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Alright, we have Proverbs chapter 9 and as we've been going through the book of Proverbs, we've really been kind of focusing on the men. You know, it really, it really instructs the men, it says my son so many times in the book of Proverbs, right? It really focuses on young men, but even as young men, you know, focusing on who the Bible's talking to, women can still get an application, because hopefully most women will become mothers and they'll raise sons. They can get an application to see what kind of men that they should want to marry. They should see what kind of men they should have in their life. But as we get into Proverbs chapter 9, we're actually going to get into a chapter where we get a lot of information about a woman, where we get a lot of information about women. And it says here in the very first verse, it says, wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars. Now it's interesting here that wisdom is characterized as a female. And I think here we get a really good insight in what a woman is supposed to be like. The wisdom for a woman, if y'all would turn to Proverbs chapter 14, just flip over a couple chapters. I'll read for you in Proverbs chapter 24 verse 3, it says through wisdom is a house builded and by understanding it is established. And we look to Proverbs chapter 14 verse 1, what does it say? Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. And I think that one thought is kind of carried forward in Proverbs chapter 9. But we see a wise woman does what? She builds her house. You know, there's nothing that a man can do typically to build a house like a woman. You know, my wife makes our house not just a house but a home. You know, if you were to come over to my house when I was a, I actually lived in a house by myself before I was married. And if you came over, you could tell. You know, there was nothing on the walls that was special. You know, it was kind of dirty, it was kind of dingy. You know, it wasn't really a home. It was just a place I was staying. It was just a roof over my head. But one of the things that a woman can do, a wise woman, is she's going to build her house. She's going to pay attention to that house and make it a home. She's going to make it a place that you desire to go. Not just another place that you're staying at. Not just another place that you just go and sleep sometimes. But a home. You know, that's the thing that a woman can really bring into a relationship. And that's one of the primary functions of a woman, is for her to make it a home. And unfortunately today, most women are forsaking staying home and building that home and they're going out and just doing whatever they want. They want to get a job. They want to seek after their pleasures. They don't want to never settle down. They don't want to make a home. And I present to you that every young girl, I mean, they play house. I mean, you look at little girls and they're playing with Barbie dolls and they have a family. And they want to be the mom. And they want to, you know, they teach their younger brothers and sisters. And they want to cook. And they want to clean. And they have just this inbuilt desire to build a home. But what happens? The world just takes that out of them. It corrupts them with all this perversion on the TVs, it perverts their minds, it corrupts them with the music. They don't want to build a home. They think that going to school is what they're supposed to do for the rest of their life. Go to school, go to college, get a job, just be like a guy. And you know it's kind of this like 50-50 marriage. No, a woman is supposed to build her home. It says through wisdom is a house building. It takes wisdom for a woman to be able to build that house. To understand the best thing for her to do is to build that home. Not to go out and just fill all her desires and fill her wisdom. The Bible says that the woman was a help me. Why? Because she's supposed to help the husband. How is she going to help the husband? By building the home. So I think that's the first application that we can clearly get from this chapter. But I think it has a lot of different meanings here. Turn if you would to Matthew chapter 10, and we're going to get another look at this word house. Because it says wisdom has builded her house, right? Well we know that it can just be the home. It can be the place that she makes her habitat. But doesn't house, couldn't it mean something else? In Luke chapter 12 verse 52 the Bible says, for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided. Three against two and two against three. Now what is the Bible saying in that verse? Is it saying that the house, like the rooms in the house are divided against one another? Is it saying like houses are like divided against each other? No, it's talking about a household. It's talking about a family. It's talking about people, right? And if you look through the whole Bible, every time you use the word house it could mean, you know, a literal house, or a lot of times it means a family. It means people. And if you turn to Matthew chapter 10 verse 13 it says, and if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. So what is it saying there? Is it saying like the physical walls are worthy? Is it saying that the roof is worthy? No, it's talking about the people in the home. So we get another definition of a house being people, right? Turning you into Acts chapter 11. So we're kind of building on this thought. So we see a house could be just a literal house, right? But it also could be a family. It could also be people. And the Bible is saying wisdom hath builded her house. If you turn to Acts chapter 11 verse 14 the Bible says, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. Now what is he saying there? Is he saying, look, you're going to be saved and your mansion is going to be saved, or your apartment is going to be saved, or your little abode is going to be saved. No, he's not talking about the physical structure. He's talking about the people of his house. That's what makes a home. It's the family. You know, if my family decided to move somewhere else, my home is moving with me. You know, even though I would sell the residence that I live in, because a home is a family. And even the most famous verse that most of us know when we go to ceremony, what does it say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in what? Thy house. What is he saying? Is he saying you're building? Is he saying your fireplace and your garage is going to be saved? No. He's talking about your family. So what is it saying here when it says wisdom hath builded her house? A woman is supposed to build that house. How does she do that? By having children. Wisdom builds a house by having children. But we see that women are forsaking them. They don't want to build the home. They don't want to make it nice. They don't want to decorate it. They don't want to be in the home, taking care of the home. They don't want to actually be raising a family. Raising children. It says in, turn to Titus chapter 2, it says in Proverbs chapter 7, while y'all are turning to Titus 2, in Proverbs chapter 7 the Bible says, And behold there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart. She is loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house. Now she was out in the streets and lieth and waited every corner. So it talks about the woman of a harlot, talks about the strange woman, says that she's loud and stubborn and her feet abide not in her house. So I'm drawing this conclusion that a wise woman is in her house and an unwise woman is not in her house. So those women that decide to go get a job instead of raising a family, instead of being there with their kids, is not wise. It's not just, well, you know, it's our decision, you know, it's for our family, it's, you know, what we think is the best thing for us. No, it's unwise. A woman should be building her home. A woman should be building her family. She should be building her house two ways, the literal house and her family house. And it says in Titus chapter 2 verse 5, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Now that's a strong rebuke by the Lord. He's saying, look, if you don't want the word of God to be blasphemed, you need to be in the home. Why? Well, how many times did the Bible say that a woman's supposed to be in the house? She's supposed to be subject under her husband, she's supposed to be building her house, she's supposed to be raising kids, and when someone says, oh, you're a Christian, well the Bible says that you should be home. The Bible says you should be building a family. The Bible says that you should be subject under your husband. What are you doing wearing a pants, go getting a job? The word of God is being blasphemed by you not obeying the word of God. When you obey the word of God, you're going to follow all the commitments, not just the ones you like. And if you decide, hey, I know that the Bible has lots of places where it says that I should be in the home, but I don't really care about that part, that's blaspheming the word of God. So we see in the second part of this verse though, what does it say? It says, she hath hewn out her seven pillars. So if y'all would turn to 1 Kings chapter 7, and this word pillar is a very interesting word throughout the Bible, it says in Genesis 19 verse 26, but his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. So in Lawton, his wife came out of Sodom and Gomorrah, she turned back and became a pillar of salt. So it was like a statue or it was like a representation of her, but of salt is what a pillar was like in that verse. It says in 1 Kings chapter 7 verse 21, and he set up pillars in the porch of the temple and he set up the right pillar and called the name there of Jatian and he set up the left pillar and called the name there of Boaz. Now our pastor actually had twins and he was going to name them Boaz and Jatian, but unfortunately he lost one of the children. But we see here that he's calling pillars by the names of people. Why is that? Because the word pillar is often a representation of a person. So we go to Revelation chapter 3, and I know I'm building a big foundation here, but I think a lot of people might read verse 1 here and lose all of this great wisdom that we're getting. All this great wisdom has these double meanings. It has all these places when you compare spiritual with spiritual, you get all these great truths. It says in verse 3, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou art to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So we say he's looking at a church as being a pillar. Now we know that a church is not a literal pillar, right? It's not just one little column. And we know what is the church? Is the church a building? No it's people, right? So he's saying the church is going to be a pillar. So if you want to be someone that's representing of Jesus Christ, if you want to represent the living God, you need to be a pillar in the ground of the truth. Y'all turn to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 12, it says this, him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is in New Jerusalem, which cometh down from of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. So we say him that overcometh, who's that? Those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved, they become a pillar in the temple of God. So again we get another representation of the word pillar being represent, representing a person, right? Why don't y'all turn to Galatians chapter 2, and I really want to just, you know, beat in this word pillar so we get a really good idea of what this means. So when it's talking about this woman, she's building her home, right? And I think the best application really is to building her family. Obviously it's important to take care of your home, but is it more important to take care of your home or to build that family? Obviously it's more important to build that family, and it says in the second part, which emphasizes that point, she has hewn out her seven pillars. So I think the third thing here is that pillars are what? They're people. They're people. That's why we see in Galatians chapter 2 verse 9, and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived that the grace that was given unto me, they had gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. So you see he's talking about James, Cephas being Peter, and John? They were pillars. They were pillars in the community, they were pillars in the church, they were pillars just as great men of God. Being a pillar is something to be desired of. Not everybody's a pillar, not everybody's some great man of God, not everybody's really strong. What do we think of when we think of a pillar? It's a really tall, strong beam. It looks good, it's very sturdy, it holds the roof from the foundation, right? It's so important. Without the pillar, the structure wouldn't stand, and that's what it is to be a pillar for the Lord Jesus Christ. You're standing there holding the structure together. That's why he's talking about the church being a pillar. You know, a church isn't just a pastor. A church isn't just a pastor and a deacon. No, there needs to be lots of pillars in the church. People that are holding up the church, people that are giving money to the church, people that are going out and preaching the gospel, people that are, you know, being a blessing unto the pastor, that are coming to hear the sermons. You know, if I were to stand here and there was nobody in the audience, it'd be a lot harder to get up here and rip face or preach loud or want to continue going. I mean, y'all being here is, you know, a pillar unto me. It helps me preach the word of God, and that's what we should be in the church. So the goal of the wife is to do what? Cue out pillars. And you know, I was thinking about pillars, a lot of times they were made out of wood. Initially they'd have wood and then they might overlay it with gold or silver or copper, whatever, right? But how do you get that pillar? You have to first go to a tree and then you have to start chopping it, right? You have to start working really hard. You have to get the ax and you have to hit it. I mean, how many people can just knock over a tree with one swipe? I mean, it takes a lot of effort for you to sit there and just hue out that tree. Just, man, just hammer it. Why don't you go to Proverbs chapter 23? Well, I was thinking about just sitting there hammering that tree. I just thought of Proverbs chapter 13 verse 24, which says, he that spareth his rod, hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. I mean, just the picture of that guy with the ax, that lumber just chopping down that wood, what should the wise woman be? She should be having that belt, she should be having that paddle, just beating those children. That's why it says in Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 13, withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. So what is the Bible teaching? Look, it takes a lot of effort to raise a child into a pillar. Anybody can have a child. We see all kinds of fornication, we see even children out of wedlock and adultery. That doesn't make them pillars. No, it takes a lot of effort to raise that children right, to raise that child in the destruction of the Lord, to hue it out. Man, just chop that wood, spank that bottom, beat the child. Why? Because you want to deliver them from hell, because you want them to be a pillar. You want to put a lot of effort. You want to put a lot of work into that child, so that he can grow up to be a great man of God. Without any instruction, without any discipline, he's never going to be a great man for God. That's going to be such a rare exception. He needs that mother to be there to hue out that pillar, to work really hard, and it takes a lot of effort. You know, I think about this wise woman, it says building her house, it says, what, taking care of the home, raising children, hewing out pillars. This is hard work, and honestly, I think my wife probably works harder than I do. It's a really tough job, but the Bible is saying that it's wisdom for her to do that. It's the best thing for her to do, and this world does not teach that. The world does not glorify a woman staying home and raising her children, hewing out those pillars. And it's important that we get the last point, I think. What did he say? He said she had hewn out her seven pillars. Why don't you turn to 1 Samuel chapter 2? I think that number is very important. We know that seven is a very biblical number, it's usually a number of completion. How many children do you want to have? I want to have at least seven. I want my wife to hew out seven pillars at least. That sounds great unto me. We look at 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 1, and you know, maybe there's women that have struggled to get pregnant, or maybe there's women that have struggled to build this house, but we have an example here of a woman that had that same problem. Said in verse 1, And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more, is so exceeding proud, let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bowels of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumble are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. Now Hannah had a long time of period where she was barren, where she was seeking for a child, and she was praying unto the Lord, and she waited years to have that child. But then what happened? The Lord gave her seven, and this is her prayer, this is her song, this is her rejoicing of the Lord. And you know, I think about any woman that struggled. Verse 5 is very important, because it says in the verse, in the very beginning, it says, They that were full have hired out themselves for bread. What happens to a lot of women and a lot of families in this world? They say, oh us four no more, we got our little boy, and we got our little girl, we're full, so I'm going to go out and hire and get some bread, why don't I go out and get a job now? Now that the kids are raised, now that they're at least five, six years old, I'll just go out and get that job. I'll just go out and become a teacher, I'll go out and become a nurse, I'll go out and seek whatever that job is that I want. And isn't it interesting that the jobs that women go and seek out are pretty much exactly just a representation of what they do in the home? I mean, what's probably the number one job that women usually get? Waitress. Well, I would say teacher, right? I mean, teacher is a pretty common one for women to get. I think waitress is common, but probably more maidens, you know, and maybe not women that get married. Maybe like nurses. I mean, look, if you want to be a nurse, just raise a bunch of boys. I promise you'll be doing a lot of nursing, you'll be, you know, bandaging little boys, you'll be over there comforting them, you'll be on duty all the time. You'll have those long shifts, man, if you want to be a nurse, how about a teacher? I mean, I know so many women that are a teacher and they have their children in school. Now what, how does it make any sense that you go to an institution, you go to this building and you teach hundreds and hundreds of children and then your kids are in some other classroom being taught by some other woman? Why in the world would you want to waste your whole life teaching all these kids and not teach your own? Isn't it more important that your kids learn the right things to do, that they learn the fundamentals? And, you know, every teacher complains, man, the government, she's just giving us all this terrible curriculum and, you know, this principal's hounding on us. I guarantee me being the principal is a lot easier. You know, I bet my wife being the teacher at home, she's like, man, I can get away with a lot with my principal. I know how to, you know, I got him wrapped around my finger, but, you know, the principal at work, she's got to submit under him a lot more. She's got to submit to some things that she doesn't even want to do. And if she were to make a petition before him, he's probably not going to pay attention. He's probably not going to hearken unto her. Where if she were to make a petition unto me, most likely she's probably going to get whatever she wants. I mean, it's my wife. I want her to succeed. I want her to be able to raise my children in a godly home. Why in the world are you going out and teaching all these other kids and forsaking your own? That's not wisdom. Wisdom is building her house, is hewing out seven pillars for her, not 150 other pillars. And look, I mean, I think there's good teachers out there. I've known good teachers, but you really think 50 minutes, one year of their life is going to hew out a pillar? I'm sorry, my friends, not. They need it at five, at six, at seven, at eight, every year. They need that woman to be there to teach those children. And we see there it says in the second part of verse five, it says, and they that were hungry ceased. You know, I think unfortunately the opposite is true. Maybe women that struggle, maybe they struggle for like six months and they say, oh, I better get on drugs. I'm not pregnant instantly. That's so wicked. Why in the world are you tampering with the womb? God's the one that opens the womb. Hannah waited years and years and years and God gave her seven. I mean, such a blessing, but it says they that were hungry ceased. They got tired. They gave up. Why don't you just trust in the Lord? And I know that's difficult. I mean, isn't it difficult to tell somebody that was hungry to maybe wait a little bit longer to eat? I mean, that's got to be tough, right? But someone that's struggling, someone that's having this struggle, I don't think they should cease. They should keep going so that the barren hath borne seven. We never know what kind of miracle God can do in the life of someone that submits or says, Lord, I'm trusting in you. I'm praying to you. I'm going to give this child to you. And she hewed out a pillar. She healed out Samuel, one of the greatest men of God. So let's go to verse two. I really feel like in verse one, there's just so much wisdom. There's so much knowledge saying wisdom hath builded her house. She has hewn out her seven pillars and having a big family is what the Bible says. It doesn't say have one. It doesn't say have two. Why don't you just let God open up your womb as many times as you can? And hopefully you have seven. Hopefully you have ten. Hopefully you have a lot. I hope you multiply bountifully. That's the blessing of the Lord. We see in verse two it says, she hath killed her beasts. She hath mingled her wine. She hath also furnished her table. She hath set forth her maidens. She crieth upon the highest places of the city, who so is simple, let him turn and hither. As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled. For sake the foolish and live, and go in the way of understanding. So we see this woman, not only is she building her house, not only is she hewing out pillars, but what else is she doing? She's killing her beasts. She's mingling her wine. She's furnishing her table. You know, I was thinking about this, killing her beasts. She's obviously not joining the PETA club. She's going out and she's killing her beasts. She's going out and she's taking that chicken. She's wringing off the neck and she's putting it on the table, cooked. She's not just, you know, putting it on raw and we see that the woman is putting a lot of effort in. I mean to take the beast and kill it and then put that all the way onto the table, that's a lot of work. That's a lot of effort. And we see this woman, she's doing what a lot of people say, a manly job. You know, according to this, the woman can go out and kill the beast. She can prepare all the food. She can do a lot of work and I think women shouldn't take the excuse of, oh, that's the guy's job, necessarily. Now, I think the man should help around the house. He should do things that are more difficult on the woman because the woman is the weaker vessel. But we see that this woman is a strong woman. I mean, it takes a strong woman to go out and to kill her beasts, to slay her beasts, to prepare a meal like that, to prepare this feast. And we see that she never puts an animal above people. She goes out and she kills that beast and puts it on the table for people. She doesn't have this weird warped mind where she just always is thinking about her pets. She doesn't have the pets sitting around the table. She has the pets on the table. She's ready to eat the meat of her beasts. She knows the, she knows the purpose of a beast. And you know, the Bible says that, I'm going to have to paraphrase it, but it's like a wise man cares for the life of his beasts, right? We aren't supposed to just treat our animals poorly, we aren't supposed to just abuse them. I don't think there's anything wrong with having a dog or a cat. But you should never place that animal above a person. You should always keep them in the right place. We see a wise woman does that. So she's not worried about doing a manly task by going out and killing the beast and preparing it. What do we see in the next part? It says she mingled her wine, right? Now I was thinking about this. She's like mixing lemonade. She's like mixing her tea. She's like making coffee. She's working hard even in the drinks. She's not just, you know, quick, quick to fix everything. She's taking her time and saying mingling wine, you know, a lot of times this is some kind of juice or this is some kind of fruit mixed cocktail that she's mingling together. You know, maybe like a strawberry lemonade or maybe like some kind of grape cranberry juice or some kind of really good juice because, you know, one of my favorites is to have a mixed wine, you know, not, not the alcoholic wine, but the biblical wine. I love like grape cranberry juice. I love like a strawberry lemonade or something like that. I mean it's good and it takes effort. It takes time. It takes planning, but we see that the wise woman, she's mingling these drinks. She's thinking of every single part of this feast. She's thinking about every single detail. She's going out, she's killing the beast. She's mingling her wine, says that she's furnished her table. She also completes the task. She doesn't get so busy that she doesn't have the food on the table and, you know, everybody's like, oh, you, you just want to go back to the 1950s where the woman stayed home and, you know, the dad came home, there's food on the table and it's just this picture perfect, you know, ideal thing. No, I want to go back to the Bible. You know where they got that idea in the 1950s? From Proverbs because it says that wisdom hath builded her house. It says that she has killed her beast, says that she's mingled her wine, she has furnished her table. It's not from the 1950s, it's from the Bible, my friend, and of course I would love to go back to the form of morality that we had in our country back then, it was much greater than it is now, but I'm not picture perfect, oh, 1950s, no, I want what the Bible says. I'm grounded on what the Bible says. I'm not blinded by what this world thinks, who cares what this world thinks? I only care what this Bible thinks. And it says that she has sent off her maidens. You know, in today's culture, a lot of women don't have like servants and all these maids, but I was thinking about, she has a lot of maids, if you think about it, like an oven, like a washer, like a dryer, you know, I mean, look at all the things that a woman has. And I think that what the Bible is saying here is that she's very efficient. She understands how to get a lot of things done in a short period of time, because look, to go out and kill the beast, to mingled your wine, to furnish the table, to be raising kids, I mean, this is a lot of work. And so she's sending forth her maidens, she's, you know, managing them, she's taking care of all the house, she's doing all this planning. I mean, maybe you want to go get a job in the business world, and you're like, I want to be a manager, I want to be a project manager, look, it's way harder to manage the household. To manage all these things, it's 24-7, why don't you get in the house and do all the things that you wanted to do in the home? And please your husband. It says that she's maximizing, I think she's maximizing her time and her resources, and she's a good manager. She knows how to send out the right maiden, she knows how to employ the right services, the right tools. Once I turn to Romans chapter 12, you know, and I was thinking about the both perspectives, right? The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 2, it says, a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, diligent, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach. You know, a lot of times people, they kind of skip over that given to hospitality, right? You know, that's a really important quality of a bishop, of a pastor. Now, how in the world is a pastor going to be given to hospitality? I think a lot of times that wife can come in and really help that situation. Look, she's been preparing this feast, she's been mingling her wine, she's been furnishing the table, and that man can just, hey, you want to come over? My wife's making a feast, why don't you come and be a part of our family? Why don't you just come and, you know, it makes it so much easier on that pastor to be a hospital person when his wife is hospitable. What happens when the wife's like, oh, I don't want anybody over, I didn't get the laundry done, I don't have any food to give anybody, the house isn't clean, I didn't do my hair today, all these excuses, then the man, you know, how is he going to be hospitable? How is he going to be hospitable when the wife is a building or a home? When she isn't a keeper at home, when she isn't taking care of the home, that's what the Bible's saying here. It's saying that the wife would have all these things taken care of so that the man could be hospitable, so that he could bring people in. And obviously the man's the head of the home, if it's not getting done, he should make sure that it starts getting done, right? But it's very important that this woman just make it easy on her husband. Just be the help me that the Bible says that she should be. Says in Romans chapter 12 verse 9, let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, leave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor, preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality. So we see here again he's giving all these commands for us to do, these ways for us to live and it keeps going. But he says one of the most important things is for us to be given the hospitality. Why don't you pick somebody out that you want to bless? Why don't you be very hospitable? Why don't you be welcoming unto others? And we see that wisdom, this wise woman is doing that. This wise woman is very hospitable person. If y'all turn to Titus chapter 1, it's so important for this woman to understand why she's doing these things. It's so that they can bring people in the home and so that she can affect people by her lifestyle. It says in Acts chapter 2 verse 18, and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. So we see that in the Bible, women were also preachers of the word. Well how are you going to preach the word as a wife? Why don't you get people in your home and then you can preach them the word of God. Why don't you prepare a feast and bring the people in. What does it say here in verse 4? Who so is simple, let him turn and hither. As for him that wanteth the understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled, forsake the foolish, and live, and go in the way of understanding. We see that this woman is inviting people into the home. She's inviting people to come, come eat of my bread, come eat of the wine that I have mingled. She's being very hospitable. And in Titus chapter 1 verse 8 it says, But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate. Says in Titus 2 verse 3, The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given them much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. So I read that whole part again because the aged women are supposed to be teaching the young women how to do this. So it's so important for the younger women to do it their whole life so that when they're old they can instruct the young women how to do it. There's so many young women, they want to do this. They want to be a good wife. They want to learn how to cook. They want to learn how to sew. They want to learn how to decorate a home. And they need that mother. They need that grandmother to come in and teach them how to do these things. Teach them how to be hospitable. A good mother should teach your daughter how to be hospitable, how to be a manager of the home. She's sending her out as a maiden to do a lot of her tasks. She's teaching her how to do all of her tasks. And we see that this woman's bringing people in to preach them the gospel. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. It says that she's warning them, forsake the foolish. A good mother or grandmother is going to warn people, warn about certain people. How many times has a mother said, hey I don't think you should be hanging out with those guys. You know, I don't like those guys that you've been hanging out with. Hey, I don't think you should be hanging out with that guy. I don't think you should be hanging out with her. Did you see what she was wearing? You know, a good mother is going to say, forsake the foolish. But you know, a bad mother, she isn't going to warn her kids. She isn't going to warn people of all the dangers in life. And when she's keeping in her home, when she's reading the bible, when she's building her house, when she's shooting out pillars, she's going to have that wisdom to impart under her children. That wisdom to impart unto her daughters. And in 1 Peter chapter 3 it says, Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear, whose adorning let it not be that I would adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, and that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God adorn themselves being in subjection under their own husbands. So I see the most important thing is that a wife's conversation is holy. That her conversation is godly. And here's the things coming out of her mouth, but it's even just her lifestyle. When you see a woman that's in complete subjection under her husband, that's killing her