Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?

Hardened Hearts - Part 1 of 3

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2018-03-25

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines Mark 6:52 and Mark 8:13-21 to show that hardened hearts are not limited to unbelievers but can afflict believers, even Christ's own disciples. He defines the biblical heart as the mind, understanding, and reasoning faculties, and explains that hardening is a progressive callousing that results from imperfect consideration of God's works, leading to improper reasoning and incomplete perception. The sermon warns that this cycle feeds on itself, producing small faith and exasperating the Lord, and calls believers to consider, reason, and perceive rightly what God does in their lives and in the lives of others.

[John Weaver] Alright, that was Mark 6 and verse 52. The title of the message is Hardened Hearts. Hardened Hearts. And this is going to be the first of a three part series, so Lord willing, The other two will take place in the next two Sundays. So look at Mark 6 and verse 52. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. Now if you look at Mark chapter 8, you will find the story again. Notice beginning there with verse 13. And He left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.

[John Weaver] And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians, or Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet, neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see you not, and having ears, hear you not?

[John Weaver] And do you not remember? When I break the five loaves among the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They said unto him, Twelve. And with the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that you do not understand? When we think of hardened hearts, we normally think of the unsaved, the belligerent, and the rebellious. We think of men that will not be taught, warned, pleaded with, or exhorted under any circumstances.

[John Weaver] We think of those who have what we would call blunted feelings and, of course, who had moral, I guess, insensibilities would be the correct word, or their moral sensibilities were certainly lacking. In fact, when we think of hardened hearts, our mind usually goes to a passage like Proverbs 29, verse 1. He that being often reproved and hardened at this neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. We're told in the book of Proverbs chapter 1 in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And then you get to Proverbs 14 in verse 9, the Bible says that fools make a mock at sin. So when you think about an individual who refuses instruction and refuses wisdom, and someone who makes fun and mocks at sin, you would automatically think that that individual is certainly one that possesses what is known as a hardened heart. Well, while that is probably true and undoubtedly true, in our text, it is not the fool, it is not the mocker, it is not the unsaved, It is not the pagan that contains the hardened hearts.

[John Weaver] It is believers. And moreover, it is our Lord's own disciples. And if we are to argue from the greater to the lesser, when you stop and think that here were men who spent three years of their lives with our Lord, they watched Him, they saw Him, they heard Him, they were with Him, they saw Him perform miracle after miracle, If these individuals who had regular, daily conversations with our Lord, if they could have hardened hearts, how much easier is it for you and me to have our hearts hardened when we are not with our Lord like they certainly were?

[John Weaver] Now, before I get started today, I want to remind you of a very simple truth. One I preached many years ago in times past. I'm going to just refresh your mind with it. The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties. For instance, the very first time the word heart is used in the Bible is Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And the Bible tells us that God saw the thoughts of their heart. So whatever the heart is, it can think, because God saw the thoughts of the heart. When you get to Genesis 8, verse 21, the Bible tells us that the imaginations of the heart in man are only evil continually. So whatever the heart is, obviously it can imagine as well. And then when you get to Genesis 27, verse 41, the Bible tells us that Esau said in his heart, so the heart can speak. And of course, In Matthew 5, verses 27 and 28, our Lord tells us that the heart somehow is intimately connected with the eyes.

[John Weaver] For in that passage He said, you have heard it said of them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But verily I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman and lusts after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. So there is a connection between the eyes and the heart. if you will very quickly turn in your Bibles, holding the book of Mark, chapter 8, but go to the book of Daniel, chapter 4, if you would, please. Daniel, chapter 4.

[John Weaver] And we're going to be looking at a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. You know that Nebuchadnezzar was a proud, arrogant, haughty monarch, and God had decreed to take him down to size. Without me going into all of the ramifications of this, Just look what happens in Daniel 4, verse 16. God says concerning Nebuchadnezzar, let his heart be changed from a man's, let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. So that which was to be changed in him was his heart. He was to be given a beast's heart. And this phrase, let seven times pass over him, It's just simply the Chaldean way of saying seven years. So literally, for seven years, Nebuchadnezzar was going to be driven insane. He was going to live like an animal. If you read the rest of Daniel chapter 4, you will find that he was driven from men, and he ate grass like an oxen. His hair grew like bird's feathers, his fingernails like bird's claws, and he was literally insane for seven years.

[John Weaver] And then God restored him. And I want you to look in verse 34 at what he said. But before we read verse 34, look back at verse 16 one last time. God says, let his heart be changed from a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him. So now go to verse 34. At the end of the day, Zion and Epigenesia lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine what?

[John Weaver] my understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation."

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll skip down to verse 36, he'll say the same thing in a different way. At the same time, my reason returned unto me. So when God changed His heart, He changed his understanding. He changed his reasoning ability. He could no longer think and act like a man. He now began to think and act like an animal. Thus, when the Lord is speaking then of a hardened heart, in Mark 6 and Mark 8, He is talking about a hardened mind. Or a hardened understanding or reasoning faculty.

[John Weaver] One that does not function properly. With that in mind, I want you to look back first to Mark 8, and notice if you would, verse 17, because I'm going to show you that the Word is exactly the same in Mark 8 and also in Mark 6. Notice in Mark 8, verse 17, our Lord says, And when Jesus doeth, He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread?

[John Weaver] Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? your heart yet hardened. And then if you look in Mark 6 in verse 52, there's the point blank statement, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened.

[John Weaver] Now, the Greek word for hardened is poro, which is actually from the word porous, which is a kind of stone. Incidentally, the word is translated blind twice in our Bibles. Actually, the word means to cover with a thick callous or a thick skin, or become hardened with a callous. So it means to make the heart dull, to grow hard, to become callous, to become dull, to lose the power of understanding.

[John Weaver] Now anyone who's ever done any manual labor whether it's with an axe, or with a hammer, or shovel, or whatever, you notice if you do not wear gloves, pretty soon you will develop calluses. And obviously, those calluses are very helpful. I find this amusing. Those individuals who happen to shoot glocks quite frequently have a little thing called glock finger. And glock finger is just simply this middle finger right here that goes under the trigger guard where Rob rubs constantly against that metal and you'll pretty soon find out that you'll develop a callus right there because you're constantly rubbing that up against that little trigger well and so obviously yeah calluses come and they are on the heart as well.

[John Weaver] Literally what this word refers to is what you and I would call an obtuseness of mental discernment or a dull perception or a lack of consideration and a lack of understanding. So let me try to give you a good illustration of what it means to have a hardened mind or a hardened heart. If you will hold Mark 6, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Job 39. Job 39. In this passage, God is questioning Job.

[John Weaver] demonstrating the fact that He's God, and certainly Job is not. But notice, if you would, what He says in Job 39, beginning there with verse 13. Watch carefully. We're talking about the ostrich. Job 39, verse 13, God asks, Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? Are wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Now look what the ostrich does. which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them." Now watch verse 16.

[John Weaver] She is hardened against her young ones as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without fear. So why would she do that? Verse 17. Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. So the ostrich then will lay her eggs in the dust, or in the dirt, and cover them with dirt, leave the dirt to hatch them. Never goes back.

[John Weaver] A predator could find them and eat them. Someone could step on them and crush them. But that's because she has a hardened heart toward her young. just simply does not even think of them anymore. The interesting thing about this is that this very illustration is used and applied by Jeremiah. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 4. You remember Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah on the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is rightly referred to as the weeping prophet, because he watched his nation and his people literally destroyed. And the siege of Jerusalem was absolutely horrible. A million, at least a million people were killed, some with starvation, some by the sword. But let me just show you how very difficult that siege was. In Lamentations chapter 4, beginning there with verse 7, Jeremiah writes, her Nazarites were purer than snow.

[John Weaver] They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was of sapphire.

[John Weaver] Now watch, that's what they were. Now he says in verse 8, their visage is blacker than a coal. And they are not known in the streets. Their skin cleaveth to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick. So they were actually starving to death inside Jerusalem because they were surrounded by the Romans. If you went out, you died. Notice if you would, Jeremiah says in verse 9, they that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with the hunger. For these, that is the ones who starve to death, pine away. Notice they pine away.

[John Weaver] stricken through for one of the fruits of the fields. So if you were killed with a sword, at least you died very quickly. If you starve to death, it's long and painful. And then he says this, the hands of the pitiful women have soddened their own children. They were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. So he says that these women actually killed, cooked, and ate their own children during this siege. Their hearts were so hardened, instead of protecting their children and sacrificing for their children, they killed them and ate them.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to watch. Go back up, if you would please, to verse 3. Here's what Lamentations tells us about these people, and especially these women. Jeremiah says, even the sea monsters draw out the breast They give suck to their young ones. The daughter of my people is become cruel like the ostriches in the wilderness." So just like the ostrich was hardened toward her own young, likewise now he says these women during the siege of Jerusalem were hardened toward their own young as well. Now you can say, well, I can certainly understand that. I mean, that was during a time of warfare, that was a time of siege, and people were just doing whatever they had to do. I mean, that was then. Something like that is not happening today, really. Well, I just read within the last week or two about a young woman in Clovis, California, who was a college student.

[John Weaver] She gave birth to a baby girl and promptly took the baby girl, pitched her in the garbage bin, and went back to class. And nothing had happened. Just this past week, I also read of a teenage girl who had a baby. She then took a knife and stabbed her baby seven times, wrapped it in a blanket, and threw it in the shed. What about abortion? What about infanticide? I'm just simply saying we have the same thing today. Today, it's just more culturally accepted. Or we could say our hearts have just become more hardened to the reality.

[John Weaver] So Jeremiah is using this then as an illustration. Now, the interesting thing about the word hardened here is the word actually indicates a process And that process is what you and I would know as petrification. Petrification is where some type of organic matter, when it's exposed to minerals, becomes harder and harder and harder until eventually it is turned literally into stone. This process of hardening our hearts not only repeats itself, but it also builds upon itself. So I want to show you from the Bible about hardened hearts, where we are, and how these hardened hearts are acquired.

[John Weaver] So if you look at Mark 6 and verse 52, we have a very pointed statement by our Lord concerning His disciples. Look what the Bible says. Mark 6 and verse 52, For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened." Well, let me ask you a question. Why did they not consider the miracle of the loaves? The answer is, because their heart was hardened. Now, here's the first thing that will lead to a hardened heart.

[John Weaver] It is called imperfect consideration. for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, because their heart was hardened." So, when God tells us when we fail to consider, when we fail to reflect and meditate upon that which our Lord has done and still continues to do for us, the process of hardening continues. It literally feeds upon itself. You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself. It builds upon itself. You don't do it because you have hardened heart. And when you don't do it, your heart becomes even harder. They refuse to consider.

[John Weaver] Now, in this context, and we'll see it not only in Mark 6 and Mark 8, but also in Matthew 16. Actually, the disciples were in a boat. Our Lord had sent them away. They were rowing. There was a storm. He walked them on the water, and of course they were frightened. And the reason for their fear and unbelief during the storm and seeing our Lord walking upon the water is directly related to them having hardened hearts because they failed to consider the miracle of the loaves.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to think about this. These disciples had not only seen the miracle, They participated in the miracle. Because when our Lord broke the bread and broke the fishes, He then delivered to His disciples, who then turned around and delivered to the people who were seated. They may have failed to consider it, but they did not necessarily fail to remember it or recollect it. They may have had an intellectual acknowledgment of the fact that this miracle happened, But they had not actually looked at the implications of it and made any applications to their own lives.

