Father, as we turn to your word, we pray that you will open our hearts to hear what the Spirit of God has said to us for all time through this living and abiding word of God and what he would say to us in this time as we are before you, hearing your word addressed by your word. Thank you that it is living and powerful. It's forever settled in the heavens. It stands as your abiding witness and through it you speak to us today. Grant us ears to hear what you say to us, how you instruct us, how you encourage us, how you warn us through this passage of scripture. I pray for everyone who hears this preached word. that the Spirit of God will find that person with the Word of God and speak to him, speak to her and address that person with the authority of the living God who gave the scripture. In Jesus name, Amen. We're in Proverbs chapter 7, which I've titled Preventative Medicine for Temptation and The first nine chapters of Proverbs are nine chapters of parental discourses. There are some asides and some reflections, but there are a series of discourses addressed as if by a father to a son. And this last one is focused on the subject of adultery, or so it seems. It's about adultery. And I can imagine somebody who's been following along or reading along in Proverbs thinking, really? Sex again? Let's see. Solomon warned against immoral sex in chapter five. He warned against immoral sex at the end of chapter six. And now he warns again against immoral sex in an entire chapter. And that's what he picks as his last subject. Really? Again? Sex? Now, if anyone were thinking that, I'd just say two things in response. First of all, who doesn't think that immorality is a huge temptation to young folks, or for that matter, to just about everybody of every age? Show of hands? Yeah, I didn't think so. And second, Is it really just immorality that we're talking about in this chapter? If you didn't hear the sermon on the end of Proverbs 6, I commend it to you. It was about temptation to sexual sin, but we saw that looming in the background was even a larger text, a larger subtext, if you will, the warning against adultery, against Yahweh, warning against spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness to Yahweh. And so it is here. As in chapter six, the greatest temptation is unfaithfulness to God. So here in this chapter, it is about temptation, period. It is about temptation to unfaithfulness to God. And immorality is just the specific. But all temptation is basically the same. You remove the specifics and look at the fundamentals. All temptation is basically the same. I mean to show you that from this passage. So we're going to approach it by taking two passes. The first is a high altitude, as if we were in a helicopter flying over an orchard, looking at the shape of the orchard and the trees. And then the second time we're going to touch down, walk through the orchard, pluck some particular fruits for our benefit. So first of all, taking in the passage, Roman numeral one in your outline, taking in the passage, which we do first by noting the summons. Now this chapter breaks down pretty simply into three sections. There's a summons, a spectacle and a sermon. First, the introduction, then in an extended passage, the drama of the young man and the temptress. And then at the end, Solomon makes a concluding exhortation. So we look at the summons in verses one through five, which I translate for you. My son, keep my sayings and my commandments treasure up with you. Keep my commandments and you will live. And my law is the pupil of your eyes. Bind them upon your fingers. Write them upon the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, my sister you are, and call insight your intimate. Keeping you from the strange woman, from the alien, her sayings she makes smooth. So first we see that the son has to make the father's words front and center and portable. Twice Solomon says, keep my sayings, keep them, hold on to them, don't let them go. He says also to treasure them up, so to keep them as something very valuable that he doesn't want to lose. He tells him to bind them on his fingers and write them on his heart. Well, if they're bound on your fingers, if they're written on your heart, then wherever you go, they will go. They will be portable. And he says to keep them as the pupil of his eye, verse two, right front and center. You know, every time you look at anything, you're looking through your pupil. And so The law of the father, which stands for the word of God, was to affect the way he sees everything. It's the lens, if you will, through which he looks at life. He looks at it through the word of God. He doesn't look by his own lines, his own thoughts. And then maybe, maybe occasionally refer to the Word of God. But the Word of God is the matrix through which and in which He views everything. And then verse 5 serves as a genus. A verse that points in both directions. It gives the aim and the effect of the teaching. And it ushers us into the spectacle of verses 6-23. The intent of the teaching is to keep him from the strange woman. And saying that, it introduces us to this spectacle. of the young man and the strange woman. Now, this may be, verses 6 through 23, may well be, and I think probably was, a real event that Solomon saw, which he related in a poetic fashion. But we see a couple of vivid characters and a vivid dialogue and a vivid point is made by them. First, verses 6 through 12 gives us the setup. That's what goes in the blank next to number one. Setup, verses 6 through 12. In that we're introduced to two characters, two very vivid characters, very different characters, the sap and the seductress. The sap in verses six through nine. Because at the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked down and I saw among the gullible, I discerned among the sons, a young man short on brains passing along the street near her corner and the way to her house, he marched in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the middle of the night and gloom. So first he is gullible. This word pathy means he's naive. He is untried. He's uncommitted. His parents have tried to teach him, but he's not yet formed the convictions that he needs for life. He's got a lot more confidence than