Why Hardheartedness is Not Part of the Abundant Life of Jesus

Hardheartedness is what we are focusing on in today’s episode. You know that’s not part of the Abundant Life or the High Life that Jesus references. The Abundant Life is the will of God for your life. In a classic “Peanuts” comic strip, Charlie Brown goes to Lucy for psychiatric help. He says, “What can you do when you don’t fit in? What can you do when life seems to be passing you by?” Lucy leads Charlie away from her booth and says, “Follow me. I want to show you something. See the horizon over there? See how big this world is? See how much room there is for everybody? Have you ever seen any other worlds?” Charlie replies meekly, “No.” She continues, “As far as you know, this is the only world there is…Right?” Even more meekly, Charlie says, “Right.” Lucy pressed on, “There are no other worlds for you to live in…Right?” Charlie admits, “Right.” “You were born to live in this world…Right?” “Right,” says Charlie. Lucy then explodes, “Well, live in it then! Five cents, please.” While we may disagree with Lucy’s counseling technique, we recognize she is on to something. We need to make the most of our lives and really live.¹ The point is well taken. If you choose to live the Christian life, then live the abundant life found only in Jesus. Why Hardheartedness Is Not Part of the Abundant Life of Jesus. We’re going to take a look at it on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Choose to strip away every trace of hardheartedness. Keep your heart open and sensitive to God. Be slow to speak, quick to hear, and quick to repent.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Which manner of living produces the satisfaction that you know that your heart craves – the Light Life of humility or the Dark Life of hardheartedness? The answer is obvious. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 45 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

The Abundant Life: Why It’s the Life You Should Live

Ephesians 4:17–22 (ESV) — 17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

So, what we see in these set of verses, penned by the Apostle Paul via the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and, part of what we talked about in a previous podcast, is the verbiage that Paul uses to describe a life we used to live.
There’s a different life you can choose to live.
Per Paul, we must not keep living our past life, the life we used to live when we were estranged from God.
Followers of Jesus must live the High life.

Matthew 10:38–39 (AMP) — 38 And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conforming wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also] is not worthy of Me. 39 Whoever finds his [lower] life will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].

Again, this is the Amplified translation.
It vividly sets out the comparison between two kinds of life: there is the higher life and the lower life.
The higher life is the abundant life Jesus wants us to engage.
We were looking at this Abundant Life, by understanding what it isn’t.
Paul describes what this abundant life is not here in Ephesians 4.
We can call the life you used to live before you met Jesus, the ‘anti-abundant life.’
The life Jesus doesn’t want you to live.

The Abundant Life

What is this abundant life?
What that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

According to news reports, the International Journal of Epidemiology just published an article that maintains bored people die sooner than people who are excited about life. Britton and Shipley of the University of London did a study of more than 7,500 people. Those who reported that they were bored were 2.5 times more likely to die of a heart problem than those who were not bored. Of course, there is a possibility that boredom is not a cause but a concurrent symptom. Still, this finding should encourage us to find some excitement in our lives. This is not unbiblical or unscriptural. Jesus said that He came to give us life and that more abundantly. If Christianity isn’t exciting, what is?

So, the abundant life is an exciting life, which means that this negative life that Paul describes is not so exciting even though it may seem so.
Here are at least some of the components of the anti-abundant life.
People who choose to live this life have the following at work in them.
- They walk in the futility of the mind.
  - We have covered that in a previous podcast.
- They have their understanding darkened and are alienated from the life of God because of inward ignorance.
  - We have also covered this in a second podcast on this subject.
- They are hardhearted.
- Callous.
- They walk in sensuality.
- Operate in greed and impurity.
- And entertain deceitful desires.
So up next, let’s look at hardheartedness.

The Anti Abundant Life: Hardheartedness

Ephesians 4:17–22 (ESV) — 17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do… alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Hardheartedness is what we are looking at, so what is that?
Hear this passage in Romans.

Romans 11:25 (CJB) — 25 For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won’t imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra’el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness;

What does hardheartedness mean?
Does it mean that you have a rock in your chest?
No, this references the state of your spirit man.
How does your spirit man view morality?
Are we soft and pliable, or are we unyielding and inflexible?
Tony Evans has this to say about hardness of heart.

Many people smoke day after day, month after month, year after year and all of a sudden their ability to breathe is impacted and the lungs become hard. A lung is supposed to be soft and pliable but when a person smokes like that, their lungs become hard and the air can’t penetrate them. You can read the Bible until you are blue in the face, but if it is being read by a hard heart, the Spirit won’t penetrate it.²

Now, this illustration backs up the Greek definition of the word hardness.
Hardness means callousness.
Callousness is the state of being devoid of feeling and mental awareness.
The callousness that we are talking about is both mental and moral. ³
One of the great displays of this kind of callousness or hardheartedness by a human being came from Pharaoh.
I mean, Pharaoh did hardheartedness large.
He super-sized it — took it to a whole different level.
He was an eyewitness to some of the most astounding miracles ever seen on planet earth up to that time.
The Ten plagues were ten judgments that displayed just a tiny portion of God’s power.
Pharaoh had a ringside seat for every one of these miracles.

Exodus 8:11 (CJB) — 11 But when Pharaoh saw that he had been given some relief, he made himself hardhearted and would not listen to them, just as Adonai had said would happen.

I am reading this from the complete Jewish Bible translation.
Some think that if they could see a miracle, they would believe.
Not necessarily.

John 10:22–25 (ESV) — 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,

Jesus told them, Jesus showed them, and they would not believe.
Believing what Jesus said to the point of action is one litmus test that shows you are not hardhearted.
Bounce this off your heart.
Would you believe if Jesus said something in the Bible and demonstrated that for you?
The religious leaders saw the works of God under the ministry of Jesus.
Even the disciples displayed some hardheartedness over one of Jesus’ miracles.

The Disciples Hardheartedness

Do you remember the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves?
It’s in Mark six, starting at verse thirty-five.
It was late when Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, “Send these people away so they can buy themselves something to eat.”

Mark 6:37 (ESV) — 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”

They said we don’t have enough money.
Jesus responded with the question: What do you have?
“Five and two fish” was the response.
Jesus sectioned the people off in groups by hundreds and by fifties.
He takes the five loaves and the two fish, prays, breaks the loaves, divides the fish, and gives them to the disciples to set before the people.
The miracles take place in the hands of the disciples.
The disciples received from Jesus five loaves and two fish.
The miracle took place in their hands.
Everyone was full and satisfied with twelve baskets left over.
Five thousand men were fed.
Now Jesus tells the disciples to go to the other side.
He goes to pray.

Mark 6:44–52 (ESV) — 45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Notice their hearts were hardened.
They were part of an astounding food miracle just a few hours before, but they did not understand about the loaves.
They didn’t get the lesson.
The lesson was ‘You give them something to eat.’
The lesson was ‘Go to the other side.’
Notice that Jesus meant to pass them by.
Why did He pass them by?
Because the plan is to go to the other side — He’s headed that way.
The disciples did not connect the fact that the power was in their hands to go to the other side, just like the power was in their hands to multiple the loaves.
They missed the point of the miracle because of hardness of heart.

A Stunning Picture of Hardheartedness

Mark 3:1–5 (ESV) — 1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Isn’t this a stunning word picture of hardheartedness?
These priests, rabbis, scribes, and Pharisees were more concerned about their interpretation of God’s Word than were in a demonstration of God’s Word.
They cared for the day more than the man.
There are two traits listed here in this account that, if you lack them, indicate a hard heart, anger, and grief.

A Kind of Anger that Is Right and Acceptable

The word anger here means wrath, as in a feeling of intense anger that does not subside, often on an epic scale.
It’s a strong word used here.
BDAG has it as a state of relatively strong displeasure, focusing on the emotional aspect⁴
Louw Nida has it as fury.
Translation? – Jesus was ticked off at the reaction of the Jewish religious machine, and it showed on His countenance.
They knew that He was peeved.
Does this torpedo your milk toast idea of Jesus — that Jesus was always calm, soft-spoken, mild, you know, never raised His voice?
Okay, so let’s try to answer the question that some of you may have.
What about the verse on anger in Ephesians four?

Ephesians 4:26 (ESV) — 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

The word anger is used twice in this passage, but they are not the exact words.
The first word is the same word in Mark 3:5.
Be angry and do not sin.
This kind of anger is acceptable as long as you don’t sin.
Jesus was angry, intensely angry on an epic scale.
He was strongly displeased, and it affected his emotions.
But, His fury did not lead to a sinful moment.
His anger instead led to a healing moment.
The second word for anger – do not let the sun go down on your anger is a different Greek word.
It is not the same word as in Mark three.
Again, you have two different words here for anger.
This word means anger to the point of exasperation.
BDAG has this word for anger as a state of being intensely provoked, angry mood⁵
A state of being quite angry and upset at something—‘anger, being provoked⁶
This kind of anger is forbidden.
There must be one response to this, repentance.
We’re talking here about being angry really for no righteous reason.
This kind of anger is forbidden, and you need to get this right in your heart before sundown.
This means you have less than a twenty-four-hour span to reign yourself in.
So, what we see in Jesus here in Mark three, what we see about Jesus when He flipped over the tables of the money-changers in the Temple, was Him being angry yet not sinning – or the front part of Ephesians 4:26.
Getting back to the tie-in to hardheartedness.
Some things should make you angry.
Kinds of unrighteousness should set you off — and you know what? — that’s okay.
It’s evidence that you do not have a stony heart.
But, if you are apathetic if someone assassinates a world leader and it doesn’t bother you if a school shooting takes place and you turn the other cheek away from it — that’s a problem.
Being in the presence of a liar should be a problem for you.
Lying is a thing God hates.
If He hates it, you ought to hate it as well.
What he despises, you should despise.
There should be a reaction on your part.
That’s good and right, and it’s an indicator that you are far from hardheartedness.
Hardhearted people don’t care at all.
Notice what the scripture says was the reaction of the religious leaders, and it’s a sign of hardheartedness, silence.
Listen to it again.

And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

What is silence here mean?
It means indifference.
They didn’t give a rip.
Do you understand that expression?
They don’t care — they don’t feel anything — they are callous and callous means insensitive.
Callous is another descriptor for hardheartedness.

Anger: The Human Element

Now, consider this thought: Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Why did the Lord not say – ‘don’t be angry at all?’
Why did He say Be angry and do not sin?
Anger is an emotion — Jesus expressed it.
There is a proper use for it.
It’s an indicator of passion for righteousness.
The appropriate display of it is a sign that you care – that you are passionate about what God’s passionate about, right?
What about this part, though?
Do not let the sun go down in your anger.
Why did the Lord not make repentance immediate?
He gave us until sundown. Why?
Part of repentance is part of understanding that you screwed up.
There’s a reflection that needs to take place.
One Greek lexicon I was looking at said this about the Greek word for repentance.

It has to do first of all with a change of mind or feelings resulting from after-knowledge: “But when we reflected … we had to change our minds.”⁷

So there is a reflection period for repentance; anger is an emotion, and your feelings need to cool off.
The Lord said, ‘I will give you until the end of the day.’
So the warning is don’t carry it over.
Don’t stew over it.
Pondering it and rehashing the source of the anger is what we need to let go of.
Now, let’s look at the next word, grief.

A Kind of Grief that Is Right and Acceptable

The verse in Mark said that Jesus was grieved at the Jew’s hardness of heart.
Here is the statement again: he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.
The Greek word grieved means to cause to feel sorrow.
BDAG has it as to feel hurt or grief with someone or at the same time⁸
For most of my saved life, I misread the grief portion of this story.
I read grief as another word, a synonym for Jesus being angry.
My whole focus was His anger.
But that’s not what the Greek is saying here.
Grief is sorrow or hurt.
What we have here is a vital truth.
Anger at a person’s unrighteous acts must be balanced with sorrow over their condition.
Jesus was angry over the Jew’s hardheartedness that they wouldn’t consider relieving a man’s condition.
The Jews wanted this man to suffer on Saturday and wait until Sunday for relief.
Jesus was angry at that reaction but also sorrowful that they thought in those channels.

Anger – Compassion Balance

So, here’s the challenge for you and me.
If we are angry at a sinner’s unrighteous behavior, are we at the same time grieved by their lost state that led to their wrong actions?
If you don’t have both, anger balanced off with grief, you will be angry, and you will sin.
Now let me repeat this query: if we are angry at a sinner’s unrighteous behavior, are we at the same time grieved by their lost state that led to their wrong actions?
Take the word ‘sinners’ out of this statement and get specific.
Replace with a kind of sinner — or a type of sin this individual commits.
Put the word ‘rapist’ in there.
If you are angry at a rapist’s unrighteous behavior, are you at the same time grieved by their lost state that led to their wrong actions?
You have to know men are lost.
They are alienated from the life of God.
Their understanding is darkened.
Their hearts are hardened.
Spiritual death is lord over their spirits.
They can’t see the light — that’s why they do what they do.
If you didn’t have Jesus come into your life, it would be what you would be doing.
Men don’t go to hell for what they do.
They go to hell for who they are.
Now, plug the word ‘serial-killer’ in this statement, and let’s see what that sounds like.
If you are angry at a serial-killers unrighteous behavior, are you at the same time grieving over their lost state that led to their wrong actions?
Plug the word murderer in there and try the same thing.
How does that bounce off your heart?
Substitute liar in there.
Change the word to ‘identity thief.’
What cord those that strike in your thinking?
What about child abuser?
How about politician, as there seems to be a lot of anger in this arena.
You could go on and on, you know, with this, but you get the point.
If you are angry at any of these unrighteous folk and their behavior, are you at the same time grieved by their lost state that may have led to their wrong actions?
We need balance — the compassion for a person’s soul must level the anger playing field.
What happens to a person who is all anger with no compassion?
They sin.
Remember the scripture again – be angry and sin not.
Some of these unbalanced souls who are angry sin big time – horrific even.
Hardheartedness is what we’ve been talking about.
It’s not part of the abundant life Jesus promised.
You guys have a great God week, and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

How to Develop a Highly Effective Confidence in God

___________
References:

https://www.preaching.com/?s=Abundant+Life ↩
Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 147. ↩
Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 107. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 720. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 780. ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 760. ↩
Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 472. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 956. ↩

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Why Hardheartedness is Not Part of the Abundant Life of Jesus

Podcast: Light on Life Season 9 Episode 29

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Abundant Life: Why It’s the Life You Should Live

The Abundant Life

The Anti Abundant Life: Hardheartedness

The Disciples Hardheartedness

A Stunning Picture of Hardheartedness

A Kind of Anger that Is Right and Acceptable

Anger: The Human Element

A Kind of Grief that Is Right and Acceptable

Anger – Compassion Balance

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Abundant Life: Why It’s the Life You Should Live

The Abundant Life

The Anti Abundant Life: Hardheartedness

The Disciples Hardheartedness

A Stunning Picture of Hardheartedness

A Kind of Anger that Is Right and Acceptable

Anger: The Human Element

A Kind of Grief that Is Right and Acceptable

Anger – Compassion Balance

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