HARD
HEART
By Editor: Blessed Quietness Journal
HARD
HEART-- How to get one- Mark 6:30-52 Mark
6:30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all
things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31 And he said
unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for
there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33 And the people
saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities,
and outwent them, and came together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came
out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they
were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
35
And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This
is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36 Send them away, that
they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves
bread: for they have nothing to eat. 37 He answered and said unto them,
Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth
of bread, and give them to eat? 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have
ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 39 And
he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41 And when he
had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed,
and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the
two fishes divided he among them all. 42 And they did all eat, and were
filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of
the fishes. 44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand
men. 45
And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to
the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 46
And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. 47
And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on
the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary
unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking
upon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking
upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: 50 For
they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and
saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went
up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in
themselves beyond measure, and wondered. 52 For they considered not the
miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. _________________________________________________________
One.
Vs.
30-34- The ministry wearies the servant.
People are a distraction.
Personal
experience- I tune pianos, and I find that people can be very hard on you. You
have to please the customer, but some customers know this, and they push as hard
as possible to take a big part of your life. What do you do? How do you
get away from them without being ungodly and causing bad word-of-mouth?
ILLUSTRATION: Scholars
who study and publish, but can't communicate with people.
I worked at Gull Lake
Bible and Missionary Conference long ago in Michigan. They had a pretty
sound program then, and Howard Pierucki was in charge. I hope he doesn't
mind, but I relate his experience. He had some guest speakers who were popular,
but they were very deficient in some areas, and working with them was a burden.
One demanded a minimum in honorarium. Howard finally just dropped
him since his mind was on money and not on serving the saints. Another gentleman
was a great Bible teacher, but he openly admitted that he couldn't talk to people.
How sad. Why was he teaching in the first place? Beware of insulating
yourself from the very ones you serve. ILLUSTRATION:
Professional students. Thus, all seminaries.
I am told of students
in Dallas Seminary, Grand Rapids Baptist College, and many other schools. There
are a number who don't even go to church on Sunday. Some, wearing Sunday
clothes, at GRBC drop their kids off for Sunday School, then they go have breakfast
at a restaurant. Cold hearted I say!
Fruit becomes common, even
mundane Discuss
the bored look on the face of many evangelists.
ILLUSTRATION: Evangelist
who came to Yermo. Complained about the crowd.
I had some problems with
the Baptist church in our town in the High Desert. I think I am now about
where they are, but even then, I liked their zeal for souls. They
invited a Baptist evangelist to town to preach some meetings, and Lee Brock asked
me to come and help. I did so with joy. The night I was there, the
evangelist preached up a storm, but I could see that he had a problem. In
spite of that, the Lord used him, and one of the town's most rotten teen age brats
went forward to be saved. I was blessed to deal with him, and he prayed
for salvation. The Baptists later discipled him. Well, after the meeting,
the Baptist evangelist went outside and bellyached on and on about the poor attendance.
What a sorry soul. Those of us who lived in the desert were just rejoicing
for a soul saved while this young child was miserable. Hard hearted, or
hard hearted? TWO.
Vs. 35-44- Miraculous provision becomes common, just a job.
Masses become a burden--
"Where are the refreshments?" People
are not just spiritual, right? They sometimes get hungry for a plate of
beans and corn bread. Do you care? Do you gripe if they would like to hold
a cup of coffee and stand in the corner and catch up with their friends?
Why? You are a sorry hard hearted soul. Jesus didn't tell them to
just go home and be spiritual. He fed them.
Bible study- 20 min. and
food- 40 min. How does this hit the teacher? No
wrist watches in Christ's day! It is a sorry commentary on the Lord's
church today that many saints can't take more than 20 or 30 minutes of Bible time.
So, that's how it is. You can't get used to it, but are you going
to tear their faces off with rebuke every time some good old boy looks at his
watch. Think of the patience of Jesus and his gentle rebuke in Gethsemene
when the guys went to sleep during prayer meeting. Broken heart? Yes,
but NOT hard hearted. Are
these people lovable? NO! Must we love them? YES! with rebuke.
Cf- John 6:26- "Did
you come for the food or the Food?"
Gal. 6:9-10 THREE.
Vs.
45-52- God brings the tension up. Burdens too hard to bear. Why?
2 Thess. 3:13- Weary
destroys faith & joy.
Answer: Mark 6:52 above- Hearts hardened. How can this happen to us?
What is meant? They took Christ for granted- common.
He wants us back totally dependent on Him.
Suddenly, we are amazed at God again. Awe
and fear return. Isaiah 50:4- How can we help each other avoid the hard heart?
Psalm 103:1-8; FOUR.
End thoughts- Vs. 53-56
The boredom has broken.
The disciples and Christ are back at the work.
What have we learned? Gal 4:18- "Always????"-
How are we "affected?" It is a "good thing" to have a tender heart- even
with the slobs. This does not mean we wimp out on the rebuke and the discipline
of saints. But; it DOES mean that we FEEL the sorrow and shame they experience,
while we refuse to condone or tolerate their sin. Tough? Yes. Contradictory?
Yes, in a way, but it is our Lord who "endured such contradiction
of sinners" like the best of us alleged scholars. Let us be blunt while
we search for tender hearts and fertile ground. Then, let us at once encourage
and kick forward those who "stay to pray."
FINAL QUESTION or,
FURTHER STUDY:
Personal:
Am I bored? Am I tired of people, at home, at work, in heaven, or in the assembly?
In Christ
and the Word, what can I do about it?
Is Christ common to me now? What shall I do to "GET RIGHT?"
Preacher..... Are
you a real man? Preacher
Rough
Preacher Tough
Preacher Tender
Where are the strays you have
rescued? Preacher,
you sure can raise money for the building fund with that offering plate, right?
Tell me, that little widow who has been so faithful for so many years.... When
is the last time she went out to a nice restaurant for a special evening? You
are the world's premier jerk if you don't know.
She is eternal-- your new
building will soon be the meeting hall of the Antichrist's majordomo.
Unless
you are still here after the Rapture????
Get that little faithful widow up
top of the list of your priorities, or God will bash you real soon.
That is
a promise. And,
while you are at it, there is a kid in your church who is in public school. Do
you bash his parents for not home schooling him while you ignore the kid? Or,
do you go around at noon and take him for a hamburger when he gets an "A"?
So, you exalt home schooling. BIG WHUP. Daniel survived Babylon, and that kid
will too, but only if his four flusher pastor gets his posterior out of the church
office and spends some time EVERY MONTH with that kid. Preacher--
Don't hang around here if you cannot take the heat.
Revival time starts
with YOU! BACK
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