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Man, the title of my sermon this morning is Landmines. Landmines now, we all know what landmines are. These are explosives that are buried under the earth. Someone steps on them or a vehicle drives over them and they explode. They're extremely destructive and they've been used throughout the 20th century in lots of wars. But here's the thing that you may not know about landmines is that after the war is over, they don't always all get removed. A lot of them are just still out there. They're just landmines still out there in the earth, even in places where wars have not been fought for many, many years or even decades. How many unexploded landmines do you think are out there just waiting for someone to step on them? How many are deployed right now? I did some research on this and from multiple sources, I came up with this number, somewhere between 100 and 110 million unexploded landmines installed right now all over the world, 100 to 110 million. What an incredible number of landmines that are out there and then there are an equal number that are stockpiled by various governments that could be ready to be deployed or installed in the future. In fact, they kill or maim about 5,000 people every single year and about half of those are children. For example, in 2021, 5,544 people were killed or maimed by landmines. Most were civilians, half of them children. They're just out playing outside and boom, landmine. About 60 million people in nearly 70 countries and territories live within the risk of landmines on a daily basis. Now don't worry, they're not in the United States, they're not in Canada, they're not in Mexico. These are the places where they're predominantly located. Egypt, 23 million landmines. Angola, 9 to 15 million. Iran, 16 million. Afghanistan, 10 million landmines. Iraq, 10 million, China, 10 million, Cambodia, up to 10 million. Mozambique, 2 million, Bosnia, 2 to 3 million and that's not even a big country. Croatia, 2 million, Somalia, 2 million, Eritrea, 1 million, Sudan, 1 million. So most of it is obviously Middle East, Eastern Europe, they're in Russia, they're in also Central South America. And until recently, each year about 100,000 mines are being removed and about 2 million more being planted every year. If demining efforts remain about the same as they are now and so no new mines are laid, it will still take 1100 years to get rid of all of the world's active landmines. And not only do landmines kill and maim people, but they often make good agricultural land just totally unusable because you can't get into it because it's filled with landmines. It's not safe to work that land. Now what does this have to do with the Bible? Well this morning, I'm going to use landmines as a parable, as an illustration for what sin is like because there are all kinds of traps that the Bible warns us about. The Bible typically uses the word snare to talk about a trap that someone could inadvertently walk into. And if you think about a landmine, that's what it is. It's just a modern day trap, it's just a really effective trap or snare. Well the devil has a lot of snares that are out there in this world. If you're there in Proverbs 22 verse 4, look down at your Bible, it says, by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. So look, you want to succeed in life, you want to have riches, you want to have honor, you want to have life, well what's the path to getting there? You got to be humble and you got to fear the Lord, right? But look at the next verse, verse 5, thorns and snares, that's thorns and traps. And when the Bible says snare, it's talking about someone who has laid some kind of a man-made trap. I mean this could be a hole in the ground with a bunch of branches over it, you step in and fall. You know, the proverbial, you step on something and then you're hanging from a tree by your leg or something. You know, we would think of more modern traps like bear traps or even land mines, right? We want to get really modern. But it says here that thorns and snares are in the way of the froward, right? Wicked people, their path is just covered in traps and thorns but he that does keep his soul shall be far from them. So apparently it's possible for us in our Christian lives to avoid the traps that are out there. We don't have to go through life just wondering are we going to step on a land mine? Are we going to be ensnared at any moment? No, because God's blessing will keep us far from these thorns and snares. But if we're froward, if we're contrary, if we're wicked, then we're going to have thorns and snares in our way. So if you would flip over to Proverbs chapter seven, humility, fear of the Lord, keeping our soul, keeping our heart with all diligence can help us to avoid the traps of this world, the land mines of this world. Land mine number one that I want to talk about this morning is the strange woman. Go to Proverbs chapter number seven, verse four. The Bible says, say unto wisdom thou art my sister and call understanding thy kinswoman that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. Now what is the strange woman? This is talking about the woman that is easy, the woman that is loose, the woman that is promiscuous, the woman that you meet in public and she wants to get physical with you. That is what the Bible calls the strange woman, okay? It's talking about why strange, what does strange mean? Strange means foreign meaning she's not your wife, she's not someone that you know, she's a stranger unto you and she's not someone from church, right? She's from out there, out in the world and it's a jungle out there. It's filled with land mines. And so they will keep you from the strange woman, the stranger which flattereth with her words. We jump down to verse 10 and we see a story about a young man being victimized by this woman. It says in verse 10, behold there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. She's loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets and lieth and wait at every corner. Look, these are the warning signs that you're dealing with the strange woman. These are the warning signs that you're about to step on a land mine and be blown apart, okay? Number one is she's in the attire of a harlot. You know, when you see women scantily clad, dressed like a hooker, well then take warning. Stay away. It says she has the attire of a harlot. Say, well I don't think that's very nice to, well, God's the one who wrote the Bible and he said this woman, not that she's a harlot, but that she's dressed like one. So if you're not a prostitute, don't dress like one. And if you do dress