Hardening of the Heart, Part 5

We want to pick up where we left off a few weeks ago by helping you understand the issue around the soft Heart. We've been talking about the hard heart for many weeks, mainly because that's where our study took us in the book of Exodus. And we ended by. Last time, by looking at the consequences of the hard heart, by helping you understand the justice of God as well as the judgment of God. That when God confirms a man in the stubbornness of his way, he is just in doing so. And when he does that, we saw that that was the judgment of God upon man, the wrath of his abandonment, where he leaves man to his own devices.

We saw it in Romans chapter 1. We saw it in Matthew chapter 13. That when man will rejects God. God judicially reject man. And as we studied that, we ended with: you know, what about me? Does that leave me in that situation? Where am I? Am I hardening my heart? Am I stiffening my neck against the word of the Lord? And how do I know I'm doing that versus how do I know I'm not doing that? And that's where we left off last time. Let me illustrate it this way for you.

Over the years, I've told you that our family is Is big in when it comes to the Olympics. We sit down as a family, we do our little nacho thing, we our little popcorn thing, and we stay up to midnight and watch the Olympics together. We cheer on the good old US of A in any way we possibly can, whether it's the trampoline events, the equestrian events, or there are track and field events. You're able to see the heart. Of an Olympian. And I think that for all of us, we can see that heart. And when you watch these people run and compete, you can see the heart of an Olympian.

It's clearly seen. That's why they're in the Olympics and we're not. That's why we're watching them run and not running, right? We don't have the heart of an Olympian, but the heart of the believer. The heart of the Christian, the soft heart, the saved heart, it too is clearly seen. Don't be mistaken. Don't think, well, you know. Maybe we can see and decipher whether somebody's a Christian or not. No, no, no, no, no, no Now, the Bible's very clear that the tender heart, the soft heart. can be clearly seen.

And so I want to give you the characteristics this morning of a soft heart. We gave you the characteristics of the hard heart, how it's unbelieving, how it's unregenerate, how it's uncircumcised, how it's undisciplined, how it's unresponsive. To the things of God. But we want to give you the characteristics of the soft heart, the tender heart. And remember in 2 Kings 22 with King Josiah when they found in the book of the law that when the They came to him when Hil the priest came to him and they read the book of the law to him that he tore his robes and he repented and realized the error of his country Israel.

He was 26 years of age when that happened. And the Bible says this about Josiah: because your heart was tender or soft.

And you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse. And you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I truly have heard you, declares the Lord. Josiah becomes that. That example of a tender heart, a soft heart. He heard what the word of the Lord said. He tore his robes. He repented of his sin, and he was humble before the Lord. That's a soft heart compared to Pharaoh, who, when he heard the word of the Lord, he rebelled against it.

He stiffened his neck against God's word. But Josiah, the Bible says, in chapter 23 of 2 Kings. That because of what Josiah did, it says in verse 25: Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might. According to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Now, what a verse. That's the kind of people we need to be, right? That's the heart of the believer. That's the heart of a committed man. That's the heart that's clearly seen by all.

Nobody was like Josiah. Nobody was as committed as he was, as he gave his whole heart to the Lord. And it was clearly seen in his actions and what he did. And God honored King Josiah. For his life and what he did. And so we need to understand that the heart of an Olympian can be trained, can be disciplined. And that athlete can muster up the kind of heart he needs to have. But the heart of the Christian isn't accomplished that way. Because the Bible says in the book of Ezekiel, the 36th chapter, the 26th verse, speaking of the new covenant, it says, Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone.

From your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. God says, I'm going to give you the kind of heart you need.

We've talked about throughout the series that we are born with a hard heart. We are born with a stony heart. And the only thing that breaks a stony heart is the word of the Lord. Jeremiah 29 tells us that that's God's word that's like a hammer that shatters the hard heart. And so that's why we keep preaching the word of God week after week after week after week, because we can't change you, but God's word can shatter your stubborn, rebellious heart. God's word does that. And when God does that, He gives you a new he.

And that new heart comes with the desire to obey the word of the Lord. You see, that's why it's clearly evident of the believer because the softness, the tenderness, the saved heart is clearly evident by at least 10 characteristics. And I'm going try and give them to you all this morning. Okay? Number one: the new heart is characterized in several ways.

Number one, it's a seeking heart. It is a seeking heart. The Bible says over in Psalm 119, verse number 10, these words: With all my heart I have sought.

That's the tender heart. You see, the heart of the believer, the soft heart, the tender heart. Seeks after God and is so sensitive to seeking after God that in no way, shape, or form does that heart ever want to wander away from the truth of God. So you got to ask yourself the question this morning: is that me? Is that the kind of heart that I have? Am I seeking after God? Remember what Robert Robertson said. When he wrote that hymn, Oh, come thou fount of every blessing. When he, Oh, to grace, how great a debtor, daily I am constrained to be, let thy goodness like a fetter.

Bind my wand heart to Thee. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above. He knew that the heart is prone to wander away. So, Lord, take my heart. You seal it because I don't want to wander from your commandments. I want to seek your face. That's what he wants to have. That's what she wants more than anything else. And that's how you know you have a soft heart, you have a tender heart, and your heart is not becoming calloused to the things of God.

It's a seeking heart. The tender heart is not only a seeking heart, it is a submissive heart, a submissive heart. Paul would say it this way over in Romans chapter 6, verse number 17. Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart. To that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. You become obedient from the heart. You become submissive in your spirit. Why, that's the tender heart. That's the soft heart.

Because God gives you the new heart that says, with that new heart, you're going to want to follow my statutes, then the characteristic of the soft heart is a submission to what God says.

And so we need to ask ourselves, when I hear the word of the Lord, am I submissive to that? Is that what I want to hear? Is that what I want to do? Is that where I want to go? Am I seeking after my God? You know, we seek a lot of things. We want a lot of things, but am I truly seeking after my God? And that's really where it all begins, right? Now, we know that no man seeks after God, right? That's what the Bible says.

So, the only way a man can seek after God is if God gives him a new heart, which causes him to seek after God. And therefore, he says this promise: if you seek me with all your heart, you'll find me. You'll find me. And when you find me, you're going to want to be submissive to me. You're going want to follow my teaching. You're going to listen to what I have to say and do what I say. So, the tender heart is a seeking heart. It is a submissive he. Is that you? A third characteristic of the tender heart is that it is a Steadfast heart, a steadfast heart.

Psalm 112. Verse number talks about the man who fears the Lord, the man who greatly delights in the commandments of God. It says he will not fear evil tidings. His heart is. Steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld. He will not fear until he looks with satisfaction on his advers. The steadfast heart is a heart that is firmly attached to one thing and one thing. Only. It's like the wheel. When the axle is firmly in place, the wheel moves properly. And so the heart that's steadfast, that's That's firmly attached to God is the heart that moves properly.

It's firmly attached, it's a submissive heart. It is a seeking heart. And fourthly, it is a singing he. It 's a singing heart. Because the heart is firmly attached to God, it causes him to do something. Psalm 40 says that because I've been brought out of the mir pit, out of the bondage of sin. And God has set my feet upon the rock. He's put a new song in my mouth. There's a new song in my mouth. And that song is a song about the praises of God. And so the tender heart is characterized as a singing heart.

It sings praises to its God because it loves the Lord God. It says over in Psalm 84, verse number 2, it says How lovely are thy dwelling places, verse number one, O Lord of hosts.

My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Sing for joy. You know, there's something about the believer in his heart that causes him to sing for joy. Over in Psalm 9. Psalm 9, verse number 1. What's it say? It says, I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. I will tell of all thy wonders. I will be glad and exult in thee. I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High. Why? Because of my heart. Because of what you've done in my life.

Because you've given me a new heart. And my response to that is to praise Him. Soft heart is a singing heart. We'll notice this in Exodus 15 when we get to the song of redemption after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.

What do they do? They sing a song. It's a song of redemption. And you go to Revelation 15, and what do you got in Revel 15? You got another song. See, the Bible's filled with songs. About the people of God whose hearts are right before God, and the natural response to that is to sing a song about what God's done. See, you know, my family, my kids are always ragging on me because I'm always making up songs. I make them up because they rhyme, you know, and I make them up my head we go along, and I sing them in the morning, I sing them in the evening, I sing them in the car.

And, you know, sometimes they drive my kids crazy. But, you know, I like to sing. I can't sing very well, but I like to sing. And I like to sing praises to my God. And sometimes I like to listen to people sing. You know, sometimes I'll stand here on Sunday mornings and not even say a word, open my mouth, just to listen to the people of God sing to the Lord. Because there's something about a heart that's that's firmly attached to its God, that wants to rejoice, that wants to overflow with gladness.

And it does so. So, the tender heart is a seeking heart, a submissive heart, a steadfast heart, a singing heart. Fifthly, it is a str heart. Don 't think that because the soft heart, the tender heart, is soft and tender, that it's weak. Oh no. Quite the contrary. It is a str. Heart str, not stony, but stable. Psalm 10, verse number 17, says it this way. O Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble. Thou wilt strengthen their heart. Thou wilt incline thine ear. The believer has a strong heart.

It doesn't have a weak heart, a strong heart, because God strengthens that heart. Remember 2 Chronicles 16? That the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen the hearts. Of those who are committed to Him. You see, God strengthens the heart. No matter what happens around me, my heart remains strong. I remain confident because of my God and what he will do. And you can read throughout the scriptures of the different saints who lived for their God, whose hearts were strong.

Before man, you have a strong heart today? Not a stubborn heart, not a stony heart, but a strong heart because God has strengthened it. By his very presence and by his word. A sixth characteristic is this, and that is a sincere heart. The soft heart is a sincere heart. The saved heart is a sincere heart. It's real. It's genuine. It's not fake. Over in Luke chapter 8, it says these words: when Christ was giving that famous parable on the sower and the soil. And the four different kinds of soil that received the word.

And there's only one soil that received the word and was truly born again. That was truly saved. And it says in verse number 15: And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, or an honest and sincere heart. And hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance. The real heart, the genuine heart, is the one who hears the word of God. Who receives the Word of God, who holds to the Word of God, and is able to persevere in the work of the Lord? Why?

Because it's a true heart, truly committed to God. Oh, you know, we love to fake people out. We love to pull the wool over their eyes. We love to live in a realm of hypocrisy. We love to get people to think things about us that really, truly aren't real and genuine. But the believer has a genuine heart. It is sincere. And that's why the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 10, verse number 22, these words: Let us draw near with a sincere heart. in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Not only that, another characteristic of the soft heart is that it is a sympathizing, Heart. It is a seeking heart, a submissive heart, a steadfast heart, a singing heart. Heart, a strong heart, a sincere heart, and a sympathizing heart. Over in the book of Jeremiah, the fourth chapter. It speaks of Jeremiah in these words. And listen to what he says. Jeremiah 4, verse number 19. My soul, my soul, I am in anguish. Oh, my. Heart. My heart is pounding in me. I cannot be silent, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Disaster on disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is devastated. Suddenly, my tents are devastated, my curtains in an instant. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? Verse 22, For my people are foolish. They know me not. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, but to do good they do not know. The sympathizing heart is not the one that goes around and is looking for sympathy, or it's not the one who goes around wearing their Sympathetic feelings on their sleeves, so everybody knows there's something you are sympathizing about, or there's something wrong in your life.

No, the sympathizing heart is. Is on the outside. When it goes in public, it's bold, it's strong, but in the privacy of its home, when no one's around. It's in anguish. It's broken. Why? Well, God tells us why Jeremiah's heart was broken. The people don't know me. They don't know me. Not only do they not know me, they're stupid. You know, it's hard to think that the Bible says that somebody's stupid, but God says, my children are stupid.

And they have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil. They don't want to do the good thing. They want to do the wrong thing. And that broke Jeremiah's heart. You know, and I think of us as parents, that should be the way we are with our children, right? It should break our hearts that our children don't know God. You know, so many times we are more distraught that our children don't make the honor roll than they don't know God. We put academics on such a high plane. Or athletics on such a high plane that that becomes the epitome of what my child should be doing.

And when our children don't make those things or don't perform up to our standards, our hearts are broken. That should not break our hearts. What breaks our hearts is that our children don't know God. Our children want to do evil and not do good. That should cause us to be broken on the inside and to weep for them. To be strong before them, but in the privacy of our bedrooms, to weep that they don't know God. That's the way it should be in the church, right? You know you have a tender heart before God when you sympathize for the people who don't know God.

See? But the bottom line is that in the church, What is the main thing? It's that people know God. And when they don't, that should break our heart. Does it break my heart that we don't have a fellowship chapel? No. It doesn't break my heart. If we get one, great. If we don't, fine. You know, that's not important to me. Before we had this building, it wasn even important to me that we had a building. You know, we met and we had a great time worshiping and praising God. And God blessed us and gave us a building.

That's great. Do we need one? No! We don't need a building. God gave us one. But that wasn our priority. Our prayer was preach the word, teach the word, that people might grow deep in their walk with God. And take care of the depth, and God will take care of the breadth. Just keep teaching people the word of the Lord. And so you've got to ask yourself, you know, I don't want to develop a hard heart to the things of God. Am I seeking after God, His Word? Another characteristic, I think this is number eight, a single he.

The tender heart is a single heart. The psalmist said it well in Psalm 119. We read it earlier in verse number 10. In fact, let me read verse number 2 of Psalm 119.

It says, How blessed are those who observe his testimonies, who seek him with all their heart. You want to live a blessed life? Have a single heart. Focused on God Himself. Stay focused. The ninth characteristic: the tender heart is a sanctified heart. Heart, a sanctified heart. Acts 15, verse number 8. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us. And He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing Their hearts by faith. A heart that has been cleansed from its sin.

That's the tender heart, right? And lastly, number 10. And I know that 75% of you thought I'd never finish all 10 of them today. I knew it. But I was bound and determined to finish all ten of them today if it took me till noon. The last characteristic, and there are more, these are just the ones I thought of as I read through the scriptures, a selfless heart. A selfless. Heart. It's not focused on me. Now you know how you can determine whether or not my heart is becoming cold to the things of God.

We've told you before, you know, go throughout the day never using the word I or my. Me or mine, try it. Bet you can't do it. Just try it. It says over in the book of Acts when it characterizes the early church. It says in verse number 46, And day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. There was no selfish motives in the church to accomplish their own agenda. They were gathering together to praise God, to honor Him, to worship Him, to serve Him.

They were focused on God. As a result of being focused on God, they now became focused on other people who were in the family of God. They were selfless. That's where we need to be pursuing. Is your heart always going to be selfless? No, it won't be. One day it will be when you get to heaven. Is your heart always going to be seeking after God? Is it always going to be single? Are you always going to feel like singing? No, no. But.

Is that the progression and direction of your life? Is that where you're going? If it is, then your heart is not being hardened to the things of God. If it's not, then you need to take counsel to what God's word says concerning the heart. Let bring it.