Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Opening Story/Illustration: So this last Tuesday, a few weeks before he was scheduled to arrive, my son was born.

My wife had a c-section, and having a c-section is different than going into labor.

As the dad, they hand you these scrubs and you get suited up, and then you sit in the “dad chair” while they prep your wife.

When they are ready, they come get you from the “dad chair” and you go in to experience the birth of your child.

The dad chair, for both of my children, was like this life-flash-before your eyes experiences.

It gives you like that moment right before your child is born to sit and think.

How am I going to do this?

What am I going to do?

How

The dad chair, for both of my children, was like this life-flash-before your eyes experiences.

It gives you time to sit and think about the big event that is unfolding before you.

How am I going to do this?

What am I going to do?

For me the question is now, How do I juggle 2 kids?

Will I be a good parent/dad?

As parents we have goals for our kids.

as parents we have goals for our kids.

We want them to be smart and successful.

We want them to achieve great things.

We hope that they will avoid many of the mistakes that we made.

We want them to be smart and successful.

We want them to achieve great things.

We hope that they will avoid many of the mistakes that we made.

We do our best to train our kids to live right.

To follow Jesus.

To love others.

To treat others with respect.

We give our kids advice and hope that they follow it.

Transition to the Text: The book of Proverbs is full of advice.

It’s set up like a book of advice from a father to a son.

It opens with advice from dad, but interestingly, it closes with advice from mom.

It’s like God knew mom needed to get in the last word.

Background and Text: The last chapter of Proverbs is famously quoted as advice for women, but the truth is, it’s original intention was advice for young men.

It’s written either from a mother or from the viewpoint of a mother.

It’s a mother’s advice to her son who is king.

This is most likely not a king of Israel, but a foreign king by the name of Lemuel.

This is the only place he is mentioned.

3. Background and Text:

If you have a Bible we are going to be in this morning

The last part of this passage - The advice on finding a good wife, it brilliantly put together as an acrostic poem.

Each verse of the poem begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.

If you have a Bible we are going to be in this morning

Transition to Points: This morning I want to look at this passage and point out some “advice from mom,” that I think we would all do well to follow.

She says here three in verse 2 - “What are you doing?”

She says here three in verse 2 - “What are you doing?”

She’s asking him the question - “What are you going to do as king?”

She’s asking him the question - “What are you going to do as king?”

He is the “Son of her vows.”

Some think this might be a reference to the fact that she had dedicated this Child and given him to God.

He is the “Son of her vows.”

Some think this might be a reference to the fact that she had dedicated this Child and given him to God.

His name actually means “Belonging to God.”

His name actually means “Belonging to God.”

So here is a son, who’s king, and the queen mother is wondering - What are you going to do with the power and authority God has given you?

So here is a son, who’s king, and the queen mother is wondering - What are you going to do with the power and authority God has given you?

You know this is a good question we should ask our kids - What will you do with the life God has given you?

Are you going to waste this precious gift or are you going to use it wisely?

Are you going to waste this precious gift or are you going to use it wisely?

Let’s look at some of the advice she gives her son.

Points

Guard Your Heart

She’s asking him the question - “What are you going to do as king?”

He is the “Son of her vows.”

Some think this might be a reference to the fact that she had dedicated this Child and given him to God.

His name actually means “Belonging to God.”

So here is a son, who’s king, and the queen mother is wondering - What are you going to do with the power and authority God has given you?

You know this is a good question we should ask our kids - What will you do with the life God has given you?

Are you going to waste this precious gift or are you going to use it wisely?

Verse 3 - Don’t give your strength to women

The idea here is that if he attaches himself to the wrong person, she will bring him down.

tells us that the king must not take many wives for himself or they will turn his heart away from God.

The scriptures are clear - Most of the Kings of Israel did not listen to this command!

The nation suffered as a result.

In Fact, one of the most famous Kings of Israel and one of the Main writers of Proverbs, Solomon, Had issues with this.

Look at

Many a good man or a good woman, for that matter, has been taken down because they got interested in the wrong young man or young woman!

Her advice then, be careful who you give your heart to.

Illustration: Perhaps the most famous story of this is the story of Samson and Delilah.

You’ve heard the story - Samson is a man who is used greatly by God, but he gets interested in the wrong woman - a woman named Delilah.

She gives away the secret of his strength and becomes his undoing.

How many young men and young women do you know that have had their lives messed up because they got entangled with the wrong individual?

Illustration: One of my best friends in middle school & high school was really close to God and had a great future in store for him, and then he found out girls liked him.

That was the end of that…his life for the next 10-15yrs was one sad relationship after another - luckily, he got his stuff worked out, but the years that were wasted in pursing things that weren’t important!

- What an illustration of giving up your strength…giving up some of the years that matter most.

Control Your Appetites

In verse 4-5, she warns him of letting a desire or addiction to alcohol ruin his life.

She says it will cause him to forget what he has decreed

She says it will cause him to be unable do the Job God has called him to do.

She knew that a King, who could not tame his own appetites would be a king who could not rule well.

When we allow substances - alcohol, drugs, pornography, food, entertainment, or anything else to control our lives, we begin to loose touch with who God has called us to be and we begin to loose the ability to carry out the Job God has called us to do.

Illustration: There’s an old story about a young prince whose kingdom was taken over by an evil enemy.

Instead of killing him, his enemy put him in a room and told him that he was free to come leave anytime he wanted.

Knowing that the prince had a weakness for good food and drink, Every day they would deliver great amounts of food and wine to the room.

This went on for a long time - The prince sitting in the room and food and wine being delivered to him.

One day, the prince decided he had enough and he wanted to leave.

He gets up and goes to walk out the door, but he’s eaten so much and grown so big, he can no longer fit out the door.

He became a prisoner of his own appetite.

This is what happens to many of us - we become prisoners of our own desires.

The Mom’s advice: Self Control!