Sermon on 2/20.....On Temptation from Proverbs 7

Temptation

1 My son, keep my words,
And treasure my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your nearest kin,
5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words.
6 For at the window of my house
I looked through my lattice,
7 And saw among the simple,
I perceived among the youths,
A young man devoid of understanding,
8 Passing along the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
9 In the twilight, in the evening,
In the black and dark night.
10 And there a woman met him,
With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.
11 She was loud and rebellious,
Her feet would not stay at home.
12 At times she was outside, at times in the open square,
Lurking at every corner.
13 So she caught him and kissed him;
With an impudent face she said to him:
14 “ I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
15 So I came out to meet you,
Diligently to seek your face,
And I have found you.
16 I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
17 I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a bag of money with him,
And will come home on the appointed day.”
21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,[a]
23 Till an arrow struck his liver.
As a bird hastens to the snare,
He did not know it would cost his life.
24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children;
Pay attention to the words of my mouth:
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
26 For she has cast down many wounded,
And all who were slain by her were strong men.
27 Her house is the way to hell,[b]
Descending to the chambers of death
 
Sermon

I almost never prepare a sermon with any single person in mind. I think that, for a variety of reasons, creating a sermon directed at one or two people is spiritually abusive. I had a friend when I was in high school who attended a Pentecostal church where people would prophecy. My friend had a reputation of getting into a little bit of trouble from time to time. All of the sudden the pastor or one of the elders would stand up in this church of 30-40 people and say….”The Lord is telling me that there is a young man in this church, not yet an adult, with an injured ankle, that God wants to repent of the life of sin he is living right now”. His brother would laugh. My friend would not go to church for a number of years after that. So I generally don’t target specific persons when I preach. Also, if you are ever tempted to do that, you end up with everyone showing up that Sunday but the one person you want to hear your message.

Having said that, this Sunday, I do have two certain kinds of people targeted with this message this morning. Not so much because I have chosen to focus on them, but because the Scripture passage we are looking at focuses on these two groups of people. But since I have chosen this passage, I probably also need to take responsibility for the focus on these two groups of people.
One group of people this passage targets are people who are going to face temptation in the future. We will talk a lot about sexual temptation this morning, but the principles you can learn in this short little passage can apply to a myriad of kinds of temptations. You need to know what temptation looks like, and ways to avoid it, so that you can effectively defend yourself. God’s Word says of the devil and his intent to destroy that he is “like a lion, seeking whom he may devour”. I don’t want you to be destroyed and devoured by your sin. Neither does God. One way to protect yourself against temptation is to discover how to steer clear of it in the first place. I hope this message helps you with that. And if I did not warn you when there was danger ahead, well that would be selfish and unloving.

The other group of people I want to talk are those that want to reach out and help those who are struggling. Each of us knows people in our lives who are crestfallen, wandering about, who seem to have life happen to them instead of living their lives with confidence and passion. They seem to struggle, often times, because they have not learned the principles we have before us this morning. I want to equip you to support your friends or family through God’s holy word.
What I am not interested in doing this morning is beating anyone up, nor does that seem to be the intent of God in this passage. If you have succumbed to temptation, sexual or otherwise, you know it. You know you have made a mess of things. You know you have sinned. You don’t need me beating you over the head with the Bible. If you are in that place, I hope you find a way to listen to and say, “You know, after I heard this, I have seen where I have messed up, and I want to try something different. I want to try things the way God’s word tells me to.”

But mostly, this passage is focused on trying to reach you before you fall to temptation. It is like a big street sign that says, “DANGER AHEAD!”

Proverbs 7 begins with some wise words. It begins with the words of a father to his son. They are also words of the Heavenly Father to his children.

When we look at the first seven verses we can begin to understand some basic principles in preparing to face temptation. These points are also in your outline.

1. You can prepare to face temptation by Knowing God’s Word

Verse 1 tells us to keep God’s words. Verse 3 tells us to bind them on our fingers and write them on the tablet of our heart. In the case of the son in the story, these words of wisdom come from his father. For the believer, they come through the Word of God.

When I was younger, I heard that Billy Graham read the Proverbs, and that he read the chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month. I decided to do that as a teenager, and that was my primary Bible reading for a few years in late junior high and early high school.
One of the interesting things when you read the Proverbs or anything in Scripture is how you will read something in Scripture one moment, and it will come to mind the next. For instance, you will read something about how a soft word turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger (Proverbs 15:1). Then you will have a circumstance in the next day or two to choose to say hostile words, or words that are gentler in a difficult situation.

This specifically deals with temptation. Knowing what the word says about what temptation is like will help you avoid it.

Perhaps this will be helpful for you. When a person wants to learn to detect counterfeit money, they don’t spend most of their time looking at counterfeits. Instead they spend most of their time looking at genuine currency. Then when the fake comes along, they know something is off about the funny money. Something doesn’t seem like the real thing.

