The Personal Charge to Share Wisdom

Introduction:

From the very beginning of human existence, God made it clear that we were designed for stewardship: that is, we were placed on this earth to take care of it on God’s behalf. One of the key responsibilities we were given in this enterprise was to produce other human beings like ourselves and fill the earth with them. Knowledge of God and fellowship with him were the key components in that phrase “like ourselves.” That task would have been simpler, had Adam and Eve not chosen to stray from God’s path. Still, the mandate of living according to God’s creative purposes has not changed. God’s plan for passing on his truth remains in effect, and Solomon gives us three requirements to effectively share God’s truth with others. Let us examine them together.

I. Sharing Wisdom Requires Paying Attention to God’s Word (Prv 4:20-21)

A. Absorbing God’s Word by Hearing (Prv 4:20)

Explanation: Our ears are an entrance point for thoughts into our mind. What we allow into our minds through our ears will influence our thought processes, our values, and our choices. It is wise to be extremely careful in our listening habits.

Argumentation: In Ephesians 5:4, Paul warns believers to beware of filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. These, Paul says, are “out of place” in the life dedicated to Christ. In the first Psalm, the Psalmist warns us to avoid “the counsel of the ungodly.” Finally, young Timothy was instructed by the Apostle Paul to “refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness,” or as we would say in our day, “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim 4:7).

Application: In our day of audio books, podcasts, YouTube, and the like, there is more opportunity than ever to bring God’s Word into your life through your ears. If you would gain wisdom, you must learn to pay attention to the right voices. Measure what you hear by what you already know from God’s Word. Does it correspond to God’s Word or contradict God’s Word? This is what the Berean’s did in Paul’s day (Acts 17:11).

B. Absorbing God’s Word by Seeing (Prv 4:21)

Explanation: Another entrance point into our minds is our eyes. There is so much truth in the children’s chorus that says, “O be careful little eyes what you see.” In this fatherly lecture, dear ol’ Dad is advising the son to make sure he listens to and reads the truth of God’s written revelation. His use of nouns that elsewhere are used of God’s Word to describe his teachings are an unmistakable sign that his sayings are based upon divine revelation, the Word of God. He is exhorting his son to likewise make God’s Word the foundation for his decisions in life.

Exhortation: The more ways that we can get God’s truth into our hearts, the more likely it is to be memorable and useful. If I remember a certain percentage of what I hear and a certain percentage of what I see, surely I am more likely to retain an even larger percentage of what I both see and hear. Then, if I add something like explaining it to someone else, the impact on my memory only increases.

Quotation: Daniel and Jonathan Akin, in their book Exalting Jesus in Proverbs, write, “Proverbs continually teaches us that Wisdom is a person to love and a path to walk.” Proverbs 4 emphasizes not only that we should love that person and follow that path, but we are to teach others about that wonderful person and show them how to walk that path. However, we can only do this as we ourselves are diligent to know and love that person (Christ) and walk the path with him as our guide.

II. Sharing Wisdom Requires Protecting Your Heart with God’s Word (Prv 4:22-23)

A. Protecting your heart leads to life (Prv 4:22-23)

Explanation: Here is a key lesson that the father imparts from experience. He has made God’s words his words, God’s sayings his sayings. He knows through experience that embracing God’s Word has brought life to his heart, and he strives mightily to pass along this lesson to his children.

Quotation: The Sage amplifies his comments here in other places. Proverbs 6:23 says, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” Proverbs 10:17 adds, “He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.” Proverbs 12:28 expands on this idea, “In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” The Sage caps off this concept in Proverbs 15:24: “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.”

Argumentation: Keep in mind that this promise of life is only fully fulfilled by eternal life, for in this life we know, as the writer to the Hebrews has said, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27).

Application: The way that we ensure that we walk this God-honoring and God-designed path is to be careful what we put into our “heart.” Our minds, our values, and our decisions are shaped by what enters them through our eyes and ears (Prv 4:20–21). Listen to the prayer of the Psalmist, “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way” (Ps 119:36–37).

B. Protecting your heart leads to health (Prv 4:22-23)

Explanation: When we don’t protect our heart, when we let it think ungodly thoughts, when we let it value ungodly things, when we let it make unwise decisions or spew out ungodly words; we know that we are not spiritually healthy.

