The Compass Of Life

I have gleaned from many different sources for this sermon and to those sources I say thank you - the Lord knows who you are - God Bless.

Compass of Life

Have you ever seen a compass? There are 8 main directions. North, North-East, East, South-East, South, South-West, West, North-West.

Even though there are 8 directions, the compass ALWAYS points north. The Bible is our compass for life and it ALWAYS points in one direction – UP.

Proverbs 3:1-12

I. Bible Always Points us to Morality. (Verse 1-2)

Compass keeps you moving in the right direction, you don’t put it in your pocket.

The Bible is our moral guide for life. This Proverb begins with an admonition: My son forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. The admonition brings the head and the heart together. It is not enough to have God’s Word in our heads; we must be like the Psalmist who said that he had hidden God’s Word in his heart.

It was not easy for an Old Testament Jew to forget God’s Word. He was required by law to write Bible texts on doorposts of his house.

When he went out the texts on his doorposts called out after him: “Where are you going? With whom will you be? What business are you transacting? Be mindful of your conduct. Guard your conversation. Watch out for your character. Listen to your conscience. God never sleeps.”

When he returned home, the texts on the doorposts cross-examined him: “Where have you been? What have you been doing? Examine yourself. You cannot get away from God.”

We may remind ourselves of Bible verses we have memorised, but even so, God’s Word can be pushed from our minds in the hustle and bustle of life. Peer pressure, the demands of business, and other distractions can join forces to crowd God’s Word out of our minds. But when God’s Word is in our hearts, it will always hold centre stage.

II. Bible Always Points us to Kindness. (Verse 3)

To get God’s Word into our heads only involves a learning process, but to get God’s Word into our hearts involves a love process.

When the mind is engaged in an issue the motive is “I have to.”

When the will is engaged in an issue the motive is “I ought to.”

When the heart is engaged in an issue the motive is “I want to.”

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Here Paul tells us that we must display spiritual graces instead of soul destroying grudges. We must forgive others, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as God has forgiven us for what we did to Him, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bitterness and anger will wreak havoc in homes, churches and friendships.

God forgave us when we trusted Christ, and yet we find it so difficult to forgive others. If someone has hurt us, either deliberately or unintentionally, and we do not forgive him, then we begin to develop bitterness within, which hardens our heart.

We should be tender-hearted and kind, but instead we are hard-hearted and bitter. We are not hurting the person who hurt us; we are only hurting ourselves. Bitterness in the heart makes us treat others the way Satan treats them, we should treat others the way God has treated us.

In His gracious kindness, God has forgiven us, and we should forgive others. We do not forgive for our sake or even for their sake, but for Jesus’ sake. Learning how to forgive and forget is one of the secretes to a happy Christian life.

III. Bible Always Points us to Truth. (Verse 4)

John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

This was a flippant question by Pilate in the fact that he did not wait for an answer. The world’s religions and philosophies have debated that question for centuries. Today we are told that truth is relative.

Jesus stood before Pilate as the answer to that very question. He was the truth (John 14:6), absolute, perfect, clothed for all to see in flesh and blood. Then and there Pilate could have slain all his doubts, put his fears to rest, embraced Christ and entered into the truth. John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

With a touch of cynicism Pilate shrugged off the magic moment. It never came again as far as we know. He simply dismissed the Lords statement..

A small boy was on the witness stand in an important lawsuit. The prosecuting attorney cross-examined him, then delivered, he thought, a crushing blow to the testimony. "Your father has been telling you how to testify, has he not?" "Yes," the lad replied and did not hesitate with the answer. "Now," said the lawyer triumphantly, "just tell us how your father told you to testify." "Well," the boy said modestly, "Father told me the lawyers would try to tangle me in my testimony, but if I would just be careful to tell the truth, I could repeat the same thing every time."