[John Weaver] Now, when he says, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, the word considered here is the Greek word tsunami, which literally means to set or to bring together, to join together in the mind, to perceive clearly, to comprehend thoroughly and to understand. They did not join these things together in their mind. They may have remembered it, but they really did not consider it. If our Lord took five loaves and two fishes and fed 5,000 men, not counting the women and the children, He was not only a miracle worker, He was God. He was God in the flesh. And if our Lord could walk calmly upon the sea during a storm, He had to be the God who controlled all of the elements. So, obviously, there is more to this miracle than just simply multiplying the loaves and multiplying the fish.

[John Weaver] And this is what he's saying. They failed to consider it.

[John Weaver] Now, Samuel, the prophet, admonished the people in 1 Samuel 12 and verse 24, He said this to the Israelites. He said, only fear the Lord and serve Him with all your heart, for consider how great things He has done for you. There's that word. Consider how great things He has done for you. Let me tell you something. We don't really consider what God has done for us. We really do not think about... We may say, thank you, Lord, for doing this. We may acknowledge that He's done it. But we don't really break it down and consider it and note the implications and note the applications and then live according to our understanding on it. We just simply accept what He's given us and what He's done for us.

[John Weaver] Let me show you a New Testament example. I want you to look in Acts 12. In Acts 12, Peter has been arrested by Herod. Herod had already killed James with the sword. And now Peter's next. Peter's supposed to be executed. And the Lord sovereignly and powerfully and miraculously delivered Peter. So look in Acts 12, beginning there with verse 5, and I always get kind of tickled every time I read this passage, and I'll explain why momentarily. The Bible says in verse 5, Peter therefore was kept in prison.

[John Weaver] But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. When Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison." Now to me that would seemingly be uncomfortable anyhow, because you're sleeping between two soldiers, you're bound with two chains. Now watch verse 7. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. And he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell from off his hands."

[John Weaver] Now, I have a question. How many of you, if you knew that you were going to be executed tomorrow, would sleep so soundly tonight that someone would have to smite you to wake you up? I mean, you know, it seems that Peter was not really concerned. I mean, you know, he's sleeping, and the angel has to come and smite him. Watch verse 8. And the angel said unto him, gird thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out and followed him, and wist not that it was true which was done by an angel that thought he saw a vision, or thought he was dreaming.

[John Weaver] When they were past the first and second ward, they came into the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord. And they went out and passed on through the one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, when he finally woke up, when he realized, he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews, And when he had

[John Weaver] considered the thing, ah, there it is, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. How did he come to the conclusion, now I know of a surety that the Lord had sent his angel and had delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews, because he considered the thing. Iron gates do not open by themselves. Chains do not fall off by themselves.

[John Weaver] And he said, God has done this. Now the point I'm trying to make is this. Whatever God does for us, or does to us, there should be proper consideration. Because God does not make any mistakes. There are no accidents in a world that's ruled by God. And here these disciples of our Lord possessed a hardened heart because of imperfect consideration. Let me show you something. Go if you would now to Mark chapter 8. Because here's the second thing that leads to a hardened heart. I'm going to show it to you, but I want you to think with me. An imperfect consideration will always lead, secondly, to an improper reasoning. Watch this. Mark 8, verse 15. Mark 8, verse 15.

[John Weaver] And He charged them, saying, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians." And they reasoned among themselves saying, it's because we have no bread. When Jesus knew it, He said unto them, why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your hearts yet hardened? Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization. Our Lord warned very clearly in verse 15, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And then they reason in verse 16 saying it's because we have no bread. What?

[John Weaver] How can you even come to a conclusion like that? They reasoned among themselves, it is because we have no bread. By the way, the word reasoned here is the Greek word diologizomai. And it means to reason, to dispute, to cast about in the mind, to muse, to think, and to consider. It's actually made up of two Greek words, which actually means to bring together different reasons or to bring together and reckon up reasons and to revolve them in your mind and to deliberate upon them. So they are reasoning among themselves, but they're saying it's only because we have no bread.

[John Weaver] Now let me just lay this. Here is one obvious truth. I've already said it. I'm going to say it again. whenever there is imperfect consideration, inevitably there's going to be an improper reasoning. The book of Job is replete with improper reasoning. All you have to do is consider everything that Job's three friends said to him. Now, while they said a lot of things that were good, accurate, and true, They just didn't apply to Job. They did not really consider Job and or the sovereignty of God and what was actually happening in Job's life.

[John Weaver] And they ended up accusing him of being a hypocrite and being a huge, rebellious, wicked sinner. So their reasoning was fallacious. It was faulty. And in the end, of course, God condemned them and He said, My servant Job, he needs to pray for you, and if he doesn't pray for you, you're in big trouble. Because their reasoning was not based upon a proper consideration.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you how this works. Look in your Bibles, into the book of Mark chapter 2. Anytime you have an improper consideration or an imperfect consideration, you're going to have an improper reasoning. So in Mark chapter 2, And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Mark 2, verse 1. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days. It was noise that he was in the house.

[John Weaver] And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of thorns. And while they could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was, and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed where the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

[John Weaver] But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he saith unto them, Why reason ye such things in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk, but that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. For he said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.' And immediately he rose up, and took up his bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion." So here our Lord sees this man being lowered down in a bed, a sick man, and our Lord says, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

[John Weaver] and hear the scribes and they reason, this man is blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. Now how would they reason like that? Because of imperfect consideration. They did not consider any miracles that he had done. They did not consider any claims that he made. They did not consider that he was God in the flesh. So, if here is just a mere man attempting to say, thy sins be forgiven thee, they're saying it's blasphemy. So anytime you have an improper consideration or an imperfect consideration, it's always going to lead to what you and I would call an improper reasoning. They did not reason correctly because their consideration was imperfect.

[John Weaver] I want you to go back to Mark chapter 8. I want you to watch this. We're going to try to tie all this together for you just momentarily. So you have an imperfect consideration which will lead to a hardened heart, which will also lead to an improper reasoning, and then that always leads to what you and I would call an incomplete perception. Look in verse 17 of Mark chapter 8.

[John Weaver] And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason ye? Because you have no bread. Perceive ye not yet? Neither understand. Have ye your heart yet hardened?

[John Weaver] Now, the word perceived is an interesting word. The Greek word is noieo, and it means to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding, to think upon, to ponder, and consider. Here we go. Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception. You don't really see things as they truly and actually are. You can't. Now, I want you to see this. Look if you would.

[John Weaver] Let's begin at verse 14. Watch. We're going to read down through verse 16. Verse 14, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. Now wait a minute. They forget to take bread into the ship. And our Lord warns them of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians. So instead of perceiving and pondering what He has said, they reasoned inaccurately and they said, it's because we only have one loaf of bread. Do you really think that our Lord would be concerned as to whether or not there was one loaf or twenty loaves or a hundred loaves?

[John Weaver] So the question would be asked, why did they not perceive? Because they did not consider. And because they did not consider, they reasoned wrongly, and consequently, they had absolutely no idea what our Lord was talking about.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to read something to you, and then I want to come back and point this out. I believe really and truly that our Lord was exasperated at this point with His disciples. Watch, if you would, please. Let's begin reading with verse 16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. That was their conclusion. Now watch verse 17. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason you, because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your heart yet hard?

[John Weaver] having I see you not and having ears hear you not, and do you not remember? When I break the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up?" And they say in Him, twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, seven. And He said to them, how is it that you do not understand? Now, I want you to see this.

[John Weaver] Do you know what our Lord just has done? He has given nine questions rapid fire. He's nailed them. When he said in verse 21, how is it that you do not understand? I think if our Lord had been born in South Georgia, he would have probably said something like this. How stupid could you be? How ignorant can you be? What's wrong with you? Wake up, dummy! Smell the coffee!

[John Weaver] I want you to listen. Nine questions without stopping. Notice if you would. Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes see not, having ears hear not? And do you not remember when I break the five loaves and five thousand? Instead of 5,000, how many baskets full you took up? And with the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full did you take up? How is it that you do not understand? Nine questions without even slowing down.

[John Weaver] And then he culminates it. In verse 18, I want you to watch. He says, Having eyes, see ye not, and having ears, hear ye not, and do you not remember? Now wait a minute. He says, didn't you see what I did? Weren't you involved? Do you not remember? And when he's talking about remembering, it's not just holding in their mind what actually happened. He asked, when I fed the 5,000, that was 5,000 men, by the way, not counting the women and the children. It may have been 15,000. It may have been 20,000 there. He took five loaves and two fish and fed all of them. And then he asked, listen carefully, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? Not just how many baskets, but how many baskets full. They said, twelve. Well, what else? Four thousand. How many baskets full of fragments did you take up? Seven. Wait a minute. I fed 15,000 to 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish. I fed 4,000 with seven loaves.

[John Weaver] And you think my warning was about not having but one loaf of bread in the ship? Could I not take one loaf of bread and feed you forever if I wanted to? Do you follow what I'm saying? It was their hardened heart. It was the dullness of their mental faculties that kept them from understanding. You know, I've often wondered. To me, things are so plain in Scripture oftentimes. Not everything. But a lot of things are just so plain and so evident And you can't help but ask yourself, why is it that other Christians don't see these things? Well, now we know the answer. Because of hardened hearts. Hardened hearts are fed by imperfect consideration, which will lead to an improper reasoning, which will lead to an incomplete perception. And when that happens, the heart even gets harder. It feeds upon itself.

[John Weaver] If you'll go back to Matthew 16, when they finally understood, note if you would, we'll come back to this passage again momentarily. But look in Matthew 16 at verses 11 and 12. Our Lord is still asking them. How is it that you do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, but that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. So our Lord was warning them of the doctrine of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians.

[John Weaver] adorned on them after He rebuked them severely with these nine rapid-fire questions. Wow. So, we have to ask ourselves this question. Why is it that we do not see more, understand more, comprehend more? And the answer would be because of a hardened heart. And when we refuse to consider and refuse to reason and refuse to perceive, the heart gets harder and harder. It feeds upon itself.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a couple of applications, and I want you to look. Turn back in your Bibles. Hold Matthew 16. We'll come back there. But turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8. I want you to watch this. Here's the first application. And by the way, I want you to understand there is such a thing as a righteous anger. There is such a thing as a righteous exasperation. When you look in Mark 8 at verses 11 and 12, our Lord was exasperated with the Pharisees. Now they were unbelievers, that is true, but look at it. Mark 8 verse 11, And the Pharisees came forth and began to question him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. Watch.

[John Weaver] And he sighed deeply in his spirit. Oh, my soul, I can hear it. And he said, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say to you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation. He said, what's wrong with you people? All you want is a sign. So he's thoroughly exasperated with the Pharisees. And then when you get from verses 13-21, now he's exasperated with the obtuseness of his disciples.

[John Weaver] That's why he gives them those nine rapid fire questions, one right after the other. I said there is a righteous anger. Do you remember that passage in Mark chapter 3 when our Lord was teaching? And there was a man there with a withered hand. And they watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath day or not. And the Bible says that he looked around about them being grieved for the hardness of their heart. He looked around with anger being grieved for the hardness of their heart. And he told the man, stretch forth thy hand. And he did, and it was restored whole as the other. But there was a righteous anger. That's why the Bible says, Be ye angry in sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. I confess and I acknowledge that most of the time our anger is sinful.

