh, are strongestto resistthe wearing, wasting influence
of the world.
IV. THE STRIVING OF GOD'S SPIRIT WITH US MAY CEASE. What
follows? To fall on the stone is to be broken, to be under it is to be crushed.
The alternative is before every human life - to be dealt with as with God or

againsthim. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!" The progressive
revelations of the Bible point to the winding up of all earthly history. Not
always strife. Be ye reconciledto God. - R.
Biblical Illustrator
My Spirit shall not always strive with man.
Genesis 6:3
The striving of the Spirit
I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE ASSERTION, "MySpirit shall not always
strive with man"? It is implied: —
(1)that the Spirit does sometimes strive with men;
(2)that men resistthe Spirit.

II. WHAT IS NOT INTENDED BYTHE 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 arrestedto the greatconcerns ofhis soul;
(2)when a man finds himself convincedof sin;
(3)when the mind is convictedof the greatguilt and ill-desert of sin;
(4)when men see the folly of seeking salvationin any other way than through
Christ alone.
V. WHAT IS INTENDED BYTHE SPIRIT 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 ofeachsinner; at some uncertain, awful point, he will reach
and pass it.
VI. WHY WILL GOD'S SPIRIT NOT STRIVE ALWAYS?
(1)Becauselongerstriving will do the sinner no good;
(2)because sinners sin wilfully when they resistthe Holy Ghost;
(3)because there is a point beyond which forbearance is no virtue.
VII. CONSEQUENCESOF THE SPIRIT'S CEASING TO STRIVE WITH
MEN.
(1)A confirmed hardness of heart;
(2)a searedconscience;
(3)certaindamnation.

( C. G. Finney..)
God striving with man
Bishop Atlay.
God strives with man in many ways by the working of His blessedSpirit
within him; by the working of our own conscience, by various warnings from
without constantly strewnin our paths; but if we grieve and resistthe Holy
Spirit of God, then He will not always strive with us, but will give us over to a
reprobate mind.
I. Considerthe 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, anda warning to us all.
(Bishop Atlay.)
The Spirit's influence
Evan Lewis.
I. THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DOES EXERT AN INFLUENCE ON MAN
FOR THE PURPOSE OF SECURING HIS BEST INTEREST.Notice —
1. That this spiritual influence is universal. No doubt respecting its possibility.
He who made man caninfluence him.
2. That this spiritual influence is essentialto the production of good. Human
nature is depraved, and therefore incapable of itself of producing anything
good. As every drop of rain which falls from the clouds, and every spring that
issues from the rockymountains, comes from the mighty oceans;as the light
which makes every planet and satellite gleam in the dark void of space comes
from the sun, so does all goodin man proceedfrom the Spirit of God.

3. That this spiritual influence is, in every case, limited by the conditions of
man's free agency. Nothing compulsory in its nature. If religion be virtue,
man in becoming religious must actfrom choice and not from necessity.
4. That this spiritual influence is effective in proportion to the adaptation of
the means by which it acts upon men's minds. Nature. Providence. Chiefly the
gospel.
II. THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD MAY CEASE TO INFLUENCE MEN FOR
GOOD. This proved by facts. Saul (1 Samuel 28:15); Belshazzar(Daniel5);
Jews in time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah15:1).
III. THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD CEASES TO INFLUENCE MAN FOR
GOOD BECAUSE OF MAN'S CONTINUED REBELLION. "Forthat he
also is flesh." The word "flesh" is often used in Scripture to denote the
sinfulness of man. This ceasing to strive may not be the result of a positive act
of withdrawal of heavenly influences, so much as that of the law of nature
which determines that the momentum of any moving body is diminished by
constantresistance. In the moral universe, as wellas in the physical, this law
operates.
IV. THAT THE BENEVOLENCEOF GOD IS MANIFESTEDIN THE
MANNER IN WHICH SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES ARE WITHDRAWN
FROM MAN. "Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
1. The withdrawal never happens till after a long period of existence.
2. It never happens suddenly, but gradually.
3. It never happens without sufficient warning.
(Evan Lewis.)
The Spirit striving
Homilist.
I. A WONDERFULFACT IMPLIED. The Holy Spirit strives with man.

1. Remarkable power. Mancan refuse to obey the Creator.
2. Amazing Divine condescension.
3. Astonishing human obduracy.
4. A merciful reason. Why not abandon man? Love of God.
5. The benevolent purpose. That man may forsake sin.
6. The mysterious method.
II. AN ALARMING PACT STATED.
1. A calamity of awful magnitude.
2. Mostmelancholy.
(Homilist.)
The time of God's grace is limited
W. Fenner.
There is a time when God will strive; but when that time is gone, Godwill
strive no more. To make this plain I will lay down these six things: —
1. I will let you see that it hath been so by testimonies of Scripture. (1 Samuel
15:23;Hebrews 12:16-18;Luke 19:41, 42)
2. I will show in or after what manner God deals with a soul in giving it
over.(1)The Lord changes His mind, and repents of the goodHe has done to
such rebellious and stubborn creatures.(2)The Lord gives over that man to
the powerof that sin, which He never did before when He strove with him; we
must either lose our sins or our souls;and if no means will serve to bring a
man home, then the Lord gives him over to commit his old sin (Psalm 81:11,
12).(3)As God gives a man over to the power of his lusts, so He doth blast a
man in regard of all abilities and gifts that formerly he hath had. Look into
the world, and you shall see this plain. Great scholars, learneddoctors and
preachers, their learning hath been blasted; they were bright candles, yet in

the end they became snuffs, men of corrupt minds, etc. Look upon other
common Christians, who have given hope of coming unto God when they were
in sickness ornecessity, etc. Yet at last it turns to nothing; He sent leanness
into their souls (Psalm 106:15). He gave them their request. One aims at
honour; well, Godgives it unto Him. Another will have profit; well, saith God,
and thou shalt have it, but My Spirit and the excellencythereofthou shalt
never have.(4) The Lord hardens that man. He repents of the goodthat is
done unto him; He gives him up to the powerof his lusts, and blasts all his
parts, so that he hardens his heart. And look by what means Godsought to
bring him unto Him, those means harden him; afflictions harden, him, which
should have been the means to have recalledhim. God brays a foolten times
in a mortar, and yet he is the harder, harder, and harder.(5) The Lord lets
that man build upon false bottoms, live by false principles: that man which
hath been enlightened must have somewhatto hold upon; else he would be in
a little hell, and ergo a man hath his shifts. Saul saith, I have performed the
will of the Lord, I have done that which He commanded me. Have you so, says
Samuel? What then means the lowing of the oxen? Oh, saith he, it is to do
sacrifice unto the Lord.(6) The Lord gives a commissionto all means formerly
used, that they shall never come to Him more; the Lord bids those judgments
and mercies wherewithHe soughtto humble him before, never more to
meddle with him. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone (Hosea 4:17).
3. I will let you see what persons they are.(1)Those that have lived a good
while under the means of grace, but are still unprofitable and no goodis
wrought upon them; it is likely such men are given over (Matthew 23:34-37).
And a man that hardens his neck when he is rebuked, shall suddenly be
destroyedand cannot be cured (Proverbs 29:1).(2) Those that have much
calling and means and also many secretworkings ofthe Spirit on them, that
when they have gone out of the house of God have determined never to be
drunk more, never to swear, lie, nor stealmore, etc., and yet these come to
nought. He that hath had many proclamations, as Ezekiel24:13.(3)Those that
have much grieved the goodSpirit of God in bringing in some sin contrary to
the light of conscienceandthe suggestions ofthe goodSpirit of God, as did the
children of Israel, who resistedthe goodSpirit of God, and He sware, etc.(4)
Such as have a common, base, vile, and contemptible esteemof the gospeland

ministers thereof. They mockedthe ministers till the wrath of God broke out
againstthem and there was no remedy (2 Chronicles 36:16).
4. Now I come to the fourth thing which is the grounds of it, viz. Why the
Lord in this life doth give men over and strive with them no more. The
grounds of this point arise from these two attributes of God, His justice and
His wisdom.(1)God is a just God; and is it not just that those who have
rejectedHim, that He should reject them? I have called, but you answerednot
(Jeremiah 7:13).(2)God is a wise God. A man that knocks atthe door if he be
wise, will not always lie knocking if none answer:he gives over and goes away;
so the Lord knocks atour hearts by mercies to allure us, by judgments to
terrify us: yet He can find no entrance. Is it not wisdom then to be gone? Why
should I smite you any more, saith God? (Isaiah 1:5).
(W. Fenner.)
Divine forbearance andjustice
T. R. Redwar, M. A.
I. THE LONG SUFFERANCE OF JEHOVAH TOWARDS HIS WAYWARD
CREATURES IS SET FORTHIS THE SCRIPTURESIN VARIOUS WAYS.
It is stated in a multitude of passages, thatlongsuffering is one of His
distinguishing attributes; and the truth of this is evidenced by the exceeding
greatforbearance manifestedtowards many whose characterand conduct are
recordedin Holy Writ (Exodus 34:6, 7; Numbers 14:8; Psalm86:15; 2 Peter
3:9). Consider, then, the factof God's exceeding greatforbearance, andlet it
be the means of gently leading you to repentance. But, in addition to this,
there is another considerationwhich ought to operate on your minds —
namely:
II. THE WARNINGS AFFORDEDTO SINNERSBEFORE THE POURING
OUT OF HIS JUDGMENTS. There is nothing more clearlymanifested in the
accountgiven us in the Word of God of His dealings with mankind, than the
fact of the unwillingness with which the Almighty inflicts punishment on
sinners. It is termed in the twenty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, and the twenty-

first verse, "His strange work, His strange act." Mercyis the work in which
the Lord delights; and judgment when executedis performed as a matter of
constraint, the effectof necessity. How many are the warnings which the Lord
holds forth before He strikes the blow I This was remarkable in the case ofthe
antediluvians.
(T. R. Redwar, M. A.)
The dangerof resisting the Spirit
R. South, DD.
I. THAT GOD'S TAKING AWAY HIS SPIRIT FROM ANY SOUL IS THE
CERTAIN FORERUNNER OF THE RUIN AND DESTRUCTIONOF
THAT SOUL. This is clearlyevinced from the words; for, although the flood
did immediately terminate in the destruction of the body only, yet because it
snatchedthese men awayin a state of impenitence, it was consequentiallythe
destruction of the soul.
II. THAT THERE IS IN THE HEART OF MAN A NATURAL ENMITY
AND OPPOSITIONTO THE MOTIONS OF GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT;
outward contention is the proper issue and product of inward hatred: striving
in action is an undoubted sign of enmity in the heart (Galatians 5:17). Here we
see there is a sharp combat betweenthese two: and the apostle subjoins the
reasonof it: "for these two are contrary." Things contrary will vent their
contrariety in mutual strife.
III. THAT THE SPIRIT IN ITS DEALINGS WITH THE HEART IS VERY
EARNEST AND VEHEMENT. To strive, imports a vigorous putting forth of
the power:it is such a posture as denotes an active desire. There is none that
strives with another but conquestis the thing both in his desire and in his
endeavour.
IV. THAT THERE IS A SET AND PUNCTUAL TIME, AFTER WHICH
THE CONVINCING OPERATIONS OF GOD'S SPIRIT UPON THE

HEART OF MAN IN ORDER TO HIS CONVERSION BEINGRESISTED,
WILL CEASE AND FOREVER LEAVE HIM.
1. Scripture proof (Psalm 95:10;Luke 19:42).
2. How the Spirit may be resistedin His workings upon the heart. Where we
must first lay down, what it is in generalto resistthe Spirit.And this I conceive
is, in brief, to disobey the Spirit commanding and persuading the soul to the
performance of duty, and the avoidance ofsin. Now, the Spirit commands and
persuades two ways.
1. Externally, by the letter of the word either written or preached.
2. By its immediate internal workings upon the soul, which I shall reduce to
two:
(1)The illumination of the understanding.
(2)The convictionof the will. Now, suitable to all these ways of the Spirit's
dealings with us, there are so many different acts of resistance by which these
dealings are opposed. Of all which in their order.
1. Concerning the resistance ofthe Spirit in disobeying the letter of the Word.
The reasonthat disobedience to the Word is to be accountedan opposing of
the Spirit, is because the Word was dictatedand inspired by the Spirit itself.
2. I shall next show how it is resistedin its immediate internal workings upon
the soul. Here we must reflectupon ourselves, and know that upon the
unhappy fall of man, sin and the wretchedeffects of sin immediately entered
upon, and took full possessionofall his faculties:his understanding, that
before shined clearlike the lamp of God, was by sin overspreadwith
darkness;his will, that bore a perfect conformity to the Divine will, was
rendered totally averse from and contrary to the things of God.(1)Concerning
our resistance ofit in illumination or its enlightening work. And these
enlightenings both may be, and often are, resistedby the soul. Illumination in
generalmay be described, the Spirit's infusing a certainlight into the mind,
whereby it is in some measure enabled to discern and judge of the things of
God. Now, this light is threefold.(a) That universal light which we usually

term the light of nature, yet so as it may also be rightly termed the light of the
Spirit; but in a different respect. It is called the light of nature, because ofits
generalinherence in all men; because it is commensurate and of equal extent
with nature, so that wheresoeverthe nature of man is to be found there this
light is to be found. "It enlightens every man that comes into the world." But
on the other hand, it is called the light of the Spirit, in respectof the Spirit's
efficiency, in that it is the producing cause ofit as it is of every goodand
perfect gift.(b) The secondkind of light may be calleda notional Scripture
light; that is, a bare knowledge ofor assentto Scripture truths. This light is
begotin the mind of all professors by the mere hearing or reading the word; it
is the bare perceptionof evangelicaltruths placedin the intellect, resting in
the brain, treasured up there by a nakedapprehension and speculation. So
that the resisting this is almost the same with our resistance ofthe Spirit
speaking in the word, only with this difference, that in the former we resist the
word as consideredin the letter, in this we resistit as it lies transcribed in the
conceptions ofthe understanding.(c) The third kind of light may be calleda
specialconvincing light, which is a higher degree of the enlightening work of
the Spirit. This is the highest attainment of the soulon this side saving grace;
it is like the clear shining of the moon and stars, which is the greatestlight
that is consistentwith a state of darkness. Yea, it is such a light as does not
only make a discovery of the things of God, but also engenders in the soul a
certain relish and taste of them.(2) We come now to the second, which is the
conviction of the will, which conviction may be described in general. A work
of the Spirit of God upon the will and affections, producing in them some
imperfect liking of the ways of God, and dislike to the ways of sin. Now, the
convincing works ofthe Spirit upon the will may be reduced to these three.
(a)A begetting in it some gooddesires, wishes, andinclinations.
(b)An enabling it to perform some imperfect obedience.
(c)An enabling it to leave some sins. In all these works the Spirit may be
resistedand opposed.
3. Why, upon such resistance, the Spirit finally withdraws.(1)The first reason
is drawn from God's decree.(2)The secondreasonis because it is most

agreeable to the greatintent and design of the gospel.(3)The third ground or
reasonwhy God withdraws His Spirit upon our resistance,is because it highly
tends to the vindication of His honour. Now, God may vindicate His honour
two ways in the Spirit's departure.
(a)As it is a punishment to the sinner, that has dishonoured Him. God's glory
cannot be repaired but by the misery of the party that made a breach upon it.
(b)God may vindicate His honour by clearing His injured attributes from
those aspersions that human mistakes might charge upon them.(4) God
withdraws His Spirit upon resistance,becausethis naturally raises in the
hearts of men an esteemand valuation of the Spirit's workings:and the
reasonof this is, because in so doing, men apparently see that God Himself
puts an esteemand value upon them, otherwise why should He so severely
bereave men of them upon their abuse? Were it not a treasure God would not
be so choice ofit. APPLICATION; And now, what can be more seasonable
than to wrap up all in the apostle's ownexhortation, "Quenchnot the Spirit"
(1 Thessalonians5:19). Now, as arguments to dissuade or deter you from this,
and withal to persuade and excite you to the former, take these motives.
1. Our resisting of the Spirit in His precepts and instructions will certainly
bereave us of His comforts.
2. The secondmotive why we should comply with the Spirit is, because the
resisting of it brings a man under hardness of heart and a reprobate sense.
3. The third motive is, because resisting ofthe Spirit puts a man in the very
next disposition to the greatand unpardonable sin againstthe Holy Ghost.
(R. South, DD.)
Why God's Spirit will not always strive
Prof. J. G. Murphy.

There is a certainpoint beyond which He will not go for sufficient reasons
known fully to Himself, partly to us. Two of these we are to notice for our
instruction.
1. He will not touch the free agencyof His rational creatures. He can put no
force on the volitions of men. An involuntary or compulsory faith, hope, love,
obedience, is a contradiction in terms, and anything that could bear the name
can have no moral validity whatsoever.
2. After giving ample warning, instruction and invitation, He will, as a just
judgment on the unbelieving and the impenitent, withdraw His Spirit and let
them alone.
(Prof. J. G. Murphy.)
Neglecting the opportunity of grace
When I think of opportunities, I think I may liken us here tonight to a number
of men in the Arctic regions. They have been frozen up for a long time, and
the ship is high and dry on great masses ofice. The thaw comes on; but the
thaw, however, will last but for a very short time. They settheir saws to work;
they see a split in the ice; there is a long and very narrow lane of water. If they
can getthe ship along there before the waterfreezes it up again, they may yet
reachthe shores of dear old England, and be safe;but if not, they are frozen
in for another winter, and very likely will be frozen in forever. Well, now,
tonight it seems just so with us. It seems as if the Spirit of God had purposely
brought some of you here; and I do trust He is opening, as it were, the lane of
mercy for you — causing your sins for a little time to loose their frosty hold,
and opening your heart a little to the genialinfluences of the gospel. But, oh! if
it should be frozen up again.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
The world's treatment of the Holy Spirit

