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Living Wise 4: The Appeal of Folly

Proverbs 5-7
April 21, 2002
Cascades Fellowship CRC

Introduction: Frodo’s comment about Strider at the Prancing Pony.

I bring this up because the statement sort of captures the spirit of our text this

morning. Last week we talked a little bit about what it means to guard your heart. The

father tells the son, “Above everything else that you guard, guard with vigilance your

heart for it is the thunderous well-spring of life.” And then he proceeds to advise the son

on how he should go about guarding his heart. Watch your tongue, keep your eyes from

wandering – oh be careful little eyes what you see – and prepare yourself beforehand for

the temptations to come.

This week, we talk a little bit about what we guard our hearts against. This week

we are going to take a closer look at chapters 5-7 of Proverbs and there discover what it is

we have to contend with. Although we only read chapter five, we will actually take a

look at chapters 5-7. The PowerPoint slide behind me gives a survey of these three

chapters. But we will also take some time to talk a little about the structure of these

chapters. Then, we are going to talk about the appeal of folly or wickedness. We are

going to see how the father describes the way we can be lured into folly. Finally, we will

talk about what the message is for us today. How do we understand this passage for

everyday life? Let me warn you ahead of time. What you will hear today will sound

very familiar, but with good reason. Guarding your heart, avoiding sin and folly,
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pursuing a life of holiness – these are all themes the Scriptures take up repeatedly. These

are not trivial matters; they are the ways essential in demonstrating our love for God.

Now, let’s begin by looking our passage this morning. You will note from the

overhead the shape of chapters 5-7. The father has just told his son to guard his heart –

now he tells him from what. The first thing that I want us to notice is that the father

spends a great deal of time in this passage talking about the adulteress – the woman

whose own appetite for other men is insatiable. This isn’t a prostitute we are talking

about – there is no profit motive involved – at least not directly. This woman simply

recognizes the power of her sexuality and she uses it to achieve her own ends.

Let me note here – this proverb is not a commentary on women – remember, the

father is talking to his son. If he were instructing a daughter, I am sure he would warn

her against the sort of man who trades on his charms and good looks. The man who

worms his way into the life of the vulnerable with a smile and leaves having robbed the

woman of her virtue, her relationships, and her possessions. What is important to note

here is not so much the gender of the adulterer as it is to pay attention to the ways of the

adulterer. But we will get to that in a moment.

The father begins his discussion of the adulterous woman in chapter five. Then for

the first nineteen verses of chapter 6, there is this interesting interlude where he talks

about specific paths the son is to avoid. The affect of talking about other paths to avoid

here is that it makes the warning in chapter 5 to beware the adulterous woman about more

than just adultery – it becomes about the way folly appeals to us. How it appears fair, but
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feels foul. The father then sandwiches his wisdom on paths to avoid by ending chapter

six and making all of chapter 7 a warning against the adulterous woman.

Now, let’s take a look at the appeal of folly as portrayed for us as the adulterous

woman. In the introduction, I spoke of how Frodo thought the face of evil would come

calling, how it would appear fair. The father teaches his son that this is indeed true. Let

me read for you three short passages found in chapters 5-7 that describe the adulterous

woman. Beginning is chapter 5:3.

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil.

Then in chapter 6:23-25

For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and the corrections of discipline
are the way to life,
keeping you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.

And finally out of chapter 7:4-5

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call understanding your kinsman;
they will keep you from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words.

I hardly have to preach beyond reading these passages for you. Just from these three

short passages, the father makes it more than clear that folly, that wickedness comes

dressed in a real attractive package. But I will say a few a words here, because it is here

that the battle to guard your heart is won or lost. It is so incredibly easy for us to follow

after the beautiful – and, people of God; sin is rarely outwardly ugly.
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The proof of this is everywhere around us. The questionable deduction on our

taxes. If we read the instruction just right, we can save ourselves another $500.00. Think

of the good we can do for the church with that little windfall. Heck, let’s give $100.00 of

it to the church – that’s 20%, 10% more than what Scripture calls for. Sure, this

magazine has some questionable content, but the political articles and personal health tips

make it worth reading. Oh, but the script and cinematography on that movie make it

worthwhile, despite the filth. That is the voice of seduction talking. Possibly its most

dangerous argument, its most deadly is “Just this once.” Many a life has been put

irrevocably upon the path of ruin on the heels of these words.

What is so interesting about the father’s descriptions of the appeal of folly is that it

always comes with a “but.” Behind the beauty of folly, behind the persuasive words, the

apparent fairness of wickedness danger lurks. Again, let me share a few short Scripture

passages drawn from these chapters that contrast the beautiful appearance of folly with

the ugly reality. Again, beginning in chapter 5:4-6

but in the end she is bitter as gall,

sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

Then in chapter 6:26-28

for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
but the adulteress preys upon your very life.
Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
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And finally in chapter 7:25-27

Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.

Once again, I hardly need say another word – so forceful is the father’s words to the son.

But once again, I want to say just a few words about the danger of giving into the appeal

of folly. Let me just mention two things quickly.

The first comes out of both chapter five and chapter seven. People of God, the

path of the wicked is a one way street. It leads straight to the grave. Now maybe you’re

thinking, “Okay Chris, I know that the passage says that, but isn’t the father exaggerating

a bit? Isn’t he overstating for effect?” Perhaps a little. But only a little. Look with me at

Proverbs 5:22

The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;

the cords of his sin hold him fast.

During our series on sin over the season of Lent, one of the things I said about sin is that

it never gets more simple – it only grows in complexity. It turns in on itself; weaving a

web shame and deceit that holds ever more fast.

