Matters of the Heart: Guard
Series: Matters of the Heart • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsSermon Title: Guard Main Idea: Not everything or everyone deserves access, guard your heart like treasure.
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7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. 8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. 9 She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
The first section of this proverb paints the scene of a Father giving instruction to His son. Through out most of history wisdom and knowledge is passed down generationally. A good father wants their son to follow the wisdom because of how much pain can be avoided and how much reward can be gained. In proverbs in particular the father wants his son to follow the wisdom from God, NOT the wisdom of the world.
The wisdom of God is true, honest, and lasts.
(let your heart hold fast God’s words)(keep my commandments)(do not turn away from my words) -
(get wisdom, get insight)-try this out and prove that it is true
(prize her highly, she will exalt you, she will place on your head a graceful garland) - the wisdom that is being talked about her that God the good father wants his son to keep, get, and embrace will come with a reward. Head of garland. Beautiful crown. Not for the sake of vanity, but for the sake of
Smart gives you answers, wisdom gives you presents.
Focus on the get insight. All good fathers want you to know more than just the information. They want you to get insight or discernment. They want you to apply the knowledge. They want the knowledge to become wisdom. Smart gives you answers, wisdom gives you presents.
There is a big difference in having answers and having presents.
Answers make you sound smart. Answers help you select the correct answer on a multiple choice test or quiz. But wisdom gives you the ability to know when to use the information and how it applies to each situation. Presents are things you can use everyday that bring joy, activity, and blessing.
Examples of gifts that come from wisdom???
Examples of answers that come from knowledge.
10 Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. 11 I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. 12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. 14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. 15 Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
Temptation points the way, but never shows the price.
This section of the is an encouragement and a warning about the wisdom that is learned. The first is the encouragement. Keep the wisdom and live it out. Follow it. Let it guide your steps. If you walk in the wisdom you are taught, then you will not stumble. Hold onto it. Guard this wisdom.
The second is the warning. Do not enter the path of the wicked. Do not walk the way of the evil. Avoid it. Do not go on it. And here is the warning, the way of the wicked is like deep darkness. When you go on it, you are in a dark so dark that you don’t even know you are stumbling or what you are stumbling over.
The enemy will tempt you and draw you towards sin, but hides what it will cost you.
The enemy of your soul hates God so much that he wants to destroy you. God loves you so much that he wants to restore you!
I remember one time going to the store shopping and I grabbed a pair of shoes. I think it was at Kohl’s and the shoes were on the for sale aisle. They were my size. They were the brand I wanted, the color, and would have looked good with many outfits. (This was back when I really cared about my outfits) Now I am khaki and a fishing shirt. Everyday of my life. Back to the shoes. They were on the sale aisle. So I tried them on, I started to imagine myself wearing these and how good I would look. They were going to be a little more than I should spend, even though they were on sale. When I got to the register. And when the shoes rang up, they weren’t on sale. They were full price. Someone had accidentally put them on the sale rack. In that moment I was tempted even more to spend more money than I should on these shoes.
Temptation points the way, but never shows the price.
That is what the enemy does. He tempts you. And hides what it is going to cost you. He will lie to us and tell us it won’t cost us anything. When sin, the ways of this world will create a hunger for deeper, darker, and more treacherous sins that the one you did first. And before you know it you will pay the full price. (Family, Relationships, Health, Finances, Marriage, Job, Soul)
Temptation wants you to fail so it hides the price. God wants you to know the cost so you will make a decision to follow His ways.
20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Guard your heart before the world rewrites it.
Ways to Guard your Heart
Pray: Leads your heart and mind to reliance on God.
Tithe: Protects the heart from self reliance and greed.
Take Inventory: Contents/Take inventory of what is in your heart.
Spend time with God’s word.
Watch what your words
Set your course, don’t let your course set you.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Be careful how you walk. (Dog droppings)
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Story:
-Good friend. Facing something he doesn’t understand. Why is this happening? Why does God cause or allow this to happen? We even talked about how sometimes people are so sure about what God is up to and why God is doing things. My friend was feeling a little unsure as to what God was doing and why God was doing it. I walked away from that conversation thinking…you know what…I don’t know what God is always up to.
I think it is interesting because there were even statements Jesus made that made it seem like He didn’t even know what God the father was up to. Statements like, "no one knows the day or hour" of his return, "not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father". This means that the timing of the Second Coming is known only to God the Father, emphasizing His unique authority and sovereignty.
I think of statements from David like Psalm 10:1
Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Conclusion:
10 And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast
23 till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
The word of God here says that the ways of this world is like a woman who tempts a man to have an affair. Dress. Perfume. Flattering words. He doesn’t know it will cost him his life.
Then the warning from the proverb.
Guard your heart.
Ask for a new heart!
“Don’t give it away. It was bought at a price.”
