In this compelling episode of Through the Bible, Dr. J. Vernon McGee delves into the profound and intricate work of the Holy Spirit. As we embark on this study, we explore the Spirit’s role as a restrainer of evil in the world and a convictor of hearts—both essential ministries that facilitate the spread of the Gospel and the transformation of lives. With warmth and insight, this message challenges listeners to reflect on their spiritual journey and embrace the conviction necessary for true conversion.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 01 :
What if I told you that there’s someone who wants to give you the most amazing gifts you’ve ever had? And that someone wants to encourage you when times are tough and comfort you when you’re sad? What if that someone’s presence gives you a peace that, well, you just can’t explain and a joy that’s beyond words? And what if I told you that someone is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God Himself, who wants to see you grow into your best self and impact the world with the life of Christ? Now, that’s what our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, is talking about in his message, The Holy Spirit in the World. Welcome to Through the Bible Sunday Sermon. I’m your host, Steve Schwetz, and I’m so glad that you set time aside today to study God’s Word and hear from Him. Before we get started, though, I’m excited to announce that it’s letter month here at Through the Bible. If you haven’t heard of this, it’s a wonderful tradition, really. It’s simple. We set aside time twice a year to specifically hear from you and request your notes and stories. Letters like this one from Sandra means so much. She says, in 1997, while in San Diego, I listened every day. Still growing, we moved to Monterey. My husband disliked Dr. McGee’s voice. Since 05, we’ve been in Oklahoma, and my husband retired and was saved. Now it is every day, sometimes twice a day, we listen. Anyway, thank you for keeping on. This former Navy wife doesn’t know where she would be without her Jesus and the teachings of Dr. McGee. Well, what about you? Has God touched your heart through maybe a particular passage or verse? Are you passing on what you’ve learned to someone else? Well, if so, we want to hear about it. To share your story, just drop us a note in our app or send an email to BibleBus at ttb.org or write to us at Box 7100. Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325. London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. And remember, you can also call and leave a message at 1-800-65-BIBLE. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your work that you’re doing in our lives through the ministry of your Spirit. Would you help us to understand more about your purpose for us as we spend time in your Word? In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Here’s the Sunday Sermon on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 02 :
Tonight we come to the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. And if I may just review for a moment, we have put a great emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. That the day of Pentecost… is a line of demarcation that ends the dispensation of law and it marks the beginning of the dispensation of grace, or the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Because though he’d been in the world before then, he began a unique and peculiar ministry on the day of Pentecost. And that unique ministry was the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit which came and began a ministry, and we can clearly delineate seven ministries that he came to perform. We’ll be talking about all of those ministries. He came in order that he might restrain evil in the world, that he might convict of sin, that he might regenerate, that he might indwell, he might seal, he might baptize, he might fill. Those are the seven ministries of the Holy Spirit in this present age that are clearly delineated and marked out in the Word of God. We’ll be dealing with them as well as other related ministries. Now, two of these ministries are related to the world. That is, the two that we’ll be looking at this evening. Five are related to the believer only. Now, the two ministries which are related to the world, we need to say, are also beneficial to the believer. I think we’ll be able to see that in these two. And this first one, I think it’s quite obvious. Now, we are told that the Holy Spirit is the restrainer of evil. Now, I know that someone is going to say, I know the passage you’re turning to, 2 Thessalonians 2, 6 and 7. This passage does not say that the Holy Spirit is the restrainer. Well, we want to look at it and see what the Word of God really has to say. In 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, if you have your Bible now, turn with us to verses 6 and 7. He’s describing now these things that must take place before the day of the Lord comes. That is, before the kingdom is set up. Actually, before the Lord can come to the earth. Now he says here, And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. And let me read on. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. Now, probably I should call attention here to something that I think is rather important, and that is, in verse 6, it’s withhold. And then the other is let. And These two words, they’re the same word in the Greek, by the way, they mean to hold back or, using our word, restrain. And if you’ll put them in there, it will throw a great deal of light upon this. The same Greek word now in verse 6, withholdeth, and the same Greek word for let. Now let me put in the word restrain and see if it doesn’t help. And now ye know what restraineth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work only he who now… restrains, will restrain until he be taken out of the way. Somebody says it says let here. That’s true. That’s old Elizabethan word that down through the centuries has reversed its meaning. We have several words that in English have done that. Prevent is another one. And you find it in the Bible. Prevent is a Latin word made up of two Latin words. Pre- before, venio, to go before. It means to go before. Today, prevent means to hinder, actually. It means to block instead of go before and open up the way. And it’s reversed its meaning. Now, the word let Oh, Elizabethan let actually meant to hinder or to restrain. And you’ll find Shakespeare in Hamlet, he has Hamlet say this, I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me. What does he mean? I’ll make a ghost of him that hinders me, that attempts to hold me back. Now, that’s what you have here in this passage of Scripture. And now ye know what restrains that he might be revealed in his time, that is, that this man of sin might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he, and notice that it’s a person, only he who now restrains, will restrain until he be taken out of the way. Now the restrainer is a person. And who restrains evil? in the world? Well, will you notice the two scriptures that we have here? I think probably we should turn to them. I think I’ve got them marked here. Let me turn to the first one, Genesis 6.3. These were the days of Noah, and the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, that his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. Now, he’s saying here that the Spirit of God, even in the days of Noah, was striving and striving in the world as this great flood tide of evil came that brought the flood upon mankind. You find that the Spirit of God, even in that day, was holding back, as it were, the flood, the judgment of the flood. And You find also in Acts 1.8, if you want to turn there for just a moment, but ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, etc. Now, you’ll receive power. And he had told them, you tarry in Jerusalem. Don’t leave Jerusalem until this takes place. In other words, they would need the Holy Spirit of God. in order to carry this message out to the ends of the earth. Because the Spirit of God would not only empower them, but the Spirit of God would open up the way in an evil world. And you know, I think some of the most thrilling stories that you can read are the stories of how the gospel started out. And you can read the stories that are in the Word of God through Acts, But it doesn’t end with the book of Acts. Read how a man like Augustine was converted. A debauched nobleman, brilliant young mind, a philosophy professor in North Africa. How God took that brilliant mind of that man and how he marvelously used him. Another man, Saint Francis of Assisi, another rich nobleman. proud and converted and made so humble that he’d go out and even preach to the birds. He was marvelously, wonderfully converted. And how God used these men and how God opened up doors for the gospel. It’s amazing how this country here, and I do believe that it’s no accident that Columbus, when he saw these pigeons, he followed them and he took them off the coast of Florida. This would have been a Roman Catholic continent just as South America is and as dark as it is if it hadn’t been. for the fact that that flight of pigeons took Columbus farther south. May I say to you, I don’t think those things are accidents. You see, the Spirit of God is in the world, and that’s one of the greatest comforts that every believer ought to have. He said, I will not leave you orphans, I’ll not leave you comfortless, I’m coming to you. in the Holy Spirit. I’ll send him unto you. Now, he restrains actually evil in the world, regardless of whether you want to agree that this passage here in 2 Thessalonians says it, but I think it says it. Let’s look at the interpretations that’s been given of the passage, and I think that will throw light on the fact that this is the only interpretation that I think you can reasonably take. And these are the interpretations that have been given down through the centuries, as well as the one we’re giving. There have been very good men, competent men, back in the early church who thought that it was Seneca who restrained Nero until he was slain, that is, until Seneca was finally slain by Nero. Well, of course, that’s out today altogether, and yet quite a few good men thought it was Seneca restraining old Nero. Well, to begin with, he didn’t restrain him. Nero finally got him. And then the final word is that the things that are mentioned here that are to be fulfilled after this weren’t fulfilled, you see, so that it couldn’t be Seneca. And there are those that have said that the church is the restrainer. Well, it’s not the church, and I think it’s a very simple answer. The restrainer is a person, you see, until he be taken out of the world. And the word that’s used for the church is always, even when the figure is used, she is a she. She’s a bride of Christ, you see. And so I feel that you couldn’t under any circumstance say it’s the church. And after all, does the church restrain evil? And I want to say this, that many ministers have done the church a discredit by going with the forces of lawlessness. May I say that the one thing the church should stand for under all circumstances is law and order. You’ll find even in the Roman Empire, there was that insistence on the part of Paul. You’re to obey the powers that be. And remember when Paul wrote, that old bloody Nero was on the throne who finally decapitated Paul the apostle so that he couldn’t be the church. And it’s not Satan. There have been strangers, it may seem, even today there’s a very fine man who’s taken the position that the restrainer is Satan. Well, that would mean that he would be restraining himself. And he just wouldn’t be doing that. In fact, that’s rather the argument of the man, that actually Satan today is holding back because he wants to come through with a big bang finally. Well, that type of an argument, to my judgment, is not quite valid at all. And it just doesn’t fit into the theme of Scripture. And then finally, there have been those that have said that the restrainer was the Roman government. Well, it is true that the Roman government brought law and order, and these people use that. They say it’s law and order that’s the restrainer in the world. And, well, to tell the truth, the greatest one for law and order is going to be old Antichrist himself. That is after he gets in power. He’s really going to be for law and order. You talk about regimentation, you won’t be able to buy or sell in the Great Tribulation period without getting instructions from him, without having the mark of the beast upon you. You talk about law and order, they’re going to have it in that socialistic state of that day. Well, we could not accept any of these. And these are actually, as far as I know, the only arguments that have ever been brought forth to suggest what the restrainer is. Now, none of them, it seems to me, will meet the requirements except one. The Holy Spirit came into the world on the day of Pentecost in a peculiar ministry that the gospel might go out. And you remember Paul says, you are to pray that you might live peaceable lives. Why? In order that the witness of the word might go out to the ends of the earth. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is in the world. Now, he restrains evil. Sometimes when you see some of the things that are happening in the world today, and I say this reverently, you wonder if he’s on the job. You wonder if he’s really restraining evil. But let me say to you tonight that the Spirit of God is restraining evil. And this world tonight would be 10,000 times worse than it is if he were not here. It’s amazing how bad men can become without any restraint put upon them at all. That’s happened in several places where all restraint was removed. It was back, I think, in 1917 and 18. That, of course, was before my day. They had a strike of the policemen in Boston. And the good people of Boston, why, they thought that you could ignore it because they said, we are civilized. in Boston, and we are cultured people in Boston, and we actually don’t need the police. It’s just sort of a symbol to have them around. We don’t really need them. May I say to you that by the time the sun went down that first day, they called out the militia because there was the breaking in of the store windows and the looting of the stores, and Boston didn’t really know how bad it was just to have a policeman on the beat. And by the way, we ought to be thankful for policemen. I appreciate policemen, except when one’s following me when I’m driving. That’s the one time I don’t like them. You know, you’re just breezing along so nice and the minute yet you discover one’s back of you, why is it you look at your speedometer? Huh? Why do you do that? I always look at this speedometer. Well, they restrain evil and they restrain a great many of these speed demons also. I came in the other day and I thought out on the Pasadena Freeway that somebody had blocked the freeway. Things were moving so slowly. I said, something’s happened down there. And you know what it was? There’s a policeman going along just as slowly and everybody slowed down to his speed. Well, they had the freeway backed up for a mile. You see, nobody dare go around it. Well, they restrain evil. Well, may I say to you that the world tonight would be lots worse than it is. You see, the heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it? And I tell you, Los Angeles would be a worse place. Now, that’s hard to conceive. But it would be a worse place if the Spirit of God was not here. Now that’s one of the important ministries of the Holy Spirit as it relates to the world. Now the Holy Spirit convicts the lost and also convicts the saved. And we’re going to stay here for just a moment because this is, to my judgment, the neglected ministry of the Holy Spirit today is the convicting work of the Spirit of God. I would like to say this very carefully, though, but I do want to say it. I believe that the reason that so many people are in the church today, members that are not converted, is because they have never been convicted. There’s been no conviction in their lives at all. And I would say that that is one of the saddest conditions of the church at present, is the lack of conviction in the hearts of even professing Christians today of sin in their lives. When’s the last time that you heard a saint say he was sorry that he caused difficulties? or that he did something wrong. The ones I talk to are always making an excuse or justifying themselves. In fact, the ones I talk with, they end up, I’m wrong. In fact, I had a music man that ran off with another woman, left his wife, and he came in and told me I was wrong because I said he was wrong. He told me I was wrong. Made me feel bad. May I say to you, how many saints today say, I’m wrong. I’ve made a mistake. That have any conviction of sin whatsoever. I would say, the greatest need of the hour is conviction of sin. Now that’s a ministry of the Holy Spirit of God. Now will you notice, it’s a ministry to the world. In Romans 2, 14 and 15, I want to turn and read this. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing, one another.” Now that is a tremendous statement. And Paul is putting down here the basis on which God will judge good people. And that’ll be one of the bases. May I say to you that the Holy Spirit is in the world and He’s convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And now we want to turn to that passage of Scripture. It’s over in the 16th chapter of the Gospel of John. Verses 7 through 11, and I want you to notice something, and we’ve been over this recently, but I hope to call attention to something probably a little different tonight as we’re talking now about the work of the Holy Spirit in conviction. Now, will you notice this? He says here, and I’m just going to read it now, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it’s the Lord Jesus speaking, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter, or the Holy Spirit, will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove, and that word reprove, in the original is a very strong word, and our translation is a rather weak word. The word reproved today, you say, well, reproved, well, that’s not very strong. Actually, it is a word used in the law courts of the day. I have counted in the trial of Socrates. I counted 23 times this word was used, elencho. Same word here, used in classical Greek, and it means to convict. That’s the literal meaning of it. It’s a picture of a judge going into court, and the prosecuting attorney comes in, and the prosecuting attorney has this prisoner at the bar, and he attempts to get a conviction. He brings in evidence. That’s the word. Now, when He has come, He will convict. It’s not an appeal to emotions. It’s not actually an appeal to the mind. It’s an appeal to the judgment of man, the highest part of man. He’s asking for a decision. That’s what He’s asking for. He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Now, those are the three things that I want you to notice. And before we notice them, I think that we should call attention to this. All who are saved must first be convicted. I do not believe that you can be saved until you’ve been convicted. That’s the reason I keep saying and keep preaching on sin. Somebody says, my, why don’t you get on something else? Well, I’ll tell you why. Because it’s neglected by so many that I feel like that somebody needs to emphasize it. Until you and I come under a conviction of sin, there’ll be no conversion. There’ll be no turning to Christ. There must be conviction. That’s essential. And that doesn’t mean shedding tears. It doesn’t mean some big emotional upheaval, although it may affect some like that. But it’s an appeal to the highest part of man. A conviction is brought in there. And the man will finally have to say, I’m guilty. Until you can go to Christ and say to him, I’m guilty. And you bore my guilt. Until that takes place, my friend, you can’t pass from death to life. You just have to do that. That’s the only way you can do it. I’m guilty. And Christ bore my guilt. Can you say that? You believe that? That’s the reason we’ve got a lot of folk today that have been given the term Jesus boys today. They came in after the World War, you remember. It’s almost revival. I thought for a while that we were going to have it. I used to go out every Saturday night. I did it for three straight years. And I just could, every Saturday, I think, boy, this is the night. But the night never did come. It just didn’t quite break through. And I tried to analyze it. And I’m convinced that the idea was to get people to Jesus. Well, why are you getting them to Jesus, my friend? What is he? Why are you getting them to him? My friend, he’s a Savior. He’s a Savior who died on a cross. Because you and I are guilty, and until we believe we’re guilty, we’ll not come to him. And if we do, it’s a little, you know, nodding of the head. And we got a lot of that today. And that’s the reason people can go on living a certain life, and there’s no conviction. No conviction. No crying out to God. Let me ask you this question. When was the last time you wept over your sin? Huh? When did you? When did you go into him and cry out to him? See what I’m talking about? He’ll convict the world. All who are saved must first be convicted by the Holy Spirit. Now I want you to see another side to this. But not all who are convicted are saved. Not all. And I want you to look at a list here that are in the Word of God. They’re given to us for an example. First one is the rich young ruler, Luke 18. Let’s turn to Luke 18, and I’m just going to lift out one or two things here. Luke 18, verse 18, And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good master, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None’s good, save one, that’s God. Thou knowest the commandments. So on he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing. Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. And when he heard this, He was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. The other gospel writer said he walked away. And even it says that Jesus loved him. And the fellow was sorrowful. Oh, he said, I did want to follow Jesus. I did want to follow him. He shed tears. He was sorrowful. But my friend, he went away from Christ because there was no real conviction. He says, I can get along. I’ll get along without him. I don’t need him. I did want a father, but not at that price. Too high. May I say to you, I ought to search our own hearts. There’s another man. These men have always interested me a great deal. These men who tried Paul the Apostle, three of them actually, Festus, Felix, and Agrippa. Now we have word from all of them, but let’s look at two of them here. First, let’s look at Felix in Acts 24, 25. Now notice this. Paul now hasn’t attempted to defend himself. I personally disagree with Dr. Schofield here, and I don’t usually disagree with him. He says Paul’s defense before Felix. It’s not Paul’s defense. It’s Paul’s offense, if anything. He’s going after these rulers. And we’ll see that. Now will you notice? He presented to them his conversion. He gave them his testimony. And then this man Felix was interested. His wife was a Jewish. He was interested. Verse 25 says, as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, that is self-control, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I’ll call for thee. But he never had a convenient season. Here’s a man that he heard the word of God and he trembled. He says, boy, I want to hear that again. I’ll call for you when I’ve got more time. He never had time. He was under conviction, but he was never saved. Turn over the page, and we have the next man here. Here’s Agrippa, Acts 26, 28. Will you notice this? Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Almost. Under real conviction, but Almost, and not quite. May I say to you that there are many people who come under conviction that are never saved, under real conviction. They’ll weep for a time over their sins, weep because of their condition, and yet turn their back on Christ finally and walk away. Never real conviction, therefore never real conversion. Now, that’s not all. Let’s turn to another man, Esau. Poor Esau. And this man, notice what the writer to the Hebrews said. Now we come to the New Testament and get a New Testament viewpoint of this man back in the Old Testament. It says, lest there be a fornicator, imagine that, or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Now listen to this. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Now, will you look at that man for a moment? Here is a man who was in the family of Abraham and Isaac, and he was in line for the blessing. He would have been the man, been the priest in the family. And one day, his brother Jacob, who wanted it, traded with him. He wasn’t starving to death. He was hungry, but he just didn’t care for the birthright. He said, sure, I don’t value it. Now, later on, when he found out what it entailed, the material part, you see, when he would have inherited, he found out that the one who had the birthright got twice as much as anyone else. That was according to the Code of Hammurabi of that day. He found out that he wasn’t going to get as much materially. Then he was sorrowful, you see. Now, he’s not sorry because he missed the spiritual blessing. He didn’t care for that. But he’s sorrowful because he missed the other. And he actually would repent. That is, he’d say, man, I’m willing now to take it. But the amazing thing, and I won’t later on. I’m working on a message and I don’t want to give it till I’m ready because it’s a solemn message. I do believe. that you can come to a place in life and step over a line, and God’s through with you. I’ve come to that conviction, that you step over a line, and God’s not going to fool with you anymore. There are too many men. We’re looking at men like that right now. Back in the day when Esau, boy, he could weep tears. Didn’t mean a thing. Too late. He’s passed over a line, if you please. Now, not only this man. Will you notice old King Saul? I won’t turn to that, but you’ll remember the story of King Saul. Here is a man that he told Samuel. He says, we kept back the best cattle and we didn’t offer it because we wanted to use it for sacrifice. Now, isn’t that pious? Use it for religion. And you remember what Samuel told him? He says, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than a fatter ram. Samuel said to him, God has rejected you. If that man had gotten down on his face and he says, oh, God, I ask for forgiveness, he’d have been forgiven. But read the record, the verses I’ve given. Read those verses. You know what he said to Samuel? He says, now, couldn’t we just go through this religious ceremony as if nothing happened? We don’t want the people to know. Let’s keep up the front. He’s not sorry. There’s no real repentance in his heart at all. There is no conviction of sin, my beloved. May I say to you, many men have a conviction, but it’s not a conviction that has led to a conversion. And these are the examples of it. The last one is the, I would say, the worst one of all. And probably we should turn to that. That’s Judas Iscariot, one of the most frightful men who crosses the page of Scripture. Now, you look at this man here at this record that Matthew has given us. Matthew 27, 3 and 5. Let me read this. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned… repented himself now notice that and brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying i have sinned in that i have betrayed the innocent blood and they said what’s that to us see thou to that and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself now we’ll look at that picture for just a moment here is this man judas Three years he’s been a phony, and he’s fooled everybody. No real deep conviction in his heart as there was in Simon Peter. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, Judas. He could say, Master, Master, but never could call him Lord. This man Judas, he kept up his front until finally the time came to betray Christ, and he betrayed him. He sold him. And then it says that he saw he was condemned. Now, I do not know what the thinking of his mind was, but I think there are several explanations, and those that have tried to make an excuse for him have even said the thing he had in mind was this. He wanted to force Christ’s hand, and he didn’t think he’d go to the cross. He thought he’d go to the throne, and he’d force his hand. Well, I don’t believe that, but that’s an explanation. But look at that for a moment. Is he out of the will of God? He’s trying to have his way. No real conviction. Now when he met the chief priests in the temple, now read the record and who’s with the chief priests. They’re taking Jesus in for the final trial. Jesus is right in that company. Why didn’t he fall down before him right there and then and say to him, I repent. I repent. I’m sorry. I ask your forgiveness. He never did ask God’s forgiveness. He’s under conviction, but not a conviction that led to his salvation. It actually led to his suicide. It was that kind. Things didn’t work out to suit him. Must have his way. And he goes against God’s other law of taking even his own life. Now, may I say these are solemn indeed. Now, I want to say this in closing, and I’ll have to say this until next time. I’d like to follow through on this. You will find that the sermons preached in the New Testament were sermons that the Holy Spirit could use. And he’ll convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. And I’ve taken Simon Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. And you’ll find out that that was a sermon that had in it a conviction of sin. It had in it conviction of righteousness. It had in it a conviction of judgment. Now I close on this note. As I’ve given these as an example, here is the thing that is amazing and carries out what I said just a moment ago. It’s solemn language. There comes a time… When God, remember, he said in Genesis 6, 3, my spirit will not always strive with man. There comes a time that a man can keep rejecting and rejecting until finally God will do the rejecting. And you’ll find that Pharaoh, for instance, so many use that as an example. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Read the whole record. Six times it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. And there came a day then when God hardened his heart. That’s right. Now, will you look at one scripture and I’m through. John 12, verse 40. He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. Who is he talking about? Well, John’s quoting Isaiah, and Isaiah’s speaking of God. He hath blinded their eyes, hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. Now what is God saying? God has said, and I want to use some scriptures in Jeremiah next time, where Jeremiah kept saying again and again to these people, you know, when they went into captivity. God kept saying to them, I would heal you and you would not. I asked you to obey me and you would not. I blew the trumpet and you would not listen. I did all of these things and you kept on and on and on. There came a day when I turn my back on you. Now, I judge from what John is saying here, the Lord Jesus is quoting Isaiah and saying here, and he’s saying it now to the religious rulers, again and again and again, I have spoken to you. I have presented my credentials. performed literally thousands of miracles. You know, in Christ’s day, you could never have denied he was a miracle worker. There were too many miracles. Nobody denied he was a miracle worker. The enemy never denied that. All of that evidence, they turned their back upon it. And finally, the Lord Jesus says this that Isaiah said, it’s true of you. You hardened your heart. You shut your eyes. You wouldn’t listen. Now, my friend, God’s hardened your heart. God has shut your eyes. From now on, God’s through with you. Now, what does God have to do to be through with a man? May I say this? Nothing. You’ll never be converted, my friend, unless the Spirit of God would do it. Therefore, all God has to do, just do nothing, and you’re hardened. May I say to you, old friend and I, you can trifle with God. We’re living in a day when they ridicule him and say he’s dead and all that sort of thing. I say to you tonight, I’m confident that many people today have already stepped over the line. God’s through it. He’s through. He’s through. He said, you toyed with me. You played at church. You’ve had no real conviction. You shed tears and you go right back doing the same thing, living the same kind of life. Now God says, the day’s come. The moment has come. I’m through. And the man passes that. I think there are people that are in that state today. You say that’s very solemn. You bet that’s very solemn, my friend. That’s indeed solemn. I can’t think of anything more solemn than that, to be in the condition where even the God who died for you. I haven’t anything more to say. He said he brought him into old Herod. Herod’s another example. And he didn’t have a word for old Herod. Before, he sent to him, he says, you go tell that old fox, today I work. The second day I work, and the third day, I’m perfected. I’m going on with my work. I’ll go to the cross. I will bring redemption, but nothing for Herod. You would think, oh, Herod, why don’t you listen to me? He had nothing for Herod. Why didn’t he say, let’s sing 15 more stanzas and see if old brother Herod won’t come? I want to say, my friend, you can go too far with God. There comes a day, the Holy Spirit’s in the world today, and you can go to the place where He no longer will strive.
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In this compelling episode of Through the Bible, Dr. J. Vernon McGee delves into the profound and intricate work of the Holy Spirit. As we embark on this study, we explore the Spirit’s role as a restrainer of evil in the world and a convictor of hearts—both essential ministries that facilitate the spread of the Gospel and the transformation of lives. With warmth and insight, this message challenges listeners to reflect on their spiritual journey and embrace the conviction necessary for true conversion.
