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All right, Proverbs chapter number 7, let's look down there at the first few verses. Sorry, verse number 1, it's my son, keep my words and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments and live and my law is the apple of thine eye, bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart, say unto wisdom thou art my sister and call understanding thy kin's women. There's a few subjects that this chapter deals with tonight and they're not new, they're ones that we've already covered and I've mentioned this from the very beginning, we started going through the book of Proverbs, there's going to be some repetition but it's important that we pay attention to the repetition and again, we're seeing here the admonishment to keeping God's words, to keeping these words of instruction, keep them with you. These are the words that are supposed to light up your path, that are supposed to shine before you and keep you in all wisdom to make the right decisions throughout your entire life. This book, these teachings are the most important, the Bible says that wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom with all that getting, get understanding. If you can get this wisdom down, there are so many pitfalls, so many traps, so many mistakes that you can avoid in your life and you can really be successful in serving God and not making really, really foolish mistakes that will just end up hurting you. Some mistakes that we make in life can affect you for the rest of your life. Some things that you do can have ramifications in this lifetime that can just never be repaired. And the main focus of this chapter, again, as it was in chapter five just two weeks ago, is that of the strange woman and we're going to get into that in a little bit but the importance of keeping these words just in your mind and in your heart at all times is going to lead your path. It will not lead you astray. That's why he uses these words, look, my son, he's pleading with his son, keep my words, lay up my commandments with thee, keep them with you, keep my commandments and live. There's a lot of things in his lifetime, you know, this is not talking about salvation, obviously we don't need to keep the commandments of the Lord to have our souls be saved from going to hell. We just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we're saved. We know that but you know what? Keeping God's commandments will help you physically stay alive in this lifetime. And it only makes sense. I mean, when you start getting into these sins, I mean, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal. All of these things will lead you to get into a place and a path of destruction where your life will be cut short early. I mean, it's just common sense. I mean, you can look at the world around you. I mean, people who are thieves. It's going to be a lot more likely you're going to be breaking in somewhere and you're going to get shot to death because you're stealing from the wrong person or, you know, murder or whatever. You know, all these different things, all the different sins that you get involved with will all lead you down that path of destruction. So we need to keep his commandments and live. It says in my law as the apple of thine eye. Right? An apple, so you know, obviously this is poetic language, but something to behold. That is really good to look upon. Something that you desire, something that you can look at and say, wow, I really want this. I really enjoy this. And he's talking about that with God's law. Now, a lot of people these days have disdain for God's law. They don't want to hear, you go to a church and be like, oh, you're preaching on God's law. I thought we're in grace. I don't want to hear about God's law. I just want to hear about how much God loves me. Well, look, God's law is the ways of life. I want you to have the best life possible. And the way you're going to do that is by taking God's law and looking at God's law as the apple of your eye. Take these commandments and live. Turn, if you would, to Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. And you know what's really cool about Psalm 119? It's all about God's law. It's all, I mean, there is so much in Psalm 119, virtually every single verse has a reference to God's law. It's his law, his commandments, his judgments, and it uses different synonyms. I think there's roughly seven synonyms that you get used over and over and over again, all talking about God's law. And I think there's only, I did all the study on this a few years ago. There's only a few verses that don't actually have the mention, but they're tied in with like a verse before or after it. You know, it's the same thought, even though it's an individual verse. But the whole chapter, Psalm 119, is about God's law. And we're going to look at verse number nine, because this also helps to explain the importance of keeping God's law in your heart and the way that we just ought to look at God's law and how we ought to love the commandments of the Lord and embrace them and don't bristle against them. Embrace them. Say, yes, this is good for me. This is my health. This is my life. I am going to study God's law and I'm going to love it and I'm going to do it and I'm going to do my best to follow God's law. Because it's the right way. It's the right path. Look at verse number nine. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. Say, you want to cleanse your way? You want to walk in the right way? How is he going to do that? By taking heed according to God's word. Verse number 10. With my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. One of the great benefits, I was just talking when we went through our announcements about, you know, the memorization chapter. Why do we do these memorizations week after week after week? Why is that even a part of anything? Because it's important the Bible talks about loving God's law, keeping his law in your heart. And he says here, thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. Do you want to be a good child of God? Do you care about God's commandments? If you care about them, meditate on them. Get them in your heart so that you don't sin against God. This will help you to clean up sin in your life. Now look, we all are sinful. I know we all have a sinful nature. We have different struggles and different battles that we're dealing with. If you have a specific, if you could sit there in your chair right now and think, you know what, I've really been dealing with thus and so sin in my life. I've been having a hard time getting this sin out of my life. You know, I've been struggling with it and look, we've all been there. We all go through this. And if you think hard