WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.400 So this is our 12th look at the book of Proverbs and what we know so far is that the book of Proverbs 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:17.320 teaches you that you can either be wise or you can be a fool in life. So there's our positive 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:24.240 statement for the night. Originally we were going to squarely focus on addiction tonight but as I 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:30.359 was thinking about addiction and reading through the whole of Proverbs and looking at text about 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:37.359 addiction there aren't very many actually that directly address it but I noticed a few things. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:43.560 One I found a really helpful definition from a theologian who's also a psychologist about 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:50.320 addiction and he says this, addiction is an enslaving destructive external dependency on 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:58.240 some object in this world that when mistreated causes deep harm to your body and soul. I found 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:05.840 that it's a pretty good definition but in Proverbs when it does address addiction specifically it 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:13.439 addresses it alongside all sorts of other aches and sins and there's a primary theme common to all 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:21.599 of them and that's that they manifest a broken heart and I was talking to Alistair I who preached 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:27.359 on the sins of speech you know month or so ago after he preached and he said as he was preparing 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:32.519 for the sermon on speech which he prepared for for a long time and read through the book of Proverbs 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:37.920 a few times he said the thing that he noticed most was that the book of Proverbs talks about the 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:45.240 heart on every page every column constantly it mentions heart many many times 75 or so times 00:01:45.240 --> 00:01:51.439 I found as I was reading through Proverbs again this week and the main idea in Proverbs about 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:56.920 the human heart the thing it talks most about the human heart something so fundamental really to 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:06.920 the whole book is that the human heart is broken sometimes it uses the phrase the wounded spirit 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:16.439 or the heart that aches and the broken heart so that's the title tonight and we're not specifically 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:20.920 talking about breakups like girlfriend boyfriend breakups with the broken heart which is the way 00:02:20.920 --> 00:02:26.319 we use that phrase most often today but that is included for sure amongst many other things 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:33.879 but we're really talking about actually is psychology psychology and I'm not a psychologist 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:40.919 but the study of the inner life the study of the human psyche of the inner self the Bible has a 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:48.159 ton to say about what we call psychology today long before that science ever developed about 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:54.000 the human psyche and Proverbs has a ton to say about it and it talks about the heart or the spirit 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.639 so we're gonna look at this tonight the human heart the primacy of the heart the broken heart 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:09.360 the healing heart and the wise heart and if you were counting that was five things and five I don't 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:16.159 think I've ever preached on five points in a sermon here it's always three and sometimes two 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:24.039 but tonight is five but don't don't be afraid because three of those points are two minutes or 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:35.000 less okay so it's two points and three little ones so don't worry first the human heart the Bible 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:41.680 mentions the heart literally hundreds of times and almost 1,000 times mentions the heart it's a 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:48.760 little Hebrew word Leb lebe very simple and almost never in the entire Bible is the heart 00:03:48.760 --> 00:03:55.480 does the word heart refer to the internal organ the muscular the muscular organ that pumps blood 00:03:55.480 --> 00:04:03.159 throughout your circulatory system only maybe three times the whole Bible and that makes sense 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:10.040 because the way we use the word heart today is the exact same right you almost never mean the 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:15.120 muscle probably when you use the word heart in your daily speech we say in modern day we give 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:21.800 heart to hearts whenever we're about to start a new relationship we talk from the bottom of our 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:26.319 hearts we talk about people who have hearts of gold we talk about people who have cold hearts and 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:31.839 hearts of stone our heart goes out to all of those who are suffering right we use the word heart 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:37.879 in tons of different ways and that's exactly the same way the Bible did it and English probably 00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:45.000 does it because the Bible did it first so what's what it what is proverb mean by the word the 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:54.879 concept of the heart chapter 14 verse 10 the heart knows its own bitterness and no stranger shares 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:00.759 its joy the heart knows its own bitterness no stranger shares its joy what is he saying the 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:07.159 author there is saying this only you know the true bitterness of your own heart or the true 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:11.160 joy of your heart in other words the principle underneath the point underneath that is that 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:17.280 you have an inner self that is completely invisible you have an inner self a part of you that nobody 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:22.320 else can see that's not external only your heart knows your bitterness only your heart knows your 00:05:22.320 --> 00:05:28.960 joys right there's part of you nobody in other words another positive statement tonight no one 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:36.560 truly knows you no one truly knows who you are there's a whole world inside of you that is 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:42.720 invisible that nobody external to you has ever seen before your inner conversations your thought 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:51.199 life and it dominates so much of who you are for it oh by the way Augustine St. Augustine the great 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:56.959 early church theologian he calls this the inner self so I'll be calling it the inner self quite 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:06.279 often tonight chapter 14 verse 13 even in laughter the heart may ache and the end of joy may be 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:14.359 grief even in laughter the heart may ache so what's it what's he saying he's saying that just because 00:06:14.359 --> 00:06:21.000 you laugh on the outside doesn't manifest necessarily what's happening in your inner self and 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:26.839 everybody knows this right we do it at church all the time you come and you smile and you laugh and 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:32.959 you and you have nice banter but we all know that people might be broken on the inside and 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:37.879 hurting on the inside in other words the inner self it's invisible just because you manifest 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:43.399 something externally doesn't necessarily mean that that's what's happening on the inside and so 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:49.159 there's a distinct inner life you can be as gentle as a kitten as a newborn kitten on the 00:06:49.159 --> 00:06:57.120 outside and on the inside be as angry and disgruntled as the most angry rattlesnake maybe 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.759 you've never seen an angry rattlesnake I've seen an angry rattlesnake in person and I can tell you 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:08.399 they're very angry that external and internal they're different they're different you have you 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:16.360 live in two worlds so to speak that are connected so point one all point one means is this when 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:23.719 the Bible normally speaks of heart or spirit it's referring to the inner self the inner life 00:07:23.719 --> 00:07:30.399 the core of your personality it includes your inner conversations that you have with yourself all 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:36.399 the time that you're having with yourself right now your desires your loves your biggest hopes 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:41.039 and your deepest flaws that's the heart and that's what the heart in the Bible because that's that's 00:07:41.039 --> 00:07:46.839 point one point two the primacy of the heart the primacy of the heart and all we mean to say here 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:55.519 is that the inner life the heart is incredibly important to pay attention to so Proverbs 18 verse 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:03.719 14 a man's spirit will endure sickness but a crushed spirit who can bear a man's spirit can 00:08:03.719 --> 00:08:10.639 endure sickness but a crushed spirit in other words cannot bear cannot bear anything what there's 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:17.079 what the author is saying is this if you have a cheerful heart if you have a heart that is at 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:26.560 peace and strong then no matter what circumstances come your way even the most vile sickness a man's 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:32.079 spirit can endure sickness then the circumstances don't change the condition of your heart your 00:08:32.079 --> 00:08:37.639 heart determines how you feel about all circumstances in other words a secure safe strong 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:43.319 heart can go out into the world and experience anything and be okay not that it doesn't have 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:51.080 sorrows but can be okay can be strong but a crushed spirit if you have a crushed inner life 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:59.920 deep deep deep problems in the inner life then circumstances dictate exactly how you feel when 00:08:59.920 --> 00:09:03.680 things are good in your life you feel good and when things are bad or your life you feel terrible 00:09:03.680 --> 00:09:10.760 right and in the modern world the basic spirit is that circumstances are the complete determination 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:16.720 of our happiness our failures and our successes that's what determines our happiness and the Bible 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:24.759 saying no if you place primacy on your inner life focusing on giving grace on the means of 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:29.319 graces of grace for your inner life then you can go out into the world at any circumstance and 00:09:29.319 --> 00:09:40.319 remain strong that's the point of 1814 in other words so much of your life is dominated by what 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:47.560 happens inside your head you spend all of your time in your inner thoughts in your inner 00:09:47.560 --> 00:09:53.400 conversation right you're only occupied with external things part of the time you're not 00:09:53.400 --> 00:09:59.120 always in conversation with people and much of your life you're asleep but even in the moments 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.360 that you're asleep your inner life is still raging it's still happening the conversations the 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:11.919 dreams all of it the inner life is so important and if you neglect it you neglect it to your 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:21.480 demise that's the point here third the broken heart why should we prioritize focusing on 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:27.560 our inner self on our heart our spirit why should we prioritize it and the answer in the book of 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:33.679 Proverbs and this is our primary point tonight point three is that it's because the human heart 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:42.399 is broken the human heart is broken Proverbs says it all over the place Proverbs the heart aches 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:51.159 the spirit is wounded the heart is crushed the heart is rotting the heart is and these are 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:56.439 things aspects of the heart where you can be wounded by things that happen to you the heart 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:04.160 is anxious bears grief is sorrowful and is depressed and then these are things that you do 00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:11.160 inside your inner self things that are what it calls right the heart is envious addicted 00:11:11.160 --> 00:11:18.120 prideful and hateful okay so those are all the different verbs the book of Proverbs uses for 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:25.520 the broken heart and so one of the main conversations about in the psychology world today in the 21st 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:32.879 century that you guys have heard for sure is conversations about where human problems the 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:37.480 core of human problems the kind of problems that happen in our heart of hearts anxieties and 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:45.079 depressions and and and sins of envy and anger and all sorts of things why does that happen to us 00:11:45.079 --> 00:11:52.559 where do these problems come from and there are basically two extreme answers to that question on 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:58.639 the one hand there's the answer that you might call the left or the liberal answer whatever that 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:03.159 might mean but the liberal answer and that's that people have deep problems in this world because 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:10.199 of things that happen to them right that people are fundamentally victims of their childhood of 00:12:10.199 --> 00:12:17.919 how they were treated as a child of their context of their environment of issues of esteem that 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:24.000 have come from the outside of biological issues that affect your inner psychology that's the 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.079 position on the left that fundamentally our problems come from the outside the problems of 00:12:28.079 --> 00:12:34.479 our heart come external to us and then on the opposite end of the extreme which is where 00:12:34.479 --> 00:12:42.240 Christians more often than not land is that they say no the problems human deep human problems 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:49.240 deep anxieties or whatever those are moral issues and if you have that that's something that you've 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:55.159 done that you've chosen that you've acted on and that's a problem fundamentally not with what's 00:12:55.159 --> 00:13:03.799 outside of you but what's with you right and what is the book of Proverbs say to quote Facebook 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:13.079 which is always a reliable source it's complicated it's complicated the answer is yes the book of 00:13:13.079 --> 00:13:18.240 Proverbs recognizes all of those things it's super complex right the Proverbs has a really 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:25.319 intricate and impressive psychology of a study of the human psyche a theology of the inner self 00:13:25.319 --> 00:13:32.519 it's complicated right so for instance the outside just let me give you a couple examples of what it 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:38.519 talks about our broken hearts come from external circumstances that we are indeed victims yes 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:47.519 Proverbs affirms that chapter 14 verse 30 a peaceful heart gives life to the flesh but envy 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:56.360 makes the bones rot a peaceful heart gives life to your flesh but envy makes the bones rot now 00:13:56.360 --> 00:14:03.399 this is so modern it's so aware it's so up-to-date it's so ancient and so contemporary at the very 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:10.600 same time because what's being said here is that there is indeed a biological aspect to the problems 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:17.759 of the human heart a peaceful heart can give life to your flesh that's the word for physical flesh 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:24.560 but envy can make your bones rot right in other words what it's saying is that human beings are 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:32.479 some psychosomatic whole as we say that things that happen inside of your inner life manifest and 00:14:32.479 --> 00:14:40.279 embodied problems right and that the reverse is true that biological issues can actually 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:49.279 cause issues of the inner self issues of the heart right for instance if you have if your 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:54.720 thyroid isn't working properly and this is just according to the medical communities of today 00:14:54.720 --> 00:15:00.959 basic if your thyroid isn't functioning properly if you don't have whatever I can't remember 00:15:00.959 --> 00:15:06.879 whatever thyroid produces somebody will tell me afterwards I have no doubt then it can make you 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:13.199 want to commit suicide over the long call it can cause deep depression your biology affects 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:19.400 something like deep depression that's an absolute fact right there's and Proverbs is not afraid to 00:15:19.400 --> 00:15:24.840 affirm that but at the same time it says at the end of that passage envy will make your bones rot 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:32.920 and we all know this is true as well if you've ever suffered with long-term indwelling sin it can 00:15:32.920 --> 00:15:38.560 cause manifestations of outward sickness right or if you struggle with a lot of deep anxiety and 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:44.039 worry it can make your it can make you sick right this is probably happened to many of us that 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:50.959 there's a psychosomatic union that Proverbs is well aware of a second passage chapter 25 verse 20 00:15:50.959 --> 00:15:56.559 and this is just more generally about circumstances how external circumstances affects us this is a 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:04.399 really fun one whoever sings songs marry songs it should say to a heavy heart is like one who 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:12.720 takes off a garment on a cold day and puts vinegar on soda okay in other words it's saying that when 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:18.679 the when it uses the phrase whoever sings marry songs to a heavy heart it's referring to a person 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:27.720 that comes and sings jingle bells at Christmas to the wife who's just lost her husband right 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:34.680 external circumstances break hearts and there are moments in life where jingle bells is not 00:16:34.680 --> 00:16:41.000 appropriate it doesn't help instead what it says it does is it's like taking off their outer garment 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:47.800 in the middle of winter it makes them cold as ice or it says and this is the best one it's like 00:16:47.800 --> 00:16:53.720 putting vinegar on soda now I don't know exactly what they're what they're referring to there if 00:16:53.720 --> 00:17:02.240 soda means what we call baking soda today maybe I'm gonna go with that because maybe you've done 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:08.400 this I've done this hundreds of times literally when I was in early secondary school and late 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:14.640 primary school but if you take a two liter bottle and you put vinegar in it and then you pour baking 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:21.680 soda in it right people done this I hope so it's amazing you you screw it on as tight as you can 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:29.279 you shake it up and it will explode in your hand we used to there was a toilet bowl cleaner in the 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:34.480 States that had some kind of compound in it we figured out it was very off brand you know really 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:40.000 terrible and if you use that instead of baking soda you could get a two liter bottle to shoot 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:46.120 literally to the end of the neighborhood I mean it was unbelievable but probably they're they're 00:17:46.120 --> 00:17:50.720 aware of the science this is exactly what they're saying they're saying that when you sing a marry 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:56.720 song at the wrong time to somebody that's been broken by external circumstances it causes an 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:02.839 explosion you see vinegar on soda that's what they're saying in other words it's simply saying 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:11.319 external circumstances have a really matter when it comes to the condition of our hearts that they 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:20.079 can cause deep sorrows depressions anxieties all sorts of things and then thirdly and finally 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:28.000 for this point this is the ultimate this is the ultimate statement in Proverbs about external 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:38.559 consequences 1413 even in laughter a heart is sad and the end of happiness is grief even in laughter 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:44.199 a heart is sad and the end of happiness and grief and what's he's this is an incredibly morbid 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:51.840 proverb because it's saying that everybody even the happiest people you know even the Colin Armstrong's 00:18:51.840 --> 00:19:01.319 in your life right if you know Colin ultimately has a broken heart we can't relativize it it says 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:11.880 even in laughter the human heart is sad and at the end of all happiness is grief you think 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:17.080 of the best moments of your of your life the best people around you the best dinners the best 00:19:17.080 --> 00:19:27.600 Christmas dinners and whatever the laughs end up they stop the best books come to an end and 00:19:27.600 --> 00:19:35.440 humans ultimately have to watch people around them die as they look down the barrel of their own 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:44.559 demise and you say thanks I didn't come for that tonight but look look that's what that's what he's 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:49.680 saying here in the book of Proverbs the end of all happinesses is ultimately grief and what does 00:19:49.680 --> 00:20:01.039 he mean by that he's talking about death he's talking about death and death and there are tons 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:06.559 of people walking around the streets of Edinburgh tonight and in our city that think that the 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:12.799 grave is the only goal that are looking down the barrel at their own demise at death but they 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:18.599 want so badly a life that has meaning a life that has purpose a life that is ultimately when you 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:24.200 weigh it at the end more happy than it was sad and the book of Proverbs is saying that's not 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:30.159 that's not reality that's not facing the facts that's not coming up against reality that's not 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:36.480 being brave enough to be consistent enough to say if our lives ultimately have no meaning in the 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:45.360 end if the grave is only golden life has no meaning now in other words everybody no matter what they 00:20:45.360 --> 00:20:53.040 believe no matter what they think about God in the end of all things longs for what the great one 00:20:53.040 --> 00:20:59.600 of the great theologians of the 20th century or Carl Bart said a far off country that they have never 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:10.559 visited a land without disease disaster and death and see us Lewis puts it this way in the weight 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:18.119 of glory speaking of this far off country he says there's a secret in every one of you it's a desire 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:23.919 