The Doom of Disbelief

if God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn back once again to John chapter 12. When I say
once again, I don’t mean literally once again, because we don’t
complete John chapter 12 even today, but we return there where
we have been for several weeks. As you know, Christ is in the Passion Week. We are in the midst of the Passion
week. And as you know, Christ has issued
several appeals in the course of this dialogue that was initiated
by Greek-speaking Jewish converts, but likely also attended not
only by his own apostles, but almost certainly by other Jewish religious leaders and those who
were even pondering Christ’s ministry. Whether their purposes were nefarious or not,
we don’t know. We know that there were many
Jews who ultimately would come to Christ. But in this particular
occasion, we see just a tragic, tragic end. I want to go back
to verse 35 as we take a running start at the passage that we’ll
be considering this morning. So Jesus said to them, for a
little while longer, the light is among you. Walk while you
have the light so that darkness will not overtake you. He who
walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. while you
have the light, believe in the light so that you may become
sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and
he went away and hid himself from them. But though he had
performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing
in him. This was to fulfill the word
of Isaiah the prophet, which he spoke, Lord, who has believed
our report? And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed? For this reason they could not
believe. For Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes and
he has hardened their heart so that they would not see with
their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted,
and I heal them.” These things Isaiah said because he saw His
glory and he spoke of Him. We saw that Christ’s final words
in this section of Scripture, His Jerusalem ministry, His ministry
just prior to the Passion, leading right up to the very moment.
We saw his last act was to preach the gospel one
last time. I referred to it as a well-lit
path, and I referred to it as such because there is that image
of light, but it’s also, it’s a well-lit path because it was
illuminated by God himself. God lit the path. And Jesus set
forth the particulars in that section of spiritual illumination. We saw the first in verse 35,
that that spiritual illumination by the Lord Jesus Christ is available. It’s there for the taking. It’s
there to be enjoyed. But it’s fleeting. Jesus said, for a little while,
the light is among you. We saw also that spiritual illumination
by the Lord Jesus Christ is helpful, really and truly helpful and
protective. It has a purpose, a divine purpose. Jesus says, walk while you have
the light so that darkness will not overtake you. The light serves
a real and lasting purpose. It preserves us from falling.
He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.
He gropes about, he stumbles. I used the image last week of
my own house when the furniture gets moved. And I realized this
week after My brothers came alongside me and we moved the pews in the
church. I can never use that illustration
again. I can never pick on my wife again
for moving the furniture. Jesus is setting forth the particulars
of spiritual illumination. And he says that this light,
this spiritual light that is given to us is helpful and protective. But lastly, it is appropriated,
or may I say more accurately, it should be appropriated and
is life-changing if it is. Look at verse 36, while you have
the light, believe in the light. That’s the call to appropriating
this light. It’s as if Jesus says, turn on
the switch, step over in faith and illuminate the path before
you. so that you may become sons of
life. It’s a completely different life
for the Christian, and that’s what Christ is calling them to.
He’s calling them to the spiritual illumination that is Christ.
He’s calling them to faith in Christ, to trust in Him. And so it’s with that backdrop
that as I read forward, down to verse 41, one image came into
my mind. And I had help because I have
a very old painting that no longer hangs in our house, but we have
it somewhere in some corner of our home. It’s a picture of Christiana. And if you remember Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress, that wasn’t his only allegory. Bunyan also
wrote a follow-up to that, and it features Bunyan’s wife, a
woman named Christiana. Well, in this particular picture,
it shows her clad in a white dress against an all-black background. It’s so dark that you can barely
make out the feature. It’s a mountain, and her path
is literally on the side of a cliff. jagged rocks all around her,
a very dark, dark setting. And all that she clings to as
she walks on this very narrow path on the side of a cliff is
her Bible. That’s what she clings to. That’s
the image that immediately came into my mind, is that there is
a ledge It’s a cliff, really, with a very narrow walkway on
it. It’s a ledge, but it is absolutely
perilous. Falling is almost to be expected. It’s dark. There are stones on
the path. The path is extremely narrow. It is almost an eventuality that
whoever is on that path is going to fall. It’s a perilous ledge. And the
perilous ledge featured in this particular section is the perilous
ledge of unbelief. Those who are on this ledge hedging
their bets, dragging their feet, putting off to tomorrow a faith
that was called for long ago, those that are on that path will
fall. It’s a dreadful, perilous ledge. And what Christ gives to us in
this section is our three dreadful features of unbelief. Having
just preached the gospel for one last time, we have this clear
call by the Apostle John to consider our standing, to consider our
path, to consider our peril, three dreadful features of unbelief. And as John the Apostle John
begins to narrate. He no longer is quoting the words
of Christ. Now, this is the Apostle John
by the influence of the Holy Spirit, mind you. This is the
Apostle John filling in the narrative. This particular section, we would
say, closes out the second half, the conclusion of part two of
John’s gospel. It is the end of Jesus’ Jerusalem
ministry. The rejection of Christ is now
fully complete. All that needs to happen now
is this arrest and trial and crucifixion. The Jews have brushed
their hands of their Savior. It isn’t the first time that
Jesus goes away, and what terrible words these are. Look at verse
36, the second half of verse 36. These things Jesus spoke
and he went away and hid himself from them. It isn’t the first time that
Jesus hid himself. In chapter 8, verse 59, The Jews were seeking to stone
him. Remember? Remember they had to
have carried stones to the event. They were ready to stone him.
They were prepared. And they raised the stones to
do it and Jesus hid himself. But on this particular occasion,
Jesus secludes himself after he had given this final warning
to walk in the light And the image that you have immediately
here is that Jesus has just closed down his teaching ministry, his
public teaching ministry to them. Another theme that has been replete
throughout John’s gospel is the unbelief of the Jews. As John
brings about his narrative of the public ministry of Christ,
he brings out this this theme one more time, that the Jews were so quick to
criticize Christ and even more quick to brush him aside, to
refuse to place their faith in him, to turn him away. And so
this commentary, this section that we embark upon in verse
36b is really it’s John’s narrative now. And basically what John
does is sum up the results of Christ’s ministry and how sad
it is. These things Jesus spoke and he went away and hid himself
from them. You know what’s interesting is
John here doesn’t tell us where Jesus went. That’s the point,
really. The point isn’t where he went,
as if it were a retreat, or a hold up, or a hiding place. That isn’t the point at all.
The point is that he went away. He withdrew himself from what
were introduced to us at the beginning of John’s gospel as
his people. John doesn’t tell us where, only
that Christ left and He secluded Himself. And for any of you who
know Christ, who have placed your faith in Christ, who love
Christ, who consider Jesus Christ to be your closest and dearest
friend, you know that He paid for your sin on the cross, you
know that He sought you like the man born blind, not only
to feel to heal your physical infirmities, but also to heal
your greatest need, that of sin. He is your dearest friend. And the very thought that is
uttered here, that Jesus hid himself, we cannot even begin
to bear that thought. To be without Christ, having
come to Him, come to know Him, having placed our faith in Him,
having set our sights on eternity and living with Him and walking
with Him. This thought that He went away
and hid Himself from them, that was something that Jesus chose
to do. It’s sad. It’s tragic. It’s significant. As we see this passage unfold, We’re looking at the perilous
ledge of doubt, and I hope that you’re able to look at it from
afar. I hope that you’re not standing
on the perilous ledge of doubt, although I would say that more
are than believe it to be true. Jesus has departed, and John
wants to give us the dreadful features of unbelief. First,
the first feature of unbelief is the miserly thoroughness of
unbelief. Look at verse 37. But though
he had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not
believing in him. John begins his narrative, his
commentary, if you will, on the life of Christ by pointing out
just how many signs Jesus had done. And he refers to them as
signs. They’re not simply miracles in
that sense, displays of God’s power intended to wow us, They
were signs. They were meant to be interpreted.
They were meant to be taken in, internalized, received, and appropriated. John is quick to point out in
his gospel just how many signs. He speaks of them as plenteous,
and he really only records a handful compared to what the other gospel
writers point to. John 7.31, the Jews knew that
he had done a great many miracles. Many of the crowd believed in
him and they were saying when Christ comes, will he perform
more signs than this man has? Look at how many miracles Christ
has done. John 9.32, after the healing
of the blind man, They said, since the beginning
of time, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of
a person born blind. Even the kinds of miracles, not
just the quantity of them, but the quality of them were astounding. They knew it. And that’s John’s
point. Though he had performed so many
signs that all you had to do is look up and see them, And
John at the end of his gospel, at the end of his gospel he points
to the fact that what he was able to chronicle in his gospel
is not even the tip of the iceberg. John 20 verse 30, therefore many
other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples
which are not written in this book, but these have been written
so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. That was
the purpose of the signs. That you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have
life in His name. Jesus had performed many signs. It would be one thing to criticize
Him, had he performed one obscure sign, one so-so miracle, but
to do so many and so astounding and to do them as the passage
says before them. They saw them. Many were present
when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Even the chief priests at that
point convened a council and said, what are we doing? This
man is performing many signs. They knew it. They had been done
right before their eyes. They admitted his miracles. And
yet the nation as a whole, some individuals here and there, some
among the Jews believed, thankfully, a large measure of the church at
its inception was Jewish. But by and large, the far greater
number didn’t believe. The Jewish nation as a whole
did not receive Christ. They did not welcome Him in as the Messiah. And so when it says here that
they were not believing in Him, That’s where I would characterize
as the miserly thoroughness of unbelief. Because it’s not like
they looked at the miracles and they, well you know he’s gotta
be somebody. There’s gotta be something too.
We’ll give him a little bit of faith and some more time. No. What they did is what so many
are doing in our own political day and age where they can’t
even see any good in their opponent. They can’t see any good. They
won’t acknowledge any good. And that’s exactly what these
detractors were doing. They threw Christ away in completeness. They didn’t acknowledge one thing
that he had done. They wouldn’t give him anything.
They wouldn’t give him one ounce of faith. They were miserly. in their unbelief
and had they just begun to water that one tiny little mustard
seed of faith Jesus illustrates would have grown into a mighty
tree so the guilt the guilt that they
had wasn’t simply some past event it was a living thriving disbelief
of Christ. They were not believing. The form of the verb there is
the imperfect tense. And it really just speaks of
a constant. It’s a living, breathing thing.
It’s a constant unwillingness to submit to Christ, to accept
Christ, to believe in Christ with a real lasting faith. They were intrigued from time
to time. They were taken in from time to time. They were amused.
They were curious. But they never placed one tiny
little iota of faith in what Christ was doing. And so the
signs that were so clearly given, they were given for the purpose
of really presenting Christ before them as sent by God. Those signs were squandered,
misspent. It was a miserly thoroughness
to their unbelief. But John wants to point out another
dreadful feature of this unbelief. Not only the miserly thoroughness
of this unbelief, but the historical pattern of unbelief. Look at
verse 38. And I take that to mean this
continuing disbelief of Christ. This was to fulfill the word
of Isaiah, the prophet, which he spoke. Lord, who has believed
our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He says, does the apostle John
in deep knowledge of his scripture, that this was the fulfillment
of prophecy. The prophecy had been given 700
years earlier by Isaiah, and now, even though it had been
fulfilled in several ways in times past, now sees its full
and complete fulfillment in the Jews’ rejection of Christ. The Jewish nation simply did
not believe And it was, in the end, a fulfillment,
proof of what Isaiah had prophesied 700 years earlier. What it points to is divine sovereignty. God called it. God predicted
it. God allowed it. God ordained
it. God could have stopped it. God
could have rewritten the script and said, no, no, no, no, no,
no, not the Jews. Not so many. But he didn’t. And that which
was described by the prophets would eventually be fulfilled.
That which was described by the prophets is what God not only
saw, but ordained even from eternity past. And so this prophecy is fulfilled,
the unbelief of the Jews fulfills this prophecy completely. Paul
even quotes this verse in Romans chapter 10, speaking of the Jews
to illustrate this unbelief. You know the scripture, it’s
Isaiah 53, one of the most solemn chapters in all of the Old Testament
oftentimes we will utilize Isaiah 53 when we come to the Lord’s
table because it paints the picture of the suffering servant the
Lord Jesus Christ and what he endured for you and I and it
starts like this who has believed our message and to whom has the
arm of the Lord been revealed For he grew up before him like
a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. He has
no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor
appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised
and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and
we did not esteem him.” Those were the Jewish scriptures. And as I’ve said before, when
somebody is quoting from the Old Testament, as they’re looking
back and quoting upon it like the Apostle John is here, just
because they only quote one verse, in this case Isaiah 53.1, it
doesn’t mean that they’re referencing only that point. It means that
they’re pointing back to that whole reference point of Isaiah
53. The Apostle John says that Isaiah
53 ultimately was speaking of Christ. He was speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ when it says, who has believed our message?
To whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed? These issues that the Old Testament
saints pointed to which under the direction of the Holy Spirit,
the prophets went and proclaimed and testified that there was
going to come this suffering servant, this one who was going
to come and be despised and even hated. But so plainly here in
Isaiah 53 is it given, isn’t it? As one said, nowhere in all
the Old Testament are these two so plainly and fully prophesied
as in this chapter. This chapter is so replenished
with the unsearchable riches of Christ that it may be called
rather the gospel of the evangelist Isaiah than the gospel of the
prophet Isaiah. The prophet himself is speaking
here in connection with other heralds the gospel of salvation,
and the prophecy itself goes on to set forth really two points
of divine testimony. First of all, the report. Who
has believed our report? Who has believed our message? The Old Testament has it, Shema
in the Hebrew. The message, the general report,
whether good or bad, and the sad lament of every prophet here
forecasted was a rejection of Christ, a rejection of the gospel,
rejection of justification by faith. No, we want to earn our
way to heaven. And as one said, the king of
all the prophets prophetically pictures the Christ and His faithful
ambassadors as exclaiming, Lord, who has believed our report?
Can I read between the lines for you there? Lord, nobody’s
listening to us. We’ve gone out. We’ve told them
exactly what You told them to tell us. And nobody was more
faithful in this than the Lord Jesus Christ. He came and He
lived His perfect life and He pleaded with them, closing out
His ministry with one last clear call to faith in Christ. Come to the light. Walk in the
light. And they wouldn’t. I said there’s a second part to
this prophecy, a second part to this divine testimony. Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? When you
begin to think of the arm of the Lord, it just points to the
almighty power of God. It’s a testimony. It’s a proclamation. It’s proof. What he says here is that Christ
came and repeatedly, over and over and over, proved himself
by the almighty power of God, raising people from the dead,
restoring those who were crippled, giving sight to the blind. Who
but God could do that? But in both cases, not only the
verbal report of Christ, the verbal report of the prophets,
report of those who proclaim Christ who has believed it. But also the power of God, even
though visibly seen over and over again in the signs that
Jesus worked, fell on deaf ears. It was unreceived. It was not believed. The signs
were not interpreted for the purpose for which they were given.
It was this holy arm, the holy arm of God that people looked
at the almighty power of God and brushed it aside as insignificant. Trickery, a sham. What a dreadful feature. of unbelief. As we see not only the miserly
thoroughness of it, that they wouldn’t give Christ one iota
of faith, but the historical pattern. This was entrenched
unbelief. This was the history of the Jewish
nation now just solidifying as if set in stone. But there’s a third feature,
and it is truly dreadful. A third dreadful feature of unbelief,
and that is the deadly sentence of unbelief. For this, look at
verse 39. For this reason, they could not
believe. For this reason, they could not
believe. For Isaiah said again, he has
blinded their eyes, he has hardened their heart so that they would
not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted
and I heal them. And this section starts with
for this reason, it points backwards. We have to look back. It’s because
of the prophecy that John acknowledges has just come true. Because they
did not believe, because it fulfilled scripture, because of all of
those things, the words that flow from Isaiah apply. They had to be fulfilled. This is the, as J.C. Ryle pointed
out, this is the reason they could not believe. The reason
they could not believe was that they did not believe. Bear with
me. J.C. Ryle said this was the cause
why they could not believe. They were in that state of judicial
blindness. and hardness of heart, which
Isaiah had described. They were justly given over to
this state because of their many sins. And for this cause, they
had no power to believe. John makes it very clear here.
