Han On to the Instructions!
Dr. Barry Parsons
Barry Parsons is the pastor of Landmark Baptist Church in Haines City, Florida and Executive Vice President of Landmark Baptist College.
“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” (Proverbs 4:13)
Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs. I’ve said much about this book and we spent a lot of time in Proverbs when I first became pastor. I would recommend that you spend time in the book of Proverbs every day. I believe it’s the book of Wisdom. Every book of the Bible will help you, and every book is important, but Proverbs is specifically a book of Wisdom. It will give you discernment and help you to be wise.
If you really are seeking wisdom then you ought to spend time reading and studying the book of Proverbs, and you ought to pray for wisdom like we are instructed to do in James chapter one. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5) You can read the words of the book of Proverbs, but still fail to discover the wisdom it contains unless you ask for it and pray for it. God is the One who is going to impart wisdom, and He’s not going to reveal all those truths to you unless you ask Him for it.
Here in Proverbs we see some things that a father is writing about to his son. Solomon is trying to impart to his son some wisdom and principles for living. This week I was reminded of some things about teenagers. Teenagers are, well, TEENAGERS! But they are not the only ones that we sometimes wish, “I just wish I could pour some wisdom and understanding into you.” Sometimes there are adults who don’t seem to use wisdom and understanding either.
I want to preach a message to you from Proverbs 4 about, “Hang on to the instructions.”
“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:1-7)
The Bible’s wisdom impacts every area of our lives. He goes on in verse number 8. “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.” (v. 8-12)
Here is our text. “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” (Proverbs 4:13) Much is said in those verses before you get to verse 13, but as I read it again, I’m reminded in my own heart and soul of my own need for instruction. I told you this morning about some of the things that took place while I was working with computers. I was made to see how much I personally need instruction.
Just recently we did some updating in the office. In the day and age in which we live, you no longer go to the store and buy a desk. Now you go online and shop for a desk. Once you order it, you think you are getting a desk, but what you are really getting is a cardboard box full of pieces that you hope is going to become a desk by the time you are done putting them together. There could be a desk there, maybe, possibly, if you assemble it exactly the way the instructions tell you to.
The other day my wife ordered a recliner chair from Amazon. When I saw the little tiny box that it came in, I said, “I don’t know if you are supposed to add water and watch it swell up or what?” There were all kinds of little parts and things and, listen to me, if I had not had the instructions, it never would have been a chair! It would have been parts of a chair.
My Dad used to call them the ‘destructions.’ I saw him, many times, throw them off to the side, and then about halfway through the project say, “Hey, where did those destructions go?” I’ve told this before. In our back yard is a trampoline and I put that thing together three different times when our kids were a little younger. Now I had a trampoline every time I put it together, but in order for it to be usable, I had to do it right. There must be 800 springs on that trampoline. If you put it all together, and then figure out that you didn’t do it right, you have to take every single one of them back off. You should have read the instructions! That’s what I should have done! After the second time of taking it back apart I finally did! That’s a part of being the Dad though. Right?
So many of us live our Christian lives that way. “I should have read the instructions!” Parents, wouldn’t it be good if we didn’t learn on our first child, and instead we read the Bible’s instructions about raising and training our children, and followed God’s Instruction Book on how we are suppose to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
Some lessons we learn along the way, and we laugh about it. A desk or a chair or a trampoline. But learning from our mistakes is not the way to go when it comes to our relationships and the important things in our lives.
Every day we are instructing young people. We are instructing others in the faith every single day. We need to be giving them Bible wisdom. They look to us for wisdom. Sometimes it’s even more. When you’re around a teenager, it’s more than just wisdom, because they want to understand. You tell them what they are suppose to do, and they want to know why. The why is okay. Folks, the why is the best part, because once they understand why, they’ll keep doing it, even when they’re out of your home.
You say, “But what if they don’t like the why?” Then they can take that up with God and what’s commanded and instructed in His Word. In your home you can say, “Because I said so.” But parents, it’s a whole lot stronger when you say, “Because God’s Word says so.” If everything that you do in your home is built on Biblical principle, then the why shouldn’t scare you. The why comes along with “Do this.”
I want you to see some foundational things that He said here. Look at verse 7. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” The Word of God has both wisdom and understanding. The way that they always come to us are in the same order we see them in the scripture. Wisdom, then understanding. These are paramount. You’re always going to receive wisdom first and then understand the why. Even in our secular world we learn how-to first, and then the why. We may send our kids to universities and institutions for training for a certain occupation. When it really comes down to the hands-on people who understand it, then when you go off to a technical school, you are learning during the day to do the job, then at night you are learning about why and how it works that way.
For instance, if you are learning to be a diesel mechanic, you learn to work on it and fix it, and then you’ll learn why it works that way and why we did it in this order. You know, it’s important. Every one of us who have ever changed a tire, we think we’re a mechanic. Am I right? But when you get deep inside that engine, things have to be in time. Synchronized. Everything inside that motor needs to be done decently and in order. And then once everything is put back together correctly, if the engine is not in time with the firing system, it still won’t work right, because it has to work together simultaneously to make it operate smoothly and go down the road. There’s still got to be some power.
You know, we live in a day now where the way those things are synced is through a computer. It’s got to communicate and run a check with every part and system in that vehicle. Most of us just get in that car and we’re glad when it starts! But there are so many things happening under the hood of that vehicle to make it go down the road. It’s so much more than just oil and fuel and air in the tires.
When we think about our homes, we think about all the things that we do in a week, and it’s very important to hit all our marks. But folks, it’s so much deeper than that. We talk about going to church and being faithful to all the services three times a week. It takes three to thrive. That’s important. It’s paramount in your home and in your Christian life. But it’s so much more than that. If you show up for the service and then sit there with your arms crossed, saying to yourself, “Bless me if you can, preacher. I dare you to try to move me to action, to decision, to change.” We need to come with ears to hear, with a receptive heart. Showing up is important, the first step, but it’s more than just showing up, isn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but I have seen some instructions in my lifetime. Talking about wisdom and instruction, this passage goes on to say, “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:... she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but for me there some things we want to complete or accomplish in our lifetime, and ultimately be able to hear our Lord say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” And to receive a crown, not one that fades away or one that burns up, but one that truly stands the fire, because it was all done for Him. That requires wisdom and understanding, and its takes an embracing of the things of God and the Word of God.
Follow God’s instructions to obtain God’s intended results. You’re not going to nominally edge into it, or happen onto it. Obeying instructions is something you have to do on purpose. There have even been times when I looked at the instructions and diagrams and I saw what I had to put together, and I embraced it. But then I couldn’t find it in English! It was all there and I could see all the parts, but when I tried to read it step by step it was in French or Chinese or German or Spanish or Portuguese. None of those are languages that I can read or speak!
Then I finally found the set of instructions meant for me, that could help me, that I can read, and I had a new appreciation for their value! You know, when you’re a kid or a young adult, and you don’t really think you need the instructions? Then you see all those other languages and you say, “Why should I even fool with this? What do I need with all these other languages?” Friend, there are times when I’m trying to put something together or make some computer application function correctly and I am hopelessly dependent and hanging onto and embracing the instructions. What would it be like if our Spanish church didn’t have a Spanish Bible?
You know, people have given their lives to translate the Bible into other languages, because folks of every language and country desperately need God’s instructions. Sometimes we hold it up and shout glory hallelujah that we have a Bible we can trust, and there’s no argument about it, the King James Bible is the very Word of God. We need to hold onto it and embrace it, and when we do embrace it, the Bible says there is honor in our future.
Hold on to the instructions. Don’t start out your own way and wait until you’re half way done and then wonder, “Where are those instructions? How did God tell me I’m suppose to do this, anyway?” I will be blessed and have much less headache and heartache if I will embrace God’s instruction from my youth and follow the instruction of the Bible right out of the gate.
This is simple, but all of us need the reminder. Verse 10 says, “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.” The earlier I get this started, the better off I’m going to be. Wisdom will teach you to obey your parents as a child. It will teach you to respect your teachers and authorities, respect your elders and listen. Wisdom will teach you do some things that are not always natural, what comes easiest to us. The natural man doesn’t understand spiritual things. His ways are above our ways, and sometimes it takes the Instruction Manual to learn the ways of God.
He goes on and says, “I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.” Now listen, I don’t know about you. I have instructed some folks. In the college. In my home. I desperately want them to have wisdom and understanding. I want them to be able to go out and serve God in a ministry and be straight. Nobody have to say, “Hey, you’re out of line there,” and have to straighten them up. I want the young folks to be able to go out of my home and out of our Bible college, out of our church and youth ministry, and be straight down the line living for God and serving Him according to the instructions that God gave us in this Book. I want them to be able to do what God wants them to do and be whatever God wants them to be.
One thing I’ve noticed is that wisdom can keep you from stumbling because you already know about the traps that the devil will set for you. You see ahead of time the shaky ground and pot holes that will trip you up. You walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
We cover this ground and you may be thinking, “This is not profound.” No, it’s foundational. It’s basic. But sometimes we need to be reminded that this Book has greater power than just being preached from the pulpit every week. In my home, in my life, I need the Instruction Manual to guide me, precept upon precept, the building blocks of my life, in our family, in our church, in our ministries, in our missions around the world. Block by block, precept by precept, truth by truth. Wisdom’s Instruction Manual. Daily in our lives and in our homes.
You say, “This is really simple,” but we are getting ready to get to the other side of it. “Take fast hold of instruction...” That means to really get a grip on it. It means don’t let go. To me, I see, “Buckle up, Buttercup! Because somebody is about to try to take the Instruction Manual from you.” Somebody’s always going to try to tear it down or make you question the instructions that God gives us. Somebody’s always thinking they know a short cut, or they know better than God does. How many people think the commands of the Bible apply to everybody else but them? “It’s true for everybody else, but I can get by with this. I am the exception.” Really?
I’m just going to take you back to that instruction manual when we put that desk together. There seemed to be millions of parts, screws, little pieces. Some of it was wood. Some of it was particle board. Some of it was I-don’t-know-what-that-was! There were some heavy cardboard pieces that went in the bottoms of the drawers. But every piece had a purpose and a place. Some of it wasn’t strong enough unless you put in the part they made because they didn’t use wood, they used something else. You had to put that brace in there, and if that brace wasn’t there, it wasn’t going to hold up. Miss Anita would be answering the phone and buzzing you in, and when she opened that drawer, that 100 pounds of stuff that she keeps in that drawer would just give way and crash through to the floor. That’s why we have drawers, so we can fill them full of stuff because we need it!
God says to take fast hold of it. That means we need to get a hold of it and not let go. You say, “Well, we are in the Landmark Baptist Church and we know God’s truth is the King James Bible.” Okay, but are you holding fast to it? As a church, as a ministry, as a family, as an individual Christian. There’s no question that this church is holding on to the King James Bible. Preaching it. Living it. Working it. But it’s not just for the ministry. This needs to be personal. This is the church, each individual person in the church personally getting in your Bible and saying, “God, I’m going to take fast hold of your Instructions.”
Hanging on. He says, “Let her not go.” Wisdom is personified as a woman, and he says, “Get a hold of that and don’t let go.” My dad told me the same thing about my wife. He said, “Lock her down early and don’t let her go.” I took his advice. He was my best man. We were standing back there in the baptistry dressing area, waiting on the preacher to come. He was just messing with me, but my dad said, “This is your last chance. I’ll boost you through the window.” I said, “No! Stop that! You’re that one who told me this was a good thing.” I know I had to have been red-faced, because right before the preacher walked in I was saying, “Stop it!” I think he was just messing with me, making sure I was all in and committed.
Hey folks, sometimes we will be tested, and we better have a hold of something, and then be determined that we’re not going to let it go. I made a decision. “This is truth, and I’m going to hold on to truth. I’m not going to let it go.” There’s going to be a lot of people who will tell you that you’re foolish for going to church and taking your family to church. There’s going to be a lot of people who will say you’re foolish to tithe and to give to God’s church and ministry of the Gospel. They’ll think you’re foolish because of how you believe and practice. But it will all be worth it one day when you hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” When that crown stands up to the testing and the fire. It’s going to be worth it one day.
Look. He says, “Keep her, for she is thy life.” Almost like the marriage relationship, you become one flesh. Wisdom, understanding and instruction ought to be something that becomes a part of you. It’s so inseparable from your life and your thinking, that you’re one with it. It’s something you hold so tight to that no one could tell the difference between where it ends and you begin. It’s become a part of you, a part of who your are and what you do and how you live your life everyday.
When I came to Bible college I had a niece that came with me. She would ask me for counsel sometimes. “Uncle Barry, what do you think about this?” I would give her chapter and verse. She would say, “No I wanted to know what you think about it, not what the Bible says.” I said, “Well, I just think what the Bible thinks.” I determined that a long time ago. If I’ve got Bible on it, then why would you want my opinion? My opinion is exactly what the Bible says, because it is Truth.
That’s what people need to see and understand about us. I’ve gotten a hold of truth, wisdom, understanding and instruction. When they ask me a question they know what they’re going to get. If I’ve got chapter and verse on it, then that’s what’s coming out of my mouth. That is true instruction. What is the use for me to give someone my opinion when God has already put down in writing His opinion on the matter. What good is my opinion going to do anybody if it doesn’t line up with the truth of God’s Word?
God’s Instruction. God’s Word. God’s Truth. That’s what this verse is talking about as Wisdom and Understanding. We are commanded to, “Keep her for she is thy life.” You know, there are so many people who have lost their lives because they did not follow instructions. Simple instructions. Before I came into the ministry, I was involved in construction. I’ve seen accidents where people were never the same again. Sometimes they had just been told moments before not to get too close or not to be in a certain area, and they ignored it and didn’t think it was important.
My dad would often tell me about his dad, especially when we would go across that Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel. Tons and tons and tons of concrete poured in that place to form the tunnel. I’m thankful for it because the water is over top of you. Every time we would drive across, my dad would give us instruction and stories about how many men were buried in that concrete because they didn’t follow instructions. There were safety parameters put up, they had what they needed to work safely, but they got careless and they didn’t think it was important to follow the instructions they were given. That concrete had to be poured and men had to be there to pour it, but I guarantee you, nobody ever had any intention of the dead bodies of men being in that concrete.
“Preacher, aren’t you going overboard about following instructions, and scaring us with stories about those who didn’t?” Well, let’s follow with what the Bible has to say about those who don’t follow instructions. Verse 14, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men,” That sounds simple enough, but then he said, “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Now I don’t know how hard core you are about how closely to follow when the Bible says, “Here’s the right way, and here’s the evil way.” Here is how a Christian is suppose to function in relation to things that are scripturally wrong. We can go through a lot, but this Bible is the truth. You say, “Well, I’m not really going to do this or that, I’m just going to associate with them that do. I’m not really going to do this or that, I’m just going to be close to it.” The Bible is giving us some pretty strong warnings here about avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it. Stay away! Go in the opposite direction! Danger ahead!
Really the Bible is giving us a picture of the forks in the road, where people have been walking in the right path, and then they are faced with a decision about which way to go. Here’s the right path, and then the path of evil is going to branch off in this direction. He instructs his son, because Solomon has gone this way. Maybe right now he is back on the right path, but he instructed his son not to go that way. You read further in the book, and you’ll be reminded that he watched from his window and watched a young man be led astray by a wicked woman of the night.
You say, “Preacher, that would never happen to my son.” Well, if he went down the wrong road, he would be vulnerable and tempted.
When we say, “Avoid it,” it means, “Just don’t go there.” When it says, “Pass not by it,” it’s saying, this fork in the road that veers off in this direction, don’t even walk by that path. Stay away. He realizes how much temptation there is to go down the wrong path, and how severe the destruction is that awaits you there.
Sometimes we think it’s enough in the Christian life just to stay the course, just to stay on the right path. The Bible says when you see the wrong path, don’t keep going. Avoid it. Don’t pass by it. He says, “Go not in the way of evil men. Turn from it.” It reminds me that if I’ve got no other choice but to pass by the wrong way, then I’ll turn around and go back, because it can’t be avoided on that path. I’m going to pass by it unless I turn around. My job is to turn around and to warn others to turn around.
You know when Richard’s in church he and I will joke around, and I’ll put my hand up to block my view of him, since he might lead me down the evil way. We can laugh about it, but sometimes that’s how we are with the evil things of this world. “Oh, I’ll be alright. I’m going to pass close by it, but if I just put a blinder on my eye and pretend it’s not there, it won’t affect me.” No, the Bible says avoid it at all costs. Don’t even pass by it. Turn away from it and go the other way.
God’s way is always the best way, and God will make a way to get you where He wants you, and He tells you very clearly, “Don’t pass that way.”
“Turn from it and pass away.” Get away, far away. You know, as God’s children and God’s servants, we are always looking for the will of God in our life. Sometimes when we face a crossroads where there is a fork in the road that goes off to the evil way, sometimes we are looking for a sign, for God to tell us something. But God says, “Go back to the starting block. You are on the wrong road, because the road I have for you doesn’t have evil branches. The road I’ve got for you is so straight, there won’t be any forks. It’s so straight, you’re not gonna stumble.”
You say, “Well, I’ve lived a lifetime full of those crossroads.” Because we’re all sinners and because we put ourselves on a path where we pass by the wrong thing. We got too close to it. We weren’t following instructions.
God’s way is the best way. God wants your family to walk with Him in the way that is so straight and so narrow that you can be protected and safe and not be tripped up by the evil and the temptations that the devil presents.
“But the wicked world is everywhere, Preacher. I can’t even go to Walmart without facing it’s influence. There’s wickedness and bad music and all kinds of temptation and influence. Here it specifically speaks of the path of evil men.
Why do we protect our children? Why does the Bible say we can’t even go down that road? Because some of the people you will introduce your children to by traveling down that road, even though you may think they look harmless, they are going to be an influence on them, even if they don’t influence you. You know some of these people, this is just who they are, and they probably don’t even realize it. They may not seem like bad people outwardly.
Here’s how the Bible describes them. “For they sleep not, except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” Their day is not complete unless they have done some damage and caused someone to fall or caused someone to question or rebel or head down a wrong path or make excuse for doing wrong. That word mischief suggests that they don’t have any desire to do what’s right. They have chosen to take the wrong path and now their whole life’s goal is to mess with other people and cause them to do the same. It even talks about their sleep and says that their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall. That’s who’s waiting for you along that path. They are waiting for your children too.
You don’t think there are people who are really like that? There are even people like that who come to a Bible preaching church. There are people like that whose sole reason why they come to church is to cause problems and stir up strife. They come because they can’t sleep unless they have accomplished some mischief and damage to God’s church and God’s people. They did all the damage they could do and wrecked everybody they could wreck at the last church, so they come looking for a new opportunity to do the same kind of mischief.
