 But that said, we're in Proverbs chapter four. I'll begin reading by simply reading verses one and two and get into our introduction in our study. But as you know, we're going through the book of Proverbs. We're now in chapter four. And in chapter four, verses one and two, Solomon writes, here are my children, the instruction of a father. And give attention to no understanding. For I give you good doctrine, do not forsake my law. And so notice how he begins here once again. Solomon is writing as a father, as if he as a father is instructing children. That's why he says in verse one, here are my children, the instruction of a father. And so Solomon is writing as a father instructing children. Obviously as a father, especially a good father, a good father would wanna give his children healthy instructions and that's what Solomon is attempting to do throughout this book. When you look at this and you see the introduction, how he begins speaking as a father and instructing children, we need to remember that in the Bible, the father was given responsibility to teach the children the ways of God. It was the responsibility and remained so for the father to be the instructor in the home. I realize of course that that's a challenging thing and I'll speak a little bit more about that in a moment and share a few things that may be of help. But when you read the Bible, the Bible makes it very clear that it's the father who has given the responsibility to act as the instructor. Do you know that even to the stay in the nation of Israel, there are certain elements of orthodox Judaism that do not expect the wife to attend Bible studies when they celebrate their Shabbat services. But what will happen is, and we've seen this, where we'll be walking by a synagogue, and this is how I found this out. I actually asked my guide about this. We were walking by a synagogue and the synagogue was on a slope and so you could see into the synagogue and attached to the synagogue was a playground area. And you look into the playground area and there were ladies, there were women and their children were playing. But you look into the hall and it had men. So the men were there being instructed but you look into the playground area and that's where the women were. They were congregating, visiting, watching their children. So I asked my guide, why is that? Why do you have, why do they have women in that area there and the men receiving instruction? And my guide said because they're orthodox, ultra orthodox and they don't believe that the wife needs to learn because the husband has a responsibility of being the teacher. And so you have that ingrained from the beginning when in the book of Exodus when God was installing the Passover. And you see that in the book of Exodus how he's giving instructions related to the Passover. He has a certain point where God says and when your child asks, what does this mean? And what he was saying is that the father who is the one who is overseeing the Passover was intended to give the answers to the questions that the children have as a pertain to spiritual things. That's what you see in the Old Testament. You see that God had really had a responsibility that he gave to men. It is not the wife's responsibility to be the priest of the home. It was my responsibility to raise my children in the ways and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I as a father have been entrusted with that and that's what you're seeing as you go through Proverbs. You might not have known that or noticed that but that's why Solomon is speaking as a father and that's what he's doing here in verse one when he says, here my children the instruction of a father. He's simply appealing to what they already know to be true that the father instructs the family. In Deuteronomy chapter six verses four through nine. Here, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. Shall talk of them when you sit in the house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. This was instruction to the fathers. The men were supposed to have that responsibility. You see that in the old. You see it in the new. In Ephesians chapter six verse four Paul was writing and he said, you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. That was instruction to fathers. And so Solomon's approach reminds me of how the apostle Paul instructed the church in 1 Thessalonians chapter two verses 11 and 12. Paul said, you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children that you should walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. So again, even Paul himself as he's writing reminds fathers that they have the instructive purposes. They're the ones who give instruction to the family. Now sometimes children may not have a father to instruct them. He may be absent. He may be unsaved. He may be uninterested. He may be unavailable to perform this task. So in these proverbs, we have the blessing of having God giving children an instruction, the instruction of a father. That's why it's important and beneficial to read the proverbs. And that's why it's very beneficial if you're a parent should take the time to read proverbs to your children because it instructs them in the ways of the Lord. Now, as a father, he's exhorting his children to hear and to give in order that they may know. Notice how he says in verse one again, hear my children, the instruction of a father and give attention to know understanding. So he's exhorting them to hear, to give in order to know. When he says hear, he exhorts them to hear. That word here means to pay attention. It speaks of obeying. Listen closely, take an interest in this. He's instructing them to yield to my teaching. When he speaks of give, it's just a word that means incline yourself to this. Be attentive to what I'm saying. Everybody listens differently. You never really know if someone's listening to you because everybody listens differently. When my son David was a child growing up, and there were times when we would have conversations and there were the kinds where I was instructing him concerning how he might preserve his life by not doing a certain thing a second time. As we were talking, there were times that I would share with my son things that I thought were really important. And my son David had a habit as a kid of not looking at me when I was speaking. He would look to the side. And I'd say, David, are you listening to me? And he'd go, yes dad. I said, then look at me when I'm speaking to you son. It feels like you're disrespecting me. Speak, I'm speaking to you, look at me. Okay dad, and you look at me. I'd say, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I'll say, it used to get me so upset. I'd say, man, what's with you? And then years later, I'm in the front of the church and someone's talking to me, and I'm looking away like this. And the Lord, do you remember how you used to think that David wasn't listening to you? Look at the way you listen to people. Some of you have spoken to me after a service. Some of you have. You will notice that I don't look at you in the eyes. I will always turn my head. I always do. I always have. I just didn't realize that my son did the same thing. And why do I turn my eyes from the person I'm speaking to? They're ugly. No, it's because. That's in the Bible, right? That's in the Bible, right here. No, it's because that's how I concentrate. That's how I listen. I did that to my own father. My own father used to say, son, look at me when I'm speaking to you. And I did exactly what my son, David, did. And so all I'm saying is when you listen, you may listen differently, but the point he's saying is pay attention and whatever way you do, pay attention, listen, give heed to what I'm saying is what the father is saying. You need to perceive this. In other words, when he says that, you may know the word no means to learn, to find out or to perceive. Though this is how you're gonna perceive. You're gonna know by experience and you will become personally acquainted with understanding if you hear and you give attention to this. Why would I listen to you? He says in verse two, I give you good doctrine. I'm giving you good teaching. So don't forsake my law. Why pay attention? Because I'm giving you a good teaching. There are those who pay attention to things that are novel or mystical, maybe exciting, perhaps self-promoting because for them that's more interesting, but Solomon is saying, no, you need to pay attention to what I'm saying because I'm giving you solid instruction. You see, God's wisdom produces lengths of days. It gives us long life and peace. He already said that in verse one and two of chapter three. Remember, my son, do not forget my law. Let your heart keep my commands for a length of days and long life and peace. They will add to you. So he says, listen to this good doctrine because it will bless your life. And now he moves on in verse three. And this is interesting to me how he puts this to. And this is so paternal. This is so fatherly. It's like he's reminiscing, thinking of his youth as he's speaking. So it's like he's talking to his boy and he says, you know, when I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the side of my mother, he also taught me. He said to me, let your heart retain my words, keep my commands and live. Now I wanna point something out that you won't notice at first because I find this very interesting. He says when I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the side of my mother, what he was saying is I was the favorite. That's what Solomon is saying. I was the favorite. I was the favorite boy. Now Solomon, Solomon's father was King David. And Solomon's mother was a woman that David had an affair with, Bathsheba. That was Solomon's mama and dad. When you look in the Bible and you begin to see how many sons King David had, you know, I was thinking about that. I knew he had a number of sons. You know how many sons he had, 19. 19, 20, if you include the one who died when he had that relationship with Bathsheba. He had a lot of siblings, but he says I was the favorite, which is an interesting way to put it. I was like the only one is what he's saying. I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the side of my mother. He also taught me and said to me, let your heart retain my words, keep my commands and live. I had a special relationship with my dad and I received a godly education from my childhood. I was a king's son. And as a king's son, I received the best training. That would mean that I was educated in all kinds of things, including the religious and moral training that was offered to me. And so I had a godly education from childhood is what he's saying. And his father gave him fatherly advice. Fatherly advice that he'd call upon. There's an instant I wanted to read to you an example of David instructing this beloved son and you see how David spoke to him. And again, in a moment, I'm gonna share some things with you that help us to get practical about this. But in first Chronicles 28, verse nine, David is speaking to Solomon and I want you to hear how he spoke to his son and this is in front of people. But he says this, he says, as for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. This is a father speaking to his son. It's recorded in scripture but it shows us the depth of relationship and the priestly kind of mantle that David wore as he ministered to his son and he did it in front of witnesses. And so he's saying, my father instructed me and thus that gives to me a godly heritage to rely on. It gives me something to look back upon. It also, son will give me credibility because I'm not giving to you something novel that I'm inventing, I'm giving to you something that has been handed to me by my own father. And so David spoke to Solomon, David instructed and personally exhorted him. As a father, David had influence. It was masculine and it was personal in Solomon's life. David had open hearted talks with his son. He would share insights with him. I was thinking through and praying through this study today and you know what? Forgive me in a way because in many ways when I teach, I'm aware that I can repeat myself and thus I'm always afraid that I'm just gonna say something you already know. I'm just being real with you right now. Probably doesn't matter, but I am. So I think you already know this. I respect you. And I think of course you know this and the spirit of the Lord has been saying some things to me lately that I think that I wanna share with you. And one of them was this, don't assume that they already know what you're saying. Please share with them what I share with you. And so that's what I'm gonna do right now. Just share a little bit. Perhaps you already know this and you already do this, but some of you perhaps you don't. And so when I read the Bible very often, what happens is I just see it as a conversation. So I see David speaking to his son Solomon and he's saying, stay loyal to the Lord. Don't walk away from him. To me that's very normal and very natural because that's how I am with my kids. But not every husband, not every father, not every mama is that way. That it's that way with me, but it may not be that way in your home. It may not have been that way in the home that you were raised in. And I'm assuming that everybody would sit down with their dad and talk and have these heart to hearts. And then today I had to remember my father never talked to me. That's just a fact. He never did. And I'm not complaining. It's just my father never talked to me. He didn't speak to me until he got saved. And then that was two years after I got back from the military then he would start to talk and open up. So I was in my twenties before I had any conversations with my father. My dad didn't talk. My dad was a man who would sit in the TV room in the den and watch television. And he would turn to me during the commercials. So if we had two minutes of commercials we had two minutes of conversation, possibly, possibly. And that was on occasion, that wasn't frequent. I did not have a father who talked to me. I had a mother who did, but not a father. My dad didn't. My dad would come home from work. I could tell you what my dad would do. He got home at seven o'clock. He would go straight into the bathroom, wash his hands in his face. He would come out. My mom would have supper, put it on the table. He would sit at the table. We would sit quietly at the table. He would eat. There was no conversation. My mom would stand at the sink. She never sat down. And she would look at us at the table and she'd say, do you want something? And we would say, yes, can I have this or that? And mama would, that was my upbringing. That was our home. So there were no conversations. My dad would go into the TV room, eventually the den. He would stay awake until about 9, 9.30 and then he'd go to bed. That was my dad, my whole life. So what I am is a result of what happened when I got saved. I never really thought about it, but I'm saying this for a reason. It's because I assume everybody does what I learned to do and that may not be so. I have very open hearted conversations with my children. I have since they were born. Since they were able to hear me. Not since they were infants. I didn't sit there when they were like three weeks old. And you know, I was thinking, I didn't do that. But as they grew older, I have always had that conversation with the kids, always. So I'm not awkward with my own children. They can come over and sit down with me and we will visit and we will talk. How are you doing, what's up? Share with me. My wife can tell you this is true. They'll call the house sometimes and she'll say hello. Oh, you want to talk to dad? And she'll hand me the phone because they need advice. If they need money, they talk to her. If they need advice, they talk to dad. That's true. That's true. We can sit down for hours. For hours. What's up? What are you doing? Tell me about your job. What do you learn at home? We have that. But listen, father, I built that into the family. I built that into the family. When they were very little, I used to date my children, call them, taking them out for their date. We would go out on Saturdays. Every one of those kids would go to breakfast with me through their young life. Not at the same time. I would take David, I'd take Corinne, I'd take Anna, my Joseph. We would go to some place and get a breakfast. And they'd sit across from me at the age of three and four or five. And I'd say, so tell me what's going on in your life. And we would talk. Now, what's going on in a five-year-old's life? You know, dad, I don't know about Iran, man. I'm really. No, they would just tell me what they were thinking. And it would take us an hour. And I built that into them. When they were very small, I would hold their little hands and we would pray with them. I would talk to them about Jesus. I had conversations because Jesus was my savior and I wanted him to be theirs. And so I would tell them, this is what the Lord has shown me. And you know what, guys? We had conversations like that. Listen, you will see that in the way David spoke to Solomon when he said, my son, do this. That tells me that he and Solomon had a good relationship where David would instruct his son. Solomon wasn't one of these boys who was saying, why is the old man always on my back? That wasn't there. It was, son, I'm giving you good advice. And so Solomon says, when I was my mom and my dad's favorite little baby, this is how they raised me, son. And when I'm doing this, I'm doing the same thing for you. I'm sharing with you from my heart what God has taught me. And that's how you do it. You have to find time. You have to make time to develop a relationship. You need to slow down your life long enough to see the things that are valuable. You need to make sure that you don't give them so many activities that they're just constantly entertained because when that happens, they cease listening and they cease concentrating and you cease connecting. So you have to have special times where you disconnect everything and just connect with each other. That's how you get to know each other. You need to read to them and you say, well, you know, that's the thing that's difficult. I don't read very well. They don't care. They really don't. They don't care. Sometimes I've had men who have said, Pastor, I can't read at all. And that's true. And I've had more than one. I can't read at all. And that's my stumbling block. And I say, have your wife read. Just work together. Share what God put on your heart. Your boy, your girl wants to hear from you. They want to know what's in your heart. They want to know their father. So share. Share what God has taught you and take it seriously. Pray with them. Tell them Bible stories. Get short books, devotionals. We used to read the stories of missionaries and biographies of men and women of God. Make sure that they get to church. Make sure that you're a good model to them of what it means to serve the Lord. Pray with them. All you need to do is just take them by the hand and say, I'm going to talk to our Heavenly Father for a moment, close your eyes. And you just pray, dear Jesus, thank you for all the good that you've done in our life. Thank you for my baby that I'm holding by the hand right now. How dearly I love them. That's all you have to do. And if you do that daily, daily, daily, that becomes their life. Do they rebel? Absolutely, they're like their mom, guys. No, do they rebel? Absolutely, absolutely. I would pray they wouldn't. Chances are they will. But it's like you put a spiritual chain on them and they can run and they can run and they're going to do whatever they want. But they come to the end of that chain because if you train up a child in the way you should go when he was old, he will not depart from it. When their conscience is active because they're about to do something wrong, it's because you poured into them the word of God and the voice they hear in their conscience is your voice and God's word. Keep that in mind. Keep that in mind. They will sin against the light. That's true, but at least they have the light. That's important. And that's what we did and that's what I did. And as I was looking at this passage today, I thought, Solomon could say, my dad loved me. My mama loved me. I pray that every one of us who are parents, I pray our kids can say that about us. Yeah, my dad loves me. My mama loves me. How do you know that? Because my dad prays with me, cares for me, provides for me, but my father talks to me and listens to me. There's a certain point, I can't tell you when it will be, but there's a certain point where my preaching to my kids started to move towards me, listening and talking to my kids. It happens. You get from this, no, there have been times when my kids were in their rebellious teen years and they had an answer for everything that I would say to them, listen, you've just made a mistake. This is true. I hope this doesn't sound wrong. You just made a mistake. What mistake? You made the mistake of thinking we're having a conversation. We're not. You're listening and I'm instructing. There's a difference. You think we're talking. I'm not listening to you. You better start listening to me. No, that's what fathers do. That's what we do. No, we're not playing, we're not even talking, we're not even visiting because they had their own opinion. Eventually, I started saying I wanna hear them now because you're old enough to have developed some over time that are real worthy of our conversation because I can see, and they were like 15 and 16, I can see that you're wrestling with some things. Now I'm not gonna be dogmatic with you, though I am strong, you know what I believe. But I will listen to you and let's take apart the concern you have and see whether God's word answers that question. And that's how we did it. That's what I do do this day. I don't have small children. I have adult children. But as we talk, they still know who I am. And my kids can say this. My father listened to me. My father spoke to me. My father instructed me. My father cared for me. And every one of those babies can say my father loves me. See, that's what we need to do. And see, as I was looking at this today, I thought, why could he speak like this? So I wanted to emphasize that one thing. He's saying, again, verse one, my children. He's saying, here, my children, the instruction of a father, that's how he opens it up. So I started thinking, well, how do fathers instruct? And the things that I just shared with you are part of the ways that I taught my children. Take the time to do that. It is so well worth it. And when you gather together for your holidays, because they're out of the house, when you gather together, it isn't one of those times where, oh, I haven't talked to you in so long, I don't even know how to talk to you. It's like you're just picking up the conversation that you had recently, and you just keep flowing in it, because that's your life now. So train up your children. Verse four, again, let your heart retain my words, keep my commands and live. He goes on, get wisdom, get understanding. Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth, do not forsake her. She will preserve you, love her. She will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. And in all you're getting, get understanding, exalt her, and she'll promote you. She will bring you honor when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory. She will deliver to you. So he says in verse five, get wisdom and get understanding. That word get has kind of a merchandising flavor to it. He's saying like a merchant seeks out and purchases goods, seek out wisdom, because you can profit from it. Do not forget, do not leave it behind. Do not turn away from it, and do not forsake wisdom. Don't leave it behind, pursue it. Why is that important? Well, he says in verses six through nine, because wisdom will preserve you and will keep you. Wisdom will promote you. Wisdom will bring you honor, and wisdom will crown you with grace and glory. Wisdom will guard, protect, exalt. Wisdom will make your character weighty. Wisdom will produce grace here and honor in heaven. It's like what Peter said in first Peter five, four, when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Wisdom makes it possible for you to receive this crown. So he says, she will promote you. So embrace her. In verse 10, hear my son and receive my sayings. And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered. When you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction. Do not let go, keep her where she is your life. You see how intense this is? It really is. It's very intense. He's saying, I have taught you. I have led you in right paths. I've instructed you and I've lived before you. I've led you in the way that you should go. So pay attention to what I'm saying. Receive or take for yourself my instruction. You see, life is filled with opportunities to stumble. And life is filled with dangers that can end your life too early. But if you hearken to my words, you will be safe and secure. As I used to tell my children when they were younger, I don't want you to have my testimony. A lot of times when I've heard testimonies, you've heard testimonies where somebody shares, this is where I was at. And they begin to share the things that you hear. And sometimes the things that they did were so severe. Sometimes the things that they did, when you hear it, you'll say, that ought to be a movie. This is unbelievable. I have a friend of mine, I'll leave unnamed for a moment, who, Marie and I were speaking to him and his wife. And as we were having conversation, they were kind of just sharing their story of the things I didn't know, I've known him for years, but I didn't know their story. And so he says, oh yeah, he grew up in a certain area by the San Antonio Freeway, I think was. He said, and the five. And he said, yeah, there were times when we were in a neighborhood and the gangsters there were chasing us and they chased us across the freeway. And we're dodging cars. And he's telling me, just like we're just talking. And I'm looking at my eyes are getting all big, like that look, really? And she goes, oh yeah, his wife says, oh yeah. I remember one time this guy came with a shotgun. She said, I was standing in my front door. And he came with a shotgun and pointed at me. And she says, all I did is I threw my signs for my gang. She said, I threw my signs and he fired the weapon and blew the door off the hinges and missed me. And he went running and I'm just throwing my, and I'm going, oh really? And I'm looking at Marie saying, why are they in my room right now? They're dangerous. And they were telling me story after story, how the police took him and his friends and took them from their neighborhood and dropped them in a rival gang's neighborhood, like at one in the morning. He said, we had to make our way out of that neighborhood without being noticed or we'd have been killed in that neighborhood. And he's telling me story after story after story. And I'm looking at him and I'm thinking, man, talk about the grace of God. Talk about the goodness of God. But see at the same time, he had been instructed how to stay away from a life like that and he ignored it. And so for me, I wanted my children to avoid the pitfalls, to not learn the lessons by experience that I learned. I didn't want them to have my testimony and Solomon doesn't want us to have bad experiences because one of the things about having these heavy testimonies is you also have heavy memories. Sometimes you can't get them out of your head. Sometimes you wake up saying, God, I'm still sorry that I did that. I know that I'm washed in the blood, but I still feel bad about that to this day. I wish I wouldn't have done that. Some of you know what I mean. You don't want that. And Solomon does not want his children to have that. Stay away from this life, you're saying, walk the straight path, walk the straight path. God will bless you. And that's what I want as a father for you. I want to know these things. So instead of simply giving our own life experiences, we need to give God's word because our children need a foundation of righteousness and this foundation is laid through the word of God and is amplified by godly examples. It's important that we not think that our children will outgrow sin and simply mature out of it and become godly. Now, they have to be disciplined and trained in the ways of godliness. And when we make excuses for their behavior, thinking that they'll just outgrow it, we're not doing them any favors. I've seen that some parents think that certain things that their children do are simply inevitable. It's part of growing up. That's really not the proper way to see it. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 29, 15, the rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child lefty himself brings shame to his mother. Now they have to be raised in the right ways of the Lord and so what we need to do as parents is to teach our children priorities in life. We, by example, and by teaching the word to them, reading them, we teach them to love God exclusively. We teach them to be faithful to the Lord, to love church. We teach them to live at peace instead of take it away of violence. We teach them to remain faithful in marriage. We teach them not to steal. We teach them not to lie. We teach them not to live greedy lives wasted by coveting their neighbor's possessions. We want them to have a life that is blessed by the Lord and that has a real purpose. And that's what he's teaching. That's why, again, he says in verse 13, take firmhold of instruction, do not let go keeper for she is your life. In verse 14, do not enter the path of the wicked, do not walk in the way of evil, avoid it, do not travel on it, turn away from it, pass on. Avoid bad company, choose your friends wisely. Remember your friends influence you. Your friends become your counselors and it's your friends who give you life-changing advice. Be aware of that. I believe that many people in this church, if you were to ask them who their pastor was, they might say, well, the pastor of the church is David Rosales. They might say that. But if you ask them who's your pastor, that's a different question. Who's my pastor? I remember, you know who your pastor is? The one who influences you the most. The one who instructs you in the way you should go. That's your pastor. It may be your best friend. It may be your mate. It may be one of your kids. But the one who tells you how to live and you listen most closely to, that is your pastor. That is the one who influences you. Your best friend, very often, is your pastor. People will come to a church service like this or on a Sunday in the morning and then they'll leave and they may go out to lunch because all the restaurants around here are filled with Christians. You know that. They're all filled because Christians go to church and then they'll go out for lunch. And that's when the sermon becomes real. It's in conversation around the table. What did you think? And now everybody's kibbit-seen. Everybody, well, you know, I think he and you know, I wish you wouldn't, eh, wait. It never, you know it, guilty, it's true. You know, he cried again. I heard that story before. You know, that's what they do. That's a fact, that's a fact. That's a fact. Here's the real question. Are you gonna do what God said? Because around the table, you can agree to disobey. You can. Now, you know, I think that's just his thing. You know, yeah, everybody's got their opinions. That's another way of saying, I ain't gonna do it. That's another way. And the question could be asked, was it rightly divided? Well, yeah. Was it correctly presented? Yeah. Do you find error in the teaching? Not really. Are you gonna do it? Don't get legalistic, bro. I'm telling you, I'm telling you. That's why he's saying, do these things and live. Listen and do these things that your life will be blessed and avoid bad company. Choose your friends. Your friends are your counselors. They give life-changing advice. In Proverbs 13.20, he who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. 1 Corinthians 15.33, do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. And so he is giving advice. Notice in verse 15 that Solomon gives four words in dealing with escaping the way of evil. He says avoid, uses the word travel, uses the word turn and says pass. Avoid getting into sinful situations. Travel as far away from it as possible. Turn away from sin and pass beyond it and escape its influence. There's his advice for us. Verse 16, for they do not sleep unless they've done evil. Their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall, for they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. They're so eager to sin that they need to sin before they go to bed. They're not necessarily the way you may think them to be, by the way, when he's speaking of these people, when he's speaking of avoiding those who are gonna lead you into wickedness, evil can come dressed up in different guises. They can, evil can come dressed up wearing your best friend's clothing. When I grew up, my mom would say, I'll give you an example, my mom would say this to me. She said, David, she say, stay away from drugs. No, I'm eight years old. I don't even know what drugs are. Stay away from drugs, son. She took me to a place called, that was Narcotics Anonymous, and she took me into a drug ward. See, I had two cousins who were heroin addicts. One of them died of a heroin overdose when I was 12 years old, and it was Richie. They found his body in a field. He was 19, and he had been consumed by ants. He had died of an overdose of heroin, and they