By Kevin Harris, pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Wollongong, NSW
And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Acts 28:25-28
The Apostle Paul is preaching Christ to the Jews at Rome. He concludes a long day of preaching with a quotation from Isaiah 6:8-10. (By the way, comparing these Scriptures shows that the Holy Ghost is Adonai, a clear reference to God. The JWs are wrong to say that the Holy Ghost is just a force).
The first phrase that stands out to me is ‘lest…I should heal them.’ Notice that these are a sick people. They need spiritual healing.
But they don’t want it.
For a heart to have ‘waxed gross’ means it has grown stiff with fatness. It has been stupefied. That heart no longer ‘gets’ it.
For ears to be ‘dull of hearing’ means they hear heavily, or in a dull, stupid way.
Who closed their eyes? Clearly these people are not passive victims of a cruel, capricious Sovereign. The passage says they chose to close their eyes because they don’t want to understand. They don’t want to be enlightened. They don’t want to be converted. They don’t want forgiveness of sins (Mark 4:12).
How many people in our communities think they are just fine? ‘Don’t fix me,’ they say, while obviously they’re in need of ‘fixing.’ They love their sin. They don’t want to change. And they resent any spiritual ‘doctoring’ from concerned Spirit-filled believers. They are described in Job 21:14, ‘Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.’
Believer, don’t be discouraged if you are trying to restore, or mend the broken bones, of people who just want to be left alone (Galatians 6:1).
Shake off the dust (Mark 6:11). Go find someone else who wants help!
Paul did this often on his missionary journeys.
The fact is, we are in the last days when the Lord predicted people will ignore what they need to hear, and pursue what they want to hear.
Over the years I have found people who struggle to remember anything I preach, latch on to one little portion of truth (removed from the broader teaching of Scripture about that matter) that suits them. This is because, like the Jews of Jeremiah’s day, they have determined what they want to do already (Jeremiah 42:1-43:8).
Father, help me to faithfully commit to faithful men the great truths of Your Word. When people close their eyes and ears, help me not to take it personally. Instead, examine my heart to see if I have closed my eyes and ears to Your truth too. And help me to consistently carry the light to some other poor soul in darkness who wants Your spiritual healing. I ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
This article was written by Kevin Harris Dapto pastor of Illawarra Community Baptist Church.