Intro

• BOLD NIGHT HAPPENING
• ADVANCING THE KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 18-21
• This will be the last message in the series

Tension

• Solomon is instructing a young man
  • I love watching my kids do what they do
  • Ultimately I want them to win
  • Driving to football practice last week’
• Solomon was exposed to so much throughout his life, he really saw the dangers.
  • This message is geared towards young people, from the word, but also for all of us, because we are all God’s kids and he wants us to win in life. 
• You could read the first nine chapters of Proverbs as literal, or you can see the profound symbolism at play

Passage

Proverbs 9:1–6 (NLT) — 1 Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns. 2 She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. 3 She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. 4 "Come in with me," she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says, 5 "Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment."

Proverbs 7:6–23 (NLT) — 6 While I was at the window of my house, looking through the curtain, 7 I saw some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense. 8 He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house. 9 It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell. 10 The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart. 11 She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home. 12 She is often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner. 13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said, 14 “I’ve just made my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows. 15 You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are! 16 My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen. 17 I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, 19 for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip. 20 He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return until later this month.” 21 So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. 22 He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, 23 awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.

Body

1. There are two women

   1. Lady Wisdom
   2. Immoral Woman
      1. No morals
         1. We live in a society where morality is often debated.
      2. The Hebrew word literally translates outsider or alien woman, or woman outside of the boundaries! 
   3. Boundaries are not bad! Learn to love the boundaries
      1. Kids on a playground example
   4. Learn to favor the commands over your impulses and desires
      1. Do what I TELL YOU, not what you FEEL like
   5. Where do you get your commands? We are reading God’s Word.  
   6. Each of us have these two paths, instincts, directions, within us. 
   7. “I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked sense. He was going down the street near the corner of the immoral woman … Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.” (Prov 7:7-10 NLT)

2. There are two houses

   1. The porch and bedroom mindset
      1. Social only
      2. A place you go when the job is finished, only it’s not
      3. The bedroom is a sacred place
   2. The seven pillar mindset
      1. I’m building with 
         1. Prudence
         2. Planning
         3. Pillars
            1. God; Growth; Marriage; Family; Relationships; Work; Purpose
   3. Make some wise choices/decisions 
      1. Build for a lifetime and eternity, not for today and tomorrow
   4. Passage - “Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns. She has prepared a great banquet… But Folly sits in the doorway of her house.” (Prov 9:1-2, 14)

3. There are two lights

   1. The city square
      1. The visual is the top of the town where everybody is.
      2. There is power in the public
         1. Accountability 
         2. Out in the open
      3. There is power in the light
         1. Where it’s visible
         2. Where it can be judged
         3. Where it can be praised
   2. The shadowy dead end
      1. No others to witness.
      2. The darkness whispers to your sinful nature that it’s a safe place to act out
      3. There’s the appearance of privacy, but actually God sees everything. 
   3. Some of the secrets people have
      1. Secret relationships
      2. Secret chats
      3. Secret addictions
      4. Secret places
      5. Secret sins
   4. Come into the light
   5. Live in the light
   6. John 3:20–21 (NLT) — 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
   7. Ephesians 5:8–9 (NLT) — 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

4. There are two voices

   1. Lady on the porch
      1. Offers flattery - “you’re the one I was looking for”
      2. Offers justifications - “I’ve offered my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows”
      3. Offers excitement - “Let’s drink our fill of love until morning”
      4. Offers false security - “My husbands gone on a trip”
   2. Lady wisdom - Come and learn!
      1. Offers instruction  - Come and learn
      2. Offers correction - Here’s where you can do better
      3. Offers discipline - Let me remove the thing that is causing distraction
      4. Offers self-control - 
   3. Thanks for the feedback
   4. Commands are better than your impulse
   5. “She calls out from the heights overlooking the city, ‘Come in with me.’” (Proverbs 9:3-4) “The woman named Folly is brash… calling to those who pass by.” (Proverbs 9:13-16)

5. There are two meals

   1. Both women offer a meal
   2. The stolen bread
      1. All of these things seem like great things.
      2. Pretty woman who seems wild, bedroom setup to please senses, privacy where no one can see, stolen bread that wasn’t earned. The point of all of these things is that they were taken in haste, not earned but stolen, they are the fruit on the tree, you reach out and take it but it’s not allowed. 
      3. Ask Eve if the food was good - Easy
      4. Ask Esau if the food was good - Wreckless
   3. The bread and wine
      1. I sat and learned
      2. I married and built
      3. I worked and earned
      4. I lived righteously and deserved. 
   4. Passage - “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed.” (Proverbs 9:5) “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious.” (Proverbs 9:17)

6. There are two outcomes

   1. Wisdom offers life, health, wealth, honor, peace, and longevity — every element of a good life under God’s favor.
   2. Folly offers only sickness, shame, and death.
   3. Both women  are inviting you, only one has ever had a survivor
   4. Passage - “Whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. But those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:35-36) “Little do they know that the dead are there; her guests are in the depths of the grave.” (Proverbs 9:18)