The Pilgrim Path---Proverbs 4: 14 – 19 

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.

Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.

For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone else stumble.

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

But the path of the righteous is like the light of the dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

“THE WINE OF VIOLENCE”

Most people do not begin life by thinking: “I’m going to enjoy drinking the wine of violence---and eating the bread of evil,” but these become the menu choices---when you turn against the LORD of Life, Jesus Christ. The Scripture reveals the way of Life---or the Way of Death, had you noticed? Most of humanity is on the path to destruction. Creation testifies to the reality of a Creator---yet man attempts to “hold” this down in unrighteousness and ungodliness. But the LORD, rich in mercy---sends along Gospel Light Bearers---to stir our souls with the Message of His Son. HE births people “from above” with the truth of the Word---by the power of the Spirit. Even after this wonder occurs---we must heed this admonition in Proverbs 4, “STAY off the Highway that leads to death and chaos!” If you are familiar with John Bunyan’s, The Pilgrim’s Progress---you know this is a recurring theme: remain on the path of Life / the Straight and Narrow. Many ways look safe--- that are not. Many paths seem close to God’s Word---that contradict it completely. Sadly, once you start walking toward the “dark”---you get accustomed to the darkness. Conversely, the closer you follow, “the light of the dawn”---the brighter it gets. We should just say the more devotion and love we give to Jesus---the faster the darkness fades. The “lesser” lights---the darker dens, they begin to lose their attractiveness in the face of the Sun of Righteousness.

The Holy Spirit gives “homework” in the passage that follows. He does it to enrich our soul and save our life. Check it out in Proverbs 4: 20 – 27. Pay particular attention to what HE says about the: heart, speech, eyes, and feet.

From John Owen: Sin takes advantage to entice and ensnare the soul through its affections. It presents the sin as desirable and exceeding satisfactory to the corrupt part of our affections…If we would not be enticed and in danger of the conception of sin, let us take heed to our affections which are of so great a concern in the course of our obedience. Above all things, keep the heart so it is not entangled in sin. This is to be attended to with diligence. There is no safety without it! Watch the heart.

From John Duncan: Many men’s heart’s are better than their heads, and many men add their own inferences to the teaching of the Spirit of God when but a very little part of them may be his teaching.

From Charles Haddon Spurgeon: does not every man, who is truly wise, feel himself to be increasingly a fool apart from divine guidance, and is it not a token of growth in wisdom and grace when a man’s self-confidence continues to grow less and less? Distrust yourself, dear friend, for you accurately gauge your own judgement when you do that. It is about little matters that wise men generally make their grosser mistakes. In what he considers a difficult matter, the wise Christian man always has resort to God in prayer; but when he gets he regards as a very simple thing, which is perfectly clear, and which he thinks he can himself decide; then his folly is speedily discovered…So, brothers and sisters, whenever any case appears to be very clear to you, be sure then to say, “Let us pray about it.” You know the old proverb, “When it is fine weather, carry an umbrella. When it is wet, you can do as you like.” So, when any case seems to be quite clear, pray over it. When it is more difficult, I dare not say that you may do as you like about praying then, unless I say it in the spirit of the proverb, which would imply that you would be sure to pray then. When you feel certain that you cannot go wrong, you certainly will go wrong unless you ask counsel of God about the matter.

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason