PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil” (Proverbs 5:3 KJV).

In the honeycomb there is sweetness—that is sin. That’s why they have those attractive, tall, lanky women on television, and all those ads, and billboards. You look at liquor ads, you talk about a strange woman as smooth as oil, that’s it. Why, she’ll talk you out of your gold teeth, if you let her. For the lips of a strange woman is a picture of sin, drops as a honeycomb—it sounds good, sounds tasty, just wonderful. Her mouth is smooth as oil, “but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell” (vs. 4-5). You see the difference between sin and wisdom? Wisdom starts out bitter but turns out sweet. Sin starts out sweet but ends up bitter. That’s just the way it is, there is pleasure in sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25), but it’ll end up bitter. Sin starts out sweet, but it ends up bitter. That’s the way the gospel is. You don’t get saved until after you repent. It starts out bitter. Conviction, crying, sorrow, sadness, humility, admitting you’re a sinner, admitting that you can’t save yourself, getting saved, bowing your knee to Jesus Christ—but afterwards—sweet! Sin is just the opposite. “Her end is bitter as wormwood,” one of these days that “wormwood” business is going to be literal—during the seven trumpets of the Revelation, “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8:10-11 KJV). Wormwood is a poison, and we are told that her lips are like a honeycomb, but her end is bitter as wormwood—it’ll kill you. It is the ‘sting of death’ (1Co 15), sharp as a two-edged sword. She’ll led you in the paths of wickedness, and one of these days the grim reaper will come and collect. That is the end of sin—death. “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell,” that’s where hell is, down under our feet. How would we prove that hell is in the center of the earth? By the words of Jesus Christ: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40 KJV). And when Jonah went down, he went to hell according to the words of Jonah 2, “out of the belly of hell cried I.” And when we go to Acts 2, His soul wasn’t left in hell (vs. 27). Amos says there is a hell and a heaven: “Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down” (Amos 9:2 KJV). Don’t you just get sick of those people that claim that hell is simply the grave? Then what is heaven? Anyway, hell is under our feet.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

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