(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, you're in Proverbs 22, look down at your Bibles at verse 14, it says the mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit. He that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. And on Sunday mornings, we've been going over different individuals in the book of Proverbs, and the title of the series is Proverbial Personalities. And as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Proverb is simply, by definition, a short, effective statement that imparts wisdom, prudence, and or knowledge. And many of the Proverbs describe a specific individual who is characterized by certain good or bad attributes, okay? And the last few weeks, we covered a few of them, we covered the first week of the simple. And the simple is a person who is stupid, okay? They're void of knowledge, and they're not necessarily a wicked person, although they can be, become a wicked person, they're simply a person who's just void of knowledge, they have a deficiency of wisdom, and because of that, they suffer the consequences of wicked people. The simple pass on and are punished, the Bible says. The second week, we covered the fool. And the fool will suffer the same consequences as the simple, but here's the difference is the fool knows what God's Word says and refuses to do it, okay? They know the warnings, they know the instructions and the admonishments of the Word of God, they know what God has to say about the cause and effect of decisions, but they refuse to do it, and therefore, they are a fool. And that was last week's sermon. This morning, we're going to cover the strange woman, okay? Now the strange woman is one of the most prominent characters in the book of Proverbs, actually. And you say, how do you know that? Well, because of the fact that she actually has entire chapters dedicated to her. I mean, other than the wise man, the wise man is mentioned quite a bit, obviously in the book of Proverbs because God wants us to be wise. But for some reason, you know, God has basically set forth a couple chapters just talking entirely about the strange woman. And this indicates that we should give heed to the warnings and not take them lightly as men, okay? There's obviously a reason why she's mentioned in chapter two, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, and various portions of the book of Proverbs is because she's obviously a dangerous person that God wants us to avoid and warn us about so we don't fall into the traps of the strange woman. But not only that, you know, God wants women to avoid exemplifying her attributes as well. So the warnings that we see in the book of Proverbs are not only for the men, they're also for the women so that they don't become a strange woman, okay? Now go to Proverbs chapter two, if you would, Proverbs chapter number two. What is a strange woman? Why is it that the Bible refers to this individual as a strange woman? Well, first and foremost, let me say this is that one of the many terms that the Bible uses for this particular individual is not just a strange woman, but the Bible also calls her a whore, okay? Now that is a very offensive word to use today in 2021, but the Bible uses it and so therefore we should use it. And the reason why we should continue to use this because it has weight behind it. You know, if you talk about a person or a woman who is a whore today, they would say, you shouldn't use whore, you should say she's promiscuous. You know, she just, you know, she gets around a little bit or something, you know? Well, you know, that sounds bad, but it just doesn't sound as bad as a whore. And when you use the word whore, it sounds a lot more severe, it sounds a lot more shameful, and so it instills within individuals not to be that way, you understand? And so a synonym for the strange woman in the Bible is a whore, evil woman. But a common one that we see is strange woman. Now when you look at the word strange or stranger in the Bible, it's often synonymous with a foreigner, okay, an alien, a foreigner, someone who is an intruder, okay? And this is why this individual is referred to as a strange woman because she is viewed in the Bible as someone who is a foreigner to a man who is already married, you understand? And so a simple definition of a strange woman is this, a woman who intrudes upon an aspect of a man's life where she does not belong, okay? And I want you to notice that I said this, a woman who intrudes upon an aspect of a man's life, okay? The reason I say that is because more often than not in the Bible, the aspect that we're referring to here is the physical aspect, okay? You know, a strange woman is not necessarily known for being covetous, you know, for being greedy and covetous and idolatrous and committing these other sins. The prime sin that she's guilty of is fornication, adultery, lasciviousness, uncleanness, this is what she is characterized by. And so this woman is an individual who intrudes upon an aspect of a man's life where she does not belong. Now let me just say this is that, you know, men in general, men and women in general should interact. It's not, you know, bad for men and women to interact, especially in church and public settings and, you know, as long as it's appropriate. And the reason I say this is because sometimes people can get carried away with this thing where it's just like, well, you know, men shouldn't talk with women in church and women shouldn't talk with men and they shouldn't necessarily get too close to one another. Folks, that's a little over, a little Amish, okay? You know, there's a church out there called La Luz del Mundo, which means the light of the world and there's such a holier than thou organization, they're not even safe first and foremost, but there's such a holier than thou organization that in their service they'll have women sitting on one end and the men sitting on the other, even if they're married. So as soon as you go in, they separate you, you know, the males on one end, the females on the other, and unfortunately, you know, there's some Baptists who adhere to that nonsense and they just want to have this holier than thou, self-righteous type of a service where, oh, we're so holy, we won't even sit next to our wives in church or something. What kind of nonsense is that? You know, when you're holier than God, okay, you got an issue. You know, people could get carried away with staying away from the opposite gender because of what may happen. You know, the reality is this, is the Bible teaches us that in 1 Timothy 5, it says, rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, and the younger sisters, excuse me, the younger as sisters with all purity. So the Bible says that we can treat the older women as mothers, we can treat the younger women as sisters, and there can be purity with those relationships. It doesn't have to be inappropriate. You know, so men and women can interact in our church, all right? They can talk, they can say, how was your week? What did you guys do this week, or how was work, or how are your children doing? How's your spouse? These are appropriate questions to ask, folks. Don't be a weirdo, okay? Don't be some person who's just like, I can't even look at anybody, you know what I mean? It's just like, oh, let me put blinders on or something. No, you know, the Bible says that we should treat them as mothers, the younger as sisters with all purity, okay? And so, you know, and the reason I emphasize that is because I've known churches that it's like, it's so taboo for a young man to talk to another young lady in church or something. It's just like, oh, you guys got something going on or something or what? It's just like, no, she's talking, I mean, I have a mouth, she has ears, vice versa. We're just talking to each other in church, unless you want me to go out into the world and go commune with women out there in the world, right? You know, the best thing to do is commune with your brothers and sisters in Christ who you know, you know, I mean, you don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt, but you know that they don't have like a bad agenda. They're going in the same direction. They're in the same church. This is appropriate, folks. And so, you know, obviously church shouldn't just be a social club, but it kind of becomes a social club to a certain extent. You know, you come here, you hear the preaching of God's word, you hear singing, and then you have friends. You have friends, you commune with them, you hang out with them, you go out to eat with them, you joke with them, you laugh with them, you do life with them, okay? And so, nothing inappropriate about that. When it becomes inappropriate is when a woman decides or she begins to pursue a relationship with a man that's inappropriate, the physical aspect, okay? And at that point, she becomes a strange woman. She seeks to have an inappropriate relationship with a man, to interfere in the life of a man where she does not belong. And the reason this is important, think about this, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 7, referring to the strange woman, also known as the whore, it says, let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths, listen to this, for she hath cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong men have been slain by her, the Bible says. Now think about this, the strongest man in the Bible, the godliest man in the Bible, and the wisest man in the Bible, you know, Samson, David, and Solomon, all basically fell into sexual sin, right? So that's why it shows us it's even more important for us to give heed to this, because in order for us to, you know, overcome this, or to be able to avoid this, is, you know, we have to be stronger than Samson, we have to be godlier than David, and we have to be wiser than Solomon. Well, that's not necessarily going to happen if we're not giving heed to God's word, and I mean, think of the irony of this, who wrote the book of Proverbs? Solomon. So he's like, stay away from that strange woman, and yet the Bible says in 1 Kings that he loved many strange women. Define irony, okay? Now that doesn't negate the fact that what he's teaching is true, because it is true. It's God's word. What it shows is that Solomon didn't take his own advice. Solomon needs to practice what he preaches, okay? I mean he gave us 31 chapters, and he's warning his son, yet he himself fell into this, so This shows us that anybody is capable of committing the same mistakes that these men did if they don't give heed to these admonitions and instructions, okay? Now let me also say this, it's important to note that both married and unmarried women can become strange women, okay? It's not just for, you know, an unmarried person, both of them can fall into this trap, and it's important for young men to realize that, you know, the world is filled with strange women. Hollywood, social media, the internet, you know, Facebook, Instagram, or whatever it may be, they're all filled with strange women, and if you're not careful, you can become envious of the wicked. Say, man, how does this guy, you know, he pulls this beautiful woman, well, let me remind you of what Proverbs 22 says, he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall there in. So when you see some guy, and he has this model for a girlfriend or something like that, some beautiful woman with all types of plastic surgery, you know, she just looks perfect in the eyes of the world, you know, the attitude should not be, oh, man, I envy that guy. The attitude should be, man, God must really abhor that man for allowing him to find her. That's what the Bible says. It says she's a deep pit, whosoever, you know, the Lord abhors shall fall there in. So the indication should never be, oh, that guy has it better than me, or, man, he's living it up. No, the attitude should be, wow, God must really abhor this person to allow him to find that strange woman. You say, why? Well, because the strange woman is going to destroy him. She is going to destroy his life, his finances, you know, and by the way, you don't know if she's diseased. I know she's not filled with some STD. Oh, this is inappropriate, you shouldn't talk like that in church. Folks, this is reality. How do you know if she doesn't have the botch and the itching and all these viruses that, you know, the Bible talks about? You don't know that. And so don't let the plastic surgery fool you, amen? And so, you know, the Bible tells us that, let me read that verse again here. It says the mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit. By the way, something else is referred to as a deep pit is hell. He that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein, okay? And so don't envy the wicked. Don't envy the people of this world who seem to be, you know, coupled with the beautiful people of this world, quote unquote, in the eyes of the world, you know, recognize that that's actually a punishment. It's not a good thing, okay? Now let me give you some characteristics of the strange woman and it's going to get, you know, kind of uncomfortable this morning, okay? Number one about the strange woman, she is a snare. She is described as a snare. Look at Proverbs chapter 2 and verse number 10. So he begins the book of Proverbs with telling the young man, of course his son, get wisdom, get prudence, get knowledge. Make sure you get these things, call, you know, wisdom thy kinswoman and thy sister. He says in verse 10, when wisdom enter into thine heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Another word for keep is to guard. Look what it says in verse 12, to deliver thee from the way of the evil man. Skip down to verse 16, to deliver thee from the