My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.
Parallel Translations
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My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.
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My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
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My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Proverbs 1:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 5:11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
- Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
- Proverbs 16:29 A man of violence entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good.
- Proverbs 13:20 One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
- Deuteronomy 13:8 you shall not consent to him nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him;
- Romans 16:18 For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
- Proverbs 7:21-23 With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him. He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose. Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
- Psalms 50:18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with adulterers.
- Proverbs 20:19 He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.
- Genesis 39:7-13 After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To wit, the wicked which have not the fear…
To wit, the wicked which have not the fear of God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent…
Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Ver. 10. If sinners entice thee.] To an ill bargain; to a match of mischief, as Ahab did Jehoshaphat, as Potiphar’s wife would have done Joseph; and truly, that he yielded not, was no less a wonder, than that those three worthies burnt not in the midst of the fiery furnace. But as the sunshine puts out fire, so did the fear of God the fire of lust.
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Consent thou not.] But carry a severe rebuke in thy counteuance, as God doth. {Psa 80:16} To rebuke them is the ready way to be rid of them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Sinners; eminently so called, as Gen 13:13; Psa 1:1;…
Sinners; eminently so called, as Gen 13:13; Psa 1:1; 26:9; such as sell themselves to work all manner of wickedness; particularly thieves, and robbers, and murderers, as appears from the next verses, as also oppressors and cheaters, by comparing this with Pro 1:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here Solomon gives another general rule to young people,…
Here Solomon gives another general rule to young people, in order to their finding out, and keeping in, the paths of wisdom, and that is to take heed of the snare of bad company. David's psalms begin with this caution, and so do Solomon's proverbs; for nothing is more destructive, both to a lively devotion and to a regular conversation (Pro 1:10): "My son, whom I love, and have a tender concern for, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." This is good advice for parents to give their children when they send them abroad into the world; it is the same that St. Peter gave to his new converts, (Act 2:40), Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Observe, 1. How industrious wicked people are to seduce others into the paths of the destroyer: they will entice. Sinners love company in sin; the angels that fell were tempters almost as soon as they were sinners. They do not threaten or argue, but entice with flattery and fair speech; with a bait they draw the unwary young man to the hook. But they mistake if they think that by bringing others to partake with them in their guilt, and to be bound, as it were, in the bond with them, they shall have the less to pay themselves; for they will have so much the more to answer for. 2. How cautious young people should be that they be not seduced by them: "Consent thou not; and then, though they entice thee, they cannot force thee. Do not say as they say, nor do as they do or would have thee to do; have no fellowship with them." To enforce this caution,
I. He represents the fallacious reasonings which sinners use in their enticements, and the arts of wheedling which they have for the beguiling of unstable souls. He specifies highwaymen, who do what they can to draw others into their gang, Pro 1:11-14. See here what they would have the young man to do: "Come with us (Pro 1:11); let us have thy company." At first they pretend to ask no more; but the courtship rises higher (Pro 1:14): "Cast in thy lot among us; come in partner with us, join thy force to ours, and let us resolve to live and die together: thou shalt fare as we fare; and let us all have one purse, that what we get together we may spend merrily together," for that is it they aim it [at?]. Two unreasonable insatiable lusts they propose to themselves the gratification of, and therewith entice their pray into the snare: - 1. Their cruelty. They thirst after blood, and hate those that are innocent and never gave them any provocation, because by their honesty and industry they shame and condemn them: "Let us therefore lay wait for their blood, and lurk privily for them; they are conscious to themselves of no crime and consequently apprehensive of no danger, but travel unarmed; therefore we shall make the more easy prey of them. And, O how sweet it will be to swallow them up alive!" Pro 1:12. These bloody men would do this as greedily as the hungry lion devours the lamb. If it be objected, "The remains of the murdered will betray the murderers;" they answer, "No danger of that; we will swallow them whole as those that are buried." Who could imagine that human nature should degenerate so far that it should ever be a pleasure to one man to destroy another! 2. Their covetousness. They hope to get a good booty by it (Pro 1:13): "We shall find all precious substance by following this trade. What though we venture our necks by it? we shall fill our houses with spoil." See here, (1.) The idea they have of worldly wealth. They call it precious substance; whereas it is neither substance nor precious; it is a shadow; it is vanity, especially that which is got by robbery, Psa 62:10. It is as that which is not, which will give a man no solid satisfaction. It is cheap, it is common, yet, in their account, it is precious, and therefore they will hazard their lives, and perhaps their souls, in pursuit of it. It is the ruining mistake of thousands that they over-value the wealth of this world and look on it as precious substance. (2.) The abundance of it which they promise themselves: We shall fill our houses with it. Those who trade with sin promise themselves mighty bargains, and that it will turn to a vast account (All this will I give thee, says the tempter); but they only dream that they eat; the housefuls dwindle into scarcely a handful, like the grass on the house-tops.
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II. He shows the perniciousness of these ways, as a reason why we should dread them (Pro 1:15): "My son, walk not thou in the way with them; do not associate with them; get, and keep, as far off from them as thou canst; refrain thy foot from their path; do not take example by them, not do as they do." Such is the corruption of our nature that our foot is very prone to step into the path of sin, so that we must use necessary violence upon ourselves to refrain our foot from it, and check ourselves if at any time we take the least step towards it. Consider, 1. How pernicious their way is in its own nature (Pro 1:16): Their feet run to evil, to that which is displeasing to God and hurtful to mankind, for they make haste to shed blood. Note, The way of sin is down-hill; men not only cannot stop themselves, but, the longer they continue in it, the faster they run, and make haste in it, as if they were afraid they should not do mischief enough and were resolved to lose no time. They said they would proceed leisurely (Let us lay wait for blood, Pro 1:11), but thou wilt find they are all in haste, so much has Satan filled their hearts. 2. How pernicious the consequences of it will be. They are plainly told that this wicked way will certainly end in their own destruction, and yet they persist in it. Herein, (1.) They are like the silly bird, that sees the net spread to take her, and yet it is in vain; she is decoyed into it by the bait, and will not take the warning which her own eyes gave her, Pro 1:17. But we think ourselves of more value than many sparrows, and therefore should have more wit, and act with more caution. God has made us wiser than the fowls of heaven (Job 35:11), and shall we then be as stupid as they? (2.) They are worse than the birds, and have not the sense which we sometimes perceive them to have; for the fowler knows it is in vain to lay his snare in the sight of the bird, and therefore he has arts to conceal it. But the sinner sees ruin at the end of his way; the murderer, the thief, see the jail and the gallows before them, nay, they may see hell before them; their watchmen tell them they shall surely die, but it is to no purpose; they rush into sin, and rush on in it, like the horse into the battle. For really the stone they roll will turn upon themselves, Pro 1:18, Pro 1:19. They lay wait, and lurk privily, for the blood and lives of others, but it will prove, contrary to their intention, to be for their own blood, their own lives; they will come, at length, to a shameful end; and, if they escape the sword of the magistrate, yet there is a divine Nemesis that pursues them. Vengeance suffers them not to live. Their greediness of gain hurries them upon those practices which will not suffer them to live out half their days, but will cut off the number of their months in the midst. They have little reason to be proud of their property in that which takes away the life of the owners and then passes to other masters; and what is a man profited, though he gain the world, if he lose his life? For then he can enjoy the world no longer; much less if he lose his soul, and that be drowned in destruction and perdition, as multitudes are by the love of money.
Now, though Solomon specifies only the temptation to rob on the highway, yet he intends hereby to warn us against all other evils which sinners entice men to. Such are the ways of the drunkards and unclean; they are indulging themselves in those pleasures which tend to their ruin both here and for ever; and therefore consent not to them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain My son, if sinners entice thee,.... Endeavour to seduce…
My son, if sinners entice thee,.... Endeavour to seduce thee from thy parents, and draw thee aside from them, from listening to their instructions, advice, and commands; and make use of all plausible arguments to persuade thee to join with them in the sins they are addicted unto, and are continually employed in: for this is not to be understood of such who are sinners by nature, and through infirmity of the flesh, as all men are; but of notorious sinners, who are guilty of the grossest enormities, who live in sin, and give up themselves to work all manner of wickedness; sin is their trade and business, and the constant course of their lives; they are hardened, impudent, and daring, and not content to sin themselves, but do all they can to draw in others; and to preserve youth from filling into such bad company is this exhortation given in this tender, affectionate, and moving manner; next to the fear of God, and regard to parents, is this caution given to shun the company of wicked men, which young men are liable to be drawn into, and is of fatal consequence;
consent thou not; yield not to their persuasions, listen not to their solicitations, show no liking and approbation of them, assent neither by words nor deeds; do not say "thou wilt"; say "I will not", and abide by it; be deaf to all their entreaties, and proof against all their persuasions.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.]…
Verse 10. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.] אל תבא al tobe, WILL-not. They can do thee no harm unless thy will join in with them. God's eternal purpose with respect to man is that his will shall be free; or, rather, that the will, which is essentially FREE, shall never be forced nor be forceable by any power. Not even the devil himself can lead a man into sin till he consents. Were it not so, how could God judge the world?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 1:10-14. My son, if sinners — Sinners of…
Pro 1:10-14. My son, if sinners — Sinners of any description; entice thee — To sin, to commit any known iniquity, or to omit any known duty; consent thou not — Yield not in any degree to their advice, persuasions, or solicitations, for why shouldest thou destroy thyself to gratify them? If they say, Come with us — We are numerous, and strong, and sociable. Let us lay wait for blood — That is, to shed blood. He does not intend to express their words, for such words would rather affright than inveigle one that was yet a novice in wickedness, but he signifies what was the true nature, and would be the consequence of the action, in which they wished the person they addressed to join them, and what lay at the bottom of their specious pretences. Let us lurk privily for the innocent — For harmless travellers, suppose, and others that, suspecting no danger, are not prepared for opposition; without cause — Though they have not provoked us, nor deserved this usage from us. This Solomon adds, to discover their malignity and baseness, and so to deter the young man from associating with them. Let us swallow them up as the grave — Which speedily covers and consumes dead bodies. We shall do our work quickly, easily, and without fear of discovery. We shall find all precious substance — As our danger is little, so our profit will be great. Cast in thy lot among us — Or, rather, Thou shalt cast thy lot among us, that is, Thou shalt have a share with us, and that equally, and by lot, although thou art but a novice, and we are veterans. Let us all have — Or, we will all have; one purse — One purse shall receive all our profits, and furnish us with all expenses. So we shall live with great facility, and true friendship.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The first great danger which besets the simple and…
The first great danger which besets the simple and the young is that of evil companionship. The only safety is to be found in the power of saying “No,” to all such invitations.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain (Pro 1:16 quoted in the NT: Rom 3:15 )
(Pro 1:16 quoted in the NT: Rom 3:15 )
Let the young hearken to the instruction and law of the godly parent and minister. Who that has the charge of youth does not mourn over the baneful influence of evil companions? Would that the Lord’s servants were as energetic in his work, as sinners are in furthering the ends of their master! Almost as soon as Satan became an apostate, he became a tempter. And most successfully does he train his servants in this work. (Pro 16:29 . Gen 11:4 . Num 31:16 . Isa 56:12 .) If sinners entice thee — This is no uncertain contingency. ’My son’ — said the wise son of Sirach — ’if thou come to serve the Lord prepare thy heart for temptation.’ (Sir 2:1 .) Yet we have one rule against all manifold enticements (Pro 7:5-23 . Compare Deu 13:6-8 . 1Ch 21:1 . 1Ki 13:15-19 ) — Consent thou not. Consent constitutes the sin. Eve consented, before she plucked the fruit (Gen 3:6 ); David, before he committed the act of sin. (2Sa 11:2-4 . Compare Jos 7:21 .) Joseph resisted, and was saved. (Gen 39:8-9 .) Job was sorely tried; "yet in all this Job sinned not." (Job 1:22 ; Job 2:10 .) If the temptation prevail, charge it not on God; no — nor on the devil. As the worst he can do, he can only tempt, he cannot force us, to sin. When he has plied us with his utmost power, and most subtle artifice, it is at the choice of our own will, whether we yield or no. (See Jas 1:13-15 .) The habitual resistance of the will clears us of responsibility (Compare Rom 7:14-17, Rom 7:19, Rom 7:20, Rom 7:23 .) The consent, even if it be not carried out into the act, lays the responsibility at our own door.
