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[0:00] Good evening. Good evening. Turn with me to the Old Testament this evening, the book of Proverbs chapter 4.

[0:12] Outside of the first nine chapters, first nine chapters you can kind of flow with pretty easily.

[0:35] But after that, on up to about chapter 30, chapters 30 and 31 in Proverbs. Everything between chapter 10 and about chapter 29.

[0:48] It's kind of difficult because there's no real flow to it. Just one proverb after another. Which we have scripture that talks about how many Proverbs that Solomon spoke and how many songs that he wrote.

[1:00] And there's many. It was up in the thousands. But Proverbs really, in my opinion, can be summed up in just a few words.

[1:13] Avoid evil. Choose wisdom. And that's the sum of the book. I mean, there's a whole lot of stuff in there, but that's what the writers are trying to get across.

[1:25] And I say writers because, you know, Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs that are in here. However, there's a king, Lemuel, that actually wrote Proverbs 31, which we all know about who can find a virtuous woman for prices far above rubies.

[1:42] And there's another king just in the chapter before that, or another person, I should say, named Agur. Now, some people say that those are different names for Solomon.

[1:55] And it very well could be, folks. I didn't live a thousand years before Christ like Solomon did. I don't know. I wasn't there. So I don't know for certain. But regardless, Solomon did, in fact, pen most of the Proverbs, if not all, that we have in the book of Proverbs.

[2:12] Proverbs 4 is really no different than Proverbs 1, 2, or 3, or through chapter 9. Solomon talks about wisdom, and he's calling children.

[2:24] He says, ye children. Now, folks, in Scripture, we only have one child that's mentioned by name, and that is the son of Solomon and Rehoboam. And you can read more about Rehoboam in the book of 1 Kings, and a little bit in Chronicles as well.

[2:40] But he's calling ye children at the beginning of chapter 4. And so we can rightfully assume that he's talking to the children of Israel, those that have been placed under his care.

[2:52] He, as king over them, after, of course, his father David passed away, and Solomon would have taken the throne. So he's talking about ye children there.

[3:04] But in these few verses we'll be reading tonight, we're only going to read about eight verses. I don't anticipate being before you too long. That's gotten me in trouble a few times in the past saying that. But we're just going to read the last few verses of chapter 4.

[3:18] But leading up to that, throughout chapter 4, it's really no different. It's Solomon calling children to choose wisdom and to stay away from evil.

[3:31] And he kind of ends it with a contrast between the good and how the longer they go, the brighter their way becomes, and the wicked.

[3:42] And how their way is dark and they don't know what they stumble. And you all have probably heard me quote that a lot because I do quote that a lot. That's a powerful scripture that the wicked are constantly in the dark, and they don't know what they stumble.

[3:58] And I've said many times they can stumble right over the gospel and not even know it. Why? Because, well, Jesus answers that in John chapter 3 when he's talking to Nicodemus. He says men love darkness rather than light.

[4:10] Right. So, but anyway, all that being said, Proverbs chapter 4 beginning at verse 20. We'll read through the end of the chapter. Verse 20. My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings.

[4:25] Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

[4:40] Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

[4:51] Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. Back to verse 20.

[5:03] He says, My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings. In verse 21. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart.

[5:15] So verse 20 again. My son, attend to my words. Solomon here making a declaration. We can assume it was just to Rehoboam. Because again, that's the only son that Solomon had.

[5:29] Only named son in the scriptures. Now, all this being said, we know from the scriptural accounts that Solomon also at one time had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

[5:40] So I find it difficult to believe that Rehoboam was the only child that was born to Solomon. But again, that is the only one that we know by name. In the scriptures, you might hear something about some Ethiopian text.

[5:55] Folks, that ain't Bible. That's not Bible at all. It's not scripture. It's not God inspired. It could be. It could not be. But there was one that was born of the Queen of Sheba, which we know from the 10th chapter of 1 Kings.

[6:09] Came and visited with King Solomon. But there was one supposedly born of Queen of Sheba that was Solomon's son. And he went on to create what was called the Salaman dynasty in Ethiopia and in Africa.

[6:23] But folks, again, that's not scripture. So when you get to reading stuff like that, there's a warning that I'm giving. Be careful with that. Because it is not scripture. If you hear anything about that or along those lines, you know, you don't have to completely dismiss it.

[6:40] But you remember that is not scripture. He says here, my son, attend to my words. This is a proclamation that Solomon is making to an individual.

[6:50] Again, we can assume that it would be Rehoboam. His son, but he says, my son, attend to my words. He's saying, pay attention to what I'm telling you.

[7:01] And before this, or previously in chapter 4, as well as in chapters 1, 2, and 3. And on throughout chapter 9, Solomon is making comparisons with wisdom and comparisons with folly.

[7:15] Comparisons with good and comparisons with evil. And in these comparisons that he's making, he's using women to make comparisons. He refers to wisdom as a woman.

[7:26] He refers to folly as a woman. But here he's telling his son, he says, attend to my words. He's saying, pay attention to what I'm saying. He's saying, put some weight to what I'm about to tell you.

[7:39] Let this be the focus of what I'm saying to you. And folks, why would Solomon be saying that? Folks, the things that Solomon knew his wisdom was given unto him by Almighty God.

[7:50] When he first took the throne of Israel, after he succeeded David, and took the throne of Israel, God appeared unto Solomon in a dream one night.

[8:01] And God asked him in this vision, what would you have that I would give you? And Solomon didn't ask for money. Solomon didn't ask for his enemy to be destroyed. He didn't ask for anything outside of wisdom to God, the people of Almighty God.

[8:16] And God gave him that wisdom, as well as the other things that he did not ask for. God gave Solomon the wisdom that he had. And according to the Scriptures, outside of Jesus Christ, Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived on planet Earth.

[8:34] Solomon's wisdom that he was telling his son here to attend to his words, it was because he knew where his wisdom came from. He knew that it was God-given.

[8:44] He knew that it was God-ordained. And he knew that it would be good for his son to pay attention to the words he was about to say. But folks, you've heard me say it time and time again.

[8:55] If we read in the Old Testament and don't apply it to the New Testament church or our own theology, we have probably interpreted the Scripture incorrectly.

[9:06] So if we interpret this for the New Testament church, this will be Almighty God telling the church, you attend to my words. You put some weight to my words. You pay attention to what I've said.

[9:18] And thus saith the Word of God. Use it to anchor your life. Use it to direct your path. Use it as from as between your eyes. Burn it as a bracelet around your wrist.

[9:28] Don't you ever forget what the Word of God says. Pay attention to it. We have got to attend to the words of God. Just as Solomon here tells his son.

[9:40] Tells his son, attend to my words. He says, incline thine ear unto my sayings. Incline. Pay attention. Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Folks, if you're inclined to your ear, that means you're pointing your ear in the direction.

[9:53] Wherever the noise is coming from. Whether you're listening for a noise. Whether you're listening for speech. No matter what it is. If you incline your ear toward that. You're pointing your ear in that direction.

[10:03] So that you can take it in. So it can seep into your mind. As far as the Word of God goes. It seeps into our mind. It seeps into our heart. It saturates our heart. And therefore it guides.

[10:13] Every step that we take. Every action that we take. Every word that we speak should be based upon the sayings. The Word of God. God help us to do this. God help us to attend to the words of God.

[10:26] And to incline our ears. Into what God has had to say. Do you love the Word of God? I love the Word of God. Is it precious to you?

[10:37] Has God ever broke your heart? Has God ever wringed your heart? And caused you to see your sin? And caused you to appreciate His Word? And caused you to love His Word?

[10:47] Folks, His Word should take precedence in our lives. His Word should take precedence in every aspect of our lives. Man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of Almighty God.

[11:00] This book is life. This book is food. This book is breath. We should take in the Word of God. We should breathe it in. And we should live it out in our lives as we go out into this world.

[11:12] God help us to do these things. Help me to do these things. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Folks, it should be in front of us the entire time.

[11:25] Any situation that we find ourselves in, do we ask ourselves, is this relationship holy? Is this entertainment pure?