strange woman. So what is the implication there? The implication is that the strange woman is like a snare. She's like a huntress or, you know, a hunter. She's seeking to hunt for the precious life according to the Bible and the Bible says if you have wisdom, you have knowledge, you have discretion, you'll be able to avoid the snare known as the strange woman. You can be delivered from that person, okay? Go to Proverbs chapter 6, Proverbs chapter number 6. She will trap a man, okay? Oh, man, but I just, you know, I just want a really beautiful, gorgeous, plastic, you know, wife, man, it's just, you know, yeah, but you know what the Bible says, afterward thy mouth shall be filled with gravel. So bread stolen in secret is sweet but afterwards thy mouth shall be filled with gravel. So initially, you know, sin is pleasurable for a season but then when it begins to yield the fruits of death that lead them to death, then it's not that sweet anymore. So sin is always pleasurable initially but once you've been in it for a little bit, then you realize this isn't sweet at all, this is miserable, I hate this, my life is destroyed, my marriage is falling apart now, my kids don't want to see me, you know, I lost my job or whatever, things begin to go downhill fast. And then you realize, man, I was not delivered from this snare, why? Because you refused wisdom, okay? Look at Proverbs 6 verse 23, 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 the strange woman. Again, he says to keep thee, to guard thee, to protect you. That's why it's important, young men, that you stay in church, why? Because if you're in church, you have a man of God yelling and screaming at you about the strange woman, warning you about the dangers of getting involved with some whore according to the Bible, with some promiscuous woman, some fornicator, and you know what? If you give heed to those instructions, you give heed to those admonishments, you're going to avoid a lot of heartache in your life. Hey, you're going to help your parents avoid heartache. Seeing you make all kinds of stupid mistakes. Why are you so harsh? Because I don't want you to get HIV, that's why. I don't want you to get an STD. I don't want you to have a child out of wedlock, or as the Bible puts it, a bastard. Oh man, this is just too harsh. Yeah, but at least it'll keep you on the right path though. To deliver thee, to keep thee from the strange woman. It sounds to me as though the strange woman is dangerous. Sounds to me that she's not a prize, she's a snare that will trap you and destroy your life. God wants you to escape this woman. Proverbs 7 verse 4 says, say unto wisdom, thou are my sister, and call understanding thy kin's woman. Why does it say that? In other words, he's like, you should have a close relationship with wisdom. You should have familiarity with wisdom and understanding to the point where she's like your sister, she's like your kin's woman. Why? Verse 5, that they may keep thee from the strange woman. So as long as you have wisdom, as long as you have understanding, you can avoid this monster. Okay? And you say, well, you know, pastor, I'm kind of ugly, so I don't really have anything to worry about. That joke's on you, I'm ugly, you know, it's like, who's gonna want me, you know? Well, you know what, the Bible says that the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. And here's the thing, you know, the strange woman will seek you out not because, you know, you look good, not because you're handsome or cute or whatever, she'll hunt for your life because she knows that you're pure. There's people out there with such a nefarious, wicked agenda that they just want to defile virgins. They want to defile the innocent. That's how people are out there. So don't think, well, you know, I'm just, you know, I'm good to go, I'm fat and chubby and ugly and, you know, I got three chins, so I ain't got really nothing to worry about. You know, I'm good to go. Well, there's some truth to that, okay, but still, hear me out, hear me out. The adulteress will still hunt for the precious life. And look, if you're saved, you're serving God, who cares how many roles you have? Your life is still precious in the eyes of God. You have more value and you have more importance in the eyes of God than some wicked person out there with a 12-pack and chiseled features. Why? Because you actually love the Lord, you know the word of God, you're getting people saved, you're honoring your parents. That's an insight of God of great price. So God is not the only one, though, who recognizes the great price of that individual, the strange woman does as well. And she will seek to hunt after that precious life to destroy that person's life, okay. And so therefore, you should never envy the man who has a strange woman as a companion. It's an indicator that he is a board of the Lord, she's going to destroy his life. She is a snare unto him. Go back to Proverbs 2, if you would. So number one is that she's a trap. She's a snare. And wisdom should tell you when you have encountered this individual, okay. Now what's the second thing? What's another characteristic of the strange woman? She wields the weapon of flattery, okay, she uses flattery. Now last week we talked about flattery or maybe it was on Thursday that I talked about flattery. Flattery is just really excessive and insincere praise, okay. The modern way to say it would be she's a flirt, okay. And I think, I don't know, what was the last service, I was trying to get someone to tell me how girls flirt today and then someone came up to me afterwards and say, they say you're a snack. What? Man, times have changed. Like in my day it was just like, you know, you're handsome or hey cutie or whatever, you know. Now it's like you're a snack? What in the world? I didn't even know how people could fall for that. If some woman came up to me and said you're a snack, first I'd be like, well, hold on a second. Are we talking about like a vegetable snack, carrots with, you know, or like a Milky Way, what are we talking about here? This isn't very flattering, okay, first and foremost. Like I don't even take that as flattery, you know. I would take that as, that just sounds foolish. But I guess that's what they do, right, Damian? You're the one who told me, Damian. I'm just going to go ahead and call out Damian right now. You told me this, right? Okay, all right, cool. You're looking like a snack. Keto snack. So anyways, I guess that's the flattery that they use, you know. They flirt like that. But you know, to some guys, that might work, I don't know. Some guys will be like, thanks, I've been waiting for someone to tell me that for a while, you know. The Bible says in Proverbs 2 verse 16, look what it says. To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words. So one of her most powerful weapons that she has in her arsenal, so