Click here to get a copy of RealAudio

SM1124: On-Line

DANGER! DANGER!

PROVERBS 1:10-19

As we move into the book of Proverbs this morning, we are embarking into a book, that for the most part, deals with how we as Christians are to conduct ourselves. Paul, in Ephesians chapter 4 admonishes us "...to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." Ephesians 4:1. And for the next 3 chapters he shows us what should be seen in our lives, how we should walk!

Thus, the primary purpose of the book of Proverbs is to make us wise, that we would apply the truths of God to our lives and not just know them. That is the purpose of the book, but that purpose will never be achieved if we don't understand and apply the primary goal of this book, which is to bring you into a proper relationship with the Lord, to fear the Lord. We read "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate." Proverbs 8:13. And "The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility." Proverbs 15:33. Once that goal is achieved in our lives, then the purpose of this book will flow from our lives. You must have your relationship with God in line before you can begin to get your relationship with the man right.

The focus of the message this morning is to the youth. In saying that don't think this message is not for you, because it is. Solomon says to us "my son" and he is not necessarily speaking of children, but as a teacher to his students. In that regards, he is speaking to all of us, admonishing us, warning us, encouraging us not to travel down the road that leads to destruction. And as students, we need to heed his warning and not follow the folly of the world.

Some 2,000 years ago, Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, wrote about the youth of his day, and listen to what he says and how it compares to our own lives today. You will see things haven't changed much in all that time. He said:

"Their faults are nearly all errors of exaggeration. They overdo in cases of love and in all other things. They imagine that they know everything and stubbornly stand on their point. They like to crack jokes, for joking is the bad mannerdness of the well mannered."

Now some of you parents know exactly what Aristotle is talking about, it is like he was at your house for a day. But if we were truly honest with ourselves, we would see a little, maybe even a lot of what Aristotle said in our own lives, our own heart.

With that in mind, lets begin reading in Proverbs chapter 1, beginning in verse 10, and see if we can gain some wisdom by applying the lessons that God is trying to teach us from this portion of Scripture.

PROVERBS 1:10-19

Society has not changed much in the 3,000 years that these words were written by Solomon. People are just as evil, maybe even more, and they want others to join in their immoral lifestyle. In this section of Scripture I see 2 areas that I would like to focus on: THE DANGER and THE WAY OF VICTORY.

1. THE DANGER

I have heard young people say they will never have children because they don't want their children subjected to the danger, the evil that is in this world. I have heard parents who have grown-up children say that they would never have children today because of the dangerous environment they would be subjected to. And yes, the world is a very dangerous place, but don't forget, in the days of Solomon it was not a bed of roses either!

Solomon is writing out of life's experiences, warning others not to be swept away with this evil that is coming in like a flood. And yes, our children can easily be swept into these evil ways as well as adults, and Solomon tells us how people are enticed into this activities.

A. ENTICED

The warning that Solomon gives is not to let sinners, those that have missed the way and are moving in the wrong direction, to entice you, allure you, deceive you, flatter you, persuade you into following them.

That is how gangs work today. They are on a fishing expedition in the pound of the world, using various baits to lure their catch into taking a bite and getting hooked. One of the ways they and others lure people is by the promise of companionship. They seek after those who are lonely, the outcasts, and befriend them. It is as Solomon said "Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse." Proverbs 1:14. The idea here is that you are not only part of our gang, but you will share in the spoils of what we take in. It is like one big happy family on the outside, but on the inside, it is nothing like that. I will expound more in regards to this issue in a few minutes.

Besides the companionship there is also the excitement of what you are doing. They plan to kill, steal, hurt people who are innocent victims. They get some kind of perverse pleasure in these activities to the point of it becoming a natural part of their lives. In a Newsweek article from December 13, 1993 they reported that "A 12-year-old boy turn[ed] without a word and [shot] dead a 7-year-old girl because she 'diss'ed' him by standing on his shadow."

In November of 1995, in a suburb of Chicago, "A mother and two of her children [were] slaughtered, one child ripped from her womb." After they shot the mother in the head, killing her, they "...extracted the 38-week-old, 6-LB. 8-oz. baby. After reviving Elijah [this baby that was taken from the womb] with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Williams inexpertly cut the umbilical cord, then cleaned and dressed him." After this "...the threesome fled with the newborn and his brother Joshua, 8...His captors then allegedly tried poisoning and strangling Joshua before stabbing him to death."

