The word "hardened" is derived from the Greek word "skleruno"
which means to become stubborn or obstinate. While Paul is
discussing faith and unbelief in those verses, and using the
example of the children of Israel, who were forced to wander
in the wilderness for forty years, until thousands of them
had died, due to their provoking the Lord by their constant
complaining and sin of unbelief, how much this lesson applies
to the gay and lesbian community as well. Rather than humbly
admit their blatant sexual sins against God, and repent of
the same, they have hardened their hearts; they have become
stubborn and obstinate in their ways; and I don't doubt that
it is because of this, that the Lord has allowed so many of
them to be plagued with such things as the AIDS virus, much
more so than the general population. God is trying to send
them a message, but because they have hardened themselves
through the deceitfulness of sin, they just don't get it.

Amazingly, that is precisely what Paul had done earlier in
his life when, in his self-righteous, pharisaical delusion,
he was persecuting the nascent Christian church. There is
Scriptural evidence which suggests that when Stephen was
lambasting the false religious leaders of the Sanhedrin in
Acts chapters six and seven, Paul, then known as Saul, was
among that group. Just prior to being stoned by that mob
of self-righteous wolves, notice what Stephen said to them:

"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do
always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do
ye."
Acts 7:51, KJV

You see; Stephen is accusing the Jews of the very same things
which Paul spoke about in the verses I shared a moment ago;
and Stephen is using the very same example of the forefathers
wandering in the wilderness because of their sin of unbelief.
The word "stiffnecked" is likewise derived from the very same
Greek root as "hardened". To give you an example, sometimes
when we correct our children, how do they react? Or to make
this an even better lesson, what do we sometimes do when God
is trying to correct us about a certain sin which is plaguing
our life?

Imagine that God is symbolically looking down from Heaven
and saying to you, "Look at me; I want to talk to you about
something"; but instead of looking at Him directly in the
eyes, because you know that you just won't be able to bear
the conviction of His Spirit, you stubbornly look to the
side, and your neck is kind of stretched and stiff. Just as
Stephen and Paul state, you're being stubborn, stiff-necked,
obstinate and hardened; not only physically with your neck,
but in your heart and spirit as well. You are acting in a
very rebellious manner. The Lord inspired the Prophet Isaiah
to describe the descendants of Jacob in the very same manner
when he wrote the following verse:

"Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an
iron sinew, and thy brow brass;"
Isaiah 48:4, KJV

The problem is, if in our foolish pride we act this way long
enough, we may end up in very serious trouble with the Lord,
and it won't be fun. As we read in the Book of Proverbs:

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall."
Proverbs 16:18, KJV

God will try to get through to us gently at first; but if we
are too stupid to take a hint, then He allows the axe of His
judgments to fall upon us, until we learn our lesson, and
cry out to Him for His Mercy. We see this happening over and
over again in the Old Testament stories of the children of
Israel. Returning to the link between Stephen and Saul, when
Stephen was martyred that day, after giving his God-inspired
witness in the Sanhedrin, we are told that the two required
witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man
named Saul, before they began to stone Stephen. In the very
next chapter, we discover Saul, later to be known as Paul,
unleashing his full fury against the Christian church, as
we see here:

"And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the
witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet,
whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon
God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he
kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not
this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell
asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that
time there was a great persecution against the church which
was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the
apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and
made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock
of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and
women committed them to prison."
Acts 7:58-8:3, KJV

So you see, just as Paul had written in his Epistle to the
Hebrews, due to the deceitfulness of sin in his own life, he
was acting very rebelliously, and very stubbornly, by perse-
cuting the Christian church; at least until the Lord knocked
him to the ground, and knocked his pride out of him as well,
in Acts chapter nine, where we read:

"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly
there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he
fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou,
Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he
trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the
city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the
men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a
voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and
when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him
by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three
days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Acts 9:3-9, KJV

Please go to part five for the conclusion of this series.


Written by the WordWeaver

webmaster{at}endtimeprophecy.net
http://www.endtimeprophecy.net



WHEN SIN IS NO LONGER A SIN : PART FIVE

Copyright 1994 - 2009 Endtime Prophecy Net

Published On : June 14, 2001

Last Updated : April 22, 2009

A Word To Gays And Lesbians, God Chastises Us Out Of Love,
Exhort One Another Daily, Subconscious Thought Implantation,
Satan The Liar And Deceiver, Numbing Our Sense Of Right And
Wrong, Repetition = Indoctrination, The Price Of Our Faith,
The Growing Gulf Between The Children Of Light And Children
Of Darkness, American States Fight Back, Spiritual Anarchy,
Advent Of The Lawless One, Overturning God's Laws, Sexual
Identity Crisis, God's Word Abides For Ever, Conclusions



If you are gay or lesbian, and are reading this series, I
truly hope that you are not so hardened of heart, and so
deceived by your sin, that God has to deal as severely with
you, as He did with the Apostle Paul. I hope that you are
not kicking so hard against the pricks, that is, resisting
the Spirit of God in your life, that He is forced to take
some drastic measure in order to bring you to your senses;
but if He does, then please consider it a Divine Token of
His Love and Mercy; for as it is also written:

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth."
Hebrews 12:6, KJV

"Open rebuke is better than secret love."
Proverbs 27:5, KJV


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