Avoid Moral Defilement/Defilers

In this part of the sermon: Expounds Proverbs 1:10-15, detailing how sinners entice with promises of macho image, covetousness, and camaraderie, and the importance of physically refraining from their path.

The Hebrew word for 'entice' is illustrated by Samson's wife in Judges 14:15 and Delilah in Judges 16:15, showing how psychological and emotional pressure is used to manipulate.

Issues in place in chapter 1, verse 7. After this first dominant emphasis is given that his son listen and learn from his father, what is the first concrete exhortation? Verse 10. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. And then he gives a concrete example of how they will seek to entice him. It's fascinating to look up the Hebrew word for entice and to see its usage in the Old Testament. It's precisely the same word used of what Samson's wife did in Judges 14-15 when she enticed him to tell the secret of the riddle. And it's the same word used in Judges 16-15 to tell us what Delilah...

14:51 - 15:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Teach children that their appetite for food is a potential tyrant that can lead to adult gluttony, and establish patterns of eating guarded by parents.

The children's Sunday school song 'Be careful, little eyes, what you see' is quoted to connect Solomon's instruction to guard one's eyes, ears, mouth, and feet with common moral teaching.

Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left, remove your foot from evil. He says, guard your heart, your mouth, your lips, your eyes, your eyelids, and your feet. How many of you remember the little song you learned in Sunday school? Be careful, little eyes.

26:19 - 26:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Explains Proverbs 6:12-14, teaching sons to recognize a 'worthless person' or 'man of iniquity' by their perverse mouth, winking eyes, and deceptive body language, emphasizing the…

A story of an old gentleman who believed shuffling feet during preaching was a sign of being 'full of the Holy Ghost' is used to humorously contrast with Solomon's teaching on body language, clarifying that Solomon isn't making a universal rule but teaching discernment.

Now, is this saying that anyone who shuffles his feet is a wicked and perverse man? No. According to one old gentleman, some of you have heard me say the story, it's indication he's full of the spirit. I had an old gent come to me when I was preaching somewhere in Pennsylvania.

32:41 - 32:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Explains Proverbs 6:12-14, teaching sons to recognize a 'worthless person' or 'man of iniquity' by their perverse mouth, winking eyes, and deceptive body language, emphasizing the…

The anecdote of New York City building inspectors using non-verbal signals (touching nose, pulling ear) to solicit bribes is used to illustrate Solomon's point about wicked men 'speaking with their feet' and 'making signs with their fingers' due to shame.

When they caught these characters in New York City, the whole bunch of the building inspectors who were on the take, did you all read about that some months ago? They caught a whole bunch of them who were on the take for thousands of dollars. They'd go to a building site. Everything was up to code.

34:32 - 34:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not tolerate tension and discord in the home; make children face their part in family tensions, own their guilt, confess it, and heal breaches.

The analogy of a piano going out of tune and different people's sensitivity to its dissonance is used to illustrate how children's consciences and sensitivity to discord can be educated or dulled by their home environment.

Nurture them. Bring them to their full development, ready to be good church members, ready to be good fathers and husbands and mothers and wives who hate discord, who are conscious whenever there is the slightest, just the...

41:08 - 41:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Provide a consistent example of discerning recognition of evil and holy avoidance in your own life, embodying the admonitions you teach.

Martin recounts his son-in-law's story of an older professing Christian man lustfully eyeing a scantily clad woman, highlighting the importance of a consistent parental example in avoiding moral defilement.

I had my own son-in-law tell me of the situation where he and his twin brother were in a car as young men, sitting with an older man professing to be a Christian. And they parked to the light in the summertime, apparently an attractive woman, scantily clad, walked from the left curb to the right, and they watched as this so-called mature Christian man eyed her from the left curb to the right, and the impression never left them. How could that man say, lust not after her beauty in my heart?

48:18 - 48:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a realistic understanding that you cannot fully insulate your children from the defilement of evil or evil men, and therefore must admonish them.

Martin shares his own son's testimony that he has never seen his father lust after a woman, serving as a personal example of embodying the admonitions taught.

I said, God's been very good to me. I've never known a woman die in me. He said, Dad, I've been with you when I've seen him. I.e., you just don't pick up on it.

48:59 - 49:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a realistic understanding that you cannot fully insulate your children from the defilement of evil or evil men, and therefore must admonish them.

A poem titled 'A Boy to His Dad' is read to emphasize the profound influence of a father's example on his son, reinforcing the need for parents to live out the admonitions they teach.

More on that, perhaps, in the review next week. I close with this poem. A boy to his dad, appropriate for Father's Day.

49:52 - 49:58 Read in full sermon