Proverbs 4:10-19

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 97:1-7
• Prayer of Invocation
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Proverbs 4:10-19
• Sermon
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

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Sermon Title: Two Paths — The Way of Wisdom and the Way of Wickedness

Scripture: Proverbs 4:10-19

I. The Walk in the Way of Wisdom — Proverbs 4:10-13

A. The way of wisdom is straight and leads to life

1. The word way conveys practical, day-by-day living — not mere theoretical knowledge
2. The upright way is straight; the wicked's ways are crooked, winding, and directionless
3. True liberation is found in submission to God's ways, not in the pluralism of the world
4. John 14:6 — Jesus is the one way: I am the way, the truth, and the life

B. Every step on the path is guided by God's word (Proverbs 4:12)

1. Step is a metaphor for every individual decision made along the way
2. The one walking in wisdom will not be hampered — freed from the debilitating consequences of sin
3. Even running (a less stable motion) will not cause stumbling for those trained in godliness
4. The analogy of two athletes: the disciplined one endures; wisdom calls us to train ourselves in godliness

C. Intense urgency: keep hold of wisdom, for she is your life (Proverbs 4:13)

1. Verbs pile up — keep hold, do not let go, guard her
2. The word of God is not a hobby or a subject of conversation; it is the very heartbeat and lifeblood of the believer
3. The word that brought life into existence continues to sustain it

II. The Walk in the Way of Wickedness — Proverbs 4:14-17

A. The same intensity used to cling to wisdom is required to flee evil (Proverbs 4:14-15)

1. Do not enter, do not walk, avoid it, do not go on it, turn away, pass on
2. Godliness is one coin with two sides: cling to God's word and flee from evil — you cannot have one without the other
3. A warning against a checklist Christianity that focuses only on outward actions while ignoring indwelling sin
4. Wisdom asks: where am I most susceptible to the path of the wicked? Where are my particular triggers and temptations?

B. The wicked are addicted to evil (Proverbs 4:16-17)

1. They cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they plot wickedness even in their beds at night
2. Wickedness and violence are their bread and drink — their very sustenance
3. The word for at the start of v. 16–17 explains why we must avoid the wicked path: because evil is addicting
4. Illustration: Gordon McDonald's 1987 resignation — even the apparently godly can fall; as a Calvinist would say, there is enough sin in one's pinky to destroy the world three times over
5. Like a heroin addict with a first taste, the sin addict who gets a taste is caught in a vortex — avoid it before you enter

III. Summary — The Light of the Righteous and the Darkness of the Wicked — Proverbs 4:18-19

A. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, growing ever brighter (Proverbs 4:18)

1. It is like the morning light that keeps increasing — not the afternoon light that diminishes
2. Psalm 27:1 — The LORD is my light and my salvation
3. Numbers 6:25 — The LORD make his face to shine upon you
4. Psalm 84:5-7 — Those whose strength is in the Lord go from strength to strength, from light to light, as they walk the highway to Zion
5. The word of God is light and life because it leads us to God who is light and life

B. The way of the wicked is deep darkness (Proverbs 4:19)

1. They do not know what they stumble over — ignorant of both the nature and the consequences of their wickedness
2. Only God who is light can illuminate sin and its consequences; those who walk away from him cannot see
3. A horrifying double bind: sin is addicting and it blinds us to its consequences
4. The remedy the wicked reach for is more sin — like a heroin addict who numbs misery with another dose — heaping misery upon misery in an ugly, unbroken cycle

C. The call to walk in the light

1. Avoid and turn away from the path of darkness
2. Grab hold of and never let go of the path of wisdom, which grows brighter as we walk toward Christ
3. Christ is the Sun of Righteousness who has overcome this dark world — he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and our wisdom incarnate