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The Gospel Truth
Hardness of Heart: Episode 4
00:28:31
A hardened heart isn't just found in those living in sin—even those closest to Jesus sometimes struggled with it. When His disciples saw Him walking on water, they were amazed because their hearts were hardened (Mark 6:45–52). Learn how distractions,...
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Welcome to Gospel Truth with Andrew Wommack, celebrating 25 years of sharing God's unconditional love and grace on television. Truly, Andrew has changed everything in my life.
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Thank you, Andrew. You changed my life and changed my family's life. Your teachings, your ministry has changed our lives forever.
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And now, here's Andrew.
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Welcome to our Thursday's broadcast of the Gospel Truth. Today I'm continuing a series that I've entitled Hardness of Heart. I started teaching on this last Monday, so this is my fourth day to teach on this. This is something that man. It has ministered to me so much. And this is just a foundational principle that God has used in my life. And I encourage you to please get hold of these materials. We're offering this book as a gift to you. We're asking you to send something for the larger book. But if you couldn't send anything, we'll send you the little booklet free and postpaid. And then we have cds and DVDs or a USB where it has the audio and the video on it. And I promise you, this is just something that every person needs. This is such a foundational teaching in my life that there's not a day that goes by that I don't constantly evaluate. Is what I'm doing making me more sensitive to God or is it hardening me towards God? The word harden, when you use it, talking about your heart, the word hardened by the dictionary says that it means to be cold, insensitive, unfeeling or unyielding. And that if you use that definition, I believe that every person watching this would have to admit that there are areas of our life where we seem to be insensitive to the Lord, where we are more sensitive to sin or to condemnation or to fear or unbelief than we are to faith. That we are cold, unyielding, unfeeling towards God. And your. The way your heart is dictates how your faith will go. Faith is an a product of the heart. Romans chapter 10, verse 10. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness. So anyway, I started in Mark, chapter six, where the disciples, when they saw Jesus walking on the water coming to them and then they and the boat were translated to the other side of the lake. It says they were sore, amazed in themselves beyond measure and wondered. And it goes on to say, for they considered not the miracle of the for their heart was hardened. And it links a hardened heart to being shocked to see the supernatural power of God in manifestation. And that's where we started and I've talked about Pharaoh, about how that when your heart becomes hardened, it's just like you lose all reason, you lose your ability to think, you become spiritually retarded. And I know that a lot of people don't even like to use that word, but that is very descriptive of what happens when a person is hard hearted. They just can't think right. And this is the only explanation I can see that for how some people today are so crazy that they think that going out and, you know, encouraging transgenderism and encouraging giving hormone blockers to little kids, you won't even let them choose what they eat. You make them eat their vegetables. You don't just let them do however they feel. And yet you'll allow them to cut off parts of their body and to block hormone blockers that affect the rest of their life when they're just, you know, kindergarten elements school. That's just crazy, I tell you. It's because people have a hardened heart, because they are cold, insensitive and unfeeling. They have embraced the unbelief and stuff of this world. In the eighth chapter of the book of Mark is the second instance where Jesus fed a multitude by multiplying the food. This time he had more food and less people, but it was still a miraculous supply of food. So it's the second time that he had done this. Mark, chapter six, and also Mark chapter eight. And then he and his disciples got into a boat and went to the other side. And it says in Mark chapter 8. And in verse 14 it says, now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And it says in the next verse. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, it is because we have no bread. And. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, why reason ye because ye have no bread, Perceive you not yet neither understand have ye your heart yet hardened. Now remember in, in Mark, chapter 6, verse 52, the reason that they were shocked to see Jesus walking on the water was because of a hardened heart. They should have been blessed by it, they should have enjoyed it, they should have praised God for it. But they shouldn't have been shocked. They were shocked because they were more relating to the natural realm than they were the supernatural realm. And it was because their heart was hardened. So here he is now saying, is your heart still hardened? This is just a few days after this and he. And he gave some characteristics here of a hardened heart. So when he said, why reason ye because you have no bread, perceive ye not yet. Did you know not being able to perceive spiritual truth is an indication of a hardened heart. Boy, that's a big statement right there. You know, I know that there are people watching this program right now that the reason you're watching is because you just know that God has so much more for you than what you've experienced. And yet it seems like it's just hard for you to grab hold of it. It's hard for you to understand the things of God. It's hard for you to perceive. That's because of what the Bible calls a hardened heart. Now, I'm not ready to give you the answer or the cure for that yet, but there is a cure. And if you can stick with me, get these materials, you can find out what causes your heart to become cold, insensitive, unfeeling and unyielding or hardened towards God. And then you can change this around. And in the same way that it seems like it's been so hard for us to perceive what God wants to say. Did you know you can reverse this process? Your heart is made so