like one, don't get upset if people then peg you as the strange woman and assume that you're the strange woman because you're dressed like one. The attire of a harlot, subtle of heart. She's loud and stubborn, right? This is the opposite of what the Bible talks about as the ideal woman who has a meek and quiet spirit. This woman's the opposite. She's loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets and lieth and wait at every corner. You know why it says she's lying in wait at every corner? Because there's 100 to 110 million women like this in the world. Coincidentally the exact same number of active land mines. And it turns out it's the exact same number. Because of the fact that, yeah, there are just so many of these land mines out there you gotta beware. You gotta watch out. Except it's not 60 million people in 70 countries, it's pretty much 4 billion men in this world pretty much that are gonna be at some point susceptible to stepping on this particular land mine. And so it says in verse 13, she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows. Notice that first of all she just meets him and she's just already physical with him immediately. She's kissing him. And then oh, I have peace offerings. She's using religious terminology I guess to try to get him to get his guard down. I guess make it seem like she's really spiritual or something. This day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face and I found thee. In reality he's a random dude. She literally just grabbed the first guy that she saw but she claims that she was specifically seeking him. She makes him feel like he's so special and that he's the only one. When in reality she's just his, he's just her mark for the evening and it could be anyone. I've decked my bed with coverings of tapestry with carved works and you know she begins to allure through the lust of the flesh and talk him into this. Verse 21, with her much fair speech she caused him to yield. With the flattery of 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 stalks till a dart striked through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life. So the Bible compares the strange woman to a trap that's just waiting to spring and just like the bird hasteth to the snare just stupidly goes into the trap. The mouse foolishly just runs for the cheese and gets caught in the trap just like that stupid young man will be sucked in by these type of loose women who flatter them and compliment them and make them feel special and they allure through the lust of the flesh with their scanty clothing and the Bible is warning you don't be stupid because look a dart shall strike through his liver. This is just sudden death just out of nowhere. I mean think about a dart coming at you swiftly it's unexpected and it's just a mortal wound just dart to the liver right it's like stepping on a landmine. Harken unto me now therefore verse 24 of ye children and attend to the words of my mouth let not thine heart decline to her ways go not astray in her paths for she hath cast down many wounded yea many strong men have been slain by her her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death. Now notice in verse 26 we have many wounded and then we have many slain. Here's the thing about a landmine you know you step on a landmine it's not going to kill you every single time. I mean I guarantee you a lot of people who step on a landmine are going to die but a lot of people they're not going to die they're just going to blow their foot off. They're just going to blow their leg up or maybe if they're trying to dig it out with their hands they see it they don't know what it is pick it up often the injuries are blowing off fingers hands blowing your face off or something like that. You know it's not just death but it's also permanent physical damage to you from messing with these landmines stepping on these landmines I mean you could be maimed and permanently disfigured for the rest of your life. Well guess what sin does the same thing to you. You know you get involved with a strange woman and it may not necessarily kill you although it could but also you could just end up paying child support for the next 20 years. You could end up carrying around some disease for the rest of your life. You could end up with all kinds of problems shame reproach repercussions that follow you right. You see God obviously is merciful and gracious and he's constantly giving us another chance and his mercies are new every morning but make no mistake about it the effects of sin on your life are often permanent they're permanent. Don't just always think like oh I can just live a sinful life and then later I'll make it all right with the Lord I'll come back it's going to be great. Look obviously no matter how sinful your life has been in the past hey come on home right the Lord's waiting to welcome you back into the fold. You know first of all if you're saved you can never lose your salvation but second of all he wants you to be restored to fellowship he wants you in church he wants you serving him no matter how bad you've screwed up in the past if you're saved and you're still breathing air God can still use you if God were done with you you'd be dead but here you are God loves you God wants to use you God's got a place for you on the one hand but on the other hand let's just warn the young people and tell them the truth that if you go out and commit these things if you go out and commit fornication if you go out and get drunk if you go out and take drugs in many cases you will do permanent damage to your life that can never be fixed and the people who've been there they could tell you yeah I did permanent damage to my body I mean people who take drugs drink alcohol live that lifestyle they do permanent damage to their brain to their body God's punishment and God's wrath can often do a lot of punishment or a lot of permanent damage as well and then you know yes we can get right with God we can get back on the horse but you're still going to carry some of those scars with you or even some of those serious wounds with you for the rest of your life and so she cast out many wounded yay many strong men have been slain by her now if you would flip over to chapter 22 okay how do we avoid the strange woman because I don't want to step on that landmine you don't want to step on that landmine right well of course the Bible started out by saying that we've got to love and embrace wisdom and understanding we must love knowledge wisdom and understanding we should want to learn the Bible listen to preaching read our Bibles and be wise to these things that we don't just stupidly