for something that has never actually appeared in our experience or our circumstances he says we 00:21:23.919 --> 00:21:29.439 find beauties and we find joys and books and music or whatever but the true object of our desires is 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:37.000 not in the books it's not in the music the best parts of this life books music whatever they're 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:44.320 not the thing itself they're only the scent of a flower that we have never found they're the echo 00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:51.720 of a tune that we have never heard it's news from a far off country that we have not yet visited 00:21:51.720 --> 00:22:00.920 the aching heart the broken heart the wounded heart longs for a circumstance a land a place 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:09.079 that is beyond the bounds of death disaster disease and destruction our hearts ache because 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:14.640 circumstances matter and the circumstances of this world are broken produces broken hearts 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:26.600 but why are they so broken our circumstances and Proverbs is nuanced it doesn't just say 00:22:26.600 --> 00:22:35.080 we're victims it also focuses on the inside the internal the inner life it says we have broken 00:22:35.080 --> 00:22:43.120 hearts because our hearts are broken what does that mean in other words the world of sorrows 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:48.119 that we live in that breaks our hearts the external circumstances that come in and break us they 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:56.479 exist because the human heart broke the world in the first place see the things that come in and 00:22:56.479 --> 00:23:02.559 break us from the outside exist only because the human heart first broke the world it broke 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:09.519 circumstances it broke our experiences and so this is what Proverbs says also about the heart 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:17.319 not only can it be crushed from the outside but the heart is wicked deceitful perverse crooked 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:26.879 haughty prideful bitter envious hateful and addicted and so it's not simple it's it's not 00:23:26.879 --> 00:23:31.079 simple it's not saying one or the other it's not saying the extreme right or the extreme left 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:38.519 in the book of James we read James chapter 1 verse 13 to 15 earlier James of course is the 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:45.440 proverbs of the New Testament and it offers a psychology of sin in the book of Proverbs of 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:52.559 the heart and in verse 13 this is what James says let no one say I am being tempted by God in 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:58.359 other words what he's saying is no one can say that the fault of my sin is my circumstance 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:05.759 circumstances James is saying does not cause us to sin let nobody say in any circumstance that 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:13.400 they're being caused to sin tempted to sin by God verse 14 but people are enticed by their own 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:20.440 desires desire conceived gives birth to sin in other words there's a difference in circumstances 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:27.240 and what truly causes us to sin and he says that what truly causes us to sin is our deep desires 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:36.799 in other words why do you sin you sin because you want to you sin because you want to your sin 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:42.160 is not something that somebody made you do you sin because you wanted to it's a manifestation of 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:49.079 the deepest desires of the human heart I use this illustration when I taught on James 1 last year 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:56.799 but you don't remember so he's again many of you have taken like accountancy exams or law exams 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:04.039 or investment exams or whatever any type of qualification and imagine that you go in and you 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:11.440 bomb it you completely blow it and you fail and you get the results and if you're being honest 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:17.799 with yourself you ask yourself why did I fail why did I do so poorly and you're being honest 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:25.919 none of you are ever gonna say I failed it because they tested me if they wouldn't have tested me I 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:31.880 wouldn't have failed right and that's true if you wouldn't have been tested you wouldn't have failed 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:37.880 but the real reason what's the real reason that you failed it's your fault you didn't do the work 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:43.160 you didn't prepare right it's not the circumstance it's not the test itself the moment of the test 00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:50.960 is not the cause of our sin we sin we sin because we want to in other words circumstances give 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:59.360 occasion to expose our sinfulness our broken hearts and Francis Spufford puts it this way what 00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:05.000 we're talking about here is not just our tendency to lurch and to stumble and to mess up by accident 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:12.600 our passive role as agents of entropy in this world instead it's our active inclination to break 00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:21.919 stuff stuff here means promises relationships our well-being and the well-being of others you are 00:26:21.919 --> 00:26:30.199 a being he writes whose desires make no sense they don't harmonize we are equipped more far 00:26:30.199 --> 00:26:38.039 more for farce and tragedy than we are for happy endings you're a human and that's where we live 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:45.599 normal experience the aching heart the promise breaking heart so there's two senses to the broken 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:52.799 heart we have broken hearts because of the sorrows of this world the external circumstances but at 00:26:52.799 --> 00:27:01.039 the core Genesis 3 the human heart is what broke the world it's what created the circumstances 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:08.519 the situation of sin and brokenness so Christians Proverbs can say with the left with the most 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:14.920 extreme absolutely human beings are victims of circumstances in that biology and all sorts 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:21.440 of factors play into the mess of human deep heart problems and at the same time with the right I 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:27.799 can say it's my fault and both of those things are true at the very same time we don't have to 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:39.680 choose one or the other there's no healing there's no healing without confession without being willing 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:46.799 to say I'm at fault there's no healing without confession so fourthly a five and five is only 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:55.519 one minute is there is there hope is there a cure for the broken heart is there a cure for this 00:27:55.519 --> 00:28:02.400 situation these are the three worst Proverbs in the book of Proverbs okay so brace yourself 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:17.079 1120 those who have crooked hearts are an abomination to the Lord chapter 16 verse 2 all the ways of a 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:25.799 human being are pure in their own eye but the Lord weighs the truth the spirit and 20 chapter 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:35.319 not chapter 20 verse 9 who can say I have made my heart pure I am clean from my iniquities of 00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:41.839 course the answer that's implied there is no one in other words what these three Proverbs tell 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:51.519 us is that God looks beyond your external actions he looks at the deepest in most parts of your 00:28:51.519 --> 00:29:01.240 inner life the in the conversations you have with yourself your deepest desires and that every single 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:08.199 one of us is found wanting it says here that he weighs our spirit in the balance in the scales of 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:13.120 justice this is what the sermon on the mount was about so in the sermon on the mount of 00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:19.960 course Jesus is saying all of you think and say that you know you can honestly say I've kept it in 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:25.400 commandments right I have not committed adultery people he was addressing people who were saying 00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:32.240 this I've not committed adultery I've not stolen I've not murdered and he's saying but God sees 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:40.640 your inner life at the core of who you are sin is you have a crooked heart doesn't matter if 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.640 you've never committed adultery you've done it in your heart right he's that's what the whole 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:49.599 sermon on the mount was trying to was trying to teach that God weighs the inner self the inner 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:56.200 life not just the smiles and the external manifestations of who you are he sees everything 00:29:56.200 --> 00:30:04.600 in addition to the three worst proverbs so to speak in the book of Proverbs there are three 00:30:04.600 --> 00:30:13.559 proverbs that refer really peculiarly to the tree of life I'm only offer you one a gentle tongue 00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:23.400 is a tree of life but perverseness breaks the heart in other words it's saying that a healing 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:31.320 heart a heart that's being healed from corruption and brokenness is compared here to a tree of 00:30:31.320 --> 00:30:36.840 life and the meaning is pretty simple on the surface a gentle tongue is a tree of life a 00:30:36.840 --> 00:30:42.200 perverse tongue breaks the spirit in other words when you say a kind word to somebody it can 00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:49.680 actually heal their heart in a way but a perverse word a corrupted word breaks their spirit but 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:57.759 that gentle word that kind word the author is saying is a tree of life one commentator says 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:05.360 this is such an odd comparison to make the tree of life it's not just some random phrase random 00:31:05.360 --> 00:31:15.480 comparison this is an instance of cosmic nostalgia is an instance of cosmic nostalgia the author 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:25.319 here is imagining through just the kindness of words a far off country a hope of a land beyond 00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:34.440 the broken heart what's the tree of life the tree of life is in Genesis chapter 2 it's a sacrament 00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:41.920 in the Garden of Eden it's a sign and it's a thing and a symbol that speaks of blessed life of 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:50.480 perfection of life without disease and death disaster and destruction a life without broken 00:31:50.480 --> 00:32:02.560 hearts and wounded spirits a kind word cosmic nostalgia of a time a tree of blessed perfections 00:32:02.560 --> 00:32:10.480 you may be interested in find out that in the New Testament speaks also of trees quite often 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:19.920 oftentimes in the New Testament it does not refer to the cross by the name cross but it refers to 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:27.200 Jesus cross the cross that Jesus Christ died on as a tree Paul does it all the time he speaks not 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:36.599 of the cross of Christ but the tree of Christ in Greek and at the end of Genesis 3 Adam and Eve 00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:43.719 after they had sinned were not permitted if you remember to eat of the tree of life it was closed 00:32:43.719 --> 00:32:51.919 off to them in other words the blessed perfection of Eden is not yours because your heart is broken 00:32:51.919 --> 00:33:00.039 and then at the end of the Bible in Revelation chapter 22 there's another tree of life in the 00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:07.599 Garden