Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

Father God, as we read these sentences, please, by your Holy Spirit, impress them on our hearts, our affections, our wills in Jesus' name, Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free from perversity. Keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet. Be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left. Keep your foot from evil. To be honest with you, I I wanna be quite simple today and next week.

And I've tried to avoid doing this actually, and I've tried to write sermons in different ways. But I've ended up doing this, and I want to be very simple. I'm just gonna give you a couple of simple illustrations and I'm gonna bang home the point again and again and ask questions. Because I wanna look at the heart, and we're gonna take on the second part of the sermon if you like next week as well. I wanna look at the heart because I I really think we need to do this.

We've come out of lockdown, and I'll mention this again. And perhaps we need to, you know, re re figure our hearts here. I think we all know how important the heart is to physical body. I mean, it's hard to get away from that. Everybody knows that.

If the heart stops, then you're dead or you're going to die quickly. That's what happens. Because the heart is the engine of the body, isn't it? It takes blood to every which carries all of the stuff that every other part of the body needs. So it's like the the pump, the engine of the body.

Apparently, your heart beats 70 times a minute. That's that's quite something. So if you want, it's already done that since I've started several times. A hundred thousand times a day, your heart beats. The average life of a person in this country, your heart will beat 2500000000.0 times.

So if you've got 1 of those things that's, you know, gauging, if it's coming up to 2.5, It pushes it pushes through 60 to 90 milliliters of blood with every beat. Which means 7600 liters a day. That's 2000 gallons in real money a day. Through 60000 miles of blood vessels. That is an extraordinary thing.

If your heart is diseased or you're having heart problems, the whole of your body has problems. We know that. We absolutely know that. So what you eat, what you do, how you exercise, even emotions, even stress Even love can affect your heart for good for for good or for bad. I don't know about you, but I've noticed that lots of people that are running around and are on bicycles and cyclists.

They now have heart monitors And I noticed people's often stopping to to to look at their heart monitors. You can get a heart monitor on your smartphone. You can get a heart monitor on your smart watch. Tom was telling me that you can even buy heart monitors that strap around you when you when you when you go running. So lots of people now have heart monitors.

And those monitors are to measure your heart, obviously. And they measure you you when you're sitting, when you're running, when you're exercising, walking, going up the stairs, whatever. And those monitors can warn you. You know, you've got not enough oxygen in you. Your heart's beating too fast.

It's running away with you. And the whole point, I guess of the heart monitor is to monitor your heart to make sure you're keeping your heart healthy, not over exercising or under exercising. Now, of course, you know that the heart stands for much more than just the blood pump in the body. It's the center of our being and that's why it's a good illustration. The heart which provides the blood with all the stuff that every part of the body needs goes around the physical body, but there's a center.

And the bible teaches about that center, about the heart. So the verse we're looking at very simply today, and then again next week is verse 23, above all else, guard your heart. For everything you do flows from it. Guard your heart, monitor your heart, protect your heart. So the heart in the bible stands for the engine, the spiritual engine.

And actually the bible, the heart includes your mind, your affections and your will. You can go through the bible and you'll see that it uses that. Your mind, it talks about, you know, thinking in your heart. So your ability to think, to doubt, to reason, to remember. There's a lot in the bible about remembering and thinking.

And and that's that's a hard job. It's the center of you. But the affections, your longing your feelings, your imaginations, your dreams, your emotions. That's the heart as well in the bible. And then your will, that that inner part of you that makes the decision, makes the choice where your feet are gonna go, what your ears are gonna listen to.

If you look at this passage here, I think you can see it. Now the words aren't used, but you do see it. It's in Hebrews. Chapter 11 and verse 24 to 27. It's talking about the faith of Moses, trusting God, his trusting God, but it moves his heart.

Now that's say the word heart isn't used, but you see the mind and the affections and the will being moved here. And this is a great definition of someone who's getting their heart in tune with God. So it says, by faith, Moses, when he had grown up refused to be known as the son of Faro's daughter. He chose to be ill treated along with the people of God, rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward.

By faith, he left Egypt not fearing the king's anger. He persevered because he saw him who was invisible. Now, I'm not going to spend a lot of time dissecting that, but I hope you can see a lot of things there. You see his mind. He thinks through.