J. Milne.
It is sad, when the physician, having exhausted all the resourcesofhis skill,
gives up his patient and retires. It is sad when the parent, having tried severity
and kindness, correctionand encouragement, in vain, at last, heartbrokenand
hopeless, desists fromhis endeavours to reform his wayward child. But it is
sadder still when Almighty God foiled, as it were, by human obduracy, in all
the manifestations of His grace and mercy, at lastgives up His efforts for the
salvationof men, and retires exclaiming: "How often would I have gathered
you under My wing, and ye would not." Such is the spectacle here. The Spirit
of God has, all through, been connectedwith our world. It was He who moved
on the face of the waters, reducing the discordantelements to order, and
building up that fair and goodlystructure, which has still so many traces ofits
original beauty lingering amid its ruin and decay. It was He who was breathed
into man, making him a living soul, spiritual, and like to God in wisdom,
goodness,happiness, and truth. After the Fall, He did not forsake the work of
His hands, but clave to the souls of men, seeking to help their recovery, and if
that might not be, seeking to actas a drag on their downward progress. Oh,
how long-continued, constant, and persevering have been His efforts for the
goodof man! What has been the treatment which He has receivedfrom them
in return? God tells us what it was from the men before the flood. They were
going on in evils ways, and the Spirit strove with them, tried to stop them, and
turn them back. He pleaded with them, warned them, but it was in vain; they
went on, and grew worse and worse. Like a mighty torrent they swept along,
and drew even the godly along with them. At length it became time for God to
decide and act, and so He did. "My Spirit shall not always strive with man."
Slowly and reluctantly, God comes to this determination. Oh, the evil of man's
sin! It makes, as it were, a conflict in the Divine bosom. Mercy calls for delay,
but justice says, "It must be limited." Love to men, and unwillingness that
they should perish, cry, "Let alone a little longer," but God is jealous for the
honour of His Spirit. And so a time comes whenthe blessedGod must decide
and act; and so He does. "Manhas become flesh," mere flesh; all, with one
exception, flesh. The case is hopeless, "Openthe windows of heaven, and
break up the fountains of the greatdeep." So it was with Israel. With growing
light, unparalleled privileges, they grew worse and worse — more hardened,

formal, hypocritical. The case was hopeless;Israelwas mere flesh — a dead,
corrupting carcase. Ho, ho, ye Roman eagles, come and devour!
(J. Milne.)
The long suffering of God
T. Guthrie, D. D.
The stroke ofjudgment is like the lightning flash, irresistible, fatal; it kills —
kills in the twinkling of an eye. But the clouds from which it leaps are slow to
gather; they thickenby degrees;and he must be intensely engagedwith the
pleasures, orengrossedin the business of the world, whom the flash and peal
surprise. The mustering clouds, the deepening gloom, the still and sultry air,
the awful silence, the big pattering raindrops, these revealhis dangerto the
traveller, and warn him awayfrom river, road, or hill, to the nearestshelter.
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Sin beyond mercy
In an age of despotism, an Italian prince became celebratedfor his
forbearance, also forhis severe punishment when arousedto do vengeance.
He had an offending servant who was repeatedlyadmonished. With every
pardon he became more recklessand impudent, and thought he could do any.
thing with impunity. One day, he entered the presence of the prince with his
hat on, and, when rebuked, said he had a cold. His much-enduring master
said, "I will take care that you never catchcold again." He immediately
ordered the man to prison, and that the executionershould nail his hat to his
head. One of the prince's friends expressedsurprise at this severe sentence,
because the servant had been pardoned for more serious crimes. The prince
took a goblet, and having half filled it with water, requested his friend to put
an apple into it. This made the waterrise to the brim. The prince then told his
friend to drop in a coin. This made the water to run over. "How is it?" the
prince asked, "that the small coin causedthe waterto run over, whereas the

large apple raised it only to the brim?" The overflowing of the cup of God's
mercy is wrath and destruction to the impenitent.
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
My spirit shall not always strive - It is only by the influence of the Spirit of
God that the carnal mind can be subdued and destroyed; but those who
wilfully resistand grieve that Spirit must be ultimately left to the hardness
and blindness of their own hearts, if they do not repent and turn to God. God
delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given. Even at this time
the earth was ripe for destruction; but God promised them one hundred and
twenty years'respite: if they repented in that interim, well; if not, they should
be destroyed by a flood. See the note on Genesis 6:5;
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/genesis-
6.html. 1832.
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The Biblical Illustrator
Genesis 6:3

My Spirit shall not always strive with man
The striving of the Spirit
I.
WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE ASSERTION, “MySpirit shall not always
strive with man”? It is implied:--
II. WHAT IS NOT INTENDED BYTHE 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?
V. WHAT IS INTENDED BYTHE SPIRIT 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 ofeachsinner; at some uncertain, awful point, he will reach
and pass it.
VI. WHY WILL GOD’S SPIRIT NOT STRIVE ALWAYS?

VII. CONSEQUENCESOF THE SPIRIT’S CEASING TO STRIVE WITH
MEN.
God striving with man
within him; by the working of our own conscience, by various warnings from
without constantly strewnin our paths; but if we grieve and resistthe Holy
reprobate mind.
I. Considerthe great mercy of God, in consenting to strive with man at all.
message, anda warning to us all. (Bishop Atlay.)
The Spirit’s influence
I. THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DOES EXERT AN INFLUENCE ON MAN
FOR THE PURPOSE OF SECURING HIS BEST INTEREST.Notice--
1. That this spiritual influence is universal. No doubt respecting its possibility.
He who made man caninfluence him.
2. That this spiritual influence is essentialto the production of good. Human
nature is depraved, and therefore incapable of itself of producing anything
good. As every drop of rain which falls from the clouds, and every spring that
issues from the rockymountains, comes from the mighty oceans;as the light

which makes every planet and satellite gleam in the dark void of space comes
from the sun, so does all goodin man proceedfrom the Spirit of God.
3. That this spiritual influence is, in every case, limited by the conditions of
man’s free agency. Nothing compulsory in its nature. If religionbe virtue,
man in becoming religious must actfrom choice and not from necessity.
4. That this spiritual influence is effective in proportion to the adaptation of
the means by which it acts upon men’s minds. Nature. Providence. Chiefly the
gospel.
II. THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD MAY CEASE TO INFLUENCE MEN FOR
GOOD. This proved by facts. Saul (1 Samuel 28:15); Belshazzar(Daniel5:1-
31); Jews in time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah15:1).
III. THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD CEASES TO INFLUENCE MAN FOR
GOOD BECAUSE OF MAN’S CONTINUED REBELLION. “Forthat he
also is flesh.” The word “flesh” is often used in Scripture to denote the
sinfulness of man. This ceasing to strive may not be the result of a positive act
of withdrawal of heavenly influences, so much as that of the law of nature
which determines that the momentum of any moving body is diminished by
constantresistance. In the moral universe, as wellas in the physical, this law
operates.
IV. THAT THE BENEVOLENCEOF GOD IS MANIFESTEDIN THE
MANNER IN WHICH SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES ARE WITHDRAWN
FROM MAN. “Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
1. The withdrawal never happens till after a long period of existence.
2. It never happens suddenly, but gradually.
3. It never happens without sufficient warning. (Evan Lewis.)

The Spirit striving
I. A WONDERFULFACT IMPLIED. The Holy Spirit strives with man.
1. Remarkable power. Mancan refuse to obey the Creator.
2. Amazing Divine condescension.
3. Astonishing human obduracy.
4. A merciful reason. Why not abandon man? Love of God.
5. The benevolent purpose. That man may forsake sin.
6. The mysterious method.
II. AN ALARMING PACT STATED.
1. A calamity of awful magnitude.
2. Mostmelancholy. (Homilist.)
The time of God’s grace is limited
There is a time when God will strive; but when that time is gone, Godwill
strive no more. To make this plain I will lay down these six things:--
1. I will let you see that it hath been so by testimonies of Scripture. (1 Samuel
15:23;Hebrews 12:16-18;Luke 19:41-42)
2. I will show in or after what manner God deals with a soul in giving it over.
3. I will let you see what persons they are.
4. Now I come to the fourth thing which is the grounds of it, viz. Why the
Lord in this life doth give men over and strive with them no more. The
grounds of this point arise from these two attributes of God, His justice and
His wisdom.

Divine forbearance andjustice
I. THE LONG SUFFERANCE OF JEHOVAH TOWARDS HIS WAYWARD
CREATURES IS SET FORTHIS THE SCRIPTURESIN VARIOUS WAYS.
It is stated in a multitude of passages, thatlongsuffering is one of His
distinguishing attributes; and the truth of this is evidenced by the exceeding
greatforbearance manifestedtowards many whose characterand conduct are
recordedin Holy Writ (Exodus 34:6-7;Numbers 14:8; Ps 2 Peter3:9).
Consider, then, the fact of God’s exceeding greatforbearance,and let it be the
means of gently leading you to repentance. But, in addition to this, there is
another considerationwhich ought to operate on your minds--namely:
II. THE WARNINGS AFFORDEDTO SINNERSBEFORE THE POURING
OUT OF HIS JUDGMENTS. There is nothing more clearlymanifested in the
accountgiven us in the Word of God of His dealings with mankind, than the
fact of the unwillingness with which the Almighty inflicts punishment on
sinners. It is termed in the twenty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, and the twenty-
first verse, “His strange work, His strange act.” Mercyis the work in which
the Lord delights; and judgment when executedis performed as a matter of
constraint, the effectof necessity. How many are the warnings which the Lord
holds forth before He strikes the blow I This was remarkable in the case ofthe
antediluvians. (T. R. Redwar, M. A.)
The dangerof resisting the Spirit
I. THAT GOD’S TAKING AWAY HIS SPIRIT FROM ANY SOUL IS THE
CERTAIN FORERUNNER OF THE RUIN AND DESTRUCTIONOF
THAT SOUL. This is clearlyevinced from the words; for, although the flood
did immediately terminate in the destruction of the body only, yet because it

snatchedthese men awayin a state of impenitence, it was consequentiallythe
destruction of the soul.
II. THAT THERE IS IN THE HEART OF MAN A NATURAL ENMITY
AND OPPOSITIONTO THE MOTIONS OF GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT
outward contention is the proper issue and product of inward hatred: striving
in action is an undoubted sign of enmity in the heart (Galatians 5:17). Here we
see there is a sharp combat betweenthese two: and the apostle subjoins the
reasonof it: “for these two are contrary.” Things contrary will vent their
contrariety in mutual strife.
III. THAT THE SPIRIT IN ITS DEALINGS WITH THE HEART IS VERY
EARNEST AND VEHEMENT. To strive, imports a vigorous putting forth of
the power:it is such a posture as denotes an active desire. There is none that
strives with another but conquestis the thing both in his desire and in his
endeavour.
IV. THAT THERE IS A SET AND PUNCTUAL TIME, AFTER WHICH
THE CONVINCING OPERATIONS OF GOD’S SPIRIT UPON THE
HEART OF MAN IN ORDER TO HIS CONVERSION BEINGRESISTED,
WILL CEASE AND FOREVER LEAVE HIM.
1. Scripture proof (Psalms 95:10; Luke 19:42).
2. How the Spirit may be resistedin His workings upon the heart. Where we
must first lay down, what it is in generalto resistthe Spirit.
And this I conceive is, in brief, to disobey the Spirit commanding and
persuading the soul to the performance of duty, and the avoidance ofsin.
Now, the Spirit commands and persuades two ways.
1. Externally, by the letter of the word either written or preached.