I am sorry to shock you with that horrible story, but I want you to see how depraved man can get, and they love it. And don't think we are any better. The Jerry Springer show is the number one talk show in the country, with all its immoral activities that go on, and the reason it is number one is because the people love it. And by watching it, you are condoning their actions. We must be wise in what we do and not develop a self-righteous attitude in our hearts, but also stand up for righteousness.

You see, the reason that gangs and these other groups continue to grow is because there is the companionship of joining these groups, being part of this so-called family. Look at the control that Charles Manson had on his followers. There is the excitement of the plan and its execution upon the innocent. But ultimately the driving force becomes greed. It is the spoil of their so-called victory. Solomon says of them "We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil." Proverbs 1:13.

Greed is a horrible monster that is never satisfied but continues to consume more and more till it has destroyed your life. John tells us a good definition of greed in I John 2:16. He says "For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world."

You see, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life have been the downfall of many people. In fact, we can go all the way back to the garden of Eden, and see that this is what caused Eve to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Lets turn to Genesis chapter 3, and take a closer look at this event that changed a world that was once "very good". In Genesis chapter 3, beginning in verse 1, we read "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings." Genesis 3:1-7.

Notice the first thing that the serpent attacks - THE WORD OF GOD! "Has God indeed said." He not only attacks the Word of God but he puts a challenge to the Word of God when he says "you will not surely die." And then he takes it one step further and tells Eve the reason God doesn't want them to eat of this tree is because "you will be like God" if they did. He hasn't changed his strategy at all in all these years and we still fall prey to his lies! We are taken captive by his evil plans, his mind games.

Now the section that I want to focus on is in Genesis 3:6. It says "that the tree was good for food." John calls it the lust of the flesh. It is that desire to feed the body appetite, and in this case it immediately brought spiritual death and the physical death process began, the second law of thermodynamics, as they gave into this lust and disobeyed God's instructions.

Secondly, "it was pleasant to the eyes." John calls it the lust of the eyes. This has been the downfall of many as they open their eyes and lust after things that God has warned them against. And it might start out as nothing, just a casual glance, but the more you allow your eyes to focus upon it the more it will overtake you. The fruit on this tree looked good, it was pleasant to the eyes, it was beautiful you might say. But God warned against it, not to eat of it, which they did not heed, and suffered the consequences of their rebellion.

And thirdly, it was able "to make one wise." John calls it the pride of life! Pride is also a horrible monster that has brought many people down. Many want to exalt self, to let everyone see how smart they are, how good looking they are, how rich they are, the job they have, and-so-on. And once you get caught up in that cycle it is hard to get out. We need to heed the words of James in James 4:10, where he says "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

In knowing these areas that the enemy likes to use against us, let us not be tempted or unwise in our actions. As I have said, he has been using this plan for thousands of years, and it continues to work for him today. Don't fall prey to it. Be wise and apply the truths of God to your life.

Before I move into the next section that deals with the results of this kind of lifestyle, let me say this. For people that are involved with evil, there is no rest. You are either running from the law, looking over your shoulder all the time, or sleeping with one eye open worried that another gang member is going to bring you down, or worrying about the various incurable sexually transmitted diseases that are out there, or the husband or wife of the person you have been sleeping with coming after you, and-so-on.

The Lord wants us to have rest, a rest that is only found in Him. You will never find true rest, true peace outside of Him. Solomon tells us that if we follow the Lord then "When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet." Proverbs 3:24. In other words, you will have rest!

B. THE RESULTS

If your desire is to live a lifestyle that preys on the innocent, then in the end it will take your life away. You see, gang members don't live very long. And sin has a way of eating away at our physical bodies. And ultimately it will destroy us spiritually. Solomon said that "Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird; But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners." Proverbs 1:17-19.

Solomon is saying that they are going to get caught in their own traps, and it will destroy them. The tragedy is they don't even see the folly of their ways. They continue down the path that leads to death and destruction. Asaph said in Psalm 73 "Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors." Psalm 73:18-19.

You see, as I said before, greed is a horrible monster that can never be satisfied. You must keep feeding it more and more till it consumes your life. In Proverbs 27:20 we read "Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied." If your eyes are set on the things of this world, you will never be satisfied. You will always want more and more no matter how much you have, no matter how much evil you have already done.

Solomon, the riches man in the world, said this in Ecclesiastes 5:10, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity." You see, you can try to fill that void that is in your heart with wine, women and song, and you will never be satisfied. That hole that is in your heart, the one that is longing to be filled, will never be filled with the things of this world. That void, that emptiness will only be filled when the Lord comes into your life. Notice what David says in Psalm 145:18-21. We read "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The LORD preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever."

