Verse 10 is really the text that I want to preach today in Proverbs 1. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. The scene that is before us here can best be visualized by the young man that is just about to leave home. He is about to launch into the big bad world of temptation. For all of his life he has been sheltered in the holy innocence of a godly home, a place where the world was kept out, where temptation was reined in, and now he is about to launch forth into a whole new environment. If you could imagine the young man or maybe the young woman that is leaving home to go to university, and if you're going to be living in on campus, wow, what an adjustment, what a change in the environment of university life today. Or maybe going to a new city for a new job for the very first time, where the lodging is going to be dicey and, of course, where the workforce is going to have all kinds of influence on that young person. What we have here in this text is the father's last word of advice as he looks into the eyes of his son, whom he is about to embrace for the very last time. and to see him pack his bag and go down the road to a new life. And as he looks into his son's eyes, he says these words, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Now the if is not a qualifier that rules out that it may never happen. The if in this case is the if of certainty. It's going to happen. You can be sure that before long in your new world and new environment, Sinners are going to come your way to entice. The world is like a hiring market where the worst of employers come out and say, come with us and we will employ you in a great cause. But their end is really to hire the talents and the gifts of the innocent to put them in the workforce of vice and of wickedness. Indeed, that is the picture here. It's as if there is a work shortage and all young, modest men and women are sought. that they might serve this new trade of evil. Now it's obvious that Solomon, as a father, is writing here to give this advice to his son. And he's fearful, just as most good parents are, when they see the child of their own household pack up and leave for a new environment, fearful that all that they have sought to instill and all that they have sought to shelter them from, that they now will become a wide open target for the missionaries of evil to bring them down. Now if I know boys, and I think I do, we can be sure that this boy is going to respond with Why dad? Why? What are you thinking of? And from a different perspective, the perspective of youth, he doesn't grasp the gravity of the situation, whereas his father does. So what we need to do here today is to answer the boy. We need to show him just why you need to take heed that if sinners entice thee, answer thou not, or consent thou not. The first thing we need to advise on is you need to be aware of the sinner's recruitment policy. In fact, The world is like a vast recruitment center for the works of darkness. Continually, men and messengers of evil call out, come over and help us. We need you. We need your youth, your energy, your zeal, your talents. You are a grand candidate for the scheme that we are about. Now, in the Father's example, Expanding of the statement he made, in Sinners Enticed He Consent Thou Not, you'll see in verse 11 to verse 15 the evil schemes that may be at work. If they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause, Let us swallow them up alive as the grave and whole as those that go down into the pit. We shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in thy lot among us. Let us all have one purse. My son, walk not thou in the way with them. And so I want you to think on the why evil men recruit others to work their evil. Evil men must have companions. Evil men will not work alone. And when you think of the pleasure places of this world, they are the places that are filled with chatter and with pleasure, but it's never done alone. An empty pub, there's no attraction. An empty theater, holds no sway. An empty gambling house, you would say no fun and no money to be made there. And yet they are places that call men and invite men and recruit people and organize ways of filling those places with evil. And this is all for the advance of wickedness and the spirit of darkness and of course Satan himself. moves men into various societies and organizations, and he breathed the spirit of the world into their hearts in their evil agenda. And it seems that the only satisfaction that a wicked man can know when he sees others join in and do the same thing and work alongside He cannot stand the sight of one who will not join in. Hence the mockery, the goody-goody, the one who will not stoop to the evil. They laugh at him. They entice him. Come, join in with us. Think of who they must recruit. They must recruit the upright. the moral, the godly young person. Because if they're already serving sin, there's no point in recruiting them. If they're already stooped to the low rung of the ladder in wickedness, there's no point in having time and energy to call them. It's the person of purity, of uprightness and honesty. that must be enticed by whatever means to bring them into this pool of iniquity. And therefore the young person is so often the target. Unspoiled, undefiled, uncorrupted, well, The wicked set their nets very deliberately to bring the young into the net of evil. Then think of how they recruit. So I've given you the why they recruit. They don't want to sin alone. Wicked men want companionship. We've thought on who they recruit, the youth in particular. And how? Well, this recruitment goes on internally. There's a recruiting sergeant right inside your nature. It's called the flesh. Sometimes it's referred to as the old man or the old sinful carnal nature that is the Adam in you. And there lies the first battle, because there is an inner call. Let's break out. Let's tear away these