For the Sundays and when we pray for someone to get healed, I mean, Jeff, you look so much better than the last time I saw you. I'm so thankful and I'm just glad to have you here. And we've prayed an awful lot for you. And that's what we do. And it's nice. My phone kept dinging this morning because of Scott's friend. And anything new there? Yeah. Well, you'd be praying for those requests. That's what we have that prayer chain for, so that with just a little bit of effort, everyone in the church can be praying about these needs, and prayer changes things, makes a difference in lives, doesn't it? Very familiar passage today. Would you turn to Hebrews chapter 3? Hebrews chapter number 3, And this is very familiar, and I turn to it often. I almost never preach the same message twice, almost never, but I certainly preach from the same passage over and over again. And this is what a wonderful verse it is, two verses we're looking at, but how wonderful this is because it so fits the needs of our day. And that's what we want. We want something when we come to church that'll help us when we go out into the next weak this upon us, because this world is not getting better, as many people would like to have you think. It's not getting better. It's getting worse. In fact, it's getting more and more to reject the Lord Jesus Christ, to reject everything that's Christian, reject everything that really makes a difference positively in their lives. The Bible says in Hebrews 3, verse 13, But exhort one another daily While it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, for we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. But I want you to notice this. Verse 13, Exhort one another daily what is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that those two clauses go together. Sin is going to harden you. Sin will harden you. What is the antidote in that verse? Exhortation, one day by day. Exhortation. Exhortation is why you gather together for church, because if you're listening to a TV broadcast of a church service, or just listening to it on the radio, or if people still do that, just listening on your computer, hey, that fills a great need sometimes, but if you don't like what they're saying, you can shut it off. when you're in a church congregation, then you can't shut it off. Although people try to look off into space and act like they don't hear you. You can't shut it off. And the Bible says that we guard against that. by exhorting each other every day, exhorting one another daily. That means the focus of all of our lives on a daily basis should be to improve the condition of those around us, to exhort them, to encourage them to more, and maybe even lift them up when they're down, and all the different things that exhortation has about it. But there are two great things about this. verse, that is the nature of sin, and that is the remedy for all this as well. The Bible tells us in Matthew 24, even though it's obviously a tribulation passage, it tells us, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax worse. It's going to be so common for sin to be there. It's so common today that you see people just lying straight-faced, and imagine a former president standing behind a communist to be a mayor of New York City. Imagine that, imagine that. That's where we've come to today. That's where we have come to. Iniquity is abounding, isn't it? And what it does is it has a numbing effect on people. Why is that? It's so commonplace to see wickedness in the public sphere. that after a while it doesn't offend you like it did at one time. Is that an improvement? Not in the least, not in the least. What happens to the next generation? They've heard all their life this thing, and then they start seeing it commonplace, even amongst Christians. They say, maybe it's not so bad after all. And they get numb to the pleadings of the Spirit of God on their behalf. Division is promoted and exploited today. If you're clever, Jesus came to bring division. Yes, in Luke 12, 51, he promised to bring division. What was that for? It's because he was dividing the ones that loved and served God from the ones that hated God and wanted to extinguish the light. That was a division. It wasn't a division because of some outward appearance or anything else. It was between truth and error. But we're talking about a division. that misrepresents, exploits, and there's nothing spiritual about that. Truth is getting more scarce all the time, isn't it? It's more scarce all the time. Sin is deceptive. It is an intentional thing to misrepresent itself. Think about all the misrepresentation about the gender dysphoria, where people are just convinced, or I think Alex said, I want to be a cat, or I want to be identified as a dolphin, or whatever. That's what they're doing today, and we would laugh about it at one time. But that's common today. That's common today. Truth is getting more scarce all the time, isn't it? But it's faith that pleases God. Hebrews 11, without faith it's impossible to please Him. Then you can be absolutely certain what is going to be attacked today. It's your faith. That will be so that you can be separated more and more. And even though you won't lose your salvation, You might lose your effect on people you care for. You might lose your effect on people that you've never met, but you try to meet when you knock on doors or when you're in a public preaching or whatever else it is. We want to know the hardening nature of sin and the remedy for it. And may God have his blessing on our time together. Let's pray. Lord, would you bless this time? Lord, my brain's going every direction. You know that? I pray that you'd help me to discipline my thoughts. May your spirit speak through me today. And Lord, I especially need and desperately need your power to speak here in this place. Just bless us today that we might go from