Proverbs 16, verse 25. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Perhaps we can begin by me asking this question. Is everything okay if you feel okay? Is everything okay if you feel okay? Are your feelings all that matters? Or can you perhaps imagine a situation where you feel okay but things are not okay? There is a way that seemeth right unto man. The end thereof are the ways of death. Now this particular proverb is repeated. You can find it in chapter 14 as well in verse 12, exactly the same form of words. And when you find repetition in the scripture, you have to understand that that repetition means emphasis. That's what you do yourself, isn't it? When you want to make a point, you say it again. It's not that what you say at other times doesn't matter, but when something particularly matters, or something has to really stand out, you repeat it. And so the Lord in his word repeats certain things again and again, and we have this There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Why is it repeated? It's repeated because it's important. Why is it important? Because it is a solemn warning. And what is the warning? The warning is this, you might feel all right, You might feel as though things are going well. You might feel that you have a handle, you have a handle on it, you've got a grip of it, it's going the way it should go. But it might not be the case. Now when it says there is a way that seems right unto a man, You have to understand it doesn't mean one particular individual. This isn't describing a reality for one particular individual somewhere at some time. It's speaking about every particular individual. Male and female, young and old. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man. What is that way that seemeth right? But the way thereof are the ways, or the end thereof are the ways of death. Well, it is every wrong way. It is every way of living which does not give God his place as God. which does not come to reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. That is the way. And there are multiple versions of that way. And it may seem right to you. But if God is not given his place as God, and if you're not reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ, Whether you feel good about it or not, the end thereof are the ways of death. It means any way that avoids the cross of Jesus Christ, any way which avoids faithful discipleship following after Jesus Christ, You remember what the Saviour said in Matthew 16? He said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. That is the way of life. There's an absolute exclusivity about the way of life. You remember how the Saviour also said in John's Gospel, I am the way, the truth and the life. And no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. There is no other way but by Jesus Christ. And to come to Jesus Christ means to deny yourself and take up your cross and to follow him. And so this proverb is speaking about every way which avoids taking up your cross, denying yourself and following after Jesus Christ. Speaking to Nicodemus, the Savior said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. There's only one way, and that requirement of being born again is another way of expressing this needing to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. What does the word verily, verily mean? You hear it quite often in the scriptures, don't we? Truly, truly, repetition for emphasis. And it's spoken before some specific declaration. The Lord is saying, listen up, hear and understand. There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. What is that way? It is any way which is not the one way of life. There's one way of life through faith in Jesus Christ, reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sin. But there are many ways to be lost. there are many, many ways to be lost. And most of these ways are not extravagant and outrageous. What I mean by that is this, that it is possible to be civilized, it's possible to be decent, it's possible to be respected, and still go to a lost eternity. It's possible to be religious. I believe that it is true that for most it will be a surprising destination because Having been commended by society and having done well in life, it will be a surprise at the end to stand before God and to see that all of that is worthless, that all of that does not avail, it does not count in the judgment of God. There is only one way. And you cannot negotiate an exemption. You cannot negotiate an exception. And so it's important for you and me to examine ourselves to ensure that we are on the right way. Because you may be on a broad road that leads to destruction and not be disturbed about it. You may be in a broad road that leads to destruction and not be distressed. It may seem right to you, because you may be commended by society, you may be rewarded by society, everything may be tidy and convenient, but if it's not the way of life, it's the way of death. Why do so many people dismiss the Gospel? Why do so few people come to seek after God? Isn't it for this reason? Because they think they're doing okay. They're fine, thank you. Not everything's perfect, perhaps. You can push and probe and you'll discover that there are some concerns and there's some uncertainty and there's some dissatisfaction, but in a general sense, fine, thank you. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man. Let us notice, first of all, then, that the gospel is not intuitive. The gospel is not intuitive. If you follow your own heart, you will not end up in heaven. It's not instinctive. It's not the natural way that you go. Instinct, rather, is to cover up and to hide from God. Because we instinctively feel our guilt and our shame, and we're instinctively embarrassed by that, and concerned about that, and don't want to be exposed to judgment. And so instinct covers and hides and flees and compensates. To avoid, not to acknowledge the holiness of God, The gospel is not intuitive. You cannot follow your own heart. It may seem right to you because you want to follow your own heart and because that's what your own heart is saying to you. It's saying, do this. The gospel is not intuitive, and that is true for those who've been brought up in the church as much as it's true for those who've been brought up far away from the gospel. So you may know what the scripture says, or you may have been taught, and so you may have a general grasp of it. But that doesn't then equip you to do what you think is right and to live according to the light that you have and to find your own way to heaven. The gospel is not intuitive. Not even when you've had the privilege of a Christian home and the privilege of Christian instruction. You know, I meet many people who say, well, I'm not a Christian in the way that you're a Christian. I don't go to church and I don't worship, but I have Christian values. My life is shaped by Christian thought. I show respect to my neighbor. I do to people as I'd have them do unto me. I try to be patient and kind and I try to be generous. And that shows there is some understanding of something of what the Bible teaches. But that is going one's own way, which may seem right to you because it seems right to you because it satisfies your own desire to do something. But it's not the way of God. It's contradictory to the way of God. And the end of it is the way of death. You know you can't drive without reference points. You're familiar with the roads here. You know where the roads lead. But you need to look around. You need to see where you're going. You need to have an understanding of the routes so you can follow it, so you can arrive safely. You can't drive without outside reference points to ensure that you navigate the road safely, but how much more then is it foolish to try to live your life without any outside reference point? Without the most significant outside reference point, which is the reality of God himself and what God has revealed. He's made himself known and the way of life It says in Proverbs 28 and verse 26, that he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. But it feels right for me. That's not the measure, is it? Just because it feels right doesn't mean it is right. Every child answering questions at school for their exam, they put down the answers that feel right or seem right. But every teacher marking that exam knows that it doesn't matter how convinced the child is, how it feels to them, there's a right and there's a wrong. The gospel is not intuitive. You know, there's a difference between biblical Christianity and every other religion. You can divide all world religions, including biblical Christianity, into two groups. There's biblical Christianity and there's all the rest. And what is the significant difference I'm thinking about is this. Every other religion is an attempt to make yourself right before God. It's works-based, it's merit-based, it's personal achievement. There may be acknowledgement of sin, but sin is compensated for by achieving good. Whether you buy it or whether you earn it, whether you blow yourself up so that you are a martyr and you die in holy water, That's intuitive. That's the native thought of the heart of man, which is, if I want it, I have to do it. If I want it, I have to earn it. If it's worth having, it's costly, and so I must spend myself, even lay down my life. But biblical Christianity, is not you work, you get, you earn, you have, but rather it is received. God works, God gives. The gospel is not intuitive. So what you think isn't the final measure. And that's not to be the rule by which you live. But what is important, not that you don't think, but rather that you think according to what God has revealed, that you listen first to what God has said, that your thinking is shaped by the word of God. So you're not doing what seems right to you, but you're doing what God has revealed is right to you. It's not that you don't think, but rather that you think more deeply, you think more accurately, you think more correctly. And that's why God's Word is so important. That's why preaching of the Word is so important, because preaching brings the Word to you. You can study the scriptures yourself. There's many helps to understand the scriptures and you can read what the commentators and writers have said in the past. But you need God's word to be brought to you so that you would hear and understand the wisdom of God. The Bible emphasizes again and again in many different ways, not just in this verse, not just in this particular proverb which is repeated, but it emphasizes again and again that you should not trust in your own heart. You cannot go your own way. Jesus said, deny yourself and follow me. And a large part of the scripture is taken up with what we call the law of God, which emphasizes the holiness of God, but it also emphasizes or reveals to you the corruption of your own heart. So that you would know that it is not wise or safe to follow your own heart because your own heart is not uncompromised. It's not a faithful witness. We're told the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked and who can know it? So the scripture exposes your sin. It shows your brokenness. so that you would see and understand that you who are broken cannot bring yourself into the presence of God. You cannot earn the blessing of God. You cannot justify your receiving the love of God. But rather, you must cast yourself down and cry out and say, Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. It doesn't matter if you're sincere. It doesn't matter if you're satisfied. I imagine every suicide bomber is sincere. The gospel is not intuitive. We may also consider that the gospel is not immediate. It's not immediate. And what I mean by that is, there's a need to wait upon God. And there is a native in patience, isn't there? We want to receive everything now. And there's a way that seemeth right unto man, and that is to go the way that that brings gratification, that brings satisfaction, that brings reward. We want to hold in our hands, we want to see with our eyes. We don't want to be dependent and to trust and to wait. The gospel is not intuitive. And the gospel is not immediate in the sense that we must wait. Not that the Christian doesn't receive immediately from the hand of God. Not that you haven't all received from God's hand in some way throughout all your days as he's shown you his goodness and his mercy and has provided for you. But there is a need to wait. To wait for the fullness of redemption. To wait. to receive all that God has spoken of. And it's strange because we understand that principle in so many other areas of life and it comes to your health. You know sometimes you have to put in the hard work before you receive the benefit. Every farmer knows you have to sow the seed and then you have to wait and wait and wait and wait until harvest time. But when it comes to the affairs of the heart, when it comes to the affairs of the soul, there's an impatience. So the temptation comes, and the temptation is that you can gratify yourself today, whether it's by some experience or whether it's by some thought. But you can satisfy yourself rather than wait. And that is difficult when everyone else seems to be satisfied too. In fact, the psalmist in Psalm 73 describes this. He says, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped, for I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And he goes on and describes how difficult it was when everyone seemed to have everything that they wanted, and there he was struggling. And what happens at the end of Psalm 73, he says, then I went to the house of God. And then I considered and saw. I saw how empty their lives were. I saw what I have and the promise and the mercy of God. He saw that while it was not immediate, it was worth waiting for. and is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof for the ways of death. The gospel, we acknowledge, is not intuitive. It's not according to the wisdom of man. The gospel is not immediate. You must wait, you must trust. Thirdly, the gospel is not irrational. Just because it's not intuitive and just because it's not immediate, it doesn't mean that it's irrational. It doesn't mean that it's senseless or foolish, but rather the gospel is the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of man. Think of his greatness, his incomparable greatness. You know the word spoken in Isaiah chapter 40, where he says, lift up your eyes and hide. And behold, who has created these things that bringeth out their host by number? The reference is to all the stars of the heavens. He calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one failing. You know these wonderful words in Genesis chapter one, speaking about the creation. He says, God made the sun and the moon and the stars also. The stars also, that's not the main deal. That's just a detail added, included. That little detail of the stars also, but it speaks of the incomparable greatness of God. And God who made the stars also and who holds them in their place and names every one. His wisdom does not compare to your understanding or my understanding. And it's not irrational to set your trust in a God who is great and mighty and beyond you. It's actually irrational to trust yourself. It's irrational to trust yourself when you know in your heart of hearts that so many times before you've been wrong. When you know in your heart of hearts that your heart can be deceitful, and you flatter yourself, and you choose what to see, and you choose what to believe. It's utterly irrational. to go the way that seemeth right to you when God has revealed the way that is right. That's why the Bible in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, which is a repeated psalm, states that the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Because it is irrational. It is a denial of what is known to say there is no God. I know people are practiced in the art, as it were, of denying God. So practiced in the art of denying God that they've all but convinced themselves, but yet they still know They know that they know that they know in their heart of hearts that there is a God. And that's why one of the famous atheists said, not only do I not believe in him, but I hate him. How could he hate who he does not believe in? It's because his not believing is an act of hatred. That's what it is. He knows there is a God, but he defies that God. But that's irrational. So the question today for you and for me is this. Are you ruled by your own heart or are you ruled by the word of God? Do you do what seems right to you? It's a temptation, isn't it, just to say, well, it feels right. Everyone else is doing it. Seems to bring an instant reward. What you're speaking about with the Bible is requiring. That looks difficult and hard. It's unpopular. It's going to be costly. Take up my cross and follow Jesus Christ. Not live like everyone else. Not have the immediate reward. Not have the acclamation of the crowd who welcome me and say, well done. Are you ruled by your heart or are you ruled by the word of God? Do you live according to his wisdom or to your own wisdom? And I don't know the answer to that question. You know the answer to that question. You know what the guiding principle is in your life. But God also knows. And if you go the way that seemeth right unto you, you need to hear what you're told here, that the end thereof is the way of death. And supposing you've lived your whole life going that way. Today is the day, now is the time to turn, to stop. To recognize the foolishness of that. To seek His grace and His mercy. To ask for forgiveness. And to begin walking the way of life. to walk the way of life knowing that all the blessings of the gospel are not immediate. I mean, they are immediate in that they are yours, but they're not immediate in the sense that you now have them all in your hand. You're to take up your cross and to follow him. There is cross bearing before there is crown wearing, but the crown is certain. Because all who follow Christ shall wear that crown and sit with him. Is everything okay when you feel okay? Well, not necessarily, because sometimes your feelings are very wrong. Sometimes your feelings are tuned in in a very wrong way, a very superficial way. Everything is okay, rather, when you do what is right. I'm not talking about making yourself righteous before God and going back to that workspace religion, but what I mean by when you do what is right, what I mean is when you trust Him. when you seek to honour him, when you love him. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. That's a hard word. But it's not a word in isolation, it's a word given in the context of the whole of the scriptures, which not only shows the folly of the way of death, but it shows you the way of life. And the call of God today is come and live. Amen. Let's pray together.