[11:37] Folks, I've lived a life before I was saved of impure entertainment. I know exactly what it is. But folks, that's why we need to ask ourselves.

[11:48] That's why we need to ask ourselves. Is what I'm watching? Is what I'm partaking in? Is what I'm doing? Is what I'm supporting or encouraging? Is it pure in the eyes of God?

[12:00] Or should I turn my eyes from it? Should I shut my ears to it? And folks, I'm not standing up here telling you all I live a perfect life. Because I don't and you don't either. None of us do.

[12:11] We are all in need of the same gospel. I need the gospel just as much now as a born again child of God as I needed it back when I was still living in sin out in the world and enjoying the pleasures of this world.

[12:23] I still need the gospel. And I still need the Bible. And I still need the Spirit of Almighty God. I need Him to show me where I've messed up, where I've sinned, where I've offended my Savior.

[12:36] But the difference between then and now is when the Holy Spirit of God coupled with the Word of God shows me these things. It drives me to repentance. It drives me to grief.

[12:49] It drives me to grief that I have offended the Savior of my soul. And it should do the same for you if you are indeed a born again child of God. Let them not depart from thine eyes.

[13:00] Let what? What? Not depart from thine eyes. What is He talking about up in verse 20? I tend to my words. That's the gist of this entire passage that we read. All eight verses of it. Let them not depart from thine eyes.

[13:13] Let the words not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart. And folks, this word here for keep, this is a military term. It means to guard. Are we guarding our hearts?

[13:24] Do I guard my heart as I should? Do you guide your heart as you should? Folks, we all need to be on guard. Yes, I'm born again. Yes, God has saved me. And yes, there is no devil or no nymph that knows that hell is home that can do anything about that.

[13:39] There's no man, no demon that can climb up to heaven and do a thing in the world about that. I'm a child of the King, but the King gives me instruction to guard my heart.

[13:51] People say that sounds like works-based salvation. Folks, I don't guard it for salvation. I guard it because of salvation. I guard it in all of redemption. Not to be redeemed.

[14:03] This is not why I guard my heart. This is not why I keep the Word of God in the midst of my heart. Why do we do that? What do the psalmist say? Hide Thy Word in my heart, O God, that I may not sin against Thee.

[14:16] We hide the Word of God and we guard the Word of God in our heart. Do you guard what Christ has given you? Do you guard what Christ died to give you? Do you? Folks, we need to do that.

[14:27] And we need to do that perpetually. Constantly. Let us eat it. Let us drink it. Let us sleep it. Let us meditate upon it day and night.

[14:39] Let us guard our heart and what God has placed in there. What does God say in Ezekiel 36? He says He'll take out of them a heart of stone.

[14:50] He'll put into them a heart of flesh. He will write His law upon the heart of His people. Folks, if His law is there, His Word is there. And if His Word is there and the Bible says the Word became flesh and both among them, that means Jesus Christ Himself is there.

[15:05] The Word became flesh is Jesus Christ. We need to guard that with every fiber of our being. And that is not Spencer's interpretation of what Scripture says. That is what Scripture says.

[15:16] We just read it. Keep it. Keep them. Keep the words of God in the midst of thine heart. Verse 22. For they are life. He tells us what?

[15:28] In verse 21. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thy heart. Then He tells us why in verse 22. For they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh.

[15:38] Folks, the Word of God is life. I said just a little while ago, it is bread, it is water, it is life, it is breath, it is air, it is everything.

[15:49] God is life, God gives life, and only He who is life can impart that life to anyone else. Amen. We need to keep this in mind. That keeps us from getting a prideful spirit, folks.

[16:03] Yeah. Knowing good and well that God could snuff me out at any moment. Yeah. Any moment that He wanted to. And He can do the same with you. He has chosen not to do so.

[16:14] But folks, there's a cosmic calendar out there somewhere. I don't know where it's at. But my days here are numbered. Right. And quite frankly, I praise God for that. Because I'd hate to think that I would live forever in this world that I currently live in.

[16:29] In this body that I currently have which is constantly breaking down. Which is constantly in a state of decay. I would hate to think that I would go on forever and that God has promised me that one day I will have a body that is like an impassion under the Son of Man.

[16:45] I will go somewhere. I'm going to a land. I'm going to a country one day where the rose will never fade. Where the flowers don't fade. Where the songs will never end.

[16:55] Where the praise will never end. And where I will forever be with my Savior who died for me and gave Himself for me and loved me. Hallelujah. We have that guarantee in the Scripture.

[17:07] the Word of God is life. The Word of God is life. And folks, we're not just talking about spiritual life here. Because if it's spiritual life to us, it will bleed over into our physical life.

[17:20] Our spiritual walk with Jesus Christ will bleed over into a physical life. I'll give you a fine example. God will save an alcoholic.

[17:31] God will save somebody from booze. God will save somebody from drugs. He will save somebody from prostitution. He'll save somebody from any number of those things. But every one of those things will break your body down quicker and further.

[17:46] But when God saves a soul and those people repent of their ways, they repent of their drinking. They repent of their pill popping. They repent of their promiscuous lifestyle.

[18:00] They repent of all these things. Folks, that is spiritual life bleeding into physical life. The Word of God is life. And the Word of God speaks against all of these things.

[18:12] It speaks against drunkenness. It speaks against having a mind that isn't sober. It speaks against promiscuity. It speaks against all of these things. So, the spiritual life will bleed over into the physical life.

[18:28] Now, that being said, just because God saves the alcoholic doesn't mean He'll cure the cirrhosis. Just because He saves the pill head doesn't mean He's going to fix the brain that they fried.

[18:38] That's not necessarily the case. But God saves souls. And that liver is not going into glory. That brain is not going into glory.

[18:51] The STDs and the VDs are not going into glory. None of these things are going to... There will be no disease there. There will be no sickness there.

[19:02] Simply because there is no sin there. Sin is the cause of all that. We live in a fallen world. And sin runs rampant.

[19:12] And because of sin, we have death. Read 1 Corinthians 15. By one man, death entered in. By sin. But it is by the second Adam. It is by Jesus Christ that we are able to have life and have it more abundantly.

[19:25] Because He, God, you and I may live, but not only live, but live forever. Hallelujah. Amen. Hallelujah. They are life. The words that Solomon's speaking here, he says, they are life.

[19:40] The folks were talking about the Word of God. And the wisdom that was given to Solomon was of God. They are life unto those that find them and help to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.

[19:55] Here's that word keep again. And again, this is a military term. Guard your heart. But it says, keep thy heart with all diligence. With everything in you, keep your heart. Guard your heart.

[20:05] Guard what is inside of it. It says, for out of it, again, we have a what? Keep thy heart with all diligence. Then we have a why. For out of it are the issues of life.

[20:16] Folks, Jesus speaks about this in the Gospel accounts. You remember when they came to Jesus asking why His disciples didn't wash their hands? Jesus set them straight when they said that it was the Pharisees and the scribes talking about this thing.

[20:30] But Jesus said, it's not what goeth in through the mouth that defileth a man, but what cometh out of the mouth that defileth a man. Because what proceeds out of the mouth is the issue from the heart. What's your speech like?

[20:42] Is your speech full of slander? Is your speech full of deceit? Is your speech full of lies? Folks, if that is the case, if that is you, you are exposing what is on the inside.

[20:53] But if your speech is filled with love, if it is filled with love for your neighbor, if it's filled with concern, if it's filled with the things of God, if your speech is filled with the words of God, with the Proverbs of God, with the Psalms of Almighty God, if it is filled with God, again, you are exposing what is on the inside.

[21:12] Right. Folks, that coin goes both ways. Yeah. It goes both ways, but there's majorly contrasted sides of that coin that we're speaking of. What is your speech like?

[21:23] Out of it, out of the heart, are the issues of life. Jesus said that there's all kinds of mischief that flows from an unregenerate heart. Talking about adulteries and murderers and lies, deception, all kinds of things.

[21:38] Folks, if that is in your heart, then it will flow out of your mouth. James says that bitter water and sweet water cannot come out of the same fountain.