enough right now, I can think of things where I'm failing at. And the best way, if you want to get the victory over this, find scripture that deals specifically with that sin that you're having a problem with and memorize it. Keep God's word in your heart. Why? Because the next time, whatever that may be, you know, whatever you're tempted to do, whatever it is that you're failing at, you're going to recognize and be like, you know what, God's word, you know, and that word will just come right into your mind. And you know what that does? That'll help you to resist. That'll help strengthen you to say, no, I'm not going to do that. Now obviously when you're putting forth that much effort, you don't want to just still continue to ignore God's word and get involved in the sin. But look, this is going to help you. Keeping God's word in your heart, hiding it in your heart that I might not sin against you. It's very important. And we see that throughout the book of Proverbs. It's Proverbs, the book of wisdom, and you see over and over again, keep my words with you. Don't forget my words. Follow my commandments. It's a light under your path. God's laws. We need to take heed to them and keep them in our heart. And then jump down to verse number 104 in Psalm 119 verse 104. The Bible reads, through thy precepts, again, there's another synonym. God's precepts, his commandments, his law. Through thy precepts I get understanding. Through God's law we gain understanding, therefore I hate every false way. By studying and learning and meditating on God's law, it will help you to understand righteousness and a righteous judgment. And when you see this is the right way, this is the path unto life, this is what's good for me, when you see the false way, it'll cause you to hate that way. And you know what? That's a righteous hatred. You say, a Christian should never hate. Hey, we should hate every false way. We should hate it. And I want nothing to do with it and understand that this is going to keep me from life. This is going to keep me from what God wants me to do. I hate that way. I want nothing to do with that. I'm going to go on the right path. And the more we study God's word, the more clarity we'll receive. And see, a lot of people these days are ignorant on sin in general. And most people, I think, don't even realize that many of the things that they do throughout the day are sinful. Why? Because they're not getting in the word, they're not studying God's law, they're not studying commandments. When you really get in here, I mean, I talk to people all the time and the vast majority of people don't even realize, and we're going to get to this later in the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs says, even the thought of foolishness is sin. I mean, we were talking to a lady just today out sowing, who was saying that, you know, well, if you sin, you've got to ask for forgiveness. You can't just sin. You don't ask for forgiveness. If you don't have forgiveness, you're not saved. If you backslide, you're not saved. And all this stuff. I said, no, no, no. Look, Christ paid for all of our sins. I'm not saying we should just go off and sin. But He already did it. He paid for it. He's done. The deal is done. He's given us eternal life. It lasts forever. And she's saying, no, no, no, like, like she wouldn't believe it, wouldn't accept it. She was brought up in the Church of the Nazarene and that's what she was for her whole life. And now, I mean, she was, she was an older, what did she say, she was in her 70s, brother, something like that. And she's been in the church since she was young. So it's been ingrained in her. And I've tried and I pleaded with her to show her the right way, but look, she was thinking that basically, she's not sinning. She's not best, you know, because she thought she was saved, she thought she was good. And I asked her, I said, look, the Bible says even the thought of foolishness is sin. Because, well, the last thing she said before we left, she said, well, you can't, like, if someone just is a sinner, then how could you say that they're going to heaven? Like after they believe in Christ, I said, you're a sinner. I'm a sinner. How can we possibly get to heaven by not sinning? Even the thought of foolishness is sin. I mean, who's going to say, I never have a foolish thought. This doesn't happen. I mean, I am just walking in this mirror so much. I never have a foolish thought. I never look at a person the wrong way. I never, you know, like, come on now. Are you the embodiment of Jesus Christ? I don't think so. He's the one that's without sin. Now we ought to strive to be that way. But nobody's perfect. I know that nobody's perfect. We all still have a sinful flesh. And the more you study God's laws, His words, His commandments, the more you start to realize, wow, this is actually wrong. The Bible says in Psalm 101, you know, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. That every day people are setting wicked things before their eyes. They bring it into their home. They plug it into the wall and they turn it on. And they look at fornication. And they look at adultery. And they look at all the wickedness of this world. They look at the beer ads and the wine ads and everything else that's being pumped before your eyes. That we ought not to be looking at. There's many things like that. There's so many things. When you start really loving the law of God and looking at this and say, wow, this is really serious. Job said, you know, I made a covenant with my eyes. How then shall I think upon a maid? Great verse, by the way, to have memorized if you, especially men, if you have a problem looking at other ladies. Because especially now in the summertime, the women like to just strip down into their underwear and walk around thinking they call it a swimsuit and it's acceptable to go around looking like that and drawing the attention of guys and causing guys to lust after them. And if you have a problem just looking after women, Job solved that problem. He said, you know what, I made a promise, a covenant with my eyes. He said, how am I going to think about a maid? He made a promise. He said, you know what, I'm going to keep my eyes right. I'm not going to allow for things to come in front of my face to cause me to sin. I mean, Jesus Christ himself said if a man lusts after a woman in his heart, he had committed adultery with her already in his heart. I misquoted that, but that's what he said, is that even looking at a woman with lust in your heart is spiritual adultery. The more you understand and read and meditate on God's Word, the more you'll have that understanding. And in turn, that will cause you to hate every false way and to make the necessary changes that get them out and say, I don't have nothing to do with that. Let's go back to Proverbs chapter 7. So that's just the first four verses, just a precursor of just explaining how important it is to keep God's commandments with you. They're a light unto your path. It's a primary thing that we ought to have. We ought not to be ignorant in our faith. We ought to know God's Word. We ought to know what it says. Know His law. Know His commandment. It's going to guide you. And the premise in those first four verses of why it's so important to have this wisdom, it says in verse 5, that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. And that's a segue into the rest of this chapter about the strange woman, because this is a pitfall for so many people. You say, I just heard you preach on this two weeks ago, Pastor Burzins. But yeah, because it was in chapter 5. And guess what? We're seeing almost an entire other chapter right here in chapter 7 dedicated to the same exact subject. And you know what? It's not the last time we're going to see it either. It's going to come up again, so just be ready for it. Because this is such a serious problem, and so many people fall into this trap of fornication and adultery. The Christian life is relatively basic. It's relatively simple. There's really not a lot of rules and laws. I mean, the state of Arizona, try reading through all the laws and statutes and everything else that's on the books, and see if you could even get through that in like a week's time of reading through them, and try to understand what all the laws are. God's laws aren't like that. He's got some basic principles. He's got some real basic, don't do this. You know, he's got the Ten Commandments, and then there's some other ones, but like, it's pretty simple. Yeah, I've heard different numbers, 613, good number, but it's ultimately, and when you start looking at them and how much they're associated with each other, it's really not that bad. And I mean, even just knowing that there's that many, I mean, I don't even know how many laws there are in this country. You know, he's counting them out, the statutes go into the thousands, but it's not that difficult. Well, it's not that difficult to understand. Difficult to live. Not that difficult to understand. We have basic temptations. There is a sin nature that we have that all men are driven to do, all women are driven to, and this is one of the key ones. And look, the Bible says that God's punishment and penalty for adultery is the death penalty. That is how serious it is in God's eyes. I know that we live in a society that says it's not that big of a deal. That basically, marriage itself isn't even that big of a deal, because look at the divorce rate. People make vows and promises that mean nothing these days. It's just like a glorified boyfriend or girlfriend when they get a ring on their finger and make a promise. It means nothing these days because people are getting married, getting divorced, and just getting married again, getting divorced, jumping around. It's disgusting and it's destroying our family, it's destroying our society. But something like adultery, I know that the movies and the TV shows show it all the time. It's not even a big deal. Oh, yep, that person had an affair. They don't call him a whore or a whore monger or an adulterer. They had an affair. Affair sounds nice, it's just, I have this affair going on over here, it's just some other business I've got going on on the side. It's wicked. It's adultery. We call it what it is. And give it the proper connotation that God gives it. He says, look, if you lie with another man's wife, you're going to be put to death. That's the way God says it. There's no punishment for you, there's no penalty, it's just a death penalty. There's no fine that you pay, there's no restitution. The adulterer and adulterer shall surely be put to death. That's God's law. That's the way that He says it's that serious. Yes it is. There are capital crimes and when God says that, and that's one of the reasons why I believe we're seeing this so much because it's a serious issue. And we need to be warned about it over and over again. And when we have God's laws as the apple of our eye to guide us, that will help you to keep you from getting, falling into these traps and these pitfalls. But let's read through this because there are a few points that I'm going to make in this passage that I didn't make in chapter 5, so don't worry, it's not just going to be completely redundant. But it is the same overall message that we're receiving here. Verse number 6. Well, verse number 5, it says, from the stranger which flattereth with their words. I brought that up already before, but it's important to note again. The adulterous woman, or the woman that's going to drive you either to fornication or adultery will flatter you. The wicked woman that wants to just get you into bed and hunt for the precious life, she uses flattery. Watch out for the woman that just lays all kinds of over compliments you and just lays it on thick and flatters you with her words because she's setting a trap. Verse number 6. For at the window of my house, so this is giving us a story now from the narrators just watching this foolish young man. For the window of my house, I looked through my casement and beheld among the simple ones. Simple means you don't have a lot of knowledge. You're just not necessarily stupid, but you don't have, there's not a lot of understanding going on there. Real simple. I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner and he went the way to her house. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. So he sees this man, he's just ho-hum, just a simple man, just on his way and he's watching and he's like, oh, yep. That's the strange woman's corner. It says, passing through the street near her corner, went the way to her house, just walking on down the way, in the twilight and evening, and as we read this story, you'll understand like he's not out looking for her. He's just on his way, but he picks a really bad way, first of all, just by even passing by her house, just by passing by her corner, her street, where she lives. He's simple. He doesn't understand this. If he was wise, he wouldn't even go that way to begin with. But I want to make this point here, turn if you would to Ephesians chapter 5, because it says, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. Now nothing in the Bible is there by accident or by coincidence, that it's there for a purpose. So when it brings up the fact that, oh, it's in the twilight, it's in the evening, in the black and dark night, now as he's passing by this woman's house, look at Ephesians chapter 5, and we're going to start reading in verse