Kept from the Strange Woman

Q: What does the Bible say about the importance of prayer?

The Bible emphasizes that prayer is essential for maintaining a relationship with God, as highlighted in Luke 11:13. Prayer is fundamentally about our dependent relationship with God, as expressed in Luke 11. Jesus teaches that we must ask, seek, and knock, illustrating that our Heavenly Father desires to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. This dependence on God acknowledges His holiness and goodness, reminding us to approach Him in reverence. When we pray, we engage in an act of worship that seeks to glorify God and recognize our need for His grace and guidance.

Q: How do we know that God answers our prayers?

God promises in Luke 11:13 that He will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, affirming His commitment to answer our prayers. In Luke 11:13, Jesus assures us that if our earthly fathers, who are flawed and sinful, know how to give good gifts, then our perfect Heavenly Father will give good gifts to those who ask, specifically the Holy Spirit. This promise underscores God's willingness and ability to answer our prayers, reinforcing our faith that He hears us and responds according to His sovereign will. Our prayers are not mere requests; they are an expression of our reliance on God's character and His goodness towards us.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to avoid false teachings?

Avoiding false teachings is crucial as it protects Christians from spiritual deception and leads them to genuine faith in Christ. In Proverbs 7, the metaphor of the 'strange woman' represents false religion and teachings that entice believers away from the truth of the Gospel. This passage warns of the dangers of being led astray by flattering words and deceptive promises. The emphasis is on the necessity of discernment, which is rooted in a proper understanding of God's Word and the character of Christ. By recognizing and resisting false teachings, Christians are kept safe within the covenant of grace and are empowered to cling to the true Savior, who is able to keep them from falling.

Q: What is the significance of God's holiness in prayer?

God's holiness is significant in prayer because it underscores His worthiness and calls us to approach Him with reverence. The concept of holiness in prayer is pivotal, as articulated in Luke 11 with the phrase 'hallowed be Thy name.' Recognizing God's holiness compels believers to approach Him with reverence and awe, understanding that He is not like us. This holiness emphasizes that all His attributes—righteousness, wisdom, and love—are perfect and set apart. When we pray, we acknowledge His greatness and express our dependence on His grace. Thus, prayer becomes an avenue through which we glorify God and seek alignment with His will.

Q: Why should Christians seek the Holy Spirit?

Christians are encouraged to seek the Holy Spirit as He is essential for understanding God's Word and living a faithful life. The Holy Spirit, referred to in Luke 11:13, is the gift that empowers and guides believers in their spiritual walks. He enables us to grasp the truths of Scripture, convicts us of sin, and brings us into deeper fellowship with God. Seeking the Holy Spirit reflects our recognition of our absolute need for His guidance and presence. It is through the Holy Spirit that believers experience the fullness of life in Christ, navigate the challenges of faith, and are equipped to live in a manner that honors God.

Well, thank you one and all. And welcome to those that are listening in. John, who has kept himself remarkably healthy for such a long, long, long, long time, has a bit of a cold. And so he didn't want to spread it around. So he's very sorry he's not here. And so why don't you turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 11. I just wanted to read these first 13 verses, but I put a little bit of an article in our bulletin this week about asking him.

Lord Willing, we are completely and utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. It's impossible to preach the gospel without the Holy Spirit. It's impossible to hear the gospel without the Holy Spirit. It's impossible to believe the gospel without the Holy Spirit. It's impossible to maintain believing the gospel without the Holy Spirit. We're desperately in need.

And the Lord makes a promise at the end of the This is, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? And I was really struck by the fact that there is a particular person that's to be asked. And that particular person is God Almighty. And he is defined in Luke chapter 11 in a most remarkable way. And he defines himself in relation to his people. And I pray that we might be caused to ask him in Luke chapter 11. Let's just read these first 13 verses.

