Guard Your Heart

SERMON OUTLINE:

The Choice to Guard the Heart (vs 10-19)

The Command to Guard the Heart (vs 23a)

The cause and effect of a Guarded Heart (vs 23–27

SERMON BODY:

iLL:

• There is a myth that says the Great Wall of China.

• Is the only man-made structure that can be seen on the moon.

• But it’s just a myth, you cannot see from the moon this impressive structure.

• The Great Wall of China is great but not that great!

• Now, it is an impressive 3,460 kilometres (2149 miles) long.

• And was built over a period of 2,000 years.

• It was built so high that nobody could climb over it,

• And so thick that nobody could break it down.

• Yet during the first 100 years of the wall’s existence,

• China was invaded three times.

• Yet not once did the enemy ever break down the wall or climb over it,

• Question: How did they enter the city?

• Answer: Simples…

• Each time the enemy simply bribed the gatekeeper and they just marched on through.

Now walls are meant to protect us:

• i.e., In ancient times when invaders came to conquer a town,

• The inhabitants all retreated to the castle and defended themselves from behind walls.

• A city whose walls are broken down has no defence.

• Any invader force can march in and take possession of the city.

Note:

• The key verse in this chapter is verse 23,

• It is the centrepiece of this section,

• Around this verse the rest of the chapter revolves.

“Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.”

The word translated into English as “guard” means to keep, to protect, or to maintain.

• Note: this verse assumes that the thing guarded will be attacked,

• This is not a maybe but rather a will be warning!

• And the one guarding the heart (owner) should be aware that attacks are coming,

• And as a result of that correct attitude,

• The one guarding the heart (owner) will be on the lookout.

Ill:

• The streets of London may not be paved with gold,

• But did you know there is certainly a huge amount stored underneath them.

• About 6,500 tons of gold is stored in seven vault-systems under the city.

• The largest by far lies in the Bank of England.

• It holds three-quarters of the gold in London, or 5,134 tons.

• You try finding it, or even worse stealing it!

• You ain’t gonna get your hands on it because,

• It is guarded, protected, secured, defended, shielded, caged and kept safe.

• TRANSITION: That is the idea here, “guard your heart,”

• Secure it, caged it and protected it, because of the attacks that it will face.

Every day, as believers in Christ we face a spiritual battle for the heart.

• God wants your heart.

• So does the enemy Satan.

• And often he wins the battle via an inside job!

• i.e., Like the Great Wall of China, so often we open the door and let him in!

• But we can also close the door and keep him out,

• James in his letter (chapter 4 verse 7) reminds us,

• “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

• That brings me nicely to my first point.

(1). The Choice to Guard the Heart (vs 10-19)

Quote: verses 10-11.

“Listen, my son, accept what I say,

and the years of your life will be many.

I instruct you in the way of wisdom.

and lead you along straight paths.”

• Verse 10 contains the fifth instruction in the book of Proverbs from a father to his son,

• And it might sound familiar,

• You should be aware by now that the father will repeat his instruction again and again.

• Question: Why the repetition?

• Answer: Cause, we dads know that nobody ever listens to us!

• The better answer is that repetition is a good teacher!

Ill:

• In the world of advertising,

• Modern research believes that the average consumer,

• Needs to view an ad at least 7-8 times before it really sinks in.

• Repetition is one of the cornerstones of any advertising campaign,

• And especially important in today’s world of one-second pop-ups,

• And social media hungry short-term memories.

• TRANSITION: The book of Proverbs works on a similar basis,

• It takes a theme and repeats it again and again, slightly changing it each time.

• And in these warnings (chapters 1-9) there is a lot of repetition,

Now, in this section, we have a familiar idea of choosing one of two ways: