May God be pleased to bless us
together this morning as we consider his word. Let's turn to the book
of the Proverbs, the fourth chapter, and we'll read the last five
verses, 23 to 27, in the fourth chapter. The fourth chapter in
the book of the Proverbs, reading from verse 23. 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 put far from
thee. Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 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. We ought to be very thankful
that the Bible, the Word of God gives us some very important
instructions. And the Word of God speaks to
us all. it speaks to you children and
young people as much as it does to those who are older and perhaps
you can see you young people this morning that here Solomon
in this book of the Proverbs in these verses he lists four
things which we need to be aware of
and they are four things which can bring much evil upon us. They can of course bring good,
but the man here is speaking about those things which we are
to be aware of. And the first thing is the heart,
the second is the mouth and lips, the third is the eyes, and the
fourth is our feet. And I'm sure we can easily recognize
that those four things are very important elements in our natural
body, our heart. If our heart wasn't working,
we wouldn't be alive. If we didn't have a tongue and
a mouth, we couldn't speak. If we didn't have eyes or we
were blind, we couldn't see. And if we didn't have feet, we
wouldn't be able to walk. So there are all these four things
which are very relevant naturally to our lives. And these four
things are also very relevant to our spiritual life. Now let me just say before I
go further on this, really this is a very small summary of wonderful
instruction in the Word of God. And it is instruction which follows
through the Word of God. You may think of the New Testament
and think of the Lord Jesus in those early chapters in Matthew
5, 6 and 7, which we often refer to as the Sermon on the Mount.
There, in that sermon, is encompassed really the truths contained in
these verses here. And so, this is not something
which is confined to just the Old Testament. The truths follow
through into the New Testament. And indeed, in the Old Testament,
this is not the first time that such things are recorded. In the days of Moses, Moses was
very concerned that the children of Israel might walk in a right
way. And in the fourth chapter, in
the ninth verse, he says, only take heed to thyself, and keep
thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine
eyes have seen, unless they depart from thy heart all the days of
thy life, but teach them thy sons and thy daughters." Well,
there's a great deal of instruction for us in the book of Deuteronomy,
and it's not my intention to go through it this morning, but
the early chapters especially are very instructive to the Israel
of old, and the God-servant Moses was so concerned that this message
might be passed on to the children, to the young people. He was so
concerned that that might be so. And it would be wonderful
for us today if also we are so concerned that these things might
be in our hearts and that we might be able to set them before
our children. and those that we meet with which
may describe the truth of God. Well Moses was concerned and
I believe God's people are concerned and I pray today that all of
us may be really concerned that these things are looked at and
pondered over and considered because they are so relevant
to our spiritual life. Well the The first words here
are, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are
the issues of life. Well, naturally, if our heart
stops beating, there's no life, is there? If somebody stabs us in the heart,
there's not much possibility of life. death will very quickly
follow. The heart, physically, is the
most necessary part to our being. In fact, we cannot live without
it. Unless it's functioning, we are not alive. And in a spiritual
sense, that is also true. Keep thy heart with all diligence. The heart is really our innermost
being. It's that which influences our
life, influences the way we think. It is a very important part of
our spiritual life, our heart. And so Solomon says here, keep
thy heart with all diligence. and therefore we can think of
it in this way we have a heart which thinks and we can have
a heart which thinks on good things and we can have a heart
which thinks on bad things now naturally your heart and my heart
thinks on bad things and the reason is that we are sinners
The reason is that we have followed Adam's course. We've inherited
that sin of Adam. And therefore we are sinners.
And therefore we naturally go after wrong things. We naturally
go after evil things. And you children and young people,
I want you to realize that today. That you naturally go after bad
things. That's because of our fallen
nature. That's because we've sinned.
That's because of that situation. We naturally go after bad things. We have an evil heart by nature. And as we often refer to that
word, the heart is deceitful above all things and Desperately
wicked. Now that's God's word. And that's
the truth. And you and I need to be very
aware of that situation. And so then we're told here to
keep thy heart with all diligence. Now the truth is that naturally
you and I can't keep our heart. We're told no man can keep alive
his own soul. We can't keep naturally our heart. But really We are to pray earnestly
that we may be diligent in desiring to do and to think those things
which are right, and those things which will be a blessing to us.
Not those things which are wrong and evil, which will not be a
blessing. Things which are wrong and evil
won't do us any real good at all. You might think, well I
really want to do that, I really want to enjoy that situation.
I want to go to that place and I want to go and do this. Well,
just ask yourself the question, will it benefit your soul? Will it benefit your soul, going
to certain places, doing certain things? Will it benefit your
soul? That is a question which is complying
with these words, keep thy heart with all diligence. That means,
as you and I led into temptation, as we will be, the devil is a
great tempter and he will put things before you which will
be very attractive to your heart and you will want to go after
them and you will perhaps reason in your minds why you cannot
do them, or why you can do them. And you will want to try and
justify your actions to your own conscience. Now, let us remember,
we have a seared conscience by nature. My friends, the devil
will try and convince you that it's alright to do this and do
that. Never forget Adam and Eve. Never forget Eve thought it was
all right to take the fruit. She knew in her heart it was
wrong. The old devil had convinced her it was okay. My friends,
that's just the same today. You and I walk in this world
and we'll find the devil tries to tempt our heart to go after
things which are wrong. And so we have this word of admonition,
keep thy heart with all diligence. Now we can think of the bad things.
What are the good things? The good things are to direct
us to the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you and I are to keep our
heart diligently, there will be that real concern that we
might be found thinking upon the name of the Lord Jesus. and considering what he has done,
considering the great and glorious plan of salvation, considering
that great sacrifice that he made upon Calvary's cross. And perhaps, you young people
and children, you might find it difficult to think along these
lines. You might find it hard to understand
the things about the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we have an encouraging
word in James, and it's this. If any of you lack wisdom, that
means lack understanding, let him ask of God, who giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not, he makes no charge for it. The Lord comes and he gives.
So if you don't understand these things very well, and I wouldn't
be at all surprised if you don't, don't be ashamed of it, but seek
the Lord, that he will give you an understanding of spiritual
things, and especially with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have this statement
here, keep thy heart with all diligence, with all diligence. That means to be aware at all
times of the potential difficulties and the opposition that we'll
face. It is a situation that we are
to be aware of. And clearly Solomon, remember
Solomon was a man blessed with God, given great wisdom. He prayed for wisdom, God gave
him wisdom. and we see the wisdom here that
he's able to write to us and how necessary it is for us today.
Keep thy heart with all diligence because there is, if you like,
the centre of our life. The centre of our spiritual life
is our heart. The centre of our natural life
is our heart, isn't it? The centre of our spiritual life
is our heart. Our spiritual thoughts, where
may they be? Towards Christ. May it be a real
concern with us day by day. It's not just a question of coming
to chapel on a Sunday and thinking, well now I can give myself, or
try and give myself, and to think more particularly about the things
of God. Well of course, we hope that is so. But my friends, we
want to have this before us every day. Every day of our life. Yes, to be found with a real
desire to keep our heart. Keep it in that right way. Keep
it in that narrow way. Keep our heart in that way which
leads to eternal life. Let us not be sidetracked to
the many temptations which surround us today. There always have been. It just seems today there are
so many subtle temptations of the devil. There are so many
ways that the devil creeps into our hearts and minds. It's very,
very easy. The media, everything is there. The internet, everything is there.
There are so many things which are a great temptation. You only
have to press buttons or touch screens. and you find your heart
can quickly be drawn away. Be very aware then of all the
external influences which can so very quickly come and influence
our heart and turn us away from the things of God and draw us
away. It's a constant battle. That's
why the good man here tells us Keep thy heart with all diligence.
It's a necessary word for us to realise that we should pray
that we may be able to do it continually. For out of it are
the issues of life. Naturally you see, no heart,
no life. Spiritually. We need life in
our spiritual heart, because that's where spiritual life comes
from, our innermost being, our soul, our never-dying soul. For out of it are the issues
of life. And again, the issues of life
must direct us, not to ourselves, to give life, but to the Lord
Jesus Christ. to be found seeking His face,
to be found desiring His favour and His blessing. And sometimes
we may not really understand what that means. But the blessing
of the Lord makes rich. And the Lord knows what that
blessing will do for you and me. Because He knows where you
and I are in our spiritual life. How far we've come on the journey. And he knows what will be suitable
for us. That life. Out of it are the
issues of life. Or that life which comes through
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it would be a great blessing
if our concern is to have our heart kept in a spiritual way. in a Christ-like way, desiring
to be healthy in the things of God. We don't want a heart, do
we, which is ill. Naturally speaking, you know,
if we have a heart which is ill. Sometimes, of course, diseases
come into the heart, don't they? Sometimes those diseases come
because of the way of a person's life. They haven't led a good
life, naturally, with regards to perhaps their way of living,
perhaps their way of eating and drinking, and it's produced a
diseased heart. But by nature we have a diseased
heart. And we need the Lord to come
and to cleanse us. We need the Lord to come and
to wash us, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and to wash
us in his precious blood. This is the issues of life, and
what a blessing if we possess these issues, and we see their
life within. There's not a deadness, there's
a life. Do you know that in your heart?
