The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 640

LOVE

6oo It is

true that

some nations have labored among the heathen

with great success; there are even some small

heathen nations

which, owing to their contact with excellent Christian men, gov-

may be said to have come into contact with they did not receive Him, such contact must be the

ernors and missionaries, Christ; and,

if

But these are exceptions, and we memthat our share in revolutionizing the heathen world will be very great. But with these exceptions we limit the hardening to men who, living in Christian countries, have long been under the influence of the Gospel. This applies also to Israel under the Old Covenant. The Church now spread among the nations was hid in Israel. The hardening seldom occurred among the heathen, and as a rule was cause of their hardening. bers of the

Reformed churches can not boast

confined to the Jews.

In saying that the elect have obtained

while the rest were hardened (Rom. to Israel exclusively, as appears

xi. 7), St.

from the context

obtained that which he seeketh for

;

it,

Paul evidently refers " :

Israel hath not

but the election hath obtained

were hardened." And then follows a description of from Isa. xxix. 10: "The Lord hath poured out upon them a spirit of deep sleep; eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear." Hence the hardening which now manifests itself as a new working is confined to the Christian Church. The hardening still upon Israel is an a//^r-effect oi the ancient judgment; it is not new. By their Christ-rejection before Gabbatha, on Calvary, and on Pentecost, they brought it upon themselves, and can not be delivered from it except through the gift of new grace. Hence in the discussion oi present hardening it,

and the

this

it

rest

hardening, borrowed

does not come into consideration.

As a

rule, the

hardening which in our days and in our own is confined to the Christian Church, and

cles manifests itself

cir-

fol-

lows in the track of holy Baptism.

And

here

we

distinguish a personal and a

With reference

to the latter, a sad

our meaning.

In

many

districts,

ideas of holy wedlock are falsified

This

is

collective

here and elsewhere, the correct ;

not only recently, but for ages.

evident from the fact that the marital relation

upon through ligatory," as

sin before the

it is said.

This

marriage is

hardening.

but well-known fact will explain

is

is

entered

confirmed, making

it "

ob-

a collective hardening against the

divine blessing of holy wedlock. It is a popular sin which affects not only the individual, but his entire generation and whole envi-

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