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We're up to chapter 5 now, the book of Proverbs, the fortnight ago we were in Proverbs 4, looking at the importance of a father also finding time to train his children, as King David did, we saw at the beginning. We saw how it's possible to forget wisdom and understanding. So it's not that, well I've read the Bible, I'm as wise as I can be now, that you could do many things for God, you could be really living for God, and then at some point, you know, you stop doing the things of God, it's easy to forget a lot of that wisdom and understanding that you've gained. It's an ongoing thing. We saw how it's a principal thing and to get it an understanding, which is basically the knowledge of the holy with maximum effort, okay? That's something we should put effort into. How we receive an honour that's worthwhile when we achieve this, unlike a lot of the honour you see out there in the world. Then for the fourth chapter in a row, there was more warnings about the wicked, okay? That's four chapters now in the book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs, warning us about wicked people, to avoid them, to keep away from them, how they sleep not, unless they've done something bad, caused someone to fall. And then we saw how the path of the just so gets clearer and clearer, but for the wicked, it gets darker and darker. Then we saw about keeping our hearts and how it's not just poetic language, the heart is linked to our emotions, okay? And something that people seem to have understood a bit more recently. And, you know, obviously we take what the Bible says, but it is interesting to see, isn't it? The heart is linked to our emotions and seems to be the seat of them, you could say as well. And finally, we looked at some instructions, particularly about keeping on that right path, said in verse 25 of Proverbs 4, let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee, ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established, turn not to the right hand nor to the left, remove thy foot from evil. Then we go into Proverbs chapter 5 and verse 1, starts with my son, attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding that thou mayest regard discretion that thy lips may keep knowledge. Let's pray before we continue in this chapter. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for this book of wisdom, Lord, this great chapter here and with so many warnings and lessons, Lord, that we can all apply in one way or another. Help me to just preach it, how you'd want it preached, Lord, just accurately and boldly for your spirit. Help everyone to have attentive ears now and just stay alert after what's been a long day for many. In Jesus' name, pray all this. Amen. Okay, so we're starting another chapter here with an exhortation to his son, but also to all of us to listen, to take heed. And now here in chapter 5, and we keep seeing this at the beginning, don't we, this warning, this like, listen, listen to what I'm saying, that this is important stuff, isn't it? The book of Proverbs is really important stuff. Everything in the Bible is important, but here it's just clear instruction, clear direction. And here in chapter 5, he said, attend unto wisdom. Okay, that's an action. That's to put it into practice, isn't it? It's not just like, oh yeah, well, just listen up. No, attend unto it, okay? Attend unto wisdom. He said, bow thine ear. He said, bow thine ear to my understanding, which makes you think of listening with humility, really, doesn't it? If you're bowing your ear, it makes you think about someone that's listening, not, not sort of, look. But some people are just too proud to listen, aren't they? Some people just can't take instructions. It really frustrates being around people like that. They just cannot listen. They can't take instructions. They're too proud. They just can't listen. But he said to bow thine ear, and that makes me think of someone really in a humble way, just listening and saying, look, my ears here, I want to hear what you've got to say, right? And here, obviously, it's the word of God, ultimately, that we're talking about, yeah? And you don't want to be too proud to take his structure from the word of God. It doesn't matter who's relaying it. If it's from the word of God, if it's clearly the word of God being preached to you, you need to be able to take that, right? Okay, he said, bow thine ear to my understanding. He said that, because it's for our own good, that thou mayest regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge and discretion being knowledge with prudence, discernment with caution. Now, sometimes I think we just think of discretion as, well, it's just about not saying much, you know, being discreet, being quiet, you know, maybe whispering things. But it's knowledge with prudence, with a sort of caution, with sort of a discernment with it as well. And then he said, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. And lips keeping knowledge is holding rather than withholding it, okay? Because I think at first I was thinking, I wonder if that's talking about, you know, maybe not being too loose with your lips, but if you compare it to, you don't have to turn it, but Malachi 2.7 says, for the priest's lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. It's basically being somewhere where it's held, okay? That's where the knowledge is held. So lips keeping knowledge is about relaying the law, really, having the knowledge of God and his commandments, okay? We want our lips to keep that knowledge, don't we? We want our lips to be able to relay the law, relay the commandments, to be able to advise other people as well, but also ultimately to know what the Bible says, to be able to live our lives right, to be prudent, to be discreet. We need discretion and knowledge because of the many pitfalls. There are many enemies out there. You're a child of God, you're living for God, you're actually trying to serve God. There are a lot of enemies, okay? There are a lot of enemies out there. In one way or another, he said, and then he gives us this type of enemy, he says four. So he said that thou mayest regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge four. The lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil, but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. And look, there are people out there who will charm, flatter, massage your ego, say all the right things, but really they're dangerous. Really, they're just setting you