Proverbs in particular and the Bible generally, which is Jesus’ word. Proverbs 4:4 – Let your heart hold fast my words. Proverbs 4:10 – Hear, my son, and accept my words. Proverbs 4:20 – My son, be attentive to my words. That brings us to the big idea of Proverbs 4: Listen attentively to Jesus’ words. Listen attentively to Jesus’ words. But why? Though the centrality of God’s word has fallen on hard times, why should we, as a church family, listen attentively to, keep on believing in, and build our lives on Jesus’ word, the Bible? Proverbs 4 provides three reasons: 1. They’ve stood the test of time (4:1-9) 2. They keep you on the path of life (4:10-19) 3. They guard your heart (4:20-29).

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Sermon Transcript

Let’s see if you can complete this nursery rhyme: “Sticks and stones can break my bones…but words will never hurt me.” That’s foolish. The Bible says the opposite. Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” Death and life are in the power of words. Words are so powerful. An encouraging word can make your day, but a harsh word can break your heart. Words are powerful.

The opening page of the Bible reveals just how powerful words are. God spoke life into existence by his word. Genesis 1:3 – And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Not only did God’s word bring life at creation, but God’s word also brings new life, new birth in Christ. 1 Peter 1:23 – since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; God’s word is powerful; it brings life, new, eternal life in Jesus Christ, and God’s word transforms and equips us to live godly lives. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. God’s word is powerful and every page of it – Genesis to Proverbs to Revelations – not just the read letters, is the word of Christ and about Christ. Luke 24:27 – And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Death and life are in the power of Jesus’ words, and the whole Bible is Jesus’ words.

Despite the power of Jesus’ words, in the evangelical Christian world, the significance of words has fallen on hard times. Words are being replaced by habits. It’s common today to hear evangelical leaders teaching that you become what you repeatedly do, as though death and life are in the power of the habit, the practice, or the ritual. But without the centrality of the word, the habit quickly devolves into repeatedly gazing at the make-believe Jesus of your own imagination. Death and life are not in the power of the habit, they’re in the power of the word. It is Jesus’ word that is sharper than any sword and sufficient to equip us for life and godliness.

Few places do we see that death and life are in the power of Jesus’ words more clearly than in Proverbs 4. Notice the repeated emphasis on the words of wisdom, which are the words in Proverbs in particular and the Bible generally, which is Jesus’ word. Proverbs 4:4 – Let your heart hold fast my words. Proverbs 4:10 – Hear, my son, and accept my words. Proverbs 4:20 – My son, be attentive to my words. That brings us to the big idea of Proverbs 4: Listen attentively to Jesus’ words