- Jan 1, 2024
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I thought this might go well here also, for this deals with 2 kinds of addictions:
First off, I do NOT encourage anyone to actually do this. I am speaking from experience, and it shows how off track I went at times from what the Scriptures teach.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 & 12,
"I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly...."
Solomon gave himself to these things, but always said the end result is VANITY, and in other places he writes that they are Vexation of spirit. VANITY in the Hebrew, "hebel" is like a vapour, temporary, even emptiness, something transitory and unsatisfactory. (And we have the magazine "Vanity Fair" in America, which is about popular culture, fashion, and current affairs!)
Vexation is longing, striving, grasping after.
We see then in a life of Vanity we do tend to always strive after and grasp for things that are so temporal, because they are Vanity, and we can never be filled.
I did this with drink, and with music, and parties, and women. To what avail? Cost me a lot of money too, and needless trouble, and wounds without cause, and wounding others without cause!
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." - Proverbs 20:1
"Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.' - Proverbs 23:29-35
I can attest to all of this, and shan't go into much further detail, for it was a life of sin, but yet at times I could function and work, and even yet acquainted my heart with wisdom at the same time: even attending church but drinking at night, even writing solid Biblical messages while I had a bottle on the table! But even a lost man can write a sermon: a drunk man can preach, and so can the adulterer, albeit in hypocrisy.
Then I also gave myself to strange women: not as many as Solomon by any means, but even a few, yea, even ONE relationship in this category is enough to bring a man down. same goes for you girls, if a "strange man" as in an unbeliever and a sinner is your paramour then he can easily bring you down.
Nehemiah makes this very clear: "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin." (Nehemiah 13:26)
Now that word for outlandish meant foreign, or could be a harlot, or an unknown or unfamiliar woman. Example: picking up a woman in a bar or at a party that you never met before. Becoming unequally yoked with someone who does not share your belief in Christ for salvation, or even someone who believes in Christ, but in a carnal way.
Look at 1 Kings 11:1-10,
"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:
Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded."
And we do not do any better. I always bring this up as an answer when men will say "Maybe I can convert her" No, more than likely she's going to convert you and bring you down, and you will compromise to satisfy her wishes.
Read Proverbs 7, or, actually chapters 5 through 7. You find such as this, and I attest it is true!
"For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."
"And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?"
"For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent."
"With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him."
"For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."
And here's the hard truth: giving ones self to wine, and strange women tend to go hand in hand. Same with strange men. I've seen men allure women as well. I been to way too many drinking parties in the past. It's a life of vile sin and uncleanness. I don't even want to know the thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars I've squandered on both drink and women! And for what? It's Vanity and vexation of spirit! It's a worthless life. Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:10, Gal 5:21), nor shall those who partake in revellings, which is carousing, a wild party, late into the night, or all night.
These things are vanities that must be repented of if we are to be a son of God. He hath not adopted us as sons to be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:18) He has not saved us that we be fornicators, but that we be chaste, and be married: that is a man and a woman married, and nothing other. Flee fornication! Flee the unequal yoke. If you're already in it, then abide, and pray, but do not seek an unequal yoke, as it will likely drag you down. God has called us not to uncleanness, but to righteousness, and to sanctification, and to purity of body, mind, and spirit, that you may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus with His mighty angels, and as judge of the earth, to tread the wicked under foot, and to reward the faithful, as He is Faithful and True, who will also do it, as the promise is that He shall come in like manner from heaven to whence He ascended.
First off, I do NOT encourage anyone to actually do this. I am speaking from experience, and it shows how off track I went at times from what the Scriptures teach.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 & 12,
"I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly...."
Solomon gave himself to these things, but always said the end result is VANITY, and in other places he writes that they are Vexation of spirit. VANITY in the Hebrew, "hebel" is like a vapour, temporary, even emptiness, something transitory and unsatisfactory. (And we have the magazine "Vanity Fair" in America, which is about popular culture, fashion, and current affairs!)
Vexation is longing, striving, grasping after.
We see then in a life of Vanity we do tend to always strive after and grasp for things that are so temporal, because they are Vanity, and we can never be filled.
I did this with drink, and with music, and parties, and women. To what avail? Cost me a lot of money too, and needless trouble, and wounds without cause, and wounding others without cause!
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." - Proverbs 20:1
"Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.' - Proverbs 23:29-35
I can attest to all of this, and shan't go into much further detail, for it was a life of sin, but yet at times I could function and work, and even yet acquainted my heart with wisdom at the same time: even attending church but drinking at night, even writing solid Biblical messages while I had a bottle on the table! But even a lost man can write a sermon: a drunk man can preach, and so can the adulterer, albeit in hypocrisy.
Then I also gave myself to strange women: not as many as Solomon by any means, but even a few, yea, even ONE relationship in this category is enough to bring a man down. same goes for you girls, if a "strange man" as in an unbeliever and a sinner is your paramour then he can easily bring you down.
Nehemiah makes this very clear: "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin." (Nehemiah 13:26)
Now that word for outlandish meant foreign, or could be a harlot, or an unknown or unfamiliar woman. Example: picking up a woman in a bar or at a party that you never met before. Becoming unequally yoked with someone who does not share your belief in Christ for salvation, or even someone who believes in Christ, but in a carnal way.
Look at 1 Kings 11:1-10,
"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:
Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded."
And we do not do any better. I always bring this up as an answer when men will say "Maybe I can convert her" No, more than likely she's going to convert you and bring you down, and you will compromise to satisfy her wishes.
Read Proverbs 7, or, actually chapters 5 through 7. You find such as this, and I attest it is true!
"For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."
"And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?"
"For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent."
"With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him."
"For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."
And here's the hard truth: giving ones self to wine, and strange women tend to go hand in hand. Same with strange men. I've seen men allure women as well. I been to way too many drinking parties in the past. It's a life of vile sin and uncleanness. I don't even want to know the thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars I've squandered on both drink and women! And for what? It's Vanity and vexation of spirit! It's a worthless life. Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:10, Gal 5:21), nor shall those who partake in revellings, which is carousing, a wild party, late into the night, or all night.
These things are vanities that must be repented of if we are to be a son of God. He hath not adopted us as sons to be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:18) He has not saved us that we be fornicators, but that we be chaste, and be married: that is a man and a woman married, and nothing other. Flee fornication! Flee the unequal yoke. If you're already in it, then abide, and pray, but do not seek an unequal yoke, as it will likely drag you down. God has called us not to uncleanness, but to righteousness, and to sanctification, and to purity of body, mind, and spirit, that you may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus with His mighty angels, and as judge of the earth, to tread the wicked under foot, and to reward the faithful, as He is Faithful and True, who will also do it, as the promise is that He shall come in like manner from heaven to whence He ascended.
