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Sunday 9 August 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

Please open your Bible at the book Proverbs as we are continuing our Wisdom Series on the ways of doing life here and now. Since Christ is our wisdom, the way of wisdom is always the way of Christ. So, this series is really about what it looks like to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. To follow the way of wisdom is to follow the way of Christ.

Proverbs 15:1-7, 14-23

We have looked at the way of wisdom in relation to friends and family, and today we come to the important subject of what it means to walk in the wisdom of Christ with regard to our words. There are more Proverbs on what we say than on any other subject.

The message today is very simple: why, what and how. Why your words matter, what your words should reflect, and how your words can be blessed.

Why your words matter

The effect of your words on others

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Proverbs 18:21)

What we say, that is the tongue, is the means by which we bring the greatest help or harm to others.

• Death in the power of the tongue

Your tongue is a weapon that can wound another person deeply. If you carry around a weapon that can wound, you have to carry it with great caution and care. Remember that you carry such a weapon with you every day. Your tongue is a weapon that can bring deadly wounds.

“There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Proverbs 12:18)

Notice this analogy to the weapon that can kill. We talk about ‘cutting remarks,” and Proverbs tells us that words just blurted out are like sword thrusts which can bring deep wounds. Some of you know the power of this because someone has said something that has deeply wounded you, and it has stayed with you: ‘You will never amount to anything’; or something of this sort.

Death is in the power of the tongue, and our Lord Jesus speaks about this with great clarity in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus quoted the sixth commandment: ‘Do not murder,’ and perhaps of all the commandments this is the one that we think, “Well, at least I’m not close to that.” But Jesus made it clear that the sixth commandment includes death by words.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

The original word for “fool” Jesus used was “raca,” a term of belittling, insult, demeaning, contempt and abuse. It meant, “you’re useless,” and Jesus warned whoever speaks to another person like that will be in danger of the fires of hell.

Now that would have certainly gotten the attention of the crowd. When Jesus says that the meaning of the sixth commandment includes death by words, you will recognize how this commandment hits a little closer to home than what you may once have thought.

Abusive speech is an offense for which a person is accountable to God. It is a violation of the sixth commandment that puts a person in danger of the very fire of hell. Death is in the power of the tongue.

• Life in the power of the tongue

“There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Proverbs 12:18)

Here is the extraordinary thing about our words and tongue; they not only do great harm, but can also do great good.

Larry Crabb has written a helpful book on the power of encouragement. He tells about how as a youngster, he developed “a thoroughly annoying and humiliating problem with stuttering.” He had particular difficulty with the letters ‘l ‘and ‘p,’ and since his name was Larry and he went to Plymouth school in Pennsylvania, this caused him a great deal of trouble.

He describes how the church he grew up in had a time of open prayer, and one Sunday morning Larry found the courage to lead a public prayer for the first time as a teenager.

He says, “Filled less with worship than with nervousness, I found my theology becoming confused to the point of heresy. I remember thanking the Father for hanging on the cross, and praising Christ for triumphantly bringing the Spirit from the grave. Stuttering throughout, I finally thought of the word Amen, said it, and sat down. I recall staring at the floor too embarrassed to look around, and solemnly vowing never again to pray or speak aloud in front of a group. When the service was over, I darted for the door, but I was not quick enough. An older Christian man named Jim Dunbar intercepted me, put his arm on my shoulder, and cleared his throat to speak. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Here it comes, oh well, just endure it and then get to the car.’ “Larry,” he said, “there’s one thing I want you to know: Whatever you do for the Lord, I’m behind you one thousand percent.” And then he walked away. Even as I write these words, my eyes fill with tears. Those words were life words. They had power. They reached deep into my being. My resolve never again to speak in public weakened instantly.”

Your words matter. They can wound, or they can heal. They can harm, or they can help.

The effect of your words on yourself

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Proverbs 18:21)

What you say will certainly have an effect for good or for ill in the lives of other people, but in the same way, the words you say will also have an effect on your own soul for good or for ill as well. What you say comes out of you, but what you say goes down into you as well. Words go into the stomach,

“From the fruit of a man’s mouth, his stomach is satisfied, he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.” (Proverbs 18:20)

Cursing and raging go deep down into your own soul, and they will make your soul sick. In a very profound sense, you will eat your own words. Proverbs is saying that we always eat our own words.

Our words not only go into the ear of another person, but that they also go down into the soul of the one who speaks.

What brings help and blessing to others will bring help and blessing to you, and the one who curses others will bring harm upon themselves. ‘With the measure you use, it will be measured to you’ (Matthew 7:2). Speaking destruction to others will bring destruction to you, and speaking life into the lives of others will be life-giving to you.

This is just another reason why it is not only right to forgive others but why it is wise to forgive others. To hold a grudge is to harm yourself.

The effect of your words before God

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36)

God will hold us accountable not only for what we did but also for what we said.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful gift but also an awesome responsibility. “People will give an account for ever careless word they speak!” (Matthew 12:36), and God knows every word that everyone of us has ever spoken. David says,

“Before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, know it all together.” (Psalm 139:4)

Here is something far extremely serious. Every word you or I say is heard by almighty God. Every word you say in private, every word you write online, every tweet you ever make or comment you add, is known and weighed by almighty God.

God holds us accountable not only for what we do but also for what we say, and when you see this, you will know how much you need a Saviour. This is why your words really matter.

What your words should reflect

There are more proverbs about our words than any other subject, so what I have done is to group them together, and then use them to frame four prayers with regard to our words. Things I would ask of God with regards to my speaking, and things that I hope you would ask of God for your speaking too.

• Lord, help me to speak with restraint

“The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” (Proverbs 15:28)

Notice the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Words pour out from the mouth of the wicked instinctively, but the righteous ponders thoughtfully how to answer.

This is radically counter-cultural. Self-expression is a leading idol of our culture. It’s very common to hear people say, ‘I must say what I think. I must say what I feel!’ Must you? Must you? What disaster would befall you if you didn’t?

“A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” (Proverbs 29:11)

Notice this important distinction. It is the fool who gives full vent to his spirit, who just lays it out there. But the wise person knows how to exercise restraint. This word recurs elsewhere in the book of Proverbs. Here are a couple examples:

“Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” (Proverbs 17:27)

When we get heated, our words grow more and more numerous while becoming less and less clear.

“When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” (Proverbs 10:19)

Here is a way to pray when we get heated: ‘Lord, help me think before I speak.’ This is a mark of a righteous person. We all know less is often more when it comes to our words.

“Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Proverbs 29:20)

Someone once said that when she was a student she became engaged, and looking back, she now sees that if she had married this man, it would have been a disaster. But while she did not see that at the time, her father did. One night her father came into her room and said, “Honey, just be sure that everything you see in him is what you want to live with for the rest of your life.” Then he said, “I love you,” and left. By the end of the week his daughter had ended the relationship, and sometime later she met the man to whom she has been happily married for many years.

Many fathers would have been tempted to pour out a great speech that went on and on, but this father had wisdom. Whoever retrains his words has knowledge, and whoever retrains his lips is prudent.

“Lord, help me to speak with restraint”. This is wisdom.

• Lord, help me to speak with humility

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2)

In Luke 18 Jesus told a story about a Pharisee who went into the temple, but when he spoke to God, all he did was sing his own praises.

Don’t ever sing your own praises. Making a great deal of all that you have done, and all that you have accomplished, and all that you are. Let another praise you.

Lord, help me speak with humility.

• Lord, help me to speak with wisdom

“To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23)

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)

The right word, spoken at the right time and in the right way has great power. The right word spoken in the right way at the right time is something beautiful and of great value. It is like a work of art.

Here a craftsman has depicted apples of gold, and he has placed the gold in settings of silver. What makes this a work of art is that the gold is surrounded by the silver. It is the two together that makes this the work of art that it is. If you cut out the silver setting, the gold apples would look bare, and if you cut out the gold apples, the silver setting would look like craters on the moon!

The point of this analogy is that the apples of gold and the setting of silver belong together. The fact that they are together is what makes them beautiful.

In the same way, what you say and how you say it belong together. These things together, the right words fitly spoken, are of great power and beauty. What you say may be right, but if the way you say it is harsh, it will do no good. But the right word, spoken at the right time and in the right way is a thing of great beauty.

Lord, let me speak with this kind of wisdom.

• Lord, help me to speak with grace

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24)

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)

“And a gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4)

“The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure” (Proverbs 15:26)

Don’t ever fall for the idea that soft, gentle, or gracious means ‘weak’.

“With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.” (Proverbs 25:15)

Try to take this in: a soft tongue, a gentle tongue, a gracious tongue, is stronger than bone! Gracious kind and gentle words are not weak, they are powerful. These words are very strong, and the reality is that venting has little effect. You can rage, but little will be achieved. Man’s anger does not accomplish God’s will, but grace does! Grace can change a heart of stone.

Just think about your own life. Believer, how did God change your heart of stone? Was it not His grace that won you? Was it not His kindness, was it not the glimpse of his love for you, that drew you to Him? God’s kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). You want to lead someone to repentance, show them kindness!

Saul of Tarsus, a man as hard as nail, breathed out threats and slaughter. His heart was like stone, but his heart was changed. How?

“By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

David says to the Lord, “Your gentleness has made me great” (Psalm 18:35). It is the gentleness of God that has made you what you are. It was the patience and kindness of God that led you to repentance, and since you know that from your own experience, let this be reflective of in your own words and the demeanour that you have in your own life.

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6)

Lord, help me to speak with restraint, humility, wisdom and grace.

This is the ‘why’ and the ‘what;’ now the ‘how.’ How can you do this? How can you be a person who speaks words of life to other people, and how can I bring blessings into the lives of others?

How your words can be blessed

An open ear

• Listening to the words of others

“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” (Proverbs 18:13)

If you want to bring blessing to others, you have to listen to them before you speak. We all have done this where we have given an answer before having heard the question.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” (James 1:19)

The open ear means not only that we are cultivating the ability to listen to the words of others, but also that we are practicing what it means to listen to the Word of God.

• Listening to the Word of God

“Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you if all of them are ready on your lips.” (Proverbs 22:17-18)

These two verses both begin with the ear and end with the lips. Having wisdom on your lips begins with opening your ears.

Now, ‘the words of the wise’ referred to here by Solomon are the very words of Scripture, of which the whole of the book of Proverbs is part. Solomon is telling his son, ‘Here is how you get wisdom: You get wisdom drip-fed into you as you listen to the Word of God.’

The way to a wise tongue begins with an open ear. This is taken up very beautifully by Isaiah who spoke prophetically about the Lord Jesus Christ:

“The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.” (Isaiah 50:4-5)

Wouldn’t you love to know how to sustain with a word the person who is weary, to be able to say what is helpful to the person who is weighed down?

How did Isaiah get this gift? Isaiah says, “God wakens me and opens my ear”. The prophet had a morning-by-morning appointment with God, a daily discipline of hearing the word of God and hiding it in his heart, and this is what made him able to speak a word that would sustain the weary.

Alec Motyer very rightly and helpfully says, ‘the morning by morning appointment is standard curriculum for all disciples.’

A Pure Heart

“The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips.” (Proverbs 16:23)

The heart of a righteous person makes his speech what it is. The words we speak always reveal the state of our hearts: An anxious heart produces anxious words; an angry heart produces angry words; a grace-filled heart produces grace-filled words, and a patient heart produced patient words.

Jesus says, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). James tells us that no human being can tame the tongue (James 3:8), and the reason is that no human being can change the human heart. Only God can do that. God changes the tongue by changing the heart, and that is why David said,

“Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

Notice the pattern: The ear teaches the heart (Proverbs 22:17; Isaiah 50:4), and the heart teaches the mouth (Proverbs 16:23).

A Cleansed Mouth

When Isaiah saw a vision of God, he found himself overwhelmed by the sheer brightness and purity of God’s holiness. He felt his own sin as he had never felt it before, and he said, ‘I am ruined’. The sins he was most aware of was his sins of speech.

“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)

Isaiah was a prophet. He spoke the Word of God, and thus they were the organ of his public ministry. His ability to speak well was his greatest gift. But Isaiah discovered that sin hides not only in our darkest failures; it also clings to our greatest gifts.

So, Isaiah knew that if sin inhabits even my greatest gifts, ‘I am ruined!’ But do you remember what happened next? An angel picked up a burning coal from the fire on altar of God, and then flew over to Isaiah and pressed the coal from the altar onto Isaiah’s lips!

Remember at school, if a boy used bad language, he sent to the restroom to wash out his mouth out with soup. Whether it ever acted as a deterrent, I don’t know, but I do know this: Soap can’t cleanse a man or a woman’s mouth, but Jesus can. When Jesus died on the altar of the cross, He died for all of our sins, including the sins of our lips.

In Isaiah’s vision, God’s provision for sin touched Isaiah at precisely the place that he needed it most, and then God called Isaiah to go out and speak.

“See this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:7)

What Jesus accomplished on the cross for sin, can bring cleansing to your lips too. The open ear changes the heart, and through faith in Jesus Christ there is a cleansing of the mouth.

When you have an open ear, then by God’s grace you too may be able to go and speak, and the words that we speak will not fall on deaf ears, but will be words that bring life!

Let us pray:

Father in heaven, as we have opened our ears to your words, the great desire of our hearts is that our lips should be brought under your control. Forgive us our many sins of speech and touch our lips with the cleansing power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Purify our hearts that we may speak with restrained, with humility, with wisdom and with grace, so as to honor You and to bring blessing to others. In Jesus Christ Name we pray, Amen.

05 August 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

We are in the Wisdom Series and on Sunday we looked at wisdom within the family. The way of wisdom is the way of Jesus and the way of Jesus is wisdom. To follow Jesus is to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

And tonight, we will continue in the application of wisdom within the family. We need to understand that there is an alignment needed within the family context when serving the Lord.

Please open your Bible at Deuteronomy chapter six. Let us hear the Word of God by looking at the great commandment that follows the ten commandments in chapter five.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 20-25.

Looking at these verses, we see that these are words spoken to God’s own people, a people that He has redeemed, a people that God brought out of slavery in Egypt, a people that God Himself made a covenant with.

This is of huge importance for the ten commandments were never given as a ladder for unsaved people to somehow get nearer to God. The commandments are a way of life that are particularly given to God’s redeemed. And in essence the book of Deuteronomy is an explanation and application of the ten commandments given in chapter five.

The first commandment says you shall have no other gods before God,

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Deuteronomy 5:6-7)

What does that mean? How does that look like to have no other gods before the Lord? The answer to that is in the next chapter of Deuteronomy. Here is how it look like to have no other gods before God,

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Here it says positively what the first commandment says negatively. That is why Jesus says that this is the first commandment within the new covenant that we are in as the redeemed of Christ.

In the gospel of Mark, we read of a certain teacher of the law asking Jesus which one of the commandments is the greatest, and Jesus answered,

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

Here is what we are called to as the redeemed people of God:

Loving God with all your heart means that you love with all of your affections, with all the workings of your mind, and all the strength of your will.

Loving God with all of your soul means you love Him with all of your vitality, with all of your energy, with all of your capacity, with all of your ability, and with all your gifts all the years of your life.

And loving Him with all of your strength means you love Him out of all of your substance, nothing that would hold you back from laying everything on the altar of sacrifice before the Lord.

So, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and soul and mind. This is the life, a life separated to God which, as a redeemed in Christ, you are called to.

But here is the question and it comes straight of the description in Deuteronomy of what it means to live this life devoted to the Lord: If I love Christ like this, what will be the impact on my family? If I really stretch myself all out in serving Jesus Christ, will it hurt my children? What will the effect be on them? These are very real questions. Every parent faces these questions. You love the Lord, you want to serve Him, and you want your life to count for Him.

Some of you already have children and many more of you will have children in the future, and you will feel this tension. You love your children; you want to be a good mother, a good father, but the question is: What does it look like to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength when you are married and you have children?

As soon as Moses give the call to this first commandment, he immediately goes on to speak about the impact of that on the family. And this is the impact and the challenges I want to bring to you tonight. We want to see from the Word of God that if you chose to stretch yourself out throughout the course of your years, to love God with all your heart and soul and strength, and to extend yourself for whatever it takes to give yourself to Him, far is it from destroying your family!

The promise of God is that your family will be blessed by it. To put it in one sentence: The best way to serve your family is to live for the Lord. Any other choice will ultimately have a negative and destructive effect on the people that God has entrusted to you.

The principle is a very simple one to grasp: Love the Lord first and your family will be blessed, love your family first and your family will suffer.

Let us see this in the Word of God. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter one. Remember in this book Moses speaks to a new generation of God’s people who are now on the verge of entering the promised land. Forty years before this God commanded the parents of this generation to enter the land. They then sent out spies that reported back that the land was good, but then they said that there are giants in that land that are much taller than them, and that the cities were large and fortified.

Parents standing in front of their promise from God of a new free life in the promised land. But when they heard from the spies, it alarmed them greatly and they were unwilling to enter the land. They disobeyed the command of the Lord. Even after Moses told them that God will go before them and fight for them, that He will carry them as a father carry his children, but they refused and spent the next forty years in the desert.

Now why did the parents then made that decision? Why did they refuse to go up into Canaan? There must have been many factors but we get a fascinated insight in what was going on in their minds. Here is why,

“And the little ones that you said will be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad – they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. But as for you, turn around and set out towards the desert along the route to the Red Sea.” (Deuteronomy 1:39-40)

What happened? The spies came back saying that there are giants in the land and the parents decide that it is to great a risk to enter the land. “We have little children and we have to think what is best for them. We have to put our children first. If we go into the land, some of our little children could be taken captive, and the risk is just to high. We cannot do what God says”.

That is what they said, and in a way, we might understand their thinking, but we have to follow the story for further instruction. They put the children first and what was the result? Children they tried to protect, spent forty years, the largest portion of their lives in the desert. The parents walking away from the blessing and promises in disobedience to God and that is the reason for their children growing up in a desert, growing up in a dry place and they knew nothing better. If their parents had been faithful, they would have grown up in the promised land!

The parents put their children first and it was devastating for them. It meant that their experience of life was that of a wilderness due to the decision of their parents by not putting God first.

As the new generation comes to the edge of Jordan, at the verge of entering the promised land, I want to bring the challenge of this to you tonight. Let me bring it to you in three ways:

• Don’t live for your spouse or for your family.

I believe I now have everyone’s attention by saying this.

Moses is with the new generation, the ones of whom most have been born in the desert and raised up to in the wilderness, and now even have their own little children around them. They also now have to decide how they going to live their lives.

This is the whole point of the book of Deuteronomy. It is actually one sermon of a massive presentation Moses is making to them.

Take this challenge from these Scriptures tonight: Don’t live for your spouse or for your children. Putting your children first is the worst thing you can do to them.

The same is true of marriage. Wives, do not desire to be put first in your husband’s life. Desire that Christ will be first in your husband’s life. If he loves Christ with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength, he will love you well. But if you become first in his life, then you have taken the place of God and taking the place of God causes a burden that you cannot bear. You can only fail and you can only disappoint and it will not be good for your marriage.

Husbands, by all means go and buy a card that says: I love you! But do not buy a card that says: I live for you. That is idolatry and you don’t want to make of yourself an idolater. You place a burden on your spouse that she cannot possibly bear. Only God can be god to you. Your wife can never have that capacity.

This is also true of children. The first commandment is clear; ‘you shall have no other gods before God’. That includes the children, those little gods. That is what Christ says; anyone who loves his son or his daughter more that Him, is not worthy of Him.

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not his cross and follow Me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37-38)

Why is our Lord saying that? Jesus is referring to the first commandment. If we allow our children to have the very first place, the first claim, we make of them an idol and we teach our children to worship themselves. That is what satan tried to get Adam and Eve to do in the garden of Eden, “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:4), be your own god.

This is why it is so important for us to be clear about these things. Live for your family, and you will lead your family into the desert with huge spiritual consequences. Live for the Lord and you will point your family to the promised land. When God says to us to be holy, it means to be set apart for Him. So, the first challenge tonight we can frame like this: Don’t live for your spouse and for your family, for you will do terrible harm apart from the idolatry that is involved.

The second challenge, the first was negative, this one positive, and here is what we have to do:

• Align your life around one holy passion for the Lord

Picture this dramatic scene: It is forty years on and after all these years in the desert, after the parents tried to protect their children, the children themselves raised and with most of their parents now dead, they now have their own little children gathered around them. And Moses says to them,

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Moses is saying by implication, “Your parents did not do that by putting you first. You have seen what that did to them and you have experienced what it has done to you. Here you are standing at the same place. You must now choose who is first in your life”.

And here redeemed people of God, is what Moses is saying to us, “I am calling you today! Love the LORD your God with all you are so it be well with you and with your children!”

“If you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 5:29)

The positive call here is to align ourselves around one holy passion for the Lord. Why am I using the word ‘align’ here? Aligning is not prioritising. We hear so often in discussion about life, and ministry, and service, the language of prioritising and never find it particularly helpful.

Sometimes people say, “Well, you must put God first, family second, and ministry third”. We all have heard this and you will hear it many times in the future.  But how in the world you going to separate loving God from serving God! Loving God is seeing in obeying His commands and a life of service in His Name. Christ is claiming a whole of your life and not a part of it. The language of prioritising is therefore not very helpful.

Then there is another kind of language that helps even less, and that is the language of balance. Where ever people talk about balance, they mostly trying to do good in saying: “Well, when the issue comes up in loving God and loving your family, you got to keep a balance. You got to have time for this or that, so keep a balance”.

It sounds awfully good, but I find it not very helpful. Here is why: If loving the Lord, and loving or serving your family, need to be kept in balance, it means that the two become separated. They are like two pans of the scale where the word balance is used. We got to then weigh the one against the other and keep a balance.

I don’t want family to be weighing against the Lord. No, I want my family to be weigh for the Lord! This is what Joshua understood when he said,

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, … But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua24:15)

That is not the language of balance but of alignment. Understanding this will help us in life and in ministry, and what it means to lay all on the altar of God. We are not trying to keep a balance but to achieve an alignment.

Moses tells us how to do that. He says that if you going to have a life and a family that is aligned around one consuming passion for the Lord, it begins in the heart.

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” (Deuteronomy 6:6)

Loving God is the fountain of this holy life. The love of Christ flow from the knowledge of Christ. It begins there, my heart beats for God as a father or a mother apart from anything else we do.

But then it is not to be only in your heart, but also in your conversations.

“Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

This is a family conversation. Don’t let your love for the Lord, your work for the Lord, be some kind of private thing. Talk about it openly with your family. Open your heart to those God has placed around you and let them see and grow up in the passion for the Lord that drives your whole life.

Moses is not speaking about the ten commandments in general but about the first commandment in particular. What he is saying is that the whole of family life is an expression of this one consuming passion of loving the Lord that works its way into everything. It is the fabric of family life because it is the very nature of a father and of a mother.

“Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” (Deuteronomy 6:8)

Hands are the means of action. This is one consuming passion you align your life around, not only remaining in your heart, not only expressed in your conversations, but let it also be seen in what you do; the actual practices, commitments, priorities, and choices in your life. You want to align a family around a single passion. Step out not only in what you say but also in what you do.

“Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:9)

Bring your children into this great holy passion. Help them to feel part of it. Help them to participate in it.

Young people, allow this message to paint a vision of what a holy life, a holy family life, a married life with children can look like. Don’t ever lose the opportunity to bring your children up in the ways of the Lord, aligning their whole life in the love for God.

Parents, religion will let your children rebel against God. It is not about the works but your first love, your love for Christ as you align everything around one holy passion for the Lord. It is about the love for Christ, the first commandment of loving God with all you are. Impress that on your children and they will not hate what you do, but love who you are in Christ.

Young people, if you hope to be married, the time for you to shape this vision is now. The person you are looking for is someone who will share this vision with you.

Some of you are married and you are trying to figure out how you can best serve the Lord; grasp this and hide it in your heart. If God give you the gift of children, it is not with a view of serving Him less.

Remember the parents who said they cannot follow God’s calling because of the children? They were the ones who led their children into the desert. But the one that said, ‘For me and my children will serve and obey the Lord’, entered into the promised land.

So, don’t live for your spouse and for your family for it is idolatry. Positively align your life around one holy passion for the Lord. And here is the third and last challenge:

• Give gospel-centred answers to the questions raised by your life

As you live for one holy passion for the Lord, your life will provoke all kinds of questions, especially by your children.

“In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws of the Lord our God has commanded you?” (Deuteronomy 6:20)

Here he is asking for an explanation, “Dad, why do we live like this? Other families don’t live like this. Why are we living like this?”

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. …” (1 Peter 3:15)

If you set your life apart for God, it will provoke questions. That is why Peter says to be always ready to give an answer from the hope that is within you. A holy life always produces questions and that is wonderful. When the questions come give gospel-centred answers.

Christopher Wright in his commentary on Deuteronomy says it would be easy to jump from verse twenty to verse twenty-four in chapter six. The question in verse twenty is: Why do we keep these laws? The answer is in verse twenty-four,

“The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we must always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.” (Deuteronomy 6:24)

But what is between these two verses? Before we get to the Lord who commanded us in verse twenty-four as His redeemed people, we have the Lord who deliver us!

“Tell him: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders – great and terrible – upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But He brought us out of there to bring us in and give us the land that He promised on oath to our forefathers.” (Deuteronomy 6:21-23)

Why do we pursue a holy life? Here are the answers you give: Son, we were slaves in Egypt and the Lord delivered us with a mighty hand!

That is gospel, that is redemption right here. “Son, if it was not for the Lord, I would have been a slave of the world, but He brought me into His inheritance, into His promised land, into the kingdom of God. His redeeming love is the reason why I have an aligned life around this one holy passion for the Lord”.

We desperately and confidently need to be able to communicate this gospel as an answer to the questions that will arise from the family. We got to be able to say that we once were all slaves of sin from which every person needs to be delivered. Jesus Christ brought us out and He delivered and redeemed us. Everyone needs the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are living in an affirming culture that give us the idea that the best thing we can do for our children is to constantly tell them how great they are. But here is the problem and I consider my words carefully: that is the most damning thing you could ever tell your children because if nothing in your children is broken, what then is the need to be redeemed? How will they ever see the need for a Redeemer?

You may say that I am suggesting that you start telling your children that they are little sinners. No, I want you to start telling them that we as parents are big sinners. You need Christ and I need Christ. We need Christ much tonight for apart from Christ there is no good in us and there is no hope for us.

Let us help our children to understand the mystery of sin that is in them. And whatever you do, please do not harden their hearts by drip-feeding them the false gospel of self-esteem. Also don’t end there but tell them we were slaves in Egypt.

How will anyone come and take a seriousness in Christ who claims everything and said: Take up your cross and follow Me! How will anyone be interested in Christ if they have not come seriously to deal with the devastating condition sin brings to every person born into this world.

When that is established, tell them something else, and that is that the Lord has brought us out with a mighty hand! When your son, your daughter, ask you why you live like this, why you pursue Christ with one holy passion for Him, the answer is the gospel.

Once a slave, but God’s redeeming power brings you out of the desert, out of the wilderness, into all the promises and into His kingdom. It is more than just a moral code to live by. It is a call to a new life that is aligned along this single passion for the Lord. Tell them what the Lord means to you, and tell them in New Testament terms that the Son of God loves us and has given Himself for us.

Don’t live for your spouse or for your family, but rather align your life around the holy passion for the Lord.

Give gospel-centred answers to questions that are raised in your life.

Tell your children that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and that is why you love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Your children will be a generation that will want to enter the promised land and live a life for the Lord in an extraordinary way. I am saying to you tonight from the Word of God that if you do that, your children will be blessed!

Let us pray:

Father help us through the Holy Spirit to so live this life as is described in Your Word. We want to do this for the sake and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ in whose Name we pray, Amen.

Sunday 02 August 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

We are continuing our series ‘Wisdom’, wisdom in doing life here and now. We are looking at this book of Proverbs that is a collection of wise sayings that reflect the normal pattern that prevails in this world.

Please open your Bible at the book of Proverbs 3:1-18.

