THEME: Uncharted
SERIES: Got Wisdom?
TITLE: On Guard!
Text: Proverbs 4:20-27
“A wise man learns by the experience of others. An ordinary man learns by his own experience. A fool learns by nobody’s experience.”
I. WHAT DOES IT MEAN BY HEART?
God’s words to Samuel when choosing the next king: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” I Sam.1:6-7 (ESV)
Pr.20:9: “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’?”
What determines the type of heart we have?
1. Our (thoughts)
2. Our (speech)
3. Our (money)
II. HOW DO I GUARD MY HEART?
A good summary of this 4th chapter:
1) How to get going (1-4)
2) How to keep going (18)
3) How not to get lost along the way (23)
Life does not flow from the (outside in), but from the (inside out). Our speech reveals whether our heart has been changed. Proverbs talks about perverse lips (4:24); lying lips (12:22); flattering lips (20:19); deceptive lips (24:28); and undisciplined lips (10:19). “Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.” Pr.13:3
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slime because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.” C.S.Lewis
NEXT WEEK: Theme: Uncharted Series: Got Wisdom?
Title: The Case for Purity
Scripture: Proverbs 5; 6:20-35
