Okay, we're going to continue with the Doctrine of Providence, Chapter 5 of Providence. We're going to move on to Section 6. And now we're going to talk about the way really God superintends the whole issue of sin and sinful actions and how God in fact makes the sins of the unbelievers to serve as their own punishments, and even how God sometimes can do the same with believers. And so how much more than in the case of unbelievers, when God intends to use the wickedness of men to chastise them. That's all really fair. That's all, in fact, what men deserve. But even more than that, one of the things that we want to look at is this idea that Not only does God withdraw his influences, and that leads to hardening, withdraw gifts, and that leads to men falling into sin. Because of the innate sinfulness in man, not only do we have those outcomes in those cases, but there's this very peculiar thing. that is very notable throughout the Bible and we're going to talk about this as well. There are numerous cases where God actually hardens people by exposing them to the truth, being nice to them, if you will, kind to them, that is, showing his goodness to them, they become hardened by it rather than softened by it. And again, we have to remember what we've talked about, the sinfulness of sin, sinfulness of his actions we characterize as sin, that sinfulness arises solely on the part of the creature. because of the wickedness that is in the heart of man. The very things which would have lent themselves to softening you and making you more receptive, those very things, unless God intervenes in a gracious way, those very things are just going to harden you. God can harden you by hitting you over the head with some punishment or by killing you with kindness. And we'll see examples of that. God doing just that. Remember, He's in control of the providence. He's superintending the outcome. He's directing and channeling all of these actions so that everything he's both prophesied and promised, all of that will come to pass infallibly. God is in control. And as we talked about before, the sinfulness of all that we're talking about here, always, only and totally falls upon the creature. The creature is entirely responsible for the sinfulness of any of these things that we talk about. So although we're talking about God hardening or God giving men over, The part that makes it bad for us is that we're sinners. Because as we've talked about in other contexts, even when we fall into diverse temptations, if we improve upon that, that is if God by his grace works in us effectually, we're going to make good use of that. It's not going to redound in the end to our everlasting shame and exposure to punishment. So, chapter 5 of Providence, section 6. As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God as a righteous judge for former sins hath blinded hardened, from them He not only withholdeth His grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings and wrought upon in their hearts, but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasions of sin, and withal gives them over to their own lusts the temptations of the world and the power of Satan, whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softening of others. There are a number of very interesting propositions here. The purpose of this section really is to clarify some of the things we talked about before when we talked about the relation of providence to sin. And to get into some very specific aspects of the relationship between providence and the reactions and the hardening and the sinful behavior that we see in men when, in fact, God lays his hand upon them or when he withdraws himself from them. So the first question, then, The first topic of discussion is, doth God as a righteous judge for former sins blind and hardened wicked and ungodly men? The answer to that very clearly is yes. We want to look at Romans 1 verses 24, 26 and 28 and also Romans 11 verses 7 and 8. Romans 1, verses 24, 56, and 28. Verse 24, Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Verse 26, For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women to change the natural use into that which is against nature. Verse 28, And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Romans 11 verses 7 and 8. 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. We could multiply. examples because in scripture God is frequently said to harden wicked men for their former sins. What can God do judicially when men sin? Well, one of the horrible things about sin that the Bible tells us is that sin very oftentimes leads to sin. That we add sin to sin. We move from one grievous breach of the commandment to another. We join sin with sin, and not only do we make these sins compounded, but the Bible is also very clear on this point. that once we enter into any particular sin, it is a just judgment of God to leave you in that sin and join to that as part of the punishment of some other sin. So not only are you going to have to live with your fornication, but you're going to have to live with the abortion that follows. You know, there's another judgment that's been thrown on top of that. Not only is there your drunkenness, but now you've added to it manslaughter. That's the just judgment of God. not only sin upon sin, but punishing sin with further sin, and burdening you, really, with the guilt and the prospect of the punishment of all of that sin. We shouldn't be surprised. The Bible makes it very clear. God does this to the wicked and the ungodly. They despise the Word of God. He hardens them. He removes from them sound preaching. He leaves them shut up to their own ignorance. And from there, they join one sin to another. They don't know the difference. They're wandering in the dark. Why does this happen? It's because men are wicked. They're unrepentant. They're stout before God. They don't want to bend. They don't want to bow. So it's not an unusual thing. It's not a strange idea that God would harden wicked men for former sin, that God would punish men with sin for their sins. We need to understand that God hardening men, wicked and ungodly men, for former sins, blinding and hardening them. He's giving them really what they wanted. They don't want to retain a knowledge of God. They don't want to know. So God doesn't harden men by infusing wickedness into their hearts. He doesn't do it by any direct and positive influences on their souls in rendering them obdurate or hard, but rather by withholding His grace, which is necessary to soften their hearts, and which He is free to give or withhold As he pleases, look at Romans 9, 13 to 18. Romans 9, verses 13 through 18. And it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and to whom he will he hardneth. God is not under any obligation to fallen men. to give them or do anything for them. There's no obligation. No one can make this demand righteously. He gives or withholds as he pleases. It's a matter of a sovereign disposition. If he gives grace, Well, then it's very likely that our hearts will be softened. But I think one thing you need to keep in mind as we go through all of these different propositions is the thing that we're going to discuss at the end. That the very things which in and of themselves would soften a man under normal circumstances, that is to say, were men not sinners by reason of the creation, it would have been enough to make a man yield and move in that direction. Those very things, apart from the blessing of God, simply provoke in men that same God-hating, knee-jerk reaction that hardens them. They become hardened. They become embittered. They feel like they're being backed into a corner. Either God isn't doing enough for them, or God is doing too much. If He's doing too much, then they presume upon God. and they just do whatever they want. If he's not doing enough, why then, you know, they become embittered. It's sort of, you know, we become suspicious. We not only reject people when they're too mean, but if they're too nice, we become suspicious too. You know, why is that? Well, it's probably because of our sinful disposition. God doesn't need to infuse any wickedness. There's plenty of it in us. Remember the doctrine of total depravity. If you don't remember that, we will be getting to that in the confession. We'll be talking about that in some detail. All men by the fall, by Adam's fall, sinned in him and with him. They fell with him and they're tainted with what we call original sin. And that leaves all in this great debt. So God doesn't need to infuse wickedness. God doesn't need to use direct or positive influences to harden. The fact is that, again, If men were not so possessed by sin, they would naturally melt under the influences of God when He's being good, when He's doing good to them. They would have the right reaction. There wouldn't be a sinful reaction. The sinfulness of the reaction is due solely and wholly to us being sinners. So God doesn't need to do that, nor would He do that. He's a good God. He's not going to infuse wickedness into man's hearts. He's not going to, by some direct and positive influence, make men hardened. All He has to do is remove His grace. If he removes his grace, it's simply like you holding a stone in your hand. If you remove your hand, the stone is going to fall to the ground. Why? Well, that's a natural inclination. That's a natural direction toward which the stone is inclined. And that's the way we are. We're inclined to that sin. We're wholly inclined. We're drawn to it. God removes his grace. It's like taking his hand away. Boom, we fall. We're hardened in it. If God doesn't restrain us, we're going to be hardened in it. The fact that we all haven't become the worst possible people that we could become is evidence that God, by His grace, has restrained men. That He's kept them back from doing the worst that they could or would do. And he's doing this not merely for the benefit of men, so that their judgment will be lessened. He's doing this particularly because his providence is directing everything. And he's going to make the wrath of man praise him, and the remainder of the wrath he'll restrain. He's not going to be allowed to burst out. None of it will be exercised outside of his control. He's channeling it all. Seeing it all flows in the direction, he would have it flow in to the end that his purposes are in fact fulfilled. Not 99.9%, but 100%. All right, question two. Doth God, by withholding His grace, remove from the wicked the necessary means to enlighten their understandings and change their hearts? And the answer is yes. We can look first to Deuteronomy 29.4. Deuteronomy 29, verse 4. Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto this day. Why don't they see? Why don't they understand? Why don't they perceive? Moses says God hasn't given you a heart to see, to perceive, to understand. You can't understand. So that what we know then is this. There is no possibility of us doing anything spiritually good apart from the grace of God working in and through us. Why? Because by nature we're wholly inclined to do that which is spiritually evil. We're given to every kind of iniquity and working every kind of iniquity. We're not interested at all, in fact, in this idea that we really don't even care. But God, simply by withholding His grace, He removes from the wicked the very means that they need if they will ever understand and if they'll ever change. You know, there are people who say, if I change, well, you know, then I'll do this or that if I decide to change. Men tend to think that it's within their power to change for spiritual good. You may have it in your power, in a sense, to change in other respects, but when it comes to doing that which is spiritually well-pleasing to God, apart from