Proverbs chapter 28 tonight in verse 14. Last week we're in verse 13, Todd led confessing and forsaking sin. I just want to title the message here tonight, Hard Hearts. And then we'll move on with a few other verses as we get into next week. He says here in verse 14, happy is the man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. Father, we thank you tonight. We thank you for this evening. We thank you for this privilege. Lord, we pray tonight as we come here to this text for thy help and for thy leading. Lord, we take these things to heart, we believe them. Lord, again, we love you and we ask your blessings upon the reading of thy word tonight and your presence to be with us. In Christ Jesus' name we pray, amen. In verse 14 again, we'll look at the importance really have a tender heart as we come to this passage. We have two thoughts here in this passage. We found the fear of the Lord here, and we also find those who harden their hearts. And we have a number of sermons on the heart. We also have a number of sermons on the fear of God. We also have articles on those as well. I was thinking a number of years back, preaching on this and studying it, and I'll just go through this quickly, but the Bible speaks of a lot of different types of hearts. It speaks of a perfect heart, of course, a hard heart here in our passage, a divided heart, a broken heart, a new heart, a stony heart, A purposed heart, as in Daniel 1.8. It speaks of a pure heart. Singleness of heart. Uncircumcised heart. Idols in the heart, as in Ezekiel 14. Speaks of a wicked heart. We've already come through that in chapter 26, verse 23. Speaks of forward heart. a hypocritical heart, a proud heart, a tender heart, and of course, in chapter 14, a backsliding heart. And I'm sure you could find some other types of hearts that are given to us in Scripture. In our text here, he says in verse 14, happy is the man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. Again, the word heart is mentioned 830 times in our Bible, and 75 of those are in the book of Proverbs. And almost every time the word heart is not referring to the physical heart that pumps blood through our body, but it's referring to the individuals, referring to us spiritually speaking. Now notice, first of all, he says, happy is the man that feareth all way. Notice with me back in chapter 13, chapter three rather, chapter three, chapter three in verse 13, we found that the word happy means blessed. It has the ideal of joyfulness, to be well off, in reference to in favor with the Lord. It has the ideal of being privileged or favored. And we find here in chapter 3, you'll notice with me in verse 13, he said, happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and her paths are peace. And notice the word is used again here. The word happy is used in verse 13 in reference to the wisdom and truth of God. And then in verse 18, she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is everyone that retaineth her. So happiness is connected with the wisdom of God. Notice when we also in chapter 16, chapter 16, and I'll be reading in verse 20, chapter 16 and in verse 20, One passage in the New Testament is in chapter 13, the beginning of the upper room teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. He washes the feet of the disciples and he mentions to them in verses 13, he said, you call me master and Lord. and say you will, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you." Verse 16 and 17. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. Now here's the verse I'm after. Verse 17, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them. And of course, he washes their feet to teach them something about humility and to teach them about serving one another. That's the whole point of him washing their feet. Well, notice in Proverbs chapter 16 We find here, again, this, the word, the Greek Hebrew word is translated blessed. We know, we speak of the blessed man of Psalms chapter one, verses one, especially verses one, two, and three. But he said here in chapter 16 in verse 20, he that handleth a matter wisely shall find good and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. So it's okay to be happy, but we find that the happiness is associated with the things of God. He said in chapter 29, notice here, chapter 29, and I'm reading in verse 18, Chapter 29 in verse 18 he said, For there is no vision the people perish, but he that keepeth the law happy is he. Every time this happiness is associated with God's Word, God's will as we've seen in John chapter 13. So in our text again in chapter 28 in verse 14, happy is the man that feareth always. Now we've written on the subject of fear and we've probably got several sermons. I know we got a few on this subject. And I want you to notice back what I mean chapter one, we've referred back to this several times. But notice what I mean chapter one and reading in verse seven. There is a godly fear. And it means to reverence and honor God and his word. It denotes piety and it is the mark of God's people. That's something very important to understand this. We find that those that are lost, they have no fear of God. And that's many places, but Romans 3, verse 18 is one. But there's no fear of God among those who are lost. But we find that the fear of God is one of the marks that identify God's people. Notice here in chapter one in verse seven, he said, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. That's a very good verse. Notice in chapter eight, chapter eight