Fire in his lap
Proverbs 5-7
SCRIPTURE READING: Proverbs 6: 27-33
INTRODUCTION:
Our new house has a fireplace, so I’m learning how to build good hearty fires. You want one that burns brightly and puts out at least some heat without sending out smoke into the room. I’m learning that keeping a fire going involves using a fire poker to turn and move logs so they will burn better. But I also learned that if you aren’t careful you can literally send a log rolling out of the fireplace and right into your lap. That potential for catastrophe gave me a new sense of meaning when I read Proverbs 6:27: Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? You might ask, who on earth would be dumb enough to think he can scoop fire into his lap and not get burned? Well, unfortunately, it happens all the time. Every person who commits sexual sin is scooping fire into his lap. And sooner or later they ALL get burned.
That’s why God has built a FIREWALL around sexual intimacy. That FIREWALL is called MARRIAGE. And anything outside that protective wall will burn its victim. The 7th Commandment out of the 10 Commandments says, You shall not commit adultery. But you’re not going to hear that verse quoted a lot.
Instead, you’ll hear There’s nothing wrong with any kind of sex between consenting partners. After all, How can it be wrong if it feels right? Love is always good as long as no one gets hurt. In movies and TV and books, sex is presented as recreation. One contemporary writer put is this way: Nothing spoils a game more than those who take it seriously. So people jump in and out of the fireplace. And by the time they wise up, they have been horribly scorched and scared.
Chapter 7 of Proverbs tells the story of one young man who walked too close to the flames. The warning is given to a man, but it applies to men or women who are tempted to sin. The wise writer is looking out his window. Listen to what he sees:
1. Walking near fire Proverbs 7:6-9
At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in.
This young man has already made a big mistake. He’s walking near the fire. He’s walking TOWARD temptation. He’s either incredibly stupid or incredibly proud … or more likely both. He thinks he can flirt with the fire but not get burned. Notice that he’s walking into the darkness … He’s intentionally going to the wrong place at the wrong time.
Every person I’ve known who fell into sexual sin started with this step. They walked near the fire. They pretend that stroll is innocent. The little office flirtation didn’t mean anything – they don’t know how it got out of hand.
After all, there’s nothing wrong with having lunch together, is there? Lonely people need a friend to talk to about their troubles, don’t they? If that friend is of the opposite gender, well… what’s wrong with that?
People can’t just sit at home can they? Everyone needs to get out and party a little. And if there’s some drinking or drugs, well … people have to relax now and then, don’t they?
That’s the kind of thinking this young man in Proverbs had. Let’s see what happened to him. The next thing he knew, he was PLAYING WITH FIRE.
2. Playing with fire Proverbs 7:10-20
Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: … Proverbs 7:10-13
This foolish young man probably never knew what hit him. He started by walking near the fire. Now he’s about to jump right into the fireplace and scoop the fire in his lap. The woman’s invitation contains the kind of deceit that draws any foolish person into sexual sin.
"I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. … Proverbs 7:14-17
She couches her invitation in religious terms. The fellowship offerings were offerings to the gods. She wants the affair to look respectable. Surely God will understand. Doesn’t God want us to be happy?
And then she makes the invitation look sweet and inviting. After all, if sin didn’t sound good and look good and feel good, why would any of us be tempted? Sin can taste sweet as honey, but it will always turn bitter.
· Honey or Gall: Proverbs 5:3-4
Proverbs 5 puts it this way: For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.
Back to the foolish young man in Proverbs 7 … Listen to the next seductive words of the woman.
“ … Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.” Proverbs 7:18-20
No one will ever know. We’re just having a little meaningless fun. What is it that any guilty spouse says when he’s caught: It didn’t mean anything.
Notice the woman’s invitation: Come, let’s drink deep of love…
In Proverbs 5:15, true love is compared to a drink of pure water: Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. The fact is that sexual sin may look like a cup of fresh water, but it turns out to be the drudge of a sewer.
· Fresh water or Sewage Proverbs 5:15-20
Verses 19-20 add something interesting to this word picture. The writer asks his son, Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Instead, he advises his son to be captivated by love from the wife of his youth. The word translated captivated actually means intoxicated. May you be intoxicated by love for the wife of your youth.
When sex is kept within the boundaries God has set, it’s like Water turned to Wine. When we take sex outside the boundary of Marriage, it’s like Water turned to Sewage.
As the inventor of sex, God has every right to put boundaries around sex. God’s laws are like the banks of a river that keep the stream running pure and deep with purpose and power. Look in vs. 16-17: Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. Proverbs 5:16-17
Have you ever seen the waters after a flood? Floodwaters are full of debris and death. Floodwater stinks of sewage. It breeds disease. That is the picture of sexual activity outside God’s laws. Instead of being deep and pure as God intended, sexual activity becomes shallow and contaminated. Rather than giving life, it ruins lives. And that is what the young man in Proverbs 7 discovers when he is finally CONSUMED BY the FIRE.
3. Consumed by fire Proverbs 7:21-27
With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life. Proverbs 7:21-23
This young man is behaving in ways he would never have imagined. He’s acting like an animal. He’s like an ox walking to slaughter or a bird darting into a trap. Human beings are the only creatures who can choose what kind of creatures they want to be.
As Warren Wiersby puts it, When we choose to live outside the will of God, we lose our privileges as human beings made in His divine image.
Human beings are created to make moral choices. God commands us to count the costs before we act. If you are tempted to any kind of sexual sin, consider what you have to lose:
· Loss of wealth Proverbs 5: 10 warns us to stay away from sexual sin, lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man’s house.
Much of the poverty in America today is caused by unfaithfulness. Single moms and dads struggle to make ends meet. Things like child support payments and maintaining separate homes cause financial strain. Only the divorce lawyers come out ahead. I’ve had couples tell me, We can’t afford marriage counseling. Well, let me tell you, if you can’t afford counseling, you SURE can’t afford divorce.
Sexual sin brings LOSS OF HEALTH:
· Loss of Health At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. Proverbs 5:11
Most people know the risks of disease associated with promiscuity. The problem is, people foolishly tell themselves, it won’t happen to me. God placed the FIREWALL of MARRIAGE around sex to protect us spiritually AND physically.
Infidelity will eventually cause LOSS OF REPUTATION:
· Loss of Reputation Listen to the complaint of the promiscuous person in Proverbs 5: 14. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.
When sexual sin comes out into the open, families are broken apart, careers are ended, and reputations are shattered. I don’t have to give you examples because we have all seen it over and over. Again, people think it will never happen to me. But FIRE in the LAP will always burn.
Ironically, what we see as sexual freedom will cause LOSS OF FREEDOM:
· Loss of Freedom Proverbs 5:22 warns, The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.
It may be hard to resist sexual temptation. But is always easier to say no the first time than to say no the second time. It doesn’t take long for any sin to become a habit. And then the habit becomes an addiction. How many people have found themselves trapped in behaviors they thought they could control.
Whether it’s addiction to perversion or pornography or any kind of sexual sin, the end result will be the same as the price of all sin. Romans 6:23 says The wages of sin is death. The young man in Proverbs 7 started by WALKING NEAR the FIRE. He quickly found himself PLAYING WITH FIRE. And in the end, he was CONSUMED BY THE FIRE.
· Loss of Life The writer of Proverbs gives this warning about the person who gives in to the lure of sexual sin: Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death. Proverbs 7:26-27
CONCLUSION:
Sexual temptation is a serious problem for many people. How can you avoid sin? How can you stay within God’s boundaries? In Chapters 5 through 7, each warning against adultery is accompanied by the command to pay attention to the Word of God.
You see there is only one way to keep from heaping the FIRE of LUST into your LAP. That is to allow the HOLY SPIRIT to pour HOLY FIRE into your HEART. Will you follow the wise advice in Proverbs 7?
My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words. Proverbs 7:1-5
Will you commit yourself to God today and let Him pour HOLY FIRE of HIS WORD into your HEART?
