Turn with me to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 4. We'll simply look at verses 20 to 27 of this chapter. Proverbs 4, 20 through 27. It's on page 729 of the Bibles provided in your rows. Solomon writes, My son, give attention to My words, incline your ear to My sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Remove your foot from evil." Remember, the grass withers and the flower falls, but God's Word abides forever. Amen. There are some amazing facts and features about your heart. The heart that is in your chest cavity pumps blood at a rate of 70 to 75 beats per minute over the course of a day that's anywhere from 100 to 115,000 beats a day. Through those beats, blood then is daily pumped at a measure of 200 gallons. And it travels through some 60,000 miles of blood vessels. And each day is able to traverse roughly 12,000 miles. The power that is present in your heart, if it were hooked up to a vehicle, could move a vehicle 20 miles per day, and over the course of a lifetime, you could make it to the moon and back. All as it relates to this organ that is no bigger than the average size of an adult's fist, weighing in at roughly 11 ounces, give or take. This amazing thing that is in your body, when healthy, does astounding things, and when it malfunctions, you're done. That's it. You're in trouble, as it pertains to life. And yet, in our series of Untwisting Twisted Scripture, we have a challenge to us regarding our hearts, not our physical organs, but that which is identified as a spiritual heart, in verse 23, when Solomon writes, And so this idea of guarding or keeping our hearts, we want to explore that this morning. What does it simply mean to keep our hearts? What's the responsibility that we have as we would go about this? What are some challenges that we need to reflect on as we consider this? And lastly, how might we be encouraged then with a call that is set before us? In the context of the Book of Wisdom where Solomon, who was identified as the wisest man in the entire world, writes to us and he sets forth all sorts of sayings, some of which can stand on their own, statements about wisdom, statements about following after Christ and seeking Christ and understanding who he is and the importance of how Christ then manifests himself and works himself out in the lives of his people. He starts early on and makes this challenge. of keeping or guarding our hearts. This verse, when allowed to stand alone, has been twisted. It's been moved into other ideas. For example, in taking the interpretation or the translation of guarding your heart, some have argued that in order to put an armory around my heart, I must then not interact with others. I must be guarded towards others." And they appeal to this verse and say, see, it's true. Sometimes dads even use this to their daughters. Now, little girl, you know your daddy loves you. You know, you're my special someone, and I don't wanna share you with anyone else until that right one comes along. Granted, it won't be until you're 55 or I'm dead, but once he finally comes along, then you can have him. But in the meantime, you must guard your heart. You can't give it to anyone else. And so here comes a young man who thinks that he might have opportunity. He says hi, she looks at him, ignores him, and goes the other way. Because she's following after what she's been told, guard your heart. And yet that's not what the point is in this passage. To ply it out of the context of boy-girl relationships, sometimes people look at this and say, well here's an encouragement to us to avoid getting hurt. And as a result of not wanting to be hurt by others, they then use this to say, I will not be vulnerable or open myself up to family or to friends. Now Solomon does tell us in Proverbs 11 that we ought not share everything with all people. But these individuals argue that if I keep everyone at arm's distance and I avoid any and all close relationships, then I can protect myself and consequently, I've guarded my heart. But that's not what Solomon has in mind here. As we're discussing these terms, we see that heart has a significance and guarding does as well. In terms of guarding or keeping, Solomon notes that this is a duty. It's commanded to us that we engage in this activity of watching over the heart with all diligence. Other translations note, protect. Prevent the heart from being hurt. To watch over it, to guard it, to keep it, to preserve it. You can envision a guard that is sitting watch, whether the thing that is before him is of great importance or it seems of little value, yet he's been given that responsibility to stand on high alert, watchful for anyone or anything that would pose a threat, not allowing that thing to come against him or to come after that which is being protected. And so consequently, he's willing even to give his life to ensure that his responsibility is kept. We know this is a keeping or a guarding in relation to the heart. This doesn't mean then that we do any and all duties in order to ensure that that organ that was cited at the beginning is well maintained. Even though that's a good thing. Doctors and nurses both here and listening and not present would say, yeah, you need to have good heart health. But the heart being referenced here is ultimately the