In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of guarding one's heart above all else. He uses examples such as taking care of livestock and being attentive while driving to illustrate the consequences of not guarding one's heart. The speaker references Proverbs 4:20-27, where it is advised to pay attention to God's words and keep them within the heart. He warns against perversity in speech, corrupt talk, and being led astray from the right path. The sermon concludes with a story about a polluted wellspring and the negative effects of not guarding it, emphasizing the need to guard one's heart as it is the wellspring of life.

Let me read the word which I spoke about, that I mentioned. Proverbs 4.20 Proverbs 4.20 My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. Proverbs 4.20 Do not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart. Proverbs 4.20 For they are life to those who find them and health to man's whole body. Proverbs 4.20 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4.20 Put away perversity from your mouth. Keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Proverbs 4.20 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Proverbs 4.20 Do not swerve to the right or to the left. Keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4.20 Lord, we don't wish in the least that our coming to church would just be a habit and worth nothing. Proverbs 4.20 Lord, we pray that your word would be alive and quick, that it would stir us within, and even the one who has become hardened and who has lost his first love, that your hammer would break that hard rock. Proverbs 4.20 Work, Lord, far above our asking and our understanding. Amen. Proverbs 4.20 The crux of the matter is this. Proverbs 4.20 But let's begin at the beginning. Proverbs 4.20 My son, pay attention to what I say. Proverbs 4.20 Solomon tells us about that which his father, King David, taught him from a young age. Solomon tells us about that which his father, King David, taught him from a young age. If you go and read this at home, you find over and over how Solomon says, seek for wisdom, make that your utmost aim, pay close attention to God's word, and even guard it, keep it within your heart. Proverbs 4.20 When Solomon was put before a choice by God as to what he wanted God to give him, he said, Lord, give me wisdom, heavenly wisdom, because that is what his father had taught him. Proverbs 4.20 His heart breaks because over and over he says, my son, my son, as if he knew that in the end his son would be taken by other women and go astray. Proverbs 4.20 It's as if David's heart is breaking, as if he's crying out and saying, my son, won't you listen to what I say, pay close attention to what I say, and listen closely to my words. Proverbs 4.20 And indeed the day came when he did forget the words of his father, and he turned aside from the way. Proverbs 4.20 Solomon, as a young man, was somebody whom God loved, he was dearly beloved of God. But later on, when he turned aside from the way, you don't ever hear it being spoken about the God of Solomon. Yes, we hear about the God of David, but not of the God of Solomon. Oh, woe to a person who turns aside from the way, who spurns the blessing of God and who despises it. Proverbs 4.20 And for all eternity, Solomon will remember what he lost because not having followed what his father taught him. Proverbs 4.20 And indeed the day came when he did forget the words of his father, and he turned aside from the way, who spurns the blessing of God and who despises it. Proverbs 4.20 And indeed the day came when he did forget the words of his father, and he turned aside from the way, who spurns the blessing of God and who despises it. Sinning against God with that woman, but never again in his life. Repented from that. God healed him and cured him from that sin and that disease in his life. And when that child was born, David mourned and fasted day and night, but God still punished him, struck him and took that child. But sinning sexually. Proverbs 4.20 And indeed the day came when he did forget the words of his father, and he turned aside from the way, who spurns the blessing of God and who despises it. Proverbs 4.20 For they are life to those who find them, and health to a man's whole body. They are life and health to you know how wonderful when you live in that way and it's wonderful to meet up with somebody who's on fire for God in whose life God's word is alive. But oh what a curse it is to meet up with those who become lukewarm and they're just a nuisance in the church. The words are life and health to a man's whole body. These words are life and health to your whole body, body, soul and spirit. And you'll be well in your whole being, but there are many who are busy dying and perishing because of not having paid attention to God's word. Those who have turned their backs on God's word, they are in a hurry to die. You've got to have a continual regard to the word of God, continual. If that regard is cut off, you are cut off from God because God is the word. The word is God. These were words of introduction. Now I come to the crux of the matter. Above all else, God your heart, your feelings, your heart, your feelings, your emotions, your desires. All of that is contained in this, your heart. Your love and desires. A person who's got some livestock, goats or whatever, he'll take care of that. He'll guard it, his sheep, so that it doesn't go into somebody else's field. Otherwise, it will bring into loggerheads of that person. The taxi drivers, there are so many taxi accidents where people die because of them not guarding. They don't pay attention to the road signs. They go too fast where they shouldn't go fast. They go off the road and they roll and people die because they didn't guard. I was in the aeroplane, busy flying. And then I saw a black man sitting behind me. And I thought, well, I've seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place him. And so I put my seat, the back of my seat back and I greeted him and I said, but wouldn't you mind telling me who you are? He said, I'm in charge, or I'm one of the top officials in a particular department in the government. I said, oh yes, that's why I recognized you. I said, won't you like to come and sit here next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And so he came and he sat next to me and he said, now tell me, who are you? What work do you do? And I said, well, I don't work. I just preach. He said, Stegan. And so he sat next to me, we had a wonderful conversation and he told me that he's a Christian as well. I said, when are you going to see our premier? And he said, no, I'll see him tomorrow. And so I sat next to him and I said, I'm in charge, or I'm one of the top officials in a particular department in the government. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. And he said, no, I don't work. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. I said, won't you like to come and sit next to me or I'll come and sit next to you? And he said, no, I don't work. And he said, no, I don't work. to you. good. before. What is What is Now, I spoke to him and then I said, you know, wouldn't you please pass on my regards to the Premier, my greetings, and also ask him why doesn't he come and visit me because I've invited him so many times and he doesn't seem to come. I don't know what the problem is. And he said, no, that's a... I said I've got too many parties, but if you don't know, just forget about it. All right. And this person told me about the many deaths on the road. And I said, yes, we still need to do a lot of work. And the problem is where the people drink and drive. And I say to you, well, it's better that you don't drive if you've drank any alcohol rather than that you get home after a week than that you die on the road. And there's so much criminality. And I said, yes, we really still need to do a lot of work amongst the people. Above all else, guard your heart. And to you, the bridegroom and the bride, I instruct you to guard your heart, put a fence around it, that it'll be protected, that nothing from the outside will be able to come in and bring about any damage inside there. If you don't guard it, that is what is going to happen. Put boundaries around your feelings. Put boundaries around your desires. They'll play havoc with you. They'll bring hell into your life. And don't be such a fool and go after everything that you see. Be careful. Don't go and run after everything you see with your eyes. Be like Job. He made a covenant with his eyes, a covenant that he won't look at a girl. Job, the man of God, made a covenant with his eyes. Have you made a covenant already? Keep your eyes fixed on your goal. Otherwise, you may be right in the morning when the sun is going to stay. You derailed already, or you've turned in the wrong way. He had come here saying that God had sent him through a dream to come and make right with God and confess his sin. And when I asked around with the co-workers, did he confess these sins? They said, no, he just touched the hem of the garment. He never touched on these things. Now, woe to you who confessed your sin and you just touched the surface. You play the fool with God and he'll play the fool with you. Don't be shallow. Go deep, right to the bottom. When you cook, it sticks to the three legs, to that part of those three legs. It's got to be scraped out. It's got to be thoroughly cleaned. Go deep, clean it out thoroughly that your heart is washed and is white. It's got to be scraped out. It's got to be thoroughly cleaned. And he said, I spoilt. And he said, I spoilt so-and-so, that girl and that girl and mentioning their by names. And then I said to all the young people, everybody that was there, go away, go away. I didn't want them to hear all those disgraceful things. But today the young people are taught everything, even in the schools. The government that you voted in, they bring all that filth in, into the schools where they are taught everything and it's even named by name. You need to admit everything. When he started there, he started calling out the names, a string of names, which he didn't want to mention before. And I thought it's amazing that he had such a memory, could remember everything. You'll still be reminded of your sins that you haven't confessed and haven't admitted before God. Just like somebody said once to his son that went to the court, he said, now go, you just tell lies. This is a house of lies. Well, you might say this is a house of lies now, but when you get before heaven, you'll have to speak the truth. Now picture a person guarding his heart. Can you picture you yourself guarding your heart? There are many things in the heart, desires, feelings, so-called love, which is nothing else than lust. Always differentiate those two things. They both start with L, but the one is lust out of hell and the other from above. Guard your eyes, the wrong eye, guard it. Guard your desires, your feelings, and many Christians, just let them go. Guard your attitudes, your attitude. You need to guard it. And guard it carefully like a well spring where you'll have to come and drink even in the future and come back to that well and drink there. Now, don't literally translate this into English. Now, don't literally translate this into English. You might come to a well and it's polluted and you might even find that the cattle have come in there and they've trampled in it and it's full of mud and dirt. Would you like to drink of that water? Yes, some maybe do drink out of desperation, but then they get the disease cholera. Your heart is a well spring, should be a well spring of life, but won't to you if you drink out of it and eat out of it dirty things and dirty water. That's why they are washed out. That's why they can't have revival. That's why the spirit of God can't use them. That's why they get old and heaven weren't sold for God. Dear friends, I don't know whether I speak to friends, but I assume that you are a friend. I may be mistaken, but I say friend, keep your heart clean. Whether you're a teenager, whether you're five, six, seven years old, or whether you're 70 years, keep your heart clean. If you don't do that, the rest of your life will stagnate. Come to a stop, your spiritual life will come to a stop and your life will become dirty, dirty, dirty, as if you are possessed with demons of lust, the flesh and evil things. I abhor it if a woman dresses in men's clothing and puts on a tight-fit pair of pants that shows her whole body