And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, when you pray, say, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us, day by day, our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And, he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves? For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not. The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, because of his pleading, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Let's ask.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together. We thank you for your Word, and we thank you for your Word which declares who you are, and declares who we are, and declares the wonder of relationship with you. Then we thank you, Heavenly Father, for both your commands and your promises and we thank you that they are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and fulfilled by him in all of his blood-bought children. So we thank you, Heavenly Father, that you lay it upon our hearts to ask and to keep asking and to keep asking. Asking for ourselves, asking for those that we love, asking for our children, our grandchildren, Asking for this town and this nation and this world, Heavenly Father, we pray that this gospel, the glorious gospel of the glorious God, who gloriously saves all of his children, because they are safe in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you, Heavenly Father, that you are a giver, and the greatest gift is the gift of your dear and precious Son, Our Father, we pray that the Blessed Holy Spirit, having written the Scriptures, would open them to us again, that we might see the glories of our Saviour. and how the wonders of redeeming love are revealed and sealed to the hearts of your people. Keep us and protect us and preserve us, and keep us faithful, Heavenly Father.

We pray for those who can't be with us here, and we pray for Lynn all that way away, and we pray your blessing upon her in her absence from us, Heavenly Father, and I pray that she is made to feel something of the fellowship that we have felt with her these many years. Pray for people like Bethany as they travel and for others who can't be with us today, Heavenly Father. Bless your word to their hearts as well, Heavenly Father. And bless the fellowship of your people wherever they meet throughout this world. We commit ourselves into your hands. We come asking to one who gives. Bless us for Christ's sake, our Father. We pray in Jesus' name and for his glory. Amen. We're gonna sing number three. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, naught be all else to me.

Well, while you have your Bibles hopefully open still at Luke chapter 11, I just want us to make note of a couple of things that have really struck me in this last little while. I'll put some points in the bulletin, but I love the fact that the beginning, the beginning is the beginning, in the beginning, God. And I just love how the Lord describes his father.

Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That word hallowed means to be holy, to be sanctified, to be reverenced. At the very beginning of all things, there is a God who is worthy of reverence. And it's hallowed be thy name. Holy are all of his attributes. He's holy in righteousness, he's holy in wisdom, he's holy in love, he's holy. Everything about our God sets him apart from all of creation. He is above all.

Hallowed be thy name. Isn't that the great desire of the Church of God? Isn't that the great desire of all the saints? God, glorify your name. glorify your name, cause your name, cause all of your attributes to be revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified in that covenant that is the Lord Jesus Christ, that covenant that was made before the foundation of the world. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty.

The whole earth is full of his glory. I'd love to see it. I'd love to see it again. I'd love to see how glorious he is. Dear oh dear, don't we need new eyes to see and a new heart to believe that he is holy. And this is the one that we're asking for at the end of verse 13. The Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. You have to ask a holy God.

He'll only give in response to all of his name and his attributes. He has a kingdom. And that's what the thief on the cross saw in the crucified Savior, didn't he? He sort of thought, remember me when you come into your kingdom, you're a king. To this world he seemed an object of mockery. Thy kingdom come.

Our God has a will. There's no point asking for a God who doesn't have a will and doesn't have a purpose and can't fulfil it. There's no hallowing, there's no holiness in the God that this religious world imagines to be our God. And he gives, and then we say, give us today our daily bread. Day by day, our daily bread. Give us the bread of heaven. Give us the bread of heaven is what really that means. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.

Lead us not into temptation. I don't want to be led into temptation. What happens when I'm led into temptation? Same as you. We fall every single time. We don't fall outwardly, we fall inwardly. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Deliver us from the evil one who prowls about in this world.

And then he makes these amazing promises about asking and seeking. But we have to ask him. And we are asking him on the basis of what he declares about himself and what he declares about us, isn't it? If you then, verse 13, being evil. He doesn't say if you then occasionally do evil and mostly do good things. He says, you then being evil. Can evil people ask? The only people who are ever going to really ask are those who know that that's what they are. God's truth declares what we are. We can come to him.

We can come to him saying, I'm evil, and you're good, and you're holy, and you give on the basis of me coming. hallowing your name and hallowing everything that you say, hallowing your will, hallowing your kingdom, hallowing the fact that we forgive one another.

Don't you love Ephesians 4? This is one of the sweetest verses in the scriptures about what we are and how we are to relate to one another. Verse 32 of Ephesians 4. Be ye kind one to another. Ephesians 4, 32. Tenderhearted. Don't you love that? Tender heart. I want to have a tender heart towards people. Be kind.

Ephesians 4.32, be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as. What's the basis for forgiveness? Why are God's people forgiving people? Even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Hath. It's a finished work. It's a finished work for all of the children of God. So, I pray that we are asking people, I pray that not only are we asking people, but we're asking, open your mouths wide, says God. And I feel it.

Simon is going to come and read Proverbs 7 for us. I've mentioned on many occasions how I love the Proverbs. I was told something many years ago which I have never done with anything other than occasional consistency. But if you read one chapter of Proverbs every day, and five Psalms in a month, you actually get to read all the Proverbs, and you get to read all the Psalms. And I have found it really sweet over the years. And I've got an app on my phone that has an audio Bible on it, the Blue Letter Bible has an audio Bible, and you can play it seven times. You can say, play Proverbs chapter seven, seven times for me. And each time I listen to it, I keep, each in the seven times, each time I think, I didn't hear that the first time. I go for a walk or do something and it's just lovely.

So I was hoping that we might, I've just realised I've never preached on the Proverbs. We've quoted lots of them over the years. We've never preached on Proverbs. And so seeing as it's the seventh of the month of the day and we're in, Proverbs 7, which, as Simon comes to read, you'll find is so much a mirror of the book of Jude, which we are hoping to look at again a bit more later on this morning.

But I pray that the Lord will bless his words to our hearts, and we might know why the Lord asked us to pray, to lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And we can ask. Thank you, Simon. Proverbs 7 My son, keep thou my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live, and my law as the apple of thine eye. bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart. Say unto wisdom, thou art my sister, and call understanding thy kin's woman, that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

For at the window of my house, I looked through my chasement and beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner. And he went the way to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. 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 is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.

So she caught him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt, I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with loves.

For the good man is not at home. He's gone a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech, she caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips, she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an oxen goeth to the slaughter, as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till a dart strike through his liver. as a bird hastened to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now, therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways. Go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

This is the word of the Lord. I'm going to sing again and then Lord willing, pray that he might open up this proverb to us. Needless to say, this is a spiritual picture of a spiritual reality. It's a spiritual picture of the fall of man and how he fell and why he fell and what he's fallen into. And it's a spiritual picture of false religion. It's a spiritual picture of the religion of Satan that dwells in this world.

And if you spend any time Searching on the internet, as I do, you will see that this religious world loves to preach from this one. And if you want to be absolutely horrified about how they do not see any spiritual pictures in this, just go on to Sermon Audio or someplace and listen to the titles of all their sermons. All of their sermons about how this is a way you can get rid of sin out of your life and sin out of the lives of other people around you. And it's an instruction about how to live in purity. And God's children fervently desire that that would be the case.

But that's not what this is about. That's not what this proverb is about. This proverb begins with wonderful promises and finishes with glorious promises. and it is written for our instruction that we might see the Lord Jesus Christ and we might be made in the midst of all that to just cling to him, to come to him and to cling to him and come to him as our advocate.

We're going to sing again number 29 in our hymn books, Christ our Advocate. Thank you. Number 29. Turn back with me in your Bible to the gospel of the Proverbs. Every time we come to the scriptures, I pray that we would be reminded that when the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to those men on the road to Emmaus and their hearts burned within them as he spoke to them out of the scriptures, all the things concerning himself, I don't think he skipped anything. It's a long walk, imagine going for a seven mile walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and him preaching all that time. And so these are sweet words that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ and his relationship with his bride and with his children.

And so this proverb begins, with my son. I love the personal pronoun, possessive personal pronoun. He says, mine. He says, mine. He says, to people in this world, he says, mine. He says, my son, keep my words and lay up my commandments with thee. You treasure my words. You treasure my words.

Don't you love when the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by this strange woman in, in the wilderness after his baptism and after the declaration from heaven. And Satan came to him in Matthew chapter three. And he came to him with words so similar to the words of Satan that continue to roll, aren't they, throughout this world. And he answers him He wants the Saviour to prove himself. He's just heard a word from God in heaven. He's just seen the Holy Spirit come down on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's just seen him being led into the wilderness and he's seen him there for these 40 days and then he says, if you be the son of God, hold on a second, that's exactly isn't it? Did God really say? Did God really say?

He doesn't change. But he answered him and said, it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone. "'but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" That's how we live, we live. This is about living. Listen to what he goes on to say. He says, you lay up, you keep my words, you hold onto my words, you guard them and you watch them. And then he says, you lay them up, you treasure my words and you hide them and you protect my words and you keep them with you. And you keep my commandments and leave.

There's only one person who ever kept the commandments of God. God the Son kept the commandments of God. And everyone who is united to him has kept the commandments of God. And God's children love to keep the commandments of God. And you live, and my law is the apple of thy eye. God's children love the law of God. The apple of my eye is the pupil of my eye at the very centre of everything. God's children love the law of God. Every last little bit of the law of God, God's children love it. We love thinking about Exodus chapter 20. We love to think of those glorious declarations. I love how it began. I love the beginning of that declaration, isn't it?

I am the Lord thy God which brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water underneath. Ye shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God.

He's a jealous God, he's jealous about his holiness, he's jealous about his name, he's jealous about his glory, he's jealous about the reputation and the glory of his dear and precious son. Visiting the iniquity of their fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. How do we love him? We only ever love him because he first loved us and reveals himself to us. And then, knowing what we are, we're so thankful that there was one who came and loved him perfectly and honoured his name absolutely perfectly. Keep my commandments and live. You can live if you keep them all. Keep them all. All. And once you've broken one, you've broken all of them and you can't fix it. So who wants to go back to the law of God? Who wants to go back and find life there?

Isn't it wonderful that we have a gospel, a glorious, glorious gospel, and at the end of these commandments about committing adultery and killing and stealing and bearing false witness, The very next thing, the people saw the thunderings and the lightning, verse 18, and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking when the people saw what they removed and stood afar off and they said to Moses, speak thou unto us.

We need a mediator. We need a mediator. And the very first thing that Moses does is he institutes a sacrifice and speaks about an altar, about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we keep his commandments and live. And then in verse three he says, bind them upon my fingers and write them upon the table of thine heart. You have them before you all the time and they're written on our hearts. You keep them, you hold them.

Don't you love how Jacob held on to the Lord Jesus Christ? The Lord Jesus Christ came and wrestled with Jacob that night and he wrestled and wrestled and wrestled all night with him. This is God Almighty who wrestled with him and Jacob says, he held on to him and says, I'm not gonna let you go unless you bless me.

And that's how God's children are, aren't they? They are saying to the Lord Jesus Christ, they're gonna bind them and they're gonna keep them and keep his word. God gives his heart, he gives his children a heart to love him and to be with him and to commune with him. And listen to what it says, say unto wisdom, who's wisdom?

First Corinthians 1.30, isn't it? God has made him unto us wisdom. He's our wisdom, we speak to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he talks about these wonderful relationships that he has. Say unto wisdom, thou art my sister. And call understanding, who's understanding? The Lord Jesus Christ is all of our understanding. He's all of our wisdom. He's all of our righteousness. Call understanding thy kinswoman, someone that's related to me. You say to them, you are my sister. A sister born of the same mother. What's the mother of all of God's children? Jerusalem above is the mother of us all.

God's children are found, that's why he says at the beginning, my son. And so at the beginning of this passage of scripture, this glorious passage in Proverbs 7, which is repeated in so, so many other ways throughout all of the scriptures. It begins with God and it begins with God's relationship with his people and it begins with God keeping his people. He's promised to keep his people. And listen to what he says in verse five.

