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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Hopefully we'll be able to see you out there. Hopefully that day is free for you Let's continue on with the announcements offering totals through the month of that should say October And I hate when I do that These are the offering totals for month of October not through September on the bottom of the page prayer request We got a good prayer request to add to for the Rogers family. Mrs. Rogers is With child with an estimated due date in May so congratulations to the Rogers family on That so be in prayer for them and for the baby and pray for of course our other Ladies in church who are with child as well Continue to pray for everyone on our list. We have any update on your mom Austin getting just slowly improving Okay, good to hear good to hear Continue to pray for our retirement home people for that ministry and For all the people who have been requesting prayers there and then of course for Pastor Thompson sure foundation Baptist Church To pray for him as well October challenge so this month is the soul winning challenge had one hour of soul per week your normal routine So who's been able to do this at least for the very first week? All right, all right, hey if you didn't Don't give up Okay Don't say I already screwed up the first week Go with the spirit of the challenge where you say well, I'm not gonna get a prize. So what? The you will get a prize actually You go out and do extra soul and an extra work for God he will reward you and that's way better than Whatever whatever I've got sitting in the office right now For prices that I struggle with trying to figure out what's even gonna be a good prize. God's prizes are way better. So Challenge yourself. I encourage you now. Look I understand too is a problem for me as well sickness, right? If you're not well It makes it even harder to go out and add extra soul winning time and you know What if that's if that was the case just move forward right? Just try to try to push yourself Do a little bit more this month We've got three more weeks in the month try to put yourself do it that extra hour of soul winning to your normal routine We got the Bible memory passage. We're on Hebrews chapter 5. So this is week number 2 of 8 I do have prizes for chapters 3 and chapters 4 Here's gonna be the key though. I want you to come back this evening because I didn't I didn't put them together there's a it's kind of a A package deal there and I need I need to organize it better, but I do Have them they're in the house. All right, and if you're not gonna make it back to church this evening and you did Chapter 3 or chapter 4 and or chapter 4 then come and see me after service and I'll be able to get you Your prize or prizes, but I really want to do that this evening So if you come back this evening, we'll give that will distribute those For people who who memorize chapters 3 and or chapters chapter 4 We're starting chapter 5. Of course. We've got 8 weeks to do that This is week number 2 and if you are able to memorize the passage and quote it word perfect You'll receive a prize for being able to do that upcoming events. We've got the Mountain Baptist Church camp this week. So We are headed out. I'm flying out Wednesday night after church. We'll be there Thursday Friday Saturday, I'm coming back Sunday morning So I plan everything is on target for me to be able to be here and be able to preach and everything Sunday morning but men of church Who have preached for us in the past? Be prepared with a sermon on Sunday, especially Sunday morning If you need to fill in just be ready to do that just in case because who knows what may happen With flights and things and travel, you know, I don't like scheduling to leave on a sunny morning But sometimes that's today. This one is the best option to be able to do that I get in pretty early so it shouldn't be an issue, but you never know We've got the home school field trip October 21st. Lunch is included in this. Please. Let us know. Oh, I also have Sign-up fee I got I got sign-up sheets for just about everything Everything okay. I've got the metal clipboard thing I'm gonna put it out on that table as soon as I'm done with the others I'll go it's on my on my desk in the office please Please remember actually I'm going to put it out in the foyer So you see it maybe on your way out remember to sign up for all the events if you plan going to any of these events here Please let us know you'll see all the different sign-up sheets sign up. Give us an idea of Who's coming so we know what to prepare for because there's going to be meals provided for a lot of these different things that we Have coming up and we just want to know Who all will be attending so we've got that homeschool field trip and on that Saturday is a construction project here I did get quotes One of them was absolutely insanely ridiculously high priced and we're not going with that one but just to give you an idea of the range of Estimates we went from a hundred and twenty thousand to twenty thousand roughly for the different estimates for the work to be done here. So You never know what you're gonna get apparently Sometimes it's just a waste of time when people think that they could just charge you Whatever prices and I guess some people pay for it. So I don't know we're not paying for that here, but We Did get estimate and one one of them seems really reasonable. It seems seems fair So we'll probably end up going with them. But we're all that stuff is in planning. I got the lease information for the sublease so I just need to Iron out the details on that So speaking of which that you know that that space is open there for use for this mostly for the bathroom use I don't want kids running around in there. It's not it's not a play area unless you know, if the parents are there That's fine, but I don't want kids unattended in that building and Also that space behind that close sublease space if everyone if you don't know what space I'm talking about Ask but there's a there's a space behind one of the doors. There's an extra bathroom and some other rooms We don't have that space rented right now. So don't go back there, please. I appreciate it We that's not that's not technically right now Available for us until I sign the lease for that. So appreciate that and So that construction day we'll be doing a bunch of other stuff that we're not going to contract out I mean most of the demolition and stuff is what we're contracting out the stuff that we need permits for is getting done and we're Going to do everything else here Chili cook-off October 31st There's a sign-up sheet for this also, so we know what to expect if you plan on entering a chili, please let us know That way when the event is about to start we at least you know If you're not here, maybe we can try to contact you and be like, hey We're you know, we're about to start or see where things are at But if you if you're worried about being able to get here by 6 you want to enter a chili Come on Sunday and you can leave it here overnight. You can put it on warm or whatever and your slow cooker and You'll be ready and set for that Monday November 12th is that sewing marathon? I already talked about that November 18th is another homeschool field trip December 10th gingerbread house and Christmas caroling activities. That's a combo on December 10th Christmas service potluck Is gonna be between the services evening service is going to be moved up a little bit earlier and then December 31st New Year's Eve We're having a fellowship from 2 to 7 we've got all the upcoming birthdays and Anniversaries for the month of October are listed there and I think that's about it for our announcements So I'm gonna turn the service back over brother Peter who will lead us in our next song Again to song number 374 So Number 374 send the light so 374 See this out on the first here's a call comes ringing over restless waves send the line Stand the line there are souls to rescue there are souls Today Everywhere Oh Oh Church while the offering plates are being passed around you can open up your Bible so the book of Proverbs chapter 7 That Was the book of Proverbs chapter 7 and as we do customary here at stronghold Baptist Church We're gonna read the entire chapter. I'm nice brother Devin if he can please do that for us That was Proverbs chapter 7 My son keep my words and lay at my commandments with thee Keep my commandments and live and my law as the apple of thine eye Bind them upon thy fingers write them upon the table of thine heart Say unto wisdom thou art my sister and call understanding thy kinswoman That they may keep thee from the strange woman from the stranger which flattereth with her words We're at the window of my house I looked through my casement and beheld among the simple ones I discerned among the youths a Young man void of understanding 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 in harlot and subtle of heart She is loud and stubborn her feet abide not in her house Now is she without now in the streets and lieth and wait at every corner So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him I have peace offerings with me this day have I paid my vows Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry With carved works with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes and cinnamon come Let us take our fill of love until the morning let us solace ourselves with loves For the Goodman is not at home. He has gone a long journey He hath taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed With her much fair speech she caused him to yield with the flattering of her lips She forced him he goeth after her straightway as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks Till a dark strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life Harken unto me now therefore. Oh ye children and attend to the words of my mouth Let not thine heart decline to her ways go not astray in her paths For she hath cast down many wounded yea many strong men have been slain by her Her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death Let's pray brother Vernon Miller, can you pray for us, please? All Right so this morning And we preaching on the subject of the strange woman and we're going to actually be going through Proverbs 7 Really Proverbs 5 6 & 7 all cover this in depth on The strange woman and of course when we're talking about the strange Woman, we're not talking about a weird Woman or someone that's a little odd or peculiar. We're talking about someone that is unknown to you It's what it means if someone's a strange or strange to you It's unknown and the reason why the strange one is called the strange woman. She's unknown to you because she's not your wife okay, and What's being discussed here are matters that should only come? In the relationship of a Husband and wife so the strange woman has to do with someone who is who's not your wife yet You're going after a relationship with that person And you're not married to them So whether you're married or not the strange woman can apply to you because obviously if you're unmarried Fornication is a big sin and the strange woman is someone who's not your wife And if you are married adultery is a big sin even a bigger sin and The strange woman is someone who's not your wife. Okay now I Also want to just point out here I'm gonna be preaching this from the perspective of men Going after women and that's the way that the Bible is talking about this this subject Just at the very from the very beginning keep in mind obviously there are this can go Both directions there with women who are going after men, right? We it's it's wicked abominable, but I'm gonna be focusing primarily I don't want to have to say each one both times every single time preaching or be preaching Primarily men and honestly, you know, I brought this up in the sermon in the past, you know, men and women are different and Men and women struggle with different types of sins and I forget the last time I brought up You know something about men and women being different and how I think it was about like gossiping or something, you know Sins of their mouth that women are more likely to do those things even though both men women can be guilty of them this is one of those sins that men are much more guilty of is Going after women going going after women especially women aren't their wives and things like that. So Definitely we're gonna be preaching hard on this this morning and we're gonna get a lot of wisdom and you know the purpose of this is To hopefully get you to analyze what's going on and often. Here's the thing This is a preventative sermon Because these sins are very very very grievous We're talking about fornication and adultery. I mean will change your life forever in many cases You go you get involved in these sins, it's one it's gonna bring extreme judgment from God on your life as a born-again child of God God will judge you severely if you get involved in fornication or Adultery, okay. It's a big deal and Second this is one of those sins that it usually doesn't just happen all of a sudden or overnight Okay, there's a pattern of things that will happen in your life in your mind the things that you do your habits will lead up to an event of actually finally committing that sin and I want everybody to be paying attention and thinking about your life and going man, you know what? I really don't want to go down this path and I'm gonna look at the things in my life and see if there's something that might need to be changed to take heed and make sure that I never get involved in something so wicked as fornication or adultery And and this is this is a big deal, okay, there's a lot a lot a lot of scripture a lot of scripture Dedicated to the subject It is a strong fleshly lust in Humans to go after it's one of the most basic or base lusts Okay, and it's something that that can drive people to do extremely wicked things And it needs to be kept in check and under control and you need to make sure that you've got the right safeguards In your life in your day-to-day activities to keep you as far away from these things as possible So we're gonna look at yes all of chapter 7 We're gonna look at all of chapter 5 and some of chapter 6 just in Proverbs Let alone everywhere else in the Bible that talks about you know Fleeing fornication and and you know, your body's not your own you're bought with a pro There's so many places in Scripture to talk about this. We're gonna be focusing on Proverbs get wisdom today get some Understanding from the Word of God look at verse number one The Bible says my son keep my words and lay up my commandments with thee Keep my commandments and live and my laws the apple of thine eye bind them upon thy fingers write them upon the table of thine heart say in the wisdom thou art my sister and Call understanding thy kinswoman that they may keep thee from the strange woman From the stranger which flattereth with her words verses 1 2 3 4 are talking about Being very diligent about hey, listen to this instruction. Hey, keep this wisdom I mean have it right in front of you. Make sure you got this. Don't forget this Why to keep you from the strange woman four verses dedicated to making stressing the importance of make sure you get this down Keep this with you your whole life. Don't stray from this wisdom right here Why to keep you from the strange woman from the stranger which flattereth with her words? And then he goes into this story an example of a foolish young man Who goes after the strange woman and the results of that and we see a lot from This story right here about this the way things are that flattery is a big one Okay, men watch out for the women that are gonna flatter with their mouth Because there's a lot of you know, it's not just men that are going after the strange woman there's women too that are that are going after the men and And don't ever think well she knows I'm married so that can't possibly be the case Don't be naive Okay, there's plenty of women out there that don't care if you're married or not There's even some women out there that make it more of a sport To get the married man to get the saved Christian married man to fall So be aware and watch out for the flattery and don't get puffed up in your pride Oh, wow, this person thinks I'm so great and just eat up the flattery of the lips To lower your guard to do something that you should never do Look at verse number six for at the window of my house I looked through my casement and beheld among the simple one simple means they're ignorant. They're unlearned They're kind of dumb. I Discerned among the youth's a young man void of understanding And this is what happened when you don't have any understanding Okay, we want you to have understanding Listen to this 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 so he's going the wrong way and definitely at the wrong time If you pay attention, you know things as I mentioned before these things don't just happen Just without just for no purpose, right? there are Ways where these people hang out the person here we're talking about this this Adulterous woman or this this loose woman this whore this harlot, right? They live in a certain area generally speaking. There's gonna be people there's gonna be areas that for certain You definitely don't want to be around Okay, you don't want to be going by the areas of temptation You don't want to be going by the the you know We call them the strip clubs or the the red light districts or whatever you call it, you know the areas where you're gonna have This it's just known to have women that are going to Try to seduce you Okay, why go by that way avoid it all together the same way that you ought to be avoiding the alcohol aisle Just don't have don't even put that in front of your eyes He went away and then you know at night That's when most sinful things happen. Anyways, obviously they could happen any time of the day or night, but Generally speaking that the the darkness happens at night literally in darkness Because people why because people want to hide What they're doing they want to conceal they want to cover up their sins and most sins happen at night and behold there met him a Woman with the attire of an harlot and subtle heart. So watch out for the women that are dressed Whether they're harlot or not You know watch out for that. It's a big red flag She is loud and stubborn her feet abide not in her house Now is she without now in the streets and lieth and wait at every corner Men you notice women like this Don't notice them for long make a mental note and Say I'm you know, I'm moving on I'm not gonna gonna have any type of relationship with a woman like this It's not good news So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said on him I have peace offerings with me this day if I paid my vows therefore came I forth to meet thee Diligently to seek thy face and I have found thee notice the flattery like oh, it's all about you I came and she's just right off the bat kissing this guy and getting real affectionate and you know Look watch out for that your flesh may look will love that your flesh is gonna like the attention It's gonna like the physical contact. It's gonna like that but don't fall for it. It's a trap It's a trap Now look don't say oh, okay, so bros. Did you just think everything's a trap and everyone's out to get you know, look That woman doesn't even have to know that she's setting a trap for you That doesn't have to be conscious in her mind it could still be a trade still is a trap for you Okay, it's a trap for your flesh It's a trap because what happens in the trap? Well, once you get involved in that bad things are gonna happen right when there's a snare there's a trap set out For an animal for anything like that. What's the whole point? It's to it's to capture and kill that that beast or that animal, right? That's what a trap is for well Even if a woman doesn't know that what she's doing is like intentionally trying to trap you That's not the point. The point is if you fall into that trap you are gonna get judged of God You have consequences according to your sin that you are not going to want to have to pay Okay, the price that you have to pay for getting involved in that sin is very very very high Way higher than what you'll ever receive Any any type of temporal pleasure or satisfaction of the flesh that you might think you're gonna get It's not gonna be worth it Because as with all sin, it's deceitful and I'll tell you this your flesh is never going to be satisfied Never gonna be satisfied adulterers. They they don't just commit adultery one time I'm like, oh man. Oh, that was so great. I committed dope y'all like well if it's so great Then you're gonna keep on doing over and over and over and over again see a worse and worse and worse and Any lust of the flesh is the same way? Let's keep reading here Verse 16 I have decked my bed Excuse me verse number 14. I have peace offerings with me this day Have I paid my vows and there's there's the religious speak right? Oh, I'm such a good girl Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face and I have found thee I've decked my bed with coverings of tapestry with carved works with fine linen of Egypt and again Don't think that just because you meet someone at church That they're just automatically this must be this great person and it's not going to try to do anything And in the bedroom or try it, you know No, you can't you can't just assume that okay, you need to have the safeguards in your life regardless of where you meet people and Regardless of if that other person is married or not, you know like that You need to have the safeguards so that in a situation like this would never even come up So you don't even have to face that temptation look at verse number 17 I perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes and cinnamon come let us take our fill of love until the morning Let us solace ourselves with love. So this is the the real tug at the lust of the flesh I mean just trying to build up this great scene and great picture. Oh, man. This is gonna be so good. Look You ever get thoughts like that coming across your head You better have scripture memorized on how what the Bible says about fornication Whoremongering and adultery to put it in the right light in the right context so you're not just thinking everything's just roses and rainbows and and and Cinnamon and aloes and myrrh and you know all this stuff that just sounds so great No, how about pestilence? Disease You start thinking about things like that How about adultery is worthy of the death penalty, how about that? And Just because that's not the law of our land Doesn't mean that God won't still uphold that law in your life He holds your breath in his hand You Verse 19 for the Goodman is not at home He has gone a long journey at taking a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed Oh, look, we could get away with it No one will know And I'm gonna get into this a lot more this evening, too But Don't you ever be so deceived into thinking that any sin that you're get into you're just gonna be able to get away with it. I Don't care how supposedly perfect the situation might seem to be to you Wow, no one will ever know about this Be sure your sin will find you out Because You can Potentially hide things from the eyes of every single human being on earth But you cannot hide anything from God He sees all And it's amazing. I think it truly is just Amazing How God will Bring things to light. I Mean, there's so many There's so many cases and like, you know, I I have kind of like this fascination with with the criminal mind and things like that and people who have commit crimes That would seemingly be these perfect crimes and know it they always get discovered Like there's there's always ways that this stuff comes out and you know, I think that is because God Makes that happen There's always these weird Coincidences and series of event. Oh, man well that didn't happen this weird bizarre series of events for this person to stumble on this and for that, you know, like Why does that happen? Because God didn't make sure that that happens Because your sins gonna find you out And when how smart you think you are and you've got everything figured out and no one will ever know you better think again and Anything You make the decision to do something You better be prepared if you make the decision to do something in private you better be prepared For the whole world to know about that And Think about that. Is this something I want to do because if I go forward with doing this What if everybody were to find out about this do you really want to do that now I Mean what happened with with King David Right with his adultery. He tried to conceal everything the adultery the murder But then his wives then were all in Open for everyone to see and everything to see and everything was exposed and everything was brought to light And he he paid tremendously for that sin for those sins, it's a big deal now God spared his life thankfully for him Don't think you just you'd never just get away with things you'll never just get away with it Verse Number 21 with her much fair speech she caused him to yield With the flattering of her lips. She forced him now. Look if you start to notice the Dressing like a harlot and the flattery of the words from the very beginning. You needed to stop the communication right there Don't get to this point of the much fair speech and the flattering of the lips To force you don't let it get to that point you notice these red flags just be like, okay, we're done and move on Verse 22 he goeth after her straight way as an ox go it to the slaughter as a fool the correction of the stocks till A dark strike through his liver as a bird haste it to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life How can unto me now therefore you children and attend to the words