to speak, is her ability to flatter, to flirt, to speak, okay, to be insincere and excessive in their praise and admiration of that particular individual. And you know, the reason this works sometimes is because of the fact that men have big egos, okay. They have a big ego and it's easily deflated as much as it's easily inflated, okay. They can be deflated easily and inflated easily. You know, you go to a man and you know, you start pointing out their physical flaws, you know, their ego get deflated quick. But when a man walks by a reflection in a vehicle, you know, they just walk by and then it gets inflated. It just easily goes either way. I'm just telling you, that's just the honest truth, okay. And so when you have a strange woman coming with flattering words, with insincere praise, you know, saying whatever, you're a snack or whatever, you know, men can easily buy into that and think, oh, this woman is interested in me and then, you know, he can fall into that trap. Look at Proverbs chapter 5. Proverbs chapter 5, hold your place there in Proverbs 2, go to Proverbs 5 verse 1, it says, my son, attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding that thou mayest regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge for the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil. This isn't referring to like her lipstick or something or her lip balm or whatever the glitter lip balm that she has. This is referring to what she says, okay. And often when the Bible talks about that which is smooth in regards to words, it's often synonymously referring to as or that which is deceitful, okay. You think of a smooth preacher in the Bible, the smooth prophet are those who lie to God's people, they deceive God's people, they are flattering God's people, they praise God's people in order to get something from them, okay. So what we see here is this woman is likened unto a false prophet, why? Because she has, her mouth is smoother than oil, her lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, it's trying to entrap you, she's trying to flatter you, okay. And that's why the Bible says that our lips should keep knowledge. So the opposite of that which is smooth is that which is hard, okay. And that which is hard is God's word. Now obviously the Bible is often referred to as honey as well because it's sweet to our taste, those of us who are saved. We delight in the law of God after the inward man the Bible says, okay. But sometimes it's bitter in our belly, it's coarse, it's hard. We call this hard preaching, right. We tell you how it is, we tell you the truth, we don't hold back, we keep back nothing that which is profitable unto you and often that requires the hard truth, okay. Whereas the strange woman will not give you the hard truth and the hard truth would be that she would want nothing to do with you. Instead she'll give you lips full of honey smoother than oil that tries to build you up in order to destroy your life, okay. Look at chapter 6, my son keep, verse number 20 excuse me, Proverbs 6, 20, my son keep thy father's commandments and forsake not the law of thy mother. By the way notice that it says forsake not the law, it doesn't say forsake not the law of God although we know that, it says forsake not the law of thy mother. So that means there's certain commandments and laws that your mom can place upon you that are not necessarily in the Bible but that you should keep. And not just mom, dad as well obviously, right. So hey young people before you get you know too big for your britches and start trying to teach your mom or your dad or whatever and say well that's not in the Bible, well guess what, forsake not the law of thy mother. If mom tells you to do something, do it. She doesn't know any better, well here's the thing, she knows more than you. He says forsake not the law of thy mother, bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest it shall leave thee, when thou sleepest it shall keep thee, when thou awakest it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is the lamp of the laws light reproofs of the instruction of the way of life to keep thee from the evil woman from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman lust not after her beauty in thine heart. Now this isn't saying you know you can't be attracted to a potential spouse or you know someone who could be your spouse, okay. It's not like well I just have to look at the spiritual, only the spiritual, the physical does not matter. I don't believe that for one second, okay. And I'm not saying the spiritual is not important because obviously it is. But guess what, the physical aspect is important too for a man, you understand. What this is saying is that don't let the physical beauty of a woman, particularly the strange woman deceive you. He says lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids, okay. And I've said this before but this reminds me of the cartoons. If you remember like they would have these long eyelashes, right. And then when they would like flutter their eyelashes it was like kind of, it was like a flirting way to do it. I don't even know if they still do that but I'm sure fake eyelashes still exist, am I right? Oh man, you guys apparently, we got a witness over here. How long do they get? Long enough to fly or what? Dang, yeah, yup. She can wave at you with her eyelids, right? The spirit of what it's saying here is that don't be deceived by what you see. Because it says lust not after her beauty, with her beauty, let her, excuse me, neither let her take thee with her eyelids, these are visual things, okay. And he's saying hey, don't be such a carnal person that you can't see past the eyelids no matter how long they are, you know. Be able to view the motive as well, okay. Be able to discern if this person's flattering you, if they are flirting with you, if they're trying to deceive you, okay. Proverbs chapter 20 verse 16 says, take his garment that is surety for a stranger and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. Go back to Proverbs chapter 2, Proverbs chapter 2. So what do we see here? We see that the strange woman is described as a snare. She will trap you ultimately to destroy you. How will she do it? Well, she wields the weapon of flattery, also known as flirting, okay. She'll give you insincere praise, things that are not true. And look folks, man, you know when someone tells you, you know, they start giving you some praise, you're just like, I know I'm not that buff. I know I don't look that good, okay. This woman is obviously trying to deceive me, okay. You know, don't be fooled by that. So not only that, she is not under authority. Look at what it says in verse 17, which forsake it the guide of her youth and forget the covenant of her God. So one thing that she's characterized by is not being under authority. And more particularly, it says the guide of her youth, this could be described as possibly her parents. She's not under her parents' authority. And when it says the covenant of her God, it can mean a multitude of things. It could refer to the fact that she's gone out from under the authority of God's word, the covenants of God's word, or it could mean that this is referring to a married woman who has broken her vows. Because when you get married, you make a covenant before God, you understand? And she forsakes that covenant of her God. But the main thing is this, is that she's basically just out from under authority, okay. And you know, sometimes you'll get, in our church, we'll get young ladies who come to our church and maybe they don't have their parents with them, maybe their dad's not in their life or whatever it may be, but let me just say this is that everyone has an authority. Even if you're in that situation, you still have an authority. Now you say, well, who's the authority of this young lady? Well, if she's living under someone's roof, obviously whoever's roof that is, that's her authority because she's choosing to live under that roof. But let's just say in church, I would be considered her authority, but here's the difference is that my authority or my leadership is very limited in that person's life obviously, okay. And the reason I say that is because there's churches out there that will place the pastor as such an authoritative pedestal on an authoritative pedestal that it's just like, he operates like this young girl's dad or something like that. It's like, that's inappropriate, that's weird. And that opens up the doors to like potential temptation and things that can happen, inappropriateness. And you know, it's just like, oh, he's like her spiritual dad or something like that. Sorry, no, I'm only a dad to two girls, okay. And I'm their spiritual dad, so I'm their physical dad, but I'm also their spiritual dad as well, all right. Now obviously, I'm like a father unto the church in the sense of that I give counsel, I give wisdom, I have your best interest in mind, but you know, it's limited, okay. So you know, I don't get veto power, I say veto more than veto, I don't have veto power, I definitely don't have veto power either. He's a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so I don't have that type of power. I don't have veto power over your life, you know, because there's places that will teach that. Oh, I don't have a male authority in my life, can I just give you veto power and you make the decisions for me? No. Sorry, these are the cards that God gave you. This is the deck that you have. You need to be able to exercise wisdom and knowledge and understanding and ask for counsel. And by the way, you know, the young ladies in our church, they have a multitude of counselors here. They have other ladies that they can consult with and talk to and get wisdom from. You know, if it really came down to it and one of the older ladies are telling the younger, the young lady, hey, you know, you might want to ask pastor about that, then I can step in and help with that, but that's as far as it's going to go. But what I'm saying is that the strange woman is just never under authority. She is what today they would refer to as what? An independent woman, right? She's independent from her husband, independent from church, and she has no authority, she just does her own thing, pays her own bills. You know, she takes herself out, nonsense folks. I don't care what Beyonce says and how popular those songs are, who gives a rip? You know, the Bible honors people who stay under authority, under their husband's authority, under their father's authority, under church authority, under governmental authority. She's characterized by being a person who loves and obeys authority. Not by any means necessary, of course, but just characterized as a person who loves authority. Why? Because, well, the Bible's our authority. By the way, I don't buy this, well, I'm under Bible's authority, God's authority, but not anyone else's. Then you're not under God's authority, because God's word says you have to be under physical earthly authority. So that's an oxymoron, doesn't make any sense, okay? So young ladies, let me just say this, respect your dads. Honor your father and mother, obey them. Even if you don't agree with them, if you're living under their roof, you should obey them. And obviously, don't misunderstand what I'm saying. If your parents are trying to get you to sin, or drink alcohol, or do drugs, or partake in that which you know is sinful, then obviously, don't do those things. But let me just say this, a young man or a young lady who is serving the Lord, they're reading their Bible, they will have God's favor in their life, and they're not gonna be placed in a situation like that unless they place themself in a situation like that. God will deliver you from those things, you understand? I'll give you an example, you know, when I got saved, I got saved at age 21, I was still living with my mom, my brother, my sister, they were not saved, and I lived there. And you know what, I was serving the Lord, I was reading my Bible, I was winning souls to Christ, and I was never forced into a situation where I had to sin with my family or something like that. Because they understood, oh okay, he's serious about the things of God, he's not gonna partake of this, we're gonna do our own thing, let him do his own thing, don't tell him to do those things, don't invite him to that, he's not for those things. And I took that as God's favor with me because I don't want conflict with my family. And so, you know, young men, young ladies, make sure that you obey the law of your mother and father. Doesn't matter how smart you think you are, or how much wisdom you think you have, just know this, they've been around the block far longer than you have, okay? Look at Proverbs chapter five, so she's not under authority. She's not under her father's authority, she's not under, she's an independent woman, she does her own thing, okay? But not only that, she's unstable, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Look at Proverbs five verse six, lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now, therefore, all you children, depart not from the words of my mouth. Hold your place in Proverbs, go to 1 Timothy chapter five, 1 Timothy chapter five. She's unstable. You know, the Bible says that a woman should be a keeper at home, right? Keeper at home means she should be home. Now, not to say she can't go out and do grocery shopping and, you know, do things, homeschool activities and be with her children, but the Bible says that she should be a keeper at home, not be a movable person, where it's just like she's everywhere at all times, she's not serving her husband, she's not serving her kids, she's just kind of everywhere, you