The Heart of Wisdom: The Priority of the Heart

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The Heart of Wisdom: The Priority of the Heart

selected passages from Proverbs; October 27, 2024; Don Willeman

October 27, 2024 • Don Willeman • Proverbs 4:5–23, Proverbs 7:1–4, Proverbs 17:22, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 2:1–5

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“The heart wants what it wants.”

~Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) in a letter written in 1862

“Ask yourself: if there is something you supremely want to do, do you count as self-sacrifice the difficulties encountered or the other possible activities cast aside? You do not. The time when you deliberately say, ‘I must sacrifice this, that, or the other’ is when you do not supremely desire the end in view. At such times you are doing your duty, and that is admirable, but it is not love. But as soon as your duty becomes your love, the self-sacrifice is taken for granted, and, whatever the world calls it, you call it so no longer.”

~Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), novelist and playwright (emphasis added)

“…the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn’t direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants.

“The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification, i.e., concupiscence. That’s why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation…

“Now, in effect, [God’s work of] justification gives us a heart transplant. For at the same time that we receive the gift of justifying faith by which we are credited with Christ’s extrinsic righteousness, God also sheds abroad in our hearts a new love for him and one another. This new heart love for him, from him, naturally redirects our wills….

“[R]eason is not king in human beings, the heart is. Therefore, to change your actions, you must change your desires. But your desires will change, only if the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible also writes his laws on your heart.”

~Dr. John Ashley Null, Anglican scholar at the University of Berlin (Humboldt)

“The heart’s desire for an ultimate object may be conquered, but it’s desire to have some object is unconquerable. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one.”

~Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), Scottish minister, professor, and reformer

SERMON PASSAGE

The Heart of Wisdom: The Priority of the Heart

Selected Passages from Proverbs (ESV)

Proverbs 1

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 2

1 My son, if you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

2 making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

3 yes, if you call out for insight

and raise your voice for understanding,

4 if you seek it like silver

and search for it as for hidden treasures,

5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 4

5 Get wisdom; get insight;

do not forget, and do not turn away

from the words of my mouth.

6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

love her, and she will guard you.

7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get insight.

8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will honor you if you embrace her…

20 My son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings.

21 Let them not escape from your sight;

keep them within your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them,

and healing to all their flesh.

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

24 Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

25 Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

26 Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 7

1 My son, keep my words

and treasure up my commandments with you;

2 keep my commandments and live;

keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;

3 bind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and call insight your intimate friend

Proverb 13

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 17

22 A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 21

2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the heart.

Proverbs 27

19 As in water face reflects face,

so the heart of man reflects the man.

Wisdom and Emotions: Sorrow and Joy

December 29, 2024 • Ryan Bouton • Proverbs 1:10–13, Proverbs 15:13–16, Luke 2:8–11, Psalm 37:4, Proverbs 12:25

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can.” ~ C.S. Lewis in A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken “Perhaps his purpose is simply to draw us closer to himself in conscious communion with him; for it is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest.” ~ J. I. Packer, Knowing God “Man’s happiness was never meant to be determined by his circumstances, and that is the fatal blunder that we all tend to make… We must come back to the soul and to God who made it. We were made for Him, we are meant for Him, we have a correspondence with Him, and we will never come to rest until, like that needle on the compass, we strike that northern point, and there we come to rest – nowhere else.” ~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), Welsh minister and medical doctor “The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my last dogma defiantly) it is not native to man to be so. Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul. Pessimism is at best an emotional half-holiday; joy is the uproarious labor by which all things live.” ~ G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy “But in this world everything is upside down. That which, if it could be prolonged here, would be a truancy, is likest that which in a better country is the End of ends. Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” ~ C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer SERMON PASSAGE selected passages (ESV) Psalm 37 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Proverbs 12 25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 13 9 The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out…. 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 14 10 The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy. 11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. 13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief…. 30 A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. Proverbs 15 13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. 16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it…. 30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones. Proverbs 25 25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Luke 2 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. John 16 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

The Good News of Christmas

December 24, 2024 • Don Willeman • Proverbs 25:25, Luke 2:10–11, Proverbs 12:25

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “When the Father’s Wisdom wanted to communicate His love He spoke it in one final perfect Word. “And so the Light became alive, and manna became Man Eternity stepped into time, so we could understand.” ~Michael Card, musical artist “‘Evangelion’ (that we call the gospel) is a Greek word, and signifies good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that makes a man’s heart glad, and makes him sing, dance and leap for joy.” ~William Tyndale (1494-1536), English, scholar, reformer, and Bible translator “Many people visualize a God who sits comfortably on a distant throne, remote, aloof, uninterested, and indifferent to the needs of mortals, until, it may be, they can badger him into taking action on their behalf. Such a view is wholly false. The Bible reveals a God who, long before it even occurs to man to turn to him, while man is still lost in darkness and sunk in sin, takes the initiative, rises from his throne, lays aside his glory, and stoops to seek until he finds him.” ~John R.W. Stott (1921-2011), Anglican priest and theologian “The Son of God did not want to be seen and found in heaven. Therefore he descended from heaven into this humility and came to us in our flesh, laid himself into the womb of his mother and into the manger and went on to the cross. This was the ladder that he placed on earth so that we might ascend to God on it. This is the way you must take.” ~Martin Luther (1483-1546), German reformer “For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is— limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine.… He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.” ~Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), novelist and playwright SERMON PASSAGE Luke 2:10-11, Proverbs 12:25, Proverbs 25:25 (ESV) Luke 2 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Proverbs 12 25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 25 25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

The Wisdom of God and the Scandal of the Cross

December 22, 2024 • Noah Crane

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “Now it is not sufficient for anyone, and does him no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the shame and humility of the cross.” ~Martin Luther, 16th century German theologian and reformer “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” ~1 Corinthians 2:2 “If thou hast but a spark of true faith in Jesus Christ, it is better than a whole volcano full of worldly wisdom.” ~Charles Spurgeon, 19th century British Preacher “O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me; for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above to bear it to dark Calvary.” ~“The Old Rugged Cross” by George Bennard SERMON PASSAGE Proverbs 3:7, Proverbs 16:2, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) Proverbs 3 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. Proverbs 16 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. 1 Corinthians 1 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”