Turn back to Exodus chapter 7. The title of the message is this,
The Hardening of the Heart. The hardening of the heart. I've
been looking at this for a few days now. The sobering, sobering portion
of Scripture. One of the most sobering in all
the Word of God. The hardening of the heart. We know that the heart spoken of here is the seat of
our affections, our mind, it is the very core of our being. It is not the muscle in our chest
that pumps blood out, that's not it. Our heart is the very
core of who we are, our very being. That's why Solomon said
over in Proverbs chapter 4, look over there. Proverbs chapter
4. He says in verse 23, he gives
this wise advice here. He says, keep thy heart with
all diligence, above all keeping. Keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life. He says, keep your heart,
protect your heart. He's talking about the very core
of your being. Keep it with all diligence, for out of it are
the issues of life. And really, he gives us here
in the next few verses how to do that. Put away from thee a
froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine
eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before
thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be
established. Turn not to the right hand, nor
to the left. Remove thy foot from evil, He
says, keep your heart with diligence, for out of it are the issues
of life. When Adam fell, the heart of
man turned from God, and it turned to itself. It turned from God
to itself. God is not the center. of man's
affections. Not at all. God is not the object
of man's worship. Man fell in love with himself
and out of love with God. That's what happened in the garden.
That's what happened. Fell out of love with God. Fell
in love with himself. The seat of all evil is found
not out there on the street, not in the ghetto, not in the
dark alleys. It's found right in here, the
heart. The heart, the very core of our being. It's not my environment
that's the problem. It's my heart. My heart. Turn over to Matthew 15. In Matthew chapter 15, look in verse
18. But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the
man. Now look what comes out of the
heart. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts. That's where it all starts, a
thought. That's why Paul says bring all
our thoughts into subjection to Christ. He said, bring all
your thoughts into subjection to Christ. Because out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts. This is where it starts. And
then you have murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man because they come out of his heart. That's amazing what
comes out of the heart of a man, all these things. The Word of
God says in Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is deceitful above all
things. There's nothing in creation,
nothing in this world more deceitful than my heart. that I'm born
with. The heart that I was born with.
The nature is what he's talking about. The nature I was born
with. The heart is deceitful above all things. Listen. Desperately
wicked. Who can know it? There's one who can know it.
God. He sees it. He sees it for what
it is. That's why he says it's desperately
wicked. And he doesn't pick out a certain
race or a certain group in society. He says the heart, the nature
that we are born with is desperately wicked. Who can know it? Paul
found this out. Paul thought he was a pretty
good man. He thought he was a real good man until he met God. He met the Lord Jesus Christ
on the road to Damascus. And this is the man who later
cried, Oh, wretched man that I am. He found out how desperately
wicked his heart was. The last thing that we truly
know is our own hearts. Really. Only God can see the
heart. Only God is the one who can see
the real me. The real me. I have a pretty
good idea of it. You have a pretty good idea of
it, but now God sees it for what it is. He sees it for who we
are by nature. Old Samuel, remember he was going
to anoint the king. God told him to go
down to the house of Jesse. He was going to anoint David
king. But God had not revealed to him who the king was until
after he went down there. And the first person he saw was
tall, dark, and handsome. And he says, Surely, surely this
is the Lord's anointed. This is the king. Look at him. He's so impressive. I mean, the
people will follow this one. There's no doubt. This is the
king. But the Lord said unto Samuel,
Look not on his countenance, Samuel. Don't be impressed with
his appearance. or on the height of His stature. He must have been a tall man.
Because I have refused Him. It's not my man. For the Lord
seeth not as man seeth. Samuel, I see something you don't
see. We used to play a game when I
was a kid. It was that riddle, riddle, riddle Marie. I see something
you don't see. Is that how it goes? And then
we'd pick a color. We'd look over here. You know,
because we saw something over here trying to fool somebody,
you know, we've been saying, I see something you don't see.
And then they had to guess and try to find what it was I was
looking at. God says, Samuel, I see something
you don't see. I see that man's heart. I see
you see his stature. You see his good looks. You're
impressed with him. But I have refused him, for the
Lord seeth not, as man seeth, for man looks on the outward
appearance. But the Lord looketh on the heart." Right now, right
now, the Lord is looking on every heart in this room, right now. He knows the heart that's just
engulfed in worship, and He knows the heart that's He looks on
the heart. He sees it. Now, in verses 1 and 2, the Lord
says to Moses, and Aaron here, He says, The Lord said unto Moses,
See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. Don't be afraid of Pharaoh.