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The enticement here was to robbery and blood; covetousness leading to murder. Most fiendish was the plot. The innocent was to be murdered without cause (Gen 4:8 . Psa 10:8 ), swallowed up alive and whole; like Korah and his company, going down into the pit in their full strength. (Num 16:33 .) The invitation at first was seemingly harmless — Only come with us. Soon the demand rises — Cast in thy lot with us. ’But we shall be discovered.’ No — they reply — ’we will do all so cleverly, that there will be no more blood to be seen, than if the earth swallowed them up; or they died a natural death, and were decently buried.’† The spoil of precious substance will be found, when our victim is destroyed. (Compare Mat 21:38 .) Precious substance! Why! This is as large a promise, as that from the mouth of the Son of God. (Pro 8:21 .) But how can substance be found belonging to a world of shadows? (Psa 39:6 .) Much more, how can the fruit of robbery be precious, with the curse of God? (Pro 21:6 . Psa 62:9-10 .)
Not that this horrible plot is usually propounded at first. But step by step, unless the Lord graciously restrains, it may come to this at last. The cover and varnish are here taken off, to show what sin is in its nature, character, and certain end. What young man, but would shudder, and start away from the wickedness, if presented to his imagination alone? But many a deluded sinner is thus hurried on by the influence of company to lengths of sin, that he had never contemplated.†2 Other enticements are prepared for the amiable and the uninitiated, just entering into life; less fearful and obvious, and therefore more really dangerous. Such "advantage does Satan get of us by our ignorance of his devices!" (2Co 2:11 .)
Is it safe then to trust in our good resolution or principles? No — Walk not in the way with them. The invitation is — Come with us. The warning is — Refrain thy foot from their path. (Pro 4:14-15 . Compare Psa 1:1 .) Avoid parleying with them. No one becomes a profligate at once.†3 But "evil communications corrupt good manners." (1Co 15:33 .) The tender conscience becomes less sensitive by every compliance. Who can stop himself in the down-hill road? One sin prepares for another, pleads for it, nay, even makes it necessary for concealment. David committed murder to hide his adultery, and for his covering charged it upon the providence of God. (2Sa 11:4, 2Sa 11:17, 2Sa 11:25 .)
Again then — we repeat with all earnestness — Refrain. The path may be strewed with flowers; but it is a path of evil, perhaps of blood.†4 Every step on Satan’s ground deprives us of the security of the promises of God. Often has ruin followed by not refraining from the first step. (Compare Mar 14:54, Mar 14:71 .) The only safety is in flight. (Gen 39:10, Gen 39:12 .) Run then into "thy hiding place, and behind thy shield," and boldly bid thy tempter "depart from thee." (Psa 119:114-115 . Compare Mat 4:10 .) Awful is the thought! There is not a sin, that the highest saint of God may not commit, if trusting in himself. "Thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear." (Rom 11:20 .)
Footnotes
†1 Cartwright. But see Gen 4:10 . 2Ki 9:26.
†2 Chartist Associations afford ample evidence of this awful delusion.
†3 ’Nemo fit repente turpissimus.’ — Classical adage.
†4 Pro 1:16. Isa 59:7 . An apt illustration of the total depravity of man in the perverted use of the members of his body. — Rom 3:15.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Entice. Hebrew, "deceive." (Calmet) --- Pessimum inimicorum genus laudantes.…
Entice. Hebrew, "deceive." (Calmet) --- Pessimum inimicorum genus laudantes. (Tacitus, in vit. Agric.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain A solemn warning against temptation.
A solemn warning against temptation.
entice--literally, "open the way."
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consent . . . not--Sin is in consenting or yielding to temptation, not in being tempted.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. If sinners entice — The teacher now proceeds…
10. If sinners entice — The teacher now proceeds to admonish his pupil against being seduced by bad men into evil courses. He must not consent or yield to them. Comp. Pro_24:1-2; Gen_3:16; Numbers 22; 1Ki_13:14-19; 1Ki_13:24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain The Teacher passes from Appeal to Warning: Against Evil…
The Teacher passes from Appeal to Warning: Against Evil Companions. Chap. 1. Pro_1:10-19
10. sinners] The warning points to a state of society of which indications are to be found not only in the unsettled times “when the Judges ruled” and before the monarchy was firmly established, when “vain” and “discontented” men banded together to lead the life of the outlaw and the freebooter (Jdg_11:3; 1Sa_22:2); but also in the better ordered periods of Jewish history when Psalmist and prophet inveigh against those who lurk privily in secret to murder the innocent (Psa_10:8-10), and those whose feet are swift to shed blood (Isa_59:7). When our Lord was upon earth such robbing with violence and bloodshed was so familiar an incident in Palestine that He was able to make it the groundwork of a parable (Luk_10:30). And it is so still. “Strange country! and it has always been so. There are a hundred allusions to just such things in the history, the psalms and the prophets of Israel. A whole class of imagery is based upon them. Psa_10:8-10; ‘He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages’ &c. And a thousand rascals, the living originals of this picture, are this day crouching and lying in wait all over the country to catch poor helpless travellers.” (Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 314.)
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Two hundred years ago, when young men even of birth and education were to be found in the ranks of the highwaymen who overran the country (see, for example, Macaulay, Hist. of Eng. Vol. i. ch. iii.), the warning was no less apposite in England. In our own day, even in the special form which it here assumes, the warning, in view of the gangs of desperate men, poachers and burglars, to be found still both in towns and in the country, has not come to be superfluous, while in its wider aspect, “My son, if sinners entice thee consent thou not,” it is of universal application.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) If sinners entice thee.—A warning against taking part…
(10) If sinners entice thee.—A warning against taking part in brigandage, a crime to which Palestine was at all times peculiarly exposed, from the wild character of its formation, and from its neighbourhood to predatory tribes, who would invade the country whenever the weakness of the government gave them an opening. The insecurity to life and property thus occasioned would provide a tempting opportunity for the wilder spirits of the community to seek a livelihood by plunder.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain My son, if sinners entice thee. (As to the…
My son, if sinners entice thee. (As to the form of address, see ver. 8.) It is here used because the writer is passing to a warning against bad company, and hence the term is emphatic, and intended to call especial attention to what is said. It is repeated again in ver. 15, at a further stage in this address, with the same view. Sinners; (khattaim), the plural of aFj (khatta), from the root aFj (khata), properly "to miss the mark, to err;" cf. Greek, amartanw , "to sin" (Gesenius), here equivalent to "habitual, abandoned sinners," and those especially who make robbery and bloodshed a profession. Not simply peccantes, i.e. sinners as a generic designation of the human race, for "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God", (Rom_3:23) but peccatores (Chaldee, Syriac, Pagin., Tigur., Versions and Vulgate). "sinners," i.e. those who sin habitually, knowingly, wilfully, and maliciously (Gejerus), or those who give themselves up to iniquity, and persuade others to follow their example (Cartwright). In the New Testament they are styled amartwloi . They are those of whom David speaks in strikingly parallel language in Psa_26:9, "Gather not my soul with sinners (khattaim), nor my life with bloody men". (cf. Psa_1:1) The LXX has andrev asebeiv (i.e. ungodly, unholy men). Entice thee; (y"phattukha); the piel form, hTpi (pitah), of the kal hTp (patah), "to open," and hence to make accessible to persuasion, akin to the Greek peiyein , "to persuade." The noun ytiP ( p"thi), is "one easily enticed or persuaded" (Gesenius). The LXX reads mh planhswsin , "let them not lead thee astray." The idea is expressed in the Vulgate by lactaverint; i.e. "if sinners allure or deceive thee with fair words." The Syriac, Montan., Jun. et Tremell., Versions read pellexerint, from pellicio, "to entice." Consent thou not. (abeToAla, al-tove a). The Masoretic text here has been emended by Kennicott and De Rossi, who, on the joint authority of fifty-eight manuscripts, maintain that abeTo (tove a) should be written abeaOT (tosves). Others read aObT (tavos), i.e. "thou shalt not go," which, though good sense, is incorrect. Ala (al) is the adverb of negation, i.q. mh , ne. The Hebrew abeTo (toves) is derived from hba (avah). "to agree to, to be willing" (Gesenius, Delitzsch), the preformative a being omitted, and is accurately rendered by the LXX, mh boulhyhv , and the Vulgate, ne acquiescas. The warning is especially brief and striking. The only answer to all enticements of evil is a decided negative (Plumptre). Compare St. Paul"s advice to the Ephesians. (Eph_5:11, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them
Temptation.
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I HOW THE TEMPTATION COMES.
1. From sinners.
(1) It comes from without. The evil of our own hearts inclines us to sin; but were we perfectly innocent we could not escape temptation. The serpent was a denizen of Eden. Christ the Sinless One was tempted. The sights and sounds of the wicked world penetrate to the most carefully guarded soul.
(2) The temptation is famished by those who have themselves succumbed to sin. It is sinners who tempt. Sin is contagious. The worst sin is that of those who, like Jeroboam, "make Israel to sin." The bad man has terrible power for harm. Example, social influence, friendship, favour his designs.
2. By enticements. Sin is made to be attractive; and it is most important for all of us to know that there are pleasures in sin, in order that we may not be surprised at the discovery of them. The fruit is palatable, though, like apples of Sodom, it soon turns to ashes. If it were not so, who would run the risk of tasting it? If stolen waters were not sweet, who would choose to wear the brand of a thief on his conscience? Herein is the great power of temptation. By slow degrees and soft inducements the evil is wrought. The subtle serpent succeeds where the roaring lion fails. Delilah conquers the man whom no Philistine warrior could overthrow.
"Devils soonest tempt, resembling spirits of light.
II HOW THE TEMPTATION IS TO BE MET. "Consent thou not." Let no man deem himself the helpless victim of temptation. "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able," etc. (1Co_10:13) We have wills. We can say "Yes" and "No." We are not responsible for meeting with temptation, since even Christ felt the cruel force of this trial, but we are responsible for the way we behave under it. one thing to be tempted, Another thing to fall.
Now, the resistance to temptation must be immediate and thorough. The tempter entices by gentle degrees, but the tempted must resist at once and with decision. He must not begin with the "retort courteous," but with "the lie direct." There is something brusque about the advice, "consent thou not," very different in tone from the polite enticing manner of the tempter. Yet this is necessary, for all that is wanted by the tempter is compliance no active exercise of will, but a passive yielding. The resistance, however, must be active. The greatest danger is in dallying with temptation. "Lie in the lap of sin, and not mean harm? It is hypocrisy against the devil: They that mean virtuously, and yet do so, The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt Heaven.
The difficulty is to give a decided negative. With some people the hardest word to say is "No." Remember:
1. There is a Divine grace to which we can appeal for aid in temptation, and a Saviour who can succour. (Heb_2:18)
2. We can best keep out sin, not by bare expulsion of the spirit of evil, leaving the soul empty, swept, and garnished, and therefore ready for the advent of worse sins, but by filling our thoughts and affections with pure and worthy objects, by overcoming evil with good.
Vers. 10-19. Warnings against the evils of the time.
An unsettled time, one of violence and insecurity of life, appears to be indicated, such as has only its occasional parallel in our society. Yet the perverted impulses which lead to open crime are those which induce every species of dishonesty and more subtle attacks upon the life or property of others. We may thus draw from a particular description some general lessons. But it seems to give more point and force to the passage if we view it as attaching to notorious and frequent forms of crime.
I THE TEMPTER. He is always existing in every state of society, and not hard to find. There are human beings who have come to adopt evil as a trade, and, not content with practising it themselves, must have help and sympathy in their work, and turn recruiting sergeants for the devil. The beautiful laws of our being assert themselves amidst all the perversion of depraved choice. Crime, like sorrow, is lonely, and craves partnership. Remorse would soothe itself by fixing the like sting in the bosoms of others. And the criminal, constantly on his defence against society, learns to acquire an allurement of manner which is not the least of his dangerous qualities. The warning to youth against "enticing sinners" of both sexes can never be obsolete. Beware of persons of "peculiarly fascinating manners." What is it that fascinates? Generally it will be found to be some species of flattery, overt or concealed, attacking the weak point of the tempted ones. The warning may be so far generalized into "Beware of the flatterer." Flattery is at the bottom of most temptation.
II PICTURES OF CRIME.
1. Its aspect of horror. They are to be understood as drawn by the teacher"s hand. He is putting the real meaning of the tempter"s suggestions into vivid descriptions. The tempter himself will take care not to expose the bloody and hideous aspect of his trade. "Vice is a monster of so hideous mien, That to be hated needs but to be seen. On such a principle the teacher acts. The veil is torn aside from the life of crime, and its repulsive inhumanity disclosed. It is a "lurking for blood," after the image of the hunter with nets and nooses, watching for his prey. And this too for "the vainly innocent," i.e. whose innocence will avail him nothing with us, (comp. Psa_35:19 Psa_69:5 Lam_3:52) or, in the other interpretation, for the innocent who has given us no cause for hatred or revenge. "Will swallow them up living like the pit or, "abyss." An expression for sudden death as opposed to that by lingering sickness the earth as it were yawning from its abysses to devour the fated lives. (comp. Psa_124:3 Pro_30:16) The expression whole, whether it denotes sound in body or in character (honest men), adds to the force of the description.
2. But there is an attractive aspect in crime. "Thou shall cast thy lot into our midst," i.e. shall share and share alike with us, as we say, or take an equal chance for the best of the booty, the lot in such cases being the custom of robbers and of soldiers. (Psa_22:19 Neh_10:35) There is freedom, communism, good fellowship, in the life of the banditti; no distinction of rank or class, poor or rich. In certain times the picture of such a life has proved of overwhelming fascination for young adventurous spirits. In solemn reiterated warning the teacher raises his voice against the treading of their path and way. This simple biblical figure may remind us that every mode of active life, every profession or occupation, is like a path; it leads some whither. Unless we could cease from activity, we must all be advancing to some moral issue. What will it be?
3. A summary description of the criminal. He runs toward wickedness, hastes to shed blood. The eagerness, the swiftness, and perseverance of the criminal often arouse intellectual admiration, and shame the slothfulness of those who follow noble callings. But the devotion of ability and energy of a high order to such ends is, indeed, one of the most striking proofs we can have of the corruption of man"s nature. This is crime revealed in its hatefulness, on the one hand, by its cruel and inhuman conduct and effects; on the other, in its dark source, the utter perversion of the criminal"s mind itself.
III THE RECOIL OF EVIL ON THE DOERS. Here again are powerful pictures. Like thoughtless birds, which rush with open eyes into the net, so do these miscreants, in preparing destruction for others, themselves run headlong upon their fate. (comp. Job_18:8) While they are lurking for others" blood and laying snares for others" lives, their own are forfeited. This self-defeat of wickedness is a central thought in biblical wisdom. (comp. Pro_15:32 Pro_16:27 Ecc_10:8 Psa_7:16 Rom_2:5 Gal_6:8 1Ti_6:9, 10 Jam 5:8-5) Thus wisdom and folly form an antithesis in their nature, their powers, and their result.
1. Wisdom is at one with religion and morality; folly casts off God and right.
2. Wisdom pursues good ends by good means; folly pursues evil by evil means.
3. The result of wisdom is life and blessedness, health and peace; that of folly is self-undermining, self-overthrow, or "slow suicide.
