Wisdom for the Forbidden Woman

1) Loving Jesus more than the Forbidden Woman - You ever experience something so good before, that you couldn't go back to experiencing something how you normally would?

— It can be related to food, sports, experiences. -- for me, it was eating like real brisket, from Terry Black, or Franklins. I didn't have a craving to go back to Dickey's. Eating a beef rib for the first time. Like once I tasted greatness, it was hard to go back to regular.

---- Or eating Chick Fil A sandwich or nuggets for the first time. It might be a I’m sorry y’all, I haven’t gone back to the McDonalds chicken since. ---- Or playing in an indoor basketball court for the first time. With an Evolution basketball. Hooping in the Mesquite parks with the double rims with my ripped up Spalding basketball didn’t hit the same.

And its’s crazy, now when people suggest that I try Dickey’s bbq, I’m like, “brother, you don’t even know what good is. We got to take you on an experience.” Why do I bring that up?

- Similarly, in our faith walks, I believe when we haven’t tasted and seen the goodness of God experientially, we tend to settle for lesser things. And for us men, it tends to be lust, pornography, and sexual gratification.

It’s like God has prepared for us some 45-day dry-aged steak, and although it may take awhile to prep, will be the best steak you ever had in your life. If that imagery doesn’t resonate, and you are vegetarian or something, imagine I said 45 day dry-aged cauliflower steak or something lol. So imagine God has prepared this amazing meal, and we look at Him and say, “Nah Lord I am gonna settle for a microwaved salsbury steak, because that’s all I’ve ever known.”

Why is this important? - If we do not love Jesus more than our sin, then no level of accountability app will truly change us to truly repent from lust/sexual sin.

Can someone read Psalm 34:8-10?

Psalm 34:8-10 ESV [8] Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! [9] Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! [10] The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

One thing I remember about this passage, is Louis Giglio spoke of this idea about tasting and seeing that God is good. Like its more than just an informational thing you know? Imagine with me, its like biting in a cold Watermelon on a hot summer day, or a cold, crisp red apple. God’s love is real and its tangible. But oftentimes, I have head knowledge of God, but my heart hasn’t tasted and seen that He is good. So when the temptation of lust comes in, like a dog to its vomit, I used to go back to it over and over again, because I had either forgotten or I have not experienced the goodness of God.

So before we begin, I want to pray this Scripture over us. If we could have our hands open in a receiving position, close Your eyes, and let’s be still. - taking time to be still. Feeling the love of the Father.

Lord, would You help us all taste and see that You are good.

Years ago, my small group leader said a line at youth retreat awhile ago was that has stuck with me till this day.

He said - There has to be more to being a Christian than constantly saying "I'm sorry to Jesus"

Those words struck me to my core.

Because up until then, that’s all I’ve known about the Christian faith! I’m not sure if you relate, but all I felt that I was doing with God was saying, “I’m sorry for falling to masturbation and watching pornography, I’ll try not to do it again” And then repeating the same pattern over and over and over again. Now, is God faithful to forgive, and He is glad that we do confess to Him? OF COURSE! His mercies are new every morning. He does separate our sins as far as the east is from the west. We can never outrun God’s grace and His mercy and His love for us. And as we get closer to God, there will always be more sin HE reveals to us to confess. IF we say we do not have sin, we are a liar. But man, the thing I struggled with was, “God had to have created us for something bigger than just saying sorry to Him.”

Can someone read:

--- 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 --- 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Like, what does this passage even mean?!?!

God created us to have freedom. That we are transformed from glory to glory as we look to Jesus. God created us to to experience His love lavished upon us, not because of anything we done to deserve it, because He longs to pour out His love. God provides Living Water that is His Spirit to satisfy us so that we aren’t thirsty. God, like we have been hearing in the sermon series, longs to be a better Father to us, a King, a friend, a Cultivator, a Counselor. In addition, Scripture says God created us to have dominion over the earth. God created us to destroy spiritual strongholds, to have His Spirit, proclaim the good news that set captives free, to be ambassadors of reconciliation to the world.

All of this sounds better than repeating a sin pattern and saying I am sorry to God.

- freedom in Christ much bigger than a list of not to do. I fell into the trap of believing my Christian walk was more defined by the things I didn’t do or my actions, as opposed to a love relationship with the Creator of the world.

Imagine with me, God created the entire world. Like you know God is so amazing, that like the tree you see right outside, the beautiful nature, He designed that! And when He designed the world, He knew that exact moment and place and time period you were going to be born at. Why? So that you could search and feel your way towards Him.

There has to be more to this life than saying I am sorry to God.

2) What Does the Proverbs Say?

Let’s spend the next 10 minutes in breakout groups. I need 4 groups here and I will give you each a passage.

