Episode Transcript
Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12.
Title the message tonight is a straight shot.
A straight shot.
Our proverb tonight is one that when I was young I memorized.
They taught us to memorize it in church.
And probably also the Christian school I went to.
And this proverb shows us the danger.
Of relying on her own judgment instead of God's, and for that reason I recommend everybody have this proverb committed to memory.
Solomon says, if you look in verse 12, there is a way.
There is a way, and remember, the word way is not speaking about a particular method, a way we go about doing things.
It's talking about a particular road or a particular path that we travel in life.
So Solomon is saying there is a road.
And notice Solomon did not use the indefinite, I'm sorry, the day he did not use the definite particle, but he used the indefinite.
He says, a road, not the road.
And uh it's a uh article that is um indefinite, meaning there's can be more than one.
And so he said there is A way.
There is a road for us to travel in life.
And uh that may not be the road God wants us to be on, because God only gave us one.
Jesus didn't say I am a way.
A truth and a life, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Indefinite.
And so, uh, I'm sorry, definite.
I'm getting that backwards and I I need to uh I need to get off that and preach the word, but uh I got I got backwards on that and trying to uh trying to help you understand.
But uh definite article.
The way, the truth, the life.
So there's only one road that God's given for us to be on, and that's the road that He's paid for us with Scripture But there are many ways for us to travel in life.
My battery's cutting out or my mic's cutting out.
There we go.
There are many ways for us to travel in life.
So Solomon is talking about a certain road that a man can travel.
And the fact that there are many roads for us to travel reminds us that God not only gives us the way to travel in life.
But he also gives us the ability to choose a different way than what he's provided for us to take.
And more often than not, Unfortunately, man chooses a different way than what God has for us to travel.
And sometimes we get to thinking.
That we know better than God about what direction we should take in life.
And I believe that most people wouldn't just come right out and say that.
I believe most people would not just come right out and say, well, you know, I think I know better than God in this situation.
Most people would be too religious to say that They wouldn't just come out and acknowledge that, but they would kind of do a workaround and they'd say, well, I believe this is what God wants me to do Well, let me tell you, God does not ever want you to walk contrary to what he's told you in his word.
The Holy Spirit will never tell you something in your heart.
That is contrary than what he's told you in his word.
It's not going to happen.
He will never contradict himself.
And when you can't say, well, I just feel this is what God wants me to do.
God's word's not a feeling.
God's word is his word.
It's to be read, it's to be heard, it's to be understood, it's to be obeyed.
It's not a feeling.
It's not an emotion.
It's not some way that we think.
But a lot of times, instead of coming out, And being honest and saying, well, I think I know better than God, we will then blame our disobedience on God and say, Well, I believe this is what the Lord's telling me to do.
No, it's not If you can't find it in Scripture, or if what you're doing is contrary to what God says in Scripture, it's not what God is telling you to do.
So when we do, contrary to God's word, even though we may not say that we think we know better than God, our actions are actually saying that.
So if that's what we're doing, then apparently that's what we're thinking.
But the problem with us trying to outthink God on the direction that we take in life.
Is that we have never fully traveled that road before.
None of us have.
We have never fully traveled that road before.
We can sit at the beginning of the road, we can look down the road and see as far as we can down that road.
And everything may look clear to us as far as we can see.
And so we think, all right, I'm going to take this road right here.
But seeing that we've never traveled it to the end We have no idea if that road is going to take us to where we need to be, or if we're going to like what we find at the end of that decision that we make.
But God knows the beginning from the end.
And that is why we never try to outthink God.
When I travel to Maybank, to come to church when I did tonight.
I didn't have to wonder where highways 175, 198, and Mount Vernon Street were going to take me I've traveled that road fully many times before, and I have confidence in where that route will take me.
But the way we take in life isn't like that way that we take in our car.
You can take a cell phone, you can ask for directions, it'll tell you directions from Athens to Maybank or Kaufman to Maybank or whichever direction you're coming from.
It'll tell you the exact route to take.
It'll tell you how many miles from point to point.
It'll even tell you an estimation of how many minutes it's going to take or hours it's going to take you to travel that route.
But in life, we never know how one decision that we make is then going to trigger a series of other events in our lives.
That ended up taking us in a completely different direction than we thought that path was going to take us.
About 20 years ago, I made a big decision.
That was really just a small decision.
I made a decision to have back-to-back services at a church that I was pastoring at the time in Athens We didn't have a music minister.
And we didn't, we just started the church, and uh we didn't have an adult Sunday school teacher either.
I'm blessed here I've got someone to lead singing.
I couldn't lead singing if I wanted to.
I've got someone to lead singing.
I've got a wonderful adult Sunday school teacher.
So, you know, I can I can go teach Sunday school over there, then I can come over here and I can teach in the pulpit.
And that's all I have to worry about as far as using my voice that Sunday morning.
But back then it wasn't that way.
Back then I'd come in, I'd teach adult Sunday school.
I'd then lead singing.
I'd then preach.
We'd then eat.
I'd talk to people while we ate because everyone always had questions to ask.
And then I'd lead singing again, and then I'd preach again.
