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The Soil of the Heart
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
"What Causes Hard Hearts"
Job 38:38
F. Another heart-hardener is material affections.
1. Once a person falls in love with money and the material goods money can buy, he begins to lose his love and sensitivity for people. In fact, the more one loves material goods, the less he genuinely cares about people. That's the reason men intent on getting things do not mind stepping on people to get those things. Crooks want money and the material things money will buy. So they rob, burglarize, steal and even kill to get money. Men in their campaigns to make it big in business often neglect the people in their lives: their kids, the wife, the Lord's work. It's material affections that make men borrow, sometimes from a close friend, then play "hard to get" and cold when they can't repay.
2. Yes, material affections harden the heart and make it calloused to people's needs. It is I Timothy 6:10-11 which warn, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
G. Overt sins in a man's life will also harden his heart.
1. The apostle Paul warned in Hebrews 3:12-13, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called to day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
2. Yes, sin is a deceitful thing, and it will harden you. I Timothy 4:1-2 warns, "That in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron."
As men engage themselves more and more in sin, it becomes easier and easier to do it. As they do, they become more and more oblivious to its evil. They become harder and harder, more and more entrenched in the sin.
H. Another cause is hurts to the heart.
1. A tender trusting heart can be wounded. An evil word or deed can crush a tender heart. Solomon said, "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly," in Proverbs 18:8. Paul said, "When ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ," in I Corinthians 8:12.
2. A raw deal in business, a friend turning against you or walking out on you, a deceitful act against you, lies or gossip against you, an unkept promise can all pierce the heart with sorrow. Oh how it hurts, especially when its a close friend or someone you really respected and trusted!
3. Trust is shattered, and you find yourself drawing inward and putting up defenses. You're not going to let yourself get hurt like that again. You won't ever trust anyone else like you used to trust. You find yourself more cynical, and you doubt anybody's sincerity. You don't really trust anybody very much. You figure its just a matter of time until they'll let you down or turn out corrupt in one way or another.
4. Folks, in case you don't recognize it, this is the kind of stuff hardness and crusty ground is. If that's how you've reacted to hurts, you have grown hard to some degree whether you've recognized it or not.
I. "Hand in glove" with hurts are disappointments. My how disappointments harden people.
1. I'm talking here about things you've seen that really let you down. You just expected better. Your favorite preacher went bad. You found out something about your own parents that just devastated you. You just can't hardly believe it.
2. It is impossible to say how many people there are out there who've hardened themselves against the Lord and His work because of a huge disappointment. Something came up that really disillusioned them. They saw a hypocrite in the one they thought to be impeccable. Their humpty dumpty fell off the wall and broke all to pieces.
It hardened them. They don't want Christianity anymore. They're hard on churches, hard on preachers and hard on God.
3. No wonder Hebrews 12:1-3 teaches us to keep our eyes on Jesus lest we be wearied and faint in our minds. Yes, disappointments cause flint-like ground. They generate hard hearts.
J. Lack of variety also hardens men.
1. It's easy to get into a rut and just stay there. Ruts take away the pliability and creativity from your life. People in ruts usually don't like change, but fresh cultivated soil is easy to change.
2. So often churches are in such ruts. It's the same old six and seven. The same old songs, the same old sermons, the same old order of services, the same old schedule of activities. There's no freshness, no newness, no spirit of freshly plowed soil. Everbody's kind of hard and set in his old ways.
3. The Bible says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," in II Corinthians 3:17.
K. I think also that I should mention inhibitions as a cause of hard hearts.
1. Fear of what others think can really inhibit a person. Peer pressure, fear that one will look "out of step" with the group, fear he'll be condemned or scorned or laughed at, fear that he'll look silly and get flack and backlash for what he does, makes many a man harden himself against what he knows he should do.
2. Many a Sunday I sat on a pew lost and on my way to hell. I stood there through invitation after invitation with my heart beating so fast under the conviction I felt. I knew I was lost and I knew I should go forward and trust Christ. I wanted to do it, but fear held me back. I was afraid of what people would think. So, I hardened myself and kept waiting, kept putting off the most important thing of my life.
3. Likewise, when the Lord called me to preach. I knew it for weeks before I surrendered. Why did I wait? Fear. I was inhibited by what others would think. "This kid? A preacher? He don't have the education. What would he know about preaching? That's silly. God wouldn't call a thirteen year old boy to preach!" So I hardened myself.
4. I wonder if you're doing that today? You're holding back, hardening yourself, because you're afraid of what somebody may think? Listen to what God says in II Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"