He's looking ahead He's understanding that the pleasure of sin which it is very pleasurable only lasts for a certain amount of time and he's thinking through longer term. His affections are moved. He's he's he's his imagination in his affections because he saw him who was invisible. So he's imagining and understanding and grasping with his affections that there is a God. And then his will, he refused to be known as heroes' daughter.

He wanted to be known as as a child of God and to follow Christ. And he leaves Egypt, his will. I think you can see there that the faith of Moses in Christ was affecting his heart, his mind, his affections, His will. So when God says to us, keep your heart, guard your heart, he's saying, make sure inside. Make sure you're healthy, your mind, your affections, your will, your soul if you like, is the old fashioned bible Christian word, really.

Your soul. Above all else says our verse. Verse 23 of Proverbs 4. Above all else, guard your heart. For everything you do comes from it.

Or another version says, the the the springs of life, come from it, the springs of life. Whatever you do comes from your heart. What you are is what your heart is. It comes from your heart and you and as I say, you see that in the case of Moses. He changed his heart.

He changed his mind. He changed his affection. He changed his will. And so he became follower of God, a truster in God. God is always more interested in your heart than your outward body.

Always more interested. When Israel was trying to choose a king, God spoke to Samuel, when when Israel were looking for the the men, you know, that Stan stood, you know, head and shoulders above every other man, that had been to the gym, they had the muscles, they looked good, and they were entrepreneurs. You know, you could give them a job to do, and they'll be entrepreneurial about it. Where whereas everybody's looking at on the outside, God says, Man people look on the outside appearance, but God looks on the heart. He's looking on the heart.

He's looking at your heart, which is really good news because those that haven't got such great bodies as mine for instance, Then he looks at your heart not at how manly you are. I was, in fact, joking, but obviously, you don't you don't know this. You didn't get it. 1 old writer says that the greatest business in the Christian life is keeping is looking at your heart. And that's what our verse says.

Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do, flows from it. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you carry your heart with you. And if you've got heart disease, it will go with you. So guard your heart. It's the it's the spring of life, the well spring of life.

If there's not fresh water, flowing out of your life, because your heart's got a problem. If if there's blockage in service and love for others, it's because your heart's got a problem. Polluted water in the heart will come out somehow in in in in in the outward. And no circumstance change would change your heart. You have to change your heart.

It doesn't matter where you are or what your circumstances is. If your heart is wrong, it's wrong. So above all else guard your heart. And that's my first point, my second, my third, and the fourth, and constantly throughout until I can see you're so bored, I'll stop. I'm just gonna bang that home.

Above all else guard your heart, The ESV version says this, keep your heart with all diligence. Keep your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life. What are you allowing in your heart? John Bunyon wrote that fantastic fantastic book called pilgrims Progress, But he also wrote another lesser known book which is just as good really called Holy War.

And in it, he and you may have heard me talk about this before, but in it, He pictures a town, a walled town. And it's called man soul. The town is called man soul. It's a walled town. And in the middle of the walls town is Hart Castle.

Man soul, Heart Castle, Balled town. And there are gates through the wall into the town. They're called ear gates, Moughgate, nosegate. Eyegate. Feelgate.

And they let things in and out of the town. And through those gates, things coming out things coming out through those gates, through mouth gate, would actually only tell you what's going on in the heart, but also it's the other way around. What you let through those gates into man soul, and the roads go straight up to Heart Castle. Will affect you as well. It's it's that circle, isn't it?

What you let in affects the heart, what comes out shows the heart. Above all else guard your heart, keep your heart with vigilance. Set centuries at the gates. Put up be vigilant. Be aware of what you're letting in.

Be aware of what's going in ear gate and eye gate and in your senses. Watch out for signs when they come out of those gates that might suggest there's some heart disease somewhere. This means watching Vigilance is the other version. Watch God. A wise Christian studies the bible and studies his or her heart.

You become an expert on your own heart. I hope you do. Jesus says watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation. Paul writes to Timothy in the scriptures, watch your life and your doctrine carefully. Paul talks to the Ephesian elders elders of a a local church in the book of acts and he says, watch yourselves and the flock over which God has made you overseers.

