THE PROTECTION AGAINST FORNICATION
Introduction: In this study, I will offer from God’s Word four safe guards to protect our marriages. If these four "Bewares" are adhered to, your marriage tempatations can be dealt with in a Biblical manner.
A. Men Beware of Her Fleshly Beauty (Proverbs 6:25a; 7:8-10) “Lust not after her beauty in thine heart…”
The beauty of a woman can captivate you, piercing your heart as it does, with the bitterness of wormwood (Proverbs 5:4). “But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.”
1. Her Path to avoid (Proverbs 7:8-10)
The victim had allowed himself to be attracted to her beauty and discovered where she lived. While doing so, either by arrangement or accident, he came upon her and was taken by her: “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 an harlot, and subtil of heart.”
2. Her Persuasion to abhor (Proverbs 7:11-22)
The harlot persuades him with 1. Her attire (Vv. 16, 17); 2. Her argument (v. 21); 3. Her appeal (V. 22). She even perfumed her bed to make it more appealing. Usually the event of adultery takes a period of time and yet in just a moment of time, one can lose everything that is of value. Beware of her fleshly beauty and the many ways that she will attempt to communicate her fleshly beauty unto you.
B. Men Beware of Her Fooling Eyes (Proverbs 7:25b) “neither let her take thee with her eyelids.”
1. The Luring Eyes…
There is something powerfully attractive when the eyes are used to communicate the language of the heart. The only thing about this kind of attraction is that unless it is legitimately conveyed by the wife to “her” husband, it can be lethally dangerous. Years ago, I pulled into a convenience store, while on a hospital visit to a neighboring town, when a young lady’s eyes and mine met. I then understood the meaning of “letting her take thee with her eyelids”. I immediately made my purchase and got back into my car, reminding myself how easy that it would be to fall into the trap.
2. The Lustful Eyes…
I John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
C. Men Beware of Her Flattering Tongue (Proverbs 7:24b) “from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.”
“With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.” (Proverbs 7:21)
1. There is poison in that kind of tongue… (Proverbs 5:3,4) “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.”
These are powerful words of warning to protect one from being captured by the “strange woman’s” speech. Words can bring both inspiration and devastation…
2. There is peril in that kind of tongue… (Proverbs 5:6) “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.”
Men, there is someone out there that can say it “just right”. That person can tell you things that will capture your heart if you yield to it. Don’t say that it cannot happen. I know of a well known preacher from many years back who succumbed to what was described as “telephone sex”. He loved hearing the things that the “strange woman” would tell him on the other line. It led to the destruction of his ministry and his home. Out of miserable frustration and depression, he went and stood over his father’s grave and pointed a gun towards his body and then pulled the trigger. So ended his life, reminding us of the verse that says, “Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” (Proverbs 7:27)
D. Men Beware of the Fatal Touch (Proverbs 7:13) “So she caught him, and kissed him,”
In 1 Corinthians 7:1 we are reminded: “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”
1. The touch can be delightful…
There is much “electricity” in the inappropriate touch. The passionate fires can be kindled in just a light touch. It only takes a “spark to get a fire going”. Again, I learned the truth of this nearly 35 years ago. I had just married and was working with the Burroughs Corporation on their computers. I faced something that could have challenged my marriage. I went to service a computer in a place that had a temporary setup and everything was cramped. The computer operator was a very attractive young lady and would walk by me getting to her desk. On several occasions she would brush against me and I felt the electricity that was there and at the same time heard the Holy Spirit speaking a warning to my heart. From then on, when she would come through, I would get up and move out of her way… Men BEWARE of the fatal touch!
2. The touch can be deadly… “What starts with a touch may end with a tomb”.
CONCLUSION: This parity between husband and wife was insisted on by early Christian writers such as Lactantius, who declared: "For he is equally an adulterer in the sight of God and impure, who, having thrown off the yoke, wantons in strange pleasure either with a free woman or a slave. But as a woman is bound by the bonds of chastity not to desire any other man, so let the husband be bound by the same law, since God has joined together the husband and the wife in the union of one body." Since God has joined our marriages, we should consider the ongoing sacredness of our union and never compromise it, God being our helper…