Quotation: Paul indicates that it is even possible for spiritually unhealthy habits to impact our physical health: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (1 Cor 11:27–30)

Application: Just like when we are physically unhealthy, it is possible to spread our unhealthy heart habits to others. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor 15:33–34).

Exhortation: Proverbs 4 is not just about choosing to walk in wisdom for yourself. Proverbs 4 is about taking it a step farther and walking in wisdom so that you can effectively share wisdom with others. Jesus quoted Proverbs 4:23 in John 7:38 when he said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Jesus spoke in a similar fashion to the Samaritan woman: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn 4:14). Once this woman possessed this water, what did she do, but go and share it with those she knew (Jn 4:28–30, 39).

III. Sharing Wisdom Requires Practicing God’s Word (Prv 4:24-27)

A. Avoiding the path of destruction (Prv 4:24, 27)

Application: Clearly, we will not succeed at leading others to embrace wisdom and walk in its path when we ourselves are not setting that example. Rather, we become a stumbling block to those who are watching us. As Paul said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Cor 9:27).

Application: Perhaps not so intuitive is the fact that our boldness to share the truth with others is greatly weakened when we know we are not walking in the way of wisdom. Listen to what John wrote in his first epistle. “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 Jn 2:3–6). Many Christians lose their assurance of salvation by being careless in their daily walk, and questioning your salvation will obliterate your ability and desire to share the way of salvation with others.

B. Focusing on the path of wisdom (Prv 4:25-26)

Explanation: How do we keep our heart, and thereby avoid the path of destruction? By making sure what we put into our heart is of the highest quality. Our passage tells us to keep our eyes on the right path, to take great care in choosing our path, and then do everything necessary to stay on that path. This is emphasized over and over again in Scripture. Abraham is known as the “friend of God” because he “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb 11:10). His nephew Lot, however, “vexed his righteous soul” with the ungodly lifestyle of Sodom because he was looking only at temporal things. Peter could walk on water while his gaze remained fixed on Jesus, but when he looked around him, he began to sink.

Quotation: The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1–2).

Illustration: Many years ago, there were a couple of twin brothers who lived with their parents in a church parsonage across the street from the church. As toddlers, their family was extremely poor, and they could not even afford a small, plastic pool. On hot days, their mom would turn on the lawn sprinkler, and they would take off their clothes and run through the water to cool off. On one such day, the ladies Bible study finished up at the church. One dear saint got so distracted by what the little boys were doing that she wandered off the sidewalk and walked into a telephone pole, splitting her head open.

Application: While that is kind of a cute story, it illustrates what the Bible repeats over and over again in a spiritual context about paying attention to your path. If we allow ourselves to be distracted by the Devil’s delights or by worldly wonders, we can get off the path of wisdom and get into trouble. When we do that, it sets the wrong example and hinders our witness to the lost and our edification of fellow saints.

Quotation: The Old Testament commentator, Derek Kidner, notes that the Sage is reminding us that “a major part of godliness lies in dogged attentiveness to familiar truths.”

Conclusion:

If we could sum up today’s message with one sentence, we could not do better than to quote Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” One of the most vital components of our heart is our mind. The thoughts coming out of our minds have a tremendous impact on our behavior.

At the Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio, researchers hope they will develop the means for pilots to fly airplanes with their minds. The project is called brain-actuated control. Writers Ron Kotulak and Jon Van say this is how it could work. The pilot would wear scalp monitors that pick up electrical signals from various points on his head. The scalp monitors would be wired to a computer. Using biofeedback techniques, the pilot would learn to manipulate the electrical activity created by his or her thought processes. The computer would translate the electrical signals into mechanical commands for the airplane. Imagine being able to bank an airplane’s wings, accelerate, and climb another ten thousand feet, all by controlling what you think. Although controlling airplanes with the mind is yet to be developed, our mind already has tremendous control of one thing: our behavior. Our thoughts sooner or later lead to our actions.

Godly actions require godly thoughts, and godly thoughts come far more often and far more easily when our minds are saturated with God’s Word. How are you doing at meeting the requirements for effectively sharing wisdom laid out in our text today?