Thanks to John Hamby and his sermon " Sign's of a hardened heart" for the inspiration and the excellent points for this message
Exodus – The story of God’s presence
Part 5
Hard Hearts
Exodus 5:2-----7:8-13—---8:25-28---10:8-11, 24
Many times in my life I have been called hardheaded
I have no doubt that every man and many of the women in this room fall into that same category
I have worn out a copy of the Outlaws album with Willie and Waylon in every format available
And on that Album is the song Good hearted woman
I truly believe I could rewrite that song
To she’s a hard headed woman in love with a hard headed man
And it would fit most of us
Being hard headed is not always a bad thing
Sometimes it is the very thing that keeps us out of trouble
Or causes us to get things done
But
Hardheadedness
Often leads to hardheartedness
And while
I often laugh when I am called hardheaded
But the times in my life where I have been called hardhearted ---and there have been a few
Hurt
And They
Also made me take a hard look at my life
And
How I was responding or reacting to the people and circumstances in my life
And more importantly how I was responding to God
And where I placed him in my life
For a believer a hard heart is a bad thing
We are called to love
We are called to show compassion
We are called to show mercy
We are called to obedience
We are called to be the light of Jesus
To be the salt of the earth
And there is no way we can do that effectively
With a hardened heart
So today we are going to look at a non believer
Who was notorious for having a hard heart
And see what a hard heart looks like
And prayerfully try and figure out how not to allow our hearts to harden
Or if they have already started down that road
How to soften
A hard heart
We are picking back up in our study of Exodus this morning in chapter 5, then the text will be chapters 7-10
Moses has been called back from Midian
His brother Aaron has been sent by God to help him with his mission
And God has had them go to Pharaoh and tell him to free his people the Hebrews
Just to recap quickly
Remember God had given Moses some signs so that The Hebrews would believe
A staff that turns into a snake
A magic hand
And the ability to turn water from the Nile into blood
His people believed
Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh but he refused to believe
Or even listen
In his anger at being told what to do
He made things much worse on God’s people
To the point where they now would not listen to or follow Moses either
Remember from Chapter 5 when Moses brought God’s word
Exodus 5:2
“And who is the LORD? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
In this verse we see the first signs of a hardened heart
But it gets worse- God tells them once again to go to Pharaoh
Please open your bibles to Exodus chapter 7: 8-13
8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.[a]’”
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! 11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. 12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.
Moses and Aaron showed Pharaoh the sign from God
But
He just scoffed at them and refused to listen
He is unimpressed and remains unmoved
I can tell you
If you were in the bible study his morning
Or if you have read Exodus for yourself
Then you know that Pharaoh should have listened- it would have been in his best interest
You see
When God wants us to do something
It will get done
The easy way
Or the hard way
Pharaoh choose the hard way
And
Because of Pharaoh’s choice and his hard heart
God
Sent a series of ten plagues on Egypt
Each one getting worse
Until finally Pharaoh relented and did indeed let God’s people go—kind of
We do not have time to go into great detail about each plague or why God choose those particular plagues this morning
I covered that in depth in the bible study this morning and plan to come back to this subject in the future
But for today
Just know that God sent 10 plagues on Egypt
They were
Changing the water to blood
Frogs
Gnats
Flies
Death of the livestock
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
And ending with the death of the firstborn
And the Passover
I really want to cover each of these in depth later
But today we are going to focus on Pharaoh’s response to the plagues
And the signs of a hardened heart
If you read the account of the plagues
You will notice over and over
The word’s “And Pharaoh hardened his heart”
This was his response to the plagues
And his response and attitude shows us the signs of a hard heart
The first is blatant disobedience
Ya’ll have heard me say many times
God will not bless blatant disobedience
Pharaoh’s initial response was blatant disobedience and that never did not change completely
He absolutely refused to do what he was told to do and when he finally did, he quickly changed his mind and tried to take it back
I can hear him in my mind
“Who does this God think He is to tell me what to do?”
“Stay out of my business God”
“I’m in charge here God”
Or like a little kid- “make me”
Because of his disobedience Pharaoh does just the opposite of what God wants
God says let my people go ----Pharaoh increases the oppression
You ever have a horse or a mule that you are training
They are coming along nicely
Then something changes
And they just refuse to do what you are asking
Maybe they have already been taught that particular thing, like side passing or opening gates
But they will not do it- maybe sull up , maybe buck or runoff- but absolutely will not do what you want
Or
Maybe you had a kid who knows better has been taught better but does something wrong anyway
Like--Sticks his hand in the cookie Jar while looking right at you, and just keeps on doing it
Maybe that was you
Or is still you
That is blatant disobedience
Knowing right and choosing wrong
I know some of you are thinking
Bad Pharaoh
How could you do that Pharaoh?