[21:51] He says these things ought not so to be. Folks, we can't have it both ways. We'll have it one way or the other, but we cannot have it both ways. That is per the Word of God.

[22:02] We will either be saved and speak like we're saved, or we will be lost on our way to hell and speak that way. Now, that being said, another question could be asked. Are you a true blue Christian?

[22:14] Have you truly been born again? Are you trying to copy and paste off of someone you know is a Christian and trying to paste it onto an unregenerate soul? There's much of that that goes on. People are trying to paste a good walk onto themselves.

[22:27] They're trying to convince everybody else. Well, folks, you will expose yourself sooner or later. The world will expose themselves sooner or later. Just as the pig will return to the mire.

[22:38] The sow will return. The dog will return to its vomit. And the world will do the exact same thing. Sooner or later. It may take months. It may take years before that happens.

[22:49] But sooner or later it will happen. Out of the heart. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips.

[23:00] And perverse lips put far from thee. Again, we can ask the question I just did. What kind of speech do you have? Do you have a froward mouth? Do you have slanderous speech?

[23:14] And it also says and perverse lips put far from thee. And we're not talking about the modern day definition of what perverse means. We're not talking about just in a sexual sense here.

[23:26] But perverting anything. Folks, people can pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ. They do it all the time. We can pervert anything. Is this the type of speech that you have?

[23:37] Folks, if it is the type of speech that you have, I've got news for you. There is no way you're a born again Christian. There is no way you're a child of God if you speak constantly with a froward mouth and with perverse lips.

[23:49] I say repent ye and believe the gospel. Believe the gospel which we preach that Christ came and died for you. Repent of your sin. Repent of that froward mouth. Repent.

[24:01] Repent of those perverse lips. Repent of those and believe the gospel and theirs. And God is mighty and powerful to say, let thine eyes, verse 25, let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

[24:16] Now, some people will take this verse and they'll say, well, how do eyelids look? We'll get to that here in just a moment. Let thine eyes look right on. In other words, you look straight ahead.

[24:28] I taught out of the Hebrew chapter 12 not long ago where the writer of the Hebrew says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Folks, we need to look unto Christ. We look unto Christ.

[24:39] We glory in His cross. We glory in what He has done. I've heard it prayed here so many times and I've heard God think so many times here and I thank God that I hear it so often. God, we praise You and we thank You for what You've done on Calvary.

[24:51] Folks, if it wasn't for Calvary, we wouldn't have much to thank God for. And nor would we be grateful for it for anything else that He'd done except for what happened on Calvary.

[25:04] But because of Calvary and because of a regenerated heart and because of a renewed heart and a renewed soul, we can thank God for all kinds of things.

[25:15] But if not for Calvary, we wouldn't thank God for the first breath we drew. We would have no thought of Almighty God. We would be like the polytheists, like the Romans were, and like the Greeks were, like the Amalekites were in the Old Testament, like the Ammonites were in the Old Testament.

[25:32] We would have so many gods, we wouldn't know which one to thank. Hallelujah. I have a God. I have the God. I have the only God.

[25:42] The only true and living God. And I can thank Him for everything that He has done for me. Everything that He does. Everything that He will do. Everything that He has done. And I know who to thank. And I can thank Him, first of all, for Calvary.

[25:57] And second of all, and third of all, and fourth of all, and fifth, and so on, and so on, and so on, for everything else that He has done in my life. Everything that He has done, folks, it is all of God.

[26:07] Let thine eyes look right on. You stay focused on Christ. You stay focused on His work. You stay focused on His life, His death, His burial, His resurrection. Let your eyes look right on, folks.

[26:19] Even Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 7, He said that straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads unto life. You stay focused on that straight gate.

[26:30] You stay focused on that narrow way. You keep going, and this verse goes on, it says, let thine eyelids look straight before thee. How do eyelids look? Folks, they don't. We know that.

[26:41] Our eyeballs are what sees, is it not? But folks, if I'm walking straight, if I'm walking straight down this aisle here, I can look this way, but my eyes can go this way, and I can still walk a fairly straight line.

