John chapter 12 verses 37 through 40 and if you don't you can find today's text on the back of your order of worship. I'm going to read through 43 that's what I'll be talking about verses 41 through 43 this evening. So hear the word of God. When Jesus had said these things he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them they still did not believe in him. So that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Lord who has believed what he heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts less they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them. As they have said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless many of the authorities believed in him. But for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the synagogue for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Let us pray. Father I pray now that you would open blind eyes, you would soften hard hearts. I pray that you would help us to understand the consequences of unbelief and I pray that you would help us to believe and help us in our unbelief. I pray that you be in my head and in my thinking and my heart and in my understanding and in my mouth and in my speaking. Christ's name would pray these things. Amen. I have told you actually a boy after the first service came up and said you should write a book about all your army adventures. I told one this morning. It is 20 years ago now I hate to say that but 20 years ago when I was in the Ranger battalion we travel all over the world and really in a Ranger battalion I am sure it is the same way in other units. Really you are only ever doing one of two things. You are either doing something that is mission oriented and mission critical or you are pulling pranks on your fellow Rangers. There are really those two things because you have to keep saying and one of the ways people keep saying is by seeing if you can out-prank the next guy and one of the ones I will never forget is was pulled on me by my roommate who got him regitaris. He was Mexican American. He had a master's degree in astronomy before he ever even entered the army. He was an interesting guy but he was because of his genius much like Wiley Coyote. He was able to pull some better pranks and we were laying. I remember all night day and all night in an ambush line somewhere in Central America in the jungle. If you have ever been in the jungle it is dark. I mean it is darker than dark because there is no ambient light. It is like being in a dark room with the doors shut. No light. We are laying there and at some point we got called in and they said the training was over and it is time to come back into our rally point. Right before we got up Gaterra said look over here. And what he had done was taken the red lens off of his flashlight and had it pointing right at my eyes. We are laying next to each other and as soon as I looked over he turned the light on and said hey is that hurt your night vision? I was blind. I literally was blind and he said come on we had to go back and I was like I had to hold on to him going back. Or maybe something closer to home is I was driving even to church this morning. I think this all the time whoever planned the roads in Western Washington why did they plan things east and west and north and south? Why not like a little bit northwest north south because I turned on to 212 to come to church at 730 this morning. And as soon as I crested over the hill this huge sun was there, this huge orb that just literally blinded me. So I slapped down the visor of my truck. I got my hand out the window. You feel like braille driving to try and see where I'm going and just hoping that the person in front of me is doing the right thing because all I'm looking at is their tail lights. What's my point to all that? And the point is just this the Bible talks about a lot about light. The gospel of John particularly talks a lot about light and Jesus being the light that dispels darkness. But light does more than just dispel darkness. Light can also make you blind. Light can also blind you. So it's a little bit more complicated than just light dispels darkness and everything is okay. Light and taken from the wrong perspective can actually make things worse. That's sort of what we're going to talk about this morning. You see the text that I read to you this morning is really John's epilogue on the ministry of Jesus. At least the public ministry of Jesus. And he's sort of grappling with it. He's not grappling with it so much. I think he assumes that we're going to grapple with it. And so he gives an explanation for something. And the explanation he's giving is an explanation for the unbelief of Israel. Jesus came to Israel as their Messiah and they in large part did not embrace him. And John, I imagine John's thinking people are going to want to know why they didn't embrace Jesus. That's going to be an important thing to talk about as I write this gospel. And so the public ministry of Jesus finishes. And remember the last thing Jesus said. It's the verse right before it if you've got your Bible. He says believe in the light while you have the light. And so this morning we're going to look at really just two things. We're going to look at the basis for unbelief on one hand. And on the other hand we're going to look at the hope of grace. So what's the basis of unbelief is John sort of explains to us when you ask the question. Why when Jesus came did most people not embrace him? You know, Josh McDowell wrote a book. He actually wrote a couple books. And I think it was in the late 70s or early 80s called evidence demands a verdict. And they're absolutely wonderful books if you already believe. If you already believe the gospel, they confirm what you believe. If you don't believe yet, they don't necessarily demand a verdict. The question is why we'll talk about that now. What's the basis