2026-07-12 | Summer in Proverbs | The Path to Life

Transcript

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Hey, I'm Kevin. Thanks for listening to our message. We strive each week to bring you relevant, practical, biblical teaching that meet you where you are. Hope you enjoy the message.

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I'm excited about this message this morning. Proverbs 4 is one of the most encouraging chapters in the entire book of Proverbs. And even beyond that, it's a really, really uh great chapter to spend time with. And it answers a question that so many people have on their hearts and their ask. And that is, how do I really live? How do I really live? Not just exist, not just survive. We used to have a guy in this church, they since moved to southern Indiana, and uh I was years ago, and he came up to me. He goes, Eric, he said, you know, there's something about walking with Jesus. He said, I wish people realized that there was something more to life than going to work, getting married, having a few kids, buying a house, driving a couple of Buicks, he said, Buick's, and then dying. There's so much more to living. Not just make a living, not just survive in life, but really, really live. Our culture and the world that we live in tells us that life is found by doing what you want. I mean, I found I was at a wedding last night and and I found myself singing with Frank Sinatra. I did it my way. You know? Or like if you grew up in my era, uh Billy Joel, I don't care what you say anymore. This is my life. Bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, right? We we not even knowing we we adopt this idea that if we're going to live, we've got to do it my way. So many of our songs celebrate this idea of independence and freedom and self-determination. And if we're honest, there's something inside every one of us that wants to believe that it is up to us to really live. I want to live my way. I want to write my own story. I want people to say, when it comes to the end of my life, I want people to say, he sure knew how to live. But here's the problem. Many of the people who have everything our culture says should make them happy are not happy. They have money, they have success, they have fame, they have a beautiful home, the perfect social media feed. I mean, Lisa and I are so blessed. We we were invited to the Taylor Swift wedding and we couldn't make it. But there were a lot of people there that you would have known. And yet, so many people, whether it's at Madison Square Gardens or sitting at Water's Edge, they're empty. Because culture and scripture define life and living very differently. Culture says freedom is really the absence of restraint. Nobody's holding me back. But the Bible says that freedom is becoming the person that God created you to be. And that's exactly what Proverbs 4 is teaching us. It's it's a positive message, but it may not be as accepted as you would think it would be. Let's look at Proverbs chapter 4 and let's see where this path begins. It starts with the father talking to the son, Solomon talking to his son, and he says, This is how to this is where it begins. It begins by getting wisdom. Listen, my sons, my sons, to a father's instructions. Pay attention and gain understanding. I'm giving you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. For I too was a son to my father, still tender and cherished by my mother. And then my father taught me, and he said to me, Take hold of my words with all your heart, keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding. Do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and wisdom she will protect you. Love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her and she will exalt you. Embrace her and she will honor you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown. One of the beautiful things about this chapter is that Solomon isn't simply giving his advice, but he's passing down a legacy that he received from his father. So it's Solomon's father telling his son what his father told him. It's three generations of talking to your son. Son, someday you might even tell your children this, which would make it four generations. And what I'm telling you, what I'm telling you is so important. I I love this about this chapter. When I first came into this area in 1988, yes, it was last century, I loved listening to the stories of the some of the original people from this church that started this church. They would tell me stories of how the Church of God first came to the city of Joliet and where they first met and how they first came to the city of Joliet, and how excited they were when they built their first building on Rayner Avenue before the interstate went through on Interstate 80, and how they dreamed eventually of planting a church in a little bedroom community way, way, way out west in a little village called Shorewood 70 years ago. Those stories mattered to me as I listened to them. They mattered, not so I would imitate their style. You see, the the traditions and history of a church, it's not about imitating the style. If we imitated the style of the Church of God a hundred years ago, um men would not wear neckties, there would be no jewelry, women would have long hair, they would all, you would all be in uh um a dress, um, you would be very uncomfortable, there would be no air condition. I mean, I don't want to go back to that. You know, I wouldn't look good in a dress. Those stories matter because we we don't imitate their style, but we do consider their faith. We imitate their courage, we imitate their commitments to Jesus. A few months ago, my uncle passed away, and he had always been one of the spiritual leaders of our family for as long as I can remember. And after the funeral, while all the family was gathered together for a lunch with family and friends, one of my cousins walked over to me and she quietly said to me, Eric, Dad always believed the mantle of spiritual, spiritual leadership of this family would now be, would be passed upon down to you. You're now the spiritual leader of this family. That was humbling. That