beasts, that's mingling her wine, that's furnishing her table, that's bringing in guests, that's giving good instruction, that's preaching the word of God, man, there's something that's so attractive about that. I mean, how many young men say, man, I want my wife to be like that, that sounds great, that sounds awesome, that sounds wonderful, and it says, which is in the sight of God a great price. God looks at that woman and says, wack man, she's far above rubies, who can find a virtuous woman? This woman's so valuable, this woman's so great, and that's what God desires for women. And as a young man, that's what you should desire to look for, that's what you should desire to have. You know, maybe it might not start out that way, but this is what your wife should desire to be. And just as a wife is supposed to do these things and a husband, nobody's perfect, nobody's going to do these things all the time. And you say, man, it sounds like these wives are just, you know, a complete slave under her husband. Well, the thing about marriage is marriage is a picture of two servants serving one another. The husband is supposed to be going out and providing for his wife. It's supposed to be laying down his life for his wife. It's supposed to be caring for her, loving her, cherishing her. And men, it's really easy to cherish your wife when she's doing this. When you come home and there's dinner on the table, when it's clean, when she's so hospitable, when she's been mingling her wine, it makes it that much easier. And just as for the women to do this, when her husband's going out and making a good living and providing for her and cherishing her and loving her, the picture of marriage is two people serving one another, two people loving one another. It's not a picture of, well, you know, she did this one thing and I didn't like it. Or maybe she said something mean. You should be always serving unto your spouse, no matter what. That's what love is. Love is when the person doesn't do right and you just treat them well anyways. You just do the right thing anyways. You just say, hey, I'm going to love you no matter how you are. And you know, I think there's a lot of women in this world that if they said, hey, I'm going to go out and kill my beast, I'm going to stay home, I'm going to put food on the table, I'm going to be someone that's hospitable, that their husbands would be like, man, I'm really attracted to you all of a sudden. Man, it's so much easier for me to cherish you. It's so much easier for me to love you. We see so many women complain, oh, my husband doesn't love me anymore. Oh, my husband's going out and he doesn't care, he doesn't want to spend time with me anymore. Why don't you make an effort to provide for him? I know people that are in my family and they struggle to say, oh, my husband doesn't give me any time of day, but she never puts food on the table, she's not being hospitable, she's not making an effort to spend any time with him, and I think, man, I know for a fact if you said, hey, at 5.30, I'm going to have a really good meal cooked for you, I went out and killed this beast, I took a lot of time to prepare it, I'm going to have mingled wine, I'm going to have your favorite drink, and I'm going to have it set right before you, he'd be like, I'm going to be there. You know, I mean, that sounds great, I can't wait to go. If you want to spend time with your husband, why don't you serve him? And you know, it goes both ways. It's not like that the men just get to do whatever they want, no, they should be there. If your wife's going to take that time to make that meal, you better be there and tell her how special she is and tell her how great she is and cherish her. And we see the wise woman's building her house, she's giving out seven pillars, she's being hospitable, and by her conversation, she'll win a lot of people to Christ. You know, if you want to talk about lifestyle evangelism, here it is. If you want to be a lifestyle evangelist as a woman, be subject to your husband. That the word of God be not blasphemed. Let's go on to the next part of this chapter. It says in verse seven, either reproveth a scorn or get it to himself shame, and either rebuke of the wicked man get himself a bluff. Reprove not a scorn or lest he hate thee, rebuke a wise man and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy day shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shall be wise for thyself, but if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it. Why don't you turn to second Samuel verse six. So I've been talking about marriage a little bit. And I think when it's talking about rebuking a wise man, there's a lot of application here. You could really look at this a lot of people. You could look at unsaved, saved, friends, family, people that you don't know. I mean there's a lot of different pieces here. But let's look at marriage for a second because we've been talking about that. In second Samuel chapter six verse twenty, the Bible says then David returned to bless his household. And Michael the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said how glorious is the king of Israel today. Who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants. As one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovered himself. And David said unto Michael, it was before the Lord which chose me before thy father and before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord and I will yet be more vile than thus and will be base in my own sight. And if the maidservant was thou spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. Therefore Michael the daughter of Saul had no child under the day of her death. So you see here, is this a really good marriage? Is this a marriage that you desire? Is this two people serving one another? What happens Michael when he comes? She reproves him, right? And then what happens? She gets ashamed. He's like look, God chose me over your father. Isn't that kind of a shame? Isn't that kind of a put down that she gets when she reproves him? And you know, he even goes even further. He says, I'll be more vile than thus and will be base in my own sight. And if the maidservant was thou spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. You know, he says, look, I was only playing for the Lord. But in this verse to me, it sounds like his heart had a little bit of iniquity in it. He's like, you know what? Those handmaids, they are going to like it. They're going to look at me and they're going to like how I'm dancing and they're going to look at me and have a lot of honor. He wanted to be seen in front of those handmaids. And you know, that wasn't right. As a man, you should be a servant on your wife. And as a woman, you should be a servant on your husband. You should be serving one another. And whenever you have a reproof, when you reproof that scorner, you're going to get himself ashamed. You see that David was being a scorner in this verse. Now I would say his lifestyle maybe represented a scorner. But in this part, she rebuked the scorner and she got herself ashamed. And says that she had no child under the day of her death. Why don't you turn to Job chapter 16. We're going to look at another scorner. So it's even in a family, when you reprove a scorner, when you reprove somebody that isn't wanting to hear it, you're going to get yourself ashamed. And you know, David was a great man of God. But he didn't always live for God in the best ways. I mean, he even committed adultery. So this man is not perfect. And whenever you rebuke somebody, I think whenever you're going to reprove somebody, you should pay attention to the circumstances. You should pay attention to the situation. I mean, Michael hasn't seen her husband in a really long time. You think the first thing he wants to hear is a reproof? I mean, that just seems ridiculous. We see in Job chapter 16 verse 20, it says, My friends scorn me, but mine eye pours out tears unto God. So you see here, a reproof of friends, right? They said that they scorned him. And turn all the way to Job chapter 42. So what happens to these friends that scorned Job? Now Job was in great distress. He was in great grief because he had lost everything. And his friends come and they're just telling him, Man, Job, you must have done something really bad to get all this. Man, Job, you must be really wicked. You must be living not a good life. And they're just scorning him. They just have a lot of disdain towards him. They're like, man, you must be really in sin if this is happening to you. Because God always does good to the righteous and always does bad to the wicked. And they're really off base. But in Job chapter 42 verse 7, it says, And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliaphas, the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullets and seven rams that go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant Job shall pray for you. For him will I accept, lest I deal with you after your folly, in that you have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So you see, even these three men who seem to be saved in my opinion if you read this chapter, they're scorning their friend. And what happens? They get ashamed. They get ashamed by the Lord Jesus Christ who says, What you've spoken is not right. And he's so angry at them, he says, look, even if you came a night offering unto me, I'm not going to accept it. You better get Job to pray for you. So you see the importance of not rebuking or scorning someone when it's not right. It's like a hypocritical judgment. The Bible says to judge righteous judgment. And you know, whenever you're going to do a reproof, I think it's important to pay attention to who you're reproving. To pay attention to what's happening. And to say the right things. Oftentimes, if you're going to approve this corner, make sure that what you're saying is what the Bible says. Because these guys weren't reproving according to the Bible. And they get themselves ashamed. But the question is in 1 Corinthians 2, if y'all turn there, well, turn to 1 Corinthians 5, I'm sorry. Should you reprove someone who's unsaved? Because the Bible is saying a scorner, right? Oftentimes, when you think of a scorner, you wouldn't often think of someone that's saved as being a scorner. But it happens. I mean, there's people that are saved. And if you try to give them instruction, if you try to help them, they're just going to rebuke it. They're going to say, no, why are you telling me what to do? You don't live any more righteous than I do. Hey, why are you saying that to me? I go to church three times a week. Hey, I read my Bible. They can't hearken into any instruction. And most people that are not saved, they probably fall in this category. So should we just be going around and just discovering every sin unto these people? Well, in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul said, for I determined not to know anything among you, saying, Jesus Christ and him crucified. You know, when I think of this verse, I think you can apply to family. I can think you can apply to friends. But when I think of it, I just think of street preaching. I think of these people going out, standing on the corner, and they just, like, they'll go to a bar on purpose. They'll stand right by the bar and see people going in and be like, drinking is the evil and you're a wicked person and you're going to hell. Turn and burn, buddy. Turn and burn. And they're just rebuking. I mean, most of the people that drink a lot, they're scorners, my friend. And guess what? You're going to get ashamed. These people are going to pick you apart. Sometimes they might know the Bible better than those street preachers and they're going to rebuke them. Or maybe they get themselves a block. Right? It says, and either rebuke with the wicked man, give them themselves a block. You want to get punched in the face? Why don't you go down to these sodomite, reprobate parades and go try to preach them, you know, against the Bible. Say, oh, what you're doing is wicked and evil and filthy and sinful. Look, if you're in the pulpit and you've got to preach the word of God, preach what the word of God says. But you shouldn't go around just reproving scorners and wicked people to their face for no reason. You're just going to get punched in the face, my friend. He's going to turn around and rend you. It says in First Corinthians chapter five verse 11, but now have I written unto you not to keep company. If any man that has called him brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idol or a railer or a drunkard or extortioner, would such an one know not to eat? For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without, God judge them. Therefore, put away from among yourselves that wicked person. Paul's saying, look, why in the world are you going to go around judging the unsaved? I mean, if you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you don't believe the Bible, why in the world are you going to follow his rules? It doesn't even make any sense. That's why he's saying the only thing I'm going to preach unto them is Christ and him crucified. Because look, they've got to get saved first before they're going to want to follow any of his rules. I mean, look, why in the world would someone want to follow all of my rules as a husband before they married me? I mean, look, don't you want to first get married and then you're going to harken unto each other, right? I mean, don't put the cart before the horse. And look, the Bible's not saying that we can't just go out and preach the word of God, preach it faithfully. Well, you shouldn't just go around just telling people all their sin and wickedness to their face just because. Look, preach in Christ if you want to get him saved. But if you want to get punched, if you want to get blocked, you know, reprove a scorner. Rebuke a wicked man. The Bible says, reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Look, if you tell somebody that they're doing wrong in their scorner, they're not going to receive it, they're going to start hating you. They're going to really dislike you. Why don't you all turn to Matthew chapter 14. It says, give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser. Teach adjustment and he will increase in learning. The Bible says, great peace have they which love by law and nothing shall offend them. Look, if someone knows that I'm doing something wrong and they show me it from the Bible, I would love that person. I would love that person could show me the blindness in my eye, could take out the mode of my eye, or maybe it was bigger, I don't know. But I'm just saying, I would love that person if they could show me, hey, I'm totally submitted to this Bible. And if I don't know something in this book, show it to me. I don't care how I look. You know, people say, oh, you're following a man. Oh, you came to this church, you just want to follow man's instructions. No, I just want to follow this book. And I want to follow what it says. I'm going to follow this book first. And if someone wants to show me something out of this book, then I'll submit onto that. I submitted this book first and then to my pastor in my church. And this book is the most important thing to me. And it's saying, look, a wise man, when he's reproved, he'll understand, look, the only reason someone's reproving you is they want you to do right. They want you to do better. If you see someone walking off a cliff, you say, hey, watch out. Why do they say that? Because they love you. They don't want you to fall off the cliff. Oftentimes, you know, some people may not have a good delivery about it. They might not be able to approve you or rebuke you in a really mature way. But you should take that instruction, you should take that and allow that to build yourself up. You should say, hey, there was some truth in what that guy said. Maybe sometimes I do, you know, talk a little bit too much about myself. Maybe I have been going to some places that I shouldn't have been going. Maybe I am not reading my Bible like I should. Maybe sometimes when I'm quoting verses at the door, I'm getting them wrong. And I need to get those right. Maybe, you know, in my soul winning, I'm not doing it the best way and there's a better way for me to do it. Maybe I didn't show up to church for three weeks in a row and I need to be told to get my butt back in church. But you know, you should take that instruction. It says in Matthew chapter 14 verse 3, For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he had put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. So you see what happens here when John rebukes Herod. He wants to make him a block. And the Bible is saying, We're proven not to scorn her, lest he hate thee, rebuke a wise man and love thee. I don't think the Bible is saying, If you're put in a situation where you're standing before the judge, where you're standing before the kings, and you need to preach the word of God, preach the word of God. Don't hold it back, but make sure that you understand that you'll probably get some kind of persecution. All that will live in Christ or live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, right? But we need to be paying attention to look. When the right opportunity comes, preach the word of God. But just don't go around picking fights. If you want to go around preaching the word, get people saved. Preach in Christ and him crucified. Let's go to 2 Chronicles chapter 18. And we'll look at this part a little bit further. But he says, If thou be wise, thou shall be wise for thyself. But if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it. What is he saying there? What is he trying to tell us? He's saying, Look, a wise man, when he hears that instruction, he will take it and apply it to his life. He will learn. He will grow. And it says, Thou shall be wise for thyself. What is wisdom? Taking instruction and applying it to your life. That's what the whole book of Proverbs is about. It's about taking the instructions of God and improving your life. And by following his commandments. And even when a guy comes along and says, Hey, look, did you remember this Proverb? Maybe you're not doing it. Harken to that instruction. And thou shall be wise for thyself. But it says, But if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it. I think there's two parts there. He's saying if you, if you're a scorner, oftentimes when someone comes to you and they give you some instruction and you just reject it, and you're just like, Man, what do you know? You're not even as old as I am. What do you know? You haven't done that in your life. You don't have any experience doing that. Why are you coming and telling me this? I know what the Bible says. Oftentimes you don't want to ever talk to that person again. You don't want to go up to them again and be like, Hey, I found this too. I know I was going to tell you about how you got a drinking problem, but guess what? You got a smoking problem and you're not coming to church. I mean, you're not going to just keep going to that person. So often they're going to be left alone. They're not going to have any friends that want to come and give them those words of encouragement, those words of instruction. But secondly, that you don't actually learn anything. They gave you some instruction that you could have used. And you're just like, I'm just going to reject that and I'm not going to learn from it. Well, let's see in 2 Chronicles 18. I'm going to read quite a bit of this, but it says in verse 7, In the king of Israel, son of Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord. But I hate him, for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil. The same is Micaiah, the son of Imlah. And Josephth said, Let not the king say so. So look, this guy, this king Ahab, who's the king of Israel, he hates Micaiah. Because why? Because he reproves him. Because he rebukes him. And king Ahab's a scorner. So we have a perfect example of what this is talking about. It's talking about the scorner, and it's talking about someone who would rebuke him. And Josephth said, Let not the king say so. He's like, look, you're scorning, man. Let's just let him preach the word. If he's going to give us the word of God, why are we arguing with the messenger? Let's look in verse 13, it says, And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak. So Micaiah's been summoned, and he says, look, I'll just preach what God said. But then we go into verse 14, and it says, And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramath Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear it? And he said, Go ye up and prosper, and they shall be delivered in your hand. Now that's kind of like the opposite of what he just said. He kind of said in the first verse, he's like, look, I'll just only preach you what God said. And all these false prophets came and said, look, if you go into battle, you all are going to win. So I can just imagine Micaiah's probably brought in, and they're like, look, buddy, you better preach something good. Look, buddy, if you don't say the right thing, we're going to rend you. And they have even preface before it, he's like, look, I pray thee, be like theirs, and speak thou good in verse 12. He's saying, look, I want you to tell me something good. And he's like, alright, I'll just tell you what you want. And that's what Micaiah does, he says, go ye up and prosper, and they shall be delivered in your hand. But immediately, King Abs sees through it, he's probably being facetious, he's probably leaning on like, look, I'll just tell you whatever you want, but that's not what God said. And the king said to him, how many times shall I adjure thee, that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord? So this corner, he knew, look, I know this guy's just messing with me, that's not what God would have said. And Micaiah said, I'm sorry, in verse 16, then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains as the sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, these have no master. Let them return, therefore, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said, Josaphat, did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil? So I mean, look, he preached evil unto this guy. So we have the picture of this corner, we have the guy that rebukes him. So what happens? Let's skip down to verse 20. Then there came out a spirit that stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said, I am wherewith? And he said, I will go, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail, go out, and do even so. Now, therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. So now he was saying, look, the Lord's not going to bless you, and the Lord even put a lying spirit in all your prophet's mouths, and they're telling you lies. And we see those prophets come, and they just slide him on the cheek. So he rebukes this corner, and he gets himself a block. Then in verse 25, he says, then the king of Israel said, Take him, Micaiah, and carry him back to aim on the governor of the city. And Israel asked the king's son, and said, Thus saith the king, put this fellow in prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction, and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. Now, I have no idea what that means, but it sounds awful. I don't want that. But what is the Bible saying? It's saying, look, when you reprove this corner, when you rebuke the wicked man, you're probably going to get some persecution. Now, did Micaiah do what God wanted him to do? Absolutely. I believe that John the Baptist did what God wanted him to do. He's preaching the word of God, but look, he suffered for it. And so you should be prepared, if God puts you in that situation, to preach the word of God, and to be ready to suffer that rebuke, or to suffer that block, if that's what comes to it. But sometimes God will protect you. God protected Jeremiah many times. God also didn't protect Jeremiah many times. He was like in the stocks. He got a lot of proof and rebuke. The point of what this is saying is, look, you should pay attention to who you're talking to. And what's the point of talking to these scorners and these wicked men? Why don't you try and get them saved if you want to preach something to them? But you know, sometimes if you're standing before a ruler, or you're from the pulpit, there's a difference between preaching against people and preaching on the pulpit, than just going up to their face and just saying all the evil in front of them for no reason. So we need to pay attention to who we're talking to and we need to be wise about our situations. And if God has put you in the right situation, preach the word of God. Never compromise. That's not what I'm saying, but make sure to understand that if you rebuke a wicked man, you're probably going to suffer persecution. Let's finish this chapter. It says in verse 13, So you see this foolish woman, she has her way of being hospitable, but it's a different kind of hospitable. She hasn't been preparing a feast. She hasn't been preparing wise words to give under these people. She's saying stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. You know, when I was several years ago, I watched a lot of TV, and unfortunately there were these commercials for Ashley Madison, which was this adultery website. And they would advertise adultery like it was somehow better than anything else in this world. And this foolish woman is saying, look, why don't you come eat in my stolen waters and in my stolen bread? They're sweet. It tastes so good when you're committing adultery. It tastes so good when it's in this private, wicked hellhole that she lives in. No, it's hell, my friend. It's not pleasant. It's not sweet. And it might be pleasant for a moment, but then it's going to be grief and suffering and death and destruction. And this foolish woman, she's going to try and entice you. That's why the Proverbs chapter 5 and Proverbs chapter 6 and Proverbs chapter 7 is warning you about this flattery of this strange woman. Because she's saying, look, it's so sweet. You've never experienced this kind of bread. You've never experienced this kind of waters. It's so sweet. It's so great to have it in private. No, it's the dead are there in the depths of hell. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 26, of a hoarse woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. You know, unfortunately, I've heard a lot of wicked conversations in my past. When I was working at a restaurant, a lot of the women there are not godly women. And I heard a lot of women say, man, I love sleeping with married men. It's so great. I love to just take that married man and lie with him. It's so wicked, but it's so true. The adulteress will hunt for the precious life. She wants that young married guy who's faithful unto his wife, who's providing and he's such a great man, she's like, look, wouldn't it be so great if I could entice him and it builds her up and gives her so much power? She gets that guy in her hand like a piece of bread, then she just tosses it away. She doesn't want to eat it. She doesn't want to get any satisfaction from, you know, the actual bread. She just wants to take that man and destroy his precious life. And he should never be enticed by this strange woman, by the flattering lips of this strange woman. And why is it always talking about hell? Why is it always talking about the dead? Because this is a serious thing, my friend. So many men get entrapped and entangled by this strange woman. And I thought it was interesting that the word hell was mentioned seven times in the book of Proverbs. So we'll close that way. Let's go to Proverbs chapter five. Let's look at all seven verses that have this word hell in there. Because it's kind of an interesting thing here. In Proverbs chapter five, verse five, the Bible says, her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. So it's talking about this strange woman and it's saying, her steps take hold on hell. Flip over to Proverbs chapter seven. It says in verse twenty-seven, her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. This strange woman wants to just take your life and run it and destroy it, chew you up and spit you out and send you straight to hell. Now obviously if you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ you can't lose your salvation. But there's so many simple men, there's so many men that haven't heard the gospel and they're just chasing after this strange woman and she's going to chew them out and spit them out and they're going to go straight to hell. They're going to get so blinded by this strange woman they're going to ruin their life because of this strange woman. It says in Proverbs chapter nine, flip over a couple more chapters. Verse eighteen, the one that we're in. But he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell. This woman's already done it before, my friend. The dead are there. She just wants to ruin some guy's life and move on to the next. She's just killing and killing. She's like Satan, seeking whom she may devour, my friend. Don't ever be enticed by this strange woman. By the flattering lips of this strange woman. And we can discern who she is if you look at Proverbs chapter five. Look at Proverbs chapter six. Look at Proverbs chapter seven. It talks about her being loud, stubborn. Her feet are not abiding in her house. We see the opposite is the wise woman. Her feet are in her house. She's building her house. You know, the wise woman's going to be there helping her mom, a young maiden. She's being sent out by her mom as a young maiden to do work for her mom. She cares about family. These are the attributes you should look for. Not this woman that's out getting a job. She's flattering her with her lips. She's enticing you with stolen bread, stolen waters. Flip over to Proverbs chapter fifteen. Proverbs chapter fifteen. It says in verse ten, Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. So if we look at verse twelve, it says, If thou be wise, thou shall be wise for thyself. But if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it. Look, the guy that's not going to hearken to any instruction, he's going to walk straight into a trap and die and perish and go to hell. Why? Because there's so many traps. Broad is the way which leadeth in destruction, and many there be which go in there at. Why? Because they won't hearken unto any instruction. They're just traveling in some broad road. Guess where it goes, my friend? To hell. And that's where this strange woman is. She's one of the broadest ways, my friend, and she's just taking these guys to hell. It says in verse eleven, Hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men? A scourner loveth not the one that reprieveth him, neither will it go unto the wise. He's saying, look, hell's before the eyes of the Lord. How much more the hearts of the children of men? These guys, they don't even care. They're just chasing after this strange woman. They have no knowledge. They have no wisdom. They're just seeking after her. They don't realize that hell and destruction are before them. Proverbs chapter fifteen verse twenty-four, it says, The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath. So you see, departing from hell is being wise. How do you avoid the foolish woman? By being wise. We see that Proverbs is emphasizing this point of wisdom. And when you don't have wisdom, you're going to go into hell. Why? Because this strange woman's a big trap, my friend, and she's going to take them to death and destruction. It says in Proverbs chapter twenty-three verse fourteen, Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Look, you need to beat your children with the rod. Give them that instruction. So they learn how to have self-discipline. Because a lot of times when this strange woman comes with her flattering lips, if this child's never been rebuked, if this child's never had to hearken to instruction, if this child's never been disciplined, it's just going to go straight away, my friend. He's never learned how to restrain himself. He's never learned how to keep his body under subjection. It says in Proverbs chapter twenty-seven verse twenty, the last verse, it says, Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of a man are never satisfied. Why is it that this strange woman leads to hell, my friend? Because the man that starts chasing after this, his eyes are never satisfied. He can never be satisfied by this strange woman. And this strange woman's never going to be satisfied by these men. So they just keep hunting. They keep hunting. They keep hunting. And at the end, they're at the death. They're at death and hell and destruction. They don't understand wisdom. They don't understand the wisdom of God. And I think this whole chapter focuses around wisdom at building her house. When this wise woman builds her house, when she builds the home, when she's building her young men, she's making them into pillars, they're not going to hearken under this foolish woman. They're going to understand the importance of not just going around rebuking scorners and wicked men and getting themselves blocked, picking fights. We see that her hospitality helps her and her husband. I mean, it helps the husband be hospitable when the wife is hospitable. And we see that the foolish woman plucks down her house. There's something tied to this woman focused on her family, focused on her house, focused on her husband that's going to keep her from all the foolish ways of this foolish woman. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us this chapter. So much wisdom. I pray that any young woman here, they would have the desires that you have in this book, that you just give them a heart to desire to build that house and that you would just bless those women. And I pray that the young men in this room and the married men, that we would look for this wise woman and that we would cherish her and that we would encourage her and that we would make her feel so important because her job is so important in building her house and building those pillars. I pray that we would never be affected by this foolish woman and that we would rebuke wise men and we would not just reprove a scorner for no reason, that we would preach Christ and Him crucified. And if you have a time for us to take a stand, that we would be bold and we would not fear that persecution that would come from that scorner or that wicked man. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.