I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      Our God is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6-7).

B.      God does not give up on any souls as long as they live, but He does give them over to their own destruction if they will not heed His word.  Let us consider how this truth is revealed in the Bible and how we must apply it for ourselves.

II.      GOD PLEADS, BUT MAN MUST RESPOND

A.      Throughout history, God has reached out to man by sending His word through prophets and preachers.

                                                             1.      The Bible tells us of Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness (2Pet. 2:5); Moses, who preached first to Pharaoh and then to Israel; the prophets, who preached to the nations of the ancient world; Jesus, who preached to the Jews until they crucified Him; and the apostles, who preached the full gospel of Christ to the world (Acts).

                                                             2.      Today, God has commissioned all of His disciples to go and make more disciples by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; 2Tim. 2:2).

B.      From the prophets of old to the preachers of God today, all have always had a commission from God to preach His word, but they could never force men to heed their messages.

                                                             1.      The Lord’s Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:1-23) shows the respective responsibilities of both those who spread the word of God and those who hear it.

a.       Preachers of the word of God are merely seed sowers.  It is their responsibility to tell others the message God has given them (Ezek. 33:7-9; Rom. 10:14-15; 2Tim. 4:1-2).

b.       Hearers of the word of God must make the word effective in themselves by believing it.  It is their responsibility to act on the message and thus to have faith (Matt. 7:21-27; Rom. 10:16-21; Jas. 1:21-25; 2:14-26).

                                                             2.      Just as it is not the preacher’s failure if hearers refuse to believe God’s word, it is also not his glory if hearers obey the gospel.

a.       When the Corinthian Christians divided over preachers, Paul put the matter in perspective in 1Corinthians 3:5-7 – "What then is Apollos?  And what is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”

b.       Preachers have no control over their hearers’ responses.  God designed it that way, for He wants men to obey Him willingly of their own free will.  When anything good comes of preaching the gospel, it is a glory to God and not to man.

III.   WHEN MAN REFUSES TO HEED

A.      When men have refused to listen to God’s prophets and preachers, God has allowed them to continue in their rebellion and suffer the penalties of their own folly.

                                                             1.      The way of sin is hard (Prov. 3:33; 10:3, 24, 25; 11:21, 27; 14:22; 17:13; 19:29; 21:16; 22:8).  Most often sin’s temporary pleasures are followed by regret and suffering.

                                                             2.      It is God’s design that the temporal penalties and the hardships of sin might turn sinners back to Him.  If they will not turn back, then they will suffer the eternal penalties by the justice of God (2Thess. 1:8-9).  Therefore, He gives them over to their own stubborn rebellion and disobedience.

B.      When the Gentiles rejected God in favor of idols and selfish indulgence, God "gave them over.”

                                                             1.      Notice Romans 1:24, 26, 28 – "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them…For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural…And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…”

                                                             2.      It was not God’s will for the Gentiles to become utterly corrupted, but when they rejected God and refused His word, He let them choose their course and receive "in their persons the due penalty of their error” (Rom. 1:27).

C.      Notice the instructions concerning stubborn and rebellious people given to some of those who delivered God’s messages.

                                                             1.      Isaiah was told by God, "Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.’  Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed” (Isa. 6:9-10).

a.       This message was given to open the eyes of the Jews to their stubborn and rebellious ways.  God did not actually want the Jews to go unhealed (see Isa. 1:16-20).  Isaiah’s message called on them to repent or else suffer severe punishment, but they refused.

b.       This passage was quoted by the Lord Jesus to describe the hard-hearted Jews of the first century (Matt. 13:13-15).  God allows such stubborn people to continue in their rebellion and forfeit their own healing.

                                                             2.      Ezekiel was commanded, "But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’  He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house” (Ezek. 3:27).

a.       The key to this message is the phrase "for they are a rebellious house.”  The rebellious house of Israel got what they deserved because of their rebellion.

b.       If they had repented, then they would have received mercy.

                                                             3.      The apostle John was likewise told, "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy” (Rev. 22:11).

a.       Of course, God does not desire for anyone to do wrong or to be filthy.  He wants "all to come to repentance” (2Pet. 3:9).

b.       However, if a sinner still does wrong after God has appealed to Him through the gospel, then God will give him over to his own self-inflicted destruction.

D.      Consider the directions given by Jesus regarding disobedient people when he sent His twelve apostles to preach to the Jews.

                                                             1.      The Lord told them, "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” (Mark 6:11; see also Matt. 10:14; Luke 9:5).

                                                             2.      Years later, Paul and Barnabas employed this instruction at Pisidian Antioch when the Jews rejected the gospel (Acts 13:51).  They said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

E.       Regarding a brother who refuses to cease from sin, the Scriptures require us to turn away from him and give him over to Satan.

                                                             1.      Jesus gave specific instructions for dealing with a sinful brother in Matthew 18:15-17 – "If your brother sins , go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

                                                             2.      Consider the examples of Paul when he delivered to Satan certain Christians who were given to sin.

a.       Concerning a brother who was involved in gross immorality at Corinth, Paul said, "I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1Cor. 5:5).

b.       Regarding certain false teachers at Ephesus, Paul said, "Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme” (1Tim. 1:20; see also 2Tim. 2:17; 4:14).

c.        That these men were given to Satan appears to mean that they were ousted from the domain of Christ (the church – Col. 1:13) and returned to the domain of Satan (the world – 1John 5:19).  Because they were choosing to serve Satan, they were given back to him.

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      God never truly gives up on anyone, but He does give them over.  This is for their own good, the good of the church, and the justice of God.

B.      As sowers of God’s word today, we must recognize the limitations of our commission.  We must continuously preach the gospel to others, but if they will not obey, then we must also give them over.