And it was too much on my voice.
And I used to have a beautiful. a singing voice and and a strong voice and and uh and uh i i end up permanently damaging my speaking voice and I completely altogether permanently losing my singing voice and so I had to step down it was so bad at that time I had to step down from preaching for a few years.
And uh that resulted in us merging our church with another church in town.
And while at that church that we merged with, my daughter met Luke, our song leader.
And they got married.
At that church, I began the knowimesaved. com website And I would have never dreamed back then that that one little decision I made to have back-to-back services where if I would have had a Sunday morning and then went home, took me a nap, and then come back and had a Sunday evening if we decided to do that.
I would have had some rest for my voice, but uh back then I had no idea that one little decision I made twenty years ago to have back-to-back services.
Would give me the grandchildren that I now have.
You think about that.
You see, I mean it just it would just popped in my head, I think, you know what, let's do this.
Let's just have back to back services.
We'll eat a meal each time.
We'll all go home.
And little did I know that's going to determine the grandchildren I'll have, the names they'll have, uh the son in law I'll have, the husband of my daughter will have.
And that it would also result in me having the ministry, the knowimesaved. com ministry that potentially will have the greatest impact on my life.
Not to mention never be able to sing again.
Isn't that something?
We don't know the roads that we travel, do we?
We think we do, but we don't.
It seemed like such a simple matter to me.
But only God knows where our paths will ultimately take us.
And so there is a way, Solomon said, look in your text, which seemeth right. unto a man.
And literally that word right means straight.
So there's a way that looks straight to a man.
It looks like that is the straight and narrow way that God wants me to take.
And when a man considers taking a particular direction in life, the decid the decision that he considers making It may look straight, but I want you to think about all the evil behavior that we have in the world.
And there's a lot, it comes in all kinds of different varieties, all the different evil that goes on out there.
And almost everybody who commits evil in this world has a reason. why they think their evil behavior is a good direction for them to take in life.
Almost everybody, if not everybody.
Muslims can come to America, they can lie, cheat, and steal from the nation that takes them in, because in their mind they're stealing from infidels.
You know, Allah is pleased with this.
It's right for them to lie, cheat, and steal.
Or it's straight.
It's a way that seems right to them.
Sexual perverts. can mutilate children by pushing gender ideology and do all kinds of sexual wickedness among themselves because in their minds God made them this way.
That's why they have their own rainbow churches.
They think, well, God approves of our conduct.
Even though God's word says otherwise, there's a way that seems straight to them.
Man stares at the pathway of atheism.
And by applying junk science to his desire to be free from God, which is all atheism is, it suddenly seems right unto him.
It seems straight to him that by believing the absurdity that everything came from nothing, I can be liberated from being accountable to my Creator.
That's the way they think.
As I was studying for this message last night, A news headline popped up on my telephone revealing that the transgender Nashville Christian school shooter Audrey Hell, and I tell you there's so many school shootings and mass shootings I can't even keep up with anymore, but I do remember this one.
Audrey Hell, she uh wanted to be a man And of course the Christian school taught against that.
Well, she graduates the school or leaves the school.
She ends up going to, supposed to be going to college.
She comes back and starts shooting and killing people at that Christian school.
Do y'all remember that one?
Yeah, a few people do.
Well, it popped up on my phone last night that investigation reveals that Audre Hell used Pell grant money for her education to buy the guns to go back and kill the kids of the Christian school, the people of the Christian school.
So it seemed right unto a man in government to take money from someone who worked for it. to give it to somebody who didn't work for it.
And then it seemed right to that person who took money that didn't work for it to try to be a man instead of a woman.
And since some people didn't agree with her belief that she could actually be a man, to take the guns that she used the pell money for to go and murder those people.
And we've just discussed a lot of different ways that it seems right into people.
And there was a whole number of ways right there that it seemed right to all of these folks, and all of them are wrong.
But to them it makes sense.
And that's how come people like Audrey Hell or other people who go and they they start murdering these people, they can write a manifesto.
Do you know what that manifesto is?
That's them trying to argue how the path they took was right to them.
And the politicians that make the stupid decisions to give the taxpayers' dollars away to people who don't work for them and don't deserve them.
They can stand behind their little pulpits, get in front of the news camera, and argue why the people deserve the money.
That's the way that seems right to them But the Bible says, if you'll look in your text, but the end thereof, and that's the key, it's the end of the way that counts.
It's not the beginning of the way that counts.
When the devil tries to tempt us to take away contrary to God's word, do you know what he does?
He always puts the attractive stuff at the beginning of the road.
Do you know what God does?
Just the opposite Jesus said, whoever will follow me, let him take up his cross, right?
Let him take up his cross and follow me.
Now, could you imagine going to work for somebody and you know they always they want to tell you the bonuses you're going to get, the sign-on bonuses you're going to get.
The benefits, the 401k, the insurance, all this good stuff.
They're going to give you that up front.
Jesus says, take up your cross and follow me.
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow me.
God puts the worst at the beginning.
But he promises the best at the end.
Now we can't see the end except by faith We have to trust God that even if we endure the hardships in this world, rejection by unbelievers, uh uh uh fightings and wars with the devil, that spiritual warfare.
And having to deny ourselves and denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that's hard enough in itself to do with our flesh.
Our flesh craves ungodliness and worldly lust.
But we deny that, we take up our cross, we follow him.
He promises us that at the end of it.
There is blessing and life eternal.
The devil comes here.
He puts all the lusts of the flesh, all the desires of the flesh up front. makes it attractive and then says, now look, that road's just as straight as that road over there.
It's a whole lot smoother.
But you get out there and you start taking that road.
And when you get to the end of it, boy, I tell you, you ever taking a wrong turn in Dallas?
How many of y'all ever taken the wrong turn in Dallas?
And suddenly you realize, all right, I need to get out of this neighborhood real fast.
People are staring at you.
You're at a four-way stop.
I'm telling you.
I'm telling you.
So That's the way it is with the ways that we take.
And thank God he knows the beginning All the way down to the end.
And Solomon says the end thereof, look in your text, are the ways of death. doesn't match up with God's word, then you rest assured it is a way of death.
It's a way of death.
There's some ways that'll kill you completely, and then there's other ways.
There's other roads that you can take.
They'll kill you uh incrementally.
But any decision that goes against the word of God will result in the death of the man that made it or the woman.
My wife and I were talking last night about some people that we know who even if they turned their life around and even if they yielded their whole life to serving God with their whole heart today, the decisions that they've made in the past will scar them the rest of their lives.
God gave them a path to travel when they were young.
But their rebellion caused them to go down the wrong path, and that path they took in their youth. killed their chance of experiencing God's will in their lives during those rebellious years.
It's a path of death.
Even if they repent, even if they serve God from this day forward, and they receive everlasting life through Jesus Christ, the opportunity of being rewarded by God For the uh uh the the obedience that they had in their youth is dead.
It's over.
In fact, you know what they did?
When we disobey, when we choose it, and this is the kingdom truth, here's a kingdom truth, Brother Rick.
Every time we choose to disobey God, we exchange the opportunity of being rewarded by God For the assurance of being chastised by God.
Repeat that again.
Every time we choose to disobey God, we exchange the opportunity of being rewarded by God for the assurance of being chastised by Him.
But once again, some choices that people make lead to eternal death of their soul Jesus said, He is the way, the truth, and the life.
But when someone comes to Christ, they're taking a way that's based on truth And that way ends in everlasting life.
On the other hand, when someone forsakes the way of the gospel for any other way, then they are taking away that is based on a lie, and every time it will end in everlasting death.
People said there are many ways to God.
No, there are many ways.
That's true.
But there's only one way to God.
Only one way to God.
It may seem right in the beginning.
But it's a deadly fallacy.
If you've never done carpentry work before.
And uh many of us in here have, some probably haven't, but if if you've never done carpentry work before then then here's something that any person that has done it can tell you you've done carpentry work Jose, you done carpentry work?
Have you ever tried to eyeball some wood when you're framing something up to see if it's level?
And it looks level, but when you get the level and you put it on there, that bubble's not in the middle.
And that's the way it is with us.
We try to eyeball the path that we take.
And using our eyes, it seems straight.
But when you take the level and you put the level of God's word on it, and that's what the Bible's for, it's an instrument that we can take.
And we can say, well, that path looks straight to us.
It looks right to us.
But when we take God's word and we lay God's word up against it, we see, no.
That path is not the way because God's word shows the way here and now we see the deviation.
And we have to use the Bible like what a level and put it up against the what we're framing up, the decisions we're framing up in life.
Our judgment has been tainted by sin.
So we don't have the ability to determine if a road is truly straight without putting God's level on it.
The Bible is the Word of God.
It's His instrument given to us to be able to tell what path we should take if we're making the right decision before we nail that decision down.
Man, there's nothing more frustrating.
Well, there is a lot of things more frustrating, but in carpenter, there's very little more frustrating than eyeballing something you're framing up.
And it looking straight when you're there.
You go back inside the house, you come back out and you look, and it's it's gleaning like this.
It looks terrible.
Y'all are shaking your head like you've got experience with that.
Okay.
Maybe one day we'll hear the story.
Y'all want to come up give testimony on it?
No, I'm kidding me.
I'm coming.
I'm kidding me.
Their dad's back there.
No, no, cut it.
But you know what?
Isn't it better to put the level on it before you nail it down?
That's what we need to do.
Never trust your fallen eyes over God's inspired word.
It will do you right every time.
There's a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Well that we'll go ahead and stop tonight.
And Lord willing we'll take back up in the next verse next Wednesday.
All right?
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Thank you for these dear people.
Thank you, Father, for giving us a level.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us an instrument that's tried and true, that we can lay up against every decision we make.
And Lord, help us to not make the decision with our fallen eyes.
Help us to not be like Lot and lift up our eyes and see the plains of Sodom and it seemed right to us.
Help us, Father, lift up your word and take the way that you've given us, Father, by your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus' wonderful name, we know that'll heal the families.
It'll heal the individual.
It'll strengthen the church.
And its ways will always end in life.
In his name we pray.
Amen.
