Deadly Disease: Hardening Of The Heart

Take your Bibles this morning, and let's turn to Numbers chapter 14. Numbers 14. Before we look into the Word, let's just bow and ask God to reveal Himself and us in this text this morning. Father, we come to you now and ask for your help. We pray that your spirit would open our eyes not just to the truth of this text, but to the condition of our hearts.

So help us now to see things with the lens of your word so that your name would be honored and glorified amongst us. So help we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. as a kid my parents often had people over to our house we were exposed to lots of different people from different places in the world in fact and so I would sit at the table of course those were the days when children should be children should listen and not be heard so we sat and listened to all kinds of people I can remember, for example, an old guy being at our table, and he would be talking, and a little bit later he'd repeat the same story, and then sometime later he'd repeat the same story, and you're puzzled by that.

Later I said, Dad, is there something wrong? What's going on? And he said, well, they call it hardening of the arteries. That's what they used to call it, at least, where your arteries would get hardened and the oxygen getting to your brain would not get there, and so then you'd be repeating stories or forgetting, things. Well, there's a spiritual condition that's much worse.

It's called hardening of the heart. It's a disastrous disease of the soul, which brings with it the inevitable judgment of God. We find it described for us in Numbers chapter 14. Now before we go there, let's recall what's happened up to this point. What are the conditions that brought about this hardening? little spies who come back from scouting the land they on the verge of the Jordan God had promised them this land Over and over and over he had promised it to them So here they were standing on the river Jordan ready to go in, and Moses sends some spies out to see what's in the land.

The spies come back, but instead of encouraging the people to take the land according to God's abundant promises, 10 of them give a bad report. And we saw last week that doubt sets in. when we focus on the difficulties and we forget the promises of God. Focusing on the difficulties and forgetting the promises of God will inevitably lead to doubt. Doubt then leads to deceit, self-deceit.

Remember, they started exaggerating all the things that they saw. And that deceit ends up hardening your heart. As doubt takes root, sin grows. It hardens your heart. It deceives you, and it begins to harden your heart. Now let's read what happens.

You follow along as I read Numbers 14. Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in this wilderness. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?

Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, The land which we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land.

If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. Then all the congregation said, To stone them with stones.

But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, how long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me in spite of all the signs that I have done among them I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they But Moses said to the Lord, Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land, they have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of the people.

For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, it is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give them that he has killed them in the wilderness. And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty. visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.

Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word but truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers and none of those who despise me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he was a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went and his descendants shall possess it.

Now since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing, I will do to you.

Your dead bodies shall fall in the wilderness. And of all your numbers listed in the census, from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones who you said would become a prey I will bring in and they shall know the land that you have rejected But as for you your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land forty days, a year for each day you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure. I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this I will do to all this wicked congregation, or gather together against me. In this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.

And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land, the men who brought up a bad report of the land died by plague before the Lord. Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, remained alive. When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.

And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned. But Moses said, Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.

For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword, because you have turned back from following the Lord. The Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them even to Hormah.

And so there it is. The story of which you're very familiar. We all know these stories from when we were children. but don't let the familiarity lull you into complacency there's something to be heard here and remember what the apostle Paul said to us in first Corinthians 10 these are written down as warnings for us upon whom the fulfillment of the ages has come so let's hear the warning and heed what God has to say the first thing we want to see is observe what hardening of the heart looks like verses 1 through 4 a bad report spreads the people start to weep because rather than exercising faith they are controlled by fear and their passions are unleashed as a result notice what it looks like verses 1 through 3 and i I'm going to refrain from reading everything again.

But if you look at verses 1 through 3, here's what you will see. The first thing you see is despair. Despair. This is what it looks like. It ends up in despair. Oh, that we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness, right?

It moves on, verse 4, to accusing God of wrong. Do you see what they say about God? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Wow. They accuse God of deception, of cruelty, of weakness.

He's not their gracious God, but their cruel betrayer. He is their cruel betrayer now. That's how they see him. Isn't that interesting? how their view of God changes. I was talking to one of the people that I supervise on Wednesday, a couple weeks ago, and he was explaining to me something that was going on in the counseling that he was doing. And I said to him this, heteropraxy, that is, doing the wrong things, often leads to heresy. it's it's not normally i have intellectual problems i end up in heresy normally i start disobeying god and my view of god changes now sometimes it's the intellectual leading but in my experience most of the time what i've seen is someone starts walking in a way that god forbids and their doctrine changes as a result you see it right here god is no longer good god is a betrayer it didn't start with some kind of intellectual questions it started with doubt of god really it started with them disobeying what god said and not exercising their faith.

The last thing you see in verse 2, they grumble against Moses and Aaron. Verse 4, they want to choose another leader and go back. Verse 10 let stone Caleb and Joshua and our leaders right A rebellious spirit eventually exhibits itself So you see despair you see the accusing of God and you see a rebellious spirit, all of it coming out of the slow but sure hardening of the heart.

Now don't look down on your noses at these people. How many of you have started doubting God's promises and have displayed some of these symptoms? i mean look at yourself and be honest by god's grace by the way in his holy spirit you don't go the full you won't go the full route but do you ever notice when doubt starts coming in and you start and entertaining these doubts about god's promises and focusing on the difficulties so you're having a difficult time be it in your home at work with your children with your spouse whatever, wherever the pressure comes, and you start losing sight, and you start focusing on the difficulties, and your friend comes along to you, to you, and he says, remember Romans 8, 28, 29, God's working for your good to make you like Christ. Remember 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 13 and 14, who is going to harm you if you are zealous to do what is good?

No one can harm you ultimately if you're zealous to do what is good and you respond with look just don't i'm not ready for that just don't give me those platitudes right now you're starting down the road have you been there look at your heart see where you've doubted the promises of god see where you've doubted those things always remember this pressure plus an unbelieving response will produce a hard heart pressure plus an unbelieving response will produce a hard heart now learn how God sees that some of us will say well everybody gets in a funk every once in a while let's not be too upset about this well what's interesting is is that we need to learn God's diagnosis here's one thing when my heart starts to harden when I start focusing on the difficulties rather and the promises, when I start down the road to despair because of it, it's treating the living God with contempt. It's treating God with contempt. Look at verses 10 and 11.

Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones but the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel and the Lord said to Moses how long will this people despise me and how long will they not believe in me in spite of the signs that I have done among them this is treating God with contempt Verse 23, and none of those who despised me, he says, shall see the land. Okay? God says, how long?

I've been gracious. I've carried them. I've provided their every need. I've delivered them with unbelievably powerful signs. How long will they go on like this? The attitude of unbelief is despising God. you see why God takes that so seriously some of you here by the way have been in this congregation for a long time and you've heard the gospel over and over and yet you refuse to believe your hand your hold now listen to me you're despising God when you do that and you need to understand that when some people say how could God be so angry because people don't believe in him.

Here's why. Because you're despising him. You despise him when you don't believe him. All right. That's why you get so angry. I don't know about you, but if one of my boys had said to me, you know, dad, I know you've provided for me all these years and you've even given me a vehicle and you've treated me well, but I still think you're a stupid idiot.

I think I'd be a angry if one of my daughters did it i think i'd probably cry the boys are another story but anyway i think i would be very very angry why because that's contempt right that's contempt and that's what god says happens when we don't believe by the way god says that when you start hardening your heart you are testing him so there's contempt of god there's also testing god Verse 22, notice what he says in verse 22. None of the men who have seen my glory and my signs I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times, and have not obeyed my voice shall see the land that I swore to them Putting God to the test The word test here normally means putting someone through some difficulty so that you can reveal what he made of Okay? It's much like a test that you take.

