TEXT: Proverbs 6:20-35

SUBJECT: Exposition of Proverbs #13: Adultery

The subject of this paragraph is adultery. In its structure and content, it is similar to the teaching of Chapters Five and Seven. This does not mean, however, we can safely overlook it. The prophets repeat themselves--not because they've run out of things to say--but to emphasize what they are saying. Sexual misconduct was a grave problem in Solomon's day. It is no less serious today. But God has provided an answer. In His Word, He has told us how to avoid "the pollutions of the world". Are we willing to listen to Him? May the Lord open our ears. Amen.

Solomon begins with an earnest appeal, vv.20-23.

"My Son" is a term of affection. The father is personally concerned for the welfare of his son. He's not embarrassed to say so. Many fathers are emotionally withdrawn from their children; some rarely speak to them at all. Believing fathers, however, must be "in touch" with their children. We must speak to them--not as a sergeant to his platoon or as a warden to his prisoner--but as a father to his son. Our children must have no doubt of our interest in them. Or our deep love for them. Not all fathers are equally articulate, but every father is to find some way to communicate love to his children. It should begin in the nursery and never stop. "My Son". What tenderness in these words!

"My Son, keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your mother". These words imply fathers and mothers must work together in rearing their children. The father has the leadership in the family; the mother is to respect it, support it--and never undermine it to her children. Parents who work at cross-purposes hurt their children. Disagreements are to be resolved behind closed doors. When agreement can't be reached, the wife is to submit to the will of her husband unless it plainly contradicts the will of Christ.

Parents are responsible to teach their children God's ways' children are obliged to recall and submit to the teaching of their parents. "My son...Do keep your father's command, and do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart; tie them around your neck..."

Blessings will come as a result: the Word of God will "lead you..."keep you..."enlighten you..."reprove you...and "instruct you". We need all of the above. Crucial decisions must be made; our lives will largely turn on them. The Word of God must inform our decisions. If it does not, we'll be badly misled. Perhaps fatally.

This is the challenge: Heed God's Word or suffer the consequences.

Having promised "protection" to everyone who listens to the Word, Solomon goes on to give an example. God's Word will "keep" us from temptations, one of which is adultery, vv.24-35.

The King's son had better watch out for "the evil woman". She's not hard to recognize: She "flatters", "seduces", and "allures". She uses her beauty and charm to draw men into sexual uncleanness. By flattering men, she makes them feel desirable. By alluring them, she lets them know, perhaps quite subtly, that she is open to their advances. By combining the two, she "seduces" the man who's too naive to resist her.

The result of taking her offer is not happiness, but misery. The foolish man is "reduced to a crust of bread". In other words, he is drained of his value; he's worth less than a loaf of bread. You see, adultery does not enrich a man, but impoverishes him. Often physically; always morally and spiritually. The immoral woman is like a wild animal that feasts on its prey. And Solomon begs his son: "Don't be her next victim". God implores us with even more passion. He wants us to avoid adultery--not because He's a Cosmic Meanie (as some people think)--but because He wants the best for us. The consequences of adultery are fearful.

But not only fearful, they are inevitable. A man can no more "get away with" adultery than he can put a torch in his shirt pocket without burning his chest or walk on hot coals without scorching his feet. No one gets away with it. No one at all. Adulterers are usually caught by their wives. But when they're too clever for that, they're still caught: by themselves and by God.

The social consequences of adultery are disdain and jealousy. No one despises a thief when he steals food to eat, but everyone (at least every good person) feels contempt for the man who steals the wife of another man. How could they not feel that way? He has not only acted shamefully with a woman, he has also betrayed a man and taken from him what means more to him than all the world besides.

Therefore, he has earned the husband's undying resentment. Nothing the adulterer can say or do can ever make up for his infidelity. If the husband is a saint, he will never trust the adulterer again. If he's a sinner, he may well take vengeance into his own hands.

The repercussions of adultery go beyond the aggrieved husband. Someone else is involved--the LORD. The adulterer, therefore, not only gets himself in a jam with other people, he "destroys his own soul". And stands in the judgment with an enormous crime on his record.

Adultery is forgivable. But never on easy terms. It must be confessed to God and to those who are involved in it. It must be abhorred with the whole heart. It must be given up. Permanently. And even when it is repented of--truly repented of--much pain and many troubles must follow this act of supreme wickedness. "His reproach will not be wiped away". The adulterer will never be fully trusted again; he will be excluded from leadership positions in the church, positions in which he might have been greatly used; he will carry it on his conscience till the Day when God "wipes away every tear".

The only way to escape adultery (of body or heart) is to saturate yourself with the Word of God. And to follow its teaching in the minutest detail. What's true of young people is no less true of the older: "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto, according to [God's] Word".

If therefore, you are guilty of this sin, I urge you to repent of it now--while there is still hope. Don't be so naive as to think "church people" are exempt: the first pastor of this church ruined himself with adultery. A deacon I know--a member of his church for more than 30 years--did the same. Dear one: If you're guilty of adultery, repent of it quickly. Lest you, like the man in our text, "destroy your soul".

If you are not guilty of adultery, but feel drawn to it, it is time you quit those things which stir your lust. If this means breaking up a friendship, do it. If it means quitting your job, do it. If it means moving to avoid a provocative neighbor, do it. It is better to go through life without friends, without a job, without a home, than, having these things, be cast into hellfire. In short: "Flee fornication".

If you're about to move away from your parents and begin making decisions without their supervision, I can only plead with you to believe what I have said, to take the risk seriously, and to plead with God for grace to overcome the temptations that await you.

Let us all pray for each other that we might remain pure. Let us keep an eye on each other and be sensitive to "tip-offs". If a brother is beginning to joke in an unwholesome way, for example, let's talk to him about it. If he begins to talk about a woman a little too much, speak to him. If he watches movies or television programs that excite lust, speak a gentle word of reproof. Eternal destinies are at stake! Let us not be Sleeping Watchmen on the Wall of Israel.

Finally, let us make the Word of God our chief subject of meditation and conversation. Only it--with the blessing of heaven--can keep us from temptation's power. May the Lord so bless it, for Christ's sake. Amen.