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The Way of The Wicked Is Frightening
“Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and Our Short Messages this time are rather strong and plain, but they are Scriptural and giving in love. I really think they could save someone from some pain and sorrow. Since the Bible tells us to preach the Word, (II Timothy 4:1) and the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27) we are surely in the will of God any time we teach the Bible. Since I do desire so much to help others, I will continue to teach the whole counsel of God, asking the Lord to guide me. Our text in this message speaks of wicked people. Maybe someone who is going down the wrong road will take God seriously and save themselves of some unnecessary suffering First, may we notice some sins that are common in the lives of wicked people. A wicked person is normally a proud, arrogant person, though his pride might be deceptive. Because of this pride he could be comfortable in persecuting the righteous--"The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." (Psalms 10:2) This pride keeps him from being concerned about getting right with God--"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." (Psalms 10:4) Don’t be surprised if he cannot be depended upon to pay his debts--"The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth." (Psalms 37:21) Also, he normally lives his life with a lot of fear--"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion." (Proverbs 28:1) Now consider some of the Scriptures that should keep anyone from going down the road of wickedness. A wicked person does a lot of unnecessary suffering--"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about." (Psalms 32:10) His wickedness will finally destroy him--"Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate." (Psalms 34:21) While the righteous will be remembered long after his death, the name of the wicked will not be--"The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot." (Proverbs 10:7) Sometimes people will even rejoice when he is gone--"When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting." (Proverbs 11:10) The day of death will normally come early for the wicked--"The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened." (Proverbs 10:27) If he never repents and believes in Jesus to be his savior, his last move will be to hell--"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Psalms 9:17) At this point we need to consider the mercy and grace of God. Since all sin carries the death penalty, (Romans 6:23) God moved in love and sent His Son to earth to pay for our sins. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8) Because Jesus died for us on the cross, all who believe in Him as their Savior are forgiven and have everlasting life. (John 3:36) Even a miserable, wicked person can come to Jesus in repentance and faith and find rest and peace. Here are the words of Jesus-- "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28 Isaiah has a message that can help any wicked person to make peace with God and find a better life here and hereafter. Notice: "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6,7) When salvation comes to sinners, their appointment with hell is canceled and reservation is made for them in Heaven. (I
Peter 1:3,4) Thank the Lord for His mercy and grace whereby a
wicked person can cease being a wicked person and can die a
child of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Children Obey Your Parents
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." (Ephesians 6:1-3) It is very important with the Lord that children obey and honor their parents. We know this because one of the Ten Commandments teaches it. (Exodus 20:12) We also know it because of the serious judgments that the Bible warns children of if they fail to obey their parents. Notice some of them. Under the law of Moses, children could be stoned for disobeying and rebelling against their parents. (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) Cursing one’s parents will bring a lot of trouble to any child who does it-- "Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness." (Proverbs 20:20) To show disrespect for one’s parents could cause them much pain and hurt--"The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." (Proverbs 30:17) On the other hand, by obeying and honoring one’s parents one would be in line for many wonderful blessings. Our text says, “it will be well” with them. This could mean that as they come to be adults they would have a nicer house to live it, a sweeter companion to live with, a better job with which to support his family, and a healthy body to live in. Believe the Bible! Our text says he will live longer. A person who honors and obeys his parents will just get along better than those who do not. The Lord once sent the prophet Jeremiah to talk to the house of the Rechabites. At the Lord’s command he brought this
family into one of the chambers of the house of the Lord and set
wine before them to drink. They refused to drink it. The story
behind this is, Jonadab, the father of the Rechabites, had
always taught his children to never drink wine. They were not
even to sow seed nor plant vineyards. Though some of these
things were surely not wrong, God blessed those children in a
special way just because they obeyed their father. Read it in
Jeremiah 35. Therefore, if children have Godly parents, it will
be to the child’s advantage to obey and honor their parents.
This, of course, is as long as the parents do not lead them the
wrong way. See Ephesians 6:1.
Speaking Evil of Others

"Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge." (James 4:11). Our text verse is one of the most violated verses in the Bible, even by God’s children. Who is it that can say, “I never speak evil of one of God’s children?” While none of us are completely clear at this point, we should strive diligently to be. Disobeying this command is surely costing us more than we realize. We are surely not careless at this point because we have not been informed. In one of the greatest Sermons ever preached, Jesus took time to clearly define this sin. He told us not to do it, ask us why we did it, suggested that we were probably in worse shape than the person we criticized, called us a hypocrite, and told us to never do it as long as we were not perfect. Notice carefully what Jesus said: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5). In that Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did more than tell us not to judge and speak evil of others, He warned us what could happen if we did. He said we would be judged and dealt with according to the way we were dealing with others. This is so true. The person who normally has less unfair criticism spoken against him is usually the one who speaks the less unfair criticism against others. The ones who have the most criticism to endure are usually the ones who have been the hardest on others. Many verses tell us that what we prescribe for others is what comes upon us. Notice some verses: "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate." (Psalms 7:15,16). "Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him." (Proverbs 26:27 This really works both ways. Notice: "With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward." (Psalms 18:26). How we deal with others has much to do with how God deals with us. Most dedicated Christians are not impressed when someone comes to them judging and condemning another. I guess it is because digging up evil and spreading it around is a characteristic of the ungodly-- “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.” (Proverbs 16:27). We really need to quit running folks down to other people. Even though this is difficult, remember, we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13)

Source: http://groverlaird.com/Short%20Messages/May%202013%20Short%20Messages.pdf