2. By its immediate internal workings upon the soul, which I shall reduce to
two:
1. Concerning the resistance ofthe Spirit in disobeying the letter of the Word.
The reasonthat disobedience to the Word is to be accountedan opposing of
the Spirit, is because the Word was dictatedand inspired by the Spirit itself.
2. I shall next show how it is resistedin its immediate internal workings upon
the soul. Here we must reflectupon ourselves, and know that upon the
unhappy fall of man, sin and the wretchedeffects of sin immediately entered
upon, and took full possessionofall his faculties:his understanding, that
before shined clearlike the lamp of God, was by sin overspreadwith
darkness;his will, that bore a perfect conformity to the Divine will, was
rendered totally averse from and contrary to the things of God.
(a) That universal light which we usually term the light of nature, yet so as it
may also be rightly termed the light of the Spirit; but in a different respect. It
is calledthe light of nature, because ofits generalinherence in all men;
because it is commensurate and of equal extent with nature, so that
wheresoeverthe nature of man is to be found there this light is to be found. “It
enlightens every man that comes into the world.” But on the other hand, it is
calledthe light of the Spirit, in respectof the Spirit’s efficiency, in that it is the
producing cause ofit as it is of every goodand perfect gift.
(b) The secondkind of light may be called a notional Scripture light; that is, a
bare knowledge ofor assentto Scripture truths. This light is begotin the mind
of all professors by the mere hearing or reading the word; it is the bare
perception of evangelicaltruths placed in the intellect, resting in the brain,
treasuredup there by a naked apprehensionand speculation. So that the
resisting this is almost the same with our resistance ofthe Spirit speaking in
the word, only with this difference, that in the former we resistthe word as
consideredin the letter, in this we resistit as it lies transcribed in the
conceptions ofthe understanding.
(c) The third kind of light may be calleda specialconvincing light, which is a
higher degree ofthe enlightening work of the Spirit. This is the highest
attainment of the soulon this side saving grace;it is like the clearshining of

the moon and stars, which is the greatestlight that is consistentwith a state of
darkness. Yea, it is such a light as does not only make a discoveryof the things
of God, but also engenders in the soul a certainrelish and taste of them.
(a) A begetting in it some gooddesires, wishes, and inclinations.
(b) An enabling it to perform some imperfect obedience.
(c) An enabling it to leave some sins. In all these works the Spirit may be
resistedand opposed.
3. Why, upon such resistance, the Spirit finally withdraws.
(a) As it is a punishment to the sinner, that has dishonoured Him. God’s glory
cannot be repaired but by the misery of the party that made a breach upon it.
(b) God may vindicate His honour by clearing His injured attributes from
those aspersions that human mistakes might charge upon them.
1. Our resisting of the Spirit in His precepts and instructions will certainly
bereave us of His comforts.
2. The secondmotive why we should comply with the Spirit is, because the
resisting of it brings a man under hardness of heart and a reprobate sense.
3. The third motive is, because resisting ofthe Spirit puts a man in the very
next disposition to the greatand unpardonable sin againstthe Holy Ghost. (R.
South, DD.)
Why God’s Spirit will not always strive
There is a certainpoint beyond which He will not go for sufficient reasons
known fully to Himself, partly to us. Two of these we are to notice for our
instruction.
1. He will not touch the free agencyof His rational creatures. He can put no
force on the volitions of men. An involuntary or compulsory faith, hope, love,
obedience, is a contradiction in terms, and anything that could bear the name
can have no moral validity whatsoever.

2. After giving ample warning, instruction and invitation, He will, as a just
judgment on the unbelieving and the impenitent, withdraw His Spirit and let
them alone. (Prof. J. G. Murphy.)
Neglecting the opportunity of grace
When I think of opportunities, I think I may liken us here tonight to a number
of men in the Arctic regions. They have been frozen up for a long time, and
the ship is high and dry on great masses ofice. The thaw comes on; but the
thaw, however, will last but for a very short time. They settheir saws to work;
they see a split in the ice; there is a long and very narrow lane of water. If they
can getthe ship along there before the waterfreezes it up again, they may yet
reachthe shores of dear old England, and be safe;but if not, they are frozen
in for another winter, and very likely will be frozen in forever. Well, now,
tonight it seems just so with us. It seems as if the Spirit of God had purposely
brought some of you here; and I do trust He is opening, as it were, the lane of
mercy for you--causing your sins for a little time to loose their frosty hold, and
opening your heart a little to the genialinfluences of the gospel. But, oh! if it
should be frozen up again. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The world’s treatment of the Holy Spirit
It is sad, when the physician, having exhausted all the resourcesofhis skill,
gives up his patient and retires. It is sad when the parent, having tried severity
and kindness, correctionand encouragement, in vain, at last, heartbrokenand
hopeless, desists fromhis endeavours to reform his wayward child. But it is
sadder still when Almighty God foiled, as it were, by human obduracy, in all
the manifestations of His grace and mercy, at lastgives up His efforts for the
salvationof men, and retires exclaiming: “How often would I have gathered
you under My wing, and ye would not.” Such is the spectacle here. The Spirit
of God has, all through, been connectedwith our world. It was He who moved
on the face of the waters, reducing the discordantelements to order, and
building up that fair and goodlystructure, which has still so many traces ofits
original beauty lingering amid its ruin and decay.
It was He who was breathed into man, making him a living soul, spiritual, and
like to God in wisdom, goodness, happiness, and truth. After the Fall, He did

not forsake the work of His hands, but clave to the souls of men, seeking to
help their recovery, and if that might not be, seeking to act as a drag on their
downward progress. Oh, how long-continued, constant, and persevering have
been His efforts for the goodof man! What has been the treatment which He
has receivedfrom them in return? God tells us what it was from the men
before the flood. They were going on in evils ways, and the Spirit strove with
them, tried to stop them, and turn them back. He pleaded with them, warned
them, but it was in vain; they went on, and grew worse and worse. Like a
mighty torrent they swept along, and drew even the godly along with them. At
length it became time for God to decide and act, and so He did. “My Spirit
shall not always strive with man.” Slowly and reluctantly, God comes to this
determination. Oh, the evil of man’s sin! It makes, as it were, a conflictin the
Divine bosom. Mercycalls for delay, but justice says, “It must be limited.”
Love to men, and unwillingness that they should perish, cry, “Let alone a little
longer,” but God is jealous for the honour of His Spirit. And so a time comes
when the blessedGodmust decide and act; and so He does. “Manhas become
flesh,” mere flesh; all, with one exception, flesh. The case is hopeless, “Open
the windows of heaven, and break up the fountains of the greatdeep.” So it
was with Israel. With growing light, unparalleled privileges, they grew worse
and worse--more hardened, formal, hypocritical. The case was hopeless;
Israelwas mere flesh--a dead, corrupting carcase.Ho, ho, ye Roman eagles,
come and devour! (J. Milne.)
The long suffering of God
The stroke ofjudgment is like the lightning flash, irresistible, fatal; it kills--
kills in the twinkling of an eye. But the clouds from which it leaps are slow to
gather; they thickenby degrees;and he must be intensely engagedwith the
pleasures, orengrossedin the business of the world, whom the flash and peal
surprise. The mustering clouds, the deepening gloom, the still and sultry air,
the awful silence, the big pattering raindrops, these revealhis dangerto the
traveller, and warn him awayfrom river, road, or hill, to the nearestshelter.
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Sin beyond mercy

In an age of despotism, an Italian prince became celebratedfor his
forbearance, also forhis severe punishment when arousedto do vengeance.
He had an offending servant who was repeatedlyadmonished. With every
pardon he became more recklessand impudent, and thought he could do
anything with impunity. One day, he entered the presence of the prince with
his hat on, and, when rebuked, saidhe had a cold. His much-enduring master
said, “I will take care that you never catchcold again.” He immediately
ordered the man to prison, and that the executionershould nail his hat to his
head. One of the prince’s friends expressedsurprise at this severe sentence,
because the servant had been pardoned for more serious crimes. The prince
took a goblet, and having half filled it with water, requested his friend to put
an apple into it. This made the waterrise to the brim. The prince then told his
friend to drop in a coin. This made the water to run over. “How is it?” the
prince asked, “that the small coin causedthe waterto run over, whereas the
large apple raised it only to the brim?” The overflowing of the cup of God’s
mercy is wrath and destruction to the impenitent.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Exell, JosephS. "Commentary on "Genesis 6:3". The Biblical Illustrator.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/genesis-6.html. 1905-1909.
New York.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And Jehovahsaid, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for that he
also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years."
This signals the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from those who already had
hardened their hearts againstGod, and we find in this the first Scriptural
instance of Judicial Hardening, a phenomenon witnessedagainand again
throughout the Bible. It is not so designatedhere, but that is undeniably what
it is. This is equivalent in every way to Paul's statementregarding a later evil
generationthat, "God gave them up ..." (Romans 1:24,26,28). This is different
from causing men to sin, but it always leads to the proliferation and intensity
of sin. It means that God will, at last, allow men the right of choosing sin, if
they must. We shall encounter this phenomenon againand againin our
studies. The result in this instance of it was the complete corruption of
humanity (Noah and his family excepted), after the manner described below
in Genesis 6:6-8. Paul also describedthe same condition in Romans 1. "God
gave them up."
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/genesis-6.html. Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And the Lord said,.... Notto Noah, as in Genesis 6:13 for, as yet, he is not
takennotice of, or any discourse addressedto him; but rather to or within
himself, he said what follows, orthus concluded, and resolvedon in his own
mind:

my Spirit shall not always strive with man; meaning either the soulof man,
calledthe Spirit of God, Job 27:3 because ofhis creation, and is what he
breathes and puts into men, and therefore is styled the Father of spirits; and
which is in man, as some in Aben Ezra observe to be the sense the word used,
as a sword in the scabbard;and so the meaning is, it shall not always abide
there, but be unsheathed and drawn out; man shall not live always, since he is
corrupt, and given to carnallusts: or else, as Jarchithinks, God himself is
meant, and that the sense is, my Spirit shall not always contendwithin myself;
or there shall not always be contention within me concerning man, whether I
shall destroy him, or have mercy on him; I am at a point to punish him, since
he is wholly carnal: or rather this is to be understood of the Holy Spirit of
God, as the Targum of Jonathan, which agrees with 1 Peter3:18 and to be
thus interpreted; that the Spirit of God, which had been litigating and
reasoning the point, as men do in a court of judicature, as the word signifies,
with these men in the court, and at the bar of their own consciences, by one
providence or by one minister or another, particularly by Noah, a preacherof
righteousness, invain, and to no purpose; therefore, he determines to proceed
no longer in this way, but pass and execute the sentence ofcondemnation on
them:
for that he also is flesh; not only carnal and corrupt, but sadly corrupted, and
wholly given up to and immersed in sensuallusts and carnalpleasures, so as
not to be restrained nor reformed; even the posterity of Seth, professors of
religion also, as wellas the profane world and posterity of Cain:
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years: meaning not the term of
man's life, reduced to this from the length of time he lived before the flood;
but this designs the space that God would give for repentance, before he
proceededto execute his vengeance onhim; this is that "longsuffering of
God" the apostle speaksofin the afore mentioned place, "that waited in the
days of Noah, while the ark was preparing";and so both the Targums of
Onkelos and Jonathaninterpret it of a space ofan hundred and twenty years
given them to repent: now whereas it was but an hundred years from the
birth of Japheth to the flood, some think the space was shortenedtwenty
years, because oftheir impenitence; but it is more probable what Jarchi
observes, that this decree was made and given out twenty years before his

birth, though here related, by a figure called"hysteronproteron", frequent in
the Scriptures.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "The New John Gill Exposition of
the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/genesis-6.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always d strive with man, for that he
also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an e hundred and twenty years.
(d) Because mancould not by won by God's leniency and patience by which
he tried to win him, he would no longer withhold his vengeance.
(e) Which time span God gave man to repent before he would destroy the
earth, (1 Peter3:20).
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon Genesis 6:3". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/genesis-6.html.
1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
flesh — utterly, hopelesslydebased.
And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive — Christ, as God, had by
His Spirit inspiring Enoch, Noah, and perhaps other prophets (1 Peter3:20; 2
Peter2:5; Judges 1:14), preached repentance to the antediluvians; but they
were incorrigible.
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years — It is probable that the
corruption of the world, which had now reachedits height, had been long and
gradually increasing, and this idea receives support from the long respite
granted.
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Genesis 6:3". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/genesis-6.html. 1871-8.

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible
This comes in here as a tokenof God's displeasure at those who married
strange wives;he threatens to withdraw from them his Spirit, whom they had
grieved by such marriages, contrary to their convictions:fleshly lusts are
often punished with spiritual judgments, the sorestof all judgments. Or as
another occasionofthe greatwickednessofthe old world; the Spirit of the
Lord, being provokedby their resistance ofhis motions, ceasedto strive with
them, and then all religion was soonlostamong them. This he warns them of
before, that they might not further vex his Holy Spirit, but by their prayers
might stay him with them. Observe in this verse,
I. God's resolution not always to strive with man by his Spirit. The Spirit then
strove by Noah's preaching (1 Peter3:19, 1 Peter3:20) and by inward checks,
but it was in vain with the most of men; therefore, says God, He shall not
always strive. Note, 1. The blessedSpirit strives with sinners, by the
convictions and admonitions of conscience, to turn them from sin to God. 2. If
the Spirit be resisted, quenched, and striven against, though he strive long, he
will not strive always, Hosea 4:17. 3. Those are ripening apace for ruin whom
the Spirit of grace has left off striving with.
II. The reasonofthis resolution: For that he also is flesh, that is, incurably
corrupt, and carnal, and sensual, so that it is labour lostto strive with him.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin? He also, that is, All, one as well as
another, they have all sunk into the mire of flesh. Note, 1. It is the corrupt
nature, and the inclination of the soul towards the flesh, that oppose the
Spirit's strivings and render them ineffectual. 2. When a sinner has long
adhered to that interest, and sided with the flesh againstthe Spirit, the Spirit
justly withdraws his agency, and strives no more. None lose the Spirit's
strivings but those that have first forfeited them.

III. A reprieve granted, notwithstanding: Yet his days shall be one hundred
and twenty years; so long I will defer the judgment they deserve, and give
them space to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. Justice said,
Cut them down; but mercy interceded, Lord, let them alone this year also;
and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six-score years.
Note, The time of God's patience and forbearance towards provoking sinners
is sometimes long, but always limited: reprieves are not pardons; though God
bear a greatwhile, he will not bear always.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Bibliography
Henry, Matthew. "Complete Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "Matthew Henry
Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/genesis-6.html. 1706.
Hawker's PoorMan's Commentary
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he
also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
An awful scripture! Read, in confirmation of it, Ezekiel16:42, compare both
with Hosea 4:17. and then remark, that when the Lord ceases to correct,
destruction is at hand.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Hawker, Robert, D.D. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "Hawker's PoorMan's
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pmc/genesis-
6.html. 1828.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he
also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
My spirit shall not always strive with man — The spirit then strove by Noah's
preaching, 1 Peter3:19, and by inward checks,but 'twas in vain with the most
of men; therefore saith God, he shall not always strive, for that he also is flesh
- Incurably corrupt and sensual, so that 'tis labour lostto strive with him. He
also, that is, all, one as well as another; they are all sunk into the mire of flesh.
Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years — So long will I defer the
judgment they deserve, and give them space to prevent it by their repentance
and reformation. Justice said, cut them down; but mercy interceded, Lord, let
them alone this year also;and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was
obtained for six score years.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "JohnWesley's Explanatory
Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/genesis-6.html. 1765.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
3.My Spirit shall not always strive. Although Moseshad before shown that the
world had proceededto such a degree of wickednessandimpiety, as ought not
any longerto be borne; yet in order to prove more certainly, that the
vengeance by which the whole world was drowned, was not less just than
severe, he introduces God himself as the speaker. Forthere is greaterweight
in the declarationwhen pronounced by God’s own mouth, that the wickedness
of men was too deplorable to leave any apparent hope of remedy, and that
therefore there was no reasonwhy he should spare them. Moreover, since this
would be a terrible example of divine anger, at the bare hearing of which we
are even now afraid, it was necessaryto be declared, that God had not been
impelled by the heat of his angerinto precipitation, nor had been more severe
than was right; but was almostcompelled, by necessity, utterly to destroy the
whole world, except one single family. For men commonly do not refrain from
accusing Godof excessive haste;nay, they will even deem him cruel for taking
vengeance ofthe sins of men. Therefore, that no man may murmur, Moses
here, in the person of God, pronounces the depravity of the world to have
been intolerable, and obstinately incurable by any remedy. This passage,
however, is variously expounded. In the first place, some of the Hebrews
derive the word which Mosesuses from the root(260) ‫ןדנ‬ (nadan) which
signifies a scabbard. And hence they elicit the meaning that God was
unwilling for his Spirit to be any longer held captive in a human body, as if
enclosedlike a swordin the scabbard. But because the exposition is distorted,
and savours of the delirium of the Manichees, as if the soul of man were a
portion of the Divine Spirit, it is by us to be rejected. Evenamong the Jews, it
is a more commonly receivedopinion, that the word in question is from the
root ‫ןוד‬ (doon.) But since it often means to judge, and sometimes to litigate,
hence also arise different interpretations. For some explain the passageto
mean, that God will no longerdeign to governmen by his Spirit; because the
Spirit of Godacts the part of a judge within us, when he so enlightens us with
reasonthat we pursue what is right. Luther, according to his custom, applies
the term to the external jurisdiction which God exercisesby the ministry of
the prophets, as if some one of the patriarchs had said in an assembly, ‘We

must cease fromcrying aloud; because it is an unbecoming thing that the
Spirit of God, who speaks through us, should any longerweary himself in
reproving the world.’ This is indeed ingeniously spoken;but because we must
not seek the sense ofScripture in uncertain conjectures,I interpret the words
simply to mean, that the Lord, as if weariedwith the obstinate perverseness of
the world, denounces that vengeance as present, which he had hitherto
deferred. Foras long as the Lord suspends punishment, he, in a certain sense,
strives with men, especiallyif either by threats or by examples of gentle
chastisement, he invites them to repentance. In this way he had striven
already, some centuries, with the world, which, nevertheless, was perpetually
becoming worse. And now, as if weariedout, he declares that he has no mind
to contend any longer. (261)For when God, by inviting the unbelievers to
repentance, had long striven with them; the deluge put an end to the
controversy. However, I do not entirely reject the opinion of Luther that God,
having seenthe deplorable wickednessofmen, would not allow his prophets to
spend their labor in vain. But the generaldeclarationis not to be restrictedto
that particular case. Whenthe Lord says, ‘I will not contend for ever,’he
utters his censure on an excessive and incurable obstinacy; and, at the same
time, gives proof of the divine longsuffering: as if he would say, There will
never be an end of contentions unless some unprecedentedact of vengeance
cuts off the occasionofit. The Greek interpreters, deceivedby the similitude
of one letter to another have improperly read, ‘shall not remain:’ (262)which
has commonly been explained, as if men were then deprived of a sound and
correctjudgment; but this has nothing to do with the present passage.
For that he also is flesh. The reasonis added why there is no advantage to be
expectedfrom further contention. The Lord here seems to place his Spirit in
opposition to the carnal nature of men. In which method, Paul declares that
the
‘natural man does not receive those things which belong to the Spirit, and that
they are foolishness unto him,’
(1 Corinthians 2:14.)

The meaning of the passagetherefore is, that it is in vain for the Spirit of God
to dispute with the flesh, which is incapable of reason. God gives the name of
flesh as a mark of ignominy to men, whom he, nevertheless, had formed in his
own image. And this is a mode of speaking familiar to Scripture. They who
restrict this appellation to the inferior part of the soul are greatly deceived.
For since the soul of man is vitiated in every part, and the reasonof man is not
less blind than his affections are perverse, the whole is properly called carnal.
Therefore, let us know, that the whole man is naturally flesh, until by the
grace ofregenerationhe begins to be spiritual. Now, as it regards the words of
Moses,there is no doubt that they contain a grievous complaint togetherwith
a reproof on the part of God. Man ought to have excelledall other creatures,
on accountof the mind with which he was endued; but now, alienatedfrom
right reason, he is almost like the cattle of the field. Therefore God inveighs
againstthe degenerate and corrupt nature of men; because, by their own
fault, they are fallen to that degree offatuity, that now they approach more
nearly to beasts than to true men, such as they ought to be, in consequenceof
their creation. He intimates, however, this to be an adventitious fault, that
man has a relish only for the earth, and that, the light of intelligence being
extinct, he follows his own desires. I wonder that the emphasis contained in
the particle ‫םגשב‬ (beshagam,)has been overlookedby commentators;for the
words mean, ‘on this account, because he also is flesh.’ In which language God
complains, that the order appointed by him has been so greatlydisturbed,
that his own image has been transformed into flesh.
Yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. Certain writers of
antiquity, such as Lactantius, and others, have too grosslyblundered in
thinking that the term of human life was limited within this space oftime;
whereas, it is evident, that the language usedin this place refers not to the
private life of any one, but to a time of repentance to be granted to the whole
world. Moreover, here also the admirable benignity of God is apparent, in
that he, though weariedwith the wickednessofmen, yet postpones the
executionof extreme vengeance formore than a century. But here arises an
apparent discrepancy. For Noahdeparted this life when he had completed
nine hundred and fifty years. It is howeversaid that he lived from the time of
the deluge three hundred and fifty years. Therefore, on the day he entered the

ark he was six hundred years old. Where then will the twenty years be found?
The Jews answer, thatthese years were cut off in consequenceofthe
increasing wickednessofmen. But there is no need of that subterfuge; when
the Scripture speaks ofthe five hundredth year of his age, it does not affirm,
that he had actually reachedthat point. And this mode of speaking, which
takes into accountthe beginning of a period, as well as its end, is very
common. Therefore, inasmuchas the greaterpart of the fifth century of his
life was passed, so that he was nearly five hundred years old, he is said to have
been of that age. (263)
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "Calvin's Commentary on the
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/genesis-6.html.
1840-57.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,
for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Ver. 3. My Spirit shall not always strive,]that is, I’ll consultno longer, but
resolve to ruin them, as some gloss it; or, I’ll pull the sword out of the sheath,
the soulout of the body, as others gather out of the Hebrew word (a) here
used. But they do best, in my mind, that sense it thus: My Spirit - whereby I
hitherto "wentand preached," by Noahand other patriarchs, to those
"spirits" (once in pleasure, now) "in prison," [Ecclesiastes11:9 1 Peter3:18-
19] but prevailed not - shall not always strive with perverse men by preaching,

disputing, convincing, in the mouths of my servants, whom I have sent unto
them; nor in their own minds and consciences,by inward checks and motions,
which they have made no gooduse of. Delicata res estSpiritus Dei . Grieve it
once, and you may drive it awayfor ever. It "blowethwhere it listeth," and
will not be at your whistle.
For that he also is flesh.] He is therefore the worse, becausehe ought to be
better, (b) Godexpects singular things from his people, and takes it ill when
they are "carnaland walk as men". [1 Corinthians 3:3] They should be higher
than others by head and shoulders, as Saul was;and all that is in them, or
comes from them, should be as the fruit of the trees in Paradise, fair to the
eye, and sweetto the taste.
Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.]It shall be so long ere I
destroy. This longsuffering of God is celebratedby St Peter, [1 Peter3:19-20 2
Peter2:5] and well it may; for had he not been God, and not man, he could
never have held his hands so long. Neither indeed did he; for so extreme was
the provocation, that he cut them off twenty years of this promised count: that
all the earth might "know" to their woe his "breachof promise". [Numbers
14:34]
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/genesis-
6.html. 1865-1868.

Sermon Bible Commentary
Genesis 6:3
I. What is implied in the assertion, "MySpirit shall not always strive with
man?" It is implied: (1) that the Spirit does sometimes strive with men; (2)
that men resistthe 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 arrestedto the greatconcerns ofhis soul;
(2) when a man finds himself convincedof sin; (3) when the mind is convicted
of the greatguilt and ill-desert of sin; (4) when men see the folly of seeking
salvationin any other way than through Christ alone.
V. What is intended by the Spirit's not striving always? Notthat 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
eachsinner; at some uncertain, awful point he will reachand pass it.
VI. Why will God's Spirit not strive always? (1) Becauselongerstriving will
do the sinner no good;(2) because sinners sin wilfully when they resistthe
Holy Ghost; (3) because there is a point beyond which forbearance is no
virtue.
VII. Consequencesofthe Spirit's ceasing to strive with men: (1) a confirmed
hardness of heart; (2) a searedconscience;(3) certain damnation.
C. G. Finney, Sermons on GospelThemes, p. 264.
within him: by the working of our own conscience, by various warnings from

without, constantlystrewn in our paths; but if we grieve and resistthe Holy
reprobate mind.
I. Considerthe great mercy of God in consenting to strive with man at all.
message, anda warning to us all.
Bishop Atlay, Penny Pulpit, No. 556.
References:Genesis 6:2.—G. Calthrop, Words Spokento my Friends, p. 149.
Genesis 6:3.—C. Kingsley, NationalSermons, 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.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Nicoll, William R. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "SermonBible
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/sbc/genesis-
6.html.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Genesis 6:3. And the Lord said, &c.— On a view of the extreme degeneracyof
mankind, God said, i.e.. "He resolvedand made known" by the mouth of his
prophets, such as Enoch and Noah, by whom the Spirit of Christ preachedto
the unbelievers and disobedient of the old world, 1 Peter3:18-20. 2 Peter 2:5

that his Spirit should not always strive, or plead with man; that is to say, after
having exhorted these men in vain to repentance, after having laboured in
vain in their hearts by the internal operations of his grace, he would use no
more efforts to reclaim them, but would exercise his justice upon them.
Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years— "Thatis," says Mr.
Locke, "their days, or time of trial for repentance, shall be so long, before I
destroy the race." This hath been often understood as referring to the general
age of man; whereas it is evident, that it refers to that period of God's waiting
for the reformation of the world, while the ark was preparing. The Chaldee
has it, a period of an hundred and twenty years shall be given them, wherein
to repent.
It is here objected, that, on a comparisonof Genesis 5:32;Genesis 7:11 this
time is found to have been not a hundred and twenty, but only a hundred
years. How then did God perform his promise? I answer, this promise, though
mentioned after what we read in ch. Genesis 5:32. was neverthelessmade
twenty years before it, for that verse is added there only to complete the
genealogy;and therefore, afterthis narrative of the wickedness ofthe world,
it is repeatedhere in its due order, in the 10th verse. Nor are such
transpositions, says Poole, uncommonin scripture, without any diminution of
its authority.
Observe here, the merciful respite, a hundred and twenty years! Godnever
strikes without warning: but when his grace is rejected, his calls disregarded,
his admonitions made light of: though he waitlong, his time of patience ends;
the swordis drawn, the sinner dies. Let us hear then, and fear, and do no
more wickedly.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Coke, Thomas. "Commentaryon Genesis 6:3". Thomas Coke Commentary
on the Holy Bible. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/genesis-
6.html. 1801-1803.
Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae
DISCOURSE:12
STRIVINGS OF THE SPIRIT
Genesis 6:3. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man.
MAN, at first, was createdin the image of his God: but when he fell, he begat
children in his own fallen image. His very first-born became a murderer.
Some of his posterity, however, were pious: but they, not being careful to
connectthemselves with those who fearedGod, were drawn aside from
religion by their ungodly wives, insomuch that, in eight or nine generations,
“all flesh had corrupted their way,” and it repented “Godthat he had made
man [Note:Genesis 6:6-7; Genesis 6:12.].” In consequenceofthis, God
determined to destroy the whole earth. But yet, being full of mercy, he would
not proceedto this extremity without giving to man space for repentance.
Accordingly, he commanded Noah to preachto them; and to declare, that in
the space of120 years the threatened judgments should be inflicted, if the
people did not avert those judgments by their penitence. During that period
his Holy Spirit should continue to strive with them—but no longer: for “he
should not always strive with man, who was now become altogetherflesh,”
and carnal;and who, if he did not repent in the time allotted him, should be
left to reap the bitter fruit of his own ways.
That this warning may have a salutary effecton us, I will endeavour to shew,
I. That the Spirit of God, if long resisted, will ceaseto strive with us.
Certain it is, that the Spirit of God does strive with unregenerate men—
[He strove with the whole antediluvian world, by the ministry of Noah:for
“by the Spirit did that holy man preach, during the whole period whilst the