foolishly fall for all the tricks that are out there right we don't want to be children that are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive we want to be smart and wise to be able to avoid these things the Bible also tells us you know go not the way to her house you've got to just stay far like if you know it's a minefield go around it right don't you say well I think I can successfully navigate this minefield wouldn't it be safer just to take the long way around you know no matter how inconvenient it is would you even want to take the chance would you even want a one percent chance of stepping on a landmine you know I was reading about when militaries clear an area of landmines they seek to have an eighty percent success rate so they from what I read that it's acceptable for the military to have eighty percent success of clearing an area of landmines they consider that a good success for their purposes of just getting their army across but that for humanitarian purposes they said that they strive for more like a ninety nine point six percent success rate you know because if people are actually going to be living there and playing there and being there you know eighty eighty percent is just not going to get I don't know about you I don't even want to play in the ninety nine point six place I'd rather just be somewhere where there's never been a landmine ever like Arizona okay obviously a lot of these people you know don't have a choice they didn't choose where they're born or where they grow up but I'm just saying man it's scary the safest thing to do is to just steer clear of the strange woman don't even go near that minefield and guess what the nightclub is a minefield the dance club is a minefield the bar is a minefield right the dating app is a minefield because it's just where all of these strange women are going to be lurking and you got to watch out you got to be careful be sober be vigilant while you're turning there you're there in Proverbs twenty two and in Ecclesiastes seven twenty six it says I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets what are snares and nets the traps I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands as bands but watch this key part of this verse I'm going to read to you who so pleaseth God shall escape from her but the sinner shall be taken by her so who so pleaseth God shall escape her look God can protect you from the strange woman stay right with God and he will keep you from the strange woman he'll protect you look what the Bible says and this is just almost the same thing as what I just read to you look at Proverbs twenty two fourteen the mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit he that is a horde of the Lord shall fall there in so notice what the Bible said if you please God you'll escape from her if you're a horde of the Lord you'll fall in that pit so really your success rate in navigating this thing of the strange woman is based upon whether God's pleased with you or not in many ways you know so if you're going through your life and you're pleasing God you're going to church you're reading the Bible you're going soul winning you're doing the stuff that you're supposed to be doing you can at least know that God is directing your path and that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord look if I had to walk across a minefield I'd be quoting that verse non-stop like the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord you know in all our ways acknowledge him he shall direct thy paths in all our ways acknowledge him he shall direct our paths I'm acknowledging you God I'm acknowledging you right if you had to walk across my that's life though life is a minefield and especially if you're a young man dating is a minefield Dating is a minefield big time and you know what, dating is hard enough when God's on your side but at least you know, hey, God can protect me from the strange woman. God can protect me from the wrong type of woman. You know, I would hate to go into dating not just feeling like I'm on my own and that God's not looking out for me because how many people do you know who married someone, they turned out to be a psycho or a weirdo. It's like you got to be careful. It's a jungle out there, right? So you've got to pray, you've got to walk with God, you've got to look for his guidance in your life because that's your best bet to not step on a landmine. The strange woman is out there, okay? Look at chapter 23 verse 27, it says, for a whore is a deep ditch. And again, these are all descriptions of a trap. A strange woman's a narrow pit. She also lieth in weight as for a prey and increaseth the transgressors among men. That's chapter 23 verse 28. She's like hunting, the adulterous, the Bible says, will hunt for the precious life. She's there to trap you and ensnare you and if you're foolish, you will step on that landmine and be irreparably destroyed. So landmine number one is a strange woman. Landmine number two, drugs and alcohol, okay? Look at the very next verse after we talk about this deep ditch, the narrow pit. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright and don't miss this, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Now stop and think about this, biting like a serpent and stinging like an adder. Is that something that happens slowly or quickly? I mean if you've ever seen someone get bit by a snake, it happens in the blink of an eye. I mean it's just, everything's fine and then just, right, the thing just lunges. I mean in fact, certain snakes are some of the fastest creatures out there, right? I mean isn't the cobra can go like, I don't know, seven miles an hour or maybe can go like way faster than that. Does anybody know? Who's got those stats, you home school kids out there? I mean Solomon, where you at man, you know, you used, I knew it. Black Mamba, 12 miles an hour. Alright, he was too humble to speak up, but anyway the point is that, you know, these things are fast. I mean they just jump out and bite you and it's just like bah, you know, they bite like a serpent, it stings like an adder and you know what, that's what the Bible is saying about alcohol and the thing about alcohol is that it's kind of a slow burn as far as like you drink a little alcohol, you drink a little more, over the course of minutes or hours you become more and more drunk and whatever and people, you know, slowly slip into a life of alcoholism or whatever, but guess what, eventually at the last it bites like a serpent, it stings like a, because the drunk driving car accident happens in a moment. You know, the STD is contracted in a moment. You know, the