here, enlightened a little bit more about your word and what we can expect, but strengthened against the wiles of the devil. Lord, just bless us in Jesus' name. Amen. So it says, obviously, it says the deceitfulness of sin, but you understand the Bible speaks of the devil being a wily creature. The Bible speaks of the devil being an adversary to those that love the Lord. The Bible speaks of the devil being a liar and all of the bad things about the devil, all of that, and it's all true, isn't it? But he likes to use sin to mess you all up. He likes to use sin. I wonder what would have happened in David's life if he had gone to battle that day. Remember, there was a time when kings went forth to battle and he stayed home. And that's when his mess started, when he wasn't where he should have been and normally would have been. I wonder what his life would have been like after that. I suspect Absalom wouldn't have risen up against him. Why? Because that was David's own judgment against his own sin fourfold. And it happened in his life. His family fell apart. If he had just not gone to battle that day, it would have been a simple thing, wouldn't it? It would have been a simple thing. Now we can't deal in whatevs and all of that, but I know this, it's a really good idea to be where you're supposed to be at the right time, isn't it? A really good idea to be there. I want you to notice, I was reading some other passages that made me think of this. I want you to notice in Mark chapter six, Mark chapter six, and you'll see really where I came up with this. In Mark chapter six, the Bible speaks of hardened hearts. The passage our text today is that we not be hardened through the deceitfulness of sins. You don't want a hard heart. You don't want a hard heart. Hard hearts will destroy a marriage. Hard hearts, even if the marriage stays together, it's not the joy it once was. Hard hearts will ruin your testimony with your children or grandkids. Hard hearts will ruin many of your relationships in this life. You don't want a hard heart. And that's just talking in the natural realm. This is your heart getting hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Look at Mark chapter 6 and verse 52. The Bible says, well, to get a little background, he sent them away, went across the ocean, he went up to the mountain to pray. But in verse 49, when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit and cried out, for they all saw Him and were troubled, and immediately He talked with them and said unto them, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And He went up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. Do you understand that in this context, Jesus is speaking about feeding the 5,000, the 4,000, how the miracle in just taking a little boy's lunch and feeding the whole crowd with it, they could not connect the fact that Jesus had control over the elements with their desperate need at that moment. You know what that was? They'd forgotten something. I hope you have. I've said it many times. I hope you have some high points in your life. The highest point in your life, if you're saved, it is the day you got saved. You could go around the room and say, when did you get saved? And get a testimony of salvation. Some of them are like a child getting saved in Sunday school. Hallelujah. You know what happens then? You're saved many times from the bad things that could happen to you. Sometimes it's someone getting saved after they've experienced the vile things of this world. And it's a wonderful thing that you get saved, isn't it? But there's a testimony of salvation. That was the greatest day in your life. It was the greatest day in your life. You know what you get forgetful of? You forgetful of the joy of His presence. Scott prayed and asked God to meet with us. I prayed and I asked God's Spirit to be here. Do you understand what it's like to be in the presence of the Holy God? That's what's wonderful, isn't it? Been in song services. Man, I about went charismatic when these kids were singing. You know why I liked it? They weren't singing like I do, quietly, so no one hears me. They were belting it out. You know why? They were glad of the message. They'd been trained, they enjoyed it. Isn't that what we want? Isn't that what we want? I love the presence of God and sometimes a song service, almost as it were, could be all of the service where you know that the Spirit of God is there and your heart's already touched. You understand what his presence is? His presence is all kinds of authority, isn't it? I mean, this book is the one with authority in it. This book is authoritative. It's funny how many times the so-called scientific records have been changed, isn't it? Isn't it funny that things that used to be thought to be poison are now actually beneficial and many times the other way around as well? You can't depend on science, you depend on this book right here. That's all you can depend upon. It's authoritative, but one thing about his presence is, it's nice when it's a familiar thing, isn't it? It's nice when it's a familiar thing. You might awaken in the night and it might be that you just have a burden on your heart and it's like God was right there with you, which in fact he is. And you might awaken in the night and it's a familiar thing where God has a burden on your heart and you just pour out your heart to God. It might be silently, it might be in just a, in a low voice, but you speak and commune with God because you're familiar with him. That's what his presence is. Yet today, we have not just the miracle worker, Jesus Christ walking on this earth. Today, we have church services where God touches your heart. We have private devotions where God touches your heart, and you get so excited you have to share it with someone else. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Not only that, you get answers to prayer, and Jeff and Terry are an answer to prayer today. Honestly, Terry said she was going to try to make it to church one service today. I didn't expect Jeff. I'm sorry. I'm so glad he's here today. It's an answer to prayer. And if you don't have a prayer list that you are recording and praying off of each and every day, and then recording when the answers come through, This may not be quite as much of a blessing to you because you don't have before your face the actual answers to the prayers that you've been praying to an invisible God over and over and yet he gives you a visible answer. Hey, that's a wonderful thing. People become forgetful hearers. But notice this, not just his presence, how about his past performance? He's reminding them, verse 52, they considered not the miracle of the loaves. Now consider is not just thinking about it in passing. They could have thought about how Jesus had sent them across the water and how that he wasn't with them, but he expected them to get to the other side. And yet as they thought about, they say, even though there's a storm here, he already fed the multitude with a handful of loaves. He can take care of me. Would I have thought that? I sure would like to think I would, but probably not because I don't want to be on the ocean when it's like that. the sea. But you know what? They didn't even consider the miracle of the loaves. In other words, it's not just his presence, it's his past performance. He's bailed you out many times, hasn't he? He's been a blessing to you many times in the past. Consider his past provision when you become fearful. Otherwise, Your heart will be blinded. Your heart will be hardened, won't it? We do not want our hearts to be hardened. A hard heart in a home, that's a lot of alliteration, okay? A hard heart in a home will make two people just exist under the same rug. We don't want that. We don't want that. I'm afraid I'm a teaser all the time. And if you just heard our broadcasts, you probably think I hate my daughter cause I'm teasing her all the time. I'm only serious. Okay. I mean, kidding. You know, I want to have a light spirit in my home, don't you? That doesn't mean it's not serious. That means that we're comfortable one with the other. We care one for the other. How much more important is it that you have the right spirit before God and not just quickly and automatically turn off when God speaks to your heart? How could you not want that? His performance is wonderful, but you become a forgetful here when you forget all about his promises and his power. He sent them away. He sent them away and he went and prayed for them. Imagine that. Went and prayed for them. I got my text from my friend from 50 years ago saying, I'm praying for you today. It comes every Sunday morning. And when Florence Dvorak's son came just a while back, he says, I still pray for you every day. Do you understand what a joy that is? To know that people all over the country, maybe all over the world are still praying for you. Jesus sent them out and then he went and prayed for them. And he saw them out there toiling in Rome. They were never away from his perception. Maybe not ours. I mean, it was probably a long ways away through the storm, but he saw them. You're never too far away from him for him to see you. Think about his promises. He prayed for them. In fact, in verse 48, he would have passed them by. Why is that? He sent them to the other side. They would have made it to the other side without him. How do I know that? Because he sent them to the other side and he would have passed them by. How many times has it been that your heart was hardened because you didn't figure that God could deliver you and he was close by and you just let him walk right on by? He would have passed him by. It's nice that they were aware of his presence, isn't it? Make sure you never lose the awareness of God's presence. Hey, he saved your soul. He adopted you into his family. He has a purpose for you in your life. He hears you when you pray. He's pleading your cause before God's throne all the time. He's our advocate. And I could go down a long list of other things. Don't ever let your heart get callous to Him. Don't ever let it get callous to Him. And you know how it'll get callous? When sin starts reigning supreme. when sin reaches the supreme. Sometimes we're guilty of just being forgetful. But another thing, look at Mark 8. Mark chapter 8, really, it's just a couple chapters over. Mark chapter 8 and verse 17, the Bible says, and when Jesus knew it, now, Better go back to verse 14, 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 they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? He dealt with them about hard hearts all along, hadn't he? He had fed 5,000. He had fed 4,000. They witnessed all of it. They get back in the ship shortly after what we just read. They get back in the ship and Jesus said, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Well, it must be because we didn't bring bread. What does bread have to do with Pharisees? What does it have to do with it? Sometimes the hardening comes because we have faulty reasoning. They weren't able to connect the dots, were they? What is leaven? Leaven is a picture of sin. Why? Because leaven starts out small and expands to fill the entire substance that it's in. I know because I watched Nora make that bread, although it's sourdough bread. But leaven is what causes it to rise. And it's just a little bit. I've asked her, how much do you put in a whole batch of bread? And it's not very much. Why? Because leaven stretches out to fill everything. And he says, you watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees. Now, this is Mark written to Romans who are impatient like we are. If you look over in Luke 12, in Luke chapter 12, you'll find it'll tell you what the leaven of the Pharisees is. In Luke chapter 12 and verse 1, Luke chapter 12 and verse 1, It says, in the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples, first of all, beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees. Same words, beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Something small permeates everything, which is hypocrisy. Now, that's not the only place. In Matthew 16, verse 12, it's, beware the doctrine of the Pharisees. So their doctrine was hypocritical. They said one thing, practiced another. They imposed something on you and wouldn't, sounds like Congress, doesn't it? And they wouldn't embrace it themselves. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Now, we don't have that record in Mark's gospel, do we? But the leaven of the Pharisees, somehow or other, they couldn't reason their way through it. What does he mean about leaven? We know what leaven is. We know it permeates things. Later on, he says it's hypocrisy and it's their doctrine. Watch out for that. In fact, there's a whole chapter on the doctrine of the Pharisees, and that's Matthew chapter 23. where they were concerned about what looked good, made them look good, but they were wicked on the inside. Okay, faulty reasoning. You know why it's faulty? Because their thoughts were purely given to physical things, food, nothing spiritual, nothing spiritual. Kind of looking forward to tonight. I got some ideas for a message and then to this morning, I completely changed it. I do that a lot. who is purely physical, how much of your thoughts go to spiritual things? The verse that made me think about tonight, I don't know if I'll use it or not, when Jesus said, whom do people say that I am? And Peter said, you're Jesus, the Christ, the son of God. And a few verses later he said to Peter, he says, you don't savor the things that be of God. You don't savor. It's like Alex talking about ice cream. I made points yesterday, I brought some ice cream home. And you know, it doesn't hurt to have some points. I don't have it on a chalkboard, but it's up here, okay? Brought some ice cream home. Like, we all need that, don't we? But you know, that's because I think you heard in Sunday school that Alex savors ice cream. That means it doesn't matter where it comes from, Doesn't matter if it's bad for you. It doesn't matter if it's all gone, you lick the bowl. But aren't those things about savoring, like savoring what belongs to God? I savor this book. I learned more about it from today than I did 50 years ago when I started studying it. Why is that? I love this book. And it proves more time and time again that it is inspired of God. And if you'll just listen to it, it'll make a difference positively in your life. Well, they only thought of physical things, nothing spiritual. They had no perception. They had no understanding where it counted. They had no vision, no hearing, no memory. They just heard these words and were befuddled. Hey, that's what meditation's all about. I don't mean transcendental meditation. I mean, you get a verse from scripture and just peer at that all day long from every angle imaginable. Think about it. Think about the verses that come to your mind when you read that verse and see how it all fits together because this book does that. It fits together. I suspect they were incapable of spiritual reason. because they reasoned themselves into a hard heart. Leaven is small and pervasive, isn't it? Yes, it's defined as hypocrisy and their bad doctrine. Those things are horrible, aren't they? Later in verse 33, in fact, this is where I was looking at, when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter saying, get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. In other words, he was going to defend Jesus from being delivered to the religious leaders. But if Jesus hadn't died for us, we wouldn't be here today. We'd still be in our sins. We would sing songs, but none of them praising to God. And Jesus said, you don't savor the things that be of God. You know, if you savor the things that be of God, you're going to pay attention to him. You're going to go out of your way. to be around the things that be of God. You're gonna do whatever it takes because you love that so much. You love that so much. Well, their problem was they were purely earthly, selfish, and verse 32, he spake that saying openly that they were gonna take him and deliver him, and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. Imagine that. Peter took Jesus and started to rebuke him. Now, don't you say that. Can't even imagine saying that, can you? And Jesus said, no, you don't savor the things that belong to God. You savor the things only that belong to men. Why? Because men would deliver each other. We're friends. Whether you're right or wrong, you're probably going to deliver your friends or your family. That's what men do, isn't it? I didn't say it was the right thing always, but men will try. We want men to stand up for what's right. And what was wrong with them? They were incapable of spiritual reasoning and that was a condition of hardness of heart. Number three, look at Acts chapter 19. This isn't Jesus now, this is Paul. In Acts chapter 19 and starting in verse 6 it says, And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied, and all the men were about twelve. And he went into the synagogue, that means these are Jews, tongues aren't for our day, and spake boldly for a space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. That'll be part of the message tonight. The kingdom of God. He was teaching them some things that would make them understand the clear words of God better. And who better to teach if Jesus was not physically there than Paul, to whom many of these revelations were given and to whom was entrusted the recording of the very words of God. But you notice then, when divers were hardened, Some of them were hardened to it. Hey, we never heard anything like this before. Hey, who are you to say this? What do you mean, we're looking for a Messiah and you're telling me we rejected Him? I don't know what all the reasons were, but they made a decision in this life, and you can look back and maybe see some decisions you made that were the really wrong decision. They made decisions in this life that cut them off, as far as we know from the record, cut them off from the fellowship of Paul, his instruction for a couple of years, and all those things that would have helped them. Why? Because their hearts were hardened. Sometimes your heart is hardened just because you don't want to know the truth. Sometimes it's because you can't even think about it enough to know the truth. Well, it's all kinds of reasons. Sometimes you just forgot about all the things that would help you to understand it. But sin has that nature, doesn't it? Sin has that nature. You're told today to praise love even if it's perverse. That's not the Bible. That's not the Bible. And you look at the numbers on these things, the numbers show a very unhappy life to the vast majority of these people. They're confused. A very unhappy life. You know what's wonderful? Coming home to a home that's happy. And you struggle, you strive to make it that way. It's not a perfect home. Well, These are faithless people resisting the truth. Now it tells us in... verse in chapter 19, part of verse eight, it says persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. Well, the kingdom of God is the kingdom that we're in right now. It is faith cometh by hearing that is salvation in Jesus Christ. That is the church age, the kingdom of God. It was a mystery in the Old Testament. It speaks of mysteries. Now I look up mystery and there are lots of mysteries in your Bible, but the promised millennial kingdom is not a mystery in the Bible. The children of Israel looked for that for years. They were looking for that when Jesus came. Are you the king that should come? And if he'd been a military leader, they would have received him. But this is different. Kingdom of God is within you, isn't it? It is within you. The kingdom of God is where God brings a change in your heart when you trust Christ as your savior. Were you a newborn child? The Bible says everything's new in Christ. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. That means that the power of creation has changed you from the inside out. And they didn't want to hear about it. They didn't want to hear about it. Romans 16 verse 25. I need to turn to that. Romans 16 verse 25. I hesitate to turn because my Bible's new and I can't get the pages apart. Okay. Romans 16 and verse 25, it says this, I think. I'll get it. These two pages there. 1625, it says, Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. What Paul was preaching was something that wasn't really known in the Old Testament. You can see that is that God would make a whole new organization, not of Jewish heritage, but by faith in Jesus Christ. It's called the church. That's Ephesians 4 as well. That's a mystery, but the kingdom, the millennial kingdom is not because the disciples and the Pharisees all ask Jesus questions about that all the time. And here they were. shutting off the font of wisdom, as Paul spoke to them, the kingdom of God. Now this isn't what the Jews expected. It was in the synagogue. And in verse nine, in verse nine, when divers were hardened and believed not, they heard it and they rejected it. Sometimes the hardening comes when you hear the truth and you won't accept it. And sin is that way. You might have a really good reason for not accepting the truth, at least in your own mind. But we are warned about the deceitfulness of sin and that it hardens our hearts. It hardens our hearts. I turn off in Ephesians 4 where it says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and envy and strife be put away from you. Do you know how hard that can be at times? bitterness and wrath and anger and all those things. It is not easy. But when you're saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives within you, doesn't he? They ignored the preaching. They repudiated the preaching because their hearts were hardened against the truth that he spoke. Why? Because today you go out on the streets. And most people want to see peace in our lifetime. And of course, I would like to as well. But there's way more than just a kingdom peace, a physical kingdom. I want to see people to walk in the joy of the Lord being their strength, in the peace that comes beyond understanding. Well, it's despite the miracles, the Jews ignored the signs. Why? They speak with tongues and prophesied. And the Bible tells us that so many miracles were done in their midst and the Jews require a sign. God gave them sign after sign after sign, and they rejected them almost exclusively. Sometimes it's a faithless resistance, where you hear something that sounds like too much of a sacrifice, sounds like it's too hard, sounds like, well, that's not for me. And they rejected hearing from Paul the Apostle. And he spent years, what it says, verse 10, this continued by the space of two years. So he went to another place locally and preached for two years to the people that were glad to hear it. Sometimes that hardening comes because you resist out of a faithless condition. You don't want that. The worst part of this is in John 12 where God hardened their hearts. He gave them all kinds of, well better turn there, John chapter 12, John chapter 12. He gave them all kinds of evidences of his deity, didn't he? In John chapter 12 and verse 38, well, verse 37, but though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believe not on him. Imagine that. Even Herod hoped that Jesus would perform a miracle so he could see the miracle. Jesus did so many miracles before them that