Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Our great God in heaven here on Earth, we find that there are many things that would keep us from hearing and receiving Your Word to us from heaven.
[00:00:14] We live in a world that seeks to distract us.
[00:00:20] We confess that all week long we find its voice rather enticing.
[00:00:25] It offers us good pleasures, good things, if we would but do the very things yous call us not to, if we would turn our heart over to this world and desire it, and things that yout have forbidden us from.
[00:00:45] And O God, we confess too, that in our own hearts there is yet remaining evil desires.
[00:00:56] And that keeps us from wanting to hear your Word, and certainly from wanting to obey it.
[00:01:04] And Lord, when we hear your Word, there's also the enemy who would come and snatch that word from our ears.
[00:01:15] So, O God, we throw ourselves at yout mercy. We cast ourselves before youe Almighty power. And we ask that you, by your spirit, would deal with all of these problems.
[00:01:28] That to each of us, as we have need, you would deal with the sin without and within, with temptations and distractions clearing all of it away.
[00:01:39] That we might behold the Lord Jesus, who speaks to us from on high in heaven, that we might hear his voice not just in our ears, but but in our hearts. And that we might be filled with his wisdom and with love for Him.
[00:01:55] Help us, we ask, O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for Jesus sake. Amen.
[00:02:04] Come now to hear from God's Word as we read our sermon text together. We're reading from Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23, verses 17 and 18.
[00:02:38] Proverbs 23, reading verse 17 and 18. Hear God's Word.
[00:02:44] Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
[00:02:53] Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off.
[00:03:00] Please be seated.
[00:03:09] When I was growing up, I had the privilege of getting to spend a lot of time every summer on a lake.
[00:03:15] And I really enjoyed learning boating little day sailors, sailboats and then also rowboats.
[00:03:27] And if you've ever been boating, you know that the whole point of riding on the boat is going somewhere. And on the lake that usually meant going across the lake to swimming holes and places where there were rope swings on trees that we could, as young people spend hours having fun, splashing in the water and so forth.
[00:03:51] In order to get to those fun destinations, of course, we had to aim the boat and the way that you aim a boat, because boats are. They're on the water, they're. You've got to constantly be aiming them right as you're going across the water, the water's moving, the wind is blowing, the boat will turn easily. You have to constantly be aiming the boat in the direction of where you want to go.
[00:04:16] Sailboats are maybe a little easier. You pick a point on the shore opposite, wherever it is you want to go, and you get your tiller correctly, and then you just hold that course as you head that direction. Of course, you have to go with the wind. So there's tacking and all sorts of other things involved that are fun to learn about and enjoy to get to do as you make your way across the lake. But you're facing forward when you're steering that sailboat. You're holding the tiller in your right or left hand, and you can see where you're aiming, and it's the same direction the boat is going to. Rowboats are actually the opposite, because when you're steering a rowboat, you're sitting facing backwards, the opposite direction from where the boat is going. But you still have to aim the boat. And the way you learn to do that is that you learn to find a point on the shore that's behind you, where you're facing that is exactly opposite of where you're going. And then you make sure that as you row, steering the boat with the oars as you row, you keep that point. You keep the stern of the boat aimed the exact opposite direction where you want to go, so that you end up where you want to go. Okay, you get the idea. There's a lot of aiming the boat involved.
[00:05:34] Whatever kind of boat it is, you're always constantly aiming the boat in the direction that you want to go.
[00:05:41] Well, it turns out that in the Christian life, we have to do something very similar every day. In fact, if you look at verse 17, all the day long, our hearts have to be aimed in the proper direction. With the sailboat, it's the tiller or the rudder that you aim.
