Proverbs 7:21-27

First, why don't we go ahead and have some coffee. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It's so good to have you 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, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Today we finish up Proverbs chapter 7, a very pertinent chapter in our society today. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. What a blessing it is to come to your word. Thank you that you do not hide hard topics from us, but you direct us in the truth. Lord, we pray that as we read it, you would bury these words in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, remember, this is Solomon the Proverbist. I don't know, maybe that's a word. You can let me know down in the comments what it is.
It's him writing to his son, and he says about this woman, with her enticing speech, she caused him to yield. With her flattering lips, she seduced him. Immediately, he went after her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver as a bird hastens to the snare. He did not know it would cost his life.
Now, therefore, listen to me, my child. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her past, for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death. 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 these words, right? So, A, what is this about?
Well, Solomon is writing to his son and he's saying, hey look, And there's this type of woman, he's telling him this story, I saw this young man, I looked through the lattice of my window and this young man was going about in the streets and he came across this married woman who was enticing him to come and sleep with her.
She feigned religiosity and ensnared him. And what is this saying? It's saying, I've seen this happen before too. Better men, strong men, have also fallen in her path. like an ox led to the slaughter, like a bird being caught in its snare. This is what this is like. He's trying to warn his son here. He's trying to say, hey, listen up. Listen up, buddy. I'm telling you it's going to be enticing. Don't rush that way. And what does it say about this man? Immediately he went after her.
Right? Sin is enticing. Let's be honest with one another. Right? Sin is enticing. No matter what the sin, this could be, this is specifically talking about adultery, but sin is enticing. There's a reason why people sin because they think it's going to fulfill something.
It's going to give them pleasure. It's going to give them satisfaction. It's going to do something for them, make them someone that they want to be. Why do people have gluttony? Because they think that eating and eating and eating is going to satisfy them. And in all reality, gluttony ends up giving you a fat heart, a fat liver and killing you. Or if people want to smoke because they, they want to have a lot of times it's because they want to have, you know, this interaction with people all the while they end up destroying their bodies and I'm not don't take me as a fundamentalist here I'm not you know saying don't drink or smoke or grow with girls that do that's not what I'm saying right but why do people overindulge in these things why do people you know the scriptures we're gonna find in the Proverbs are replete with people who are enticed towards not just drinking but drunkenness right because they think oh if I just drink more and more and more I'll be happy I'll have fun all the while the end of it is throwing up on your on the floor and looking like an idiot Sin is enticing, son. She's going to look enticing. She's going to try to convince you. She's going to try to pull you in.
Don't think that you can stand up to this on your own. What does he say? He says, listen to me, my son. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn to her side. Do not stray into her path, for she has cast down many men, many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Do not rely on your own strength.
The Proverbs, we're still messing up these A, B, C categories, but I'm just going to go ahead and jump into C. What does Jesus teach his disciples? He teaches us to pray. Father, lead us not into temptation. We need to be praying that God would be, by his providence, leading us away from temptation because stronger men have failed. And then we need to also be recognizing and praying that God will teach us to find the way of escape. What does 1 Corinthians 10 tell us?
No temptation has overtaken you but what is common to man. But when you are tempted he will provide a way out that you may endure it. You're going to come under temptation. But if Christ is in you, if the Spirit is in you, there's always going to be a way out.
Here he's saying, son, don't go near her door. Son, stay away from her. Flee from her. Go far away. Don't assume you're strong enough to withhold this temptation. Maybe for some of you, you think that you're just strong enough that I'm just not going to go to this pornography website. I'm not going to go to look at that stuff. And I'm telling you, stronger men have fallen. Get a blocker on your computer. I know it's going to slow down your internet most likely.
You might need to get rid of your phone. You might need to do some serious radical repenting. But this is what Jesus Christ specifically says about sexual sins. It's amazing with sexual sins. Real quickly, a whole lot of sins God tells us to defeat them, to fight them, to battle them. We go toe-to-toe with them. But when it comes to sexual immorality, the word of God says flee from sexual immorality.
Be like Joseph when Potiphar tries to grab onto him. Potiphar's wife tries to grab onto him. What does he do? He hightails it out of that house and he leaves his coat behind, right? He just gets out of there. Flee from sexual immorality. Don't even go near her door, son. Don't tempt yourself. Stronger men have fallen. Don't rely upon your own strength. Lean upon the Lord.
I don't know what that looks like in your life. Maybe that looks like you need to have a friend who will help encourage you to flee. Feel free to message me if you need me to be that friend for you. Feel free to send me a message if this is something that is burdensome to you.
And just to point out again, yes, Solomon's writing to his son, but this is also true of daughters. The statistics are scary. How many young women in our society are being pulled into sexual immorality at a younger and younger age? Turn on the TV Watch any type of advertisements go on social media and it's just right there in your face all the time the sexualization of children of young people of of this this idolatry of sexual immorality and Young people are rushing into this and the Lord is saying here. Hold on That way leads to death But there's also a way that leads to life. Jesus Christ is that life. He's the one who leads us in purity. He's the one who says if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
For it's better for you to enter into heaven maimed than to go down into death, right? Don't go down to hell because of this foolishness. I want to pray for you today. This isn't legalism. You can't do this on your own. We do this because we fear the Lord, because we love Him more than the temptations, than the pleasures of this life. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this word. I thank you, Father, that you have not hidden such things from us, though they might be unpopular, though it might be hard to keep.
Father, we pray that we would be like Job, that we would make a covenant with our eyes not to look lustfully upon a woman. Lord, we pray that you would let us be satisfied in our spouse alone. Lord, we pray that when we sin, we pray we would be quick to flee to the foot of the cross. Please, Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Father, preserve us. Give us the strength by your spirit to take the way of escape. Care for us this day in Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you relish in the love of God and in the wisdom that he's given us in his word. May you rest in Jesus Christ. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.