I hate to tell you this
We and Pharaoh have some things in common
Maybe more than we want to admit
We do some of the same things he did
And when do
We also do them because of a hard or hardening heart
We often call it walking away from God
Turning our back on God
Closing our ears to God
Sometimes we even blame God and say he turned his back on us
But if we can’t see God---it is us who moved not God
Our relationship with God is a heart thing; it is always a heart thing
Pharaoh hardened his heart and blatantly refused to do what God desired
And so do we sometimes
So
Let’s make this blatant disobedience thing personal a little mashing on for all of us
God’s word is clear on sex outside of marriage
God’s word is clear on sexual immorality and adultery
God’s word is clear on letting anything take the place of him in our lives
Drugs, booze, hobbies, work, money
God’s word is clear on truthfulness, honesty, and integrity
His Word is clear on love, kindness, charity, hate and anger
God’s word is clear on giving, tithing, and serving
God’s word is clear on gossip and the sowing of discord, dissention and disunity
God’s word is clear on pride and self centeredness
God’s word is clear on indifference; he calls it being lukewarm and promises to spit us out of his mouth when we are
God’s word is clear on just about any subject you want to choose
And his word says if we love him we will obey him
But we like Pharaoh often choose wrong
When we chose wrong when we know right
We are blatantly disobedient
Just like Pharaoh
And this is a sign of a hardening heart
After the first plague Pharaoh and his hard heart
Simply ignored it and went inside—blatantly disobedient to God and his word
So God increased the pressure
The next sign of a Hardened or hardening heart is insincerity
Next God sent the plague of frogs
At first this does not seem to be that bad of a plague
Frogs are not real scary critters
Actually they are kind of cute
In a slimy kind of way
But Imaging frogs everywhere
You can’t take a step
You can’t sit down
Everything you do
Everything you eat or drink
Frogs
Frogs in your bed
Frogs in your post toasties
Frogs in your underwear drawer
Croak – rib bit
Beady eyes always watching
It flat drove them crazy
So Pharaoh shows the second sign of a hardened heart
Insincerity
He called for Moses to help him
But he did not mean it
He said he would obey God
But he didn’t do it
Kind of like a bad apology
I’m sorry – But
Not sorry for what he had done, simply sorry he got caught
In his insincerity he had no intention of doing what he said once he got what he wanted
We are so much like Pharaoh sometimes it hurts
Telling someone –
I’ll be there and not showing up
I’ll pray for you and then not praying for them
Acting like we are concerned about their problems with no desire or intention of trying to help
Or on a personnel level
Making hasty resolutions
“This year I am going to read my bible all the way though and then stopping about February “
This year I’m going to give more - But
Serve more—well you know
Do more for God-- Uh
All the while like Pharaoh just saying the right stuff with no intention of following through
Insincerity is a sign of a hardening heart
Pharaoh said many times after the plagues
Ok God----I’ll do what you want
And then he did not do it
Just hollow
Empty
Insincere words
So the plagues continued
And more signs of a hard heart came out
The next sign of a hard or hardening heart is
Trying to bargain with God
Man this one hits us right in the face
Trying to make a deal with God
1) Pharaoh says you can Serve God but Stay in Egypt (8:25)
Verse 8:25
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. “All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God,” he said. “But do it here in this land.”
Next he says
2) Don’t Fully Commit Yourself
8:28
“All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God. But don’t go too far away. Now hurry and pray for me.”
3) Ok, you can worship----Just don’t push your beliefs on others
Exodus 10:8-11
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go and worship the LORD your God. But who exactly will be going with you?”
9 Moses replied, “We will all go—young and old, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds. We must all join together in celebrating a festival to the LORD.”
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The LORD will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones! I can see through your evil plan. 11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace.
4) Ok worship -But Don’t Commit Everything (10:24)
24 Finally, Pharaoh called for Moses. “Go and worship the LORD,” he said. “But leave your flocks and herds here. You may even take your little ones with you.”
