Examples of Enticement

Introduction: The General Warning Against Enticement

0:02 Book of the Proverbs, and I shall read verses 10 through 19.

0:10 Proverbs chapter 1, verses 10 through 19. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood. Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause.

0:37 Let us swallow them up alive as sheol, and whole as they that go down into the pit. We shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Thou shalt cast thy lot among us.

0:53 We will all have one purse.

0:57 My son, walk not thou in the way with them. Refrain thy foot. From their path. For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

1:11 For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. And these lay wait for their own blood. They lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain.

1:29 It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

1:37 And have mercy. And having looked at the explicit purpose that Solomon had in mind in the writing of these Proverbs, as found in verses 2 through 6, we then considered the key statement in the entire book of the Proverbs. This book intended to give us words of understanding, instruction to impart true wisdom. For verse 7 is the declaration that the chief part of all true wisdom, is the fear of the living God himself.

2:12 Having established then that most fundamental principle in the attainment of all true knowledge, Solomon then goes on to entreat his son or his pupil to have a proper regard for parental instruction, giving him in these words, Forsake not the law of thy mother, hear the instruction of thy father. One of the most beautiful words of Solomon, is the basic keys to the attainment of true wisdom. Next to the fear of God, if we would have true wisdom, we must have submission to God-appointed instructors. And so he admonishes him to hear that instruction, promising him that in so doing he shall attain to true beauty, shall be a chaplet of grace about his head. He shall attain to true creature nobility. It shall be as chains about his neck. Then lastly, Last week we began a consideration of verses 10 through 19, which come to us, first of all, in the form of a general warning.

3:18 Verse 10, My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. And here is a warning against submitting to the enticing influence of evil companions. Solomon recognizes that his son or his pupil will of necessity have dangerous, potentially dangerous contacts with sinful men. He recognizes that sinful men will be aggressively subtle in their efforts to drag others into the way of evil.

3:50 He uses the word entice. But then he allows or gives his pupil to know that the mere enticement is not sin. There will be no sin unless he consents. And so he admonishes him, consent thou not, when sinners do.

4:07 Now we come tonight in verses 11 through 19 to a consideration of Solomon's words with reference to a specific illustration of the general principle of verse 10. Verse 10, the general statement. If sinners entice thee, don't consent. And it's as though he says, For instance, I mean, if they say, and then there follows, in these verses, a specific illustration of the enticing work of evil men and what it means for this young man not to consent.

The Proposition of Evil Men: Comradeship and Murder

4:50 What I hope to do tonight is to go through and expound in a very brief way the entire passage so that you see the overall structure, brief in terms of the general speed at which we move through a passage, and then perhaps next week go back to the passage, and having established the principles on the basis of sound, phrase by phrase exposition, and having, as it were, planted our guns, then extract some of the abiding principles of the passage and make them the substance of our study together next week. Well then, as we look at the passage, what do we have before us? Well, I would suggest that we have, first of all, a record of the proposition of evil men in verses 11. Then we have in verses 13 and possibly 14 the promise of evil men. They not only make their proposition, then they give their promise. And then in verse 15 and following we have the protective admonition of Solomon.

5:54 So then there is the proposition of evil men, the promise of evil men, and then the protective admonition of the man of God. What then is the proposition with which evil men come to this young man seeking to entice him? If they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause, let us swallow them up alive as sheol and whole as they that go down into the pit. I would suggest that their proposition is, first of all, an invitation to comradeship.

6:36 Come, come with us. It's enlarged in verse 14. Thou shalt cast thy lot among us. We will all have one purse.

6:47 So their proposition is, first of all, an invitation to comradeship, and then secondly, of course, it is an invitation to murder. Let us lay wait for blood. Let us swallow them up alive as sheol. And so their proposition, takes two forms.

7:09 First of all, then it is a proposition which contains an invitation to comradeship. These sinners are not total strangers to the young men. They are men with whom he has some previous acquaintance, with whom he has established some measure of friendship. And on the basis of that, they say to him, come with us.

7:35 Not only come with, but cast your lot among us. Make us your permanent companions, and to show the sincerity of our desire to have you one of us, and us to share with you, we commit ourselves to a common purse. So this proposition, this enticement to evil by evil men, comes, first of all, as an invitation to comradeship. And I'm amazed at the sound, the psychological insights of Solomon.