[00:06:02] In a rowboat, it's just the rear of the boat. You get that in the correct spot, and then the boat's going in the right direction. Well, as people, as Christians, in the Christian life, what aims? Our whole self, our whole person, is our hearts. Wherever our hearts are directed, that's where we go. Wherever our hearts are aimed, that's where we go. That's how we live. That determines our course, you might say, in the Christian life, I think that's at the heart of these two verses. Here. We're being taught not to aim our hearts towards sinners and desiring what they have and what they do but to aim our hearts towards God in the fear of the Lord that we might serve him all the day long. So we're going to look at this idea of our hearts and where they're aimed or directed. We'll look first at the heart's envy, secondly at the heart's fear, and then thirdly at the heart's hope.
[00:07:00] So where are our hearts aimed first? They're not to be aimed in envy towards sinners.
[00:07:09] We're dropping into Proverbs here. Whenever you're reading the Book of Proverbs, you always keep in the back of your mind that you're reading a book written by a king, King Solomon, the wisest king, right, in the Old Testament. Written by a king training his son, and of course, his son.
[00:07:27] He wants to train his son up to be a wise and righteous king.
[00:07:32] That's the story, you might say, that's in the background of the Book of Proverbs. And of course, Solomon was a wise king, but he also did a lot of foolish things, a lot of sinful things. His heart was led astray. He knows quite a bit about this heart and its aim and how the heart can be led astray into all sorts of sinful things.
[00:07:53] And as a result, even though he was one of the wisest kings, the wisest king of the Old Testament, he wasn't the wisest king that ever lived.
[00:08:03] And he wrote the Book of Proverbs so that one day a great, great, great, great grandson of his would be born who would follow perfectly all the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs. And that wise son of his would sit on the throne of David and reign perfectly and wisely over God's people, training all of us, God's people, up in the wisdom of heaven. Of course, that king, that son of Solomon, is Jesus, our king. The Book of Proverbs was written so that he would grow up in the wisdom and fear of the Lord and that he then might reign over us, God's people, drawing us into the wisdom of the kingdom of heaven, that we might live under Christ's wise and gracious reign.
[00:08:54] That's the kind of the backstory that we always have to keep in our minds as we're reading the Book of Proverbs. Jesus learned these proverbs, and then he reigns in our hearts, and he's applying them in his wisdom so that we might live as a part of his gracious and wise and righteous kingdom.
[00:09:13] Now, as you hear this, then this proverb is not just written for Solomon's son, Jeroboam Rehoboam, who was a foolish king, you may remember, who didn't really learn these proverbs. It wasn't just written for the Old Testament Israelites. It was written for Jesus and for Jesus to apply to our hearts.
[00:09:33] And that heart idea is very important because if you've read the Gospels, you know Jesus is very concerned with our hearts. And if you look through this chapter 23 and the rest of the book of Proverbs 2, you will find that Jesus is very concerned with our hearts, that our hearts be wise, that they be aimed in the proper direction.
[00:09:57] Let's look at a couple examples. Look at verse 12.
[00:10:01] Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to the words of knowledge.
[00:10:08] It's not just that the ear is to hear instruction and teaching, but that the heart is to receive that wisdom and to live it, to conform the heart to that wisdom.
[00:10:22] Again, look at verse 15. My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.
[00:10:31] The heart of the Father will delight and rejoice if the heart of the Son imbibes in wisdom, lives wisdom, learns wisdom.
[00:10:42] Our verse here, verse 17, about our heart not envying sinners, but instead fearing God. Then again, look at verse 19. Hear, my son and be wise and direct your heart in the way, in other words, the way of righteousness. Aim your heart in the proper direction.
[00:11:01] Jesus is concerned about our hearts and where they're aimed at. And he says, do not envy sinners. Now, what's he talking about here?
[00:11:12] Envy is a synonym. It's another word for coveting, right?
[00:11:16] Anyone who's grown up in the church or become a part of the church later in life has learned the Ten Commandments. And the tenth commandment is.
[00:11:24] It's about envy, isn't it? Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's house or his wife or his belongings.
[00:11:31] We are not to envy or covet.
[00:11:35] Now, what's that about? That idea of envying or coveting?