[John Weaver] It's not used for the reason God has designed it. But our Lord's anger was a righteous anger. His exasperation was a righteous exasperation. which would lead me to this question. Do you think that our imperfect consideration and improper reasoning and incomplete perception exasperates our Lord as much today as it did back then? Do you think that oftentimes He might just look down and say, I don't know about those people. I don't understand. It's so plain. But they just will not think. They will not listen. They will not consider. I do believe that there is indeed a righteous exasperation.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you something else. Hardness of heart. will always evidence and manifest itself in a smallness of faith. If you'll go back in your Bibles to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. And let's begin reading there with verse 6. Here's the same episode. Matthew 16, verse 6. Then Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reason among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said to them, O ye of little faith, why reason you among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

[John Weaver] Do you not yet understand? Neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, how many baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I spake it to you not concerning the bread that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."

[John Weaver] But notice if you would, He said, O ye of little faith. A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith. So which brings me to this. If you and I do not really consider and reason accurately and perceive the things that God does for us and to us and through us, the result will be a hardened heart.

[John Weaver] Abortion does not upset most Christians today. Socialism does not upset most Christians today. Theft, adultery does not upset most Christians today. You know why? We've become hardened to those things. I want to show you one last passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 21, verse 32. Lord willing, I will build upon this next week. But I want you to note, put this down somewhere in your mind. The Lord requires us and holds us responsible not only to learn for what He does to us and for us and through us, But He also holds us responsible to learn from what He does to and through and in the lives of others that we know. Look in Matthew 21, verse 32.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said, For John, that is John the Baptist, came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. You wouldn't listen to him. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. Now watch. And you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Ah, what did our Lord say? You wouldn't listen to John the Baptist. You wouldn't repent when he demanded repentance. But the publicans and the harlots did.

[John Weaver] And you saw the change in their lives. You know what happened. You know the grace and the power and the mercy that was given to them. And when you had seen it, you repented not afterwards that you might believe. So God holds us accountable and responsible, not only for what He does in our lives, but what He does in the lives of others that we know. Because we need to give those things a perfect consideration if possible, so that we can have a proper reasoning and that we can have a complete perception of the situation.

[John Weaver] And until we do, we will continue with hardened hearts. Now here's the question. How do we get out of a hardened heart? And my answer is, You'll need to be here the next two Sundays to find out. Because obviously, if the disciples of our Lord had hardened hearts, it should be very easy for you and I to have hardened hearts. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for Your grace and Your mercy in our lives. We pray that You would teach us, build us up in the most holy faith. And Father, we do have to confess and acknowledge we do have and have had hardened hearts. And oftentimes, Father, we do indeed fail to even consider what You've done in our lives. We fail to reason. We fail to perceive. And we fail to make applications. And consequently, our hearts are hardened. We ask for Your divine forgiveness and mercy and that you'd teach us and lead us and build us up in the most holy faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray.

[John Weaver] Amen.

[John Weaver] so so

Hardened Hearts - Part 1 of 3

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	IIVc4Sv62iY
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-03-25
Dictation Name
Book	Book 112: Hardened Hearts — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	72

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: Hardened Hearts Among Believers

The sermon opens with Mark 6:52, noting that hardened hearts are typically associated with the unsaved, but in this text it is the disciples who are hardened.

Alright, that was Mark 6 and verse 52. The title of the message is Hardened Hearts. Hardened Hearts. And this is going to be the first of a three-part series, so Lord willing, the other two will take place in the next two Sundays. So look at Mark 6 and verse 52. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. Now if you look at Mark chapter 8, you will find the story again. Notice beginning there with verse 13. And He left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.

And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians, or Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet, neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see you not, and having ears, hear you not? And do you not remember? When I break the five loaves among the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They said unto him, Twelve. And with the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that you do not understand? When we think of hardened hearts, we normally think of the unsaved, the belligerent, and the rebellious. We think of men that will not be taught, warned, pleaded with, or exhorted under any circumstances.

We think of those who have what we would call blunted feelings and, of course, who had moral, I guess, insensibilities would be the correct word, or their moral sensibilities were certainly lacking. In fact, when we think of hardened hearts, our mind usually goes to a passage like Proverbs 29, verse 1. He that being often reproved and hardened at his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. We're told in the book of Proverbs chapter 1 in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And then you get to Proverbs 14 in verse 9, the Bible says that fools make a mock at sin. So when you think about an individual who refuses instruction and refuses wisdom, and someone who makes fun and mocks at sin, you would automatically think that that individual is certainly one that possesses what is known as a hardened heart. Well, while that is probably true and undoubtedly true, in our text, it is not the fool, it is not the mocker, it is not the unsaved, it is not the pagan that contains the hardened hearts.

The Biblical Definition of the Heart

The heart in Scripture refers to the mind, understanding, and reasoning faculties, as demonstrated by verses showing the heart thinks, imagines, and speaks.

Now, before I get started today, I want to remind you of a very simple truth. One I preached many years ago in times past. I'm going to just refresh your mind with it. The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties. For instance, the very first time the word heart is used in the Bible is Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And the Bible tells us that God saw the thoughts of their heart. So whatever the heart is, it can think, because God saw the thoughts of the heart. When you get to Genesis 8, verse 21, the Bible tells us that the imaginations of the heart in man are only evil continually. So whatever the heart is, obviously it can imagine as well. And then when you get to Genesis 27, verse 41, the Bible tells us that Esau said in his heart, so the heart can speak. And of course, in Matthew 5, verses 27 and 28, our Lord tells us that the heart somehow is intimately connected with the eyes.

For in that passage He said, you have heard it said of them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But verily I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman and lusts after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. So there is a connection between the eyes and the heart. If you will very quickly turn in your Bibles, holding the book of Mark, chapter 8, but go to the book of Daniel, chapter 4, if you would, please. Daniel, chapter 4. And we're going to be looking at a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. You know that Nebuchadnezzar was a proud, arrogant, haughty monarch, and God had decreed to take him down to size. Without me going into all of the ramifications of this, just look what happens in Daniel 4, verse 16. God says concerning Nebuchadnezzar, let his heart be changed from a man's, let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. So that which was to be changed in him was his heart. He was to be given a beast's heart. And this phrase, let seven times pass over him, it's just simply the Chaldean way of saying seven years. So literally, for seven years, Nebuchadnezzar was going to be driven insane. He was going to live like an animal. If you read the rest of Daniel chapter 4, you will find that he was driven from men, and he ate grass like an oxen. His hair grew like bird's feathers, his fingernails like bird's claws, and he was literally insane for seven years.

Nebuchadnezzar's Changed Heart

Daniel 4 shows that when God changed Nebuchadnezzar's heart to a beast's heart, his understanding and reason were altered, confirming the heart is the mind.

And then God restored him. And I want you to look in verse 34 at what he said. But before we read verse 34, look back at verse 16 one last time. God says, let his heart be changed from a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him. So now go to verse 34. At the end of the day, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine what? my understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.

Now, if you'll skip down to verse 36, he'll say the same thing in a different way. At the same time, my reason returned unto me. So when God changed His heart, He changed his understanding. He changed his reasoning ability. He could no longer think and act like a man. He now began to think and act like an animal. Thus, when the Lord is speaking then of a hardened heart, in Mark 6 and Mark 8, He is talking about a hardened mind. Or a hardened understanding or reasoning faculty.

The Meaning of 'Hardened'

The Greek word for hardened means to cover with a callous, indicating a process of becoming dull and losing the power of understanding.

One that does not function properly. With that in mind, I want you to look back first to Mark 8, and notice if you would, verse 17, because I'm going to show you that the Word is exactly the same in Mark 8 and also in Mark 6. Notice in Mark 8, verse 17, our Lord says, And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? And then if you look in Mark 6 in verse 52, there's the point blank statement, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened.

Now, the Greek word for hardened is poro, which is actually from the word porous, which is a kind of stone. Incidentally, the word is translated blind twice in our Bibles. Actually, the word means to cover with a thick callous or a thick skin, or become hardened with a callous. So it means to make the heart dull, to grow hard, to become callous, to become dull, to lose the power of understanding.

Now anyone who's ever done any manual labor whether it's with an axe, or with a hammer, or shovel, or whatever, you notice if you do not wear gloves, pretty soon you will develop calluses. And obviously, those calluses are very helpful. I find this amusing. Those individuals who happen to shoot Glocks quite frequently have a little thing called Glock finger. And Glock finger is just simply this middle finger right here that goes under the trigger guard where it rubs constantly against that metal and you'll pretty soon find out that you'll develop a callus right there because you're constantly rubbing that up against that little trigger well and so obviously, yeah, calluses come and they are on the heart as well.

Illustrations of Hardened Hearts

The ostrich in Job 39 and the women of Jerusalem in Lamentations 4 illustrate hardened hearts, showing a lack of natural affection and understanding.

demonstrating the fact that He's God, and certainly Job is not. But notice, if you would, what He says in Job 39, beginning there with verse 13. Watch carefully. We're talking about the ostrich. Job 39, verse 13, God asks, Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? Are wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Now look what the ostrich does. Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. Now watch verse 16.

She is hardened against her young ones as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without fear. So why would she do that? Verse 17. Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. So the ostrich then will lay her eggs in the dust, or in the dirt, and cover them with dirt, leave the dirt to hatch them. Never goes back.

A predator could find them and eat them. Someone could step on them and crush them. But that's because she has a hardened heart toward her young. She just simply does not even think of them anymore. The interesting thing about this is that this very illustration is used and applied by Jeremiah. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 4. You remember Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah on the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is rightly referred to as the weeping prophet, because he watched his nation and his people literally destroyed. And the siege of Jerusalem was absolutely horrible. A million, at least a million people were killed, some with starvation, some by the sword. But let me just show you how very difficult that siege was. In Lamentations chapter 4, beginning there with verse 7, Jeremiah writes, her Nazarites were purer than snow.

They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was of sapphire. Now watch, that's what they were. Now he says in verse 8, their visage is blacker than a coal. And they are not known in the streets. Their skin cleaveth to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick. So they were actually starving to death inside Jerusalem because they were surrounded by the Romans. If you went out, you died. Notice if you would, Jeremiah says in verse 9, they that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with the hunger. For these, that is the ones who starve to death, pine away. Notice they pine away.

stricken through for want of the fruits of the fields. So if you were killed with a sword, at least you died very quickly. If you starve to death, it's long and painful. And then he says this, the hands of the pitiful women have soddened their own children. They were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. So he says that these women actually killed, cooked, and ate their own children during this siege. Their hearts were so hardened, instead of protecting their children and sacrificing for their children, they killed them and ate them.

Now, I want you to watch. Go back up, if you would please, to verse 3. Here's what Lamentations tells us about these people, and especially these women. Jeremiah says, even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones. The daughter of my people is become cruel like the ostriches in the wilderness. So just like the ostrich was hardened toward her own young, likewise now he says these women during the siege of Jerusalem were hardened toward their own young as well. Now you can say, well, I can certainly understand that. I mean, that was during a time of warfare, that was a time of siege, and people were just doing whatever they had to do. I mean, that was then. Something like that is not happening today, really. Well, I just read within the last week or two about a young woman in Clovis, California, who was a college student.

The Process of Hardening: Imperfect Consideration

The disciples' hardened hearts began with failing to consider the miracle of the loaves; imperfect consideration feeds the hardening process.

So if you look at Mark 6 and verse 52, we have a very pointed statement by our Lord concerning His disciples. Look what the Bible says. Mark 6 and verse 52, For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. Well, let me ask you a question. Why did they not consider the miracle of the loaves? The answer is, because their heart was hardened. Now, here's the first thing that will lead to a hardened heart.

It is called imperfect consideration. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, because their heart was hardened. So, when God tells us when we fail to consider, when we fail to reflect and meditate upon that which our Lord has done and still continues to do for us, the process of hardening continues. It literally feeds upon itself. You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself. It builds upon itself. You don't do it because you have hardened heart. And when you don't do it, your heart becomes even harder. They refuse to consider.

Now, in this context, and we'll see it not only in Mark 6 and Mark 8, but also in Matthew 16. Actually, the disciples were in a boat. Our Lord had sent them away. They were rowing. There was a storm. He walked them on the water, and of course they were frightened. And the reason for their fear and unbelief during the storm and seeing our Lord walking upon the water is directly related to them having hardened hearts because they failed to consider the miracle of the loaves.

Now, I want you to think about this. These disciples had not only seen the miracle, they participated in the miracle. Because when our Lord broke the bread and broke the fishes, He then delivered to His disciples, who then turned around and delivered to the people who were seated. They may have failed to consider it, but they did not necessarily fail to remember it or recollect it. They may have had an intellectual acknowledgment of the fact that this miracle happened, but they had not actually looked at the implications of it and made any applications to their own lives.

Improper Reasoning and Incomplete Perception

Imperfect consideration leads to improper reasoning (Mark 8:15-17) and incomplete perception, as seen in the disciples' misunderstanding about bread.

And he said, God has done this. Now the point I'm trying to make is this. Whatever God does for us, or does to us, there should be proper consideration. Because God does not make any mistakes. There are no accidents in a world that's ruled by God. And here these disciples of our Lord possessed a hardened heart because of imperfect consideration. Let me show you something. Go if you would now to Mark chapter 8. Because here's the second thing that leads to a hardened heart. I'm going to show it to you, but I want you to think with me. An imperfect consideration will always lead, secondly, to an improper reasoning. Watch this. Mark 8, verse 15. Mark 8, verse 15.

And He charged them, saying, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians. And they reasoned among themselves saying, it's because we have no bread. When Jesus knew it, He said unto them, why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your hearts yet hardened? Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization. Our Lord warned very clearly in verse 15, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And then they reason in verse 16 saying it's because we have no bread. What?

How can you even come to a conclusion like that? They reasoned among themselves, it is because we have no bread. By the way, the word reasoned here is the Greek word dialogizomai. And it means to reason, to dispute, to cast about in the mind, to muse, to think, and to consider. It's actually made up of two Greek words, which actually means to bring together different reasons or to bring together and reckon up reasons and to revolve them in your mind and to deliberate upon them. So they are reasoning among themselves, but they're saying it's only because we have no bread.

Now let me just lay this. Here is one obvious truth. I've already said it. I'm going to say it again. Whenever there is imperfect consideration, inevitably there's going to be an improper reasoning. The book of Job is replete with improper reasoning. All you have to do is consider everything that Job's three friends said to him. Now, while they said a lot of things that were good, accurate, and true, they just didn't apply to Job. They did not really consider Job and or the sovereignty of God and what was actually happening in Job's life.

And they ended up accusing him of being a hypocrite and being a huge, rebellious, wicked sinner. So their reasoning was fallacious. It was faulty. And in the end, of course, God condemned them and He said, My servant Job, he needs to pray for you, and if he doesn't pray for you, you're in big trouble. Because their reasoning was not based upon a proper consideration.

Now, let me show you how this works. Look in your Bibles, into the book of Mark chapter 2. Anytime you have an improper consideration or an imperfect consideration, you're going to have an improper reasoning. So in Mark chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Mark 2, verse 1. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days. It was noised that he was in the house.

And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And while they could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was, and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed where the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he saith unto them, Why reason ye such things in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk, but that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. For he said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he rose up, and took up his bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. So here our Lord sees this man being lowered down in a bed, a sick man, and our Lord says, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

and hear the scribes and they reason, this man is blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. Now how would they reason like that? Because of imperfect consideration. They did not consider any miracles that he had done. They did not consider any claims that he made. They did not consider that he was God in the flesh. So, if here is just a mere man attempting to say, thy sins be forgiven thee, they're saying it's blasphemy. So anytime you have an improper consideration or an imperfect consideration, it's always going to lead to what you and I would call an improper reasoning. They did not reason correctly because their consideration was imperfect.

I want you to go back to Mark chapter 8. I want you to watch this. We're going to try to tie all this together for you just momentarily. So you have an imperfect consideration which will lead to a hardened heart, which will also lead to an improper reasoning, and then that always leads to what you and I would call an incomplete perception. Look in verse 17 of Mark chapter 8. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason ye? Because you have no bread. Perceive ye not yet? Neither understand. Have ye your heart yet hardened?

Now, the word perceived is an interesting word. The Greek word is noieo, and it means to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding, to think upon, to ponder, and consider. Here we go. Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception. You don't really see things as they truly and actually are. You can't. Now, I want you to see this. Look if you would.

Let's begin at verse 14. Watch. We're going to read down through verse 16. Verse 14, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. Now wait a minute. They forget to take bread into the ship. And our Lord warns them of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians. So instead of perceiving and pondering what He has said, they reasoned inaccurately and they said, it's because we only have one loaf of bread. Do you really think that our Lord would be concerned as to whether or not there was one loaf or twenty loaves or a hundred loaves?

Jesus' Righteous Exasperation

Jesus' nine rapid-fire questions in Mark 8:17-21 reveal His exasperation at the disciples' dullness, demonstrating a righteous anger at hardened hearts.

So the question would be asked, why did they not perceive? Because they did not consider. And because they did not consider, they reasoned wrongly, and consequently, they had absolutely no idea what our Lord was talking about. Now, I want to read something to you, and then I want to come back and point this out. I believe really and truly that our Lord was exasperated at this point with His disciples. Watch, if you would, please. Let's begin reading with verse 16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. That was their conclusion. Now watch verse 17. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason you, because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened?

Having eyes, see you not, and having ears, hear you not, and do you not remember? When I break the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they say unto Him, twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, seven. And He said to them, how is it that you do not understand? Now, I want you to see this.

Do you know what our Lord just has done? He has given nine questions rapid fire. He's nailed them. When he said in verse 21, how is it that you do not understand? I think if our Lord had been born in South Georgia, he would have probably said something like this. How stupid could you be? How ignorant can you be? What's wrong with you? Wake up, dummy! Smell the coffee!

I want you to listen. Nine questions without stopping. Notice if you would. Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes see not, having ears hear not? And do you not remember when I break the five loaves and five thousand? Instead of 5,000, how many baskets full you took up? And with the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full did you take up? How is it that you do not understand? Nine questions without even slowing down.

And then he culminates it. In verse 18, I want you to watch. He says, Having eyes, see ye not, and having ears, hear ye not, and do you not remember? Now wait a minute. He says, didn't you see what I did? Weren't you involved? Do you not remember? And when he's talking about remembering, it's not just holding in their mind what actually happened. He asked, when I fed the 5,000, that was 5,000 men, by the way, not counting the women and the children. It may have been 15,000. It may have been 20,000 there. He took five loaves and two fish and fed all of them. And then he asked, listen carefully, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? Not just how many baskets, but how many baskets full. They said, twelve. Well, what else? Four thousand. How many baskets full of fragments did you take up? Seven. Wait a minute. I fed 15,000 to 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish. I fed 4,000 with seven loaves.

Hardness of Heart Evidences Small Faith

In Matthew 16:8, Jesus calls the disciples 'O ye of little faith,' showing that a hardened heart cannot produce great faith.

Now, let me show you something else. Hardness of heart will always evidence and manifest itself in a smallness of faith. If you'll go back in your Bibles to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. And let's begin reading there with verse 6. Here's the same episode. Matthew 16, verse 6. Then Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reason among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said to them, O ye of little faith, why reason you among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

Do you not yet understand? Neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, how many baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I spake it to you not concerning the bread that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

But notice if you would, He said, O ye of little faith. A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith. So which brings me to this. If you and I do not really consider and reason accurately and perceive the things that God does for us and to us and through us, the result will be a hardened heart.

Application: Learning from God's Works in Others

Matthew 21:32 teaches that God holds us responsible to learn not only from His works in our lives but also from His works in the lives of others.

Abortion does not upset most Christians today. Socialism does not upset most Christians today. Theft, adultery does not upset most Christians today. You know why? We've become hardened to those things. I want to show you one last passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 21, verse 32. Lord willing, I will build upon this next week. But I want you to note, put this down somewhere in your mind. The Lord requires us and holds us responsible not only to learn for what He does to us and for us and through us, but He also holds us responsible to learn from what He does to and through and in the lives of others that we know. Look in Matthew 21, verse 32.

Our Lord said, For John, that is John the Baptist, came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. You wouldn't listen to him. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. Now watch. And you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Ah, what did our Lord say? You wouldn't listen to John the Baptist. You wouldn't repent when he demanded repentance. But the publicans and the harlots did.

And you saw the change in their lives. You know what happened. You know the grace and the power and the mercy that was given to them. And when you had seen it, you repented not afterwards that you might believe. So God holds us accountable and responsible, not only for what He does in our lives, but what He does in the lives of others that we know. Because we need to give those things a perfect consideration if possible, so that we can have a proper reasoning and that we can have a complete perception of the situation.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Hardened Hearts Are a Believer's Problem

Summary: The sermon emphasizes that hardened hearts are not just for the unsaved; even Christ's disciples suffered from this condition.

Evidence: In our text, it is not the fool, it is not the mocker, it is not the unsaved, it is not the pagan that contains the hardened hearts. It is believers. And moreover, it is our Lord's own disciples.

The Heart as the Mind and Understanding

Summary: The biblical heart refers to the mind, reasoning, and understanding, not merely emotions.

Evidence: The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties.

Hardening as a Progressive Callousing

Summary: Hardening is a process of petrification, where the heart becomes increasingly dull and calloused through repeated neglect.

Evidence: The word hardened here is the word actually indicates a process. And that process is what you and I would know as petrification.

Imperfect Consideration Leads to Hardening

Summary: Failing to consider and meditate on God's works causes the heart to harden, and the hardening further prevents consideration.

Evidence: When God tells us when we fail to consider, when we fail to reflect and meditate upon that which our Lord has done and still continues to do for us, the process of hardening continues.

Improper Reasoning Follows Imperfect Consideration

Summary: A lack of proper consideration inevitably leads to faulty reasoning and rationalization.

Evidence: Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization.

Incomplete Perception Results from Hardening

Summary: Hardened hearts prevent believers from truly perceiving and understanding spiritual truths.

Evidence: Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception.

Righteous Exasperation at Hardness

Summary: Jesus expressed righteous anger and exasperation at the hardness of heart in both Pharisees and disciples.

Evidence: He sighed deeply in his spirit... He's thoroughly exasperated with the Pharisees. And then when you get from verses 13-21, now he's exasperated with the obtuseness of his disciples.

Hardness of Heart Produces Small Faith

Summary: A hardened heart cannot produce great faith; it results in 'little faith' as Jesus told the disciples.

Evidence: A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith.

Key Arguments

Disciples' Hardened Hearts Prove Believers Can Be Hardened

Summary: If the disciples who spent three years with Jesus could have hardened hearts, it is even easier for modern believers to have hardened hearts.

Evidence: If these individuals who had regular, daily conversations with our Lord, if they could have hardened hearts, how much easier is it for you and me to have our hearts hardened when we are not with our Lord like they certainly were?

The Heart Is the Mind, Not Just Emotions

Summary: Scripture consistently uses 'heart' to refer to the mind, understanding, and reasoning, as seen in Genesis and Matthew.

Evidence: The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties. For instance, the very first time the word heart is used in the Bible is Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And the Bible tells us that God saw the thoughts of their heart.

Nebuchadnezzar's Transformation Illustrates Heart as Understanding

Summary: When God gave Nebuchadnezzar a beast's heart, his understanding and reason were changed, proving the heart is the mind.

Evidence: When God changed His heart, He changed his understanding. He changed his reasoning ability.

Hardening Is a Self-Feeding Process

Summary: Failure to consider God's works hardens the heart, and a hardened heart further prevents consideration, creating a vicious cycle.

Evidence: You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself.

The Disciples' Improper Reasoning About Bread

Summary: The disciples reasoned that Jesus' warning about leaven was about physical bread, showing their hardened hearts led to faulty reasoning.

Evidence: And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. When Jesus knew it, He said unto them, Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your hearts yet hardened?

Jesus' Nine Questions Reveal His Exasperation

Summary: Jesus' rapid-fire questions in Mark 8 demonstrate His righteous exasperation at the disciples' dullness and failure to understand.

Evidence: He has given nine questions rapid fire. He's nailed them.

Hardened Hearts Lead to Small Faith

Summary: Jesus directly linked the disciples' hardened hearts to their 'little faith' in Matthew 16:8.

Evidence: He said, O ye of little faith. A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith.

God Holds Us Accountable to Learn from Others' Experiences

Summary: Matthew 21:32 shows that God expects us to repent and believe when we see His work in others' lives.

Evidence: And you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. So God holds us accountable and responsible, not only for what He does in our lives, but what He does in the lives of others that we know.

Scripture References

Mark 6:52

Context: The key verse stating the disciples' hearts were hardened because they did not consider the miracle of the loaves.

Mark 8:13-21

Context: The parallel account where Jesus questions the disciples about their hardened hearts and failure to understand.

Proverbs 29:1

Context: Cited as a typical verse about hardened hearts, referring to one who is often reproved and hardens his neck.

Proverbs 1:7

Context: Mentioned to show that fools despise wisdom and instruction, contrasting with the disciples' issue.

Proverbs 14:9

Context: Fools make a mock at sin, used to describe the typical hardened heart, but not the disciples' case.

Genesis 6:5

Context: Used to show the heart thinks, as God saw the thoughts of their heart.

Genesis 8:21

Context: The imagination of man's heart is evil, showing the heart imagines.

Genesis 27:41

Context: Esau said in his heart, showing the heart can speak.

Matthew 5:27-28

Context: Jesus taught that lust in the heart is adultery, showing the connection between eyes and heart.

Daniel 4:16, 34, 36

Context: Nebuchadnezzar's heart was changed to a beast's heart, and his understanding returned when restored.

Job 39:13-17

Context: The ostrich is hardened against her young, deprived of wisdom and understanding.

Lamentations 4:3, 7-10

Context: The women of Jerusalem became cruel like ostriches, cooking their children during the siege.

1 Samuel 12:24

Context: Samuel admonished Israel to consider how great things God has done for them.

Acts 12:5-12

Context: Peter considered his miraculous deliverance and understood God had sent His angel.

Mark 2:1-12

Context: The scribes reasoned in their hearts that Jesus blasphemed, showing improper reasoning from imperfect consideration.

Matthew 16:6-12

Context: Jesus rebukes the disciples for little faith and explains the leaven is doctrine, not bread.

Mark 8:11-12

Context: Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit at the Pharisees seeking a sign, showing righteous exasperation.

Mark 3:1-5

Context: Jesus looked with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, before healing the withered hand.

Matthew 21:32

Context: Jesus said the religious leaders did not repent after seeing publicans and harlots believe John the Baptist.

Historical References

Siege of Jerusalem by the Romans

Context: Described as the context for Lamentations, where starvation led women to eat their children, illustrating hardened hearts.

Clovis, California college student incident

Context: A recent news story of a student who threw her newborn in the garbage, used as a modern example of hardened hearts.

Teenage girl stabbing her baby

Context: Another recent news story of a teen who stabbed her baby and threw it in a shed, illustrating contemporary hardness.

Important Quotes

For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened.

Significance: The foundational verse of the sermon, showing the direct link between failure to consider and a hardened heart.

When we think of hardened hearts, we normally think of the unsaved, the belligerent, and the rebellious. We think of men that will not be taught, warned, pleaded with, or exhorted under any circumstances.

Significance: Sets up the surprising twist that the text is about believers, not the unsaved.

It is believers. And moreover, it is our Lord's own disciples.

Significance: The central shocking point: hardened hearts can afflict even close followers of Christ.

The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties.

Significance: Defines the biblical heart, crucial for understanding what hardening means.

You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself.

Significance: Explains the self-perpetuating cycle of hardening.

Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization.

Significance: Connects the first step of hardening to the second.

Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception.

Significance: Summarizes the three-step progression of a hardened heart.

A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith.

Significance: Shows the practical consequence of hardness on one's faith.

Discussion Questions

Why is it surprising that the disciples had hardened hearts, and what does that imply for believers today?

Context: The sermon emphasizes that hardened hearts are not just for the unsaved but can affect those close to Jesus.

How does the biblical definition of the heart as the mind and understanding change the way we think about spiritual hardness?

Context: The speaker argues that the heart in Scripture refers to reasoning faculties, not just emotions.

In what ways can failing to 'consider' God's works lead to a hardened heart in our own lives?

Context: The sermon states that imperfect consideration feeds the hardening process.

Can you identify a time when improper reasoning about a situation led to spiritual dullness or misunderstanding?

Context: The disciples reasoned incorrectly about the leaven because they did not consider the miracles.

Why did Jesus respond with such strong exasperation to His disciples, and is such exasperation ever righteous today?

Context: Jesus asked nine rapid-fire questions, showing His frustration at their hardened hearts.

How does a hardened heart manifest as 'little faith,' and what can we do to cultivate greater faith?

Context: Jesus called the disciples 'O ye of little faith' in Matthew 16:8.

What are some modern examples of cultural hardness that Christians may have become desensitized to?

Context: The speaker mentions abortion, socialism, theft, and adultery as things that no longer upset most Christians.

How can we learn from what God does in the lives of others to prevent our own hearts from hardening?

Context: Matthew 21:32 shows God holds us accountable to learn from others' repentance and faith.

Applications

Examine Your Consideration of God's Works

Summary: Believers must intentionally consider and meditate on what God has done, is doing, and continues to do, to prevent heart hardening.

Evidence: When God tells us when we fail to consider, when we fail to reflect and meditate upon that which our Lord has done and still continues to do for us, the process of hardening continues.

Guard Against Improper Reasoning

Summary: Recognize that a lack of consideration leads to faulty reasoning; believers should test their thoughts against Scripture and God's character.

Evidence: Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization.

Seek Complete Perception Through Scripture

Summary: To avoid incomplete perception, believers must diligently study and apply God's Word, not just intellectually acknowledge it.

Evidence: Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception.

Learn from God's Work in Others

Summary: God expects believers to observe His grace and judgment in others' lives and respond with repentance and faith.

Cultivate Great Faith by Softening the Heart

Summary: Since a hardened heart produces small faith, believers should actively fight hardness through consideration, reasoning, and perception to grow in faith.

Evidence: A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith.

Be Sensitive to Cultural Hardness

Summary: Christians must guard against becoming desensitized to sin in society, such as abortion and immorality, by maintaining a tender heart through God's Word.

Evidence: Abortion does not upset most Christians today. Socialism does not upset most Christians today. Theft, adultery does not upset most Christians today. You know why? We've become hardened to those things.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T21:59:59Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T22:37:46Z

Clean Transcript

Hardened Hearts - Part 1 of 3

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Alright, that was Mark 6 and verse 52. The title of the message is Hardened Hearts. Hardened Hearts. And this is going to be the first of a three-part series, so Lord willing, the other two will take place in the next two Sundays. So look at Mark 6 and verse 52. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. Now if you look at Mark chapter 8, you will find the story again. Notice beginning there with verse 13. And He left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
#1 | 0:01 to 1:01 | cleaned
And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians, or Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet, neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see you not, and having ears, hear you not?
#2 | 1:02 to 1:28 | cleaned
And do you not remember? When I break the five loaves among the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They said unto him, Twelve. And with the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that you do not understand? When we think of hardened hearts, we normally think of the unsaved, the belligerent, and the rebellious. We think of men that will not be taught, warned, pleaded with, or exhorted under any circumstances.
#3 | 1:29 to 2:06 | cleaned
We think of those who have what we would call blunted feelings and, of course, who had moral, I guess, insensibilities would be the correct word, or their moral sensibilities were certainly lacking. In fact, when we think of hardened hearts, our mind usually goes to a passage like Proverbs 29, verse 1. He that being often reproved and hardened at his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. We're told in the book of Proverbs chapter 1 in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And then you get to Proverbs 14 in verse 9, the Bible says that fools make a mock at sin. So when you think about an individual who refuses instruction and refuses wisdom, and someone who makes fun and mocks at sin, you would automatically think that that individual is certainly one that possesses what is known as a hardened heart. Well, while that is probably true and undoubtedly true, in our text, it is not the fool, it is not the mocker, it is not the unsaved, it is not the pagan that contains the hardened hearts.
#4 | 2:07 to 3:27 | cleaned
It is believers. And moreover, it is our Lord's own disciples. And if we are to argue from the greater to the lesser, when you stop and think that here were men who spent three years of their lives with our Lord, they watched Him, they saw Him, they heard Him, they were with Him, they saw Him perform miracle after miracle, if these individuals who had regular, daily conversations with our Lord, if they could have hardened hearts, how much easier is it for you and me to have our hearts hardened when we are not with our Lord like they certainly were?
#5 | 3:29 to 4:14 | cleaned
Now, before I get started today, I want to remind you of a very simple truth. One I preached many years ago in times past. I'm going to just refresh your mind with it. The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties. For instance, the very first time the word heart is used in the Bible is Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And the Bible tells us that God saw the thoughts of their heart. So whatever the heart is, it can think, because God saw the thoughts of the heart. When you get to Genesis 8, verse 21, the Bible tells us that the imaginations of the heart in man are only evil continually. So whatever the heart is, obviously it can imagine as well. And then when you get to Genesis 27, verse 41, the Bible tells us that Esau said in his heart, so the heart can speak. And of course, in Matthew 5, verses 27 and 28, our Lord tells us that the heart somehow is intimately connected with the eyes.
#6 | 4:15 to 5:33 | cleaned
For in that passage He said, you have heard it said of them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But verily I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman and lusts after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. So there is a connection between the eyes and the heart. If you will very quickly turn in your Bibles, holding the book of Mark, chapter 8, but go to the book of Daniel, chapter 4, if you would, please. Daniel, chapter 4.
#7 | 5:34 to 6:04 | cleaned
And we're going to be looking at a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. You know that Nebuchadnezzar was a proud, arrogant, haughty monarch, and God had decreed to take him down to size. Without me going into all of the ramifications of this, just look what happens in Daniel 4, verse 16. God says concerning Nebuchadnezzar, let his heart be changed from a man's, let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. So that which was to be changed in him was his heart. He was to be given a beast's heart. And this phrase, let seven times pass over him, it's just simply the Chaldean way of saying seven years. So literally, for seven years, Nebuchadnezzar was going to be driven insane. He was going to live like an animal. If you read the rest of Daniel chapter 4, you will find that he was driven from men, and he ate grass like an oxen. His hair grew like bird's feathers, his fingernails like bird's claws, and he was literally insane for seven years.
#8 | 6:04 to 7:17 | cleaned
And then God restored him. And I want you to look in verse 34 at what he said. But before we read verse 34, look back at verse 16 one last time. God says, let his heart be changed from a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him. So now go to verse 34. At the end of the day, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine what?
#9 | 7:19 to 7:46 | cleaned
my understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.
#10 | 7:47 to 8:01 | cleaned
Now, if you'll skip down to verse 36, he'll say the same thing in a different way. At the same time, my reason returned unto me. So when God changed His heart, He changed his understanding. He changed his reasoning ability. He could no longer think and act like a man. He now began to think and act like an animal. Thus, when the Lord is speaking then of a hardened heart, in Mark 6 and Mark 8, He is talking about a hardened mind. Or a hardened understanding or reasoning faculty.
#11 | 8:01 to 8:38 | cleaned
One that does not function properly. With that in mind, I want you to look back first to Mark 8, and notice if you would, verse 17, because I'm going to show you that the Word is exactly the same in Mark 8 and also in Mark 6. Notice in Mark 8, verse 17, our Lord says, And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread?
#12 | 8:39 to 9:09 | cleaned
Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? And then if you look in Mark 6 in verse 52, there's the point blank statement, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened.
#13 | 9:09 to 9:28 | cleaned
Now, the Greek word for hardened is poro, which is actually from the word porous, which is a kind of stone. Incidentally, the word is translated blind twice in our Bibles. Actually, the word means to cover with a thick callous or a thick skin, or become hardened with a callous. So it means to make the heart dull, to grow hard, to become callous, to become dull, to lose the power of understanding.
#14 | 9:29 to 10:04 | cleaned
Now anyone who's ever done any manual labor whether it's with an axe, or with a hammer, or shovel, or whatever, you notice if you do not wear gloves, pretty soon you will develop calluses. And obviously, those calluses are very helpful. I find this amusing. Those individuals who happen to shoot Glocks quite frequently have a little thing called Glock finger. And Glock finger is just simply this middle finger right here that goes under the trigger guard where it rubs constantly against that metal and you'll pretty soon find out that you'll develop a callus right there because you're constantly rubbing that up against that little trigger well and so obviously, yeah, calluses come and they are on the heart as well.
#15 | 10:04 to 11:00 | cleaned
Literally what this word refers to is what you and I would call an obtuseness of mental discernment or a dull perception or a lack of consideration and a lack of understanding. So let me try to give you a good illustration of what it means to have a hardened mind or a hardened heart. If you will hold Mark 6, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Job 39. Job 39. In this passage, God is questioning Job.
#16 | 11:01 to 11:30 | cleaned
demonstrating the fact that He's God, and certainly Job is not. But notice, if you would, what He says in Job 39, beginning there with verse 13. Watch carefully. We're talking about the ostrich. Job 39, verse 13, God asks, Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? Are wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Now look what the ostrich does. Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. Now watch verse 16.
#17 | 11:39 to 12:22 | cleaned
She is hardened against her young ones as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without fear. So why would she do that? Verse 17. Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. So the ostrich then will lay her eggs in the dust, or in the dirt, and cover them with dirt, leave the dirt to hatch them. Never goes back.
#18 | 12:22 to 12:53 | cleaned
A predator could find them and eat them. Someone could step on them and crush them. But that's because she has a hardened heart toward her young. She just simply does not even think of them anymore. The interesting thing about this is that this very illustration is used and applied by Jeremiah. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 4. You remember Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah on the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is rightly referred to as the weeping prophet, because he watched his nation and his people literally destroyed. And the siege of Jerusalem was absolutely horrible. A million, at least a million people were killed, some with starvation, some by the sword. But let me just show you how very difficult that siege was. In Lamentations chapter 4, beginning there with verse 7, Jeremiah writes, her Nazarites were purer than snow.
#19 | 12:54 to 14:08 | cleaned
They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was of sapphire.
#20 | 14:09 to 14:15 | cleaned
Now watch, that's what they were. Now he says in verse 8, their visage is blacker than a coal. And they are not known in the streets. Their skin cleaveth to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick. So they were actually starving to death inside Jerusalem because they were surrounded by the Romans. If you went out, you died. Notice if you would, Jeremiah says in verse 9, they that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with the hunger. For these, that is the ones who starve to death, pine away. Notice they pine away.
#21 | 14:17 to 15:02 | cleaned
stricken through for want of the fruits of the fields. So if you were killed with a sword, at least you died very quickly. If you starve to death, it's long and painful. And then he says this, the hands of the pitiful women have soddened their own children. They were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. So he says that these women actually killed, cooked, and ate their own children during this siege. Their hearts were so hardened, instead of protecting their children and sacrificing for their children, they killed them and ate them.
#22 | 15:03 to 15:46 | cleaned
Now, I want you to watch. Go back up, if you would please, to verse 3. Here's what Lamentations tells us about these people, and especially these women. Jeremiah says, even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones. The daughter of my people is become cruel like the ostriches in the wilderness. So just like the ostrich was hardened toward her own young, likewise now he says these women during the siege of Jerusalem were hardened toward their own young as well. Now you can say, well, I can certainly understand that. I mean, that was during a time of warfare, that was a time of siege, and people were just doing whatever they had to do. I mean, that was then. Something like that is not happening today, really. Well, I just read within the last week or two about a young woman in Clovis, California, who was a college student.
#23 | 15:47 to 16:53 | cleaned
She gave birth to a baby girl and promptly took the baby girl, pitched her in the garbage bin, and went back to class. And nothing had happened. Just this past week, I also read of a teenage girl who had a baby. She then took a knife and stabbed her baby seven times, wrapped it in a blanket, and threw it in the shed. What about abortion? What about infanticide? I'm just simply saying we have the same thing today. Today, it's just more culturally accepted. Or we could say our hearts have just become more hardened to the reality.
#24 | 16:55 to 17:45 | cleaned
So Jeremiah is using this then as an illustration. Now, the interesting thing about the word hardened here is the word actually indicates a process. And that process is what you and I would know as petrification. Petrification is where some type of organic matter, when it's exposed to minerals, becomes harder and harder and harder until eventually it is turned literally into stone. This process of hardening our hearts not only repeats itself, but it also builds upon itself. So I want to show you from the Bible about hardened hearts, where we are, and how these hardened hearts are acquired.
#25 | 17:47 to 18:38 | cleaned
So if you look at Mark 6 and verse 52, we have a very pointed statement by our Lord concerning His disciples. Look what the Bible says. Mark 6 and verse 52, For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. Well, let me ask you a question. Why did they not consider the miracle of the loaves? The answer is, because their heart was hardened. Now, here's the first thing that will lead to a hardened heart.
#26 | 18:39 to 19:24 | cleaned
It is called imperfect consideration. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, because their heart was hardened. So, when God tells us when we fail to consider, when we fail to reflect and meditate upon that which our Lord has done and still continues to do for us, the process of hardening continues. It literally feeds upon itself. You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself. It builds upon itself. You don't do it because you have hardened heart. And when you don't do it, your heart becomes even harder. They refuse to consider.
#27 | 19:25 to 20:14 | cleaned
Now, in this context, and we'll see it not only in Mark 6 and Mark 8, but also in Matthew 16. Actually, the disciples were in a boat. Our Lord had sent them away. They were rowing. There was a storm. He walked them on the water, and of course they were frightened. And the reason for their fear and unbelief during the storm and seeing our Lord walking upon the water is directly related to them having hardened hearts because they failed to consider the miracle of the loaves.
#28 | 20:15 to 20:52 | cleaned
Now, I want you to think about this. These disciples had not only seen the miracle, they participated in the miracle. Because when our Lord broke the bread and broke the fishes, He then delivered to His disciples, who then turned around and delivered to the people who were seated. They may have failed to consider it, but they did not necessarily fail to remember it or recollect it. They may have had an intellectual acknowledgment of the fact that this miracle happened, but they had not actually looked at the implications of it and made any applications to their own lives.
#29 | 20:53 to 21:37 | cleaned
Now, when he says, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, the word considered here is the Greek word suniemi, which literally means to set or to bring together, to join together in the mind, to perceive clearly, to comprehend thoroughly and to understand. They did not join these things together in their mind. They may have remembered it, but they really did not consider it. If our Lord took five loaves and two fishes and fed 5,000 men, not counting the women and the children, He was not only a miracle worker, He was God. He was God in the flesh. And if our Lord could walk calmly upon the sea during a storm, He had to be the God who controlled all of the elements. So, obviously, there is more to this miracle than just simply multiplying the loaves and multiplying the fish.
#30 | 21:38 to 22:48 | cleaned
And this is what he's saying. They failed to consider it.
#31 | 22:48 to 22:51 | cleaned
Now, Samuel, the prophet, admonished the people in 1 Samuel 12 and verse 24, He said this to the Israelites. He said, only fear the Lord and serve Him with all your heart, for consider how great things He has done for you. There's that word. Consider how great things He has done for you. Let me tell you something. We don't really consider what God has done for us. We really do not think about... We may say, thank you, Lord, for doing this. We may acknowledge that He's done it. But we don't really break it down and consider it and note the implications and note the applications and then live according to our understanding on it. We just simply accept what He's given us and what He's done for us.
#32 | 22:52 to 23:43 | cleaned
Let me show you a New Testament example. I want you to look in Acts 12. In Acts 12, Peter has been arrested by Herod. Herod had already killed James with the sword. And now Peter's next. Peter's supposed to be executed. And the Lord sovereignly and powerfully and miraculously delivered Peter. So look in Acts 12, beginning there with verse 5, and I always get kind of tickled every time I read this passage, and I'll explain why momentarily. The Bible says in verse 5, Peter therefore was kept in prison.
#33 | 23:44 to 24:27 | cleaned
But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. When Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison. Now to me that would seemingly be uncomfortable anyhow, because you're sleeping between two soldiers, you're bound with two chains. Now watch verse 7. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. And he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell from off his hands.
#34 | 24:28 to 25:06 | cleaned
Now, I have a question. How many of you, if you knew that you were going to be executed tomorrow, would sleep so soundly tonight that someone would have to smite you to wake you up? I mean, you know, it seems that Peter was not really concerned. I mean, you know, he's sleeping, and the angel has to come and smite him. Watch verse 8. And the angel said unto him, gird thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out and followed him, and wist not that it was true which was done by an angel that thought he saw a vision, or thought he was dreaming.
#35 | 25:07 to 25:52 | cleaned
When they were past the first and second ward, they came into the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord. And they went out and passed on through the one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, when he finally woke up, when he realized, he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews, And when he had
#36 | 25:53 to 26:23 | cleaned
considered the thing, ah, there it is, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. How did he come to the conclusion, now I know of a surety that the Lord had sent his angel and had delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews, because he considered the thing. Iron gates do not open by themselves. Chains do not fall off by themselves.
#37 | 26:23 to 26:57 | cleaned
And he said, God has done this. Now the point I'm trying to make is this. Whatever God does for us, or does to us, there should be proper consideration. Because God does not make any mistakes. There are no accidents in a world that's ruled by God. And here these disciples of our Lord possessed a hardened heart because of imperfect consideration. Let me show you something. Go if you would now to Mark chapter 8. Because here's the second thing that leads to a hardened heart. I'm going to show it to you, but I want you to think with me. An imperfect consideration will always lead, secondly, to an improper reasoning. Watch this. Mark 8, verse 15. Mark 8, verse 15.
#38 | 26:59 to 28:14 | cleaned
And He charged them, saying, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians. And they reasoned among themselves saying, it's because we have no bread. When Jesus knew it, He said unto them, why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your hearts yet hardened? Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization. Our Lord warned very clearly in verse 15, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And then they reason in verse 16 saying it's because we have no bread. What?
#39 | 28:14 to 29:06 | cleaned
How can you even come to a conclusion like that? They reasoned among themselves, it is because we have no bread. By the way, the word reasoned here is the Greek word dialogizomai. And it means to reason, to dispute, to cast about in the mind, to muse, to think, and to consider. It's actually made up of two Greek words, which actually means to bring together different reasons or to bring together and reckon up reasons and to revolve them in your mind and to deliberate upon them. So they are reasoning among themselves, but they're saying it's only because we have no bread.
#40 | 29:11 to 30:05 | cleaned
Now let me just lay this. Here is one obvious truth. I've already said it. I'm going to say it again. Whenever there is imperfect consideration, inevitably there's going to be an improper reasoning. The book of Job is replete with improper reasoning. All you have to do is consider everything that Job's three friends said to him. Now, while they said a lot of things that were good, accurate, and true, they just didn't apply to Job. They did not really consider Job and or the sovereignty of God and what was actually happening in Job's life.
#41 | 30:06 to 30:57 | cleaned
And they ended up accusing him of being a hypocrite and being a huge, rebellious, wicked sinner. So their reasoning was fallacious. It was faulty. And in the end, of course, God condemned them and He said, My servant Job, he needs to pray for you, and if he doesn't pray for you, you're in big trouble. Because their reasoning was not based upon a proper consideration.
#42 | 30:57 to 31:26 | cleaned
Now, let me show you how this works. Look in your Bibles, into the book of Mark chapter 2. Anytime you have an improper consideration or an imperfect consideration, you're going to have an improper reasoning. So in Mark chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Mark 2, verse 1. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days. It was noised that he was in the house.
#43 | 31:26 to 31:55 | cleaned
And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And while they could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was, and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed where the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
#44 | 31:56 to 32:29 | cleaned
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he saith unto them, Why reason ye such things in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk, but that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. For he said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he rose up, and took up his bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. So here our Lord sees this man being lowered down in a bed, a sick man, and our Lord says, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
#45 | 32:30 to 33:37 | cleaned
and hear the scribes and they reason, this man is blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. Now how would they reason like that? Because of imperfect consideration. They did not consider any miracles that he had done. They did not consider any claims that he made. They did not consider that he was God in the flesh. So, if here is just a mere man attempting to say, thy sins be forgiven thee, they're saying it's blasphemy. So anytime you have an improper consideration or an imperfect consideration, it's always going to lead to what you and I would call an improper reasoning. They did not reason correctly because their consideration was imperfect.
#46 | 33:39 to 34:37 | cleaned
I want you to go back to Mark chapter 8. I want you to watch this. We're going to try to tie all this together for you just momentarily. So you have an imperfect consideration which will lead to a hardened heart, which will also lead to an improper reasoning, and then that always leads to what you and I would call an incomplete perception. Look in verse 17 of Mark chapter 8.
#47 | 34:38 to 35:05 | cleaned
And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason ye? Because you have no bread. Perceive ye not yet? Neither understand. Have ye your heart yet hardened?
#48 | 35:06 to 35:22 | cleaned
Now, the word perceived is an interesting word. The Greek word is noieo, and it means to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding, to think upon, to ponder, and consider. Here we go. Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception. You don't really see things as they truly and actually are. You can't. Now, I want you to see this. Look if you would.
#49 | 35:23 to 36:00 | cleaned
Let's begin at verse 14. Watch. We're going to read down through verse 16. Verse 14, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. Now wait a minute. They forget to take bread into the ship. And our Lord warns them of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians. So instead of perceiving and pondering what He has said, they reasoned inaccurately and they said, it's because we only have one loaf of bread. Do you really think that our Lord would be concerned as to whether or not there was one loaf or twenty loaves or a hundred loaves?
#50 | 36:00 to 37:03 | cleaned
So the question would be asked, why did they not perceive? Because they did not consider. And because they did not consider, they reasoned wrongly, and consequently, they had absolutely no idea what our Lord was talking about.
#51 | 37:05 to 37:22 | cleaned
Now, I want to read something to you, and then I want to come back and point this out. I believe really and truly that our Lord was exasperated at this point with His disciples. Watch, if you would, please. Let's begin reading with verse 16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. That was their conclusion. Now watch verse 17. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason you, because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened?
#52 | 37:23 to 38:03 | cleaned
Having eyes, see you not, and having ears, hear you not, and do you not remember? When I break the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they say unto Him, twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, seven. And He said to them, how is it that you do not understand? Now, I want you to see this.
#53 | 38:03 to 38:25 | cleaned
Do you know what our Lord just has done? He has given nine questions rapid fire. He's nailed them. When he said in verse 21, how is it that you do not understand? I think if our Lord had been born in South Georgia, he would have probably said something like this. How stupid could you be? How ignorant can you be? What's wrong with you? Wake up, dummy! Smell the coffee!
#54 | 38:26 to 39:03 | cleaned
I want you to listen. Nine questions without stopping. Notice if you would. Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes see not, having ears hear not? And do you not remember when I break the five loaves and five thousand? Instead of 5,000, how many baskets full you took up? And with the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full did you take up? How is it that you do not understand? Nine questions without even slowing down.
#55 | 39:03 to 39:40 | cleaned
And then he culminates it. In verse 18, I want you to watch. He says, Having eyes, see ye not, and having ears, hear ye not, and do you not remember? Now wait a minute. He says, didn't you see what I did? Weren't you involved? Do you not remember? And when he's talking about remembering, it's not just holding in their mind what actually happened. He asked, when I fed the 5,000, that was 5,000 men, by the way, not counting the women and the children. It may have been 15,000. It may have been 20,000 there. He took five loaves and two fish and fed all of them. And then he asked, listen carefully, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? Not just how many baskets, but how many baskets full. They said, twelve. Well, what else? Four thousand. How many baskets full of fragments did you take up? Seven. Wait a minute. I fed 15,000 to 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish. I fed 4,000 with seven loaves.
#56 | 39:42 to 41:06 | cleaned
And you think my warning was about not having but one loaf of bread in the ship? Could I not take one loaf of bread and feed you forever if I wanted to? Do you follow what I'm saying? It was their hardened heart. It was the dullness of their mental faculties that kept them from understanding. You know, I've often wondered. To me, things are so plain in Scripture oftentimes. Not everything. But a lot of things are just so plain and so evident. And you can't help but ask yourself, why is it that other Christians don't see these things? Well, now we know the answer. Because of hardened hearts. Hardened hearts are fed by imperfect consideration, which will lead to an improper reasoning, which will lead to an incomplete perception. And when that happens, the heart even gets harder. It feeds upon itself.
#57 | 41:07 to 42:33 | cleaned
If you'll go back to Matthew 16, when they finally understood, note if you would, we'll come back to this passage again momentarily. But look in Matthew 16 at verses 11 and 12. Our Lord is still asking them. How is it that you do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, but that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. So our Lord was warning them of the doctrine of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians.
#58 | 42:34 to 43:22 | cleaned
adorned on them after He rebuked them severely with these nine rapid-fire questions. Wow. So, we have to ask ourselves this question. Why is it that we do not see more, understand more, comprehend more? And the answer would be because of a hardened heart. And when we refuse to consider and refuse to reason and refuse to perceive, the heart gets harder and harder. It feeds upon itself.
#59 | 43:24 to 44:14 | cleaned
Now, let me make a couple of applications, and I want you to look. Turn back in your Bibles. Hold Matthew 16. We'll come back there. But turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8. I want you to watch this. Here's the first application. And by the way, I want you to understand there is such a thing as a righteous anger. There is such a thing as a righteous exasperation. When you look in Mark 8 at verses 11 and 12, our Lord was exasperated with the Pharisees. Now they were unbelievers, that is true, but look at it. Mark 8 verse 11, And the Pharisees came forth and began to question him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. Watch.
#60 | 44:14 to 45:06 | cleaned
And he sighed deeply in his spirit. Oh, my soul, I can hear it. And he said, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say to you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation. He said, what's wrong with you people? All you want is a sign. So he's thoroughly exasperated with the Pharisees. And then when you get from verses 13-21, now he's exasperated with the obtuseness of his disciples.
#61 | 45:07 to 45:41 | cleaned
That's why he gives them those nine rapid fire questions, one right after the other. I said there is a righteous anger. Do you remember that passage in Mark chapter 3 when our Lord was teaching? And there was a man there with a withered hand. And they watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath day or not. And the Bible says that he looked around about them being grieved for the hardness of their heart. He looked around with anger being grieved for the hardness of their heart. And he told the man, stretch forth thy hand. And he did, and it was restored whole as the other. But there was a righteous anger. That's why the Bible says, Be ye angry in sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. I confess and I acknowledge that most of the time our anger is sinful.
#62 | 45:46 to 46:38 | cleaned
It's not used for the reason God has designed it. But our Lord's anger was a righteous anger. His exasperation was a righteous exasperation. Which would lead me to this question. Do you think that our imperfect consideration and improper reasoning and incomplete perception exasperates our Lord as much today as it did back then? Do you think that oftentimes He might just look down and say, I don't know about those people. I don't understand. It's so plain. But they just will not think. They will not listen. They will not consider. I do believe that there is indeed a righteous exasperation.
#63 | 46:39 to 47:49 | cleaned
Now, let me show you something else. Hardness of heart will always evidence and manifest itself in a smallness of faith. If you'll go back in your Bibles to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. And let's begin reading there with verse 6. Here's the same episode. Matthew 16, verse 6. Then Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reason among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said to them, O ye of little faith, why reason you among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
#64 | 47:49 to 48:38 | cleaned
Do you not yet understand? Neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, how many baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I spake it to you not concerning the bread that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
#65 | 48:40 to 49:06 | cleaned
But notice if you would, He said, O ye of little faith. A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith. So which brings me to this. If you and I do not really consider and reason accurately and perceive the things that God does for us and to us and through us, the result will be a hardened heart.
#66 | 49:07 to 49:50 | cleaned
Abortion does not upset most Christians today. Socialism does not upset most Christians today. Theft, adultery does not upset most Christians today. You know why? We've become hardened to those things. I want to show you one last passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 21, verse 32. Lord willing, I will build upon this next week. But I want you to note, put this down somewhere in your mind. The Lord requires us and holds us responsible not only to learn for what He does to us and for us and through us, but He also holds us responsible to learn from what He does to and through and in the lives of others that we know. Look in Matthew 21, verse 32.
#67 | 49:59 to 51:13 | cleaned
Our Lord said, For John, that is John the Baptist, came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. You wouldn't listen to him. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. Now watch. And you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Ah, what did our Lord say? You wouldn't listen to John the Baptist. You wouldn't repent when he demanded repentance. But the publicans and the harlots did.
#68 | 51:13 to 51:44 | cleaned
And you saw the change in their lives. You know what happened. You know the grace and the power and the mercy that was given to them. And when you had seen it, you repented not afterwards that you might believe. So God holds us accountable and responsible, not only for what He does in our lives, but what He does in the lives of others that we know. Because we need to give those things a perfect consideration if possible, so that we can have a proper reasoning and that we can have a complete perception of the situation.
#69 | 51:46 to 52:30 | cleaned
And until we do, we will continue with hardened hearts. Now here's the question. How do we get out of a hardened heart? And my answer is, you'll need to be here the next two Sundays to find out. Because obviously, if the disciples of our Lord had hardened hearts, it should be very easy for you and I to have hardened hearts. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for Your grace and Your mercy in our lives. We pray that You would teach us, build us up in the most holy faith. And Father, we do have to confess and acknowledge we do have and have had hardened hearts. And oftentimes, Father, we do indeed fail to even consider what You've done in our lives. We fail to reason. We fail to perceive. And we fail to make applications. And consequently, our hearts are hardened. We ask for Your divine forgiveness and mercy and that you'd teach us and lead us and build us up in the most holy faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray.
#70 | 52:33 to 54:03 | cleaned
Amen.
#71 | 54:04 to 54:04 | cleaned
so so
#72 | 54:26 to 54:27 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T21:59:59Z

