It's a matter of heart
Wisdom Literature for application • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 42:17
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Heart disease, it’s a killer!
Heart disease, it’s a killer!
One in every 3 deaths in the US is caused by heart disease according the American Heart Association in 2013. That and strokes are #1 and #2 worldwide as of 2016. But there is another killer out there, spiritual heart disease.
Spiritual heart dis-ease can spiritually kill, steal, destroy the Christian in his walk of faith. What we allow into our heart, matters. There is a cure for spiritual heart trouble. Tonight we will look at the command (implied); the cause and the challenge. (Jer17:9)
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
(Healthy Heart: already saved on the computer)
In the Hebrew the heart is the “kernel of the nut;” the internal citadel of the soul. It is the central part of our being in which our blood flows and that is where our life flows from. Our spiritual life depends on the heart too, and the heart can be deceitful so we need to be sure to take care of our physical heart and take care of our spiritual heart.
I. The Command
I. The Command
A command is not a suggestion is it? A command is given for our instruction and for our protection, even when the word is not given but implied as it is in this section.
Pay attention as we look at this section for the instructions and the reasons
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26 Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established.
27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
The heart, we are to watch over it (Pro4:23; Lk21:34)
The heart, again the central or innermost part of something. The term “the heart” is used some 90 times in the Proverbs alone.
In (v.23) it says watch over in the NASB); in other versions it says, guard, keep, carefully guard, above everything else guard, with all watchfulness, above every charge keep thy heart.
34 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;
The heart needs to be protected with all diligence (Php4:7; Heb6:11)
The heart needs to be guarded like a basketball, when in your possession you guard it and you also on defense try to protect the basket from anything going in, right? Protecting the heart takes diligence. It needs to be protected with the reason just noted back in (Lk21:34) so we are not weighted down and suddenly we are not prepared.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When we know what we have in God, when we know we have God through the Christ, then we have peace with God and that peace will guard our hearts and minds. But it takes diligence, it takes effort
11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,
Persevere until the end!
We need to make guarding the heart a priority! Because, remember left unattended, unguarded it can lead to heart dis-ease.
II. The Cause
II. The Cause
Garbage in = garbage out, you maybe familiar with that term. What we allow in, is what is going to come out. What we allow in is a major cause of spiritual heart dis-ease.
The heart is likened to a fountain (Pro4:23) but also seen in Lk6:45 and Jn7:38
45 “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
The heart determines your direction, your direction determines your destination, your destination will display the contents of your heart. The heart can be filled with good as we just looked at, but it can be filled with bad too (Jer2:13).
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.
(expand on broken cisterns; man’s effort vs. God’s)
Our character, our morals, our scruples all come from the outpouring (flow) of the heart.
The condition of the heart determines the outflow of the fountain and our final destination is directly correlated to the state of our heart, so we need to be diligent in what we allow in and be on guard to keep things out.
III. The Challenge
III. The Challenge
Who is up for a good challenge? As Christians we face many challenges. Diligently protecting the heart is one of them with a reason.
We need to give all attention, all diligence, make every effort to protect the heart, the kernel of the nut, the center of our life in which flows our life. We need to make sure there is no inlet for sin, so now, look at this section and see the challenge, the instructions we are given and the reason.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
26 Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. 27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.
Now we previously looked at general the passage, but now look again, specifically what are we to do?
Put away, put away a deceitful mouth
Put far from you, devious speech
Look directly ahead, set your gaze to be fixed straight ahead
Do not turn to right or left
Turn foot from evil
So how do we apply some of this, do some of this?
By controlled speech (Pro4:24; Pro6:12; Jam1:26; Jam3:5-6)
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,
Don’t have a perverse mouth, perverse speech, when we don’t have a controlled tongue we are deceiving ourselves
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
From what we allow into our heart, comes the flow of the mouth, so we need to control the mouth, the tongue
5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
By controlled Motive - Knowledge, things to remember (Eph5:3-5; Col3:5; 1The4:3)
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Controlled motive determines direction and destination
Controlled motive is accomplished by what we fix our eyes on, the intent of our heart and having the right focus
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3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
No immoral person will enter into the kingdom; we are to be dead to immorality
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
and we are to abstain from immoral behavior
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
So, what are your eyes fixed on? What is your goal? how do you get to your goal?
Controlled Conduct (Pro4:26-27)
Conduct proves the heart; be careful of what you allow into your heart
26 Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. 27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.
So we need to watch our path, our feet
We need to let our feet be established
Be rooted and grounded
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Be Grounded
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
May we be rooted, grounded, demonstrating the love of God that is in us.
don’t turn to the right or the let, stay the course, to the narrow road.
14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Turn from evil
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
For God is the searcher of the heart, so be diligent in protecting your heart.
(lead to encouragement) (Encouragement slide) prayer (Exit slide)