for unbelief? You notice at the end of verse 36 it said when Jesus said these things, he departed and hit himself from them. And then John says though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him. So the word of the Lord spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed what he heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Okay. The first thing John says almost incredulously is that though he did so many signs before them, still they did not believe that surprising to you. It should be in a way depending on your theological perspective. How could Jesus just do things in front of people and them not embrace him? That sort of drives me crazy when I read through this. How could they not do it? And the key to understanding it is the passage from Isaiah that John quotes. In fact, I think the passage from Isaiah that John quotes is really the outline for the whole gospel of John up to this point. When John says that though he did so many signs, still they did not believe him. And then he says so that or consequently were the words of Isaiah fulfilled. Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? In other words, John's saying part of the reason they didn't believe is it fulfills what God said would happen. What does he mean by that? Well, first of all, let's think about what they did not believe. You see, and that's why I think this passage from Isaiah is so important. You see, the passage from Isaiah basically has to do two things. It has to do with words and it has to do with deeds. On one hand, Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? In other words, the message that we gave them on one hand, on the other hand, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? In other words, the arm of the Lord being revealed has to do with signs or deeds. And John's whole gospel up to this point revolves around seven signs and seven words and seven deeds from Jesus. That people saw and John's gospels arranged around that. What do I mean by that? Well, if you work your way through the gospel of John, you hear Jesus saying, I am at least seven times. He says it a lot more, but there are seven what we call I am statements. You remember what they are? And this is all to Israel. He is real. Jesus feeds 5,000. Israel comes and says, give us some more of that bread. And what does Jesus say to them? He says, I am the bread. I am the bread of life. He shows up at the festival of lights and he stands up like a crazy person and says, you guys want light? You want glory? I am the light of the world. And after that, remember God always promised that he would be Israel's shepherd. What does Jesus say after he says on the lay of the world? He says, I am the gate for the sheep. You want to enter into God's sheepfold? You got to come through me. Who's the shepherd? Funny you ask. That's the next I am statement. I am the good shepherd, Jesus says. And not only am I the good shepherd, the one who will save you, but the good shepherd lays down his life for a sheep. Worried about death? Remember what he says to Martha? What he says, what is he going to happen with your brother? I know he'll raise again from the dead. What does he say to her? I am the resurrection. How do we get to where you're going? Jesus, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. And remember in the Old Testament, God spoke of Israel over and over again as his vine. And Jesus says in John 14 or 15, what I am the true vine. And then he goes on to say, I am the vine and you are the branches. So seven different things. John records when he talks about the words of Jesus. But then he goes on. And John's gospel also revolves around seven different signs. In other words, the arm of the Lord being revealed. What are those signs? The first one was the wedding at Cana when Jesus turned water into wine. Maybe that's one of my favorite passages where he tells another woman. Woman. Now is not my time. It turns water into wine. Shortly after that, he heals a nobleman's son. After healing a nobleman's son, then he heals a man at the pool called Bethesda. And remember the guy has been laying there for 38 years. And John makes it clear that everyone knew who he was. And Jesus heals this man. Shortly after healing the man, Jesus feeds 5,000 people. Everyone sees it. And after he feeds 5,000 people, Jesus walks on water. How many does that make six, five? I think we got two more. After Jesus walks on water, the next big event we see is the man who is blind from birth. Everyone knew the man was blind from birth. There's no question. Jesus gives him his sight. And finally, the last big sign before we get here is the raising of Lazarus. And that was so public and so obvious. It said that the whole world was going after him because of it. And the Jewish leadership wanted to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus. So that was all there. John writes his whole gospel around these two themes. And what is the response to it? Israel didn't believe. How could you not? They didn't. Ultimately, not because they couldn't, but because they didn't. Ultimately, they couldn't is what John says here. In other words, they failed to believe this. And when you look at John chapter 6, when Isaiah is called into his ministry, it's eye-opening, at least to a preacher, because Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah has this grand vision of God's throne. And angels are around shutting holy, holy, holy. And God says, who will go? Who will go preach for me? And Isaiah very naively, I think, says, here am I. Choose me. And God says, you're the man. And here's what God says that Isaiah's ministry will be like. I can empathize some level. Then I said, here am I. And he said, go and say to this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand. But do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull. Their ears heavy and blind their eyes. Let's see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and be healed. You're going to have a great ministry, Isaiah. The more you preach it, the harder they're going to get. Isn't that cool? It's not. Trust me. On one hand, it's a fact. I've been reading through a book called the Christian ministry by Charles Bridges. And he's in the 18th century and 19th century. And he said something that really opened my eyes a while back in it. And it's actually comforted me some. He says that when the gospel is being preached, it only ever does one of two things. The gospel of Jesus either softens people's hearts or the gospel of Jesus hardens people's hearts. It's never neutral because you and I are never neutral. So it's always either drawing people closer or it's driving people away. And it's helpful to understand that because when God says to Isaiah, keep preaching so that they might be ever hearing but never understanding. It's ever seeing but never seeing, you know, being blind. Basically, God is saying, I'm going to accomplish my purposes through their unbelief, not cause their unbelief. In other words, this text doesn't say that God caused people's unbelief, that God made it so that people could not believe. But at least at the beginning, they're unbelieving. That's what God said would happen in Isaiah. And the upside of their unbelief, by the way, is that God used it to accomplish the crucifixion of Jesus. Through their unbelief, God accomplished his purpose of having his son give his life as a ransom for many. But the question is they didn't believe, but there's a bigger consequence to their unbelief. They didn't believe and because they didn't believe ultimately, they couldn't believe. That's what this text says. Notice what it says. It says, who has believed, or heard from us and to whom is the army of the Lord been revealed? And in verse 39, it says, therefore, they could not believe. In other words, they didn't believe and because they didn't believe, they couldn't believe ultimately. What are we to make of that? I think one thing that's helpful to me as I thought through this was the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Have you ever read that? The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Everyone's order knows the story, generally speaking. It's pretty common, culturally. And if you read the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and by the way, I don't feel bad about telling you the end because 150 years old, you should have read it by now. But basically, the story is about an upstanding moral Victorian doctor named Jekyll. And he decides he's going to experiment with seeing his darker side. And so he makes a potion that transforms him into Mr. Hyde. In other words, the potion doesn't just release his inhibitions so that he can do things that he normally wouldn't do. But it literally transfigures his body to match the evil part of him, the evil in him that wants to be immoral, that wants to do bad things. And most literary critics that you read will say that the whole point to this or the whole theme of this novel is to show that humans have both good and evil in them. You know, there's truth to that. There is some truth to that. But I think most of them miss the point. Because what's more interesting to me when you read through Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is that each time Dr. Jekyll gives himself the potion, it's harder for him to come back. In other words, he gives himself this potion to release his evil side. And every time he releases his evil side, it's harder for his evil side to come back. And in fact, as the book progresses, it gets to a point where he, A, he doesn't even need the potion to transform into Mr. Hyde. And at some point, it gets to the point where he transforms into Mr. Hyde and he can't come back. In other words, he's given himself over slowly and more and more and more to the evil that is within him. And at some point, it gets to the point where he has gone so far, he can't come back. That's what's going on here in the text. But Israel's belief over the course of a thousand years, and then even in the ministry of Jesus that unbelief leads to unbelief leads to unbelief leads to unbelief until eventually you get to the point where you're beyond your beyond help that you get to the point where you can't believe. And why does that happen? It says because God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. Does that mean that God proactively blinds people and hardens people? And the answer is absolutely not. Biblical scholars and theologians call this kind of language, God's judicial hardening, if you're a note taker, judicial hardening. You see, all it takes for God to harden someone's heart is not proactivity. It's inactivity. In other words, God does not have to proactively make people hard. And if you read through the Bible, when you read the story of Pharaoh and you read the story of Israel here, what it means for God to make someone's heart hard is not to proactively come upon them and say, bam, you're hard now. I turned you into a rock. Now the way that God makes people hard is by withdrawing. You know, those of you who fight for man's free will, here's a great example. You want to unbelieve, you want to flee from God, God pulls his hands back and you just become harder and harder and harder. You see, because we don't start out neutrally. It isn't as if we start out, you know, we're not like Jacqueline Hyde, part good and part bad, we start out bad, frankly. The Bible says we're conceived and we're conceived in iniquity. So what it all it takes for God to harden someone's heart is to pull back not to push himself upon. Remember the book of Romans? The way God punishes sin there, it says he gave them over. He didn't have to do anything but let them do what they wanted to do