boundaries and taste and see what the world has to offer and plunge ourselves with abandon into the wicked ways of this world. And this fleshly, sinful nature is constantly calling you. to leave the ways of purity and serve the ways of sin. And so the many appeals to the young man or young woman, they are very personal and very powerful, appealing to the baser senses, which so quickly would respond to sign up and recruit for the ways of sin. Internally, in youth, I may be repeating myself here, but I do want to speak to young men and women in the congregation on this point. Nearly all recruitment by evil men is targeted upon that age group that, well, they've left home but they're not settled yet in this world. There is that period of unsettling while out of the nest, but not yet fixed in a new life. It might be that roaming stage of life, what the world calls about sowing your oats. That's the stage when the recruiter is most successful. in laying grasp upon a young life that is so vulnerable at that stage. Let me tell you, as Solomon told his son, that they are out to entice you. It's not if, but it's sure, and you are going to be lured, targeted, beset upon, coerced, mocked, scandalized, to give up the ways of God and to go the way of sin. Maybe it's already happening. Maybe there's a young person right here, right now, and you are feeling the powers, the enticing of sin in your heart, and you're battling. And maybe you've already let your guard down somewhat, and you've opened up the door of temptation even just a little, and the deluge of its powers are already impacting on your own heart, and you wonder, what way will I go? You might already be on the precipice, wondering, will you draw back to safety? to godliness, to the Bible, to Christ, to the cross, to the blood that not only cleanses but keeps? Or are you going to plunge ahead in the ways of being enticing? The other way the recruiter works is to find you in your time of loneliness. That young person far away from home, not yet befriended with good and godly friends, is at that point vulnerable. Feeling the loneliness and the distance of home, there arises the invitation. Come, join us. We entice you. And there is in all of us, of course, the longing for association. You don't want to be a loner. You don't want to be called a loner. You don't want to be called a misfit or an oddity. You are called to join in. And, ah, that sounds like a wonderful thing to do. I would enjoy that. That would bring me some joy and some opportunity for happiness in my life. And you might find a friend. But if it is as these sinners enticing thee, it would be a friend with a dagger seeking to destroy you and to ruin your whole reputation. The other way that recruitment happens is it's by degree. The first introduction to the ways of wickedness It's not really like that plunge from the cliff into the depths. Maybe it's the drunkard who takes the first drink and enjoys it and carries it and bears it well. And that first drink doesn't seem to have done him any harm. And it's not the one that makes him a drunkard, but it's the one that sets him on the course to become a drunkard. It's so subtle and it's so alluring. His pride told him that he might even be a stronger person because he can handle it. What a dangerous situation. I read a story of a young mother. She was working just a few miles from Niagara Falls. And she had her child by her side, and unnoticed that child strayed away and went to the river's edge. There was a little boat there, and she stepped into it, pressed unwittingly into the current. It moved with her weight. At first, the movement was slow and very pleasant. Softly and silently, But with growing speed, the tiny vessel glided down the river. By the time the mother noticed the unfolding event, her screams and cries were of no avail. How like the enticement to sin, the water, the little boat, slow-moving water, the silence of it all, and yet the roaring cataract below. That's how you stand today without a Savior. I'm speaking to any who are not saved. You're not a Christian. You've never given your heart to Christ, and there are a multitude of ways that you're being enticed to the destruction of your soul. I beg you, I beg you, do not, do not give in to the enticement of sin. The Lord Jesus warned, watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation. Are you watching? Are you praying? You see, for a number of people here, I don't know if you pray. I've never heard you pray. I've never seen you in a prayer meeting. I've never witnessed your calling on the Lord to save your soul or to thank God for saving your soul. That's why pastors appear sometimes to be very nosy. They want to pry into your life. They want to press into your heart. They want to come so close. That's why the mega church is so appealing to the worldly minded because, oh, there's no pressure here. But in a small gospel church like this, yes, I ask you, are you praying, watching against temptation? When sinners entice you, do you open up to it, or are you heeding the wise words of Solomon in this word? That brings me to point number two, and it's this, that a blank no is the only safe answer to this sinner's recruitment. You'll notice what he says here, consent thou not. No! Why? Because it's always wrong to do evil. Oh, if only we could get that into our minds. As a great preacher used to say, if the stars fall, do the right. Do the right. You grieve the Holy Spirit when you consent. Just imagine your father, mother, if they had eyes in the back of their head, and our children grew up thinking that, they thought their mother had eyes in the back of their head. She could pick up on things that they didn't know how she found out. And if your ways, your answer was being monitored, as God is. And when you say yes to the enticement of sin, and when you open up as a flower to welcome a new path of pleasure and laying low your guard of morality, is the Spirit of God not grieved? Is not the Holy Spirit He's not only holy in name, but he's holy in nature, and he's holy in his work, he's holy in his ministry, he's holy to live in your heart. By saying yes to the enticement of sin, you grieve the Spirit. One consent may lead to total capitulation. Just realize that. Think of Eve in the Garden of Eden. When she consented to eat of that forbidden fruit once, the whole future was lost. There was no drawing back. There was no reversing. And once you give in once, the enticer has you over a barrel, because then there is no way back. And of course, The temptation is often, just this once, just this once. And when you fall prey to that, you may have lost your power to regain it. Saying no is the only answer because when the Lord Jesus ministered, He taught His disciples to give short answers to the evil ones. He said to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. No toleration there. Save yourselves from this untoward generation. No playing around there. Or when our Lord himself was in temptation in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, and the tempter came and said, turn stone into bread, or jump from the pinnacle of the mountain, and so on, his answer was, it is written. Just a short biblical answer. Sometimes the feeling is that we have to reason everything out, and young people perhaps heading to university or college life, the philosophies of this age will ask you to give a reason for your Christianity and may disparage it. Don't think that you have to be a philosopher to convince the philosophers of this world. Book, chapter, and verse. God has spoken. That's it. That is the greatest wisdom that will be your wise defense in every situation. And then, of course, to hesitate. is always to put yourself on the slippery slope. Enticers make the best use of the time that you give them. To hesitate is to leave the door of temptation open. One day a boy called Bob was given definite instruction by his mother to not go in swimming in the nearby pond. Shortly afterwards, Bob was to pass the pond en route to the ballpark. He took along with him his bathing suit. Do boys wear bathing suits? That's how the story is here. But he took along his swimming things just in case he was tempted. That's not the way to fight evil. You surrender before you even see the pond. Not like the southerner who said, when I pass a watermelon patch, I can't keep my mouth from watering, but I can run. And that's what the Bible tells us to do. The apostle Paul said to Timothy, flee also youthful lusts, but follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Will you learn that? I'll give you the book chapter and verse. 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. That should be easy, all the twos. 2 Timothy 2, 22. flee youthful lusts. Now when I get called on, and your life's in a mess, and you've succumbed to temptation, and you have to say to me, Pastor, I don't know what I was thinking. I'm going to bring 2 Timothy 2.22. and ask you, did you flee youthful lusts? You see, what the enticer wants to do is you to play around with youthful lusts. Give way, give place, give credence, give some argument, give some reasoning, give some argument why you can do this to at least some degree and show how strong you are No you're playing the fool. Flee also youthful lusts. That's the short answer. Absolute no. That's the Christians response when sinners entice thee. My third point on this one is that by pursuing right employment you avoid the wrong recruitment. It's good to be employed by a good employer. And then when the recruiters come and they say, do you need a job? No, I have a job. I'm already busy and employed. And Christians ought to labor to do good in this sinful world. Make it your task to reverse the ways of sin in this world. When you are ministering to the evil, the fallen, wicked ways of this world, when you're addressing them and seeking to remedy them, you're not only trying to minister to the needy, but you are ministering to yourself to strengthen yourself because you are going against the evil tide and not with it. And so be occupied. in good. Get involved in promoting the kingdom of God. Now let me ask you. Let's be honest. What are you doing to promote the kingdom of God? Oh I read my Bible. I pray a little bit at least. Okay. That's good. I'm delighted. But you've still got idle hands. and idle hands will be tempted to do evil works. And even though you may be young and inexperienced and even though you may not have this, this and this, unless you are active in ministering to the kingdom of God to promote Christ and his cross and his gospel in this world, if that is not your mission then you have another mission. There's no neutrality here. There's no middle ground. There's no space for just living in a vacuum. And oh, how empty that would be. A vacuum would be very empty. But if you are busy for the kingdom, I pronounce you safe from the recruiters of evil. I pronounce you to be on the right side of service for God and serving the right thing because labor, well, you can do so in the best of company when you are promoting the kingdom of God. Christian fellowship is so important in this world of enticement. I said earlier that we are all anxious to be a part of the club, a part of an association, an organization, the stirring of people. We want to be a part of it. And in Christian fellowship we have that answer. Your time, your energy, your zeal, your talents. You are promoting the kingdom of God and you are being satisfied. And I use that word, satisfied. There's a satisfaction in serving the Lord. And young person, you need to find that satisfaction, that joy. I remember as a brand new Christian, maybe just months weeks, months in my new fresh Christianity, learning the joy of being a witness and being a part of serving the Lord. And it brought a joy to my young heart that nothing else did. And oh, the day that I had the great privilege of pointing my first convert to Christ He was an agricultural salesman on the farm and he came to sell his goods and I was on a mission to see his soul saved. I can tell you, I can still remember the joy. When he drove off after my joy of taking that booklet, and I've been talking about it in Sunday School, that New Beginning, it was in Christ is the Answer, and I used that booklet to go through the verses how to get saved. That man called on the Lord to save his soul, and when he went down the laneway of our farm, I was in seventh heaven, the joy. And I'm sure that that put a taste in my soul. for further service for Christ. The Lord gives you that. Don't lose your first love. We read that in Revelation 2. Don't lose your first love. Do you have a first love? Are you satisfied in Christ? Is there a thrill in knowing the Lord Jesus and in honoring Him and serving Him? Yes there is. And it is a joy unspeakable. A joy beyond telling. Just as on the flip side the misery of sin is unspeakable. And either you are on a trajectory to know the joy or you are on the trajectory to know the misery. And there's a proverb that talks about, sin is sweet for a season, but afterwards, your mouth shall be filled with gravel. Oh, how picturesque that is. And so, pursue the right employment, and you will avoid the wrong recruitment. I think of Joseph. Joseph in the Old Testament, one of the brothers Joseph or Jacob's sons. Think of all the misery that he went through but oh he had the Lord with him and he had the joy of the Lord. Think of how Joseph, and that's the point I wanted to make, think of how Joseph was enticed to sin by his brothers, by part of his wife in the prison. Egypt was no picnic. It was a den of iniquity. But it tells us that the Lord was with him even in the prison. And I want to tell you, teenager, young person here today, and I'm addressing you because this scripture addresses you, my son. That's the generation this is appealing to. And this is the generation that the church is losing. And we don't want to lose you. We don't want to see you serve the world. We don't want to see you glorify the devil. We don't want to see you walking in the ways of misery. But I tell you, that if you serve Christ, He will be with you. He will be with you. His employment, and speaking now of the Lord Jesus, His employment was a mission to save souls. His work on the cross was to redeem. to remedy the misery and to bring us into a right relationship with God, to prepare us for glory and send us on our way to rejoicing. And so Calvary was the greatest rescue mission of all time. Now the redeemed soul will be enticed, but then we must say, I am bought with a great price. I'm not my own. I'm redeemed by the blood. I don't belong to the service of Satan. I'm the servant of the Lord of glory. Romans 6 talks about yielding yourself as members of righteousness. To whom are you yielding? Whom do you serve? You serve somebody. For some it's the dollar. For some it's the world. For some it's fame and popularity. That's what they strive for. That's the thing that really matters. Or are you yielded to the cross of Christ? That's what brings real soul fulfillment to your heart. The best way to oppose the enticements of evil is to sign up for the service of the Lord Jesus. To say no to sin, you must say yes to the Lord Jesus in your life. That is the call. And likewise, to say no to Christ, you are saying yes to the enticer. who would lead you in the way of sin and misery. How do I close a sermon like this? I am a recruitment officer for the Lord Jesus Christ today. I'm not like these guys on Proverbs 110. They are on the other side. They are the recruiters of darkness, and they're after your soul. I'm here also for your soul. but for Christ's sake. And I, my mission is to see you saved and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm not going to be happy until you can tell me I have yielded my heart and life to Christ. That's the necessity. Have you? Do will I have the joy of hearing you pray, seeing you sing, hearing you sing, hearing you tell me, my life is for Christ? It's one or the other. Which way will you go? I know there's a battle in your heart. I know the old nature will not give up easily. I know that there are many ties to the ways of sin, but that only proves the sermon. That only punctuates the truth, that you're being enticed and you're commanded to consent the not. Say no and give your heart to the Lord. That's the gospel, and he will save you. Shall we conclude our service with the hymn 525? Hymn 525. We will sing just two verses. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. 525. Amen. No way. say the words of verse 5, then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet or we'll walk by his side in the way. What he says we will do, where he sends we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey. May that fellowship be your portion and I trust you will give your heart and soul to serve the Lord. Let's close in prayer. Father we Take heed to your word today, and we rejoice in your salvation. Thank you, Lord, that you have called us away from the voice of the stranger, the sinner. You've given us hearts to trust and believe in the Lord Jesus as our Redeemer. Thank you for the joy that it brings. Thank you for the peace that it sheds in our hearts. Thank you for the deliverance from evil and misery. Thank you for the victory. Grant that to each and every soul here today. We pray in particular for young people, for our teenagers, for those, O Lord, that are at the crossroads of life. Lord, save them from the ways of destruction. Grant that they will serve the Lord and that thou wilt work in them by your grace. And now, Lord, we commit to Thee, our whole congregation, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you redeemed now and always. Amen. Amen.