Latest / (Un) Common thoughts of Christ / The Evil Man and the Strange Woman (Proverbs 2:6-19)

Transcript

The Evil Man and the Strange Woman (Proverbs 2:6-19) · (Un) Common thoughts of Christ

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome again to our meditation in the Book of Proverbs.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Today we come to the Book of Proverbs, chapter 2, verses 6 through 19, a passage that moves beyond simply hearing truth, and presses upon us the solemn responsibility of walking in the truth once it has been found.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: In these verses, wisdom is not presented as intellectual achievement, religious identity, or merely belonging to a sound theological system.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: The issue is deeper than that.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: A person may speak much about truth, defend truth, and even pride themselves in knowing truth, yet still walk carelessly, independently, and without the preserving power of that very truth upon the conscience and heart.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: The great burden of this passage is that truth received from God is meant to govern the life.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Divine wisdom is intended to preserve, guard, and direct the believer through a world filled with moral darkness, spiritual deception, and subtle dangers.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs shows us that there are paths that appear attractive, intelligent, and harmless to the natural mind, yet their end leads away from fellowship with God.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: In the verses before us, two dangers especially rise into view the evil man and the strange woman.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: One represents proud independence from God, the other portrays seductive corruption and spiritual unfaithfulness.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Both appeal to the flesh, both promise liberty, both ultimately destroy.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we listen to these scriptures and the accompanying reflections, may we examine our own hearts carefully.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is one thing to search for truth.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: It is another thing entirely to submit to that truth day by day, and allow it to preserve our pathway.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Let us now turn to Proverbs chapter two, beginning in verse six, reading through verse nine, and we will refer to Mr Harry Ironside in his book Notes on the Book of Proverbs, in each section of verses.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let us read verse six now.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yea, every good path.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Mr Ironside now comments on these four verses from verse six to nine.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Searching for truth must always be followed by walking in the truth that is found.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: God will defend those who earnestly desire to live in the power of his truth.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: He will guard them and preserve their way.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: By diligently seeking his truth, they will daily increase in the knowledge of every good path.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is very different from merely holding to a certain theological system or school of biblical thought.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is not so much holding the truth as being held by that truth.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: There is a vast difference between the two states.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: There are many vain talkers and deceivers who boast of their knowledge of prophetic and dispensational teaching.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yet their unguarded ways and careless life bring shame on these solemn and precious truths.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: As they continue in this life, their conscience is seared, and their heart is hardened until the most searching ministry fails to make any impression on them.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Let us now continue reading verses ten through nineteen in this Proverbs two.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things, who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked, whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths, to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words, which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God, for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Mr Ironside now unpacks this section discussing the two enemies attacking the young man.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: The proper attitude for one who really holds the truth is set forth in these verses.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: When wisdom and knowledge are embraced, they give discretion that preserves from evil and guards from false ways.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Two enemies are seen attacking the young man the evil man and the strange woman.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: The evil man is the man who walks in the pride of his heart, and in independence of God.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: This way of life seems very attractive to the young, appealing to their natural mind.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: To follow the evil man is to leave the straight paths of righteousness and to walk in the ways of darkness.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: thirteen.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: But when one receives the truth of God and allows it to control his life, he will be delivered from the perverse paths of the evil man.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: The word of God is also given to deliver the young man from the strange woman.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Again and again we catch glimpses of this strange woman flitting in and out of the book of Proverbs.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Who is she?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Does she speak of anything more than impurity and uncleanness?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: The primary meaning is clear on the face of the passages that concern her.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: As the enemy of morality and virtue, she seeks to ensnare the young and unwary, forsaking the guide of her youth and forgetting the covenant of her God.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: She gives herself up to impure pleasures and soul destroying lusts.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those who have been ensnared by the strange woman must live with the consequences of their unclean ways.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Even sincere repentance will not erase the shameful memories.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Could there be a secondary meaning in these many warnings concerning the strange woman?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: In the evil man we saw independence from God, rationalism gone wild.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas the strange woman represents false religion that eventually will be headed up in Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, Revelation seventeen five.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: How devious are her ways, how subtle and deceptive her solicitations, and how truly can it be said that her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: As we close this meditation from Proverbs two hundred six to nineteen, with commentary from Harry Ironside, the warning before us is both searching and deeply practical.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Wisdom is not merely information stored in the mind.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Truth was never meant to become a badge of religious identity or a system to argue about.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: God gives truth in order that it might preserve the soul, guard the conscience, and direct the walk.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: The tragedy described in this passage is not simply ignorance, it is departure.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Men and women begin to walk independently of God, slowly leaving the straight paths.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Little by little the conscience hardens, the heart becomes less tender, and eventually even solemn ministry no longer makes an impression.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: But there is also encouragement here.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: God delights to defend and preserve those who sincerely desire to walk in his ways.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: The one who humbly seeks wisdom from the Lord will find that divine truth becomes a safeguard in a dangerous world.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps that is the great lesson of this portion of Proverbs.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Searching for truth must always be followed by walking in the truth that is found.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Before we close, listen to the words of the Lord Jesus in John 7 17.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: May the Lord give us not only ears to hear his truth, but hearts willing to obey it.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.