Sermon on JUNE 4 by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

Scripture: Proverbs 2

What happens inside us when we come to faith and when we see God in new and powerful ways?

When God is changing your heart, you will

1. BE DEVOTED – AND GO DEEP!

• ‘Get real with Me …’ (v1-4)
  You know you love the Lord, when your taste for Him leaves you hungering for more.

‘Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good’.
(1 PET 2:2-3)

• ‘… and I will get real with you …’ (v5-8)
  Wisdom is not seeking the Lord so He may love you more. If nothing we do can put us in His debt, all He desires is honesty.
• ‘… and you will change.’ (v9-11)
  You know you are changing when you can discern not just is good from evil, but what is best from what is better.
  You change from ‘Do I have to do this’ to : ‘Do I really get to pray, to read God’s Word, to serve?’

2. BE COMPELLED – AND STAY ON TRACK!

To be renewed is to be kept on track, on God’s ‘ma gal’ (Hebrew) : the well-worn, good path.

• Wisdom will keep you from dangerous men (v12-15)
  God is committed to keeping us from those who would detour us with smooth words from His path.

‘The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves.’
(Prov. 13:5)

• Wisdom will keep you from deadly women (v16-19)
  God gives us the spectacles to see clearly in a media-saturated age where lust can drag us into darkness.

‘It is the tendency of things that are gazed at to get through the eyes into the mind and into the heart.’
(C.H. Spurgeon)

• Wisdom escorts you into delighting in Jesus (v20-22)
  We are not changed by what is on the outside but by our address, Christ in us. Not a physical land but a spiritual reality.

‘If you remain in me, and my words (wisdom) abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.’
(John 15:7)

Remember! There is only one way to the path of righteousness and change. It is not through our guilt-motivated efforts, or striving. It is gazing upon and resting on the Shepherd who is committed to keeping us on His well-worn path

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. Is it enough to listen or to heed wise instruction? Why, or why not? If there is more, what is it?
2. Can a baby create his or her own desire for mother’s milk? When the desire is there, what should we expect? What do you expect to see more of in yourself if you are hungering for more of God?
3. What kind of paths does verse 20 tell you to walk in? What will help you in this week to delight more in Christ and to run from evil when tempted? (Read Psalm 23 and Hebrews 12:1-3)

Photo credit FreeImages.com/Jerrit Pruyn