Overcoming a Hardened Heart

I would like to ask if you would just take a, a minute with me to join with me in prayer. Let's ask that the Lord would ready our hearts to hear what he has for us this morning. Dear Lord, we just come before you this morning. And Father God, we wish to quiet our hearts before you.

Lord We pray that you would prepare our hearts to hear what you have in store for us. Lord, we pray that you in your grace would give to us ears to hear. And eyes to see what you want us to hear and what you want to show us here this morning. We realize, Lord, that apart from your grace, apart from the illumination of your spirit, Lord, that we in and of ourselves are unable to receive, and so we come to you this morning dependent upon you.

We approach your throne of grace with boldness, and we ask, oh God, that you would give to us the grace and the help that we need. We pray, Father, that you might see fit to minister your grace in its various forms to us this morning. For those of us who need to be exhorted and admonished and rebuked, we pray for that. For those of us who need comfort and encouragement and hope, we pray for that, Lord, above all things, we pray, Father, that you would grant to all of us a spirit of wisdom.

And of revelation in the true knowledge of Christ that you would reveal yourself to us, that you would help us to behold you, our King, high and lifted up, Lord. I pray, Father, that you would use me as your unworthy servant for the purpose of ministering grace to your people here this morning. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you. Father God, above all things, we thank you for Jesus whose blood was shed on the cross so that Father, our sins might be forgiven and that Lord, we can come to you and we can ask of you these things.

We thank you ahead of time, Lord, for the ways in which you will answer this prayer. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. A number of years ago, I was part of a 3-person team that was providing counsel for a married couple.

It was an extremely difficult situation that required nothing less than divine intervention. And one of the things that made this situation especially difficult is that the husband insisted. The problem was exclusively his wife. Many hours were invested in an effort to help this couple.

At one point, the husband was asked to read from Ephesians chapter 5 where it addresses the marriage relationship. You will recall that Paul in that chapter begins by commanding wives to submit to their husbands, and then Paul goes on to address the husbands, exhorting them strongly to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Paul's final move is to briefly exhort the wives to respect their husbands. The passage is clear, wives are given two key commands, submit to and respect your husbands.

Husbands are given one command, but that command to husbands to love their wives is repeated several times and illustrated strongly with the example of Jesus Christ. After the husband read through this Ephesians passage, we followed up by asking him a critical question. What, according to this passage is your greatest need? What is your greatest need based upon your reading of this passage?

And his answer was revealing. He declared that his greatest need was for his wife to submit to and to respect him. You see, he completely missed the point. And when we proceeded to tell him that his greatest need, based on this passage was for him to love his wife as Christ loves the church, he insisted that we were out of our minds.

I counseled him that his expectations needed to change when I suggested that his many expectations should be boiled down to 2. 1, that he should expect that his wife would struggle with indwelling sin and that 2, he should expect that he would respond in the power of the gospel when she does struggle in her sins and sins against him, he was completely beside himself. He could not believe what I was saying and he insisted that our counsel was crazy. He refused to have anything to do with the gospel-centered counsel that I and the other two provided.

In fact, he actually seemed unable to receive our counsel. The bottom line, his heart was hardened. What was especially memorable for me regarding this counseling situation is just how powerfully the Lord seemed to manifest his presence and his power as the word was being ministered. It was as if the Lord stood directly in front of this husband, revealed his glory, spoke his mind, and then waited patiently for a humble response of brokenness and repentance.

Sadly, this husband rejected Christ's counsel and again his heart was clearly hardened. I share the story about this husband to illustrate how we as professing believers at times can struggle ourselves with the condition of a hardened heart. I am sure that in a crowd this size, there are some who have, are, or perhaps will struggle with a hardened heart, and if that is you, then the message this morning is for you. I want to ask you please to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8.

Turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8, and we will begin in verse 14. Today, we will observe what Jesus does to overcome the hardness of his disciples' hearts. They had spent over 2 years with Jesus. They had heard him teach, they had seen their Lord in action, and there was so much that they should have known about Jesus.

They had every reason to hear, understand, believe, and faithfully respond to Jesus, but with all that they had heard and seen and experienced, they are still dull in their understanding. The beloved disciples of Jesus struggle to hear, they struggle to understand, they struggle to believe and faithfully respond to Jesus. At the heart of their problem is a hardened heart. And in our passage, we will observe how Jesus interacts with his beloved disciples as he addresses the matter of their hardened heart.

And so let me read to you beginning in Mark chapter 8, verse 14. And 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 hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? and having ears, do you not hear? and do you not remember when I broke the five loaves?

For the 5000, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up? They said to him, 12. And when I broke the 7 for the 4000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up? And they said to him, 7, and he was saying to them, do you not yet understand?

Our message this morning is entitled Overcoming a Hardened Heart, Overcoming a Hardened Heart. We will look at 4 things that Jesus does to address the hardness of his disciples' hearts. The first thing that Jesus does as he addresses the hardness of his disciples' hearts is Jesus warns his disciples of Levin. Jesus warns his disciples of Levin.

We see this warning in Mark chapter 8, 14 to 15. This warning begins with what seems an incidental statement in verse 14. Notice what it says, and they had forgotten to take bread and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. You see, the disciples had forgotten to prepare.

The word forgotten carries the idea of neglect. Clearly, the disciples were responsible for properly preparing for their boat ride. They had thought about their need for food, but they simply forgot. And now they are in the boat and Mark tells us they only have one loaf.

Their, their failure to be physically prepared will render them unable to hear the voice of the Lord when he speaks. Because they were not physically prepared, they will expend too much energy being concerned about something for which they had no reason for concern. First, they should have been prepared. But second, even though they were not prepared, they had enough experience with Jesus to know that he would take care of their physical need.

This seemingly incidental statement will later serve as the foundation upon which the problem of a hardened heart is exposed. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let us read the clear warning in verse 15, verse 15, and he, Jesus, was giving orders to them, his disciples, saying, watch out. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Here, Jesus issues a double caution which highlights the severity of the warning.

The great shepherd is very concerned about the spiritual well-being of his beloved disciples, and he speaks to protect them from Danger. He speaks not in a whisper but with a raised voice marked by urgency. Watch out, beware, both words are present tense active voice imperatives. The disciples have no option.

They must heed the command and they must take action. The danger is not distant. The danger is not future. It is a present danger that the disciples must be immediately alerted to.

But What is the danger? What is the danger? What is it that the disciples must be alerted to? It is leaven.

Leaven is a substance in bread that causes growth and in the Bible is almost always associated with evil. In this context, it clearly is clearly associated with evil. Leaven is also a substance that has influence. It leaves its mark.

There is a clear distinction between leavened and unleavened bread. Levin spreads through the dough to cause the finished product of bread to be raised. Thus, Levin is identified with a growing and spreading evil influence. D.

Edmund Hubert in his commentary rightly states that quote, Levin pictures a pervasive corrupting tendency that works visibly, unquote. Levin is a negative term used in connection to the Pharisees and Herod. It is also used in connection to the Sadducees when we cross-reference Matthew's account in Matthew chapter 16 verse 6. Jesus, therefore warns his beloved disciples of the growing and spreading evil influence of the Pharisees, Herod, and the Sadducees.

Whatever we make of the specifics of the leaven that Jesus is talking about, there are two observations that we can make. First, such leaven has the potential to negatively impact the followers of Jesus. And then second, the point Jesus makes regarding the leaven is completely missed by the disciples. They completely miss the point.

Look at verse 16. And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. The hardness of the disciples' hearts is revealed by their failure to get the point. Jesus is not addressing their need for physical bread.

He is warning his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. The very thing that the Pharisees and Herod had in common was their rejection of Jesus. It was a rejection rooted in unbelief and a refusal. To trust in Jesus.

They did not hear and embrace the word of the Lord. They had eyes but they could not see, they had ears, but they could not hear, and the concern of Jesus is that his beloved disciples are being influenced or would be influenced by such leaven. He is concerned that they are falling or could fall prey to a hardened heart, and this leads us to the second thing that Jesus does as he addresses the hardness of his disciples' hearts. Number 2, Jesus rebukes his disciples.

