wid~d u,orks (Col. i. 21), they may have "the understanding darkened" and bo " alienated from the life of· God through the ignorance that is in them beca:ise of the blindness ( marg. h9:rdness) of their hearts," and being ''. past feeling" m~y give "them- selves over unto lasc1nousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Eph. iv.17-19), and yet be strangers to God's revealed truth. All sin, all resistance to light all dis- obedience to conscience, has this hardening effect (cf. Rom. i. 19--32). But it is a will which has broken from God which is thus in various ways hardening itself and enmity to God is latent in the process. The moment the truth of God is brought to bear on such a nature, this latent enmity is made manifest, and, as in the case of Pharaoh, further hardening is the result. Conversely, 2. Bai·dening against God is har- tkning i"n nwral evil. The hardening may begin at the centre, in resistance to God's known will, and t~ t~e stri'vi.ngs of his Spirit, and thence spread through the whole moral nat.ure. This 1s the deepest and fundamental hardening, and of itself gives a character to the being. A heart hardened in its interior a!ffiinst its Maker would be entitled to be called hard, no matter what superficial q~ties of a pleasant kind remained to it, and no matter how correct the moral conduct. 3. Hardening results in a very special degree from resistance to the Word of God, to Divine revelation. This is the type of hardening which is chiefly spoken of in Scripture, and which gives rise to what it specially calls "the hard and impenitent heart" (Rom. ii. 5). All revelation of God, especially his revelation in Christ, has a testing power, and if resisted produces a hardness which speedily becomes obduracy. God may be resisted in his Word, his Spirit, his servants, his chastisements, and in the testimony to his existence and authority written on the soul itself. But the highest form of resistance--the worst and deadliest-is resistance to the Spirit drawing to Christ. Ill. THE HARDE1'7NG OF PHARAOH COMPARED WITH HARDENING UNDEB THE GOSPEL, Pharaoh stands out in Scripture as the typical instance of hardening of the heart. 1. He and Jehovah stood in direct opposition to each other. 2. God's will was made known to him in a way he could not mistake. He pretended at first to doubt, but doubt soon became impossible. 3. He resisted to the last. And the longer he resisted, his heart grew harder. 4. His resistance was his ruin. In considering the case of this monarch, however, and comparing it with our own, we have to remember-1. That Pharaoh was a heathen king. He was naturally prejudiced in favour of the gods of Egypt. He had at :first no knowledge of Jehovah. But we have had from infancy the advantage of a knowledge of the true God, of his existence, his attributes, and his demands. 2. Pharaoh had a heathen upbringing. His moral training was vastly inferior to that which most have enjoyed who hear the Gospel. 3. The influences he resisted were outward influences-strokes of judgment. The hardening produced by resistance to the inward influences of Christianity, strivings of the Spirit, etc., is necessa.ri.ly of a deeper kind. 4. What was demanded of Pharaoh was the libera,tion of a nation of slaves--in our case it is req~iired that we part with sins, and yield up heart and will to the Creator and Redeemer. Outward compliance would have sufficed in his case ; in ours, the compliance must be inward and spiritual. Here, again, inas- much as the demand goes deeper, the harde~ produced by resistance is of necessity deeper also. There is now possible to man the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Matt. xii 32; Heb. vi 4-6). 5. 'fhe motives in the two cases are not comparable. In the one case, God revealed in judgments; in the other, in transcendent love and mercy. Condmion :-" To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb. iii. 7, 8, 13, 15, iv. 7). Beware, in connection with this hardening, of "the deceitfulness of sin." The heart has many ways of disguising from itself the fact that it is resisting God, and hardening itself in opposition t:> him. On~ form is procrastination. Not y~t -a more convenient season. A second lS compromise. We shall find attempts at this with Pharaoh. By concP.,ding part of what is asked-giving up some s!n _to which t~e heart is less attached-we hide from ourselves the fact that we are res1stmg the chief demand. Herod observed John the Baptist, and "when he heard him, he did many things, and heard L..i.tn gladly" (Mark vi. 20). 'l'he forms of godliness, as. in t~e Pharisees, may conceal from the heart its denial of the power thereof. Conscwnce IS lju.ieted by church-lllemberEhip, by a religious profession. There is disguised resistane& ill all ·insincere repentrmce. 'l"his is seen in Pharaoh's relentings. Even when the Clt. VI!, 10-13,] 'l'HE BOOK OF EXODUS. 16/;
resistance becomes moro avowed, there are ways of partially disguising the fact that it is indeed God we are resisting. Possibly the heart tries to wriggle out of tho duty of submission by cavilling at the evidence of revelation. Or, objection is perhaps taken to something in the manner or form in which tbe truth has been presented; some alle"ed defect of taste, or infelicity of illustration, or rashness of statement, or blunder in scie;ce or possibly 11. slip in grammar. Any straw will serve which admits of being clutched at'. So conviction is pushed off, decision is delayed, resistance is kept up, and all the while the heart is geUing harder-less sensible of the truth, more ensnared in error. It is well also to remember that even failure to profit by the word, without active resistance to it (if such a thing is possible)--simple want of care in the cherishing of good impres- sions, and too rash an exposure to the influences which tend to dissipate and destroy them-will result in their disappearance, and in a consequent hardening of the heart. 'l'he impressions will not readily return with the same vividness. To-day, then, and now, hear and obey the voice of God.-J. 0.