This is the greatest danger, isn't it? That they may keep thee, wisdom and understandings. My words they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. That's the great danger. We fell in Adam and Eve heard these words from the strange woman and it's I don't want to read a lot of Proverbs, but I think if you spend your time looking at them, you'll see that this strange woman is someone that's turned aside. That's what it means. Someone that's turned aside from God.

And she flattereth with her words. What flattery was involved in the Garden of Eden when Satan said, you, you Eve, you have the wisdom to work out whether God really said that. You have the wisdom to stand in judgment of God's judgment. You have the ability not to die, you shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. She flattereth with her words.

And God gives us this picture and it goes down from verse 5 down to verse 23 and it's a bit like Jude where God begins with the glorious declaration of his preservation of his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's setting apart, he's sanctifying his people to himself. And then he finishes Jude with a glorious declaration, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power. He's able to keep us. That's what we're seeing at the end of our service. He's able to keep you from falling.

But here we have a description, God's description, because listen to what it says. God says, I, I look through my case, but I look through the lattice. The Lord sees and the Lord declares to us what he sees and these are all spiritual pictures. They're spiritual pictures of satanic false religion. A strange woman. She's turned aside. She's turned aside from the covenant of grace. She's turned aside to a covenant of works.

And we'll only have time to briefly look at these things, but I want us to see that this is what God sees, and God sees very, very clearly indeed. And he says, and I beheld, I beheld among the simple one, I discerned among the years a young man void of understanding.

We've already been told who understanding is, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is all of our wisdom. He is the only way we understand By his spirit and by his word, understand the mystery of iniquity and the mystery of the gospel. He is the one who is our understanding. He's all of our understanding. He's all of our understanding. She's a stranger, she's a stranger to God, she's a stranger to his covenant, and she flattereth with her words. She flattereth with her words.

If you want to understand something of what is going on in this world and why it is such a deceived place, turn with me to Revelation chapter 17, and let's see this whore, she's called, She's called a harlot here in verse 10. Let's spend a few seconds reading some of these verses from Revelation chapter And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials and talked with me saying, come hither and I will show unto you the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. And many waters are all of humanity in this world, all the fallen humanity. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornications and the inhabitants of the earth being made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Why is there so much silliness and so much blindness? and deafness and deadness and deceit in the religion of man in this world.

They are drunk. Have you ever had a conversation with a drunk person? It's extraordinary, isn't it? That's what he says. God says they're made drunk with the wine of her fornication. What's fornication? In every form, fornication is a denial and living outside the covenant. It's a picture, isn't it, of those who live outside the covenant. It's a breaking of the covenant. It's trying to produce life and trying to gain pleasure outside of the covenant. And so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman.

Sit on a scarlet-coloured beast, full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour. She was arrayed in purple as a king. She was arrayed in the scarlet colour of sins, though your sins be as scarlet. decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

And upon her head was written, was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great. What's that word Babylon mean? Confusion by mixture. A confusion of the covenants, a breaking of the covenants by mixture, mixing works and grace. mixing law and love. The mother of the harlots and the abomination of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. That doesn't mean that he admired her. He was just in awe of how enormously powerful she was.

And here, in Proverbs chapter seven, we have a picture of that same harlot, and we have a picture of her, this strange woman, and God declares this strange woman who turned aside, and we have a picture of her ways, and her house, and her end, her times, and her place of meeting, and the destiny of it.

So let's read some of these verses and obviously we have just time to look at them briefly. I want us to see a spiritual picture here of false religion. And may the spiritual picture cause us to cling to the Lord Jesus Christ. God gives us these pictures, not that we can say, I'm proud, but God gives us these pictures so we can say, what a saviour, what a saviour, I need a saviour, I need a saviour continually, I need a saviour as powerful as this particular saviour, because I can't save myself. And this young man, a young man void of Christ, void of understanding, the simple ones, this one that didn't care.

And he was passing through the street near her corner. And he went the way to her house. And listen to the time he went in the twilight. When the light is fading, he went her way. in the evening when the light has faded even further, in the black and the dark night where there is no light. That's a spiritual picture, isn't it? Christ is the light of the world. And behold, there met him A woman. And that word woman means a married woman. When she first meets him, she meets him as someone who is reasonably safe. She's a married woman.

