[i]Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts
When God spoke to Israel through the prophets, the one thing He asked was a heart that did not harden itself. How much more does He claim this, now that He speaks to us in His Son? As the soil must be broken by the plough and softened by the rain, so a broken and tender spirit is the first requisite for receiving the blessings from God's word. "...But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Where this disposition exists, and the heart is truly hungry for truth, God's voice will bring real life and blessings. Where this disposition is wanting, the Word remains unfruitful no matter that the head is filled with the Bible.
Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if you will hear His voice, God is the eternal one; with Him there is no yesterday or tomorrow; what we call present and future with Him is an ever present now. Christ is the author of eternal salvation, which bears the character of eternity. The chief mark of Christ's salvation is that it is an ever present now. When man is made a partaker of Christ, God's great word to him is To-day. The one great need of the believer is to know this, to respond to it, and meet the To-day of God's grace with the To-day of his faith.
To understand the meaning of this divine To-day, we must look at it in its wondrous setting. Even as the Holy Ghost saith, "To-day." Satan and man's word is ever tomorrow. Even with the child of God, the word of unbelief is tomorrow; God's demand is too great for To-day; God's promise too high; we hope it will come easier later on. The Holy Ghost says To-day. That means that He who is the power of God is ready to work in us all that God wills and asks. To-day! It is a word of promise. It says To-day, this very moment, the wondrous love of God is for you, it is even now waiting to be poured out into your heart. It says that To-day, all that Christ has done, and is now doing in heaven is all within reach of you. To-day! It is a word of solemn command. This is not some higher privilege you are free to accept or reject. It is not left to your choice whether you will receive the blessing the Holy Spirit offers. That To-day brings you under the most solemn obligation to respond to God's call, and to say yes To-day.
To-day! It is a word of earnest warning. Even as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day, if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts. There is nothing so hardening as delay; refuse to do a thing long enough and the time will come when you cannot do it. The believer, who answers the To-day of the Holy Ghost with the tomorrow of a more convenient time, has set in motion a hardening process that can carry him beyond the reach of God. Delay closes the heart against the Holy Ghost, and cuts off all hope and power and growth. This is the unpardonable sin. Obedience to the Holy Ghost's To-day is your only certainty of power and blessings.
To-day, the Holy Ghost saith, harden not your heart.