AUG 16 2015 | Proverbs 7:1-8

Sea Change Church · "Proverbs 7:1-8" · Dr. James Smith III · August 16, 2015
Proverbs 7:1-8
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

The scripture reading is Proverbs 7, 1 through 8, 1. My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you. Keep my commandments and live. Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers and write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister and call insight your intimate friend. To keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

For at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice and I have seen among the simple I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense. Passing through the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of the night and darkness. And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

She is loud and wayward. Her feet do not stay home. Now in the street, now in the market. In every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him. And with bold face she says to him, I have authored sacrifices and today I have paid my vows. So now I have come to meet you, to seek you eagerly and I have found you. I have spread my cloth with coverings, colored linens from Egypt and linen.

I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us fill our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He took a bag of money with him. A full moon, he will come home. With much seductive speech she persuades him. In her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her.

As an ox goes to the slaughter. As a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver. As a bird rushes into a snare. He does not know that it will cost him his life. And now sons listen to me and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths. For many a victim has she laid low. And all her slain are mighty throng.

Her house is the way of Sheol. Going down to the chambers of death. Does not wisdom call. Does not understanding raise her voice. Pastor Jim. In the world of technology. In which many of you know I am not an expert. I am going to lay aside this microphone. And go with the one on the lapel. Shall we try that? I always love it. Can we turn and give a hand to the people.

Who are at the controls up there. I am so grateful this morning. We have a wonderful team. And a rotation. Of different people. That are up there. Is this working okay. Or shall I just get louder. What is good. Okay. Now I have got a couple. Descending opinions here. This will just take a moment. Louder. Or is this working. Okay. This is a no funciona. And so what I am going to do.

Is go to the hand held. Alright. This is the hand held. Thanks be to God. Alright. Alright. Good. And again. Thank you. These are experiments. Along the way. Good to be here. Let me mention once again. That Pastor Adam. And is on vacation. With the family. And before. Not just because. Virginia is here. But let's pause. Before we go further. Let's pray them in safely.

They are due in this week. Alright. Let's bow in prayer. Shall we do that. Let's pray. Father. We bow before you this morning. And for many reasons already. You have led us to prayer. The word Jesus from you is. It is said. My house shall be called. A house of prayer. And Lord. This communication. That we offer up to you. When our monologue. Inside our heads.

Turns into a dialogue. With you. When all those thoughts. Are turned upward. When the reflections. The what if. The what now. The what next. All those things. Are turned up to you. Lord. We find. A place of prayer. Oh what a friend. We have in Jesus. And what a privilege. To carry everything. To you. Father. Son. Holy Spirit. In prayer. Included in the heart. Of our prayers.

Is that for Pastor Adam. And Carrie. And those amazing girls. That there would be. A safe. And a fruitful conclusion. To their vacation journey. That you would bring them. Back Lord. Back home. To us. As their church home. And to their new place. Of living. And of life. And you'd bless that. And that Lord. We might sense. In that. Combining that reunion. Once again.

A joy. In you. A joy. That they've been led here. That we've been led here. And we are not just. An assortment of individuals. But we're a family. We are part of the family of God. So guide us Lord. Into your word. And may we find here. A word for us. That we might live well. According to your pleasure. We might be truly alive. And you might be. Given the glory.

Thank you. In Christ's name today. Amen. Now that passage. That's just being read. By Kai. Is a difficult passage. It is the commitment. Here at La Jolla Fellowship. That we do. A healthy diet. Of different. Topics. In scripture. Sometimes it's chapters. Sometimes. It's old testament. And new. We've just finished a series. As many of you know. In the gospel of John.

And had a wonderful time there. In the last two weeks. We've been blessed. As Ryan Pfeiffer. Has shared with us. Now Ryan chooses. Not to use notes. And that's fair enough. I like notes. And you'll find mine today. In your worship folder. For today's worship study. But I want to honor. What the Lord's done. Through his word. The past two weeks here. By doing a very simple.

Summary. In case you missed it. Or you were so caught up. That you didn't take notes. The last two weeks. Or you're just here. For the first time. And welcome. Let me go back. With our dear brother. Ryan Pfeiffer. From InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Two weeks ago. Ryan shared with us. A word. From Luke chapter 5. Verses 1 through 11. Luke chapter 5. 1 through 11.

Is a marvelous account. Of how Jesus. Went down. To the shores. The lake of Gennesaret. Also called the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus. Called Peter. Busy fishing. Along with his colleagues. To come and follow him. He called him to come. And follow him. And what Ryan communicated. Was that invitation. To draw closer. To Jesus. To draw closer. Not only physically.

In following Jesus. But closer. In his understanding. Of what our Lord's about. Every day. That invitation. To follow close by. That is a profound. Spiritual lesson for us. And Ryan shared. Very simply. This phrase. And you may agree. With the wording. You may not. But it's thought provoking. And it's been part of my prayers. You are as close to God. As you want to be.

God's never pushing you away. God's never saying. You're old news. God's never saying. You're on the margin. I could offer you an embrace. But here's an exclusion. God doesn't do that. There is a ready. Ongoing invitation. To draw close. Passage in James. Says draw near to God. And he'll draw near. To you. We have the choice. The opportunity. By grace. To invite him.

And Ryan said. So. How about this week. And we'll reaffirm it today. How about this week. Saying Lord. I want to be closer to you. I want to listen better. I want to walk more nearly. If I'm following. In your footsteps. I want to follow. With a clearer perception. Of what your steps would be. In this situation. What would Jesus do? And so. Out of Luke chapter 5.

And I see some of you. Catching up. And taking notes. Bless you. But in that. The statement is. You are as close to God. As you really desire. As you want to be. As I've taught at USD. For 17 years. Right. And one of the passages. We begin with. In a class called. Christianity. And its practice. Is the parable of the sower. And the sower. Sows the seed. And that seed.

Falls on different kinds of ground. And I'll say to the students. As a way to begin. A whole semester. Of study. Of what being. A Christian is about. What kind of soil. Do you want to be. What kind of soil. Do you want to offer to God. As God is sowing. Good seed. Into your life. Day by day. So. What Ryan suggested. Out of Luke chapter 5. Two weeks ago. Is. That we have the opportunity.

To draw near. To God. And to offer him. The soils. Of our lives. And by some combination. Of. Our energies. And God's grace. That soil is prepared. More fully. For us to walk. With him. And be fruitful. And joyful. Become what we are called. To be. So in that passage. Very simply. As we summarize. That two weeks ago. In that passage. The points were. That we then.

Come as close. As we want. But also. As Jesus. Becomes bigger. In our lives. Then our ego trip. Becomes smaller. Our self-centeredness. Becomes smaller. We become less. Preocupado. With our own image. Our own. How's it going today. How do I feel about this. And become more. Occupied. With what it is. That God places before us. As his vision. For this day. As the possibilities.

Any of you. Believe this morning. That you are a promise. You are a possibility. Or is that only for kids. Right. Okay. Yeah. A promise. A possibility. And so the Lord. Reveals to us. More. Of the potential. In that day. And with us. In that day. We become. People. Of a bigger vision. Of Christ. As we draw closer. And we become. People. Who find. Yes. Self-esteem. But not.

Self-centeredness. In our own. Lives. Luke 5. Last week. Ryan was back. And the first passage. I ever preached on. As a pastor. A pastor. In training. If you will. Back when the world was young. Mark chapter 2. Verses 1 through 12. It is the story. Of these friends. Who dug a hole. In the roof. Of a house. Where Jesus. Was ministering. There was no way. To get in the door.

They dug a hole. In the roof. They let him down. Through the roof. This person. Who had. Severe. Physical issues. And as an act. Of faith. They were a strength. A blessing. They prepared a way. For this person. Dear to them. And Jesus. Followed through. On that. In ways. That healed. Both spiritually. And physically. And as Ryan. Then ministered. Last week. As some of you.

Recall. Out of Mark. Chapter 2. There was that sense. In which. Yes. What I said last week. Was true. We are as close. As we really want to be. God's grace guarantees. The invitation. But also. We can't. Do it. Alone. We are meant for. Community. We are meant for. Family. We are meant. To do these things. Together. And last week. As Ryan. Talked about it. He mentioned.

That friends. In need. Opportunities. Provide. Great moments. For us. To see. What the combination. Of our love. And friendship. And God's grace. Can do. Friends. In need. Or crisis. Situations. Or troubling. Situations. Is what he called them. That those. Open a door. Where we get to see. What God. Wants to do. And he. Utilized that moment. Ryan did. To talk about.