understand? Look at 1 Timothy chapter five and verse 11. You say, well, I'm a young lady, I'm not married, and I think that's me, I might be involved in some of that. What should I do? Verse 11, but the younger widows refuse for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry, having damnation because they have cast off their first faith and withal they learn to be what? Idle. Wandering about from house to house and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. What does that mean when it says that they are idle or tattlers and busybodies? They're gossipers. They just go from Facebook post to Facebook post, Instagram to Instagram, social media to social media. They're not really taking care of their household responsibilities, they're not really taking care of their husband or their children. What are they doing? They're just being idle, busybodies, speaking things which they ought not to. That's what the Bible says. I will therefore, verse 14, that the younger women marry. Bear children, guide the house. This is so male chauvinistic. This is the Bible, folks. This is the Bible. Don't allow the world to change your way of thinking and say that this is wicked, this is wrong, this is so old-fashioned. This is timeless. This is God's word. This is God's order. And you know what? It's time for Christians to not be ashamed of what God's word says and try to make excuses for what it says. You know, when it says, you know, bear children, it doesn't really, you know, in the Greek it didn't really mean bear children, like have children. Just being like nice to children or something or be a blessing to other children. No, bear children means get pregnant. That's what it means. Bear children means have your own children. Of course, if the Lord opens up your womb to do so. Guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Look what it says, for some are already turned aside after Satan. So the person who's not doing these things, according to the Bible, they're turned aside after Satan. So what do we see in First Timothy chapter five? The strange woman is movable. She doesn't stay put. She's out at 10 o'clock at night with her girlfriends doing whatever, you know. You say, are you saying that, you know, women shouldn't go out and have fun? That's not what I said. Because I believe they should. I think it's appropriate. I think it's great. You know, when the ladies in our church, they get together and they go out and do something, but that shouldn't be like the way of life though, folks. It's just like young men or married men should not just be hanging out with the boys all the time. They should be with their wives and their children. They should be working. They should be doing those things. Obviously, that's why we have activities at our church so that, you know, we can fellowship together and be social and fulfill that need in our lives. But that should not be the way of life, you understand? We should be with our families. We should be taking care of our responsibility, okay? And let me say this is that although the woman should not just be going out late at night, it's okay for her to come to a prayer meeting, right? That's a good thing. And although the man should not be out late at night at the bars especially and just doing God knows what, you know, it's okay for him to come to a prayer meeting too. You know, and here's the thing is that they should be in unity in that regard as well. So wives, you should support your husbands especially if he's making strides spiritually. You know, if he wants to go to like every service, don't stop him. Don't be a hindrance to him to come to every service. We're going to church that much? Yeah, that much. Because here's the thing. You want a good husband, don't you? Don't you want a godly husband that loves you as Christ loved the church? Don't you want the product? Then you got to have the process. You know what the process is? Get that man's butt in church. He needs to be in church, hearing him preaching, going soul winning because the longer he's around men who are loving their wives, the longer he's around men who love the Lord and are loving their children, the more that's going to rub off on him to love you in like manner. Well, I just want that part, but I don't want him to be in church a whole lot though. You also want the product without the process. Doesn't work that way. And by the way, vice versa, okay? And so don't be this person where it's just like you have these expectations of your husband or your spouse. It's like I want them to be like this, but I don't want them to be so committed to church and so committed to the work of God, then you're not going to get this. You're going to get this. So if you're not letting them be here, don't be surprised if his husbandry is like down here. Okay? But if you want a grade A husband, grade A spouse, grade A wife, make sure that you support them when they're making strides spiritually. Don't hinder them when they're making strides spiritually. This year I'm going to read my Bible three times. Three times? That's too much. Let's try half. I guess, you know. I want to go soul winning this week. Soul winning. We're already going to church. No. Go soul winning with him. Go to church with him. You'll thank me later. Go to Proverbs chapter seven. Talk about the strange woman here. Man, we're almost out of time and I got like 10 more points. Next one is that she is a modest in dress and in speech. Look what it says in verse six of Proverbs chapter seven. For 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. So what is he doing? He's making provision for the flesh because he knows where he's going. And he went the way to her house in the twilight in the evening in the black and dark night night. By the way, that's why you shouldn't be out late at night unless you're with family, you're with church. Don't be out late at night because your willpower is at its lowest at night. That's why, you know, if I'm out late at night, I can kill four by four in and out rather than at lunchtime. Lunchtime I'm like, no, won't do it. Resist that. You guys got no discipline. But at night I'm like four by four in another patty. Let's do it. My willpower is very low. But I plan that sometimes. I know my willpower is not going to be that high tonight, so let's go in and out. What I'm saying is you shouldn't be out late at night because that's where a lot of the bad stuff happens. And those of you who came out of the world, you know that's true. Look at verse 10, and behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot. Now does it say that she's a harlot? Harlot is a prostitute. That's Hebrew for prostitute. Okay? No, it says that she met him with the attire of a harlot. In other words, she's not a prostitute, she's just dressed like one. Think about that. She just looks like one. See, the prostitute dresses