But she has the attire of a harlot and she is subtle of heart. That's exactly the same word that's used in Genesis 3 regarding Satan. He was the most subtle of all the beasts of the field. She, this is God's declaration of her, she is loud and stubborn. And her feet abide not in her house.

This is a picture of man-made works religion, brothers and sisters, isn't it? The proudest people you will ever meet are the most self-righteous people and religious people you ever meet. Who were the proudest people that the Lord Jesus Christ ever met? The Pharisees, the most religious people.

Judas went to this house. You think about it, Judas, Satan entered into Judas. That's the only time in the scriptures where there's a declaration of Satan that I understand of entering into someone. We know he rules over people, but to have that declaration, where did he go? Where did he go that night when he left the light of the world and left the company of the Lord Jesus Christ and his people? He didn't go to the bars of Jerusalem and the brothels of Jerusalem, where did he go? He went to the most morally upright religious people in all of that place, the people who had this pride, had this pride about their abilities, pride about their righteousness, because they've never ever met the Lord Jesus Christ. the attire of a harlot, the self-righteousness in their subtle of heart. Did God really say, is God just in his judgment of people? She's loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. Who lies in wait at every corner? Satan wanders around as a roaring lion, lying in wait to see who he can devour.

This is a spiritual picture of false religion. So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him. It's a strengthened face. She was strengthened in her sin and her weakness. And listen to this, she's religious. Listen to her enticement of this young man who doesn't have Christ.

She says, I have peace offerings. I've made my peace with God. How many times have you heard that? I have peace offerings with me. You're safe to be with me. And this day I've paid my vows. I've made my peace with God. Then everything I do is okay. All these I have kept from my youth up, said that proud young man that came to the Lord Jesus Christ. We've obeyed the commandments of God, these people say, and encourage other people to think that they've done the same.

This is a picture of religion, isn't it? It's a picture of our fall. It's a picture of Satan's enticements into us in the garden. It's a picture of what we were when we came into this world. It's a picture of what we need to be rescued from. She says, I've had my peace offerings, and this day I've paid my vows, therefore I've come forth to meet thee, to diligently seek thy faith, and I have found thee. How special you must be. I've gone to all this trouble just for you. Found thee. And listen to what she's done in preparation for him. She says, I've decked my bed, with coverings of tapestry, with carved work, and with the fine linen of Egypt. What's the fine linen of Egypt? What was Egypt? What's Egypt a picture of?

It's a picture of Satan's bondage, but it's a picture of legalism, isn't it? They whip those people with the law. It's a picture of slavery. It's a picture of works religion. And what's the linen that the saints wear? The righteousness, Revelation 14. It's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. That's the fine linen they're robed in. The child of God would be horrified to be decked in the garments of Egypt.

But listen to what else she says about her bed. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh and aloes and cinnamon. Now what's myrrh? It's a picture. It's a picture of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a picture of his church. In Song of Solomon, several times we come to the mountains of spices, the mountains of myrrh. It was myrrh that was given to the Lord Jesus Christ at his birth to signify his death, and it was myrrh that was mixed on the cross to be given to him. So she's saying, this religious heart is saying, my bed, the place where I lie and the place where I can be in love with you and the place where we can commit our union together is a place that smells of the Lord Jesus, has the tokens of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't tell me I'm not a believer, I worship God. And come and worship God with me. They worship me with their lips, says the Lord Jesus Christ, but their heart is far from me. I've decked my bed. I, I, I. I've got the fine linen of Egypt. I've got all of the benefits of works religion. I have put on and I have surrounded my place of love with the perfume of the Lord Jesus Christ. The bed smells like him. It's a mockery. False religion is mocking the name and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's the picture here.

No one will be deceived, or people can be deceived by all sorts of things, but religious people aren't deceived by someone who denies the fundamentals of the Christian faith, isn't it? But they are deceived by those who claim to honour him, but as he says of them, their hearts are far from me. Far more harm has been done to the name and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in this world by those who claim to be his, and claim to walk with him, and claim to obey him, and claim to be able to lead others. to a place like this woman, a place of fellowship that smells of him, a place where she can say, I have my peace offerings.

