Call To Worship -- Mark 16:14-16
Scripture Reading -- Ephesians 4:14-24
Heart Disease - Mark 3:1-6
Mark 3:1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 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 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 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. Sermon built from notes taken of a sermon delivered by Rod Farthing at Madisonville. KY circa 1990
Introduction: (all scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated)
1. Sclerosis -- The thickening or hardening of a tissue or part -- Great Encyclopedic Dictionary 1968
2. Arteriosclerosis - The thickening and hardening of the inner walls of an artery with an impairment of blood circulation, as in old age. -- Great Encyclopedic Dictionary 1968
3. Sklerokardian -- Cardiosklerosis -- Hardness of the heart -- The thickening and hardening of the inner walls of our spirit that causes an impairment of feelings and compassion for others, as in self righteous, selfish, and spiritually atrophied.
4. This event in the ministry of Jesus illustrates how religious people can forget to practice the two greatest commandments.
I. The Cause of Cardiosklerosis (A Hardened Heart)- 2 "They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him."
1. People have hardened hearts when they are more interested in personal position than the needs of other people.
2. People have hardened hearts when they are more interested in protecting personal power than the needs of people around us.
3. People have hardened hearts when they are more interested in maintaining the status quo than the challenges of social, spiritual and economic outreach to people in need.
4. Passive apathy of Christians is greater danger to our way of life than the aggressive violence of a minority or the loud voices of the secular media.
II. The Complications of Cardiosklerosis (A Hardened Heart) 3, 4, 6 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..... 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
1. People add complications to hardened hearts when they remain ignorant even with need staring them in the face. - 3
Reporter once asked a politician: Senator, Do you think that our nation is in trouble because of ignorance and indifference? His answer: I don't know and I don't care.
"The greatest danger to the church is prejudice and indifference and ignorance is the mother of them both." Glenn Bourne circa 1966 in Building a Missionary Church Class at St. Louis Christian College.
2. People add complications to hardened hearts when they refuse to accept the truth even when it is revealed to them - 4
3. People add complications to hardened hearts when they let their own feeling dictate what they will do rather than His Truth. - 6
III. The Cure of Cardiosklerosis (A Hardened Heart) -5 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.
1. One of the things that angers Jesus is people who have no compassion for others and are more interested in what religion does for themselves than it affects even God or His kingdom.
2. Jesus cared enough about people to meet their needs in spite of what the consequences might be for Him personally.
Conclusion:
1. Cardiosklerosis (Hardening of the Heart) Starts With a Simple Step -- Not Honoring God Romans 1:18-21a
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks"
2. Cardiosklerosis (Hardening of the Heart) leads to severe complications - Romans 1:21b-32
"but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with me committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
3. The Cure for Cardiosklerosis (A Hardened Heart) Begins With A Simple Step - Repentance & Confession
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Psalm 51:10-17
" Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." ; Hebrews 11:19-25
4. Jesus said that we need to remember that Christians are filled with new wine and that it doesn't keep well in old wineskins. "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." (Mark 2: 21,22)
5. My Old Ball Glove from the days of my youth (autographed by Willie Puddenhead Jones) became pliable and usable again after I applied a lot of saddle soap, linseed oil and a lot of elbow grease.
6. When our old lives creep back into take over our thinking and our doing (hardening our hearts) we need to apply the soap of repentance and confession. 1 John 1:6-10
" If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."
7. We need to let the oil of gladness that is the Holy Spirit permeate our lives so we can become useful again. Galatians 6:14-26
" For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another."
8. We need to eliminate the things that will bring about hardness of the heart so that we can serve the Lord with gladness and show others the way to truth and salivation. - Ephesians 4:17-32
" So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiveCardio-skelrosis