We come to this book knowing that Christ is our wisdom. So, the way of wisdom is the way of Jesus. And the way of Jesus is the way of wisdom, and to follow Jesus is to follow wisdom. Accordingly, Proverbs maps out the life of a disciple, of one who follows Jesus Christ, our Lord. To walk in the way of wisdom is to walk in the way of Jesus.

Proverbs gives us wisdom for the whole of life. We are looking at five themes in the book of Proverbs. Last week, we looked at friends, and today we look at family.

Proverbs gives us wisdom for husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, so there is something here for all of us today.

Wisdom for brothers and sisters

Close relationships are vulnerable to deep wounds.

“A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarrelling is like the bars of a castle.” (Proverbs 18:19)

If I were to ask how many of us have a strained relationship with a brother or sister, I think it would be many. If you have siblings, how do you get on with your brother? How do you get on with your sister?

If you have a good relationship with your brother or sister, cherish it and guard it, because Proverbs reminds us that close relationships are vulnerable to deep wounds that don’t heal easily. “A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,” (Proverbs 18:19).

You see this in the Bible. The first children born into the world were two boys, Cain and Abel. One was jealous of the other and in the end killed him. Then you have Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers.

In the gospels, two brothers came to Jesus because they were quarrelling over an inheritance,

“Someone in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (Luke 12:13)

And we are told that the family of Jesus, that is his brothers and sisters, said that He was out of His mind,

“Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of His mind.” (Mark 3:21)

Mark chapter six give the names of the four brothers and unnamed sisters of Jesus,

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3)

“So, if the jealousy of a brother or sister is a trial in your life, Jesus has been there. He knows what this is like. “A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarrelling is like the bars of a castle.” (Proverbs 18:19)

Quarrelling is like the bars of a castle. In other words, when quarrelling breaks out, it locks you and another person in. It is as if both of you are locked behind the bars of a castle. It’s a very vivid picture. You just can’t get out! The closer the relationship, the stronger the bars can be when quarrelling breaks out.

Here’s why: When a close relationship breaks down, the offended brother will say, ‘well if something that seemed so good proved that hollow, what is the point of trying to restore it?

Close relationships are vulnerable to deep wounds that don’t heal easily, so handle them with special care. Another Proverb says,

“The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” (Proverbs 17:14)

Wisdom for Husbands and Wives

Your spouse is a gift from the Lord. Someone might question this, but your spouse is from the Lord.

“He who find a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22)

These are the words of Solomon to his son Rehoboam, and this wise father commends marriage to his son as a good thing. Marriage is a good gift from the Lord.

We live in a culture that flaunts ‘freedom’. So, we hear things like, “Who wants to be tied down?” ‘Live your life a you want to, it is all about you”. Does that sound familiar of the world we live in?

The Bible has a very different view of marriage, a much higher view of marriage. Solomon says to his son, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,” (Proverbs 12:4). The book of Proverbs ends with a poem in praise of a good wife:

“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:29)

Notice that the wise husband appreciates his wife. He tells her where she excels. Ray Ortlund, who has an excellent book on Proverbs, points out that when the word ‘husband’ is used as a verb, it means ‘to cultivate.’ When we talk about ‘husbandry’ we are talking about care and cultivation.

If God has trusted you with the gift of a wife, your job as a husband is to create the conditions and the atmosphere in which she can flourish. That’s what it means to be a husband.  “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,” (Ephesians 5:25)

In our core chapter in Proverbs, it says:

“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; Bind them around your neck; Write them on the tablet of your heart so you will win favor and good success in the sight of God and man.” (Proverbs 3:3-4)

So, there is wisdom for brothers and sisters, and wisdom for husbands and wives, but the largest number of Proverbs relating to family life, are addressed to parents and to children.

Wisdom for Children

• Always seek to bring joy to your parents

“A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother” (Proverbs 10:1)

“Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.” (Proverbs 23:25)

This is an application of the fifth commandment to honour your father and mother. The word honour means ‘give weight to’ or ‘regard as heavy.’ So, to honour your father and mother means to give weight to what they say. Or, if they are in particular need, it is to give weight to their need.

So, I’m glad to have the opportunity to say to younger folks in the congregation and those connecting with us today that if your mother tells you to do something, and you don’t want to do it, say to yourself, ‘the person who told me to do this is my mother!” You have to give weight to the word of you father and mother.

If there is a time to look on your father as if you despise him, or to defy your mother, here is a Proverb for you:

“The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures” (Proverbs 30:17)

I think that means don’t ever mock or dishonour your father. Don’t ever refuse to obey your mother! Always seek to bring joy to you mother and your father.

• Always be willing to learn

“Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence” (Proverbs 15:32)

“A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke” (Proverbs 13:1)

When you are young, you can easily feel that you know it all. The Word is speaking to teenagers! You don’t need to grow much older before you realize that you don’t know as much as you thought you did.

Mark Twain said something to the effect of, “When I was 14, I thought my father knew nothing. But by the time I was 21, I was amazed how much he had learned in 7 years!”

We read earlier, “Do not be wise in your own eyes,” (Proverbs 3:7). That theme is repeated throughout Proverbs.

“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Proverbs 26:12)

Solomon was a teacher of wisdom, and as a teacher, he knew that there are some students who learn and others who don’t. Solomon’s observation from his teaching experience is that the people who don’t learn are the ones who think they are wise already. They are ‘wise in their own eyes.’ They think they have all that they need.

Solomon says, there is more hope for a fool than for the person who is wise in his own eyes. Why is there more hope for a fool? Because the fool knows that he needs to learn. And the first lesson in the school of wisdom is that we all need to learn.

This is why the Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom begins when I see that I don’t have it, and I need to receive it from the Lord through His Word.

The greatest barrier to gaining wisdom is the conviction that you have it already. We see this consistently. “Thinking themselves wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22). “If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise,” (1 Corinthians 3:18).

Recognize that you need to learn, and listen to those God has placed around you, starting with your parents.

Wisdom for Parents

• You have more influence than you may think

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Remember that the Proverbs are proverbs and they are not promises. Proverbs are wise sayings that describe the normal pattern that prevails in this world. This Proverb describes a normal pattern; it does not promise a particular outcome.

But when all of that has been said, Proverbs is making a stunning statement: Your influence in the lives of your children goes deeper than you may think! It will still be with them, even when they are old!

I think this is particularly important for parents who may feel discouraged. There may be times when it seems that your children are not listening. There may be times when you wonder, ‘Does anything I say ever go in?’ More goes in that you see, and more will remain than you think!

Let me give you an illustration of this. The thief on the cross lived his life in open rebellion against God. He was a thief, and from the penalty he suffered, he was most likely a violent one at that. This man was a robber. He is the kind of man who would assault a traveller on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and leave him bleeding and wounded in the road.

Here is a man who has no place for God in his life, and yet in his last hours, he says to his companion, who was also a thief, “Do you not fear God?” (Luke 23:40).

Where did that come from? Some awareness that there is a God to whom we must give an account had been planted in his soul, but the truth was suppressed. Yet even after years of rebellion, the conviction remained!

So, if you have a rebellious son or daughter, do not despair. The living seed of the Word of God has been planted. Who knows what God may yet do with it? You have more influence than you may think. So be encouraged by this Proverb.

• Your children need restraint as well as affirmation

“Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” (Proverbs 22:15)

Our secular world has largely bought into the idea that if you follow the impulses of your own heart, they will lead you to life. But Proverbs says not so fast! There’s a problem with that. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child so if you follow every impulse of your heart, your heart will lead you to destruction.

Parents who believe that everything in their child’s heart is good, will focus their entire effort on affirming and encouraging their child, bringing out what’s there, because all that’s there is good.

But parents who believe that foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, and that sin is deeply rooted in the human heart, will focus, not only on affirmation and encouragement, but also on restraint.

Proverbs speaks repeatedly about the rod:

“The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” (Proverbs 29:15)

Is the Bible telling us to beat our children with sticks? Answer: No! That may be the way that these verses have been interpreted in past centuries, but I think there is a better way to understand this.

The best-known reference to the rod in the Bible is in Psalm 23,

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

Why would David say that the rod was a comfort to him? The answer is that the shepherd did not use the rod to beat the sheep. He used the rod to fend off the wild animals that might attack the sheep. The shepherd carried the rod to fend off the wolf and the sheep had the comfort of knowing that they would not be left at the mercy of enemies that would destroy them.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of your children. You will bring your children great comfort if they know that you will not allow them to follow the destructive impulses that assail their hearts.

A ‘child left to himself’ is in a very scary place. Your little girl or your little boy will find impulses of pride, selfishness, anger, laziness and much else bound up in their own hearts. They need to be restrained by rebuke, by incurring some loss, or by bringing some penalty to bear. And with that restraint you will bring comfort.

Don’t expect your children to say, “Your restraint comforts me”, but without it, they would be in a scary place.

• Never underestimate the power of example

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.” (Proverbs 3:1-2)

“My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live.” (Proverbs 7:1-2)

Now the only commands that are life-giving are the words and commands of God. But here is a father who has made God’s words his own. Notice how he says, “My teaching. My words. My commandments” He has made God’s words, God’s teaching, and God’s commandments his own. What he commends to his son is what he pursues himself. That is the power of example.

You know that I don’t often speak in regard to my own experience in ministering. But in regard to the power of example, I want to share this with you.

At age nineteen and after a few months of a great relationship with my father, he passed away to be with the Lord at age forty-seven. My father was a hard-working man, a great farmer, an elder in the church, giving us of the best he could within his means. But what we needed most as children, he lacked.

My father grew up in an orphanage all his years at school. During the war, his mother thought it best to send the three younger children to a children’s home whilst the elder three can assist at home. At the age of twelve my father found himself at a children’s home with a responsibility over his two younger sisters.

A father never experience love within a family context, ending up to find it difficult to express love and affection towards his own children. Most probably made inner vows that he will never lack or let his family lack in material things. The result is to work hard, to chase after success, to do the best he can within his ability.

Looking back at all the years before salvation, I see the things I pursued – hard working, success in the workplace, giving my children what I thought they need. Thank God for a Damascus encounter that changed my life forever.

But what I want to come to is that the window of opportunity to bring my children up in the ways of the Lord had passed. Today they are all successful in what they do, following in the way they have been brought up. They also look back and call to remembrance the lack of love and a fatherless childhood.

Why do I share this to you as parents? So that you do not miss the opportunities to bring up your children in the way of the Lord, to express the love and affection of the Lord to your children. Don’t look back one day and see all the wasted opportunities given to you by God to love your children well. Know that they don’t want your things, but they want you. Don’t bring them up to chase after things, but by example let them see Christ in and through you, for in that lies their future. Teach them to first seek the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to them.

If you are a parent, a great motivation for living a godly life is to give your children a credible example to follow. You will be able to say, “God’s words are the words I believe. God’s way is the way that I follow.”

How are you going to do that? The way to walk in obedience is to walk by faith, not seeking after the flesh but after the Spirit of God. Solomon says, to his son,

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5)

The only way to walk in obedience is to walk by faith. You can’t say that to your children unless you are doing it yourself. So, I want to say to parents today. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, especially when it comes to your children!

Wise counsel came from a man who never had the joy of being a father. William Still was a Scottish pastor who remained single throughout his life. This was his counsel to parents: “Bring your children up in faith, not fear. Trust God in regard to your children. You fear what sin can do to them. Trust what God can do in them. You fear the pressures of the world, the schools, the media and the culture. Trust what God can do through His Spirit and His Word. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Give your children reason to think, “My father and mother trust God, even when it comes to me!”

Let’s turn to God in prayer. I want you to think about the important relationships in your life. Think about your brothers and sisters if you have them. Ask God to help you in these relationships.

To show the love of Christ to your brother or your sister. If there are “bars of a castle” in your heart, ask God to take them down. If there are bars in your sister or your brother’s heart, ask God to help you do what you can to make things better.

I want you to think about your father and mother. Thank God for them. If they are still living, ask God to help you honour them by giving weight to their words and to their needs.

If you are married, I want you to think about your husband or wife. Thank God for giving that person to you and resolve with the help of God to do all in your power to help them flourish.

If you have children, trust them into the hand of God. Ask the Lord to help you bring them up in faith not fear. If they are far from God, ask Him to bring them back.

Let us pray:

Father hear our prayers and strengthen our resolve. Cover our many sins and failures with Your grace and pour out your blessing on our families for Christ’s sake, Amen.

Wednesday 29 July 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

We are in the Wisdom Series and I wanted us tonight to look at the application of friendship. But we first need to understand how we see ourselves and others in the love of Christ here and now. How do we regard Christ, ourselves and others? If we understand this, it will be an application in friendship.

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

The keys words here are according to the flesh. What does it mean to regard someone according to the flesh? To regard someone according to the flesh is to form an impression from the most obvious or surface things about them.

The Bible says “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Remember that wisdom comes from the Lord. Jesus is wisdom, and wisdom is in Jesus. That is the difference from worldly wisdom. God looks at the heart, looking inside. It is natural for us to form impressions from the most obvious things about other people as man looks on the outward appearance. Now we also want to know the heart, but that takes time and you can only do that with a few people.

Ten Factors that distinguish us ‘According to the Flesh’

We need to grasp these in order to understand the radical transformation that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. All of them are sensitive. Most of our problems, and most of our conflicts arise from what we are ‘in the flesh.’

Appearance

This is often the first way we identify people in ordinary conversation.  Let us look at an example: My wife will say, “I spoke to Mary this morning.” I would ask, “Who is she?” the answer I get, “The tall lady, with dark curly hair, skinny and she always wears a green coat!” That’s a description of how she appears. According to the flesh you are a certain height and a certain weight. You have your own style and your own level of fitness.

All of us have thoughts about our own appearance, what we like or don’t like about it, and how it compares with the appearance of others.

Ability

Here we are thinking about the gifts, talents, and abilities that each of us has. We are gifted in different ways and to different degrees – in sports, in the arts, and in music, etc. Our abilities in different areas are part of what we are according to the flesh.

I went to school at the age of five. So, for me, high school began at age 12. In the school I attended, for which I will always be grateful, we were divided right from the beginning according to our ability. There were classes or streams in every grade. For some reason I ended up in class ‘B” in standards nine and ten having to compete with others much more intelligent than I was. Most clearly because of my choice of subjects, but challenged my ability. Clearly the classes at that time was streamed with University exemption subjects at higher grade starting with A, B, C going down alphabetically. Nowadays it starts most probably with X going upwards.

How many of you have memories of two captains picking teams for a rugby game: The ones who get picked first walk with a swagger. The last kids picked, the ones who had no hope of being good at that particular game, kind of slumped over to their team. In standard six I was one of that last ones, most probably not because of ability but according to the flesh being small and thin. We have different abilities and they distinguish us according to the flesh.

Age

Paul says to Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Age is something that distinguishes us according to the flesh. Some people, seeing that Timothy was young, would not take him seriously. They would need to be won over by his godly example. Similarly, many older people feel pushed to the margins in a culture that chases after the young.

Friends

When you are at school this can be a big factor in your life. Who are your friends? Which group are you in? What was important to be part of a specific group? It remains true throughout life. We talk about our “social circles.”

Culture

We are talking here about the things that distinguish us according to the flesh, and clearly culture, colour, language and ethnicity are among them.

Many will call it “race”. God created one human race which all people belong to. Racism is nowhere in the original direct translations of the Bible. We are all of one original blood and one race. I will soon be teaching on this very worldly created current time bomb being fuelled by the devil himself.

It’s very striking how often you have reference in the Bible to Jews and Gentiles, the distinctions between them and how these often-bitter divisions might be overcome in Christ Jesus bringing all believers into a new nation in Christ. God sees only two kind of people; saved and unsaved, belonging to the kingdom of God or to the kingdom of the world.

You can’t understand the history of South Africa or the tensions in our country that continue today apart from this issue, and the many injustices that have gone with it.

Gender

God has made us male and female and this distinguishes us according to the flesh. As we think about culture and gender it strikes me that the great cultural debates of our time all focus around what we are according to the flesh. How do we deal with these great things that make us different according to the flesh?

Work

We are looking at factors that distinguish us according to the flesh.  What is your work? Manual labour?  Business?  Education?  Health?  The Arts? Science? Or is your work with the home and family?

I am always interested to ask people “What is your work?” because knowing what a person’s work is gives you some insight into their experience of life according to the flesh.

Home

A person’s lifestyle involves the home they live in, the car they drive, the vacations they enjoy, the restaurants they frequent, and the entertainments that they choose to enjoy. And all of this is driven by the means (or lack of it) that are available to them. We could have called it wealth or lifestyle, but decided to call it home.

Where you live has associations. We sometimes use the phrase “on the wrong side of the tracks.” Communities are sometimes divided between a more prosperous area on one side of a railway line and a less prosperous area on the other side.

Family

This can include family of origin, family by adoption, and family by marriage. There is the whole issue of the peculiar mix that got scooped up out of the gene pool and poured into you. Gifts, talents, and physical features were all passed to you from your parents. And along with them, the battles, desires, and struggles that were in your father and mother may also now be in you.

Most of us spend quite a lot of time, especially earlier in life, trying to figure out what is in us, and when we do this, we are trying to come to terms with who we are according to the flesh. For some there are more blessings than sorrows. For others there are more sorrows than blessings, but some do not know who their biological parents are and so you have many questions about what is in you according to the flesh.  For all of us, it is a mixed bag.

Experience

Who we are according to the flesh, is shaped both by nature and by nurture; and not only by genes but also by environment. Our early experiences of love or of neglect of love, have a huge influence on the shape of our lives. The opportunities that come as we develop – open doors and closed doors, make a big difference.

So here are ten factors that distinguish us according to the flesh: appearance, ability, age, friends, race, gender, work, home, family, and experience. We could go on because there are many more, but we won’t.

As we reflect on these issues, we find ourselves wondering, “Why are all these issues so sensitive?” The answer is that for the vast majority of people what we are ‘according to the flesh’ is all that there is. And if it’s all that there is, we are going to be constantly uptight about who we are according to the flesh.

Hear and feel the extraordinary power of the Scripture

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”  (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

A change in how you see Jesus will lead to a change in how you see others and a change in how you see yourself.

• A change in how you see Jesus

“… Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer.” (2 Corinthians 5:16)

Here’s what Paul is saying, “The opinion I had of Jesus was formed entirely by what He was according to the flesh…”  In other words, “I thought of Jesus as a Jewish man, born into a poor family, raised in an obscure village, a carpenter by trade, of unusual ability, who hung out with sometimes embarrassing friends, who died early in life, without owning more than the robe for which the soldiers gambled in the final hours of His life.

Today we find people praying in the name of Jesus of Nazareth whilst Jesus is the Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father. As you read the Gospels there are multiple examples of people who dismissed Jesus because they regarded Him according to the flesh. Let look at some examples:

In John 6:42, Jesus says, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”  But the crowd doesn’t like this so they begin to grumble, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, whose father and mother we know?”  They regard Him according to the flesh. Their view of Him is based on family, on His parents.

In Matthew 13 when Jesus came to His home town of Nazareth, “They said, ‘Is not this the carpenter’s son?’” (Matthew 13:55). They regard Him according to the flesh and they dismissed Him. Why? Because their view of Him is based on His work. This was normal, at that time for Him to continue the work of Joseph who they regarded as His father. “Why should we give weight to someone who has such an ordinary job?”

In Mark 2 we are told about how Jesus spent time with people who were despised by others. The Pharisees said, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:16). They regard Him according to the flesh. Their view of Him was based on the people to whom He showed friendship. “Look at the company He keep, He couldn’t possibly be the Messiah.”

In John 19 we are told about the sign written by Pilate and placed above the head of Jesus as he hung on the cross. It said: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19). Pilate regards Him according to the flesh. His view of Jesus is shaped by culture (or in current worldly term race) as the king of the Jews. This is quite clearly a racial slur here, which is why the Jews objected to it, but Pilate would not change what he had written.

All through the Gospels you have examples of people who dismissed Jesus because they regarded Him according to the flesh. And Paul says, “That’s where I was! We once regarded Christ according to the flesh.”

How did that change? Answer: Because of the resurrection! It changed on the road to Damascus when the risen Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him. After that, Paul could no longer write off Jesus as a misguided Jew who died on a cross. He is the risen Lord!

“And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, “Who are you Lord?” And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5)

Either Jesus Christ is the risen, sovereign Lord, who by virtue of who He is and what He has done in His birth, life, death and resurrection lays claim to your life and to every other life. Either this is true, or Christianity should be rejected completely.

Paul as Saul, had come to the second conclusion: Christianity should be rejected completely. That is why he persecuted the church, tried to stamp it out and destroy it. Because he regarded Jesus according to the flesh, and as long as he did that, the idea of one man, laying claim to the loyalty, worship, and obedience of every person was preposterous and offensive. And, of course, that is still the conclusion of many today.

But Paul who was so angry with Jesus, but when he was confronted by the risen Lord, he found himself offering his life in the service of the One he had previously despised, “Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer.”

Notice the word ‘we’ here. Paul includes himself, but he is making a statement that is true of all Christians. A Christian is a person who has come to a new opinion about Jesus in the light of the resurrection, “We no longer regard Him according to the flesh. We have come to worship Him as the risen Lord, the sovereign King, the gracious Redeemer. He is God with us, God for us.” If you believe Jesus rose from the dead, it would be madness to continue to resist His claim over your life.

A change in how you see Jesus leads to a change in how you see others.

• A change in how you see others

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh…” (2 Corinthians 5:16)

Here is something that is unique and wonderful in the body of Christ.  The things that make us different according to the flesh, are overwhelmed by the new life of Jesus that we share in the body of Christ.

In the flesh, we lived for ourselves and our death would mean passing into condemnation. But Jesus died to change all that. Who we are according to the flesh, died with Him through His atoning death on the cross. Who we are in Christ is born from Him, through His resurrection life.

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:27-29)

What makes us different according to the flesh falls away in the light of the new creation in Jesus Christ. This new creation includes men and women of every culture or group, people of all kinds of appearance and age, people of every background and experience, people from every trade and profession and every level of ability, all brought into peace with God through the same Saviour, all submitting our very different lives to the same Lord.

This is Paul’s answer to the ‘super apostles’ who criticized him for what he was in the flesh. That he was not a good speaker and not an impressive personality,

“For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” (2 Corinthians 10:10)

He wants the Christians at Corinth to know how to answer “those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart” (2 Corinthians 5:12).

A change in how you see Jesus brings a change in how you see others.  That means we do not see each other through the lens of what we are by nature and the ten things as seen that make us different, but of who we are by grace and the redeeming work of Christ that makes us one.

A change in how you see Jesus leads to a change in how you see others, and a change in how you see yourself.

• A change in how you see yourself

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If you are in Christ you are a new creation. This is true of every Christian. Being a new creation means that there is more to you than what you are according to the flesh.

You have been reconciled to God. You have been adopted into His family. You have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. And the Holy Spirit lives in you.

Your little life has been caught up into the eternal purpose of God!  When you are tempted to lose heart because of what you are in the flesh, take heart from who you are in Christ:

There are natural gifts that will impress people who judge according to the flesh, but there are also spiritual gifts that Christ gives to make you useful in His service.

There is a natural beauty that gets a face on the cover of a magazine, but there is also a spiritual beauty that is precious in the sight of God (1 Peter 3).

There is natural strength that comes from developing the body, but there is also a spiritual strength that God can give to you to help you through the hardest of times and trials.

There is material wealth that lasts for a time in this world and then it is gone, but there is also spiritual wealth that will last for eternity.

If you have had experiences in the flesh that have broken your heart, remember that there are experiences of the love of Christ that can rebuild your spirit.

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

• How Christ sees you

If you judge yourself according to the flesh, either you will always be looking down on others because you see yourself as having more going for you than they do, or you will always be losing heart, because others have more gifts and talents and advantages and opportunities than you.

Here’s the good news: Christ does not regard you according to the flesh. Jesus said to the Pharisees,

“You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.” (John 8:15) 

We know from other Scriptures that Jesus will be the judge of every person,

“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (John 5:22-23)

Jesus is saying, “You judge people according to the flesh. But I don’t do that!”  Jesus does not form an opinion about you according to the flesh.  He does not base a judgment about you on your appearance, ability, age, friends, worldly called race, gender, work, home, family, or experience.

What you are according to the flesh will not make Jesus more or less interested in you. He is not drawn to you because of these things, and these things will not keep Him from you either.

Jesus offers Himself to every person, of every culture, with every ability, and from every background. He offers Himself, without partiality, as the living Saviour and the reigning Lord. And whatever you are according to the flesh, He is able to make you a new creation.

“If anyone is in Christ…” That’s what matters, not what you are according to the flesh. What matters more than your appearance, ability, age, friends, gender, work, home, family, or experience is that you are in Christ!

When Jesus Christ is your sovereign Lord, what he thinks of you is the first (and ultimately the only) thing that really matters. A change in how you see Jesus will lead to a change in how you see others and a change in how you see yourself, so that you will not lose heart!

Start seeing others as Christ sees them and you. The wisdom that is in Christ alone, will help you to do just that.

Let us Pray:

Father thank you that you have chosen not to regard us according to the flesh but in Your gracious Son, our redeeming Savior and reigning Lord, equally to all and stand before even now saying, Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Father, do that miracle of grace by opening our eyes to you for wisdom and understanding in living for you here and now. Lord thank you that you reign, and therefore we overcome in times like this. In Your precious and wonderful and gracious Name we pray. Amen

Sunday 26 July 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

We are in a series in Proverbs and we are looking at wisdom in doing life here and now. We already looked at the condition of the heart and that you need to be born again to gain this wisdom from above. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

There are three things you need to know about this book of Proverbs:

First, the Proverbs are proverbs. They are wise sayings that describe the normal pattern that prevails in this world. The proverbs are not promises, they are proverbs.

Second, The Proverbs assume a relationship. They were first spoken as the words of a wise father to his son. But Proverbs is in Holy Scripture, and so in this book we hear the voice of our loving Father speaking to us, his own children.

Third, the Proverbs point to Jesus. “In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).” Christ is our wisdom, so to follow Jesus is to follow wisdom; to listen to Jesus is to listen to wisdom; to grow in Jesus is to grow in wisdom. The way of wisdom is always the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is always the way of wisdom.

Proverbs describes what this life looks like. It lays out the life to which wisdom calls us, the life of a disciple of Jesus.

This series will be very practical. In this series, we will look at what it means to follow the way of wisdom in five areas: Friends, Family, Words, Work and Wealth.

Today we begin with the subject of friends.  This morning I want us to look at three things. First, how you can have good friends. Second, how you can be a true friend. And third, why you should seek the best friend.

How you can have good friends

• Seek friends intentionally

“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” (Proverbs 18:1)

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. That is, he is concerned about himself. And if you are only concerned about yourself, you break out against all sound judgment.

Why? Because you are made in the image of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God enjoys relationship within the tri-unity of His own nature, and you are made in His image.

Drew Hunter says, “To be made in God’s image… means that we… are wired for relationships.” He points out that the first human problem was not sin but solitude. At the end of each day, when God looked at what He had made, He said it was “good.” That was the divine verdict at the end of each of the days of creation. “And God saw that it was good.”

But when God created Adam, He said for the first time that something was ‘not good.’

“Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

So, “whoever isolates himself… breaks out against all sound judgment,” Friendship is a good gift from God. God did not intend you to live in isolation, so seek friends intentionally.

How do you do that? We do it by taking an active interest in the lives of others. There is a wonderful reference to Timothy in the New Testament. Paul says,

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” (Philippians 2:19-20)

Timothy is outstanding because of the genuine interest he has toward others. As the old proverbs says, “He who would have friends must show himself friendly.”

How many friends should you have?

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)

It is possible to have a wide circle of acquaintances, but no real friends. The higher your profile and the more fast-paced your life, the harder it is to make good, deep, and lasting friendships. You end up with many acquaintances but few real friends. You will find yourself being very lonely in a crowd.

The quality of your friends is more important than their quantity. Character among friends is more important than their number. So, focus on depth rather than breadth. The important question is not “how many friends do you have?”, but “how deep are these friendships?”

Perhaps the place where the word ‘friends’ is most commonly used these days is in connection with Facebook. How many friends do you have on Facebook? The average number is around 350. That is a lot of friends!

