Proverbs 13.14 This is a lesson this morning
that would tend to be especially for young people. And I want
Vicki to teach this eventually in the very young people's class. in some form or another, and
she will, Lord willing, soon. From Proverbs 13, 14, the law
of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares
of death. Now the word law here, I know
that it's our tendency usually At mine anyway, when I see the
word law, to think of the Ten Commandments or God's do this,
don't do this, but that's not, usually not the meaning of the
word law. It means direction, instruction,
the instruction of the wise. Directions from somebody that
knows the way is a fountain of life. A fountain is always given
water, isn't it? This fountain is always given
life. The attitude of young people,
and I know this by experience, and I know it from the scriptures,
the attitude of young people is we just have to find our own
way. Quit trying to tell us everything, we're just going to have to find
our own way. And there's a little bit of truth in that because
there's some things that you just can't. There they are going
to have to experience things and that's good, that's fine.
But think about this. If you have to travel a certain
path that has snares in it, as our text clearly says, it has
pitfalls, it has dangerous places, it has false turns. They're easy
to mistake for the way. Wouldn't you want to hear from
somebody who has already traveled that path and knows where some
of those problems are before you go down that path? That just
kind of makes sense, doesn't it? Just kind of makes sense. And
do you know how an older person, do you know how they know where
the pitfalls are? Because they've fallen in some
of them. They're not going to know where all of them are, but
they know where a lot of them are. Wouldn't it be wise to listen
to them? Now, if this was a game, then
it wouldn't be that important. In fact, it might be more fun,
you know, to play the game without somebody telling you where to
go. Let's just do it ourselves, you
know, and find out. It'd be more fun, you know, to experience
it. This is not a game. The stakes are higher than any
game. You notice the words in the text, life and death. They are a fountain of life to
deliver you from the snares of death. It's not a game. I've seen young people get in
snares that they had never got out of. And it's the saddest thing you
can see. 30 years old now and more and still
haven't got out of them. Probably never will. You see
the thing with a snare is the more you pull, the tighter it
gets. The only way to get out of a
snare is for somebody to get you out of it. That's what our
text is talking about. To deliver you. So that you can depart Because
you're born in a snare of death. The point here is not to keep
you always just to keep you from falling in. You're going to fall
in. How are you going to get out? That's the question. You're
born in one. You're born in the biggest one. I've seen young people make one
wrong turn, one bad decision, and ruin their whole life. It took them five seconds, on
the spur of the moment, they decided something. And you may
think you know what I'm talking about. You probably don't. There's
a whole lot of those. There's a whole lot of those.
So you need to listen to somebody. That's the thing about it. Instruction. Direction. Teaching. You're gonna
have to listen to somebody now. or you're not ever getting out
of the snare. Now, who should you listen to? Who should you
listen to? I was thinking about this. I
remember at Dean Christie's wedding, a long time ago now, I remember I had a chance at
the reception to say a few words, and I told them to remember this,
that nobody in this world will ever love you as much as your
parents do. There's a lot of different kinds
of love, different degrees of love. Nobody's ever gonna love
you like they do. And you both have parents that
also love God. Don't ever forget that. You remember
me saying that, D? Don't ever forget. Don't neglect
a gift like that. Always listen to somebody that
loves you The Lord said I will give you
pastors after my heart and he does Solomon said in Proverbs
1 a my son my son here my instruction Now, if your father and your
mother don't love you, then they're not true parents. Let's just
put that out there. I think that's pretty rare for
a parent not to at least have a natural love for their son
or daughter. My son, he said, hear the instruction
of the father, forsake not the law of the mother. I don't think
there's anybody here that has parents that don't love them.
I sure hope not. If your pastor does not love
you, then he's not God's pastor. God didn't send him to you. He
said he didn't. I'll send you a pastor that loves
you, he said. Listen to somebody that loves
you. Paul said in Galatians 419, my little children, of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. I'm
going to be hurting. I'm going to be in pain. I'm
going to be in the worst kind of pain that people ever talk
about until Christ is formed in you. Secondly, listen to somebody
that loves God. You may have some friends that
love you, but they don't love God. Don't listen to them. Don't listen
to them. And I'm not saying that they're
not ever going to tell you the right thing. Even people that
don't know God know right from wrong. All right? But what I'm
saying to you is this. Somebody who does not love God
is not going to be a reliable source of wise instruction. Don't
listen to them. Everything you do, everything
that you do and everything that you think needs to be for your
good and for God's glory. You don't want to do something
that's bad for you. And trust me, you don't want to do something
that is in opposition to the God that made you and that determines
every step you take. If it's going to be right now,
it's got to be for your good. It's got to be for his glory.
If you're not going to fall into a snare, the snares of death and stay
in them, And so if you need advice on what to do or what to think
about something, it's got to be from somebody that cares about
you, that has your good at heart, and that knows something about
the glory of God. Has God's glory as their main
interest. And then remember this, this
is a little bit of a side note, but it's important. Remember
this, there's important and there's vital. There's things that aren't
that important. There's things that are pretty
important. And then there is that which is vital. You may get good advice on what
kind of car to buy from somebody that knows something about cars.
And you may not follow their advice because the car you want
is prettier than the one they told you to buy. And you may
buy it and you may regret it. It's going to break down on you.
It's going to cost you. But that's not life and death. There is advice that is temporal,
but it's way more important than that. I advise unashamedly believers
to marry believers. I don't think that It's going
to damn your immortal soul if you marry an unbeliever. But
I do think it's real important. I think it's real important.
I think it's going to affect every day of your life. That's
how important it is. And then there's that which is
vital. And that's everything that God
says. Everything that God says. Man shall not live by bread alone.
If you're gonna live you got to eat don't you? But if you're
gonna live in the truest sense of the word you need every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God That's what our Lord said Fourthly listen remember this
remember God's order When you're thinking about who am I going
to talk to? Who am I going to go to? Who am I going to listen to?
Remember God's order. Let's see if we can narrow down
the list of people that you should get instruction, advice, direction,
and teaching from. Can we narrow that list down?
I'd say we can. God actually gives you a few
people in your life that he tells you to listen to. Wait a minute,
Chris, why didn't we just skip to that then? Because there are
a lot of pretenders, that's why. There are a lot of fakes. Just
the biological act of conceiving a child does not make you a true
mommy or a true daddy. And just standing behind a pulpit
and saying God, Heaven, Hell, and Jesus doesn't make you a
true pastor either. And so it's important, those
first two things, the first three things are important. Remember
what's vital and don't ever listen to nobody that doesn't know God.
about anything that you want to get good advice about. That's
even remotely important. And don't listen to... If they
don't love you, then it's just, they're just reading it out of
a book. They're just calling it in. Don't listen to them.
Find somebody loves you somewhere now. Somebody loves you. Alright,
and then, remember his order. The first one on the list of
who you should listen to by God's design and ordination is God
himself. And he may be all you have. In
a sense, he's always all we have. You know that. But I'm talking
about he may be the only one that you can listen to. It's
very possible. I think I know some people that
don't have anybody in their life that gives a hoot about him.
I'm pretty sure I know some people like that. That's a terrible
sad thing. You still have the Word of God
though. You still have the Word of God. You've still got direction.
You've still got instruction. And I suspect if you follow God's
direction, you will find somebody else that loves you. Now think
about that for a second. It may not be anybody that has
any of your blood in them. You do what God says. You're
going to find somebody that loves you. It won't be long either.
It won't be long. But listen to God now, no matter
what, and above all else, if that's true of you, if you
don't have anybody that cares about you really at all, and
certainly there are a lot of people that don't have anybody
that fits both of the first two descriptions that love you and
love God. There are a lot of people that don't have that. Well, if that's true, then you
may never hear this message and you may never hear one like it
from anybody else either. And if that's the case, then
the word of God himself is your only refuge. And even if you do have somebody
who tells you the truth, they're not infallible. So it's always
God, isn't it? It's always God. Even if there
is somebody that loves you dearly and loves God and wants you to
do the right thing and points you the right way, they're not
infallible. So you still need to know the word of God. That's
primary, that's preeminent, that's vital. He has the words of eternal
life. That's what we're talking about
is life and death. You need to know God's word because
you need to know God. And you need to be sure that
whoever is telling you something is telling you right. Be sure
of it. If they speak not according to
this book, it's because God's light is not in them. All right,
the second thing under this heading is God's order. Remember God's
order. God gives you parents. At one time or another, you had
some parents. You may not know. You may just
have one. You may not have true parents.
But if you have parents, if you have a mother and a daddy or
one or the other who naturally love you, and that's pretty common. It's very unusual for a parent
to not at least have natural love for the child. It's not
unheard of. It's not impossible. But if God gives those parents,
there is a natural love for children, but if God also gives those parents
an understanding of who he is, and gives them a love for him
and a jealousy for his glory, an understanding of his son,
his gospel, then you have a rare and beautiful gift from God.
Do not neglect it. Do not neglect it. In fact, if you do neglect that,
if you do despise that gift, and that says a lot about you
in everything, and you're probably in big trouble. Turn around. Stop and turn around. And if your parents don't know
God, that doesn't mean that you have a free ticket to disobey
them. God says obey your parents. It does say obey your parents
in the Lord, and that's important too. It's still God's order to
obey your parents, even if they're lost. But obeying them in the
Lord is the instruction of scripture. In other words, if you can obey
them without disobeying God, then obey them. And if your parent doesn't know
God, if your parents don't know God, And when it comes right
down to it, and sooner or later it will, you must obey God. It's
just that simple. And it's very simple in principle. Obey God first. That's not complicated,
is it? Sometimes in the experience of
it, though, it's a little more complicated than that. And if it is, if it's not that
simple, then find somebody that loves God. And ask them what to do. So I need
some direction. Or better yet, just hear from
God. Hear from God. Hear His Word.
