Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

River Church Sermons


Aug 16, 2020

Pursuing Wisdom Pt. 4

Go Get It!

By Louie Marsh, 8-16-2020

 

1) I need to go GET wisdom.

 

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. 9  She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” Proverbs 4:5-9 (ESV)

 

Get = “get, acquire, create, buy.”

 

13  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)

 

7  “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 (HCSB)

 

2) The wise persons guide to sin.

 

12  When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. 13  Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. 14  Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. 15  Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. Proverbs 4:12-15 (ESV)

Four Things I MUST do:

 

  1. AVOID the sinful situation;
  2. Pass as FAR FROM it as possible;
  3. TURN AWAY from the sin;
  4. Pass beyond or ESCAPE the sin.

 

29  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30 (ESV)

 

9  But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Titus 3:9 (ESV)

 

3) GUARD my heart against sin & harm.

 

23  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:18-23 (ESV)

 

of all guarding guard your heart because from it emanations of life Proverbs 4:23 (CBLBible)

 

15  “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. Deuteronomy 30:15 (ESV)

Guard  - does not mean run away, hide, monasticism – Simon Stylites  - Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite was a Syriac ascetic saint who achieved notability for living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo.  Had to send up food and clothes at times, he sent down in a bucket his poo – what a ministry, taking a bucket of holy man poo and burying it!

 

9  “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— Deuteronomy 4:9 (ESV)

 

4) MEDITATE on how well I’m following Jesus.

 

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 4:26-27 (ESV)

 

24  Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Matthew 16:24-26 (ESV)

 

13  “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)