GUARD YOUR HEART
Gregory W. Lee
Preached 12 June 2005

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Proverbs 4:20

20. My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.
21. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
22. for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.
23. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

-- how many of you noticed the rain yesterday? -- for most people, rain like we had yesterday was just a nusiance -- you couldn't get out -- you couldn't enjoy the outdoors -- your yards got soggy -- dirt roads got muddy -- it was just a miserable kind of day, but the rain didn't really cause you any big problems -- it was just a nuisance
-- but, to all the dog lovers in the congregation, yesterday's rain was more than just a nuisance -- you see, us dog lovers know that more than flowers follow rain, mosquitos also come out after the rain -- and if you are a dog lover, there is nothing that you fear and hate more than the mosquito
-- mosquitos down here carry a parasite inside of them -- and when they land on your dog and bite them -- tiny little larval worms get injected into your dog -- they follow the bloodstream all the way to your dog's heart and once they get there, they grow bigger and bigger and bigger -- we call them "heart worms" and they claim the lives of more dogs than any other thing down here in the south
-- that's why we keep a box of this handy with us -- do you know what this is? -- it's called Heart Guard -- a vaccine designed to protect and guard the heart of your dogs and keep them safe and healthy by preventing heart worms from living in your dog's heart
-- and as a dog lover, I am worried about my dog's heart -- but there's a lot of other things in our world today that can do damage to hearts -- not just the heart of a dog -- but also the heart of a person

II. The Value of a Heart

A. The Wellspring of Life
-- King Solomon -- the author of this passage -- was well aware of that -- while he had a good heart as a young man and as a young king, Solomon didn't guard his heart like he should have, and the Bible records that his heart was damaged as he chased after women and material things and false gods
-- I think that's one reason why he wrote this passage that we read -- as a warning to his sons not to follow the same path that he had followed -- but to guard and protect their hearts above all else -- he said that the most important thing they could do in their life was to guard their hearts, because their hearts would be the wellspring of their life

-- listen as I read vs. 23 again
23. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

-- the wellspring of life -- that's a curious phrase, isn't it? -- what does Solomon mean here when he tells his sons that their hearts are the wellspring of their life -- the KJV sheds a little more light on it when it translates this passage to read that the "issues of life" come out of the heart
-- when I was meditating on this passage of Scripture this week and I reflected on the meaning of a wellspring, I thought about a backpacking trip I took to DeSota Falls in north Georgia when I was in high school -- it was my first backpacking trip and being from the flatlands of south Georgia, I was out of my element -- we wandered up the mountain trail following a river flowing out of the mountain
-- I had never seen a clear river before -- I was used to the blackwater rivers and creeks we have down here in south Georgia -- and I remember how fascinated I was as we walked along that path -- looking in the river and seeing the trout and the insects and the birds and all the animal life living in and around that river -- we followed that river up past a large waterfall and the river grew narrower and narrower and narrower until it finally stopped at a spring probably no bigger around than a five gallon bucket -- just bubbling up and flowing out of a crack in the rocks of that mountain
-- when you think about it, that mountain's very life -- those trout and birds and insects and everything else that depended on that river -- were only there because of that spring -- the issues of life on that mountain came welling up out of it -- that spring brought life to that mountain just like heart wells up and brings forth life for you

B. What does a good heart look like?
-- our hearts are the wellsprings of our life because they define who and what we are -- our character -- our being -- our life -- all are born from the state of our heart -- for whatever is in our hearts is what our lives consist of
-- if your heart is good -- if your heart is filled with the life that flows from the spring of God's love -- then your life and your character and your being are good
-- what does a good heart look like -- turn over to Galatians 5 and let's look at the fruit of the Spirit -- a good heart can be summed up by these characteristics

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

-- how many of you have a heart that looks like that? -- if you have been saved -- if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and been forgiven of your sins through His blood, then your heart was re-created just like this -- filled with love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and kindness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control
-- and when you continue to live in Christ -- when you continue to walk with Him and seek His forgiveness and cleansing of your daily sins, this is what your heart -- what the wellspring of your life -- should look like

B. What does a hard heart look like?
-- but, it must be protected -- because just like the heartworms are a danger to our dog's hearts, there are many things out there that are a danger to our hearts -- and these things can come in and damage our hearts and damage our lives and our character and our behavior
-- what does a damaged spiritual heart and a damaged spiritual life look like -- Paul tells us here in verses 19-21

19. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20. idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21. and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

-- in Mark 7:20-23, Jesus Himself warned us to guard our hearts and to keep our hearts from becoming damaged and unclean in God's eyes -- these verses read, "What comes out of a man is what makes him `unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man `unclean.'"

