Proverbs 4:14-17 • A father gives his son six commands — not suggestions — about a road that will take you farther than you meant to go and keep you longer than you planned to stay.

⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • March 22, 2026.

There's a question every young person asks — and every parent dreads: "How far down that road is too far?" The very question is the trap. This message from Proverbs 4:14-17 exposes the most dangerous word at the entrance to the wrong path — the word "fun" — and shows why the father of Proverbs doesn't say "don't go too far." He says "Enter not." Done deal.

The wicked don't rest until somebody falls. They aren't selling wickedness — they're selling fun. And they are more consistent at pulling people down than most Christians are at lifting people up.

This verse-by-verse exposition through Proverbs 4:14-17 covers:

• Why the father repeats himself six times in two verses — and why all six are necessary

• Why the entrance to the wrong path is its most dangerous point

• What "negotiating distance" really means — and why you've already started walking when you do it

• The difference between biblical separation and isolationism (Jesus ate with sinners without sinning with them)

• The dark truth of verse 16: the wicked can't sleep until someone falls

• Why Isaiah 48:22 and Proverbs 4:16 say two completely different things about wicked people and rest

• The economy of wickedness: bread earned by it, wine bought by violence

• Why some dangers aren't to be reasoned with — they're to be run from

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