Part of our scripture for this morning, is repeated over and over again in the pages of our Bibles. It originated in Isaiah, but then we find the words quoted in all four of the gospels, as well as in Acts, Romans and Corinthians. Apparently, the Holy Spirit considers this to be really significant, reiterating it again and again. He wants you to hear it; He wants you to understand it. Part of the quote is so obvious as to be no problem to anyone who is observant. But there is a second aspect which can bring professing Christians to the point of warfare with each other.
The generally understood aspect of this is that …
Most people are unconcerned about the message of God.
The Lord Jesus had just presented an interesting parable about a seed and various soils. When the disciples asked their Lord, why it was that He used this kind language and teaching technique, He replied, “I speak to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; LEST at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted.” We find this spiritual deafness to be true all the time – in our neighbors, our families, our coworkers. Everywhere we turn, both religious and non-religious people are little interested in Bible doctrine, Bible history or the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even Christians, from time to time, fill themselves with so much of the world’s fatty foods that their spiritual hearts and blood become clogged, sluggish and ineffective.
I hope that you can see how Jesus’s quote from the Old Testament scripture parallels the parable of the soils. “Behold, a sower went forth to sow” – an old-time farmer went out to scatter seed for this season’s crop. Some of that seed fell upon the hard-beaten path. It lay exposed only a short while before the fowls of the air came by to eat it up. We are told that the birds represent the work of Satan, the wicked one. While some seed fell upon the way side, other seeds fell into stony ground where the birds couldn’t get at it. There those seeds germinated and began to grow, but they weren’t protected by enough good soil. As soon as the hot sun came over them, the tiny sprouts dried, died and withered away. A third part of the seed fell into fertile ground, but it was already occupied with weedy thistles. The weeds were stronger than the good crop, choking the seed, drinking up the moisture and nutrients in the soil. The Lord Jesus said that this represented someone who heard the Word of God, but the cares of the world, and the desire for earthly wealth choked anything spiritual in their lives. In each of those three cases, the problem was not in the sower or the seed, but in the soil. Christ then flipped to another example – one taken from the Old Testament – the hearts of those who heard the word of God waxed gross and the Truth of God or the Gospel of Christ was choked to death.
You know the condition of your own heart better than I do. What is the state of your spiritual hematocrit? How gross and fatty is your heart when it comes to the things of God? Are you listening? Can you listen?
As I said, Jesus’ words are repeated in other scriptures, and I would like you to hear some of them.
I won’t read Mark or Luke because they are basically just a repeat of Matthew 13. But in the Gospel of John the same Old Testament scripture is repeated in a different context. Please turn to John 12:38 – “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they COULD NOT believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him.” Praise God for a few “neverthelesses” in the Bible.
In the last chapter of Acts, Paul had a prison-house meeting with some of the Jews who lived in Rome. When they argued against Paul’s presentation of the gospel, he quoted Isaiah in almost the same way that the Lord Jesus did in Matthew 13. “And when (the Jews) agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; LEST they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”
In II Corinthians 3 Paul was writing about the spiritual condition of Israel. In verse 13 he wrote – “Moses, put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” There is that “nevertheless” once again.
Now before returning to the original statement in Isaiah 6, please turn to Romans 11. In this chapter Paul is talking about God’s grace – His unmerited favor. Listen to Romans 11:5 very carefully – “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” Paul says essentially the same thing as the Lord Jesus in John 12 – “Therefore they COULD NOT believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”
Now let’s return to Isaiah 6 where our Lord’s quotation originally began. Look at verse 9 which is a part of God’s commission to His new prophet – “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. MAKE the heart of this people fat, and MAKE their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; LEST they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” What is the meaning of the word “make” as in “make the heart of this people fat”? Remember this is the source of all those New Testament quotations – even that in Matthew 13. There are three potential interpretations of “make the heart of his people fat.” One is that it was Isaiah’s job, and the job of every preacher ever since, to point out and to declare that people’s hearts are gross, fat and unresponsive to the Word of God. The preacher is not causing those hearts to be gross and fact, but pointing out the reality. The second interpretation is that through the preaching of the truth – the preaching of the gospel – people become jaded – tempered – hardened. The very teaching of the truth, because of the vast difference between God’s heart and the human heart – The constant repetition of God’s Word causes hardness. This is what I have been trying to point out for the past two Sundays. This is an obvious fact – people become hard to some things when they hear them over and over again. The third interpretation of this statement “make the heart of his people fat” is that God Himself will make the hearts of these people hard and fatty. Some go on to explain that God does it directly. Others say that He does it by merely giving them up to their hard and stubborn ways. Like the man who was kicked out of the plasma place, it was his choice to eat that kind of food, and it was company policy to defer him for several weeks. There is a sense in which all three interpretations are true. God permits and prophesies people’s hard hearts – allowing them to be exactly what they want to be. It happens even as the gospel is preached to them. It happens quite naturally because of the depraved and sinful nature of us all. If it was not for the “neverthelesses” – the grace and election of God, we’d all be hardened into stone not unlike Lot’s wife.
In order to understand what Jesus said in Matthew 13:14-16, please return with me to Romans 11.
Notice that in verse 7 Paul says, “Israel hath NOT obtained that which he seeketh for.” Let’s say that into this world a little boy is born, and he innately believes in the existence of God. Of course, he is a sinful little creature, because every baby is a child of sinful parents. As this little boy grows, he will place his love and interest in a great many differing things. Some of those things will be relatively harmless like toy trucks and catching butterflies. But over time some of his interests will be more sinful – filthy music, filthy pictures and violence. Despite his innate knowledge about the existence of God, he will not love or trust that God. As he matures he will have a muddy mixture of interests – both good and evil. For example, he might choose a religion, but also a vocation driven by greed and self-centeredness. He might have a foggy sense of God, but also a cupboard full of sins which he loves more than God. Because he is a sinner, someone whose life has not been interrupted by divine grace, the general direction of his life is toward sin and eternal destruction. And yet, in the back of his mind he still knows that there is an eternity beyond death, and he’d rather enjoy that eternity than suffer the flames of the Lake of Fire. You could say that the average human being is seeking, in the sense of looking forward to an eternity filled with the unending blessings of a God who will overlook his faults.
Ah, but that is all pie-in-the-sky – a myth. Even the most religious person on earth – no matter what his religion might be – will not find that for which he seeks. For example, Israel, the nation to whom God gave the Law and the Prophets, expected their Messiah to come and fill up all that their dreams had lacked to that point. But God’s prophet, plainly declared that those Jews were NOT going to find what they were seeking.
And the reason was that as a nation, Israel had not been CHOSEN to receive it. That is not my opinion – it is the word of God – Romans 11:7. “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it.” No matter how a person chooses to define “the election,” this scripture says that ELECTION is the reason that one person ends up in eternal bliss while another experiences eternal judgment. It is by God’s gracious election that one person’s heart is not hard-packed, thorny or rocky and shallow.
Sadly, the pride of man tries to abuse, contort and destroy the meaning of the word “elect.” Men say that “the elect” are those people who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Bingo! That is absolutely correct. But what those false-teachers try to say next is that it is because of their faith and repentance that some people become elect. Politically, to “elect” someone refers to the way in which someone is “chosen” to a certain office or position. Some religious people say that when a sinner decides to stop kneeling before Baal and start kneeling before God, then Jehovah chooses, or elects, that sinner. But by definition the idea is preposterous. That is akin to saying that Idaho has a governor because he voted for himself. He probably did vote for himself, but that is not who elected him to that office – He was elected by others.
Scripture declares that this election is according to God’s grace. “Grace” refers to God’s unmerited favor. If election is a result of something which God sees the sinner do, then it is not an election of grace. If God’s choice to save someone comes about because that sinner has done something – even if he has done extremely good things – then it is a reward, not a gift of grace. As verse 6 says, if something is of “grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
Throughout her history, Israel claimed to be seeking the Lord, and following after the law of righteousness. They said that they wanted the seed of God; they wanted to be fruitful and productive. But they had never become good crops for God and they had never enjoyed God’s real blessings. And why? Because as Paul put it, they were so filled with their own will that they sought it not by faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – the seed if you will. The Bible says that faith comes at the command of God – the spoken word of God – the decree of God. Faith is a product of God’s seed – seed which often falls on hard, rocky, weedy hearts. “The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.” Over and over again, the Bible describes human beings like us as blind. Matthew 13:15 – “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
Most religious people can live with the reality that their lost neighbors are blind and their hearts are gross. But they hate the other aspect of this spiritual blindness – God Himself has prophesied it and guaranteed it. Jehovah had given the nation of Israel the spirit of slumber, blind eyes and deaf ears. To deny that fact is to deny the explicit statement of God.
Romans 11:7 – ”What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; BUT the election hath obtained it.” Back in Matthew 13 the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples, who were all Israelites, and said, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.” He might have spoken about their hearts and their hematocrit – your blood and hearts are not gross and fatty. By the grace of God, these disciples and thousands of other since, have been delivered from their own corrupted condition in order to glorify God by enjoying His blessings.
Please turn to Ephesians 2 – “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. {ordained: or, prepared} Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
Eventually, through one means or another we all naturally become, or already are, hard packed dirt, rocky or weed choked soil. But once in a while the divine and gracious sower kills the weeds, rakes out the rocks and tills our hard hearts in preparation for the Word of God. We are all born ”dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past we walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” But in God’s mercy, which has its source in “His great love wherewith He loved us, God saved us” the Lord gives sight where there was only blindness; He gives ears to hear and hearts to believe. Thousands of people who were at first aliens to God hath the Lord quickened and raised up. You could say that “those who were once far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” He is our peace, having reconciled us to God, and made us fellow-citizens with saints like Elijah and David. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
Why did the Lord teach in parables? Christ told His disciples that it was to reveal the truth to those who had ears to hear, but it was to hide that same truth from the stubborn and unregenerated. It was to the elect that God would reveal these things.
Would you like to know whether or not you are one of those elect? Then repent and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you show signs of spiritual life, it will be a good indication that you possess spiritual life. Please, please, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Let’s produce fruit for the glory of the Saviour.