of my mouth let not thine heart Decline to her ways go not astray in her paths This is talking to a child of God here look don't decline your ways to hers Don't don't lower yourself to the depths of her paths verse 26 Why for she hath cast down many wounded ye many strong men have been slain by her Many strong men. Okay, you might think you're real strong. Well, that'll never happen to me You better have some some checks in place done for yourself Let him that stand to take heed lest he fall Let him to think if he standeth take heed lest he fall You may think you're really certain maybe you know, maybe you are strong But you are not indestructible and Superman who can't ever be tempted with the lust of your flesh So you better put the safety checks in place. Look at verse 27 her house is the way to hell Going down to the chambers of death How much would you want to avoid Hell like the way to hell This is how serious of a matter it is with the strange woman flip back to chapter 5 Look at verse number one The Bible says my son attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding that thou may as to regard Discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge For the lips of a strange woman drop as in honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil. It sounds good Honey tastes sweet, right? I mean honeycomb. Wow that that just looks great and This is why you need you need to put this in the right perspective Because the sin is going to look so good and it's gonna look like something you really want to do And the young man just like man, I just I just want to know what it's like I want to have that relationship with look wait till you're married Because it's not worth it. You're gonna ruin it You're gonna ruin it for yourself if you go and commit fornication with the strange woman Look there is there the purity and the sanctity of marriage and the gift that you're able to give your spouse of being able to be pure going into your wedding day is Something that is beyond price And you young men Probably I don't even know if you can fully appreciate or understand that you're gonna have to probably just take it on faith Okay, take it on faith one By all the warnings that the Bible is given about the strange woman But how about also from those that are just older than you and that have experience in these ways that you don't have experience with And and and listen to the people who have already been married listen to the people who have gone down whether they've gone down the right Path the wrong path know the truth about it now by experience Take heed Okay be able to provide That person you want to spend the rest of your life with with that gift and having that extra special bond and relationship with each other of having stayed pure until your wedding day Because that is that is one decision You never can take back ever at all. It's once it's gone. It's gone And that's it It's Not worth Wanting to know what it is right now Wanting to just just go through and and and and fulfill that lust and that desire. It's not worth it No matter how strong of a desire you may feel Gain control over your flesh and Rule your body and And be able to provide and have that that that blessing that you receive is So much greater by being able to control that We read verse three, you know, the the lips drop is a honeycomb I'm out this with an oil, but look at verse four, but her end is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword That's on the back on the front side. It looks all great and sweet, but you know on the back side It's gonna cut you it's gonna hurt. It's gonna wound really bad Her feet go down to death her steps take hold on hell funny. I think we just read about that in chapter 7 didn't we? little repetition Maybe we should pay attention Lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life her ways are movable that thou canst not know them Hear me now therefore all ye children and depart not from the words of my mouth Remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the door of her mouth of her house Lest thou give thine honor unto others in thy years unto the cruel Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labors be in the house of a stranger All that you work for and all that you produce you go after these strange women It's gonna go to be paying for other people and for other stuff and for other men and for other you know Don't go down that path That's what happens And Thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed And say how have I hated instruction and my heart Despised reproof look I don't want anyone to have to go through this Statement right here in verse 12 that's sitting in this room today and go man. Why didn't I just listen? Just listen Don't get to this point I Think everybody's probably done this at some point in their life like I know I have like man. I'm so stupid Why didn't I why did I do that? Why didn't I just listen take heed? Okay, and I don't care how old you are take heed This is good instruction How have I hated instruction my heart Despised reproof and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor incline mine ear to them that instructed me I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly in the House almost all evil in the mid in the midst of church Don't think that this only happens to the backsliders that are way out and in the world look this happens this can happen here Take heed verse 15 drink waters out of thine own cistern Something that belongs to you. It's gonna be your spouse your wife That's it Those are your waters, that's what God has given you. That's what you have you drink that water You don't need to go after any other waters and running waters out of thine own well Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own and not strangers with thee Let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth Not the wife of the you know The third or fourth or fifth wife in your middle age and senior years Stay married to the wife of your youth Let her be as the loving hind and Pleasant row let her breast satisfy thee at all times and be thou ravished always With her love Now hopefully men you don't need this commandment, but this is a commandment This is and I and as I said before you know these these types of sins He's going after strange women. It doesn't usually just happen overnight and especially in the cases of adultery. It usually doesn't happen just overnight Man You start to feel like you're you're getting a little sick and tired of your wife Oh that water this same old water that I've had for years You better check yourself. You better start changing your attitude and your mindset right away real quick Because that that's your problem, that's your problem And don't go around trying to blame your wife and say well It's her fault, and she does this and she does that and she look don't you have that thought and that wicked heart in your in your heart To start blaming everything on your wife is why you're not attracted to them or everything else I you know you start going down that path. It's not going to be long before you start Then going towards a strange woman Don't go that way look the Bible commands in Colossians chapter 3 husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them and Husbands and wives are commanded for their own instructions and whether the other does what they're supposed to do or not it doesn't change your obligation in that marriage Whether your wife is submissive and obedient and and all the things that a good wife should be or not You are still commanded to love your wife even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it That is your job as a husband And if you love your wife that much Then you better check going after strange women You love your life that much you better be satisfied with that water of your own cistern And you better do some serious heart-searching and Figure out How am I gonna get you know? If you if you notice your affection or whatever is starting to wane and and you're having these problems look you better start doing something but you better you better put that on the forefront in your life and If you start having these doubts and these in these you know Bitterness and other things towards your wife you better put your work on hold you better put everything on hold you better get that fixed Make that a priority look we all need food and clothing, but you know, but that is a serious problem Because you do not want to end up with the consequences of a broken home Because you've allowed look as the leader and the husband at your house Don't allow things to fail I Read to Ephesians chapter 5 for you. We're gonna stay in stay in Proverbs 5 Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that he might Sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot Or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish So ought men to love their wives even as their own bodies he that loveth his wife loveth himself Now Men How are you familiar Fulfilling this commandment to love your wives as Christ loved the church if you're flirting with other women on the job Online In whatever games or chats or whatever else that you have And Women how are you staying faithful to you know and respecting and showing honor under your husband if you're doing the same thing with other men How are you loving your wife as yourself When you abandon the opportunity to spend time with her Choose to spend time with some other woman Whether that be in real life or virtually or whatever It's a big deal There's a lot of opportunity to sin these days Now I'm getting into that tonight hardcore Okay, we're going into just a little a little sneak peek tonight. We're going into all the dangers of The the modern technology and in the area that we live because it is I mean it could be a cesspool and the ability to sin is so easy and for these sins particularly with with going after the strange woman it is So easy to do It couldn't be easier anymore These in the past, you know, if you want to go out there This is a man actually like walking by a certain street at a time and and kind of knowing where these places are these Days, it's like you could be in the comfort of your own bedroom of your own house I mean, you know just just somewhere where no eyes could even see he saw him through his own case with his world Look at that guy. That guy is kind of foolish. Well nowadays you could do these things with no eyes on you The eyes of God are on you You Know if there's something that's that already this point is stuck in your heart don't ignore that You thinking about something in your life you're like man, I should not be doing it man. This is wicked this wrong I should not be doing it. I need to love my wife better change it now Change it now before things get worse No matter how bad it is right now matter what you've done did it right now And men if you started chatting with people and having relationships with people other than your wife on the internet stop it now Immediately Your wife Ought to is your partner and ought to be your only friend of the other gender for your entire life I Mean real friend close for I'm obviously you could have acquaintances. We're friends here in church But I'm never gonna be calling any of your wives or any woman in this church and just hanging out and chatting and whatever It's not gonna happen ever Ever why because I love my wife Oh Because you don't trust the women no it's not it's not it has nothing to do with trust it has to do with wisdom It has to do with understanding It has to do with you know. I don't ever want to even have the temptation to Want to get closer to someone who's not my wife? Look At how many people in the Bible have had multiple wives and That's not right God intended for one man and one woman to become one flesh Okay, so just because someone's married doesn't mean that they might not want to have more You need to keep that in check because that's part of your flesh And we all have a flesh and It's taking control and putting in putting wisdom into practice and making sure that your flesh doesn't Get you into trouble Because God's not mocked Whatsoever you sow you're also going to reap Let's finish up chapter 5 here the Bible says Verse 20 and why wilt thou my son be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord The ways of man are before the eyes of Lord and you ponder with all his goings God sees all of your ways and your paths he sees everything that you do His own iniquities Shall take the wicked himself and he shall be holding with the cords of his sins You get involved in sin. Now you brought yourself into bondage That's a trap. It's a snare you go forward with that fornication with that adultery with that relationship with that strange woman You're gonna find yourself stuck Something's gonna happen. You're gonna be stuck Whether You have a bastard child you're gonna be stuck you get some disease you're gonna be stuck He shall die without instruction in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray You Need to be satisfied with your own Wife, don't let anything drive a wedge in your relationship. That is I mean that is so core and critical That I mean you see the problems in the extreme degradation of morality in our society a Huge reason for that is because of the degradation at home Because of the attack on the family because children aren't being raised with mom and dad at home Because children aren't being raised with a mom and dad that love each other Now you've got adulterous hearts You got people going after whatever and just letting themselves give themselves over the lust of their flesh Children not even being raised with the right standards with the with the Word of God That's what we need And you know what you can't I mean we definitely can't control the world does but you know the world's not getting any better It's not getting any brighter Well, you got to control in your house. How are things going to be done? And and you know dad think about this you do you want your think about your son your daughter? How would you like for them? To grow up and have their spouse Cheat on them commit adultery on them and be in that situation Why don't you think about that with your own wife then? You don't want it for them you want to put them through that you want to put your wife through that oh? But it's different no, it's not Think about that happening to someone else and then put it back in your shoes. Oh wait a minute People always have an excuse as to why they're doing what they're doing as to why all be you understand look? If you're thinking about committing adultery and you're getting involved in these other relationships And you're starting to have all this other you know getting intimate getting close with people who's not your spouse It's not right. It's wicked And it's no different for you than for anybody else It's no different for you than for anybody else It's often times you want to know what the right thing is to do That if you're in some situation, what would you tell someone else if? They were in that situation Separate yourself and just if someone just came to you and said oh well. This is you know everything about it I Oftentimes, I'll have people think about this too if you have a family or friend or loved one Maybe that that isn't saved you say oh But they said that in like because you want them to be saved so bad you're kind of think about all these ways Well, maybe there's you know it's kind of like well. What if someone said that to you at the door? What do you think they're saved or not saved all right look? I know you want them to be say, but what would you think? Because it kind of gives you a fresh perspective. We go like oh, yeah I think you're right helps you see clearly because you're not as as emotionally you know in the situation well if you Think about whatever relationships. You've got going on at the workplace Online wherever Okay, and you were to hear a story about someone? Oh, yeah Did you know that so-and-so's husband was talking to this person and going out to lunch and going out you know? How would you feel about that? What would you think about that? Now apply that to yourself Proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 23 Bible says for the commandment is a lamp and the laws light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life to keep thee from the evil woman from the flattery of the tongue of a strange what I Kind of feel like we've already read this you Take special notice when God repeats things multiple times over and over and over again especially in short proximity chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7 is It sinking in yet This is a big deal Let's not after her beauty in thine heart Neither let her take me with their eyelids For by means of a harsh woman a man is brought to a piece of bread and the adulterous will hunt for the precious life It will destroy you That fleeting moment of sin it will destroy you You be brought to nothing don't Fall for it don't fall for it There's lots of things we can do To safeguard ourselves against the lust of the flesh right to do things that I call them negative things things you don't do Right some things you don't do limit the access to be able to get close to people of the opposite gender Don't allow yourself to have alone time With people of the opposite gender when you're married, you know what even when you're single Okay, don't open up that door to fornication either because all these warnings about the strange woman it still applies If you're not married It's a strange woman until she becomes your wife. Then you get to know her And then she's not strange because she's your wife Limit your time I mean if you're at work Right try to make it so that you don't have this time where it's just you and someone else And if you do have to spend time because you're working together have it be in public areas not off in some closed area and Can't control the conversations you could be cordial and be able to conduct business Without having to get really personal and established big relationships with people Because the people who committed all three Like I said, it usually doesn't just happen just in an instant. It usually takes a while And it's gonna be where an attraction grows Instead of just All of a sudden yeah, I just I mean I just woke up today and I went I was on my way to work But then I just decided to commit adultery with some strange person that I'd never seen before It's not the way it works There's a lot more that goes on but all the rules that you can you could Institute and apply and and and think about and consider back how am I gonna keep myself from just from getting And you know too too close to people Being able to maintain a cordial friendly Relationship with people but still not an intimate one and by intimate. I'm not even talking about physical I just mean where you're starting to get real close to people, right? emotionally kind of tied To people the way that you'd be emotionally tied to your wife You Limit that but the other thing you could do I would say the positive things not just the negative things is Are you satisfied with your little bit with your wife are you do you love her are you pleased with you know, like like If you're having problems with that you need to figure out how to fix that and spend more time with her and and and Give it serious thought don't just brush it off. Look I'm a guy I know what it's like to just be able to brush things off that you don't like very much and just not think about it Okay, I understand but when it comes to your wife, that's a big deal You can't just brush that off You got a problem you got it you got to hit it head-on and fix it. Okay, and And if that means you know, you're gonna you met you you know what you might need to make sacrifices For your marriage to work imagine that If you're supposed to love your wife as Christ loved the church and also gave himself for it You may need to sacrifice some of your time and some of your money and some of your Whatever it's gonna take to make that marriage work. Okay, you might need to make that sacrifice Do what it takes It's that important Look at verse 27 can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned so he that goeth into his neighbor's wife Whosoever touches there shall not be innocent You're not gonna get away with it. Look that's messing with fire You're going after someone you're going after commit adultery. That's not that is not okay. It's not cool. It's not gonna go out well for you I Said you might be able to think you get away with it once or twice or whatever But it's gonna catch up with you because you're playing with fire. You're gonna get burned. That's what happens You're walking over those hot coals man. That's gonna hurt That's gonna sting Bob's in verse 30 men do not despise the thief if he steal to satisfy his soul when he's hungry you can least Empathize with somebody who you could sympathize with them. Oh, man. Well, I mean they're hungry So, yeah, they still like no one likes being stolen from nobody does I mean that is that is disrespectful. That's you know, it's Injurious to you like man. How can you do this to me? Someone steals from you But if someone just has nothing and they're hungry and they steal food from you you can at least have the understanding Of going okay. I mean I can at least get why they stole from me Because they're hungry and they need to eat right or whatever But that's not the way with someone who commits adultery Because committing adultery isn't something you just have to do to survive Now that fleshly desire may be just as strong as it is to eat But you need to control that because you are able to control it You are able to control it and that's why you're expected to control that which is why Bible says but who so commit adultery with a woman lacketh understanding he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul a Wound and dishonor shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away for jealousy is the rage of a man therefore He will not spare in the day of vengeance He will not regard any ransom neither will he rest content though thou givest many gifts You're not gonna buy your way out of that one, buddy. You mess around with someone else's wife He's out for blood And rightfully so I mean that's why God put the death penalty on adultery Because on top of everything I mean you think about Here's probably a better way to think about it. You know I said put yourself in in someone else's you so like if you You know whatever it is that you're doing you think might be screwed up And you want to if someone else were to tell you about someone doing this or doing that Here's a better one How about you imagine your wife doing what you're doing how okay, are you with that oh? I don't care if she's spending all this time and chatting with people on her phone When you don't you're sitting there, and she's just chatting with some other guy Really you okay with that You okay with her looking forward to seeing oh, I wonder if so-and-so got back to me yet You want her affection on some other man like that But it's okay for you to you know be talking to your ex-girlfriend from high school or whatever right that that all of a sudden hit you up on Facebook and You're just catching up, right? How would you feel about her doing that Don't play with that fire There is nothing wrong with you canceling Your contacts of people especially those that you've had Maybe a physical relationship with in the past before your marriage And it And don't go looking after new ones You're married stayed Stay that way it's that's a special thing. That's a holy thing you have your marriage You defend that with your life Don't allow any corruption I Went a little bit out of order I covered everything here It's so easy it's so easy to Fall into these traps If you're not careful With how you are living your life, and it's easier and easier in the digital age That door that door to the to the adulterous woman to the to the strange woman It's not Over in some other part of town anymore It's in your pocket No one has to witness you But Don't think that just because it's easy that it's any less wicked Than if you were there in person I Think people have a way of separating in their mind How bad sins are When it's just digital just Digital Don't fall into that trap If you haven't done any physical yet, yeah, I'll say this there is there is a there's a difference But don't think that what you're doing if it's just digital isn't extremely wicked and sinful Okay Don't minimize that and By going down that path of the digital You're it you're one you're one half a step To the physical anyways, then if you've already started going down that path online talking to people having totally inappropriate conversations or whatever And you're married Better knock that off immediately It You know wake up simple one Take heed to the instruction Spot rides have a word of prayer your Lord would love you Thank you so much for the for the great words of wisdom that you give us in the Bible Lord I pray that you would please help us all to Set up the proper safeguards in our life that we wouldn't succumb to the lust of the flesh and that we would be able to Walk in spirit and walk in truth dear Lord and thank you so much for giving us such great warnings and Admonitions dear Lord. I pray that you would please help us not to be forgetful here is especially these areas dear Lord but that we would put them into practice and God we just thank you for caring about us and giving us this great light to lighten our path dear Lord and In Jesus name we pray men All right, we're gonna sing one last song before dismissed brother Peter, please lead us All right church over here knows song number 471 Four hundred seventy-one cleanse me for 71 See this one on the first Oh Oh Oh Oh Amen church great singing. Thank you so much for coming you guys You