In this sermon, Dr. Bob Jones Sr. emphasizes the importance of being aware of the enemies we face when following God's path. He highlights the need to rely on the Bible for guidance, wisdom, and power. Dr. Jones warns against playing with sin and falling into the devil's traps, using the example of a pastor who was lured away from his calling. He encourages Christians to focus on preaching the gospel and getting people saved, as this is a powerful weapon against the devil's schemes.

We now present Dr. Bob Jones Sr., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University, who during his earthly ministry was one of God's great warriors for the faith. I call your attention to the fifth verse of the 140th Psalm, this wonderful psalm, this psalm that tells us all about the enemies that we have when we're going God's way. Now, isn't God good to warn us? You are never going to be shot from ambush, from the gun in the hand of a devil or an agent of the devil, without being warned in advance if you read the Bible. No temptation has taken you, but such is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape. There isn't anything that you need to know, but what you can find that in the Bible. If you need wisdom, God tells you where to get it. If you need power, God tells you how to get it. If you need equipment, God tells you how to put on the armor. If you need comfort, it's all in the Bible. If you need assurance, it's in the Word of God. If you need hope, open the Bible and read it. It's all here. I thank God for His Word that shines like a lamp in the darkness of this age. The Word of God. I remember when I was a boy, that wonderful picture of my mother, in the old country home with the old Bible, family Bible. Between the Old and New Testaments, we had the family names there, when we were born, when some of them married, when they died. Wonderful old book, but oh, that book of promises, that book of warning, that book that lights up the way of life. And I sometimes think of that now, as the years pile up, what that book meant to my mother, what it meant to my father, what it meant to the old saints in the country. I remember that old song they used to sing when I was a boy. There's a dear and precious book, though it's worn and faded now, that recalls those happy days of long ago, when I stood at mother's knee with her hand upon my brow, and I heard her voice in gentle tones and low. Blessed book, precious book, on thy dear old chestain leaves I love to look. Thou art sweeter day by day as I walk the narrow way that leads at last to that bright home above. Well, those days have passed and gone, but their memory lingers still, and the dear old book each day has been my guide. I wish it had. I wish I'd always walked in the light of it. I wish I'd heeded its warning more than I've done. How different life could have been to most of us. But thank God for the book, and thank God for the word of warning here that God gives us. Now, if you're God's man, doing God's will, going God's way, fulfilling the purpose of God for your life, then you can expect certain things. You can expect a battle of tongues against you, people talk about you. You can expect violent men, evil men, to become violent in their attitude towards you. Think of the picture of when the Son of God hung on the cross, how the people reviled him. Think of human depravity running wild. Think of man that could pull out his beard and spit in his holy face. Think of how anybody could be mean enough to drive nails through his hand. It's just almost unthinkable that man could sink to such a level. And yet that's what's going on. Even today, men are crucifying him according to the Bible of praise and putting him to open shame. How we've been treating the Son of God. When he hung on the cross, he said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. But we know what we're doing. And some of you are rejecting him now that know. All right, let's go ahead. He says here, now they've sharpened their tongues like a serpent. He said, keep me, Lord, from the wicked and preserve me from the violent men who have purposed to overthrow my goings. Now he said, here's the way they've done it. This is the verse. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords they've spread in a net by the wayside. They have set a net or a trap for me. Now he says that's the way they do it. Who does that? The proud. Somebody says, I'll trap him. I'll fix him. I'll get him. You watch me. I'll show you what I'll do. And sometimes they do get us. But you know, sometimes we read pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. And before the proud get us in the trap, see, they get it themselves. You remember the Old Testament when they took the Hebrew children and threw them in the fire. And those Hebrew children walked around the flame. And as they walked around, there they were, walking around the fire. Not a hair of his head was seen. And then later you remember that people that put them in the fire were put in the fire themselves. The fire that men kindle to burn the saints of God. God Almighty blows that fire down the throats of those that kindle it. It's an awful thing to lift up your hand in opposition and persecution against the child of God that's doing God's will. Why, you know what Jesus said? He said you better have a millstone about your neck and be drowned in the midst of the sea than to offend one of God's little ones. It's a terrible thing. You know, sometimes I try to weigh what I say when I'm talking about movements and causes. Knowing the dangers and the perils and the awful consequences of opposing a good thing. But you know, men and women, you don't have to be mistaken about what's right and what's wrong, what's good and what isn't good. God makes some things clear in the Bible, perfectly clear. And if you and I will live day by day with the light we have from the word of God, we won't have any trouble. Now the Lord tells us here that the proud have hit a snare for me. And I as a boy used to, I look back now, we'd make traps for birds. I feel guilty about it some night now, all of us country boys, beautiful birds. And oh, how they'd come in there, you know, we'd set those traps out in those branches or swamps and trees and little streams. And you'd bait it with a little grain, you know. A little bird would come there and try to get something to eat. Poor little bird would get trapped, you see. And the agony and horror of the bird flying around that little trap, you know, all shut up. We'd go catch them, see. Now the devil does that for us sometimes. You don't know exactly what's going to happen until it's all over. I remember a Christian fellow, a preacher of the gospel, a fine fellow, I knew him. He was not naturally a bad fellow. He was a good-hearted fellow. He had some weaknesses. But I never knew the devil to more completely set a trap, and he set for that fellow. And he fell for it. He got caught. I saw him not long ago in a certain city. Saddest face that I ever saw. In overalls. Went there as pastor of a great church. Now he's up there in overalls, working, nothing wrong with overalls. But I looked at him and thought I had stood in the pulpit, and now he's on his way to the shop, in fact. Home broken up. Wife left him. Baby gone. There he is. Trapped. Trapped. And he told me the story of how the trap was set for him. And how, in a moment of weakness, he got caught. The devil's trap. Men and women, watch your step. Christians, all over the world today, the devil's trapping them. Trapping them. Trapping them. We tell our students out here, don't get in a position where the devil can trap you. If you're standing in examination and you've got a paper that's got the answers to the questions you might have, don't take that paper with you to the examination. Don't even put yourself in a position. Don't play with sin. Don't get near the devil's trap. Don't say, I can get this little bait out of here without getting trapped. You can't. You keep reaching to the devil's bait and you'll get trapped. Now he said the devil set a trap for me. Devil traps you. Proud people, see. In other words, he tries to outwit you, see. Now that's what the devil tries to do. I was in a church not long ago. And they had wonderful music. Wonderful music. And a fine organization. But on Sunday night they had such a little crowd, they told me. I was speaking in that church. And one day I said to the pastor, you have great music. He said, yes we do. I said, they do at the theater too. While your folks having good music here, they have wonderful music up at the picture house. Great singers. Popular. Some of it's high class too. Most of it's cheap. I said, you have a pretty good set up for your service, see. Form of your service. Very good. He said, well we try to have a nice formal service. I said, the devil can beat you at that. He's got more money. He can hire actors. He can put all the touches on a program. You can't compete with him there. I said, but you've got something the devil can't get. You've got the gospel. You could have a mourners bench. You could get people saved. He couldn't cope with you there. Whatever you get to preaching the gospel and getting people saved and getting contact with God. And get the power of God. You have something the devil doesn't have. He's lost in that rail, see. The bible says, one shall chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight. Now the devil doesn't know that kind of strategy, see. The devil doesn't know the strategy of the weak things confounding the mighty, see. That's the kind of strategy he's not familiar with. If we Christian people just knew how to use our resources. And knew how to tap the resources. Or if we would do it, if we do know it. What a difference it would make in our lives. But we don't do it, see. We try to beat them, see. We'll have a great music. We'll have great this. We'll have great that. Well now that's all right. But when you get where you're looking to that. To do what God wants done. Then you get your church empty, see. You have no prayer meeting. When you look to God. And turn to God. And look up to God. You have access to something the devil's crowd, they don't know anything about and can't contact. You have reserved power and force that they can't touch. And yet we go ahead and try to match with them, see. Now the devil says I'll outwit you. And he will outwit you. He's smarter than you are. He can set a trap for you. Don't mind you get caught. But what are we going to do? Well the devil can't pray. He can't call God Father. The devil didn't tell God to ask him for wisdom. The Bible says wisdom comes from God. Not from the devil. Wisdom from God. The devil doesn't know how to get that. So if we just would realize that we've got something. The devil hasn't got it. And we can do something the devil can't do. We can stay out of the devil's traps. You can't do it with wits. You can't do it by being smart. That won't get you by. You'll step out of bounds sometimes. But if you'll hold on to God. Trust God. Be faithful to God. Use the best common sense you have. Do the best you can. But keep the contact. You don't have to fall into the devil's traps. Our Father, we thank Thee for this road that leads from earth to heaven. We're glad it's a narrow road because it's no trouble to recognize. It's narrow. And the road of the world is broad. And so it's not bad to recognize. We say this couldn't be the God road. This great big wide road. It's too broad. But this road here is a little narrow. And it's hard too. That's the way it is. But we can recognize it. We can know what it is. Help us to be faithful and true. And help us not to waver. Help us to be forewarned and forearmed and equipped. And help us remember Thy gracious sufficient book. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. You have just heard Dr. Bob Jones Sr., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University, who during his earthly ministry was one of God's great warriors for the faith. This program is sponsored by Bob Jones University.