center of your person. It's your inner self. It's identified as the seat of the will. One author put it this way, it's the source of all you are and do. It is the hub of your spiritual and moral life. It's the center of your being that determines your character and your conduct. And hence the scriptures note the usage of the word heart, not by means simply of the emotions, but instead of the mind and of the will. For example, in Exodus chapter nine, we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart by not allowing the children of Israel to go and worship God in the wilderness. That was an exercise of his will. And yet Absalom in 2 Samuel 15 stirred up the hearts of the people. He didn't steer up their wills as it were. Instead, he stirred up their allegiances, their interests, their focus. And yet during the days of Noah, God noted that the thoughts and the intents of the heart of man were wicked. The minds. There's other passages that we could explore as well, but I think you understand the point. that when we're talking about the keeping, the watching over of our hearts, we're talking about the very essence and core of who we are. For the scriptures note that it is out of the heart, out of the essence of who we are that flows then good or evil. It's ultimately like the reservoir that determines the quality and character of our spiritual life. And that was the point that Jesus had noted in Matthew chapter 15, was it not? When the Pharisees were so concerned about the disciples pursuing the outward tradition of that which had been handed down to them, Jesus then comes back and he makes the challenge of why is it that you are so keyed in on following the traditions of men, but when it comes down to the substance and essence of God's Word, you run away from it. And Jesus then makes the point to the disciples that it's not the issue of what you put into yourself, but rather what comes out. Because what flows out of you manifests who you really are, what you're really about. Those which are good manifest a good heart. Those which are evil manifest an evil heart. But if we're challenged to keep our heart, why? Why guard our heart? We'll look at what Solomon says here in chapter four, verse 23. For out of it spring the issues of life. Out of it spring the issues of life. The point that is being drawn for us in this is that it's ultimately a significant importance and priority. It's of utmost importance. It is of utmost significance for you. It ought to be the first priority that you have as a Christian. Why? Because it is ultimately the seat or center of your spiritual life and your relationship with God. Solomon tells us that it is to be done with all diligence because your spiritual life depends on this. Much in the same way that as you look at your physical heart and you see that as it is maintained well and kept up well and it then works very, it functions properly for you, there are diseases or disorders that can impact your heart. For example, through plaque and cholesterol, you can have a hardening of the arteries. Depending on the strength or weakness of your vows, you can have the backward flow of blood into the heart. All of these things are of concern. Similarly, in a spiritual manner, there are times in which you see a hardness that manifests itself. And it's important to ask yourself, do you manifest or reflect this? Well, How do you protect your heart? What things do you see coming out of or flowing from your heart? As you reflect on the center of your being, what's of most importance? What's a first priority? What is it that you would say in relation to yourself? If I don't have blank, then I have no meaning or significance. What do you spend most of your time thinking on? What is your greatest desire? What are the actions that flow from those desires and intentions? Do they line up with scripture or do they go against the scriptures? Do they seem of significance and importance and value as to what the Bible says or is it what you say or what someone else says? The disease of hardness ultimately looks at God's word and says, I don't recognize the one who speaks to me and I don't acknowledge what he has to say of its importance. Is that the reflection of the center of your being this morning? The backward blood flow may cause the heart to slow down. It may cause it to be sluggish. Things aren't working right. You're not able to do what it is that you initially could because there's some other things that have manifested itself. Spiritually, this can happen too. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, after the resurrection, Jesus walks with them. And as he walks with them, he begins to talk about all the events that had transpired over the past three days. And as they look at it, their response is, we had hoped that this would be the one who would overcome and take care of all of our problems and our issues and deliver us from the challenges of Rome. And Jesus then says, oh, you foolish and slow of heart to believe. Did the Scriptures not say that the Christ must suffer and be crucified and buried? You can see it's an aspect of taking for granted what's been given you. It's an aspect of indifference. You're not against the Scriptures. You're not against God. You're not antagonistic to Him. But between God and, and has great appeal. It's that sense in which you go, I've learned these things. I've already heard these things. I already know the things that are being talked about. I heard it since I was this tall, and consequently, there's just some other things that need my attention now. There's another place I need to go. God's still important and all, but I've got my thoughts about how things should go. The goal in all of this is to be watchful over the center of your being so that you then might have a heart that is tender and sensitively and properly responds to the Word of God. It's a duty and responsibility that we have, and I'm talking to you as the people of God, encouraged and strengthened by the Spirit of God, informed by His Word, recognizing that you have this connection, this relationship to the living God through Jesus Christ, who's covered over all your sins, identified as His people. in response to what God has done by giving you a new heart and breathing life into you. So I don't want you to think that somehow, oh, McGee's talking about works righteousness and we can just take care of things on ourself. And yet, as the people of God, there are duties that we have to take care of our spiritual well-beings, to maintain certain things. And in this, Solomon then says, keep our hearts. Why? Notice what follows from verses 23 to 27. Or 24. Keep your heart, for out of it springs the issues of life. What does he then say? Put away a deceitful mouth. Put perverse lips far away. Let your eyes look straight ahead. Your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet. Let your ways be established. Don't turn to the right or to the left. Remove your foot from evil. Remember what Jesus said, from the heart, everything else follows. Solomon here notes, from the heart, you then direct what you listen to, what you look upon, how you walk, how you conduct yourselves, how you act, where you go, all of it. It's the heart that directs how you go about your life. And it in turn then, directs it towards righteousness or towards sinfulness. And so Solomon then says, if you can write and set the heart, then the other things will follow. Notice what he doesn't say. Set your hands, set your feet, set your eyes, set your ears, set these other things in order to get your heart right. That's an action of you going from out to the in. Instead of the recognition of God making that change within and from it, it then manifests itself outward. The hub directs all else. And so we must then ask, What's going on with our hearts? Where is your heart this morning? Now don't raise your hand and go, what's right here? Remember, the center of your being. We must evaluate, test, reflect upon our hearts in order to consider how then it is directing the rest of what we do. We must weigh this because God does. In Proverbs 21 verse 2, we're told that God weighs the heart. Elsewhere, He tests it. The author of Hebrews says that all is laid before Him open so that He sees all and He knows all. And so if God is looking in this manner, you must look also. So what is the health and condition of your heart? If you do your physicals, these are questions that doctors will ask you when you sit in their office. Have you gained weight? I don't want to talk about that. Are you feeling certain symptoms? What's happening in terms of your health? What do you feel? What are you observing? What are you noting? Spiritually, we must do the same. Such as, who do you love? Do you love God more than people? Do you love God more than things? What is the health and condition of where you are spiritually? Do you long to be with God's people? Do you long to know and study His Word that you might be approved of Him and workmen that needs not be ashamed? How do you engage with God's people? Do you then manifest your heart through your ears by longing to hear the latest gossip? Do you use your tongue in order to put down or to belittle a fellow member or someone who's created in the image of God? Do your feet move to a place that would show that your heart is longing to be away from God's people and instead be among those who aren't? Do you set your hands to things that would in turn show that this isn't a heart that is in tune or longing to love and serve the living God? What words are spoken from your mouth? Because it is by the mouth you can evaluate the heart. And it expresses significance. Well, in hearing this evaluation, we simply come down to two places. Either we're in a position of danger, Or we move to a place of delight. The delights of the heart are seen as follows. That there is a true real blessing in Christ. There's a true and real blessing in Christ. If your heart rightly in tune with God, properly watched over and cared for, it then will be in a position to see the benefits of daily living before your God and consequently having His direction and His love manifest in you. The blessings that we have is simply the fact that we are in communion with God. That we hear from Him each day as we read His word, that He reminds us and assures us of His comfort, of His presence, of His love, of His favor, of His work, of His intentions, of the place in which He's taking us, of the places that He has brought us from. of the assurance of His love, even when things aren't going well or right, because