Do you know whether your heart's dead, or whether there's life
there? Spiritual life, and that you're
truly seeking after the things of God. Bless God, if that is
so, and desire then, earnestly, that you might be able to heed
this gracious exhortation, to keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life. And then put away from
thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee." Well,
we spoke recently about the tongue, didn't we? and how that tongue
is a little member, and how it causes havoc and damage, how
it can easily bring distress. You see, our tongue can so quickly
produce words which are very hurtful, and words which are
really not from God, from our evil nature. So we have a statement
here, put away from thee, a froward mouth and perverse lips, put
far from thee. Again, to have a prayer like
that, we may not be left to anything along these lines. Anything which
is against God, which is evil. Froward mouth, you see. We are
very quick sometimes to say things. Very quick to say things. A froward
mouth. Put it away. Think about it. Don't say it. Ponder it. Good words of instruction, aren't
they? You see how quickly we want to say something. Sometimes
it's out before we really have thought about it and then we
regret it and you can't bring it back. So we're thankful to God for
putting us in touch with such a word as this. Put away from
me. Don't let it be there. Put it
away. Get rid of it. Put away from me. I'll throw
it with my mouth. We all need to be very conscious,
don't we, of such a word as this. Because left to ourselves, we're
very anxious to to perhaps impress people by our knowledge, impress
people by what we think are wise words, impress people because
of our gracious spirit that we may think. And you see, all these
things may have a lurking sin of pride. And so, what a blessing it is
to hear the word of God put away from the a froward mouth. It doesn't mean to say we're
never to speak, but it means to where to ponder and consider
the words and be careful what we say. And perverse lips, far
from me. Perverse things. Perverse things
are things which are really not good, they're bad, they're the
opposite to good. They're perverse. And sometimes
we are perverse, aren't we? Our nature, we find we are perverse. We don't want to conform to the
truth of God. We don't want to conform to His
ways. And therefore, what we find is
our lips are perverse. We find speaking all things,
trying to justify our condition, justify our position, justify
our path, and if we're honest, we find our arguments are perverse. Well, the Word of God tells us
here this morning, and perverse lips put far from thee. Again, our touchstone really
must come back to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have such a wonderful
example, don't we? We see the words that he spoke. How kind they were. And how gracious
they were. And how understanding they were.
You trace out the life of the Lord Jesus and trace out the
words that he spoke. How understanding he was. How
gracious he was. in his words. Oh my friends,
if you and I had more of a Christ-like spirit, what a difference there
would be in our lives. And so we have such a statement
as this, and perversely it's put, far from thee. That really
means get rid of them, get them right away. Throw good mouth and perverse
lips. Put them far away. Don't forget this is not our
nature. Left to ourselves we are not
like this, but as He gives grace. And we are told this. He gave
it to Paul. He gave him more grace. We need
it my friends. We need grace. To order our conversation
rightly. Order our conversation lovingly,
in the fear of the Lord. Oh, then put away from thee a
froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. And then the
eyes, the eyes, let thine eyes look right on, and let thine
eyelids look straight before thee. Well, where are we to be found
looking? Well, we spoke last Tuesday,
didn't we? In the 12th of Hebrews. Looking unto Jesus. That's where our eyes want to
be looking. Looking unto Jesus. He says here,
let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyes look straight
before thee. That'll be a wonderful thing,
won't it? You know, if we're found looking there, There won't
be much opportunity to look all around at other things. The Apostle tells us, and he
gives us a wonderful statement, as we did speak at length on
Tuesday, but just very briefly. He commences this by saying,
wherefore, and he's referring to that long list of witnesses
in the 11th of Hebrews who were blessed with wonderful living
faith. My friends, that's the same that
you and I need today. We need living faith. So we're told, wherefore seeing
we also are compassed about with so great a clan of witnesses.
And now the Apostle gives us some wonderful instruction. Let
us, all of us, I don't think anyone's exempt, let us lay aside
every weight, everything which is dragging
us down, everything which is holding us back in our spiritual
race. Let us lay aside every weight,
not just the weights that you and I think we can lay aside. not just the things that we think
perhaps we can do without. No, says the Apostle, every weight
and the sin which does so easily beset us And sometimes we like to rest
in the fact that, well, that's my besetting sin. My friends,
you may have some besetting sins, and I may have some besetting
sins, and we shouldn't be pleased about it, we should be very grieved
about it. We shouldn't make excuses for ourselves. So here he says,
lay it aside, which does so easily beset us again, all of us. and then let us run with patience
the race that is set before us. It's not an easy journey. It's not an easy race. It never has been. You think
of those characters in the 11th of Hebrews. You think what they
had to endure. God gave them faith, but my friends,
they had to endure much. And so may we, in our life, have
to endure much. And that's why the Apostle writes
these words, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us. And then he comes to the secret.
And this is how you and I are to run this race. With our eyes,
we are to be looking unto Jesus. That's how you and I are to run
our spiritual race. Looking unto Jesus. And who is
this Jesus? He's the author of our faith. He's the one that gave us faith. He's the author and he's the
finisher. And he's the one that will enable
us to hold on our way. That's who you and I are to be
found looking unto the author and the finish of our faith.
Well, we could go on at length, but I won't. But I'll just say
this. As you look to Jesus, what do you see there? This is what
you see. The man that endured the cross, despising the shame. That's the
man you see. The man has suffered for your
and my sake. And then by faith we view him
today, the right hand of the Lord God in heaven, there to
intercede for us. Well, here we have this view
then. Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyes look straight before thee. Now, this is the
right thing, but my friends, there are many temptations. What
did Eve do? She looked at the fruit, the
forbidden fruit. She saw it was pleasant to look
at. The eyes directed her in that
way. My friends, today, our eyes,
we look at things You see we are attracted by them perhaps.
Be very careful about our eyes. Look the right way, not look
the wrong way. Like Lot's wife. Remember Lot's
wife. What was they told to do? Not
to look back. Go forward. Not to look back. What did she do with her eyes? She looked back. became a pillar
of salt. Let us not be found then doing
such a thing that really means not listening to our God. She
didn't listen, she'd been told what to do. She looked back. And then you might remember the
account of Achan. You know, when Israel came to
possess the promised land, they were told They weren't to lay
their hands upon those things, those treasures, they were the
Lords, they were to burn all the stuff. And the conditions were very
clear. And what did Achan do? Well,
Achan looked with his eyes, and he was attracted to a wedge of
gold and a goodly Babylonish garment, and his eyes attracted
him. And he took them and hid them
in his tent. God saw. My friends, God sees where our
eyes look today. And I'm sure if you and I are
honest, we know that our eyes have brought many sins into our
life. Many sins into our life through
our eyes. Now God's given us eyes to behold good things. And
you know when we see wrong things, we ought to turn our eyes from
them, let our eyes look right on, to not be deflected by all
the temptations which surround us in this evil world. There
are many temptations. The devil wants to distract our
view. What does he want us to do? Take
our eyes off Jesus. That's what he wants us to do.
Take our eyes off Jesus. Look around. Look around at the
things of the world. Oh, and the path that we think
might be nice and pleasant and easy. And oh, I like to do that,
and oh, that's attractive to me. Again, come back to the question.
Would it benefit our soul? Would it do our soul good? And
that's why we have a very clear position here Let thine eyes
look right on, and let thine eyes look straight before thee.
Yes, not to look around and think, well, I wonder whether that's
a more pleasant situation or that's a more wonderful place. No. The Lord said, look straight
on. What has he said? I am the way,
the truth and the life. He set before us the right way.
Our eyes are to keep on it. Why? It's the way that leads
to eternal life. It's the way that leads to eternal
life. No better sight than to view Christ. No better sight
for our eyes, the eye of our faith, to view the Lord Jesus
Christ. And may Jesus be so attractive
that we don't want to look anywhere else. Indeed, Christ is precious. Let thine eyes look right on. It almost has a view, doesn't
it, of looking beyond the things of this life. You may remember
I refer sometimes to John Bunyan's poem, Progress. And there was
Christian on his journey. He left the city of destruction. And you may remember how he left
it. He put his fingers in his ears
and he ran so that he would not be distracted by all the cries
that caught him back to the city of distraction. And so he ran. And of course
it wasn't an easy journey. He fell in the slough of despond.