up. That's a sad thing to think about, isn't it? You would just hope you could just take people at face value, but so often that's not the case. Now, turn to Judges 11, because here he's talking specifically about the strange woman, who we've already seen in chapter two. We're going to go back there again in a minute, but in Judges chapter 11, we see that he gives us an alternative word for the strange woman, or at least we see a type of strange woman. Judges 11 is the story of Jephthah. If you remember, he ends up making a vow to offer up the first thing out of his house as a burnt offering, not the brightest thing he's ever done, because it ends up being his poor daughter comes out to greet him and he ends up, he's already made his vow to God and he ends up sacrificing her. And it's a pretty sad end to the story in Judges 11. But look at the beginning of Judges 11 in verse one, where it says, Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot, and Gilead begat Jephthah. Harlot is an old word for a prostitute. Okay, as simple as that. It's an old word for a prostitute that you might hear it used now and again, but more often now the word prostitute is used. Here we see that he was the son of an harlot. And Gilead's wife, so this wasn't the harlot, bare him sons and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house, for thou art the son of what? A strange woman. So we see that they're referring to this harlot as a strange woman. Okay, so he was the son of an harlot, a prostitute, his brothers used the term strange woman, which is literally a woman that his father didn't know very well. And although it can apply to a prostitute, I believe it can also apply to any loose type of woman that you don't really know, basically, that you know better than you should really know in terms if you get my meaning, right? So it's not that she's a bit odd, okay? It's not that she's from a faraway land, okay? It's a woman that you don't know but behaves as if you do know her, okay? And obviously the most common type would be a harlot. Go back to Proverbs 5 and verse 3 with that in mind, where it says, For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. And these types of women, the type that would prostitute themselves, that would entice men to receive something in return, basically, and whether it's an immediate exchange of money, like the harlot that most people would think of, would imagine in talking about that, or maybe a longer-term goal of riches, promotion, fame, popularity, there's a lot of different types of harlot, lots of different types of strange women around, they're not genuine. That's the point here. They're manipulative. And that usually starts with the mouth, doesn't it? Usually starts with the mouth. Go back to Proverbs 2 for a reminder of a common tactic that we looked at briefly in Proverbs chapter 2. In Proverbs 2, Solomon says that discretion and understanding shall protect you. And then he says this in verse 16, To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words. Okay, so we see that warning of the strange woman. We've seen that a harlot is a strange woman, this type of woman that you can imagine, but it's not always, you know, the straight trade for cash type woman. She flatters with her words. Proverbs 6.24, if you want to flick there, says the same. It says, To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Proverbs 7.5 says the same, That they may keep thee from the strange woman. Again, just talk about discretion, understanding, knowledge, wisdom, all protecting you from the strange woman, from the stranger which does what? Flattereth with her words. And here in Proverbs 5.3, it says, For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. Now, flattery being a big part of that, okay, it's sweet to our taste, isn't it, flattery? It really is. It goes down smooth, right? It does. It goes down like smooth oil. And look, as much as we know, as much as we read this, I think it's one of those things you need to read time and time again, because it's so sweet to our taste, because we enjoy flattery. We let everyone enjoy flattery. Now, when it's ridiculous flattery, it's a bit hard to enjoy, right? But the better ones are a bit more subtle with it, aren't they? When it's just completely out there, it makes you really uncomfortable, like, this is just full on flattery. But there are people that have made an art of flattery. And you want to hear it, don't you? You like to hear people flatter you. And as much as we shouldn't, it massages the ego. People get off on it a bit, they don't want to believe that the person flattering them is just flattering them. So in the end, they want to see the best in the flatterer, whereas they might not in the slanderer or someone else, right? Well, we've had some big time flatterers here in the past, and you do just want to believe it. You want to like, you know, you don't really want to believe, look, that person has literally just been flattering me, setting me up. And sometimes I do this for a long time, okay? A long time, this sort of behaviour. And by the way, it's not just a whorish woman, okay? The whorish woman is a classic flatterer. But it's not just a whorish woman. However, when it comes to this type of woman, who men out there, young men may be growing up, and look, this can apply to any men really, this type of woman who you just happen to be exactly their type, what a surprise, right? You just happen to be exactly the type of man they've always wanted, right? Or perhaps you just happen to understand them like no one else. I mean, what a coincidence. You just seem to be the one that understands that type of woman like no one else does. You're just so funny, even though no one else seems to like your jokes, you know? That sort of thing. She just really gets you. Oh, you're just so funny. You're such a funny guy. Look, all of that stuff, yeah, it's all just really flattering, isn't it? It's flattering. And if that's not your wife, okay? If that's not your wife, and by the way, that includes single men as well, okay? If you're not married to a woman, talk to you like that. Why are they talking to you like that? Why are they flattering you? Why are they just heaping out compliments on you and everything else? I'll tell you why, because they're a strange woman. Because they're a strange woman, as the Bible describes. And guile-filled manipulative people that would dishonestly flatter you to achieve something are bad people, okay? Let's just get that clear. People that would