When you know God’s word, and you find yourself in a potentially tempting situation, something inside you will say, “This is wrong, this is off, not good.”Listen to that.

2. You can prepare to face temptation by Living God’s Word

There are a lot of people who know the Word, but never put it into practice. Proverbs 7:2 talks about not just knowing the Words, but keeping the commandments.

It is easier to say NO to temptation when you have a habit of saying YES to God in so many other situations. When you have already said yes to loving your wife as yourself, and loving your kids and caring for them as your greatest treasure and greatest gift, for instance you will have a more joyful family life. Although there will be struggles. When temptation comes to stray from that situation your commitment to keeping the YES’s of God will equip you with the passion and discipline to say NO to the temptations set before you.

3. You can prepare to face temptation by Treasuring and Loving God’s Word

Proverbs 7:1 says we are to treasure the commands. 7:2 says the law should be the apple of our eyes. 7:4 says to make wisdom our sister.

This making wisdom a sister is an interesting term. Because calling one another brother and sister was a term of endearment between lovers. So what this passage is leading toward is this: fall in love with God’s Word.

It is easy to know God’s word. And to apply God’s word. But what keeps you growing, what keeps you strong morally and spiritually, is to truly love God’s word. To want to learn more of it. To seek out more of what it is saying and what it means to you.

4. You can prepare to face temptation by Seeking Out Wisdom and Understanding

Knowing God’s Word is important. Having the wisdom and understanding to know how to live out that knowledge and when to apply that knowledge is also very important. You don’t want to be the kind of person that, as my friend Shawn says, “Does not have the common sense God gave lettuce”.

I had a friend in college. His name was Mark. You may have remembered me sharing about him before. He was training to be a youth pastor. He was trying to be sexually abstinent until marriage. He often failed. Then he came up to us guys who he talked about his personal life on a daily basis with, and he said, “You know what, I came to a conclusion. It is a lot easier not to sleep with a person if you do not lie in bed naked with them.” Mark had knowledge and enthusiasm. He needed to seek out some wisdom. So do we all.

5. You can prepare to face temptation by Knowing the Voice of the Lord

Verse 24 says, “Listen….pay attention to the words of my mouth”. You need to be able to hear the Lord when he is speaking to you.

The Lord speaks to us most clearly through his word. But the Lord speaks to us in our day to day lives. Sometimes through our conscience. Sometimes through our memory. Sometimes through circumstances.

I remember one time where I was feeling particularly tempted to turn away from some commitments I had made to the Lord. No joke, every radio station I changed it to had some reference to the Lord or wisdom. Rock station “My Own Prison” by Creed. Classic rock station “Cats in the Cradle”. Contemporary Christian station, “What if I stumble”. Sometimes…when you are a little thick headed like me God hits you over the head to get your attention.

But if you are used to listening to God, letting him guide your decisions, letting him speak to your heart, listening to your conscience, you will hear God speaking to you, throwing up all sorts of warning flares when you are about to stumble into a tempting situation. You just need to listen.

Having laid the groundwork in the first four verses in preparing the young man to face temptation, the father tells a story to illustrate his point. Just as a side note, if you really want to communicate something to someone, paint a picture. Let them see what you are saying and not just hear it. And a lot of times if you paint a picture in someone’s mind you also help them feel what you are saying as well.

The story is about a young man who is simple. In Proverbs the word “simple” means naïve and unwise. It means in this passage is the opposite of one who has prepared by knowing the law and having wisdom. This person is, like the passage says later on, like an ox going to the slaughter.

The story begins with him walking down the street. It is getting close to dark. People of good reputation are in their homes. Seedier characters are starting to find their way to the streets. He does not seem to be aware of his surroundings. He is simply wandering around, looking for nothing in particular. He happens to be in the place where the seductress, the immoral woman, is at. And she is seeking someone to enjoy the night with. This brings me to the first of our points in how to overcome temptation.



1. We can overcome temptation by not being at the wrong place at the wrong time

Jennifer and I have been on a diet since New Years. We have both lost a little weight. We are

using Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers requires us to have a certain amount of discipline in avoiding temptation through not being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

For instance, and this may seems small, but we often eat before we go grocery shopping. We find when we do we don’t buy as much that is bad for us, and when we do we are eager to buy what is on our list and be done with it.

We also avoid certain restaurants and businesses entirely, because we know we will not eat healthy if we go there, and it will be harder to manage our portions. For instance, any restaurant that has the word “all you can eat” or “buffet”, even if inexpensive, is definitely out of consideration when we have a date.

I also, in many situations, avoid being alone as a minister with a woman. I don’t worry about this if the person is significantly older than I am, or in life situations where it cannot be avoided. But, most of the time, I try to not be alone with a woman who is not related to me. This is both to protect my reputation and avoid temptation.