You say, “But Preacher, I’m not that person. I’m not trying to hurt God’s church.” No, but I’m preaching to a bunch of good people who need to realize that they are going to run into that mischief maker, and that person will do their best to draw you away from the straight and narrow and pleasing God. Friend, when somebody is speaking words outside the wisdom of God’s Word and sowing discord and stirring up strife, you need to walk away from them and refuse to listen to that. It’s mischief. It’s causing trouble, causing someone to fall. Don’t let anybody draw you into that mischief.
You know, we ought to be feasting on the Bible everyday, our spiritual food. We ought to be having our devotions and spending time with God in the morning, ingesting and meditating on God’s truth. It ought to fill us up spiritually. But he said here that for this wicked person, their bread is wickedness. That’s what they desire and crave. They’ve got to consume that.
Think about all the damage that the devil has done to your country, to your church, to your home and to your life. How much time do you spend in the Word of Life, consuming that spiritual food and feasting on it? And how much time do you spend watching folks on Facebook and their videos and blogs and podcasts. It’s not all bad, but neither is it alive and powerful like God’s Word. How long can you be on there before you pass by something wicked? How much time are you going to spend sitting in front of the television, and how long will it be before you encounter something on there that’s wicked, maybe even in a commercial? I can’t even watch a game without it happening. As soon as a commercial comes on, I gotta hit that mute button. Sometimes, depending on the channel, I might have to mute the game, and just watch the screen. Because there are things that are trying to penetrate my life and my thoughts that are wrong. We don’t think we are those kinds of wicked people, but we have to constantly evaluate our lives and watch out for it.
Preacher, do you just want me to live in a box? No, but I do want you to guard yourselves, and avoid that wicked path and the people on it. I want you to ‘pass not by it, turn from it, pass away.’ You know there are some things in my life that I personally am not strong enough to have that in my presence. I don’t like the person that I become when those things are a part of my life, so I just make a practice of separating from those things and those influences. Maybe they are not all evil, but I’ve certainly found those things to be weights to me, and I had to lay them aside so that I can serve God, and so that I can keep His instructions.
“Preacher, what do you call that? Why would you do that?” Wisdom. Understanding. I have gained wisdom enough to realize that this is not good for me. I understood that I could not control me, but it was controlling me, so I had to part ways with it. God’s instruction says to get it out of my life. Lay it aside. Turn from it. Avoid it. Pass not by it.
I want this to be true of my life instead. “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Proverbs 4:18) Jesus talks about His church being a light. First He says in John chapter 8, “...I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” But then He talks about His church and says, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14) Just as Jesus is the light, we are to be light in this world. Listen, I want to be that kind of light, and I don’t want to dim that light as I grow older. I want to shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
You say, “What’s the perfect day?” The perfect day for me is when Jesus calls me to be with Him, when He calls me home to Heaven. The perfect day for me would be to get raptured out of here. But maybe, instead, it will come with my last breath. “Preacher, what are you going to do if you breathe your last breath?” Well, I’m going to be buried, even though it costs more. Because even after my last breath I want to shine the light to people that I believe there is a resurrection. I want to be faithful and give a true testimony, even in my death, even after my lips can no longer speak.
“What do you beg God for?” I want God to open my eyes and allow me to see clearly. The things that are in my life, I want to see it from God’s perspective. I want to see what’s worthwhile, what’s eternal. I want to see what’s worthless and what’s destructive. We always talk about vision, wanting a vision for the future. I want to have a clear vision of what is in my life right now. We need to see the things that we’ve gone blind to.
A Christian sees more on His knees. D. L. Moody said, “A Christian sees more on his knees than a philosopher can see on his tiptoes.” That’s not that deep, Preacher. It is, because it reminds me that, as a praying Christian, God can give me answers to questions that people have tried, through the ages, to figure out about man. God can settle it in my heart from His Word and give me instruction on how to deal with it. Psalm 119:18 says it this way. “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”
I want to be encouraging tonight, but I also want to warn you once again: There are paths out there that we ought not to walk. I was reminded again as I studied and meditated through this chapter that I’m not even suppose to pass by those places. It’s not just that I shouldn’t walk that path. God says avoid it, turn away from it, pass not by it, don’t even get close to it. I don’t know if you take it this way, but the Bible uses the words, “Pass away.” You say, “But what if it costs you your life to maintain that kind of separation from evil?” I’d rather give up my life than truth. I don’t want to go down the wrong road.
We like to think about our arrival in Heaven, and the welcome that’s waiting for us there, and the souls that have already arrived in God’s presence. Revelation mentions souls kept under the altar/ There are people who, when given the opportunity, they didn’t take the wrong road. They gave their life to stay on the right road. To stay in absolute perfect fellowship with their God. They received the instruction and held on to it. They treasured the wisdom of God’s Word and His will.
I believe those souls cry out from that altar. What are they saying? They’re crying out to a holy God saying, “Avenge us.” Day after day, God not only hears your prayers, but He hears those souls cry out to Him, “Oh God, when is it going to be the last day? Lord, when are you going to avenge us?” And every day I believe a long-suffering, merciful God is looking down and watching us as we serve Him, and sees whether we hold fast to His instruction. He is looking to see that last soul saved. That loving God that hears the prayer, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He hears us pray, “Lord, please be long-suffering and merciful to America.” He hears us cry out to Him about all the things that are going on, but that same God hears the pleas of those who did it right and died in faith and in faithfulness, even though it cost them their lives. “How long...?”
Tonight as a Christian I want to walk the straight and narrow path, and I want to shine a light on that path that grows more and more, brighter and brighter, until that perfect day. I believe I’m looking at some folks who want to serve God in that same way. So tonight’s message is just a reminder that at the end of that right way and shining that light of the Gospel to a lost and dying world along the way, there is a reward at the end of the way. I don’t want that wrong road to cost me my reward. Even if I don’t take wrong road, just not staying away from the wrong road could cost me my “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” I don’t want to give that up.
Christian friend, there are paths that will lead you astray. Weights that will weigh you down and take all your strength and energy away from serving God. Sins that will cause us to stumble in the work of God. There’s a devil who is stalking God’s people like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I want to stay as far away as I can from all of those paths that will take me into spiritual danger.
If you don’t know Christ as your Saviour, this same Jesus is inviting you. He came from Heaven and died on a cruel rugged cross, was buried, and He rose again the third day to pay for your sin. He arose victorious over sin, death, hell and the grave. He wants to save you if you will come to Him and call upon Him. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He wants you to have eternal life, and have it more abundantly. We would love to take a Bible and show you how Heaven could be your home.
