Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Dear reader, if you stray away from the truth of God's inspired Word, you are fully capable of becoming a lunatic. No one is exempt. Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) said in a sermon that under the right circumstances anyone is capable of committing any sin. I fully agree.
We are living in a crazy world. Most people I think are good people, as far as sinners go. Every human being is a sinner (Romans 3:10-23). That is, we are all born with a sinful nature that makes us selfish (Romans 5:12). We have all violated God's laws. We are all guilty of doing things that we ought not do (sins of commission), and of not doing the good things that we should do (sins of omission). 1st John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
My favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” The reason why it is my favorite Scripture passage is self-explanatory. My father used to wisely say that without Jesus Christ people can become monsters. My Dad was exactly right. Even with Jesus Christ, if you allow yourself to stray away from the inspired King James Bible, and get your priorities out of whack, you can become vulnerable to making some very bad decisions. Behind every tragedy in human character is a slow process of wicked thinking. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) said that and he was absolutely right.
I love what Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) said:
“If you want to never do anything that is terribly wicked, then you never do anything that is slightly wicked.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, "Unjust In The Least"
That is character. When you get grounded in the Word of God, you establish checks and balances in your life.
Beware Of The Love Of Money
For example: The Bible warns against the love of money:
1st Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
So many people do unthinkable wicked things to obtain money. The child of God should forget about pursuing riches as a goal in life. Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” If you fear God and esteem His Word, then you won't make money a priority in your life. When I hear someone saying that they want to become rich, I know I should avoid that person because they have a heathen mindset, not a biblical one.
To clarify, there's nothing wrong with wanting to go to college, learn a trade, and work hard to build a business to make money; but if you regard God and His Word, then you know that you must do it all honesty with integrity, and not hurt anybody along the journey. There are companies and individuals all across the United States today who are greedy, crooked and dishonest, who hurt people on a regular basis to make more money. They are evil people.
I've just given you one biblical principle about not loving or pursuing getting rich as a goal in life. Proverbs 15:27, “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.” The Holy Bible has much to warn about the dangers of the love of money. There's just something about money that once you have it, it has you!
Little Sins Often Lead To Big Ones
Over the years I have watched hundreds of episodes of the Cold Case Files and Forensics Files television shows. I intentionally watched each episode looking for the small sins that people usually take for granted, which led to bigger deadly sins. In 99% of cases where someone was brutally murdered, it began much earlier with the sins of greed, lust, going to a strip club, flirting alone in a car with a friend's wife, irresponsible spending, fornication, et cetera.
That being said, I'm not really a fan of those shows because they are too creepy and I can only watch them a little here and there. But over time I have seen a lot of shows, and as a Bible preacher I have learned a lot about human character, proving the Bible true. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Famous writer Earnest Hemingway (1899-1961) said it best:
“All things truly wicked start from innocence.” —Ernest Hemingway
That is so true! In one shocking murder case in Tallahassee, Florida, a seemingly innocent conversation in a car between a man and his friend's wife led to adultery and the brutal murder of his friend, so he could steal his wife.
By the way, I don't believe for one second that Bathsheba in the Bible didn't know King David could see her bathing naked on her rooftop. Women all have a sixth sense about that stuff. There's no way that she was naked without knowing that the king could see her. It might have seemed like an innocent thing—a woman bathing naked on her own private rooftop—but it led to adultery and her husband being murdered. And for that matter, there is nothing innocent about a Christian woman wearing pants. One of the worst sins of our generation is pastor's wives who wear pants in public!
Ernest Hemingway was absolutely right, all things truly wicked start from innocence.
In Canada, a careless woman was exercising in her own living room while wearing spandex. A military soldier named Russell Williams was driving by and saw her through her open living room window. He went back to savagely rape and murder her. He victimized 86 women! That soldier had previously transported the Queen of England as a helicopter pilot. Do you know how much prison time he got? Although he was given two life sentences, he is eligible for parole after 25 years!!! What a joke! 86 VICTIMS!!! Guaranteed he will be out in 25 years!
My main point is that if she had simply closed her curtain while looking sexy while exercising, she'd still be alive today. Foolish loud-mouthed feminist women can harp all they want that men shouldn't attack females regardless of how they dress, and they are correct in what they are saying; but that's not how the real world works, and we all know it. There will always be evil people in this world, and if you give them a reason or opportunity to hurt you, they will.
The infamous Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, told one of his over 50 victims while raping her in the wee hours of the morning in her own home in her own bed, that he had seen her water skiing and she turned him on. Now, people get upset with me as a fundamentalist Bible preacher all the time for preaching that women ought not wear pants, bikinis and other immoral attire in public, but true stories like this PROVE ME RIGHT!!!
Keep Thy Heart With All Diligence
You keep your heart by being on guard all the time; not paranoid, but in tune with God's inspired Word. God created humanity and gave us an owner's manual, the Holy Bible.
A pastor's wife who keeps her heart WON'T wear pants in public. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” The human heart is full of every evil imagination. Kindly said, you need to keep your dog on a leash! That is, you need to keep your heart in tune with the Word of God, lest you end up a causality. If you give the wicked human heart an inch, it'll take a foot! I don't trust the man who trusts himself.
I once heard a foolish Christian man say that he thought a man should be able to be alone with another man's wife, without worrying that something intimate might happen. What saith the Scripture? 1st Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
That being said, I humbly do not believe that any married man or woman should ever be alone in a room or a car, or anywhere, together with the opposite sex. It just looks really bad and there is the potential for sin. Most people will say, “Well I don't care what people think!” Yeah, but the Lord does care and so should you, because we're talking about your Christian testimony. Remember, keep thy heart with all diligence. Some people would no doubt call me “old fashioned,” but that doesn't mean that I am wrong in my biblical position.
Dear reader, you have to be a little crazy in this world to stay sane, but by God's grace you don't have to go insane. If you carry a King James Bible the world will call you crazy! The old adage is very true: Either the Bible will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from the Bible.
Psalms 119:9-12, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.”
If you don't want to lose your mind, or commit some unthinkable insane crime someday, then dear reader get settled and grounded in the Word of God. Use only the inspired King James Bible. Listen to lots of Bible preaching by fundamentalist Bible preachers. Commit Bible passages to memory that you might say with the psalmist, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11). Remember, it's okay to be a nut, just so long as you're screwed onto the right bolt. Jesus is precious!!!