[00:11:40] Positively, we're to be content with the things that God gives us, whether it's our home, our wife, our family, the possessions God gives us. We're to be content with the things God gives us. That's the positive call of the 10th Commandment.
[00:11:58] Negatively, we are forbidden from discontentment, not being content and happy and thankful with the things God has given us. And further, we're not just to not be discontented. But what's more, we're not to look at our neighbors and begin desiring what they have. God's given them things he hasn't given me. And to covet is to desire the things God's given him and, and not me. So it's this idea of a call to contentment over against envying and discontentment.
[00:12:33] That's what the 10th Commandment is all about. But here Jesus takes our hearts and he says, yeah, it's not just that we have a problem with discontentment generally.
[00:12:44] As those who I have saved out of the kingdom of darkness, out of this world, you're going to become discontent with living in my kingdom and you're going to become envious of what the world has, what the wicked people have and do.
[00:13:04] We as Christians are especially tempted to envy what the world has.
[00:13:10] And here Jesus says we're not to do that.
[00:13:16] Maybe that's simple enough. It at the big level, what are some ways that we tend to envy sinners? So how does this hit us? I think you can kind of fit it all into two big categories.
[00:13:32] Two big categories of how we tend to covet the wicked or the world.
[00:13:38] We either can on the one hand, want the things that sinners have, or we can want to do the things that they do.
[00:13:50] We can covet their stuff and we can actually covet their sin.
[00:13:56] We can have a heart that desires to sin the way that they're sinning. I think both, we find both taught in the Scripture that we have a tendency to do both of these things.
[00:14:06] You can probably fit just about everything into those big categories. Either we that we have a sinful envying and desire of what they have or of what they do.
[00:14:20] Think about what they have.
[00:14:22] You can think about their stuff, their wealth, their home, their car, their clothing.
[00:14:28] Right. Their money.
[00:14:30] There's other things they have.
[00:14:32] People in the world might have positions of power, of influence over others.
[00:14:38] Maybe someone's done really well in his career or his particular field, whatever that is, whether it's sciences or arts or literature, whatever someone might do really well. And we would like that for ourselves.
[00:14:52] So it might be not just a thing, but it might be a position of respect or power that someone has.
[00:15:00] All kinds of things that we could envy about sinners.
[00:15:04] We read from Psalm 73, and he gives some specific examples like this, of things that he sinfully envied that the wicked people had.
[00:15:16] Verse three, he says, I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
[00:15:23] For they have no pangs until death.
[00:15:27] Their bodies are fat and sleek.
[00:15:30] They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
[00:15:37] He saw the prosperity of the wicked, that they had wealth, money, power, pretty much anything a person could want in this life. And the result of that is that he sees them living a life of comfort, of ease, of safety.
[00:15:54] And he says, and they seem to live without trouble. They don't suffer like the righteous do.
[00:16:01] And he was tempted to envy that.
[00:16:06] Here's another verse, something else that we might envy.
[00:16:10] There are more throughout the Bible. And if you begin to think about your own life and the things that you see other people having, you realize that this stuff really happened. We do this.
[00:16:20] Here's another example, Psalm 17:14.
[00:16:26] The Psalmist is asking God to deliver him from the wicked. And he says, deliver me from the men of the world whose portion is in this life.
[00:16:35] You fill their womb with treasure.
[00:16:38] They are satisfied with children.
[00:16:41] They leave their abundance to their infants. He says, the wicked God, you give them children in abundance, and then they're able to leave a posterity and inheritance to their children.
[00:16:55] And that's something I kind of want.
[00:17:00] We can want sinfully envy what sinners have in all kinds of ways.
[00:17:07] It's very easy to covet the world when we see them doing well.
[00:17:15] But it's not just that we don't just want what they have, we can sinfully want what they do. That is, we can want their sin.
[00:17:24] Proverbs 3, 31 says, do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways.
[00:17:35] It's not just that we're envying him because he has stuff here. He says, don't envy the man of violence and don't follow any of the things that he's doing. That is his sin and his violence.