Part of the elders job here is to watch you and sheep are stupid, and we're the flock of God, and we do silly things. And part of my job, part of my job is as the pastor of the church and the pastor of the church and the elders is to is to is to try to encourage you. What's your heart? Where's your heart going? So monitor your heart.

Have a heart monitor. If you've got a smartwatch and a the heart monitor on your smartwatch, then pick up the bible as well because the bible is the heart monitor. It's very interesting in the old testament. The leaders were told, the levites were told to put bible verses to tie them on their wrists and on their foreheads. That was a physical thing.

They had the bible written on their head and here on their wrists, it's like they were taking their heartbeat, on their wrists. So check your heart against the monitor. Your thinking, sound in mind be. If your thinking is right, then it will be in line with the scriptures. That's why you need to know the scriptures to make sure it is in line.

If you don't know how the monitor works, you won't know whether it's high or low. What are you allowing in your ear gate to speak to your heart castle? That's that's why when when when people have sort of difficulties in the area of the mind. You you need and I've done this before. You need church, you need other brothers and sisters that love you and that can speak to you when you haven't got quite such a sound mind.

We don't belittle people with that have difficulties in their mind. It's like a broken leg. You might have a a broken mind to some degree, but we wanna help. So how is your thinking? You have to put your thinking straight.

What about affections? What what is it you're loving? What are you drawn to? What is the thing that draws you that draws your affection? What's coming in fieldgate?

Are you being moved to something that you know is wrong? Or are you being moved away from something you know is right? How is your affections? How is your imaginations? What takes up your imagination?

What is the thing you think about when you're not thinking? What's on screensaver mode, when you're not thinking it goes back. What's the thing that takes over or what about your will? Have you moved away from the father's will and you know you have. Are you stubborn when it comes to the word of God?

What are you speaking to your will What are you using your mouth gate? Are you speaking the word of God to your will? Check the monitor. How's the heartbeat? Research shows us that people in love have synchronized heartbeats.

It's amazing, isn't it? If you're in love, you have a synchronized I mean that could be a good test, wouldn't it for, you know, you go in with your wife? And it's anyway, I don't know, but it's probably not very good. But you have a synchronized heartbeat. Yeah?

So a woman's heartbeat is slightly faster. Women's heart be slightly faster than men's heartbeat. It's a difference between men and women. But women's heartbeat largely defaults to the man's. So instead instead of her heart beating faster, it goes a bit slower.

So if you think your girl is real cool, it's because you're cool. Your heartbeat is slower, but they they they synchronize. You get the thing. Is your heartbeat in rhythm with the lovely Lord Jesus Christ? Or does it beat for sin?

Is it in rhythm with sin? Is it speeding up and excitable at the thought of what what how are your affections here? Was there a time that when the bible was taught you were there? What are you opening up your gates to? To heart castle, ear gate, mouth gate, nose gate, eye gate, feel gate.

What what what's taking up your senses? Look, we've come out of lockdown and we were forced to do things in lockdown that we didn't want to do. And at first, it felt like being forced to do it. But it is interesting, isn't it? After another lockdown, then another 1, and then the rains came in how actually we might have been very influenced and we've picked up habits that in 1 sense we couldn't help but do, but we're still carrying on those habits.

Are they right? For the time we're in now. Perhaps unhealthy habits. Do you need to take a diet? Do you need to feed on different things?

I mean, I was thinking at 1 period in lockdown, you know, how many sort of films and dramas and box sets you watched with murder in it. I mean, I'm wondering how many murders have we seen over lockdown? You know, or or, you know, the the police are investigate. I wonder how many murder Taught up how many murders. I wonder whether we thought about those murders in a drama more than we thought about the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross.

For us. Are our affections moved by superficial dramas? Or are they still beating with the love of Christ for us. Have our wills become lazy because we weren't allowed to do anything or serve in any way. But have we now become lazy?

And used to not doing anything. So we carry on not doing anything. It's interesting and I guess you know this. But most heart attacks happen on Monday morning. So you've got that to look forward to tomorrow.

If you want a day off work, there you go. But most heart attacks happen on Monday morning. See, weird, isn't it? I know this might be a bit silly but I wonder if that I wonder if most of our sin happens on Monday morning. The monitor at church the defibrillator that's caused us to get get kicked back into following God.

The monitor at church, the sermon at church has hit us and warned us So there's difficulties with your heart, but we totally ignore it. And then the next thing you know, you're doing exactly what the monitor warned you about. Very interesting, isn't it? I have noticed something about church life. If you preach on love for each other in unity, it's almost immediate.

You get some kind of letter of someone that that's angry at you for some reason. It's it's like what Sorry. Didn't you hear them? You know, I was pleading for forgiveness. It's quite it's quite interesting.

Perhaps most heart attacks happen on Monday morning after the Lord has spoken to us and warned us on the monitor. Some heart monitors have red lights and green lights and noises and buzzes that go off particularly the ones in in hospital. There's not enough oxygen to your heart. In this, we'll know about this sort of stuff, I would think. All kinds of all kinds of things going off when you were in hospital earlier, I guess, in this.

All kinds of warnings and nurses then run-in and say, what's happening? And he says, I just want it. A glass of water, I press that button or whatever. But, you know, red lights. Listen 1 puritan put it like this.

About red lights. He didn't use the word red lights, but he says the watch out for the impulses in your soul that have the tendency to secret perpetual and alarming departure from God. Secret perpetual and alarming departure from God. They're red lights, red buzzers. The bible's very clear on it.

Let me read them out from the bible. Sexual immorality. In your imagination with someone at work or girls walking along the street. Inurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, envy, fear, pride, greed, self pity, resentment, cowardice, anger, hard thoughts about God, coldness in worship, laziness in service. Be honest with yourself.

Identify the impulses of your heart and see what needs guarding John Kelvin, he says this that wisdom comes in 2 parts, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. That means you need to know God and you need to know your own heart. Don't be a stranger to your own heart. Keep your self vigilant. God your heart.

Pay closer tension to the affections and where the affections are moving you. Allow the monitor of the scriptures to warn you. Don't be proud. Don't put off. Don't say, okay, I'll leave it for a few weeks.

You might have the heart attack. You might have the heart attack on Monday morning. The warnings now. Watch for the first flickers of the red light on the monitor. Every time you read a story of some Christian that has fallen morally, you can guarantee they were never looking at their heart.

For some time. All of those people that some of you know that are in the in the Christian press that have fallen. That that, you know, many of them were called great bible teachers. No, they weren't and they were never great bible teachers because they never preached to the heart. They're always on about understanding the scripture but they never liked the preaching of the heart.

They've actually raised up a whole generation of preachers that don't preach to the heart. They're dangerous men, and they've been found out. Paul, he uses the heart monitor with the Galatian Christians. I'm not sure if I put this up. That was pink, forget him.

Galatians? Yes. Look look what he does. He says, you were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

That kind of persuasion does not come from 1 who calls you, a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. Just a little yeast. The monitor went off when the yeast hit the heart. It's like a virus that's come in. Little yeast.

There's a time he was saying, you were running well. You found joy in Christ. You loved the savior. It burned in your heart, love for him. You had great passion for the advancement of the Christian message.

To a lost world. There were significant sacrifices in you because you loved Christ. You faced difficulties with courage. You battled against deeply rooted sins in your life and you didn't grow weary doing so. You looked to holiness.

What's happened to you, says Paul. What stopped you? What's weighing you down? What's got in the way of your progress? What is hindering you?

It's the place to be ruthless with your heart. You you might say, look, I don't really know what is wrong. The the beep is going off, but don't really quite know what is wrong with your heart, well then this is what the bible says. It says that you should ask God. Speak me, says Psalm.

A hundred and 39 Seek me o God. Sorry. Search me o God. We're talking to God. Search me o God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there's any grievous or wicked way in me.

It's an opportunity to to to say lord, would you would you show up any defects in the heart because if the heart dies, I die. Ask a Christian friend, ask a pastor, ask your elders, ask your home group, people. Have you got a problem in the heart? What are the impulses? Is there any secret, perpetual, alarming departure from God?

Well then, listen. Do something about it. Bunyan, in holy war, not only has enemies outside that can come through the different gates. He talks about enemies that are already in Heartcast, already in the in in the town. I guess it's like cholesterol and fat that's already there.

And they'll stop the heart working properly. John Kelvin again talks about the heart is an idle factory. We're always making false gods to worship, to trust in, to believe in. If only I have that, then I'll be happy. They're the sort of false gods and habits that we fall into that make ourselves feel comfortable but are actually killing us.