My friend, sometimes we may be like that. We fall into the slough
of despond. How are we going to get up? How
are we going to get out of it? Evangelist came and helped him
out. And then what did he say? He
directed him. He said, can you see that light,
that yonder light in the distance? And what was the instructions?
Keep your eye on it. Keep your eye on it. Follow that light. And that's
precisely what you and I are to do today. Perhaps we're being asked, can
you see that light? And you say, well, I think I
can. And there's a light in the distance. the light of glory,
as it were, the light of the Saviour. Keep our eyes on it,
not drift away. You know, naturally, perhaps
not quite so much nowadays, but years ago, when a farmer was
ploughing, he wanted to plough a straight furrow. And he had
to set his eyes on a distant object and he would then keep
his eye on that, and then he would be able to plough a straight
furrow. If he looked all around, the
plough would have wandered. It wouldn't have been a straight
furrow. And it's the same really today
in our spiritual life. If we let our eyes wander all
around, it won't be a straight furrow. We won't be following
a despised and crucified man. We won't find ourselves healthy
in the things of God. But may we receive that grace
to hear these words and therefore let our eyes look right on and
let thine eyeness look straight before thee. And then he says,
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. In the Proverbs we read on two
occasions, there is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the
ways thereof are the ways of death. A way that seemeth right. It's not a question of a way
that seemeth right. There is a right way. And the right way
is to follow the Lord. That's the right way. Ponder
the path at my feet. I'll be walking that way. I'll
be following the Saviour. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ has
gone before. He's traced out the path, has he not? There is
the path before us. The narrow way. the right way. Ponder the path of life and think,
are we in that way? Are we walking that way? Oh yes,
it may not be easy. God never promises us an easy
path in this life. We are very foolish. We often
think we will have an easy path. We always think tomorrow is going
to be easier. I'll get through this problem and get past here
and then it will be easier. Well, we learn, don't we, that
life is a life of tribulation, because this world is not our
rest. That's why. Because we're travelling
through this world to our eternal rest. And therefore we should
be pondering the path of our feet, the path we're walking
on. Is it leading us to glory? That's the important thing, isn't
it? Are we following Jesus in that path? That's the important
thing, isn't it? Oh, that you and I may ponder
that, and you see then, in that way. If we're following Jesus,
what is it? It's a way that you and I will
be established in. We'll be established. Yes. Because we will be in the right
way. And then when we're established, we're established in the truth. And the truth as it is in Jesus.
That's what you and I need to be established in. Ponder that
path, see whether you and I are walking in that way or not. That's
what we found walking in a false way, a way which leads away from
God, but a way that leads to God. What a blessing it will
be if you and I are found walking in that way, the way to God. And we are told the Apostle,
when he wrote to the Ephesians, he spoke about being in the right
and good way and understanding. He said, redeeming the time because
the days are evil, wherefore be ye not unwise. but understanding
what the will of the Lord is. And the will of the Lord is set
forth here in these words. To ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor
to the left. Now, many temptations there are
for you and me. Oh, we think the way is too difficult,
it's too hard, it's too rugged. I don't want to go that way anymore.
The word says, turn not to the right hand nor to the left. The devil is very powerful, very
strong and how easy it is to have him come to us and tempt
us. Well remember the many cases
in the word of God where people have been tempted and my friends
it's never worked out well. The Lord directs us in the right
way. The Lord never makes any mistakes. It won't be an easy
way. But we can say this, the way
I take cannot be wrong if Jesus be but there. Remove thy foot
from evil. Remove it. It's in a wrong way. You and I know in our hearts,
if there's been any temptation to go in a wrong way, The word
is here from this man who was given so much wisdom. Remove
thy foot from evil. Don't let it stay there. Remove
it. Because if we keep it there,
we may be influenced by it. Remove thy foot from evil. Well, here we have then in these
last few verses in this fourth chapter, a wonderful example
of instruction to us today. It was and it has been and it
always will be instruction for the Church of God. And so may
we be really concerned in our spiritual life to do that which
is right in the sight of our kind and gracious God. You see our kind and gracious
God has blessed us with instruction like this so that we may be found
doing, speaking, seeing, walking in the right way, which leads
to eternal life. And remember, the way is very
simply looking unto Jesus. Amen.