full of guile and clearly trying to manipulate you to get something from you, it doesn't have to be money, whatever it is, people that do that are bad people, okay? It's pretty clear, isn't it? And the thing is, like I said, we don't want to believe it because it is sweet to our taste, because it does go down smooth and oil, but something you have to constantly remind yourself is people doing that, really, they're trying to set you up and it's pretty manipulative, isn't it? Just think to yourself, I'm going to say something really overly nice or whatever it is, something that's not true, but I'm going to say it to that person to try and get whatever it is from them. That sort of person you need to avoid, isn't it? He said, but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Now, wormwood is a very bitter-tasting plant, okay? And look, again, men out there, okay, these women will leave you bitter, they'll destroy your life, okay? Their mouths are sweet and smooth, but the result is bitter and sharp. It says in verse five, her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. Now, it's not that a saved man will be pulled down to hell. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you're saved, okay? Nothing can change that. It's her that's on the way to hell, and I believe also the unsaved that she snares. Now, I believe that this particular type of strange woman we're seeing here, that the man of God is being warned about, that flatters and charms, but has a bitter, sharp end, is just another flavour of the different types of wicked that we've seen in every chapter so far. Now, just to make it clear, not every harlot is a reprobate, okay? Not every one that flatters, for example, is a reprobate. However, we've seen chapter after chapter different types of wicked people to be warned about, people that basically target men of God, and here we're now seeing the strange woman, and this particular strange woman, I believe, is that her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. She's a child of the devil for me, that hinders the saved and lures the unsaved away from the truth in one way or another, because they come in all shapes and sizes. The children of Belial, the false prophets in one way or another, in chapter seven, if you want to flick there, we see that this type of woman lures strong men away from God in the first place. It says in chapter seven of verse 26, chapter seven of verse 26, for she hath cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been slain by her. And perhaps that's contrasting the effects of the saved and the unsaved. The saved get wounded, the unsaved end up being slain by her. Spiritually slain. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. It's the same sort of language that we just saw, right? Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. She's just another type of enemy out there, really. And like I said, they're not all preaching downable heresy behind pulpits. That's not the only false prophet. That's not the only child of Belial out there. They're not all with crazy dyed hair, you know, and trying to convince you that suddenly sodomy is okay, you know, for the first time in pretty much history in this nation. Actually, we've had it wrong for however many thousand years. That's not the only type of child of Belial. There's a common child of Belial as well, which is a strange woman. And what she ultimately does is just lures the unsaved away from the things of God. And she lures saved people into basically giving up a life for God and chasing some, basically what the Bible call a whorish woman, to just, what a disastrous, ruined, destroyed life, right? He said, Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell, lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life. Her ways are movable that thou canst not know them. So basically, if you do what he said in the previous chapter, okay, Proverbs 4 26 said, Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all her ways be established. Well, turn to Ecclesiastes 7. So he said, you can. He's basically saying, lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are movable that thou canst not know them. So you're turning to Ecclesiastes 7. It's not just pondering and then carry on. The pondering is to make sure you go the right way. Ecclesiastes 7 26 says this. It says, And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands as bands, whose so pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. So pondering the path of life, and we saw ponder the path of life and let all thy ways be established ultimately by God in the previous chapter, her ways are movable that thou canst not know them. Basically, you can avoid her. You can protect yourself from her. You can avoid this type of woman, this type of enemy, but you've got to make sure that you're right with God. You've got to please God and you will escape from her. And if you're in the things of God and you're in your Bible, you're in the word, you're in church, you're doing all the things that God wants you to do, then you're more likely to see her for what she is. But here's the thing. You're not in any of that stuff and you're in the world and your days are just spent staring at your phone and looking at junk and all of that stuff. You ain't going to spot her because they're everywhere because she's no different to most of the women that are being put all over your phone screen, your laptop, your TV or whatever it is you're watching. He said, Hear me now, back in Proverbs chapter five, hear me now, therefore, O you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. So basically, you better listen to this instruction. Remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the door of her house. So another warning to keep away from the wicked. OK, another warning in the Book of Proverbs, keep away from wicked people. And this time it's a strange woman, the harlot type, the flattering seducer. By the way, they're not all, you know, whatever the latest fashion is of good looks. They come in all shapes and sizes, seriously, because some men are more likely to believe the flattery of someone that isn't the Hollywood good look type. Yeah, they come in all types, all shapes and sizes. The men out there, you need to keep away from these women. Oh, well, she's not exactly an oil painting, so it doesn't matter that she's flattering me and everything else. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what she looks like. That sort of woman is a problem. OK, that sort of woman is a problem. He said, Lest thou give thine honour unto others and thy years unto the cruel. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labours be in the house of a stranger. Basically, they're going to fleece you. OK, they're going to fleece you one way or another. Think of the amount of men out there that have been preyed on by women like this. Just think. Think about the amount of divorce settlements out there, just for one. How many men, like wealthy men, successful career men, everything else, have ended up marrying a strange woman? Ended up being preyed on by a strange woman, have ended up, like, what a waste of their life, right? And just in a carnal sense, what a waste of all that hard work. What a waste of all that time and effort and energy put into their career. And again, I'm not encouraging you to do that. It's the things of God that are important. But think about those people that have done that and their honour, their years, all that years of work. And by the way, it's not just the strange woman that ends up being filled with their wealth and their labours being in the house of a stranger. Think about how many lawyers, how many lawyers have ended up filled with the wealth of someone because of the strange woman. Because a lot of people end up getting a slice of that pie as well when it comes to that, okay? And look, there are many ways that that happens as well. There's many ways that these women, these types of women will rip off people, will find a way of getting money. But verse 11 says, And now mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. Think about those who end up ravaged with disease because of strange women as well. When their flesh and thy body are consumed. Think about those that end up getting lured into drugs and into that sort of lifestyle by these sorts of women. Because a lot of the time it goes hand in hand as well, doesn't it? And they're just, you know, these women that live like that, these ladies of the night types and men that get pulled into that falling in love with some sort of harlot or something else, like what a ruined life, what a disgusting life. Their flesh and thy body are consumed. And again, you could just apply this to those at the end of their lives looking back to the years just wasted chasing strange women. I mean, what a waste of life, right? What an absolute tragedy. Think how many men look back after failed marriages, failed relationships and everything else, looking back thinking, you know, and they see like the happily married couple and they just think, I just wasted my years chasing some basically harlot and married or not in relationships with strange women. And you know what? Do you know how many men seek that? Do you know why so many men now seek that sort of women? That sort of woman is because that's what's being promoted and pushed everywhere now, isn't it? Like that's somehow something to aspire to be like. The women are aspiring to be like strange women. It's nuts. Said in verse 12, and say, how have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me. Because people used to warn you about these types of women, didn't they? I mean, that used to be common, used to be warned about. Now there's something young girls aspire to be like. Now, instead of being warned about these types of women and being warned you don't want to end up this type of woman to young girls, now that's kind of what their goal is, isn't it? Their goal is to be something, basically, and I mean, I'm not even going to try and name some of these women that are out there in the public eye, but I'm sure everyone can think of women that come to mind. The latest pop stars, the latest film stars, the latest whatever they are, aren't they all what we're seeing here? Strange women. Women that dress like basically in the attire of an harlot, says the Bible, I think in chapter seven here, that sort of woman. Women that dress like it, that act like it, that are jumping from one man to another, and these are now the role models for young girls growing up in this nation, aren't they? And that's been going on for a little while now as well, and what a surprise that when you walk out on the street you see people dressed the same, acting the same, behaving the same. But here's the thing, nowadays, so-called houses of God are filled with these types, aren't they? You go down a liberal Baptist church around the corner and you're going to see a load of women acting, dressing, behaving, like the strange woman in the attire of an harlot, and even, even by the way, our sorts of churches. Seriously, you'll get women in our sorts of churches just trying to push the boundaries a little bit. What can they get away with? How much, what could they wear that will still get some attention, the wrong type of attention? No, you don't have to wear a bin liner, okay? No, you don't have to look for the armistice latest, you know, kind of clothing trends, okay? However, you know whether what you're dressing is to get that sort of, is to get sexual attention, basically, or it's just to look nice. And there's a big difference, isn't there? And you'll get that, right? And do you know, you know what, yeah? You know what stops men running the other way, okay? That makes them hate the instruction, because you said here, and say, this is what men will say, how have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof? Do you know what makes them despise the reproof? It's by not removing thy way far from her. And do you know how men slip up nowadays? Social media. Social media, phones. The strange women are everywhere. They're all over it. And because they're not running the other way, they're not removing thy way far from her, and what happens is they get desensitized. And then it stops becoming a big deal. So if you're just spending your days just scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, I mean, whatever it is, right? And all you're seeing is just women in the attire of a harlot. Women in the attire of a harlot. Women just basically, it's all about them. Pouting, all that Botox, all that junk, all that stuff. Eventually you just, you're going to become desensitized to it. And then instead of like the alarm bell going off when you see them, instead it's just, it's Walter off a duck's back, isn't it? Because what should happen is when we see people acting, behaving, dressing, when we see women like that, we should just be like, OK, that looks like a strange woman. Whereas nowadays, that's the majority of women that people look at. People start to see it as normal, and they shouldn't. People will start to see men of God sitting in churches like ours will see the way that these women dress, behave, pose the utter narcissism, as like, it's fairly normal, isn't it? Isn't that how women behave? But that's not how women should behave. And we shouldn't be letting ourselves become desensitized to that stuff. And do you know how you do that? Is you avoid looking at that junk, avoid scrolling through and just seeing, Phil, Phil, Phil. No, you're looking at some videos on YouTube, they're suddenly out of nowhere. It's just like someone's semi-clad or something. And the more that happens, the more that you're being desensitized to it, the more your radar doesn't go off. Instead of running a mile, men are getting an iPhone on their phones. They're getting used to celebrity strange women. Aren't they? Truthfully. And, look, and then when one does come along, when a strange woman comes along, whether it's in the house of God or outside of the house of God or whatever else, the radar batteries, well, they ran out a long time ago. It stopped even, it stopped buzzing anymore. You're just like, oh, okay, yeah, and it stops being anything abnormal, which is what it should be. If you're surrounded yourself by God's people, you're in the things of God, you're around the things of God, instead of watching just a load of filth and junk on your phone and everything else. I'm not even talking about the worst filth. I'm just talking about kind of the general stuff that people scroll through and look at and watch and view. If you're not all over that stuff, you're less likely to be desensitized to it, aren't you? He said in verse 8, remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the door of a house and in our day and age that includes social media. It really does. It includes social media. And I talked about that a little bit this morning, and it does apply as well to, look, when there are people that you just know are wicked, that have either been marked and avoided from your church, or you just know are anyway, you have to remove them from social media as well. So I think some people are like, oh, well, let's see what they're saying next, or maybe let's see what they're preaching, or maybe let's see what's going on with this or going on with that. But that wouldn't have been the case a few decades ago. You wouldn't have gone, oh, I'm just going to pop down to Repent Your Sins Baptist and just see what they're preaching nowadays, you know? Because you just want to get that stuff away from you, get it out of your life. And it's the same with the strange woman. It's like, oh, well, you know, it doesn't matter. I'm only seeing it on my phone. No, you want her out of your life. He said, remove thy way far from her. That's not seeing her in one form or foe or another every time that you're watching something or reading something or looking at something on your telephone or on your whatever else it is, on your laptop, your whatever, tablets, I don't know. I'm trying to remember all the different terminology and stuff. Look, you just need to get that stuff away. Come not nigh the door of a house. And nowadays they're showing you what's going on in their house on social media, aren't they? Or half your friends on your friend list on that stuff. Shall I tell you what half of those women are? Men and women out there. Do you know what half of them are? Strange women. They're what the Bible's describing here. Literally taking photographs of themselves. Sometimes wearing next to nothing. It's embarrassing. And by the way, men and women, why are you even friends with people like that? What are they gaining? Oh, no, don't worry, because I quote John 3 16 on my Facebook page now and again. Look, that ain't a reason, is it? To have all that stuff. Now, look, if you think, well, OK, well, that's someone I might, you know, I know I'm going to reach with the gospel. OK, cool. I'm not saying you don't need to go out of this world. However, if every time you go on to whatever social media is, all you see is their kind of pictures of them wearing next to nothing, taking photos of themselves doing ridiculous trout pout poses and everything else after far too much Botox. And by the way, one injection Botox is far too much as well. It's the most bizarre thing ever. I was in a barber the other day. The guy was telling me that now he's got men coming into the barbers who get Botox injections in their cheeks. Now, I do live in Essex. Just to make this clear in case anyone's wondering if I'm still travelling. But that's bizarre, isn't it? There are even men out there that get injections. I said, why? Because he said he said something. He said, my barber said, yeah, well, I said to this guy, I said, I said, so when did you get the injections, mate? He said, he went mad. He started shouting, I haven't, I never got any injections. Why did you say that and everything else? And then he said, six months later, he admitted that he had. So why did I get, oh, I think it's to do with wrinkles and things like that. How pathetic is that, right? And do you know what he said to me? He said, and I'm not talking about, and his words were the flamboyant translation, he wasn't talking about queers. He wasn't talking about sodomites. He said, manly men. OK, he thought they were manly men, though. So here's this, the barber, he's like talking about, in his view, manly men. Now, there's nothing manly about a man with a Botox injection, all right? That is horrendous, isn't it? But is it much worse, though? And I know, look, men and women are different, OK? But look, these women out there, and how bad do they look with a stupid mouth all done like this and all that? It's horrific. It is horrific, isn't it? I look at it, it repulses me when I see that stuff. I just think, what have you done? Can you imagine when they're older as well? Just what have they done to themselves? But they're all over the place and you're seeing them and you're not removing away from them if you're friends with them, if you're viewing their stuff, you're looking at their stuff. He said, lest I give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel, verse 9, verse 10, says, Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger, and thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised with proof, and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me? I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. And do you know what he's saying