What are those habits? What needs changing? Above all else, brothers and sisters, guard your heart for everything you do will flow from it. Can can I can I ask you to keep doing that? Here's a quote.

I've quoted quite a few puritans, but here's a quote. You have to go back. You see see these things. Have a look at this. If there is 1 consideration more humbling than any other, to a spiritually minded believer.

It is that after all God has done for him, after rich displays of his grace, The patience and tenderness of his instructions, the repeated discipline of his covenant, the tokens of love received and the lessons of experience learned, there should still exist in the heart of principle The tendency of which is to secret, perpetual, and alarming departure from God. Lord search our hearts. Allow the monitor to bleep. Listen all I'm gonna do now. It's something probably a little different.

But I wanna put up loads of verses. Now, I could have put up 778 of them. In the bible about the heart, but I've resisted doing all of them. I'm just gonna put these up. I'll read them out I want you'll have to be fairly quick, but I'll I'll try and do it as slow as I can.

But I'm gonna read these out. And I just want to ask you, Is the red light is the buzzer going off or you've got a green light on this? Just gonna I'm just gonna read some of these sentences out. Is there a red light? Listen.

Listen. Now's the opportunity to confess. We're gonna take the Lord's supper in a minute and he loves to forgive. So don't don't kid with God here. Is there a red bleep buzzer, light, Or are you green?

Or is it sort of an amber? You're not sure? Well then ask the Lord. So just read these out. Some of them will apply to you.

Some of them won't. But just ask yourself this. So let's go. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on earth.

And that every inclination of thought of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord knows. 1 chronicles. I know my God that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. Matthew chapter 6 verse 21.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Mark 7, verse 20. What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within out of a person's heart that evil thoughts come, sexual immorality. Theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness.

Envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. Galatians chapter 5. The acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality. Impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, descentions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orges and the like.

I warn you, as I did before, but those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Any red lights there? Any green lights here, but the fruit of the spirit is love joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control Gotta ask the lord for those things. Psalm 16 verse 9. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices.

My body also will rest secure. Have a glad heart, a rejoicing tongue. Psalm 27 verse 3, Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. You in fear? Is it a warning buzzer?

Psalm 27 verse 8, my heart says of you, seek his face. Your face Lord I will seek. Psalm 28 verse 7, The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy.

With my song, I praise him. Love to worship the Lord. Psalm 33 21, in him, our hearts rejoice. Psalm 40 verse 8, I desire to do your will, my God. Your law is written, is within my heart.

Psalm 51 verse 17. My sacrifice, so God, is a broken spirit, a broken, and contrite heart, you God will not despise. Psalm 66 verse 18. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Perhaps you can't pray.

Your heart is wrong. Psalm 86 verse 11. Teach me your way, Lord, that I might rely on your faithfulness, give me an undivided heart I may fear your name, Psalm. 90 verse 12, teach us to number our days. That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

You're not here for long, what are you gonna deliver for? Psalm 97 verse 11. Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Is there light and joy in your heart? Psalm 39 23 a hundred and 39 23.

Search me God, and know my heart. You got it? There's a few more. I'm gonna read them. Proverbs 12 20 is a lot in Proverbs.

Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy. If you got joy, then you have peace in the heart. If you're plotting evil because you've got to see it in your heart. These are frightening verses. Make the heart of this people callous Make their ears dull and close their eyes.

Otherwise, they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and be healed. Perhaps you're not healed, perhaps you're not having a heart for God because God said, okay, I'm gonna make you callous. Isaiah 50 65 verse 14, my servant. Will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in the broken spirit. Jesus takes up that Isaiah passage and says, for this people's heart has become callused.

They hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and I'd heal them. They're so hard, they won't turn. This whole sermon is boring and dull, isn't it? Let's just move down to colossians.

Clossians 3 verse 1. Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above. Colashians 3 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Hebrews 3 8 Do not harden your hearts. Hebrews through e 10.

He was angry with this generation. He says, their hearts are always going astray. They've not known my ways. Hebrews 3 12, talks about sinful and unbelieving hearts. Hebrews 3 15, Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.

Hebrews 10 22, let us draw near to God with sincere hearts and with full assurance that that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from guilty and having our bodies washed with pure water. That's what we're going to do. We're gonna come to the Lord's table and we want him to wash it So any red lights went off. Have I just been to I've been had my head down. I haven't looked at any of you.

Is this all just over your head? Is there a callous heart here? Then you need to cry out to God help me. Do you want a warm heart to the Lord Jesus? Well, here are a couple of verses.

Just some more. 1 John chapter 1, If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. This is the defibrillator. It comes banging in. It will reset your heart.

Confess it. Any of the red lights confess. Will you do that? Hebrews 9 13. I know there's lots of verses, but I've deliberately done this.

Look at this. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean, sanctified sanctify them so that they were outwardly clean. How much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. Confess those monitors now that the monitor picked up now, those red buzzers. Confess those things.

And then we're gonna take the Lord's supper. I'm gonna ask Tom to pray and thank God for these elements that show us the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. And then Tom will tell us what to do in taking the lord's supper, but just have a minute quiet to search your heart. Let's pray together. Father the God, we thank you so much for the gift of the heart And we thank you for the amazing thing that it is not only physically, but for all that it means that it is the seat of our our will and our emotions and our affections.

It is intimately connected to the mind and how we think. Wouldn't simple thing that it is. And father, we thank you that you know each and every 1 of us here. And we are all from different places and we are in different stages of life at the moment. Some of us will be will be working or without work.

Some of us young and older. Some single couples married, some who are single who are now married or married, who are now single, and there are people who are mentally feeling well, those who are feeling mentally unwell, people who are physically fit and people who are physically struggling, different different life stages, all of us in different life stages. And we thank you that with every stage, there are both unique opportunities to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And also unique challenges and temptations. And we pray for each and every single 1 of us that you would help us to guard our hearts that as we've been hearing this morning, that we would set centuries at the gates, that we would be careful, what we let in, and what we let out that we would recognize there is a real enemy, Satan and his dark forces who want to deceive heart and lead it astray and open up every single gate and let every influence come in and come out.

And we pray that with all vigilance, and we pray that with great diligence, you would help us to guard and to watch over our hearts to recognize that we are so easily moved away from things that we know are right. We are so easily drawn to things that we know are wrong, that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful, likely to trick contempt, and we just pray, please you would help us to watch over our hearts and keep them close to the lord Jesus. Now, we pray as we've heard this morning that you would help us to be a good student that we would be good students of your word and that we would be good students of our own hearts, that we would not coast, but that we would study the heart that when we go wrong, we would take time to think about why we did that, what it was that led to that. What things, what idols were operating in my heart that led me to behave in that way, that we would study our hearts and our emotions, and that we would study your word. And Lord, we thank you that even if we don't quite know what the problems are, that we can cry out to you and say, search us God.

Search us, show us, if there are hidden faults in us, if there are hidden corruptions in the heart, if there are things that are stricting our fellowship with you. Please make them known to us so that we can repent of them, turn around and come back to you. Father, we pray for our children learning now, and we thank you as we already have for the team of people that we have. Who teach our children to watch over their hearts and to guard them with all diligence. We pray that our children might grow up to love the Lord Jesus Christ.

To love the bible, to be students of themselves, to listen with open ears to the messages of this world, and to walk wisely before you. And lord, we thank you that that if we all and we all will to some degree, feel like failures this morning. That we can come back to you, that we can confess our sins, and the perfect blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will purifiers from every sin that you will rush to the aid of our failing hearts, that you will put the put the shock into them, put the spiritual life back into them, and we pray that you would do that for all of us this morning. We thank you for the Lord's supper, which is a very visible reminder of all that you have done for us in Jesus that on the cross, though he had a perfect heart though he watched over himself perfectly all the time, that he went to the place of cursing and condemnation for sinners like us. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you know all that we have done, and yet you loved us enough to go to that cross.

And when you'd finished a job, you said it is done, it is accomplished, it is finished, every sin known and paid for by Jesus. And we thank you lord that that blood speaks the best word of all. It speaks of promise and faithfulness and spiritual transformation. It speaks of a heart of stone smashed and a heart of flesh put into all of your people. And we just thank you that this lord's supper reminds us of the grace that is available to every 1 of us this morning.

And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Oh, ma'am.