in verse 13, He says here in this passage, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogancy, and the evil way and the forward mouth do I hate. Notice what it means to fear the Lord. There is a healthy fear that we find in Holy Scripture. Notice when we also in chapter 14, Chapter 14, verse 26 and 27. He said here in this passage, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. Notice with me again in chapter 23. chapter 23. So we find this from the beginning to the end of holy scripture, it's a very important subject. Notice in chapter 23, I'm reading in verse 17, he says here in verse 17, let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. And again, there's a reverential fear, and it's a healthy fear that we can have when it comes to the Lord. And again, the article, we try to illustrate two different types of fear, and in the sermon we preach whenever that was, that's been a number of years ago. I want you to notice with me in the book of Ecclesiastes, Please ask these chapter 12, verse 13 and 14. Chapter 13 and 14. He says here in these verses, he said, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, keep his commandments, and for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Again, fear God, keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Notice with me in the book of Jeremiah, in Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32, and I want to read from verse 36. Now this is dealing with a new covenant, the everlasting covenant. And he says here in verse 36. Now let me give you just a few other verses. I am gonna turn to Psalms in just a moment. But to clearly see that that those who are saved, those who are followers of God, we find that they fear God. Those that fear God are called God's people in the scripture. You'll find this in Psalms, I'm gonna give you three verses in Psalms 103, verses 11, verse 13, and verse 17. Now this is important, again, because those who do not fear God, again Romans 8 Romans 3 13 there's no fear of God before their eyes we would see this again in Romans 1 beginning in verse 18 through the verse 32 we'd also see it again in Psalms 36 verses 1 through 4. In other words, there's no fear of God in those who are in rebellion against Him. So we find that those who do fear God are called throughout the scripture God's holy people, God's covenant people. We find that in Genesis 22 verse 12 that where God had told Abraham to go up and give his son as a sacrifice, he did so, and God said, I knoweth now that thou feareth me. In other words, he was a man that followed God, he was a man that feared God. We have a lot in our country that do not fear God, even some who claim the name of Christianity. They have no fear of God, of breaking God's commandments and violating His word. Notice here in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 32 and verse 36, in reference again to the new covenant, the everlasting covenant. He said, beginning verse 36, and now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel concerning this city, and this is Jerusalem, whereof you say, it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whether I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath. For I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and of the children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall rather not depart from me. So this fear of God begins with conversion and it's associated with a new covenant. If you put Jeremiah 31, 32 together and Ezekiel 36 you find that God tells us that he puts his spirit within us He'll put his statutes and judgment, his commandments within us, but he also puts his fear within us. That's one of the distinctions between someone who is truly born again and someone who is not. Notice also, as we turn to Psalms 86. In Psalms 86, And I just want to read one verse from this chapter, Psalms chapter 86. And I just think this is important that we remind ourselves of these things. We find here in this passage, Psalms 86, I'm going to read verse 11. Notice as we come here again, to fear, he said, fear always. And that is a godly fear, to reverence and to honor God and his word. It denotes piety and it is the mark of God's people. So we find here in Psalms 86 and verse 11, teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth, unite my heart to fear thy name. The psalmist wanted a single heart and he wanted a sincere heart. Notice in Psalms 111, Psalms 111. This is why even in New Testament, The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2.12, Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Fear and trembling. What God has worked in, we are to work out, and we're to do that with fear and trembling. 1 Peter 1.17 speaks of our sojourning, that our sojourning is in fear. And again, this is a healthy fear. Revelation 14, verse six and seven, when it speaks of the everlasting gospel, it also says, Fear God, give glory to Him, For the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him. Three things connected with the everlasting gospel, fearing God, giving him glory, and worshiping him. Notice with me now as we come to Psalms 111. In Psalms 111, reading verses nine and 10. Psalms 111, verse nine and 10. He says here in these verses, he sent redemption unto his people, he hath commanded his covenant forever, holy and reverend is his name. Verse 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding have all they that do his commandments, his praise endureth forever. Notice chapter 112 verse 1, He said, praise you the Lord, blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Again, this is a subject we see over and over. One other thought on this, notice with me, hold on to Proverbs, and go with me to the book of Malachi. It's been a few months back, but we read from chapter three. I want to read from chapter 4 and 3. Notice in Malachi, first of all, chapter 4. Malachi chapter 4, I want to read the first few verses here. And again, as I read these, notice the contrast between the godly, the ungodly, the righteous, the unrighteous, those that fear God, and those that do not fear God. He said in chapter 4, verse 1, For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day of the Lord cometh, and let me back up, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch. So he's talking about the proud, the unbeliever. those who do not fear God. Now notice those who are saved. He said in verse 2, but unto you that fear my name. Makes a clear distinction. Notice they shall see the son of righteousness, that's Christ, arise with healing in his wings and you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. He goes on to comment on this in the remaining verses. Notice chapter 3. Chapter 3, verses 13, 14, 15 is dealing with the unfaithful. Then beginning in verse 16 through 18 is speaking of the faithful, the unfaithful and the faithful. First of all, let's look at the unfaithful. He said in verse 13, your words have been stout against me. saith the Lord yet you say what have we spoken so much against thee you've said it is vain in other words they're saying it's just useless to serve the Lord it is vain to serve God and what profit in other words this this thing of Christianity doesn't pay off That's the thought here with individuals. And what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts, and now we call the proud happy, yea, they that work wickedness are set up, yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. In other words, they're comparing themselves was serving the Lord and are looking at the lost and saying, look here, they're fine. They've got everything they want and everything they need, but notice now as we come to the fateful. See, there are those that were envious of the lost. There are those that were envious of the world and the things that they had, But now notice in verse 16, he speaks of the fateful. He said, then they that feared the Lord, there's that word again, connected with it always. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. Don't we do that? We speak to one another, encourage one another, warn one another, pray for one another. He said that they often, not just every now and then, they often speak one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared rather the Lord and that thought upon his name. So there are those that fear the Lord, they speak to one another about the things of the Lord, their names are written in God's book, and also they think upon the Lord often. He said in verse 17, and they shall be mine, we belong to him. He says, saith the Lord of hosts, and that day when I make up my jewels, the jewels here are God's people. And he said, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son and serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Clear distinction between the two. Now let us go back to our text and notice again, he says here in verse 14, there's two other words here I want to pull out and make mention of. He says in verse 14, Happy is the man that feareth always. That's a good statement, isn't it? Then he says, But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. If you want a verse, chapter 17, verse 20, falling into mischief, the consequence of hardening hearts is the judgment of God. But notice chapter 29 in verse 1, here real close, and when we get to that verse, we may camp out in that a little while. But notice he said in chapter 29, 1, he that being often reproved, that is corrected, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. In other words, when God says that something is without remedy, there's nothing can fix it from that point on. Judgment is coming, death is coming. But in chapter 28, 14, he says, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. Mischief, again, the consequences of sin is God's judgment. Now notice he mentions, hardeneth his heart. You can write down chapter six, verse 14 and 15. Those who have a hard heart, they have blindness, spiritual blindness, stubbornness, and also, again, they have no understanding, true understanding of the word of God. A hard heart is a heart that rebels against God's holy word. There's many examples of this throughout the scripture and I want you to turn loose of this passage and turn with me to Psalms 95. I made mention of this psalm Sunday morning preaching on Thanksgiving and I want to read those verses on Thanksgiving but also want to read the verses where the Israel, many of them at one time, hardened their heart. Notice in Psalms 95. Also, if you're taking notes, you'll find that Israel, and of course we'll read about this here, they hardened their hearts. You can read about them in many places, Numbers 14. Also Hebrews chapter 3 describes it, and also 1 Corinthians 10, but there's many, many other places. As a matter of fact, right here in the book of Psalms, in Psalms 106, We find that we see their sins in Egypt, in the beginning of that. We also see their sins in the wilderness. As we read through this chapter, their sins in Canaan. So we see them rebelling against God. And the Lord