8:10 For, of course, a greater than Solomon is here, even our Lord himself who knows what is in men. For is it not true that though the desire to belong, to feel that I'm a part, and that I have the respect and the acceptance of my peers, is something true of all men of all ages, it is particularly true of young people. When a man, when a young woman, has not yet found his or her own identity, and feels that he or she can stand upon the proper self-image that has been created, there is this tremendous need of the supportive influence of one's peers. This sense of being part of that deep tie of friendship and comradeship. The unwritten law in the mind of almost every young person, is thou shalt not be different at the expense of being cast out of the circle of your friends. And so this proposition to evil comes in this most subtle and most persuasive way as an invitation to comradeship. And since then as now, sinners are usually in the majority, built into this very proposition is,

9:38 if you don't come with us, you will experience social ostracization. And to be socially ostracized is that which every young person hates with every fiber of his being. I cannot be different. I will not be different.

9:58 I'd rather be damned than be different.

10:02 And Solomon recognizing this as he applies this general principle to his son, if sinners, entice thee, consent thou not, he says, son, be wary. The proposition of evil men will come couched in this context of an invitation to comradeship. Come with us. Cast in your lot amongst us.

10:27 Let us have one purse. Human nature has not changed. As in this day, so in our own day, one of the strongest factors in the propositions of evil men is that there is to be comradeship in the course of evil. But all young people and adults as well, of what use is the friendship of men if I must have it at the expense of the friendship of God?

11:03 For whosoever would make himself the friend of the world, the scripture says, makes himself, the very enemy of God. So the proposition of evil men comes as an invitation to comradeship, but secondly, it comes as an invitation to murder. Come with us. Let us lay wait for blood.

11:29 Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause. Now this murder was born of covetousness. The mother of this murder, this murderous desire, was covetousness. Verse 19 clearly teaches that so are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain.

11:51 The sin that was the root sin was desire for things, such a passionate desire for gain that these men become utterly unscrupulous in the pursuit of gain. And so the invitation to murder is an invitation to murder with a cause, murder with a purpose. And the purpose is the pursuit of things, the accumulation of material gain. Then they say two things about their murderous designs.

12:23 First of all, they say it will be murder of the innocent. Notice. Let us lay wait for blood. Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause.

12:35 And I think what they're saying is this. Now look, you need not trouble yourself. That we're going to descend to the level of murdering with a deep-seated motive of premeditated envy and hatred will be professionally detached in our job.

12:55 We'll lay wait for the innocent without cause. There will be a professional detachment in the way we go about this. They recognize that this young man might immediately upon hearing the proposition come with us, be interested, and the thought of being a comrade and being in the accepted circle of his peers would be very powerful. But when they say, let us lay wait for blood, it's as though they almost anticipate that his conscience will rise up and stab him and he might be tempted to draw back.

13:25 So they immediately counter with this thought. But wait a minute. It will be the innocent whom we will murder without cause. It will be the detachment of a professional job.

13:37 No personal venom or vengeance involved. We'll murder the innocent. And then secondly, they tell him, it will be cleverly executed.

13:47 Notice, we'll be compassionate in the way we murder. Let us swallow them up alive as sheol and whole as they that go down into the pit. And it may have a distinct reference to Numbers 13.31, the passage in which we read of God's judgment upon a whole family who rebelled against the authority of God.

14:11 And the scripture says, the earth opened them up and they went down alive into sheol.

14:18 So then it seems that in their proposition, they're enticing the young man not only with the thought that it will be murder of the innocent, professional detachment, but cleverly and compassionately executed. We won't descend to give people a long drawn out death in the pursuit of our dishonest gain. We'll do it so quickly, so cleverly, there'll be no trace, no evidence to implicate us, and we'll do it in a compassionate way. It's a means to the end and therefore we'll dispose of it as quickly as possible.

14:55 Because the law of God is written in the hearts of men, all men have a greater or lesser degree of the sense of evil involved in murder. So their first response to the proposition of murder is the sting, the sting of conscience. Read about that in Romans chapter 2. Their conscience the meanwhile accusing or excusing them.

15:24 And therefore if men are to be drawn into a course of evil, those whisperings or in some cases those thunderings of conscience must be at least temporarily silenced.

15:39 And these evil men recognize this. So when they come to the young man who says, I once had the instruction of a godly father and a godly mother and openly propose a course of murder knowing that the conscience will rise up and scream out, no, you must not. They must somehow seek to get the conscience on a track of rationalization. And so they do in these words.

16:08 It will be impersonal without cause. It will be clever and compassionate. Oh yes. Other people may murder out of personal vengeance and inflict a slow and painful death.

16:21 But that would be cruel. We'll do no such thing. And until this very day the propositions of personal gain at the expense of other people are couched in this kind of subtle rationalization.

16:40 Whether it's the businessman getting gains at the expense of other people's he rationalizes and says, well, you know, this is the business world, a dog-eat-dog world, all's fair in love and war and business.

16:57 And when his conscience smarts and smites him, he rationalizes and said, well, this whole thing's very impersonal. I have nothing against that specific man and this, oh yes, I may be running roughshod over them in my pursuit of gain, but it's all very detached and impersonal. And then they rationalize and say, well, I could be a lot more bloody in the way I'm doing it. You see, the human heart is not changed.

17:23 There is no new thing under the sun that comes out of this heart that the scripture says is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So then we have in the first place the proposition of evil men. A proposition on the one hand to comradeship, a proposition on the other to murder. What then is the promise that these evil men give?

The Promise of Evil Men: Gilded Lies of Worth and Enjoyment

17:49 And we find that beginning with verse 13.

17:53 They attach to their proposition this very attractive promise. We shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with spoil. The first thing they promise is that we shall obtain things of worth and secondly, we shall settle down and enjoy those things of worth.

18:17 Knowing again that the proposition of evil recorded for us in verses 11 and 12 will meet with some protestations of conscience, they're seeking again to tear down those protestations of conscience, batter them down until this young man does consent to their evil proposition. So they do it now with promises. And the first promise is very attractive to anyone, particularly a young man. They say, if you follow this course of action we've outlined, we shall obtain things of worth, here called precious substance.

18:58 We shall find all precious substance. That which is precious speaks of value. That which is called substance speaks of a tangible reality. They say, now look, reason with us.

19:13 If you come with us, we're not asking you to cast in your lot for pennies or for peanuts. We're promising precious things. Things of tremendous worth. Things that are of worth in your eyes and of worth in the eyes of others.

19:30 And we're promising substance. That which is what? Substantial, abiding, tangible realities. Oh yeah, your mom and dad in the sphere of God business, they may be talking about things that they call precious, but really, my friend, are they substantial?

19:49 When they talk about the fear of God, the smile of God, the frown of God, the glories of heaven, the terrors of hell, did they ever put them in your hands so you could look at them?

20:02 Ha, we promise you, substance. Ah, they talk about words. Yeah, they talk about the terrors of the damned, the glories of the redeemed, the rewards of godliness being peace and a conscience that does not smite. But my friend, listen to me.

20:22 Are those things substantial? When did you ever hold a pound apiece in your hand?

20:30 We promise you precious substance, things you can touch and handle. That's our promise. You don't know what they promised you. They talk about a chaplet of beauty about your head.

20:44 Virtue? Where did you ever hold virtue in your hands? When did you ever make out a check on the basis of virtue? When did you ever wear virtue?

20:54 And gain the adoring gaze of the other young men and women? Ah, no. We promise you things of worth, precious substance. Not only that, we promise that you'll live to settle down and enjoy those things.

21:09 Look. We shall fill our houses with spoil. We'll not only find the precious substance, we'll retain it, take it back to our various homes, the place of domestic tranquility and quietness, and we'll fill up our houses with the fruits of our sin and we'll enjoy it. Isn't a day's work worth a lifetime of its benefits?

21:35 Ah, yes, for a few days. You may have a few smartings of conscience, a few twinges in the inner man, but what are they in the light of a lifetime of enjoyment? These are the promises they make. But oh, what a batch of lies and half-truths are found in the propositions and promises of evil men.

22:01 Look at the first one. We shall find precious substance.

22:09 That's a lie. That which is precious is that which has abiding value.

22:18 The Scripture says all temporal things, even when they are rightly gained, are exposed to the moth and to rust. Which corrupt. Isn't that what the Scripture says? And certainly of ill-gotten gain upon which Scripture says the curse of God rests.

22:41 So they're lying when they promise precious substance. Substance? Are the things that this young man could hold in his hands and wear on his back and stuff in his pockets and bring home into his house, are they truly substantial? No, no, for the Scripture, the Scripture says the things that are seen are what?

23:04 Temple. But the things that are not seen are eternal.

23:12 These are lies, half-truths. They promise what they are not in reality. Do you know something of the misery in a haunted conscience? How much real pleasure does a man have in ill-gotten gains?

23:31 You read the testimony of people who pulled off, what was nearly the perfect murder, the perfect crime. And you read what they've said of how they couldn't enjoy the fruits of their ill-gotten gain for an hour. Always wondering, every new person they meet, do you know something that might lead to the exposure of what I really am? They say to the young man, look, sure, a moment, a day, a few days, murder, ill-gotten gain, all right, we'll grant it, maybe that's not the best thing, but look what we promise, a house full of this and a lifetime to enjoy it.

24:12 That's a lie. That's a lie.

24:16 No matter what has been gained, no matter what consolations there may be in time,

24:22 they shall lead to the terrors of the damned and the agonies of hell. And so these promises are nothing more than gilded lies, sugar-coated poison. And listen to me, young people, particularly every single promise, made by evil men to join them in a course of evil, is a gilded lie,

24:47 nothing more.

