Stubborn Hearts

"He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts" (Mark 3: 5 NIV).

"Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen." (Mark 16: 14 NIV)

Sinners (and even Christians at times) are stubborn and rebellious of heart, spiritually obstinate and "bullheaded." They are"unreasonably unyielding," or "mulish," spiritually behaving as an "ass."

This is the chief inner trait and common natural characteristic of sinners and that which prevents them from true saving faith and from fellowship with Lord God and from finding his salvation. It is a sin that made even Jesus to experience anger and frustration. Truly he "knew what was in man" (John 2: 25), the state of his heart, and the corruption and spiritual obstinacy of his fallen nature.

"For vain men would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt." (Job 11: 12)

"The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow?" (Hosea 4: 16)

The sinner's "stubborn refusal to believe" in Christ and the gospel shows that he is spiritually stubborn as a mule and heifer, being obstinate and rebellious in his relation to Lord God and to his word of truth.

Saul, that first great murderer and persecutor of the Christian church, when he was encountered by the risen Lord Jesus Christ, on the Damascus road, one of the first things Jesus said to him was - "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks." (Acts 9: 5)

Saul, like other lost sinners, was being convicted and pricked in his conscience by the goad of the law and Spirit of the Lord and he, like a stubborn animal, simply kicked back and refused to submit or be tamed. He was being stubborn in his refusal to believe in Jesus and in his death and resurrection, in his being the promised Messiah.

It took the power of Christ to overcome and subdue, to tame and calm, the wild sinful nature of the persecuting and murderous Saul. The terms used to describe his time in sin, when he refused faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection, are terms used to describe the behavior of a wild ferocious animal. He "made havock of the church." (Acts 8: 3)

The Lord Jesus, having conquered the stubborness in the heart of Saul, and having given him faith to believe in him, sent him to witness to others in his own nation, who are still stubbornly, as he did, refusing to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Christ would say to Saul (now called Paul), as he did to Ezekiel - "The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says.'" (Ezekiel 2: 4)

He would carry the message of Christ, the gospel, the words of Lord God himself, to the whole world.

"The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd." (Ecclesiastes 12: 11)

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2: 37)

Such is the effect of preaching the gospel, when it is attended with the power and blessing of the Spirit of God, that it acts as goads to the stubborn hearts of sinners. It acts like a hammer to break the hard heart. It is the intention of such preaching to make sinners "not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation" (Psalm 78: 8). But, the sad record is, that many remained stubborn.

"But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices." (Psalm 81: 11 NIV)

"But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. " (Jeremiah 7: 24 NIV)

"But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears." (Zechariah 7: 11)

Lost Sinners, because of the averseness of heart to Lord God and his righteousness, suffer from Spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder. It is root sin itself, producing other sins in the life of the sinner.

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." (I Samuel 15: 23)

The warning of scripture to sinners who stubbornly refuse to heed Lord God, to believe on his Son whom he sent into the world, is thus:

"But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2: 5 NIV)

This sin of rebellion against Lord God is often the result of pride and a false sense of self sufficiency. So it is recorded of Israel (Jeshurun).

"But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." (Deuteronomy 32: 15)

Is this your description? Are you rebelling against the Lord and the witness of his word and Spirit? Are you kicking as the mule and the ass? Do you refuse to be spiritually tamed? Do you see the inner stubborness and unbelief of heart that is so much ingrained into your nature? Then come to Christ and beg to receive of him a new nature, and to tame your wild sinful nature, and give to you a new heart and spirit.