A couple of examples. Some of you. Will remember. This tendon. That was giving him. Trouble. And it was. This seven year old. Little one. Who came. And she prayed. For him. And God. Used that prayer. In a way. That he could not. Anticipate. Another example. They were looking. For a house. And he was sick of it. Just sick of it. And a friend of his. Said. Well I think.

You're sick of it. How about. Just relaxing. Resting. And turning it over. Ultimately. To God. Became aware. Of the gap. Between who he. Himself was. As a. Minister. Ryan. I tell everybody else. To kind of live. You know. Resting in. In God's provision. But I kind of. You know. I'm not resting. I'm just. Ticked. Right. And how God. Used the word. Of this faithful friend.

Who just spoke. The truth. In love. Right. Ephesians 4. 15. Speaking the truth. In love. We grow up. To be like him. Who is the head of the body. Jesus Christ. So we can't. Do it alone. As an issue. Of community. And as we came up. And numbers came. Came forward. To engage. In prayer. The matters. That God had put in their hearts. That say. I want to grow. And with the help of God's people.

I want to. Find. Increased strength. Or healing. Or better. Sense. Of this moment. Better attitude. There were numbers of us. And it's my privilege to pray. With some. And there's opportunity for prayer. This morning. At the end of the service too. Of course. But as that happened. I thought. This is. This is. A lot of love in this room. And we're not going for religious Oscars.

You know what I'm saying? Anybody know what I'm talking about? When I say a religious Oscar. Or religious air freshener. Right? Here. Let me spray some religious air freshener. Into this. And it'll sound Christian-y. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the real thing. And in that. There was just. Just beautiful sense. And I thought.

There's tremendous love here. And it brought me back. To Jesus' commandment. What is the greatest commandment? It's there in front of us. And in the notes. Mark chapter 12. Love the Lord your God. With all your hearts. And soul. And mind. And strength. And love your neighbor. As you love yourself. Three great loves. Right? Three great loves. Now with all due respect.

To Whitney Houston. Our daughter was in town last week. With the three-year-old. So our house is decorated. In early three-year-old. Right? Very attractive. Subtle. But it makes a statement. You know. Our granddaughter's been around. So in any case. You know. There's footprints on the ceiling. For crying. But anyway. I digress. You know. Here we are. And with all due respect.

To Whitney Houston. Whom our daughter Becca and I heard. Back when she still had that amazing voice. Back in the 90s. Visiting San Diego. The greatest love of all. With all due respect. To Whitney. Who has graduated. There is the greatest love of all. To love the Lord our God. With all our heart. Soul, mind and strength. And then to love our neighbor. As ourselves.

And that comes back to loving. Ourselves. And the way God has created us. Three great loves. So as I came. May I say. Just telling a story. If you will. We've caught up a bit on Ryan. For the last two weeks. And the attitude. The activity. The fellowship. Of love. That I think. Was created then. As he visited. And carries through to this day. As we share together.

As we look at that. And then we look at. Proverbs chapter 7. Because I'm part of a continuing series. From the book of Proverbs. Every once in a while. It's about wisdom. Wisdom is knowing. How best to. What best to do. With what you have. Good morning. Joanna. Nice to see you this morning. So. With that. Let me say very simply. As we have an additional. Person up front.

That you're welcome to enjoy. And to celebrate. The beauty and uniqueness. Of Johanna. As she is on the move. Or we are welcome to pray for her. Or pray for me. That I'll be a good steward. Of the moment. Or go back to your sermon notes. Because we have freedom in the Lord. Don't we? Amen. Nobody shot a cue ball. Into this service. This is all part of the Lord's goodness.

And the Lord's gift. Can I get an amen? That's right. That's right. Let's just admit it. Right? This is a paradigm of life. Life. So. Glory to God. Glory to God. In the highest. Christ. So as we come. To this. This passage. In Proverbs 7. Our continuing now and then study. In Proverbs. As Pastor Adam and I agreed. In this account. There is an account. Of a profound.

Testing. In the life. Of a young person. It happens to be a man. And the temptation. In this case. Happens to be. An adulteress. Who comes. And who seeks to woo him. Seduce him. Lure him. Down this path. Into ruin. And the exhortation. That word. Exhortation. Old Latin word. Exhortare. To call forth the very best. From the person. Right? That's an exhortation. The exhortation is.

Remember the words of the Lord. That happens here. In Proverbs chapter 7. And so. The bottom line. If you doze off. Or pray off. For any other reason. Here this morning. The bottom line is. May you find. That there is. The exhortation. To each one of us. In our moment. Of testing. And trials. As in. Have you trials. And temptations. What a friend. We have in Jesus.

To take that back. To the Lord. And don't go down. And don't fall apart. And don't cave in. Or as I put here. In terms of the heart. Of our love. In life. Don't cheat on the one you love. When we fall to temptation. We cheat on the one we love. That's the way it's framed here. Now in this situation. We have an adulteress. Who comes to tempt this young man.

But this is not an anti-woman. Passage. Have I ever experienced this? Yes. One of the churches. That I went to. Very frankly. I came in. And among those people. That came. And sat in my office. And said. Let me tell you about the church. Here's how it works. Welcome. To this particular church. Was a young lady. Who came. She's a mother of two children. She came.

Sat down in front of me. Ten minutes into the conversation. She said. I'll bet I could seduce you. If I wanted to. And my response. This was not on tape. So I can't give you the exact words folks. But my response was. I'm in love with my wife. I'm hearing what you say. And what kind of issues are there. Behind a statement like that. So that's not going to happen.

But what kind of issues. Have you been facing? Well that opened up a door. To ministry in the church. It also opened up a window. Into some of the things. That had been going on. In her life. And in the lives of some others. In the church. So just say no. Is a good idea. In moments like that. Right. Is it not? But this isn't just about. Proverbs chapter 7.

In the woman. This is about guys. Who hit on women. I saw it down at the beach. The other day. It was. It was almost fit for a YouTube. You know. Where this guy goes. Hey baby. You know. That kind of thing. The kind of guy that can strut. Standing still. You ever seen those guys. Right. Hey baby. You know. That kind of thing. He's doing everything. But wearing a.

Hey baby. T-shirt. Right. But he dresses like a. Hey baby. Kind of guy. You get the idea. Right. This is not gender exclusive. The point of the matter is. As we bring it into the notes this morning. And then we're going to abbreviate. Because I think this ramp up. With Pastor Ryan. What he's been preaching. Our dear brother. I think that's worth reviewing.

I think it's important. To tell. Kind of the back story here. Of what's going on. Foundationally. In the notes. It's this. Since. Jesus told us. Mark chapter 12. The great commandment is to love the Lord our God. With all our what. Heart. And soul. And mind. And strength. Our hearts. Affections. Our souls. Exertions. Our minds. Our minds. Reflections. And all of the strength.

That we have. That when temptation hits us. When those moments. That have a clear. Moral choice. Come in front of us. Then is it about rules? Yeah. Ten commandments are still on the books. Thanks be to God. Gracious boundaries. As one of my friends. Who's a missionary in Mexico. Called them. Gracious boundaries. Full of grace. But full of boundaries. Are the rules still in place?

Yes. But deeper than the rule. Is the relationship. It is a relationship of love. And when. Let me personalize it. When I sin. When I mess up. Call it hamartia. Which in the Greek means to miss the mark. It's an archery term. Or call it paraptoma. We've been talking about this on midweek studies. Paraptoma. Which means I slip and fall. Or I get caught by a crosswind.

Or I fall over my own feet. Or shoot myself in the foot. Hamartia. Paraptoma. Two different meanings. But when I sin. Then I'm cheating. On the one that I love. I'm cheating on God. Because I'm saying. Can I make you the God of a shortcut. Or the God of a half truth. Or the God of the play head games for a while. Isn't that right? I'm cheating on God. I'm going to bust on this relationship.

But thanks so much for applying. For being the center of my life. But you know what? I'm going to do a little end run right here. I'm the exception. One of my dear pastor friends up in Washington State. Says the besetting challenge of his congregation is exceptionalism. Which says. I know that God's word says this. But I'm the exception. I know this is what I'm supposed to be about.

But I'm the exception. I know it says that what you sow you'll reap. But I'm the exception. When we sin. We're cheating on the one we love. On God. We are also cheating our neighbor. Now there's no record in Proverbs 7. Whether or not this young clueless guy was married or not. Or in any significant relationship. We don't know. But when we say. Alright.