A test is a difficult event. A test is a difficult event intended to reveal whether you've grasped the material or not. or when I think about this hot weather, I remember playing football in high school and the thing I hated the most were the wind sprints at the end of practice where the coaches would just run us 10 yards, 10 yards, 10 yards, turn around, 10 yards, 10 yards, 10 yards, turn around, 10 yards, 10 yards, 10 yards, turn around. And you kept doing that until one of them finally said to the lockers, in which you're about ready to collapse and you're so glad to hear that.

Oh, I remember that. I hated those things. But that's how they, that's how that revealed, that was the test that revealed whether or not we had stamina, whether or not we could go the distance, right? And so that's the word that's used of God. But does God need to be put to the test by man? Does God need to be put to the test?

Prove yourself, God. the point is he had proven himself over and over again verses 21 and 22 then the lord said i have pardoned according to your word he says to moses but truly as i live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the lord none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that i did in egypt and in the wilderness and yet have put me to the test 10 times and not obeyed my voice shall see the land that i swore to give to their fathers What's happening here? He had showed them over and over and over and over again. And now he says, go take the land.

And they say, we can't do it. That's putting God to the test. It's saying, we're not sure if you're really the, we're not sure if you really can pull this off, God. We're not sure if we can really believe you. That is why he gets angry. Disbelieving God is an arrogant testing of God.

God, I don't think you're capable of this. Prove it. I don't think you're capable. Prove it. He had shown them over and over and over again. So the second thing you need to see is that hardening of the heart is testing God.

And then God says that when he habitually Respond with unbelief, you're guilty of spiritual adultery. Verse 33. Here's what he says in verse 33. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness until the last of your dead bodies lie in the wilderness. You could translate that this way. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your fornications. literally that's what it says literally that's what it says the children will suffer for your unfaithfulness what if you discovered that your wife your husband was a committing adult was committing adultery would you shrug it off some of you here no doubt have experienced that would you just shrug it off and say you know every marriage has its problems is that what you would do?

That would strike you to the heart. That would cause your world to collapse. Why? Because that's a serious thing. You've joined to someone. You've joined to them in a way that you're not joined to anyone else.

And they betray you. Well, that's why God just can't shrug it off. That's why God doesn't just shrug it off nonchalantly when we act in unbelief, as if it's no big deal. You see, unbelief looks like this to God. It's treating him with contempt. It's testing him.

It's spiritual adultery. As you read this narrative, you ought not to wonder at the angry of God. You ought to wonder at his forbearance and patience up to this point. You have to wonder at how forbearing he has been all these years. Now what does that judgment look like? We need to take heed to God's judgment.

You see that in verses 26 through 38. 26 through 38, you see the nature of that judgment. God in judgment will sometimes give you what you in unbelief have asked for. now what is remember what they said in verse two and all the people of israel grumbled against moses and aaron the whole congregation said to them would that we had died in the land of Egypt or would that we had died in this wilderness Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword Our wives and our little ones will become a prey.

Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? Now, look over at verse 27. How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I've heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, as I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing, I will do to you. Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.

And of all your number listed on the census from 20 years old and upward who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell. All right. And so he does what they said. They die in the wilderness. They die in the wilderness. You will have God against you.

That's what judgment looks like. You will have God against you. Verse 34. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, 40 days a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity 40 years, and you shall know my displeasure. What a terrible thought. To have God against you.

To have God against you. the king of creation against you. What will succeed? Can you outthink him? No. And guess what happens? That little thing at the tail end, verses 40-45, 39-45, what happens?

They say, okay, okay, let's go in and conquer the land. And Moses says, God's not with you. He's not with you. that's futile they go anyway and of course they're defeated why because god has set his displeasure against them now by the way someone might ask well aren't they doing now what god says no are they going out of faith have they suddenly begun to believe the promises of god no they're like a little child who knows he's in trouble he's going to be punished so what does he do what is your right your child knows that they're going to be punished what do they do Okay, okay, okay, I'll do it.

Right? That what they doing Okay we don want to die in the wilderness We do it It not out of faith They just want to escape the consequences But God's against them. It's not going to work. Here's another thing that we need to be reminded about what God's judgment looks like. Others are going to be affected by your judgment. Others will be affected.

You need to think of that. do you realize that when you disobey others can be affected by that when judgment falls on you it's going to affect others again verse 33 and your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness 40 years and shall suffer for your faithlessness until the last of your dead bodies lie in the wilderness your children are going to suffer even the ones that he says our under 20 who will go into the land, they've got 40 years of hardship in front of them. Judgment on you will affect other people. You need to think about that.

I was reminded of God's judgment on some believers in the Corinthian church. Remember in 1 Corinthians 11, he says that some of you have died because you've treated the Lord's table with contempt. Do you think there were people in Corinth who were mourning the loss of moms and dads and brothers and sisters? Sure they were. Judgment didn't just affect them, it affected their families.

When you respond to God in unbelief, you're setting an example. Parents, let me say this to you. when you react in unbelief you're setting the example for your children they will be affected won't they lastly and fourthly and lastly you need to know how to prevent hardening of the heart see that in verses five through nine when you see the response of caleb and joshua it is faith it is belief it's as simple as that there's no trick to this there's it's not like okay you know what i am always suspicious when i see a book title or something entitled the secret of right and if you sitting there thinking okay he going to give us the secret for for keeping my heart from being hard Here it is Believe Believe the promises of God and act on them You need to practice faith. Joshua and Caleb did not dispute what the other ten said.

They did not dispute it. What they did say, though, that was different was, if God is for us, who can be against us? They're like bread. They're there for the eating. We can do it because God is going to take away their defenses. We can take the land.

They believed that his power was sufficient to perform what he had promised. Right? Tuck that away, okay? What is faith? Here's one definition of faith. Believing that God's power is sufficient to perform what he has promised. it's believing that God will do what he says and he has the ability to do it now what kind of a faith is this here we turn to Hebrews I want you to turn to Hebrews now Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 if you want to know what's happening in numbers 13 and 14 then go to Hebrews 3 and 4 and you will see God's divine commentary on those two chapters Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 give the explanation of what happened as they stood.

And what he essentially says in those two chapters is they did not have faith. They did not believe. And that's why they suffered. They did not believe. Now, one thing to note about the book of Hebrews is it's written to first century Jewish Christians in the same boat. They're in the same place as their ancestors in Numbers 13 and 14.

They had encountered the obstacle of persecution, and they were tempted to go back to the old ways. You see, that's why the writer to the Hebrews brings this out, because in Hebrews 13 and 14, they're standing at the verge, they're ready to go but what did we hear today? They didn't join it with faith. They're not, they don't believe. Just like these first century Hebrew Christians, he's saying to them, you've got to believe, you've got to believe, and belief looks like this.

It doesn't look like that. It looks like this. What does it look like? Well, we don't have time to read all, we don't have time to read two chapters over the last three weeks we have read these two chapters. But here's what you're going to see. Remember, he quotes Psalm 95, and he says, remember what happened there, don't harden your hearts.

As they did in the day of their rebellion when they tested God. All the things we talked about are mentioned in Psalm 95 that Brian read today and were repeated here. Okay? So then what are we to do? Don't be like them. I'm warning you.

Don't be like them. Don't test God. What should you do? Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. but exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Right? That's exactly what we saw in Numbers 13 and 14.

Sin takes root because of doubt, and it deceives them and it hardens their heart. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Here's the first thing to know about the kind of faith that we need to practice. It is a persevering faith. It is a persevering faith. Faith is not a once-in-a-lifetime decision.

That's why I get really uncomfortable when people push for decisions and say, okay, I was talking to another friend last week who belongs to this huge church it's a southern baptist church and they're trying to steer this ship in a more biblical direction and he says we've got all these sunday school teachers who are saying to kids oh good do you want to believe in jesus okay let's believe in him right now pray this prayer they pray the prayer you've made a decision for jesus now you have another birthday now you have two birthdays the day you were born the day you're born again so now you're ready and he says then when we talk to the kids they they can even tell us what the gospel is right they don know what they believed what the point I making The point I making is this True faith is not a once in a lifetime decision It keeps believing. It keeps believing. What does he say in verse 14?