that it can adapt to situations. Man, I don't know how many of you understand this, but, you know, when I was in Vietnam, I was around explosions just constantly. We lived on what was called a fire support base. And it was a mountain that was way out and in the middle of nowhere. And we were the ones that. That gave support to the troops that were out in the fields. And because of that, there were just constant explosions. I Remember on my 21st birthday, we had 21 mortars hit my bunker. And I remember thinking, the Vietnamese. No, it's my 21st birthday. And I mean, I got 21 direct hits on my bunker. Our bunker could withstand a mortar, but it would shake the whole thing. And it was all of these loud explosions. We had a 155 recoilless that was mounted on the bunker right next to me. And when that thing went off, I mean, it was deafening. And we had what we called a mad minute every hour during the night that for one minute every hour we would just shoot our guns down the hill and throw a few hand grenades. And in case there was any Vietnamese coming up the hill and you just wiped out whatever was outside of your perimeter. So all through the night there were just explosions and it was constant. I remember one time I pulled bunker guard on what we call bunker number one. And our hill was this really steep mountain. It was 441 meters tall and it was really steep and it was nearly impregnable except on this a finger. The if you were going to come up there, you had to come up this one way. And that's where bunker guard number one was. So it was down, it was the most exposed. And I remember going down there and put pulling bunker guard one night and they had a guy who was a Puerto Rican and he got drafted and he was in Vietnam. And So there was four of us pulling bunker guard. I was the first guard from 6 until 9 o' clock was my shift. And this Puerto Rican was sitting up on top with me. The other two guys went down into the bottom part and they were going to come up when it was time for their bunker guard. But anyway, I was sitting up there with this Puerto Rican and I was trying to make conversation with him and I said, what's your name? And he said 40 days. And I said, have you been in country 40 days? And he said 40 days. I said, do you have 40 days left to go? And he. 40 days. That's the only English he could speak. I don't know how he got to Vietnam. But anyway, all he could say was 40 days. So I, I pulled my bunker guard and I just laid on top of the bunker right next to this guy. And it was his second turn and so I went to sleep. And in the morning I woke up about 5 o'. Clock. You were supposed to stay there until 6 o'. Clock. And I woke up at 5 o' clock and he was gone. I went down inside, the other two guys were gone, nobody was around. And so anyway, I just stayed until 6 o' clock when we were supposed to be through with our bunker guard. And then I headed up the hill and. And as I started up the hill, the chaplain came running down and says, are you okay? Did you get hurt? And I said, I'm fine. I said, what's the problem? And he told me that this Puerto Rican was crazy. And when I went to sleep, he shot all of his M16 rounds not only down the hill, but up the hill towards our US guys. And he threw, I don't even know but hundreds of hand grenades. He shot grenade launchers and he fired off claymore mines, which. A claymore mine, when that thing went off, it would bounce you off the ground like that. It was so loud and it was. Had such a percussion. And I slept through the whole thing. I didn't even hear any of it. But did you Know that if you walked into my bunker, I made my bunker that I lived in. And if you walked in and just the door, it was made out of ammo boxes and stuff in these hinges. And if you open that door, you could hear it creak. And I mean instantly, I would be awake because that was something that was wrong. It's like it says over in Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 20. It says, My son, attend to my words, Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine, for they are life unto them that find them, and health to all their flesh. Notice it says, to attend to his words, and incline your ear unto his. Saying that doesn't mean to tilt your head at a certain angle. If you look this up in the Hebrew right here, the word aten, it means to prick up the ears is what the word literally means. And it's describing a horse or a mule. And I've had horses all of my life. And it's just amazing. When you're riding a horse, that horse is. Its. Its ears are just constantly moving and listening to things. And if they hear a noise over here, boy, both of those ears or one of those ears will move. And it will. And it's so it can focus on it, amplify it. And so this is what it's saying. You need to get to where you focus, prick up your ears. You put all of your attention on the word of God. And did you know that you can sensitize yourself to what God is saying? And in contrast, or by neglect to, you will automatically start becoming hardened towards what the devil is saying, what the flesh is saying. And this is illustrated by when I was in Vietnam, I could sleep through all of these loud noises because those were normal. But something abnormal happened, like somebody opening up the doors to my bunker or walking on those ammo boxes that I had as a floor, And I could hear that little creak, and instantly I would be awake because something was abnormal. Did you know whether you've been to Vietnam or not, people do this same thing. They could live in the flight. Flight path of an airport, and they get used to planes coming in and out. Or they could live next to a railroad track and have trains coming by. Or you could live on a busy city street, and you get to where you just desensitize yourself. You become hardened towards those sounds. But you let your little baby just cough one time or start breathing hard, and instantly you're aware. You can sensitize yourself or desensitize yourself or. The scriptural terminology that I'm using is you can harden your heart towards anything. And I'm going to be telling you how that happens, but I'm just trying to establish the fact that this is what it's talking about over here in Mark, chapter eight, when he says, can't you perceive did you know things that should be normal to us as born again believers. It says In John chapter 10, Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and the voice of a stranger they will not hear. Did you know it should be normal for us to be able to hear the voice of God? And yet I've had so many people come to me and say, man, I just can't hear the voice of God. And they'll talk about how hard it is and they just, they just can't seem to perceive is what it says right here. They can't perceive the spiritual things and yet they can perceive natural carnal things easily. They'll tell me I can't hear the voice of God. And then they'll go on to say, but the devil told me this, and the devil said this, and the devil said that they can hear the devil without any problem at all, but they can't hear God. Did you know Satan is a spirit just the same way that God is a spirit? If you can hear Satan speak to you, if you can hear fear speak to you, if you can hear lust speak to you, if you can hear unforgiveness and anger and bitterness speak to you, and if you can respond to those things, but you just can't seem to respond to God, it's because of the condition of your heart. You have sensitized your heart towards these negative things and you have hardened yourself towards the godly things. And this is what Jesus is saying. He says, perceive ye not yet neither understand. Did you know that there's times, I'm sure that you could relate to this, that you've been in a church service or a, a conference or something like that and you hear somebody saying something and, and you can tell that there is something God is trying to speak to you and yet you just can't seem to connect the dots. You know that there's something that he's wanting to say to you and yet you just don't seem to be able to understand. This is also over in the ninth, 13th chapter of the book of Matthew. I think it's verse 19, where he was talking about the seed being sown on the ground. And it says, once the seed is Sown. And if people don't understand it, Satan comes immediately and steals away the word that was sown in their heart. And if you would be honest, I know that there's many people watching this, that you've been in a church service, that something just, you know, you saw something and yet you couldn't. You just couldn't seem to perceive it, understand it. You knew that there was truth. You could see how it was blessing other people, and yet it just didn't affect you. You know, I remember when I first got started in ministry. I had six Bible studies in three different states. And I would travel a circuit and I would teach each one of those different Bible studies. Six Bible studies a week. I would teach them the exact same thing so that all of the groups would be growing at the same time and getting basically the same instruction. And so I would be in a place and typically I would teach something, and then the next night I would teach it again, and then the next night, and it would seem to grow and increase, and I would get better at saying it. The people, we would see greater manifestations of healing and deliverance and people getting saved and things like that. But I also saw that sometimes I would. I would teach the exact same thing that had just been awesome the night before. And I come to this group and it's just like it. It was on deaf ears. It didn't have any impact on them. And at first I thought it was me. And then I also saw this, that not only would that happen from night to night, but I would be in a service and I would be teaching the word of God. And I literally remember one time that a woman was bouncing up and down in her chair. She was so excited. She had never heard these things. She was being turned on, and the person next to her falls asleep. Now, there is no way that out of my mouth, one person could just be totally transformed while the other one is so bored they fall asleep. And I began to learn that it's not just me and me ministering the Word. It's the condition of people's hearts that determine how the Word affects them. There's no way that in one service I could put out all of these different words. I'm saying the same thing. If some people are being blessed and other people are getting nothing out of it because of the hardness of their heart or the receptiveness of their heart, this is what Jesus was referring to. He says, can't you perceive? Can't you understand? Is your heart yet hardened? It's a hardened Heart that keeps us from perceiving and understanding. And if you struggle to perceive the truth of God, you know that God exists. He's touched your life. You're born again. It's not that you don't believe, it's not that you don't trust him, but you just can't seem to grab hold, you know that there's things he's trying to do in your life and you just don't know how to do it. It's because of a hardened heart. And I know I'm belaboring this point and some people think, well, get on to the answer. Well, first of all, you've got to recognize that this hardness of heart is not for somebody else. This is for every one of us. There are areas of our life where each one of us are hardened towards God. In the next verse, it says, having eyes, see ye not and having ears, hear ye not and do ye not. Remember, you know, on my program yesterday, I was talking about the Egyptians and how that they had their heart hardened Pharaoh and that's the reason that he just would, would be brought to his knees. He would humble himself and say, I'm wrong. But then he, God would harden his heart and instantly it's just like he lost everything. He couldn't remember the things that God had done in his life. That's a re. That's a condition or a characteristic of a hardened heart. And you know, there are so many people that they just forget the things that God has done in their life. They're like a goose. They wake up in a new world every day. They don't remember what happened previous. You know, one of the strong points in my life, and I'm not, I'm not patting myself on the back, I'm just thanking God. But one of the strong points of my life is that every day of my life I go back and remember March 23, 1968, when God touched my life. I've already praised God for that two or three times today already. I go back and remember and I'm constantly rehearsing the things that God has done. And because of that, when I come into a new problem, I've got a history and I've seen God come through and it just makes a huge difference. It says three times over in 2 Peter. Specifically like 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 1. He says, I stir up your pure minds by putting you in way of remembrance. Did you know memory will just stir you up? If you