injuries and the crimes committed and being under arrest and being shot or tasered by the police, that all happens in a moment. It all happens that fast, you know, and so these things are dangerous. The strange woman is dangerous. Drugs and alcohol are dangerous and you know what, you could probably walk across a minefield a couple times, it'd be fine. Does that mean the minefields are safe? Just be like, well, I don't understand what all the hype is about landmines because I crossed like five minefields and look, 10 fingers and 10 toes. So therefore minefields are safe. That's foolish because obviously a lot of things you can get away with for a while, but eventually it's like, you know, yeah, you could go drunk driving several times without getting a DUI or without getting an accident, but eventually you're going to get that DUI. You're eventually going to get in that accident. It eventually is going to come and it's going to hurt and it's going to do damage that in many ways can be irreparable. And so at the last, alcohol bites like a serpent and stings like an adder and then it's like a mine within a mine because then it leads you also to behold strange women and to start uttering perverse things and so forth. And let me tell you something, drugs are so dangerous, they're so harmful and yet today so many young people are taking drugs today. It's mind blowing. It's incredible. It just seems like so many young people are fooling around with drugs today. And part of this is because of the fact that now all of a sudden, you know, marijuana is legal and so that has removed some of the stigma. And here's the, I'm not, I'm not saying that we should have laws against a plant, but here's the thing. Just because the government says it's legal doesn't mean that it's okay. See I don't really care from my perspective whether drugs are legal or illegal because either way I'm not using them. My kids aren't using them. I'm going to preach hard and hope that my church members aren't using them because I don't really need a law to tell me not to take drugs because I'm not stupid enough to take drugs. Maybe you are stupid enough to take drugs, but I'm not. And let me just say this. If you take drugs, you're an idiot. I mean look, drugs are so harmful to your body. And think about like, think about how hard it is just to stay healthy for a normal person. I mean, you know, you know, maybe you young people don't understand, but you know, when you start getting in your thirties, forties, fifties, you start having all these physical issues and physical problems and health problems, right? Can you imagine just like putting substances in your body to just give yourself more problems? And you know what? If you, you love to take opioids like Percocet and morphine and oxycodone and Oxycon, you must just love to be constipated. Sounds fun, right? You just love to have withdrawals. You just love to wake up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in your limbs. And for your fingers to hurt, your feet to hurt, your toes, it's like, what are you doing? It's stupid. It's ridiculous. It's absurd. Don't do it. Do not do it. And look, I know there are many people in this room that have used drugs in the past and you say, well, you know, I guarantee you the people who've used drugs in this room that are right with God would say, yes, doing drugs is stupid. Don't do it. It's stupid. I've made that mistake. Don't make the same mistake. And they don't get offended by, oh, you know, he said I'm stupid. You know, we've all done stupid things. And you know what? Doing drugs is a stupid thing. Okay. I've never done drugs, but even just times that I've been given prescription drugs and just taken prescription drugs just for a few days or just one course of it or whatever, there's so many harmful side effects even just in that week of taking those painkillers or whatever. I'm just like, man, how can anybody do this recreationally when it's just such a travesty on the human body even just for a week to take this stuff? I mean, I'm not trying to avoid that stuff as much as I can even when I was legitimately injured because I know that it's so harmful. And you know what? The thing about drugs too is that people could say, oh, I know people, they take drugs and they're fine. Not until all of a sudden they're not. Because it's one bad batch of drugs and your brain's fried. You know, successful people, they snort cocaine and then one time they get a bad batch of cocaine, brain's fried. Now they're a homeless person. Now they're wandering around the city talking to ghosts, okay? And they have no hope of ever getting their brain back. Right? Is that worth it? Oh, it's so fun. And you know, today, like I just learned about this thing recently, like in the last week or two, I guess it's like a marijuana pen. Who knows what I'm talking about? It's like, is this like a vaping thing? Are you like vaping marijuana? Is that what that is? So I guess this is the thing that the kids are doing. They're vaping with a marijuana pen or whatever. And they just think it's harmless and whatever. But I'm telling you, number one, it leads. It's a gateway drug, number one. But number two, even the marijuana itself, and you can laugh at this or think it's stupid, it's silly, your past generation doesn't know, can fry your brain. Anything. Any mind-altering substance can fry your brain. It's just that simple. Because different people have different propensities. I mean, look, a lot of people get exposed to toxic mercury and be fine. But then there are other people who get exposed to it and they go completely crazy. So it's like, anytime you put dangerous chemicals in your body or mind-altering chemicals in your body, you're rolling the dice that something could fry your brain. Now here's the thing. If you are, again, going to the hospital because you're actually injured or sick or whatever, and a doctor gives you medication or something, and you're a person who loves the Lord, don't you think that with all your friends and family praying for you and you're in the hospital and you're doing what you believe is medically right, that God could protect you from those kind of things? You know, God's directing your steps. God's ordering your steps. He's directing your paths. God's looking down. He loves you. Mom's praying for you. Dad's praying for you. Your friends are praying for you. Your pastor's praying for you. Right? You think you'll probably be okay even if they do hit you with some heavy drugs and stuff. You're going to be fine because God's looking out for you. You can at least know that, hey, I'm in God's hands. Whatever happens is God's will. But let me ask you this. Do you think you have that kind of assurance when you're going out and getting the marijuana pen and taking Percocets for fun and doing this stuff, do you really think you have that same assurance of, well, God's going to protect me? Or you think you're kind of going out on your own at that point because you're outside of the will of God and when you're out there committing those kind of sins, you might just fall into that deep ditch. You might fall into that snare. If you're froward, you're not going to listen to your parents, you're not going to listen to church, you're not going to listen to the Bible, you know, then you're going to go into all those thorns and snares, whereas if you please God, you'll escape those things. And so don't take drugs. I don't care if it's marijuana, I don't care if it's prescription drugs that you're abusing because I'm telling you, these things are extremely harmful. They're addictive and they can do permanent damage to your body, to your brain. I mean, there's so many problems with these drugs. Just look at all the side effects that are just listed with these drugs. Everything that they're doing to your kidneys and your liver and your brain and all these different things. Like taking this stuff recreationally is so foolish. You know what should be going into your mouth? Food and water. You know, and maybe, you know, you want to get radical, let's eat a multivitamin, okay? But you know, you don't need all this stuff. And you know, steroids? That's another stupid thing to take, okay? You know, you take steroids, yeah. Oh, I know a guy who took steroids and he's fine. Okay, well there's another guy who took steroids and his stones have turned into little raisins. Okay? So you want to roll the dice on that one? Because you know, there's always going to be the example of somebody who's fine and then there's the example of the guy who's not fine. Then there's Lance Armstrong who got cancer of the stones and had to have one of them surgically removed and almost died because he was doping so hard as a cyclist. Because he's taken steroids. Because he's taken EPO and other performance enhancing drugs that everybody thought was safe and it's fine, it's no big deal and you know. It's like, it's sort of like the devil comes to Eve and tells her, hey God just, you know, he doesn't want you to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil because he doesn't want you guys to be like gods, you know. He doesn't want you to have the knowledge that he has. And so, you know, people will try to act like, oh, you know, they're just trying to keep these beneficial steroids from you. They're trying to hold you back so that you can't get the big muscles that, you know, that they have or whatever. Folks, the reason that steroids are illegal, the reason why there's so much literature about why you shouldn't take steroids is because you shouldn't take steroids. Because they're harmful. Why do you think that, why do you think heroin's illegal? Is it just the government doesn't want you to have any fun? No. And look, again, I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with these laws. The point is though, because I don't believe in a nanny state. I believe in the church and the family and so forth enforcing these things. But the point is that these laws exist for stupid people to protect them from themselves because of the fact that steroids and drugs are so dangerous, they're so harmful. And here's the thing about buying illegal substances, you know, at least when you buy something legally, the FDA is involved, you know, for whatever that's worth, right? Let me ask you this. Let's say you needed medicine. Would you feel better going down to Walgreens, getting it from a clean building and a little paper box with a label on it and everything? Or would you just feel better some skeevy dude outside of a 7-Eleven with just pills in his bare hand or something? You know what I mean? Like stop and think about it. I mean, look, I know a lot of people go down to Mexico and they get discount prescription drugs in Mexico. I don't know how good I feel about that though because I've seen the knockoff Ray-Bans and the knockoff iPod and they don't look that real. And I'm looking at, you know, I'm looking at some of those Gucci purses and stuff down in Tijuana and I'm just thinking like, I don't know how good these people are making drugs. You know what I mean? I'd be a little, I mean, wouldn't you feel better about getting drugs that are made in the USA? And let me tell you something. You go out there and you're buying all these illegal drugs. You're buying all these illicit substances. Who knows where they're coming from and people are dying every day from overdosing on fentanyl because they bought some sketchy supply of fentanyl and the effective dose and the overdose are so similar that it's just so easy to just get the wrong dose and die. Or to just get some weird cooked up drugs that somebody made and they don't really know what they're doing. It's like, it's like moonshine during prohibition and people are going blind and dying from drinking bad liquor, right? Because it's just being made by some hillbilly in his barn. He's not a chemistry expert. The guy has a fourth grade education. You want him to stealing alcohol for you? He doesn't know the difference between methyl and ethyl, okay? That don't make no difference to him. Well one of them will kill you. One of them will make you go blind, okay? And don't drink either of them, amen? But yeah, drugs and alcohol are a major landmine. Go if you would to Jeremiah chapter five. You know, this world's just filled with landmines. This world's filled with traps. You need God to protect you. You need God to guide the path of your steps so that you don't step on them. You need to embrace wisdom and understanding. Listen to your teachers. Don't despise instruction. Listen to your parents. Listen to your pastor because he's trying to keep you safe. You know, your parents tell you, hey, that girl is no good. Or stay away from that young man. You don't want to get involved with that guy. Oh, what do mom and dad know? You know, they might know stuff. You know, your parents tell you not to drink. Your parents tell you not to do drugs. Your parents tell you not to use steroids. They're right. Embrace the wisdom and understanding that comes from your elders, your teachers, from God's people, from the Bible itself. And more than anything, make sure that God is pleased with you so that he will guide you through the landmines of this world without you getting your limbs blown off. Landmine number three, landmine number one is a strange woman. Landmine number two, drugs and alcohol. Landmine number three is false teachers and false religion. This is another landmine that's out there. It says in Jeremiah 5 23, but this people had the revolting and rebellious heart. They are revolted and gone. Neither say there in their heart, let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain both the former and the latter in his season. He reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholding good things from you. For among my people are found wicked men. They lay wait as he that said it snares. They set a trap. They catch men. Who are these wicked people? Well for sake of time, let's jump to the punch line. Verse 31 is the context. These are who these wicked men are. The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so. According to this passage, these wicked men who lay wait, they set snares, they set a trap, they catch men. We're talking about false prophets. We're talking about false religion. The false prophets, the priests of false religion, they are the ones who are the hunters of men that are going to trap you. False religion is a landmine that you want to escape. Look at verse 27 as a cage is full of birds, right? Just like somebody who traps birds and then they have a cage full of birds that they trapped. So their house is full of deceit. Therefore they become great and wax and rich. They're wax and fat. They shine. So you've got all these false teachers out there and false prophets teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake, for the money. That's why they're in it. What is it that they preach that's harmful in this passage is they teach a permissive lifestyle. They won't preach against sin. They teach an anything goes type message and this is how they appeal to the flesh. These are your big mega church pastors. They're making just unholy amounts of money, super rich pastor, never preaches on sin, doesn't warn you about the landmines. You get sucked into this fake Christianity and this permissive living. Go if you would to Hosea chapter 9. You'll find something similar in Hosea chapter 9. You're in Jeremiah. Just go to the right in your Bible. You'll find all those short books toward the end of the Old Testament. Hosea, Ezekiel, Dan, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, right? So Hosea chapter 9 verse 7, the days of visitation are come. The days of recompense are come. Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool. What a shameful situation when the prophet's a fool. He's supposed to be a wise man. He's supposed to be a man of God. He's supposed to be speaking the word of the Lord and bringing truth, laying down wisdom, understanding, instruction, but the prophet's a fool. The spiritual man is mad. He's insane. He's nuts for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare, right? So again, same type of language we saw in Jeremiah about the prophet's setting a trap, laying a snare. The prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways and hatred in the house of his God. Now this grammar maybe is a little tough at first when you look at this, but slow down and don't miss the second half of that sentence. It says here, the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways. And then the second clause here, and hatred in the house of his God, there's no verb. Where's the verb on that second part there? But hatred in the house of his God is not a complete thought, is it? It's not a complete thought. So this is what it's going back to. The prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways. The prophet is hatred in the house of his God. The prophet is hatred in the house of his God, meaning this prophet doesn't love you at all. He doesn't love God. He hates you. Now you may think that, oh, the pastor down at so-and-so community bubble church, you know, or whatever, Fufu Baptist, you know, or not even Baptist because they had to take Baptist off the sign, so it's Fufu Bible Church, Fufu Community Church. You know, look, that guy, he's so nice. But if he doesn't preach on sin, if he doesn't warn you, if he doesn't preach hard, does he really love you? Because the Bible says that we need the pastor, the preacher, to cry aloud, spare not, show people their sins. We need somebody who gets up and preaches the word of God, thus saith the Lord, and preaches the whole counsel of God. And the pastor preaches permissiveness that tells you it's okay to drink, it's okay to sleep together before you're married, it's okay, and you might think, who would teach these things? Oh, it's out there, trust me. It's out there. The pastor that'll just encourage you to divorce your spouse and marry someone else, he'll just encourage you to do all of these things that are wrong, and he's just, of course, just, you know, hey, the homos are welcome as long as their money's green. Come on in. He might seem like a man of God, but he's hatred in the house of his God. He is not love, he's hatred. And the person who loves you tells you the truth. I mean, look, your parents love you, and they're always telling you, don't do this, do this, don't do that, watch out for this. Oh, my parents are always on my case. So your parents love you, and they're trying to warn, you know, it's like, hey, watch out for that minefield. Oh, Dad. Hey, there's a minefield over there. Oh, come on, Dad. What do you know? Yeah, you know, you're thinking back to, you know, yeah, there were mines there in World War II, okay, fine. They're still there. I mean, look, those mines in Egypt, you know, what country, here's a quiz, see if you're listening to the sermon, what country has more landmines than any other country in the world? Active landmines right now. Egypt. All right, I just said the answer, so I kind of screwed that up. Well, guess what? The vast majority of those landmines in Egypt, guess when they're from? Yeah, they're from like 50, 60, 70 years ago. They're from all of that conflict between Israel and Egypt in the early days of Israel as a nation, right? In the late 1960s, obviously the 40s, all those conflicts, hey, that's when those landmines were installed. And so you know what that tells me, the same landmines in our grandparents' generation are still there. The same landmines in your parents' generation are still there. You say, well, you don't understand, things are just different now. Dating's totally different now. You know, the drugs are totally different now. You know, the marijuana pen is totally harmless or whatever. It's not harmless. It's the same junk that's always been around in every generation because there's