So let's open a word of prayer and we'll get started. Heavenly Father, as we come before you this morning, we launch into a new chapter, chapter five, a significant chapter as the truth and it affects many lives. Help us to understand it, to apply it. We also lift up Ralph and Sarah and their family with the parting of his mother. And we thank you for her salvation, that she is now no longer suffering, but is in glory, experiencing all that heaven has, and seeing her Savior face to face. And so we just pray for comfort for Ralph and Sarah and their family. In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, we are in Proverbs chapter 5, and only 23 verses, but I have to give it a special rating, TV mature audience, because it is a little bit mature audience. And I titled this section, Defeating Sin God's Way. There's some really amazing principles. In the past, I think I've handed out cards. I'll get more made by next week. amazing passage. So let's just go ahead and read it. We're on the handout. I think it's 220 is on your handout. Is that what it says? 206. Yeah, when I move things around, page numbers change. So this would be the structural insights, Proverbs 5, 1 through 23. Is that where you're at? Okay, excellent. So let me go ahead and read all the way through verse 23 so we get a full picture and you can see the parallels in there. And the first one, receive the word of God. Principle here. My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Lend your ear to my understanding that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life, her ways are unstable. You do not know them. Therefore, hear me now, my children, do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel one, lest aliens be filled with your wealth and your labors go to the house of a foreigner. and you mourn at last when your flesh and your body are consumed and say how I have hated instruction and my heart despised correction. I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me. I was on the verge of total ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation. Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets, let them be only your own and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth as a loving dear and a graceful doe. Let her breast satisfy you at all times and always be enraptured with her love. For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman and be embraced in the arms of a seductress? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. In his own iniquities, entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, and the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. Like I said, pretty intense passage. And even though this is Solomon with a literal situation of a young man and a married woman, and speaking to his sons, that literal truth that's here, don't commit adultery, there is a greater set of principles that can be drawn from this that can apply to us and our relationship with sin, the idea of spiritual adultery. So this has a literal plus application the actual text itself, and then we can derive from it principles and analogies from it. So we're not going to allegorize it. That's not what we're trying to do, but draw principles from it. And so we're going to look at literal sin and sin personified just to kind of help us understand. So the son is literal. The adulterous is literal in this text. But the principles that we can gain will be you versus sin. So this will be a little bit different in approach, how we approach this passage. So it begins right away. My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Lend your ear to my understanding that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge. So this first principle in how we defeat sin is to receive the word of God. This is where it all begins. And it's such a critical concept. Let me get caught up on here so I don't get too far ahead of myself. OK, so some key words. Let me see if I actually go to verse 3 here. Yeah, I'm going to think I got a little ahead of myself. Yeah. Actually, let me jump ahead. I think I jumped ahead of my, yeah, I'm all messed up on my slides. Sorry. So I'm just going to go back to here. OK. All right, so let's talk about receiving the word of God. Now in the notes there, you'll see, pay attention. There's that familiar, listen carefully. And then Solomon says, my wisdom, my understanding. This is God's word given through the father, but also his wisdom and experience. But he's trying to say, this is the truth of God. Now, the word lend is a command in the text. It means stretch to get close in proximity. This is the ears and mind being engaged with the intention to learn and apply. And this is mentioned like five times, this word, in the Book of Proverbs. You can see those there. The word preserve is shamor, to guard, to watch over, to cling to. It's also preserving the path. That's the idea, external. We have keep, and you can see there's a similar sound, yinsoryu. And that means to guard, watch over as well, observe. This is preserving the person. So you have this external preserving and this internal preserving. And the two always go hand in hand. Our walk is not just an external walk. It's an internal walk. The two will always work together. The way you preserve yourself internally is to guard your path externally. And the way you guard yourself internally is to guard your path externally. So it goes back and forth. So we guard our external path to protect our internal life. And then it goes on in Proverbs 6, 17. Here's an actual verse that uses both words. The highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps, shamor, his way preserves, yinsiru, his soul. So there's the external and internal. I love when the Bible makes it real easy to define words this way. Makes it easier. Then have discretion. It's the ability to make wise and godly decisions. This is the planning. So it's coming to a situation where you're like, I know the implications. if I do this. And so you're going to plan to avoid the sin and plan to embrace the righteousness. And knowledge is this skill, this knowledge, discernment, the ability to act godly. This is the doing. And I think in our Western culture, we so often, I have to retrain myself every time I come to the Bible, because knowledge in our world is all information. But in the Bible, knowledge is application. You don't have knowledge if you don't obey. And it's very fascinating because you think about it, that's pretty direct, isn't it? You may say you know, but if you don't do, you don't know. And then the lips, this is referencing the words we speak, but it is connected to the words that drive our lives. There's a sense of thinking before speaking, avoiding rash or impulsive speech. Additionally, don't miss the contrast between the lips of a moral man in this verse and the lips of an immoral woman in the next verse. So there's a interesting play there. By the way, lips and knowledge, Malachi 2.7, for the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and the people should seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Of course, that's assuming that the priest is a godly, God-fearing individual. Job 33.3, this is Elihu speaking to Job. Words come from my upright heart. My lips utter pure knowledge. Proverbs 14.7, go from the presence of a foolish man when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge. And then just a couple more with lips. Proverbs 15.7, the lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool does not do so. And then Proverbs 20.15, there is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. And then the New Testament, Matthew 13, 9, he who has ears, let him hear, parable of the sower. And then Revelation 3, 22, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And you can see those seven times, one for each church. So lips of a righteous person are connected to the righteous words that flow from his heart. And those words in his heart was the word of God that's now in there. Look at Genesis 39.7. So this is that situation between Joseph and Potiphar's wife. and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? So think about this. This is the story of Joseph and his situation. This was already part of the knowledge in Israel. They are in the promised land because of Joseph's faithfulness. and God exalting Joseph, the second command. So here is a living illustration of the godly response. And so Solomon, of course, doesn't make a reference to this, but everyone who's reading Solomon in Proverbs 5 would be thinking of Joseph. Now, the implication is believers and followers of Christ, it is a fruit of genuine faith to be regularly listening, learning, living and loving God and others according to his word. 1 John 5, 3, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. So Solomon is saying to his sons, hey, if you love the Lord, you're going to listen to his Lord. You're going to listen to the Lord's word. All biblical learning should, in the end, translate into greater expressions of love. And that's kind of the test, isn't it? Ultimately, we fall short, but that is the test. Are we learning to love more? Question for you. How do you listen to the Word? How do you learn the Word? How are you living and applying the Word? And how are you loving God, His Word, before the Lord, His church, and the lost? That's the test, right? Jesus always said, they'll know you that you're my disciples if you love one another. And this is always the biggest challenge. Questions, thoughts. So the first step that Salman introduces to his boys and to us is we must receive the word of God. If we're going to defeat not only the moment of adultery in this particular contest, but if we're going to defeat sin in general, it begins with the word of God. All right, now let's go to principle number two in overcoming sin, and that is recognize sin's deceptive nature. This is where another angle that sin can come in. You start to think, maybe sin is not so bad. Verse three, now look how Solomon does this through the adulterous woman. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey. And her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life, her ways are unstable. You do not know them. And so Solomon is using this illustration, recognize sin's deceptive nature. And how is this? So to give you an example of how, if this sounds familiar, Proverbs chapter 2, we read earlier, verse 16, to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. for her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead. None who go to her return, nor do they regain the path of life. So this is a theme that returns with Solomon with his boys. The question is, who is this immoral woman? It's a married woman who was unfaithful to her husband. Exodus 20, 14, they knew this from the law, thou shall not commit adultery. 1 Corinthians 6, 9, here Paul makes the picture even clearer. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, and of course this list is not meant to be exhaustive, but you can see the major sins there, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such or some of you, I love that picture of the grace of God rescuing all these people out of this bondage. But you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the spirit of our God. Now there's interesting, there's seven attributes given in this passage describing this immoral woman, okay? So look at this, and this plays off of fantasy, the sensual deception before and speech and by implication action. So I want you to see how the deceptive nature of the adulterer is also similar to the deceptive nature of sin. So the lips, it starts off with dripping with honey. Speech that flatters. This honey is straight from the honeycomb, the word that they use. It's the purest and sweetest of the honey. You might remember when David's son hadn't been eating in the forest and he finds some fresh honey and it lightens his eyes. Now the mouth. Smoother than oil. This means it's filtered and refined oil. This is seductive speech that persuades. So there's flattery, and there's persuasion. Now contrast that with Song of Solomon 411. Your lips, oh my spouse, drip as the honeycomb. Honey and milk under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. She smells like a forest. But what a contrast, right? The implication. The Bible, very interesting, is very silent on what transpires next, but the implication is the adulterous affair takes place. And it amazes me how the Bible can touch upon these very sensitive subjects, but doesn't go too far with it. Now, the reality, look what happens next, all right? So the seductiveness of sin is it makes it sound like it's sweet and wonderful, there's all these benefits, but the reality is the carnal consequences that follow. In the end, bitter as wormwood. Now, contrast to honey. You go sweet, and now you've taken the extreme opposite, the most bitter of bitter. Wormwood is bitter tasting, and it can even bring death if eaten, all right? So honey brings life. Wyrmwood brings death. And in the end, another end, as sharp as a two-edged sword, contrast to oil, smooth versus sharp. Solomon is wasting, using all the words he possibly can in his vocabulary. Listen to the speech of a traitor, Psalm 5521, using the same kind of language. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn sorts. It really pictures, doesn't it, the deception of this adulterous woman and what's going to happen. And this is what we have to understand about the nature of sin, right? On the surface, it looks fine. It looks sweet. It looks inviting. But in the end, it's bitter. Okay, let's go to the next one, the consequences. Certain destruction for the adulterer. Leviticus 20 10, the man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Look at the feet, the direction. Go down, that's a participle, meaning the ongoing action. To death implies death by some form of judgment, so it's a judgmental death. And then look at the steps. So you get the feet pointing in a direction, and then the actions of the feet. Lay hold, grasp by choice of hell. This is Sheol, which is just the place of the dead. This is willful, intentional behavior. Romans 9.22, another cross-reference. What if God, wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared? And this is the idea that they are preparing themselves for destruction. The actions of the unbeliever are restoring up the wrath of God for that day of judgment. So this picture is of this individual pursuing the adulterer, pointing the feet in the directions, taking the steps, and heading towards the sin. Implication, if she is headed for destruction, what will come of those who follow her? So this is like the leader leading everyone into the destruction, the Pied Piper, so to speak. And then number seven, look at her ways. They're unstable. Very interesting word. This is an interesting construction in the Hebrew Bible. On the one hand, you have the adulterous woman who does not ponder her path and has unstable ways. And the exhortation to the sons is to ponder her path and the ways and avoid her at all costs, never to know her or her ways. Proverbs 4.26, we read earlier, ponder the path of your feet and let all the ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left, remove your foot from evil. So Solomon's playing off of that earlier statement. And then Ecclesiastes 7.26, I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters, chains. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be trapped by her. These are some pretty intense pictures, right? And then the immoral woman is illustrated further. So let me go through some of these passages. Proverbs 6, 23, for the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life. To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress, Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor do not let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread, and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he's starving. Yet when he's found, he must restore sevenfold. And that's an expression meaning the full penalty. because technically stealing is a fourfold penalty. He may have to give up all his substance of his house. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who so destroys his own soul, wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury. Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense, nor will be appeased through you giving many gifts. Pretty intense. Proverbs 22, 14. Proverbs 30, 20. and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wickedness. There's that self-deception. And then look at Proverbs 7.1. It's a little bit longer, but again, Solomon comes back. My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments with you. Keep my commandments and live in my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister. And call understanding your intimate friend. that they may keep you from an adulteress, from the foreigner who flatters with her words. For at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice. And this is a fascinating story. Solomon is revealing an eyewitness account. A man I saw among the naive and discerned among the youths, a young man lacking sense. passing through the street near her corner. And he takes the way to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night, and in darkness. And behold, a woman comes to meet him, dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She's boisterous and rebellious. Her feet do not remain at home. She is now in the streets and now in the squares and lurks by every corner. So she seizes him and kisses him. And with a brazen face, she says to him, I was due to offer peace offerings. Today I paid my vow. So there's this. fake religion she has. And then he goes on to say, For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon, he will come home. With her many persuasions, she entices him. With her flattering lips, she seduces him. Suddenly, he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, until an arrow pierces through his liver as a bird hastens to the snare. So he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, therefore, my son, listen to me and pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death. Wow. You can see the scriptures deal with this topic quite honestly because it's a significant sin then and a significant sin today. And it affects everything. It affects the family. It affects the children, the community. It breaks so many things. Now, look at the spiritual implication here. I want to make this bridge in how the Lord takes the idea of adultery and brings it to another level in the case of spiritual adultery, political and spiritual. Then one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, came and talked with me, saying, Come, and I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication. And that's idolatry and sin and so forth against God. And the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman on a scarlet beast, which was full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. So the seven heads represent kingdoms of the earth, and the 10 horns represent current kings. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, those are royal colors, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls showing her wealth, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. Revelation 18, 7, And in verse 19 too, for true and righteousness are his judgments because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. So we have this parallel of the physical adultery and now we see the greater picture, spiritual adultery. And this is what happened with Israel, right? Israel went after false gods and abandoned the true God, Yahweh. And God's treated this as a divorce and spiritual adultery as well. Verse, any comments? I know this is pretty intense. Yes, Roger. Yes, and they, go ahead, sorry. What saith me? So the reason they say that is because Rome sits on seven hills. And unfortunately, that's a misunderstanding of the text, because the seven heads literally represents the seven kingdoms that have led up to this point, starting with Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Pers, Greece, Rome, and then the seventh one is the Antichrist kingdom, I believe. And so it's a misunderstanding. And though it's true, right now they're politically significant. Rome is a political nation, similar to Babylon's political. They are spiritual, obviously the Roman Catholic Church and Babylon is spiritual, but the Roman Catholic Church is just one, it's not the. And so I would argue no. Now, will it have some role to play in end times? Yes. It most likely will. You have a billion followers, you have an ecclesiastical arrangement all across the world, the political, everything else. It will definitely play a part. But yeah, but it's not Babylon. Definitely not, because of that misunderstanding of the seven. It goes back to, I believe, Martin Luther and a few others, because they were basically protesting the Catholic Church. There were many things applied. And Martin Luther called the Pope Antichrist. Now that would be a truthful statement, right? Because he's not for the true Christ. He also, if you study the Pope and the titles that the pontiff Has they're all titles that belong to God the Father. So yeah, they're definitely false in every way The sad part is they have truth in there, but it's mixed and polluted with the lies So yeah, I would not say at this point Rome is Babylon But it's definitely a false church for sure false. So it false witness. Does that answer your question? Okay. All right. Any other thoughts comments Derek? I Yeah, and there's always been speculation of what names did he write down in the sand and were they guilty too and And thank the Lord that we no longer live in the sense under the law where we stone adulterers and adulteresses Because there's a second chance then for them to repent and believe but in the end the consequences are the same It'll be death in the end Yeah Okay, so look at the immoral woman's worldly tactics. I threw in 1 John 2.16 because if you think about this passage in light of what we read in Solomon and what we've been reading in Revelation here, it's very similar, isn't it? For all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, right? Lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It's not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the world is passing away in the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. So this has been Satan's tactics, and these are the tactics of all sin. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, the pride of life. All of them are always used in every time before you sin. to one degree or another. Now, heart of the issue, Colossians 3.5. This is the picture of idolatry in the New Testament. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. So behind idolatry, though in the Old Testament you see these little statues, these figurines, you see them today. If you go to India, you'll see them. If you go to a Hindu temple, you'll see them. Those are the physical expressions of their so-called religion, right? But behind that is the behavior that they use to get what they want. They will bribe these false gods. They'll worship them because they're trying to get something for themselves. Derek? Yeah, those are considered idols as well. They've made them look like they're people, right? Or angels and so forth, but they're adored. This goes back even further when the East and West kind of split over icons. Icons meaning pictures and statues. And the Greek Orthodox Church kind of went down that road and says, we accept that it's okay to put these images in the church. and they try to differentiate saying, well, they help us to worship, but we don't worship them as God, right? They're just trying to pull it back one line. But the fact of the matter is, is they shouldn't be there at all. Any of that stuff is a distraction. God has removed all the shadows and the symbols, and now we have the substance in Christ. There's a movement going on last few years that I've read about where churches are bringing some of these ancient traditions back in. They're putting icons in the churches. They're putting all these things to change the atmosphere so it feels more spiritual. That's completely wrong. You're chasing God through the material when God wants to be pursued through the spiritual. So, yeah. Well, it all depends. I mean, we have a cross. We don't worship it. We let it be a symbol. So at the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with putting a cross as a remembrance, as a token, as a meaning. It always goes back to, what is the purpose of that? If they're using that as a means to worship, that's a different thing. Like, for example, in Europe, there is a cross that actually has Jesus on one side and Mary on the other side. That would be totally inappropriate and blasphemous. So, but having the symbol in of itself is appropriate. It's not necessarily inappropriate. It's how it's being used and what its purpose is at serve. So you have to be careful when you draw that line. Well, you'll see that some Catholic churches have Jesus on the cross. And some Catholic churches do not have them on the cross. So they have them on the cross. That is theologically there for a reason, because they're trying to focus on the Lord's Supper and the... the transubstantiation because they always portray Christ on the cross because of this ongoing sacrifice that is perpetuated every time they have the Lord's Supper. So there is a theological basis behind that, but I'm stepping away from that for a minute and just say, there's nothing wrong with having Jesus on the cross to portray his crucifixion. But for them, it is sending the message of this perpetual re-sacrificing of Christ. Yeah, yeah. And again, I admit to be careful with the language of re-sacrificing, because if you get into a discussion with someone who knows the Catholic doctrine, it's technically not a re-sacrifice. It's a re-presentation. But they see the sacrifice as always efficacious. So it's a re-presentation. They don't see Christ being re-crucified. But that's what's going on. That's why many of the Catholic churches have Christ. on the cross because of what's going on in the Lord's table. Does that make sense or did I make it more confusing? Yes, they do believe it's an actual sacrifice. Well, that's the double speak, right? They say it's a sacrifice, but it's bloodless. Yet in the scriptures, the scripture says sacrifices have to have blood. So they walk this double line and it's contradictory. Because I've talked to priests. I've you know, I've read the literature and you will see both It's not a sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice. It's a representation It gets really messy at the end of the day. It's all wrong. Let's just put it that way Correct And many Catholics don't even realize it. They're not theologically so deep in the study, they understand why that's there. They simply look at it as a surface, yeah, Christ died on the cross. So we gotta be careful not to make that a big point with a Catholic, because we'll just be like, I don't have a problem with that, and they won't understand the implications. It's best to go to the real heart of the gospel, and that is, why are you adding to your faith the sacraments? Why are you working for your salvation? That's where the real difference can be made when we share the gospel. But it's good to know those things and understand. But there are many Catholic churches now that don't have Christ on the cross. So it goes both ways for them. It's always changing. In fact, some of the Catholic churches, the newer ones, feel very modern, feel very evangelical. You wouldn't even know it when you walk into there. All right, continuing on. So the heart of the issue, as I said, is idolatry. Sin is more than behavior. It's the interworking of the flesh, the world, and the devil. Look at Ephesians 2, 1 through 3, the summary of what we were before Christ. And you, he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked. according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, just as others." So there you go. You got the flesh, you have the world, you have the pride, that's that spirit. It's all there too. It repeats in different ways. So the question is motivators, right? This is what we run into. I want, fill in the blank. I fear, fill in the blank. I need, fill in the blank. I expect, fill in the blank. These are some of the motivators that can sometimes, if we're not answering rightly, can lead to rebellion. What are you loving? That's always a question. What are you hoping, trusting, and taking refuge in? What voices are you listening to? Have you substituted and settled for the worldly counterfeit rather than the spiritually authentic? This is a hard one sometimes, right? Because we can take a good thing and turn it into an idol. Work can be a good thing. It's a commanded thing. But if work becomes your identity and not Christ, that can be a problem, right? And so there's always this, that sometimes we can take a good thing and corrupt it. That's always the danger. So it's good to just self-examine and take a look at your heart and make sure you have the right perspective on all these things. 1 John 5.20. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. And John sums it up, little children, keep yourselves from idols. I always find the interest in the word idle because we use it, we can talk about being idle, right? Wasting our time, not being productive and so forth. And so there is a little bit, even our language, a little bit of an echo of what's behind Colossians 3.5. Okay, so let's go now to number three. So we first begin with, let me go back to here. Let me just scroll back up. So it begins with God's word, right? And then We have to recognize sin's deceptive nature. And now we have to come to three, which is remain loyal to the word of God. So we come back to the word again, right? It's not just know the word, but now remain loyal to it. And this is Proverbs 5, 7. Therefore, hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Now the word hear, shimu, is a command. Listen. Obey. Listen with the intent to obey. Do not depart. Tassaru. Don't swerve away. Don't change direction. Don't abandon. Contrast embracing the word with abandoning the sin. In this next verse, as you'll see in a minute, Psalm 119, 140, your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. John 6, 68, but Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. The implication is you cannot separate God's word from the person of God. To love God is to love and obey his word. To disobey the word is to disobey God. The two are inseparable. John 14, 15, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Now here's where the next verse comes in. Remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house. And so this becomes the next step. Remove yourself from sources of temptation. This is another principle of defeating sin God's way. Contrast that with Proverbs 834. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. Of course, this is picturing Israel in the tent of the tabernacle, et cetera, the temple. Now look at the New Testament insight, the put off, put on principle, or put off, put on. Ephesians 4.17, this I say therefore in testifying the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind. having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness to work all the uncleanness with greed. But you have not so learned, Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness." So there's that picture. Inside you is a new creature in Christ. You're born again. You have the spirit of God dwelling in you. And that's who you are. But that part's been changed, but the flesh, this old man we still live with, this hasn't been redeemed yet. And so we're always trying to put this old man off, the old habits off, trying to put on Christ, trying to put on the word in our life. This key word, remove, is a command again, another command. And it says, avoid, distance oneself, sever, abandon. Do not go near. Now, this is a command using the justif form. It's just a Hebrew way of bringing a command emphasis. Don't approach it. Don't head in that direction. Don't advance towards it. Don't join. Don't partake. Just see the whole preventative measures. The door is a beautiful picture of the entrance into sin in this context. Of course, in the actual proverb, it's the literal door of the adulterer, but in the spiritual sense, we can principalize and say this is the door to sin. Genesis 4-7, listen as the Lord Jesus, I believe it's Jesus, talking to Cain after his poor sacrifice of fruit was rejected. If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you. You should rule over it. Matthew 5.27 You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it is more proper for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. So stop at the door of your heart. And if your right hand caused you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you than one of your members perished, than for your whole body to be cast in hell. Now, just one always, every time I read this verse, let me clarify, this is hyperbolic language. Jesus is not saying sever your limbs to defeat sin. He is saying take extreme measures. James 1.13, let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted, and here's the key in the process, when he is drawn away by his own desires and sin. And when it's full grown, he commits a sin, brings forth death, consequences. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. And then 2 Timothy 2.22, speaking Paul to Timothy, for flee, also youthful lusts. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Look at that contrast. Youthful lusts versus righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. As I said, I've been going through the biography of George Whitfield, he is definitely one of these guys. He's pursuing God and his love, and anything, even be remotely connected to anything of the lust of the flesh, the eyes, or pride, he abandons. Questions, thoughts? All right, this is probably a good place to stop, because we're about the next one, which is realize sin produces deep-rooted regret. So we will pick up right here at point number five on these principles, and I will pray. Heavenly Father, as we contemplate these principles, To defeat sin God's way, we all struggle with sin in our life. Help us to confess it, to repent from it. And also we ask for your divine help to guard us against it, to protect our path, to not even allow such temptations to come across our way. But we do live in the world, but we are not of this world. We are overcomers through Christ. Help us to live that way, to put off the old man and put on the new man. In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right.