John makes it even more clear than Isaiah made it. John makes
it more clear than Matthew, Mark, Luke, or even the Apostle Paul
himself make it. John makes it explicitly clear
here that they were no longer able to believe that God had
essentially deadened their hearts, blinded their eyes. And what is in picture here is
divine sovereignty and salvation. the consequences of their choice. I’ve spent my lifetime since
I became a Christian researching and looking at this phrase, free
will, a phrase which I have yet to find in scripture. There are many other clearer
phrases that I have found, The choice of God, divine predestination,
election and the like. But let’s go for a minute with
this idea of free will. Because what is given to us here
puts a deadly arrow right through the heart of that concept. As one pastor said, it precisely
describes the moral inability of a thoroughly hardened and
wicked man to believe. He’s no longer able. He no longer
has free will. He no longer can incline himself
to God and choose Him. He is thoroughly under the mastery
of a hardened and seared conscience and has lost the power of believing. They had no will to believe,
and so now they have no power to believe. As we consider verses 39 and
40, I want to jump ahead. I want to jump ahead all the
way down to verse 41. because this is the verse that
provides Isaiah’s motivation for uttering this particular
prophecy. Why would Isaiah say this? Well, one of the hardest statements
in all of Scripture, why would he say this? Verse 41, these
things Isaiah said, because he saw his, that is Christ’s glory. And He spoke of Him that is Christ. When Isaiah lays out his prophecy,
Isaiah was fully aware of the pre-incarnate Christ. He knew
who the Messiah was. You cannot read Isaiah 53 and
say that there was some other historical figure that fits the
bill of Isaiah 53. It was Christ’s glory. that was
on full display to Isaiah, and it’s because of that that he
spoke of it. That was his motivating force. It was the glory of the Son of
God that Isaiah was speaking to. The words taken from Isaiah 6
originally seemed to point to the glory of Yahweh, but John
here clearly places The focus on Christ, there is no contradiction
here. For John, for John the apostle,
it’s clear that Isaiah had in mind the glory of the revealed
Christ. The glory of Jesus Christ was
fully in view to Isaiah. As one said, the vision was not
with the eye of sense. It’s not like Isaiah, the heavens
were open to him. God gave him this truth. God
showed him who Christ was. God showed him who the Messiah
was. And because of that, Isaiah knew
that he had to speak. He knew that this was ultimately important. There was no more glorious truth. than Christ incarnate. Now the interesting thing is,
now that you see the motivation why did Isaiah do this, look
at verse 39. The interesting thing about verse
39 and 40 is that the quote itself doesn’t follow the Hebrew. And
for those of you who know that the Bible was ultimately translated
into Greek, called the Septuagint, it doesn’t follow the Septuagint
either. Let me give you some background on
this particular verse, Isaiah 6. This verse is one of the most
frequently quoted in all of the New Testament. In all three of
the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it’s quoted in
the same exact context. You may remember this. It’s quoted
in the context of the parable of the soils. Where, and it isn’t
just that some people chose not to have the seed germinate in
their particular soil. Some seed fell among rocky soil. Some seed fell among the footpaths. Some seed fell among the thorns.
And all of them were choked out and died. But some seed thankfully
fell into good hearts. Well, you know, That was such
a great illustration. It was so great that Jesus’ disciples
were completely baffled by it. Jesus, what are you talking about
here? And so they came to him. And as Jesus unfolded this description, this clarification,
really a commentary on what his parable meant, The disciples
were beside themselves. Why shouldn’t we go tell the
lost what your parable means? And it’s in that context that
Jesus quotes this verse. And so it’s quoted not only in
Matthew, Mark, Luke, We see it here quoted in John’s gospel.
