The Lord is pleased to actively
hide the truth from some while just as actively revealing it
to others. The Lord Himself was not ashamed to declare this truth
and even to thank His Father for doing so. Jesus answered and said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. His disciples asked him why he
taught in parables, 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. Isaiah was given this very
prophecy which was particularly applicable to the nation of Israel
as the Lord would demonstrate that they are not all Israel
who are of Israel. Tell this people, Hear ye indeed,
but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. These
verses cause the free will mongers to tremble and scratch their
heads in dismay as the scriptures plainly indicate that an understanding
of the truth of God is sovereignly dispensed by Him who said, I
will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. The only folks who
have a problem with this doctrine are those who believe they possess
some measure of righteousness in their persons which they believe
they can bring to the Lord in order to influence Him to bless
them. The man who is convinced by the Spirit of God that he
has no thread of worthiness before God will rejoice when he discovers
that the Lord is the one who provides all that a sinner needs
to be justified before Him. Those that believe not are blinded
in four ways. Number one, they are blinded
by sovereign decree. The Lord alone reserves the right
to cause men to see. There is no remedy for this condition,
for they that are such will not come to Him and will not believe,
even though one be risen from the dead. Number two, they are
blinded by their fleshly nature, being conceived in sin and spiritually
dead. Three, they are judicially blinded. The Lord does pass judgment on
those who will not believe. I said therefore unto you that
ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe not that I am He,
ye shall die in your sins. And number four, they are blinded
because He withholds the truth from them, according to His sovereign
purpose, which we mentioned in our first point. The natural
religious man will grow angry when such a doctrine is preached.
We see this illustrated when the Lord Himself taught this
doctrine in the synagogue, mentioning the widow of Sarepta and Naaman
the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. These Jews recognized that he
was sweeping away their righteousness and fleshly endeavors and showing
them that apart from the sovereign grace of God, they could not
be saved. They would have killed him then,
but the time was not yet right, and he passed through their midst
as they stood there powerless, even as all men are before the
sovereign decrees of God. One of the best illustrations
of the hiding of truth in plain sight from those to whom it is
not given, and the revelation of it to those who are, is seen
in the very first recorded miracle which the Lord Jesus Christ performed
at the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee as He turned water
into wine. The whole gathering of people
were greatly benefited by the Lord's provision of this wine,
but they were given no understanding of how it was provided. The humble
servants received a greater blessing than any of those whom they served,
for they saw the creation of this wine by the hand of Him
who formed the light and created the darkness. The wonder of this
wine was not in its taste or clarity, but rather in Him who
spoke it into existence, which none of the guests at the wedding
even knew. So then it is not of Him that
willeth, nor of Him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream dot net.