the grace of God, you can do nothing. In fact, everything that you do is displeasing to God, which is why Proverbs says that even the plowing of the wicked is sin. Men apart from the grace of God remain in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Acts 8.22 and 23. Why is he in the gull of bitterness and the bond of iniquity? He doesn't have the grace of God. He needs it. Pray that God would give you the grace. Why? Because without it you can't recover. There's no recovery. You're not going to do the right thing. In fact, that's one of the worst pieces of advice people could ever give you is to just tell you do the right thing without telling you what the right thing is because Men are wicked and men fill in that blank with whatever they want. We don't have a sense of what is spiritually good. We know at a very central level because of the law of nature. We know what's good and bad, right and wrong, but we suppress that truth and unrighteousness and we seek to subvert all of that. It's not really enough to tell people, do the right thing. Go for it. Do your best, morally or spiritually. You're never going to attain to that because apart from the grace of God, you remain in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Christ came into the world the world was already under the condemnation of spiritual darkness John 3 17 to 20 What is the problem? Well, the problem is we live in a world already in a state of condemnation. Apart from the grace of God, that is the status quo. We already stand condemned. We're already gone out of the way. Again, we're going to emphasize this when we talk about the fall of man. We talk about the present condition, but that's the fact. All men, by nature, are in a state of spiritual bondage, darkness. Christ didn't come into the world in order to perpetuate that. The world was already in this condition when Christ came. Christ Himself testifies that no man can come unto Him except that the Father give it, that is, the grace of saving faith, give it to him to come. We see this in John 6, verses 44 and 45, and in verse 65, as well as Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. John 6, verse 45. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned the Father cometh unto me. and he said therefore said I am to you that no man can come unto me except it was given him of my father Ephesians 2 8 through 10 for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast for where is workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works So again, what is the problem? Well, we are in a state of spiritual darkness. We're cast down, cast off. If God withholds His grace, we remain in the status quo. We need grace then in order to have our understanding enlightened, in order for our hearts to change. No man can come unto Christ except the Father draw him. That is by giving him saving grace, saving faith. It's not something that we work up. It's not something that we concoct. A lot of churches today think that if they have these services that are designed to help you ratchet up and work in you faith that you'll come to believe. But that's just not the case. It's not something within you, it's something that God must grant to you. Something, in fact, that He gives, not through natural means, but it's something that He gives through the preaching of the Word of God, through the hearing of faith, and so on. So, the status quo? Spiritual darkness. If God withholds grace, Where are you going to stay? You're going to stay in a state of spiritual darkness. If God doesn't give you grace, has he done anything to infuse wickedness into you? No. He's simply leaving you in that wickedness wherein you're found. He's simply leaving you in a situation where you are going to be hardened. by that sin, you know, that various sins around you, they're all going to conduce to a hardening because there's nothing really to remove that hardening effect. All right, question three. Does God also withdraw gifts which the wicked formerly possessed in order to their greater judgment? Do we have cases where there are men who have the judgment of God, that under the judgment of God, He withdraws from them various gifts that He had given them, that He has maybe started to take them in a way. He's given them some understanding, and then He deprives them of it. He's given them something that's going to lead them in a way of enlightening their understanding, changing their heart, and so on. And yet he now removes that. Well, the answer to that is yes. We can begin by looking at Matthew 13.12 and 25.29. Matthew 13 verse 12. 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. Matthew 25 verse 29. Unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. several times notes that God will take away even that which you have. You don't improve upon it. Again, why is this important? That when God begins to draw you, why should you press in? Why should you be concerned to hear? Why should you be concerned to read? Why should you be concerned to know the truth? to believe the truth, to practice the truth. Well, because of this, if you don't improve the grace that God has given you, if you don't improve the gifts that God has given you, you're asking that He in His righteous judgment remove that which you already have. and, in a sense, take you from a place where you knew something and put you back where you knew nothing. This is why it is so often that men, when they begin to draw back, when they begin to give up this or that point, men and churches continue in that direction. It's very hard to be recovered from backsliding and declining from the faith. And it's hard because very often, this is a situation where that backsliding is accompanied with an additional blinding or hardening, which leads to more backsliding, which leads to more blinding and hardening. So that gifts that you had possessed you find yourself deprived of them. The things which you had in possession have been taken away. And that's exactly the case that we see in the story of King Saul. He was endued with spiritual gifts to rule the people of Israel. Look at 1 Samuel 11, 6. 1 Samuel 11, verse 6. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him and he was enabled to rule in a reasonable way. He was able to rule the people of God in Israel. He started out in that, but in time, rather than cultivating that, he gave in to various and sundry sinful dispositions. And with each sin that we commit willingly, with each sin that we enter upon habitually, we are in fact putting in a not so formal request that God would just simply remove all of the gifts, all of the working of his spirit in us so that we can go off and do what we want to do. so that we can be left to our own devices. Of course, the end of that all is what? We end up joining sin to sin. God ends up punishing sin with sin. It becomes a moral train wreck following upon betrayal of the initial sin. And what happens with Saul? Well, he begins with the Spirit of God guiding him, conducting him. He's gifted. But when Saul fell into sin, we're told that God gave him up and removed his spirit. Look at 1 Samuel 16, 14 and 18, 12. 1 Samuel 16, verse 14. But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And 1 Samuel 18, verse 12. And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. Saul's problem is the Spirit of God departs and then an evil spirit from the Lord settles upon him. How can this come to be? Is he infusing? No. You see, the fact is that men rejoice in iniquity. When God removes His grace, they welcome the demonic influence. When men are given over, they don't really want good counsel. They don't want sound aid. They would much rather have the influence of darkness in their lives. They want to do what they want to do and they want to do it in the dark. It's spiritual darkness, they're happy there. That's what natural man wants. So, God can withdraw gifts. We see men who were otherwise gifted on occasion. apostatize. God removes his candlestick from them and they find themselves in utter darkness. He does that to churches as well. The fact that you have some gift of God today is no proof that you'll have it tomorrow. You need to cherish it. You need to cultivate it. You need to exercise it. And if you don't, don't be surprised, because you're provoking God. You're provoking God to remove it. All right, question four. Doth God expose wicked men to such objects as their corruption makes occasions to sin? The answer is yes. What we're talking about is this. God does not make the sinful part of that sin. That's arising from you. But God does know and does predestine the events out of which the sinfulness of men arise. That's all that we're saying here. You know, He exposes the wicked to some object. It's their corruption which makes it an occasion to sin. What do we mean by that? Well, let's look at the case of Zion, king of Heshbon. He was hardened by the Lord when God brought His people before Him in Deuteronomy 2, 34. Deuteronomy 2, verse 30. The King of Heshbon, Zion, the King of Heshbon hardens his heart. God hardens his heart. How? Well, He brings the people of Israel before Him. Now, what is it about this that's going to harden him? Well, if you think about it, we could put it in another sense here to give you a little bit of an idea and maybe help you understand a little more what's in view. God, the Lord God, brings the church of God before the consideration of Zion King of Heshba. And he's hardened by it. What is there about the Church of God that's going to harden him? In fact, as we're going to see later, there's probably actually something here which ought to soften him. There's probably something here which should suggest him something very different. But simply by juxtaposing And the people of God, with the king of Heshmon, there is a sinful reaction on the part of Zion. His heart is hardened. God has hardened his heart. But as it's sinful hardening, did God in fact infuse the wickedness in him? No. Simply by placing that in front of him. It's sort of like putting a picture of your worst enemy in front of you, if you will, and all of a sudden you find in yourself these hateful thoughts and inclinations arising. Why? Is there anything about the picture? Not really, the picture is, there's nothing to it. Seeing the person walking down the street, there's nothing to that. But the wicked turn those occasions into occasions to sin. Instead of making peace with the children of Israel and allowing them safe passage through his land, he was moved to mistreat them by his own choler. Numbers 21-23. Had Sion been inclined to mercy, inclined to peace, it would have been a very easy thing. They didn't come at him with axes and guns a-blazin'. They came to him, in a sense, seeking peace. And that provokes in him, because of his wickedness, this hardening. If you've ever wondered why some people have this reaction just to the idea of Christianity, it's a violent reaction. Why? God is hardening them by it very often. Just the thought of it hardens them against it. Zion could have done something, could have assisted the people of God, could have, in fact, advanced the cause of peace, could have done a lot of things. This occasion, there's nothing in the occasion, in fact, demanding that he react the way he does. The reaction, the sinfulness of the reaction, is solely from Him. Does God know this when He puts them in this position? Of course He knows this. Has God decreed this? Of course He's decreed this. But the sinfulness of that arises from science-owned corruption. God's not sitting there poking him with needles full of meanness toward Israel and then going to push him off into hell for that. He doesn't need to do that. Zion is already full of hostility toward the true religion. Now in so doing, Zion when he is provoked to this, his own corruption, in fact, we see then, provides the justification for the destruction of his people by Israel. And all of this, of course, according to the decree and providence of God. We see this if we look at Joshua 11, 19 and 20. Joshua 11, 19 and 20. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivelights, the inhabitants of Gibeon, all others they took in battle. For it was in the Lord's heart and their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses. Their wickedness is going to be punished justly when the children of Israel lay them to waste. Has God decreed, has God promised them, has He led them in this way to bring them to this point of victory? Yes, yes, yes. But the corruption, the evil that provokes the just judgment of God is an evil which arises solely in the part of Zion. He's put in a situation where there is no constraint. He's not constrained externally, that is physically. He's not constrained psychologically. There's no psychological gun to his head pushing him to be hardened toward the people of Israel. In fact, apparently they approach him in a very reasonable fashion. They approach him with the idea of making peace, doing what's good. And that, for him, is the final straw. That's a bizarre reaction, but that's how bizarre sin is. Sin is not rational, it's irrational. Sin is not something that has any real reason for being other than as an expression of our rebellion to God. So there's nothing in the occasion. The occasion, in fact, is set up in a way that all things could, and in fact should, from the point of view of what should be, and you know, not what is, but what should be, everything is in position for the king of Hespen to make the right decision, to follow through and do that which is in fact upright morally. There's no necessity. The occasion has not imposed upon him some necessity of sinning. The sin arises wholly and solely in and through him. And it's because of his corruption. Now, we're not denying that God is superintending all of this. That God is going to bring good out of this evil. He is and he does. And Joshua tells us he does. You know, this hardening of the heart becomes the immediate cause and the moral justification, in fact, for the children of Israel taking the war to them and taking their land as a result of a legitimate battle waged that was, from their point of view, was unprovoked. That's how this works, and we need to keep in mind in the providence of God, although this is redounding to the greater sin of the wicked, it's also serving to justify the righteous in carrying out, accomplishing, and fulfilling the promises of God. And that's all part of this whole superintending of the divine decree. Providence is the unfolding of this decree. Likewise, we have the case of Hazael. When he was elevated to be king of Syria, he was given the occasion to do much evil as the prophet foresaw, 2 Kings 8, 12, and 13. And Haziel said, Why weepest thou, my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel. Their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with a sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. And Haziel said, But what is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Israel. Ezra says, what, am I a dog that I should do such a thing? No, but the fact is you are a wicked man and God already knows that this occasion being created, that is you being given this kind of power, brought into this position, brought into this relation with Israel, the outcome is going to be exactly what God predicts. Because God knows what's in your heart better than you do. You see, that's the other part of this. You know, the wicked, they think that they can gauge. And this is a problem that we all have. We think we know what our reaction would be. And as a result, we are very forward to put ourselves into occasions where we don't even think it's possible. really would sin. We need to think a lot broader and a lot harder on that. God knows what's in the heart of man. The situations that we deem highly unlikely occasions for sin very often turn out to be occasions for sin. and that by the just judgment of God. He knows what's in your heart. He knows what's in the heart of man. He's not going to commit himself to that. Man's heart is wicked. There's a lot of evil there. You would think that elevating a guy to be the king And Haziel knows it's God, it's the Lord who is lifting him up, going to make him king of Syria. You would think that that would be cause of rejoicing, right? You would think that that would provide an excuse and even a pervasive rationale for doing good to the people of God. And if you thought that, you'd be wrong. Hazael couldn't even begin to imagine. After all, if God is going to give me all of this, what am I, a dog? I mean, a dog wouldn't repay his master like that. Dogs are more loyal than that. Why would I do that? The answer is you don't know what's in your heart. And if you're a wicked man, you really don't know what's in your heart. If you're under the influence of grace, you may not understand what's in your heart, but you know it's not good. Fact is, these men twisted objects, which might have been occasioned for great good, into occasions to sin, and that's all because of their own native depravity. Look at Micah 2.1. The Prophet talks about devising iniquity in their beds and really he's talking about the secret place from which all sin arises. It comes from within us, it comes from a very quiet place within us. We're not overflowing with a sense of our own iniquity. We should be, but we're not. As a result, because we are so depraved, because of native depravity, what do we do? We're always inclined to do that which is sinful. And the sad thing is, and it's a very sad thing, when these occasions arise providentially, rather than turning it to something good, rather than achieving