Hardened Hearts - Part 1 of 3

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines Mark 6:52 and Mark 8:13-21 to show that hardened hearts are not limited to unbelievers but can afflict believers, even Christ's own disciples. He defines the biblical heart as the mind, understanding, and reasoning faculties, and explains that hardening is a progressive callousing that results from imperfect consideration of God's works, leading to improper reasoning and incomplete perception. The sermon warns that this cycle feeds on itself, producing small faith and exasperating the Lord, and calls believers to consider, reason, and perceive rightly what God does in their lives and in the lives of others.

Introduction: Hardened Hearts Among Believers

The sermon opens with Mark 6:52, noting that hardened hearts are typically associated with the unsaved, but in this text it is the disciples who are hardened.

The Biblical Definition of the Heart

The heart in Scripture refers to the mind, understanding, and reasoning faculties, as demonstrated by verses showing the heart thinks, imagines, and speaks.

Nebuchadnezzar's Changed Heart

Daniel 4 shows that when God changed Nebuchadnezzar's heart to a beast's heart, his understanding and reason were altered, confirming the heart is the mind.

The Meaning of 'Hardened'

The Greek word for hardened means to cover with a callous, indicating a process of becoming dull and losing the power of understanding.

Illustrations of Hardened Hearts

The ostrich in Job 39 and the women of Jerusalem in Lamentations 4 illustrate hardened hearts, showing a lack of natural affection and understanding.

The Process of Hardening: Imperfect Consideration

The disciples' hardened hearts began with failing to consider the miracle of the loaves; imperfect consideration feeds the hardening process.

Improper Reasoning and Incomplete Perception

Imperfect consideration leads to improper reasoning (Mark 8:15-17) and incomplete perception, as seen in the disciples' misunderstanding about bread.

Jesus' Righteous Exasperation

Jesus' nine rapid-fire questions in Mark 8:17-21 reveal His exasperation at the disciples' dullness, demonstrating a righteous anger at hardened hearts.

Hardness of Heart Evidences Small Faith

In Matthew 16:8, Jesus calls the disciples 'O ye of little faith,' showing that a hardened heart cannot produce great faith.

Application: Learning from God's Works in Others

Matthew 21:32 teaches that God holds us responsible to learn not only from His works in our lives but also from His works in the lives of others.

Hardened Hearts - Part 1 of 3

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	IIVc4Sv62iY
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-03-25
Dictation Name
Book	Book 112: Hardened Hearts — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	72

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: Hardened Hearts Among Believers: The sermon opens with Mark 6:52, noting that hardened hearts are typically associated with the unsaved, but in this text it is the disciples who are hardened.
The Biblical Definition of the Heart: The heart in Scripture refers to the mind, understanding, and reasoning faculties, as demonstrated by verses showing the heart thinks, imagines, and speaks.
Nebuchadnezzar's Changed Heart: Daniel 4 shows that when God changed Nebuchadnezzar's heart to a beast's heart, his understanding and reason were altered, confirming the heart is the mind.
The Meaning of 'Hardened': The Greek word for hardened means to cover with a callous, indicating a process of becoming dull and losing the power of understanding.
Illustrations of Hardened Hearts: The ostrich in Job 39 and the women of Jerusalem in Lamentations 4 illustrate hardened hearts, showing a lack of natural affection and understanding.
The Process of Hardening: Imperfect Consideration: The disciples' hardened hearts began with failing to consider the miracle of the loaves; imperfect consideration feeds the hardening process.
Improper Reasoning and Incomplete Perception: Imperfect consideration leads to improper reasoning (Mark 8:15-17) and incomplete perception, as seen in the disciples' misunderstanding about bread.
Jesus' Righteous Exasperation: Jesus' nine rapid-fire questions in Mark 8:17-21 reveal His exasperation at the disciples' dullness, demonstrating a righteous anger at hardened hearts.
Hardness of Heart Evidences Small Faith: In Matthew 16:8, Jesus calls the disciples 'O ye of little faith,' showing that a hardened heart cannot produce great faith.
Application: Learning from God's Works in Others: Matthew 21:32 teaches that God holds us responsible to learn not only from His works in our lives but also from His works in the lives of others.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Disciples' Hardened Hearts Prove Believers Can Be Hardened

If the disciples who spent three years with Jesus could have hardened hearts, it is even easier for modern believers to have hardened hearts.

If these individuals who had regular, daily conversations with our Lord, if they could have hardened hearts, how much easier is it for you and me to have our hearts hardened when we are not with our Lord like they certainly were?

The Heart Is the Mind, Not Just Emotions

Scripture consistently uses 'heart' to refer to the mind, understanding, and reasoning, as seen in Genesis and Matthew.

The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties. For instance, the very first time the word heart is used in the Bible is Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And the Bible tells us that God saw the thoughts of their heart.

Nebuchadnezzar's Transformation Illustrates Heart as Understanding

When God gave Nebuchadnezzar a beast's heart, his understanding and reason were changed, proving the heart is the mind.

When God changed His heart, He changed his understanding. He changed his reasoning ability.

Hardening Is a Self-Feeding Process

Failure to consider God's works hardens the heart, and a hardened heart further prevents consideration, creating a vicious cycle.

You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself.

The Disciples' Improper Reasoning About Bread

The disciples reasoned that Jesus' warning about leaven was about physical bread, showing their hardened hearts led to faulty reasoning.

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. When Jesus knew it, He said unto them, Why reason you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet? Neither understand? Have you your hearts yet hardened?

Jesus' Nine Questions Reveal His Exasperation

Jesus' rapid-fire questions in Mark 8 demonstrate His righteous exasperation at the disciples' dullness and failure to understand.

He has given nine questions rapid fire. He's nailed them.

Hardened Hearts Lead to Small Faith

Jesus directly linked the disciples' hardened hearts to their 'little faith' in Matthew 16:8.

He said, O ye of little faith. A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith.

God Holds Us Accountable to Learn from Others' Experiences

Matthew 21:32 shows that God expects us to repent and believe when we see His work in others' lives.

And you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. So God holds us accountable and responsible, not only for what He does in our lives, but what He does in the lives of others that we know.

Scripture References

Mark 6:52: The key verse stating the disciples' hearts were hardened because they did not consider the miracle of the loaves.
Mark 8:13-21: The parallel account where Jesus questions the disciples about their hardened hearts and failure to understand.
Proverbs 29:1: Cited as a typical verse about hardened hearts, referring to one who is often reproved and hardens his neck.
Proverbs 1:7: Mentioned to show that fools despise wisdom and instruction, contrasting with the disciples' issue.
Proverbs 14:9: Fools make a mock at sin, used to describe the typical hardened heart, but not the disciples' case.
Genesis 6:5: Used to show the heart thinks, as God saw the thoughts of their heart.
Genesis 8:21: The imagination of man's heart is evil, showing the heart imagines.
Genesis 27:41: Esau said in his heart, showing the heart can speak.
Matthew 5:27-28: Jesus taught that lust in the heart is adultery, showing the connection between eyes and heart.
Daniel 4:16, 34, 36: Nebuchadnezzar's heart was changed to a beast's heart, and his understanding returned when restored.
Job 39:13-17: The ostrich is hardened against her young, deprived of wisdom and understanding.
Lamentations 4:3, 7-10: The women of Jerusalem became cruel like ostriches, cooking their children during the siege.
1 Samuel 12:24: Samuel admonished Israel to consider how great things God has done for them.
Acts 12:5-12: Peter considered his miraculous deliverance and understood God had sent His angel.
Mark 2:1-12: The scribes reasoned in their hearts that Jesus blasphemed, showing improper reasoning from imperfect consideration.
Matthew 16:6-12: Jesus rebukes the disciples for little faith and explains the leaven is doctrine, not bread.
Mark 8:11-12: Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit at the Pharisees seeking a sign, showing righteous exasperation.
Mark 3:1-5: Jesus looked with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, before healing the withered hand.
Matthew 21:32: Jesus said the religious leaders did not repent after seeing publicans and harlots believe John the Baptist.

Historical References

Siege of Jerusalem by the Romans: Described as the context for Lamentations, where starvation led women to eat their children, illustrating hardened hearts.
Clovis, California college student incident: A recent news story of a student who threw her newborn in the garbage, used as a modern example of hardened hearts.
Teenage girl stabbing her baby: Another recent news story of a teen who stabbed her baby and threw it in a shed, illustrating contemporary hardness.

Important Quotes

For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened.

The foundational verse of the sermon, showing the direct link between failure to consider and a hardened heart.

When we think of hardened hearts, we normally think of the unsaved, the belligerent, and the rebellious. We think of men that will not be taught, warned, pleaded with, or exhorted under any circumstances.

Sets up the surprising twist that the text is about believers, not the unsaved.

It is believers. And moreover, it is our Lord's own disciples.

The central shocking point: hardened hearts can afflict even close followers of Christ.

The general usage of the heart in Scripture refers to the mind, the understanding, the reasoning faculties.

Defines the biblical heart, crucial for understanding what hardening means.

You do not consider because your heart is hardened, and when you refuse to consider, your heart becomes more hardened. So it actually feeds upon itself.

Explains the self-perpetuating cycle of hardening.

Whenever there is a lack of consideration there's always going to be an improper reasoning or rationalization.

Connects the first step of hardening to the second.

Imperfect consideration always leads to an improper reasoning. Improper reasoning always leads to an incomplete perception.

Summarizes the three-step progression of a hardened heart.

A hardened heart cannot produce a great faith. A hardened heart can only have a small faith.

Shows the practical consequence of hardness on one's faith.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why is it surprising that the disciples had hardened hearts, and what does that imply for believers today?

[Context]

The sermon emphasizes that hardened hearts are not just for the unsaved but can affect those close to Jesus.

[Question]

How does the biblical definition of the heart as the mind and understanding change the way we think about spiritual hardness?

[Context]

The speaker argues that the heart in Scripture refers to reasoning faculties, not just emotions.

[Question]

In what ways can failing to 'consider' God's works lead to a hardened heart in our own lives?

[Context]

The sermon states that imperfect consideration feeds the hardening process.

[Question]

Can you identify a time when improper reasoning about a situation led to spiritual dullness or misunderstanding?

[Context]

The disciples reasoned incorrectly about the leaven because they did not consider the miracles.

[Question]

Why did Jesus respond with such strong exasperation to His disciples, and is such exasperation ever righteous today?

[Context]

Jesus asked nine rapid-fire questions, showing His frustration at their hardened hearts.

[Question]

How does a hardened heart manifest as 'little faith,' and what can we do to cultivate greater faith?

[Context]

Jesus called the disciples 'O ye of little faith' in Matthew 16:8.

[Question]

What are some modern examples of cultural hardness that Christians may have become desensitized to?

[Context]

The speaker mentions abortion, socialism, theft, and adultery as things that no longer upset most Christians.

[Question]

How can we learn from what God does in the lives of others to prevent our own hearts from hardening?

[Context]

Matthew 21:32 shows God holds us accountable to learn from others' repentance and faith.

Applications

Format deepseek deepseek-v4-pro structured study JSON | Source Commentary.net transcript enrichment

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T22:37:46Z