But, the important thing to remember here is that there are different levels of friendship. You see this in the life of our Lord Jesus. He ministers to the crowd. Then there is a group of 70 who are sent out (Luke 10:1). Then there are the twelve. Then there are the three; Peter, James and John who are closest to Jesus.

These are all like expanding circles around Jesus. Jesus gives the closest access to Peter, James and John. They are there when Jairus’ daughter is raised to life. They see the glory of Jesus at the transfiguration. They are invited to watch and pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Let me suggest to you that we need these different circles of relationship in your life. If you have 350 friends on Facebook, who are the seventy? Who are the twelve? Who are the two or three? It is possible to have many acquaintances but no real friends.

What does it look like to have an inner circle of friends? Our Lord tells us:

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)

Notice Jesus’ definition of friendship. His closest friends are the ones He opens Himself up to most fully. The reason they are friends is that Jesus has made known to them ‘all’ that He heard from the Father. Jesus opens Himself up to His closest friends.

There is an important principle here: Open your life most fully to the friends you can trust most deeply.

Christ opened Himself up to different people in different degrees. So, if you are following His example, you will be wise in opening your life to different people in different degrees. To the crowds, He spoke in parables. To Herod, He said nothing at all. To the disciples who were His friends, He made known all that He heard from His Father and for this reason, He calls them His friends.

So, open your life most fully to the friends you can trust most deeply.

• Choose your friends wisely

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)

The people with whom you are closest will have the greatest influence in your life. The character of the friends you choose will rub off on you. And the deeper a friendship becomes, the more like your friend you will be. Friendship can bring you great good or do you great harm depending on the friends you choose.

God says, “The companion of fools will suffer harm.” That’s the normal pattern that prevails in this world: “Bad company ruins good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33). And it would be naïve for you to think that this does not apply to you.

When you grasp the principle that the people to whom you give the deepest access in your life; those who have the greatest influence upon you, you will see that good friends can be a wonderful gift and blessing in your life. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise! So, get close to the kind of people you want to be like.

And on the other side, Proverbs exhorts us to exercise great restraint in getting to close to the kind of people you don’t want to be in your life. Proverbs says,

“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” (Proverbs 22:24-25)

Notice the reference here is to a man who is habitually angry. Don’t make him your friend. You may have to work with such a person but don’t give him deep access into your life or you will become angrier yourself.

Choose your friends wisely. Let friendship develop slowly. Good friendships are like fruit: They take time to grow and time to ripen. The true character of a person will become evident over time, and you will be able to discern if this is a friendship that should go deeper or not.

• Guard your friendships carefully

Remember that a friendship is a gift from God. A good friendship should be cherished and protected, because if you lose it, it is a great loss indeed. The book of Proverbs gives us wisdom in how to do this as well.

By being considerate:

“Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.” (Proverbs 25:17)

The easiest way to kill a good friendship is to become demanding. Be considerate of your friend’s time. Here is a person who becomes friends with his neighbour, but then he over-does it! He keeps coming around, and he stays too long. Eventually, the neighbour has had enough. He’s had his fill. You can imagine it. The bell goes in the neighbour’s house, and she says, ‘O not again! He is always showing up on the doorstep, and it is just too much!’

Here’s some good news though: You have no need to worry about wearing out your welcome with God. There will never be a time when you come to the Lord and He says, “I’ve had My fill of you.”

Charles Bridges says, “Blessed be God. There is no need for this caution and reserve on our approach to Him…Our earthly friend may be pressed too far. [Human] Kindness may be worn out by frequent use, but never can we come to our heavenly Father unseasonably [too often].”

God will always welcome you. “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away,” (John 6:37)

Be considerate not only of your friend’s time but also of his or her mood.

“Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.” (Proverbs 25:20)

Here we have a person who is insensitive to the feelings of others. Someone has a heavy heart, and her so called ‘friend’ breezes into her house on a mission to cheer her up. She bursts thought the door singing ‘Joy to the world’ at the top of her voice. That isn’t going to work so well!

Notice the effect: Singing songs to a heavy heart is like taking off a garment on a cold day. It will have a chilling effect on the friendship. The one who has the heavy heart will think, “You have no idea what I’m facing right now.” It will create a distance.

And more than that, it will produce an explosive reaction, like vinegar on soda. The point here is that the hearty songs actually aggravate the sorrow of the person with the heavy heart. It makes their sorrow worse.

Matthew Henry says, “We take a wrong course with them by being merry with them and endeavouring to make them merry; for it adds to their grief to see their friends so little concerned for them.” It aggravates them and “makes them harden themselves in sorrow against the assaults of mirth.”

If you want to keep your friends, learn to be sensitive to their feelings.

“Weep with those who weep; rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Rom 12:15)

How wonderful then that our Lord Jesus Christ knows us completely. He knows what it is to have a heavy heart. He was once in a garden when His heart was sorrowful to the point of death. He’s been there. He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” (Hebrews 4:15 KJV)

By being discreet:

“A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28)

“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9)

Proverbs identifies two things that separate close friends. A close friend is someone who trusts you enough to open his or her life up to you deeply. If you have been given that trust, you must honour it. Nothing kills a friendship more quickly than repeating to others what was trusted in private conversation to you.

How you can be a true friend

What are the qualities of a true friend? How can I be a better friend? We could also frame this as what to look for in a true friend. But what you want to receive from others you have to give yourself. So, we must ask, “How can I be a better friend to people?” Proverbs gives us a profile of a true friend.

• Your presence

“Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.” (Proverbs 27:10)

The contrast here is between a ‘neighbour’ (also translated friend) ‘who is near’ and ‘a brother who is far away.’ When the day of calamity comes, you can’t show up at your brother’s house if you only have a distant relationship with him.

Cultivate friends who are near. They are the ones you can go to in the day of trouble. They may be old friends (your father’s friends are those you have known since you were young) or they may be friends you have made in adult life. These are the people who are near and with whom you have walked alongside in life. These are the people who will be there for you when the day of trouble comes.

A true friend will be present in times of trouble. This reminds us of the wonderful statement about God Himself: “God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in time of trouble,” (Psalm 46:12).

• Your words

“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel” (Proverbs 27:9)

A true friend speaks into your life in a way that always does you good. The sweetness of a true friend comes from the way that his or her words build you up. You see this in the friendship of David and Jonathan where Jonathan “strengthened David’s hand in the Lord” (1 Samuel 23:16).

That’s what a true friend does. Because the true friend has deep access to your life, he or she is able to tell you things that others would not say:

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” (Proverbs 27:6)

When this friend speaks to you, even when they say something uncomfortable for you to hear, you know that they speak out of love and with your own interests in mind. Even when their words wound you, you know that it is always to heal.

We are living at a time when people are choosing to listen only to what they want to hear. We live in a world of ‘safe spaces’, and the reason is that the world has become so angry.

In such a world, it’s very easy for us to filter out from the Bible what we don’t want to hear. But then, all you are left with is an echo of your own voice. In doing that, you lose the friendship of Jesus. You lose the sweetness of one who loves you and can speak into your life in such a way that even when it hurts, you know that it will heal.

The Word of God is given so that we have all we need for life and godliness, including correction where we are wrong.

We began today with the principle of opening your life most fully to the friends you trust most deeply. Open your life to Jesus and to His truth even when it hurts, because when His word hurts, it also heals.

• Your love

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)

So here we have a brother who is not far away. This brother is a true friend. He loves at all times. He was born for adversity.

When Jesus came to the time of His adversity in the Garden of Gethsemane, the friends who loved Him all forsook Him and fled. When Paul first stood trial, no one stood with him. But he says, may it not be charged against them,

“At my first defense no one stood with me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, …” (2 Timothy 4:16-17)

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

How can you be a true friend? By your presence, your words and your love. If you are to become that kind of friend to others, you need to walk with someone who can be that kind of friend to you.

Why you should seek the best friend

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24)

The Lord Jesus Christ is the best friend you can ever have. A true friend is present, and Jesus will always be with you. Christ is the only one who can say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5).

Jesus says, “I am with you always. No one else can say that to you. In every adversity, in life and in death, I am the friend who will always be with you”.

Your best friend in this world may say, “I will love you till death parts us.” And your wife, your husband should be your best friend and companion. But Jesus says to you, “I will love you, and death will never part us.”

A true friend brings sweet counsel and the words of Jesus are sweet. When others were abandoning Jesus, He asked His disciples,

“After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66-69)

“The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:9-10)

A true friend brings sweet counsel. The words of Jesus are like oil and perfume that make the heart glad. They are sweeter than honey from the honeycomb!

A true friend loves at all times, and the love of Jesus will never let you go. He loved you before the world began, and He will love you forever. He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” (Jeremiah 31:3). His love is everlasting: it had no beginning and it will have no end! It is eternal.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every; morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Consider what a friend Jesus can be to you! It was love for you that caused Him to come into the world. He was born to stand with us in our adversity. He came from far to bring us near to make us His friends.

It was love that led Him to take our flesh, to experience the heavy heart for Himself, and in the end even to lay down His life.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13)

Now, He is in heaven where in love He intercedes for you. In Christ you have unrestricted access to the Father. His love will cover the multitude of your sins. And you will never wear out your welcome with God!

So, open your life most fully to the Friend you can trust most deeply. And here is the thing: The deeper your friendship with Jesus becomes, the more like Jesus you will be.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. Whoever walks with Jesus becomes like Jesus.

There is a friend who always loves at all times, a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and His name is Jesus!

Let us pray:

Father, we are in awe of such a Friend and that He should be Your Son, causes us to bow with worship and love and gratitude and praise. Help us by Your Spirit to open our lives most fully to the Friend who loves us most deeply, our Lord Jesus Christ in whose Name we also pray, Amen.

Wednesday 22 July 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

On Sunday we looked in the book of Proverbs at what wisdom is and where wisdom begins, and tonight we are looking at what this fear is and its application in our lives.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom …” (Proverbs 9:10)

The Bible speaks about two different kinds of fear. There is a fear that God commands and a fear that God forbids, a fear that builds you up and a fear that tears you down, a fear to gain and a fear to lose. There is a fear that Christ brings and a fear that Christ relieves.

The fear that you want to gain is what the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.” The fear that you want to lose is the fear of anything and anyone else. I wonder what kind of fear you would want to lose? Fear of failure? Fear of other people? Fear of loss? Fear of pain? Grow in the fear of God, and you will find strength to face all your other fears.

Let’s begin with the Scriptures that tell us about the fear that Christ brings: “the fear of the Lord.”

The Fear of the Lord is a blessing to be sought

•        It is the beginning of wisdom

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, …” (Proverbs 9:10)

This is the first building block for putting your life together. That’s where wisdom begins: in the fear of the Lord. You don’t want to get to the end of your life and feel like a fool. Wisdom begins when God carries more weight in your life than anything or anyone else.

•        It is a fountain of life

“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, …” (Proverbs 14:27)

Life wells up in those who live in the fear of the Lord! This is a beautiful picture—”a fountain of life”. Who would not want this?

•        It keeps us from evil

“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.” (Psalm 36:1)

In the Bible, the distinguishing mark of “the wicked… [is that] there is no fear of God before his eyes”. That’s why they do wicked things. They don’t think there are any consequences. God carries no weight with them.

The apostle Paul quotes from this Psalm as the bottom line in his analysis of evil in Romans: There is no one righteous. No one seeks God…Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness…The way of peace they do not know…There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:14, 17, 18)

When Jesus was on the cross, one of the criminals beside Him was cursing and swearing and hurling insults at Him. The other one said to him, “Don’t you fear God?” He is asking: Don’t you have any sense of what it would be like to go out into eternity?

The opposite is also true: “Through the fear of the Lord, a man avoids evil” (Proverbs 16:6). That’s why you want this fear. It’s going to be a restraint, a defence, a protection for you.

The fear of God is a friend

We also need to understand that the fear of God is a friend. For many people, the fear of God sounds more like an enemy than a friend,

“Fearing God? Surely this is something that we are trying to get away from, something we are trying to get rid of!” It sounds more like a dysfunction than a sign of spiritual health.

“I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, that they may not turn from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:39)

The Bible presents the fear of God as a friend; a friend who will do us a great deal of good: “I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them”.

God is speaking to His own people, a people who are in a covenant relationship with Him. He is also speaking to us as His new covenant people. Look at what He says: “My people will fear Me. If they don’t fear Me, it will mean trouble for the next generation.”

Then God says, “This will be for their own good and for the good of their children, and this will be forever.” That means there will never be a time on earth or in heaven when God’s people will not fear Him in holy wonder and reverence and awe.

I want to do what I can to dispel the idea that there is a God to be feared in the Old Testament and a God to be loved in the New Testament, and that the fear of God is therefore not for us.

The evolutionary view of the Bible lies at the heart of this view of the Bible, that in ancient times people had a primitive view of a God to be feared, but that in more enlightened times people have come to a mature view of a God to be loved. That is a complete misunderstanding of what the Bible is and what the Bible says.

So too the distorted doctrines of the dispensationalists, as if God had two plans and two doctrines, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. The Bereans, the mid-Acts, and some other dispensationalists reckon that the Old Testament is not for us and that we are not in a covenant with God. I will teach on this aspect in time to come.

God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We are to fear Him as we love Him, and we are to love Him as we fear Him. The Old Testament is full of the love of God. Read the book of Deuteronomy or the book of Hosea.

The New Testament speaks often of the fear of God. Hear what Jesus said about His and now our Father in heaven, what He said to His disciples, then to us, His disciples now:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat. 10:28)

 In the New Testament we read that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! And these words were written to Christian believers!

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31)

Fearing God was a mark of the early church at its best: And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied the church.

“So the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31).

Notice how the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit are joined together. So clearly, we need to understand this fear of the Lord that brings good to the life of a Christian believer.

The fear of God is a cord of three strands: The splendour of the God’s glory, the reality of God’s judgment, and the wonder of God’s love. When a person grasps the splendour, the reality, and the wonder, he or she will be brought into the good that the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.”

The fear of God: A cord of three strands

• The splendour of God’s glory

Think about who God is… the God who creates the moons and the stars. He speaks and worlds come into being. Not only does He create, but He upholds the universe by his own power.

Jeremiah 32 gives us glimpses of the glory of God. The heading at the beginning of the chapter in the English standard version (ESV) says, “Jeremiah buys a field during the siege.” Jerusalem was a city under siege (32:2). The Babylonian army had circled the city. They were piling up earth building mounds so that they could launch an assault on the city (32:24).