here? He's saying that you can be in church, you can be three to thrive, you can be in the middle of God's people, but you can still reject the teaching, you can still despise the reproof, you can reject it all, you can hate the instruction, not obey it, not listen to the instruction, and you can basically still end up in all evil, in the middle of the congregation assembly. It's great that you're here, but you need to apply it to your lives. That's the point. You can sit here and listen to the preaching, and sit here and feel like, well, at least I'm going to church. But you've got to apply it. Don't despise it, don't hate it, don't listen to it, and in your heart think, yeah, whatever, things have changed now. That was written a thousand years ago. Things are different now. Strange women aren't so bad anymore. No, he's saying, look, you can be here and still just be in all evil. You need to, if you're in church, don't waste your time, apply it to your lives. He then said, he then gives some instruction. He says, drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Do you know what he's saying here? And for me, look, it's symbolism for staying faithful to your wife. That's what it is. That's what it is. He's saying in verse 15, he's saying to stick to your wife. Verse 16, he's saying to forego any others. Verse 17, he's saying to not share it with some stranger. And verse 18 shows how to be blessed in marriage by rejoicing with the wife of your youth. Yeah, rejoice with the wife of your youth. And do you know what I believe that King Solomon, who had over 700 wives and 300 concubines, is saying, is that at some point, he realised that he would have been blessed with just the one wife of his youth. That's what he's saying. He said, let her, that's singular, let her, in verse 19, be as the loving hind and pleasant roe. Let her breast satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love. And we don't know exactly when he wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. I've heard it explained this. Many will say Song of Solomon when young, Proverbs somewhere middle-aged, and Ecclesiastes when older. Which, you know, would make sense in a few ways there, because maybe when he was writing Song of Solomon, it was with the wife of his youth, right? Until he just messed up and started marrying all these different women and everything else. But whenever he wrote this, he obviously realised and is now instructing others to stick to the one wife. And whether it was before or probably maybe during or after, because I'm sure that just caused him untold grief. Because many women, many men probably look at Solomon's life and think, oh, he had it all, you know, 700 wives, 300 concubines, you know, what a life, right? I mean, the Muslims, I mean, they'd be going mad over that, wouldn't they? I mean, that's what they're aspiring to, isn't it? But, and because, by the way, also some do, and there are people out there, I saw a comment on something a while back, that want to argue that the Bible teaches polygamy. Ever heard these people out there before? Yeah, they're trying to justify polygamy being multiple wives. They're going, no, no, the Bible teaches that, right? Because there are men in the Bible with multiple wives. There are men in the Bible that do all sorts of wicked things, right? Doesn't mean it justifies it. But Genesis 2 24 says, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. That's right at the beginning of the Bible. They, those two, shall be one flesh. This was repeated by Jesus Christ in the gospels. And then here in Proverbs 5, we've just seen, let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife, singular of thy youth. Let her, singular, be as a loving hind and pleasant roe. Let her, singular, breast satisfy thee at all times and be thou ravished always with her, singular love. And for me, aside from teaching monogamy, the opposite to polygamy, Solomon is warning men here to be satisfied with their wives as well. So firstly, look, the Bible doesn't teach multiple wives. Yeah, there are men in the Bible that chose to have multiple wives. OK, however, the Bible doesn't teach it. And here, in fact, the Bible teaches the opposite. And here we're seeing clearly him teaching, look, you want to stick to the wife of your youth, right? But not only is he talking about about monogamy, he's also here basically warning men, look, make sure you're satisfied with your wife. Yeah, make sure you, you, you, and when he says make sure you're satisfied with your wife, that's something that you can choose to do. Like we said, one way, by avoiding a strange woman. By keeping away from that, by not being desensitised by that stuff. A hind, by the way, is a female red deer or stag, it seems a rosa gazelle. And the picture being a gentle creature. You could add the picture being a gentle, shy, and maybe timid creature as well. Basically the opposite of the strange woman. Notice the picture wasn't some man eating predator. He didn't say let her be as, you know, as a ferocious lion or the, you know, or whatever else, something similar. He didn't say let her be as a lying in wait serpent, waiting to catch you in its lair. He didn't say let her be, he didn't say let her be as some fighting independent don't mess with me animal either, did he? Let her be as a loving rhino. A pleasant hippo. He didn't say that, did he? And I say that because, look, that's the junk you see promoted out there, isn't it? Strong independent woman, yeah? No, he said let her be as a loving, hind and pleasant roe. That's a gentle, graceful, timid creature. That's the opposite to the strange woman. We shouldn't be looking for the strange woman, however much they try to push and promote the strange woman type. The kung fu kicking, you know, I beat up 50 men in a movie, just ridiculous nonsense, and the rest of it whilst wearing a skin tight jumpsuit or something. But women, look at that, and they're like, that's who I want to be. Madness. But, no, the hind arrived gentle and graceful, and he said let her breast satisfy thee at all times. And back to the previous point, that's easier when your days aren't spent basically staring at strange women on your phones. And I say phones because that's kind of the most common thing for it now, isn't it? Staring at strange women, bearing all. And if you don't do that, and you make sure you're busy, and you put some limits and find some boundaries, it's a way to not have that stuff popping up all the time. See, it's a bit of a problem. I was talking to my wife about this yesterday, because if you don't allow any cookies or any of that stuff on your YouTube, they'll just put up like a dating advert on there. But the dating advert, which comes up for both of us on YouTube, when you actually, when I clicked on the other side, why am I seeing this ad? Because of your location, and because of the time that you're looking at it. So there's no like, you know, there's no algorithms. They literally just throw this stuff at you. But then if you do, then have the cookies and stuff, then you're just, it's just getting all this info and trying to show other stuff. But really, if you're a man even, they're going to start trying to show you that stuff anyway, in one way or another. These people are unscrupulous. So you've got to find a way, don't you, of not having that stuff just in your face, in your face, in your face. Because, look, ultimately that's going to then eventually get to the point where maybe you're not satisfied with your wife because you just can't see being shown these fake women, basically. Fake strange women as well. And it's much easier to be satisfied with your wife when you're not staring at the strange women. And it should go without saying, okay, just on that point as well, that the women in our church shouldn't be trying to get that attention either. So it's no good if then we're at church and then half the women at church act like the strange women, okay? But he said this in verse 20, And why wilt thou, my son... He's like, what on earth? Why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger? It's madness, really, isn't it? If you think about it like that, it is absolute madness. These are the opposite to the sorts of women that you really want to marry, right? It's madness, but it's a weakness for men, which is why every man here, and boy growing up, needs to take this instruction seriously. Because it is, it's something that men have a weakness to. And not say, like in verse 12 to 13, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised with proof, and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. Because these women are everywhere. 12 verse 7, 12 says that basically that woman lieth in weight at every corner. She's everywhere, they're everywhere. In this nation, it seems that they're multiplying by the day. And the answer is in verse 8, To remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house. And away from the single men here, away from the boys growing up, the women and girls growing up, by the way, to be as far as possible from this type of woman as well. Because you don't want to be influenced by these types of women either. You don't want to be around these types of women. They're also a big threat to married men. In verse 18 to 19, Solomon said, Let thy fount to be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as a loving hind and pleasant roe, let her breast satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love. Then in verse 20, And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, embracing with a stranger? That's talking about adultery too, isn't it? That is also talking about adultery. Because do you know what the devil loves to do? Destroy families. And do you know what his favourite type of family to destroy is? Christian families. And do you know what his favourite type of Christian family is to destroy is? Christian families serving God. Christian families that are doing the actual work and going out and preaching the Gospel and serving God and being in church and doing all those things which go with that. And do you know what the sort of self-absorbed, dressed for attention, desperate for validation, strange women get off on most? Do you know what they get off on most? Seducing married men. They really do, because they're so desperate for attention, they're so desperate for validation, that the married man is like the pinnacle for that. It's not that they're necessarily interested in the married man, it's just that's like, that puts them suddenly up here then, right? For them, even a little attention is better than nothing. Seriously. They just love a look. I remember someone my wife knows, okay, who was boasting, this is openly to other young ladies at the time, about a guy basically giving her the eyes whilst the guy was with his girlfriend or wife. She's like, like as in, great, how amazing for me that some guy with his wife, her words are something like, checked her out while he drove past. And for her, that was, you know, that was like a result for the day. How wicked is that? How wicked is that? But you know what, how wicked is that guy? How wicked is that guy? Because, like, someone like that, you should want to look, literally drive past like that. Smash. But shouldn't you, really? Because why should you give her that satisfaction tool, that wicked woman behaving like that, right? But you know what, that's not a rare type of woman. They're everywhere at that. Me and my wife used to joke about it when we were much younger, that whenever she was pregnant and we went anywhere together, suddenly it was like I was like the latest celebrity in town, honestly. And not again, not because they got any interest in me, purely because she was pregnant. And suddenly, like, they're just desperate for some attention. That's how bad it is. That's the sort of women out there. And you know what, with those sorts of women out there, don't give them any satisfaction. Don't even glance their way. Don't even look at them. Even if it's just to make sure you don't bump into them. Just look the other way. You don't even want to see them. Because that is wicked, isn't it? Absolutely wicked. They're the enemy. They're one of many enemies, but they are an enemy. They're an enemy of you. They're an enemy of your family. They're an enemy of the things of God. They're an enemy of God. Because some of these women are full on, they're haters of God, they're reprobates. And they're there to destroy men of God, to destroy their families, to destroy their children. And they do that this way. And they're out there, right? And they are a very real risk for every single man here. And I would say women here as well, to some degree as well, because look, they'll also befriend women. They'll befriend women and try and lead them down that sort of path to some degree, try and desensitise them, try and influence them. And also, those women will have no qualms about trying to get some attention off your man in one way or another as well. Women out there as