Jesus rebukes his disciples for failing to understand his clear warning. Jesus rebukes his disciples for failing to understand his clear warning. Look at chapter 8 verse 17. And Jesus, aware of this, he was aware of what they were thinking about, 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 hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see, and having ears, do you not hear? The private discussion of the disciples was public to Jesus.

Though his physical ears did not hear the details of the discussion, Jesus was aware of what they were talking about. Jesus knew that his beloved disciples, because of the hardness of their hearts, failed completely to receive his warning and so Jesus rebukes his disciples in a rapid fire of five consecutive questions. Listen to these questions with me. Question number one, why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?

In this first question, it is as if Jesus is saying, you are too focused on the physical. I was not talking at all about physical bread. It makes no sense that you would have heard my words and responded with a discussion about food. Question number 2.

Do you not yet see or understand? Do you not yet see or understand? Draw a circle around the word yet. Jesus asks, do you not yet see or understand?

Implied is the fact that his disciples by now should see and understand. But they do not. There was plenty for them to go by. They have been around long enough, they have seen Jesus in action.

They have heard Jesus speak. Physical bread should have been the farthest from their mind. Their past history should have been enough to convince them of this. Understand that here Jesus in this stage of his ministry is facing opposition.

The religious and political leaders were stacked up against Jesus. The Pharisees wanted to do him in the Sadducees and Herod were aligned against him. There is a clear line of demarcation between Jesus and those whose hearts are hardened against him. Jesus was not at all concerned about physical bread.

He was concerned about the evil and spreading influence of those opposing him, and he wanted to protect his disciples from such leaven. By now, the disciples had plenty to go by. Implied in this question is that the disciples should be able to see and understand these things, sadly they do not. And this is further implied by the next question.

Listen to question number 3 that Jesus asks of his disciples. Do you have a hardened heart? This represents the bottom line. The heart of the matter is the matter of their heart.

The disciples of Jesus have hearts that are hardened. They fail to hear. They failed to see, they fail to understand, they lack faith, they lack trust, they lack belief, they do not hear, they don't see, they don't understand, again, they have a hardened heart. This is a rhetorical question that has an implied answer and the answer is yes, they do have a hardened heart, and Jesus in his rebuke, refuses to hold back any punches.

He is not being mean. He is not losing his cool. He is not blowing a fuse. Understand that his rebuke, given the situation, given what he knows the possibilities are, his rebuke is appropriate.

It is measured, it is timely. His rebuke is rooted in a heart that genuinely cares for the well-being of those whom he personally called to be his own beloved disciples. As a friend, Jesus is inflicting wound Wounds that can and should be trusted. He has nothing but their good in his mind.

He could have held back in his rebuke, but he holds back no punches as he continues. And now his next two questions are grounded on the foundation of God's word as he quotes directly from the three major prophets of the Old Testament. Here he is adding authority to authority as he piles on his rebuke. Listen to question 4 and question 5.

Question 4, having eyes, do you not see? And question 5, and having ears, do you not hear? These questions are formulated by our Lord directly from the major prophets of the Old Testament. We read the same language in Isaiah chapter 6, verses 9 through 10, Jeremiah chapter 5, verse 21, and Ezekiel chapter 12, verse 2.

In every instance, the word of the Lord Comes to the prophet who prophecies rebuke to the hardened hearts of God's people and so we hear the word of the Lord as he speaks from the authority of the Old Testament coming to his beloved disciples by way of a rebuke. His rebuke comes in the form of questions, having eyes, do you not see and having ears, do you not hear? These are rhetorical questions that come attached with implied and obvious answers. The answers are one and the same.

Yes, they have eyes and they do not see. Yes, they have ears and they do not hear. Backing up to the prior question just asked, do you have a hardened heart? The answer is an emphatic yes.

Jesus is here dealing with disciples whose fundamental problem is that of a hardened heart. Jesus could not be more clear in warning his beloved disciples, but they completely missed the point. They were so caught up in the world of their concerns that they failed to hear the concern of Jesus. They were zeroed in on the material, but Jesus locked in on the spiritual.

They were worried about their bellies while the Lord was watching out for their souls. Jesus had issued issued a clear warning, but the disciples failed to grasp what Jesus was talking about. Therefore, Jesus follows up with a strong rebuke delivered in a series of rapid fire questions. His warning could not be more clear, but they missed the point.

They failed to understand, their hearts were hard. They could not see, they could not hear. The leaven that Jesus warned them about is the very leaven polluting the hearts of his beloved disciples. Jesus is concerned at this point that his beloved disciples are no better than the Pharisees, the Sadducees.

And Herod. But Jesus does not give up on his disciples. He perseveres. He remains patient.

He prods on. So far, the disciples have completely failed to grasp the original warning. They have just been rebuked by the Lord through a series of rapid fire questions designed to reveal to them their hardness of heart. At this stage, they have nothing to say.

They are speechless. They are without words. And if I were in their shoes, I could easily imagine. Being despondent, I would have sunk into despair.

It would have been difficult for me to be on the receiving end of such a sound rebuke. But with Jesus, a battered reed, he will not break, and a smoldering wick, he will not snuff out. Here, he inflicts a wound. But he has every intention to heal.

He will not leave his beloved disciples speechless. He will draw them out. He will get the speechless ones to speak. He knows that the heart of a man is like deep waters and as the wise one, he will draw his disciples out.

We see this as we track with the next set of questions that Jesus asked of his disciples, and this leads us to the next thing Jesus does as he addresses the hardness of his disciples' hearts. Number 33, Jesus reminds his disciples of things they already knew. Jesus reminds his disciples of things that they already knew. Jesus takes his disciples on a trip down memory lane.

Jesus drops down to the level of his disciples in order to bring them up to his own level. Jesus ministers to them where they're at, so that he could eventually get them to where he wanted them to be. At this stage, the disciples were completely oblivious to the warning. They were zoned in on the matter of their meal, they were faint of heart from having no food.

What mattered to them was the material and the astonishing thing here is how Jesus meets them at their level, he ministers to them on the level of the material, and he accomplishes this by taking them down a trip, on a trip down memory lane and listen to the words of Jesus as he engages his beloved disciples. In verse 18C, Jesus says this. And do you not remember? Do you not remember?

When I broke the 5 loaves for the 5000, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up? They said to him, 12. And when I broke the 7 for the 4000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up? And they said to him, 7.

Jesus knows that his disciples could not easily forget the details of these two events. Jesus appeals to the experiences of his disciples. They may be slow in putting the pieces together, but they are able to remember the details surrounding the feeding of the 5000 and the feeding of the 4000. So often, it is vital that we remember what the Lord has already accomplished.

It is often helpful to remember what Jesus has already done. The disciples were dealing with a dilemma. They were low on food, their mind was captured by the concern for food, and Jesus helps them out of their hopeless, hopelessness by asking two simple questions. When I broke the 5 loaves for the 5000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick?

Up 12, and when I broke the 7 for the 4000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up 7. You see, Jesus is stooping down to their level in order to address a concern that they should not have so that he can get back to the matter that he was originally concerned about. In the feeding of the 5000, Jesus revealed his power and his provision. In the feeding of the 4000, once again, Jesus revealed his power and his provision.

Jesus reveals the fact That he cares, that he shows concern. Material provision is not something that his disciples needed to worry about. Jesus is more than able to step in and to meet their needs. The disciples should have known this, the disciples should have thought, we have been here before.

We have been short on supply, we have been low on food, we have worried about provision and yet the provider has never failed. By now, it should have been easy for the disciples to trust and not worry. And asking these two questions, Jesus is provoking a response from his disciples. He is getting them to think through their situation.

He is reminding them of things that they should already know. Jesus is faithful, he is powerful, Jesus will provide, Jesus cares, believe in Jesus, trust in Him, do not worry, listen to him and obey Him. He will more than meet your needs, he will provide you if it be His will, with an abundance, while these final two questions round off the rebuke. They also serve as kindly reminders to the disciples that they have a powerful provider who cares for their needs and is to be fully trusted.

Anything short of this is indicative of a hardened heart. You may be here and perhaps struggling with a hardened heart, like the disciples, you have been given a task, but you have failed to follow through. You are kicking yourself thinking that such failure has doomed you. And the Lord beckons you this morning to focus your gaze on him and remember his power and remember his provision.

Do not allow the worries of this world to hinder you from hearing the voice of your shepherd. Jesus is asking you to take a trip with him down memory lane and remember his power and provision in your life. Remember how he has been faithful to you. Do not allow yourself to forget all that the Lord has accomplished in your life.

Remember what he has done for you. Every single one of you who are believers in Christ ought to point to times and seasons in your life. in which you experience the power and the provision of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not allow what is visible to hinder you from seeing what is invisible.

Do not allow the material to distract you from the spiritual. The Lord may be speaking to you, but you cannot hear because you are struggling with a hardened heart, and if this is the case, take heart. Take heart. In our passage this morning, Jesus addresses the hardness of his disciples' hearts, and he is addressing you as well.

If you are a genuine blood bought child of God, he will see you through. I will take out of you a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26. Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18, I will complete the work that I began in you, Philippians 1:6.

I will never leave you or forsake you, Hebrews 13:5. I have you in the grasp of my hand, and no one Can snatch you out, John 10:28-29. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ, Romans 8:35 and 39. If you struggle to believe these things, I implore you to throw yourself down at the foot of the cross and behold the nail scarred hands and feet of your Lord.

See from his head, his hands and his feet, sorrow and love flowed mingled down. I submit to you this morning that there is no way, there is no way that you can bring your hardened heart before the foot of the cross in brokenness and repentance, and there be able to leave without knowing that with Jesus all is and will be well. Yes. Take that trip down memory lane and remember what the Lord has done in your life and remember the historical event of the cross.

Gaze upon the face of your suffering savior and remember that great is thy faithfulness. This is critical, and your ability to remember and embrace the faithfulness of your God is essential in your ability to hear him speak to you. And so, Jesus. takes his disciples for a trip down memory lane.

He addresses them at their level and in the process, he prepares them to hear what he wanted them to hear to begin with. And this brings us to the final thing that Jesus does in addressing the hardness of his beloved disciples' hearts. Number 4, Jesus reveals with clarity what he was warning his disciples of at the beginning. Jesus now reveals with clarity what he was warning his disciples of to begin with.

Look at Mark 8:21. It says, and he was saying to them, implied is that he kept on saying this, this was a continual ongoing question. It says that he was saying to them, do you not yet understand? Throughout the whole discourse, throughout the whole dialogue, this is one of the key questions at hand.

Do you not yet understand? Do you not understand? Do you not yet understand? And notice here that Mark's account ends on a bit of a negative note.

Unless you cross reference the parallel account in Matthew, you would not know that Jesus did prevail in his attempt at getting his disciples to understand what he was talking about to begin with. Listen to Matthew's account, Matthew 16:11. How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, but beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and again, if we import Mark's account, he includes Herod, and so we can safely say that Jesus is warning them to beware at the very least of these three particular groups, if you will, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod or the Herodians.

Notice what it says in verse 12, then they understood.

Then they understood. You see, the Lord Jesus is committed to their understanding. The Lord Jesus is not going to let those who belong to him fall. He is not going to allow them to be abandoned by Himself.

It says that then they got it, then they understood, it made sense to them that he, what is it that they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching. Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees and by way of extension, we can say beware of the influence of the Herodians. The operative phrase in Matthew is, then they understood. Jesus issued a clear warning, but the disciples missed the point.

Jesus then rebuked them and ministered to them at their level by reminding them of things they already knew. He took The for a trip down memory lane before getting back to the matter at hand. By the time Jesus is done with his disciples, it has been revealed to them with clarity that Jesus was warning them about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, as well as the influence of Herod. The teaching of the Pharisees entails a legalistic religiosity that is concerned exclusively with outward appearance.

It is an approach that strains a net and swallows a camel. Pharisees get so caught up in the minutia that they ultimately missed the point. Pharisees add to God's word requirements and regulations that are nowhere found in the scripture. In the process, they nullify the word of God for the sake of their traditions.

