Hardening of the Heart, Part 2

The Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 4 verse number 23 that we are to guard our hearts. Protect our hearts for out of your heart flow all the issues of life. Your heart is the seat of your emotions. It's the seat of your intellect. It's the seat of all that you are. And so we are commanded to protect the heart. God says, I want your heart.

Proverbs 23, 26, give me your heart. That's what he wants. He said, Matthew 15, there are many who honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me. Knowing that we want to talk about the hard heart, because that's where we are in our study of the book of Exodus. and the life of Pharaoh, how he would harden his heart against the message and the miracles of God. So, turn with me in your Bible to Exodus chapter 7.

This is where we left off a couple of weeks ago. In our study of Moses and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. And God tells. Moses, that Pharaoh's heart is going to be hardened. We need to understand the context. We need to understand what's happening in the life of Pharaoh, in the life of the Israelites. To better understand this hard-hearted condition. And so God, number one, predicted that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened.

He predicted it in chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 7. He would tell Moses, this is the way it's going to be. In fact, he says, In verse number 3 of chapter 7, I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that I may multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh will not listen to you, then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my host, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments, and the Egyptians shall know that I am The Lord. God is going to harden the heart of Pharaoh in order that his people will be released.

And that the Egyptians will recognize that Jehovah is God, the only God. He had told Moses earlier about the death of the firstborn son. He had told Moses about the last plague that was going to happen. It would not be until the firstborn was killed that Israel would be released. And so there would be a number of other miracles that would happen before. The firstborn would die. So God sets the stage for Moses by letting him know that Pharaoh's heart is going to be hardened. He will not listen.

So everything was predicted. And in chapter 7, it was also presented. For in verse number 8, it says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Work a miracle. Then you shall say to Aaron, Take your staff, and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the LORD had commanded. And Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also the magicians.

of Egypt did the same with their secret arts for each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. His heart became co and more cold as time went on. The Bible tells us that Pharaoh would harden his heart to the things of God. The Bible also tells us that God would harden Pharaoh's heart. He would confirm Pharaoh in his obstinance against God. But I want you to notice how this hard heart was presented over and over and over again.

Look at chapter 8, verse number 15. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart, and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Even when the plagues came and there was a relief from the plagues, there wasn't a repentance on Pharaoh's part. Instead, his heart grew even colder to the things of God, and he would not listen, just as God said. The plague of the insects came, and it says in verse number 19. Then the magician said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them as the Lord had said.

Then again in verse number 32 of chapter 8, but Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go. Chapter 11, verse number 9. Then the LORD said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land. I read you those verses to let you know of the increasing hardness in Pharaoh's heart.

And with that increasing hardness comes the confirming hardness of God in Pharaoh's condition. That he would become more and more unwilling to let the people go until finally, under the mighty hand of God Under great compulsion, in spite of his cold, hard heart, to prove once again that God influences the heart of the king.

He finally let them go. And upon letting them go, God hardened his heart again. And he chased after the nation of Israel. And he and his army were drowned in the Red Sea. Now listen, this should help us understand one crucial element, and that is a concern. This is point number two, a concern that all of us should have.

About the hardening of the heart against the wor of God. That the unbeliever And his hard heart is characterized in a certain way. And yet, there is the tendency of the believer to develop. A hard heart as well. My job is not an easy one to try to help you decipher between the two. and help you understand the difference between the hard heart of the believer and the hardened heart of the unbeliever. To be able to decipher between the two, so that you understand the difference, so that you're able to be released.

Or rel from the process of God now hardening your heart to the point where you are beyond the point of repentance. You see, that's very important because people miss this. And God wants your heart. He wants it more than anything else. And so He does all He can from His perspective to help you understand how much He wants it. And yet, the believer as well as the unbeliever can harden their heart against God. If you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Mark, the sixth chapter.

We'll begin first of all with the believer. After Christ had fed the 5,000, 5,000 men that is, there was more than 5,000 people totally, but there was 5,000 men that we know were count. It says in verse number 45, And immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side to Bethesaida, while he himself was sending the multitude away. And after bidding them farewell, he departed to the mountain to pray. And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land.

and seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, and about the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea, and he intended to pass by them But when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out. For they all saw him, and were frightened. But immediately he spoke with them, and said to them, Take courage, it is I do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were greatly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

Now think about this. These are the followers of Christ. These are the men who just witnessed an incredible miracle. Christ had fed over some 20,000 people with a few fishes and a few loaves of bread. He had done an incredible miracle. He immediately puts them out to sea. He goes up into a mountain to pray. A big wind comes. They are fearful for their lives. He walks on the sea. He comes to them at the time they needed him the most. To save them, and the wind and the waves ceased. And the Bible tells us.

that these men had hard, callous, insensitive, dull heart because they had not received any insight from the incident of the Low. How is it a believer develops a hard heart toward the things of God? He does it. Listen carefully. Because of familiarity. That's how. And let me help you understand this.

The unbeliever, his heart is hardened because of his iniquity. But the believer's heart is hardened because of his familiarity with the things of God. Listen carefully. The iniquity of the unbeliever causes him to turn away from God. The familiarity of the believer causes him to tune out God. You see the difference? And the text says, and immediately put him into a boat. He sent him out to sea. He went out to pray. The test came, and they failed the test because of familiarity. They didn't take the lessons learned from the incident of the loaves and apply them to their lives at the very next moment.

And because they didn't, the hearts became callous. To the things of God. I find that happens all the time in the church. People come and they worship the Lord on Sunday morning, they hear the word of the Lord. They realize what God has done and who He is, and they leave. And because they don't reflect and because they don't begin to apply the things they have learned, as soon as they leave the room, The very next test, they distrust their God and their hearts become hardened to the things of God.

Happens all the time, doesn't it? And that's what happens in the life of the believer. And that's one of my great concerns for my life as well as yours: that we learn to apply what God has said. That we might be able to live in the light of his glorious presence. And yet, the unbeliever, he's different. He's different. It's not because of familiarity, it's because of his iniquity. And because of that iniquity, he turns away from God. Remember this, that the unbeliever hardens his heart toward God.

The believer doesn't. The unbeliever hardens his heart directly at God because at the core of his being is a hatred for God. At the core of the being of the believer is an honoring of God. You see, the hard heart of the unbeliever remain def. But the hard heart of the believer still reflects dependence. That's the difference. And you need to understand that. Ecclesiastes 9, verse number 3. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives.

That is the condition of the unbeliever. He has a hard heart. Genesis 6, 5, he does evil continually. That's what he does. Let me help you understand it this way.

The hard heart remains in the state of unbelief because it is unregenerate. It's unregenerate because it's unrepentant. And because it's unrepentant, it's uncircumcised and unresponsive. That is the hard heart of Pharaoh. That is the hard heart of the unbeliever. But note this: these Israelites watching all this. We were slowly but surely hardening their hearts against their own God. They were. And the writer of Hebrews, who's a Jew, is writing to Jewish people. And what he does is he draws them back to the Israelites, the ones that were delivered from bondage.

And listen to what he says in Hebrews chapter 3, verse number 7. Therefore. Just as the Holy Spirit says, today, if ye hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. As in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by test me. Stop right there. Now, I know that this is a sermon in and of itself, and I can't get into great detail here. But let me help you understand something.

The hard heart of the unbeliever is determined by how it tests God. Don't think that the Israelites led out of bondage were all believers. They weren't. Moses was. Aaron was, but these people were unbelievers. That's why God says they always go astray in their hearts.

They are hardened against me. Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. That's the warning. If you hear his voice, not like those in the day of provocation in the wilderness. Those who tried me, they tested me some ten different times, and I became angry with them. So much so, he says, and they did not know my way. as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. That was their judgment. They would not enter Canaan. Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart in falling away, aphist, which means to depart from the living God, which means to stray away, to apostasize the truth.

He says, Beware, unless any one of you have an evil, unbelieving heart and falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness or the trickery of sin. See, that's the way sin works, you see. It's deceitful. It tricks you. And we become hardened in our hearts, think that we know God. In reality, we don't know Him at all. That's the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast to the beginning of our assurance, firm until the end.

Wad said, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. For who provoked him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they should not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of what un. If those who turned against what Moses had told them Did not escape the wrath of God, how much more so will those who have listened to the words of Jesus fall prey to the wrath of God?

Remember Jude 5? Jude writes to those who apostasize the faith. He says this in verse number 5: Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. He destroyed them because of their hard hearts, because they refused to believe in God. You see, the unbeliever. Because he's unregenerate, because he's uncircumcised in his heart, because he's unrepentant, he remains in the state of unbelief.

That's how Pharaoh was to Moses. Let me illustrate to you this way. Turn with me to Mark chapter 8, verse 11.

Let me show you the difference between the hard heart of the unbeliever and the hard heart of the believer in the same context.

Verse 11, the Pharise came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, No sign shall be given to this generation. And leaving them, he again embarked. And went away to the other side. Remember, the hard heart of the unbeliever tests God. The hard heart of the believer, it doesn't test Him, it still trusts Him. They came to test Him. Listen, not because they wanted to believe in him, because they didn't believe.