number 3. The Bible reads in verse number 3 of Ephesians 5, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becoming saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God. Fornication, whoremonger, these are things that we're dealing with in this chapter, right? And he's saying here, again, how serious is this? He says, look, no whoremonger or unclean person, they don't have any inheritance in the kingdom of God. Verse number 6, let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. For these purposes, God's wrath comes on people for all these things, for the whoremongering, for the covetousness, for the unclean person. Let's keep reading here, verse number 7, be not ye therefore partakers with them. He's saying that's what the unsaved world does. That's what the people whose God's wrath is upon, that's what they do. Don't you do it. Don't you, O child of God, be partakers with them. Verse number 8, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. You can flip back, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 7. The point being here is that He's passing by her street, near her corner, the way to her house, and it's in the twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night. So much sin happens in the darkness, in the nighttime, physically even, not just spiritually, but just literally. At night is when a lot of the fornication and adultery and sin and the drug abuse and everything else that's going on, that's wicked out in this world, it's usually happening at night. At night is when those things are happening. Why? Because people don't want to be seen. When you're doing wicked, evil things, you don't want the light shined on you. But see, God's law is a light for us. It's a light to expose the wickedness of the world and the sins that exist in this world and to help you to discern what's good and what's bad. When you got a big old spotlight shining down on whatever's in front of you, on the whores house and the waiter house say, wow, yeah, I'm going to avoid that path, I've got this light where I can see, and I'm not going to go that way, and I'm not going to be partaker of their darkness. So he's walking by, just on his way, on his simple path, walking by the waiter's house, to her house, just passing by it, and at night now he's kind of lost the ability to see, he's going through the dark night, verse number 10, and behold, just out of nowhere there met him a woman with the attire of and harlot and subtle of heart. So now he's met by a woman in the path. Again, he wasn't planning on doing anything or meeting a woman, but he foolishly walked down the wrong path, the path that he should have known better. When you know that there's a bunch of prostitutes hanging out on the street down the main street or in the red light desert or wherever it is, whatever part of town you're in, where you know that's where they hang out, men, don't go down that way. There's no reason to go the other way. You say, that's the shortest way, I don't care. If you're a fool, you're going to go down that way, but if you have understanding and wisdom, you're just going to take another way to get there, when it's already known that these whores are down there, when it's their corners, just stay away from it. Do the wise thing, say, oh, but I won't be tempted by them. Don't be a fool. Don't be a fool. But I want to take point here to what the Bible says there in verse 10, it says, a woman met him with the attire of and harlot. Now, I firmly believe that God actually cares about the way that we look and the way that we present ourselves and especially being an ambassador for Christ and that if God didn't care at all about how we looked or how we dressed or anything like that, then why would the Bible even care to mention that, oh, look, here's a woman and she has the attire of and harlot. Obviously, there's something that the Bible's referring to here, that if you're wearing it as a woman, that someone's going to think that you're a harlot or a hooker or a whore. That's what that means. Someone's going to think that you're working and selling your body based on the way that you're dressed. Now, it's not that hard to figure out, but what is the attire of and harlot? What man here thinks that they know what is an example that a woman could wear that would be an attire of a harlot? What do you think? A low-cut. A low-cut top, exactly. There's a perfect example, something that's going to draw men's eyes to an area of a woman that's going to cause lust in your heart to want to purchase their body because that's what they're doing. They're out there selling themselves, right? So, they're advertising. How are they going to advertise? Well, I'm going to try to entice a man in any way possible. You got something else? Short skirt. Short skirt. Yeah, exactly. Makeup. A lot of makeup, right? Great examples, right? We know what it is. We don't have to be politically correct up here. We're just looking at truth. We're looking at reality. Hey, this is the world that we live in. If someone's wearing an attire of a harlot, they're going to be wearing very little to cover their body at all. The top, the bottom, it's going to be very little. It's going to be skin tight so you can see every curve or whatever is covered, and they're going to have the makeup on. They're going to have everything done up to just make you desire them. Now think about this, ladies. Every time that you get dressed and you look in the mirror or however you want to present yourself, whatever it is that you're wearing, think, is this even closely resembling the attire of a harlot? If it is, you got a problem. Especially if you're single, but even if you're not single, whether you're married or single. The thing about this, ladies, if you're single and you're looking for a man to marry you, are you going to be wanting the type of man? You say, oh yeah, but I get so much attention when I dress this way. Do you want the man who's looking for a harlot? Do you want the man who's just looking for an object? Or do you want a man who's going to love you, a good Christian man who's going to love you for who you are and care about you and do things for you and not treat you as just someone that he can use? Because when you go out dressed with the attire of a harlot, you're going to attract the people who want to go after a harlot. Turn if you would to 1 Timothy chapter 2. We're going to get a little bit more detailed about this attire of a harlot because look, the way that we dress, is it the most important thing in God's eyes? No. I guarantee you someone is going to call me a Pharisee now for preaching on the way that we should dress. Have I omitted the weightier matters of the law in this church? I don't think so. I preach on salvation. I preach on the things that are the most important things in our life, but you know what, we're going to cover it all. Every word of God is pure. We're going to teach the whole counsel of God. We're not going to leave anything unturned. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 2, because it's not just this one obscure reference in the book of Proverbs that mentions the attire of a harlot and say, oh, so God's going to care about how we dress. No. It's in many other places in scripture. 1 Timothy chapter 2, perfect example, look at verse number 9, in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. So there you go, right there in the Bible, it says, look, this is how you ought to dress yourselves, ladies, in modest apparel, with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. You should be concerned about your good works, and that's how you should be adorning yourself. The good things that you do, not what you're putting on. Now that word there, it says modest apparel. What does the word modest mean? Modest means you're not drawing attention to yourself, plain and simple. Modest is something where, it's exactly what it is, you're not drawing attention to yourself, which is why it lists off these various things. Not with broided hair, like making real fancy hair, or gold, or pearls, all the sparkly, all the things that are going to attract attention on TV, saying you are not supposed to be the center of attention. You don't need everybody's eyes on you, and how beautiful you are, all these costly array, all these expensive things that you have, so people can look, oh wow, you have that nice purse, you have that nice dress, and talking about how fancy and all these things that you have, he says you need shame-facedness and sobriety. Now not only is modesty not drawing attention because you're wearing the gold and the pearls and the costly stuff, but another way, as we're seeing here, the attire of a harlot, you don't need to be the center of attention by guys, because their eyes are going to be upon you. So that's why it's also immodest to be wearing the low-cut tops, to be showing the parts of your body that is going to draw attention from guys. Now it blows my mind, I've worked with someone in the past that was well-endowed in her upper body, and she would wear these low shirts that just went really low, and then would complain that our manager would look down at her chest. And I'm thinking like, what do you think is going to happen when you're putting this stuff on display? Do you not know how a man is in general? And I'm not saying it's right to be staring at a woman's chest, because it's not. But what do you expect is going to happen when you do that? You need to have some wisdom, and according to the Bible, you ought to be dressing modestly, which means you're not drawing attention to yourself. Just because he shouldn't be doing that, doesn't make it right for you to just be exposing yourself. I mean, you could use that same logic and say, well, I could just walk around naked, just walk around nude, because what does it matter? You shouldn't be looking at me with lust in your heart, that's a sin, as you're just showing everything off. I mean, where are you going to draw the line? Well, I'll tell you, the Bible gives us a good example where I draw a line. So if you would, Isaiah chapter 47. Because one of the other purposes of how you should dress, or dress in general, is to cover your nakedness. When you dress modestly, you're going to cover yourself up, but we're going to see a definition here of nakedness in the Bible. In Isaiah chapter 47, and I just mentioned this about a week or two ago, so I'm glad that we're getting into it now. I've got the references now, because I didn't bring up the references before, but take note of these. We're going to do Isaiah 47 right now, and then we're going to turn to Exodus 28 right after we look at Isaiah 47, if you want to kind of get a place ready. Modest attire should cover your nakedness. The Bible says it's a shame to be naked, to expose your nakedness is shameful. It's not something that you ought to be doing. Isaiah 47, look at verse number 2. The Bible says, take the millstones and grindmeal, uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. So what's happening here? He says, okay, take the millstones, verse 2, grindmeal, uncover the locks, and here's what's happening. Make bare the leg, right? We all know what a leg is. Then he says, uncover the thigh, in reference to like passing over the rivers, right? So he's saying, you're uncovering the leg, and you expose the thigh. You uncover the thigh to pass over the rivers, and then in verse number 3, thy nakedness shall be uncovered. Giving the parts of the body, the leg and then the thigh, and then calling that your nakedness being uncovered. We can deduce here that the Bible is defining that when your thighs are exposed, your nakedness is exposed. Now the world's going to tell you that as long as your genitals are covered, and maybe your buttocks, then you're not naked. But I'm not going to trust the world's definition on anything. If I want to know what's right and what's true, I'm going to go to the Word of God and see how does God define how we ought to dress, because the world's going to tell you that there's nothing wrong with wearing all the gold and jewelry and the fancy. They're going to say, that's just fine. Dress yourself up. Get all the glitters and sparkles and get everybody to look at you. I mean, it is what they do. They exalt. These women in Hollywood, you know, they do the, what's the red carpet at these awards ceremonies and stuff, and they're always talking about what are these people wearing, and it's a big focal point. And usually the women are dressed like whores. They're dressed in these dresses that stick to their bodies, that have these real long slits going up their legs, and they're practically exposing themselves left and right. And some of them come just wearing sheer clothing, and you can see right through them. It's wicked about, you know, I'm not going to look at the world for an example of righteousness and godly living. We're going to go to the Bible, and if the Bible says here, when you make bare the leg and then uncover the thigh, and your nakedness is uncovered, that tells me at the very least when you expose your thigh, your nakedness is uncovered. Turn to Exodus 28, because we're going to see here that God designed, or God is talking about an article of clothing in order to cover your nakedness. In Exodus chapter 28, we're going to have a second witness here from the Bible of what is considered nakedness. We saw one there that at least your thigh, if your thigh is uncovered, that's nakedness. Exodus 28 verse 42, it's talking about the different garments that the priests would wear. You know, there's all these different things. They had bonnets. They had girdles. They had the breastplates. They had all these different pieces of clothing when they went and did service unto the Lord. Exodus 28 verse 42 talks about the linen breeches, which you might more commonly know today as britches. It's an older word, but it's spelled here, breeches. Exodus 28 verse 42 says, and thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness. And they go on to explain how long they have to go. It says, from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach. So it covers them down and covers their thighs also. Because if we see in Isaiah 47 that the thighs is being exposed, is exposed to your nakedness, and the purpose of the breeches is to cover their nakedness, it makes sense, okay, from the loins to the thighs. That covers their nakedness. So according to the Bible, that whole area is your nakedness. And I don't care if you're at a beach, or at a public swimming pool, if someone digs a hole in the ground, when you are not covering that area of your body, you are exposing your nakedness. Plain and simple. And showing your nakedness is shame. That's why it says in Isaiah 47, 3, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. And unfortunately, we live in a society today that knows no shame. And it's really interesting because, as I mentioned earlier, you know, a woman can seem to have no problem wearing basically undergarments, because if you wear like a bikini, and go out swimming, I don't see any difference between that and undergarments. In fact, it's actually oftentimes even covers less than typical women's undergarments would cover. Yet, a woman's not going to go to the grocery store in her undergarments. Why? She'd be ashamed. I can't go out of the house looking like that. But you can go in front of the same exact people to a place called the local swimming pool and expose yourself. It's hypocrisy. The world's going to do that. I don't expect the world to just change their mind on this stuff. But you, as a Christian, as a God-fearing man or woman, someone who loves the Lord and loves the Bible, we ought to be able to respect God when He says, this is your nakedness and your nakedness needs to be covered. The situation doesn't matter, you ought to keep yourself covered, otherwise you're exposing your nakedness. And I believe that goes for men as well as women. I think we, you know, they used to have in the 80s, I remember wearing those little gym shorts that were barely, they're not even as long as boxers, man I hated those things. And even then, I remember being unsaved and in high school and wearing those stupid things. It was embarrassing. Even being around a bunch of guys, it was like, man, can we get something a little bit longer here? It's weird. But that's because you naturally should have a conscience for this stuff. God's law written in your heart, it ought to be a shame. Don't become one of these people that knows no shame and it doesn't bother you. So let's go back to Proverbs chapter 7. Hopefully that gives you a little bit of guidelines, especially for the ladies, you know, on what you ought to be wearing. Basic principles, okay? Now go ahead and apply that as you see fit. I'm not one that just makes, you know, strict rules. This is how you have to dress in order to come here or be a part of the church. I don't do that. But I am going to teach you as clearly as I can the principles from God's Word and what we can see here on what's nakedness, what's modesty, and all these other things so that you can go home and say, you know what? How much do I love God? How much do I want to follow His laws and how am I going to apply that in my life? Let's see some more attributes here now of this woman that meets this simple young man. We see here, first of all, she's dressed with the attire of an harlot. She's dressed in a provocative way, in an immodest way to just entice this simple fool into going home with her. Verse number 11, it's a parenthetical statement. She is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. And in case you haven't noticed, ladies, this is not a godly example of a woman, right? So if you want to be a godly example, basically you're going to do the exact opposite of what the whore does. So when it says here, she's loud and stubborn, that is not good qualities for a godly woman to have. These are bad attributes. Turn, if you will, to 1 Peter chapter 3. We'll prove it from Scripture. I know, you know, I'm just saying these things, just they're crazy. You know, no, of course a woman should be loud and stubborn. No, we're going to see from Scripture that that's actually not true. This whorish woman being loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house, is completely against what God has planned and designed for a woman to be. First Peter chapter number 3, look at verse number 3. Again, we're going to see a reference to what you wear. Who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold and of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. So he's saying, you know, don't let your outward appearance have all this stuff, which we already saw in 1 Timothy chapter 2, you know, that's not what it's all about. In 1 Timothy 2 he said, with good works, and in 1 Peter 3 he's saying, with the ornament, instead of putting these ornaments of gold and silver and jewels and precious array, he's saying, wear the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit. A good godly woman will have the meek and the quiet spirit. Why? God did not create women to be these great leaders. That is the man's job. When we read the Bible, men and women are created differently, have different attributes and different functions. One is not better than the other. God loves women, God loves men, but he's given us different roles and different jobs to do. It kind of, you know, I think in my head like, this is crazy that I even have to say it, but I have to say it these days. I mean, it's so natural the way that a woman is designed in order to rear children and to love them and nurture them and feed them, and God has equipped them so well to do those things and the way that he's designed men to be strong and to be hard workers and to be leaders and to be the heads of the households. And it's all just natural. I mean, this is the way that he made us, and he's also told us this, which is why it's a good thing if you're a woman to embrace womanhood, embrace femininity, embrace the meek and the quiet spirit, which the Bible says in the sight of God is of great price. God values it. When God can look down and see the woman with the meek and the quiet spirit, who's not loud and stubborn and no one can lead him and tell him what to do, and they're just, I'm always going to tell you what's on my mind, look, the woman with the meek and quiet spirit, God sees that. He says, that's a great value. That's a good thing. Verse 5, for after this man, or in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves. I'm just going to bring up good examples here. Being in subjection unto their own husbands. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well and are not afraid with any amazement. They bring up the good example of Sarah saying, you know, having that meek and that quiet spirit and being in subjection to your own husband, what does that mean? When your husband says something, you are subject to what he's saying, to what he commands. In Ephesians chapter 5, it gives you another good example of a wife is supposed to be submissive to her husband. And in Colossians 3, it says the same exact thing. Look, you don't have to like it, but it's what the Bible says and you ought to like it. Abraham and to the Lord. Sarah is the good example and she is being praised here for calling her husband Lord. Can you imagine if we're out in the store and I told my wife, hey, go get those bananas over there and bring them back, you know, I want to buy those. And then she said, yes, Lord, right? Now I know it's kind of outdated language, but let's say like, yes, sir, okay, might be a little bit more current, okay, pretty similar. People would be like, they're nuts. Like this guy must be a Nazi fascist dictate, you know, like, like what is wrong with them? But Sarah is praised for having that type of an attitude and having such a heart where she has a meek and a quiet spirit and she says, I'm going to follow my husband's lead because that's what God wants me to do. I'm going to be in subjection because that's what God wants me to do. Now is your husband always going to be right? No, unless it's me. Just kidding. No, I'm not. I'm not perfect either. But even though the husband's not always right or not always perfect, it doesn't change the role of the woman. It doesn't change that you still need to have the meek and quiet spirit and still be in subjection under your own husband. So I say that in jest, but it's not really completely a joke because what a lot of women have a problem with is say, well, I know that I'm right. And they think that that justifies a reason to usurp the authority of their husband and not to be in subjection anymore, but that doesn't change anything. The role is still the same. And I use this example all the time. My boss at work is my Lord in the same vernacular of the Bible. He's my Lord and I'm the servant. I'm in subjection to him. He could tell me to do something because I work for him. I'm his employee. And he could be completely wrong. And it could be a really big mistake. Now I might be able to say humbly and meekly, you know, maybe we should try this. But if he says no, then that's the way it is. I'm not going to say, well, I know better, I'm just going to do it this way anyways. That would be usurping his authority. And that would be wicked and bad. And you know what? It's my right to fire me over something like that. Now you can't fire your wife. You promise not to. But it's the same type of authority structure. Not exactly the same relationship. I don't have the same relationship with my boss as I do with my wife. But it's the same type of authority structure that is given here. And the Bible says that the godly woman is not going to be loud and stubborn. I'm not going to do that. I don't care what you say. That's stubbornness. You have meek and quiet and be a subjection to your own husbands, even as Sarah did. And when Sarah was in subjection to her husband, this example of calling Abraham Lord, this wasn't even out loud. The only example you could find in the Bible is when Sarah overheard Abraham talking with God, basically, that he was going to have a child and his name was going to be Isaac. And she said in her heart, she was laughing within herself and saying, oh, am I going to have pleasure, my husband, my Lord, also being old. Something to that effect. But it was in her heart. It was within herself. She treated him with that respect, not just in front of other people, not just in front of guests or in company, but in her heart. That means a lot. It's one thing to put on the show of, yes, we're doing things right. It's another thing to actually have it in your heart and live that way because you're fully in that. You're fully on that path. Flip back a few to Proverbs chapter 7. This whorish woman that meets this man wearing the attire of a harlot says in verse 11, she is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in weight at every corner. Why does it say she's at every corner? Because a woman like that is a dime a dozen. You could find them anywhere. But the godly woman, the Bible says in Proverbs 31, when it talks about the virtuous woman, it says who can find a virtuous woman for a price as far above rubies? When you're looking for that godly wife, she's not as easy to find as the whorish woman is. The whorish woman you can find anywhere. She's at every corner. They're cheap. But you're going to get what you pay for too. It's not going to be much. You get some little gratification for a moment and that's it. You're not going to get love. You're not going to get respect. You're not going to get anything from the whorish woman. You find the godly woman, you found a woman who's price is far above rubies. Far above the physical treasures of this earth. So look at what she does here. And guys, this is the type of woman to look out for. And I don't think, we don't have any single guys here tonight, but you know, it's a great, if anyone's listening online, any single guys, watch out for this. You might think you're so cool if something like this were to happen to you, but watch out for this woman. In verse 13, it says, so 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. Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face and I have found thee. She runs into this guy, she doesn't even know. She grabs him and kisses him. Watch out for the fast women like that and says, oh, I came diligently, I was just looking for you. I finally found you. The man of my dreams, you're right here. The fool is going to be lifted up in his heart. Wow, this, you know, this attractive woman, oh man, look at her. Look at her outward beauty. Look at this stuff. And she kissed me. Look how, you know, I feel so great. It's a trap. And look at how, notice how she even brings in, I have peace offerings with me this day. This day have I paid my vows, bringing in the spiritual thing, right? Because the wicked horse woman is going to want to make you think, oh, I'm so innocent and sweet. I love God. She could throw around the, the, the, the holy language, right? Make you think that she loves God. Someone who she's not. By saying, look, oh, just today I did my peace offerings, I just got, I'm just coming back from church. And look, I ran into you, the man of my dreams. Don't be fooled by this. We saw this also in Proverbs chapter five, if you remember, and you can flip back if you want, verse fourteen says, I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. We went over that a couple weeks ago. Watch out even for the wicked strange woman in churches. You may think, oh, this woman just loves God. She says all the right things. But then she's flattering with her mouth. And she's lifting you up and saying, oh, you know, I've been looking just for you and I finally found you and she's kissing you and then trying to bring you home. Look at verse sixteen here in chapter seven. Chapter seven, verse sixteen. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with love. So now she's using the smooth words, right, to try to entice all these great smells and scents and this great setup and trying to paint this great picture of, oh, how nice this is. Just come back with me. It's all set. It's ready to go. And we'll just have some love. Instead of calling it fornication or adultery, it's love. Again, that's another brainwashing tactic of the world that's going to tell you, oh, well, if you love each other. And that's what all this music will deceive you with, the modern music, the rock music and stuff will deceive you with just singing. And look, I was deceived by this as a young man. I was a simple young man. I was foolish. I wasn't even saved, but I was definitely foolish. And I listened to all the world's music and stuff. And I had this thought, my parents were trying to raise me right and tell me, you shouldn't go to bed with someone until you get married. And they weren't even saved, but they were at least trying to raise me right like that. And I didn't understand that. I was just like, whatever. Because all I was pumping my head with was the music that was basically saying, well, if you love someone, that's really all that matters. You could show your love for each other by having this physical relationship and you just call it love. Because love sounds great. Who doesn't want love, right? But when you call it fornication, when you call it adultery, it's got a little bit different connotation than love. And that's the way that the Bible calls it. Those are the words that the Bible uses. This isn't a fill of love. It's a fill of fornication. It's a fill of death and wickedness. That's the trap that's set for the simple man. And then she goes on to say in verse 19, for the good man is not at home, he has gone a long journey. He had taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed. Now, I don't know who the good man is. It's either her husband or her father. Either way, she's saying, you know what, you don't have to worry, we're not going to get caught. I've got this place all set up, the good man's gone, my husband's gone, my father's gone, he's out on a long trip, he took all kinds of money with him, he's not coming back anytime soon. I've got it all set up. And whether it's her father or her husband, either way it's wicked. Either way you're doing something you know you ought not to be doing. Verse number 21, with her much fair speech, she caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips, she forced him. Watch out, those are the tactics that are used, it says here that she's forcing him to through all these tactics, through her flattery, through these fair speeches and all his words, to get his guard down and to take him into her trap. The wise man is going to read this, understand what to look out for, who to look out for, where not to go by, what she's wearing, what she's saying, and hear it and understand and say, I heard about this woman before. What did the Bible say about this woman? What happens to the guy that goes after this woman? Verse 22, he goes after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter. To be killed. Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till a dart strike through his liver, as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. You can't get much more serious than doing something that's going to cost you your life. Verse 24, harken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth, let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her past, 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. I was wrong, you can't get much more strong than this language. Her path is the way to hell. Definitely to be avoided. She cast down, look at what it says, many strong men have been slain by her. Man, don't think that you're so strong that you're just way above this. Which is why at the very beginning, the wisdom is going to teach you not to even go by that way at all. Don't even come close. You don't need that weak moment in your flesh. After you've already gone by that way, say, I know that the whorish woman lives this way, I know that she's there, but you decide, yeah, but you know what, I'm going to save some time, I'm going to go by this way. You might not fall the first time, you might not fall the second time, but watch out. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. I'm sure, you know, King David was a great man of God, according to the Bible, he was a man after God's own heart. He was a spiritual man, he loved God. He fell. Nobody's above this. There have been great, great men in the Bible that have done great things that have had some great falls also. We need to stay humble and keep God's laws in our hearts to give us that shining lamp to keep away from the houses and the paths that lead to hell. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for these great words of wisdom, dear Lord. Even though we are dealing with the same topics over and over again as we read through and study your words in this book of Proverbs, dear Lord, it's not dull, it's not any problem for us. It's not dull for us, dear Lord, that we could pay attention to these serious topics and that we could drill it into our heads. Lord, I pray that you would please help us to always keep your word with us, to work harder at memorizing scripture, and especially, dear Lord, if anybody here is thinking of a problem that they have or a sin that they have in their life, God, I pray that you would please, through the Holy Spirit, reveal some scripture unto them that they can go to and make sure that they have memorized to help them to overcome the sin in their life, dear Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.