found his body in a field and had a closed casket. My mom was greatly concerned, because Richie was an influence on me. I loved my cousin Richie and my cousin Linda, both of them heroin addicts at that time. Richie died. So my mom's telling me, stay away from drugs, son. Stay away from drugs, because she was afraid that I'd somehow get involved. You know what I thought, what they used to call the pusher? You know what I used to think a drug pusher was? Somebody in a street corner with an overcoat and a hat, sunglasses, the cigarette hanging out of their mouth, kind of like this. Say, hey, come over here. Needles and joints and that's what I thought. I thought the pusher was that. I really did. I thought I'll just stay away from guys with French coats and hats, you know, and I'll never, no, my pusher was my friend. So you wanna get some, you wanna get high? Yeah, why not? Why not? It was my friend. Sometimes temptation comes dressed like your friend. Be careful. Be aware of these things. You need to be careful. He says in verse 18, the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter until the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what makes them stumble. Christians walk in the light. And as you walk in the light, there's no place of stumbling. John 812, Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world and he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life. But the way of the wicked in verse 19 is darkness. In John 1235, Jesus said to them a little longer, the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he's going. And that's absolutely true. We know that. If you're walking in the dark and there's no way that you can see what's in front of you, you definitely stumble. But as a Christian, because the word of God provides light and because the Holy Spirit enlightens us, we're capable of walking in truth and thus are protected from stumbling. In verse 20, my son, give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life to those who find them health, to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it. Spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth. Put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead. Your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet. Let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left. Remove your foot from evil. And so he moves on and concludes basically with these exhortations. He says, give attention to my words because life and blessings are the result of obedience. And remember this. It's not legalistic to obey what the Lord teaches. It actually demonstrates that you love the Lord. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. And so it's one thing to say I love the Lord. It's another thing to demonstrate it through obedience. When you keep his commandments, there's a promise that he fulfills. John 14, 21, he who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father. And I will love him and manifest myself to him. You read your Bible and God says, I'll provide. You read your Bible and God says, I'll make a way for you. You read your Bible and Jesus says, I'm gonna give to you my spirit and it'll be like a fountain of living water. You read your Bible and there are so many promises that we know that we don't really receive. Now the question is, do I want him to manifest himself to me? And the answer is yes. How is that possible? He says, obey me. Because when you trust me, I show up and I'll show you this. And he has. How many times have you been praying, God, I want to share with my coworker, but I don't know how to open the conversation. I wanna tell him about you, Lord. You know I do, but I don't know how to open the conversation. And the coworker may walk up to you and say to you, what did you do this weekend? And the light goes up, bang. You know, I went to church. Oh really, you go to church and now you've got a conversation going. And God showed up. It happens all the time. He says, you obey me. I'll manifest myself. I'll show you. But you need to trust me. Trust me. And finally, in verses 23 to 27, keep your heart with all diligence. We're out of it, spring, the issues of life. The heart is the seed of human nature and will. It is what is called the fountain of actions. So guard your heart. In Matthew 12, 34 and 35, Jesus said it like this, Brutavipers, how can you be an evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. And so what we need to do is guard our heart. It's interesting what is affected by a heart because when he says in verse 23, keep your heart with all diligence out of it, spring, the issues of life. It's interesting what this nature, what this heart affects. Notice it affects the mouth, the eyes, the mind and the feet. Notice that. He says in verse 24, put away from you a deceitful mouth and perverse lips, far from you. In verse 25, let your eyes look straight ahead. Your eyelids look right before you. Verse 26, ponder that you're thinking. Ponder the path of your feet. It's where you travel, let all your ways be established. The mouth, the eyes, the mind and the feet are all affected by what's within you. So what we say, what we watch, what we think about and where we go is gonna be determined by the condition of our hearts. That's why we determined to be filled with God's spirit and that's why we determined to obey God's word. Because according to Galatians 5, 16, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lost of the flesh. So guard your heart because it's what's instructing you in the way that you're gonna go and it demonstrates what you really believe. We'll stop here and we'll pick up next time in chapter five.