Jeremiah had already prophesied that the city would fall, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am giving the city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it’” (32:3).

That was what eventually happened. But King Zedekiah, in Jerusalem, didn’t want to hear it, so Jeremiah was placed under house arrest in the palace: He was shut up “in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the King of Judah” (32:2).

Think about it: What happens to the economy of a country when an army is laying siege to its capital city? The economy goes into melt down. Who wants to buy land in a place that is about to be taken over by enemies? Values collapse. Trading stops. All commerce grinds to a halt.

Jeremiah did an extraordinary and very public thing: He bought a field: “Hanamel my cousin came to me in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin’” (32:8).

Jeremiah signs the deed. Then he says to his colleague, Baruch, “Take these deeds… and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time: For thus says the Lord, ‘Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land’” (32:14-15)

Buying the field was an action full of hope, like buying stock when the market has crashed, or starting a business in the middle of a pandemic. Jeremiah did this because God had said, “Houses and fields shall again be bought in this land” (32:15).

Roll the story forward and that is exactly what happened. Who could have guessed, while the siege was going on, that God would bring the might of Babylon, that dominated the world at that time, to nothing?

Who could have guessed that God would put it into the heart of a pagan king called Cyrus to release God’s people and support the rebuilding of Jerusalem? Who could have guessed that God would give His people a thriving economy and that a whole new community would be built?

So, God is sovereign over the economies of nations, “Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed… ‘I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord” (32:44).

Take this to heart today as we all are in the middle of a crisis: God is sovereign, not only over the creation of the world, and the sustaining of the world, but also over the history of the world.

So, God is sovereign over disasters that come to nations and sovereign over blessing that comes to nations, “Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all that good that I promised them” (32:42).

God is sovereign over cities and nations. He is sovereign over the gathering and the dispersing of people. He rules over the growth and decline of economies, and He is sovereign over the growth and decline of churches too, “The seven stars that you saw in my right hand… are the angels of the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20)

What else is that but Jesus’ sovereignty over the growth and decline of the church?

“‘Do you not fear me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do you not tremble before me?’…” (Jeremiah 5:22). People who don’t fear the Lord, have not seen the splendour of His glory.

• The reality of God’s judgment

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)

The world doesn’t know anything at all of the judgment of God. Paul was a Christian believer, and God moved him to write Romans 8: “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Paul knew that there was no condemnation for him. But he also knew that he would stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and as a Christian believer, he spoke of “knowing the fear of the Lord.”

Believers have a profound awareness that we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This Christ knows everything about us. He knows the things that are hidden from others. Think about this, you and I are going to stand before the judgment seat of Almighty God, before whom all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from whom no secrets are hidden! You don’t even know the full extent of your heart, but it is all known to Him.

Now what about grace? Thomas Manton deals with this question and he gives three answers: The judgment of God was once our due: Grace is not a right. What I deserve, as a matter of justice, is an eternity under the judgment of God.

We still deserve it, even after grace has made a change in our condition: The reason that there is no condemnation for believers is not that we have become so pure and holy that there is nothing in us that could be condemned; it is that God in His mercy chooses not to press charges against us. He forgives us, for the sake of Christ.

There is enough sin in the life of every Christian this past week to condemn us to hell. If God were to judge any of our lives now, apart from Jesus Christ, we would be lost forever.

We are still in the process of being saved from ourselves. I know I shall be saved, but it is a difficult thing to save me: A Christian is a person who knows something not only of his or her past sins that are forgiven, but of the sins that remain, from which he or she is in daily need of being set free from.

There is nothing self-righteous about a true Christian. At our best, we hang on the mercy of God that is ours in Jesus Christ. Apart from that we would be gone forever.

• The Wonder of God’s Love

“But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” (Psalm 130:4)

The fear of God that does us so much good arises out of our knowledge of the grace, mercy, love, forgiveness that leads the person who receives it to fear the Lord. “Forgiveness… that You may be feared!”

You see the love of God and how much it cost on the cross and you say, “How could I sin against love like this?”

Andrew Bonar writes, “It has been much impressed upon me that, if convinced of sin at all, I must be so by the view of it in Christ’s love.”

To fear God is to love Him so that His frown would be your greatest dread and His smile would be your greatest delight.

A person who fears God is one who has seen something of His glory, His judgment and His love. Can you see now why Jeremiah speaks of the fear of God as something that lasts forever? Because even in heaven God’s people will fear Him as we love Him and love Him as we fear Him.

Glory: Heaven will be filled with the splendour of His glory. The pure in heart will see God, and when we do, we will fall on our faces casting any crowns before Him in awe and in worship.

Judgment: Heaven will remain a happy and holy place forever because of God’s judgment on unrepentant sinners that goes on forever in hell.

Love: Heaven will be full of the knowledge of his love.

Glory, judgment, and love – forever we will fear Him; forever we will love Him.

“I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever” (Jer. 32:39)

If you are a Christian I challenge you to make this resolve: That if you are a Christian, you demonstrate that you know something of the glory, the judgment, and the love of God, so that whenever you speak the name of God, or Jesus, or Christ, you speak His name in a way that shows that you know Him, you fear Him, and you love Him. Will you make that resolve as part of your Christian testimony?

The blessing – Three applications

“Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity” (Proverbs 28:14)

• Fearing the Lord will give you wisdom:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever” (Psa. 111:10)

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10)

• Fearing the Lord will keep you from sin:

The fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning (Ex. 20:20).

• Fearing the Lord will motivate you in evangelism:

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men (2 Cor. 5:11).

All kinds of good will flow into the life of the person who fears the Lord.

The promise

“I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, that they may not turn from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:40)

Notice what the Lord says here to His people: He will put this godly fear in their hearts. Why? That they may not turn against Him.

The clear implication is that without the fear of the Lord, believing people might easily turn against the Lord. This is part of the promise of the new heart. God is able to give this to you.

God says, “I will put the fear of Me in their hearts.” This is a wonderful promise! If we feared God more, we’d sin less. If we had a greater sense of the reality of His judgment, we would do more to advance the gospel. If God carried more weight in our lives, we’d make wiser decisions.

Remember as we looked at it on Sunday where wisdom begins and what it brings:

Long life: Wisdom will show you how to live a healthy life. Study the book of Proverbs. You will gain wisdom from the Word as you walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Riches and honour: Those that honour God first, God often trust them with more. Would you like God to trust you with more? Study the book of Proverbs. You will gain wisdom from the Word of God as you walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joy and peace: if you seek and pursue wisdom, you will have greater joy and greater peace. Are you looking for greater joy and peace in your life? Study the book of Proverbs. You will gain wisdom from the Word of God as you walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray:

Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your Name. Lord, my heart is pulled in all kinds of directions. Unite my heart to fear Your name! Put more of this fear of You that arises from the splendor of Your glory, the reality of Your judgment, and the wonder of Your love in my heart! Amen.

https://youtu.be/BXUc3lQWiko

Sunday 19 July 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

Please put a marker in your Bible at Proverbs chapter 3, 8 and 9, as we in a new series called, ‘Wisdom’, wisdom in doing life here and now. We’re going to look together at what the Bible has to say on practical issues like friends, family, words, work and wealth. But all things always has a beginning. What is the beginning of wisdom and what is this wisdom?

Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-11, 9:10-12

The book of Proverbs is concerned with wisdom: wisdom for life. So, let us begin with a simple definition of wisdom. Wisdom is the skill you need for putting together a successful life. It is not simple knowledge. It is possible to have great knowledge and not to be wise. Sometimes we call it life skills.

We are talking here about the skills of building friendships, raising children and managing money. We are talking about the ability to speak in a way that builds others up, and about what it takes to be effective in your work. So, this series will be very practical.

The Bible is full of wisdom for life. It shows up all over the Bible. Jesus spoke about a wise and foolish builder.

“And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who build his house on the sand” (Matthew 7:24-27)

He spoke about a rich man who God said was a fool:

“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

But in the Old Testament, there is a series of books that are called the wisdom books of the Bible. They are the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are referred to as wisdom books, because they focus on the skills you need to put your life together.

Introduction

Since the book of Proverbs may be new to some of you, I want to begin today by making three observations about the book of Proverbs: Proverbs are proverbs, Proverbs assume a relationship, and Proverbs point to Jesus.

• The Proverbs are proverbs

The book of Proverbs gets its name from the fact that it is a collection of wise sayings or proverbs. These proverbs describe the normal pattern that prevails in this world.

The proverbs are not promises and this is a very important distinction to make. So, for example, when Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it,” that does not mean that good parenting guarantees godly children.

The proverb describes a normal pattern. It does not promise a particular outcome. Or to take another example, the book of Proverbs says, “A gracious woman gets honour, and violent men get riches” (Proverbs 11:16). Now clearly, this is not telling us to go and pursue violence in order to get money. Proverbs is describing the normal pattern of life, and the sad reality is that, in this fallen world, large amounts of money are amassed be men of violence.

The point of the proverb is to tells us that, even in this fallen world, one gracious woman (singular), who clearly cannot match the strength of violent men (plural) gains something more valuable than money. She “gets honour.” So, grace that looks so weak in this world, gets more than violence that looks so strong.

So, remember that the Proverbs are proverbs! They describe the normal pattern that prevails in this world. That’s foundational for understanding this book.

• The Proverbs assume a Relationship

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom, and inclining your heart to understanding.” (Proverbs 2:1-2)

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.” (Proverbs 3:1-2)

The words ‘my son” occur 23 times in the book of Proverbs. Many of these proverbs would have been spoken first by Solomon to his son Rehoboam (Proverbs 1:1).

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.” (Proverbs 1:8)

But this book is more than the wisdom of Solomon. Proverbs is in Holy Scripture because it is the Word of God. God breathed out these proverbs through Solomon, just as He breathed out the Psalms through David, or the book of Romans through the apostle Paul.

So, what we have here is God speaking to His own children; a relationship is assumed. Our loving Father is calling His children in Jesus Christ to walk in the paths of wisdom.

• The Proverbs point to Jesus

“Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?” (Proverbs 8:1)

In the verses that were read from Proverbs 8, wisdom speaks as a person. But whose voice is this? In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ is described as the wisdom of God:

“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

“…Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3)

“We preach Christ crucified, [and] to those who are called, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24)

So, when we read in Proverbs that wisdom calls, we are to understand that the voice of the Son of God is calling out to us. He is calling out to us to follow wisdom which means to follow Jesus Himself.

Notice where wisdom takes her stand. She stands “at the crossroads” and beside the gates in front of the town:

“On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the end of the portals she cries aloud” (Proverbs 8:2-3)

In our modern terms, wisdom calls out at the shopping mall and the workplace. You arrive at the shopping mall, and you hear a voice calling out to you. “Before you go in there, come over here, I have something that you will need.” You get on the train or taxi to head into work, and a voice calls out to you, “Before you get into all that you have to do. I have something you will need at work today.”

Wisdom is presented as a person who calls out to us. And this person is offering something of great value. What she offers is more precious than gold or silver:

“Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire, cannot compare with her.” (Proverbs 8:10-11)

God has given us more than wisdom in a book. He has given us His Son, who is wisdom in the flesh. And to all who are in Christ, God gives the Spirit of wisdom, the Holy Spirit, so that through the Spirit of wisdom, we may come to know the Lord better.

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” (Ephesians 1:17)

If we put these things together, we see this: We gain wisdom through the Word as we walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you see that wisdom, as the Bible describes it, is for disciples only? In fact, walking the way of wisdom is another way of describing what the New Testament calls a life of discipleship. It’s following Jesus Christ who is wisdom in the flesh.

To follow Jesus is to pursue wisdom. To pursue wisdom is to follow Jesus. Proverbs describes what this looks like. It lays out the life to which wisdom calls us: The life of a disciple of Jesus.

So, in this series we are going to look at what it means to follow Jesus. What it means to follow the way of wisdom in regard to your friendships, family, words, work, and wealth.

Now we want you to be motivated for this journey. Some of you may be asking, ‘What’s in this for me? Why should I be interested in this?’ That’s a good question.

The Bible makes it clear that the path of following Jesus (i.e. the path of pursuing wisdom) is often costly. It tells us that the gate is narrow, and the way is hard, and that those who find it are few,

“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it is few” (Matthew 7:14)

But then, it gives us the incentive that this way does lead to life. We often understand these words to mean that living a godly life in this world is hard, but the payoff is that there will be great reward in heaven. And of course, that is wonderfully true.

But, the book of Proverbs draws out another truth that we need to grasp: Those who walk the path of godly wisdom will be blessed in this life, as well as in the life to come. We see this again and again in the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says to his disciples that some of them have left homes and family and field to follow Him. But He says that no one who has done that will fail to receive a hundred-fold now, and in the age to come eternal life.

“Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, ….and in time to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29-30)

Let us go back to Proverbs 3: Now remember that these are proverbs, not promises. Look at the normal pattern that prevails in this world.

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” (Proverbs 3:13-15)

That is quite a statement. And we might righty ask, “Why is wisdom of such value?” And the answer is given to us in the following verses.

What Wisdom brings

• Long Life

“Long life is in her right hand …” (Proverbs 3:16)

Everyone understands that if you eat a proper diet your will enjoy better health than if you live on junk food. That doesn’t mean that if you eat vegetables and tomatoes, you will never have cancer. But the general principle that a good diet and proper exercise will bring better health is beyond dispute.

The same principle that applies to your body also applies to your soul. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to live in regard to the soul. It makes a difference, especially over time. Peter says:

“For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Peter 3:10-11)

The principle is very simple: there is a healthy way to live and there is an unhealthy way to live. Wisdom will show you how to live a healthy life. If you want to be healthier, study the book of Proverbs. You will gain wisdom from the Word as you walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some of us could be living in a way that is much healthier because there are patterns of conflict that have robbed us of peace. Christ Himself is calling us on to the way of wisdom.

• Riches and Honor

“Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.” (Proverbs 3:16)

Again, remember that this is a proverb not a promise. We are talking here about the normal pattern that prevails in this world. Settle that description in your mind.

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce;” (Proverbs 3:9)

This is not saying, ‘give money to God, and he will make you rich.’ But would it surprise you that when a person honours God with their money, God often trusts them with more. Why would He trust you with more if you kept what He gave you already for yourself?

Matthew Henry says, “Those that do good with what they have shall have more to do more good with.”

Would you like God to trust you with more? Study the book of Proverbs. You will gain wisdom from the Word as you walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said;

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

• Joy and Peace

“Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” (Proverbs 3:17)

If you seek wisdom and pursue her, you will have greater joy and greater peace. Are you looking for greater joy and peace in your life? Study the book of Proverbs. You will gain wisdom from the Word as you walk with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Long life; Riches and honour; Joy and peace. No wonder Proverbs says ‘get wisdom’!

“She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” (Proverbs 3:18)

When you read that word we immediately think of when we looked at the Beatitudes. Jesus opened His ministry in exactly this way;

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:3)

Then He spoke the words that we refer to as the Beatitudes. There we have ten verses. Here we have thirty-one chapters on what a blessed life looks like, and how we can pursue it. Each week in this series we will see how the blessing of God comes to those who walk in the way of wisdom, or to put it another way, to those who follow hard after Jesus Christ.

We are going to look at how the blessing of God may be increased in our lives and how we may enter in the wisdom of God in regard to the most practical areas of our lives. But in the time that remains this morning, we will look at where wisdom begins. So please turn back to Proverbs 9.

The beginning of Wisdom

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10)

What is your first reaction to ‘the fear of the Lord?’ Maybe you will say, “I don’t want anything to do with fear. Doesn’t the Bible say that fear has to do with punishment and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18)? I want to hear about love, I don’t have to hear anything about fear.”

If you have endured a religion or upbringing based on fear and you may say, ‘I had enough of that when I was young, I don’t want anything to do with it now.’

If that is what you feel, I am asking you to suspend your judgment for a moment to look at the good that is promised here and see if you may discover something wonderfully new.

• Where Wisdom begins

Here we are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is the beginning of following Christ. It is the beginning of discipleship. All the blessings of wisdom, that is life, health, trust and peace, have their beginning in the fear of the Lord.

But before we look at what the fear of the Lord means, I want us to see the good that it brings into our lives.

• Where strength begins

“By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil” (Proverbs 16:6)

It is through God’s love and His faithfulness in the sending of His Son that our iniquity is atoned for. But look at the second part of that verse. Remember that in Proverbs, God is speaking to His own children.

If you are a child of God, you will have a desire in your heart to turn away from evil. When you see a sin in your life, you say ‘How can I get rid of this?’ You know that time won’t do it. Your experience tells you that your own effort won’t do it. And fear won’t do it either: Fear can restrain sin, but it cannot overcome the pull of sin in your heart.

But here we are being told that the fear of the Lord will make it possible for you to overcome the power of particular sins and temptations in your life. By the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.

Moses said to the people, “The fear of the Lord will be with you to keep you from sinning,” (Ex 20:20 NIV). There’s a great verse for us right here and now! The fear of the Lord will keep you from sinning (see also Jeremiah 32:39, 40).

• Where life begins

“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death” (Proverbs14:27)

Whatever this ‘fear of the Lord’ is, it is something that you want more of in your life. It is the beginning of wisdom. It will give you strength in your struggle to overcome sin. And it is a fountain of life!

So, what is this ‘fear of the Lord?’ Let me give you this definition: To fear the Lord means, so to love Him that his frown would be your greatest dread and His smile would be your greatest delight.

That’s what the fear of the Lord is. It’s what captivates the heart of someone who has really come to love the Lord. It’s when you come to place with God that we often have in human relationships; when you tremble to hurt someone you love more than you can even put into words.

There is a fear that love removes, and there is a fear that love brings. The fear that love removes is the fear of punishment. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The fear that love brings is fear of wounding the one we love so much. “The child of God has only one dread – to offend His Father; Only one desire – to please and delight in Him.”

Where do you get this fear of the Lord? How do I come to the place where I so fear the Lord that His frown in my greatest dread and His smile is my greatest delight? In one of the Psalms David says to God:

 “But with you there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” (Psalms 130:4)

You might expect David to say, ‘With you there is forgiveness and that takes fear away.’ But that is not what he says. With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared! ‘Lord, your forgiveness came at such a cost that I would tremble to sin against this kind of love.

The fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom is birthed at the cross when, as a forgiven sinner who knows the grace and mercy that are yours in Christ, you say, ‘how could I ever resist a love like this?’

In the coming weeks we will discover what wisdom for life looks like in relation to friends, family, words, work and wealth. We will come to the book of Proverbs knowing that Christ is our wisdom; that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him.

Jesus Christ is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. Therefore, He will give you the wisdom you need to be a good friend to others.

Jesus Christ is bringing many sons to glory. Therefore, He will give you the wisdom you need for raising your children.

Jesus Christ speaks words of life. Therefore, He will give you the wisdom you need to speak words that will be life giving to others.

Jesus Christ fulfilled all the work that the Father gave Him to do. Therefore, He will give you the wisdom you need to fulfil all the work God has given you to do.

Jesus Christ gave Himself freely for us. Therefore, He will lead you in the wisdom you need to decide what you should give.

I want to challenge you today to begin this day by crowning Jesus Christ as the Lord of the whole of your life. Be done with giving Christ a slice of the pie of your life. As the best-known verse in Proverbs puts it,

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths,” (Proverbs 3:6)

Make a fresh commitment. To walk in the way of wisdom, to follow hard after our Lord Jesus Christ. So, to love Him that His frown will be your greatest dread, and His smile your greatest delight.

Begin at the cross: Take in afresh that the Son of God loves you and gave Himself for you; that with Him there is forgiveness. And let His mercy birth in you the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom; the beginning of discipleship; the beginning of life.

Let us pray:

Father God you are wisdom and all wisdom is in You. Does not wisdom call, does not understanding raise her voice? It is the voice of the Son of God! Thank you for the Spirit of wisdom, the Holy Spirit and through the Spirit we know you better. Let us be Your wisdom in flesh as we do life in You here and now on earth. All in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

Wednesday 15 July 2020

Ps Ben Hooman

We are in the “Wisdom Series” and we continue where we ended Sunday with the prayer of Solomon’s father, David. We did look at the condition of the heart towards the middle of last year, but we are revisiting it because of the importance to the heart as from it spring wisdom that guides the direction of your life. We saw that David asks from the Lord:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

The word ‘create’ means to bring into existence something that was not previously there. There’s more here than David asking to be forgiven. He already asked that of God:

“Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7)

David had already asked for forgiveness and he had received it. But now his prayer moves on. “Lord, thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for cleansing. But now I need to ask you for something else. I did what I did because my sinful heart wanted to do it. And if you simply forgive my sin, but leave my heart in the same condition as it was before, it won’t be long before I go and do the same thing all over again.”

“So, Lord, I need more than forgiveness. Create in me a clean heart, O God! Bring into existence what I do not have – a clean heart, a heart that loves you more than the sin you have just freely forgiven.” That is where we ended on Sunday.

And tonight, we ask the question: Where do you go from here? Here you are a forgiven sinner. Here you are a true believer, and you have been given a new heart and you love the Lord. What does the path of wisdom look like for you going forward?

The message last week was primarily to those who are tempted to give up the faith they once professed. That, as we saw, is what Rehoboam did. But it also speaks to all of us who would say, “I have Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour of my life. I love Him. I trust Him. My hope is in Him.

But where do I go from here?” I want us to focus tonight on the six words of verse 26, “My son, give me your heart,” or as we could equally say, “My daughter, give me your heart.”

Last time, we heard these words primarily as the words of a father to a son. Today, I want us to hear these are the words of God to us, His own children: “My son, My daughter, give Me your heart!”

Four Observations

• An Established Relationship

“My son, give Me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26)

The one who gives his or her heart to the Lord is not a stranger, not an enemy, and not a slave. The one who gives his or her heart to the Lord is described here as a son. This goes to the heart of the dynamics of the Christian faith. The giving of your heart comes out of the knowledge of an established relationship.

The point here is not: If you give God your heart, you will become His child. The point is: If you are God’s child, you will give Him your heart. “My son, give Me your heart.”

Our Lord told a story about a prodigal son who wasted his life in wild and reckless living, but then came to his senses and returned. Before he got home, he had already decided what he would say:

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” (Luke 15:18-19)

When the son got back, he only made it half way through what he intended to say, “Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son…” But the father breaks in before he can get to the part about being a servant:

“And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:23-24)

The father says: You are my son! But there was another son, and he was the opposite of reckless. He was hardworking, dutiful, and reliable. Every day he went out into the field and worked for his father. And when his “no good brother” was received with a lavish welcome, he was not happy. To him it seemed unfair and he says to the father:

“But he answered his father, ‘Look these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.” And the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:29,31)

Here is a son who thinks of himself as only a servant, only as someone who does work. If you only think of yourself as God’s servant, as only someone who works for God, you will feel that he owes you for what you have done and you will not give him your heart. If you only think of yourself as God’s servant, you will find yourself asking: Am I getting what I deserve?

But you are more than a servant. Paul says:

“But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:4-7)

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba Father!” The Spirit Himself bear witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:14-17)

It’s the knowledge of the relationship that leads to the giving of the heart.

You can now say: “Father God I wonder how I managed to exist without the knowledge of Your parenthood, and Your loving care. But now I am Your child, I am adopted in Your family. And I will never be alone, because Father God You are here with and in me.”

“My son, give me your heart.” When you know that you are a dearly loved child of God in Jesus Christ, that is what you will do. You will give your heart to the Father who loves you.

• An Essential Priority

“My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26)

Your heart, as a Christian, is like a walled city with enemies on the outside. There are all the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil that come from outside. These are like enemies outside the walled city, and you need to guard your heart against them. Keep the gates closed to anyone or anything that would lead you on a destructive path.

But when you have done all that, there is another side to the problem. Your heart has enemies on the outside and traitors on the inside! Because you live in the flesh, something within you is drawn to sin. So, you need to guard against the traitors in your own heart!

How do you do that? Notice, these verses identify temptations that are all around us. Proverbs 23:27 speaks about the lure of sexual temptation. Verses 20 and 21 speaks about drinking, gluttony, and laziness. How, as a Christian believer, are you to guard your heart against temptations like these?

The Bible tells us the story of Joseph, a young man who had been badly treated, and was now living in another country, far from his family and from everyone who knew him. He was anonymous. He worked for a man named Potiphar, and Potiphar’s wife tempted him.

When this happened, Joseph said, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God” (Gen. 39:9). “I couldn’t do that to God!” None of Joseph’s brothers would have said that. They had been brought up in the same home. They had been taught the same faith, but their hearts were not given to the Lord.

Joseph lived in what the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.” It’s a theme that is repeated often in Proverbs:

“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day” (Prov. 23:17)

“The fear of the Lord” means to so love God that His frown would be your greatest dread and His smile would be your greatest delight.

Joseph knew that God is great in His power and great in His love. His heart was given to the Lord, so he says, “How could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Giving your heart to the Lord is your best defence against sin.

Christian young person, what do you think will keep you from the lure of drink and drugs and sexual temptation, when these things tug at your heart? What will be stronger than the peer pressure around you when you are living on a college campus and others are giving themselves to these things? Your best defence against sin is to give your heart to the Lord.

Christian business person, what will keep you faithful, as you move from city to city, from hotel to hotel, anonymous and often lonely? Common sense? Will power? Enlightened self-interest? Your best defence against sin is to give your heart to the Lord.

Wounded Christian, what will keep you from sliding into bitterness, self-pity, and ultimately hardness of heart? What will keep you from that? Self-discipline? A sense of duty? Your best defence against these horrible, ugly sins is to give your heart to the Lord.

“My daughter, My son, give Me your heart!” God is calling us to do something today that is going to make a difference to the trajectory of our lives this week. Giving your heart to the Lord is ultimately the only way to guard you from the reckless life that breaks the boundaries and leaves you with the miserable fruits of impurity and indulgence.

Giving your heart to the Lord is ultimately the only way to guard you from a shrivelled life that lives within the boundaries, but leaves you miserable, because you only stayed there out of fear and caution. “My son, give Me your heart!”

Where would your sinful heart lead you this week if you did not place it in the hands of Jesus Christ this day? The only safe place for your heart is in the hands of the Saviour. “My Son, My daughter, give Me your heart.”

• An Intentional Response

“My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26)

We saw last time that your heart is the command and control centre of your life. The inclination of the heart sets the trajectory of the life. So, where your heart is today tells you where you will be tomorrow.

Someone once summed up where our culture goes with this particular truth. He said on one occasion, “The heart wants what it wants.” In other words, “The heart controls the life and there is nothing you can do about it.”

But I want you to notice, against that cultural background, God says to His children, “Give me your heart.” Then He says: “Direct your heart in the way” (Luke 23:19). As a child of God, you have a responsibility for your own heart. Direct your heart in the way. Give Me your heart.

The world says, “The heart controls the life and there is nothing you can do about it. You just have to go with the flow.” But God says, “The heart controls the life, so give it to Me!” If you are a child of God, you have the ability to do this. And if you are truly a child of God, this is what you will do.

As you give your heart to God, what is He going to do with it? He will fill it. He will fill it with peace, and He will fill it with joy, and He will fill it with love!

 “Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-2,5)

But most of all, God will fill us with Himself. Paul prays that God may strengthen you with power, through His Spirit, in your inner being, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” and “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:16, 19).

Give your heart to God and He will fill it! At this point someone may say, “My heart is already given. I have given my heart to my wife, my husband or my children.” If you are going to love another person really well and do it over the long-term, your own heart needs to be filled. So, who will fill it? You may say, “The person I love is going to fill it.”

But here is where that leaves you: “I will love you as long as you are loving me. But if you are no longer able to fill me, I may not be able to fill you.” There is no stability and nothing that will last very long on that basis. It’s the fastest route to the end of a marriage.

The best way you can love others is to give your heart to the Lord and He will fill it. When the Lord fills your heart with His love, His peace, and His joy, you will have something to give to others, even if you are receiving very little in return.

Maybe some of you are thinking today, I don’t know if I have the capacity to love others. I don’t know if I can do it. The more you give your heart to Jesus Christ, the better you will be able to love others.

