“My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.” (Proverbs 5:1-6 ESV)
This is a warning against adultery, but this can be applied in a much broader way other than just to the subject of marital infidelity. For the “forbidden woman” could be the adulterous church or the market-driven and flesh-driven “church” (businesses incorporated under the state) of today here in America. Or the “forbidden woman” can be a false teacher or preacher or a politician or a nation’s government or the news media. For the “forbidden woman” is anything that lies to us and leads us away from our Lord.
But if we are easily led astray by whomever or whatever it is usually because of what is stored up in our hearts. For the Scriptures teach us that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (see Matthew 15:17-20; cf. Luke 6:45). So it is the human heart which leads people astray and which tempts them to sin and to do what is evil in the sight of God.
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15 ESV).
But sometimes it is just plain ignorance, i.e. lack of knowledge and understanding of what a person is really made of and what he/she is really all about. And here I am not speaking of knowingly being led into what is obvious sin, but I am speaking of us being deceived into giving our loyalty and devotion to another person or to a political party or to a government or to an institutional “church” (the forbidden woman) because of what we have always been taught and because of our upbringing, etc.
So, before we go giving our loyalty and devotion to another person or to a group of people or to a nation’s government or to a political party or to a particular politician or to a news source or to a preacher, etc., we should bathe these decisions in much prayer and in the study of the Scriptures seeking the Lord’s counsel and wisdom and understanding of who these people are and regarding what they are really all about and what the Scriptures teach us regarding putting our trust in other human beings.
For, again, the “forbidden woman” is not just an adulteress leading people into sexual sin, although that is a huge problem in America today, even within the gatherings of the church and among professing Christians. But the “forbidden woman” is anyone or anything that leads us astray from our pure devotion to the Lord Jesus and that leads us into any kind of sin or that leads us to be followers of other human beings over and above being followers of Christ and of the teachings of his word (the gospel).
So, we need to be people of God who use good judgment and discernment and who pray and seek the Lord regarding these matters so that we are following the counsel of God and his wisdom and discernment and so that we are not taken captive by the seductress (the forbidden woman) who would lead us astray to follow after the gods of this world, instead. And there are many preachers who fall into this category, so we need to be very discerning about who we listen to, and we should test everything that we hear.
“And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
and you say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.” (Proverbs 5:7-14 ESV)
Much of this covers what was just talked about in the section above. But this is a warning against rejecting the wisdom of God and of the teachings of the Scriptures, and this is a warning against using your own fleshly judgment and discernment and going by your feelings rather than to seek the counsel of the Lord and to listen to his warnings and to obey his commands. For if we ignore God and his word and we choose to go our own way, instead, despite the warnings, then we are definitely on dangerous ground.
But many foolish people ignore God’s warnings and they go their own way, instead, and they end up following the wrong people while ignoring wise counsel, for they think they know better. But they are unwise and worldly and self-indulgent and reckless, and so it will not end well for them. For by ignoring godly counsel and by following after these “forbidden women” they end up “going down the toilet,” i.e. they become useless, good for nothing, because their lives are wasted on the flesh, for not in submission to God.
And many are they who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who give off the appearance of being righteous while they are not, in truth, but it is just a performance. And they may be people who proclaim loyalty and devotion but who desert and depart from the faith, instead. For they portend one thing while they live another. And they reject godly counsel, and so they continue to head down the toilet, for they are the self-indulgent who are senseless, and if they remain on that path it will be the death of them, not life eternal.
So, be cautious about who you believe and who you follow, for not everyone is who they say that they are. For many are liars, deceivers, and manipulators who deceive the naïve and the undiscerning who too easily follow others and believe others without taking the time to test what they say and do in prayer and in the study of the Scriptures. And definitely do not go against what you already know is wrong (sinful) just because you are tempted to do so. Learn to say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God.
For the Scriptures teach us that if we walk according to the flesh, and if sin is what we practice (obey), and if we do not walk according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in holy living, then it doesn’t matter what we profess with our lips. We will die in our sins and we will not have eternal life with God. We will not enter into God’s heaven just because we call Jesus “Lord” and we do “good deeds” done in the flesh. But it is those who obey the Lord who have heaven secured for them.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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