In his sermon “The Hardening of Herod’s Heart,” Pastor Tony considers a flashback concerning Herod and John the Baptist in Matthew 14:1–12. More important than all of the political intrigue is the way in which Herod models how sin devastates and hardens the human heart. We consider in turn how sin breeds fear, how fear then compounds sin, and how compounded sin hardens a fearful heart. Listen well for the challenge to your own soul, and know that the cross of Christ is the only power able to break the pictured cycle of sin and fear and hardening.