like that because that's her job, unfortunately. But a strange woman just dresses like that just because that's how she is. So she's immodest in dress, and obviously she's doing it to capture this man. This young man. Behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. Look what it says in verse 11. She is loud and stubborn. Hey big boy, you're looking like a snack. By the way, the previous point, look what it says. She is loud and stubborn and her feet abide not in her house. Just like the previous point that she's movable, right? But I want you to notice verse 11 says she is loud and stubborn. Today we would say she's a loud mouth. Oh, you shouldn't say that, you know? I mean, that's what the Bible says. Sometimes God is a little rude, you know? And he's rude so it hits ya. Okay, steps on your toes. She is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now she without, now in the streets and light and wait at every corner. So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him, I have people's offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows. What does impudent face mean? Braising. She's bold. Come here, big boy. Give me a kiss. She caught him and kissed him. She's the one making moves. So this is the exact opposite of what a woman should do. Okay? Now let me just explain something real quick before I start ripping into this aspect. When it says loud and stubborn or should I say when it says loud, it's not necessarily referring to like the decibels of your voice, okay? And let me explain what I mean by that. Because you know sometimes you have women who are just more outgoing than other women. You understand what I'm saying? And that's not bad. It's okay for a woman to be outgoing, understand? She's lively is how I like to put it. They're just lively women. In fact, I know ladies in our church who are lively women but they actually have a meek and quiet spirit. Because when it says loud and stubborn, the indication there is that she's not under authority. She's kind of disrespectful. She's not discreet. She just speaks without any filter. She's just kind of rude and just obnoxious and just not great to be around. But there's women in our church who are, you know, they can raise, the decibels can go high. You know what I'm saying? Like you know they're there. You guys know what I mean? We're a family here, amen? And I'm not saying it in a negative way, folks. Some women are just blessed with, you know, bigger vocals or something, you know? But here's the thing, like when you hear them, it's not like, oh man. You don't get that feeling because you obviously, if a person who has that type of volume but they have a meek and quiet spirit, it actually makes for a very lively, you know, pleasant person. You understand what I mean? Because in like manner, you can have someone who is just very shy, very quiet, but they're actually rebellious. They're actually very rude. So just because like the, so what I'm saying is like the decibels of your voice doesn't really matter. Because there's people who are just shy but they're just rude, they're rebellious, they're just kind of got an attitude going on, they give you the eyes or something, you know? Like, I mean, they don't say anything though. It's just like, she's not being loud and stubborn, but I feel like she is being loud and stubborn. How is this? It's the spirit that it's referring to, okay? So those of you ladies who are lively, don't feel bad about being lively. That's okay. Nothing wrong with that. That's how God made you. That's the kind of personality he gave you, okay? And often opposites attract, do they not? So sometimes you'll have a spouse who is louder than the other one. Can you tell which one I am? I mean, once you meet my wife, she's very quiet, she doesn't say a whole lot, you know? I say enough for the both of us. And that's typically how it is, okay? So what I'm saying is, hey, don't be self-conscious about how loud you get or lively you are. The important thing is, is like the spirit that you have. You have a spirit of rebellion, are you stubborn? Are you disrespectful? Are you out from under authority? That's the important part, okay? So she's loud and stubborn. Look at Proverbs, let's see here. Go to 1 Timothy 2. I might have to do a part 2. Not tonight though, tonight we're talking about demons. So she has an impudent face, in other words, she has no shame. The strange woman has no shame whatsoever. And when I think about this, I think of like social media. There's people on social media that just have no shame whatsoever. And they should be ashamed of themselves. For the stupid things that they do. I remember I was in Texas, at the airport in Texas, we were together, I think it's when we went to steadfast, I can't remember, I was with my family. And literally there's these two girls with this soy boy dude. They got the stand with the phone and they're doing the TikTok dance thing going on. And they couldn't get it right the first hundred times, so they just kept doing it over and over. And I'm like, first of all, I'd be embarrassed to be you three, but I'd be even more embarrassed to be the guy in that group. What are you doing, man? Go lift some weights or something, figure it out. Just embarrassing. Impudent face, they're just brazen. Don't confuse this with being bold in the Lord, by the way. Boldness in the Lord is the result of having sometimes fear in your heart, right? You don't have confidence within yourself, but you act upon the commandments of God anyways. That's what boldness is. It's when you might have a little bit of fear in your heart, a little bit of care in your heart, but you obey God's commandments anyways, that's considered boldness. This is just stupidity, okay? So she's a modest and dressed in his speech. Look what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, verse 8, I will therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, not in the attire of a harlot. Let me give you the modern way of saying this, okay? Women look like a hoe. I don't want to explain all the Hebrew on this, so I'll just tell you the modern way of saying it. The women adorn themselves in modest apparel, look what it says here, with shamefacedness and sobriety. Shamefacedness, another word of saying that is just humility. Just be humble, right? And this can apply to men as well, be humble. Not calling attention necessarily, you know, for women, not calling attention to your body but to your face. Shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array. This is insane that you shouldn't wear jewelry because we see in 1 Peter chapter 3 that this is actually appropriate to wear. The emphasis should not be placed, is what it's saying, on the broided hair, gold, pearls or costly array, understand? The emphasis should be placed on what? The inward man, okay? But which becometh women professing godliness with good works, and let's just throw in verse 11 for kicks, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. This is in church, okay? And so, you know, what is the Bible telling us here? It's telling us that women should be modest. Now, this is all across the board for men and women, but there's a reason why God is addressing this particularly to women, you understand? Because the natural propensity for some women is to be immodest. Just as it's the natural propensity for some men to be soft. So why are the Bible talks about effeminate men? You understand? And being effeminate is a sin. It's not right in the eyes of God. God expects men to be manly, to quick like men and be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. And so, you know, these are things that we have to, go to 1 Peter chapter 3, let's read that real quick. So the strange woman is loud, she's immodest in speech and in apparel. And here's a good way to indicate, now obviously, this isn't a sermon on pants, but we obviously understand that the Bible teaches that women shouldn't wear pants. That's what God's word says. And if you have a bone to pick with that, you need to read the, you got to take it up with God because he's the one who said it. The only man, the only people who are designated for pants in the Bible are males. They're the only ones who are wearing breeches. We see Aaron wearing breeches in order to cover his nakedness. You see the men are all the only ones that are instructed to gird up their loins, indicating that they did have pants if they had a coat over it. Women can't do that according to the Bible, you understand? And I know in 2021, this isn't popular or whatever, but who cares what is popular and what is not, preach the word, be instant in season out of season, okay? Look at first Peter chapter three, verse two says, while they behold your chase conversation coupled with fear, who's adorning, let it not be the outward adorning of the plaiting of the hair and of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament, look what it says of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Now think about this, God says when he sees a woman with a meek and quiet spirit, that's valuable in his eyes. It's of great price. Now in the world's eyes, that which is of great price is a woman with barely any clothing on, right? They're the ones who have, you know, the most attention from the world, the most offers from the world, the world loves them. That's of great price to them, but God's price, he says, God's vat places a value on women who are modest, meek, quiet, humble, shame-facedness, sobriety, godly. The hidden man of the heart, that's what the Bible says. Verse five says, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God, adorn themselves being in subjection to their own husbands. Let me read to you from Proverbs, go to Proverbs 11, and we're done there, I'm going to finish this next week, part two. I don't know, pastor, I think you're kind of out to lunch on this, this seems a little extreme. You said a lot of things are pretty offensive, you know. Let me just say this, is that I can be rude sometimes, I get it, but God is way more rude than I am, because I would have never thought to write this verse. Look at verse 22, as a jewel of gold and a swine snout, dang, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. That's out of context, I just read it. I mean, that's pretty self-explanatory right there, you guys know what a swine is? What a swine? Pigs. God said it. Now I agree wholeheartedly with this, because when I read it I'm like, that's so accurate. That just hits differently, you know what I mean, like it just opens your understanding like wow, that's a great comparison actually. Because it says a fair woman, when the Bible talks about fair, you read about she was fair to look upon, it means she's beautiful, she's a comely individual, okay. A fair woman which is without discretion, in other words she's loud and stubborn, she runs her mouth, she's a modest, it says it's comparable to putting a jewel of gold in a pig's snout. Now do you think putting a jewel of gold on a pig's snout will change the appearance at all? Will it make the swine seem more comely? Well that fixes everything. Is that how we think? You put a jewel of gold in a swine's snout and you're like, I thought you were like a puppy now. You look like a different animal. No, it doesn't really do much, does it? So what part of this verse is the jewel of gold? The woman being a fair woman. Because the jewel is something that's beautiful, right? Jewel is something that's beautiful, it's comely, it's attractive, right? And so what it's saying here is like putting a fair woman without discretion is like putting a jewel and it's not gonna do anything. So that's why guys, hey, beauty's important, hey the jewel's important. It's important, but it's not the most important thing. You should love the personality, you should love who she is inwardly. Not saying that the jewel's not important, because it is. So the Bible talks about a woman being fair to look upon. And I believe that when you're looking for a spouse, you should look at her physical features because God gave us eyes and there's a reason why we're attracted to the opposite genders because we think that they're beautiful, right? But that shouldn't be the only thing, you understand? You should seek for discretion, you should seek for godliness, that which is important in the eyes of, that which is of great price in the eyes of God, you understand? All right, we're done with this uncomfortable sermon for today, okay? Look folks, I mean it's in the Bible, you understand? And you say, why are you so harsh? Well, I'm harsh because the world is so behemoth and they're so harsh about their godlessness so why can't I be harsh about the things of God too? They're pushing their nonsense and their filth and they're pushing their agenda how girls should dress like whores and boys should be all faggoty and effeminate. Why can't I wield the sword of God's word and tell you what God really says about it and be human about that as well? So that's what the Bible says and we'll see if this crowd is cut down to size next week. Part two next week, amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and we're thankful for the harshness of the word of God because that way it has power. It sounds severe, it sounds rude, but it cuts to the heart and I pray God that you'd help us to give heed to these things, Lord. Help us as men to avoid the strange woman by any means necessary, Lord. And I pray, Lord, that you'd help the ladies in our church as well to avoid ever adopting the attributes of a strange woman as well. Help us to just be a person who is pleasing unto you to give heed to wisdom, knowledge and discretion. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.