More important than anything I say today, let’s listen to what the Lord says. Remember, this is the same God we just talked about designed everything in the world You see around us. I like how Francis Chan put, he said, “Imagine Jesus was in this room literally in front of us and was going to speak for 5 minutes. How focused would you be on every word He says?”

So with that in mind, when we read this Scripture, I want us to pay attention as if it Jesus speaking these words to us:

What is Solomon warning against?

What are we to do instead?

What are the consequences? Do we view the consequences of sin like Solomon does?

Pr 2:16–20

So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words 17  who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; For her house sinks down to death, And her tracks lead to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, Nor do they reach the paths of life. 20 So you will walk in the way of good people And keep to the paths of the righteous. Proverbs 5:3–23 “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered.

Pr 6:23–35.  To keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman. 25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids. 26 For the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for a precious life. 27 Can anyone take fire in his lap And his clothes not be burned? 28 Or can a person walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched? 29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Proverbs 7:1-27 ESV [1] My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; [2] keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; [3] bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. [4] Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, [5] to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. [6] For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, [7] and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, [8] passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house [9] in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. [10] And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. [11] She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; [12] now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait. [13] She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him, [14] “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; [15] so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you. [16] I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen; [17] I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. [18] Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love. [19] For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey; [20] he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.” [21] With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. [22] All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast [23] till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. [24] And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. [25] Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, [26] for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. [27] Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

- Each Group share their answers to the three questions

3) Gospel Presentation: - Jesus was one who was perfect, yet he is the one who was like the ox that goes to slaughter. He was the one who had not an arrow, but a spear that pierced his side. He knew it would cost Him his life. The Proverbs say, "His own wrongdoings will trap the wicked, And he will be held by the ropes of his sin." Yet Jesus, who was without sin, was held by the ropes of not His own sin, but because of our sins on the cross. - Jesus was one who is described as wiser than Solomon, yet suffering the fate of fools in Scripture. 4) Practical Next Steps: - Understanding that lust is not just a physical issue, it is spiritual/emotion as well. Inviting the Holy Spirit to reach all three areas will allow us to experience freedom in these areas. We cannot overcome this by sheer willpower, it has to come from the Holy Spirit deeply healing all three areas of spiritual, emotional, and physical areas. 1) Confessing at the thought level. Inviting the Holy Spirit into the spiritual battle against lust. - Often I used to confess after I watched pornography. However, when does Jesus say the sin has come?

Mt 5:27–30 You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell 1 Jn 1:8–9. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jas 5:16. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.

I want us to actually spend some time in silence right now confessing to God.

I want to ask actually one question after confessing to Jesus. Who is someone that God is actually asking for me to confess my sins to? It can be someone in our CGs, or your friend that brought you here, or your CG shepherd, or one of the elders. Ask for the Lord to bring up a name.

Before Monday, I ask that You follow through and ask for prayer and confess.

English Standard Version Psalm 32

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

2  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5  I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Also reading Psalm 32 or Psalm 51.

2) Recovery Program: Inviting the Holy Spirit into the emotional battle against lust. - For me, lust was not just a physical issue. What are the underlying root behind the desire?

Porngraphy / relationships that I shouldn’t be in, crossing physical boundaries, all of these things are not the main, underlying issue. This is the sinful fruit that is produced by a brokeness/sin nature that is underlying it all.

- Like we talked about above, oftentimes, I struggled with lust more some days than other days. Like one day, I could be on social media and not be tempted when something randomly pops up. Other days, an image would stick in my mind the entire day.

Or in relationships, I would cross physical boundaries, but why? Was it just because of hormones? Or was it because of my insecurity and I felt validation from being able to get a girl. Hello!

In any circumstance, I would be going to pornagraphy or relationships to satisfy something I was not finding in Jesus, who is able to provide an eternal, lasting satisfaction and joy without any shame afterwards.

What areas of my life have I not tasted and seen the goodness of God?

For me, I entered into a year-long recovery program called RE:generation at Watermark church in Dallas. What I thought was a lust issue was actually rooted in Pride, control, lack of trust in God. So in the future, whenever I was confessing at the thought level to my community, I would be confessing times when I started to feel a lack of trust in God.

- In a Recovery program, it doesn’t just ask you. “What are ways to not just turn away from the sin, but what are ways to turn towards Jesus practically in these moments.” 3) Accountability Apps - (i.e, Covenant Eyes) Inviting the Holy Spirit into the physical battle against Lust Proverbs 5:8 Keep your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house

Recall all the wisdom Daniel spoke about in yesterday’s talk for more practical advice.

I want to end with this. Like Daniel mentioned, lust will be battle we have to keep on guard on. But there is freedom to be had. I have experienced freedom. I have experienced a better calling and life and purpose.

Why? Is it because I pulled my bootstraps up? No! The Lord in His lovingkindness has met me. He has been daily keeping me . Like we talked about in the beginning, beholding Jesus transforms us from one degree of glory to the next.