Rev. David Holwick C
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 18, 1998
Hebrews 3:7-10
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I. Expression "Hardshell Baptist."
A. A badge of honor?
1) Means rigidly uncompromising.
a) They are convinced of what they believe in.
b) They don't waver or compromise.
2) Usually applied to fundamentalists.
B. Many Baptists (and others) are harder than they think.
1) Harsh, judgmental attitudes.
2) Cold, unloving relationships.
3) Spiritually dead.
II. Having a hard heart.
A. Any heart can be hardened - and all are.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in "The Gulag Archipelago":
"If only it were all so simple!
If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing
evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them
from the rest of us and destroy them.
But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of
every human being.
And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"
#695
B. Signs of a hard heart.
1) Selfishness.
Root of most sin.
We must become others-centered, and God-centered.
2) Harsh words.
"Out of overflow of heart, mouth speaks." Matt 12:34
3) Bitterness.
Root of bitterness can harden heart.
4) Hatred.
If you hate people, you can't love God. 1 John 4:20
5) Seared conscience.
No more feelings of guilt, little hope.
C. What happens to hard hearts.
1) Pharaoh - consistent disobedience.
a) He hardens his heart: Exod 8:15, 32; 9:34
b) God hardens his heart: 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:8
1> Don't shut God out of your life.
2> He may accept it.
2) The longer we resist, the harder we become.
a) California serial killer, playing games with case...
III. Softening a hard heart.
A. Kindness and love can do wonders.
Steve Sjogren conducted a "Free Lawn Care" outreach.
He loaded a mower and rake into a truck and drove around until
he saw long grass.
He approached the house and knocked on the door to tell the
owner what he was up to.
Through the screen door a man barked,
"What do you want?"
Steve gave him a brief explanation and, without even looking up,
the man's response was simply, "Yeah, whatever...."
The man sat motionless in front of the TV, watching a
Reds baseball game.
Steve mowed enthusiastically - he sometimes calls it "power
mowing" - and finished in about 30 minutes.
When he stopped by to tell the man it was done, Steve asked if
he could pray for any needs in the man's life.
The man said he didn't have any needs.
As Steve began to walk away, he felt sure this man had some
emotional need and that he ought to insist on praying for him.
He turned around, went back to the man, and prayed, "Come,
Holy Spirit, and touch this man's pain, whatever it is."
The response was instant and surprising - the man erupted in
deep sobbing that continued for some time.
As the crying died down, he told Steve his son had been arrested
the night before for stealing a car in order to support a
drug habit.
That day God's presence and power penetrated this man's heart
in a dramatic way - because a Christian was willing to cut
a little grass.
#3820
B. Expose yourself to God's Word.
1) Hebrews 4:12 - The Bible strikes deep into our hearts.
a) We must let ourselves be exposed to God's commands.
b) Proverbs 3:1 - let God's commands live in your heart.
c) Even if we never crack a Bible, God can speak to our
hearts through our conscience. Rom 2:18
2) Acts 2:37 - Pentecost crowd had hearts cut by gospel.
a) Sermons have a reputation for being long, dry, boring,
and irrelevant.
b) Real preaching should change lives.
c) We must let ourselves be exposed to solid preaching.
C. Learn to forgive and be an instrument of God.
There was a 12-year-old boy in California who witnessed the
brutal murder of his father and mother.
His life seemed ruined.
Sent to a state institution for boys, he was apathetic and
withdrawn, and did poorly in his work.
He was paraded through the offices of several psychologists
and attended numerous therapy sessions.
But nothing seemed to break through the shield of defenses
his young mind had thrown up.
Then, shortly after graduation from high school, he attended
a church youth meeting.
He heard the accounts of several young people about the
difference Christ had made in their lives.
They emphasized how they gave up trying to get even with people
who had sinned against them in some way.
He listened intently, naturally, since it touched on his
problem.
In time he began to grasp this enlightened approach and his life
began to turn from the bitter to the better.
His personality brightened.
Where he had been introverted and withdrawn, he gradually made
new friends.
But something still gnawed at him.
Luckily, he was able to pinpoint the source of his incompleteness
- he still harbored a residue of hatred toward the murderer
who had killed his parents and messed up his life.
So, while he was in law school, he arranged to visit the man in
prison who had committed what most would call "an
unforgivable crime."
The first visit was not a good one.
They were both nervous and had a hard time talking to one
another.
But the young man was determined, and went back a second time.
It proved to be a breakthrough.
"I've made a bargain with God," the young law student told the
prisoner.
"If God will wipe the slate clean for the awful hatred I've had
for you, I'm willing to personally acquit you for the
terrible crime you committed against me."
The prisoner was astonished ... and deeply moved.
It softened his hardened heart and after four more visits broke
it open enough to where he wanted the same power that the
law student had found.
Some years later, when the prisoner was paroled, the law student,
now an attorney in Modesto, California, helped him to get a
job and start a new life.
#2588
IV. How is your heart?
A. Take a spiritual EKG test.
1) Back in the 1700's the great preacher Jonathan Edwards
analyzed the evidence of revivals.
2) Some signs did not impress him as being from God:
a) Lots of emotion, especially if it accompanied
involuntary effects like barking or shouting.
b) Self-oriented forms of love.
c) A slavish fear of God.
d) Intense religiosity.
e) Making other religious people impressed with you.
3) These were what he saw as signs of genuine revival:
a) A love for God, not just for what he has done for us,
but for who he is.
b) A sensitivity to sin.
c) Genuine humility.
d) Vigorous social conscience.
e) The practice of charity or Christian love. #3676
B. Guard your heart.
Proverbs 4:23-27
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of
life.
Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far
from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly
before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are
firm.
Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from
evil.
C. Is Jesus in your heart?
James Dobson tells this story:
A three-year-old girl told her mother she learned that Jesus
will come to live in the heart of those who invite him.
That is a difficult concept for a little girl to grasp.
The mother was sitting on the couch and her three-year-old
came over and put her ear to her mother's chest.
"What are you doing?" asked the mother.
"I'm listening for Jesus in your heart," replied the child.
The mother let the little girl listen for a few seconds and
then asked, "Well, what do you hear?"
"He's there," replied the little girl, "and it sounds to me
like he's making coffee."
#1363
1) Accept him.
2) Obey him.
3) Love him.
V. The time to soften is today, NOW.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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