Proverbs 4

King James Version (KJV)

4 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

² For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

³ For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

⁴ He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

⁶ Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

⁷ Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

⁸ Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

⁹ She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

¹⁰ Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

¹¹ I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

¹² When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

¹³ Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

¹⁴ Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

¹⁵ Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

¹⁶ For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸ But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

¹⁹ The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

²⁰ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

²¹ Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

²² For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

²³ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

²⁴ Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

²⁵ Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

²⁶ Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

²⁷ Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

 

We are on a journey.  On this journey, you will see that there is a path we must walk.  It’s just wide enough for each of us to walk it alone.  Along this path, there are many branches.  At these forks in the road, we must choose to walk the road that is on the roadmap we hold in our hand, or venture off on other paths that may seem cool, smell good, or even look appealing.  The other paths even occasionally seem easier to walk.  The path we walk is up to us.  But, there’s only one path that leads to the end of the maze we call life.

 

God formed man out of the dust of the earth.  He created man in His image.  He placed Adam in the garden, and gave him authority.  God even gave many the role of naming each animal.  Man needed a human companion, so God made woman from the rib of man.  Theirs should be a good life.  But, the path on the roadmap had instructions.  God said not to eat of the fruit of one tree.  That particular tree must have just stood out from the rest.  Maybe it was the tallest.  Maybe it was the most beautiful.  Maybe it had the plumpest fruit on it.  Maybe it had a neon sign hanging over it that said, “Yum!”  Whatever the reason, they were drawn to that tree.  They walked over to it.  They hadn’t noticed that there was this snake over there.  That snake must have seen how captivated Eve was with the fruit.  I can imagine him saying something like, “Looks tasty, huh? Bet you’d like to have a bite.”  We do know that Eve replied that God had said that if her and Adam touched the fruit, they would die.  At this, that old snake must have thought, “Ahah!  Gotcha!  You don’t know what God said.”

 

It had never rained before.  Nobody knew what it even was.  Noah insisted that it was going to rain.  He went out there day after day.  He took his tools.  He took the blueprints God gave him.  Well, that’s where he said he got them, anyhow.  The people were too smart for that.  This guy was probably just some lunatic or fanatic.  Day after day, month after month, year after year, Noah kept building that ark.  Day after day, month after month, year after year, Noah kept warning all he saw.  It’s going to rain!  It’s going to flood!  The earth will be destroyed!  Judgment day is coming!  Who would listen?  His immediate family barely listened.  “You’ve been saying that for years, Noah.  Yet, it hasn’t happened.  Some prophet of that fake God you are!  I think I’ll keep living my life the way I want, even if it’s not the way you say I should live.”

 

We have a roadmap for this maze of life.  It’s called the Bible.  Some take the letters, and form another phrase for it.  They call it the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Whether you call it a roadmap or a set of instructions is irrelevant.  The basic meaning is the same.  We have the Word of God as a guide.  It tells us who God is, what He expects of us, what we can expect of Him, what our reward is if we follow His map, and what will happen to us if we follow the path of our own desires, also known   as a path of sin.  There’s an old phrase.  It says, “All roads leads to Rome.”  Well, friends, not all roads lead to heaven.  There’s only one path that leads there.  The Bible calls it a straight and narrow path, and goes on to say that there are few that find it.  There’s only one door to heaven.  That is Jesus Christ.  We’re taught that if any man enter another way, the same is a thief and a liar.

 

Oh, that’s hard teaching… Yes, but it’s true teaching.  There’s a lie out there that says we can serve God however we think is best.  “You worship God how you want.  I’ll worship God how I want.  And we’ll all make it to whatever we determine heaven to be.”  What a lie from the pit of hell!!  Don’t be deceived, Eve!  Get to know the Word of God!  Your eternal life is dependent on it!

 

The Bible says that we must be born again (John 3) of the water and of the Spirit.  That’s the only want to make heaven.  No sin shall enter heaven.  God is holy.  Because He is holy and perfect, He cannot spend eternity with a people that are not also holy.  Thankfully, He revealed Himself in the flesh, shed His blood for us, rose from the grave so that He could fill us with His Spirit after purchasing us with His blood that cleanses us of all our sins.

 

The Word of God was written by holy men of God who were inspired by God to write.  It was God-breathed.  John 1 says it this way.  “The Word was God.”  God cannot be separated from His Word.  And, the Bible teaches us that the Word of God is settled forever in heaven.  It can’t be changed.  It further says that if any man add to, or take away from, the Word, that man is accursed.  Galatians 1 teaches us that if any man comes preaching another Gospel, that man is cursed.  There’s only one Lord, one faith (doctrine), one baptism.  There’s only one truth.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  It matters what formula you are baptized in.  When you’re baptized, you’re being baptized into an identity.  That identity you’re being baptized into is Jesus Christ, the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

 

But, being baptized in the water isn’t enough.  Remember, we must be born of the water and of the Spirit.  John 3 goes on to say that the wind lists where it will, but you hear the sound thereof.  So is it every one that is born of the Spirit.  You’re going to hear something.  That something you’re going to hear is found throughout the book of Acts.  Over and over, it is written that unknown tongues were spoken by people as they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  It’s not an option.  Any that have not been born of the Spirit need to in order to make heaven.  Don’t follow the temptation of the road that says, “You don’t need that.  That’s just what they think.  It doesn’t really matter.”  It matters!!

 

Hell is a very real place.  I had a recent incident in my life.  It got me thinking a bit.  There’s an old saying.  “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”  It’s a true saying.  Hell is described as eternal flames.  Have you ever walked into a smoky room?  Is it easy to breathe in there?  Is it appealing?  Is it fun choking on smoke?  Or, have you ever burned yourself on the stove, or something else?  Did that feel good?  Did it make you want to do it again?  Was it fun feeling that burn for hours, and maybe even days, because of burning just your finger?  Imagine burning your entire body for eternity, and just feeling your skin melt.  Does that sound appealing to you?  That’s hell.  There are some out there that say that they don’t care if they go to hell.  After all, all their friends are going there.  There is a real disconnect about the reality of hell.  It is utter torment.  And, that’s where everyone not born of the water and of the Spirit is going.  That’s where any unholy are going.

 

The correct path… Lord, light up the correct path… Open my eyes to Your Word, Lord… I must be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.  I must be born of the Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues as Your Spirit gives the utterance.  I must live holy…  Ok, what else?  We are not splitting hairs when it comes to doctrine.  The doctrine of the trinity is false.  It’s tritheism.  In other words, it tries to say that the one true God is three separate and distinct persons.  The reason the Jews continually picked up stones to kill Jesus is they said He was blaspheming.  He, being a man, was making Himself equal to God.  And, they knew that the Word taught that God has no equal.  He alone is God, and there is none else.  He alone is the Savior, and there is none else.  He alone was Creator, and there was none else.  He alone was the First, the Last, the Only.  He alone was the Almighty.  But, those Jews had a little problem.  Jesus Christ fulfilled each of those roles, according to the Word.  Uh oh…

 

What path?  Which is right?  Are the Jews right?  Are the Mormons right?  How about the Buddhists?  Nope.  The Christians are right.  Ok, so which denomination?  Lord, help me… It’s so hard to choose the right path.  Help me know the right path, Lord… What lines up with the Word?  It is time to leave tradition outside of the church doors, and experience Jesus Christ.  It’s time to stop constraining Him with time constraints.  It’s time to leave pre-conceived notions out the door (we also call this prejudice).  It is time to quit making coming to church a social event, and make it a Jesus event.  We need to place the entirety of our focus upon Him.  He’s the reason we breathe.  He’s the reason we gather together.  He’s the one we’re supposed to be worshipping.

 

What would happen if we really gave our all to Jesus?  What would happen if we gave Him all our strength and energy?  What would happen if we put all our focus upon Him and just worshipped Him?  What would happen if we studied the Word of God without preconceived notions, and really studied out who He is, and what pleases Him?