Hardness Of Heart - GRACE.KEVINMCVICKER.COM

FROM A HEART OF STONE TO A HEART OF FLESH

Genesis 8:20-21

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse^[a] the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

To one degree or another, everyone has a hard heart. As we go through this study we will begin to explore this proposition and discover how our inner man has developed over our lifetime. This will provide some insight into why we think, feel and act the way we do as we go about our lives.

Next, we examine our inner man and how it relates, as a spiritual being, to God. Drawing on biblical text, we will understand the creation of man, our purpose and how we are to interact on a spiritual level with our creator.

Then finally, we will lay out the steps we can take, as described in scripture, that will lead us to the point where we become less hardened to the things of God and more hardened to the things of this world.

Here is a list of 8 strong warning signs that a heart has hardened and needs repair:

Lack of ability to perceive, remember, or grasp events or ideas coming from God.
Insensitivity to sin, sinfulness.
Failure to follow God’s commands, the way of Jesus, the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Arrogance and pride.
One is easily offended, resentful, lacks ability to forgive.
Indifference to the Word of God.
Unbelief, drawing away from God.
Misguided priorities.

Mark 8:15-19

Lack of ability to perceive, remember, or grasp events or ideas coming from God.

And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”^[a] ¹⁶And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”

John 3: 5-10

Lack of ability to perceive, remember, or grasp events or ideas coming from God.

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

Matthew 6:21

Misguided priorities,

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mark 6:45-52

Lack of understanding.

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵²for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Hebrews 3:7-12

Failure to follow God’s commands, the way of Jesus, the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,⁸do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,⁹where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.¹⁰Therefore I was provoked with that generation,and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’¹¹As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

¹²Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Exodus 4:21

Failure to follow God’s commands, the way of Jesus, the voice of the Holy Spirit.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.”

Exodus 8:19

Arrogance and pride.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Romans 4:18-19

Abraham demonstrates a soft heart. One of belief and trust in the word of God.

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness^[a] of Sarah’s womb.

Hebrews 11:17-18

Abraham believed God and it was counted for righteousness.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

James 1:5-8

Unbelief, drawing away from God.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Matthew 18:21-22

One is easily offended, resentful, lacks ability to forgive.

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matthew 19:8

Indifference to the Word of God.

He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

Revelation 3:15-16

Indifference to the Word of God.

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Mark 3:5

Arrogance and pride.

And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Mark 16:14-15

Unbelief turned to belief and obedience.

Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Ephesians 4:18

Ignorance will hinder your understanding.

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.