I know, it is fashionable with many to represent the doctrines of the Gospel as so abstruse and intricate that no one of common discernment can understand them. Would we avoid this awful end, let us turn from the paths that lead to it. The Bible is a fabulous gift from God to His children, for it contains the true wisdom of the infinitely wise God. Nothing of this kind can be found in all the book of God. Then shall we be blessings to the generation in which we live, and shall attain that glory which ought to be the one object of our constant pursuit. Where and when is the error found blameworthy? Vaughan, Children's Sermons, 1875, p. 71. “I am right,” he exclaims, “or all these are wrong. (G. M. Mackie, M.A.). This was the religion of the Laodicean Church: they determined to guard against all extremes: they would not neglect the service of God altogether; nor would they, on the other hand, engage in it with all their might. The culpablity of mistaken views. 1. A Way that Seemeth Right. Now it sees that the representations which God had given in his word were true. Multitudes judge of duty according as it bulks in the eye, and therefore the way of death is thought to be the right way. We cannot suppose any person so ignorant as really to think that licentious gaiety is right: but there are millions who do not think it materially wrong. To warn us therefore of this greatest wickedness, it is that this sentence is reiterated. Here then we are reduced to this dilemma; either to believe that the word of God is full of the most palpable falsehoods from one end to the other, or to acknowledge that the confidence of ungodly men is unfounded, and their hope delusive. Parents say, âLet him be a child; there will be plenty of time for work later,â meaning he should play all day. The text confines our attention to honest derangement of vision, or what claims to be such. Any excuse is offered: the dying man is asleep, or too ill to see any one: and thus the only remaining hope for the poor man is banished. 18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Having specified some of those ways which seem right to the generality of men, but will assuredly end in death, namely, the ways of gay licentiousness, proud unbelief, and cold formality, we would entreat you to contemplate the state of those who walk in them, at that period when they are about to be undeceived. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”, Let me not be understood as though I would vindicate any thing that was really enthusiastic: God forbid! Let not their excuses for rejecting Christ prevail on us to neglect his great salvation. What can be better? There are favoured times for obtaining God’s favour. God has a certain fixed, and immutable, and holy law. Speak not to them of loving God, of living by faith on the Lord Jesus, of maintaining fellowship with him in the exercise of prayer and praise: speak not to them of walking as Christ walked, of bearing the cross after him, and of rejoicing that they are counted worthy to suffer for him: speak not to them of receiving out of his fulness, of living to his glory, or of growing up into his image: such ideas are quite foreign to their minds: they sound only as the reveries of an over-heated imagination: to aspire after such things would be to be righteous over-much: if such exertions were necessary for the attainment of heaven, what must become of all the world? Self-deceit is blinding and damning. We must first enquire what is meant by seeming to be right. So Samuel the prophet condemned his thinking as witchcraft and idolatry (I Sam 15:1-35). References: Proverbs 16:31.—Preacher's Monthly, vol. Woe unto them who are thus at ease in Zion, who despise the warning contained in the text! He also included several proverbs with different wording for a similar lesson (Pr 12:15; 16:2; 21:2; 28:26). "The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." Be mild to speak without passion; for persuasive language is the most effectual to prevail over the hardened mind. Some think it is repeated here on account of what precedes concerning persuasive speech, or the power of the tongue; as much as to say, there is never more need of caution than when we are listening to a moving orator, for he makes many things seem innocent which in themselves and in their results are deadly and destructive. They have mourned, and watched, and been oppressed with dread. Let us remember, that the assertions of men, however confident, are of no value, any further than they are founded on the word of God. Not all their splendid array, and sumptuous fare, and bowing menials, and princely estates, will save them from lifting up their eyes, being in torments. Because every man is very vulnerable to arrogant thinking and errors, Solomon repeated this proverb to emphasize the value of its lesson (Pr 14:12; Phil 3:1). Let not their standard of religion be ours: let us go “unto the word and to the testimony:” let us see how Christ and his Apostles walked: and though we be ridiculed as precise and righteous over-much, let us persevere in following the path of duty. 2. It is as if the way branched out into many ways, each one leading to death. Proverbs 16:32.—J. The express declaration of God concerning them is, “The end of those things is death [Note: Romans 6:21.].”. Proverbs 14.12 . There is first light defied and then light debased. There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. King Saul of Israel had an idea, and it seemed right. There are the self-confident who trust in their fancied rectitude. By way of terror to those whose way is not right, is not as it should be, however it may seem to themselves or others; the end of it will certainly be death; to that it has a direct and certain tendency. III. The person who labors, labors for himself, For his hungry mouth drives him on. There is a way that seemeth right - This whole verse is precisely the same as that Proverbs 14:12. V. Does not the way of self-redemption seem right? The self-deceiver now can no longer doubt to what an end his former ways were leading, or whither they will come who follow the paths he trod. Be religious. Formality is a slow but effectual poison; it is a dead and putrid carcass laid upon the altar of Him who demands a “living sacrifice.”. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. 1. But Jehovah had already stated they were to be slaughtered. Inherent difficulties. These "words fitly spoken" mean that these words come from a pure heart. This is the fatal error of mankind. Application: (1) Lean not to thine own understanding. To this effect Solomon speaks in the words before us: he concedes that “a way may appear right to a man;” but he tells us, nevertheless, that “the end thereof will be death.”. One man once asked a number of important men: "What is the meaning of life", and nobody seemed to have an answer. 1. III. 2. This is a repetition of. They legislate welfare, which mysteriously multiplies those needing handouts. Downrightness is always a desirable thing, especially for emergencies that come suddenly and only once. 3. This verse is identical in every way (meaning and words) to Proverbs 14:12. We must “yield ourselves living sacrifices to him:” we must endeavour to “walk worthy of him;” and strive to the uttermost to “glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, which are his.” This is the holiness to which we are to attain; and “without this holiness no man shall see the Lord.”. They are often unconscious of principles by which they are manifestly actuated: and as often take credit to themselves for virtues which they do not really possess. Proverbs 17:1-7.—R. This we had before (Proverbs 14:12), but here it is repeated, as that which is very necessary to be thought of, 1. The offers of grace are only for the present. Proverbs 16:25- There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. There is a way that seemeth right to a man. 16. “Except Thy presence go with me, carry me not up hence.” (J. Parker, D.D.). There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end. 3. It may be added that multitudes misinterpret Scripture. To a certain extent it is right. Commentary on Proverbs 16:26 (Read Proverbs 16:26) We must labour for the meat which endureth to everlasting life, or we must perish. Men of intellectual capacity are peculiarly prone to self-confidence. It is as if the way branched out into many ways, each one leading to death. He did not take care to set it by the true standard. The same maxim repeated from Proverbs 14:12, in a different connection (cf. Does not the way of physical persecution for truth’s sake seem to be right? Put thy whole life into the keeping of God. Many suppose it was used, because the form or matter of the proverb, or both, involved the idea of comparison. The business of worship. Methinks it shrinks back, wishing if possible to hide itself in its former tenement of clay. It is s guide, but surely not through regions it has never visited. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). The law is one. Honest and dishonest error. "My eyes view" ⦠50:16. There are many ways men can die, and each man’s own arrogant thinking is able to get him there easily and surely. Next Verse >. God knows the thoughts of men are vanity â worthless trash (Ps 94:11), and you should think the same of them â whether your own or another man’s (Ps 119:113). Their religion lies in a much narrower space; they do as they would be done unto, and they mind their proper business in life: if this will not save them, nothing will: and they have no fear but that, when they shall have finished their course. 1. IV. Mark the self-confident man. What is there, in the kind of life which has been described, that at all corresponds with such images as these? Not directly in the region of intellect and its knowledge, but in that of the will and its preferences and energies. Few love equally every form of sin. Believing as I do the word of God to be true, I must believe, and must exhort you also to believe, that they who make light of sin “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The drunkard, the swearer, the whoremonger, in short the careless sinner, may “think his ways right;” but, if there be any truth in the word of God, they shall end in death. The Hebrew word for "proverb" (mashal) means a "comparison." A way that SEEMS right⦠Is there a better way--a way which leadeth to life? There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end. The individual error becomes a process and the process becomes a system. ii., p. 156. Proverbs 16:25. Decision and indecision. My eye's view! But when sickness comes, and they draw near to the chambers of death, a doubt will not unfrequently arise in their minds, whether they are prepared to meet their God. Children are given everything, for doing nothing. Does not the way of judging by appearances seem right? But God warns that such thinking leads to death. There are many people who are in the "excuse making" business. v. 25. Does not the way of self-protection seem to be right? Proverbs 16:25. âThere is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.â. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Distrust appearances. VI. 3. Christ would not suffer the unclean spirits to say that they knew him to be the Son of God. Does God say nothing in his word respecting the issue of such ways? But the gospel has had no practical and saving efficacy upon their hearts. Reader, do you think you have the way to heaven figured out? Even when the way seems right stand still and commune with Heaven. Is there any necessity for him to resort to such an expedient; or could he do it in consistency with his own perfections? Does he represent the contemners of his Son as in the same predicament with those who receive him? The sacred volume is given them for their guide; and if they will follow their own delusions in preference to it, they must abide the consequences. There are rich men who delude themselves with the vain conceit that silver and gold, and the things which silver and gold procure, render them independent of God. Proverbs 17:8-15.—Ibid., p. 133. Sin has therefore brought down the ideal as well as the visible standard of duty among men. 20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he. So with the great temperance question of to-day. See Gill on Proverbs 14:12. This is a common and destructive perversion of truth. Solomonâs design in this proverb is, to condemn idleness, and to commend diligence, in a manâs calling; for his mouth craveth it of him â Hebrew, ××Å ×¢×××, boweth to him, namely, as a suppliant; beggeth him to labour, that it may have something put into ⦠This is caution to all, to take heed of deceiving themselves as to their souls. Ver. “Yes” and “No” are great civilisers. thereof [are] the ways of death. ] Does not the way of self-redemption seem right? Gladly would he go back for a moment to the world he has left, to warn his surviving friends, lest they also come into the same place of torment: but that cannot be admitted. They are even made subjects of boasting; and persons who through age and infirmity are disabled from pursuing their former courses, will yet repeat them in effect, by glorying in the remembrance of them, and encouraging others in the same career. "Way" can be understood both as a narrow, single issue within one event or an entire package of values within a course of conduct. (2) Seek higher than human counsel. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, not a better idea from a creative Christian (Rom 14:17-18). Imagine a large company travelling through a gloomy forest, attended by a faithful and well-informed guide. If we follow his teachings we shall be safe; but if we follow our own notions He makes no provision for our faults; we are left to suffer. 2. Humble yourself now! 25. The word is of Latin derivation, literally meaning for a word, speech, or discourse; that is, one expression for many. Such consolations as are founded on error and presumption are administered to the last: and at length the disembodied spirit rushes unprepared into the presence of its God. Believe it or not, but this is how many are living their lives on today. eat so much as is sufficient, ] i.e., Be moderate in the use of all lawful comforts and contentments. Many of our troubles in moral vision arise from the inability to see distance. Commentary on Proverbs 25:16 (Read Proverbs 25:16) God has given us leave to use grateful things, but we are cautioned against excess. After using the Bible as your first standard for right thinking, your next safeguard is to consult wise and successful men. 27 An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire. When the foolish ideas of individual men are combined, they result in plural ways of death. Commentary on Proverbs 16:27,28 (Read Proverbs 16:27,28) Can we conceive that God would falsify, in order to keep us within some decent bounds? IV. Some think it is repeated here on account of what precedes concerning persuasive speech, or the power of the tongue; as much as to say, there is never more need of caution than when we are listening to a moving orator, for he makes many things seem innocent which in themselves and in their results are deadly and destructive. Does not the way of self-protection seem to be right? Proverbs 16:25. Мы должны опасаться путей неверных: они не такие, какими должны быть, хотя и кажутся такими нам и другим. But Proverbs 16 does. Proverbs 16 Warnings about overconfidence, tact, and pride. Ungodly men feel no need of it; they see no excellency in it; they consider it as unworthy of their attention; and they leave it as a proper field for the discussion of angry disputants, or the contemplation of wild enthusiasts. 1. Multitudes judge of duty by the standard of common practice and opinion, and therefore the way of death is thought to be right. Is there any difficulty in understanding these passages? Our difficulty in life is often with things that seem to be right. This is the age of specialists; and one of the most important departments is that which deals with the eye and its defects. There is safety from your vain ideas in a multitude of wise counselors (Pr 11:14; 12:15; 15:22). ].” But Moses, and after him the Prophet Jeremiah, meet the case in the most pointed terms: “It shall come to pass,” says Moses, “when a man shall hear the words of this curse, and shall bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart: the Lord will not spare him: but the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man; and all the curses that are written in this book shall come upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven [Note: Deuteronomy 29:19.].”. The first way to which we would call your attention is that of gay licentiousness. This disquiets them for a time, and makes them doubly earnest about their souls. The servant of God deals tenderly with them, but at the same time points out the errors they have fallen into, and the importance of seeking salvation in another way. ].” But because men are ready to offer vain pleas and excuses for such things, he particularly guards us against laying the smallest stress on any surmises of our own, or any suggestions of others: “Let no man,” says he, “deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience [Note: Ephesians 5:6. All the ways of a ⦠If the way to heaven be so easy that people can walk in it without any material difficulty, how comes it that our Lord has represented the path of religion as strait and unfrequented, and has bidden us to strive to enter in at the strait gate, because many seek to enter in, and are not able? Find Top Church Sermons, Illustrations, and Preaching Slides on Proverbs 16:25. Shall we believe what the Lord Jesus Christ has so strongly affirmed? Criminal excesses and indulgences are palliated by the mild appellations of conviviality and youthful indiscretion: and they are deemed necessary to the well-being of society. Philippians 3:1). The second clause describes the end, or result, of one way of one man to be the plural ways of death. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Under given conditions a diminished area always makes a brighter disc. Ì, and that of desire after nourishment, vid., at Proverbs 6:30; Proverbs 10:3). He plainly declared that most men take the wide gate and broad way to destruction; only a few take the strait gate and narrow way to life (Matt 7:13-14). Browse Sermons on Proverbs 16:25. (Scientific Illustrations. (R. Elton, D.D.). Here also we have shortsightedness, discrepancy of focus, stealthy cataract; the inflammation that makes light an agony; the eye that exaggerates and sees double, and that which makes everything seem insignificant and far away; and there is an eye that dotes on the dark end of the spectrum. This we had before, totidem verbis, in Proverbs 14:12; {See Trapp on "Proverbs 14:12"} And think not this a vain repetition; but know that it is thus redoubled, that it may be the better remarked and remembered. There was the slavery question, over which the British Parliament struggled for many years, and for which America poured out its blood. The same is said in ( Proverbs 14:12 ) , and is here repeated because of the excellence, importance, and usefulness of the observation, and to excite an attention to it; that men may be more diligent to look into their ways, and be more cautious where and how they walk, and be more ⦠4. The coiled scorpion may be mistaken for an egg. But what intricacy is there here which the most unlettered man in the universe may not understand? Persons who have made considerable attainments in self-knowledge, are yet by no means free from this infirmity: the Apostles themselves, on more occasions than one, betrayed by their conduct, that “they knew not what spirit they were of.” Nor does this proneness to self-deceit discover itself only in relation to individual acts, wherein men may be supposed to be biassed either by their interests or passions: it extends itself to men’s whole character, and leads them to form a most erroneous judgment of their state: it leads them to “call evil good, and good evil; to put darkness for light, and light for darkness; to put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” But it may be thought, that, if a man be deceived by his own heart, a less degree of criminality will attach to his actions, and he will have less reason to apprehend the displeasure of God. It often has no absolute certainty regarding right and wrong because its standards have been merely absorbed and never seriously compared against God's. A wise man learns not to trust his own thinking and to seek God’s will on every matter (Pr 3:5-6). Pro 16:1. What shall we say then? 2. A fool, in Solomon's proverbs, signifies a wicked man, whom excellent speech does not become, because his conversation gives the lie to his excellent speech. He humbly confesses his ignorance, prays for God to search his heart and thoughts, and judges every opinion by clear Bible doctrine (Pr 30:2-3; Ps 139:23-24; 119:128). v. 25. To indulge a wish for another period of probation, or even for the smallest mitigation of his misery, now were vain. 5. But these sources apart from divine truth all lead to your death. 25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Me, carry me not up hence. ” ( J. Parker, D.D..! 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