ark was preparing, even to the spirits which for their disobedience were
condemned, and shut up in the prison” reserved for all impenitent
transgressors [Note:1 Peter3:19-20.]. “To the whole nation of Israel, also, did
the Holy Spirit for ages testify, in and by his Prophets, notwithstanding they
dealt proudly, and withdrew their shoulder, and hardened their neck, and
would not hear [Note:Nehemiah 9:29-30.].” With us also does he strive, both
by the ministry of his word, and by his own immediate agencyon the hearts of
men. For, what is conscience, but God’s vicegerentin the soul? By that, God
speaks to us; warning, and inviting us from time to time, if by any means we
may be induced to repent and turn unto him. Let any one only look back upon
his pastlife; and he shall find that there have been some periods when he has
felt a convictionupon his mind that it was his duty, and would be his
happiness, to seek afterGod, and obtain, whilst yet he might, the remissionof
his sins.]
But we resisthis sacredmotions—
[To whom amongstus may not those words of Stephen be applied, (if not in
reference to the present moment, yet certainly in reference to some period of
our lives,) “Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resistthe Holy Ghost:as your fathers did, so also do ye [Note: Acts 7:51.].”
We may not, indeed, have set ourselves in such hostility to the truth as they
did; but have we been more practically obedient than they? Have we obeyed
the voice of the Lord our God, calling us to repentance, and to a dedicationof
our whole selves to him? Alas! there has been the same stoutness of heart in
us, as in persons of a more profane character;many of whom, perhaps, have
“said, I will not, but afterwards have repented, and went” into their Lord’s
vineyard; whilst we, perhaps, have said, “I go, Sir,” but have been as far from
executing our acknowledgedduty as ever [Note:Matthew 21:28-30.].]
And will the Spirit always continue to strive with us?
[No: we are assuredhe will not. We know that his motions may be resisted, till
they are altogether“quenche [Note: 1 Thessalonians 5:19.].” And in many
instances has he been driven awayby the obstinacyof those with whom he
had striven. Of Saulwe are told, that “the Spirit of the Lord departed from

Saul; and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him [Note:1 Samuel 16:14.].”
And it was not without reasonthat David prayed, “Castme not awayfrom thy
presence!and take not thy Holy Spirit from me [Note: Psalms 51:11.]!” When
God saw his ancient people incurably addicted to idolatry, He said, “Ephraim
is joined to idols: let him alone [Note: Hosea 4:17.].” And what else can we
expect, if we continue obstinate in our sins? The doom of Israel must of
necessitybe ours. Of them it is said, “They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit;
therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and fought againstthem [Note:
Isaiah63:10.]:” and we verily canexpect no other, than that He, whose
solicitations we refusedto follow, as a Friend, shall send forth his vindictive
judgments againstus, as an Enemy.]
Let me then proceedto shew,
II. What is the state of a soul thus abandoned by the Lord.
Truly its condition is most pitiable. God has said, “Woe unto them, when I
depart from them [Note:Hosea 9:12.]:” and verily it will be a woeful day for
any one of us, if God should ever abandon us to ourselves!for the deserted
soul is from that moment given up, yes, and given up for ever,
1. To delusion—
[It is surprising what delusions an abandoned sinner will harbour in his heart:
“I shall have peace, though I walk in the imaginations of my heart to add
drunkenness to thirst, and sin to sin [Note:Deuteronomy 29:19.].” Refugesof
lies he shall have in plenty, to administer to his composure:‘There is no future
state:death is but an eternalsleep: or, at all events, God is too merciful to
inflict punishment in a future state:or, at any rate, the punishment cannot be
eternal. As for the Holy Scriptures, perhaps they are only the writings of
fallible men, like ourselves:or, at best, they are so highly figurative, that you
cannot depend upon them.’ Thus men take refuge in infidelity, that so they
may rid themselves of records, which, if credited, would be subversive of their
peace. And to these delusions Godwill give them up; as he has said: “They
have chosentheir own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations: I
also will choosetheir delusions, and will bring their fears upon them [Note:
Isaiah66:3-4.].” In the New Testament, this judgment is yet more

emphatically denounced: “They (the Antichristian powers)receivednot the
love of the truth, that they might be saved,” says St. Paul: “and for this cause,
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness [Note:2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.].” Oh, terrible judgment!—
and the more terrible, because they who are subjected to it have no conception
that they are lying under it: but it will be the assuredportion of all with whom
the Spirit of God has ceasedto strive.]
2. To bondage—
[To the power of their own lusts will they be given up, so that Satan shall lead
them captive at his will. How awful is that declarationof Solomon, “His own
iniquities shall take the wickedhimself; and he shall be holden with the cords
of his own sins [Note: Proverbs 5:22.] !” Yet this must be the fate of all who
constrainthe Holy Spirit to depart from them. If men “will despise and reject
all the counselof the Lord, they will assuredlybe left to eatthe fruit of their
own ways, and be filled with their own devices.” It was so with the Heathen,
“who liked not to retain Godin their knowledge:he gave them over to a
reprobate mind [Note:Romans 1:28.].” It was so, also, with the Israelites:
“My people would not hearkento my voice, and Israelwould none of me: so I
gave them up unto their ownhearts’ lust; and they walkedin their own
counsels [Note:Psalms 81:11-12.].” Whatmore common than to see this very
judgment inflicted before our eyes? The infidel, the drunkard, the
whoremonger, the thief, the covetous man, the profane swearer, whatslaves
do they become to their respective habits! These shew us the very truth that I
am insisting on; and declare, with one voice, that the Ethiopian may as well
change his skin or the leopard his spots, as they renounce the habits to which
they have been given over by their God.]
3. To obduracy—
[Pharaoh, for his obstinacy, was given up to a state of hardness that is scarcely
to be credited. And how many, in every age, when forsakenby the Lord, have
had “their consciencessearedas with a hot iron,” and become altogether
“pastfeeling [Note:Ephesians 4:19; 1 Timothy 4:2.] !” Behold the scoffer,

who pours contempt on all religion, and, with daring impiety, cries, “Where is
the promise of God’s coming to judgment? for since the fathers fell asleep, all
things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation[Note:2 Peter
3:4.].” If reproved for their impiety, they will in effectsay, “Who is Lord over
us [Note: Psalms 12:4.]?” “We know not the Lord; neither will we obey his
voice [Note: Exodus 5:2.].” Even in death itself, they often evince the very
same hardness, and shew how entirely they are given over by the Lord. Their
friends around them are ready to say, “Theydied like lambs:”—and so indeed
they did, even like brute beasts that have no understanding, having no
conceptionof the state which awaits them at their departure hence. A terrible
judgment this is! and a certain prelude,]
4. To ruin!—
[There is a time wherein God may be found, by every living man: but that
seasonmaybe passed;and a time arrive, when he will no more be found
[Note:Isaiah 55:6.], and when all God’s offered mercies shall be for ever
withheld. Such a period had actually arrived to the Jewishnation, when they
crucified the Lord of glory. Our blessedSaviour, previous to his death, took
up this lamentation over them: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonestthem who are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gatheredthy children together, even as a hen gatherethher chickens under
her wings, but ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate
[Note:Matthew 23:37-38.]!” “Oh that thou hadst known, even thou, at least
in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!but now they are hid
from thine eyes [Note: Luke 19:42.].” Thus, it is to be feared, there may be,
even amongstourselves, some with whom God will strive no longer: they have
so long trifled with the means of grace, and been unprofitable under all the
culture that has been bestowedupon them, that they shall be henceforthleft
only to be gathered, in due season, as fuel for the fire [Note: Hebrews 6:7-8.].
What an awful thought, To be left only to “fill up the measure of their
iniquities,” and to ‘’treasure up wrath againstthe day of wrath [Note:
Romans 2:5.] !” Betterwere it for a man that he had never been born, than
that ever he should live for such an end as that! But such is the state of the
desertedsoul: and at the appointed hour, “wrath will come upon him to the
uttermost.”]

Address,
1. Those who are yet withstanding the motions of the Holy Spirit—
[Little do you think how greatlyyou offend your God, or what misery you are
entailing on your ownsouls. But let me ask, Is there one amongstyou that
does not look back upon his past rebellion with regret? Is there one who is not
persuaded in his mind, that he would have been a far happier man, if he had
obeyed the voice of the Lord, and followed, insteadof resisting, the dictates of
his conscience?How long, then, will ye continue this rebellious course? Shall
not the declarationin my text affectyou? Shall not even the possibility of your
day of grace having come to an end, appal you? Do but think how much you
have at stake — — — and how short is the time which you have to seek the
things belonging to your peace. — — — I pray you, Arise, ere it be too late,
and cry unto your God, “if God peradventure may give you repentance, and
you may be recoveredout of the snare of the devil, by whom you have been
takencaptive at his will [Note: 2 Timothy 2:25-26.]!” “To-day, while it is
calledto-day, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, as in the day of
temptation in the wilderness;lestyou provoke God to swear, in his wrath, that
you shall never enter into his rest [Note: Psalms 95:7-11.].”]
2. Those who through grace have obeyed his blessedwill—
[Truly this is of the Lord, who alone has “made you willing [Note:Psalms
110:3.],” and has thus causedyou to “differ from those around you [Note: l
Cor. 4:7.].”— — — Be thankful for this distinguishing grace;but remember
that you still need his gracious influences as much as ever. There is not any
part of the divine life that canbe carriedon within you but by the operationof
the Holy Spirit. He must be within you “a Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, a Spirit of counseland of might, a Spirit of knowledge andof
the fearof the Lord, and must make you of quick understanding in the fear of
the Lord [Note:Isaiah 11:2-3.].” Seekhim, then, for all these gracious ends:
and be careful that you “do not grieve him,” by any sinful disposition, or any
secretneglect[Note:Ephesians 4:30.]. It is by him that you are to be “sealed
unto the day of redemption [Note:Ephesians 4:30.],” and by him that you are
to be “renderedmeet for your heavenly inheritance.” To him, therefore, “I

commend you, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and
to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified[Note: Acts
20:32.].”]
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Simeon, Charles. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". Charles Simeon's Horae
Homileticae. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/shh/genesis-
6.html. 1832.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
The Lord said; either,
1. To the men of that age by the mouth of Noah;or,
2. Within himself; {see Psalms 14:1} he determined.
Strive with man, or, contend, or, debate in or againstmen, as it hath hitherto
done, by inward motions and suggestions in the minds and consciencesof
wickedmen, or by the mouths and ministry of that small remnant of holy
men, and particularly of Noah, who protested againstand contended with the
world of the ungodly, and by their doctrines, admonitions, threatenings, and
examples, endeavouredto bring them to repentance:1 Peter3:19; or dispute
with, or concerning, or because ofmen, i.e. whether I should destroyor save
him, as God disputes with or about Ephraim, Hosea 11:8.