You see, there is completeness, contentment in the Lord. There is no lusting or covetousness which is of the flesh. And as Paul said in Colossians 2:10, that we are complete in Christ! We need nothing more.

Now just to warn you of the danger that is out there is important, but truly that is only half the story. Solomon is going to show us the way to victory over these things, and that is what we will look at next. Thus, we will not only know of the danger that the enemy has set before us, but we will also know how to stay clear from his traps that he has set, giving us victory. Thus, lets look at what we should do when these things come before us.

2. THE WAY OF VICTORY

How do we know the way to victory? Paul tells us in Colossians 2:3 that in Christ "...in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." We must look to Him if we want wisdom, if we want to know the path we are to take. Here, in this section of Proverbs, Solomon warns us of 3 areas, 3 paths you might say, that we should not go down. You see, if we go down these paths, they won't lead to victory, but only defeat in our lives.

A. DO NOT CONSENT (PROVERBS 1:10)

This word, "consent" speaks of not only listening to someone, but it is something that leads to action. For example, if someone offers you cocaine, by consenting to their plan, you would purchase the drug and take it.

Paul, in Ephesians 5:11 warns us of what we are to do. He said "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." First and foremost is that we are not to have fellowship with those kinds of people. I don't care how strong you think you are in your relationship with God, if you make evil people your close friends, maybe thinking you can pull them up by your witness, you most likely will be pulled down to their level. How many times do people fall up as opposed to falling down? Now I am not saying that we are not to talk with sinners, but they are not to be our close, intimate friends. Light and darkness do not mix, and that is for the young and old to heed.

B. DO NOT WALK IN THEIR WAYS (PROVERBS 1:15a)

Solomon warns us that these people are running towards evil, they enjoy it, it is part of their lifestyle. Because of that, don't walk in their ways. Don't follow their footsteps. For their ways lead to death and destruction.

As Christians, God shows us the way we are to walk. Psalm 119:1 says "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD!" As we walk through life we must walk with our eyes focused upon the Lord. We must allow the Lord, through His Word, to guide our steps.

C. DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR PATHS (PROVERBS 1:15b)

As you continue to walk with these people, before long your life will be heading down the wrong path. No longer are you just walking, but it has become such a pattern for you that you have made a path for your life to follow, you are in a rut you might say! And truly, you will find no peace in that lifestyle.

Listen to how Isaiah puts it as he speaks of the sins of the nation in Isaiah 59:7-8. We read "Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace." Instead of traveling down the straight and narrow way, their paths are crooked and perverse, and as I have said before, people that follow down these paths are never at rest. They are waiting to be caught or killed.

I love what David says in Psalm 23 of the Lord. He says that the Lord "leads me in the paths of righteousness." Psalm 23:3. He leads us in the right paths through His Word. Why we gravitate towards these crooked paths instead of the right paths that the Lord has set out is simple. We see instant gratification of the flesh instead of dying to self and allowing the Spirit of God to guide our spirit.

All of us by now should have heard of the tragedy that happened at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas on Tuesday, March 24. Two students, ages 11 and 13, after pulling the fire alarm at the school, waited in the field by the school in camouflage clothing and they were heavily armed. When the students began to exit the school, these two kids opened fire on them and killed 4 girls and 1 teacher, and injuring around 10 others.

And many are wondering how and why this happened. How can two teenage boys, ages 11 and 13, commit such monstrous acts? Maybe they were enticed by the plan - allured into it for revenge, thinking they would get some kind of self-gratification by doing it. Whatever the reason they consented to follow through with the plan, and the consequences were deadly.

There truly is only one answer to this problem of evil and that is a heart transplant. You see, laws will not protect us from this violence, but the Lord can transform a life that is full of evil into one that brings Him glory. He has done if for all of us, and He can do it for anyone who is willing to come to Him and ask Him to be the Lord and Savior of their life. If we follow His ways, it is like Psalm 1 says: "Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish."

If you are starting to walk with the ungodly - repent, do an about face and turn back to God. If your life is in a rut because of the path you have been traveling, repent and get right with God so you can travel down the right paths, the one He has set before you. If you are consenting in the ways of the ungodly, stop, repent and consent to living a life that will be pleasing to God. He loves you more than you ever will know and He is calling you back to His side.

Let me leave you this morning with these words from the apostle Paul, who is admonishing us to shine in a world filled with darkness, and not to have our light dimmed or put out by those we are with. He said in Philippians 2:14-16 "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain."