“Marie,” Brixton Hill. Mark 4:12 is, as you may observe, a quotation from Isaiah 6, and sets forth the solemn sentence of judicial blindness passed upon the nation of Israel, because of their deliberate and long-continued rejection of the light and privilege so freely bestowed upon them. If you will turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12, you will find a still more solemn sentence passed upon the rejecters of the Gospel testimony. “And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Those who will not believe the truth of God, when it is put before them, will be left to the delusive power of Satan’s lie.
The advice of your friend has a measure of truth in it; but we believe it is quite right to wait on God for the unfolding of His Word to our souls. No doubt, we must take care of exercising mere intellect in the things of God; but if we wait on divine teaching—if we honor the Holy Spirit as the alone Expositor of Scripture—we shall be sure to grow in spiritual intelligence. We would repeat, here, a remark made elsewhere; namely, that the moral glories of Christ’s Person, and the living depths of God’s Word, will only unfold themselves to faith and need.