The Way of Wisdom

Intro

Text - Prov 4.11-18

Proverbs 4:11–18 NKJV

11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life. 14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. 16 For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

Title - The Way of Wisdom

Series - Lessons from the Book of Proverbs

Background

“I have taught you the way of wisdom”

wisdom is demonstrated in how we live our lives on a daily basis.

Jesus: Wisdom is justfied by her children (Matt 11.19)

Its benefits

you will not be hindered/not stumble (Prov 4.12)

Compared with path of the wicked

do not enter (Prov 4.14-17)

light and dark

Proverbs 4:18–19 NKJV

18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.

winds upward

Proverbs 15:24 NKJV

24 The way of life winds upward for the wise, That he may turn away from hell below.

departs from evil

Proverbs 16:17 NKJV

17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

Solomon addresses the most common paths of life, and how the fool and wise are identified

adultery (Proverbs 5) - relationship

becoming collateral to another person’s debt (Proverbs 6.1-5) - business matters

Indolence/laziness (Proverbs 6.6-11) - personal discipline

Wisdom delivers from the snare of death

Proverbs 13:14 NKJV

14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 14:27 NKJV

27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

the sin of adultery

Proverbs 5:1–6 NKJV

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, 2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. 3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. 6 Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

“immoral woman” - a married person who offers herself to another man

why married woman?

in ancient times, prostitutes were usually married women who offered sexual service for financial support (widow; divorced, etc.)

“play the harlot” - women who did this work once and only for a specific need

single women can “play the harlot”

because the person addressed is the son (specific)

The “immoral woman” personifies the sin of adultery

just like wisdom is personfied as a woman inviting men to her house (see Prov 8.1)

Adultery is -

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Adultery

Biblically, adultery is a breach of the “one flesh” relationship of marriage. It describes any act of sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband, and all sexual intercourse involving a married man and another man’s wife or fiancée.

Adultery is deceitful

Prov 5.3-4 “3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.”

Adultery leads to death

Prov 5.5-6 “5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. 6 Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.”

Wise Counsel

Stay away from adultery

Proverbs 5:7–8 NKJV

7 Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,

Adultery will have painful consequences

Proverbs 5:9–14 NKJV

9 Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; 10 Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; 11 And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, 12 And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! 13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! 14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

adultery strips a person of honor

adultery can drain a person of wealth

adultery brings shame and regret in the end

Proverbs 6:25–35 NKJV

25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. 26 For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. 27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? 29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. 30 People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. 31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house. 32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul. 33 Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away. 34 For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 35 He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.

Be satisfied with your own wife

Proverbs 5:15–19 NKJV

15 Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. 16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? 17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. 19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.

Last words of advice

Proverbs 5:20–23 NKJV

20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths. 22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. 23 He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

“the ways of man...”

God differentiates from a sin of adultery and a person who is a habitual adulterer

However, he who commit adultery with a woman lacks understanding (Prov 6.32)

Conclusion of Part 1

The sin of adultery like, any other sin, begins in the mind.

Matthew 5:27–28 NKJV

27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

this applies both to real and imaginary person (pornography)

Meditating on wisdom (instead of lust) delivers you from the sin of adultery

Proverbs 7:1–5 NKJV

1 My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. 2 Keep my commands and live, And my law 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 understanding your nearest kin, 5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words.

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