A. The instruction in this text is given from the heart of a loving father to his son. God is presented as a wise personal, affection, Father.

B. There is a contrasting use of the word "heart." The heart is the place of thinking that often misleads a believer. "Thinking" precedes "doing" as a certainty of human conduct.

C. Just as the wise choices of a son brings joy to the father's heart so the wise conduct of a believer brings happiness to God the Father, 3 John 4.

D. In the text, the wise son learns from his father vital matters such as: controlled, instructed and disciplined life.

E. Wisdom comes from God, but must be internalized within an individual.

Self-discipline, self-determination and self-control are musts for successful Godly living. These must be taught either by precept, example or experience.

F. A wise heart is one that has the emotional and intellectual life in control and is in harmony with a spiritual, God centered life. The text determines that how one speaks is the measure of what is really in the heart.

G. How one thinks is known by how he speaks and how he thinks and speaks is known by what he does. These cannot be disassociated from each other. What goes into the mind and emotions will be acted out in life. Garbage in equals garbage out! Ancient landmarks serve to guide the person as well as their property.

A. One of the ancient landmarks that have been moved by many is the proper biblical view of sin. In fact, the move is all the way from viewing sin as an enemy, to something that is envied!

B. Sin originates in doubt of what God has said, moves to desire, to denial, to disillusionment, to discouragement, to defeat, to destruction, and ends in death. This is progression in the account of original sin, Genesis 3, and there has been no change with time.

C. When the believer or the believing church removes the ancient guide posts of Godly living by reclassifying and renaming sin, it has violated these warnings along with many other passages.

D. One of Satan's most successful functions is to getting people to think that sin has no consequence and that it is just an outdated term used to control others. Another deception is to give sin a mane that sounds acceptable and does not sound wrong.

E. When the church or a culture moves away from historic social morays, that have been the base for successful living, it may sound like progress, but the price is often yet to be paid! Sin always pays off -- in misery.

F. The converse of living like the world is presented in this text. It is to live in the fear of God. Fear is from the Hebrew word, "yir'ah" meaning, "to be afraid, respect and reverence because of the dreadfulness of offending the holy character of God." It doesn't just mean 'to respect'. It really means to be afraid!

G. Fear will produce loving obedience. The text calls for obedience for all today, every day, and for a lifetime. Total submission to God is the first postulate for a happy life. Holiness is happiness! Periodical godliness is perpetual defiance.

III. CONSIDER A PROPER VIEW OF A RIGHTEOUS LIFE: A WISE PERSON IS ONE THAT UNDERSTANDS ETERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY TO GOD THE FATHER, 23:18

A. One reason for not envying the "things" of the wicked is that their prosperity is earthly and short lived, while prosperity for godly living is eternally rewarded.

B. One matter must be accepted as a truism -- God is just and eternity will justify all the injustice of life on earth.

C. When the church changes the gospel of eternal salvation through "repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ", (Acts 20:21) to a "happy here and now living", it has changed the gospel and in doing so it has nullified it and has removed an essential landmark of repentance as the essential element of salvation.

D. Envying sinners by wanting to do what they do is both senseless and a contradiction to Christ's teaching. Their end is "no hope" (24:20).

E. The instruction of this passage is that while the pleasures of sin have limited attraction, the life lived for the Lord pays off in eternal dividends.

F. The prosperity of the lost is both their portion and their poison. It is all they get and leaves them lost. "Let not thy heart imitate sinners!"

G. There is an end to the prosperity of the unsaved; however, there is no end to the reward of one living for the Lord. They will not be discouraged or disappointed throughout all eternity.