It’s also quoted at the end of the book of Acts, kind of a capstone
with the same thought behind it, that God is in the process
of hardening people’s hearts. This verse, as I say, which originates
in Isaiah, attributed there to the Lord. Here, rather in Matthew’s
gospel, it’s attributed to Isaiah. In John’s gospel, here in front
of us, it’s attributed to Isaiah the prophet. When Paul quotes
it in Acts, he attributes it to the Holy Spirit. And all of
those statements are 100% true. 100%. God ultimately is the one speaking,
providing divine revelation. The Holy Spirit is the divine
agent of that communication. And Isaiah is divinely appointed
as the spokesman who brings God’s message. And in each place where
the section of Scripture is quoted, there is a common context. There’s
a reason why each of these commentators include this section of scripture. Unbelief. Disbelieving in the message of
the prophets. Disbelieving in the message of
the gospel. Disbelieving Christ. Disbelieving
his messengers. And repeatedly this section. The most, the most humbling,
may I say the most horrible, In Isaiah, when it’s first quoted,
it really is a forecast of unbelief. Look, this is what’s going to
happen. You’re going to go out with the gospel. You’re going
to keep spreading the gospel. You’re going to keep spreading
the news of God’s plan of redemption. It’s going to fall on deaf ears.
In the synoptic gospels, as I just pointed out, it occurs in the
context of unbelief, which Jesus himself explains. As I pointed out a second ago,
when Paul quotes this verse in Acts, it’s because of the great
measure of departure that he was experiencing live. And so
here, likewise, as John watches the Savior retreat, pull back
and go and seclude himself, John looks at the situation and he
says, there’s one verse above all others. that paints the picture
of this scene, it’s Isaiah. I want you to turn to Isaiah
6 so that you can get the fullness of what was originally stated
and then to see just how the various writers employ this particular
verse. Isaiah chapter 6, We’ll narrow it down to verse
8. You know, this is Isaiah’s calling.
This is essentially his commissioning in the ministry. The very throne
of God, where he sees God high and lifted up. Jump down to verse
8 if you would. Then I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then
I said, Here am I. Send me. Go and tell this people, keep
on listening but do not perceive. Keep on looking but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people
insensitive, their ears dull and their eyes dim. Otherwise
they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and
understand with their hearts and return and be healed. And
we said we thought that was the whole purpose of ministry. You
know, when I was in seminary, I remember seeing a seminary
professor that had preached on this section. And his sermon
title, I’ll never forget it, Preach Them Dull. And you know,
if you’re a young seminary student, you say, that’s easy. You just
get up in the pulpit and you start going and soon people start
nodding off, right? What he was playing on there
is verse 10. render the hearts of the people insensitive. That
was Isaiah’s marching orders. Go preach, and as you preach,
people’s hearts are going to become callous to the news of
God’s plan of redemption. Well, that is exactly the passage
that both Matthew, Mark, and Luke quote in the context of
the parable of the soils but it’s in the context specifically
of the unbelieving people being left out of the explanation of
the parable. Jesus says, why would I tell
them that? We would say, for church growth? Isn’t that why you came? To give
the gospel? Matthew’s gospel has the most
complete. You will keep on hearing, but
will not understand. You will keep on seeing, but
will not perceive. For the heart of this people
has become dull.” Matthew softens it. Matthew softens Jesus’ words,
or Jesus even takes the edge off when he says, the heart of
this people has become dull. Isaiah perhaps did a really good
job in preaching them dull. But I want you to turn back to
John’s gospel. That’s the context, that’s the
context for the synoptic writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, to use
this verse. But I want you to see John’s
perspective on it. Look at, if you would, again
at verse 39. For this reason, they could not
believe. It no longer is a possibility
for them. And look at verse 40, because
John paints the picture with the utmost graphicness for us. He has blinded their eyes and
he has hardened their heart. He attributes this to God now.
