1.     I am going to speak this morning on the subject of “the spirit of slumber” (Romans 11:8), also referred to as spiritual blindness or hardening.

2.     Doctors often warn of the hardening of the arteries.  Symptoms include chest pain, leg cramps, and lack of balance.

3.     However, the hardening of the heart is far more dangerous (Isa. 6:10).  Its symptoms include ears that cannot hear the truth, eyes that cannot read the Bible (6:9, 10). 

4.     A person who continues in this dangerous condition is referred to as having “the spirit of slumber” (Rom. 11:8).   He becomes insensible to spiritual realities. God seems far away.  The Bible is not appreciated.

5.     There is no fear of God and no concern about spending eternity in hell. And though the slumbering sinner does not think much about the judgment of God, he is soon cast off into hell. It is then that he finally realizes his lost condition.  But by then it is too late. 

6.     Isaiah’s commission from Isaiah 6 is quoted several times in the New Testament – in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the book of Acts, and the book of Romans.  It is also alluded to in many other passages.

7.     I will divide my exposition into three headings.

I.                  THE SPIRIT OF SLUMBER COMES FROM GOD

II.               THE SPIRIT OF SLUMBER COMES GRADUALLY

III.           THE SPIRIT OF SLUMBER IS IRREMEDIABLE

I.    THE SPIRIT OF SLUMBER COMES FROM GOD (ISA. 6).

1.     At first glance, it would seem that Isaiah was to give his listeners this spirit of slumber – “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes…” (Isa. 6:9).

2.     But this was not the case.  The command to make the heart fat, and to make their ears heavy, and to shut their eyes, involved the punitive measures which God Himself would carry out.

3.     When we consider this spirit of slumber, we must remember that God is sovereign and that He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11).

4.     When sinners refuse to believe the truth of God’s Word, and when they insist on gratifying their sinful desires, and when they stubbornly refuse to repent, God finally allows the spirit of slumber to take complete possession of them (cf. II Thess. 2:10-12).

5.     This hardening comes from man’s unbelief, and yet it is ascribed to the will of God.   This means that the spirit of slumber is the solemn and inevitable outcome of God’s law.

6.     According to many warnings in the Bible, Satan is slowly brainwashing the minds of sinners.  Certain obstinate sinners have said “no” to Jesus so many times that God finally allows them to be completely blinded and brainwashed by the devil (cf. II Cor. 4:3, 4).

7.     Consider Job 21:14, “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.”  When sinners continue to tell God to go away, He eventually leaves them to a spirit of slumber.

8.     That is why it says in Hosea 4:17, “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.”

9.     The Lord told the prophet Isaiah, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not…” (Isa. 6:9).

10.Isaiah’s preaching would be the instrument God would use to induce their slumber.  The same preaching that would be a blessing to those who believed, would prove to be a curse to those who refused to believe.

II.    THE SPIRIT OF SLUMBER COMES GRADUALLY

1.     To get a better understanding of this hardening process, we should compare various Scriptures.  In Romans 11:7, the apostle Paul says, “…and the rest were blinded.” 

2.     In II Corinthians 3:14, Paul says, “But their minds were blinded…” 

3.     This is what the Bible refers to as spiritual blindness.   The Lord told Isaiah, “Shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes…” (Isa. 6:10).

4.     First they will not see, then after a while they cannot see.  First they will not believe, then after a while they cannot believe.

5.     The apostle John quotes from this passage in John 12. John reports that although Jesus did many miracles before the Jews of His day, “yet they believed not on Him” (John 12:37).

6.     John tells us that their unbelief was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies (John 12:38; cf. Isa. 53:1).

7.     First, they would not believe. Then “they could not believe” (John 12:39-41).

8.     In Ephesians 4:18, the apostle Paul refers to “the blindness of their heart” (cf. Romans 1:21).

9.     This spiritual blindness affects the entire body.  It leads to a fat heart, uncircumcised ears, and even a stiff neck (cf. Acts 7:51).

10.Physically, a fat heart is very dangerous and can result in death at any moment.  However, spiritually it is infinitely more dangerous, and will result in eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone.

11.Going back to Romans 11:7, the Greek word translated “blinded” can also mean “calloused or hardened.”  In fact, the same word is translated elsewhere in the NT as “hardened” (cf. Mark 3:5).

12.Our Lord quoted Isaiah 6 in Matthew 13 when He started teaching in parables.  The disciples wanted to know why our Lord taught in parables (Matt. 13:1-10).

13.Our Lord’s answer is very interesting.  It illustrates an important principle taught all throughout the Bible (13:11-16).

14.It has been said that the same sun that melts the wax also hardens the clay (cf. II Cor. 2:15, 16).

15.Before moving on, let me emphasize that these warnings regarding the spirit of slumber should not be restricted to the nation Israel.  Isaiah was a Jewish prophet.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob told him, “Go and tell this people (not “my people”), Hear ye indeed, but understand not…” (Isa. 6:9).

16.Why does call them, “this people”?  Because God was grieved with His backslidden people.  Now let us move ahead to the NT.  John 1:11 says, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.”  The Jews rejected their Messiah and so in the four Gospels Isaiah’s words are applied to the Jews of that day.

17.At the end of the book of Acts, we see the apostle Paul quoting Isaiah 6:9 and 10 in reference to the Jews who rejected the Gospel (Acts 28:25-28).

18.Let us consider again Romans 11:7-11.  This passage (indeed all of Romans chapters 9-11) deals with Israel’s unbelief. 

19.Here in Romans 11:8, Paul is quoting Isaiah 29:10, as well as Isaiah 6.  In fact, Paul goes on to quote Psalm 69 (Rom. 11:9, 10).  Time will not allow us to expound that Messianic psalm this morning.  {Perhaps we can in the near future.}

20.While it is clear that these Scriptures deal with the unbelief of Israel, they should not be limited to the unbelief of Israel.  These are warnings for all sinners, and these Scriptures should be applied to Gentiles as well.

21.You may recall that in Romans 9, Paul refers to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (cf. 9:17-24).

22.Referring to Israel’s stubborn unbelief, the apostle Paul said, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition” (I Corinthians 10:11).

III.    THE SPIRIT OF SLUMBER IS IRREMEDIABLE

1.     When I say “irremediable,” I mean “irreparable, incurable, and hopeless.”

2.     Lest anyone misunderstand what I am saying, I want to make it clear that the Bible does not teach that God arbitrarily and maliciously sends a spirit of slumber so that unbelievers are unable to understand the Gospel.

3.     God does not hardens people’s hearts and then throw them off into hell without any warning.  In fact, I believe that when the lost sinner stands before God, God will remind Him of all the opportunities he had to get saved. 

4.     Revelation 20:12 says, “The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”  Beloved, God keeps accurate records.

5.     According to the Bible, it is the sinner who first hardens his own heart (cf. Pro. 1:24-29; 29:1).

6.     This downward slide into an irremediable spirit of slumber can be traced out in Romans 1.

·  sinners reject the truth (1:18)

·  sinners are without excuse (1:19, 20)

·  their foolish heart is darkened (1:21)

·  they profess to be wise but “they became fools” (1:22)

·  they plunge into idolatry (1:23)

·  God gives them up (1:24, 26)

·  God gives them over to a “reprobate mind” (1:28)

·  they are “filled” win sin (1:29ff)

·  they know the judgment of God but do not care (1:32a)

·  they enjoy seeing others indulge in sin (1:32b)

7.     This downward slide into an irremediable spirit of slumber can be found all throughout the pages of Scripture.  In I Timothy 4:2, Paul warns of those conscience has been “seared with a hot iron.”

8.     God gives every man and every woman and every boy and girl a conscience, but oftentimes sinners will defile their conscience, and eventually their conscience is seared.  At this point they are nigh near hopeless.

9.     It should be remembered that this spirit of slumber is a calamity which comes upon sinners as a direct consequence of their sins.

10.Deliberate, willful, persistent sin must end in judicial punishment.  Those who willfully will not listen to God’s Word eventually are unable to comprehend God’s Word.

11.Those who refuse to let Jesus into their heart, soon find that their heart is getting harder and harder and unless they repent they will one day find it is as hard as a rock.

12.Harry Ironside knew a young girl who heard her teacher teach this doctrine in Sunday School.   The little girl went home and touched her father right near his heart. 

13.The father asked, “What are you doing?” and the little girl replied, “Daddy, my SS teacher told us that sinners’ hearts get harder and harder to the point where it gets so hard that they are unable to get saved.  I wanted to make sure your heart is not too hard!”

14.The father was moved by his daughter’s concern and got saved that very day.

15.That father repented. But many sinners never repent.  And they reach the point where they are hopelessly lost and can never be saved.  It should be noted that this hardening always comes from unbelief (cf. Acts 19:9; Exodus 5:1, 2; 7:14; 9:34, 35; 10:3, 27-29).

16.“Hardening is but the effect of the divine Love turned in the opposite direction.  It cherishes or it consumes.  It draws to heaven or it blights in hell” (Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit, p. 607).

CONCLUSION:

1.     Two men can walk into a meeting, sit down and listen to the same message.  One man believes the Gospel, receives Christ as Lord and Saviour and is gloriously saved.

2.     But the other man hardens his heart and leaves the church in worse shape than when he walked in.  I tremble when I think of some of the people who come here on a regular basis and are still not saved.  I am afraid that your hearts are getting harder and harder and the spirit of slumber will soon drag you down into hell.