remember the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, if you remember how you were in a crisis situation and God brought you through. It makes a difference when you approach a new problem because you've got this history. It's like it says in Romans chapter five, that hope makes not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our heart. Talking about memory because you've experienced the things of God, it puts hope and that hope makes not ashamed. So you need to go back and constantly be rehearsing and remembering. But if you have a hardened heart, you are just focused on today, you're only looking at things and it's like you forget you don't put things into their proper perspective. You know, the apostle Paul, he said that the reason he was able to endure such hardness, he says it's because it's just a light affliction. Because all of these things work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. You know what that's talking about is he wasn't just looking at what was happening to him right then, but he was putting it into the perspective of what God had delivered him from in the past. He was remembering that e in eternity. He's not going to have these things. He just put everything that happened to him into the proper perspective. And it makes a huge difference in the way that you deal with it. Man, what I'm saying right here is so important and I'm just running out of time today. I've got some great things that I'm ready to say, but we're running out of time again. That's the reason that I want you to in to get these materials, because these materials will go into greater depth than what I'm able to do on television. Plus it won't be broken up into little 30 minute segments. You'll just be able to read it totally in its context. But I promise you that whether you know it or not, every one of us is dealing with a hardened heart in some area of our life towards God. And if you don't understand that, then you won't be able to overcome it. It doesn't overcome, it doesn't happen just automatically that you grow out of this. This is something that you have to recognize the problem, discern what it is, recognize the cause of it. And then once you see what causes your heart to become hardened towards God, then you can reverse the process and you can literally get to a place to where you become hardened towards the devil instead of being hardened towards God. And hard to hear his voice. You can reach a place to where you don't know how to hear the voice of the devil. Amen. And I know some of you are thinking, boy, that's not true. I can hear the devil just fine. I'm going to continue to share this and I promise you it'll make a big difference in your life. So please take advantage of these offers. I've got this book on hardness of heart that we're asking for a gift of some amount. Just do what you can, we'll send it to you if you cannot or would not send anything. We'll send you the brief summary and then we also have cds, DVDs and a USB that'll have the audio and video on it. So please listen to our announcer as he gives you this information and then call or write today.
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Learn how to keep your heart yielded and responsive to the Lord when you get Andrew's Series Hardness of Heart Andrew is offering his booklet An Introduction to Hardness of Heart as his free gift to you today. This offer is limited to one free booklet per household and is available in the us, uk, Canada and Australia. Contact us today to receive your free booklet. Andrew's complete series Hardness of Heart is available as a book and as a newly updated CD album or DVD album made from our daily television broadcast. You can also receive the full teaching on a USB that includes both the audio and video. Each of these valuable resources are available for a gift of any amount when you contact us for a limited time. You can also receive the the book and USB together as a special Bundle for just $25. Scan the QR code on the screen or go to awmi.net to see all the ways you can get these products. We also want to remind you of Andrew's Living Commentary software. The Living Commentary includes more than 50 years of Andrew's Bible study notes and personal encounters with God and is available as a web based software that you can access by computer or any mobile device. Get Andrew's Living commentary today for $120 we'd like to say a special thank you to the Grace Partners of Andrew Wommack Ministries. Your gifts make it possible to put free ministry materials into the hands of hands of many people in need. If you're not already a Grace Partner, we ask you to pray about becoming one. Today. You can become a Grace Partner through our website@awmi.net while there you can discover more product details and download additional free resources. Also, our products and additional resources are available in various languages through our website. You can also order resources or receive prayer by calling our helpline at 719-635-1111. Our helpline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To write us, use the address on your screen. We appreciate your generosity and hope to hear.
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For 25 years, the friends and partners of Andrew Wommack have been blessed to invest in a television ministry that ignites their relationship with God. And not only does each donation support Andrew, but it supports his mandate to disciple nations through Charis Bible College where students are immersed for four hours a day in the life changing Word of God. Every seed sown by Andrew's partners is multiplied through the lives of Charis graduates who carry God's Word out into the world. Graduates like Dottie, who has filled her house with adopted children in Kenya Johan, a former drug lord jailed in Portugal, now evangelizing in Brazil Julie, caring for orphans and abandoned women in the Congo Mohamed, reaching Muslim Iranians worldwide Andrew and Selina pastoring a vibrant street church in the UK Devin and Jessica changing lives in Budapest Jason and Sarah serving with love on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Thank you friends and partners. These are your treasures in heaven. As we continue to sow the seed of God's Word in our lives and in the lives of our students, the Lord of the Harvest will multiply our endeavor investment to his glory in the exciting days that are still ahead.
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