[26:55] Fairly straight. But sooner or later, my body is going to go in the direction my eyeballs are going. Don't believe me, you try it sometime for yourself. Sooner or later, you might walk 10, 15 feet in a straight line, but sooner or later, whichever way your eyes is going, that's the way your body's going to go.

[27:14] Now, if your eyelids, if your eyelids can only go which way your head's going, I can't shift my eyelids this way or that way.

[27:24] They only go where your eyes are going. So folks, if we are focused on Christ, if we are focused on Christ and we are looking dead at Him, our head is straight ahead, we are not even looking to the left or right.

[27:36] Otherwise, our eyelids would be going that direction. So if we are completely, solely, and wholly focused on Christ, our head will be in that direction, our mind will be in that direction, our heart will be in that direction, and our eyes and our eyelids will be in that direction.

[27:53] But folks, I warn you now, I warn you now, you let your eyes wander and your body will follow sooner or later. Right. You let your eyes wander men, you let your eyes wander to the other women.

[28:04] And you let your eyes wander to the other men, you let your eyes wander into the lusts of this world, you let them wander into congratulations by the world, you let them wander into different things that the world has to offer, the different things that the devil has to offer, you let your eyes glance at that for long enough and sooner or later your steps will follow.

[28:26] So it's best to stay focused straight ahead on that narrow path toward the straight gate that leads to life. Because it's broad and wide what leads to destruction, folks.

[28:39] You know why it's broad and wide? Because there's a lot more people on it. Christ said that straight and narrow way there are few there be that find it. But the broad way and the wide gate that leads to destruction, there's many on it.

[28:57] Don't fall in line with that crowd. Don't fall in line with that crowd. Like I said in Proverbs, choose wisdom. Avoid evil and choose wisdom. Verse 26, Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established.

[29:13] Ponder the path of thy feet. In other words, don't do things just lickety-split. Don't do things spur of the moment. You consider what you're about to do. You consider the path that you're about to take.

[29:25] Again, I used the example just a little while ago, but I'll ask the same question. Is the path that you're going to take going to honor Christ? Is it holy? Is it righteous? Is God going to be pleased with it?

[29:37] If it is not, turn from that path and look back under Christ. Christ. And you pray and you seek God for the path that He would have you to go on. Is your career honoring to Christ?

[29:50] Folks, there's many things that we could do for a living. That I could do for a living. Some of you could do for a living. Or I could make tons more money than what I do now. But, it's not what God would have me to do because I've prayed on it.

[30:07] And plus, I don't think it would be nearly as honoring to God. And folks, besides that, if we ain't careful, money will get us in trouble. I think there's a, you know, I'm not poor, but I ain't rich either.

[30:21] Our bills are paid. God takes care of us and I thank God for it. Amen. And it's been tempting. It's been tempting. Somebody offer you $20,000, $25,000 more a year to go somewhere else.

[30:33] But folks, when you pray and God says no, and I go anyway, what's going to happen? The bottom's going to fall out of it. If it don't fall out from underneath that job, it'll fall out from underneath my life.

[30:46] And God will say, I told you no. I told you no, but I gave you the desires of your heart. Folks, that verse goes both ways. God will give us the desires of our heart.

[30:57] And if our heart's desiring their own things, sometimes God will let us walk right on into it. The thing is though, the thing is, there's many people that are desiring anything other than God.

[31:09] Anything outside of the Word of God. Anything outside of the things of Almighty God. And they're desiring those things right on into hell. Right on into hell. They follow those things.

[31:20] They follow that broad room. They go through that wide gate. Because that seems to be the easy way, folks. That's where easy beliefism comes in. And that's why easy beliefism is so prominent in the church world today.

[31:35] Just believe for a moment. Just walk on down the aisle. Sign a card that you gave your life to Christ and you're His. Folks, that is not Scripture. What is Scripture?

[31:48] Repent and believe. Repent and believe. And once you repent and you believe and you have truly been regenerated by the work of the Holy Spirit using the Word of God and the things of God for the Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God once we've been regenerated.

