Teaching One Another

Intro:

Something about teaching, then the Great Commission and its daunting task.

Proverbs background and information:

Proverbs is a poetic book of wisdom recorded by King Solomon. In the book of Proverbs, we see the playing out of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. For it reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

So Solomon is teaching the things of the LORD to his son, so that he may instill the wisdom of the LORD to him.

Text: Read Proverbs 3:1-12

Main Point: As a father teaches his son to keep his commandments, so must we teach one another to keep the commandments of King Jesus.

Points:

Discipleship is teaching one another to obey the LORD

Discipleship is teaching one another to trust the LORD

Discipleship is teaching one another to give to the LORD

Discipleship is teaching one another not to despise the discipline of the LORD

Discipleship is teaching one another to obey the LORD (v.1-4).

Disciples of Christ teach others the teachings of the LORD. They urge those whom they are discipling to hear their voice and to keep their teachings.

Notice the words that are written in verse 1, my son, do not forget my teaching. What is the father teaching his son? Well, in light of our intro to the book of Proverbs, we know that he is following the example of Deuteronomy 6. Solomon is teaching his son to love the LORD his God with all of his heart and with all his soul and with all his might. Solomon is being faithful to ensure his son doesn’t fall into folly. Solomon understands these teachings that he is passing on to his son are worth remembering, and that he should not forget them.

However, Solomon doesn’t just want his son to not forget them, he wants him to let his heart keep these commandments. Look with me to Deuteronomy 4:9&10, “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.” Solomon is obedient to this and is making these ways known unto his son.

He then grounds this in that length of days and years of life and peace these teachings will add to him in verse 2. According to that of the law of Moses, these earthly things would be added unto Israel if they kept the word of the LORD. And continuing this reasoning, look to verses 3 & 4…

What is this steadfast love and faithfulness that is mentioned here? Well, by keeping the teachings of God, Solomon’s son would have been fulfilling Deuteronomy 7:12, “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers.” By keeping these teachings, the son would not forsake God’s covenant with his people. If the son forgot these teachings, and rebels against them, then steadfast love and faithfulness will indeed forsake him.

The son is to bind these things around his neck and write them on the tablet of his heart. That is, he is to engrave these teachings into his heart as one would carve into a stone. And by doing this, the son will find favor and good success in the sight of both God and man, as we see in the Scripture. For these were the promises of God that he gave to Moses recorded throughout the book of Deuteronomy.

Brothers and sisters, let us see Solomon’s love for passing on the things of the LORD to his Son. He wanted to equip his son to be able to keep the teachings and know what that looked like and why he should keep them. But how much more should we desire to pass the ways of the Lord onto others?

One Bible commentator on verse 2 said, “a long life of usefulness and comfort here, and eternal life hereafter: the law of Moses promised a long life to the observers of it; but the Gospel of Christ brings an immortal life to light and promises to all believers in him that they shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. "Length of days for ever and ever" was asked by Christ of his Father, and given him, and is in his right hand; it is in his power to give, and he does give it to all his children, people, and followers, and peace shall they add to thee; the Gospel is the Gospel of peace, which not only proclaims peace by the blood of Christ; but the doctrines of it, such as justification by the righteousness of Christ, pardon by his blood, and atonement by his sacrifice, are the means of giving and increasing spiritual peace in the hearts of believers; and so are the ordinances of Christ”

For those in Christ, what sweetness this keeping of these teachings will offer us in eternal life and peace in our hearts because of the work of Christ on the cross.

D.A. Carson adds, “on length of days and years of life, “The Bible never envisions death as the end of the godly.” Those who believe in Christ and have the obedience of faith will be assured to partake in these promises of God, for God is a faithful God who keeps his covenants and remains steadfast or long enduring, even when we do not.

Another thing we need to draw our attention to is the task of keeping these commandments on our hearts, writing steadfast love and faithfulness on the tablets of our hearts. Christian, coming to Jesus is not simply having Bible Knowledge, but is a transformation of the heart. Just as we see in Matthew 15, it is from the heart that sin flows. And by engraving truth on our hearts, we can fight sin. Discipleship is not simply a transfer of knowledge; it is stirring one’s heart toward the things of the LORD, following Solomon’s example with his son.

Brothers and sisters, the blessings for those of the Old Covenant cannot compare to the blessings that belong to those in Christ. Now, this doesn’t mean that life will be easy on earth, it doesn’t mean that everything in this life will be peachy. We will hit more on this as we get to point 4. But, rest assured, eternal life, being conformed into the image of the perfect Son, entering into the presence of a holy God belong to those in Christ. These are these blessings that are the grounds for disciples to be obedient to all that Christ commanded! These are the things we teach those we are discipling, urging them to engrave these on their hearts. And we encourage them toward the obedience of faith, just as the Apostle Paul wanted to do for the church in Rome. Discipleship is teaching others to be obedient in the faith, but it is not only that.

Discipleship is teaching one another to trust the LORD (v.5-8):

Looking now to verses 5-8 in our text….

Solomon urges his son to trust in the LORD with all his heart. Again we see the heart brought forward, and for the heart to be affected. He then warns him to not lean on his own understanding, but in all his ways to acknowledge God.

Solomon wants his son to deeply trust in the LORD in his heart. The study notes in the ESV study Bible read, “Trust in the LORD is necessary for fulfilling any of the wise ways of life taught in Proverbs…With all your heart indicates that trust goes beyond intellectual assent to a deep reliance on the LORD, a settled confidence in his care and his faithfulness to his Word.”

Trusting with all of one’s heart is not a shallow trust that is easily shaken, but a deep trust that will not be shaken. This kind of trust is the kind of trust that you see a sheep has in the voice of his shepherd. This kind of deep trust is the trust an infant has in its mother, this is the kind of trust that is built on a solid foundation, that when the storms of life roll in, nothing will be moved.

Verse 7-8 keep building on this thought though. Verse 7, Solomon urges his son to not be wise in his own eyes, calling him to fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

Look back to Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

To be wise in one’s own eyes is arrogance, Solomon gets that. He understands wisdom to begin and come from the LORD, not from within one’s self. He wants his son to trust in God and what he says is good. Solomon gets that for his son to define wisdom of his own accord would be to be like Adam and Eve in the garden.

Hear the words from Genesis 3:5, “For God knows that when you eat of it (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” For Solomon’s son to be wise in his own eyes, to lean on his own understanding, he diminishes God’s given word, he thinks he is equal to God, and not his possession. Instead he is to fear the LORD and turn from evil. And by turning from evil, it is meant that he will turn his allegiance from evil unto the LORD.

Listen to the words of Psalm 2:12, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” The idea here of kissing the Son, which ultimately is Jesus Christ, is swearing your allegiance to Him, turning from all other allegiances. For we cannot serve 2 masters.

By fearing the LORD, and turning from evil, Solomon’s son is promised to have healing to his flesh and refreshment to his bones. The idea here is that he will be nourished or revived as he turns from evil and back to the LORD. Or another way of putting it, his son will then begin being brought back toward the image of God that he was created to be before sin corrupted mankind.

And this same kind of promise belongs to all who will turn from evil toward Christ Jesus.

GOSPEL!!!

Making disciples means stirring others to this kind of trust in God. And as Solomon recognized at the end of verse 6, it was this kind of trust that would keep his son’s paths straight, so it will be with those we disciple. If we trust in the LORD to lead and guide us in the paths we should go, we can rest assured we will be on the straight path of life.

Discipleship teaches one another to fear the LORD, and to turn from evil.

Discipleship starts here with gospel proclamation, in stirring hearts to trust in the LORD Jesus Christ.

Discipleship continues in teaching believers to continue to trust in the LORD, and continue to humble themselves before him. It continues in teaching them more of what they need to turn away from. All of these things making their paths straight and healing to their flesh. Discipleship is teaching one another to trust in the LORD.

Discipleship is teaching one another to give to the LORD (v.9-10):

Moving on to verses 9 &10…

Notice Solomon’s promise to his son here….

The call is to give the firstfruits of his produce and to honor the LORD with his wealth. He grounds his point once more in a promise, that he will have plenty as a result of his giving.

Brothers and sisters, we have nothing apart from the gifts of the LORD, therefore we should return what the LORD has given us back to him. But what does this mean, and how does this look like for us?

While this does include regularly tithing, and giving to the local church, that is the starting place. One should give of their income to the support of the local church and its ministries, to enabling us on staff to study God’s word and care spiritually for the flock. And we thank you all who do this. We are thankful to be able to carry out the work in which the LORD has called us because of your generous giving. But, by giving, why are our barns not full and vats bursting with wine? Because, again, this was an Old Covenant Promise to Israel. Those who give, they are laying up their treasures in heaven as Matthew 6:19-24 lay out. They are investing in Kingdom work that is growing the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a glorious thing to give to.

Again, the giving of tithing is the starting place of this. I want to draw your attention to Mark 8:34-38, “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gosepel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

For those in the Old Testament, their giving enabled the people to care for the poor, to care for the Levitical Priests. Now, our giving of time, money, and our very lives is for the sake of spreading the gospel hope to the ends of the earth. So, yes brothers and sisters, I encourage you to continue giving to the church, but I plea that we will be a people who pour out our lives into sharing the gospel with others, for in it we are storing our treasures in heaven above! Discipleship teaches one another to give to the LORD!

Discipleship is teaching one another not to despise the discipline of the LORD (v.11-12):

And our last point comes from verses 11 &12.

Solomon teaches his son to not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, because the LORD does this to those whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights.

Growing up, I didn’t always appreciate being disciplined by my parents. Since I have the privilege of having my granny here today, along with my mom, I am reminded of a time as a kid in which I was told to get ready by my grandparents to go to dinner, and I down right refused. Needless to say, I was severely disciplined for that selfishness and downright defiance. I didn’t necessarily get that at the time, but looking back, I see the need in having been disciplined.

Now, if those with earthly authority over me discipline me for correction, how much more will our heavenly father discipline those of us whom he loves? That is what Solomon is getting at here with his son. Don’t despise this kind of discipline. Listen to the words of Hebrews 12:11-13, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your dropping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather healed.” As the LORD disciplines those of us belonging to him, it is for our good and our sanctification. Simply recalling Romans 8, and how all things work for the good of those who love God. God shapes us to be more and more conformed into his image.

For instance, we might struggle with trusting in the LORD, and he might take us through various trials to strengthen our trust in him. Or, we might be becoming arrogant and the LORD might discipline us by greatly humbling us in a situation.

But rest assured Christian, that those who love God, his discipline on our lives is for our ultimate good. For he loves us, and he delights in us that rest in Christ. And discipleship teaches others to be disciplined by the LORD. As well as us to discipline one another in the manner of Hebrews 10:24-25 calls us to, which we don’t have time to cover today.

But discipleship teaches one another to not despise this discipline from the LORD which shapes us more into his image!

Conclusion:

Christian, discipleship consists of us modeling this example of Solomon teaching his son. We are to teach others to be obedient, teach them to trust in the LORD, teach them to give, and teach them to not despise the discipline of the LORD. Discipleship is the biblical command every Christian has been given in the great commission, and it is something that we must take part in. With some 2.8 billion people who have yet to hear the gospel, with many who have no clue in our own city what it means to actually follow Jesus, we cannot sit ideally by. We must go and make disciples both here and around the world. Will you be a part of this biblical task following Solomon’s example for us? Let’s pray…