we are His and He is ours. Because the heart is being watched over and guarded against anything that would interfere with the opportunity to know and engage with your Savior. This then grants us power for life. As we heard this morning from the Heidelberg Catechism, we note that because of the resurrection, Christ's resurrection power is at work in us. But listen then to what Paul notes in Colossians 3, verses 1 and following. He says, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind, set your heart on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. And then the contrast of putting off and putting on. And yet this call to die to self and live in obedience unto the living God is something that God enables you to do by His Son. And so you're not a weak Christian. You're not an unable Christian. You're not a helpless Christian. You're not one who is just kind of holding on and trusting that you'll get by the skin of your teeth. You are one who has great power, who has great purpose, who has great strength because of Jesus Christ having risen from the dead and being at work and strengthening you forevermore. And if you're raised with Him and He conquered over death and He conquered over the greatest penalty of sin ever, then what is it that is lacking in your life? Then what is it that you're still wrestling or struggling with in light of who you are and what you have in Jesus Christ? Watch your heart because it's in the heart God has blessed you richly with new life in Christ. And you are enabled to live powerfully. All of these things are delights. This is something important for us to see. Because I think too often we hear of Christianity as it pertains to duty and drudgery. We hear of Christianity in terms of all the ways in which we're not meeting up and all the ways in which we're lacking. And Christianity is put before us as this perspective of just something that is common, it becomes mundane. and we lose value for it. And yet what does the psalmist tell us in Psalm 37? The light in the Lord. What does he tell us in Psalm 34? Taste and see that the Lord is good. The blessings that we have in Christ, are real delights, not just simply something that is less. Well, if we don't guard our hearts, then what? We're in trouble. Think about the army base that is unprotected or unguarded. Think about the country that has no ability to arm itself against a tyrannical government or to an invading country. Things appear, things come up, they walk in and it's theirs and they take it without a fight. An unguarded heart means that as your three greatest enemies come against you, the world, the flesh, and the devil, you then will ultimately concede without much of a fight. The tempter will come, as an angel of light to deceive you. He will come to entice you. He will bring the subtle lies that he expels in order to cause you to fall for what he shares and the consequences that you give in with little to no resistance. The flash that is still present with you, those desires that still manifest themselves and creep up before you will cause you, because they are one, because they're not kept in check, and because it ultimately will feel good, and because it ultimately has a certain enticement to it, to simply give in. or simply the pressure of life in this world because everyone else is doing it, and things seem to be going okay for them, and they seem to be happy, and they seem to be satisfied, and they seem to have things that are going well, and therefore, why shouldn't I have that as well? After all, the path that Christ calls me on is narrow, and it's hard, and it's steep. It's poorly traveled. But the wide gate, and the wide road, and the popular road, and the pleasant road, and the distending road. And yet, what do they tell you? They don't tell you all of the discomforts that occur as a result of the excess that has been engaged in. The high of the drugs leads to the addiction and even to death. The late night wild party can lead to feeling good for a moment or two. But in the end, the hangover in the bathroom with your head in the toilet has no appeal. And the pleasure of sex only leads to guilt. into disease, into death, and broken hearts. What does this show? Sin deceives. It doesn't care about you. It wants your soul. It wants you away from God. It wants you to be cast far apart from Him and suffering miserably. And hence, because of its subtlety, and because of its enticement, and because of its appeal, you must guard. Because without it, it will eventually choke you out. One author noted, the drift becomes a toehold, the toehold becomes a foothold, the foothold becomes a stronghold, the stronghold becomes a stranglehold, and the stranglehold will choke you out and lead you to death. So what do we do? Firstly, we recognize we need a new heart. The heart we have isn't good. The heart we have is alienated from God. It's separated from Him. It is worthy of death and condemnation. It does not want to be restrained. It does not want to be guarded. It simply wants to run off and pursue its own pleasures. God promises that through the work of the Holy Spirit, He will change our hearts. He will give us a heart of flesh and take out that heart that is dead. He will give us a living heart and take away the dead heart. He will give us a beating heart, a fleshly heart, and He will take away the dead, cold stone heart. But if God has replaced these hearts, then you have meaning and value and purpose and strength to guard your heart through Christ. Remember the goal. The goal is that you would be in a position of health and strength and life before the living God. Responding to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, listening to His voice, hearing His call, walking before Him in humility, not dependent upon your power or your strength or the heart that He's given you, but dependent upon His power and His life at work in you. It means we're mindful of the weaknesses or the entrance points in relation to our hearts. What becomes the struggles that we deal with? Do we wrestle with the windows of our souls through our eyes? Well, what do we set before it? Are we seeking to guard our hearts by what we watch? What are we listening to? Are we guarding our hearts by means of the messages we're hearing through various points of media? Are we mindful of the fact that our speech is used to edify, and it's called to be an example to others, and we'll give an account for the words that we speak, even the idle ones, and the ones that we say in a pass, and in a moment, and in a glance. And so are we guarding our mouths by the things that come forth? because we desire our hearts to be tender because we recognize it's new by the Spirit of God. Where do we go? What do we do? What becomes the attention and the purpose and the focus of our lives? Where are our feet leading us to in the places that we go? So what has God given us to help us then? His Word. How do you guard your heart? Put yourself in God's Word, meditating on it and memorizing it. Meditation isn't the emptying of the mind, but it's the filling of the mind so that we might then feed on it. It's putting it forward before us so that we might feast, so that we might be nourished, so that we might then draw strength, so our hearts might grow and enlarge and be built up to then be able to pump more and harder and faster. It's taking the time to memorize so that we then might have God's word committed to our hearts and consequently use it in the fight against the world or the flesh or the devil. Jesus had scripture at hand as he had been in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, discouraged and weak and overwhelmed by the, the deprivation of food and water, and here comes the evil one. And as he does so, he's able to recall, thus saith the Lord, God has said, God has written. And in order for you to keep your heart, you must then engage it through God's word. You must also then be mindful of the company you keep. Who do you spend time with? Do your friends encourage your hearts toward godliness or do they pull it away from your Savior? Do those that you interact with build you up in your Christian faith and strengthen your heart so that it might remain tender in recognition of the heart God has given you? Or are they somehow then causing that heart to be clogged, to be sluggish, to be impeded, to become weak and needing surgery? How do you avail yourself of God's people in the means of grace through the preaching of the Word of God in worship? We recognize that when we are here, we meet immediately with God and God with us. We're brought into his very presence. And as we meet before the living God, when God's word is read, he's speaking to you. And when the word is preached, Christ is speaking to you. And if you're not here, then how is your heart kept tender? And if you're not here, how is your heart then built up? And if you're not here, how are you then recognizing the expression of thankfulness that God has done this wondrous thing for you? I know there's reasons. I know there's circumstances and situations. I'm not trying to belittle those things or to undercut circumstances in God's providence. But our tendency, when we deal with not keeping watch over our hearts, is to allow then those hearts to see that church can be replaced, that it's okay to miss, that it's okay to pull back for a time. I'll reconnect, I'll re-engage, I'll make it happen, I'll make it work. And that's one of the struggles that we're working through right now, even with COVID. And yet what is it doing to our hearts? What a travesty that we're being pulled away from Christ himself and the means of grace when we allow something to get in the way of meeting with his people. This verse, is an important one. It says a lot to us regarding our hearts. And as it relates to our heart health, we noted at the beginning, God's given us an organ that does amazing things in terms of beating and pumping blood and keeping life going. And yet God's done an even more amazing thing in our lives. He's given you a spiritual heart. And even though you were dead in your trespasses and sins and full of deceit and wickedness, God still knew that and loved you and has given you a new heart. And if God has given you such a treasure, guard it and keep it to the very end. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, Keep our hearts by the power of your spirit through the means that you have provided to us that we as your people might show ourselves thankful at all times. This we pray asking our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.