[32:04] Folks, we will walk that walk. We will talk that talk. We will turn our backs on the world. And we will go in the way of Christ. But we are given commandment in Scripture.

[32:16] Not only here, folks. Not only here. James puts it best. In James chapter 1. Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only. And again, that's not doing for salvation. It is doing because of salvation.

[32:28] And we guard our heart. And we attend to the Word of the Father. Not for salvation. But because of salvation. Now, if there's anybody here lost, this applies to you too.

[32:40] If you haven't attended to the Word of the Father. If you haven't attended to this Bible. Hey, it's not over for you yet. There's still hope. There's always hope in Jesus Christ. Not any life that has got breath in the body.

[32:54] There's still hope for you to repent. There's still hope for you to believe. There's still hope for salvation. Ponder the path of thy feet. Consider that path. Don't just jump on it and run.

[33:06] Ponder the path. Let all thy ways be established. By what? Back to verse 20. By the Word. Let your path be established by the Word.

[33:16] That is the subject matter through this entire thing. It's the Word of God. The Word of the Father to the Son. Verse 27, and we'll be done.

[33:27] Turn not to the right hand or to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. Folks, I can't put it any plainer. It's there in black and white. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left.

[33:40] You walk the straight and narrow way. Folks, Jesus Christ walked the straight and narrow way to show us that it could be done. To show us that we could not do it. And to show us that He could do it.

[33:51] God Almighty walked His way. He walked the path all the way to the cross. He died upon that cross. He was buried, resurrected, and has ascended since and forever makes intercession for all those that have repented of their ways and believed in the Gospel.

[34:07] Jesus Christ walked this path. But what does He do with us? If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself.

[34:19] Take up his cross daily. And walk. Follow Me. Christ has walked this path that we just read about. Ponder the path of Thy feet and let all Thy ways be established.

[34:30] Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove Thy foot from evil. Folks, Christ never had to remove His foot from evil because His foot was never in evil. His feet were in this world, yes, as He went around from village to village to town to town to region to region preaching the Gospel and doing miracles, healing people, and all these other things that we read about.

[34:51] Yes, His foot was in an evil world. But that's not what we're talking about here. Christ walked this path. But He calls you and He calls me to follow Him in that path.

[35:03] Will we follow perfectly? No. No. I haven't done it and I've got news for you. If you think you have, you're wrong. None of us will follow it perfectly. But nevertheless, it is the call of Jesus Christ that we follow Him.

[35:18] Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Folks, Jesus Christ didn't turn. The Bible says right before the Passion Wee, He set His face like a flint toward Jerusalem.

[35:30] He didn't flinch. He didn't budge. He knew what waited on Him in Jerusalem. He knew the mockery He would suffer. He knew the beating He would suffer. He knew the cross awaited Him there and yet He still went.

[35:43] And He didn't, He didn't bat an eye at it because He was fulfilling the will of the Father. He was following the Father's words. Fulfilling the will of the Father. His meat was to do the will of the Father according to what we read in John chapter 4.

[35:58] And fulfill the will of the Father. He did turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. Folks, that's for me. That's for you. That's for saved. That's for lost. Lost. Now, lost people can remove their feet from evil somewhat.

[36:12] The drunk can quit drinking if he really wants to. The drugging can quit drugging. The promiscuous person can quit being promiscuous.

[36:22] The liar can quit lying. The thief can quit stealing. They can remove their foot from evil but folks, it does no good if it's done outside of Jesus Christ.

[36:33] Right. And unfortunately, and the church is much to blame for. Yeah. Over the past few decades, the church is very much to blame for preaching a message of sinner quit sinning.

[36:46] And you'll be right with God. Yeah. Folks, that's not Scripture. That's not Scripture in the least. Repent and believe the Gospel. That is the Scripture. It has always been by belief.

[36:57] It has always been by belief. Old Testament and New. The Scripture says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. His belief in what God had said and what did he believe?

[37:08] Back to Proverbs 4 and verse 20. The Word of God. He attended to the Word just as we are instructed to do. God bless you all. That's the message for this evening.

[37:19]  I appreciate your attention. Amen.