Moses, I have made you and Aaron greater than Pharaoh. Don't be
afraid of him. I have made thee of God to Pharaoh,
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command
thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send
the children of Israel out of his land. I have made you greater,
so don't you back up." Don't you back up. You command him. Like I said
last week, here's these two Two shepherd boys. They look like
old men. One's 80 and the other one's
83. And they're standing here before Pharaoh. And he says,
don't you back up. You tell him exactly what I tell you. And
don't change it. And then listen to what he says
to Moses. And this is to me, like I said,
this is one of the most sobering Scriptures in all the Word of
God. It's among the most sobering. will harden Pharaoh's heart. You know, that is spoken of twenty-two
times in the Word of God. Sixteen times God hardens Pharaoh's
heart. Six times Pharaoh hardens his
heart. That's divine sovereignty. That's what that is. As I read
to you in Romans 9, for the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up, I put you on the throne. Well, there's a comfort and a
lesson for us. I put you on the throne for a
purpose. No one has any position that
God has not given them. I put you there. And I raise
you up, I have a purpose in this, that I might show my power in
thee, that I might demonstrate my power in thee, and that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore, it
says there in Romans 9, 18, hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy. He's the sovereign and mercy
is sovereign. Grace is sovereign. If he didn't
have mercy on whom he'll have mercy, no one would be saved.
If he didn't show grace sovereignly, no one would be saved. No one
would experience grace. No one. Hath he mercy on whom he'll have
mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. I'm not going to try and water
this down. so that people will not be offended
or charge God with folly? I'm going to just bow to it.
I'm going to bow to it. Knowing this, without a doubt,
the judge of the earth will do right. We do not apologize for
God's sovereignty. God saves whom He will and whom
He will. He passes by. I heard, I believe
it was Henry, who said one time, God will save all that He can
wisely save. And Paul, the Apostle Paul, makes
no apologies for it. Look back over in Romans chapter
9. You see there in verse 19, after
verse 18, it says, Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will
have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth? Thou wilt say then,
somebody is going to say this, Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? Now listen,
Paul does not try to explain this. He does not try to justify
God. He says, Nay, but O man, who
art thou that replies against God? Who are you to dispute with
God? His ways are higher than our
ways, his thoughts higher than our thoughts. Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay? Does he not have the sovereign
right, the royal right over the clay? of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor, if that's what
he wants to do. That's why he's saying, if that's what he wants
to do, does he not have that royal prerogative? He sure does.
He sure does. What if God willing to show his
wrath and to make his power known endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? How many plagues
did God send on Pharaoh? As we'll see this as we go on,
Pharaoh says, I repent. I've sinned against the Lord.
Then he hardens his heart. We need a new heart. This is
what we're going to look at here in a little bit. We'll look at
this. As I've already showed you, the
heart is desperate and wicked. And that means every heart, every
heart. The heart of the king as well
as the heart of the vilest criminal is desperately wicked. No one
is born with a pure heart. This depraved heart is in everyone. And this, every child of God
realizes when God calls him, him or her, regenerates and gives
a new heart, one of the first things you realize is how wicked
your heart is. Oh, wretched man that I am. But everyone has it. It's written
in Genesis 6, chapter 6, verse 5. I'll read it to you. And God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. When
God looked down and he saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart,
every thought, you say, that's a bit much. Every thought's not
that wicked. Well, you know, God's the standard,
not us. He's the standard of good. He's the standard of good
and he knows what's wicked. And that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And now
listen, it does not say that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually except Noah. It doesn't say that, does it?
It doesn't say except for Noah. Noah is not like Noah. Noah is a different man. He's
a white horse of another color. No, it says Noah found grace.
Noah found grace because Noah was born with the same heart
the rest of the human race was born with. The difference is God gave him
a new heart because he found grace in his sight. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now how does God harden the heart? How does he harden the heart?