no new thing under the sun. And guess what? Human nature is human nature. And people, the same way people were in the Bible days is the same way people were in your parents' and grandparents' generation is the same way people are now, the same way people will always be. Human nature is human nature. There's no new thing under the sun. The wisdom of the Bible is relevant today. The wisdom of your grandparents is relevant today. The wisdom of your parents is relevant today. Maybe the technology has changed a little bit, but does it really matter whether you're rolling a doobie or smoking a marijuana pen? It's kind of the same end result, isn't it? What's it, John, what was the slang that you brought out earlier? Now you just play it dumb, huh? What's the marijuana pen called? A penjimin. There we go. See, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Come on, Dad. You don't even know what a penjimin is. Well guess what? It's the same junk the devil just repackages it for each generation to trick you with. And you know what? The people that are warning you are the people that love you. The church that preaches hard against sin, it's because the pastor's looking out for you. What do I gain as a pastor? What do I gain by getting up and preaching hard against stuff that I know people in the church are guilty of? It makes people upset. It makes people mad. It makes less people want to come to the church in many cases because I get up and preach hard on specific sins that could hit a little close to home with a lot of people and there have been lots of people over the years that have left the church because they don't want me preaching about stuff that they've done in the past or that they're doing right now. I mean look, why do you think virtually no pastor is going to preach about tattoos in 2023? Because like everybody has a tattoo practically now. But you know what? I don't care if every single church member has a tattoo. I'm going to keep preaching against, as long as there's a newborn baby that doesn't have a tattoo, I'll keep preaching against tattoos. As long as there is some clean spot of skin in this congregation, I will keep preaching against tattoos. I'm not going to stop. Now look, what do I gain by that? What's my motive? My motive is to try to warn young people not to do things that dishonor the Lord, not to make mistakes, not to commit sins. Why? I don't want them to commit fornication. Look, my life is already half lived. I've already dodged a lot of these bullets. I've already escaped a lot. I've been through most of the minefield. Obviously I have my own minefield that lies ahead of me. The minefield called 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. But I made it through that teenage minefield. I made it through the minefield of my 20s. I made it through the minefield of my 30s. And I'm telling you, I've been there. I've gone through the minefield. I can show you a path through that minefield where you will not get blown to pieces. They can ignore me and just go wherever you want. But then you know what? You might get blown apart. I can tell you a sure way to follow the Lord and get through that minefield. Why am I explaining this to you? Not for my benefit because I'm already through it. I could get up and just preach theological sermons that would make everyone happy. And I still get paid the same. I get, you're not going to believe this, I get paid the same whether I mention tattoos or not. Whether I say that there's a verse in the Bible that says thou shall not print any marks upon thy body. I get paid the same. You know what? I could go six months without even mentioning fornication and I'll get the same paycheck. I could go a year without ever talking about alcohol and I would still get paid the same. And the church attendance would probably be the same. Might even go up a little. I could never mention homos again and I'll still get paid the same. And the church will stay the same. Why do I talk about these things? Because I love you because I'm trying to warn you about these dangers and landmines that are out there. Your parents are taking an interest in your life not because they're just megalomaniacs who just want to micromanage you. Your parents are taking an interest in your life because they love you and they're trying to protect you. They're not just looking for a project, they just have nothing going on. If I didn't care, I'd just leave people alone. I wouldn't say anything. If I actually go to someone and correct them, it means that I actually care about that person. That's why you don't see me casting my pearls before swine, my friend. You don't see me giving that which is holy to the dogs. If you see me correcting people and explaining things to people, it's because I care about that person. Otherwise, I'm just like, okay, bye. You're right. Bye. See you. No skin off my back. Look, the pastor who loves you, the parent who loves you, the friend who loves you is going to warn you about stuff and tell you where the landmines are located. There are pastors out there who all they love is money. They don't love the people of God. They don't love God. They're not going to preach the truth. They're not going to preach hard on sin. They're not going to preach anything controversial. What's the motive for preaching something controversial? Is it so I can go viral on YouTube? That's not going to happen. I don't have a YouTube channel. I can't go viral, right? What's the motive? Hey, you know what the motive is? Because I'm called to preach the truth. And if I'm not going to preach the truth, then I'm done here. I'm going to pack up my things and go home and let someone else do the job. Because the whole point of being a pastor is to get up and preach the truth. And if you're not going to preach on anything controversial, what's the point? If I'm just going to get up and just preach stuff that everybody already knows and already agrees, don't steal. All God's people said, you know, okay, yeah, we do need to talk about stealing. But who's who was that totally new for? That was totally new for me. Say, Pastor Anderson, are you telling me stealing is not right? Because this is news to me. Okay, how about, hey, put God number one in your life. Who's that new? Anybody? Is that new for anybody? Jesus died on the cross. Raise your hand if you hear any, if something, this is new. God is love, anybody? Look, folks, obviously we do need to be reminded of these things. We need to be stirred up about these things and we need to talk about obviously the crucifixion of Christ, his death, his burial and resurrection. God is love. We need to talk about the fact that stealing is wrong. I get it. But let me tell you something. We also need to be educating God's people about the things they don't know and turning to Bible passages that they've never seen before and exposing things that our society says is fine and harmless and not a big deal and saying, no, God says that's a sin. God takes a hard line on things like fornication and adultery, drunkenness and warning about things like gambling and pornography and things that aren't always just obvious but actually preaching about the things that people need to be corrected on, right? Not just the things that are obvious. Otherwise what's the point? I mean if I'm just going to get up here and state the obvious and then you wonder why people think church is boring. Well, of course it's boring to show up somewhere and just have a pastor just tell you everything you already know and just state the obvious and he's afraid to touch on anything controversial because he's like a politician or something. Man, politicians make me want to throw up. I'm thinking 2024. I'm so glad, you know, I mean, 23, 25, but man, 2024 is going to hurt. This is going to be all this political stuff. Politicians are so annoying. They're the most annoying people to listen to. Like they just get asked a question. Like they just ask a straight question like, like they ask Donald Trump, like, you know, so you know, can a man become a woman? Ah, wow. I mean, ask me that question, Fidel. No. Hell no. What kind of stupid question is that? I mean, should this be like, can a man become a woman? No. No, they can't. A man will always be a man. A woman will always be a woman. Next question. Let's go. I mean, look, these debates will go so fast. Yeah, abortion is murder. All right, let's go. What do you get? What else you got? Bandit everywhere. Put the abortion doctor to death. Let's go. What, what's next? What are you up? All right. But this is why I'm not going to get elected, but you know what I already done been elected in the only election that matters. I'm elect in Christ Jesus. That's all that matters. And so the point is, you know, pastors have become like politicians where they're careful about what they say. They don't want to hit anything controversial. Why? Because they are not caring enough about you to warn you about the real dangers that are out there. So I'll close with this last thought. Proverbs 29 one. One last verse, uh, just to kind of close out the sermon on landmines. Remember there are a hundred million landmines out there in this world just waiting for someone to step on them. And don't forget that there are, uh, what? Sixty million people in 70 different countries. Sixty million people are literally at risk of stepping on a landmine every day. Like every day could be the day that they step on a landmine based on where they live. Sixty million people in 70 countries. That's pretty scary thought, right? Thank God we live in America. Thank God we don't live in one of these places. Thank God we don't have to worry that as our kids are going to school, they can step on a landmine or play with a landmine when they're out playing in the field. We're very blessed to live here in the United States of America. But you know what? Spiritually though, we're in the same boat as they are because we literally are in danger every day of stepping on a spiritual landmine. Whether that, and here's how that looks. The strange woman, right, getting involved with some floozy or you could flip this over and say the strange dude, but obviously the strange woman is more of a thing. Then number two, drugs and alcohol. There's always those temptations, try to get us abusing substances. All drugs, all alcohol, just stay away from all of it. And then number three, false religion. There are all kinds of false prophets and false teachers out there. Their motives are financial. Their motives are whatever, just for their own pride or personal glory or whatever wicked motive they have. But they're out there and what are they teaching you? They're teaching you all this permissive living, right? And they're teaching you to, to, you know, get free of the bondage of being an independent Baptist. Oh, I'm a recovering fundamentalist and you know, I'm, I, you know, I'm, this is what they said. I'm transitioning my church away from the King James. You know, the guy's probably transitioning in other ways too. But I'm saying, you know, oh, you know, we got to transition the church from the King James and, and you know, all these guys out there, they're trying to deconstruct King James only and deconstruct the fundamental, oh, the fundamental Baptist movement. So oppressive. Oh, it's so wonderful. The freedom of the liberal church, the freedom where you can just, you can just go to church half naked and you can just, you can, I mean the pastor will go get a tattoo with you. He'll tattoo you. You can tattoo each other. It's so great. I mean it's, there's always going to be these landmines out there where they're going to suck you in, they're going to trick you and you think it's cool until you get nailed, right? Until it bites you, until it stings you like a servant. So here's the final word of the sermon, chapter 29 verse one. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. Right? Just like stepping on a landmine, boom. If you're often reproved and you harden your neck, that's what happens. So you know, you keep hearing that sermon and you just keep ignoring the sermon. You keep hearing your parents telling you, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. Eventually if you harden your neck, you get destroyed. You get blown away. It's a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, that is truly the map to the minefield of this world, Lord. You've given us a map showing us where all the landmines are, Lord. Help us all to be smart enough to take heed and avoid those landmines, Lord. Help us also to listen to people that are older than us and wiser than us when they tell us about landmines that they've come across and when they've put a little flag and they've marked the ground saying, hey, there's a little flag here, there's a landmine here. Help us to be smart enough to realize that landmines can still be there 75 years later. And in fact, 2,000 years later, we've got the same landmines that the New Testament tells us about 3,000 years after the book of Proverbs, same landmines, Lord. Help us to be wise enough to avoid them and, Lord, most of all, we pray that you would guide our steps and that you would guide us away from the landmines, Lord, because you love us and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.