PROVERBS 23:26
GOOD ADVICE
ADVICE
While sorting through "treasured" stuff her daughter, Elizabeth, had accumulated over the years, a mother came across a questionnaire Elizabeth had filled out while completing her master's degree. In response to the question "What was the most important advice you received from your mother?" Elizabeth had written, "Always rely on your own good judgment." And to "What was the most important advice you received from your father?" Elizabeth answered, "Ask your mother." Stories for Preachers and Teachers - C.D. © 1999 by Heavenward Inc.
ADVICE
Jan's father was visiting for a week, and since he was a pretty good fix-it-man, she left him a note before she went to work. It read: "Dad, mileage counter on treadmill not working. Any ideas? Love, Jan." When she returned home, she read his reply: "Jan, walk until you get tired. Love, Dad." Stories for Preachers and Teachers - C.D. © 1999 by Heavenward Inc.
ADVICE
Forget each kindness that you do as soon as you have done it.
Forget the praise that falls to you the moment you have won it.
Forget the slander that you hear before you can repeat it.
Forget each slight, each spite, each sneer, whenever you may meet.
Remember every promise made and keep it to the letter.
Remember those who lend you aid and be a grateful debtor.
Remember all the happiness that comes your way in living.
Forget each worry and distress; be hopeful and forgiving.
Remember good, remember truth,
Remember heaven is above you.
And you will find, through age and youth, that many will love you. Source unknown http://www.bible.org/illus/a/a-32.htm#TopOfPage
Graduates, if you haven't noticed yet, you'll soon find out that graduation time is a time when people feel free to give you advice. They may speak at baccalaureate or graduation service. They may write it in a card, or give it to you in a book. It seems that you as graduates are prime targets for advice.
Whether we are graduates or not, we all need advice.
Proverbs 11:14 - Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
I personally know no greater source of advice than God's Word, the Bible. This morning I have brought you to a verse that I am lifting out of its context, and thinking of it as a word of advice that God gives to everyone of us. This advice is important to graduates, to undergraduates, to parents, to grandparents to teachers, and to everyone else.
Proverbs 23:26 - My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
If we think of this verse as God talking to us, and then break the verse down into three thoughts separated by comas, we find God speaking of three things that are important to Him.
CONVERSION - My son
CONSECRATION - give me thine heart
CONDUCT - and let thine eyes observe my ways.
CONVERSION - My son
The word conversion implies change.
In order for God to call you his son or his daughter, a change had to take place.
Naturally speaking we are all sinners. We have all failed God.
Romans 3:10-12 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: [11] There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. [12] They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Isaiah 64:6 - But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
And to make matters worse, God, who is just has pronounced in Ezekiel 18:4 - Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
There was once a man, a very religious man, and he very well could have been the leading religious teacher in Jesus. This man once came to Jesus by night for advice. His name was Nicodemus.
John 3:1-3 - There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Jesus told Nicodemus, that unless he was born again, he could not see the Kingdom of God.
So, how does one go about being born again?
John 1:12-13 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
According to John 1:12 Jesus must be received.
Also in John 1:12, we are told that to receive Jesus is to believe on Him.
When we believe or receive Jesus it means that we have done business with God. We recognize that we are sinners who have no merit in ourselves. We recognize that Jesus Christ, as the sinless son of God, died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again. We decide that Jesus alone can pay for our sins, so we trust Him for forgiveness and eternal life.
When we believe on Jesus in this way we become the children of God. God makes us his child because we are born again into his family. John 1:13 says we are born, not of blood (not a physical birth), not of flesh (self-effort), not of man (someone else's effort). Instead we are born of God.
Being born into a Christian family does not make you a Christian. Because your parents were Christian, it does not make you a Christian.
Attending church does not make you a Christian any more than living in a garage would make you a car.
It is a decision that you must make and a decision that will bring change for all eternity.
When you decide to believe on Christ from you heart as your Savior, a wonderful change will take place because you will be born of the Spirit of God.
John 3:6-8 - "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7"Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." NAS
1 Corinthians 12:13 - For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
It is through the witness of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we are able to truly call God our Heavenly Father.
Romans 8:15-16 - For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, NAS
In order for God to call you "my son" or "my daughter" you need to be converted. You need to be born-again. Have you been? If you haven't you can be this morning by putting your faith in Christ alone for eternal life.
CONVERSION - My son
CONSECRATION - give me thine heart
Thirty years ago tomorrow I made a commitment. I officially committed my heart to Dottie and her alone!
Although each of us had already made a commitment to each other, we made it official with the saying of our wedding vows.