of Eden where the people of the city of God come and partake and what it's saying of 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:13.079 course to us is that the only hope that your heart has for being freed from the wounds and the 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:23.319 crooked brokenness is to eat of the tree of life that's the only hope that's it but the beauty is 00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:31.319 that the tree of life is not simply out there in Revelation 22 healing is not just entirely 00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:37.399 future the tree of life where else is the tree of life in the New Testament the tree the tree 00:33:37.399 --> 00:33:41.960 that he hung on you see when Adam and Eve said no to God when they committed acts of rebellion against 00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:49.279 God they chose to reject the tree of life and because of that Jesus Christ was hung on the tree of 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:55.119 death so that once again you could partake of the tree of life where is the tree of life for the 00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:01.440 Christian for you right now in the 21st century it's to stand beneath the cross the cross is the 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:05.480 tree of life Jesus Christ himself is the tree of life the only way that you can have a healed 00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:12.279 heart is by partaking of the tree of life and right now that is by faith that's by faith until 00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:21.640 you reach a better country a far-off land a land without the death disaster disease and destruction 00:34:21.640 --> 00:34:30.880 what does that mean to eat by faith chalm Thomas Chalmers puts it this way there's only two ways 00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:36.960 a person can overcome their broken corrupted heart a deep desire for the evil things of this 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:43.320 world that they can overcome a deep desire for the evil things of this world they can either 00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:48.639 overcome the desires of their heart by their own willpower by leaving this world behind by 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:54.920 separating themselves hiding avoiding all external circumstances of temptation or they can set 00:34:54.920 --> 00:35:02.320 forth another object even God in Christ as a more worthy object of their utmost desires 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:10.480 so let me just close I won't give the full final point just one minute and I'll close the wise 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:18.880 heart we what we're saying is this we do indeed have to repent and seek change for the problems 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:23.720 in our heart and that happens first by eating from the tree of life himself the gospel Jesus 00:35:23.720 --> 00:35:31.240 Christ but the book of Proverbs doesn't leave us there it also offers an ethic it says that 00:35:31.239 --> 00:35:37.000 actually we we have to repent and act in order to heal our hearts even in this life while we 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:43.799 wait for the future the garden to eat of the future tree let me just read to you a couple of 00:35:43.799 --> 00:35:49.239 these Proverbs and we'll close these are this is what you do now this is human action that you 00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:56.599 take in the meantime the purpose in a man's heart is like deep water but a man of understanding will 00:35:56.599 --> 00:36:03.519 draw those out in other words what it's saying is your inner self is a deep mystery but the wise 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:13.159 person seeks to know themselves do you know yourself by faith in Christ walking towards 00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:19.519 holiness do you know yourself do you explore the deep recesses do you understand what your 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:25.559 idols are what the problems of your heart are so that says the wise men seeks to know themselves 00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:33.239 and secondly a fool gives full vent to his spirit but a wise person quietly holds it back a fool a 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:38.159 fool gives full vent to their spirit but a wise person holds it back in other words yes indeed 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:45.519 your spirit remains corrupt you were simultaneously justified in a center you remain corrupt but 00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:51.320 the wise man holds holds holds back their spirit fights against it doesn't say anything everything 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:56.039 that comes into their mind knows that they have corrupted and bent broken thoughts and 00:36:56.039 --> 00:37:01.559 conversations and drink even dreams and fights against them and does what they can to stop them 00:37:01.559 --> 00:37:07.480 and then finally and this is one of the few passages about addiction and the whole of Proverbs 00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:14.519 listen my son be wise set your heart on the right path do not join those who drink too much wine 00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:20.640 or gorge themselves on meat for drunkards and glutton's become poor and drowsiness close them 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:27.519 and rags in other words the wise person protects their heart by knowing their idols and not putting 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:33.480 themselves in position that the idols can take hold of you positions of addiction if you will 00:37:33.480 --> 00:37:47.239 so until you partake in both heart and body of the tree of life the far off country go with 00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:56.119 Proverbs 2319 here my sons and daughters be wise direct your heart in the way that it should go 00:37:56.119 --> 00:38:06.359 and it will be well with you let's pray father we ask oh lord that you would give us faith in the 00:38:06.359 --> 00:38:13.799 eyes of our heart that you would change our hearts that we would desire Christ more than sin that 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:20.480 we would long for a better country and that in the meantime you would point us towards holiness 00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:46.679 by being wise giving us wisdom we ask for it in Jesus name I'm in