we couldn't even record them all. The Bible says that in the last verse of John. But though he had done so many miracles, they believed not on him, that the saying of Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? Where's that come from? Isaiah 53. And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because as Isaiah said again, he had blinded their minds. Listen, you don't want to be in a place of rejection so often, so strong, so strenuously, so continuous that God just says, you want a blind mind? There you go. I've had people say, this is very sad to me, when I'm knocked on doors, that's why I encourage knocking on doors. I knocked on a door one time and a guy said, well, I can't get saved. No, no, if you believe you can be saved. I've turned that off for so long that he just doesn't touch my heart. I don't believe that. Remember, we're talking about a devil who lies to people, but he believed that. My heart's so hardened. Listen, as long as there's breath, you can still repent. That's what you want, isn't it? But if you turn your back so often, so completely, so many miracles and so many examples of God's moving and you still have unbelief. In verse 40, unbelief begets blindness. It begets blindness. You don't want to be blind, do you? You don't want to be blind. Then one more look at back at our text Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter number 3. I should be able to find that because I've already had it open. OK. Hebrews chapter number 3. A failure to receive it. A failure to receive it. It tells us this. Exhort one another daily while it is called today. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. How often do you need that exhortation. Every day. Every day. Why do you need that every day? Because the tenderness of your heart's at stake. The success of the devil deceiving you is on the line. Exhort one another daily while it's called today. Exhortation, that's the responsibility we have to each other. How do you exhort one another? Rejoice in the word of God. Rejoice in the word of God. Rejoice in the promises of God. Rejoice in how God shows you to put this verse with this verse and this verse, and you're staying true to the intention of each verse, but they fit together. And it thrills your soul that three different authors over a thousand different years can make a book that fits perfectly together. And you share that with someone else. Rejoice in your testimony. Hey, I've gone through something just like you are right now. Trust the Lord. It's going to be tough, but he'll bring you through. The other sign, rejoice in how he's provided for you. Rejoice in the understanding he gives you. What we fail to see is that sometimes what you're going through right now, you'll make it through. But down the line, the things that blessed your heart, the things that gave you strength will be something you can use to help someone else in the same spot. And maybe you didn't have anyone to help you. Hey, if the Holy Spirit's within you, you've got all the help you need, but it's sure nice to have some friend there that says, hey, I'm praying for you. Isn't it? Exhortation. That is to combat the devil's daily lies. Devil's daily lies. He's a deceiver. Very much. If his lips move, he's lying. He manipulates with sin, doesn't he? It's deceitful. The devil's lies get you distracted. Sometimes he just distracts you from what you need to hear. I don't know how many times I've knocked on a door and talked to someone there at the door and they are this close to trusting Christ as Savior. And the phone rings, someone will come up, the children start crying, and all of a sudden it's gone. I don't, I'm not the Holy Spirit of God. I'm not. But I know this, it's spiritual warfare when you deal with someone about their soul. And the devil who's a liar, a murderer, a deceiver, and all those things, he's going to be combating you every step of the way. The devil lies. Distraction brings a hardening of your heart. It's real easy sometimes. You start focusing on the evil instead of the good grace of God, don't you? I do that. I can't believe how I answered some things on on some of our feeds that probably have me branded somewhere. I don't really care. But I don't want to be distracted from what's more important. Politics takes a number of seats down behind preaching the gospel. The remedy, in verse 14, for we're made partakers of Christ, we'll begin of our confidence, stem fast unto the end. We're takers of Christ? May we're all part of His body. We are part of Him. Today, in verse 15, the Father said, In other words, if you'll listen to Him, then make sure you don't let your heart get hard. We're sons of God. We're heirs with God. Pursue what softens your heart. If you find that something is hardening to your heart, it might be a news broadcast. Then you probably should stay away from it. I don't want my heart hardened. I don't want it hardened. You pursue the things that work for grace. Pursue what softens your hearts and trust your Lord. Trust the Lord. We know the devil deceives us. We know that that's his objective is to get you diverted from the way, get you distracted, get your heart hardened. You don't want your heart hardened. Well, let me ask you a couple of questions and we're done. What is God doing for you right now? Don't ever forget that he's working on your heart right now. It might be the biggest question you have to answer is the one that keeps nagging you and you won't do anything about. I've noticed this after a while, the spirit of God is a whole lot easier to ignore. So don't ignore him the first time. What is he doing in you? What is he doing in you? There's so many sins that are on the inside of our hearts that it's very difficult. You have to ferret those things out. And you might ask yourself too, where's your weakness today? Sometimes it's the praise of men.