This Bible is our Instruction Manual. Don’t try and fail and try and fail on your own. Start with reading the instructions. Take fast hold of instruction. Stick with God’s path.
Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs. I’ve said much about this book and we spent a lot of time in Proverbs when I first became pastor. I would recommend that you spend time in the book of Proverbs every day. I believe it’s the book of Wisdom. Every book of the Bible will help you, and every book is important, but Proverbs is specifically a book of Wisdom. It will give you discernment and help you to be wise.
If you really are seeking wisdom then you ought to spend time reading and studying the book of Proverbs, and you ought to pray for wisdom like we are instructed to do in James chapter one. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5) You can read the words of the book of Proverbs, but still fail to discover the wisdom it contains unless you ask for it and pray for it. God is the One who is going to impart wisdom, and He’s not going to reveal all those truths to you unless you ask Him for it.
Here in Proverbs we see some things that a father is writing about to his son. Solomon is trying to impart to his son some wisdom and principles for living. This week I was reminded of some things about teenagers. Teenagers are, well, TEENAGERS! But they are not the only ones that we sometimes wish, “I just wish I could pour some wisdom and understanding into you.” Sometimes there are adults who don’t seem to use wisdom and understanding either.
I want to preach a message to you from Proverbs 4 about, “Hang on to the instructions.”
“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:1-7)
The Bible’s wisdom impacts every area of our lives. He goes on in verse number 8. “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.” (v. 8-12)
Here is our text. “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” (Proverbs 4:13) Much is said in those verses before you get to verse 13, but as I read it again, I’m reminded in my own heart and soul of my own need for instruction. I told you this morning about some of the things that took place while I was working with computers. I was made to see how much I personally need instruction.
Just recently we did some updating in the office. In the day and age in which we live, you no longer go to the store and buy a desk. Now you go online and shop for a desk. Once you order it, you think you are getting a desk, but what you are really getting is a cardboard box full of pieces that you hope is going to become a desk by the time you are done putting them together. There could be a desk there, maybe, possibly, if you assemble it exactly the way the instructions tell you to.
The other day my wife ordered a recliner chair from Amazon. When I saw the little tiny box that it came in, I said, “I don’t know if you are supposed to add water and watch it swell up or what?” There were all kinds of little parts and things and, listen to me, if I had not had the instructions, it never would have been a chair! It would have been parts of a chair.
My Dad used to call them the ‘destructions.’ I saw him, many times, throw them off to the side, and then about halfway through the project say, “Hey, where did those destructions go?” I’ve told this before. In our back yard is a trampoline and I put that thing together three different times when our kids were a little younger. Now I had a trampoline every time I put it together, but in order for it to be usable, I had to do it right. There must be 800 springs on that trampoline. If you put it all together, and then figure out that you didn’t do it right, you have to take every single one of them back off. You should have read the instructions! That’s what I should have done! After the second time of taking it back apart I finally did! That’s a part of being the Dad though. Right?
So many of us live our Christian lives that way. “I should have read the instructions!” Parents, wouldn’t it be good if we didn’t learn on our first child, and instead we read the Bible’s instructions about raising and training our children, and followed God’s Instruction Book on how we are suppose to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
Some lessons we learn along the way, and we laugh about it. A desk or a chair or a trampoline. But learning from our mistakes is not the way to go when it comes to our relationships and the important things in our lives.
Every day we are instructing young people. We are instructing others in the faith every single day. We need to be giving them Bible wisdom. They look to us for wisdom. Sometimes it’s even more. When you’re around a teenager, it’s more than just wisdom, because they want to understand. You tell them what they are suppose to do, and they want to know why. The why is okay. Folks, the why is the best part, because once they understand why, they’ll keep doing it, even when they’re out of your home.
You say, “But what if they don’t like the why?” Then they can take that up with God and what’s commanded and instructed in His Word. In your home you can say, “Because I said so.” But parents, it’s a whole lot stronger when you say, “Because God’s Word says so.” If everything that you do in your home is built on Biblical principle, then the why shouldn’t scare you. The why comes along with “Do this.”
I want you to see some foundational things that He said here. Look at verse 7. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” The Word of God has both wisdom and understanding. The way that they always come to us are in the same order we see them in the scripture. Wisdom, then understanding. These are paramount. You’re always going to receive wisdom first and then understand the why. Even in our secular world we learn how-to first, and then the why. We may send our kids to universities and institutions for training for a certain occupation. When it really comes down to the hands-on people who understand it, then when you go off to a technical school, you are learning during the day to do the job, then at night you are learning about why and how it works that way.
For instance, if you are learning to be a diesel mechanic, you learn to work on it and fix it, and then you’ll learn why it works that way and why we did it in this order. You know, it’s important. Every one of us who have ever changed a tire, we think we’re a mechanic. Am I right? But when you get deep inside that engine, things have to be in time. Synchronized. Everything inside that motor needs to be done decently and in order. And then once everything is put back together correctly, if the engine is not in time with the firing system, it still won’t work right, because it has to work together simultaneously to make it operate smoothly and go down the road. There’s still got to be some power.
You know, we live in a day now where the way those things are synced is through a computer. It’s got to communicate and run a check with every part and system in that vehicle. Most of us just get in that car and we’re glad when it starts! But there are so many things happening under the hood of that vehicle to make it go down the road. It’s so much more than just oil and fuel and air in the tires.
When we think about our homes, we think about all the things that we do in a week, and it’s very important to hit all our marks. But folks, it’s so much deeper than that. We talk about going to church and being faithful to all the services three times a week. It takes three to thrive. That’s important. It’s paramount in your home and in your Christian life. But it’s so much more than that. If you show up for the service and then sit there with your arms crossed, saying to yourself, “Bless me if you can, preacher. I dare you to try to move me to action, to decision, to change.” We need to come with ears to hear, with a receptive heart. Showing up is important, the first step, but it’s more than just showing up, isn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but I have seen some instructions in my lifetime. Talking about wisdom and instruction, this passage goes on to say, “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:... she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but for me there some things we want to complete or accomplish in our lifetime, and ultimately be able to hear our Lord say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” And to receive a crown, not one that fades away or one that burns up, but one that truly stands the fire, because it was all done for Him. That requires wisdom and understanding, and its takes an embracing of the things of God and the Word of God.
Follow God’s instructions to obtain God’s intended results. You’re not going to nominally edge into it, or happen onto it. Obeying instructions is something you have to do on purpose. There have even been times when I looked at the instructions and diagrams and I saw what I had to put together, and I embraced it. But then I couldn’t find it in English! It was all there and I could see all the parts, but when I tried to read it step by step it was in French or Chinese or German or Spanish or Portuguese. None of those are languages that I can read or speak!
Then I finally found the set of instructions meant for me, that could help me, that I can read, and I had a new appreciation for their value! You know, when you’re a kid or a young adult, and you don’t really think you need the instructions? Then you see all those other languages and you say, “Why should I even fool with this? What do I need with all these other languages?” Friend, there are times when I’m trying to put something together or make some computer application function correctly and I am hopelessly dependent and hanging onto and embracing the instructions. What would it be like if our Spanish church didn’t have a Spanish Bible?
You know, people have given their lives to translate the Bible into other languages, because folks of every language and country desperately need God’s instructions. Sometimes we hold it up and shout glory hallelujah that we have a Bible we can trust, and there’s no argument about it, the King James Bible is the very Word of God. We need to hold onto it and embrace it, and when we do embrace it, the Bible says there is honor in our future.
Hold on to the instructions. Don’t start out your own way and wait until you’re half way done and then wonder, “Where are those instructions? How did God tell me I’m suppose to do this, anyway?” I will be blessed and have much less headache and heartache if I will embrace God’s instruction from my youth and follow the instruction of the Bible right out of the gate.
This is simple, but all of us need the reminder. Verse 10 says, “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.” The earlier I get this started, the better off I’m going to be. Wisdom will teach you to obey your parents as a child. It will teach you to respect your teachers and authorities, respect your elders and listen. Wisdom will teach you do some things that are not always natural, what comes easiest to us. The natural man doesn’t understand spiritual things. His ways are above our ways, and sometimes it takes the Instruction Manual to learn the ways of God.
He goes on and says, “I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.” Now listen, I don’t know about you. I have instructed some folks. In the college. In my home. I desperately want them to have wisdom and understanding. I want them to be able to go out and serve God in a ministry and be straight. Nobody have to say, “Hey, you’re out of line there,” and have to straighten them up. I want the young folks to be able to go out of my home and out of our Bible college, out of our church and youth ministry, and be straight down the line living for God and serving Him according to the instructions that God gave us in this Book. I want them to be able to do what God wants them to do and be whatever God wants them to be.
One thing I’ve noticed is that wisdom can keep you from stumbling because you already know about the traps that the devil will set for you. You see ahead of time the shaky ground and pot holes that will trip you up. You walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
We cover this ground and you may be thinking, “This is not profound.” No, it’s foundational. It’s basic. But sometimes we need to be reminded that this Book has greater power than just being preached from the pulpit every week. In my home, in my life, I need the Instruction Manual to guide me, precept upon precept, the building blocks of my life, in our family, in our church, in our ministries, in our missions around the world. Block by block, precept by precept, truth by truth. Wisdom’s Instruction Manual. Daily in our lives and in our homes.
You say, “This is really simple,” but we are getting ready to get to the other side of it. “Take fast hold of instruction...” That means to really get a grip on it. It means don’t let go. To me, I see, “Buckle up, Buttercup! Because somebody is about to try to take the Instruction Manual from you.” Somebody’s always going to try to tear it down or make you question the instructions that God gives us. Somebody’s always thinking they know a short cut, or they know better than God does. How many people think the commands of the Bible apply to everybody else but them? “It’s true for everybody else, but I can get by with this. I am the exception.” Really?
I’m just going to take you back to that instruction manual when we put that desk together. There seemed to be millions of parts, screws, little pieces. Some of it was wood. Some of it was particle board. Some of it was I-don’t-know-what-that-was! There were some heavy cardboard pieces that went in the bottoms of the drawers. But every piece had a purpose and a place. Some of it wasn’t strong enough unless you put in the part they made because they didn’t use wood, they used something else. You had to put that brace in there, and if that brace wasn’t there, it wasn’t going to hold up. Miss Anita would be answering the phone and buzzing you in, and when she opened that drawer, that 100 pounds of stuff that she keeps in that drawer would just give way and crash through to the floor. That’s why we have drawers, so we can fill them full of stuff because we need it!
God says to take fast hold of it. That means we need to get a hold of it and not let go. You say, “Well, we are in the Landmark Baptist Church and we know God’s truth is the King James Bible.” Okay, but are you holding fast to it? As a church, as a ministry, as a family, as an individual Christian. There’s no question that this church is holding on to the King James Bible. Preaching it. Living it. Working it. But it’s not just for the ministry. This needs to be personal. This is the church, each individual person in the church personally getting in your Bible and saying, “God, I’m going to take fast hold of your Instructions.”
Hanging on. He says, “Let her not go.” Wisdom is personified as a woman, and he says, “Get a hold of that and don’t let go.” My dad told me the same thing about my wife. He said, “Lock her down early and don’t let her go.” I took his advice. He was my best man. We were standing back there in the baptistry dressing area, waiting on the preacher to come. He was just messing with me, but my dad said, “This is your last chance. I’ll boost you through the window.” I said, “No! Stop that! You’re that one who told me this was a good thing.” I know I had to have been red-faced, because right before the preacher walked in I was saying, “Stop it!” I think he was just messing with me, making sure I was all in and committed.
Hey folks, sometimes we will be tested, and we better have a hold of something, and then be determined that we’re not going to let it go. I made a decision. “This is truth, and I’m going to hold on to truth. I’m not going to let it go.” There’s going to be a lot of people who will tell you that you’re foolish for going to church and taking your family to church. There’s going to be a lot of people who will say you’re foolish to tithe and to give to God’s church and ministry of the Gospel. They’ll think you’re foolish because of how you believe and practice. But it will all be worth it one day when you hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” When that crown stands up to the testing and the fire. It’s going to be worth it one day.
Look. He says, “Keep her, for she is thy life.” Almost like the marriage relationship, you become one flesh. Wisdom, understanding and instruction ought to be something that becomes a part of you. It’s so inseparable from your life and your thinking, that you’re one with it. It’s something you hold so tight to that no one could tell the difference between where it ends and you begin. It’s become a part of you, a part of who your are and what you do and how you live your life everyday.
When I came to Bible college I had a niece that came with me. She would ask me for counsel sometimes. “Uncle Barry, what do you think about this?” I would give her chapter and verse. She would say, “No I wanted to know what you think about it, not what the Bible says.” I said, “Well, I just think what the Bible thinks.” I determined that a long time ago. If I’ve got Bible on it, then why would you want my opinion? My opinion is exactly what the Bible says, because it is Truth.
That’s what people need to see and understand about us. I’ve gotten a hold of truth, wisdom, understanding and instruction. When they ask me a question they know what they’re going to get. If I’ve got chapter and verse on it, then that’s what’s coming out of my mouth. That is true instruction. What is the use for me to give someone my opinion when God has already put down in writing His opinion on the matter. What good is my opinion going to do anybody if it doesn’t line up with the truth of God’s Word?
God’s Instruction. God’s Word. God’s Truth. That’s what this verse is talking about as Wisdom and Understanding. We are commanded to, “Keep her for she is thy life.” You know, there are so many people who have lost their lives because they did not follow instructions. Simple instructions. Before I came into the ministry, I was involved in construction. I’ve seen accidents where people were never the same again. Sometimes they had just been told moments before not to get too close or not to be in a certain area, and they ignored it and didn’t think it was important.
My dad would often tell me about his dad, especially when we would go across that Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel. Tons and tons and tons of concrete poured in that place to form the tunnel. I’m thankful for it because the water is over top of you. Every time we would drive across, my dad would give us instruction and stories about how many men were buried in that concrete because they didn’t follow instructions. There were safety parameters put up, they had what they needed to work safely, but they got careless and they didn’t think it was important to follow the instructions they were given. That concrete had to be poured and men had to be there to pour it, but I guarantee you, nobody ever had any intention of the dead bodies of men being in that concrete.
“Preacher, aren’t you going overboard about following instructions, and scaring us with stories about those who didn’t?” Well, let’s follow with what the Bible has to say about those who don’t follow instructions. Verse 14, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men,” That sounds simple enough, but then he said, “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Now I don’t know how hard core you are about how closely to follow when the Bible says, “Here’s the right way, and here’s the evil way.” Here is how a Christian is suppose to function in relation to things that are scripturally wrong. We can go through a lot, but this Bible is the truth. You say, “Well, I’m not really going to do this or that, I’m just going to associate with them that do. I’m not really going to do this or that, I’m just going to be close to it.” The Bible is giving us some pretty strong warnings here about avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it. Stay away! Go in the opposite direction! Danger ahead!
Really the Bible is giving us a picture of the forks in the road, where people have been walking in the right path, and then they are faced with a decision about which way to go. Here’s the right path, and then the path of evil is going to branch off in this direction. He instructs his son, because Solomon has gone this way. Maybe right now he is back on the right path, but he instructed his son not to go that way. You read further in the book, and you’ll be reminded that he watched from his window and watched a young man be led astray by a wicked woman of the night.
You say, “Preacher, that would never happen to my son.” Well, if he went down the wrong road, he would be vulnerable and tempted.
When we say, “Avoid it,” it means, “Just don’t go there.” When it says, “Pass not by it,” it’s saying, this fork in the road that veers off in this direction, don’t even walk by that path. Stay away. He realizes how much temptation there is to go down the wrong path, and how severe the destruction is that awaits you there.
Sometimes we think it’s enough in the Christian life just to stay the course, just to stay on the right path. The Bible says when you see the wrong path, don’t keep going. Avoid it. Don’t pass by it. He says, “Go not in the way of evil men. Turn from it.” It reminds me that if I’ve got no other choice but to pass by the wrong way, then I’ll turn around and go back, because it can’t be avoided on that path. I’m going to pass by it unless I turn around. My job is to turn around and to warn others to turn around.
You know when Richard’s in church he and I will joke around, and I’ll put my hand up to block my view of him, since he might lead me down the evil way. We can laugh about it, but sometimes that’s how we are with the evil things of this world. “Oh, I’ll be alright. I’m going to pass close by it, but if I just put a blinder on my eye and pretend it’s not there, it won’t affect me.” No, the Bible says avoid it at all costs. Don’t even pass by it. Turn away from it and go the other way.
God’s way is always the best way, and God will make a way to get you where He wants you, and He tells you very clearly, “Don’t pass that way.”
“Turn from it and pass away.” Get away, far away. You know, as God’s children and God’s servants, we are always looking for the will of God in our life. Sometimes when we face a crossroads where there is a fork in the road that goes off to the evil way, sometimes we are looking for a sign, for God to tell us something. But God says, “Go back to the starting block. You are on the wrong road, because the road I have for you doesn’t have evil branches. The road I’ve got for you is so straight, there won’t be any forks. It’s so straight, you’re not gonna stumble.”
You say, “Well, I’ve lived a lifetime full of those crossroads.” Because we’re all sinners and because we put ourselves on a path where we pass by the wrong thing. We got too close to it. We weren’t following instructions.
God’s way is the best way. God wants your family to walk with Him in the way that is so straight and so narrow that you can be protected and safe and not be tripped up by the evil and the temptations that the devil presents.
“But the wicked world is everywhere, Preacher. I can’t even go to Walmart without facing it’s influence. There’s wickedness and bad music and all kinds of temptation and influence. Here it specifically speaks of the path of evil men.
Why do we protect our children? Why does the Bible say we can’t even go down that road? Because some of the people you will introduce your children to by traveling down that road, even though you may think they look harmless, they are going to be an influence on them, even if they don’t influence you. You know some of these people, this is just who they are, and they probably don’t even realize it. They may not seem like bad people outwardly.
Here’s how the Bible describes them. “For they sleep not, except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” Their day is not complete unless they have done some damage and caused someone to fall or caused someone to question or rebel or head down a wrong path or make excuse for doing wrong. That word mischief suggests that they don’t have any desire to do what’s right. They have chosen to take the wrong path and now their whole life’s goal is to mess with other people and cause them to do the same. It even talks about their sleep and says that their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall. That’s who’s waiting for you along that path. They are waiting for your children too.
You don’t think there are people who are really like that? There are even people like that who come to a Bible preaching church. There are people like that whose sole reason why they come to church is to cause problems and stir up strife. They come because they can’t sleep unless they have accomplished some mischief and damage to God’s church and God’s people. They did all the damage they could do and wrecked everybody they could wreck at the last church, so they come looking for a new opportunity to do the same kind of mischief.
You say, “But Preacher, I’m not that person. I’m not trying to hurt God’s church.” No, but I’m preaching to a bunch of good people who need to realize that they are going to run into that mischief maker, and that person will do their best to draw you away from the straight and narrow and pleasing God. Friend, when somebody is speaking words outside the wisdom of God’s Word and sowing discord and stirring up strife, you need to walk away from them and refuse to listen to that. It’s mischief. It’s causing trouble, causing someone to fall. Don’t let anybody draw you into that mischief.
