HOFC Sermon Archive

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SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction

2. John the Baptist

3. The Baptism of Jesus

4. Temptation of Jesus

5. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus I

6. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus II

7. The First Disciples

8. A Teacher with Authority

9. At the Home of Simon and Andrew

10. Jesus Cleanses Leper

11. Jesus Heals the Paralytic

12. Jesus and the Tax Collector

13. Jesus Questioned About Fasting

14. Of Wine and Wineskins

15. Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath & Resurrection Sunday 2025

16. Hard Hearts and Hard Thoughts

Today is Sunday. April 27^th, 2025

INTRODUCTION

We took a break last week for Resurrection Sunday, and this week we return to our series on the Gospel of Mark.

We left off at the Lord calling Levi (Matthew) and Matthew throwing a party for other tax collectors and sinners (non-religious Jews).

The Pharisees scorned Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors, and then for feasting instead of fasting like the religious people of the day.

After Jesus and the disciples left, they passed through a field where the disciples helped themselves to some grain, because they were hungry, and the Pharisees once more attacked them for “working” on the Sabbath. Jesus rebuked them, saying He was Lord of the Sabbath.

Today we will look at hard hearts and hard thoughts.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

Mark 3:1-6

“And He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He *said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” 4 And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel together with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”

Remember, I have said that throughout the Gospel of Mark, we see many examples of Jesus healing.

But we know the Lord can heal. So why so many examples? Because there is another lesson in each of these cases for us to learn.

Today, it is a lesson about hardened hearts and minds.

I. CONSIDERING THE PROBLEM OF

a. Hard hearts

i. Hard hearts have been around as long as people have (Cain, Pharaoh, Israel)

ii. Having a hard heart leads to spiritual dullness – an inability to see the truth

1. Which is what prompted Jesus to teach in parables (Mark 13:13-15)

2. Which hindered His disciples from understanding the obvious (Mark 8:13-21; Mark 16:14)

iii. Having a hard heart leads to mental resistance and refusal to consider what might be truth

1. As seen with the Pharisees in today's text

2. They were blinded to the good Jesus had done

iv. The end result…

1. Proverbs 28:14 “How blessed is the man who is always in dread, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”

Hardness of your heart is a very serious problem that can prevent you from seeing the truth!

b. Now consider the problem of hard thoughts

i. Hard hearts produce hard thoughts (such as the plot to kill Jesus)

1. The Pharisees and Herodians were unable to see the good that Jesus was doing because their hearts were hard

2. They became co-belligerents, though they normally opposed one another

a. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is an ancient proverb.

b. Someone once said, "If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then a friend of my enemy is my enemy."

ii. This is similar to what we see in the disgusting display of American politics today

1. An inability to see any good in the opposition

2. A willingness to engage in the politics of personal destruction

3. Plotting to destroy the opposition by any means possible

iii. The same often occurs in the realm of religious differences

1. In our efforts to stand firm in the truth, we sometimes think ill of out neighbor, co-workers, even brothers and sister in Christ

2. It becomes evident in the way we treat others

3. Remember, “love” the Lord calls us to is defined in I Corinthians 13 as who we treat others. Not “if” they agree with everything we think and believe.

iv. Hard thoughts lead us to verbal abuse, and sometimes even physical violence

Hard thoughts do not remain thoughts very long, they transform into deeds!

“For as he thinks in his soul, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” Matthew 12:34

Since the problem of hard hearts and thoughts is not only real, but serious matters for us, what can be done about them?

II. CONSIDERING THE ALTERNATIVE FOR

a. Hard hearts

i. We can nurture a tender, compassionate heart by remembering

1. Our own weakness and need for forgiveness

a. Ephesians 4:32

b. Colossians 3:12-13

2. The condition of those without compassion

a. Matthew 18:33-35

b. James 2:13

ii. This will help create in us good and noble hearts with fair minds

1. Like good soil in the parable of the sower (Luke 8:15)

2. Or, the Bereans willing to give Paul a fair hearing before searching the scriptures to see if what he taught was true (Acts 17:11)

Tender hearts are created by remembering our own failings. Not to bring us guilt or condemnation, which is from the devil, rather, to remind us of what we have been forgiven and bring us conviction from the Holy Spirit to be forgiving toward others.

b. Now consider the alternative for hard thoughts

i. Having a tender heart will address the problem of hard thoughts

ii. But we can further nurture our minds by “renewing” them and having a mind like Christ.

1. Dwelling and thinking on things that are noble and pure, like Paul says;

Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

2. And developing a mind like Christ

Philippians 2:3-5 “do{ing} nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves, 4 not merely looking out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”

iii. Such tender minds and thoughts will be characterized by;

1. Humility of mind, esteeming others better than ourselves

2. Looking out for the interests of others

Tender thoughts come from tender hearts. Tender hearts come from remembering how much we have been forgiven of by the Lord. This is a result of growing in Christ, and becoming spiritually mature through prayer, reading and practice of faith.

CONCLUSION

Look at the contrast between the mindset of the Pharisees and Herodians in Mark 3:6, and the mindset of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3:8-12

1 Peter 3:8-12 “Now to sum up, all of you be like-minded, sympathetic, brotherly, tender-hearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but giving a blessing instead, for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For,

“The one who desires life, to love and see good days,

Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

11 He must turn away from evil and do good;

He must seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous,

And His ears attend to their prayer,

But the face of Yahweh is against those who do evil.”

What kind of mindset do we have? One filled with hard thoughts produced by hard hearts?

Or one filled with kind thoughts produced by tender hearts?

The goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God is designed to produce tender hearts and kind minds.

But if we remain hard-hearted against God and man, we will experience the wrath of God in the day of judgment...

NEXT WEEK: “Part 17: Three Responses to Jesus”