was very humbling to me because every generation receives a faith, and then that those individuals have that responsibility of leading a family spiritually, of passing it down to the next generation. I look at my own grandsons and granddaughters, and I wonder will they accept the faith of their grandfather and their parents and will they carry it on? Because our faith is one generation away from disappearing. When I think about church history, way, way back church history, I'm thinking like St. Augustine and Martin Luther, and then we have John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards, and eventually all those traditions were passed down to some people in the tribe of the Church of God, like DS Warner and Barney Warren. And what are all those generations saying to us? Not that we have to be like them. The generations are saying, hey, I want you to know Jesus never fails. That's the tradition. Jesus never fails. He won't fail you. He didn't fail up. Stay faithful to the cause, dream big, honor God. This is our generation to faithfully pass the baton to the next generation. And that's what Solomon is doing to his son. It's very powerful and emotional. Solomon says in verse 7, the beginning of wisdom, I think it's verse 7. Yeah, the beginning of wisdom is this. Get it. Get wisdom. Though it cost you everything you have, above all things, get it. Get wisdom. Do you hear the urgency? I mean, there's a sense of urgency in this chapter that you don't often pick up in scripture. He doesn't say, he doesn't say, hey, look, the beginning of wisdom is get wealthy. The beginning of wisdom is get famous. The beginning of wisdom is get successful. The beginning of wisdom is marry the right person. He says, whatever you do above everything else, get it. That's where it starts. Get wisdom, even if it costs you everything. Why? Because wisdom is what leads to life. Living, real living that we all want to do. Wisdom is what leads to life. It's not the square footage of your home. Wisdom leads to life. It is the greatest inheritance that you will ever leave your children. Wisdom. Step one, get wisdom. Then step two, Solomon says, stay on the path. Stay on the path. Getting wisdom starts the journey, but guarding your heart keeps you on the journey. This is verse 23 in chapter four. It's one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. Above all else, guard your heart. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from your heart. Everything Solomon's been saying up to this point, why guard your heart? Because your life, your living, will always follow your heart. Whatever captures your heart, eventually directs your feet. Oh my just that let that rest for a minute. Whatever captures your heart eventually directs your feet. If you belong to Jesus, your life begins looking like Jesus. If you belong to bitterness, your life becomes bitter. If you belong to greed, your life becomes consumed by more. If your heart belongs to resentment, resentment eventually controls everything in your life. Solomon says, above everything else, my son. Guard your heart. Today there are so many things competing for our heart. There are so many things that want first place in your life. So many things that can capture my heart. Success, money, popularity, security, body image, performance, social media, sexuality. We're going to talk next week about sexuality because it just naturally goes into Proverbs chapter five. And um and I I thought about skipping it, but I just can't. We got to talk about it a little bit. Because and although it will be bent towards a sermon for men, above all else, guard your heart. It also has so much to do with both men and women. But chapter four, above all else, guard your heart. Chapter five is above everything else. Make sure that you have good boundaries sexually. Above all else, guard your heart, not comfort. Above all else, guard your heart, not controlling things. None of those things were ever designed to carry the weight of our heart. Only Jesus. That's why there's so many disappointments in life. Because we're trusting in things that are not in the right place. And we find out that it doesn't bring satisfaction. Only Jesus, only Jesus can carry the weight of your heart. That's one of the reasons he went to the cross. He carried the weight of your heart and my heart right to the cross. Jesus says, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Another one of my favorite passages. I have come that you might have life and have life abundantly. And in order for you to have abundant life, I'm going to carry you to the cross. I'm going to carry your heartaches. I'm going to carry your sin. I'm going to carry the brokenness of this world to the cross so that you can really experience the freedom and abundant life that I want you to have. The abundant life is found, is not found in having everything. It is found in having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Today, I think there are two groups that are listening to me. I think there's a group that would say, I'm following Jesus, Eric. And for you, the message is pretty simple from Proverbs chapter 4. Stay on the path. Don't drift. Don't slowly hand pieces of your heart to other things. Guard it. Guard your heart. Keep Jesus first. And may today the Holy Spirit, maybe today the Holy Spirit has already shown you something that's been competing for first place in your heart. Maybe it's, I don't know, uh fortune, or maybe it's uh um something sexually or power. Um I don't know what the temptations are that that strive for the the your heart. I want you to guard your heart. And if there's anything that's competing for it, just give that up today. Lay it down. Lay it down and give Jesus first place. But there's another group. There's a group here, perhaps today, that says, Eric, I I've really wandered far. I've ignored God's wisdom in my life. And what you're saying would probably work for somebody who, you know, didn't mess up like I did in my life. And I've made some terrible decisions, and I've damaged relationships, and and I really have made a mess of my life. And uh, if