Check Engine Light
Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Intro: I preached this last week at the Marriage and Family Conference in South Carolina. God gave it to me on Friday as I was preparing for the evening service.
I. The Reality of Evil – “A prudent man foreseeth the evil…”
We are surrounded by evil.
It’s in:
Your Heart; (deceitful above all things and desperately wicked)
Your Mind – Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Your Tongue – James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
It’s on your TV; computers; phones; neighbors, co-workers, fellow classmates, everywhere!
Jesus taught His disciples to pray “deliver us from evil…”
We are living in the evil day – Ephesians 6
- Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
II. The Recognition of Evil
- Proverbs 14:15 The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.
PRUDENT: subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, sensible
The opposite of oblivious; blind; ignorant; simple
Denying there is no EVIL lurking in your home is just stupid.
- I Peter 5:8 Be sober be vigilant…
It is God’s will for His children NOT to be identified with the ‘simple’.
SEE Proverbs 1
- 1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
- 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
- 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
- 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
God gave us the ability to discern.
- Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
God is good enough to give us check engine lights.
A. In your Personal Life – the Holy Spirit will speak/rebuke/guide/enlighten/remind
B. In your Partnership (marriage) something is off/doesn’t take a rocket scientist
C. In your Parenting – are you in tune with your children? Moods/attitude/spiritual
III. The Response to Evil
A. Ignore it and be Punished
PUNISHED: to fine, amerce, punish, condemn,
Meaning, you literally will pay the price.
Ignoring the warning signs will cost you.
Problems of an evil nature do not fix themselves.
B. Investigate it and be Protected
When your check engine light comes on, you have several options.
Take a look under the hood.
Check your oil. Check the water in the radiator.
Check the tires.
Conduct an inspection and find out what is wrong.
It’s your car. It’s your truck. It’s your responsibility!
It’s your marriage! It’s your family! Do something to fix it!
Once you find out what’s wrong, you can do one of two things:
1. Fix it yourself if you can
Have some initiative.
Stop doing other things and make this a priority.
Stop being a victim and be a victor.
Quit playing the blame game and fix it!
EXTREME OWNERSHIP is a necessary attitude to have a Christian home.
2. Find somebody that knows how and ask them to help you
Ecclesiastes 4
- 9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
- 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Books, pastor, pastor’s wife, godly saints.
Not peers with the same problems.
Not Facebook or Wikipedia!