The Heart Matters

The Heart matters

Proverbs 4:1-7, 20-27

Introduction-

This sermon prepared from ideas from fellow ministers on SermonCentral

You have heard the terms Black lives matter, White lives matter, police lives matter, Penn Dot road workers lives matter. Until we get to the point that all lives matter, we are playing favorites.

Until we see that we all fall short of the glory of God, we will not get all that God intended for us to live.

When the lives of animals are put parallel to humans, we have missed the mark.

When common sense is thrown out the window, replaced by personal preference, and no absolutes, we put ourselves in great danger.

When God’s Word is lowered to the point of suggestion, or worse, someone’s opinion, we are in danger of self-destruction.

The heart of man matters.

The Bible tell us and I know that to some that doesn’t mean much, but because I do not look at the Bible as suggestions, but very clearly the Word of God to us, the heart of man tells the story of where we are at.

Proverbs 23:7- “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Jeremiah 17:9- “The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?”

I am going to tell you who knows the heart of man-God does- He knows my heart and He knows your heart, and He knows the heart of mankind without God.

Without God, our hearts are capable of doing horrific things… we see it everyday in the news.

Psalms 51:10- A broken David said to God

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a right Spirit in me.”

He knew that if there was going to be a heart change in man, it had to come from God. It is not something we can fix ourselves.

God tells us to pay attention to what He says. For us it is a matter of not paying attention

Distractions, that we lose focus.

Pleasures that have us take great risks.

Texting while driving believing that because we are better and smarter that nothing will happen to us- warning are for everyone else. For other people.

Illustration-

A car mechanic received a repair order that read; check for clunking sound when going around corners. So he took the car out on a test drive and sure enough, whenever he went round a corner, he heard a clunk. However he quickly located the problem and returned the repair order to the service manage with the notation “removed bowling ball from trunk.”

I am telling you this morning that before it is too late, remove the bowling ball from the trunk of your life.

Danger, Watch your step, Do not enter, Stop signs, slope signs going down hills fast are warnings designed to prevent you from the danger that is ahead.

Running a stop sign and saying that you did not see it to a policemen is not an acceptable excuse. Because not seeing it is your fault, it was clearly out there.

In the book of Proverbs, there are warning signs. Most have not read them. They are made up of wise saying and warnings designed to prevent you from the danger that would be up ahead. Telling God that you did not know will not be an acceptable excuse because the warning was put out to us.

Proverbs Chapter 1- Purpose and theme- “gaining wisdom and instruction.” “Doing what is right and just and fair.”

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise the wisdom and instruction from the Lord.

The Bible makes no apologies- to get true wisdom and knowledge, it is found in God’s Word.

Education is great, I believe in education, but education is not enough. If it was, there would not be so many smart people making dumb mistakes.

Proverbs 4:1-7, 20-27 Read from Bible

The secret to God’s power in your life is having a heart for God.

Since we cannot have a heart for God without God’s help, there are things we can do.

We can realize like David did that God has to create in us a clean heart because we in ourselves do not have a clean heart.

I. Exchanging our heart

By the world’s standard, believers are hypocrites because they say one thing and do another.

“This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

They say that they are seeking God, but Christianity is far more than head knowledge of Jesus.

“And you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.”

Intentionally giving God that heart that is corrupted and far from Him, and allowing Him to create a new heart that desires to have the things of God working in their lives.