because your own heart's natural inclination is to run from God. Your heart's natural inclination is to be Mr. Hyde and all of us fight some do it the right way, some do it the wrong way. We're all fighting to be Mr. Jekyll. At least we want people to see Mr. Jekyll even if our hearts were Mr. Hyde. And the key to understanding the hope of grace. You see, the basis of unbelief on one hand is that it resides within us naturally. It resides within us naturally and if you persist in your unbelief, you risk God turning you over. And it's the same with any sin, by the way. Even if you're a Christian, I mean, all of us sort of we push the line on some sins and you always risk for God to say at least for a time, you know what, you want to play with that fire, go ahead. What's the hope of grace? Well, the hope of grace lays in the what sounds like judicial language here. Let me read the. From Isaiah six, it's actually a paraphrase when John says, therefore they could not believe for again, Isaiah said, he has blinded their eyes, he has hardened their hearts, let's they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them. So what's the hope of grace? What's the hope of the gospel? The hope of the gospel is is unlike the way God hardens is that he he pulls back. Well, the hope of the gospel is that the way God softens is that he initiates the way God softens is that he is proactive. What's the first line say there? It says he has blinded their eyes. Well, how does someone see? Remember the story of Jesus and Nicodemus remember John chapter three when Nicodemus goes to seek Jesus out and he's sort of making small talk and Jesus just interrupts him and says truly, truly I say to you, unless you're born again or born from above, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. Unless you're born from above, unless you're born again, you can't see the Kingdom of God. In other words, unless God comes and opens your eyes and less God that comes upon you by his spirit and proactively gives you eyes to see, you'll never see it. The next thing he says in here, it says he hardened their hearts. Well, what's the problem if you've got a hard heart? Well, you need God to intervene. Let me read to you what God promised Israel in Ezekiel chapter 35, 36, I believe. God promises Israel and ultimately us. He says I'll take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you should be clean from all your uncleannesses from your idols, I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone and from your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. So what is the hope of grace, the hope of grace is that God will give you eyes to see but the hope of grace is also that God will give you a heart, take your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Now, if he's giving you eyes to see and he's giving you a heart to believe, what do you need to do? It's right there in the text, turn. Turn. Turn from your sin. That's what the Bible calls repentance and turn unto him. Come home. Come home. You see, if God has given you eyes to see and if he's giving you a heart to understand and believe, don't just sit there. Trust him, pursue him. When you look at the cross, do you see what Jesus has done for you? If you have, then leave your sin behind and go after the one who has taken away all of your sin because God gives a promise to those who would turn. Did you read what that is? He says turn and then I would heal them. Do you want to be healed from your sins? Fleet to Jesus. You want to be healed from all the arrows and hurts and things that you've accumulated over the course of your lifetime. There's only one place and if you have eyes to see and you have a heart to believe, go to Jesus and give them to him because otherwise you end up carrying them around your whole life and you know what the burden just gets heavier and heavier. You basically have a choice. You can either flee to Jesus and give him all of your stuff or you can be like Robert De Niro in the mission. Or the movie, the mission? Forget his name in there. Rodrigo Mondingo or something like that. Rodrigo, let's just come Rodrigo. Rodrigo is basically a slave trader with the Guarani Indians on one hand. On the other hand, there's a father, father Gabriel who started a mission among the Guarani Indians. And at some point, Robert De Niro, the slave trader, besides having traded slaves, he kills his brother and he is just broken, you think. And he goes to father Gabriel and says, give me penance. Give me something to do to take away my sins. And the father tells him he has to take all of his armor, all of his stuff. He puts it in a satchel and ties it to himself and he has to go up and down this waterfall. And at some point, the priests offers to help him and they cut the stuff away and he will not give it up. In other words, he's being offered help. He's being offered grace. And instead of letting it be cut away and fall away, he goes back and actually grabs it. He wants to carry it. Now, eventually there's a good part. He eventually basically drops and they have to help him. But the point is, are you going to let Jesus take your burdens? Are you going to let him take all your stuff or are you going to carry it? And if you're a Christian, you supposedly believe that he's taken it all and yet you keep going back and picking it up and grabbing it. That's unbelief, by the way. And it's just as guilty as sin as anything else. Think about that. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would take from us our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. I pray that you would take our unbelief and replace it with belief. And we thank you for your providence, for your sovereignty, that all things, whether it be people's unbelief or belief, work together according to your good purpose. Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Amen.