|
Unfaithfulness |
Dear Brethren,
When Solomon was teaching his children to be
future princes and princesses, he was careful to warn them about the
dangers of wrong relationships. He admonished them to remember his
instructions which would keep them safe. "My children, keep my words,
and lay up 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." (Proverbs 7:1-3)
If we make Godly wisdom our guide and rule
for living, we, too, will be kept safe. In the same way that Solomon
warned his sons about immoral women, God warns us not to be enticed by
false religion and the ways of this world. "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." (Proverbs 7:4-5)
Solomon told his children the story
of how unfaithfulness takes place. Those who have
the spiritual wisdom to see the trouble coming are able to deliver their
lives. "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; 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 an harlot, and
subtil of heart. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her
house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in 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." (Proverbs 7:6-14) Don't be fooled by those who feign religion when, in
fact, they have an ulterior motive.
Look at the many inducements that false
religion uses to allure its victims. "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 is 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 goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the
stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the
snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now
therefore, O 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." (Proverbs 7:15-27)
False religion and religious substitutes
entice those who lack Godly wisdom away from the true way of life that
Jesus taught. God has purposed to develop us spiritually as we go
through this life so that we will become more like Him. Our trials help to
accomplish that purpose by overcoming and building Godly character.
Trials do not have the power to take us out of the Family of God, nor do
false ministers, Satan or anything else.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As
it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)
Are we able to discern Godly characteristics from the precepts and
practices of false religions? False religion, deceitful doctrines, and false ministers transform
themselves into many appealing disguises - they even appear as the
apostles of Christ (2Corinthians 11:13). Seductresses may be within or outside of the
Church. They may be in the ministry or among the laymen. Some have positions of
church leadership - like "Diotrephes, who loved to have the
preeminence among them." (3John 1:9)
Why are some brethren prone to an ungodly seduction? Why are
they enticed to go the wrong way? John tells us why some choose
wrong instead of right - why they are no longer a part of God's true
fellowship. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they
went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of
us." (1John 2:19)
It is God who tells us to make a distinction between the Godly and the
ungodly. If someone or something becomes ungodly, we must separate
ourselves from it or them. "Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing."
(2Corinthians 6:17) This is not a new phenomenon in the Church of
God. God's people have always had to choose.
The apostle Paul was plagued by false brethren and false teachers
with lying accusations. "Because of false brethren unawares
brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ
Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." (Galatians 2:4)
"...in perils among false brethren." (2Corinthians 11:26)
The fascination and appeal to be unfaithful to true
Christianity can be very strong and deceitful. King Solomon's words to his
children were profitable - in the same way that God's instructions to us
are life-saving.
***
Sermon: |
"Unfaithfulness"
|
|
|
|