some sort of spiritual or moral victory. Very often we turn these occasions into occasions for sinning. We are given over to turning these occasions into occasions for sinning. And we are because we are depraved by nature. It's not the occasion. It's not the occasion of two people coming together that is going to lead to murder or fornication. It's the sinful inclinations in the people when they meet together on that occasion. They might have met together for much good. They might have met together for mutual help. There might have been a number of things by which they and others might have benefited. But when occasions are turned to sin, the sinfulness of that always arises in the man. God isn't necessitating. to infuse wickedness in any man. There's plenty of wickedness to squeeze out and direct in any man. He doesn't need to infuse into men. He doesn't need to harden men in their sin. Naturally, all men are inclined to be hardened in their sin. The only way that they're not going to be is by His grace. God, if God were to leave man where he found him now, every man would be utterly cast down and undone. There's nothing good in us. There's nothing helpful in us. We're not inclined to any good. So that when these occasions arise, when these occasions come to pass, It's really a reflection on us. You know, in the wisdom and providence of God, that occasion is going, whatever it is, is going to be made to serve God's eternal good purpose. So that no matter how much sin we infuse of our own into the occasion, God's wisdom and his goodness in the end will be justified and his declarative glory maintained despite despite the largest measure of of wickedness, sinfulness that we could possibly try to squeeze into that occasion. He'll be vindicated in the end. Everyone will confess that he's done right, and he's done justly, and that he's done good. No one's gonna be sitting back and saying, well, I don't think we can totally blame them for that. No, when it comes to the sinfulness of it, in the end, you will see very clearly, you can't. As far as it's sin, you can blame the agents involved. as far as there's any good, just, righteous, or God-glorifying end to it, you can thank God for that, because if man had his way, none of that would occur. It would be a total loss. The fifth question, then. Does God often give wicked men over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, to further their blindness and hardness? That's a hard question. I think a lot of people probably find this idea, particularly the part about the power of Satan, to be a little unnerving. Although if they've read the book of Job, they can see that that's exactly what's going on there in the case of Job. And if in the case of Job to try him, how much more in the case of the wicked so that they might have judgment joined to judgment and sin to sin. All right, when men are forward then to follow their own heart's desires and fail to hearken to the voice and counsel of God, it often comes to pass God gives them up. I'm gonna begin looking at Psalm 81, 11 and 12. Psalm 81, verses 11 and 12. But my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust, and they walked in their own councils. Why is it God gives them up? This is a very important thing, I think. It's notable here, and through a number of the texts that the Westminster Divines have chosen in the next couple sections here, or the next couple of sentences, it's noticeable that in these verses, men are given up not simply for the worst imaginable sins that you could possibly conceive of. They're given up for things that most men would think of as being relatively minor, like undervaluing the Word of God. How serious could that be? Of course, if you read the Bible much, you know it's a very serious thing. But it may still be somewhat shocking to see that God gives them up. Undervalue the Bible, what's going to happen? God is going to give you up. To what? To your own lust. To blindness and hardness of heart. Why? Because you haven't cherished, you haven't valued. Undervaluing the things that God has given us, particularly things of a spiritual nature, that's an expression of our wickedness and we're provoking God to give us over. Fact is, in a very similar way, when men are favored with the light of true religion, and they do not keep it and cherish it, they are quite often given up to believe even that which is contrary to the truth, and that in order that they might suffer the just consequences of their undervaluing of God's truth. 2 Thessalonians 2, 10-12. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 10-12 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." What is it? Why is it that God is depriving them of what they already have? Taking them taking it away, giving them over to their own lust, temptation of the world, the power of Satan. Why is he furthering their blindness and hardness? Simply this, they've undervalued the truth. They're not concerned that the truth be upheld as it is indeed the Word of God. the unchangeable Word of God. Paul says, when men behave in this way, when they undervalue, when they don't cherish true religion, God very often, not only does He give them up, this is important to what we're saying, He's giving them over to further blindness and hardness. In other words, it's not just that they stop growing, And you see this in the church, when people begin to go backward, they don't just stop growing. They actually begin to forget what they should have already known. They no longer hold it in regard. All of that tends to wash away. So the very things you thought you had, they're gone. The very things that you felt were firm are not. In fact, you can end up believing something entirely contrary to what it was you thought was true. And that's the just judgment of God, leading you out, turning you over to blindness and hardness of heart. There are some scholars in the world today that I can think of off the top of my head who I believe have experienced just this, that they've been given over. They were brought up to believe. They were given every kind of advantage to believe. But They undervalued all of that. And it's not just taken away from them, you know, to go any further. No, no. What they have, too, is taken away. And they're not just returned to that natural state of, if you want to call it regular enmity with God. They tend to become vocal, hostile, enemies of all that is true and right. They come to represent territory that they themselves would have never suspected they would ever occupy. So that their blindness leads to further blindness. You know, that blind spot that they have, spiritually speaking, is growing as a result of the just judgment of God. The hardness of their heart is growing. They're not just back to having a heart like a stone, it's becoming like a massive boulder in them. It becomes all-consuming. These virulent critics of Christianity who are out there, As their careers have progressed, not only have they denied Christianity, but they've gone from denying Christianity to becoming, in some cases, some of the most harsh, foreboding, anti-religious people in the world. And they say things that are incredibly out of line. They reject every Everything has anything to do with religion. And they engage in every kind of wicked, abusive assault on the church. They've been given over to their own lust. They've been placed under the power of Satan, and the blindness and the hardness continues, it grows. We see this too with King Saul in 1 Samuel 16.14 again. But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Think about that. God gave over Saul to an evil spirit to torment him for his wickedness. He didn't just take away his spirit. He sends an evil spirit. Why? It's to further the hardness and the blindness. You don't want to retain the knowledge of God in your thoughts? You don't want to walk according to what he's commanded? You don't like that? It's too restrictive? Well, here. If you don't want the Spirit of God, maybe you'll prefer a devil. God is under no obligation simply to take away the gift. When the climate has been produced and there's room for punishment, you don't know what you're in for. You shouldn't be provoking God in this way. All right, the last question we want to talk about a little bit here is this. Do the wicked so abuse the gifts of God that apart from His grace, they turn even those things meant for softening of others into occasions to harden themselves? And I really think that this is the reflexive point of our whole discussion. Apart from the grace of God, nothing really is going to be effectual. There's no efficacy in these other things apart from the Spirit of God working. They're not going to do it on their own. If man were unfallen and you were kind, if man were unfallen and you did good, that would resonate. That would, in fact, be a provocation to doing what is good and right and wholesome. But that's not the case. Man is wicked. How bizarre is this? The very things that should soften a man. can become the very things that harden him. What is more conducive to the softening of men than the goodness of God? And we'll look at Romans 2, 4. Romans 2, verse 4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? It's the goodness of God that leads men to repentance, right? So does that mean that the goodness of God, unattended by the grace of God, is just going to lead every man to repent? You see, that's where Pelagian and Arminian theology, I think, miss an entire emphasis in the Bible. Look at the case of Pharaoh. This very goodness becomes the occasion of much hardening. I want you to look at Exodus 7, 3, and then we want to compare it with 8, 15, and 32. Exodus 7, verse 3. I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. Exodus 8, 15. But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, When does Moses say that Pharaoh hardens his heart? He doesn't harden his heart when God is breathing down judgment right away. We're told he actually hardens his heart when God lets up on the judgment. when there's a little bit of a respite there. He's been given a breathing space, right? God has said to him, through the prophet, look, I'm not going to hit you right away. And when he sees that God is actually good to him, when there's a demonstration that God is disposed to be, in some sense, potentially gracious. Rather than latch hold of that, rather than say, I'll take some of that, he hardens his heart. The occasion of meeting with the goodness of God is the occasion of Pharaoh hardening his heart. Paul says that's the very thing that leads men to repentance. You see, this is why we need to understand and why we need to compare Scripture with Scripture, because the fact is, the goodness of God, apart from the grace of God, is not going to lead anyone to repentance. The goodness of God, when it's accompanied by His grace, that leads men to repentance. Sometimes, God leads men to repentance by His grace when they're under his judgments, too. Now, that's not because there's a natural connection between judgment and being led into a softening of the heart. Normally, in fact, men when they find themselves being punished are hardened by it. Because most men really don't think that they deserve it. Unless you really have a sense that you deserve it, you're going to be hardened by punishment. One of the most important things you can instill in your children when you're punishing them is a sense that they actually deserve what they're getting. It is why we should communicate that to them. and not just punish them without telling them why. They need to know. They need to have a sense of that. But God, when he punishes, sometimes he does send his grace with that. But Paul's point is, the goodness of God is really what is