Sex and the Wisdom of God, Part 2, Proverbs 5-7J. Josh Smith, MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church, attended August 15, 2010
Proverbs 6:27 makes it clear that you can’t play with fire and not be burned. The fire is sex, the fireplace is marriage. Fire outside of the fireplace will burn everything in sight leaving scars that will last forever.
How do you contain the fire of sexual passion?
1. You must embrace the way of wisdom
When we read wisdom in the Proverbs we just think of it as Christ. We must pursue and embrace Christ to keep from sexual immorality. The primary way to keep from sexual immorality is by embracing wisdom. In other words, the more you embrace the right thing the less likely you are to embrace the wrong thing. The primary key to resisting sexual temptation is to daily and passionately pursue intimacy with Christ through hearing, meditating on, and obeying his Word.
The Proverbs generally describe an action you must do, followed by a result with a reason for the action following.
For example, look at Proverbs 5:1-3:
1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,
Proverbs 5:1 gives us an ACTION, Proverbs 5:2 gives us the RESULT of the action, and Proverbs 5:3 shows us the REASON.
Proverbs 6:20-24 has the same form:
20 My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Proverbs 6:20-21 give the ACTION, Proverbs 6:22 shows the RESULT and Proverbs 6:23-24 give the REASON.
We don’t read the Word for “tips in living” only however, we read the Word to meet with God. We don’t need “steps” to get out of our problems, we need God. We need God because our heart is transformed by Him which changes our actions. Without a new heart we don’t have the ability to do right. We cannot conquer sin in the flesh.
Proverbs 6:27 makes it clear that you can’t play with fire and not be burned. The fire is sex, the fireplace is marriage. Fire outside of the fireplace will burn everything in sight leaving scars that will last forever.
How do you contain the fire of sexual passion?
1. You must embrace the way of wisdom
When we read wisdom in the Proverbs we just think of it as Christ. We must pursue and embrace Christ to keep from sexual immorality. The primary way to keep from sexual immorality is by embracing wisdom. In other words, the more you embrace the right thing the less likely you are to embrace the wrong thing. The primary key to resisting sexual temptation is to daily and passionately pursue intimacy with Christ through hearing, meditating on, and obeying his Word.
The Proverbs generally describe an action you must do, followed by a result with a reason for the action following.
For example, look at Proverbs 5:1-3:
1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,
Proverbs 5:1 gives us an ACTION, Proverbs 5:2 gives us the RESULT of the action, and Proverbs 5:3 shows us the REASON.
Proverbs 6:20-24 has the same form:
20 My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Proverbs 6:20-21 give the ACTION, Proverbs 6:22 shows the RESULT and Proverbs 6:23-24 give the REASON.
We don’t read the Word for “tips in living” only however, we read the Word to meet with God. We don’t need “steps” to get out of our problems, we need God. We need God because our heart is transformed by Him which changes our actions. Without a new heart we don’t have the ability to do right. We cannot conquer sin in the flesh.
If your ability to keep from falling into sin is directly related to your time in the Word of God, what are your chances of keeping from sin? Is your day characterized by a pursuit of intimacy with Christ?
2. You must run from the way of folly
We must hear this over and over. In Proverbs 7:22 he stood there long enough to allow her enticement. You cannot stay that close for that long without falling. Run!
Proverbs 5:7-8, Proverbs 6:25 and Proverbs 7:25 all point to this.
Remember that everywhere your heart goes your feet will go eventually. Do not flirt with sin, recognize the danger and run. Protect the condition of your heart by paying careful attention to what goes into your heart through the five gates: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and touch. Do not for a moment think that you can let the guard down on your gates and your heart not be affected. If the heart is the source of everything you think, feel, do, and desire, it must be protected at all costs.
3. You must drink from your own cistern – Proverbs 5:12-23
There is a place for sexual passion to burn with great energy – it is marriage. Sex is nothing to be ashamed of; it is a gracious gift of God – in the right context. We are protected from sexual immorality by sexual intimacy in marriage.
Fire can be both wonderful and devastating. Water can be both refreshing and painful. So it is with sex.
Marriage is the God ordained place for all sexual expression.
Proverbs 5:15 – He is not saying that your spouse is just an object of desire but rather that you don’t have to burn, cultivate the fire at home.
1 Corinthians 6:20 – 7:39 – These verses tell us that our body is God’s. We should thus restrain from sexual immorality because we are trespassing on God’s property. Single men and women should especially remember this: her body is God’s, not yours.
The expression of sex in marriage is to be enjoyed.
Intoxicated and exhilarated are passionate words.
This expression is to be pursued.
If the expression in marriage isn’t working well then there is a danger. Work diligently and daily to develop emotional and spiritual intimacy with your spouse, knowing that without that true physical intimacy and passion it is impossible to protect yourself.
We must fear (we should be terrified of the consequences of sexual immorality), rejoice (we should be thankful for the gift of sex in marriage) and trust (God’s way is right even when it doesn’t seem so. We must trust that marriage is worth the hard work to save sex.)
NOTE: These are my notes, taken as I listened to the sermon live. Any errors, misunderstandings or misinterpretations are my responsibility entirely and not the fault of the preacher.
2. You must run from the way of folly
We must hear this over and over. In Proverbs 7:22 he stood there long enough to allow her enticement. You cannot stay that close for that long without falling. Run!
Proverbs 5:7-8, Proverbs 6:25 and Proverbs 7:25 all point to this.
Remember that everywhere your heart goes your feet will go eventually. Do not flirt with sin, recognize the danger and run. Protect the condition of your heart by paying careful attention to what goes into your heart through the five gates: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and touch. Do not for a moment think that you can let the guard down on your gates and your heart not be affected. If the heart is the source of everything you think, feel, do, and desire, it must be protected at all costs.
3. You must drink from your own cistern – Proverbs 5:12-23
There is a place for sexual passion to burn with great energy – it is marriage. Sex is nothing to be ashamed of; it is a gracious gift of God – in the right context. We are protected from sexual immorality by sexual intimacy in marriage.
Fire can be both wonderful and devastating. Water can be both refreshing and painful. So it is with sex.
Marriage is the God ordained place for all sexual expression.
Proverbs 5:15 – He is not saying that your spouse is just an object of desire but rather that you don’t have to burn, cultivate the fire at home.
1 Corinthians 6:20 – 7:39 – These verses tell us that our body is God’s. We should thus restrain from sexual immorality because we are trespassing on God’s property. Single men and women should especially remember this: her body is God’s, not yours.
The expression of sex in marriage is to be enjoyed.
Intoxicated and exhilarated are passionate words.
This expression is to be pursued.
If the expression in marriage isn’t working well then there is a danger. Work diligently and daily to develop emotional and spiritual intimacy with your spouse, knowing that without that true physical intimacy and passion it is impossible to protect yourself.
We must fear (we should be terrified of the consequences of sexual immorality), rejoice (we should be thankful for the gift of sex in marriage) and trust (God’s way is right even when it doesn’t seem so. We must trust that marriage is worth the hard work to save sex.)
NOTE: These are my notes, taken as I listened to the sermon live. Any errors, misunderstandings or misinterpretations are my responsibility entirely and not the fault of the preacher.
.jpg)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment