Depart Not and Depart

There are things from which you should depart not and there are things from which you should depart.  You will find more in your Bible than I’m going to give you tonight.  But I’m going to point out just two things that are particularly important to teens.

Depart not from the words of my mouth (God’s).  Prov 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.  The Lord speaks to you out of this book.  If you’re not hearing his “voice” in the words, you’re not listening to him.  He said “Hear me now”.

Prov 22:17-18  “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips”.  You must bow down your ear and hear.  In Bible reading this afternoon, I had to reread the Proverb because I wasn’t listening; I was processing something that had me distracted.

When his words get in you like he wants them to, “they shall withal be fitted in thy lips”.  You speak what he says.  That’s what Jesus said, “as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things”, Jn 8:28.

Jos 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”.

Depart from the snares of death.  Prov 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death”.

Death is present throughout this universe.  It came from the fall.  Death’s snares are all around you.  They are there to ensnare you and suck the spiritual life out of you.  The devil can’t get your soul once you’re in Christ, but he can keep you from living by all the benefits of the eternal life you now possess.  He can sidetrack you.

Prov 21:16 “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead”.

Media, entertainment, evil, lusts, pleasures, riches, and cares of this world can choke the word of God in you.  These are all snares of death.  Prov 3:7 “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil”.  They will deaden your spiritual life in Christ.

Addicts have such a hard time because those particular snares of death grip their flesh relentlessly.  Depart from those snares before you ever even have a taste of them.

Conclusion: depart not from the words of God’s mouth and depart from the snares of death.  This way you can “make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”.