I Jack take you Dottie to be my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge you my faith.
When God says to His children, give me your heart, He is looking for a commitment. He is looking for our consecration to Him alone. He is looking for our exclusive love.
Matthew 22:37 - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
1 John 4:19 - We love him, because he first loved us.
Young people, listen! Consecration is simply loving the Lord Jesus so much that you give Him control of your life.
Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Because God has been so merciful to you to send His Son to die for you sins
Because God has been so merciful to you in forgiving you and giving you eternal life
Because God has been so merciful to you to hear and answer your prayers
Because God has been so merciful to you to provide for your needs
Because God has been so merciful to you to protect you
Because of all the mercies of God, we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice.
The offering of lambs and goats and bulls in the Old Testament was a sacrifice of death
The offering of Christ for our sins was a dying sacrifice.
A living sacrifice means that someone is alive and dead at the same time.
A living sacrifice means dying to self, but being alive to God.
A living sacrifice means making the decisions that please God.
A living sacrifice means that you are available to do whatever God wants you to do.
A living sacrifice says, "Lord, I'll go where you want me to go, I'll do what you want me to do. I'll be what you want me to be.
This living sacrifice which we are to offer is to be "holy", or set apart for God. It is to be acceptable in God's eyes.
This living sacrifice is our reasonable service. It is the least that we can do for the one who died for us.
"Years ago…an old organist sat at his bench playing the instrument for the final time. He was a good organist and had served the church faithfully and well. Now a new organist was to come and the old organist wanted to step aside with dignity and grace. He struck the last chord, closed the instrument, locked it, and placed the key in his pocket. He then made his way to the rear of the church.
"There, eagerness flashing in his eyes, the young organist was waiting for him. He asked for the key and, after a moment's pause, he raced to the organ, opened it, and began to play. The old organist had played with precision the notes before him, but this new organist played with a depth of soul and feeling that brought tears even to the eyes of the retiring organist.
"Reports of his artistry spread by word of mouth, and soon people came from miles around to hear him strike the keys of the console.
"This new organist was a master at his craft; to that, the ear and the soul would abidingly attest. He was, in fact, none other than Johann Sebastian Bach. As the old organist left the church he thought to himself: 'Just suppose I had not given the master the key.'" Practical Bible Illustrations From Yesterday and Today, compiled by Richard A. Steele and Evelyn Stoner, © 1996 by AMG INTERNATIONAL INC., Chattanooga, Tennessee, page 103
I can't say whether this story is true or not, but it is a good illustration. The organ was locked and only as Bach was given the key could he play beautiful music. Think of the Lord Jesus as saying to you, Christian, "I can make your heart a beautiful place, and I can use your life to be a blessing to others. But I need the key. I will not take over until you give me permission."
Revelation 3:20 - Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Christian, what keeps you from giving the Lord Jesus the key to your heart?
Is it a person?
Is it a habit?
Is it yourself?
Is it your pride?
Christian, when we give our hearts to Jesus, we are allowing Him to have full control. That's consecration.
CONVERSION - My son
CONSECRATION - give me thine heart
CONDUCT - and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Our conduct should always be pleasing to God.
If our eyes observe the ways of God, it means that we will obey the Word of God.
How important is obedience?
King Saul was disqualified from being king because he failed to obey God.
Saul was told in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 - And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. [23] For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
How important is obedience?
When others rebelled against God's plan, Caleb was ready to go into The Promised Land.
Numbers 14:24 - But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
Graduates let me tell you something. There is nothing more important than obedience to God.
And it is not good enough just to not do the things we shouldn't do. To be obedient we need to also do the things that we should do. The best way I know to be obedient is to learn God's Word and to do what it says.
Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Psalm 119:11 - Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Chuck Swindoll - Imagine, if you will, that you work for a Company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, “Look, I’m going to leave. And while I’m gone, I want you to pay close attention to the Business. You manage things while I’m away. I will write you Regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip.”
Everyone agrees. He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and Concerns. Finally he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess--weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss.
Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, “What happened? Didn’t you get my letters?” You say, “Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We’ve even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have ‘letter study’ every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters.”
I think the president would then ask, “But what did you do about my instructions?” And, no doubt the employees would respond, “Do? Well, nothing.
But we read every one!” Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p. 242 http://www.bible.org/illus/o/o-01.htm#TopOfPage
How many of us read and even memorize God's Word and then put little effort into obeying it?
Shame on us!
Proverbs 23:26 - My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
CONVERSION - My son
CONSECRATION - give me thine heart
CONDUCT - and let thine eyes observe my ways.