Proverbs 4:10 (Mini Sermon)

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10. Pro 4:10 - "Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many." A. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; i. Solomon had already repeated exhorted his son to hear his words (Pro 1:5; Pro 1:8; Pro 4:1). ii. Hear v. - 4. To exercise the auditory function intentionally; to give ear, hearken, listen. iii. Now he becomes more earnest by using the emphatic O in his exhortation. a. O int. (n.) - 1. Standing before a n. in the vocative relation. 2. In other connexions, or without construction, expressing, according to intonation, various emotions, as appeal, entreaty, surprise, pain, lament, etc. b. This should impress upon us the importance and urgency of listening to the word of God. iv. We need to not only listen to God's word, but also receive his sayings. a. Receive v. - I. 1. a. trans. To take in one's hand, or into one's possession (something held out or offered by another); to take delivery of (a thing) from another, either for oneself or for a third party. d. To take from another by hearing or listening; to attend, listen, or give heed to. b. Saying n. - 1. The action of say v.1; utterance, enunciation; recitation. 2. Something that is said; now chiefly, something that has been said by a (more or less distinguished) person, an apophthegm, a dictum. c. Whereas we are passive in receiving eternal life (Eph 2:1), we are active in receiving God's sayings. d. We must be prepared to hear them and take delivery into our mind and heart what is being taught. e. Just as Solomon had before exhorted his son to hear his wisdom, he had also before exhorted him to receive his words (Pro 1:3; Pro 2:1). f. He is now emphatically charging him to do so by saying O my son. g. When children of God don't listen to the first and second admonition, the preacher must get more emphatic. B. and the years of thy life shall be many. i. Here is a promise attached to the exhortation to hear and receive God's sayings. ii. He who listens to and humbly accepts the words of God will be blessed with long life. iii. As it was with the exhortation, so the promise of long life to those who keep God's commandments was likewise previously given by Solomon (Pro 3:1-2). iv. So if we want to live a long, peaceful life, the prescription is hearkening and receiving God's word. v. Doing so will invite God's blessing into our lives and will prevent the natural consequences of sin from shortening them.