-- a heart that is not protected will become damaged -- a heart that is not guarded will become damaged -- the Bible calls this the "hardening" of your heart
-- Pharoah's heart was hardened when he refused to listen to God's words spoken through Moses and refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt -- and it affected his life and the life of all the Egyptians as God poured out His wrath on Pharoah's people
-- so, how do we guard our hearts and keep them from becoming hardened? -- how can we walk through life with good and pure and holy hearts?

III. The Protection of a Heart
A. Protect ourselves from temptation and sin
-- in Mt 26:41, Jesus told His disciples to "watch and pray" so that they wouldn't fall into temptation -- note that Jesus didn't say to watch and pray so that they would not fall into sin -- but into temptation -- He said the same thing in the Lord's prayer -- Jesus taught us to pray, "lead us not into temptation"
-- as Christians -- especially as Christians -- we need to keep our eyes open for temptations that might come our way and pray that we might not be led into temptation
-- sometimes we get tempted to think that we are above temptation -- sometimes we think that because we're Christians, we don't have to worry about temptation -- we let our guard down and we don't protect our hearts and our lives from temptations that might lead to sin
-- 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" -- we should never consider ourselves above temptation -- but we should protect and guard our hearts by watching and praying that we don't fall into temptation as Jesus commanded
-- this may mean making some changes in your life and in the places you go -- there are some places that I just don't go, because I know that temptations lurk there in the shadows -- there are certain movies that I just don't watch -- and there's some music that I just won't listen to -- because I know that there are temptations there

-- one good way to avoid temptation and sin is to remind yourself daily of the damaging consequences of moral failure -- all you have to do is pick up your morning paper or watch the news to see examples of homes ripped apart -- of families broken and destroyed -- of lives being shattered -- all because someone didn't guard their heart and opened the door for temptation and sin
-- your heart and your life and your family are too valuable to not watch for and avoid temptation every single day

B. Protect Ourselves through Spiritual Disciplines
-- I've talked about these on many occasions -- we can't neglect doing things that keep us close to God -- things like prayer and Bible reading and quiet times and regular attendance at church worshiping God with other believers -- the means of grace that God gave us to keep our relationship with Him strong
-- Rick Warren wrote that we should always watch our spiritual temperature -- by this he means that we should be aware of our level of spiritual committment on a daily basis
-- if you find yourself neglecting prayer and neglecting Bible reading and neglecting the other disciplines, this is a warning sign from God that you are leaving your heart open to temptation and sin and evil enemies
-- turning away from God can lead you down a path towards unbelief and disobedience that can affect your whole life -- Prov 28:14 says, "Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble."

-- Romans 2:5-6 says, "because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done.""

-- if you turn away from God by neglecting those things that keep you close to Him -- the spiritual disciplines and means of grace that He has given us -- God warns us that trouble will follow and that we are opening ourselves up for judgement and wrath

-- in Ephesians 6:14, Paul tells us to put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect our hearts from the dangers of spiritual battle -- a breastplate of righteousness is characterized by love, obedience, trust, and a close walk with God

IV. Closing
-- please turn over to Phillipians 4:8-9, and we'll close there -- in these two verses, the Apostle Paul, writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit, sums up for us how we should guard our hearts from temptation and sin and unbelief

8. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
9. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

-- our hearts are the most important part of us -- they dictate who we are and what we do -- they define our character and our behavior and our very life -- and they should be guarded and protected above all else

-- at the end of my life, when I stand before God's throne at the final judgement, I would like to be able to stand and say, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:12 (NIV), "Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God."
-- in other words, I want to be able to stand and say, "I have guarded my heart -- and my character -- my being -- my actions -- my very life attest to this fact"
-- above all else, guard your heart, because it is the wellspring of your life
-- let us pray