24:50 If what they promise must be obtained at the expense of obedience to the law of God,

24:59 that promise is a gilded lie. Well then, we move from the proposition of evil men to the promise of evil men to that which I'm calling the protective admonition of the man, the man of God. You see, there are two kinds of medicine. There is preventative medicine and there is therapeutic medicine.

Solomon's Protective Admonition: Negative, Radical, and Reasonable

25:21 When you go and get a shot, a flu shot, that's preventative medicine. It's intended to enable your body to build up a resistance to a particular flu virus or however flu bugs come under whatever form. I'm not being perhaps as accurate in my medical terminology, as I could be. And with Mr. Hamilton here, I must be careful.

25:50 He's completing his pre-med studies. That's why I made that reference. But then there's therapeutic medicine. When you're sick and you've got to treat that malady and that disease, that's what happens when you've got a fever and you've got some kind of bug and you go and you get a big shot, five cc's of penicillin, and you go around limping for a week.

26:10 Now, what is true with regard to human health? Preventative medicine, therapeutic medicine, is true, with regard to the scriptures. The scriptures come to us with preventative medicine, protective admonitions, as well as therapeutic admonitions. And this particular admonition set before us in verse 15 and following is a protective admonition.

26:37 In other words, the situation has not yet developed, which Solomon is describing, but he is anticipating that it may develop, and he's seeking to immunize his son against the deadly effect of this kind of a proposition when it comes. And so I'm calling it a protective admonition. You'll notice three things about this admonition. First of all, it is negative in its form, secondly, radical in its essence, and thirdly, reasonable in its substance.

27:12 First of all, it is negative in its form. Look at the form of it. My son, walk not thou in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path. Now that's a terrible thing to do.

27:30 To try to direct your son by giving him two negatives. Walk not and refrain. Those are negative words. And so I say, the form of this protective admonition is purely negative.

27:47 Now we live in a day in which men have been brainwashed into thinking that love and negative directions are totally incompatible. If you love someone, either you give all positive directions or better yet, no directions at all, and the fewer directions you give, the greater proof you have given of your love. That's rubbish. Pure, unadulterated rubbish.

28:15 Did we not read in verse, verse 8, my son, this relationship of filial affection and authority? Hear the instruction of thy father. Forsake not the law of thy mother. Why?

28:34 He says, I want you to know true beauty. I want you to find true nobility as a creature made in the image of God. This is my motivation. I'm not concerned to distort you and make you ugly and shriveled and see you undeveloped by the, by the constrictions of all these negatives.

28:54 He says, no. I want the best for you. And in that context, he gives these negatives. Oh, my son, he says, don't walk in their path.

29:08 Oh, my son, refrain your foot from their path.

29:15 This idea that love and negative instruction are somehow incompatible is not diplomatic. If I happen to be walking in a place where there's a deep, steep precipice falling off into a deep chasm and I see a man who's not aware of the danger of enjoying the scenery and he comes within a few feet of the edge of it, if I have any love or compassion in me whatsoever, I shall give one distinct, clear, ringing negative direction and I'll yell out, Now, that's negative, I admit. But I tell you, that man will feel a debtor to me for the rest of my life for my bold, uninhibited negativism.

30:07 If a child is about to put its little fat hand up on the stove, doesn't know what hot stoves can do, and just as I see that hand reaching up, I clap my hands and say to the child by name, Don't!

30:23 The child may not appreciate it now, but someday when I tell him what I did, he'll thank me for my, negative, authoritative directions given to him in the time of his need. And so it's the father, full of love for his son, the tutor, full of love for his pupil, it's our Lord Jesus Christ, full of love to his own, a love that he demonstrated when he poured out his life unto death, who says to us, should we enter that situation where evil men, put this proposition to us, and should they append the proposition with enticing promises, consent thou not. And he says it to us in love. He warns us in love. He forbids us in love.

31:19 And so this protective admonition is negative in its form, but secondly, it is radical in its essence. Notice what he says. Walk not thou, in the way with them, that has reference to their persons, refrain thy foot from their path, that has reference to their actions. And there is an association between those two that cannot be divorced.

31:48 The father recognizes that as long as the son identifies himself with the persons of these wicked men, he is in all probability going to end up walking in their, their practices. And the only way, he says, to avoid their practice is to sever yourself from their persons.

32:15 And that's precisely where the deepest rub comes, because what was the first pitch that they said? Come with us. It was the appeal of comradeship so strong to the young man. Be one of us.

32:30 Don't be different. Be one of us. And this, this protective admonition says, no, don't be one of them, for if you're one of them with reference to attachment to their persons, you'll end up being one of them in attachment to their practices of evil. And so I say, this is a radical admonition.

32:54 Break off all association with their persons, and then you will be enabled to break off all conformity to their ways. Just when their sense of your belonging is so deep that they feel free to disclose their evil designs. They don't do that to total strangers. Just at the point when they feel that you're one of them enough that they feel, now we can get him to join with us in our evil designs.

33:26 He says, Oh, my son, at the point where they feel that close to you that they disclose their real design in that friendship, forsake them, turn from them, and no longer walk with them.

33:46 My son, your only safety is in immediate flight from their presence. Now, do you think he understood what would happen? Sure he did. They would no doubt be taunted as being tied to mama's apron strings.

34:05 When are you going to grow up and be a man? When are you going to grow up and get out of these hang-ups that your mom and dad have? Sure, I know what they taught you. Come on, come with us, be a man.

34:19 And he's got to be willing for the radical cleavage of friendship with those people and make himself the object of their taunts and their jeers.

34:31 Maybe mocked as being unmasking. When are you going to grow up and be a man?

34:36 When are you going to be a real girl, a real woman, a sportswoman, all those silly things your mother's told you, all those silly things your father's told you and your preacher's told you, your Sunday school teacher?

34:56 Yes, he realizes he'll lose their friendship, sure.

35:02 So what?

35:05 He says in this protective admonition, this radical directive is the place of safety and the only place of safety. If you want to be accepted by your peers, if you want to be safe from the evil influence of your peers, and that's the choice every one of us must make, and particularly you young people.

35:24 If you want to flirt with hell, flirt with evil companions.

35:29 Do you hear me? If you want to flirt with hell, flirt with evil companions.

35:38 Say, well, I'm strong enough. I know you are. You're a fool.

35:43 The scripture says, whoso trusteth in his own heart is a fool.

35:49 A man who knows that he's carrying around a box of dry tinder on his back doesn't go flirting in areas where sparks are flying.

36:00 He says, one of those sparks hits the right place in this pack of tinder on my back. I've had it. When you begin to understand that you carry within you a box of tinder,

36:13 sinful corruption in your own bosom, you're not going to go flirting with the sparks that continually fly from unnecessary associations with evil men. Unnecessary associations with evil men. Oh, may God grant that seeing the magnitude of the issues, we may not look upon this directive as unnecessarily radical, but as necessarily radical. Not only is it negative in its form, radical in its essence, it is reasonable in its substance.

The Reasonableness of the Admonition: Defiance of God's Law

36:48 For notice, after he gives it, he starts in verse 16 with the words, for, my son, I'm not only speaking to you on the basis of my parental authority, but I'm speaking to you on the basis, on the basis of common observation, my admonition, though it's negative in its form, though it is radical in its essence, it's not unreasonable. Now listen to me, son. I want to show you and give you the reasons why I'm telling you, walk not in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path, for, and then he gives the reasons, why his admonition is right and good, and I would suggest that the reasons can subsist under two headings. First of all, the course your friends propose is in open defiance of God's law. And secondly, the course your friends propose is a sure path to self-destruction, verses 17 to 19. Now let's look at the things in that order. First of all, he says, the course your friends propose is in open defiance of God's law.

38:00 For their feet, run to evil. That's the first time that word has been used in the whole passage. They say, look, come with us. Let's lay wait for blood.

38:14 Let's lurk privily for the innocent. Let's swallow them up alive. And in so doing, what will we do? Break God's law.

38:22 Incur God's wrath. Expose ourselves to divine judgment. No, no, they said, we'll fill our houses with good things. We'll fill our hands with substance.

38:32 And the Father says, to His Son, O my Son, when I admonish you, don't walk with them. Have nothing to do with them. Cut yourself off from them. My admonition is reasonable because the course they propose is in open defiance of God's law.

38:52 And the thing is evil only with respect to a fixed standard of right and of wrong. And that standard is God and His holy law. Verse 7, The fear of the Lord is the chief part of all knowledge. My son, do you want knowledge to know what you should do when people put this kind of a proposition to you?

39:14 Think of God. They've not thought of Him. God is not in their thoughts at all in any of their propositions, any of their planning, any of their promises. But my son, listen, their feet are running to evil.

39:29 That is a course that is in open defiance of God. It is in the presence of the living God of heaven and earth, the God who made you, the God before whom you'll stand in judgment, the God whose eyes are in the ends of the earth beholding the evil and the good. Oh, my son, though they appeal to you on the basis of comradeship, personal gain, this professional detachment, they speak as fools because the Scripture says the fool hath said in his heart, no God in all of their plans, never once do they bring to the fore the fact of God, who He is and their relationship to Him and their accountability to Him. He says, My son, you must not be like them. My admonition is reasonable, son, because you're God's creature and you're accountable to God. And my son, this admonition, don't walk with them, refrain from their path. It's a reasonable one because I have taken into account the fact of God and you must take into account the fact and the reality of God, of His law, of your accountability to Him, of His judgment in the world to come.