You know, we ought to be feasting on the Bible everyday, our spiritual food. We ought to be having our devotions and spending time with God in the morning, ingesting and meditating on God’s truth. It ought to fill us up spiritually. But he said here that for this wicked person, their bread is wickedness. That’s what they desire and crave. They’ve got to consume that.
Think about all the damage that the devil has done to your country, to your church, to your home and to your life. How much time do you spend in the Word of Life, consuming that spiritual food and feasting on it? And how much time do you spend watching folks on Facebook and their videos and blogs and podcasts. It’s not all bad, but neither is it alive and powerful like God’s Word. How long can you be on there before you pass by something wicked? How much time are you going to spend sitting in front of the television, and how long will it be before you encounter something on there that’s wicked, maybe even in a commercial? I can’t even watch a game without it happening. As soon as a commercial comes on, I gotta hit that mute button. Sometimes, depending on the channel, I might have to mute the game, and just watch the screen. Because there are things that are trying to penetrate my life and my thoughts that are wrong. We don’t think we are those kinds of wicked people, but we have to constantly evaluate our lives and watch out for it.
Preacher, do you just want me to live in a box? No, but I do want you to guard yourselves, and avoid that wicked path and the people on it. I want you to ‘pass not by it, turn from it, pass away.’ You know there are some things in my life that I personally am not strong enough to have that in my presence. I don’t like the person that I become when those things are a part of my life, so I just make a practice of separating from those things and those influences. Maybe they are not all evil, but I’ve certainly found those things to be weights to me, and I had to lay them aside so that I can serve God, and so that I can keep His instructions.
“Preacher, what do you call that? Why would you do that?” Wisdom. Understanding. I have gained wisdom enough to realize that this is not good for me. I understood that I could not control me, but it was controlling me, so I had to part ways with it. God’s instruction says to get it out of my life. Lay it aside. Turn from it. Avoid it. Pass not by it.
I want this to be true of my life instead. “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Proverbs 4:18) Jesus talks about His church being a light. First He says in John chapter 8, “...I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” But then He talks about His church and says, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14) Just as Jesus is the light, we are to be light in this world. Listen, I want to be that kind of light, and I don’t want to dim that light as I grow older. I want to shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
You say, “What’s the perfect day?” The perfect day for me is when Jesus calls me to be with Him, when He calls me home to Heaven. The perfect day for me would be to get raptured out of here. But maybe, instead, it will come with my last breath. “Preacher, what are you going to do if you breathe your last breath?” Well, I’m going to be buried, even though it costs more. Because even after my last breath I want to shine the light to people that I believe there is a resurrection. I want to be faithful and give a true testimony, even in my death, even after my lips can no longer speak.
“What do you beg God for?” I want God to open my eyes and allow me to see clearly. The things that are in my life, I want to see it from God’s perspective. I want to see what’s worthwhile, what’s eternal. I want to see what’s worthless and what’s destructive. We always talk about vision, wanting a vision for the future. I want to have a clear vision of what is in my life right now. We need to see the things that we’ve gone blind to.
A Christian sees more on His knees. D. L. Moody said, “A Christian sees more on his knees than a philosopher can see on his tiptoes.” That’s not that deep, Preacher. It is, because it reminds me that, as a praying Christian, God can give me answers to questions that people have tried, through the ages, to figure out about man. God can settle it in my heart from His Word and give me instruction on how to deal with it. Psalm 119:18 says it this way. “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”
I want to be encouraging tonight, but I also want to warn you once again: There are paths out there that we ought not to walk. I was reminded again as I studied and meditated through this chapter that I’m not even suppose to pass by those places. It’s not just that I shouldn’t walk that path. God says avoid it, turn away from it, pass not by it, don’t even get close to it. I don’t know if you take it this way, but the Bible uses the words, “Pass away.” You say, “But what if it costs you your life to maintain that kind of separation from evil?” I’d rather give up my life than truth. I don’t want to go down the wrong road.
We like to think about our arrival in Heaven, and the welcome that’s waiting for us there, and the souls that have already arrived in God’s presence. Revelation mentions souls kept under the altar/ There are people who, when given the opportunity, they didn’t take the wrong road. They gave their life to stay on the right road. To stay in absolute perfect fellowship with their God. They received the instruction and held on to it. They treasured the wisdom of God’s Word and His will.
I believe those souls cry out from that altar. What are they saying? They’re crying out to a holy God saying, “Avenge us.” Day after day, God not only hears your prayers, but He hears those souls cry out to Him, “Oh God, when is it going to be the last day? Lord, when are you going to avenge us?” And every day I believe a long-suffering, merciful God is looking down and watching us as we serve Him, and sees whether we hold fast to His instruction. He is looking to see that last soul saved. That loving God that hears the prayer, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He hears us pray, “Lord, please be long-suffering and merciful to America.” He hears us cry out to Him about all the things that are going on, but that same God hears the pleas of those who did it right and died in faith and in faithfulness, even though it cost them their lives. “How long...?”
Tonight as a Christian I want to walk the straight and narrow path, and I want to shine a light on that path that grows more and more, brighter and brighter, until that perfect day. I believe I’m looking at some folks who want to serve God in that same way. So tonight’s message is just a reminder that at the end of that right way and shining that light of the Gospel to a lost and dying world along the way, there is a reward at the end of the way. I don’t want that wrong road to cost me my reward. Even if I don’t take wrong road, just not staying away from the wrong road could cost me my “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” I don’t want to give that up.
Christian friend, there are paths that will lead you astray. Weights that will weigh you down and take all your strength and energy away from serving God. Sins that will cause us to stumble in the work of God. There’s a devil who is stalking God’s people like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I want to stay as far away as I can from all of those paths that will take me into spiritual danger.
If you don’t know Christ as your Saviour, this same Jesus is inviting you. He came from Heaven and died on a cruel rugged cross, was buried, and He rose again the third day to pay for your sin. He arose victorious over sin, death, hell and the grave. He wants to save you if you will come to Him and call upon Him. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He wants you to have eternal life, and have it more abundantly. We would love to take a Bible and show you how Heaven could be your home.
This Bible is our Instruction Manual. Don’t try and fail and try and fail on your own. Start with reading the instructions. Take fast hold of instruction. Stick with God’s path.