Back to the story. As we see this woman coming along, she intercepts him in the streets. It appears she is dressed provocatively. But very little is said about her appearance. A lot is said about her words. It is what she says that does all the damage. This teaches us a number of things.

2. We can overcome temptation by knowing who to listen to.

The author of Proverbs pleads with the reader to listen to his voice. To listen to his father’s voice. To listen to God’s voice.

The immoral woman, whose way leads ultimately to misery and death, also uses her voice and her tools of persuasion. She pretends to care about him. She pretends to be familiar with him even though she does not really know him. She appeals to all his senses. But she has only bad things in mind for him.

We need to know who to listen to. In this life you will have all sorts of people asking you or trying to convince you to do all sorts of different things. You are going to have to decide who you are going to listen to. God or the crowd. The wisdom of your parents, or the other kids at school. The people who tell you how to get rich quick, or the people that tell you how to be wise with your money. Knowing who to listen to makes all the difference in your life, and how happy you will be.

3. We can overcome temptation by NOT being guided by our glands or self-esteem needs instead of our minds

As I said before, the seductive woman here talks a good game. She does a couple of things to entice our simple, stupid man. First, she appeals to all of his senses. She talks about the Egyptian cotton, the food she has, the way the room she will take him to will smell. She lets him know he will feel nice things, she says nice words.

She appeals to his desire to feel special. She uses the personal “you” three times. I have sought “you”. I want “you”. I want to see “your” face. I wanted to find “you”.

If we are going to overcome temptation, we are going to have to use our minds to discipline our appetites and instinct. Escaping sin does not come naturally. Ask Adam and Eve. If we don’t use our mind to discipline our glands and our instincts we are going to have all sorts of problems. And, we are going to have to deal with our self-worth issues. Because if we have places in our life where we are insecure, where we have not dealt with our self-esteem issues, those are going to be the places we are weak to temptation and to be taken advantage of.

4. We can overcome temptation by guarding against our tendency to rationalize or excuse sin

The woman says that she has made her “peace offerings”. She is saying that she has done the right thing. She has gone to church. She has prayed. She has put some money in the offering plate. So, because she has done the right thing she has built up enough favor with God, and by proxy he has too, so that they can have a night of fun without having to worry about feeling guilty for doing the wrong thing.

We can do all sorts of things to justify our sinful behavior.

“I have worked hard. I deserve this.”

“I am not feeling good. Giving into temptation will make me feel better, and after all God wants me to be happy, right?”

“I do the right thing all the time. Certainly God wouldn’t begrudge me having a little fun.”

You know the excuses you make. It is so easy to rationalize and justify doing something wrong. Just because you have a good excuse or a good story does not make doing wrong any more right. You might be able to fool yourself for a moment. You are not fooling anyone else.

5. We can overcome temptation by remembering that temporary pleasures often bring long-term consequences

The woman goes on to describe how pleasureful the evening will be. She tries to convince him, through talking about her husband being gone, that there will be no consequences for his actions. She may be telling the truth about the pleasures of the night. They may have a very sensual, exciting, pleasureful time. But she is wrong in implying that it will just be a little fun and the whole thing will be over. One night of bad behavior can have consequences for the rest of your life.

Our culture often tries to convince us that we can avoid long-term consequences. The truth is it only takes one mistake to alter the course of the rest of your life.

You only have to drive drunk once to kill someone. You only have to sleep with someone once to destroy a family, or get a disease that you will never be cured from. You only have to lose your temper once, and you can be in prison for years. You only need to make one bad purchase, and you can be in crippling debt for years. You only have to take meth or crack once, and you can be hooked for life. Surrendering to temptation will always cost you more than you want to pay, and promise less than it can deliver.

6. We can overcome temptation by knowing that your choices today determine your paths for tomorrow

The word “path” is used over and over again in this passage, as is the word “way” and street. She finds him on the “path”. He is walking down the “street”. He follows her as an “ox goes to the slaughter”. We are to avoid her “ways” because her house is the “way to hell”. We are told not to “stray into her paths”.

This is said because often our choices today become our paths for tomorrow. An alcoholic does not set out to be a drunk. He makes one choice, which leads to another, which leads to a habit. The same is true of sexual temptation here. Or of any temptation. Our choices today become our habits tomorrow. And our sin habits destroy us. One little bit at a time.

Each day we have a myriad of choices. Each of them have consequences. Jesus told us in life we are given a choice between two Masters. We cannot serve both of them. We must choose. One master offers a narrow path that leads to life, and life eternal. One master offers a broad and easy path that leads to death and judgment.

I hope and pray you will choose the way of Jesus. And when you fail, or if you failed. I hope you know that God is eager for you to turn to him, repent, and start anew. Amen