They weren't going to believe. You see, they forgot what Simeon said back in Luke chapter 2. When Simeon said, This child is set for the fall and rise again of many in Israel and For a s. He was the s. Show us a sign. You see, the Jewish believed that. That a sign from heaven was a sign of a man of God, but a sign that wasn't from heaven was a sign of Satan. That's why in Mark chapter 3, they attributed Christ's work to who? Satan. They refuse to believe. So you show us a sign. Give us a sign. A heavenly s.

But they did it to trick him. They did it to test him. Not because they wanted to believe in God. They were just like Pharaoh. What did Pharaoh say to Moses and Aaron? Show me a sign. Show me a miracle. God said he's going to ask for a sign. Give him one. And what did God do? God gave him ten great sign. He refused them all, right? Because his heart was uncircumcised, unrepentant, unregenerate, unbelieving. He refused them all. And that's why. When the rich man said, Send someone back from hell. He, Send someone back from hell to warn my brothers.

What did Abraham say? Though one be raised from the dead, they're not going to believe. They have Moses and the prophets. If they don't believe the word of God, they're not going believe a great sign of the resurrection. And that was the only sign Christ would give them, Matthew 16:4. Only one sign he would give them, and that was the sign of Jonah, which is the sign of the resurrection. And so the text says, he sighed deeply. I like that. Because, you know, the Bible says in the book of Ezekiel that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

And he knew he was going to leave them in their unconverted state. And they would die in a state of unconversion. He sighed deeply. No sign. No sign shall be given to this generation. In verse 13, and leaving them, he abandoned them. That's the concern that we should have for the unbelieving community. That God will confirm them in their state of unbelief, and it would be, as Hebrews says, Hebrews chapter 6: imp for them to ever repent of their sin. Because they had been confirmed in their state of rebellion against God.

That's the hard heart of the unbeliever. And then it says this. They had forgotten to take bread and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And he was giving orders to them, saying, Watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a what? Hardened heart?

Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? Remember the word remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces? Did you pick up? They said to him, 12. And when I broke the seven for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up? And they said to him, seven. And he was saying to them, Do you not yet understand? Don't you get it yet? Are your hearts still cold? Are they still callous?

Have they been seared? Don't you get what I'm trying to do? You see, he tried to get them to focus upward and to remember who he was and what he did. And all they could remember was enough food, enough bread. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, Christ says.

He knew their hearts. And they were discussing among themselves. Well, we know what you said, Lord, but what are we going to eat? We're hungry. That's where some of you are right now.

We hear you, Pastor, but we've got to go to lunch. We're hungry. We're not too far away from the disciples, are we? And Christ says, Don't you get it?

You have eyes, but you can't see. You have ears, but you can't hear. Are your hearts cold toward the things of God? And Mark is the only one who records the next story. Listen to what he says: And they came to Ves. They brought a blind man to him and entreated him to touch him. And taking the blind man by the hand, he brought him out of the village, and after spitting on his eyes, and laying his hands upon him, he asked him, Do you see anything? and they looked up and said, I see men, for I am seeing them like trees walking about.

Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes. and he looked intently and was restored and began to see everything clearly. The illustration that Mark gives of the story of the blind man in M parallels the spiritual blindness of the disciples in not seeing what God wants them to see. And understand what God wants them to understand. And you know, when Christ performed a miracle, it was instantaneous, wasn it? But this one wasn't. Why? Because there was a lesson for the disciples to understand. They needed to see clearly, and they didn't.

And the Spirit of God wants us to understand that there are some of us who are believers today whose hearts have become hardened. We've tuned God out because of the familiarity of His teaching, and we need a second touch.

To open our eyes that we might see clearly the things of God. He told the man who had just received a sight: you know what? Don't even go back into the city, don't even bother to go back there because I've cut him off. They'll receive no more signs. It's over for them. See, that's the contrast between the believer and the unbeliever. The unbeliever is cut off eventually, having no opportunity for repentance, but the believer. Has the continued presence of God touching him time and time again that he might see clearly the things of God.

And my concern for all of us today is: you know, I don't know who's saved and who's not saved. Who's born again and who's not? I got some pretty good ideas, but I don't know. Only God knows. I don't even know your heart. Only God knows. He does know this, He said it to us very clearly: the unbelieving heart will test God. The believing heart will not. Where are you today? Are you walking further and further away from God? And are you in danger of God condemning you in that hard-hearted state? O, as the writer of Hebrews said, today, if you hear his voice, respond.

Don 't continue to walk away. Stop where you're at and respond today and give your heart to Jesus. Let 's pray.