as it is, and the men look at it and they lust after it, and he said, that's how my wife is. They said, her backside doesn't look too nice. I said, I don't know what to do, what should I do? And I said, well, I don't know, but let me give you some advice. Let's start like this. You go home and look for two oranges and put it in your chest. Stick it, because they fall down. You can't just put them there. Stick them. And then you put on a dress, put on ladies' shoes, and the next morning you show it to her like that. And I said, don't forget your handbag and go swinging your hips, even though you haven't got much of that, but just do it. And then we'll hear what your wife will say. And then we'll hear what she says. And then we'll hear what she says. And maybe she'll say, my husband, no, I get your point, I hear, I see what you're trying to get across. And if she does that, then you can take the next step, because the Bible says it's an abomination before God if a woman wears men's clothing and if a man wears women's clothing. But you just do that because you've been bringing a message across to her. Now this is a wedding, but it's a wonderful opportunity to preach, that's why we are here, but I'm drawing to a close now. I'm just telling you a story. You need to guard your heart carefully. If you don't, it will lead you to your destruction and lead you straight to hell. But we've heard that if you want to live and be healthy and well, body, soul and spirit, then do not let God's word out of your sight. Let it always be before you. There was a place in Austria, I was just recently with somebody from Austria, as I was on the plane coming back. And there was a high mountain with a source at the top. Now Austria is a beautiful country, some say it's the most beautiful country in the world, they've got high peaks, snow-capped peaks. And right down below that mountain, that high mountain, there was a little village. And the councilors of the village came together. And one came with a proposal that they should make that village the best tourist attraction there is, which would draw all the tourists to come and look at this village. And one said, yes, good, but how will we do it? And he said, we'll do it by having very good water. We have a well spring right at the top of the mountain. There's somebody listening. Amen. And they said, we'll employ him to look after that well spring there, and to clean it, and also the stream that flows from there to make sure that there are no dead leaves or branches in it. Until it comes into the town. And it didn't take long until that water became clean, in fact it became crystal clear, so clear that you could see little fishes darting around in the water. There was no bad smell. No disease. And people were drawn, and companies started erecting their buildings next to the stream. It was a time before electricity and other power sources that used the power of the water have milling wheels there that were driven by the water to grind flour and other things, and so many companies were erected next to the stream. And they used the water to irrigate their fields, their wonderful fields for their cattle, and they prospered. The first hotel was erected. And the second. And the third. And the fourth. And it didn't take long, and its fame spread across all of Europe. And it became a prime tourist attraction. Everybody spoke about it and said what wonderful water there was, you could even sit at benches next to the water and enjoy this pure water and all the other produce that was produced because of that. And even if you try and get a place there, you would find that it was fully booked, and so they built even further, and the place grew and expanded, and many hotels came up. And that old man still continued with his work to clean the well spring as well as the stream. And, well, that place just became famous. Everybody flocked there. They would swim in the stream, swim in the water, enjoying themselves. It was prosperous. And bird life was attracted, various types of bird life, and beautiful white swans. All bird life would be attracted to that beautiful and wonderful water. And, well, that generation of councillors passed away, a new generation came up and took over, and this new generation didn't know that old man, and they saw his name there in the books, and they said, now what's this? We don't know who this person is. What is he busy with up there? And we're paying him some money. We're wasting money here. Let's just pay him off. They looked at the books, they said, monthly we're paying him a wage. For so many years now, we could have saved a lot of money. We're really wasting this money. And the treasurer seconded that motion, and everybody accepted it unanimously. And so they wrote him a letter, and they said, this is your final month, we're giving you notice, we don't need you any longer. And, well, the first few weeks passed by, nothing was noticeable. But after a couple of weeks, they did notice that there was a slight change in the purity of the water. And there were some foam on the water, and there were some other signs of impurity, and little red things that appeared in the water, and even some others started saying, well, I don't feel that it's safe anymore for my child to go and swim in that water. It was balazia in the water, and, well, one evening, the child got a fever, and the mother took him to the doctor, and he said, oh, where was he, was he in the water? And she said, yes, and he said, well, many others have come with that same thing. They should immediately stop going into the water. Now, I'm cutting it short, the one company, they noticed that the water was losing its momentum, the wheel was also getting dirty, and it wasn't driving as it should anymore, and so they had to close down. And there was a bad urge now about the water, almost like chicken dung. The factories closed, the hotels became empty, the tourists diminished, and these white swans and other big white birds lived, didn't come back again. Why was it like that? The counselors had stopped guarding that wellspring, and everything went wrong. Jesus says to us, guard your heart, and this word, David teaching Solomon, saying, above all else, guard your heart, because it is the wellspring of life.