[00:17:48] We're tempted to follow in the sins of the world.
[00:17:54] Maybe you could think of it this way. As we look at the world that Jesus has saved us from, we see people who seem to be getting everything they want.
[00:18:04] They get to gratify their desires.
[00:18:08] They get to do so with impunity. Nobody tells them what they can and can't do.
[00:18:17] Just sit down and watch a few Hollywood movies. And that's what you see.
[00:18:23] People have affairs, they satisfy their sexual desires, and they seem to get away with it.
[00:18:30] People do all kinds. And that's the message that our society is sending us.
[00:18:37] You can. You've heard this over and over again. I'm sure they put it in children's movies. Follow your heart, right? Follow the desires of your heart. That's the message the world gives us.
[00:18:49] If you do that, if you give yourself what you want, you'll have pleasure and happiness. And all will be well with you.
[00:19:01] Follow your heart and your desire to influence and have power over other people. What does that look like? Manipulation, control, lies.
[00:19:14] You're afraid of consequences.
[00:19:16] Just tell a white lie.
[00:19:18] Don't like having to deal with people. Avoid your problems.
[00:19:22] Sleep with whoever you want.
[00:19:25] Are you hurting?
[00:19:27] Get drunk and numb away the pain.
[00:19:30] The world, it seems right from the outside, gets to fulfill all of its desires, gratify them with impunity, and they keep on living life.
[00:19:40] But we all the while suffer. That's what our heart tells us. And so we begin to envy sinners.
[00:19:49] When we allow our hearts. We look at the way the verse is written. Do not let your heart be envy sinners. Your heart isn't autonomous.
[00:20:00] It doesn't just go do its own thing and you have to follow it.
[00:20:03] You have power over your heart to direct and control it. Just like a boat.
[00:20:10] When you allow your heart to envy sinners, you're taking your heart, the thoughts of your heart, that is your mind, your will, your inclination.
[00:20:21] You're taking the desires and the affections of your heart. You're taking them and you're aiming them at sinful things.
[00:20:29] And guess what happens when you do that? As your heart envies those sinful things, what do you think the result is?
[00:20:36] That's where you end up.
[00:20:38] You are going to end up being abusive, controlling and manipulative other people when that's what you desire. You're going to end up sleeping with other people who when your heart envies that in others, you're going to end up stealing and so forth.
[00:20:55] Your heart is the entirety of your inner person.
[00:21:00] And when you envy sinners, you aim that heart, and therefore your whole self directly at them and what they give themselves over to you.
[00:21:12] But your heart belongs to King Jesus.
[00:21:16] Your heart does not belong to the devil. It doesn't belong to the world. It doesn't belong to sinners. Your heart belongs to Jesus.
[00:21:25] He purchased your heart. Not just your body, but you heart, soul, mind, strength. He bought all of you with his blood.
[00:21:34] He didn't just save your body or your affections. He saved the whole of you from sin and he made it his.
[00:21:43] And he wants your heart.
[00:21:46] Where is your heart aimed?
[00:21:49] What do you think about?
[00:21:51] What consumes your mind, your passions?
[00:21:57] What are your affections warmed to? What do you find yourself desiring?
[00:22:04] Think about these things.
[00:22:07] Do you find yourself desiring, loving, contemplating the things that sinners want and get?
[00:22:16] Then your heart is envying sinners.
[00:22:21] We lie to ourselves if we don't admit that this is going on, we lie to ourselves further, if we don't admit how powerful this temptation is and how powerful the grip of envy is on our hearts.
[00:22:39] The world and its ways are very tempting to us and to our children.
[00:22:44] But we and our hearts and our children's hearts belong to Jesus.
[00:22:49] And so we need to aim them where he calls us to aim them. And that is to fear God.
[00:22:55] It's our second point, the heart's fear.
[00:22:57] This is King Jesus wise solution to, to the problem of the envy of our hearts.
[00:23:04] It's very simple.
[00:23:06] Fear Jehovah, fear God. That's what Jesus says. Take your heart and aim it at the Lord and aim it there all day long and don't move it away. And if it starts to move away, like that boat, you're rowing along in the boat or you're going along, whatever kind of boat it is, the wind starts to get you off course, aim it right back where it needs to be all day long. Take your heart, Jesus says, and aim it back to God.
[00:23:35] Set your heart on the fear of the Lord. Jesus says, and that will deal with this problem of the envy of sinners.
[00:23:46] What is the fear of God?
[00:23:49] Well, that's a 30 sermon series to unpack the fear of God.
[00:23:57] We'll start with what it's not.
[00:24:00] It's not a terror of God.
[00:24:02] At Mount Sinai, you remember, God spoke the Ten Commandments and it was a pretty terrifying thing. There was thunder and lightnings and they heard the voice of the trumpet and there was smoke and they heard the voice of God himself speaking from the top of the mountain.
[00:24:21] The people were tempted to be terrified of God. In fact, that's how they came to Moses. They came afraid. They said, don't speak to us. Don't let God speak to us. But Moses, you speak to us. We're terrified.
[00:24:34] And Moses said to the people, Exodus 20:20, do not fear, for God has come to test you. Don't be terrified of God.
[00:24:47] Do not fear, for God has come to test you.
[00:24:51] That the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. He uses the same word fear twice.
[00:24:59] Do not fear, for God has come to test you, so that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.
[00:25:07] Don't fear in the sense of being terrified of him, but have a right godly fear of him that leads you not to sin first.
[00:25:17] It's not the terror of God.
[00:25:21] And with good cause.
[00:25:23] King Jesus has come and delivered us from the terror of God.
[00:25:27] God's wrath and curse that belong to us. Jesus took that on the cross and he made peace between us and the Father.
[00:25:36] There's no longer any room or reason for us as children of the heavenly father to be terrified of God.
[00:25:44] But there is cause for fear.
[00:25:47] How would we describe this kind of fear? We might call it an awe or a dread.
[00:25:54] There is a place for being in awe of God, because God is awesome.
[00:25:59] As we consider his power that's infinite, nothing can stop Him. There's nothing God cannot do.
[00:26:06] As we consider his wisdom. He knows everything. And he knows exactly what should happen and what should be done in every single situation.
[00:26:15] And he exercises his power. He uses his almighty power according to that great perfect wisdom.
[00:26:25] That's a majestic thing to think about, that should leave us in awe.
[00:26:30] Think of the angels in Isaiah's vision.
[00:26:35] He sees the throne of God and God's glory and the train of God's robe of glory filling the temple.
[00:26:42] And he sees the angels who fly before God's throne. They have two wings for flying, right? Two wings to cover their faces and two wings to cover their feet.
[00:26:54] The angels have a sense of awe and dread. They tremble before God's majesty and they've never sinned.
[00:27:01] They're perfect.
[00:27:03] There is a place, a need in fact, for us to have a fear, this sense of God that brings us to have an awe in our hearts towards him.
[00:27:15] When that fear, that sense of who God is, how great and majestic he is, when that's impressed upon our hearts, we're led to a godly fear.
[00:27:25] And that includes a right sense of awe, even of dread of his presence.
[00:27:30] Isaiah 8:13 says, but the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy, let him be your fear and let him be your dread.
[00:27:44] This kind of fear, good godly, righteous fear that holds God in awe and even in dread because he's holy and righteous, that leads us to obedience and to avoid sin. That's what Moses was saying at Sinai.
[00:28:04] God's testing you so that you would fear him and not sin.
[00:28:10] When that kind of fear is impressed upon our hearts in a good way, when we know who God is, when we know that he's present with us all day long, when we know that he's there in his omnipotence and in his omniscience, and that he's omnipresent, that all the alls right. He's everywhere present. He's all powerful and he knows everything that's happening all the time.
[00:28:34] When that, we carry that with us in our hearts all day long. When that's where our heart is aimed, that we fear and serve such a God.
[00:28:43] It leads us to avoid sin.
[00:28:46] And in this context, because that's where our heart is aimed, that's what we're thinking about when not looking at sinners and envying them, those thoughts are gone. Our desires are towards God, to please him and to serve Him.
[00:29:02] I think there's another aspect of the fear of God that's implicit in this verse.
[00:29:09] Yes, there's an avoidance of sin, a turning away from envying sinners and the things that displease God.
[00:29:16] But there's another aspect of the fear of God, and that is this. When we are impressed with who God is, when our hearts sense who he is and we know what he is, we know that God is the source of all goodness and blessedness.
[00:29:37] That is to say that if there's anything good that we would ever receive, it must come from God.
[00:29:47] Every good and perfect gift comes down from God, the Father of Lights, in whom there is no shadow or turning. Remember that verse.
[00:29:54] It's a great way of summarizing the idea that if there is anything good that you will experience in this life, it must come from God.
[00:30:05] If there is any blessing you will experience in this life, it comes from God.
[00:30:13] And you can think of this first in terms of God as Creator.
[00:30:17] He made everything. He made you. He made the food that you might want to eat. He made the spouse that you might want to love and go through life together with.
[00:30:27] He made the things that you pursue in your career, right? Your callings, all of the good things God made.
[00:30:37] And he sustains you and this whole universe. So that at any moment, if you're to receive something good, it comes from God as your creator and sustainer.
[00:30:48] It doesn't come from anyone else.
[00:30:54] So here you are tempted to envy the sinners and what they have. And guess what?
[00:30:59] That envy will never be satisfied.
[00:31:03] Because good things don't come from them and their means and their sinful ends.
[00:31:09] It comes only from God.
[00:31:12] No amount of desiring what other people have will get you anything.
[00:31:19] Or you could think of it negatively in terms of a person who, if you were to give yourself over to envy, to sort of like a pig, wallow in the mud of your sinful desires, the only time any of those will be fulfilled is if God allows you to wallow in that mud and in that vomit.
[00:31:43] But secondly, we can think of the fear of God and the fact that everything good comes from God. Not just God as our Creator and sustainer, but God is our Savior.
[00:31:58] This is especially true for those who belong to King Jesus, those who are in his kingdom.
[00:32:04] You receive every blessing temporally in this life, here on earth, in your family, in your home, in your job. Every blessing comes not just from God as Creator, but it comes to you from Jesus as your King.
[00:32:18] And it's not just physical temporal blessings that you receive from Jesus as your king, but it's all the blessings of heaven.
[00:32:28] If you belong to Jesus, everything comes to you from Him. It doesn't come because you worked hard. It doesn't become because ultimately because someone else did something for you and gave it to you. It comes because he gives it to you.
[00:32:47] Think especially of the blessings of the kingdom of Heaven, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and being with God forever in heaven. What does Paul say in Ephesians chapter one? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ Jesus.
[00:33:12] If you have blessings, they come to you from the Father through Christ Jesus, your King.
[00:33:25] When the fear of God in Christ Jesus is pressed upon your heart, you see that only, only in Christ come good gifts and blessings. And never from this world, and never from sin, and never from following after sinful end.
[00:33:46] The fear of God in Christ leads us to see the only source of good things as Jesus, our Savior and King.
[00:33:55] And that deals with envy at its root.
[00:34:00] We can be content because we are united to Jesus.
[00:34:05] He is ours, we are His. And if Jesus is ours, our all things belong to us.
[00:34:14] That's the solution to envy.
[00:34:17] You belong to Jesus and he belongs to you.
[00:34:22] Do you see how wise your king is that he wants you to direct your heart to the fear of the Lord.
[00:34:30] It deals with the problem at its very root.
[00:34:33] And like a ship headed in the right direction.
[00:34:37] When your heart is gripped by the fear of God in Christ, when you know who your king is, then you're headed in the right direction.
[00:34:48] Your heart, your heart is sinfully wired to want what the world offers you.
[00:34:55] Jesus knows this.
[00:34:58] He didn't have a sinful heart, but he had a human heart.
[00:35:01] He had human needs.
[00:35:05] He knows exactly what you're facing in that moment.
[00:35:08] He experienced it in the extreme.
[00:35:12] Remember, he spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness with no food.
[00:35:18] He was hungry, he was tired, he was worn out. His human body and spirit were pressed to the utmost.
[00:35:27] And then the devil came to tempt him.
[00:35:30] And what did the devil tempt him with?
[00:35:34] He offered him everything.
[00:35:37] What you might be tempted to envy in sinners in this world.
[00:35:42] The devil offered him everything. He said, see the kingdoms of the world he showed him from a high mountain, everywhere you look, all of this good stuff and all the pleasures and riches and treasures of this world. Everything that I have to offer, Devil says, I'll give it to you if you bow down and worship me.
[00:36:02] Do you remember Jesus? Answer.
[00:36:06] Jesus knew the proverbs. Jesus knew this proverb.
[00:36:10] He knew that the remedy to any envying this sinful world was the fear of God.
[00:36:19] His answer to the devil was, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. Or if we quote what Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13, you shall fear only the Lord your God, and you shall worship him and swear by his name.
[00:36:39] Jesus heart was aimed in the fear of God and he never wavered from that course. And he calls us to follow him in that same course.
[00:36:50] King Jesus says, aim your heart at God.
[00:36:54] Aim your heart at me.
[00:36:58] Fear me.
[00:36:59] Serve me all the day long. When you wake up, turn your heart in thanks and praise to God.
[00:37:07] Enter the presence of your Father in heaven. Experience that sense of awe and dread and of his holiness.
[00:37:14] Experience that sense of love and peace that your Father in heaven loves you in Christ more than anything and anyone else in the world.
[00:37:24] As you begin your day and everything that's in front of you say, jesus, I need you to help me with all of this. And I know I'm facing a world that's going to want me to turn to other things, but I need you. And I know that I need you. And I know that the good gifts come only from you.
[00:37:43] Help me today to live in the fear of God.
[00:37:46] Draw me to yourself all day long. And as the problems pop up all day long in God's providence, say, ah. This came from God's hand, didn't come from the world. This person that's challenging me, this temptation I'm facing, this problem I'm running into that I cannot solve, all of them tempt me to go and do the wrong things and envy the world.
[00:38:10] But all of these problems come in God's providence. And they're all opportunities to turn in the fear of the Lord and to serve the Lord.
[00:38:19] Where is your heart aimed? Aim at Jesus. Let's pray.
[00:38:25] O Lord our God, we confess that if our hearts were like boats, we would be spinning in circles all day long.
[00:38:39] O Lord our God, we are indeed tossed about like waves on the ocean.
[00:38:48] We ask that you, Lord Jesus, would be our anchor, that you would hold us firm, and that by the power of your spirit and faith, we would hold you firm, draw us closer to you.
[00:39:03] Help us to know your love for us.
[00:39:06] Help us to remember that as we face sin and temptation, indeed, when we stumble and almost fall, like the psalmist, that you are not surprised by any of these things. Your love towards us does not waver so there. Lord Jesus, we ask that you would turn us back to you and that our hearts would cling to you.
[00:39:31] We ask that you would help us to cultivate this sense of your presence and the fear of God, Help us to be diligent in it, help us to find practical ways, times of prayer as individuals, as families, times of reading your word verses that we commit to memory. Help us to use all these sorts of practical things so that we might be encouraged and built up, and so that we might be like that man in Ephesians 4, who, being built up in maturity and stature, is able to stand firm and not be tossed about by the waves of this world, but that by your grace and strength we might march forward, serving you contented, trusting you fully to give us all that we need.
[00:40:18] And with thanksgiving, Jesus name we pray. Amen.