Pharaoh wanted his cake and wanted to eat it too
Ok God I’ll do this if you do that
I’ll let them go on my terms God
Sounds so much like us sometimes
I could preach for days on all the deals we try to make with God
But here are just a few
If you are honest with yourself, I have no doubt you can find lots more
I’ll go where you want me God
Just don’t send to me Africa or – Alba
I’ll give more if --You
If you get me out of this mess—I’ll----
Don’t ask too much of me God
Don’t get in my business or in my life outside of Church God
Don’t ask me to share my faith with my friends and family
Don’t ask me to sacrifice anything to worship
God ----I’ll go to church and give and serve, just don’t ask me to ------
Pharaoh tries to make a deal, He thinks he has a better plan
But he does not and neither do we
You see
We can’t make deals with God
We can’t put conditions on our faith or our service or our worship
We can’t serve God without sacrifice
He wants us to worship him and him alone- His way- No deals – no better plans
He wants all of us, not just the leftovers
He wants life changing worship that comes from love and service and sacrifice
Life changing worship that flows out of our very pores
Affecting everyone and everything in our lives
The last sign of a hard or hardening heart is
Conviction without Commitment
As a result of the Plagues
Pharaoh finally saw the error of his ways and the consequences of his actions—Kind of
And admitted his sin once after the hail and again after the locusts
Pharaoh was convicted and, (9:27-30), “And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.
10:16-17
Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you,” he confessed. 17 “Forgive my sin, just this once, and plead with the LORD your God to take away this death from me.”
He relented
And admitted that he had sinned against God
And the Hebrews
He admitted that he and his people were wicked and that the Lord was righteous
But
Once again with the Buts
Pharaoh was convicted but he made no change.
Being convicted of our sins or even admitting our sin is not the same as being saved from our sins.
You can sit in a service with tears streaming down your face because of the deep conviction of your sins, but that does not save you.
It takes more than conviction it takes commitment.
To be delivered from our sins we must commit ourselves to the Lord through Jesus Christ
We can be convicted and remain unchanged
We can look at ourselves and see ourselves for what we are
And make no effort what so ever to change
Many say
That’s just the way I am
And turn their backs
Harden their hearts
Refuse to be moved
Refuse to be changed
Refuse to be transformed into something new
Stuck in their sin
Losing the blessing of their salvation
Or worse dyeing in their sins if they are living apart from Christ
Pharaoh was so much like us in his responses to God.
He was a man who reacted to each new circumstance in his life.
His principles if he had any were: Sin when you can get away with it, Ignore God when it is convenient, and Repent when you have no choice! Pray when everything else fails!
We know
Eventually Pharaoh lost.
He did what God wanted
He let the Hebrews go
But his hardened heart cost him way more than he thought he would have to pay
By then Egypt was in ruins.
Pharaoh had lost his kingdom.
In the last plague Egypt had been devastated by the death angel.
And Pharaoh had lost his son!
Even then he hardened his heart
And we know that he ultimately led himself and his army into total destruction at the bottom of the red sea
We will cover the last plague, the Passover and the parting of the sea
More in depth next week
But today, I ask you
What will it take before you will surrender to God?
For believers here this morning
We are blessed by grace that we will not share the same fate as Pharaoh and his army
We are sealed with the blood of Christ
Delivered into eternal life
But
Make no mistake
Even Christians can harden their hearts
And God can and will send plague into our lives when we do
Maybe not frogs and hail
But plagues of loss of blessings
Plagues of separation from fellowship with God
Plagues of the darkness that comes in the times when we are looking away from God and feel that we are all alone
Plagues of the loss of Purpose
Plagues of the loss of Direction
Plagues of the loss of Focus
The bible warns us as believers to be careful not to allow our hearts to be hardened
But there is good news
God and his word
In his mercy and grace can soften the hardest hearts
He through Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit
Can move our hard hearts to the moldable heart that he desires
We just have to listen and let him work in our lives
Surrender to him
Fully and completely
Pharaoh suffered terribly from his hard heart
His hard heart cost him an eternity in hell
He refused to see
Refused to accept
Refused to surrender to God
Many people want to point out that eventually God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
And I will agree
But Remember
God hardened an already hard heart not an obedient heart
If you decide to reject God long enough he will finally grant you your wish.
Only after Pharaoh had proceeded to harden his own heart; knowingly, willfully and sinfully, did God step in and harden his already hard heart
Pharaoh had a choice to make
He chose wrong
How will you choose this morning?
Will you choose to soften your heart and accept the Lordship of Jesus in your life?
Be obedient to him and his word
Will you maybe for the first time soften your heart and sincerely ask Jesus to save you
Change you?
If you are already a believer
Will you soften your heart and allow God to use you?
Will you quit with the deal making and “the me and Jesus got our own thing going” excuses
Stop riding the fence
And accept what he has for you
I can promise it is way better than anything you can get on your own
Will you look at the sincerity of your relationship with God and your responses to others?
Will you allow the Holy Spirit to truly convict you?
And when convicted
Will you make a new real commitment to be transformed by Jesus?
Or will you let a hard head turn into a hard heart and keep you from blessings or worse yet from salvation
Pharaoh hardened his heart and resisted the authority of God over his life.
And he lost it all
You don’t have to travel the same road he traveled
You have a choice
Close from the heart
Pray
