Which seemeth right
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Notice that it begins in a way which seemeth right….and ends in the ways of death.
Sin and self multiply.
What begins in a small giving in to the flesh….ends either in repentance and a complete change about….
…or ends in growing into multiple ways….all leading to the death, as Christians, of our spiritual growth and life.
(Not that any true Christian loses his eternal life….but that he can lose his reward, and the joy of light and life, here.
My husband once preached on these verses, and said: “Isn’t it a sad thing to see a miserable Christian? Christ is our portion and all our spiritual blessings….what is the matter with us when we are unhappy with our lot? What cloud has come between us and the Lord that we can not experience His love and mercy in our days and nights?)
Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Twice in scripture this verse is given….and two is the number of witness. Nothing could be accounted worthy of death without two witnesses:
Deuteronomy 19:15 “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in a sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two or three witnesses, shall the matter be established.”
God is establishing the rightness of the sentence against sin….He has warned us twice.
Any way which is not God’s Way….even though it seemeth right….leads to ways of death.
(And again this death is not eternal death for Christians….but death of joy and peace, death of blessings, death of truth.)
Proverbs 14:8 “The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.”
In Proverbs, there are four types of people:
The wise….those that hear and learn from instruction from God’s Word. (Pro. 1:5, 2:6)
The foolish….those that hate knowledge, and instruction. (Pro. 1:7, 22)
The scorners….those that mock and revile those that seek to learn from God’s Word (Prov. 1:22).
The simple….those that do not know the Word, and are caught in many temptations because of it. (Prov. 1:22, 7:7)
Our hearts are deceitful….and desperately wicked….
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
But, praise God, He has left us a Way to escape the leanings of our own hearts….
Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
The Lord will search our hearts….He will try our wills….that He might show us our way…and His Way….and give us “according” or to the measure that we bear the fruit of repentance, faith, and obedience.
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
“Seemeth right”. How much that phrase covers!
How many times have we been tripped up by those things that “seemeth right”….things can look good….can sound good, but it only “seemeth right” for us…unless….that is where the Lord is leading us.
“Unto a man”. Here is where we can see our error.
For our Way, is to be led by the Word and the Holy Spirit, not by us.(Jeremiah 10:23)
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
This is a verse we often use for direction and help….but as the Lord pointed out to my husband….it is….”in all thy ways acknowledge Him”. All our ways, not just when we are in trouble or feel the Adversary’s fiery darts (Eph. 6:16)…but in all our days, and ways.
Psalm 86:11 “Teach me Thy Way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth: unite my heart to fear Thy name.”
Here is a prayer for the Lord to take us by the hand and “teach us”….as His children, to lead us into His truth in everything concerning ourselves….and others that we must deal with.
And here also is the reason for so many missteps: Unite my heart to fear Thy name.
A divided heart.
Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
And that is what we are called to do: to serve.
As Christians, we can only have One Master….Jesus Christ. He is to be our Lord and Savior. Our hearts are to love and obey Him.
If we lean on our own understanding….the way that seemeth right, will lead us astray.
But if we repent, and seek Him….letting Him search us,….and then acknowledging Him in all our ways….He will direct our paths…and all HIs Ways are paths of peace and life. (Psalm 25:8-10)
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 