Guard Your Heart: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 Proverbs 4:23 says above all else in other words above everything else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it when you go to the beginning of this proverb here in chapter 4 it starts out by saying and it’s Solomon talking he says listen to a father’s instruction pay attention and gain. Understanding then you go down to verse 4 it. Says he goes on to say things that his father had taught him so when you start reading after verse 4 he’s actually telling you what his father which was David who was David taught him to say so when you read those things after that chapter he repeats what he learned from his father and of course we know that king David was a very wise man and we know that king David had his heart in the right place we’ll talk about him a little more in a minute but but the things it mentions in this chapter are this one it says to get wisdom at all cost to hold on to instruction and to set foot not on the path of the wicked or walk in the ways of.

▶ 1:28 Evildoers so the path of the righteous is straight and full of. Light which is a path that the righteous travel on but the path that the evildoers travel on is every which way because they stumble in the darkness trying to find their way but he almost almost at the end of this chapter he sums everything up by saying above all else guard your heart for everything everything you do flows from it I remember when I started working where I’m at now I’ve been there 9 years just have my 9th anniversary and I remember when I started there there was a guy that worked there he was a he was from Arkansas and you think I have a twang this guy really had a twang and I met I won’t tell you his name shook hands and he said he said yeah I’m a Christian too he said but I’ve got this problem man I can’t stop.

▶ 2:23 Cussing and I told him I said well the problem is not your mouth the problem is your heart. As we talked about it some I indicated this to him just like the scriptures say what comes out of your mouth comes out of your heart what’s in your heart are the things that you’re going to say so it’s important that we keep our heart clean this is why David said c create in me a clean heart you know in Psalm 51 I want to sing that chorus at the end of the day when we’re done here about creating me a clean heart I was looking in Psalm 51 when David said this you know he said this because he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover it up and almost everybody in the church knows the story if they read their Bible and they think wow you know what a horrible thing for him to do yet he was still a man after God’s own.

▶ 3:19 Heart because David repented of what he did and no doubt he wept bitterly because of what he had done and David was concerned that God would not take his presence from him and that he would not remove his spirit from him but he could still and you know David would have laid down his life gladly and paid for what he had done but he never changed the way he felt about his God even though he sinned and sinned greatly one thing about this is we can take comfort in the fact that no matter what we do in this life if we are willing God will take us back sometimes we’ll stumble sometimes we’ll fall and many of us may never do anything as bad as this but no matter what we do we know that he will always take us back but what we need to have above anything is a heart that’s willing to follow Jesus and it’s very important what we put in that heart you know there’s a battle ground that’s going on in your mind on one side of you and I don’t care if you’ve served God for five minutes or five years it still happens even if you served him for decades there’s still a battleground that goes on in your mind one side of you that fleshly side that you used to cater to continuously before you came to God still rises up within you once in a while and wants that

▶ 4:50 self-gratification and wants to be pleased by doing things that are. Self-indulgent and there’s another side of you that remind you of all those scriptures that you read and studied over the years and how if you can apply those to your life again and still it will overcome that old self that’s trying to rise up within you the point is this the one that gets stronger is the one we feed if we feed that fleshly side it’s going to get stronger and eventually put out the spiritual side but on the other hand if we continue to feed the spiritual side it’s going to get stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger and the fleshly side because we keep denying it as Paul said we die daily to the flesh so if we keep denying that old fleshly side the spiritual side is going to get stronger and stronger and stronger but we have to feed the spiritual side and guess what this is what we did this morning when we came through those doors you come in and you give praise and you lift up the name of Jesus he in turn touches your heart charges your batteries gives you the ability to go out there and face this world again and this is what you need because if you don’t charge your batteries you’re not going to function spiritually anyway amen.

▶ 6:20 So there’s a lot of meaning to this proverb when it says above everything guard your heart I remember seeing uh those bulletproof vests you know I don’t know what they’re like today this was quite a few years ago well they had that material whatever they are but in the middle of the vest there was a uh a pocket and inside that pocket I remember being shown there is a it looks like a card that slips inside this pocket and it covers your heart that area so it’s a little added protection if you ever get hit in that section it’s a little added protection to protect your heart from a spiritual standpoint do we also need something like that to cover our hearts as well because. Look if you have a bulletproof vest on and it doesn’t work and you get hit in the heart you’re dead unless you got a heart machine in your back pocket you’re gone so we have to think like this when it comes to our heart from a spiritual side we have to protect that heart because if it gets a direct hit guess what’s going to happen you’re going to die.

▶ 7:39 Spiritually so we have to always be on guard what we take in because what we take in is what’s going to come out isn’t that right okay let’s move on 1st Samuel 12:24 says be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart consider what great things he has done done for you yet if you persist in doing evil both you and your king will perish so what happened was Samuel was the last judge of. Israel and he had two son he had some sons that were corrupt they were taking bribes and they weren’t walking exactly like their father Samuel had done so the people came to him and said. Samuel you know we we don’t you know your sons aren’t walking in your ways and they’re taking bribes and we decided we all put our heads together and we decided that we want a king so that we can be like all the other nations and this really displeased Samuel not only did it displease Samuel but it also displeased the Lord.

▶ 8:45 Because first off Samuel went to the Lord to seek him about this matter and the Lord spoke to Samuel and he said they have not rejected you they have rejected me from being their king see this is how it was was Israel had a king kind of similar to the way we have it today today we have a king don’t we and everybody in the church knows that this king reigns but not everybody on earth knows this yet but whether they know it or not he is the king and one day they’ll all know so we have this king but nobody can see him but we can feel his presence this is kind of what was going on back in those days you know the other nations would go out they’d have a king that rode in front of them to come out into battle on his on his white horse and he represented the people and he rode out with his army behind him to conquer and all this other they come to Israel said well where’s your king our king’s God well where is he I don’t see him where’s his horse.

▶ 9:44 At God did sit on a horse but not literally and he. Did reign over a people and the times that those people had their heart set on following him they were unstoppable when you read about him coming out of Egypt how the things that God did to Egypt to deliver his people was just unbelievable that country was almost destroyed when God let brought them out of the land because of Pharaoh’s hardness of heart not listening to Moses and letting the people go it cost him economically just destroy the country because he wouldn’t.

▶ 10:27 Listen and they were to the point when they were finished wandering in the wilderness and they came into that promised. Land you read about nations hearing Israel’s coming and they began to quake with fear they would sh they would tremble because they heard Israel was coming why would they tremble about these people because they heard about what they had done to the other nations when they came into the land when they came into Jericho and turned it into a pile of rubble and now they’re coming here so Israel had been known as somebody that was they’re cleaning house and here they come and they were like this not because of anything they had done on their own but because God was with them and it’s been said many times that God if he wanted to he could raise up a country as small as Mexico and he could overthrow the United States of America if he chose to do so that’s how powerful our God is but if we’re look if we have a people that follow him and they have their hearts set on him they can have rest from enemies they can have peace in knowing that God is in charge and they don’t have to fear these things but you do fear these things when you’re not walking right with God and your heart is not right with God it’s like being on that freeway we were talking about the [unclear] few weeks ago when I compared a freeway to respect for God you know I’m not afraid to drive on the freeway but

▶ 11:57 if I get in the wrong lane and drive against the traffic on the 91 freeway I’m petrified it’s the same way with God you’re going in his direction you don’t have to have that kind of fear because you’re doing his will but when you get out of his will and start going against him that’s like driving the opposite way on the freeway it’s suicidal and this is what happens with people when and even individually it can happen to us today individually if we let too many things infect us in our surroundings and it and it takes our mind off of God and on to other things all we need to do is be distracted it that it could start that easy and the enemy of your soul is a master at this. Deception. Doubt and.

▶ 12:51 Temptation anything to lure you away from following the God of the universe. So anyway they asked for this king because they wanted to be like everybody else they took their eyes once again off God and they forgot about how he had delivered them could you. Imagine hearing the stories your ancestors sitting around the campfire and telling the stories well I remember your great granddaddy he was in Egypt and he came out of Egypt and he crossed that sea and he was telling me about that water all the way could you imagine such a thing I mean when you think of the miracles that God did it’s like wow you’d never forget that and if you ever seen it yourself it’s like man I’d never forget this but you know what their hearts were so hard did you know there’s a place in the Bible where Jesus raised someone from the dead and they wanted to kill him because they were afraid he would take away their position in Israel they forgot all about the part where he raised someone from the dead man I wouldn’t think about anything else but someone being raised from the dead if I saw someone dead especially if they’ve been dead for days and he comes up and tells him to get up man that’s something I’ll never forget that right there would do it for me I’m I’m hey I’m following this guy cu he knows what’s happening but yet all they could do was we got to figure out a way to stop this guy it’s like you got to be kidding me he raised someone from the dead and that’s all you can say you want to stop him what are you some kind of an idiot but

▶ 14:22 that was their mentality and it was because their hearts were so hard that they couldn’t even see see something as plain as. That so anyway they’re asking for this king because they want to be like all the other nations and he goes on and he tells them he says well he. Says be sure that you fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart of course they. Didn’t consider the great things he has done for you and see this is another thing God had continuously delivered them time and time and time and time again constantly when they got into even when they turned their back I remember reading the judges and I. Remember he would deliver them again and then all of a sudden as soon as that judge would die they go right back where they came from and back to the [unclear] right and so he’d raise up another nation to come in and put them under their thumb he’d be paying tribute to them and you know they’re they’re they’re doing slavery things for this other [unclear] and all and they’re oppressed by these nations one of them I think was the Midianites and he finally and they cried out to God and you know what God said won’t you just go to your false God and let him save.

▶ 15:35 You go to that statue that you guys like to pray to for deliverance but it says they cried out even more and God couldn’t handle it anymore he finally got to the point where he heard their cries and he said I’ve got to do something so once again he had compassion and he delivered them they were so thankful that they followed him all the days of that judge and then went right back to the [unclear] again constantly and today we’re no different unless we have a heart that’s set on following. Him and this was the difference between David and the two kings one king after him and the one king before him David had a heart that was set on following after God and this is probably why God didn’t kill him did you know under the law of Moses David should have been killed for what he did.

▶ 16:29 His penalty was. Death two counts one was the adultery and the other one was the murder God was merciful to him and spared he paid dearly for his sin but God was merciful and spared him his life and still kept his promise to him by saying you will always have someone to sit on the throne and of course we all know that’s fulfilled in Jesus but he kept his promise to David even though David blew it. Because David had this deep desire to follow his God even though he messed up but here we got these people and again he tells them if you persist in doing evil you and your kings going to perish in another place he tells them all the things the king’s going to do they take your sons going to take your daughters going to take 10% of everything going to just wipe you out he said you’re going to loathe the day that you asked for a king and you know what they said fine we want a king anyway way okay so he gave him the king and here he.

▶ 17:33 Is but he tells. Him if you persist in doing evil what you did in asking for a king was evil and if you persist you and your king will. Perish and then we come up to 1st Samuel chapter 13 this is uh our their this is their first king and action here the Philistines had come together to fight against Israel and they had 3,000 chariots 6,000 charioteers and soldiers the Bible says as numerous as the sand on the seashore so they were totally outnumbered now this is not being totally outnumbered wasn’t anything that was new to Israel because they’ve been outnumbered many times remember Gideon was outnumbered too and he wiped everything out everybody out with 300 people but why because God was with him so it didn’t matter that they had soldiers as numerous as the sands on the sea because God was able to deliver them but the problem is instead of realizing that his God was able to deliver this he was looking around at the situation as how hopeless it was and Samuel said I want you to wait there seven days and I’ll be there to offer the offer of sacrifice well seven days pass and there’s no Samuel and the people are running and hiding in caves and hiding in the rocks and hiding in the brush they’re scared you know they see them chariots go rolling by the big old spikes on the wheels whatever they had and man they were just petrified why because there were so many of them and

▶ 19:04 they all forgot about one thing the one who called them is able to sustain them they forgot that all they saw was the situation this by the way is something that David never. Forgot anyway so after seven days Saul didn’t show up and he he says you bring me the off bring me the sacrifice and I’ll offer it. Myself cuz he’s scared he say I got to do something cuz Samuel Samuel’s not here we got to do something I got I’m scared to death so he offers this sacrifice as soon as he’s done here comes Samuel what are you doing well you delayed in coming so I went ahead and offered this he said you have done a foolish thing what did he do was so foolish he. Disobeyed he disobeyed what he was told to do one thing you don’t do to God is continually rebel against him you’re not going to win.

▶ 20:08 [unclear] so you just as well say here I am I give up do with me what you will because you can’t fight God you’re not going to win I don’t care who you. Are and besides if you submit anyway you’ll be glad you did you becoming his slave actually makes you free the Bible teaches so anyway he said you’ve done foolishly so because of this disobedience the kingdom would be taken away from him and given to somebody. Else and he said in one spot he said God would have established your kingdom forever God was looking for somebody to do this for I’m looking for someone to establish this kingdom and the messiah will come through that line and it was offered to Saul first but sa Saul didn’t have a heart for God I think all Saul cared about was himself so because of this his disobedience cost him the throne his sons were killed he did finish out his term he served for 42 years as king but it was tumultuous.

▶ 21:20 Reign and then we have over here Acts 13:22 Paul’s recounting the story. And he says ‘ after removing Saul he made David their king God testified concerning him I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart he will do everything I want him to do he’ll be an obedient. Servant when it was time you know Saul did one there was another episode we read about Saul when he was told to go wipe out an entire nation of people man woman child and animal. He goes in spares the king spares the best of the animals and he didn’t do what he was supposed to do.

▶ 22:06 Again and that clenched it his reign his his lineage of king it’s over God’s going to take it and give it to someone who’s interested in doing what God wants so now he’s on his way to Jesse’s house to find this next king so Samuel goes to Jesse’s house and Jesse had eight sons and he had seven sons passed before Samuel and every son that passed before him the Lord kept saying this is not the one this is not the one this is not the one until all seven of them passed by when they were all passed by Samuel looked at Jesse and said is this all the sons you got and he says well we got David but he’s out out with the sheep he didn’t even consider bringing David to the. House why cuz why would God.

▶ 22:59 Possibly what could he possibly want with David I mean here he’s got his brothers they were big and tough and [unclear] you know and here’s David out there watching the sheep talking to. God and what’s he say go get him and bring him here so they go out and they get David and guess what as soon as David comes in God says anoint him the next king of Israel the one that nobody expected in fact they did again they didn’t even bring him to the.

▶ 23:35 House and he was the one that God had. Chosen and again David had a heart to follow God remember that deal with the giant they were all afraid because this over 9 foot tall guy come out every so often taunting the people bring someone to fight me I defy the armies of Israel come on come get me you know just taunting them and when David went down to see what was going on all those people were trembling in fear just like they had before and David couldn’t understand why they were so afraid all he understood was who’s this guy think he is talking about my God that way he was more concerned about the insults to his God that he was about his own safety or even considering the fact that this guy could crush him like a bug but then again if God is with him and he was this little ruddy guy could take out this over 9 foot tall giant and we all know the story he did and when he did it sent the Philistines running but you see it’s all because it’s all because David was concerned about one thing following his.

▶ 24:55 God he had his heart in in the right place God had found a man after his own heart as the Bible says as Paul says here all right moving. On we come up to first Kings chapter 3 it says this is Solomon talking here this is the next king after David this is his son Solomon coming to. Reign now there’s a big difference between Solomon and David when you read about the life of David especially when you read the things in the Psalms about him asking God that deliveries all those he lived those things when you read those things in Psalms he lived that stuff he knew what it was like to be on the run he knew what it was like to have enemies chasing he knew what it was like to shed a lot of blood he knew what it was like to have to overcome cuz he was continually having to do so so when it finally come to the point when he became king he had an appreciation for things because he had been on the other side he knew what it was like to go through the desert his son on the other hand didn’t.

▶ 26:01 He didn’t have the same kind of life his father. Did but his father no less taught him these things remember when we started reading in Proverbs chapter 4 today he goes on Solomon tells his sons the things that his father taught. Him we’re going to see that Solomon didn’t always take his daddy’s. Advice. But he came he became king when he was 20 years old and one night when he was asleep the Lord came to him in a dream and asked him what do you want me to give you and since he was very unselfish about it he said in verse 9 give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong for who is able to govern this great people of yours.

▶ 26:59 God went on to say well because you haven’t asked for wealth because you haven’t asked for you your enemies to be put to death because you haven’t asked for uh. Um I dre u I draw a blank anyway he said I’ll go ahead I’m he said I’m going to give you what you asked for I’m going to give you that discerning heart and he did he said I’m going to also give you the things you didn’t ask for because you weren’t selfish about it I’m going to give you riches and I’m going to give you great honor and he did y’all remember reading that people came from miles around to listen to the wisdom of. Solomon he said you God went on to say there’ll be none like you before or after and he was so wise that people came from miles around to listen to his wisdom he was extremely wealthy he was extremely wise and he was extremely.

▶ 27:52 Honored but he had one little problem he loved women. In chapter 11 it says he had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines and his wives led him astray as Solomon grew old his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God and the as the heart of David his father had been so when we read all that stuff in Proverbs chap 4 about things his father taught him it looks like he didn’t take all the advice his father gave and because he didn’t he le he was led astray by these foreign women who served foreign gods now that a lot of that can a lot can be said for this today you know I remember a lady she just died a couple about a year or so ago she was almost 90 years old but I remember her telling me one time she said when when she got married the man she married promised her that he’d always go to church with her so they got married and you know what he.

▶ 29:07 Didn’t so she had a husband for years that didn’t follow God and how horrible that must be to have a spouse that’s not interested in serving God so it’s very important for those of you who are single to be a little more picky about your mate and finding one that’s willing to serve God because if you don’t chances are they’re going to lead you down the wrong path now Solomon had 700 wives to do this and you can imagine the influence that had on this guy now why on earth he’d have to have 700 wives I’ll never. Know. But it’s possible some believe that he married women because it secured his safety with other nations around him for example he’d have a a king of another nation he’d marry one of his daughters and then the the reasoning would be well he won’t attack us because his daughter’s here possibly his grandkids so some of it was some of it they some believe are was for political reasons but nonetheless they had been commanded by God Israel had not to intermingle with the nations around them and he did exactly what they were told not to do and he let these women influence him and influence his heart and it turned him away from following God and the result was a.

▶ 30:33 Disaster when Solomon’s reign was over and his son became. King it was so bad that God had God punished Solomon for what he had done he didn’t take the throne away from him but when he died he did split the kingdom the nation of Israel split up into two different nations after Solomon was king and it was become because of the evil that he had done but God had this little problem and the problem was this he promised David that he would reign forever now if he ripped the kingdom away from Solomon how could he keep his promise to David well the answer was splitting the kingdom everybody except Judah left Israel there was a few that came to Judah from different tribes the Bible does say but the kingdom was split now into two nations.

▶ 31:29 And it was all because of the king turning his heart away from God and of course when a king turns his heart away from God you know a lot of the people that you know the king represents will turn their heart away from you when the rulers were wicked a lot of the people were. Wicked. So it cost the kingdom because he turned his heart away from God and you see today today we have to be very careful because if we if we turn away from God it could cost us dearly and it’s not there’s more to salvation than just saying a prayer and carrying a ticket in your back pocket saying I’m going to heaven there’s a lot more to it than that you enter into a kingdom that has a king y’all know this and what’s his name what’s your king’s name it’s Jesus he’s our king is he not and we’re his subjects if you will he purchased us he owns us and we put our lives in his hands to follow after him and do his will that’s what this is all.

▶ 32:39 About and when it’s all said and done the Bible does say that there will be rewards in heaven remember the parable of the. Talents I’m not saying salvation is an earning but what comes after the rewards that are handed out will. Be all you got to do is read the teachings of Jesus to see that the man that received five talents turned them into five more and he said oh go rule over five cities the man who received uh three talents turned them into three well I forgot how many talents there was I forgot but and then there was a guy that only had one and went and buried it and he called him a wicked. Servant because he didn’t do anything with what God had given him so anyway.

▶ 33:28 The kingdom was taken away because their heart was turned away from following God and then over here in Romans chapter 8 and: 5 Paul said those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires so again like we talked about in the beginning there’s this battle going on for your soul you got one side the carnal side trying to fight against the spiritual side and the one that gets fed the most is the one that wins so we have to decide as individuals what do we want to feed what do we want to grow do we want to grow spiritually or do we want to grow worldly if we grow worldly we’re going to get old and shrivel up and die but if we grow spiritually guess what we get stronger as we get older y’all know that so the idea is is which one which one.

▶ 34:28 Do you want to feed so if we’re selfish and self-centered most of the time again that fleshly side’s going to get stronger so it’s very important to decide which way we want to go what do we want to allow into our hearts because what comes in is what comes out and then in verse 86 it says for the set for to set the mind on the flesh is death again like we said a minute ago if you follow the fleshly desire s it’s only going to end up in death but if we follow the desires of the spirit it will lead to life and peace and last but not least we’re almost done Philippians 4:8 says finally brothers whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is commendable if there is any excellence if there is anything worthy of praise think about these things so like we’ve said 50 times now what we allow in our minds will eventually come out of our mouth and Jesus said out the abundance of the heart the mouth.

▶ 35:39 Speaks so if we continue in the flesh our hearts will eventually become corrupt and that corruption will come out of our. Mouths.