Chapter 4

Instruction of a father

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.(Pro.4:1)

The instruction of a father should be heeded to. Who is a father to you? This does not refer necessarily to your biological father. This refers to an ideal father who has all the attributes of a father in Christ Jesus. According to the standards of righteousness in the Word of God, there is a father for you. He is a model father after the heart of God.

This father does not allow you to live in sin. This father does not allow you to lead a life without any purpose. This father does not allow you to divorce your wife or to forsake your children. This father does not allow you to remarry another spouse after divorce if you have divorced your spouse. This father exhorts you to get yourself reconciled with your vagabond spouse. This father does not allow you to permit your son or your daughter to roam about with his girlfriend or boyfriend, as the case may be. This father does not allow you to permit your son to date some boy or girl. He scolds us and speaks about judgment when we commit a sin. This father does not allow you to spend your precious time before your television or in a movie theater. This father does not allow you to misappropriate the funds of the church or your employer. My father has instruction to give me. He instructs me on how to live in this world, how to behave in the church, how to behave in my office, and how to lead my family life -how to treat my wife and children.

Paul was a spiritual father to Titus whom he called "my own son after the common faith" (Titus 1:4).

In this verse, King Solomon exhorted the children to hear the instruction of a father and to attend to know understanding. Who are the children? The children of God saved through the Blood of Jesus Christ have not become disciples of Jesus Christ but are still children in the sight of God. As children, they ought to hear the instruction of a father. There should not be many fathers. Of course, there can be many teachers to teach them. Paul said in I Cor.4:15 that though the Corinthians had ten thousand instructors in Christ Jesus, yet they had not many fathers.

Every child of God should have only one spiritual father to nurtur him/her in the Word.

A pastor cannot be a father to him/her unless the former has the heart of a father. Similarly, a minister of God like apostle, prophet, evangelist or teacher cannot take the place of a father if he does not have the heart of a father towards the sheep of the Lord . Thesedays, we find a child of God surrounded by all these ministers. Of course, a pastor or a prophet or an apostle can be a father to some child of God. In other words, a pastor or an apostolic minister who has the heart of a father can definitely be a father to some child of God. Paul was a father to the churches planted by him. An evangelist who preaches the gospel to the multitudes cannot become a father to all of them. An apostolic minister who plants the churches cannot be a father to all the sheep. Like Paul to Titus, he can be a father to some of the sheep only who are mostly his co-workers.

Dear child of God, if you desire to attend to know understanding of the Word of God or of the spiritual life you are supposed to lead, you should hear your spiritual father.

Good doctrine

For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. (Pro.4:2)

The Holy Spirit gives us good doctrines for leading our life in this world. He teaches us on righteousness, holiness, morality. In our day today life, He leads us by the paths of righteousness, holiness and morality. Many of the apostles of the Lord were not men of human wisdom and were not learned in the Scriptures. After the ascension of the Lord into the Heaven, the Holy Spirit filled their lives and they lead holy and righteous lives. They learnt good doctrines through the Holy Spirit. The Law of the Lord should be engraven on our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It is not written law but the law of God that gets engraven on our hearts when we accept Jesus as our Savior and are filled with His Spirit. It is the witness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we are prone to temptations of this life, the indwelling Holy Spirit exhorts us to flee from such places of temptations or to make us a way of escape. We should not forsake the law of God written on our hearts. The law of God speaks to our hearts in such situations. But we do not listen to Him and choose to forsake His law.

The doctrines are not learned by us through human beings. It is the anointing of the Lord that teaches us good doctrines.

Beloved son of father and mother

For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. (Pro.4:3-9)

Solomon was the son of David. He was tender and only beloved in the sight of his mother Bethsheba. A child of God should have the same testimony from his/her parents. There are many children of God who are known for their devotional life. But they do not have good testimonies from their parents. They do not love their old parents. Instead of taking care of them in their old age, they throw their parents into old age homes. Does your father call you "my son" today? Does your mother say that you are tender and only beloved in her sight? You may be a talented or "anointed" preacher. But if you do not have good testimony from your parents, you are a very big zero in your spiritual life. You are disobeying the very commandment of God to honor your father and mother.

It is the duty of the father to teach his children in the ways of God. The words of the father should be retained in your heart. If you do not have a father who is spiritual, there must be a spiritual elder to you to give you fatherly advices. Your father may not be a learned man. But you should obey him in the Lord. If you want to live long in this world, you have to honor your parents and keep the commandments of your father. Apart from obeying the commandments of your father and getting a good report from your parents, you should get wisdom and understanding.

Wisdom cannot be learnt through study but can be inherited from God through humility and repentance. Understanding can be obtained by study. You have to understand the Word of God by meditating on it. Wisdom and understanding should not be forsaken by you. Wisdom is the principal thing. Seek and get it. Then get understanding also. You may have wisdom but do not have understanding. Likewise, you may have understanding but do not have wisdom. You need wisdom from God to understand His word. If you are to be perfect, you need both wisdom and understanding. You have to love it.

Wisdom and understanding are shown as a single unit here. Exalt her (wisdom with understanding) and it will promote you. It will also honor you in this world. A child of God with wisdom and understanding will be more precious than a worldly man with all the doctorates. A worldly man despite his best education cannot compete with a child of God crowned with wisdom and understanding. The worldly man may have only understanding i.e. ability to understand the things of this universe but the child of God has wisdom to understand the things of this universe, the things of the world to come and the things of the heaven.

I always use to exhort the Christian students in the Lord to humble themselves before God and man and to repent of the sin in their lives. As they humble and repent, they get wisdom from above. With this wisdom, they can excel in their studies. "An ornament of grace: a crown of glory" are the rewards that one receives after receiving the gift of wisdom from God.

A model father

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.(Pro.4:10)

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. (Pro.4:20-22)

You have a model father carved in the Word of God. Even if your father in flesh is not spiritual, you have a model father to guide and instruct you. He is a creation out of the Word. You can hear his voice as you read the Word of God. He loves you with a divine heart. He warns you against the deceitfulness of the sin in this world. He simply appeals to your conscience and exhorts you to receive his sayings. If you listen to his voice and obey him, the years of your life on this earth shall be many. These days, many young people in the Body of Christ die prematurely because they do not listen to the commandments of God in the Word. They divorce their spouses and remarry other persons during the life time of the spouses divorced. Many young people in the Body of Christ do get all kinds of physical ailments because they do not take care of their bodies and overeat. They never fast and pray. They do not minister to the poor saints, the widows, the orphans, etc. They spend all their incomes on leading comfortable and luxurious lives without any least concern for the above categories of people. All this shows that they do not receive "my sayings".

The model father is personal to you. He exhorts you to attend to his words of wisdom and to incline your ear unto his sayings. His sayings should not depart from your eyes and you should keep them in the midst of your heart. These days, we do not take heed to the words of the father. We follow the ways of this world. We throw to wind the words of the father when we are confronted with problems. What are the sayings of the father? Let us read the same in the Proverbs.

Holy Spirit teaching wisdom

I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.(Pro.4:11-13)

The model father always teach us in the way of wisdom and lead us in right paths. The small voice of the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts and teaches us. What we have to do is to sit calmly at His feet through prayers and to listen to His voice in your spirit. Even in small or petty matters also, the Holy Spirit teaches us in the way of wisdom. It is not that you should open your Bible and select some Bible verse at random. We have a living God. In times of crisis, you should not run to some pastors or evangelists for guidance. He is there with you. He is Emmanual - "God with us". You need not be a Bible scholar. You may be an illiterate person who cannot read and understand the Bible written in some language. But you have the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Law of God is written on your heart. He does teach you on many things which you do not know or which you have not learnt out of your life experience. What you have to do is wait on Him patiently. He is neither before time or too late. He is on time. Through our human wisdom, we want everything to be done quickly and in our own ways.

We find today that many marriageable Christian girls remain unmarried without getting suitable life-partners, the reason being that they had dictated terms to God by telling Him that they wanted husbands matching with their particular educational qualifications, cultural or social backgrounds, etc. God is not bothered about your educational or social background. He simply wants you to marry a Christian boy (not a divorcee with a living spouse) who loves Him. He may be inferior to you in status or in education. He may be an Asian, an African or an American. If you do not want to be taught of God in the way of wisdom, you may end up in the state of being unmarried. God does lead us in right paths. But we choose wrong paths on the advices of our friends or well-wishers. "I have taught thee in the way of wisdom". Definitely, He has taught you in the way of wisdom. But you have not listened to His voice. "I have led thee in the right paths". But you have allowed yourself to be led by some human being in the wrong paths. Today you cannot blame God for the wrong paths chosen by you. When you go, your steps shall not be straitened; and when you run, you shall not stumble. The wisdom of God guides your each step. All the steps are ordained of Him. Your steps are very broad and smooth under your foot. When you run the course set by Him for you, you will not stumble at all. The course is laid by Him before you.

Many people of God run to and fro to know God's will. They do not trust God but human beings. They seek not His wisdom but human wisdom. They presume God is at a distance and they need some mediators to pray for them and to seek His wisdom. Let the Holy Spirit teach us wisdom in our daily life so that all our steps may be smooth. Whatever decision you take daily will be born out of God's wisdom. "Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life".

Here, wisdom is referred as instruction. God gives us instruction in our daily life. He tells us what is good for us. He tells us where we should go for His work. He tells us whom we should meet or whom we should not meet. He tells us what food we should take or what food we should not take. He tells us when we should go to bed. It is a life with God. It is a life completely dependent upon Him. It is a life to live with Him. It is a life to live in Him. We should take fast hold of His wisdom in every matter.

These days, we always talk about the devil and his evil designs against us but we do not seek God's wisdom. If we are to be led by the Spirit, then the devil has no role to play in our life. We should not allow the wisdom to go but to take fast of her and to obey her. All the miseries that we face today are due to our own making. And God is outside our life. Wisdom is our very life. Christ is the wisdom of God. An worldly man gets the wisdom of this world whereas we possess Christ, the Wisdom of God in our earthen vessels. Let Christ reign in our life as the King so that we can manifest the wisdom of God to this world.

Path of the wicked and way of evil men

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. (Pro.4:14-19)

The path of the wicked and the way of evil men are known to us. Though we live with the wicked or the evil in this world, we should take a stand against them and we should not give our consent to their wicked ways even indirectly. At times, during our business or official dealings, we are tempted to go their way. When the wicked harass the righteous, we act as mere onlookers without interfering into the matter. When the justice is perverted, we do not raise our voice against it. When the poor are suppressed, we merely watch as spectators. By not acting, we simply acquiesce to their evil ways and go in the way of evil men. We should avoid it, pass not by it, turn away from it and pass away. This means we should avoid their evil ways and pass not by the same. We do pass by it if we do not raise our voice against it and if we do not something in a proactive manner. We should turn from it and pass away. This means we should completely abhor and repudiate it and then go away from it. The wicked sleep not. They always scheme and conspire against the innocent or the righteous. What happens to them? They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. We witness this. Whatever they sow, they reap. We need not do anything to punish them. They stand punished by God.

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day. Even if justice is denied to the just, God is there to protect the just. Their righteousness shines more and more unto the perfect day. The perfect day will definitely come in the life time of the just. Though it tarries, it will definitely come.

Who are the just? They are those whose sins are forgiven and whose sinful souls are justified through the precious Blood of the Lamb. The way of the wicked is as darkness and they know not at what they stumble. On the perfect day which dawns on the righteous, the wicked will perish and they do not know what makes them stumble. Their stumbling is certain. The righteous need not do anything to cause the stumbling of the wicked. God has already ordained the dooms day for the wicked.

Heart with diligence, froward mouth and right eyes

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. (Prov.4:23-25)

The first saying is that you should keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. These days, our heart is influenced by the environment in which we live. Our heart gets polluted when we watch movies of unbridled sex and violence or when we see the advertisements thereof on the magazines, newspapers, computer screens, etc. Our eyes are the sources of such spiritual infections of our spirits. You cannot lead a victorious life because your heart is not kept away from such pollutions. The issues of life do spring from your heart. The Christian businessmen or the Christian students or the Christian scientists are not able to prosper in this world because their hearts are polluted by what they see or what they hear through their senses. I do not mean "the material prosperity". Prosperity encompasses your spirit, soul and body. You may have material prosperity but may not have spiritual prosperity. A Christian businessman may earn millions but may miss the spiritual prosperity in his life. His business empire may not last long. It may be short-lived. If he, with the help of the Holy Spirit, keeps his heart with all diligence, his business will last long because it is founded on the rock and not on the sand. A Christian student may acquire superfluous knowledge through hard work of study but may miss the goal of perfection in his study because he could not keep his heart with all diligence. A Christian scientist may invent something new which may be accepted in this world but this invention may not bear fruits in the long run because he has not kept his heart with all diligence.

The second saying is that you should put away from you a froward mouth and perverse lips.

Froward means obstinate, wilful, disobedient, fractious, wayward, unmanageable, difficult. We find it difficult to manage our mouth and it becomes wayward or disobedient. At times, we are admonished in a low voice by the Holy Spirit not to speak out certain words but we are quick to speak. By birth, we have inherited a froward mouth. After we have received the Holy Spirit in our life, we do have the greatest privilege of taking the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Many Christian preachers make a boast of what they do for the Lord or how they are used by the Holy Spirit or how the Holy Spirit heard their intercessory prayers and performed miracles. Our Lord Jesus did not have a froward mouth at all. He always glorified His Father and did not glorify Himself. James said in Js.3:7-8, "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison".

We have to surrender our tongue to the dominion of the Holy Spirit because we cannot tame it. Through perverse lips, we pervert the truth and speak lies. We exaggerate what we have heard. The devil used his froward mouth to tempt Adam in the Garden of Eden. He used his perverse lips to pervert the truth. We always suppress the truth while conversing with others. We think that we are wise by suppressing the truth. Wisdom of God is not revealed through your mouth when you suppress some truth. Many preachers through their froward mouths do not speak the truth to the audience. For example, if the preacher was sick due to some ailment, he would not tell the truth to the audience. If God has blessed him with sufficient funds for his ministry, he does not tell the truth to the public but tells a lie to the public that he needs money for his ministry. When God has not healed the multitudes in his ministry, he always exaggerates his report saying that God has healed or blessed the thousands by publishing some photographs of the thousands who had attended his meetings.

The third saying is that your eyes should look right on. The eyes are the sources of temptation to sin. Through the eyes, you see the Mammon of unrighteousness or the things of this world. The god of this world blinds our eyes so that we may not perceive the great blessings through sufferings. If your eyes have to look right on, you will see only the Crucified Christ before your eyes. If your eyes do not look right on, it means you are being enticed to the things of this world - pride of life, possessions and fame. The ministers of the gospel in the poor Eastern nations who preach the gospel to the lost souls are being enticed to the Mammon of unrighteousness which is offered to them in the affluent Western nations. Once these ministers of the gospel become addicted to this vine, they stop evangelizing the lost souls in their nations and look forward to making trips to the Western nations for gathering funds. The eyes that looked right on in the past have now begun to look sideward’s. The passion for souls is being replaced with the passion for money which they need for "building churches or Bible colleges". Contentment is being replaced with greediness.

Your eyelids also should look straight before you. The eyelids should not look somewhere else. When you are walking in the wilderness, your eyelids should look straight towards the distant destination before you. It should not look back or sideward’s. The world is a wilderness for you. Like the Christian of the Pilgrim's Progress, you have to look straight at the the glorious land before you and should not look back at the city of destruction. Christian ran, crying "Life! Life! Eternal Life! And he looked not behind him. Your eyelids should look straight so that you press towards the high call in Christ Jesus.

Path of thy feet

Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. (Pro.4:26-27)

The first saying is that you should ponder the path of your feet so that all your ways are established. We do whatever we want to do. We go wherever we want to go. We do not take care to ponder the path of our feet. We should be led by the Spirit in going to any place for His work. Nowadays, preachers flock to mega-churches for getting the pulpits. They are not led by the Spirit to go to churches in villages. If there is an invitation from America, the preacher concerned will grab this as a golden opportunity and will strive to go there but will not strive to go to a nearby local church or a village church. Preachers go to the same towns and cities time and again because there is a ready-made crowd for them. They do not want to go to those places where they are not popular. Their ways are not established. No souls are saved. No miracles take place during their ministries in popular places. If an evangelist decides not to visit the places already reached by the gospel, then the gospel can be preached in all nations. They concentrate on towns and cities only. They do not ponder the path of their feet before planning their evangelical crusades. They are not led by the Spirit but utter lies that they are led by the Spirit. I find that many evangelists are already booked for a year in advance, especially abroad.

Many Christian youths do not ponder the path of their feet. They waste their precious time by going to picnics or other social functions. They do not spend their time in preaching the gospel to the lost souls.

The last saying is that you should turn not to the right hand nor to the left. If you find evil in your path, you should remove your foot from it. You should take a turnabout and go in the other direction. If you find that you have to harm someone to save your own skin or your loved ones, you should remove your feet from that evil. Your path should be straight only. If you turn your feet to the right hand or to the left, to do something which is not according to His will, you should refrain from doing so. On your right hand, you will always find unbridled freedom to do many things according to your will. On the left side, you will find some restricted freedom to do things according to other's dictations. But you should do only according to God's will. God's path is always straight only and not crooked. It is easily visible to your spiritual eyes.

Next.....Chapter 5