Isaiah 6:10

Introduction: On July 28, 1982, Keith Green, a Christian songwriter, was killed at the age of 28 in a small plane crash. Two of his children were with him and also died in the crash. Keith Green was from a Jewish background, but grew up reading the New Testament, & came to believe Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. In one song titled Asleep in the Light, he wrote: The world is sleeping in the dark; That the church just can’t fight; ‘Cause it’s asleep in the light; How can you be so dead; When you’ve been so well fed; Jesus rose from the grave; And you, you can’t even get out of bed. Green’s description of the church being asleep in the light is an appropriate image for much of the church today. A recent Barna Research Poll surveyed Americans and found that only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision-making. Barna states:

If Jesus Christ came to this planet as a model of how we ought to live, then our goal should be to act like Jesus. Sadly, few people consistently demonstrate the love, obedience and priorities of Jesus. The primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus. Behavior stems from what we think - our attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions. Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life. We’re often more concerned with survival amidst chaos than with experiencing truth and significance.”

That is a devastating analysis. How is your hearing?

Isaiah 6:10-There is a danger in hearing sermons; of resisting what we hear by defending what we know to be wrong. Isaiah asked how long he was to preach. God told him until people would no longer listen. Isaiah’s words were motivated by love but were spoken in irony & despair: “God sent to bring truth to this people but for all the good I am doing, I might as well have been sent to shut their minds.” Isaiah’s preaching made the hearts of his hearers more hardened. Now he could have tickled their ears by telling them what they wanted to hear. But he would not have been faithful to God. Isaiah told them what they needed to hear & the people resisted the message. “We do not like what he is saying. We do not want this message so we will ignore it.” Their hearts deteriorated. Resistance turned to resentment, rejection, & then rebellion-defiance of truth. They became intolerant of instruction, loving rebuke, & correction. They reached a point where they said, “Your sermons are wrong & should never have been preached. We are going to oppose you.” They closed the doors of their hearts to God’s truth. Why preach to people who refuse to listen? So that when God judges these people & pronounces the verdict of Hell, they will not be able to protest or say they had no opportunity of knowing the truth. The tragedy is that all during this time, they thought they were doing right. How do any of us know that we are doing the right things? What if we are all wrong? If you have never considered these questions, then you should. Only by seeking for the truth can we ever find it. Truth is a person---Jesus Christ, & Jesus addressed this very problem.

Matthew 13:15-Jesus was a teacher who used simple, everyday events to illustrate deep spiritual truths. Matthew 13 tells of 7 parables that He gave on the same day. He left a home where He was staying as guest & walked down to the Sea of Galilee. Entering a boat, Jesus spoke 4 parables to the multitude & later gave 3 more privately to His disciples. Everything He said on this day was a parable. It was such a departure from the way He had been teaching, His disciples asked him privately why the change. The Pharisees sent spies to catch Jesus in some error & He knew that. By presenting the truth in this form, the spies would not know what He was talking about. Jesus gave parables to hide truth from His enemies & to illustrate truth to His disciples. Jesus quotes Isaiah 6. You will listen with your ears but you refuse to hear or understand. You will look with your eyes but you refuse to see or consider. Their heart, eyes & ears are calloused & hardened. They did not take the time to investigate or study. Millions on judgment day will wail because they heard of Jesus but never thought to investigate His words or live the truth. Acts 28:27

Hebrews 5:11. This term in context is not about their ears but their mind. They had trouble concentrating on complex spiritual truths. Their minds were bored with the details of Christianity because their spiritual appetites were stunted. They had anexoria of the soul. Whose fault was it that they were spiritual babies? The Holy Spirit lays blame at the feet of the readers. It wasn’t the church’s fault, or the leadership’s fault. “You ought to be a teacher, but someone needs to teach you.” Pete walked up to his teacher’s desk, holding a report card with a big red F. He said, "If I were you I would change this while you still can." "Why is that?" asked the teacher. "Because my daddy told me that if I brought home one more failing report card, someone was going to get a beating." They were responsible for their on infantilism. Their dullness was not merely of nodding off during his sermon, but failing to respond honorably and wisely to Scripture. The writer can’t tell the Hebrews deep truths because they are dull, intellectually numb, or thick, like trying to cut a steak with a dull knife. The Hebrews were apathetic about spiritual growth and disinterested in spiritual truth. They were unhealthy but did not know it. They had little desire to worship, pray, or study. Some had already quit church. They were not always dull; they became that way. They were once eager and excited to learn the truths of God’s Word. As new Christians, they longed to know the Bible. But something happened. Gradually, indifference set in. Now they are in a spiritual stupor and are unteachable. Today we have a generation who is bored with church. They have trouble listening or concentrating on anything unless it is presented in an entertainment format. Some elderships have decided to accommodate this spiritual decline by substituting drama for preaching, performance singers rather than congregational singing, & instrumental music for a cappella singing.

Conclusion: The sermon is on forgiveness. You hear the message knowing full well that you hold grudges against others. You know you need to forgive, to let go of the past but your pride won’t allow it. You justify/defend the withholding of forgiveness. And you will pay a heavy penalty. The sermon is on Christian service or leadership. You know you need to get involved. You know you need to grow.

Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called “The 2013 Year Old Man.” In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old man. Reiner begins by asking the old man, “Did you always believe in the Lord?”
Brooks replied: “No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him.”
Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?
Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands
Reiner: Did you have prayers?
Brooks: Yes, would you like to hear one? ‘O Phil, please don’t be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.’
Reiner: So when did you start worshiping the Lord?
Brooks: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, ‘There’s somthin’ bigger than Phil ’”

Wisdom will come when we realize that there is something bigger than Phil, bigger than all the pretend gods and failed religions and philosophies of the world. There is a God who is the embodiment of reality and truth. And he alone is worthy of our worship and service.

Application: If the Bible is God’s truth, we should read it, study, meditate, & live it. 1) Bible classes. As the Sunday School goes, so goes the church. How is it that we can have 400 in worship but 109 in Bible classes? If that is the level of interest in the Bible, we are in trouble. Are we dull of hearing? 2) Read Scripture daily. Have a set routine. Read a little per day.