naturally. We're not for the sinfulness of men. The goodness of God should have been, could have been, would have been enough for all men to desire God. People are nice to you. You're naturally inclined to be nice back, right? Unless they're too nice. But usually you're inclined to be nice back. You're inclined. That's Paul's point. But here in Pharaoh's case, we see God not only being kind, but being good to him. The judgments are stopping for a time. He's been given time to think about, process the information. He's got time to surrender before the bombing begins again. That's a good thing. If you're sensible in your right mind and you look about and you say, I can't win this war, it's time to surrender. And instead, Pharaoh hardens his heart. What's more designed for the softening of men than the preaching of the gospel? Acts 2.38. Acts 2.38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Yeah, the preaching the gospel is really meant to call men, to draw men. And yet, Paul tells us that to some, it actually becomes a point of hardening. 2 Corinthians 2, 15 and 16. Who is sufficient for these things? How does it come to be? How can the preaching of grace become the occasion of the hardening of some men? Paul says it is. It does become that. Is there something inherent in the message? No. Is there something, some untoward disposition in God in placing this message before men? No. What makes this an occasion for hardening is simply this. Men left to their own devices are fallen, sinful, depraved beings who are so depraved that they're capable of turning even the very things that have been ordained to eternal life into further occasions for hardening themselves against God, and causing them to take up a more strident stand against the gospel. It's not there's something in the preaching, something in them. When you see people react, it's not the preaching, it's them. Again, we have the sending of Christ, which was to bring men to God, John 3.16. The problem is to Those who are in fact in darkness if you remember the this goes on In John 3 17 following you know Christ comes into the world and The world's already in a state of darkness. Christ is sent for this, and yet for those to whom He is sent, who's in the world, that sending should have been something which softened them, right? Should have been something which caused all men to bow down and worship Him. Does it have that effect? Well, look at Isaiah 8, 14 and 1 Peter 2, 7 and 8. Isaiah 8, verse 14. and he shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of a fence, to both the houses of Israel, for a djinn, and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 1 Peter 2, verses 7 and 8. Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." Christ comes into the world, why? To save sinners. You would think that everybody would be beating their way to that path, you know, they want a way out. And yet, somehow, Jesus himself, to those who are in darkness, he becomes a point of hardening. They run up against this wall that is Christ, and it doesn't soften them, it hardens them. And there are people who are offended. It's called the offense of the gospel. They're offended by it. What is there about the gospel? What is there about Jesus that should be so offensive? If you understood who you are and what you are and what you need and how bad off you really are, all of this should soften you, right? Should all be something to get your attention in a good way, in a way that makes you softened toward God and what is right and so on. And yet, we're told that the gospel, Christ, can both become flashpoints, which have been hardened. Not turned toward these things, but turned away more. Is that from the gospel? Is that from Christ? No, of course not. The problem isn't the gospel. The problem is not Jesus, the problem is us. The problem is our own innate depravity. The problem is that we are wicked men. The problem is that we are at enmity with God, and if God doesn't conquer us by His grace, it doesn't really matter what the occasion. Even running into Jesus, how many times in the Gospels? People meet with Jesus and they end up wanting to stone Him. They end up wanting to push Him off of cliffs. They end up wanting to harm Him in some other way. Why? What has He done? He's taught them the truth. He's healed them. He's brought them good tidings of great joy. And in the end, they crucify Him. It's not the occasion. God brings about all these occasions. The wickedness arises from us. The corruption arises from us. But in the providence of God, God directs all of this. He's keeping it all in house. There's not some second storyline going on out there outside of His control. Thus, then, by their own wickedness, they misuse, misunderstand, and even misapply the very means of grace and turn them to their own destruction. Isaiah 6, 9, and 10, and Acts 28, 26, and 27. Isaiah 6, verses 9 and 10. 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. Next, 28, verses 26 and 27. saying go on to this people and say hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and not perceive 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. The issue again, man's wickedness. Man is wicked. The very things, and this is how we know how depraved men are, we're going to be talking about this in a couple of weeks, Lord willing, but the very things that should soften men, the very things, in fact, the very means appointed by God to soften men can become the very means by which they're hardened. Apart from the grace of God, there is no efficacy in anything, even the appointed means of grace. We need the Spirit of God working in and through them or they're going to come to no effect because they're meeting and they're falling upon the ears and the hearts of men who are depraved. Next time we'll take up the issue of providence one more time. We talk about providence in relation to the church.