For that he also, i.e. even the seedof Seth, or the sons of God also, no less than
the offspring of Cain; the pronoun being here put for the foregoing noun, and
the singular number put for the plural, he, i.e. they, to wit, the sons of God.
Both which figures are frequent in the use of Scripture. Or, he, i.e. man, all
mankind, the sons of God not excepted,
is flesh; not only fleshly in part, or in some actions, but altogether, in regard
of soul as well as body, minding nothing but making provision for the flesh to
fulfil its lusts, Romans 13:14.
Not having the Spirit, Jude 1:19, nor heeding its goodmotions, but
suppressing and resisting them.
Fleshnot only in the condition of their nature, but in the basenessand
corruption of their hearts and lives; as the word flesh is commonly used when
it is opposedto the Spirit, as John 3:6 Romans 7:18, Romans 8:5, Romans 8:7,
Galatians 5:17.
Yet, though he deserve a speedy destruction,
his days, i.e. the time allowedhim for repentance, and the prevention of his
ruin,
shall be an hundred and twenty years. During which time Noahwas
preaching; and, to assure them of the truth of his doctrine, preparing the ark.
See 1 Peter3:20 2 Peter2:5.
Quest. How did God perform this promise, when there were but a hundred
years betweenthis time and the flood, by comparing Genesis 5:32, with
Genesis 7:11?
Answ.
1. The increasing wickednessofmankind might justly hasten their ruin, and
forfeit the benefit of this indulgence.
2. This promise, though mentioned after that, Genesis 5:32, yet seems to have
been made twenty years before it; for that verse is added there out of its
proper place only to complete the genealogy;and therefore, after this

narration, it is repeatedhere in its due order, Genesis 6:10. And such hysteron
proterons are frequently noted in Scripture.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon Genesis 6:3". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/genesis-6.html. 1685.
Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable
The "120 years" are evidently the years that God would give humankind
before the flood. [Note:Keil and Delitzsch, 1:136.]They probably do not
indicate a reduction in the normal human lifespan to120 years. [Note:
HoweverMathews, p335;Westermann, p376;Wenham, pp142 , 146-47;et al.
defended the shortening of life view.]
"The judgment is that Godwill not endlesslyand forever permit his life-
giving spirit to enliven those who disorder his world. The breath of life (
Genesis 2:7; Psalm104:29-30)remains his to give and to recall." [Note:
Brueggemann, Genesis , p72.]
"The attempt by man to become more than he is results in his becoming less."
[Note:L. Eslinger, "A ContextualIdentification of the bene ha"elohimand

benoth ha"adamin Genesis 6:1-4 ," Journal for the Study of the Old
Testament13 (1979):72.]
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentaryon Genesis 6:3". "ExpositoryNotes of
Dr. Thomas Constable".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/genesis-6.html. 2012.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
3. My Spirit shall not always strive with man — ,evirts deredner ereh ,‫דון‬
occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is doubtful. Our translation assumes
that it is the same as ‫,ןיד‬ following in this respectSymmachus ( ου κρινει ) and
Kimchi. This is not impossible, as the verbs ‫וע‬ and ‫יע‬often interchange their
middle radical. Gesenius renders the word to be made low, depressed;(so
Vatablus and Ewald;) and, if this be the meaning, the sense ofthe text would
seemto be, my Spirit shall not be trampled on, despisedby man forever;
language ofweariness afterlong forbearance. Some (as Grotius) have
favoured the translation ensheathed, and understand that Jehovahhere
threatens that his spirit (the soul breathed into man by God) shall not forever
be sheathed in the human body, as a sword in the scabbard; that is, the
human race shall be cut off. But most of the ancient versions, as well as the
Targums, render, my spirit shall not abide, or dwell among men; and
understand the words to threaten that the spirit breathed into man at his
creationshall no more dwell on the earth, now that man has become

brutalized with fleshly lusts. T. Lewis somewhatmodifies this view,
understanding by my spirit not simply the life principle, but the spiritual or
rational in man, as distinguished from the carnal — (the πνευμα, as
distinguished from the ψυχη,) — and, moreover, considers it a sorrowing
prediction rather than a threat. The meaning shall dwell or abide, is more in
harmony with the context than strive. The reasonof the threat, or prediction,
is because he is flesh. This would seemto be a reasonwhy the Spirit should
continue to strive, unless, indeed, we understand it as the language of
weariness andhopelessnessin view of man’s degradation. But this expression
furnishes a reason, most forcible and appropriate, why God should refuse to
allow his image to be longerdefiled upon the earth. Man’s kinship with God,
his sonship, (comp. Genesis 6:2,) gives specialflagrancyto his guilt. Man has
dishonoured the divine image; it is the “Spirit of God that giveth him
understanding;” that he has defiled, and, therefore, that “Spirit shall return
unto God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes12:7. It was a resolution made in divine
justice and mercy. It was a fearful sin for a son of God to prostitute his highest
powers in the service ofthe flesh, a sin that calledfor the divine wrath. But
the very enormity of the sin leads a merciful God to resolve on blotting out the
race, to stop the ever-increasing floodof wretchednessthat flows from
increasing wickedness. So he drove man awayfrom the tree of life, lest he
should secure animmortality of sin.
For that he also is flesh — Or, because oftheir transgression, he is flesh,
(Ewald, Nordh., Furst, Gesen.,)that is, he is all flesh. The flesh — the body,
with its appetites and passions, has risen above the spirit. The divine has
become quenched in the carnal. Jehovahdescribes the being whose nobler
part was made an image of himself, as now wholly flesh. Fleshand spirit were
originally made in happy, harmonious adjustment; but now all is flesh. From
this text arose the Pauline phraseologycarnal and spiritual, flesh and spirit, so
common in the epistle to the Romans. The difficult word ‫בגגם‬ may also be
construed with what precedes, thus disregarding the Masoretic punctuation
and reading: My spirit shall not dwell with men forever in their errors. He is
flesh, and his days, etc. In this case, the word is composedof the preposition ‫,ב‬
and pronominal suffix ‫,ם‬ connectedwith the constructinfinitive of the verb
‫גגג‬ .

His days — His allottedtime on the earth.
Hundred and twenty years — This language is used of man, the race with
whom God’s Spirit dwelt, not of individual men. It refers, then, to the
duration of the then existing race, and not, as some have supposed, to the
length of human life. It was then in the four hundred and eightieth year of
Noah’s life that the antediluvian world receivedits sentence;but it was
alloweda respite of one hundred and twenty years, during which, according
to 2 Peter2:8, Noahwas a “preacherofrighteousness,”“whenonce the
longsuffering of God waited” for the world’s repentance, “while the ark was a
preparing.” 1 Peter3:20.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Genesis 6:3". "Whedon's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/genesis-
6.html. 1874-1909.
JosephBenson's Commentaryof the Old and New Testaments
Genesis 6:3. My spirit shall not always strive with man — The Spirit then
strove by Noah’s preaching, 1 Peter3:19, and by inward checks, but it was in
vain with the most of men; therefore, saith God, he shall not always strive, for
that he (man) also is flesh — Incurably corrupt and sensual, so that it is
labour lostto strive with him. He also;that is, all, one as well as another; they
are all sunk into the mire of flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty
years — So long will I defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space
to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. Justice said, Cut them
down; but mercy interceded:Lord, let them alone this year also;and so far

mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six-score years;and during
this time Noahwas preaching righteousness to them, and, to assure them of
the truth of his doctrine, was preparing the ark.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Benson, Joseph. "Commentaryon Genesis 6:3". JosephBenson's
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rbc/genesis-
6.html. 1857.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
His days shall be, &c. The meaning is, that man's days, which before the flood
were usually 900 years, should now be reduced to 120 years. Or rather, that
God would allow men this term of 120 years, for their repentance and
conversion, before he would send the deluge. (Challoner) --- He spoke
therefore to Noe in his 480thyear. (St. Augustine) --- Those who suppose, that
he foretold this event 20 years later, think with St. Jerome, that God
retrenched 20 years from the time first assignedforpenance. The Spirit of the
sovereignJudge was fired with contending; or, as others translate it, with
remaining quiet as in a scabbard, and bearing with the repeated crimes of
men. He resolvedto punish them severelyin this world, that he might shew
mercy to some of them hereafter. (St. Jerome, 9. Heb.) (Calmet) --- If we
suppose, that God here threatens to reduce the space of man's life to 120
years, we must say, at least, that he did it by degrees;for many lived several
hundred years, even after the deluge. In the days of Moses,indeed, few
exceededthat term. But we think the other interpretation is more literal, and
that God bore with mankind the full time which he promised. (Worthington)

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