Proverbs 29:1 KJV He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
NIV A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed— without remedy.
What do you think of when you read this scripture? What do you think of when the Bible says "hardened hearts?" When we think of hardhearted people, most of us tend to think of avowed atheists such as Madalyn Murray O’Hair - the woman who was instrumental in removing prayer from public schools. Atheists like O’Hair ridicule the very idea of God. Whenever they refer to Christians, their words have a harsh, biting edge. Other atheists flaunt their hatred for God - such as the rock performer Marilyn Manson, who rips up Bibles during his stage show. Whenever we hear about such people, we think, "Those are the most hardhearted people in the world!" Or, we may think of militant gay activists who mock Christianity and blaspheme God’s name. Whenever we hear of such people, we think, "Their hearts have become hardened because of sin. They’re impossible to reach!"
I could go on and on, describing all kinds of scoffers, mockers, blasphemers, rejecters of Christ. And, indeed, each of these could accurately be described as being hardhearted. But if you want to discover the hardest hearts of all - the ones the Lord most despises - you have to look in God’s house. The hardest hearts are always found among his people! According to the Bible, The Hardness of Heart That God Most Despises Has to Do With the Hearing and Rejecting of His Word.
The Hebrew word for "reproved" in this verse refers to corrective teaching. And the word for "without remedy" here is "marpe" - meaning, "without a cure," "without any possibility of deliverance." This verse first tells us that hardness of heart comes as a result of rejecting repeated warnings - of pushing aside all wooings of the truth. And, second, it tells us that over time such hardness becomes impossible to cure. So, who are the people that most often hear these warnings? They are supposedly Christians - those who sit in God’s house each week listening to sermons of reproof!
Now, even those hard-hearted sinners I mentioned before can be turned, can’t they? They can one day come to God and experience His great love and mercy. The life of Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s son illustrates this. He had been raised in probably the most atheistic household in America. And he later worked for his mother, crusading against God and religion. But when he heard the gospel, he got gloriously saved - and he later became a minister, preaching Christ instead of cursing him. This man’s hardness was curable also - because he hadn’t sat under sermons of reproof and continually rejected them.
You may ask, "What exactly is a hard heart?" A hard heart is one that is determined to resist obeying God’s word. It has become impossible to stir, immune to the convictions and warnings of the Holy Spirit.
Please don’t mistake me: Hardening one’s heart is not just a matter of turning against God, or rejecting Christ, or refusing to go to church. The fact is, your heart can become hard even if you’re at church every time the doors are open. You can become hard while listening to teaching tapes...singing God’s praises...serving as an usher, a teacher, a member of the worship team. Indeed, you can become so hard to God’s word while performing acts of service that even if Jesus himself were to preach from the pulpit, you would turn a deaf ear to him! Right now, you may be saying to yourself, "Whoa! This all sounds a little too scary for me." Rest assured, I don’t want to frighten anyone into contrition of heart. But the truth is, if you regularly ignore the warnings of God’s word, you’d better start attending the deadest church you can find. That way you won’t be judged as severely as you would by continuing to sit in a Holy Ghost church and reject the anointed word you hear. If you keep doing that, your heart will harden beyond any cure!
TEST YOURSELF FOR HARDENEING.....
1. How many times have you heard or read messages about the danger of neglecting daily prayer and Bible reading? Christians know that hard times are about to fall upon our society. And yet many Christians still refuse to pick up their Bibles or spend just five minutes speaking to their heavenly father. Beloved, if you neglect your secret closet at home - if you think praying at church takes care of all your needs - you will never survive the troubled days ahead. Think about it: If you won’t heed the word that is meant to heal and strengthen you in good times, how will you ever find power to overcome during the difficult days to come?
If you have ignored the Holy Spirit’s wooings to draw you to the secret closet for intimacy, then you have taken the first step toward hardness of heart. You may fill all your time doing good works, blessing people and pouring your heart out in Christian service. But if you neglect time with the Lord - refusing to seek his face or heed his word - you will become weak, fearful, depressed, and finally a prey for the devil. Having a personal knowledge of your heavenly father is the only way to prepare for what is coming!
2. How many times have you been warned of the awful consequences of gossip? PRO 20:19He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips. Here it is another way in the NIV A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.
At times, my warnings on the subject of gossip have been like soft, gentle rain - and at other times, they’ve been like rolling thunder. I have preached about how gossip and murmuring cost Israel everything. Time after time, the Israelites were warned of the dangers of this sin.....mostly talking behind Moses’ back. But they persisted in disobeying the Lord - and it brought them a lifetime of misery in a snake-infested desert!
Now, let me ask you: Have you said something against a brother or a sister during the past week - something you had no business repeating? Or have you listened to any gossip about that person? If so, did you allow a seed of doubt about him or her to be planted in your soul? I ask you - how could you continue to gossip, in light of all the warnings you’ve heard? Have you started down the path toward hardness of heart!
3. How many warnings have you heard against harboring a secret sin?
What about that one sin in your heart - the one that God’s Spirit has continually spoken to you about? You know the dangers of flirting with a pet sin. Yet you also know of God’s resurrection power. You know that the Lord both endues us with overcoming power through his Spirit, and puts a will in our hearts to do right. I have preached this all along! Yet, some christians still carouse and cuss and allow themselves to be places that they know God doesn’t want them to be!
Who dares to sit under loving reproof week after week and yet go on sinning, never allowing conviction to sink in? It is someone who’s heading down the path toward hardness of heart!
It Is Possible to Love Hearing God’s Word - to Appreciate And Approve of What Is Preached - and Yet Grow Incurably Hard While Listening!
You can sincerely believe you have accepted a sermon simply because you have heard it, thought about it and discussed it over Sunday dinner. Yet you can do all that and still be a hearer only - and not a doer of God’s word!
The children of Israel loved to hear the powerful preaching of Ezekiel - but they never obeyed it: Ezekiel 33:31-32 "They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice...for they hear thy words, but they do them not"
The book of Hebrews gives us a powerful warning: Hebrews 3:7-8"As the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness" It goes on to say in verse 16 "For some, when they had heard, did provoke [rebel]..." These passages clearly show that hardness is not connected to atheism, communism or any other "ism" - but, rather, to hearing and not doing God’s word.
Israel gladly listened to the powerful preaching of the prophet Isaiah - yet they continually justified their sins, calling evil good and good evil. So, God instructed Isaiah :Isaiah 6:9-10 "...Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed" . Brothers and sisters, we need to see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and understand with our heart, and convert, and be healed" .
Right now you may be saying, "Yes, Pasor - I admit I’ve been neglecting God’s word. And I’m still bound by a besetting sin. Am I too hardened - too far gone - to receive the Lord’s healing touch?"
No - not at all! If you will begin to call on the Lord today, in the midst of your need, he will bring you times of refreshing. Whenever you bring to him a truly repentant heart, he will act not as your judge, but as your mediator and intercessor. Right now he is saying to you, "Just call on me, and I will do it for you. I will come to you, supplying all you need to keep your heart tender and broken before me." Are you tired? Jesus says "come unto me; I will give you rest."
Do you want to grow into maturity in Christ? Do you want the Lord to keep reproving you in love and guiding you toward life and godliness? Then call on him today. Nothing will keep you on his intended path for you more than a broken and contrite heart!