that's you, I have some wonderful news for you today. The Bible is not a story of people who stayed on the path. That's not what the that if you've read through with us in the Bible recap, or if you've spent any time looking at scripture and studying the stories of scripture, the the Bible is not a story of perfect people. It's a story of a savior who comes looking for people who are not on the right path. Jesus doesn't simply point toward the path and says, Hey, just you need to walk over there. He Jesus walks toward us. It's the picture of the prodigal son where the father runs to the son and he forgives him and he restores him and he puts us back on the path. My friends, your past does not disqualify you from having a wise future. Your past does not disqualify you from having a wise future. Again, I don't know how Jesus does it. I don't know how God the Father and the Holy Spirit work, but a life that has been messed up can be transformed. The message of the cross of Jesus Christ means you can begin again today. Um, started way back in the late 60s, early 70s, a program called Evangelism Explosion. Some of you may have heard Evangelism Explosion before. What it was is that you would be trained, churches would be trained to go out into their communities, knock on a door. Probably we're not doing this a whole lot anymore, but back in the 70s, you could still knock on the door and your neighbor wouldn't talk to you through the doorbell. But they knocked on the door and the person would come to the door and they say, Hey, I have a question for you. We're from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church or we're from Shorey Church of God. And if you were to die tonight, do you know where you would go? And the person might answer the question, they might shut the door in the face, but it was evangelism explosion, and thousands and thousands of thousands of people came to faith that man with in that manner. Very direct question. You might get punched in the face if you do it today. But if you died tonight, what would your answer be? And if your answer is in the first person, you're missing the point of the gospel. If you were to say, why, if if you were in heaven and you were to say, you're standing there and they say, Why should you come in? And if you answer that question in the first person, you don't understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you say, Well, I went to I prayed, uh. Well, why should I come in? Well, you tell me. Well, well, I I whatnot. Any first person answer is the wrong answer. The only answer is in the third person. And the third person is because of what Jesus did on the cross. Imagine the thief on the cross. He gets that, he gets to the gate and he's he's ready to go into heaven, and the angels say, Why should I let you come in? And he says, I don't know. I don't I don't even know why I'm here. So, well, what why are what do you mean? He goes, I don't know. I was I was on a cross and there was this guy in the middle, and I said, Hey, remember me, and I I'm here now. Well, this doesn't even make sense. Let me let me get my manager. And so they go get the other angel, and the angel comes back, and the angel says, Well, what are you doing here? And he's I don't know. I don't know. I was like on this cross, and I said to this guy in the middle in the middle, he was talking about some stuff, and I was making fun of him first, and then I just said, Remember me. And he said, Okay, I went, then I'm here. Can you can you describe your Salvation experience. He said, I what? I don't know what that is. And he said, All right, well, what what church did you go to? He said, I've never been to church in my life. Tell me some good things that you did. I didn't do any good things. I was absolutely a horrible person. I was on a cross. I was a thief. And all I can tell you is the guy in the middle told me. I'll see you later today. See, coming to Jesus, you don't have to clean up your life before you come to Jesus. You don't have to get some things right before you come to Jesus. You don't have to work out some relational things before you come to Jesus. You don't even have to quit anything before you come to Jesus. You just got to come to Jesus. And what I'm pursuing is not giving me this. I just want to try Jesus. If I could give you a 90-day money-back guarantee, I would. Because I know if you live for him for 90 days, I'm not saying life will go better for you. I'm not saying anything in life will change. I'm saying you will be transformed in 90 days if you walk with him. And no matter what, you'll say, I wouldn't trade those 90 days. No, I wouldn't trade those 90 days for anything. Wouldn't trade those experiences. There's some of you who have been through some really dark times in life, and you would say, Oh, I'd never want to go through those times again. But you come out of them saying, But but I wouldn't trade them. Wouldn't trade them. I learned too much. I learned that Jesus was faithful. You know, the grandfather and the father and the son passing down all those wisdom things. I think these the the grandfather and the father, they'd say to this son, they'd say, Hey, we we didn't do everything right. We we made some mistakes, but I'm telling you what, what we're telling you right now is the truth. Follow Jesus. Follow Jesus. I've made some blunders financially. I've made some blunders uh with relationships, I've I've made blunders as a leader, I've made blunders as a husband, I've made blunders as a dad. Pretty good grandpa, but but I've made blunders as a grandpa. I'll make blunders as your pastor. I don't stand here as someone who's perfect. I stand here as someone who's perfectly loved by a father. And I want you to have that type of life. Like I said, some of you are already walking in it. But I want you to have that kind of life. That you will make room for him and say, here's my heart. I want to start fresh. I want to start new. I I I don't I don't even know if I I don't even know if I deserve it. But the guy on the Middle Cross said, I'll see you later.

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