40:44 And oh, I plead with you to listen to me tonight. Every single one of us live in the context of the facts of God, our accountability to Him, His eye upon us,

41:00 the record of every thought, word, and deed, and the certainty of standing in His presence, in judgment. And a man who lives and plans and acts as though those facts didn't exist is living in a fool's paradise.

41:16 Those are the facts of life. Life is not lived in any other context. The Scripture says, In Him we live and move and have our being. He giveth to all life and breath and all things.

41:27 It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment. You say, I don't want to live as though those things existed. Well, you may not want to, but that doesn't change the fact that they do exist. These are the facts of human existence.

41:45 Imagine with me a path to a certain village or a road, a walkway, and it must go through a marshy area, boggy, must go up over a cold mountain pass. That same path comes down through a burning flatland. Can you imagine the man who sets out to get to that village as though the marshy area never existed, brings no boots, as though the high mountain pass didn't exist, brings no warm clothing, and sets out without a flask of some kind of beverage, water to drink as he passes through the burning flatlands as though they didn't exist? What would you think of a man who says, Well, the village is out yonder and they tell me there's a marshy area, a high mountain pass, and a burning flatland between here and there, but I'll just say they don't exist. Does the fact that he tries to forget that mountain pass, the burning flatland, the marshy area, does it change the fact that they're there? Of course not.

42:58 You say, What's the point of that simple, homey, elementary illustration? Well, it's simply to enforce this principle. The father says to his son, Their feet run to evil. These men are talking to you, my son, as though God didn't exist, as though His law were not, binding upon them, as though judgment were not a reality.

43:21 They're telling you, Fill your hands with substance. Fill your house with substance. Son, they're seeking to fill your life now and in the world to come with hell and judgment. And, oh, my son, my son, don't forget the facts of life.

The Reasonableness of the Admonition: A Path to Self-Destruction

43:39 Their feet run to evil. They make haste to shed blood. Then he goes on to say the second reason for the admonition is that their course, the one they propose, is a sure path to self-destruction. Verses 17 to 19, For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird.

44:03 What's the meaning of that little parable? Well, the commentators go up and down and around and in and out on it. But I think, I think, the proper understanding is one of two things. If you're going out to catch a bird with a net, as the fowler would do, you remember the scripture speaks of being protected from the snare of the fowler.

44:28 You didn't have 16 or 12 gauge shotguns to go out and blast them out of the sky. You had to catch them in the net, in the snare. Now he says, if you want to catch the bird, you don't go out there and whistle and say, Hey, all you little birdies, come watch me while I spread a net for you. And so they all sit around and so you spread the net right out in the open and then you put the bait in there and say, Okay, little birdies, all come into my net.

44:50 Now I want to catch you. He says, that's ridiculous. If you're going to catch birds, you don't spread the net in their sight. Oh no, what you do when all little birdies are going home to rest or all little birdies gone out in a bird walk or something else.

45:04 Why, then you spread your net. You set it. You cover it with leaves and you try to make it blend into the natural surroundings. You put your bait in there so when little birdie comes out, all he thinks he's going to get is a little food.

45:17 And you know what you're going to get is a little bird. You see, he's saying, he's saying anyone who catches birds has sense enough to know that he does not spread the net in the sight of the bird. You don't catch him. You must use subtlety.

45:34 You make your ultimate intention a veiled intention. So he could be saying, so the power of evil in seeking to destroy these men leads them in a course that to them looks like a course of self-fulfillment. When the little bird goes for that food, he thinks this will satisfy me, not knowing that it will trigger the snare or the net that will entrap him. That could be the meaning.

46:02 Or it could be, and I rather think this is the meaning. A bird, he says, has more sense to walk into something that's obviously a net. Little birdies out walking, he looks up and there's a net spread. He's got more sense into it with his eyes wide open, knowing what it is to walk into it.

46:19 But he says, the bird has more sense than these evil men do.

46:24 Because both human experience and the Scriptures show that a course of greedy, unscrupulous gain is a course of self-destruction. And though human experience teaches it and the Bible expounds it, and that should be reversed, the Bible expounds it and experience confirms it, these people with their eyes wide open, set out in a course of self-destruction and show themselves to be of lesser intelligence than the birds, who when they see something that's obviously a net, have more sense than to walk into it. And I believe that's the sense of it for notice as he develops the thought. These lay wait for their own blood. They lurk privily for their own lives. They say to you, my son, look, look, let's come and make these birds and make these birds and make these people the object of destruction. Verse 11, let us lay wait for blood.

47:26 Let us lurk privily for the innocent. Let's go out and take some other life. He says, no, my son, they're actually laying in wait for their own blood. They're not lurking in the secret places to take away someone else's life.

47:45 They're lurking in secret places to destroy their own. And then he gives the concluding, so are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain. It taketh away the life of the owners thereof. Oh, my son, my admonition is a reasonable one.

48:07 Don't walk with them. Don't enter their path. It is not only a path of open defiance of the law of God. It's a path of certain self-destruction.

48:21 Certain self-destruction. Self-destruction in what sense? In two ways. It's a path of self-destruction now.

48:33 The destructing influence of a gnawing conscience, of a hardened heart, of judicial blindness, of temporal judgments. Look at the illustrations in Scripture. Judas for 30 pieces of silver would destroy his Lord.

48:52 He ends up with a noose around his own neck. Which, when it breaks, causes him to be dashed to the ground and his own bowels spill out. Self-destruction.

49:07 Self-destruction.

49:09 Self-destruction. Listen to the statement of the Apostle in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Warning Timothy against the sin of covetousness and grasping after riches. He says, Those who have sought to attain them, what has happened to them?

49:29 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. Verse 9. They that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts such as drown men in destruction and perdition.

49:46 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through. When a man pierces himself, he's self-destructive. He's committing suicide. He says, These people have committed spiritual and moral suicide because of avarice and greed.

50:12 So are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain. It taketh away the life of the owners thereof. It takes it away now in these ways we've mentioned. Then it takes it away in the world to come.

50:27 For the Scripture says, Covetousness is idolatry and no idolater hath any part in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of Christ and of God.

50:37 There's a sense in which self-love is a proper appeal as far as motivation is concerned. The Scripture says, Love thy neighbor as thyself. When I realize that I'm a creature made in the image of God, made to bring praise to Him, it should be unthinkable to me that I should destroy myself. And so on the one hand, He reminds him, Look, my son, the reasonableness of my admonition is you must not break the first table.

51:04 of the law. You must not take a course that will bring you into defiance of God's law. But my son, don't destroy yourself either. God did not make you for self-destruction.

51:17 The course they propose is a course of self-destruction. Don't walk in the way with them. Refrain thy foot from their path. See how reasonable his admonition was?

51:31 He wasn't just blindly acting on traditional moralism. The mores and standards passed on from his grandparents. Solomon was speaking with heavenly wisdom when he sees this enticement of evil men, this proposition buttressed with these promises. And when he says in this preventative admonition, this protective admonition, don't walk with them.

51:57 He's negative, sure. Sure he's negative. And he's radical, sure. But he's also reasonable.

Application to Unbelievers: Repent and Believe

52:05 He's reasonable for he knows what this course will lead to. As we close our study tonight, let me direct a word of admonition to you,

52:18 to our strangers,

52:21 to the basic ingredient of receiving the wisdom of Solomon's words tonight. The reason you cannot receive them and walk in the light of them is that in a very real sense you're part of that crowd called in this context my son, if sinners entice thee. You are one of those sinners, those who do not walk in the fear of God, those who are not concerned about the law of God, not concerned about the salvation of God that touches every department of attitude and life and motivation.

53:01 What does this passage say to you? It says, my friend, don't destroy yourself by continuing to live in defiance of God's love. And seeking to find in life fulfillment contrary to the way of fulfillment revealed in Holy Scripture. Until you know the fear of God you do not have the beginnings of knowledge.

53:26 And the fear of God is not known in any other context than that of the forgiveness of God through Christ. For the Scripture says there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. All you can know if you take the God of the Bible seriously in your present state is the fear of dread and of terror that will make you want to run. And unless it's resolved by divine grace will cause you to cry out for the rocks and the hills to fall upon you.

53:57 But oh, when you see that that same God who has a right to call judgment down upon your head is the God who in grace and mercy has sent His Son and in Him provides a just basis of accepting sinners when you come to God through Jesus Christ. Stack arms, lay down your weapons of rebellion, and sue out a pardon in Christ's name. Then you will see in this God revealed in Jesus Christ, one worthy of your love and homage and obedience. And I entreat you to repent and to believe the gospel.

Application to Believers and Young People: Heed the Lord's Warning

54:38 And I say to you who are the children of God in whom the fear of God has been planted as one of the great blessings of the new covenant, listen to these words as coming not from Solomon, but that greater than Solomon who is here. The Lord Jesus, who is your wisdom, hear Him saying to you, My Son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Oh, dear young people who confess the name of Christ, will you not pray that the Lord Himself will cause you to hear these words as coming from Him who loved you and gave Himself for you, who demonstrated His love by bleeding and dying and giving Himself up to the abandonment of Calvary. Hear this same one who cried out, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? Hear Him say to your own heart, My Son, if sinners entice thee, don't consent. And no matter how much they gild their promises of the gains of evil, My Son, my admonition is radical.

55:52 Don't walk with them. Refrain thy foot from their path. Why? Unless you do so, you'll walk in defiance of the law of your God and you'll walk in a path of self-destruction.

56:09 Dear ones, we're dealing with serious matters.

56:12 I say to you young people who have the benefit of godly instruction,

56:18 don't destroy yourself by thinking yourself too smart to listen to your old mom and pop.

56:31 Why do we tell you don't consent to the enticements of evil? Is it because we get together at night when you've gone to bed and plot out how we can make your life miserable? That's what some of you think. You really do.

56:47 You really do. The devil has got you so hoodwinked that you think after you've gone to bed at night that we must sit up till three in the morning as parents and say, now, let me see. Ah, yeah, we can be mean here. Huh?

57:03 Isn't that, come on now, isn't that what some of you think? It's exactly what you think.

57:09 That's exactly what you think.

57:12 Sure it is. Why do you think that way? Is there any reason to think that way? Why do you think your dad's out beating himself to death making a living in this crazy area?

57:23 He probably could make more money if he just sat back and drank himself drunk and went on welfare.

57:30 Why is he beating himself to death to provide an honorable wage and living for you? Is that because he hates you? Come on now. Face up to this, you young people.

57:41 Is it because they got it out for you? Is that what they do? Why does your mom burn sometimes, if not the midnight, pretty late oil, getting the ironing done, keeping your house a decent place? What's all this for?

57:54 That's because they really hate you, isn't it? They put a little poison in your food every day.

58:01 Hmm? Well, I've used a little humor, but you get the message, don't you, kids? Aren't these proofs of their love?

58:11 Aren't these proofs of their love? And it's the same love that causes that same mom and dad to say, look, if sinners entice thee, don't consent. It's that same love that causes them to help you to see through the deceptiveness of the propositions of evil men. We've lived a little longer.

58:31 We've seen how sin and the way of sinful men is self-destructive. We've seen some of our own flesh and blood self-destroyed by evil. And we love you too much to let you go down that course. And that's why I speak to you plainly as your pastor.

58:49 Do you think it'd be easier for me just to give some high-sounding biblical rhetoric and not think, Lord, how can I get this down and how can I apply? You think that's easy?

59:02 No, it'd be a lot easier just, rock you to sleep, let you go to hell slumbering.

59:09 But we're not going to let you do it. If any of you go to hell over the admonitions of mom and dad and your pastor with regard to evil companions, you'll go to hell with your eyes wide open. And your blood will be upon your own head.

Concluding Exhortation: Sever Ungodly Friendships

59:25 It'll be upon your own head. Oh, may God help you not to heed the enticements of evil men. If sinners entice thee, consent, if they say, come with us, and they appeal to that sense of need for comradeship, then they seek to salve the conscience by saying, well, we'll be professional and detached and merciful in our unscrupulous way of getting gain. Then when they begin to put out their promises, we'll get substance, fill our houses with gain, we'll have something of worth and we'll live to enjoy it.

60:09 May you say, see through the promises. May you hear that corrective, that protective word of admonition. My son, walk not with them. No person is your friend who helps you go to hell.

60:27 You Christian young people, no person is your friend who doesn't help you press on the road to heaven with greater alacrity. If you want a good acid test, a rule of thumb by which to judge whether or not you ought to sustain any friendship as a Christian, this is it. Does it push me on my way to glory with a firmer step or not? And if it doesn't, you better sever that friendship if at all possible.

60:56 Oh, but I can be a help. No, you're not being a help to them. You're kidding yourself. They're dragging you down to their level.

61:02 Yes, but I can be a... No, you aren't being a witness to them.

61:05 Since you started associating with them, you've lost anything that even bordered on a witness and you know it. You're not fooling anyone. You're just making a hundred percent effort to fool yourself. That's all.

61:18 Say, Pastor, you're not kind. You don't even give me a chance to talk back to you. You stand up in the pulpit and you...

61:23 Yeah, but you know it's true.

61:27 You say, my mother's been talking to you. No, she hasn't.

61:31 My father's been talking... No, she hasn't either.

61:35 Solomon's admonitions hundreds of years ago are as relevant as the nose that's there on your face tonight and the nose that's on mine. May God help us to hear and to heed His own precious Word. Let us pray.