even says they forgot his works. They waited not on his counsel. They despised the things that God had given him. They murmured in verse 25. We made mention of that Sunday morning. Now notice in Psalms 95, let's read the thanksgiving part first in verses 1 through 7. He says, O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand, today if you will hear his voice. We read similar passages like Psalms 100 and mentioned some Psalms in chapter 90 and other places. But now notice, we're talking about hardening the heart. We know that Pharaoh hardened his heart according to Exodus 7, verse 13 and 14. You'll find in one place that he hardened his heart, you'll find in another place that God hardened his heart. So as we harden our hearts and rebel against God's word, then God will just allow it to get harder. And now notice as we come here to verse eight, I'm gonna be reading from verse eight. And let me just mention this. I'm gonna give you a few other verses. In Mark chapter three, verses one through six, it angered the Lord when he saw the hard hearts of the people. You also find in Mark 6, 52, that hard hearts kept individuals from understanding the truths of Jesus' words. You find in Mark 8, verse 17 through 21, there were occasions when even the disciples struggled with this. In Matthew 13, verses 10 through 16, the preaching of God's word will either soften an individual's heart or it will harden their hearts. They'll either receive it and love it and desire it or either they'll rebel against it and when they rebel against it, their hearts will become hardened. As a matter of fact, Matthew 10, I'm sorry, Matthew 13, 10 through 16 is a quotation from Isaiah chapter six. And it's quoted about six times in the New Testament. And Isaiah chapter six is where the king Uzziah had died and Isaiah was given a vision of the Lord. And he volunteered himself to go and minister. And he asked the Lord, how long? And he said, go until the cities be wasted. In other words, judgment would come up on them. And when people harden their hearts, if you read Isaiah 6 and Matthew 13, God will just lead people to their own selves. You've heard me say this many times recently, lead them to their own depravity, their own stupidity, their own opinions, and their own foolishness. God will lead people that way. Notice with me now, reading from verse 8. Harden not your heart as in the provocation, that is, they provoked God by their rebellion. And in the days of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work, 40 years long was I aggrieved with this generation and said it is a people that do err in their heart and they have not known my ways unto whom I swear in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest. Many never entered into the promised land just simply because of hard hearts and them rebelling against the Word of God. When God tells us something in His Word, we are to believe it. We're not to ignore it and put it aside. We're to believe it and incorporate it into our lives. I want to close in the book of Ezekiel, coming back to the subject of the New Covenant. in Ezekiel, this time chapter 36. Ezekiel 36. Again, we found the New Covenant mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament. Again, Jeremiah 31 and 32. We find it mentioned here in Ezekiel chapter 36. Then as we step into the New Testament, the Lord speaks of it, and the book of Hebrews speaks a lot about the new covenant. You got chapter eight, the old and new, chapter nine, the old and new, chapter 10, the old and new, chapter 13, and in verse 20 speaks of that everlasting covenant we just read about a moment ago. But I want to point out one last thing with the heart. And I'm just going to cut into the text. You can read the surrounding text. Obviously, ultimately, it's spoken to Israel, ancient Israel, God's covenant people. But as we get in the New Testament, we know that most of this applies to the church. But he's speaking of the new covenant. And he said in verse 26, I'll just read 26 and 27. 28, he mentions the fact that he would be their God and they would be his people. And verse 29, he would cleanse them from their sins. But 26 and 27, he said, a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart of flesh, He said, and I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them. We find here that God softens the heart of those who trust him and those who receive the new birth, receive the gospel, this is where it all begins. The softening of the heart, it begins at conversion. The heart of stone, that which is hard and heavy and lifeless, it cannot bear fruit. The heart of flesh just simply means it's tender, it's soft, it is sensitive, it is responsive, and it is living. In Jeremiah 18, one through six, the human heart is like clay when soft. It is easy to mold and to shape by God. But once it hardens, it cannot be molded, it can only be broken. And so we have a wonderful verse in our text here in Proverbs, and you don't have to turn back, but I'll read it one more time. Happy is the man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. It's a wonderful passage. It's a blessing to those who love God, but it's also a warning to those who reject his word. Would you stand with me, please? Father, we do thank you tonight again for this midweek service, our opportunities to come together and fellowship together. We pray, Lord, for thy will to be done. We pray for the singing. We pray for the closing prayer here this evening. For it's in Christ Jesus' name we pray. Amen.