(Proverbs 4:20-27) The Place of Battle: Our Heart.
New Years • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 34:28
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· 1,953 viewsMany passages point us to the importance of the heart. Solomon does the same in this passage. The heart is a major battlefield in salvation and Christian living. Certainly, the first truth the Christian needs to understand is their need for the Gospel. But after the Gospel, this passage becomes another major truth we need to live for Christ. May we in the New Year consider and guard our hearts.
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INTRODUCTION:
This morning,
I would like to share with you a passage that literally transformed my life.
- Every passage is certainly inspired,
- Which means,
every passage is a word that should reprove and correct us
- Every passage has an application for how we ought to approach God and live for God,
But not every passage is as dynamically important as every other passage.
>>>>This passage has the power to revolutionize your Christian life.
In other words –
there are certain passages whose truth is so important for our lives,
>>>>> it ought to be a passage every Christian should know.
Passage I believe is one of those.
It is a passage that has the power to revolutionize your Christian life.
ILLUSTRATION:
Warren Wiersbe has a book - 50 people every Christian should know.
I am suggesting to you, if there were 50 passages every Christian should know.
This ought to be one of them.
Why is this passage so important?
Why is this passage a passage that transformed my life?
Because it tells me where I win
and lose the battle of the Christian life.
Perhaps you're sitting here and you have some spiritual goals your thinking about this year -
It can be a basic one -
I want to spend more time in prayer.
I want to be more regular in reading my Bible.
I want to spend more time reaching people for Christ.
Where does the battle of my prayer life and the battle of my devotions take place?
Perhaps you're looking for victory over a certain struggle in your life.
It is a passage that has the power to revolutionize your Christian life.
A habitual sin
an issue in my family or extended family
perhaps a struggle in my marriage or my parenting
a struggle I have in my workplace
a long-time friendship that ended badly
This passage will help us understand where that battle takes place.
There are certainly other passages we need to know,
But this one is one of the major passages we need to know to live a victorious Christian life.
And it is a passage I don't think you can truly live the Christian life without understanding.
Look at your Bibles and consider where Spiritual battles are fought -
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.
From this Proverb, I warn us-
We must guard our hearts.
We must guard our hearts.
and this text gives us 4 ways we must do that.
Our proverb begins by calling Solomon's son to listen and concentrate on these words.
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.
(ESV)
20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
20 My son, be attentive to my words;
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.
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.
So as we read this passage
– verse 20 pleads with us to listen to these words.
- Verse 21 pleads with us not to lose sight of these words.
In other words Solomon is pleading with us to listen and concentrate on these words.
Why are these words so important for the son of Solomon?
(ESV)
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.
These words are important - because these words give us life and healing.
>>>>Sin and foolishness is destructive.
The guilt and the fallout of >>>>>>>>>sin and foolishness can literally suck the life and energy out of people.
It gives us restless sleep,
exhaustion,
a lack of hunger,
depression
makes us lethargic
The words the Solomon is about to tell us gives us life and healing.
But the words that Solomon is about to tell us gives us life and healing.
It is hope and health to those who listen and concentrate on them.
What are Solomon's words?
First, Solomon teaches us that –
1) The Heart is the Control Center of Our Lives. ()
1) The Heart is the Control Center of Our Lives. ()
1) The Heart is the Control Center of Our Lives. ()
1) The Heart is the Control Center of Our Lives. ()
This verse teaches us, first and foremost, that we must -
1) Protect and cultivate our hearts with the Gospel.
1) Protect and cultivate our hearts with the Gospel.
(ESV)
1) The Heart is the Control Center of Our Lives.
1) Protect and cultivate our hearts with the Gospel.
1) The Heart is the Control Center of Our Lives. ()
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Our text come right out with it – what are the words that are going to give us life and healing?
We are commanded to - Keep our hearts.
The Word keep is the idea of either
caring for a garden
or soldier guarding the fortress.
And it was often used to call us to guard and cultivate Godliness.
We are to keep our hearts in the sense of protecting and cultivating a godly heart.
This verse teaches us
a) We are to protect and cultivate our hearts for Christlike living.
a) We are to protect and cultivate our hearts for Christlike living.