well. Look the other way. Make a covenant with your eyes. Jeremiah said in Lamentation 351, mine eye affecteth mine heart. Mine eye affecteth mine heart. What you look at, what you see, what you put in front of your eyes will affect your heart. Make a covenant with your eyes and say, I'm not looking at these women. I'm not looking at these type of women. I'm not looking at these girls. I'm not giving them any attention at all. And because you want to keep that heart with all diligence, like we saw in chapter four, didn't we? But aside from the destroyed families, erect lives is a bitter end, okay? Aside from all of that, do you know what? God sees it all. God sees it all. Verse 21 says, for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. He sees everything we do. He ponders. He ponders when we don't look away. He ponders everything you do and don't do. Proverbs 15, 3, that of Turner says, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding evil and the good. And that's a good reminder sometimes, isn't it? Because sometimes we think, oh, well, we're away from whoever it is. We're not with the church people, or you're not with your wife, you're not with your husband, you're whatever it is, right? No, no, but the eyes of the Lord are everywhere. He's watching everything you do. He sees what you click on your phone. He sees what you look at when you're alone. He sees you seeking out the strange woman. He sees the women behaving as strange women. He sees those that still befriend these types of women. Because that's another thing. By the way, is he just talking to men here to put them away from you, but women here, you know, girls as you grow up, ladies, oh yeah, hang around with the strange woman. No. Like, we've moved our way far from her. Come not nigh the door of her house. Like, these people should be out of your life. These are bad people. These are bad people, and they're not going to add anything to your life or to the things of God. And when we do that, when we do seek them out, when we do, unfortunately, or we don't do as we're told here, there are repercussions. Said in verse 22, his own iniquity shall take the wicked himself and he shall behold them with the cords of his sins. And whether or not you want to apply that to yourself or you want to apply that to the ultimate wicked people, look, that's what sin does, okay? Once you're pulled in, it's like cords or chains around you, isn't it? You're not getting away from that. He shall die without instruction and in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. And once you backslide into that sort of thing, okay, it's very hard to get back into the things of God, isn't it? When you backslide into sexual sin, into that sort of stuff, that's a slippery slope backwards. And it's called backsliding for a reason, because once you start going backwards on that slide, you go down quickly. Fast, quick, you're out of church, you're out of it. And I know I use the term the things of God because it's just a nice summary of it. Oh, but the whole lot, right? And suddenly your heart's not in it, suddenly you're just seeking out. And this stuff like, look, people waste their whole lives chasing these sorts of women. What a waste of life, right? And what a warning. And like I said, ultimately especially a warning to men here, to boys growing up, because they'll flatter you, these sorts of women. They'll make you feel good about yourself. You'll want to like them. You'll want to believe that they're not that type of woman. Again, because the flattery does that. It makes you want to believe that they're okay, because you don't want to then realise that all those nice things they said about you are a load of nonsense. And that's how flattery works a lot of the time. But you've got to have a radar for it. How do you have a radar for it? By constantly reading your Bibles, right? Listening to the beach and being in church, doing what God wants you to do, living for God, and your radar will keep going and keep going and keep going. And you should then be able to watch out for these types of people, watch out for especially these types of women who are, they're on every corner, lying in wait. They really are. And they're a very, very real threat to us as men of God. We talk about the reprobate. We talk about the sodomites. And too right, we talk about sodomites, okay? And obviously, it's not popular to talk about the sodomites. Okay? But however, just as much of a real threat to us here in the house of God, and to men of God especially, is a strange woman. Is a strange woman, whether she's at work, whether she's on your regular journey to work, whether she's, you know, through a family member, whether she's the old friend on Facebook, maybe she's an old flame from your previous life, whatever she is, she is a massive threat. She is a danger. She's an enemy to you. And you need to get them out of your life. Get them out of your life and make sure they stay out of your life, those types of people. And how do we do that? Well, ultimately, by pleasing God, by staying in the things of God. We're going to finish up there in a word of prayer. Father, I thank you, well, for the clear warning in the Bible there, and not just here. We're going to see it in chapters to come as well, the warning about the strange woman, Lord, and help us to just take heed of that warning, Lord, especially the men here, but everyone here, women here, not to behave, not to befriend these types of women as well, because, you know, the ways of these types of people just poisonous, desensitise us, but help us, especially as the men here, the young men growing up here as well, the children growing into men here, just to really take heed of these warnings in the word of God, to be reminded of them, to not forget them, Lord, to really pay attention to your warnings. Keep away from these types of women and seek out godly women, Lord, seek out, you know, as single men, to just seek out the godly women that you would want them to be with. Help us as married men to just be satisfied with our wives, to love our wives, to show them the love that they deserve, Lord, and to not have our heads turned by these sorts of strange women that are everywhere out there, Lord. Help us to guard our hearts, help us to also just now get home safe and sound this evening, to think about the messages we've heard this week, to dwell on them, to ponder the paths of our feet, Lord, and to return on Wednesday for the midweek service. In Jesus' name, for all of this. Amen.