he has competence. He's a callow youth, and he's hanging around among the sons, among the youths. And what you have when you put a bunch of young people together, is you have pooled ignorance. You have pooled ignorance. You have people who are at the same level and may not have anything useful to give each other. That's why while it's important for a young person to spend time with people his own age, it's very important for a young person to spend time with more mature people, with older people, with people who know the Word of God and have lived it to benefit from their maturity. Otherwise, You just get pooled ignorance and that can be very, very harmful. And he says that this young man was lacking sense, which is to say short on brains. as I translate it, literally means he's short on heart, which is to say he's short on using his heart, using his mind in the word of God. And we just say short on brains. So the sap in verses six through nine, the seductress in verses 10 through 12. She is basically an assault on this young man's senses as she's introduced in a very dramatic way in verse 10. And look, Solomon says, a woman comes to meet him. in the garment of a prostitute, and guarded of heart. Noisy is she in defiance. In her house stay not her feet. Now in the street Now in the plazas and near every corner, she lies in ambush. She has, as I say, an assault on the young man's senses. Now maybe he's been raised in a conservative home with conservative mother and conservative values. And if so, this lady is completely different and he just doesn't have any shielding against her. First of all, she advertises her sexual availability. This is interesting. in verse 10, in the garment of a prostitute. And what's interesting about it is she dresses in a way that advertises her sexual availability. And I say it's interesting because in that culture, she probably would have done it by wearing a veil. That's very counter to what we're accustomed to in our culture. In our culture, it's done by wearing less clothing. In that culture, it was done by wearing more clothing. The point was the clothing worn said something. It said a message. It said, I'm available. I can be had. Specifically, I'm sexually available. And so it is that she dresses in a way that says something all by itself. But at the same time, she's hiding her true intentions. Verse 10 says she's guarded of heart. That is to say, What she says and what she plans are two different things. She's out to use this young man. She's not out to love him or help him or certainly point him towards God. She's out to woo him away from God. And she should be building her house. Chapter 14, verse 1 says that feminine wisdom builds her own house. But this woman is everywhere but her own house. She's not in her own house. She's out and about. She's an adventurous. She's looking for thrills and excitement and a break from her life as a wife and a stay-at-home mother. Now, my point is not to say that there's never anything that could legitimately take a woman out of her house. That's not at all. The point here is clearly in what this woman goes on to say. She's out for bad purpose. She's out for specifically bad reasons, hinting at a bad heart. She is very different and he has no defenses against her. And so when the sap meets the seductress, as commenter Derek Kidner says, it will be an unequal contest. And that takes us to the strike in verses 13 through 20. That's what goes in the blank next to number two in your outline. Strike, verses 13 through 20. She overcomes this young man by main force." Verse 13, "...and she grasped him and kissed him. With an insolent face she said to him..." Well, you know, if he's shy and he's inexperienced, she's forward enough for the both of them. If he's at all hesitant because of his upbringing and his inexperience, she's got the brass to overcome any reluctance that he's got. She's not like anything he's ever seen. She just grabs him and kisses him. Which in that culture would have been a very forward, unusual, standard shattering thing. Verse 14 has a very subtle message beyond the obvious. Verse 14, I translate like this. Peace offerings were my obligation. Today I made peace with my vows. So what she's saying to him is she's saying, you know, I know you were raised religious. I'm religious too. In fact, I'm so religious that I made vows and I kept them by offering a peace offering. Now, you might not think that that would work with anybody, but it does all the time. I can't tell you how many young people I've heard getting into a bad relationship and they say, but he's a Christian. Now, nobody in his church knows his name. He's never had a conversation with the pastor. He doesn't go to Bible studies and there's no mark of the presence of Christ in his life. But he says he's a Christian and I want him. So that's really enough for me. He or she, either way. Now, she says she's religious. And what she's saying when she says that she's made her peace offering, a peace offering was a kind of offering where you'd make the offering and some would go to the priest and you take the rest and take it home and eat it. So she's telling him that she's got leftovers and they've got to be eaten right away. She's got a feast waiting at home. So isn't it interesting? She's inviting this young man to this sinful adulterous union to eat this holy feast on this holy sacrifice that she made fulfilling her holy vows. What a picture of hypocrisy. But there's even one more subtle subtext here. In Mosaic law, in order for her to be able to offer an offering, she would have to be ritually clean. In other words, not at her time of month. so sexually approachable. This is not the only time you see this in the Bible. She's saying she's ritually clean so she can do this immoral act. You know, my mind goes to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the council, who in the act of lynching Jesus, they wouldn't go into Pilate's house so they wouldn't be unclean. They thought nothing of getting this innocent man lynched and using the Roman government to murder him. That was not a problem, but they didn't want to become unclean. And so she's saying that she's clean so she can have adulterous sex with him. Like I say, you think that doesn't work? That sort of reasoning never applies? I can remember a time, I'd just been a Christian probably not even an entire year. I was still in high school. So yeah, I couldn't be even been a year old in the Lord. And I knew this young girl who was also a Christian. And she confided in me that her boyfriend, I forget if he was formerly her fiance or not, but her boyfriend and she had made a covenant together. They'd made promises together and they considered that that made them married in the eyes of God. So they went ahead and had sex. They weren't married in the eyes of their parents. They weren't married in the eyes of the state. They weren't married in the eyes of the church. But they'd made a promise, and that was, you know, I tend to think it was probably the boyfriend's reasoning. I might be wrong. But it worked in this case. And I was a young Christian. I didn't know a lot. That didn't sound right to me. And that's not right. That's using a sprinkling of religion to make the hypocrisy go down, to make the, treachery and the sin go down. Spoonful of religion makes immorality go down. So she's got food on hand. She's paid her vows. She's religious. So let's have at it. Verse 15. You see, she appeals to his ego. This is her smooth talking. For that reason, I came out to meet you to seek your face eagerly and I found you. You, you, you. She appeals to his swollen, fat little head. So in need of mommy's approval. So in need of some woman to find him manly and attractive and masculine and virile. And she gives him exactly what he's looking for. That's the way to a man's heart. If he doesn't have the Word of God guarding it, it's through his ego. It's through his head. Fat little head. Then verses 16-17, she appeals to his senses. I've spread my couch with bedspreads with colored linen from Egypt. I've sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. So she's saying it's going to be fragrant. It's going to be beautiful. It's opulent. These are expensive things. These are imports. And then verse 18 is filled with euphemisms. Oh, do come. Let us drink our fill of lovemaking until the morning. Let us enjoy ourselves with love. Well, of course, she calls it love. You can do anything as long as you call it love. Today, you can get away with anything as long as you can paint it as love and paint criticism as hate. And so what they're doing, she doesn't tell him, let's engage in sin against God. Let's engage in foul treachery against my husband. Let's shatter my vows and corrupt your innocence. Of course, she doesn't say that. That wouldn't be much of a sales pitch, would it? No, she says it's love making and it's love. And then verses 19 and 20 promise safety from judgment. If you remember the end of chapter six, Solomon warned of judgment. He warned as one of the motivators against adultery, fear of judgment. But she says, don't worry about it. She says, verse 19, the man is not in his house. He's gone on the way far off. A bag of silver he took in his hand that the day of the full moon will he enter his house. So he's long gone. Don't have to worry about consequences. Just have fun with me. And that brings us to the section that describes him as smitten. Verse 21 through 23, that's the word that goes in that blank, smitten. She diverts him with the abundance of her persuasion, with the smoothness of her lips, she compels him. See, Solomon has warned us a number of times of the smooth lips and the smooth talk of the strange woman, the wrong woman. Here, he's given us a sample of what it's like. This is the way she talks. And it works again and again. And this young man, he may hesitate, he may put up a token resistance, but suddenly he buckles. Verse 22, walking after her suddenly, as an ox to slaughter he comes, and is one in fetters under the discipline of a dense man, until an arrow pierces his liver, as a bird hastens to the trap, so he does not know that it is at the cost of his soul. So she has spoken of delights and fragrance, delectable sights and tastes, and no fear of consequences. But the reality is death, slavery. So first he's smitten, and then he's smitten. Letter C, we finally have the sermon in verses 24 through 27, where Solomon makes his point. He says, And now, sons, listen to me and pay attention to the sayings of my mouth. Attend closely, he says. Do not let your heart turn aside under her ways. The heart is where the battle is fought and won or lost. The heart, chapter four, verse 23, is what life flows from. So he says, do not let your heart. So, you know, this young man could have done that before he ever left his house, sitting at home daydreaming about an encounter like this, dreaming about meeting a woman like this, thinking about how cool it would be instead of these uptight, reserved, religious girls that his parents keep showing him to meet some woman who knows her mind and can speak her mind and can go for it. Where he doesn't have to do all the talking and he doesn't have to do all the wooing and he doesn't have to do all the seeking. Some woman who just comes right out and says, here's what I want. Let's go get it. And that's what happens. The heart buckles long before the rest of the mind and the body follow. So he says, don't let your heart turn aside into her ways, he says. And then he says, do not wander in her pathways for many wounded as she caused to fall and a mighty throng are all her slain. The ways to Sheol is her house going down under the chambers of death. So as he does so often, Solomon forces the son to remember what her house is really about. It's not what she says at all. It's what God says. It's not a domicile of delights. It's a chamber of death. It isn't where a matter starts that's important. It's where it ends. Solomon says that often. The Word of God says it often. So many things start looking so fair, but they end so foul. They start looking all yumminess and easy, fast thrills and easy, fast pleasures. But oh, where it leads and oh, where it ends. And some of these things you could never tell by looking at them. You can never tell by smelling or touching them. You need God's word to tell you where it's going to end up. And that's exactly what happens in this case. No matter what his hormones, his body, his pride is saying, God says, this is the way to death, doom, disaster. Well, That's an overview of this chapter. We've just flown over it and seen the shape of it. Now, let's land our helicopter and walk through the orchard and pluck some fruits. Because as I say, this whole passage is really about temptation. And if anyone thought, well, I'm not tempted in any way to adultery, it never has tempted me. So this chapter doesn't have anything for me. Oh, no, you're very mistaken. This chapter has something for every one of us. If we're alive, we're still breathing and Jesus hasn't come for us yet. Yeah, this chapter applies to us. So let's be taking the medicine of this chapter, Roman numeral two, and we see from the chapter that we need healthy thinking. That's letter A. We need healthy thinking, healthy thinking. We've got to guard our hearts, make sure we think and assess things according to God's viewpoint, healthy thinking. And this healthy thinking must be pursued first as communication. Verses one through three, notice again the terms he uses. My son, keep my sayings and my commandments treasure up, keep my commandments and my law as the pupil of your eyes. So the terms he uses describe what the medicine is, the preventative medicine. What is it? It's not pills and it's not shots and it's not liquid by the spoon. It is sayings, verse one. It is commandments, verses one and two. So it's words and it's words that specifically express God's will. And then verse two, again, it is law, Torah, that comprehensive term that speaks of the revelation of God is pointing us in the right direction. Well, only God's word gives us that. Only God's word gives us what we need. Psalm 119 verse one says, Blessed are those whose way is blameless. How do you have a blameless way? Who walk in the law of the Lord. You have a blameless way by walking in the law of the Lord. In order to walk in the law of the Lord, you've got to know the law of the Lord. You've got to understand the law of the Lord. You've got to keep it with you. Verse nine, same Psalm. How can a young man keep his way pure? Boy, this fellow could have used this word by guarding it according to your word. That's exactly what this young man did not do. It's exactly what he needed. It's exactly what we need to guard our ways according to God's word, his verbal expression of his mind. Same psalm, verse 66, teach me good judgment and knowledge for I believe in your commandments. So that's how we get the way to assess situations correctly. by believing God's commandments. And Jesus says the same thing in John 8, 31 and 32. If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. This young man ended up in fetters for the discipline of a dense man. He would have been set free even at that time, even before the coming of Christ, if he'd stayed in the word of God that he had. But he didn't. So today in our day, same thing, same need. We need the word of God. It will set us free. How do I take this medicine? It's words, it's commandments, it's law. Well, I take it, first of all, verses one and two, keep. Solomon says that twice. So that's very emphatic. Keep, he says, keep. I've got to make it mine. I've got to make it so that I don't lose it. I've got to study, I've got to think, I've got to reflect, I've got to memorize it. I've got to keep it. In Solomon's day, they couldn't have kept it by having a smartphone that had the Bible application in it. They couldn't have even kept a folded up paper in their pocket, probably no pockets, not a whole lot of paper. No, they would need to hear the word of God and memorize it, say it to themselves so they knew it, keep it. And verse one says, treasure it up. So regard it as something of great value and treasure it up with you Keep this valuable thing with you wherever you go. And then he says, keep it as the pupil of your eye. Verse two. Interesting little Hebrew word. He's shown translated pupil. It literally means little man. And the reason why they use little man is, well, what do you see when you look in somebody's eye? You see a reflection of a little man. You see a reflection of you. So the pupil is called the little man. And the pupil obviously was something that people would guard jealously. You don't need to explain to somebody to duck away if you poke something in his eye. That's just a reflex. And so keep it as the pupil of your eye. Keep it central to your vision and protect it so that you never lose it. Bind them upon your fingers. Well, what would a finger stand for? Fingers are what you do things with. It's the active side of your life. And so when he says to bind them upon your fingers, it means read the Bible with a practical eye. There's some people. Well, of course, there are many people who don't read the Bible at all. And then there are people who read the Bible with an eye to doctrine only. And they only are picking up things about, you know, the timing of the rapture and the 10th horn of the beast and this and that cultural thing that's interesting to them in terms of the theory of it all. And there's value in reading about doctrine. It's absolutely necessary. But at the same time, the Bible does talk an awful lot about how to live. And we need to read the Bible with a practical eye. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. What does a servant do? He doesn't just listen to what his master says. He listens for what his master says to do. So that when his master gives an action word, gives a command, he's off fulfilling it. And that's the way that we need to be reading the Bible ourselves. With an eye to God, what are you telling me to do with my life? What are you telling me to, how are you telling me to invest myself and my energies? How are you telling me to live? Bind them upon your fingers, he says. Light them upon the tablet of your heart. So my heart, as I've said many times, it's where I do my thinking, my deciding. It's where I decide what I value, what I cherish. I need to write God's words, his laws, commandments on that tablet of my heart. But notice, I've got to do it. He doesn't say, let God bind them on your fingers. He doesn't say, wait on the Holy Spirit to write it on the tablet of your heart. He says, you do it. You bind, you write. And so it's mine to do this. It's mine to