• A Glorious Invitation

“My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26)

Think about who is saying this. It is the King of kings and it is your loving Father in Jesus Christ. Your heart will be given somewhere. If you do not give your heart to God, you will give it to something or to someone else.

The question for every one of us is: Who will receive the gift of your heart? Where will you lavish your affection? You might give your heart to your work, to your family, or to yourself. You might give your heart to some cause. Whatever you give heart to, it will have a growing importance in your life.

Every heart is given to something or someone. People who don’t give their hearts somewhere else often turn in on themselves and sometimes end up giving their hearts to despair, “I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labours under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:20). Here is a sad person, a discouraged person. He is looking at his life’s work and he doesn’t like what he sees.

Don’t give your heart to despair. Give your heart to Jesus! The Lord says to you tonight, “Give Me your heart.” So, what would compel you to give your discouraged, tired, drained heart fully and freely to the Lord Jesus Christ right now?

Remember who it is that says, “Give me your heart”? This is the call of a wise and loving Father: “My son, give Me your heart.” Knowing the love of the one who calls you will lead you to give your heart fully and freely to Jesus Christ. If you carry a lurking suspicion in your heart that God has it in for you, you will hold back from giving Him your heart, because you will be afraid of what He might do with it.

You think to yourself: God is just. And justice means that God must punish sin. And we know that even at our Christian best, we are sinners. If you think like that, even a little bit, you will feel that safety for you lies in keeping at a distance from God.

But here’s why you can feel completely safe in giving your heart to God: God has already dealt with all your sin at the cross. Justice has already been satisfied, in Jesus Christ, so that God is free to pour out and lavish His love on you for all eternity. And He says to you, “Here is what I want you to do today, My son, My daughter, give Me your heart!”

That is the beginning of all wisdom!

Let us pray:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above. Fill it with the fountain of thy love and help us to pursue a life that pleases Thee. Amen

https://youtu.be/yB7VVnvQjI8

Sunday 12 July 2020

Ps Ben Hooman  

We spent a great amount of time on the Beatitudes where the Lord teaches us on how a true Christian look. We saw that there is order and progress on this path of growth in Christ.

But life here and now also requires from us Godly wisdom in doing life. It is from the heart that life flows and therefore the condition of the heart will have a direct impact on how you do life in wisdom.

“My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” (Proverbs 23:26)

Reflecting on these words and the verses that come before, we find them so rich that we will stay in it for two weeks. Today we will be looking at wisdom in where a heart has gone wrong. Next time we will look at the heart set right. This will lay some foundation as we start with a new series on wisdom; wisdom in doing life here and now.

Here we have the words of a father speaking to his son. It could equally well be a father speaking to his daughter, or a mother speaking to her son or daughter, so we can hear these words in all of these ways as they apply to each one of us. But in this case, a father is speaking to his son and he says, “My son, give me your heart!”

I want us to hear these words in two ways: First, as the voice of a father speaking to his son and second; as the voice of God speaking to us.

A father speaking to his son

• Who is this father?

Most of the proverbs are credited to Solomon, the son of king David, who was given a special gift of wisdom from the Lord. There are a few proverbs at the end of the book that came from a man called Agur (chapter 30), and some from a king by the name of Lemuel (chapter 31), but the rest were either written or collected by Solomon as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

• Who is the son?

Solomon was infamous for having had, in the later years of his life, many wives. So, we must assume that he had many sons and daughters as well. But only one son of Solomon is ever named in the Bible!

This is a rather striking fact, because many sons of David are named, but in the case of Solomon, we are only told about one son and his name was Rehoboam (1 Kings 11-14). So, I think it is very reasonable to hear these verses before us today first as the passionate plea of king Solomon to his son Rehoboam.

These are the words of a father who loves his son. Solomon says, “My son, give me your heart!” These are not the words of an emotionally needy father saying, “Love me. Please love me. I need you to love me.” These are the words of a father who is seeking the good of his son. Why does the heart matters so much?

Why the heart matters

The heart is the command and control centre of life. Where your heart is today will always be a predictor of where you will be tomorrow. Your heart is the deepest thing about you. Where your heart is, is always the central question. Where your heart is will have a huge influence on wisdom in doing life here and now.

Here are some Scriptures that speak about the importance of the heart:

• Your heart directs your life

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

You have a responsibility for the state of your own heart. If your heart is cold, there are reasons for it. If your heart is distracted, there are reasons your heart is all over the place.

God calls you to keep it, to guard it. And here’s the reason: from it flow the springs of life! The whole direction of your life will spring from where your heart is.

•  The heart is a mystery

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Can you explain your own heart? You may say, “If I told you what has happened in my life that would explain where I am.” Here’s the problem: Other people have had similar things happen in their lives and they are in a very different place from you. How do you explain the difference?

The heart is a mystery. Paul speaks about this in Romans 7; “I do not understand myself! What I want to do and be is one thing, what I actually do is something else. I’m a mystery to myself. I feel like I am a mass of contradictions.”

• The heart is sinful

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19)

We like to think that the evil is “out there” in the world, but Jesus says that it is “in here” in our hearts.

As parents and grandparents, we rightly feel that we have a responsibility to protect our children from the evils of the world out there. But the greatest danger to our children, and to all of us is not the evil that is “out there” in the world, but the evil that is “in here” in our own hearts. This is a truth that should be helpful to parents who grieve over a rebel son or daughter.

John White, a Christian psychologist, wrote a book called, ‘Parents in Pain’ and he says: “The determinism of many child-rearing theories assumes that children are the products of their upbringing. They come into the world as clean slates for their parents to write on. If they write what they ought to write (that is, if they rear their children properly), they will produce well-adjusted, outgoing, morally upright and self-reliant children. Any defects in the final product reflect parental mismanagement.”

That’s what many child-rearing theories say. The Bible says something very different. Children do not come into the world as a clean slate for parents to write on. The Bible says that children come into the world with sin already scrawled on the slate.

• God looks at the heart

“The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

God looks at your life more deeply than anyone else ever can or will. You may not understand your own heart: Why do you love what you love? Why do you think and feel as you do? You may not understand your own heart, but God knows it completely.

•  The heart often contradicts the mouth

“This people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8)

It is true that what we say is an overflow of what we think and what we feel.

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart [the] mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

But here in Matthews 15:8 our Lord makes clear that this is not always the case. It is possible for the heart to be disconnected from the mouth. It is possible to come to church and say all the right things, but in your heart to be far from God.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I you?” (Luke 6:46)

Our Lord told the Parable of the two sons. In it the father said to both of his sons; Go and work in my field (Matthew 21:28). One said yes but he did not go. The other said no but then he changed his mind and went. In both cases the heart was in a different place from the mouth!

•  The root of all unbelief lies in the heart

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’…” (Psalm 14:1)

The person who does not believe may also say that there is no God in his or her head, but the point here is that unbelief is rooted in a deeper place than the intellect. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”.

Surely this is an observable fact. There are people of great intellect who are Christians, and there are people of great intellect who are not. Faith and unbelief both have a deeper source than the intellect. Unbelief is visceral. It arises from a hidden resistance toward almighty God that lies in the human heart.

Why is it that two people can go through the same experience, and one comes out praising God, while the other comes out blaming God? Two people experience the same tragic loss – one sees the hand and the help of God, the other sees yet another reason for unbelief. Their experience was the same. The difference was in the heart.

Where the heart goes wrong

When Solomon says, “My son, give me your heart,” it seems clear that this father has some anxiety over where his son’s heart is. Solomon was famed for his wisdom, and as a wise father, he discerned his son’s heart!

Think about the family history here. Solomon followed the best of his father David’s example, at least in his early years. But Solomon had a brother, Absalom, whose heart took him in a different direction.

Absalom raised a rebellion against his father, David. His life followed a sorry path and came to a miserable end. Now Solomon is anxious about his own son, “Will my son be like my rebel brother? What is his path going to be?” Solomon was anxious, and I think we can tell from these verses why.

Let us look at some places where the heart most often goes wrong:

•  Who you admire

“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.” (Proverbs 23:17)

I think there is every reason to believe that Rehoboam, while he was young, conformed to the faith with which he was raised. But when Rehoboam looked at godless people, it seems that he found their way of life attractive. “Let not your heart envy sinners.”

Solomon fears that while his son professes the faith that has been handed down from his grandfather David, there may be a secret longing in his heart to move in a different direction. Solomon says:

“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.” (23:24)

But Solomon is not sure if he has a wise son or not. He fears that his son’s heart is somewhere else. He admires the wrong people. He envies sinners. They are the ones he wants to be like.

I want to speak to every son or daughter who has been raised in a Christian home today. To me there is no greater tragedy that while people who have been exposed to all kinds of evil are finding their way to peace and hope through Jesus Christ, some of you who have been raised with blessings greater than you realize are ready to throw it all away.

The first sign of throwing it away is that you envy sinners. In your heart you look at people who live without God and you say, “That’s what I want to be like! That’s how I want to live.”

The heart goes wrong not only in what you desire, but also in what you decide.

•  How you decide

“Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.” (Proverbs 23:18)

It tells us that Solomon saw in his son a growing tendency to live only in the present and to lose sight of the future. He goes more and more with what he feels on the spur of the moment. So, Solomon says to his son, “Surely there is a future…” In other words, “Son, don’t not make your choices on the basis of short-term comfort. If you are wise, you will choose on the basis of long-term consequence.”

“Surely there is a future…” This is of huge importance for us today. Our culture is constantly encouraging us to “live in the moment.” If that means to be fully present and engaged in whatever you are doing, rather than being distracted, this is a good thing.

But this phrase being often used by people who are clearly moving away from Christian faith. “I am trying to live in the moment.” And if we understand what is really being said, it is: “I am going with what I feel. Sometimes I feel that I want to know God and sometimes I don’t.”

In a world that calls us to live in the moment, I want you to hear the Word of God that says: “Surely there is a future!”

Your life that God is giving to you right now comes in two very unequal parts: You have a very short life in this world and a very long life in eternity. The Bible uses pictures to explain this. In the first, the Bible says that our days in this world are like grass:

“And a voice says, ‘Cry!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it.” (Isaiah 40:6-7)

Grass grows for about a week, it is cut, and then it is gone. If you live 100 years, in the light of eternity, it is like grass growing for a week and then it is cut. So, wisdom begins here: You don’t have much time. You are here today and tomorrow you will be in the presence of God. Take note that wisdom begins here!

In case one didn’t get that picture, God uses another picture to make the same point:

“Come now you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:13-14)

The mist that settles in the morning is blown away by noon. How true is it of the times we now live in. We are all here today and gone tomorrow. And then we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Don’t plan your life on what makes you feel good now. Plan your life on what you will make you feel good then.

God says to us: “Son, if you walk the path of wisdom, your hope will not be cut off” (Proverbs 23:18). What you want to hear on the last day is: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your master’s joy.” You do not want to hear: “Away from me. I never knew you.”

People want to be on the right side of history. What matters more is that you are on the right side of eternity. We don’t know where history is headed, but we know who holds history and who holds eternity.

A heart can also go wrong in where you invest.

• Where you invest

“Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” (Proverbs 23:23)

Does this indicate that Solomon’s son was losing interest in the truth? Perhaps Solomon saw his son’s eyes rolling when the books of Moses were being read. I wonder if when they went to the temple to worship, out of the corner of his eye, it looked like his son was bored out of his mind, thinking; my son doesn’t care a bit about truth.

Solomon instructs his son to “buy truth.” There is such a thing as the truth, and it is worth whatever it costs you to get it. Solomon doesn’t tell his son what it will cost. He doesn’t know. How costly will it be for you to stand for the truth? No one can tell you. It might cost you friends. It might cost you opportunities. It might cost you your life.

Solomon is using the language of a wise investor and he says, “Buy truth at any price! Son, whatever it cost for you to stand for the truth, pay it!”

You would not say this about anything else. On any other investment, you would look at the price and weigh up your options. But Solomon knows that the price is never too high. The truth has supreme value because it has eternal value. So, buy the truth! Make it your own, whatever it costs you!

Here are three places where the heart most often goes wrong: Who you admire. How you decide. Where you invest. Solomon was anxious about his son, “Son, I don’t know where your heart is.”

Where is your heart today? Our Lord Jesus said that the first commandment is that you love God with all your heart (Mark 12:30). Where do you stand in relation to that command today?

The outcome

“So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Namaah the Ammonite. And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 12:13-14)

Solomon was famous for his wisdom, so think about this, especially parents who may beat themselves up over a rebel son: The wisest father who ever lived had a rebel son. And God Himself says, “I raised children and they rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2, paraphrase). No one is a wiser father than God. No one is a better father than God!

Rehoboam is one of the saddest characters in the Bible. The heart of his grandfather David was wholly true to the Lord (1 Kings 15:3). And Rehoboam had a grandson, Asa, whose heart was also wholly true to the Lord (1 Kings 15:14). So, Rehoboam had a grandfather who was wholly true to the Lord and a grandson who was wholly true to the Lord, and here he is in the middle and he threw it all away.

What is recorded about Rehoboam is that he was at war continually (1 Kings 14:30 and 15:6). Who wants to be Rehoboam? Better people came before him and better people came after him. That was his sad legacy. That’s not what we want said about us.

Today, we have looked at the heart gone wrong. Next time we will come back to these same verses and look at the heart set right.

How the heart gets right

There are two prayers that Rehoboam’s grandfather David prayed, and how different his life would have been if he had made them his own.

•  Ask God to search your heart

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Show me where my heart is. I don’t understand my own heart. You do! Look into it and reveal to me what you see. Show me where I am grieving you. Show me where I am admiring the wrong people, making the wrong decisions, where I am investing in the wrong things.

And as you ask God to search you heart, don’t stop there, ask God to change your heart.

•  Ask God to change your heart

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

The message today is not “Get your heart right so that you can come to God.” The message is not “Come to Jesus because you have a right heart.” The message is “Come to Jesus Christ in order to have a new heart.”

God says:

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit (the Holy Spirit) I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26)

Ask God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Ask God for a new heart and you will hear Him say, “My son (or “my daughter”), give Me your heart.”

Let us pray:

Father, please bring heart change in all of us today, and in some of us in a marked way that will shift the trajectory of life and change the experience of eternity. For these things we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.