I'm going to see what I can get by with. I'm going to cut a deal with the almighty. This attitude is okay for me. I don't like it in you. But it's okay for me. When we do that hypocrisy move. We're cheating our neighbor. Why? Because as Pastor Adam has echoed. Nothing that we do in that area. Affects only ourselves. Ultimately. Whether by what we give out.

Or what we give off. It's going to affect our neighbor. Isn't that right? Yeah that's right. Because we live in a network. Intertwining of relationships. So when we sin. Then we sin against our neighbor. And we cheat on the one that we love. I cheat my kids. And my grandkids. All six of them. If I sell short of what grandpa is supposed to be. And then I sell out myself.

I cheat on myself. St. Augustine. Not just a high school. Right? St. Augustine was a person. St. Augustine. When he came to Christ in his 30s. In the year 386. Augustine said. Among other things. I have been saved from acting behind my own back. Isn't that powerful? I've been saved from acting behind my own back. From tricking myself. From gaming myself.

From working myself. God saved me from that. By his grace. And I want to live that way. I want to live that way. So the proposition out of Proverbs chapter 7 is. That when we are mess ups. When we sin. Paraptoma. Hamartia. We can do the Greek out in the lobby afterward if you want. Then we are cheating on the one that we love. Whether it's our love of God.

Our love of neighbor. Or our God ordained love of ourselves. As people made in his image. And daughters and sons of his. Through faith in Christ. Let's not cheat. Proverbs 7 says. That's wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what best to do with what you got. Or I hear my third grade English teacher again. What best to do with what you have. Alright. I understand.

That's wisdom. Given this situation. Given this cast of characters. Given these options. What does it mean Lord. For me to discover in you. By your wisdom. What best to do with what I have. I want that wisdom. Now. With that in mind. The suggestion in our notes. And take them home. And I hope that. Pastor Adam and I will agree. And Ryan would too. No message dies on Sunday.

The Lord's word still open throughout the week. Alright. So with that in mind. As the scripture cautions against cheating on the one that we love. What are some practical counsel. That God's word gives. It's in your notes. Number one. Number one. Preparation. To store up a knowledge of God's word. As a resource for best practices in your life. To position and observe these precepts.

As a holy and life-giving center. Not just the religion department. But the center of one's life. To prize and defend these convictions. From competing schemes. With our hearts. And our hands. This is all in the opening verses of Proverbs. To put this at the center of our lives. Finally. Let wisdom's companionship bless us. And bless the circle of family and friends.

When it says in the text. That let wisdom be my sister. That means in a sense. There is this warm relationship. That's developed between me. And this counsel. It's as if. Though it comes off a page. It's as if a very living voice. It is a living voice. It's God's voice. Comes to me. And says. Hearken to me. Listen to me. Among all the advice that I get. I want the advice from God.

And God's word. And God's spirit. To be at the very center. It is preparation for us. And in that preparation. Then we find what Ephesians 6. Calls. The whole armor of God. We are strengthened by this armor of God. We get in shape. In condition. Our head is in the right place. Preparation. You have chosen wisely. And if I could summarize this first point.

It would be this. I would wish. And before this morning is over. I'm going to pray. That over the decisions that we make in our lives. God will be able to say to us. You have chosen wisely. Any of you see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That movie. Harrison Ford. Where there is this moment at the end. Toward the end of the movie. Where there are choices to be made.

I'll summarize. And there is someone dressed as a knight. K-N-I-G-H-T. Who is guarding the Holy Grail. In a particular situation. He has to say to someone. You have chosen poorly. And that's it. For them. But to another. He can say. You have chosen wisely. Isn't it wonderful. When the Lord our God. Is able to say to us. You have chosen wisely. Or to put it.

In Matthew 25 language. Well done. Good and faithful servant. Well done. Nice job. Because God speaks Spanish. Buen hecho. Right? You know. This is good. We have this privilege. Of hearing God's affirmation. God's word. I long for that in my life. And may we all have that longing. That in times of decision. Of moral choice. That we can. Because we have been prepared.

By God's word. And wisdom. And placing that at the center. Of our lives. And defending against the schemes. That come in our direction. Because the Lord knows. That in our popular culture. There are schemes and scams. That are coming our way. All the time. Isn't that right? Anybody notice that? I mean. It's out there. They're out there. So God's word. God's truth.

The real thing. Be prepared. Number one. One doesn't have to be a scout. To believe that. It's just simply the case. We are called. To be prepared. The second thing. If I may. It's in your notes. The major portion. Of Proverbs chapter 7. Essentially says. Prevention. This is on not setting yourself up. For example. Randomly wandering. In the direction. Of your weaknesses.

At dusk. Is a bad idea. Can I read that again? I had so much fun. With this sentence. I'm saying. I got one line. To do this in. And I. Let me. Let me tuck this in. It's right out of the text. Folks. This poor schmuck. Who's wandering around. You know. Like living bait. You know. In a situation. Randomly wandering. In the direction. Of your weaknesses. At dusk.

Is a bad idea. One more time. What do you think? Okay. Dear friends. Neighbors. Pilgrims. Wandering. Randomly. In the direction. Of your weaknesses. At dusk. Is a bad idea. If you have a drinking problem. Don't hang out. At bars. Right. There's lots of other things to do. Right. If you got a problem. With materialism. And you do shopping. As therapy. Maybe you don't want to bring.

All 19 credit cards. With you. Maybe you want to bring. 1776. In cash. It'll bring a smile. Because it's a patriotic number. But also. It'll limit your expenditures. Right. So. That's number one. It's out of the text. Number two. Listening to the banter. And rationalization. For malpractice. Threatens one health. How can I do malpractice. In life. How can I be a better mess up.

Where's Dr. David. David. You're here somewhere. Dr. David. Can I get an amen. From that. Thank you. There's a nod. Back there. We have got our MD. Where's Dr. Clem. There's MD. Rowe back there. Goodness. This is awesome. Makes me want to get sick. Not really. But anyway. Dr. Dave. Dr. Clem. You're back there. MDs. And we got an amen. Out of the fact. That listening to banter.

And rationalization. Our own little self talk. Or somebody else's garbage. That. Argues for malpractice. In our lives. It's called sin. That threatens one's health. Duh. Number three. Avoid selfies. Now some of us should do that anyway. But here's the selfies. That the young man in Proverbs 7. Would take. Right. You ready. Avoid selfies. Oh. I look like a slaughtered ox.

Right. Oh. I look like a shackled creature. Oh. Look. I'm a snared bird. Here's me messing up. This is the outcome. We're trapped. We're maimed by the experience. Stay away. Listen. No cheating hearts. As we stumble toward Sheol. The text says. Now what's Sheol? It's a Hebrew word. It basically has a word both in life and in eternity. Sheol was that place in which people who had fallen away from God went in the afterlife.

And it was a place of debilitation. Place of weakness. Sheol literally means shades. No wonder. No wonder. Some of these things when indulged tap us. They drain our energy. They drain our sense of well-being. This passage. No cheating heart. Now I don't know if anybody here is a fan of country music. Anybody know who Hank Williams is? Your cheating heart will tell on you.

Right. That's Hank Williams. That became a classic. That's a country classic. Hank Williams died in 1953. When Hank Williams died, he had written that song, Your Cheating Heart, about his ex-wife who evidently was cheating on him. And he felt that deeply. What he couldn't see is that he was cheating himself out of his own life. What he didn't see and didn't admit and didn't deal with was the fact that a combination of alcohol and substance abuse would take his life so he was gone at the age of 30.

So he had great eyes to pick out the problems with his ex and to see where she'd messed up in her life. But eyes to look into his own life and be honest and candid with the fact that this combination of chemical abuse was killing him. And he died of a heart attack in the backseat of a car on the road by 30. God, give us the grace. God, give us the grace.

Whether in the mirror of his word, whether in the counsel of the spirit in our hearts, or whether through the assessment, the good word of a good friend who is neither ashamed of our weaknesses or jealous of our strengths, they just love us. May all of us have good friends in those areas. Soul friends who will speak the truth in love into our lives.

No cheating hearts. Preparation, prevention. And if we then in the third place abide in our Lord, we find a protection. Read with me if you will. If you haven't yet looked at the sheet or if you've already written over this, taking notes. This third piece, protection. Our identity in Jesus. His priesthood. And his grace. Let me know. A little Greek here.

We had Sheol Hebrew a moment ago. A couple of others. In the New Testament Greek, the term pyrosmos can have several shades of meaning. When one is propositioned by evil, as Jesus was by Satan in Matthew chapter 4, 1 through 11. Jesus was tempted. When one's propositioned by evil, it signifies a temptation. God never intends this. But when we're facing hard choices, God offers us grace that we may endure a trial and a testing and come up the other side as our Savior did.

That pyrosmos, call it hard times, call it tough moral choices. When we face, in Greek, that pyrosmos, Satan regularly, the evil one, strange spirits, old stuff, mean it as a temptation. Let's see how far this guy can fall. Let's see how far this gal can tumble. Let's see how this can work. Let me mess him over real good. Let me take a good thing bad and a bad thing worse.

Let me see how we can do that. Temptation from the evil side. Because we're in a spiritual battle. But God never intends temptation. James tells us that. Those tough times are intended when God is at the center of it. Maybe as a trial. Maybe as a testing. But the end result of a trial and testing is we come out the other side by God's grace. Stronger.

In better shape. Refined. We come up as an inspiration to those around us. I'm walking with a woman right now. Whom I've known for years. I did her daughter's wedding some years ago. And she's got Lou Gehrig's disease. And she can't move. She writes her blog by guiding her eyes into a unit that types letters and sends messages of hope. She is amazing person.

And her facing the temptation toward bitterness or how come this or how come so soon. Her triumph in that inspires my heart. So it happens. Through her trial. Through her testing. There is this opportunity. To come through as Jesus did. Not to fall to temptation. But to find in Christ all that she needs. Preparation. Prevention. Protection. They are ours.

They are ours. When we say yes. By grace. Through faith. To what God would do in our lives. Day by day. By day. Until we meet him face to face. And then all three loves draw together. The love of the Lord our God with heart, soul, mind and strength. The love of neighbors around us. The deepest act of authentic self-love we can do is to choose life. Is to choose life in him.

There are several of you in this church family who are an absolute fallen down inspiration to me. I'm not going to name you or else you'd change colors and strange things that happen. But I've got to tell you there are several of you in this congregation who are an absolute inspiration to me. Because you face a temptation to one thing or another or another.

And by some combination of your spunk and your choice and God's grace you've come up the other side. And day by day you live and are truly alive. I thank God for all of us as we gather. And certainly for particular ones who are especially prophetic to me. So as I close. We're coming up on half past the hour. Let me do what Pastor Adam does. The bottom of his sermon notes.

This is anticipating he's back next week. Bottom of his notes says taking it to the street. Right? Well I'm a historian. So let me say this. In history we find some great examples. Augustine took it to the Roman roads. He turned from sexual chaos to repentance and grace. St. Francis took it to the medieval ruts. He rejected materialism and lived a simple life.

Bartolomeo de las Casas rejected the predatory impulses. In Spanish colonialization it defended the native peoples. In India Pandita Ramabai was ostracized. But she set women and children free. Corrie ten Boom who was in a Nazi prison camp triumphed in the face of a temptation to be bitter. And became one who was prophetic in her forgiveness. Chuck Colson left the power games of life.

And began to bless prisoners. I skipped one. Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday. Rejected in his life. The temptations to drinking and to depression because he never knew his father. His father died in the Civil War when he was weeks old. And came, took an 80% pay cut to quit baseball and go into preaching. This morning I've got a stack of magazines in the back if you're interested as a follow-up.

It's called Refreshed Magazine. It's a devotional published locally. And the center spread as a piece that I did because a hundred years ago last week Billy Sunday preached at the Oregon Pavilion. And brought the gospel to San Diego. And if you're interested in that article, if your family's interested, grab a copy of Refreshed. I brought about 50 of them out there if you're interested.

That's an illustration of someone who said no to a very inviting other way and yes to God's way. These moral choices, what a privilege that we have. And with that in mind, let's offer prayer together, shall we? Lord, we hear your word. Greater is the one that is in us. You are, Lord, than any strange spirit in the world. You're greater. So we declare your power.

We embrace your victory. We want to say we love you today and we want to love you more. We love our neighbors today and we want to love our neighbors more. We love ourselves, not always in the healthiest ways, but we want to, in the healthiest ways, love ourselves more. Our true selves. Your creation. So God help us in this, we pray. And as we sing this song back to you, may you hear the sweetness of our heart's desire and show us best next steps.

We pray it in Christ's holy name. Amen. Shall we sing together in response? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.