Sermon Central
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Life Or Lust Series
Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Nov 10, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: When we consider how adultery abounds, how heinous a sin it is, what evil consequence it brings, & how destructive it is to the spiritual life & even physical life (1 Cor. 6:15-20), it is no wonder that the warnings against it are repeated so often.
PROVERBS 6: [24] 25-35
LIFE OR LUST
THE SONG OF THE SIRENS- carried by the wind, skimming the surface of the sea, captured in the sails of the ship-lured many a captain and his sailors to change their charted course. Powerless to resist the sirens' mesmerizing song, the bewitched men set their sails for the sirens' shore, unaware that beneath the surface of the sparkling waters that danced along the coast, jagged rocks awaited. Blinded by lust, some didn't wait for the inevitable shipwreck but flung themselves into the waters and swam towards shore, only to be devoured by the sirens. The sirens' seductive attire cloaked a cannibal appetite that savagely consumed their victims' flesh.
In Homer's Odyssey, we read of the mythical hero Odysseus (Ulysses) and his adventures as he returned home from war, including an encounter with the sirens. Circe, the enchantress, warned Odysseus of the lure of the sirens' song. As his ship neared the island, he ordered his sailors to fill their ears with wax to prevent their being seduced by the sirens. But Odysseus, his curiosity aroused, longed to hear their glorious voices. He instructed his crew to lash him to the ship's mast and warned that no matter how fervently he begged, they were not to untie him until they were far from the shores of the sirens' island. How wise Odysseus was to listen and so act. The sirens' song was so seductive-his death would have been certain.
This tale from Greek mythology serves as a warning to those who would linger near dangerous shores. Like the sirens, the "strange women" described in the Book of Proverbs proclaim a call of caution for those who want to experience sex according to God's plan.
Proverbs is a textbook of wisdom and instruction in which Solomon urges his son to flee from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. As Circe warned Odysseus, so Solomon warned his son. But the wisdom offered by Solomon was God's wisdom-truth, not myth counsel from the very throne of heaven.
Listen to the father's concern for his son, recorded in Proverbs 6:[20-29] 25-35. These are timeless words of wisdom, recorded and preserved for all generations.
These commandments are not frivolous orders tossed at their son without purpose. They are words that, if heeded, would keep him from shipwrecking his life, destroying it on the hidden reefs of ignorance and gullibility. [Sex... According to God, by Kay Arthur. Precept Ministries. Chattanooga, TN. ]
It is that second look that can be such a blessing when we are seeking God's will or such a cause for temptation when we seek to stray. When a man or a woman looks a second time at the opposite sex for the purpose desiring or lusting, they begin falling into the enemy's trap.
But if we will look into the Word of God the second time for the purpose of receiving and understanding its teaching more fully we find wisdom and life. To experience wisdom and life, we must flee the adulterer.
These truths would provide direction, give him instruction, and protect him from the consequences of ignorance. If he would listen and obey, he would avoid the snare of the sirens' song-the strong lure of temptation, the passion of his flesh-the source of destruction for young and old, small and great, naive and learned. The father knew a man's eyes cannot help but see and then beckon the mind to imagine, the flesh to touch, to taste, to feel, to know...
I. LUST FOR WEALTH AND LIFE, 25-26.
II. THE BURNED AND SCORCHED RELATIONSHIP, 27-29.
III. SELF DESTRUCTION, 30-35.
When we consider how adultery abounds, how heinous a sin it is, what evil consequence it brings, and how destructive it is to the spiritual life and even physical life (1 Cor. 6:15-20), it is no wonder that the warnings against it are repeated so often.
Verse 25 gives a warning and the following verses give reasons for the warning. "Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her catch you with her eyelids,"
Solomon's instruction is like our Lord's command in Matthew 5:28. Lust or wrongful desire is to be combated at its first rising in the heart. Neither think on or desire her beauty nor be smitten by her attracting glances. Do not desire her physical attractiveness or her flirtatious promiscuousness, whether you are married or unmarried.
Learn to regard the temptation to lust as a warning sign of danger ahead. When you notice that you are attracted to a person of the opposite sex or preoccupied with thoughts of him or her, your desires may lead you to sin. Ask God to change you so that your desires are only for your spouse, before you are drawn into sin.