What is our peace offering? The Lord Jesus Christ is our peace. We don't make any peace offerings ourselves. I've paid my vows. Listen to that. I've paid my vows. You can come with me. Verse 18, come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us comfort ourselves with loves. God's children just have one love, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they love other people, and they love their neighbours, and they love their enemies because of their love for him. But she has many loves.

And then she describes her husband. For the good man is not at home, he's gone on a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and he will come home at the day pointed. I know where he is, I know he's gone, I know he's not here. And he'll come at the time when I know that he's coming. What pride and arrogance there is in false religion. There's no fear of God. There's no honour of God here. There's no love for this. She calls him a good man and then treats him with that sort of contempt. It's extraordinary, isn't it?

Listen to God's description of her. With her much fair speech, beautiful speech. You've been in religion long enough to have heard the words of religion, haven't you? Telling you, enthroning you. Enthroning you and your will. With her much fair speech, she caused him to yield. and with the flattering of her lips. You've got a free will. God loves you. Jesus died for you. You can make your decision today. You can make your peace. You can pay your vows. You can bring your peace offerings.

She forced him. She impelled him. And he goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks. Till it dart, an arrow strike through his liver, as a bird hasteneth to the stair, and knoweth not that it is for his life. It is for his life. Listen to what he says in a couple of chapters prior to this.

He says in verse 24, what's the solution? Harken unto me. Just listen to God. What did God say? What did God say? Not what man says, not what man puts in their confessions, not what man makes up God to be, not what man makes a bed using the emblems and the odours, as it were, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not what man says, hearken unto me.

He says in chapter five, verse one, my son, attend unto my wisdom, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and bow thine ear to my understanding, that thou mayest regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge, for the lips of a strange woman drop as honeycomb. and her mouth is smoother than oil, but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. We need a saviour, brothers and sisters. We need a saviour. We've been deceived by flattering lips, haven't we? All of us have been deceived by flattering lips. All of us have been deceived by a religion that claims that I, I, I have, therefore you, you, you can. Hearken unto me now, therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. It began with my son. I love that it began with my son. O ye children, attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thy heart decline to her ways. Go not astray in her paths, for she has cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong men have been slain by her. God makes his people to rejoice. in their neediness and in their weakness. Listen to what Paul said. Paul, who had these great visions and could have used these great swelling words, he was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, 2 Corinthians 12, to buffet me, left I should be exalted above measure.

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Don't you love that? In weakness, in weakness, many strong men have been slain by her. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my affirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities. We're needy people, brothers and sisters. In persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. Because when I am weak, then am I strong.

She built him up in all of his fleshly desires. and loves. Many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. What a saviour. What a saviour. What a saviour to call on. What an enemy there is to the souls of men in this world.

And if you doubt how successful these flattering words have been and how powerful the forcing of religion, isn't that an interesting thing? She forced him. If you've been in religion, you know what it is to be forced, to be compelled, as it were. The love of Christ compels and constrains the children of God.

We need a saviour. We need a mighty, mighty saviour when we have a subtle enemy as powerful as that. We need a God who says, you're mine. We need a God who says, you listen to what I say. This is my assessment of what's going on in this world. And this is how I say, my people, just hear my words. Just hear my words. Lord, make us to hear causes to run after thee, causes to cling to thee, causes to be kept from the strange woman. Amen.

Kept from the Strange Woman

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the importance of prayer?

How do we know that God answers our prayers?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid false teachings?

What is the significance of God's holiness in prayer?

Why should Christians seek the Holy Spirit?

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About Angus Fisher

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Kept from the Strange Woman

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the importance of prayer?

How do we know that God answers our prayers?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid false teachings?

What is the significance of God's holiness in prayer?

Why should Christians seek the Holy Spirit?

Sermon Transcript

About Angus Fisher

Comments

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