Hebrews 4:7 Again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if you will hear his voice… I. THE MEANING OF THE WORD "HEART," AS HERE USED. Parents sometimes have the mortification of seeing their own children become stubborn against parental authority, and of seeing their requirements resisted and their counsels set at nought. Parents often see children, when they undertake to press them to do anything, instead of obeying, wax stubborn and rebellious. They stand and resist, and manifest a cool determination to persevere in their disobedience; and, so far as the philosophy of the act is concerned, resistance to God is just the same. The mind resisting truth "is hardening the heart," in the sense of the text. II. HOW IS IT THAT SINNERS DO HARDEN THEIR HEARTS? 1. This leads me to say that persons are very much in danger of hardening themselves, by holding fast to some erroneous opinion or improper practice to which they are committed. All their prejudices are in favour of it, and they are very jealous lest anything should disturb it. What danger such persons are in of assigning to themselves, as a reason for resisting the truth, that it clashes with some of their favourite notions! When they see its practical results contradict some pet theory of theirs, they will strengthen themselves against it. I recollect an instance of this kind. One evening, in the city of New York, I found among the inquirers a very anxious lady, who was exceedingly convicted of her sins, and pressed her strongly to submit to God. "Ah!" she said, "if I were sure I am in the right Church, I would." "The right Church!" said I; "I care not what Church you are in, if you will only submit yourself to Christ." "But," she replied, "I am not in the Catholic Church, I am not in the right Church; if I were, I would yield." So that her anxiety about the " right Church" prevented her yielding at all, and she continued to harden her heart against Christ. 2. Others harden themselves by indulging in a spirit of procrastination. "I will follow Thee," is their language, "but not now." 3. I remark, again, that many persons strengthen themselves and harden their hearts by refusing, wherever they can refuse, to be convicted of their sins. They have a multitude of ways of avoiding the point, and force away the truth, and hardening themselves against it. Take care, for instance, of the practice of excusing sin. 4. But, again: Another way in which men harden themselves is that they are unwilling to come and do what is implied in becoming Christians. But a short time since, I was pressing an individual to yield up certain forms of sin of which I knew him to be guilty. "Ah," said he, "if I begin to yield this and that, where will it all end? I must be consistent," said he, "and where shall I stop? "Where should he "stop"? It was clear that the cost was too great, and that he was therefore disposed to harden himself and resist God's claims, because he considered God required too much. This is a very common practice. If you ask persons in a general way, they are willing to be Christians; but "what will be expected of them?" Ah! that is quite a different thing! Now you have set them to count the cost, and they find it will involve too great a sacrifice. They are wholly unwilling to renounce them. selves and their idols; and accordingly they betake themselves to hardening their hearts, and strengthening themselves in unbelief. I will cite the case just referred to for a moment. The conversation respected at that time a particular form of sin. Now, why did he not yield at once? He saw that the principle on which he yielded this point would compel him to give up others; and therefore he said, "If I begin this, where shall I stop?" He gathered up all the reasons he could, and strengthened himself in his position. Thus he was hardening his heart; this was just what the Jews did when Christ preached. III. WHY MEN SHOULD NOT HARDEN THEIR HEARTS IN THIS WAY. 1. Perhaps the first thing that I shall notice will startle some of you. It is this: you should not harden your hearts, "because, if you do not do so, you will be converted." God has so constituted the mind that, as everybody knows, truth is a most powerful stimulant, which invites and draws the mind in a given direction. Truth induces it to act in conformity with its dictates. Now, to do this, to obey the truth, that is conversion. If you do not obey it, it is because you harden yourself against it; for it is an utter impossibility to be indifferent to the presentation of truth, and especially is it utterly impossible to maintain a blank indifference to the presentation of the great practical truths of Christianity. 2. Another reason why you should not harden your hearts is that you will not be converted if you do. In other words, if you resist the Spirit, God never forces you against your will. If He cannot persuade you to embrace the truth, He cannot save you by a physical act of omnipotence, as, for instance, He could create a world. You are a free moral agent, and He can save you only in His own way. In other words, if He cannot gain your own consent to be saved in His own any, He cannot possibly save you at all. 3. Another reason why you should not harden your hearts is that you may be given up! God may give you up to the hardness of your hearts. The Bible shows that this is not uncommon. Whole generations of the Jews were thus given up. Some think there is not so much danger of this now; but the fact is there is more, because there is more light. He gives them up because they resist the light of the truth with regard to His claims. IV. WHOSE "VOICE" IS HERE REFERRED TO? IS it the voice of a tyrant, who comes out with his omnipotent arm to crush you? "If you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Whose voice is it? In the first place, it is the voice of God; but, more than this, it is the voice of your Father I But is it the voice of your Father, with the rod of correction, pursuing you, to subdue you by force? Oh, no! it is the voice of His mercy — of His deepest compassion. A few further remarks must close what I have to say; and the first remark is this: persons often mistake the true nature of hardness of heart. Supposing it to be involuntary, they lament it as a misfortune, rather than regret it as a crime. They suppose that the state of apathy which results from the resistance of their will is hardness of heart. It is true that the mind apologises to itself for resistance to the claims of God, and, as a natural consequence, there is very little feeling in the mind, because it is under the necessity of making such a use of its powers as to cause great destitution of feeling. This is hardening the heart — that act of the mind in resisting the claims of God. For persons to excuse themselves by complaining that their hearts are hard is only to add insult to injury. I remark, once more, it is worthy of notice that the claims, commands, promises, and invitations of God are all in the present tense. Turn to the Bible, and from end to end you will find it is, "To-day " if ye will hear His voice. "Now" is the accepted time. God says nothing of tomorrow; lie does not even guarantee that we shall live till then. Again: the plea of inability is one of the most paltry, abusive, and blasphemous of all. What! Are men not able to refrain from hardening themselves? I have already said, and you all know, that it is the nature of truth to influence the mind when it receives it; and, when the Spirit does convert a man, it is by so presenting the truth as to gain his consent. Now, if there was not something in the truth itself adapted to influence the mind, He might continue to present the truth for ever, without your ever being converted. It is because there is an adaptedness in truth — something in the very nature of it. which tends to influence the mind of man. Now, when persons complain of their inability to embrace the truth, what an infinite mistake! God approaches with offers of mercy, and with the cup of salvation in His hand, saying, "Sinner! I am coming! Beware not to harden yourself. Do not cavil. Do not hide behind professors of religion. Do not procrastinate! for I am coming to win you." Now, what does the sinner do? Why, he falls to hardening his heart, procrastinating, making all manner of excuses, and pleading his inability. Inability! What! Is not a man able to refrain from surrounding himself with considerations which make him stubborn? Once more: I said this is a most abusive way of treating God. Why, just think. Here is God endeavouring to gain the sinner's consent — to what? Not to be sent to hell. Oh, no! lie is not trying to persuade you to do anything, or to consent to anything, that will injure you. Oh, no! He is not trying to persuade you to give up anything that is really good rather relinquishment of which will make you wretched or unhappy — to give up all joy and everything that is pleasant — to give up things that tend to peace — He is not endeavouring to persuade you to do any such thing as this. With regard to all such things, He is not only willing that you should have them, but would bring you into a state in which you could really enjoy them. (C. G. Finney.) Parallel Verses KJV: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. |
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