In Isaiah, we almost get the perspective that it’s Isaiah’s
job to go out and render their hearts dull. Here we see that
it’s God that’s done it, and He’s done it because of their
unbelief. He’s done it because of their
hard hearts. He’s only made their hearts harder. He’s only taken eyes that had
dimmed themselves and blinded them utterly. And He goes on
to say, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive
with their hearts and be converted and I heal them. This is one
of the most tragic scriptures in all of the Bible. John points it directly to God
what is representative by Isaiah as his own mission. Preach them
dull. But now we see that it’s God
that has stepped in and blinded the eyes, made the hearts dull. This is not a new concept in
scripture. Isaiah 44, eight, they do not
know, nor do they understand, for he has smeared over their
eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they
cannot comprehend. This is tragic. This is eternal. Deuteronomy 29.4, yet to this
day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to
see, nor ears to hear. Romans 11, just as it is written,
God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not, and ears to
hear not, down to this very day. See, that’s sin. Ultimately,
the cause is a blindness in the very soul of an individual. What one called a moral insensibility,
just a complete dullness to anything spiritual. God had hardened their hearts. So much so that Christ could
no longer heal them. That’s what the passage says. As one pastor said, men’s hearts
are darkened. Whatever they think, feel, say,
or do is detrimentally affected. They wander about in the dark,
which is exactly what Jesus just said. Their minds cannot reason
straight. Their emotions cannot function
properly. Their wills do not even try to
be in harmony with God’s holy law. And you know what, in every section
where that verse is quoted in Isaiah, when it was first given,
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the context of the parable of
the soils, in Acts, as Paul wraps up his ministry, and here in
John’s gospel, the result is always the same. The purpose
is always the same. The purpose is to acknowledge
that there are limits to God’s mercy. God draws the line, and we don’t
know where it is. That’s the most frightening thing
of it all. We’re on this precipice, we’re walking on this perilous
ledge, and we don’t know. We don’t know
at which moment the next step is going to be the end. You know what? This passage tells
us that for all of those who are in Christ’s hearing, That
was the end. God does judge in this life. God does take away opportunity
in this life. God does harden hearts in this
life. God blinds in this life. God
takes away in this life. The will not eventually becomes
cannot. As one pastor said, the terrible
consequence of hardening ourselves against the solemn admonitions
and warnings that come to us is here pointed out. When people
of their own accord and after repeated threats and promises
reject him and spurn his messages, then he hardens them. in order
that those who are not willing to repent will not be able to
repent. Look at the passage. It’s as
plain as day. Verse 37, though he had performed
so many signs before them, yet they were not believing. Verse
39, for this reason, they could not believe, which makes this
coming to church for an hour, hour and a half on Sunday morning,
hearing the Word of God preached is not only for some the most
blessed hour of the week, as one pastor said, it’s the most
dangerous hour of the week. Because to hear and disregard
it, to brush it off as unimportant, to refuse to submit to it, to
refuse to come to Christ in faith, It is as one beloved pastor said,
if God’s word does not quicken, bring life, it must deaden. J.C. Ryle, the consequence of God blinding
and hardening a person as that he does not see his danger with
his eyes or understand his position with his heart. The result is
that he holds on his way unconverted and dies without his soul’s disease
being healed. Seeing and understanding are
essential parts of conversion. No simpler reason can be given
why myriads of churchgoers continue. Careless, unaffected, unmoved
and unconverted. They neither see nor understand. God alone can give them seeing
eyes and understanding hearts. Humble yourselves before Him. Our merciful God, as these people in Christ’s day
saw and witnessed and are therefore that much more culpable for their
unbelief, Lord, we too, we too have heard these reports, we
too have heard the message of Christ, We too have heard that
there is only one way of salvation and it’s the Lord Jesus Christ.
And to continue to shuffle our feet on this ledge, to continue
to grope about on our own without the light of God’s countenance,
without Christ, without salvation, without the righteousness of
God. Lord, it is a foolish game. It is a game we cannot win. Salvation
is in Christ alone. Placing our faith in Christ alone. Lord, we plead that you would
move forward and seize every heart that is shuffling along
that perilous ledge of unbelief. Bring them to faith, we pray.
Bring them to knees of repentance. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
amen.