And that's hopefully what you're hearing. If you go to somebody
that knows God, that's going to be what you hear. And if it's somebody that knows
God and loves you and cares about you, the truth of the matter
is this, that now, There's a lot of pretend love, but I'll say
this, even somebody that knows God and loves the Lord, and you
come to them and they don't even really know you that well, or
if at all, they're still gonna care about you. You know what
I mean? They care. If they love God,
they care. And then, remember God's order
now. God gives pastors too. He gives
pastors. And again, I say this every time
I talk about pastors, because I don't want you to think I'm
talking about myself. I'm not talking about myself, unless
it applies to you specifically. But more importantly, I'm talking
about pastors. The office of the pastor. It
doesn't matter who it is. I may die tomorrow, you may have
a different pastor. This is still true. God gives pastors the gift of
a pastor sent from God. He said, when I send somebody
to you, it'll be somebody after my own heart. And we know, we
could talk about that all day, what that means. Obviously it's
going to be somebody that's jealous for his word. Cause you, do you
imagine God is jealous over his word, but it's somebody that
loves you back to number one. It's going to be somebody that
God loves his people. He sends his word to you. Now, think about what you have in
a pastor, a true pastor. A parent is a wonderful gift
from God in that they love you, and if they're Christian parents,
they love God. What a gift that is. Think about
what a pastor is. Now, here's somebody that loves
you. He's after God's heart. You remember Paul said, oh, my
heart's desire and prayer to God. He said, I thank my God
upon every remembrance of you. It's clear that God gives his
preachers a heart for his people. But here you have somebody that
loves you and somebody that loves God. God's not going to send
them unless they know God and love God. And here there's a
third element. There's somebody that studies
the word of God just about every day. I'd say that factors in,
wouldn't you? That factors in. I know some pastors like this
that love God, that love those that God has given them charge
over, and that everything that they would say to you would have
God's glory in mind, your absolute best interest at heart, and would
be informed by a lifetime of study of the Word of God. Don't
neglect that gift. Now every pastor that I know
would much rather give you counsel directly from the word of God
from a pulpit preaching the gospel than he would sitting in a room
somewhere. But let me say a couple of things about that real quick.
Don't refuse to hear the preaching of the gospel, number one. To refuse to hear the preaching
and then come ask the preacher for advice is idiotic and insulting. Let me just tell you that from
experience. If you won't hear me preach, don't come ask me
for advice. You already know what my advice
is. And secondly, I also don't know a single pastor that would
not sit down with you and listen to you one-on-one or with a witness
or whatever, whatever the appropriate case is, and talk to you face-to-face
if you feel like you need to. I don't know one that wouldn't
do that. It's not always the wrong thing to do. It's usually
unnecessary. But if you're here in the gospel
priest, it's usually unnecessary. But if you need to come, let's
talk. Let's talk before you mess up. Also, now a pastor doesn't supersede
parents. The first thing I'm going to
say to you if you come to me is, hey, you talk to your dad. And that's
just right, except under very unusual circumstances. One final note, everybody that's
worth listening to will, with every word that they say to you, guide you to the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In faith, believe on Him. Believe every word that comes
out of the mouth of God. And if it comes out of God's
mouth, it came out of the Lord Jesus Christ's mouth. And listen,
in submission to Him, submission is not easy, is it?
But He's going to guide you to the feet of Christ in submission
to Him, to His will, to His Word, to His way, to His truth. He's going to guide you to the
feet of Christ in faithfulness to Him. Don't miss that. If you're not faithful, You don't need advice. You need grace. And he's going
to bring you to the feet of Christ in faith, submission, faithfulness,
and obedience. God's commandment is to believe,
listen to this, 1st John 3.23, this is His commandment, that
we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and
love one another as He gave commandment. The wise instructor will set
forth Christ that you might believe on Him, that you might rely on
Him, that you might trust in Him. Even in matters of everyday
life that you think don't have anything to do with Christ, Everything
has something to do with Christ. Everything. You're not going
to get better advice than this today. Everything has something to do.
Christ is all and in all. You may think, well, I'm not
even going to talk to Chris about it because he's just going to
tell me about Christ. That's exactly right. You better hear him now. God
said, this is my son, you hear him. And if you're not hearing that,
if you're not hearing of him, if you're not being guided to
his feet, to faith in him and faithfulness to him and submission
and obedience to him, find somebody else to get advice from. The word law in our text is from
a root word. Now think about this in closing.
I've gone too long, but listen to me. The word law there is
from a root word that has this figurative meaning, to point. When somebody gives you advice,
that's basically what they're doing. They're pointing. And
everybody that gives you wise advice is always pointing you
to Christ. Let's pray.