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Why Some do not Understand and Others will Never Understand - Part 1 of 2

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• All right, let's open our Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13, and we're going to be reading verses 10 through 17. This message is going to be actually part 1 of part 2. So I want you to listen to the title of this message. The title is "Why Some Do Not Understand and Others Never Will Understand." So the message that I'll be bringing next week is "Why Some Do Understand and Others Do Not." So if you look in Matthew chapter 13, beginning there in verse 10, "And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?"

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• He answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I 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 Isaiah, 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, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."

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• So two statements at the very beginning. The first one is this: truth is important. In fact, truth is a matter of life and death. The Bible tells you in Proverbs 23 and verse 23, "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding." So although that is an excellent proverb, it is a good proverb, let me say this: the proverb is good only if we are able to discern the truth, to know the value of truth, because no one is going to buy that of which they are totally and completely ignorant. And no one is going to buy something that they think is absolutely worthless. So for this proverb to be applicable in our lives, we must be able to know the truth and the value of truth as well.

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• So our Lord in Matthew chapter 13 and other passages in the Bible taught in parables. Now, a parable actually does two things at one time. First of all, it reveals the truth to those who pay attention. And the second thing it does, it conceals the truth from those who have no interest in the truth. So if you look back down again in Matthew 13 verse 10, "And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?"

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• He answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." Now look at this. "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand."

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• And then, of course, he talks about Isaiah's prophecy there and I'm going to be covering that as well. So let me ask this question. What is a parable? A parable happens to be a very short and simple story that teaches us what you and I would call either a moral or a spiritual lesson. It is often described as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. It uses human characters or human illustrations or even nature to teach what you and I would call profound spiritual truths.

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• Now a parable is actually from the Greek word parabolē, which literally means a comparison, an analogy, or what you and I would call juxtaposition. So in the context of the Bible, parables are narrative comparisons that convey moral or spiritual lessons. The word parable actually means "to cast alongside." So what our Lord does and what a parable does, it takes this truth and casts it alongside of another truth so that you can compare them, so that you can see them, or he gives you an illustration that you can see the truth. It's much like in the old days, especially in the days of the pirates, when the ships would come side by side and they would fire their cannon until they either gave out of cannonballs or everybody missed. And then the next thing you know, the ships are coming together and they're boarding the ships and fighting like that. So that's what a parable means. It literally means to cast alongside of.

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• Now, the truth I want to emphasize right now is found in verse 11. So if you look at this, they ask him in verse 10, "Why do you speak unto them in parables?" And he answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." Here is something that you and I need to grasp. We need to understand, and that is this: everything that we see, everything that we hear, everything that we know, everything that we understand about truth and especially biblical truth has been given unto us. It is the gift of God. Look again at verse 11. He answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know..." Now the Greek word for "given" is the word didōmi, which actually means a gift. It means something that has been given to you.

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• In other words, it implies that the understanding is not yours. It did not originate with you. It did not initiate with you. It was something outside of you entirely, and it was given unto you. Now, the same word is used in the latter part of verse 11, when he says, "But unto them it is not given." There's a negative in front of the word didōmi, which means "not given." In other words, God then has given truth to some, and to some it has not been given. So let me just try to explain it like this: truth may be taught, presented, and explained very plainly, openly, clearly, and specifically.

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• And some will understand it and some will not. So you have to ask the question, why is that so? And the answer is because truth is a gift of God. And just like God is absolutely sovereign and he gives his grace and his mercy to whomever he pleases, whenever he pleases, it's the same way with his truth. In light of that, let me show you two verses. I want you to hold Matthew chapter 13, but turn in your Bibles if you would, first of all, to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and look if you would please at verse 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and look at verse 14. Many of you may quote this verse probably, but here it is.

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• He says, "But the natural man"—that would be the unsaved man—"the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So when he talks about the natural man, he's talking about the unsaved man, man by nature. So he says the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. And then he says they are absolutely foolishness unto him. And then he makes this statement, "Neither can he know them."

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• "Can" is a term of ability. "May" is a term of permission. In other words, he says man does not have the ability, man does not have the capability of understanding them because they are spiritually discerned.

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• Now, notice if you would, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. Very plainly they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. So look now if you would at 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 7, because in this passage the Apostle Paul is asking some questions. Here's the first one: "Who maketh thee to differ from another?" Now you stop and answer that question for yourself. Who maketh thee to differ from another? Well, obviously it is God. You just stop and think about your family, extended family. Think about your friends. Practically every family has individuals in that family that are unsaved. And they're not only unsaved, they're not interested in the truth. They don't want the truth. Oh, they don't mind fellowshipping with you as a cousin or some relative. But they don't want to sit down and listen to you witness to them. Neither do they want to hear you talking about spiritual things and about the Bible. So he asked, "Who maketh thee to differ from another?" And of course that would be the Lord God in his sovereignty. Watch this, the next question.

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• "And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" So everything that you have God gave you. And it doesn't matter if it's faith. It doesn't matter if it's repentance. It doesn't matter if it's truth. It doesn't matter if it's understanding. Everything that you have God gave you. Now look what he said: "And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" So man by nature is incapable of receiving or understanding the things of God, but I'm going to go farther and that is that as Christians that have been regenerated and converted and drawn to Christ, we still must be enlightened and illuminated by the Spirit of God to understand because everything is a gift. And whatever we understand, it has been given to us in the grace and mercy of God. So now, if you grasp this principle, first of all, it should make you extremely grateful and thankful in the fact that you have truth, that you know some truth.

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• You don't know all truth. That is obvious. Neither do I. No one knows all truth. But at least we know some truth. And God has opened our eyes to that. And we should be thankful to him. And we should praise him for the truth that he's given us. The second thing it should do is this: it should make us humble. It should make us humble in the fact that we realize that God condescended in his grace and mercy to give us truth. God's truth does not make us proud, arrogant, haughty, heady, high-minded, belligerent, demanding. God's truth does not do that. So if God has given us truth, we should first be thankful. And secondly, we should be humble. That is for sure.

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• And proud, vain, arrogant men and women think that somehow they can acquire all the knowledge they want just simply by their own study and their own efforts. Well, let me tell you something. You may study the Bible for a thousand years incessantly without ever stopping. You may memorize this thing left and right, upside down, inside out, backwards. It doesn't matter. But you would never ever understand it unless God opens your eyes, unless God gives you enlightenment. It's just that simple. There's a vast difference between being able to quote the Bible and understand the truth.

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• Now, let me give you a good illustration. I want you to think about this. I'm going to ask you a question and I'll explain the question. My question is this: would you recognize Jesus Christ if you saw him? Think about that. The question has to be explained. So first of all, would you recognize Jesus Christ physically if you saw him? Well, you're going to say, "Ha ha. Sure I would, because look at all the pictures we have of Jesus Christ." But all those pictures are absolutely worthless because all they are are man's imaginations.

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• Where I went to the university, there was a tremendous art gallery. It would take you hours just to go through that art gallery. And a lot of the paintings there were absolutely priceless. They were not replicas. They were originals. And a lot of them had pictures of Jesus Christ. And what's interesting, most of these pictures were painted during the Renaissance period. And if a Flemish artist painted a picture of Christ, Christ looked Flemish. If a Spanish artist painted him, he looked Spanish. If an Italian artist painted him, he looked Italian.

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• Now, so let me ask this question again. Would you recognize Jesus Christ if you saw him physically? Well, let me just make another statement because this is so true. Most people think this because of all the pictures they've seen, but here it is: Jesus Christ did not have long hair. Now how do I know that? Well, because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 14, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" Now the word "shame" happens to be the word atimia, and it literally means a dishonor, a reproach, a disgrace. You mean to tell me now since God the Father said that for a man to have long hair would be a reproach and a disgrace and a dishonor, that Jesus Christ would then turn around and dishonor and disgrace his Father by having long hair? Well, obviously clearly he did not. Now when you look at the context, long hair on the woman is her glory. Why? Man was created in

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• the image of God and the woman was created in the image of man, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. So the glory of the woman is her long hair, but it's a shame for a man to have long hair. Now someone's going to smile and try to say, "But you know, they didn't have barber shops back in those days." Well, they did. May not have necessarily been a barber shop the way you and I think about it, but they certainly knew about barbering. If you look back in your Bibles, holding Matthew 13, if you look back in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 5, Ezekiel chapter 5 and look if you would please at verse 1. Ezekiel chapter 5 verse 1. Look at what God tells Ezekiel to do. Ezekiel 5 and verse 1, God says, "And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair." So God here talks about not only a sharp knife, but he specifically says a barber's razor. Now I'm not splitting hairs when I come to this and I ask you, would you recognize Jesus Christ if you saw him physically?

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• And I know you would not from the pictures that have been painted, I understand that. But there were two men walking with Jesus Christ on the road to Emmaus. One of them's name was Cleopas, or Clopas in the Greek. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 24, you will see that he is named specifically. So hold Luke 24, but look in your Bibles there to verse 18. Luke 24 and verse 18. Look at this: "And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?" So Jesus Christ now has joined himself to these two men.

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• I want to take the time to read this passage and I want you to watch this. Look in verse 14. "And they talked together of all these things which had happened." That is, these two men. Verse 13 tells us they were going to the village called Emmaus. Verse 15: "And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them."

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• "But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things?"

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• "And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done."

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• "Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!"

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• "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. And they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them..."

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• "He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" Now the first question is this: who was Cleopas? The second question is: did he know Jesus Christ personally? And if he knew Jesus Christ personally, why would he not recognize him? I want you to hang on. I'm going to give you a quote from John Gill, a very short quote, and then we're going to look at some scriptures. Listen to this: "And one of them, whose name was Cleopas"—or Clopas in the Greek, or Alphaeus, for it is the same name—"he was one of

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• the seventy disciples, and father of the Apostles James and Jude." Are you listening? "Brother to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Christ, as before observed." Now look in your Bibles to Mark chapter 3 and verse 18. So now Cleopas was not only one of the 70 that had been sent out by Jesus Christ, but he was Joseph's brother and he married the sister of Mary, whose name also was Mary. So in Mark chapter 3 and verse 18 you read this: here's some of the Apostles, "And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus"—which would be Cleopas—"and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite." Now turn if you would to John chapter 19 and look at verse 25. John 19 verse 25. Look at this, plain as the nose on your face: "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene." So Cleopas, Clopas, Alphaeus, was Joseph's brother. That means that Jesus Christ would have been his nephew. He would have known Jesus Christ since he was a child. Wow. Now why did he not recognize him? Go back in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24. Luke 24 and look if you would please at verse 16. Luke 24 verse 16. The Bible says very plainly, look at

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• it, "But their eyes were holden that they should not know him." Now the Greek word for "holden" there is the word krateō, and it literally means "I have power." If you just took it by itself, the noun kratos is power, but they had no power because their eyes were holden. Literally, Cleopas, who had known Jesus Christ all of his life, was kept from recognizing him and fully knowing him. So God by his providence has restrained the eyes of these two men, and although they saw a man and knew that he was a man, they did not recognize him. So here was a relative, Clopas, and he did not even know him. Now I want to give you a quote. In fact, I'm going to give you two quotes. I want you to listen very carefully. This first one is from Matthew Poole. He says, "God by his providence restrained their eyes, that though they saw a man, yet they could not discern who he was.

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• We may learn from hence that the form or figure of Christ's body after His resurrection was not changed. His body had the same dimensions, the same quantity, color, and figure, and was itself a proper object for human eyes, for otherwise there had been no need for their eyes to be held. From hence also we may learn the influence which God hath upon all our members and senses, and how much we depend upon God for a daily power to exercise our natural faculties.

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• Our Lord had no mind that these two disciples should at first discern who he was, that he might draw out their following discourses, and from them take occasion to prove from scripture the certainty of his resurrection." Now, here's one more quote. This is from Calvin, and he's dealing with the same issue. He says, "The evangelist expressly states this, lest anyone should think that the aspect of Christ's body was changed and that the features of his countenance were different from that which had formerly been.

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• For though Christ remained like himself, he was not recognized, because the eyes of the beholders were held, and this takes away all suspicion of a phantom or false imagination. But hence we learn how great is the weakness of all of our senses, since neither eyes nor ears discharge their office, unless so far as power is incessantly communicated to them from heaven. Our members do indeed possess their natural properties, but to make us more fully sensible that they are held by us at the will of another, God retains in His own hand the use of them, so that we ought ever to reckon it to be one of his daily favors that our ears hear and our eyes see. For if he does not every hour quicken our senses, all of our power will immediately give way." Now he goes on and says that everything we are and everything that we have is still restrained and retained by God and in his power.

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• Now, I'm going to end with this quotation from Calvin right here. Listen carefully. I've got more to preach, but this is the end of his quote. He says, "The proper discrimination between truth and falsehood, therefore, does not arise from the wisdom of our own mind, but comes to us from the spirit of wisdom. But it is chiefly in the contemplation of heavenly things that our stupidity is discovered. For not only do we imagine false appearances to be true, but we turn the clear light into darkness." He said if it's left up to us, we would turn light into darkness. We would see things and we would say things that cannot possibly be true. So the proper discrimination between truth and falsehood does not arise from our own wisdom, our own smartness, our own ability. No, it comes to us by the spirit of wisdom. So here is an absolute truth. Listen carefully. We are blind to that which is right before our eyes unless God opens our eyes and allows us to see.

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• Clopas knew Jesus Christ probably from his birth. He was sent out by Jesus Christ. Yet he did not recognize Jesus Christ. Seeing, hearing are the gifts of God. Proverbs 20 in verse 12: "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them." So now let's ask a question. Why is it that some do not understand—listen carefully—and others never will understand? Think about that. Why is it some do not understand and others never will understand?

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• Well, let me answer that for you. First of all, you have to remember there is what we would call a natural blindness. I quoted that from 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14, where it said, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So our Lord is saying that man, by nature, man in and of himself, does not have the ability, does not have the capability to discern truth or to see truth. And if he did see truth, it is nothing but foolishness to him.

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• Now I want you to turn if you would to Ephesians chapter 4 where this is actually amplified for us. Ephesians chapter 4 and let's begin reading there with verse 17. Ephesians chapter 4, look if you would please at verse 17. He says this: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." So he's talking now about the unsaved who walk in the vanity of their mind. So when we talk about vanity, we refer to that which is useless, that which is worthless. But it's more than that. So look in verse 17 again: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind."

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• Here's what the vanity of the mind is: "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." So what is God telling us? That fallen man is ignorant of God. He's alienated from God. He's blind toward God. He does not see God spiritually, does not desire God. The only thing that fallen man by nature wants is his own filthiness, his own fleshliness, his own lusts, and that's it. That's it. So there is what you and I would call a natural blindness. There is secondly, which is known in scripture as a judicial blindness. This is why some will never see. Wow, this is why some will never understand. We can understand the natural blindness and the natural hardness. That's why some do not understand. But I got news for you. The judicial blindness is why some never understand. So if you'll go back in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 13, I want you to look again at verses 14 and 15. In fact, let's begin reading verse 13.

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• Our Lord says it like this: "Therefore speak I 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 Isaiah, 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, and I should heal them." Now the interesting thing is, our Lord quotes in verses 14 and 15 from Isaiah. This quote comes from Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10. And when you look in Isaiah chapter 6, this is where God calls Isaiah to be a prophet and sends him to the people. Now, listen to this. I'm going to read Isaiah 6, verses 9 and 10. "And he said, Go, and tell this people,

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• Hear ye indeed, and understand not; and see ye indeed, and 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." Now in Isaiah chapter 6, God calls Isaiah to be a prophet and sends him to Israel. Sends him to his own people. Isaiah asked God, "How long? How long am I to go?" And you know what God answered him?

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• "Till the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate." Let me just put that in a proper perspective for you. God says they're not going to listen to you. I'm going to judge them. I'm going to destroy them. So here is a judicial blindness where their eyes were shut, their ears were shut, their minds were shut. They did not see, they did not understand. Now listen to this: this passage in Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 is quoted six times in the New Testament. Let me show them to you. I want you to turn, first of all, to the book of Mark. You hold Matthew 13. We're coming back there. If you look in the book of Mark, chapter 4, and let's read verses 11 and 12. Mark 4, verses 11 and 12.

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• "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." Still the quote from Isaiah 6. Look if you would please to the book of Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8 at verses 9 and 10. Luke 8 verses 9 and 10. Here it is again. Luke 8 verse 9: "And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand." Wow. Now if you will turn to John chapter 12. John chapter 12 and let's begin reading there with verse 39. John 12 verse 39 and we'll read through verse 41. John 12 verse 39: "Therefore they could not believe." Think about this: a judicial blind—

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• it was impossible for them to believe. "Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah 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 Isaiah, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." That would be in Isaiah 6. Now look in your Bibles to Acts chapter 28. Acts 28. Notice if you would please beginning there with verse 25. Acts 28 and verse 25. Paul is speaking to these Jews that had come together, and so the Bible says, "And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word." And notice what he quotes: "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah 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." Wow. So he quotes from Isaiah 6. One

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• more time if you will look in Romans chapter 11. Romans 11 and verses 7 and 8. Romans 11 and look at verses 7 and 8. The scripture says, "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." So if you'll go back now to Matthew chapter 13. This is the one that I read, but this is the sixth occurrence—actually it would be the first, but I'm calling it the sixth because I'm coming back to this lastly. So in Matthew 13 in verse 15, he says, "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, and I should heal them." Now, what Matthew is doing in this passage is he's ascribing this judicial blindness to his hearers.

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• He is saying that they are responsible for this judicial blindness being inflicted upon them. In other words, you cannot separate what you and I would call a blinded mind and a hardened heart. In other words, the blinder you are, the harder your heart. Just stop and think about this. You're talking about a hardened heart. I know that no one in this room has ever physically murdered anyone. But you just stop and think about some of these individuals who murder on a regular basis and go home and have supper. Doesn't bother them.

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• Look at the people who work for the cartels, who just as soon kill an individual they don't even know. They're not only blind, they are hardened. You remember that passage in Romans chapter 1? The Bible said because they became vain in their imaginations and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. And because they did not like to retain the knowledge of God in their minds, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. And so they were the ones who were accountable and responsible for that reprobate mind because they didn't want God, they didn't want the truth. They did not want his knowledge. You may remember that it is said that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but it is also said that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. So when God states that their heart is waxed gross, it means that their heart is enclosed with a big gob of fat.

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• Nothing can get in it. Their ears are dull of hearing. That means they're heavy, they're weighty, and they're violent and cruel. And the Greek word is barus. They've shut their eyes that they see not. All of this so it's impossible then for someone with a gross heart, dull ears, and closed eyes to receive truth. It's impossible. So they will never ever understand truth. So judicial blindness or judicial hardness is a term then that is employed to express what you and I would call moral and spiritual incorrigibility. The people who have been afflicted with judicial blindness, which they brought upon themselves in the righteous judgment of God, will never understand truth. Period. They're just lost. They will remain lost.

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• There is no reaching them. You know, I thought about this so many times. There is a line that people cross. I don't know when that line is or where that line is, but there is a line that people cross and here's what God does: "Ha ha, I will just withdraw myself from you since you don't really want me. And what you want is your will and your way.

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• I will let you have it." There's a passage in Hosea chapter 5 in verse 6. Listen to this. And remember now these people were rejected by God. But Hosea 5 in verse 6 says this: "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them." They think they're going to offer sacrifice. They're taking their flocks and their herds. They're seeking after God, but they will not find him. Why? He's withdrawn himself. Now since you're in Matthew, look in Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15. Here is a powerful, powerful truth. Matthew 15, look in verse 12. "Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?" Let me paraphrase that for you: "Lord, you've upset these Pharisees. You said things that they really didn't like. You've made them angry. You made them mad. They probably won't come back and hear you anymore." Look what our Lord said. Verse 13: "But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both

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• shall fall into the ditch." I got news for you. There are three words there that are terrifying. What did he say in verse 14? "Let them alone." Let them alone. They're going to be destroyed and anyone that follows them is going to be destroyed. Let them alone. I've got news for you. If our Lord says to someone, "Let him alone," he will never ever understand truth. Never. In Jeremiah 44—you don't have to turn there—but these people, God had already judged Judah and Jerusalem. There was just a small number of them left. And they were fearful that Nebuchadnezzar was going to come back because someone had murdered his soldiers and murdered the governor that he had appointed. And so they came to Jeremiah and said, "Pray for us." Said, "We want to know God's will. We're just a little remnant." And these people really wanted to go down into Egypt, but they told Jeremiah—Jeremiah 42, 43, 44—they said, "You pray to God for us and we will do whatever God tells us.

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• We want to obey him." Well, Jeremiah said, "I'll pray for you." And finally, God came to Jeremiah and said, "You tell them not to go down into Egypt. Do not go there. They're afraid of Nebuchadnezzar. I'll protect them. They're afraid of famine. I'll feed them. Do not go into Egypt." So when Jeremiah told them that, you know what they said? "God didn't tell you to say that.

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• Baruch set you upon us. You just want us to be killed by Nebuchadnezzar. You want us to starve to death." And so what they did, they then kidnapped Jeremiah and Baruch and took them into Egypt. God told Jeremiah, "You put some stones right around here, because Nebuchadnezzar's going to set his throne on these stones." The very thing that they were afraid of, they ran right into by disobeying God. And so they were saying, "We're going to continue to pour out our drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven. We're going to continue to do whatever we've done before." And here's what God said, listen to this, in verse 28 of Jeremiah 44. God said, "Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs." You'll find out. You'll find out who's speaking the truth. Now there's another verse I can quote it, but I want you to see it if you'll look in your Bibles to Psalm 106 and look at verse 15. Psalm 106 and verse 15. This is what God does. Psalm 106 verse 15. The Bible says, "And he gave them their request; but sent leanness

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• into their soul." Do you realize when people do not want the truth, do not want God, they want their own will, they want their own way, God says, "OK, I'll let you have it." That's when he said concerning those Pharisees, "Let them alone." So let me make some implications. The first one is this. Think about this. One of God's absolute worst judgments that he could inflict upon anyone is when God just simply withdraws himself and leaves us to ourselves. When he gives us that which we want, when he allows us to have our will and allows us to have our way, that is the same thing as our Lord saying, "Let them alone." You want it? You can have it. You'll find out that the way of the transgressor is hard. You'll find out that you reap what you sow. You'll find out that there are consequences to your sins. The worst judgment that can be inflicted upon any individual is when God just withdraws himself and leaves them alone. The second application is this: we must learn that unless God opens our eyes, opens our

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• ears, and opens our hearts, we will never see, we will never hear, and we will never obey. Some do not believe because of natural blindness or natural depravity. Others will never believe because of judicial blindness, because of their own stubbornness, their own incorrigibility, and their own hatefulness.

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• Now, if you remember that passage that I read in Ephesians 4 earlier, it is the judgment of God when one becomes past feeling and walks in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their own hearts. And what happens when someone is that and does that? They live their lives, God says, being past feeling, and they've given themselves over unto lasciviousness. That is nakedness. That is lustfulness. In other words, he leaves them to fulfill their own lusts.

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• They never will have any concern for the truth. They'll never really desire God. They'll never want to be saved. No, no. Because they have been judicially blinded, judicially hardened. So I said when I began this message, truth is important. Truth is a matter of life and death. I quoted Proverbs 23 in verse 23: "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding." Since truth is God's gift, we are responsible to buy it. You say, "How can I buy it if it's a gift?" Well, obviously, clearly, regardless of the cost, we must cry unto him to give us truth. It doesn't matter how much study it takes. It doesn't matter how many sermons we listen to. We need to cry to God for truth. That is buying it. Turn in your Bibles. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 2. Let me show you. Here's a good illustration of buying the truth. Look at this. Proverbs 2 verse 1. Listen. He says, "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

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• Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God." What does he say? Look in verse 6: "For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." But God said, "I don't give it willy-nilly. You've got to receive, you've got to hide, you've got to incline your ear. You have to apply your heart. You have to cry after knowledge. You have to lift up your voice. You have to seek it as silver and search for it as hidden treasure. Then, then you'll understand. I'll give it to you." That's buying the truth. It's not that you're spending money for it, it's that you are searching and begging and asking God for truth.

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• You see it and you value it. We need to be like David. And David prayed this prayer in Psalm 119 and verse 18. He said, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." So we need to cry that God would give us his truth. He would open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear, open our minds to understand. And I'll point it out again in the next sermon. Truth is absolutely worthless unless you apply it.

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• It's not enough to buy it. It's not enough to cry for it. We have to obey it. So some do not understand because of natural depravity and natural blindness. And some will never understand because they have been judicially blinded in the judgment of God because of their sin and their lack of seeking and their lack of repentance, and their lack of concern, they have no desire for God or His truth. There's a line. And when our Lord says, "Let him alone," or "Let them alone," you'll never ever understand truth. You better cry while you can cry and beg while you can beg. "Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Let's pray.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for enlightenment. We ask for illumination. We ask for understanding. We realize, Lord, that truth is your gift. And just like Clopas was blind to someone he had known all of his life, until you opened his eyes, we can be blind to that which we read every day in our Bibles. We need the illumination and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Teach us thy truth. Help us, Lord, to understand and to apply. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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• so so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T17:30:03Z