[0:00] Proverbs chapter number 7 is where we will be at, looking at it as we've been going through a series on the book of Proverbs. David, one of my favorite things when I meet people in town to tell them about when I'm inviting them to church, talk to them about Jesus, but if I know they're a believer, I'll say, at our church, we just go through books of the Bible, next chapter, next chapter.
[0:20] And I love telling them that, and most people understand why we're excited about that, because there's just a need for just having the Bible. Just give us the Bible. As one guy said, give me the meat, no sauce.
[0:33] Just give me the Bible, right? And so I love telling people about that, and it's fun, because that's what a lot of believers are looking for. They just want the Bible. But then sometimes, like when pastor's gone and it's spring break, and we get to Proverbs 7, I'm like, maybe it's not a great idea, you know?
[0:49] Maybe we should reconsider how we go about this. Because Proverbs 7, many of you know what it's about. This is our third time in an extended portion of Scripture that the Bible is going to talk about the strange woman.
[1:02] We're talking about the temptation that is brought. And so tonight, I just trust God, as we go sequentially through the Bible, that this would be our sermon and our message for tonight.
[1:14] If not, I would preach a message on why those that come to church during spring break are the best Christians. That would be my message tonight, but we'll just stick to preaching through the Bible.
[1:25] All right, Proverbs chapter number 7. Adultery, the strange woman, it's been discussed, and it will continue to be tonight. Solomon warns his son in verse 5 verses that he needs to pay attention.
[1:37] And the verses 6 through 23, which I'm about to read to you, is what we call didactic narrative. It's a story that has a purpose. It's a narrative, and it's nice because you don't always have those in Proverbs.
[1:50] Obviously, in Luke, we have a narrative. But here's a story, and it's given to you for a purpose. Greg was joking as we were reading through this together, driving back somewhere. He said, why didn't Solomon just warn the guy?
[2:01] If he could see him from his window, what he was doing, why didn't you go, hey, buddy, stop what you're doing? Because it's not a real story. It's a story that's told to give you a picture of something. What we get a picture of is a picture of seduction.
[2:13] We get a picture of lust and the temptation, and it's drawn out in a story form to really help you see what it is and be warned of it. And then at the end, it gives some warnings about the trap.
[2:25] But I don't want to get to the negative description of the temptation of sin immediately. I want to get to the good news that there is victory to be found in Christ Jesus because that's important.
[2:38] And often, when we talk about this topic, may you not spend enough time in that because it feels like even though it's every man's battle and every woman's battle, and even though it's common, it's still costly.
[2:48] And even though it's common, it doesn't mean we can't have victory through God's word. I heard a story and a joke this week. I thought it was funny. In about 30 seconds, I'm going to know what you think about it. And so this man, he gets a call from his attorney, his criminal attorney, and he says, I got good news and I got bad news for you.
[3:06] The bad news is your blood is all over the crime scene. It's everywhere. The good news is your cholesterol count is only 130. All right? A little good news and a little bad news.
[3:16] And so I got some good news, which far outweighs the bad news in this story. Because when I read to you the description, which I'm about to, you're going to say, man, this kind of temptation is thorough.
[3:30] It's on every corner. It's hard to overcome. How will we ever live a life of joy and victory when this is what we are faced with? But we have at the beginning and we have at the end of the chapter telling this that we most certainly can.
[3:44] So let me read to you verse number 6 through 23. For at the window of my house, I looked through my casement, man standing, looking out a window here.
[3:54] And behold, among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner. And he went the way to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.
[4:09] And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. She is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now she is without.
[4:21] Now in the streets, lieth and wait at every corner. So she caught him and kissed him. With impotent faith said unto him, I have a peace offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows.
[4:33] Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face. And I found thee. I deck my bed with coverings of tapestry, which carved work with fine linen of Egypt. I perfume my bed with myrrh and aloes and cinnamon.
[4:47] Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with love. For the good man is not at home. He has gone a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money with him. And he will come at home at the day appointed.
[4:59] With her much fair speech, she caused him to yield. With her flattering her lips, she forced him. He goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks.
[5:10] Till a dart strike through his liver, as a bird hateth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Heavenly Father, I ask tonight, Lord, for an opportunity to be a voice for your word.
[5:24] And that the intended purpose of Proverbs 7 will find its intended purpose in the hearts of everyone that listens. Lord, I pray for the simple ones. Those that we are discipling.
[5:34] Those that are immature. Those that may be new to their faith. The young people in our church, Lord. I pray for them. And how we will help equip them. And give them strong warning as a father would give a son.
[5:47] Lord, I pray for those of us in here that act like simple ones, Lord. Lord, who do not live according to your word. That give in to these types of temptations. I pray for them.
[5:57] I pray that there will be conviction about their lives. And that there will be a yielding. And there will be a real wake-up call to the way that they are headed. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I would like for you to say one verse with me.
[6:09] It's verse number 25. Jim Roberts said the other day, I don't like it when people tell me in church to read a verse with them. I don't read because I make my own decisions. Well, he's Jim. And if you fought in Vietnam like him, you get to be like him.
[6:20] But you're not. So please read along with me. All right. Proverbs chapter number 7, verse number 25. Let's read it together. Let not thine heart decline to her ways.
[6:31] Go not astray in her paths. So we're just going to look at this verse, each section of it. But we're going to need the entire chapter to have an understanding of it. This is a fighter verse.
[6:42] Meaning the verse that you can hold on to. Memorizing this verse will help you remember a big portion of this chapter. It's a great verse to memorize. We'll look at it again at the end.
[6:53] But just the first two words I want you to focus on, which is let not. This let not gives a question, which is, is there really a choice in the matter? And the answer is yes.
[7:04] There is a choice in the matter. That we do have a chance to not be standing on that street corner, to not go in that direction. And that when we find ourselves in that, to say, I'm going to say yes to Jesus and no to temptation.
[7:19] And that's important to know. It's important to know that God places us in a place where we can yield to the Holy Spirit and we can say no to sin. And that you have a decision that you have to make. But God has empowered you to be able to do that.
[7:31] Verse 7 said, And behold among the simple ones. And so, Duna, I encourage you to not be a simple one. Being simple is not always a sin. It's a phase of life. It's a growing immaturity.
[7:43] It's a sin in 1 Corinthians 3, 2, when it says, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now ye are able. It's something that you should grow from.
[7:55] That we ought to be people that go from the milk of God's Word to the meat of God's Word. That we're a person that grows in wisdom and knowledge and discernment. But these simple ones are a target here to other people.
[8:08] We need to grow. We shouldn't continue there. How weird would it be if I went to some adult and said, Hey, sir, I know that you are 42 years old. But the more I get to know you, I really think you ought to be back in the youth group.
[8:21] Or we have a place for you in our middle school class. That wouldn't go over very well, would it? I wouldn't do that. And so just because they say with age comes wisdom. But what?
[8:31] Sometimes age comes by itself, right? So there's no guarantee that as you're an older believer. Or that you've been in church a long time. That you're not a person that is growing. You may not be growing in wisdom and discernment.
[8:43] But you're acting like one of those simple ones. Still dealing with the problems of the immaturity. Of living off of emotion. Not having discernment. And so the simple ones were challenged.
[8:56] Or being challenged in this. It should be a phase of life. It's something we should help disciple with. Paul gives great warnings to Timothy. About the dangers of youthfulness. But he also gives instruction to older saints as well.
[9:08] Because on every corner, no matter what your age. You don't graduate from these type of temptations. They evolve and they change. But on this side of heaven. We're going to continue to have choices to make.
[9:21] And it's a wonderful thing. That it says, let not thine heart decline. And that fact that God gave us the ability to make a decision. It really just seems horrible. It seems like there seems to be no upside.
[9:32] Right? Like God, why didn't you just give us a sinless perfectionism? Or God, why didn't you take it home? And this is how I felt as a teenager. I've never played football. As you know. And you can tell.
[9:42] If you didn't know before. All right. But I feel for the field goal kicker. Right? It seems like all they can do is mess up. Typically. On the extra point. Everybody expects for them to do it. And all they ever do is they mess up.
[9:55] And you hear about it. Well, that's what I felt about temptation as a teenager. It was only something that could be negative. I could only mess up. But you know God allowing us to make a decision.
[10:06] When it says, let not thine heart. I also get to make a decision that brings glory to God. So the first thing we see in this verse is that we're going to be faced with decisions. While we're on earth, we're going to constantly be faced with decisions.
[10:17] And it's not just negative. But it's also a positive opportunity for us to bring glory to God. And so the simple ones here, they are the ones that are prone to danger.
[10:29] How many of you have a kid who is prone to danger in here? All right, Dan. You have one of every kind of kid, don't you? All right. You have ones that are prone to danger. And sometimes the way they get hurt, it just doesn't make any sense.
[10:41] Carson is always getting himself hurt, doing things that are completely avoidable. He came in the other day and he says, I have a splinter in my foot. And I said, well, what were you doing? I was playing soccer.
[10:52] Well, you shouldn't get splinter in your feet playing soccer. Well, I was playing it on a wooden deck. Still shouldn't get a splinter. I was barefoot. That's why you got a splinter, okay? You can't play soccer on a wooden deck and not expect to get splinters.
[11:05] That kind of decision making is an immaturity. It's something he needs to grow in. I ask Stephanie all the time, can the kids be in trouble for being weird? She says, no, that's not sin. They're just being weird. All right, you got to let them do that.
[11:16] And so they make decisions not based on experience, not based upon discernment, and they're prone to danger. Immature believers are prone to danger. It's the kind of thing that this kind of woman in this chapter is looking for because simple ones, they lack wisdom.
[11:33] Psalm 19, 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony the Lord is sure making wise is the simple. Wisdom is available to us, but we don't go looking for it because we don't think that we need it.
[11:45] Not thinking that you need the wisdom that's available to you is the mindset of a simple one. Simple ones need knowledge and discretion. Proverbs 1, 4. To give subtility to the simple, to young man knowledge and discretion.
[11:58] Knowledge is available and they can be taught in the ways of having discretion. Simple ones, they need understanding. Proverbs 7, 7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youth, a young man void of understanding.
[12:12] I see here, I discern among the youth, a young man void of understanding. That's what I pray. I do not see when somebody comes to date my daughters. I hope I don't say, I discern among the youth, a young man void of understanding.
[12:27] And also, simple ones believe everything. The prudent man considers Proverbs 14, 15 a sign of being a simple one. The simple one believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his goings.
[12:39] I won't mention which of my nephews is on the internship in Peru right now, but he emails me all the time and he says, I found this incredible deal on Facebook. You have to go look at it for me.
[12:50] And I look at it and I just write back, it's a scam. How do you know? I've lived longer. I know what a scam looks like. If it's too good to be true, it's a scam. If somebody's trying to sell you a food truck for $500, it's a scam, all right?
[13:03] And so they're just out there all the time. And it's not necessarily that he just needs what? More experience. He needs more knowledge. He needs more pricing on things and knowing that something is a scam.
[13:15] But a simple one, an immature person, an immature believer is a person that believes everything, which is why they need somebody in their life to teach them how to study the Bible.
[13:26] You ever met a person, and I know that you have, a new believer? I meet them in the community sometime. They know Jesus. They got saved.
[13:37] And instead of having somebody disciple them, they got discipled by Google. And Google has them like all over the place. And they're so excited about everything that they are learning because they haven't been taught how to discern.
[13:49] They haven't been taught how to study the Bible. And so they're full of zeal, but they don't have anybody instructing them in the Bible. That's a sign of being a simple one is that you don't have discernment, that you're not able to say that's true and that's false.
[14:02] What's the job of us parents is to help our kids that are young to not to continue to be simple ones in that sense, to have discernment, to know right and from wrong as things are being challenging them all the time, to help them grow in these areas.
[14:17] Simple ones are often the target for this world. Simple ones are the victims of evil men and women who know that the simple are vulnerable. In Proverbs 110, it says that the reason a wise father warns his son about greedy and violent men.
[14:31] My son, if sinners entice thee, Thatcher, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, come let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privately for the innocent without cause.
[14:45] Thatcher, if anybody ever comes to you and says, hey, let's hide behind this bush and jump out and kill people, don't do it. Okay? So, Thatcher's got his lesson for the night.
[14:56] All right? Obviously, that's not the kind of temptation that you often are faced with, but it's not talking, it's talking about being a greedy person. That somebody comes to you and they have this plan, they have this business scheme, they have this idea, and your children and the simple ones are those that we disciple need to be able to have the ability to say no to these things, to know how to answer them, to be discipled, to know right from wrong.
[15:22] The adulterous woman, particularly, she seeks the simple ones or the naive, as we see in Proverbs 7. But in Proverbs 9, 13 through 16, it says, A foolish woman is clamorous, she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
[15:35] For she sitteth at the door of the house, and on a seat in the high places of the city, to call passengers who go right on their way. Whosoever is simple, let him turn in hither.
[15:48] So, as she's sitting out there with a lemonade stand, and it's saying, lemonade, free lemonade, especially for you simple ones, especially for you naive people, that is where my target audience is.
[16:00] She knows who she's going after. People that are immature in their faith, simple ones, young people, are often targets for these types of sin and temptations, and we should help prepare them that when they get to that place, they should not go that way, because they have a choice in the matter.
[16:18] They know their target audience. Advertisements are at us all the time. It's funny to me, and the internet knows what you like, right?
[16:29] It sells you all the time. It's always putting something in front of you that it isn't putting in front of somebody else. Like, it isn't putting a Blackberry in front of anybody, maybe Brother John, all right? And I think we're past that point in his life.
[16:41] Still makes for a cheap joke when you need one. But it's putting in front of them there. So, you know, around tax time, you know what my Facebook feed and different things were filled with? These fire-starting logs that smell like KFC chicken, all right?
[16:56] And so they're made by KFC. You put them in your fireplace. It starts to get the fire going, and it smells like KFC chicken. How many of you have that advertisement in your emails?
[17:06] All across the place. People with hands, not raising them, okay? I am the only person. How brilliant is that, right? Because if there's an advertisement on a billboard, none of you are stopping.
[17:18] But I'm stopping, and I'm taking a picture, and I'm finding out how I can get it. And they're not as great as you think they are. No, I'm just kidding. I haven't ordered them, but I'm getting some. The more I talk about it, the more I'm convinced that that's something that I need.
[17:31] And as absurd as that is, isn't it the genius of marketing now more than ever how targeted it is? There's things that are being targeted to you that aren't being targeted to somebody else because the world has been able to gather information on us and then put in front of us what it is they think that we want or what we need.
[17:48] Satan's been doing that for so much longer. The lust that you have, the temptation that you want, finds its way into your life, and you have an opportunity to say, I'm going to go this way, or I'm going to go to another way.
[17:59] And just because it's different from you than another one, that's fine. He doesn't care which Ford car you drive as long as you drive a Ford, right? He doesn't care what sin that you're part of as long as you're involved in these things that are against the God of heaven.
[18:14] It also says, go not astray in her path. There is a way of escape. While Madam Folly or Mr. Mayhem seeks to lead the astray, the simple, he goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter.
[18:27] And you know it's just completely oblivious. The picture there is just being lined up, cattle going forth. They're not talking and saying, this is probably not a good idea. Things don't look right.
[18:38] Why are we doing this? They have no idea what's going on. They're just following. They're just being prodded in a direction without a clue. And that's where Satan would love for us to get.
[18:49] So caught up into our sin, completely blinded with no discernment. But Sophia or wisdom also calls us here. It gives us warning. And so there can be victory because just like the calling here from this woman in the proverb is strong, the word of God is most certainly stronger and able to help us.
[19:09] The Lord preserves the simple. Proverbs 1, 16, verse 6. The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and the Lord helped me. God's direction is certainly clear. Psalm 19, 7.
[19:21] The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Wisdom is available for us. It is clear. It is there for us.
[19:32] Psalms 119, 130 says, The entrance of thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding unto the simple. What is a good way to realize, to receive the light?
[19:43] What is a good way to hear the testimony of the Lord? It is to be brought low and to say, God, without your book, I am not that street smart. God, I need wisdom. I'm not that smart.
[19:54] You know, I've shared testimony about my brother before. And one thing that he always wants me to know is that I don't know anything about anything at all. All right? He's a little brother. But when we talk about addiction and drugs and all that, he's convinced that I don't know anything about it because I haven't lived in it.
[20:10] And I'm not very street smart. But I get wisdom from the Word of God. And so what you've got to do is say, I may be very strong. I may have these disciplines. I may do all these different things. But I'm not going to trust in my street smarts.
[20:23] I'm not going to trust in my life experience. I'm going to bring myself low. I'm going to say, God, without you, I'd be just like the simple one. I'd be tossed to and fro. But I need wisdom from you. Romans 6 says it like this.
[20:35] For in that he died, he died unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[20:47] Let not, same decision to be made, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. You have a choice to be made.
[20:58] Somebody I was extremely close to in my teenage years. He leaves his wife and he leaves his family. He tells my mom, she was a church secretary, told the story before him.
[21:09] He grabs a magnet and he holds it near this metal cabinet and he lets go of it and it comes against the metal cabinet and he brings it back and he does it again. And he said, I feel like I have no choice in the matter, that I am going to continue down this road and I can't stop myself.
[21:26] A person that had stood and preached and taught the word of God was wrong about what the Bible said about God's ability to help you overcome sin.
[21:38] You're at a dangerous place in life where you say the power of God is not strong enough to help me overcome sin. It's an insult to our creator and it's a misunderstanding of the word of God.
[21:49] Regardless of the temptation, no matter how strong it is, how inevitable you think it is, God always offers a way of escape. He is not the author of sin. He does not put you in a situation that you cannot escape.
[22:03] If you continue to go astray, it's one or two things. You're a simple one and you need to mature in your Christian life and you need to grow. And you need to grow in these areas, not just in the area that you're dealing with, but in all areas.
[22:14] And secondly, if you're not his child, then you will be powerless. You can't reckon these members in your life to be dead if you're not a child of God. Because this is not the path that Jesus would take.
[22:26] And so you cannot go down those while following Jesus. This is a constant choice we have to make. We're especially prone to this type of temptation when we live as simple ones, as immature, and it's a decision of the heart.
[22:39] Verse 1, It says, Keep the word. My son, keep the word. And another passage that's parallel to it, in chapter 4, verse 4, it says it like this, He taught me also and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live.
[22:57] Keep or retain. Proverbs 23, verse 23 says, Buy the truth and sell it not. That you need to take the word and you need to keep it. You need to retain it. You need to hide it in your heart.
[23:09] A joke we've told at jail before is where I've said, all of you say that it's easy to find Jesus in jail. And the reason it's easy to find Jesus in jail is because you left him here the last time you left.
[23:20] All right? They all laugh for a second. Then they stop laughing and they look down. Right? It's easy to find Jesus in jail because people leave Jesus in jail when they leave. They leave all that teaching behind. I would be curious to know, I usually sit in that section where Mike is at.
[23:33] You can sit there. No problem. I'm going to need it. Okay? I'm usually sitting where Mike is sitting. And I wonder how much wisdom and instruction from God would be accumulating around those seats. Meaning I did not take it into my heart.
[23:45] I did not keep it. I did not retain it. It came to me. It bounced off of me. It was not internalized into my life. But it was just around me. And you can be around the word of God all the time.
[23:56] But that does not mean that you are keeping it. You may be leaving it behind in your church pew or at your kitchen table. Just reading information in the Bible is not the same as retaining the word of God or keeping the word of God.
[24:10] Another thing that tells us to store up and lay up the commandments with thee. Storing up is an important part of fighting against sin. Psalm 119.11 says it plainly. Thy word have I hid in my heart.
[24:21] And why? That I may not sin against God. Direct correlation. That a fight against sin is empowered by hiding the word of God in their heart. Someone was telling me about a survival show in Alaskan where they got to live for a year off the land.
[24:37] I probably wouldn't make it until the first commercial break. I'm pretty sure. I wouldn't make it very long. But they're living off the land. And the story was one of the guys killed an elk. Like right at the very beginning.
[24:48] He had a bow and arrow and he killed an elk. And you're like, well that's great. You know, that's a lot of meat. He's going to be fine for a long time. But then it became his full time job to try to preserve the elk.
[25:00] To keep things. It's really not great. You know, having an elk is pretty good when you want to eat. But when you're trying to sleep at night and you've got 500 pounds of meat beside you, that's not a good thing, right? Wolves and coyotes and all these things are coming after it.
[25:13] And it became a full time job to keep what was there. It takes some intentionality to keep those things. Keeping the word in our heart, it really takes a plan. It takes intentionality.
[25:25] Satan would love for you in a short term memory to take a verse like Proverbs 7.25 and then walk out of here and even have it for a few days. But how are you going to keep it so that you have it when you need it?
[25:36] And you have to make a plan to internalize it. To have a challenge. You have a challenge yourself and there'll be a reward. And just simply set a deadline and meet it. You know, when I learned Psalm chapter 23, when I finally learned Psalm chapter number 23, we were having a church play and I was in the foyer of the church and had a big family-sized Bible in the foyer of the church and I was about to walk out as David and I thought I knew Psalm 23, but I was nervous and all the lights were out on us on the very back in that big church Bible going through Psalm 23 one more time because I wanted to make sure that I knew Psalm 23.
[26:10] But I went forward, I said Psalm 23, and I know it today, I memorized it as 11-year-old. And how did I do it? It was simple. I wanted to do it, I set a deadline, and I memorized it.
[26:23] If you miss any of those parts, it usually doesn't happen. You can want to do it, but you just kind of, you place a deadline on yourself and say, I'm going to memorize this verse in this set of time and it has a great reward to it.
[26:35] We're supposed to store it up in our hearts. We're supposed to know it, internalize it. We should guard it like a treasure. Verse 2, keep my commandments and live my law as the apple of thine eye.
[26:47] The apple being that center part of the eye. That the Word of God should be central to our lives. We keep the commandments and we live. We make sure the Word of God is in our heart. We bind them upon the fingers.
[26:59] We write them on the table of our heart. Verse 4, say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister and call understanding thy kinsmen. We should have a close relationship with the Word as if a family member.
[27:12] There should be a closeness to wisdom, wanting to be around and wanting to have it in our lives. Immorality in His Word and her words draw us into sin, but we need the corresponding and a greater power of God's Word that keep us from immoral men or women or decisions.
[27:29] As we've already read, the words were strong. That's what it says, forced the young man, that it was his words that caused him to yield to the sin.
[27:39] And in our heart, we need stronger words. We need louder words. We need sure words that are there. So lastly, the last section here, is the personification of that seduction that's being spoken about.
[27:51] A decline to her ways. So the questions I would ask here is, who is she and what are her ways? It's this personification of seduction. It's a story that teaches us a lesson.
[28:03] Here it's a woman, but in your life it could be a man, it could be a screen, it could be a website, it could be a co-worker, it could be a friend. In a modern telling of this, Solomon leans against the casement of his house and he looks across the house and he sees his neighbor on the internet.
[28:20] Or he looks down the road and he sees something else. Because in the story, it's most obviously a woman, a harlot, but we know that it personifies many other things in our lives.
[28:31] That this type of temptation comes in many ways. That there's people right now working on new ways. It's a multi-billion dollar business to get us to not follow the Lord and to buy the products and the things of this world.
[28:43] So what are her ways? And be held among the simple ones. They target the simple, as I've already said. It's common to all men, but especially target those that are immature. We need to help our young people and immature and new believers especially.
[28:57] Verse 8, Passing through the streets near her corner and lieth in wait on every corner. On the corner of lust and opportunity. Everywhere you turn, there's this opportunity.
[29:09] It can be met. And behold, there met him a woman. Lust meets this opportunity. James 1.15, Then when lust had conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
[29:20] So not only the simple one, he met this woman. And this woman met a man. But that woman met lust. An opportunity, dressed as a harlot, met the lust inside of a man's heart.
[29:32] And when those two things came together, sin was conceived there. Temptation is on every corner. And so what are her ways? Her ways are to make sure she is diverse.
[29:43] She is on every corner. She advertises to every people, of every gender, of every age group, everywhere, always for sale, always available, targeting the simple ones.
[29:55] And also the heart decides the response to the temptation. And he went the way to her house. His feet went in the direction that his heart was already pointed. Before he gets to this opportunity, he had made a decision in his heart.
[30:09] And he went the way to her house. Feet move in the direction of her heart. Our actions can tell us what is in our heart. If the heart desires affirmation, you'll find it an appealed ego.
[30:21] She doesn't just give something visually for the eyes. She also gives something that is for his ego. Verse 15, Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
[30:31] She tells him, I've been looking everywhere for your face, and there it is. There's your beautiful face. Because she's appealing to something.
[30:43] Because sometimes it's the physical attraction. Sometimes it could just be the ego. It's this, you're getting to hear what you want. That's why the co-worker saying nice things about you and flirting with you can be just as dangerous as the thing that you see that you're not supposed to see.
[30:58] Because whatever you're buying, Satan will be selling. And so if you're saying, I want my ego to be catered to, somebody will do that. If your heart desires comfort, that will be, and I believe this is a strong case, a reason that many young people fall into this temptation is this desire for comfort.
[31:16] Let us solace ourselves with loves. Let's just find comfort. You've had a hard day. You just deserve a break. You know, you've been doing right for so long. Nobody really understands you.
[31:27] It's a hard life that you live. You desire comfort. If your heart craves comfort, Satan will be glad to sell you on comfort. And there's a progression. And he went the way to her house. Twilight, evening, and the black and dark night.
[31:40] The sun setting doesn't happen in an instant. But slowly, this darkness pulls us away from accountability. It puts us into the night. It wants to be concealed. Seduction tells you that nobody will ever know about it.
[31:52] It's in the dark of night. And the good man is not at home. And he has a lot of money. He's not going to be coming back. So on the internet, they have buttons that say this is a private tab.
[32:03] They have different things that nobody's going to know about it. Nobody needs to know about it because it's a progression to take you out of the light and accountability to a place where there is no accountability.
[32:13] And that looks nice because you're all alone. It's not complicated. It's not as hard to deal with. You're just all alone. It's you and the sin. And then here, religious justification.
[32:25] It's an odd part of the story, I think. Verse 14, For this day I have paid my vows. Kind of a weird thing that she says, isn't it? She says, I've already done my religious ceremony for the day.
[32:35] And you think, why would she bring that up? Because what is a big part of seduction in our lives? It has to come to some religious justification. It doesn't just say God doesn't exist, but it says, this is how we're going to handle conviction when it comes in.
[32:49] Even though you're giving in the temptation, this is what we're going to do. We're going to say, we're not going to do it again. And we'll confess and everything will be okay. Or let's do this. Let's say God understands because this is the reason.
[33:02] It gives a religious justification. Sin, it adapts through the years. It finds you exactly where you want to. And it comes to you selling what it is that you want to buy.
[33:12] And what it is you want to buy are the things that are not being met in your life and heart by Jesus. And words have incredible power. Fair speech has caused him to yield.
[33:23] those words, what she was listening to, broke it down. A matter of the heart, a matter of the mind. Proverbs 7.25, let's read this together one last time. Proverbs 7.25, all together, let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
[33:42] I'm going to give you a quick summary that I'm going to take a moment for you to reflect to pray in your seat. I'm going to close this in a word of prayer. But let's just, the verse once again, it says, let not. There is a choice that believers have.
[33:54] We have freedom to make. But you're not making a choice that is completely one-sided. I understand the temptation, the seduction, the lust of this world are strong, but the word of God is more satisfying, it's more filling, and the words of God are stronger.
[34:08] So you are enabled to make the right choice. Thine heart, it's a matter of the heart, not circumstances. We're not a product of our circumstances, but of the decisions made of our heart. So we should be guiding our heart with God's word.
[34:20] We hide it in there. We keep the word of God prepared for those temptations. Decline into our ways. We're not naive concerning her ways. She works in a predictable fashion, and so we need to be on guard for it.
[34:32] We need to see the patterns in our lives. We should never get into the dark night because we don't go into that street corner in the afternoon. We should never go down that road because we know she lives on that road.
[34:44] We should never go to that place because we know that we're going to be faced with it. We should not give an occasion to the enemy and then go not astray in our paths. The simple ones live at this crossroads.
[34:55] Maturity says we'll never walk down that road and not part of town because we know the consequences. There is victory available for us. Let's not be as the simple ones led astray. Let's just take a moment and you pray there in your seats, and I'll close us in a word of prayer here in a moment.
[35:12] Heavenly Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters in the room. I pray for them, Lord, as disciple makers and as parents who are leading simple ones, that are leading teenagers and kids, Lord, that do not have the knowledge and wisdom that we need to help impart from God's word.
[35:27] So I pray for them. Pray that they'll be involved in the battle and in the fight. Lord, I pray that you'll help me as a father be on guard in my own life for my sake and for my marriage sake, but also in the life of my kids, that I will not be naive concerning how Satan desires to sift them, but I will help them guard their heart with your word.
[35:48] Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters in here tonight, Lord, that they will grow in their faith and knowledge and they will not be simple concerning Satan's tactics, but they will take inventory of their heart right now and they will know where this lust comes in and where it finds opportunity and they will hide your word in their heart.
[36:07] They will not let this in their heart. They will fight for joy. They will fight for their families and they will do what is right to your honor and to your glory. In Jesus' name I pray.
[36:18] Amen.