An Outline For A Sermon From Proverbs 4:20-27

An Outline for A Sermon from Proverbs 4, 20-27

Introduction: This outline is based on a sermon preached by Dr. Jerry Falwell at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA sometime in the 1975-76 timeframe. I was a student at Liberty University (then known as Liberty Baptist College) in those days and heard this message during one of the Sunday morning worship services.

Whatever notes I had are long gone, but I still remember at least some of the points.

To repeat, this is not my outline, only the best recollection I can make after some 50 years after the fact. Someone once said, the best sermons are those you remember and even though I don’t remember every word of this message, some of it has stayed with me for all those years. Dr. Falwell went to be with the Lord some years back, but even now he “rests from his labors and his works do follow him (a paraphrase of Revelation 14:13)".

Dr. Falwell elaborated briefly on each of several verses:

Text, Proverbs 4:20-27, KJV: 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

1 It’s amazing what a saved mouth can do for you!

Text: v. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

--Here he spoke of using our voices to witness, encourage, and speak up to share the Gospel whenever we could as the Lord gave opportunity

--He also encouraged the listeners to not use language unbecoming to believers

2 It’s amazing what saved eyes can do for you!

Text: v. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

--“Right on” used to be an affirmative phrase in the 1970’s. The literal meaning is “straight ahead” per https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5227.htm along with other translations.

--This could be an encouragement to keep a focus on important things, not so much things of lesser importance. There is plenty to see, and lots of things demanding our attention, but keeping our eyes focused on Christ is the most important thing of all.

--Solomon had much to say about vision and eyes in Proverbs. We’d do well to study these!

3 It’s amazing what saved feet can do for you!

--Here Dr. Falwell emphasized the use of walking and talking, staying in God’s Will and going where attendance

would bring glory to Him.

--By the same token, believers should keep their feet away from places that would not bring glory to the Lord.

--This next observation did not come from Dr. Falwell. My late father once remarked that most of the time, people can tell which path you took by looking at the clothes: the clean way, or the dirty way, for example.

Clearly there was more but to be honest this is about all I remember. My desire is simply to share a simple outline for a simple message that spoke to me in the mid-1970’s and still is part of me today, 50 plus years later as I prepare this outline.

May the words of Dr. Falwell and every genuine preacher of the Gospel take root and bear fruit every day until our Lord takes us home to be with Him!

Scripture quotation taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)