Proverbs 5:7-14

It's so good to have you here this morning. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2020, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee? We'll pray and we'll get into Proverbs chapter 5. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing it is to get to come to your word every day. Lord, we pray now that we might hear your word, that you would impress it upon our souls, and that we might follow after you in Jesus's name. Amen. All right, here we go.
Proverbs chapter 5 verses 7 through 14. Therefore, hear now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her, this is speaking of the adulterous woman, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to a 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 body are consumed and say how I have hated instruction have despised 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 the congregation. Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So what's this verse about?
Here, the writer, Solomon, is moving it from just a son to his children, plural, to his sons. Therefore, hear me, my children. I don't depart from the words of my mouth." This is the second time he's calling them in. This is a reoccurring thing we see in the Proverbs. What's he telling them? He's telling them the results of adultery. He's telling them the results of going and sleeping with a married woman. He's telling them even though her lips might drip with honey and be like anointed oil, her ways lead to death. And here he says, remove your way far from her. Stay away from her. Don't go near the door of her house. Oftentimes when I'm talking with men about things like pornography and such, I just stay far away from it. If you have a struggle with this, don't even go near the other thing that leads to it.
That's not legalism, right? Not a hedging about of the law like the Pharisees, where if you do these things, the problem is your heart. Don't even go there in your heart. Jesus says if you lust after a woman with your eyes, you've already committed adultery in your heart. That's the depths of our sin. And so what do we need to do? Don't go near her house. Don't flirt yourself with even looking. Just worry about your own heart. Right? He's saying there's wisdom here. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Focus on the Lord. Fill yourself on the words of the Lord so that way your heart won't be enticed this way.
And there's reality here that some of this is like really uncomfortable to talk about, right? But what does it say? I mean the real practicality of adultery is real. 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. There is a reality that I struggle with this, you know.
I'll look at someone who's married and they walk willfully into an affair and have adultery with someone. And then they're surprised when there's financial ruin that happens with divorces. They're surprised when, you know, and upset. You know, oh, now someone else has moved into my house with my wife because she divorced me because I did this.
And I'm sitting there going, you made your own bed. Now you have to sleep in it. I'm really sorry that this happened at all, but don't be surprised. Let this be a warning from God to you. This is what happens with affairs. This is what happens with adultery, right?
You go near that woman's house. Someone else ends up raising your kids. Someone else ends up getting your money. Someone else ends up inheriting the things. It destroys you. We live in a modern society where we want to act like that doesn't happen, but it's real. That's a reality.
Do you like making an income? Would you rather raise your children in your own home with your wife being satisfied in her? Or would you rather pay child support and have the mortgage of someone else living in the home? It seems like a... Okay, we're going to keep going. And hear what the person who doesn't listen to him say. This is...
How I hated instruction. He takes ownership. How I hated instruction. 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 the congregation. There's always regret. That's what we talked about yesterday. Sin always over-promises pleasure. It always over-promises pleasure and always over-delivers on guilt. Oh, I wish I had listened. So, what's this about?
Stay far away from the affair. Stay far away from adultery. Stay far away from it. Be satisfied in your spouse. Don't hold that regret that you held off wisdom, that you held wisdom off at arm's length and you didn't want to just love the things of God.
There's been lots of calling, how are you called to live this in your life. Maybe for some of you, you need to repent of the lust in your heart and stay far away from that door. And by the way, this is not just relegated to men. Yes, Solomon's writing to his sons, but this could very well be written to daughters as well. If you are one of those who have found yourself rejecting wisdom, turn. Repent. It's not too late. Turn away. Turn towards the Lord. Cling to Him with all your heart. Let's pray.
Father, we thank You for this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You don't hide hard things from us. Father, we pray that we would listen to Your wisdom. We pray that we would buy Your Holy Spirit. Lord, by your Holy Spirit, we would not follow the deeds of the flesh, the ways of darkness. But Father, we plead with you that you might keep us in the light. Please reform our hearts, sanctify us through and through, make us more like Jesus. And it's in his name we pray. Amen. May God bless you today. May you walk in the joy of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.