Proverbs 28:14 (KJV)
Happy is the man that
feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
I can’t imagine there is
anyone alive who prefers not to be happy.
· It doesn’t mean we all want to be lazy
· It doesn’t mean none of us want to sacrifice
· It doesn’t mean we don’t want to accomplish something
worthwhile in life
It just means that, as
we do all of this, we’d like to be happy too.
I believe it is possible
to live a full and significant life, to make sacrifices and pay a high price to
do something great with your life and STILL be happy.
I’ve tried all year long
to bring messages on the Biblical principles of happiness.
I want to turn things
around just a little bit this morning and point out a very clear roadblock to
happiness.
This one thing will ruin
a person’s pursuit of happiness, no matter what else they do.
Notice with me first,
I. A WARNING
Proverbs 28:14 (KJV)
Happy is the man that
feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
And then, to support
this passage I want to also give you,
Proverbs 29:1 (KJV)
He, that being often
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy.
Let me just tell you
that I am not going to make a great deal of distinction between:
· Hardening the heart and
· Hardening the neck
today.
The difference is a
simple one;
· Hardening the heart is what a person does,
· Hardening the neck is what it looks like when a person does
it
Hardening the heart is a matter of the affections.
It’s an internal
rebellion against something, usually a teaching from God.
Hardening the neck is the physical result of the hardening
of the heart.
It is stiffening the
muscles and bowing the neck and resisting the instructions of the Lord.
Notice then what the
Bible says about the one who hardens his heart:
· shall fall into
mischief.
· shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy.
There are two words
associated with the verses that I am using:
· Fear and
· Reprove
I am afraid we could go
away with the idea that hardening the heart is always a reaction to some sort
of discipline.
We blame rules for
people’s rebellion;
If a child rebels, it’s
because the parents made them do something.
That is often the case
but not always the case:
A. People often harden their hearts to
preaching
I have no idea why this
came to mind when I was preparing for the message but I am reminded of an
episode[2] of
Walton’s Mountain when an evangelist came through.
Everyone of the Walton
Family attended the services and the whole town seemingly was stirred up by the
preaching.
Not Daddy Walton.
Played by Ralph Waite,
in this episode, everyone got concerned for his soul.
The opening narrative
went like this:
Narrator: [narration as John 'John Boy' Walton, Jr. reading from
his journal] We were a religious people on Waltons Mountain. The church was
the center of our social, as well as our spiritual lives. Each year there would
come a great religious revival when each of us would be called upon to examine
our conscience and to receive salvation. It was a time of joyous reunion, of
intense religious fervor, and it was looked forward to with great anticipation
by everyone except my father.[3]
There are people who can
hear the most:
· positive
· upbeat
· feel good
messages and still be
hardened against them just because it’s preaching.
B. People frequently harden their hearts to
exhortation
Hebrews 13:22 (KJV)
And I beseech you,
brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you
in few words.
An exhortation is a kind
of urging.
It is an appeal toward
something.
It’s not mean spirited
or critical; its goal is to lead a person toward something
· good and
· wholesome and
· upright
C. People sometimes even harden their hearts to
encouragement
Here and there it will
happen that a young person, usually eleven years old or younger, will come dressed in a suit and tie for the first
time.
· They don’t like it
· They let everyone know it
So I will come up to
them and say, “Wow! You look really great!”
He’ll cross his arms,
pooch out his lips and walk away indignant.
I’ve seen some men who don’t act much better.
“Hey, you’re wearing a
suit. That looks great!
Don’t get used to it. My
wife made me wear it.”
I feel like saying,
“Yeah, you’re a blessing
to me too.”
God says a person who
hardens his heart will fall into mischief and be destroyed without remedy.
Let me show you now
II. AN
ILLUSTRATION
Jeremiah 17:20-23 (KJV)
And say unto them, Hear
ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
Thus saith the LORD;
Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in
by the gates of Jerusalem;
Neither carry forth a
burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but
hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
But they obeyed not,
neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not
hear, nor receive instruction.
Please understand that
God loves Israel.
He has set them as the
apple of His eye. He cherishes them and does so unequivocally.
But the history of
Israel is that of a people who have hardened their hearts against the Lord and
His Word again and again.
A. They hardened their hearts and Kadesh
Barnea
God had led them to the
very border of the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
It was their promised
possession and it was their at that moment, if they would accept it.
They did not.
They sent in twelve men
to spy out the land.
· Two of those men returned to say it's a good land, and we
can take it.
· Ten of them agreed it is a good land, but told the people
they could never beat the inhabitants there.
the multitude heeded the
voice of the majority rather than the voice of God.
The result was that they
spent the next 40 years wandering around in the wilderness until that whole
generation had died away.
B. The book of Judges is one account after the
other of Israel’s hardened hearts
Just about every time
something good started to happen in Israel, the people would forget about God.
Their wickedness would
eventually lead to an enemy attacking and oppressing them until
Finally they would cry out
to God and He would give them a deliverer.
But as soon as things
got turned around, they would turn against God and the whole cycle would start
all over again.
Eventually they ended up
with a king after their own hearts and not God’s, who brought terrible
oppression upon his own country.
C. Speaking of the Promised Land
Israel had been
commanded by God to give the land a year of rest from planting crops every
seven years.
490 Israel lived in the
Promised Land, neglecting 70 times to give the land its rest.
When Babylon conquered
them and took them into captivity God said they would remain in that captivity
seventy years – until the Promised Land had gotten its rest.
D. To this day there is no land in the world
more hotly contested than that of Israel
And to this day, Israel
lives in a state of hardened hearts against God.
God said,
Proverbs 28:14 (KJV)
Happy is the man that
feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
The hardened heart will:
· Fall into mischief
· Be destroyed and
· That without remedy
No one can possibly be
happy with a hardened heart.
That leads me to finally
give
III. A CURE
Hebrews 3:8 (KJV)
Harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Hebrews 3:13 (KJV)
But exhort one another
daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin.
A person would do well
to study through the book of Hebrews chapters 2-3 concerning the hardened heart
of the Jews and the lessons we can draw from them.
A person who is living in a constant state of unhappiness is
almost certainly hardening his or her heart to some sort of instruction.
And as long as they
refuse to hear instruction, they will continue to be unhappy.
For instance, in most
cases, three very simple steps can cure depression:
· Getting exercise
· Getting social and
· Getting generous
Physical exercise makes the body feel better, makes a person look
better so they feel better about themselves and releases dopamine into the
system, which provides a feeling of well being.
Getting around people meets a basic human need of
companionship and belonging.
Getting generous and giving to those who are less fortunate than
ourselves gets our minds off of our troubles and helps us to see that our
troubles are not as bad as they might be.
Here’s the problem;
depressed people don’t want to exercise, be around people or give to those who
are in more need than themselves.
If a depressed person
refuses to hear and observe the three simple steps I gave, they will continue
to be unhappy.
The addict, whether:
· Alcohol
· Drugs or
· Gambling
· Etc.
Can’t be helped until he
or she comes to decide for themselves they need help.
Until they will listen
to and follow instructions, they simply continue in their misery.
All of us go through
times of depression and unhappiness. These are not what I refer to here.
I am speaking about the
person who lives in a constant state of unhappiness; it is almost certainly
because they have hardened their hearts to instruction.
So what do you do?
A. Take personal responsibility
Hebrews 3:8 (KJV)
Harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Recognize the problem
and take responsibility for your hard heart.
Limber up your neck
Soften up your heart
Take personal
responsibility
And then
B. Get some help
Hebrews 3:13 (KJV)
But exhort one another
daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin.
Come to church where the Bible is preached and come to every
service there is.
Get some fellowship around godly Christians, and give them liberty
to be up front with you.
Develop some relationships that are mutually beneficial (from the
spiritual standpoint) and
Get involved in classes like our HOPE program for some
detailed instruction for more challenging life problems.
Conclusion
· Tender
· Sensitive
· Spiritual
· Teachable people
These will be the
happiest of all people.
But, Proverbs 29:1 (KJV)
He, that being often
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy.
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