You have come to know Christ. If you hold to the end that confidence you have at first. You continue to believe. Do you still believe that Jesus is your only hope? Do you still believe that Jesus is your only hope? Are you still just resting in him?

That's what he's saying here. Not just that. Let's go on. Verses 1 and 2 of chapter 4. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it, for good news came to us just as to them. But the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listen.

You know what he's saying there? True faith is a trusting, obedient faith. Not just mental assent. Not just, yeah, I believe that. That faith is going to lead you to do something. True faith is always an obedient faith.

Hear me out now. Obedience never earns you anything with God, But if you have truly trusted God, you will obey him. Because you believe him. What did they do? They came to the land. Notice what he says in verse 2.

Good news came to us just as it came to them. What was the good news? The whole book of Genesis was the good news, right? I've got a land for you. The whole book of Exodus is good news. I've delivered you from Pharaoh.

I've delivered you with plagues. I'm taking to your land. I'm going to give it to you. They had this good news in their minds the whole time. I'll bet you tons of them believed that they were going to get that land. But when the moment came, when it was to go into the land, there was no faith.

How do I know they didn't have faith? Because they didn't walk across the Jordan. If you believe, you will do. You see? It's not merely mental assent. If I truly believe, if they truly believe the promises, If they truly believed the good news that God was going to give them the land, they would have gone.

But the fact that they didn go said no faith They could say all they want Yeah I believe it but There no buts You see A true faith is an obedient faith Let me make this clear. Your obedience never gets you anything with God. It just proves that your faith is the real thing. There may be many people who said, yes, I believe in Jesus. I believe in Jesus.

And yet, they don't do what Jesus says. what am i to think what am i to think okay so true faith is a persevering faith true faith is a trusting obedient faith true faith is a diligent faith verse 11 of chapter 4 in our commentary let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience he's saying to them to these people the first century Christians, you've got to strive to enter that rest. How do you do that? By not giving up your hope in Jesus.

All right? You've got to strive. This is a faith that works hard at killing the weeds of doubt. He's not talking about striving and earning that rest. He's talking about a faith that says there's doubt. I've got to deal with it.

I've got to continue to believe. I've got to deal with those doubts. It's a faith that works. At chopping down the weeds. Killing them whenever they sprout. And so God says, beware of hardening of the heart.

It's symptomatic of an unregenerate state. And it is fatal. It is fatal. So what does God tell us to do? Numbers 13 and 14, clearly God says to us, beware of a hardening heart. When you start focusing on the difficulties and forgetting the promises, work hard.

Don't disbelieve. Don't disbelieve. Work hard at killing those doubts. work hard at saying, okay God as the man in the gospel said yes I believe help my unbelief It where you cry out to God and you say God I can see that it hard for me to believe you at this moment Please help me. You can only do this with utter dependence upon God. And then you go to his word and you see his son on the cross. and you say, if he gave up his son, he will surely, surely give me all that I need.

There is my guarantee that God has the power to perform what he has promised. Beware of hardening your heart. lastly you will not have a hard heart if you are with the people of God and we do our duty Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13 what does it say it says that we need to exhort one another every day as long as it's called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin you need others to help you who can speak truth to you so that the deceitfulness of sin will not harden your heart and that means you have to be willing to speak when you see your friend starting down that path you need to warn him you need to exhort him you need to help him because if you don't it may end up that the sin will deceive his heart and that leads to hardening part of the cure part of the means that God has given us to keep from a hard heart is one another God help us to heed the warning Father thank you for your word that warns us against the hardening of our hearts Help us to deal with doubt when it arises. Help us to know Your promises, to flee to Your promises, to embrace Your promises, to ask You to help us when we're having difficulty believing Your promises.

And help us to do the hard work of exhorting one another. God in heaven, help us to heed your warning now, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.