Pharisees tend to be harsh and critical of others for not believing and behaving the way they do. Pharisees pride themselves in their religion, and they enjoy it when others think highly of them. Pharisees are marked by pride, and they struggle to embrace the broken with mercy and compassion. At the heart of their problem is a rejection of Jesus and a failure to apprehend the gospel of grace.

We can safely conclude that the Pharisees have hearts that are hardened. The teaching of the Sadducees entails a rejection of things clearly communicated in God's word. They do not believe in miracles. According to Sadducees, Jesus was not raised bodily from the dead.

They reject the angelic realm. They do not believe in re Lords and punishment after death, nor do they believe in heaven or hell, and Jesus charged the saddducees with not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. They were overly influenced by rationalism. They rejected what their finite minds could not comprehend.

And the Herodians were a worldly-minded political group who were willing to align with religion whenever it was convenient for them. They were happy to use religion to promote their political agenda. Their priority was politics and not Christ. When we lump these three groups together, the main thing that they have in common is their ultimate stand against Jesus.

They were those who rejected trust and faith in Jesus. They failed to embrace the truth of Jesus, the truth. The truth of the gospel, they would not hear what it is that he was saying to them. They were all three guilty of a hardened heart, and Jesus warns his people to beware of their poisonous teaching and their poisonous influence.

Beware of them. And when Jesus is exhorting his disciples to watch out and to beware, it's not just watch out now, beware now, but watch out in the future, beware of their influence that might want to come your way on the future. Watch out and beware, and by way of extension, the Lord is saying to us to watch out and to beware and to not, not allow ourselves to be hardened by the leaven of these false teachers. We must not allow the deadly influence of legalism.

liberalism or political activism to undermine our fundamental commitment to the doctrine of gospel centrality. We cannot be lured away from the simplicity of devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We want all of what we think, say and do to be grounded upon the foundation of the gospel. We cannot allow deadly doctrines to poison our path in a way that leaves our hearts hardened to our Lord and His voice in our lives.

Today, we have considered 4 things that Jesus does in addressing the hardness of his disciples' hearts. First, Jesus warns his disciples to beware of leaven. Second, Jesus rebukes his disciples for their failure to understand his warning. Third, Jesus drops down to the level of his disciples and reminds them of things they already knew.

And 4th, Jesus reveals with clarity what he was warning his disciples about to begin with. He did not want them to be influenced by the dangerous doctrines of false teachers, knowing that such influence would only serve to harden their hearts against the life-giving gospel truths that Jesus wanted them to embrace. I would like at this point to present just a few applications as we seek to wrap things up, applications. Number 1, reject the lies of false teaching.

Reject the lies of false teaching. Number 2, remember what the Lord has taught you, reject the lies and embrace the truth. Put off what is false and put on what is true. Remember what the Lord has taught you and number 3, listen to what Jesus is teaching you.

Allow yourself to hear by God's grace what it is that he is wanting you to hear. Listen to what he is teaching you. Number 4, guard your heart. Where Jesus says, watch out, beware, essentially he is saying, guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life, guard your heart.

Number 5, and guard the hearts of others. You see, this is what Jesus is doing with his disciples. He is in fact watching out, and he is being aware of the dangerous influence of the teaching of the, of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herod and, and false teachers, he is watching out for them, and we in following the example of Jesus also ought to watch out for those for whom the Lord Jesus has died, guard the hearts of others, your brothers and sisters in Christ, your children, guard the hearts of those that are around you.

And number 6, be, be encouraged, be encouraged.

What this passage highlights for us is an example of disciples who had sin in their lives, their hearts were hardened, they were struggling with indwelling sin as it was in them, they struggled to believe, they struggled to have faith, and please note carefully that Jesus does not abandon them. Be encouraged by the fact that he is faithful to those whom he has called to himself, be encouraged. And you are here today, and you by God's grace know that you are struggling with a hardened heart.

You are asking the question, what can I do?

I know my heart is hardened. I struggle with faith, I am harboring sin in my heart and I am having a hard time letting go. My heart is hardened, what, what can I do? Here is a good place to start.

Carve out some serious time and get away and be alone with Jesus. Throw yourself at the foot of the cross and behold your Savior in agonizing suffering and pain. Gaze at the nail scarred hands and feet and behold blood dripping to the ground. Look up at the face of Your savior and take notice of the crown of thorns pressed upon his brow.

Incline your ear towards the Lord and hear him groaning from such agonizing pain. Listen to the words that come from your savior's mouth. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. To Testti, it is finished.

The work necessary to accomplish your salvation and to address the condition of a hardened heart has been accomplished at the cross. It is finished indeed. Throw Yourself down at the foot of the cross and do business with Jesus. Acknowledge your struggles, confess your sins, allow your tears to soak the feet of your Savior, and humbly ask Him to soften your heart.

Embrace the fact that in Jesus, your many sins are forgiven and go with Jesus as it were into the tomb. Behold, he was raised bodily from the dead through the eyes of faith, see him raised, the angel declared, he is not here, he is risen. Know that your Lord has passed through the heavens and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 4 beginning in verse 13 declares that there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

You see with the Lord, we cannot run. We cannot hide. We cannot escape his notice. He knows all of what's going on.

He sees us. He knows what's on our, on our tongue before we even speak it. He knows what we think. He is completely aware of everything.

He is the omnipresent, omniscient one. And notice that the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have a high priest who has been tempted in all things as we, yet he was without sin. Let us therefore, let us therefore draw near, draw nearer with confidence to the throne of God's grace.

Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.

You find yourself Struggling with a hardened heart, this is my counsel to you. This is what you do. You go to his throne of grace and receive mercy and find grace to help in your time of need. Spend time at the foot of the cross and let your heart be melted in the presence of your savior who died for you.

This morning, I began by sharing about a husband whose heart was hardened to the claims of the gospel. Unfortunately, he abandoned his wife. He allowed the hardness of his heart to get the better of him. The evil one got a victory.

This morning I want to say to you, To anyone who might find themselves struggling with a heart that is hard. Do not be like that man. Do not settle for a hardened heart. Do not allow the evil one a victory.

Instead, be like so many who are here today, who know what it is like to struggle with a hardened heart, but who have thrown themselves down at the foot of the cross and there in the presence of Jesus have experienced tenderness of heart and the power of the gospel to transform. who you are and I know. who some of you are. We are surrounded in this room with proof of the power of God.

He can overcome a hardened heart, and there are many who can testify of how God has helped them to repent, to love, to forgive, and experience restoration and reconciliation as a result of the life transforming power of the gospel. I want to ask you to join with me in prayer. As we close and as the ushers come forward and you prepare your offerings, to give to the Lord, And his ministry in this church and through this church. Dear Lord God, we just thank you so much for your word.

And Lord, we thank you that you are faithful, that Lord, you have the power, and you have provided us with the ability by your grace through the power of the gospel to overcome the condition of a hardened heart. And Lord God, we come before you this morning, this afternoon now, and we ask Lord that you would do business with us. We realize, Lord, that even the disciples themselves were unable to detect in themselves their hardness of heart, they needed you to point that out for them, and we come before you this morning and we ask, oh God, would you show us Our hearts.

Lord God, would you reveal to us who you are, and in the process reveal to us who we are.

And Lord, if there be any hardness in our hearts, we pray God for your glory, that you would soften our hearts and tenderize our hearts, and help us to be those, Lord, who are able to hear and to receive and to believe and to trust in Jesus with all of our hearts. Help us, God. And Lord, as we give this offering to you, we do so, Lord, in the name of Jesus, and we ask that You would advance the cause of the gospel, that Lord, you would take our humble offering and that you would multiply it, Lord, and that lives through this gift of giving would be transformed at the end of the day.

Now Lord, as we, as we take time to sing a, a song of praise to you as we worship you, in song, we just ask again, Lord, that You would help us to do so with hearts that have been fattened by the life-giving, transforming power of the one who died for us and who was raised bodily for us and who is at the right hand of the Father, you are the one.

Who we worship. In Jesus' name. Amen.