- Negatively this is the sense of guarding something.
Like a soldier,
Protect your hearts from the inroads of sin.
Be watchful for desires that are wrong.
Keep your heart.
- Positively this is a sense of cultivating your heart.
Like a farmer,
A person who keeps their heart
>>>>>>>>>>is a person who cultivates biblical principles and desires in their heart.
ILLUSTRATION:
I think of this like a farmer.
This term can be found in either military or farming context.
My grandfather was a farmer of several almond orchards.
>In a negative sense he spent a lot of his time driving four wheeler big spray takes down the middle of the trees to kill all the weeds it would choke the trees and hide the fallen nuts.
He had a sprayer that would spray all the trees to keep bugs and insects out of them.
He protected those trees.
>In a positive sense he spent a lot of time
planting the trees,
and he would put milk cartons around the trees to protect them.
He would plant them on big mounds so that the water and irrigation could get to them.
He guarded the trees.
He Cultivated those trees.
He was in the business of protecting those trees and cultivating those trees.
That's what the word is talking about.
We are to protect our hearts from sin,
and we are to cultivate our hearts to Christ likeness.
We are to put to death our old nature,
and we are to put on the fruit of the gospel.
And where does that happen - our hearts.
Our hearts are the battleground of Christian life.
Because the Heart is our control center.
This is why Jesus said on the Sermon of the Mount -
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Because the Heart is our control center.
We are to guard our hearts from sin
and cultivate our hearts towards Christ likeness.
ILLUSTRATION:
Just like a farmer,
Sometimes we have to pull out some sinful weeds - some desires that are wrong.
Other times we have to cultivate the right kind of desires, helping them grow and prosper.
But we need to protect and cultivate our hearts.
We have to consider,
<<<Now - At this point >>>>
We have to consider,
how do we protect and cultivate our hearts?
Is Proverbs teaching us to be moral people?
The proper time is the moral people?
Certainly its telling us not to sin,
but the book of Proverbs is more than just not sinning.
After all, the book begins with –
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
So at the very least,
Proverbs is teaching the protecting and cultivating our heart begins with the knowledge of God.
Without God working in our life,
we can't protect and cultivate our hearts.
He is the epicenter of a wise life.
But as we consider a larger theology of the heart,
we realize that the protection and cultivating of our heart has to begin with the work of Christ.
You see – our natural state is to have wicked hearts.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
And so if it was up to us to protect and cultivate our hearts
– we would protect and cultivate our own sinful desires.
And so if it was up to us to protect and cultivate our hearts – we would protect and cultivate our own sinful desires.
We would not cultivate and protect a heart of wisdom and goodness,
but a heart enslaved to the sinful desires of the mind and body.
So we need something more than just -
personal self reflection
and hard work
and moralism.
We need the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the answer to freeing us from our wicked heart desires,
It also is the key to creating good and Biblical desires.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
If you're not a believer today,
then you can’t protect and cultivate your heart.
Everyone has to start with deciding that I need Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins,
And set me free.
and therefore I believe and trust in Christ to do the work I can't do.
>>> To cultivate and protect my heart … because I can’t.
If you don’t know if you are saved by Jesus Christ this morning,
then come talk to me .... nothing would thrill me more then to help you come to salvation in Christ.
And For the Christian,
protecting and cultivating your heart begins with
>>>>>>>>>>constantly coming back and remembering what Christ has done.
Paul's answer to the sins found in the believers are Rome
Paul's answer to the sins found in the believers are Rome – was to reminded them of what Christ has already done.
– was to reminded them of what Christ has already done.
- a truth they probably already knew.
I was challenged as I read this from Derek Kidner this week -
The constant repetition of such a call (introducing nearly every paragraph of this section of the book) is deliberate, for a major part of godliness lies in dogged attentiveness to familiar truths." Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, Derek Kidner.
What familiar truth is he talking about?
The book of Proverbs – protect and cultivate your heart.
The book of Romans – remember that your old nature was crucified with Christ and you now live in a new life found in Christ.
So often our Christian walk is not determined by what we don't know yet,
but whether we are careful to do we already know.
Protect and cultivate your hearts with the gospel.
But our text continues-
This verse teaches us we must -
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
b) We are to keep our hearts with all vigilance.
b) We are to keep our hearts with all vigilance.
2) Vigilantly keep our hearts.
2) Vigilantly keep our hearts.
****And were to keep this heart>>>> with all vigilance. ****
We are not simply supposed to guard our hearts,
but we are to do so with the utmost care.
(ESV)
2) Vigilantly keep your heart.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Our text uses a figure of speech that basically means – be vigilant.
b) We are to keep our hearts with vigilance.
In other words were not supposed to just keep our hearts,
In other words were not supposed to just keep an guard our hearts, we are to do it with the utmost care.
we are to do it with the utmost care.
ILLUSTRATION:
It's amazing how careful we are when we know it matters.
A soldier is careful when he knows he's guarding his camp from the enemy across the river.
A farmer is careful in daily diligence because his corn is his livelihood.
Solomon is telling us that our hearts matters,
and our heart matters so much that he tells us to be vigilant in guarding our heart.
You see … sinful desire is a like invasive species.
Even the smallest seed of sinful desire, if gone unchecked, can result in a bondage to that sin.
Even the smallest seed of sinful desire, if gone unchecked, can result in a bondage to that sin.
Even the smallest amount of sinful desire, if gone unchecked, can result in me being trapped and controlled by that sin.
It takes just a little bit of anger to wreck a family.
It takes just a little bit of bitterness to rip apart life long friends.
It takes just a little bit of lust to lead to adultery.
It takes just a little bit of a love of money … to plunge yourself into a life of inescapable pursuit of wealth.
It makes sense… Because if were not careful...before we know it… Sins desire has laid a seed in my heart
which if allowed to grow will trap me into another besetting sin.
When even the smallest desire of sin can take control of my heart is so often results in destruction.
We need to keep our hearts with all vigilance.
Thirdly,
This verse teaches us that we must -
3) Recognize our actions come from the desires of our hearts.
3) Recognize our actions come from the desires of our hearts.
But not only d
Consider why guarding our heart is so important?
Where does our sin come from?
Some would content we
Some would contend sin is caused by others?
I wouldn’t struggle with anger … if people would just listen to me.
I wouldn’t struggle with money … if I just made a little bit more.
I would be happy … if this sickness would just go away.
We like to blame others for our problems....
We like to blame are sin on all kinds of
but this text teaches us that our heart is the source of our life issues.
And where does that happen - our hearts.
(ESV)
3) Recognize our actions come from the desires of our hearts.
c) Recognize our actions come from the desires of our hearts.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Our hearts are the battleground of Christian life.
Because the Heart is our control center.
What we -
Believe
Love
Worship
controls how we act.
The desires and love of our hearts… controls what we choose to do.
If I love others … I act in love.
But if I love myself … I act in anger, and covetousness.
Further,
What we worship in our hearts … controls what we do.
If we worship our self and our “I want’s” .... then we will choose sin and foolishness.
If we worship Christ … then we will choose Christlikeness.
You see … the belief’s, loves, and worship of our heart … directs what we do.
Thus,
the Heart is our control center.
(((It is where the battle is determined.)))
And thus becomes the battleground of the Christian life.
Because the Heart is our control center.
This is why Jesus said on the Sermon of the Mount -
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Because out of the heart flows the issues of life.
An Essential understanding of the Christian life … is to realize our heart determines our choices.
We need to guard our hearts
and cultivate our hearts towards Christ likeness.
a) The heart is the source of our choices.
Because out of it flow the issues of life.
b) We must have a new heart through Christ.
c) We must look to Christ to guard our hearts.
And finally,
This verse teaches us to
4) Monitor the gauges of a Christ-centered heart. ()
4) Monitor the gauges of a Christ-centered heart. ()
As we consider the need to guard our hearts,
we might wonder -
How do I know
What do I watch out for?
And we stoop down to some weird, self-reflect metaphysical introspection
I think first and foremost, the desires of the heart.
ILLUSTRATION:
Wouldn’t it be nice to have gauges like a car.
It starts with watching and monitoring our
Our cars have a number of gauges.
We have
speedometers
oil pressure
engine temperature
check engine light
brake lights
A car has a lot of gauges that help us know what is going under the hood.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have set of gauges that tell you what is going on in our hearts?
And the reality is that we do.
- There not round mechanical gauges.
- But God has created us in such a way that we can know what is going on in our hearts.
What are those gauges.
While verse 23 gives us the main command - keep your heart.
tells us what to watch out for.
We are first told to watch -
a) Our heart driven speech. (v. 24)
a) Our heart driven speech. (v. 24)
(ESV)
4) Monitor the gauges of our Christ-centered hearts.
24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
One indicator of the heart … is what you say.
It is amazing what you can learn about someone’s heart by what they say.
Sarcasm
Bitterness
Anger
Disbelief in God
They are all reflected in our speech.
If we are careful to consider how our speech reflects our heart,
we can really know what is going on in our heart.
ILLUSTRATION:
A simple expression … “I can’t believe so and so did that”
Can show pride and bitterness.
Like a gauge - Their speech reflected the reality of their heart.
We need to protect and cultivate Godly speech.
Further, Solomon points us to our -
b) Our heart driven desires. (v. 25)
b) Our heart driven desires. (v. 25)
(ESV)
4) The Gauges of a Christ-Centered Heart.
4) Monitor the gauges of our Christ-centered hearts.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
Now technically,
this is talking about our eyes.
But what our eyes spend time on reflects what I love.
In other words - what I spend time watching reflects the desires of my heart.
If I spend time absorbent amount of time watching the News, sports, TV shows and not time on the Bible… it reflects what I love.
If I spend absorbent time putting my gaze upon what I can get in life … it reflects what I desire.
Then I am reflecting the desires of my heart.
You see - how my eyes become a gauge of my heart.
We need to guard and cultivate what I watch and desire.
And finally, Solomon points us to -
c) Our heart driven doing. (v. 26-27)
c) Our heart driven doing. (v. 26-27)
ILLUSTRATION:
Do you remember the - Do the Dew commercials?
There
Th
They are trying to use subliminal messaging to get us to want to drink Mountain Dew.
Some of us were immune to those commercials because we are not fans of Mountain Dew.
While others were enticed by those commercials.
Our heart reflects our doing.
(ESV)
4) Monitor the gauges of our Christ-centered hearts.
4) Monitor the gauges of our Christ-centered hearts.
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.
What do you spend time on?
What choices do you make?
What sins do you struggle with?
All of this doing .... is a direct gauge to your heart.
We need to be careful to protect and guard our doing.
What Solomon is teaching is that ...
Our speech
Our Eyes and desires
Our doing
All reflect the reality of the heart.
They are flowing out of our heart.
So we may not have mechanical gauges like a car,
but we took time to seriously reflect on our speech, eyes, and doing .... we would know a lot about our heart.
We would know what to watch for to keep or guard our heart.
CONCLUSION:
So,
Perhaps you're sitting here and you have some spiritual goals your thinking about this year -
It can be a basic one - like prayer, Bible reading, and evangelism.
I want to spend more time in prayer.
I want to be more regular in reading my Bible.
I want to spend more time reaching people for Christ.
Where does the battle of my prayer life and the battle of my devotions take place?
Perhaps you're looking for victory over a certain struggle in your life.
I challenge you to guard your heart.
Because that is where Christian living is won or lost.
For us that are parents,
I challenge us to guard our children’s hearts.
Because that is where their Christian life is won or lost.
Our text teaches us -
1) Protect and cultivate our hearts with the Gospel.
2) Vigilantly keep our hearts.
3) Recognize our actions come from the desires of our hearts.
4) Monitor the Gauges of a Christ-Centered Heart. ()
If we are to live for Christ and be Christlike … we must guard our hearts.
b) Our heart driven desires. (v. 25)
c) Our heart driven doing. (v. 26-27)
If we are to live for Christ and be Christlike … we must guard our hearts.
And there a bit of repetition hear.
It is like what Derek Kidner said,
“a major part of Godliness lies in dogged attentiveness to familiar truths.”
A Godly Christian as part of their devotions will constantly be protecting, cultivating, and monitoring their heart.
<<<<<<I challenge you this year >>>> Guard your heart. >>>>>