We have all heard that one lie begets another – once a lie is begun, if it is to

succeed as in the place of the truth, it must be maintained. Take a moment think about it.

The same true of sin in general. If sin is going to pass as a life of obedience, the beautiful

façade has to be maintained.

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There is an intrigue to sin – it weaves its web in the darkness. It begins with self-

deceit. We kid ourselves into believing it is either an isolated incident or that our sin is

somehow justifiable because of our circumstances. We make excuses while we ignore

our consciences. Even while our protective layer of self-deception is formed, we practice

deceiving others. We pretend like nothing is amiss, like we are doing nothing wrong.

This leads us to a double life. By day we are Christian Joe, by night sinner Jack, so to

speak. All the while, the cords of sin grow stronger, bind us closer until the damage that

severing them would cause seems to us greater than energy needed to keep up the double

life. So we develop habits, which conceal our sin, so that we can practice it out of sight –

free from the condemning eyes of even those closest to us. All the while, our duplicity

isolates more an more from those we love, from the church, and ultimately from our life

in Christ. We cannot risk exposure, because then everyone would realize that we are not

who claim to be – and the pain of that would be insufferable. In the end, our sin becomes

a wall of separation, shutting us off from those we love, those we work with, those we

worship with. In our heart of hearts we are utterly alone. Maybe that’s not death, but the

heart bound isn’t really living either – merely existing.

The second thing I would like to mention comes out of chapter 6. Please note that

when we do not take heed of the instruction of wisdom – when we seek our own way,

which seems right but…. – we are asking for trouble. Children of God, Jesus Christ died

that our sin might be forgiven and he rose for our justification. As we seek his

forgiveness for our weaknesses, our failings, our sin, we certainly find that God cleanses

us from all unrighteousness. But folly has consequences. Natural consequences, apart
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from issues of redemption and forgiveness. Even though we experience God’s

deliverance from the shame and guilt of our sin, there is no promise that he will spare us

from the consequences that flow from our actions. He will forgive the adultery, but the

pain, the unwanted pregnancy, the sexually transmitted disease; the broken marriage may

still result. He will forgive the gossip, but the emotional strife, the roots of bitterness that

result from the careless words may still result. He will forgive the tax fraud, but the

audit, the fine and the jail time may still result. Do not measure his forgiveness by the

abundance or lack of consequences. Now, does he often spare us the consequences? Yes,

much more often than we deserve – but that too is the measure of his grace. To presume

he will do so is to mock his grace – to belittle the cross.

So what’s the message for us this morning? How do we guard ourselves against

the appeal of folly? Let me answer by noting something about the structure of chapter 7.

Our first guard against the appeal of folly is the instruction of God’s Word. In vv.

1- 5 of chapter 7, the father instructs the son to keep his commandments as the “apple of

his eye” and to write them on the tablet of his heart. We have talked about this at some

length – both in this series on Proverbs and in the Lent series on sin. So I will simply this

– the language the father uses implies that the son should do more than just hear the

words the father is saying. He should treasure them. He should repeat them over and

over – he should rehearse them until they become a part of the way he thinks and speaks.

Don’t miss how closely the language the father uses here reflects the language of

Deuteronomy 6 where God tells Israel to make the commandments a part of everything
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they do. Do you cherish God’s commands? Do you repeat them again and again until the

become a part of the way you speak and think?

The second guard against the appeal of folly is to not go looking for it. This

sounds silly I know, but look at verses 6-9 of chapter 7.

At the window of my house

I looked out through the lattice.
I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who lacked judgment.
He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.

Note what the youth lacking judgment did. He went to the wrong part of town at the

wrong time of day. Now please note, he is walking in the direction of the adulteress’

house. He knows where he is. This young man has gone looking for trouble and

unfortunately he finds it. Again, this is something we have talked about before, but the

simple truth is one of the best ways to avoid falling into sin is to stay away from places

where we know we can find it.

The third and final guard against the appeal to folly is to consider the cost. In vv.

26-27 of chapter 7 the father doesn’t mince words about the cost of the wickedness folly

leads to. He goes so far as to point to the multitude of others whose lives were

shipwrecked because they too gave into the appeal of folly. The implicit warning of the

father is “If you count the cost, suddenly folly doesn’t seem so appealing.”

Beloved, when you begin counting the cost of wickedness what you find

invariably is that it is not worth it. All that glitters is not gold. The cost of folly always
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appears fair at first, but in the end you find that what it desires is your whole life. The

father tells the son that to a prostitute he is the equivalent to a loaf of bread – to what she

needs to keep body and soul together. But the adulteress is satisfied with nothing short of

his entire life. Sin is satisfied with nothing short of your life. If we really thought about

the cost of our sin – not just the guilt and shame of getting caught, but all the

consequences – folly would lose its appeal.

People of God, I know these are all things we have spoken about before, but they

are crucial for our life in Christ and bear repeating. I can promise you that this will not

be the last time. There is no investment of time, no effort spent, no commitment made

that is more important than guarding the heart made new in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:28

says that God has predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. To live out

the new life we have in Christ carelessly and without regard to the purity that God desires

in us is to make light of the sacrifice and suffering of the cross. As God’s people, we

must be intensely concerned about personal holiness – we must be holy as he is holy.

And to be holy, we must be ever vigilant against the appeal of folly, lest we be led by our

desires into sin.

In the Lord of the Rings Frodo guessed right when it came to Strider – but that was

fiction. What we are talking about this morning is real life and we cannot afford to guess.

Let’s equip ourselves against folly – cherish the Word of God, don’t go looking for folly,

and count the cost of buying into the appeal of folly. Let’s be the people God has called

us to be – holy.