Faith
Petrified Hearts
I have always been fascinated by petrified wood. Once when we were driving through Northern Arizona we visited the Petrified Forest, a major tourist attraction. "Rocks" ranging from small stones to large tree trunks lay scattered about for people to see. My daughter, five at the time, enjoyed sitting on one of them and having her picture taken. I loved the serene beauty and balmy air. But the Petrified Forest is almost like a moonscape. No greenery in sight, only the craggy vista of the high desert country.
As I closely studied the fossilized wood, I marvelled that something so hard and heavy had once been a green tree with woody bark, full of life and growing. Some miracle of nature had transformed those formerly living trees into stone over a period of thousands of years.
Petrifaction occurs when water-borne minerals penetrate the cell walls of dead wood. In like manner, sin can overcome a backslider or unconverted person to the extent that his heart hardens against the Holy Spirit, as in the case of Pharaoh, whose heart was hardened against God (Ex.14:4,8). The book of Hebrews warns God's people not to let their heart grow hard toward Him (Heb.3:8). Verse 13 warns that it is possible to become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
It is the Holy Spirit Who draws men and women to salvation in Christ (John 16:8,9). So many wait till a more convenient time to receive Christ, as Governor Felix did in Acts 24:25. If Felix died without Christ he is probably cursing himself even up to this moment for procrastinating on this most important of decisions. The devil loves to lie to people about having plenty of time to have fun and "enjoy life" before they settle down and become a believer in Christ. Nobody knows when their earthly life will end. Those who keep putting off the Holy Spirit's call to salvation grow a little bit harder each time they turn Him down in favor of becoming better buddies with their sins. As they continue to resist the Spirit of God, sin permeates every part of their lives more and more. Oh, the adulterer and the alcoholic might MEAN to turn from their sins and surrender to the Spirit of God, but "tomorrow" never comes and sin becomes harder and harder to part with as they continue to alienate the Spirit of Grace calling them unto salvation in Christ. Finally they become “stone deaf” and their “ears are heavy that they cannot hear” God calling them unto repentance.
Matthew 13:15: 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.
God’s patience is great, but nowhere does the Bible state that His patience is infinite! This concept does not sit comfortably with today's "God loves everybody" theology, but in various places God declares that He actually HATES violent and wicked men.
Psalms 5:6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing (falsehood): the Lord will abhor (deeply hate) the bloody and deceitful man.
Psalms 11:5 The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth.
Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit. He that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.
God's abhorrence of the unrepentant is strongly implied in Revelation Chapter 19 when Jesus goes to war against them upon His return. John 3:16 is perhaps the best known verse in all of Scripture, and the one most quoted by evangelists. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. During this present Age of Grace, God is commanding all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). It follows that God must love all people He has made, if He is giving them the chance to receive eternal life.
So how do we reconcile these precious truths of the grace and mercy of God with the other verses which declare that God is capable of hating sinners? It could well be that some have allowed their own hearts to harden past the stage where the Spirit of God can reach them anymore. They have crossed well beyond the line of God's patience. There are some sinners in the earth who are so depraved that they commit the most unspeakable crimes against the most helpless members of society. They flaunt their filth and violence in the face of God. They mock whenever they are presented with the Gospel. They have freely chosen to remain in the employ of a devil who offers them flashy rewards in the here and now.. If God hates anyone it must be this type, the resolutely unrepentant. Jesus Himself said of Judas in John 6:70: Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
Have you ever seen a rusty relic in a museum (e.g. an ancient sword or farm implement made of iron)? Before the invention of stainless steel, iron or steel had to be kept clean of corrosion to remain in usable condition. One way to clean off rust is to apply oil to something as you scrape the rust away. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit anointing. The Holy Spirit offers the grace of God to sinful mankind. If a person resists God's oil of grace in his life and chooses sin instead, the corrosion of sin can build up to such an extent that sin no longer merely coats his life, it becomes his life through and through, just like an old iron implement gradually turns into a big pile of rust and finally crumbles apart.
May we be like the five wise virgins who kept their lamps full of oil as they awaited the return of their Bridegroom (Matt.25:1-13).
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As usual, an incisive article, and it will surely serve as a warning to many who read it.
Good article.
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