Series in Proverbs - Playing with Fire - Part 2

 

Playing with Fire - Part 2

Proverbs 7:14-27

According to the PG proverb, this woman's words and actions could be taken from a soap opera, yet she clings to her religious upbringing, oblivious to her lack of morals and covenant vows with God and her husband. Let's read the first part of the text.Today I have fulfilled my vows and have food from my peace offering at home. So I went out to meet you; I sought you and found you! I have covered my bed with sheets the colors of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us drink deeply of love until morning; let us enjoy love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a journey. He took his bag full of money and will not return.al maximum Moon.” With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her soft words.

Both she and the person she loves are dangerously involved in immoral acts that lead to eternal hellfire, but neither she nor he has the slightest desire to stray from the path of adultery.

First, she has forgotten or, worse still, abandoned the vows she made to God or to her husband. She attends her religious service as if God would be pleased with her peace offerings or communion. These seem to have been routine religious acts of mere show, as her seared conscience seems to have justified her actions.

Second, she details her preparations and anticipation for this sexual evening. She goes out to find her lover at a possible scheduled rendezvous. She leads him to her bedroom, adorned with the allure of temptation: a fragrant bed decorated with exotically colored sheets, scents, and lotions. She guides him to abandon his thoughts and inhibitions regarding acts of adultery or exoticism.

Third, she throws all caution to the wind. She has planned this rendezvous. This evening will last all night because she isn't worried about her husband's absence or the possibility of being seen. She uses sumptuous words, straight from the Evil One, to seduce the naive with the verbiage of sensual delight.

Application: I'm not sure how old Solomon was when he wrote this, and even less so how old his children were, who listened and heard the exotic language and foreplay he revealed to them. It wasn't uncommon to see Gentile worship in the outlying towns and villages acting this way; however, this seems to be happening in the center of Jerusalem.

Again, in his later years, Solomon married many women who adhered to the practices of idolatry, prostitution, and adultery that would have been normal customs in his time. 1 Kings 11 speaks of Solomon's own succumbing to the snares of idolatry and its sensual ways."However, King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter: Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They were from nations over which the Knight had ruled.He told the Israelites, “You must not marry them, for they will surely turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to them in love. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As he grew old, his wives turned his heart to other gods (vv. 4-8).

This tendency toward sensuality and immorality is still very common in our world today, and adultery has also invaded the Christianized world. Statistics vary according to churches and religious organizations, but its sordid tentacles are visible and exposed. However, those who profess the faith are neither surprised nor ashamed to hear about it and see it in plain sight on television, in movies, and in real life.

That brings me to the beginning of the proverb: adultery occurs in many forms, and God hates it. Jesus described it as lusting and coveting another person with all your heart and mind. Christians can be unfaithful to God in their ethics, both at work and at home. Some have no qualms about saying, "If you want to show them, I'll watch." And many observe acts of adultery in the privacy of their homes on the internet or television. Their brazen attitude leads them to the same mindset as Solomon and his many sordid and vulgar wives.

And this brings us to the children of this proverb: for what they have seen, they will imitate. This is where I believe Solomon warns his own children not to walk, see, or assimilate this lifestyle, for it leads to death and the fires of hell itself. Satan disguises the temptations of immorality with the finesse of the world and will lure both the naive and the saints of the age into this trap. He uses the idea of wealth and privilege, and the thrill of the forbidden, to lead the believer to abandon the ways of God and surrender to the popular and immoral ways of the world. Very similar to the temptations Satan used to mock Jesus in the wilderness.

God wants Christian men, women, and children to abstain from participating in immorality. We are the bride of Christ, not his harlot, adulteress, or prostitute. We are to be blameless, pure, and without blemish or contamination from this world.“Husbands, you should love your wives as much as so deeply, purely and sacrificially that we can only understand it when we compare it with the love that the anointed one has for his bride,the church.We know HimHe gave himself completely to make her his own, taking her from all her impurity with water and powerful presence of the word He has given himself to that He may present the church as His radiant bride, without spot, without wrinkle, and without blemish—completely free from all impurities—holy and innocent before Him.” “So you will be found innocent and blameless;You are sons of God called to live without a single stain on their reputation among this perverted and corrupt generation.” (Ephesians 5:25-27; Philippians 2:15 Voice)

Solomon then lists the deadly situation that both daters inadvertently get into, so let's read the final part of the text.Suddenly he followed her like an ox to the slaughter, like a deer leaping into a noose; until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird leaping into a snare, not knowing it will cost him his life. Now then, my children listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn away from her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty multitude. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.

Solomon admonishes his children regarding the eternal and physical cost of adultery. He offers a list of similes to describe the end of this deadly relationship. It is like an ox led to the slaughter, like a deer unexpectedly lured and falling into the trapper's noose, unreleased by the struggle, but instead an arrow awaits its appointed death, like a hunter's net that snares and traps a bird, which, unwittingly, will cost him his life.

Solomon ends this conversation with his sons with a stern warning: "Listen to me! Heed my words! Turn away from that path, do not stray at the sound of smooth words and exotic promises. This person is like a black hole that swallows everything in its path. Her mouth has killed many deceived and naive men and boys with her sensual vows overflowing with tempting promises. The door of her house leads only to a fiery and stormy death.

Application - This seems obvious, but humanity has shown a propensity to fall into this temptation and waller in the vomit of this world. No justification for these acts of immorality will stand before the judgment seat of God. It will be the judgment of a fiery hell, which was not designed for man, but for the Devil and his fallen minions. The cost of adultery is, again, multifaceted. First, it cost the participants their souls; second, it cost the children the loss of their family and heartbreak. Third, many will follow and emulate the acts they have seen depicted in their lives. Adulterous parents, relatives, or friends will be held accountable for the children they have led astray by their immoral acts. Jesus wasn't joking when he said..."But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the depths of the sea.(Mateo 18:6 NTV)

The good news is that Jesus forgives and restores the men, women, and children affected by this sin. He restored the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). The key principle of this passage is that God loves us, desires to restore the relationship we should have had in the beginning, and exhorts us to stop sinning. For those who have been forgiven, cleansed by His Word and atoning blood, and sealed by His Spirit must walk in the ways of Jesus, according to His Word and by His Spirit. He has betrothed us to Himself, and we should eagerly await to be received by Him when His bride is taken to heaven. "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.""Let us rejoice and exult and give glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it has been granted to her to clothe herself with fine, bright, and pure linen”"Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from sin, for the salvation of those who eagerly await him.(1 Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 19:7-9; Heb. 9:28 NVI)

Again, remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And God, the Holy Spirit, wants nothing to do with immorality or any sin.

As always, I want to conclude by presenting the gospel in the form of the basic principles of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ. For Jesus, God the Son, came into this world to save all who believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you; he is the light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. He will answer you if you truly believe. If you haven't yet asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

First, A: Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a just God, and a change of heart takes place: we change our minds, and God changes our hearts and regenerates us inside and out. Romans 3:10: As it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners, so we must be born spiritually to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.) Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death; in other words, our sin means we have been sentenced to death—we have the death penalty hanging over our heads; that’s the bad news. But here’s the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, lest anyone should boast. Secondly,

B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised him from the dead. This is trusting with all your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Third,

C - Invoke the name of the Lord. Every person whom sea Those who have lived since Adam will kneel andwill confesswith his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, Lord of lords and King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God.” Don’t wait, do it now. Romans 10:13 - For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “O God, I am a sinner. I repent of my sin. I want to turn away from it. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son; I believe that he died on the cross for my sins, that he was buried, and that you raised him from the dead. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting in his shed blood alone as sufficient to save my soul and take me to heaven. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen.”

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please visithttp://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I've reviewed my website on spiritual warfare. Please take a look. Thank you.

http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com