I know this, I cannot answer this question fully, but I do
know this, I do know this, all that God has to do to harden
my heart is leave me alone. The way that God creates darkness
is withholding the light, not giving the light. That's how
darkness is created. The light is gone. If he commands light, the darkness
has to flee. If he commands the light of the
gospel to shine into your heart, that darkness has to flee. It has to flee. But if God leaves
men to their own wisdom, to their own desires. If he does not command
the light of the gospel to shine into their hearts, darkness will
reign and a heart will be hardened. No one, no one ever sits under
the gospel and be unaffected by it. You may not ever perceive
it. A person may not be able to perceive
what's going on. But there is an effect going
on every time you hear the gospel, either softening or hardening. It's one or the other. One or
the other. The same means that result in
life and mercy to the elect become stumbling stones. I got this
here out of Henry's commentary. They become stumbling stones
and means of greater condemnation to them that perish. Listen to
this scripture, 2 Corinthians 2, verse 15-16. For we are unto
God a sweet savor, smell of Christ, in them that are saved and in
them that perish. To the one we are the savor of
death unto death, death added to death. and to the other, the saver of
life unto life." Who, Paul says, who is sufficient for these things? Who is sufficient to stand in
this pulpit and handle such weighty matters, such eternal matters?
You know, what I'm dealing with tonight and every time we stand
up here and preach and you read the Word of God and the Gospels
preached, We are handling eternal matters. And there is an eternal
effect being done, happening, every time. Every time. How does God harden the heart?
Just leave me alone. Just leave me alone. Not command
the light to shine. Just leave me alone. If you'll
notice, and you will notice this as we go through Exodus here,
every time God hardened Pharaoh's heart, or every time that Pharaoh
says harden his heart, it was after a trial. It was after a
plague. After it was over with, they
said God hardened his heart or Pharaoh hardened his heart. Trials
have a hardening effect on the heart where grace is absent. If grace is absent, it will have
a hardening effect on the heart. If grace is present, it'll bring
you to Christ. It'll have a softening effect.
It'll have a softening effect. Job, after going through all that
he did, well, in that first chapter, I mean, it was just like they
was lined up. Just one after another came, just one after
another. And it says that he did not charge God with folly.
He did not charge God with wrong. He didn't put a question mark
on God's wisdom. He didn't put a question mark
on God's power. He could have stopped it, you know. He did
not charge God with folly. My grace is sufficient. But where
grace is absent, God will be charged with folly every time.
Every time. And don't think that Pharaoh
would have repented if God had not hardened his heart. Because
six times it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. He did it. Moses went to him and he said,
the Lord said, let my people go. He said, no, I'm not going
to let them go. And these plagues, I mean there
were some plagues that were just so obvious, I mean just unbelievable.
And then after it would be over with, he'd say, no. I want to
read something to you. Over in 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Let me see where I need to really
start reading. Let's read in verse 6. And now
you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time,
that is, the Antichrist. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. Only he who now letteth will
let, that is, he who now hinders, which is the Holy Spirit, he
will not hinder until he be taken out of the way, or that is, he
will hinder until he is taken out of the way. And then shall
that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan,
with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish. Because there's a reason,
you know, there's a reason and a purpose. You know, the Lord
doesn't harden a man's heart just to be hard in a man's heart.
There's a reason. Listen, because they received
not the love of the truth. The truth was preached to them.
They heard it. They heard the gospel. But they
did not love it. And what does that have to do
with? The heart. They didn't embrace it. They
did not embrace it, fall in love with it. It did not become their
life. their food, their water, everything. I mean everything. And it says
here that even him whose coming is after the working of Satan
with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. They didn't
love it. And for this cause, for this
reason, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie and be damned. They heard the gospel. They heard
the truth. But they wouldn't receive the
love. They didn't love it. It didn't penetrate their heart.
They didn't have a heart for it. That's the best way to say
it. They didn't have a heart for it. That they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. They received not the love of
the truth. They didn't want anything to
do with it. But you who do want something
to do with it, it's because of grace. Because God has, from
the beginning, chosen you to salvation. Just like he chose
the elect angels, and he let a multitude of them fall. But there's a whole lot of them
that did not fall because He chose them to keep their standing. How does He harden the heart?
He leaves people alone. He hardens with trials. And this
shows us that everyone is shut up to the sovereign mercy of
God. Everyone. Shut up to God's sovereign
mercy. No one deserves mercy. If they
did, it wouldn't be mercy. It'd be a debt that God's going
to pay. But He doesn't owe anyone mercy. Now, what does this say to me?
When I read this, how does this speak to me? How does it speak
to me? Do I find myself charging God
with folly? Do I find myself saying, that's
not fair? Or do I find myself bowing to
the sovereign will of God and suing for mercy? Lord, don't
leave me alone. It's like Jacob said, I'm not
going to let you go till you bless me. It's going to have
some effect one way or the other. As I said, this verse is very
sobering to me because I know that I was born with the same
heart that Pharaoh was born with. And God could justly, He could
justly harden my heart. He can do it and be a just God
in doing so. He could do it. So when I look at this, and I
looked at this for a few days here, My thoughts was this, Lord,
I need a new heart. I need that new heart that comes
in the new birth. That's what I need. Because that's
what salvation is. It is a heart work. It is a heart
work. He said in Ezekiel 36, 26, a
new heart also will I give you. And a new spirit will I put within
you. I will take away the stony heart
out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I know this. I know I need a
new heart, and God can give me one. He can give me one. David said this in Psalm 51.10,
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me. I know I need a new heart. I
know that. I believe that's evidence that
I have one. If you really know you need one
and you desire, like David said, create, because that's what it
is. It is a creation of a heart,
a nature that was not there before. Completely new. It was not there
before. And I know that. I know that
I need a heart that worships God in spirit and in truth. And
God can give that heart. That heart comes from Him. It
comes from Him. I need a pure heart. A pure heart. The Lord said in Matthew, blessed
are the pure in heart. I need that pure heart. And you
know what? I need that pure heart now. I need that heart that's born
of God that does not sin. I need it. I need it now. And I know God can give it. I
know He can give it. Listen to this scripture. Whom
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand
in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully. He, that person, shall receive
the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of
his salvation. How can I have such a heart? By God giving it to me. When
do I get such a heart? In the new birth. When do I get
these clean hands and pure heart? A sinner gets these clean hands
and a pure heart when God saves him. in regeneration. He's born
again. That's when you get that new
heart, that pure heart and those clean hands. That's that new
man. That's that new man that's born
of God. That's when we get him. When
we're born of God. And God, I know this through
reading of the Word of God, sitting under the Gospel, and
experience. God can give it, and God does
give it. The person who, he says, seeks
me with all his heart shall find me. And if you can do that, if
I can do that, if I can seek God with all my heart, it's evident
He's given me one. Because that old heart will never,
ever seek Him. Never. But it says to Pharaoh here,
and I'll close, in verse 4, but Pharaoh, he says, shall not hearken
to you, Moses. You go tell him, but he's not
going to hearken to you. I'm going to harden his heart. I'm going to
do a mighty work. I'm going to do a mighty work
that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies. Oh, everything serves God. Everything. Everything in creation. All those
flies, all those lice, all those frogs, the plagues, all of them,
these are His armies. I will bring my armies and my people,
the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgment. God's purpose is tied to this.
Israel and Egypt, now listen, Israel and Egypt are going to
see the mighty hand of God. One in mercy, one in judgment. Israel is going to see the mighty
hand of God in mercy, in salvation. And Egypt, at the same time,
is going to see the mighty hand of God in His wrath. They're
going to see it. One vessel of mercy and one vessel
to wrath. My friends, we are shut up to
the sovereign mercy of Almighty God. And the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord. Israel is going to know it, but
Egypt is going to know it too. You know the world. Someday this
whole world is going to know who Jesus Christ is. Every knee
is going to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every tongue is going
to confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Pharaoh is doing it right now. It is going to happen. The Egyptians
shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth my hand
upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among
them. And Moses and Aaron did as the
Lord commanded. They did what they were commanded
to do. And that's what we are always to do. And Moses was four
score years old. You know, you watch the Ten Commandments.
Moses is about 40 years old in the Ten Commandments, isn't he?
He's about 40 years old, 35, something like that, in the Ten
Commandments. But here we are told that he was 80 years
old and his brother Aaron was 83 years old when they spake
unto Pharaoh. I believe notice is taken of
the age of Moses and Aaron to show that salvation is by the
power of God and not of men. He took his two old codgers,
sent them up there to Egypt and said, now you tell him to let
them go. And you know when Pharaoh looked
at those two old boys, he's thinking, oh, I can't believe this. I can't
believe it. These two men commanded me to
let them go. God is sovereign and we are glad.