listen and it's mine to respond. That's what I need in preventative medicine. As we reflect on this, cast back in your mind of the first temptation. What did Eve and Adam need for that encounter that they did not have in terms of a word from God? In other words, what did they need to know that God didn't tell them? Well, nothing. God had told them everything that they need to know. He told them, if you, he said, don't eat it. He said, if you eat it, you will surely die. Well, sir, that's all you really need to know. You might like to know a whole lot of other things, but that's really all you need to know. So what did they lack in terms of God's word? They didn't lack anything. God told them everything they needed to know. So what did they lack? What they lacked is they didn't do this. They didn't bind God's word on their fingers. They didn't write it on the tablet of their heart. And so when they were faced by temptation, they didn't view it through the matrix of God's word. They didn't view it and approach it with fingers that already were disciplined by God's commands. They just decided to think anew. Eve just decided to make up her own mind. Adam decided to go along. Now think about Jesus when he faced temptation. What did he do? He's in the desert. He's desperately thirsty. He's desperately hungry. He's physically weak. And Satan comes along, not some underling, not some flunky demon, but Satan himself. And he focuses all of his seductive powers on Jesus. And what did Jesus do in responding to Satan? If you've ever read the story, what might you think he'd do? You might think that he'd Blast him with son of God power, you know, just blast him with a bolt of heavenly zappage and send Satan flying. Or he might pull rank on him and say, hey, you know what? I created you. Maybe you forgot that. I'm not forgetting it. I created you. So just go away before I disappear you. But he didn't do any of that. What did he do? What did he say again and again? It is written. It is written. It is written. In other words, Jesus did this. Jesus embodies this wisdom as a man. He had bound God's word on his fingers. He had written God's commands on the tablet of his heart. And when Satan came trying to allure him, he was ready. He was God incarnate, but he was God incarnate. He was a real live human being. It wasn't a party mask. And so what he did is an example to us. It's not something that we can look and say, yeah, well, That's great if you're Jesus, you know, but that's kind of a small category and I'm not in that category. No, what Jesus did is what he calls us to do and what every child of God can do. He responded with the word of God. Secondly, we see healthy thinking pursued as communion in verse four. Solomon says, say to wisdom, my sister, you are and calls insight your intimate. So, yeah, wisdom and insight. We think, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, in this book, Where do you get wisdom and insight? Remember, this book says it's going to teach us wisdom and insight. But it says, chapter one, verse seven, the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge. Chapter nine, verse 10, the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. So wisdom and insight are about God. These are not just about theoretical things, knowing the laws of physics or such like. It's about knowing God. Wisdom and insight are about knowing God, fearing God. I'm going to say more about that in a moment, but I just want you to see that it's a matter of communion that ultimately has to do with God. But saying my sister and an intimate, that is a close, close relationship. So we must pursue healthy thinking as communication. We must pursue it as communion. And thirdly, we must pursue healthy thinking as commitment. Verse five, keeping you from the strange woman, from the alien, her saying she makes smooth. I have to start out with the conviction that this is something I want no part of. Now, we imagine the young man in his own room fantasizing about a relationship like this. Well, that's what I have to say in your room thinking about something like this happening. in your room, decide that if this happens, it's something you want no part of. It has to be something that you approach with your commitments already in place. Because until it's been tested, it's really not a commitment, it's not a conviction, it's just an opinion. So we need to form these things before the situation arises. He needs to have decided and settled before he ever meets a woman like this, that he'd want nothing to do with a woman like this. And again, I say this in terms of temptation. Whatever you're talking about in terms of temptation, this applies. that whether it's lying because you're in a tough spot, or stealing because you don't have everything you want and something's available, or any of the things that God says don't do, or any of the things he says to do that you and I find difficult, settle before the situation arises that we're going to walk God's way and not just make up our minds. I mean, look, if you enter an encounter like this, like this young man had, if you enter it with an open mind, oh, bye-bye. Your hormones will talk so loud that you won't be able to think of anything else. And I can't tell you how often that's happened to so many people, resulting in so many lives of sad, tragic shipwreck. So commitment before the situation. We have to pursue healthy thinking as communication from God, as communion with God, as commitment to God's way, and fourth, pursued as caution. Verses 6-9. Now notice what this young man's doing. First of all, in terms of choice of friends. Verses 6 and 7. He's among the gullible. He's among the sons. This young man is. He is with gullible people. He's with other sons, other young men. Proverbs 13.20 says, He who walks with wise men will become wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. So, young man, young woman, old man, old woman, if you want to become wise, hang with people who are wise, not with people who are ignorant. There's a huge impact on our character in the course of our lives in terms of who we choose to spend time with, the sorts of people we hang around with. I guarantee you, somebody who chooses to be closest to ungodly, unwise, people or professed religious people who aren't growing and aren't doing anything about this faith that they profess, that's charting the course of their lives. Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 15, evil company corrupts good habits. So, pooled ignorance is deadly. And that's where this young guy is. So we've got to choose our friends in a cautious way. Choose our friends in a way that we will They will help us and encourage us in the direction we know that we need to go. Choice of friends and choice of environment. Verses 8 and 9. Passing along the street near her corner, he's in the twilight, the evening of the day, the middle of the night, and gloom. He puts himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Literally, he's literally in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's in a sphere of temptation when the light is dim, giving him the illusion that nobody's going to see him. Well, Solomon's already seeing him, but who else is going to see him? Even if it's pitch black and every candle is extinguished, who else will see him? God. God always sees him. All a man's ways are before Yahweh, we read. And so he needs to know that. Avoid the sphere of temptation. You'll find, you know, it's awfully hard to look at porn that you don't have. It's awfully hard to get high on the drug you don't possess. It's hard to get drunk on the booze that isn't in the cabinet. And so it would have been awful hard for this young man to hear the sirens call if he hadn't been anywhere near her. If he'd been home with his family or with some godly friends, talking about the Word of God or praying or even talking about their future and their life and their job and their family they're going to have some day, something constructive. But instead, he's in the place that's the wrong place and he's vulnerable. This is the way that we we do with temptation that leaves us vulnerable to temptation. Places where we're not seen, we're not watched, where we have the illusion that we're private. We've turned our computer monitor away from people so they can't see what we're looking at. We hide our book. We hide this or that habits. That is the way to be vulnerable to temptation. So we've got to pursue caution, not put ourselves in those situations where we'll be tempted. And you heard the story of a man who had trouble with pornography. He just kept looking at pornography. And the counselor, the Christian counselor, came to find out that his route home every day from work took him past a porn shop. So he had a very simple suggestion for him. What do you suppose that was? Go home a different route. Go home a different route. Sometimes it's simple as that. So we pursue healthy thinking as communication, as communion, as commitment and as caution. But not only do we need healthy thinking, we also need healthy affections. Letter B in your outline. Healthy affections, affections. I want to make sure you understand what I mean when I say affections in terms of the role of affections in our lives. I don't mean fondness. I don't mean just what you're fond of, like you're affectionate towards your wife or your children or your friends or your puppy. I'm talking in terms of what you and I love, what we cherish. what we treasure, what we value, what's most important to us. That's the affections, the things that really thrill us, the things that we find joy, satisfaction, meaning in. There's a sermon preached a long time ago by a man who lived in the 17 and 1800s, Thomas Chalmers. He called this sermon the expulsive power of a new affection. expulsive, that's something that shoves out other things, the expulsive power of a new affection. And the way that Chalmers was thinking was this, that there's two ways of trying to battle worldly allurements. One way, you can try really hard to convince yourselves that they're bad, that they're bad for you. People do that when they study sexually transmitted diseases or statistics as to how much this hurts, and they think about lurid things in their mind, and they really try to convince themselves that sin is bad. And I really would be the last to say that there's no value in that. I think that there actually is value in that. I think that everything you do that's in a godly direction is probably a good thing. But, he said, there's another way. And that is to be so taken with the wonder and the beauty and the excellence of Jesus Christ, His nature, His work, His word, His will, to be so enraptured with Him, to love Him so, to treasure Him so, to have such ardor for Him and such a desire to know Him and to be close to Him, to live for Him and with Him, to know the love of Christ, the height, the depth, the breadth, the width, the love of Christ, which cannot be known to be filled with all the fullness of God. And so you are so caught up with loving Christ and valuing Christ, cherishing Christ and yearning to know and to serve Christ that the world's cheap imitations are just pushed right out. You see the expulsive power of a new affection. Now, you know, we can see this in a very simple worldly way. I mean, you know, many times people have noticed that a young teen who gets smitten with a girl and gets into a relationship with a girl and suddenly he's not as interested in video games and plastic models and all these more childish things that he had been doing because he's got this relationship. Well, we understand that dynamic. This is that dynamic, but in a heavenly way. Because it's the nature of the heart to seek what pleases it, what delights it, what makes it happy. And so obviously, the thing that is best for us is to seek happiness and joy and fulfillment in that which is best in the universe. And what's best in the universe isn't silver or gold. It's not any human relationship. It's not any human achievement. It's Christ. It's God. It's closeness to God, our creator. He is an endless sea of delights and wonders. And so the best way not to be attracted to something foul is to be enraptured with something incomparably fair. And that's only God. And so the best way to be proof against the wiles of the world is to be taken up with God. So healthy affections. So first we see treasure what delights God. And we can see that if we turn these vices on their head. Like, for instance, treasure godly femininity, as opposed to verses 10 through 12. What kind of woman is this? Well, she's dressed like a prostitute. She's dressed like somebody whose sex is available for money. And she's noisy. She's defiant. She's discontented. She's aggressive. She's unprincipled. Her priorities are all skewed. She's rebellious, restless, rambunctious, and rapacious. But by contrast, a godly woman fears God. What does Proverbs 31.30 say? Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised. So a woman who fears God cultivates deep love for Him, holiness of life and spirit. She's deep in His word. She's committed to serving others like you see this woman in Proverbs 31. She has a quiet and gentle spirit like you see in 1 Peter 3. which is precious in the sight of God. And that's really what she cares most about, having an attitude and the spirit that God loves and God values and not what the world loves and world values. So if you treasure God, then you'll treasure that and its opposite won't appeal to you. And as I say, we can transfer this across the range to other areas, whether it's in terms of possessions or in terms of growth in any area, a desire what God desires and values, and you will find what the world values far less appealing. Secondly, godly relationships as opposed to verses 13 through 17. Well, there's no relationship here. She grabs him and kisses him. In other words, she does what an intimate married couple ought to do with each other. But she doesn't have that intimacy. They don't have that relationship. She's not after a relationship. She's after using him. And her religion, it's just a sham. And if he loves God, it will have no appeal to him. If he genuinely loves God, this sham religion of hers is something that will smell like rancid meat to him. And it will repel him rather than attract him. Because she's out to get him. She's not out to love him and help him. If he had been schooled in God's word, he would know that marriage is a relationship where he is to protect and nourish his wife and his wife is to help him in serving God. And he would look at this woman and he'd see in a snap that she's not interested in anything like that. She's not out to be protected and cherished. She's got a husband who takes good care of her, but she's out to use him. Thirdly, a godly perspective, as opposed to verses 18 through 20. In your heart, in my heart, in our mind, we should call sin what it is. The world always wants to call it something noble sounding and something wonderful sounding. What does she call it? She calls it love making. She calls it love. Temptation always repackages itself. In Genesis 3, Satan poses as this couple's best friend. But God just wants to keep them from what they really need. And he's there to help them get what they most need in life. So she calls it love, but we should call it what God calls it. She says there's no risk. We should see it as God sees it. She says, well, the man's gone, so our problems are solved. But a young man who schooled himself in treasuring God would know Yahweh's not gone. The man may be gone, but Yahweh's not gone. The man may not be there, but Yahweh's there. The man may not see what they're about to do, what she's proposing that they do. But Yahweh will see it. John Owen, writing as John Owen wrote, said something very good about this. He's not always real easy to follow. He's quite a deep thinker and he's not the most easy writer. But this is a very good section on temptation. Owen wrote this. Deception consists in presenting under the mind things otherwise than they are. This is the general nature of deceit, and it prevails many ways. It hides what ought to be seen and considered, conceals circumstances and consequences, and presents what is not, or things as they are not. This is the nature of deceit. It is a representation of a matter under disguise. Hiding that which is undesirable Proposing that which indeed is not in it that the minds may make a false judgment of it Just like what Satan does he says this fruit will set you free and make you like God He didn't say this fruit will damn you and all your descendants to hell will absolutely ruin you will turn this universe for you from a paradise of delight to a chamber in a dungeon of of gloom and guilt and sense of certain doom. He doesn't present it that way. He presents it as what it isn't and he hides what it is. And that's what every temptation does. The only way not to make a false judgment is to know the truth. And the only way to know the truth is to fear God and study his word now, right now, before we need it. Third, No, and provide for your limitations versus 21 through 23. She diverts him with the abundance of her persuasion, and he suddenly goes after her. What he needed to know was that he was weak and susceptible, and he needed to make provision for that. As I've said, not put himself in the sphere of temptation, not put himself where he could even hear the words of a woman like this. Get a protection network. You know, in Solomon's day, it might be your Your parents, it might be your friends, your siblings, the godly people you know. For us, it would be having a good relations with the elders of our church, with our Christian growing friends in our church. Get a network of people who know us and care for us and would know if something went awry with us. And then finally, above all, verse four, say to wisdom, my sister, you are and call insight your intimate. My sister doesn't just mean you're the daughter of my parents. That was also used by a husband of his wife. You see that in the Song of Solomon. It's a term of real intimacy, of real closeness. So say to wisdom, my sister, you are and call insight your intimate. Get close, get intimate. with the fear of God. This means being intimate with God. Closeness to God is the best protection against temptation. And the only way to do that is through God's word. Letter C, we've got to cultivate as well healthy expectations. We need healthy thinking. We need healthy affections. We also need to be guided by healthy expectations. Letter C in your outline. Solomon sets for them exactly what they should expect. He says, Now sons, listen to me and pay attention to the sayings of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Verse 26, For many wounded has she caused to fall, and a mighty throng are all her slain. The ways to Sheol is her house, going down into the chambers of death. And maybe like us and our family, you laugh at the ads you see for medicines on TV, especially cable TV, it seems like. I feel sorry for these drug companies. They're obviously required by law to tell you all the horrible things that might happen if you take their product. But the way the commercial starts off is it says, You know, it's awfully hard to live with depression and are you blue? Well, you might want to take this medicine of ours, this, you know, feel good at all. It just really might help you. But of course, it might also give you a heart attack, make your toenails fall off so that all of your blood drains out your toes. It might set your head on fire. and turn you into a genocidal maniac with thoughts of suicide and death and destruction and despair. So consult your doctor before you take it. You know, and you chuckle when you see this, you think, good grief, who'd want to take a pill like that? If you thought it might do all those terrible things to you, why would you take it? You'd rather put up with a little backache or being blue than all of that horrible threat of misery and despair and destruction. But you see, What we need to understand is in this case, there is no might. The word doesn't say that if we go this way, it might lead to judgment. It might lead to despair and guilt. This is God's universe. He is the creator. He's the designer. He's the center and king of it. He's the sustainer of it. He cannot be twitted. We cannot thumb Our nose is at him and get away with it. So yielding to temptation is yielding to suicide. It's embracing sin. And while sin may not make your toenails fall off and light your hair on fire, it will ruin you. It will enslave me. It will degrade us. It will corrupt us, kill us and ultimately leave us under God's blazing wrath forever. While this woman's sales pitch is a night of delirious passion amid lovely sights and fragrances, no strings attached, no consequences, what she's really selling is despair, guilt, ruin and death. Solomon wants us never to lose sight of our glorious God He wants us never to forget what God says. Verse 24. He wants us not even to let it start in our hearts. Verse 25. He wants us never to lose sight of the sure and certain ultimate destination. That's why probably every one of us, you've got things that you look at them and you see at the same time that you see them, you see where they lead. I think in a previous sermon, I used the example of heroin. That one just works very well to me. How you present heroin. If you were to say, well, would you like something that makes you feel really good, that relieves any pain you've got, makes you feel unconcerned and lovely and delighted and wonderful. And you say, yeah, that sounds really great. What is it? And the person says, heroin. And you immediately think, oh, yes, heroin, hopeless addiction. with at best a miserable withdrawal or a miserable death. And you think, no, thanks, I'm really not interested. Because you know the one is attached to the other. As you see the rattle on the rattlesnake and you think, well, that's kind of an interesting rattle, but you know what's at the other end, so you don't grab it. And so likewise here, he tells us again and again, what's the end of this, so that we're not interested in the start of it, you see? So here's the sum of the matter. It's a sure thing that you and I will be tempted. Sure thing. It's not an if, it's a when and how. The form isn't a sure thing. Sex is very possible. It's a very powerful way. It's a very powerful and multi-headed form of temptation. But when it comes to resisting, when we say that, when we've actually resisted, temptation, we can say we've got convictions, but till we've been tested, really all we have is opinions. So it's important to be prepared. If someone were to say, you know, I just don't feel the need for this sermon you're preaching right now. Well, then I would reply, this is the perfect time to prepare. If you're not under temptation right now, then now is the time to ready yourself for it, because it's on your way. If you're a Christian, it is on your way. Satan doesn't give up. Do you know he didn't give up on Jesus? Have you ever just marveled at the gall that having, well, first of all, trying to tempt the Son of God at all, but having tempted him and failed He went back to try another time. If he didn't give up on Jesus, what are the odds that he's going to give up on small change like you and me? The odds are zero. So it's a sure thing. The best preparation for temptation is to have a real, passionate, blazing hot, everyday relationship with God. And that is a relationship that only starts by the word of God. It only rests on the fear of God. It only grows in love for God. So in looking at this section of Scripture, you and I, we've all seen how to do it. Now, God grant that we do it. Let us pray. Father, you've spoken to us through your word. We pray that you give your servants ears to hear, to take to heart with all seriousness what you say and how you caution us. Help us to prepare ourselves by drawing close to you allowing there to be no daylight between Jesus Christ and our hearts, but ever to be more and more taken with and enraptured with his glory and his beauty so that when the world comes with its cheap little plastic, chintzy, fake gold and plastic baubles, we just look at it with a curled lip and say, not interested because of what I have in Jesus Christ. not interested. I pray for anyone who hears the words of this sermon who is a stranger to all of this because he's not a Christian, because he's not even in your family, that when the text says, my son, he's not the one who's being addressed because he's not a child of God. I pray, Father, that you'll draw that one to hear of Jesus Christ and to hear the call of Jesus to salvation, to repent, to turn to Jesus so that The words of John 1.12 can be true for him. As many as received him, to them God the Father gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in Jesus' name. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.