III THE ROOT OF CRIME. It is like that of all sin, in desire, in misdirected desire, the greed of "unlawful gain," to give the fuller force of the expression. Note:
1. The prevalence of this passion. By far the largest proportion of men"s worst actions are probably to be traced to it. Read the reports of the courts of law, listen to the gossip of the hour for illustrations.
2. Its intoxicating, illusory power. The victim of it deceives himself, as in other passions: it is thrift, it is due regard to what is of substantial value to one"s interests, etc. And how difficult to distinguish that desire for more, which is the spring of action in commerce as in honourable ambition, the pursuit of knowledge, etc.! The question must be carried to the conscience and to God.
3. Its unsocial character. More than any passion, it separates man from his kind, and assimilates him to the beast of prey.
4. Its suicidal effect. If it does not destroy the man"s body, it certainly corrodes and eats away his soul. It dehumanizes him. There is no object more shadowy in one aspect, more unreal, in another more monstrous, than the miser, as depicted by Balzac and other great writers. Covetousness is self-slaughter. J.
Vers. 10-19. The peril and the wisdom of youth: a sermon to the young.
Hew many human lives are nothing better than failures! How many souls are there that "make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience"! Over how many of the children of men do the wise and the holy mourn, as those who might have done well and wrought good, but who have turned aside to folly, guilt, and ruin! As a rule, these have gone astray in their younger days. Temptation assailed them when they were comparatively unarmed, attacked them when least prepared to resist, and they were overcome. Our text suggests
I THE PECULIAR PERIL OF YOUTH. Youth is endangered by three things.
1. The invitations of the unholy. "Sinners entice it." Companionship is dear to the young. and is very powerful over it. Its heart is open, trustful, responsive. It rejoices with a keen delight in the confidences of friendship. And when one whose advances have been received, and who has been welcomed as a congenial companion, says, "Come," it is hard for friendship to refuse; this more especially when the solicitation comes from him who has a strong will or an amiable and fascinating disposition. The heart of youth is very powerfully drawn, sometimes to good, but too often to evil, by the charm of early friendship.
2. The subtlety of sin (ver. 17). Sin makes a very fair promise, but its word is false, its coin is counterfeit.
(1) It professes disinterestedness (ver. 14), but it is utterly selfish at heart.
(2) It affects to be able to hide all traces and elude all evil consequences of its acts (ver. 12), but it cannot: the blood which it sheds will cry to Heaven for retribution.
(3) It offers gain and satisfaction (vers. 13, 19), but it constantly fails to secure its immediate object, and it never brings real and lasting joy to the soul. The fowler does not spread the net in sight of the bird, or he would fail. Sin keeps its snares well out of view; it proceeds with cruel cunning; it shows the present pleasure, and hides the coming shame, and so it secures its victims.
3. The appeal to powerful instincts. The love of daring exploits has led many a young man to consent when sinners have said, "Come, let us attack the victim, that we may seize the prey" (vers. 11, 12). Guilty violence shapes itself as manly daring. And the instinct of acquisition, the desire to obtain and to possess (vers. 13, 19), often leads astray. Greediness of gain begins in a desire to be rich, an ambition to have abundance.
II THE EARNEST SOLICITUDE OF THE WISE. There is an air of earnestness, a tone of deep solemnity, about these words of the wise man. "My son, if sinners entice thee," etc. (ver. 10); "My son, walk not thou in the way," etc. (ver. 15). Here is the urgency of a tender solicitude; here are the pleadings of profound affection. And why? Because the wise man (the father, minister, teacher) knows;
1. That sin means ruin to others (ver. 16). The path of evil is marked with blood: it is the track which is trodden by death itself; it is red with the blood of souls.
2. That sin is the supreme mistake. It is really laying wait for itself, to compass its own miserable end (ver. 18); it is robbing itself of all the excellency of life in order to secure its gains (ver. 19). Men too often "lose their life for the sake of the means of living." They expend on the means all those resources of their manhood which should be devoted to life itself. Sin is suicidal; the young who are yielding themselves to a life of ungodliness and guilt may well be the object of the most fervent anxiety, of the most tender, tearful pity of the wise.
III THE WAY OF VICTORY. And there is no other way than that of decisive refusal at once. As soon as the alluring voice says, "Come," let the resolute reply be heard, "I will not." Let the lips of holy resentment open at once to say, "Depart from me, ye evil doers; I will keep the commandments of my God". (Psa_119:115) To hesitate is to risk everything. Speak a strong, unwavering refusal on the spot. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain My son, if sinners entice thee.
Pro_1:10-19
My son, if sinners entice thee.
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Reasons for resisting the enticements of sinners
By sinners is meant all persons who are not true Christians. Three reasons why we should not consent when sinners entice us:
1. Because when we begin to sin it is hard to stop.
2. Because it is dangerous.
3. Because it is disgraceful.
(1) It is so in the looks it gives us.
(2) It is so in the company into which it brings us.
Two things we ought to do:
1. Get rid of the sins we have committed.
2. Try to keep from sinning any more.
Said a boy to his sister one day, I want the spirit to look sin right in the face when it comes to me, and say, Begone. Yes, replied the sister, and one thing more you want; you want Gods spectacles to see sin and know it when it comes, for it does not always show its colours. (R. Newton, D.D.)
Sinful enticements
How industrious wicked people are to seduce others into the paths of the destroyer. Sinners love company in sin; the angels that fell were tempters almost as soon as they were sinners. They do not threaten or argue, but entice with flattery and fair speech; with a bait they draw the unwary young man to the hook.. But they mistake if they think that by bringing others to partake with them in their guilt, and to be bound, as it were, in the bond with them, they shall have the less to pay themselves, for they will have so much the more to answer for. (Matthew Henry.)
The various ways by which sinners entice us to vice
I. I shall mention some of the various ways by which sinners entice us to vice.
1. They represent it as a light and trivial matter, and at the worst as venial and pardonable. What is it, they will probably say, but a human weakness and infirmity, to which all men are subject? Can it be criminal to follow the dictates of ones natural passions? You can be no worse than thousands who indulge in the same excesses. They will give soft names to the greatest abominations in order to prevent alarm. In this way the understanding is imposed upon and the conscience is silenced. When vice is painted in all its black colours we are apt to be alarmed at the commission of it, but when it is stripped of its deformity we become more reconciled to it, and more readily yield. But can that be a light matter which is treason against the Almighty and which has subjected us to death? Perhaps we are more in danger from smaller than greater transgressions, because they steal upon us more imperceptibly, and draw us insensibly into the commission of them. Is not this a good argument to be jealous of the very appearance of evil and to loathe the garments spotted with iniquity?
2. By representing the gain and the pleasure which accompany it. Gain and pleasure are the two great charmers which have seduced mankind and led them captive at their will. What foul and black crimes hath the love of money been the means of perpetrating! To this corrupt source may be traced all the fraud and injustice, all the theft and robbery which have been committed. And what is the acquisition of wealth, upon which men are so much set? Is it any substantial, permanent good? Will it preserve health, prolong life, or ward off death? The love of pleasure has ruined many. It enchants the simple. Health has been impaired.
3. By traducing the principles of good men and turning their manners into ridicule. The gospel hath unfolded a glorious plan of salvation by which God, consistently with the purity of His nature and the perfection of His government, can be reconciled to the chief of sinners. It is nobly adapted to restore peace to the troubled mind and to inspire the hope of immortality. Shall we be laughed out of it by any set of men or for any gratification whatever?
4. By leading the road and calling us to follow them. It must be allowed that example has a powerful influence upon mankind and will often prevail when all other means prove ineffectual. Good-nature may not allow him to separate from his companions. To do as others do hath long been a powerful principle of action, and hath carried men greater lengths than they ever thought of.
Before I proceed to the second branch of the subject I shall give an advice or two to the young.
1. Cultivate an early acquaintance with God.
2. Carefully avoid the company of the ungodly. Who knows but your principles may be shaken and your morals corrupted before you are aware?
3. Be earnest in prayer to God that He may never suffer you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear. Heaven is your best resource, and from whence your most effectual aids do come.
II. A few arguments which, by the blessing of God, will enable us to resist them.
1. It is mean and dishonourable to be connected with bad men.
2. It is the most prejudicial to your best and eternal interests. The health will be impaired, the soul lost.
3. The infinite obligations you are under to your God and Redeemer.
4. If you consent you will lay a foundation for much anguish and remorse. Loose and dissipated men may put on what appearance of gaiety and mirth they please, but I am apt to think it is more affected than real, more feigned than true.
5. The distress and grief in which you must involve your parents and friends. (D. Johnstone, D.D.)
The allurements of sin
I. A danger implied It is the nature of sin to be aggressive. Wherever it obtains an entrance it will, if not destroyed, ultimately become the master. It cannot exist without seeking to push itself forward to some new conquest. There was never one transgressor yet who did not try to make another like himself. There is on earth what may be called a huge propaganda of evil. Self-security only makes more easy victims.
II. A method exposed. The word entice implies that they do not ask you plainly and directly to commit sin as sin, but rather set before you some real or imaginary pleasure which you can get only by a commission of that which is sin. They dexterously conceal the fact that it is sin. They bait their hook. The sin is to be committed as a means to an end, and the mind is so occupied by the end that the guilt of the means is overlooked. Then it is well to know the enticements which are commonly employed to delude and allure the unwary.
1. One common enticement is the increase of knowledge. The assertion is made that they will see life.
2. Another is pleasure. That may be good, but it is well to ask, What will it cost? It is dear if it can only be bought by the forfeiture of peace of conscience and the favour of God.
3. Another is the love of liberty. You are asked to do the doubtful or the wrong just to assert your liberty.
4. The tempter promises that you will never be discovered. It is urged, Nobody will ever know. Yes, God will know.
III. Resistance. Enforced. Consent thou not. Give a plain, downright, emphatic refusal. The right use of the word No at the critical turning-points of life will save a man from destruction. There are two excellent maxims as regards our moral actions--
1. Always force yourselves to come to a positive decision in all matters of conduct.
2. Never allow yourselves to deliberate on a matter in reference to which conscience is clear.
IV. A motive suggested. In this resistance which has been urged. The text is a parental appeal, and brings to bear upon us all the memories and associations of our earliest home. Cherish them, and they will build for you a breakwater within reach, by means of which you may safely override the fiercest storms and whirlwinds of temptation. (W. M. Taylor, D.D.)
Bad company
The desire to make proselytes to our speculative opinions, and bring over others to think as we do, is not a more constant attendant on our pride and conceit than the desire in men of vicious lives to make the practice of others as bad as their own. Whether it be that many kinds of wickedness require numbers to associate, in order to their being carried on with success, so that they who are engaged in them are constantly beating up for allies; whether the sense of shame is not lessened, and the censure of the decent portion of mankind made more tolerable when multitudes share in it; whether the conscience is not, also, soothed and flattered from the same cause; or whether, lastly, the perversion of their ways has produced in such men a gratuitous desire of doing hurt, and a love of mischief for its own sake; so it is--the loss of his own virtue produces in a man the desire to overcome the virtue of others. The particular sin which the preacher had in his thoughts at the time was that of dishonesty, and the enticement he speaks of was to the taking of property belonging to others, and living upon it, instead of labouring for an honourable and independent livelihood. He selects that species of crime, out of many that would have answered as well, as a specimen whereby to illustrate his argument, and show the ruin and misery to which the path of sin conducts a man. There is one property, common to the language of all enticers of others to sin, of whatever kind the sin be; and Solomon has not failed to notice it in the case he has supposed. It is the pretence of the most disinterested friendship, high professions of good-will and regard for the person they undertake to entice. Come with us; cast thy lot among us; let us all have one purse. They who entice them to the sin disguise their secret ends, their abominable selfishness, so successfully, under appearance of generosity, that they are blinded for a time, and think the morality which they have learned at home too strict and impracticable, and the kindness they received from their parents and relations hardly worthy to be compared to the friendship of these men. How, then, is a man to judge in this matter? Is he to pass through life with a sour suspicion of mankind, reject all their kindness as a cloak for bad designs, and hold the opinion that no man is ever loved save by his father and mother? Far from it. In the passage before us he propounds a test and criterion whereby a young person may distinguish between true and false friendship; and it is this: that the true will always be accompanied with a concern for his virtue. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. I know not how I can better illustrate this maxim of Solomon than by stating, in the royal authors own words, the consequences of listening to the counsels of the ungodly--the solicitations to sin, with which the young are sure to be assailed by cunning and practised offenders. For example, with respect to sins of licentiousness, and the temptations thereto, he says of him that yieldeth to them that he that goeth after the strange woman, goeth as an ox to the slaughter, and as a fool to the correction of the stocks; till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. For, he says again, she hath cast down many wounded, yes, many strong men have been slain by her. Again, when he would dissuade from idleness, and inculcate the wisdom of a provident regard to the future, he says, Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise. Again, of dishonesty. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but every one that is hasty, only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity, tossed to and fro, of them that seek death. The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them. (A. Gibson, M. A.)
The personal element in temptation
Sin is not so dangerous as is the sinner. Sin is repellent; but the sinner may be winsome and attractive. The personal element in temptation is often the attractive element.
I. Sin sometimes clothes itself with personal authority. As of a master over a servant, or a father over a son. Temptation becomes strong when it enlists authority on its behalf.
II. Sin sometimes clothes itself with personal affection. Many of the forms of vice depend entirely upon friendship for their propagation. They would die a natural death if it were not for a mans friends.
III. Sin sometimes clothes itself with personal attractions. Consider mental attractions. The learned, the witty, the intellectual bad man, is a power for evil. There is a passing over of power from the man to his sin. The more attractions a man has personally the more ropes has sin to pull upon others with, and the more deceptive attire has sin to clothe itself with.
IV. Sin sometimes clothes itself with personal influence. Wealth gives a man influence in a community. So does social or official position. Young men should be taught to recognise sin promptly, no matter what it is clothed in. Christian manliness and independence are the safeguards against the personal elements in temptation. Dare to be right, even if sin should enlist all the powers of the world on its side. Dare to say, No. This is Christian heroism. (The Southern Pulpit.)
Youth counselled
The text refers to another state of society than that in which we live.
I. Life is a scene of real and daily temptation. Whether a man wishes it or not, he will be enticed. The mistake of many is that they expect to pass through life without being tried. They are not forearmed. There is not any perfect escape to be expected. It is the necessary discipline through which man must pass. The knowledge and experience of evil is just as inevitable as the knowledge and experience of any of the ordinary affairs of human life.
II. There is one period of life more specially exposed to temptation than others. At first sight the temptations of youth seem to be at variance with the general principle, that as a mans day is so shall his strength be. Youths strength and youths day often seem to be very disproportionate. It seems hard that youth should be so severely tried.
1. The generosity of youth is tried by the callousness and coldness of the world.
2. The guilelessness of youth is tried by severe lessons; friends fall off, and depart like swallows in the winter, when we seem to need them most.
3. The purity of youth is tried by having to go forth into the world of real and actual impurity, to make venture in its own strength against it all.
III. In society we find many persons whose chief delight it seems to be to throw temptations in the way of youth. No sooner does a man go astray than he strives to drag others with him. It is done--
1. By ridicule.
2. By sly suggestions.
3. By lending bad books and indulging in bad conversation. To overcome these temptations great decision of character is required. To get on in life requires the steady, unbroken bent of a strong will. There is no guarantee for real decision of character except in the fear of God. (W. G. Barrett.)
The dangers to which the young are exposed
Youth is the most interesting and important period of our moral probation for eternity. In it the young begin to be freed from that parental authority and discipline which restrain them from the practice of vice. They were then called, in some measure, to think, to judge, and to act for themselves. Then the principles early instilled into their minds are to be brought to the test of trial.
I. Young men may be exposed to the baneful influence of bad example, to the force of ridicule, and to the power of persuasion.
II. The young are enticed by setting before them splendid and seductive representations of the riches and enjoyment with which vice is accompanied.
III. The young are enticed to the commission of vice by concealing its native deformity. Sedulously endeavouring to diminish impressions of the danger with which it is attended.
IV. The young are enticed by misrepresentations of the Divine being and relations. Gods mercifulness is overpressed, and His justice and holiness are put out of sight. God will never let sin go unpunished. (John Hunter.)
The foe and the fight
I. The danger.
1. The sinners that entice from within are the mans own thoughts and desires. There is quite an army of these sinners in a young mans breast. Thoughts open up the way, and prepare a trodden path on which the man may follow. A gossamer thread is attached to an arrow and shot through the air unseen, over an impassable chasm. Fixed on the other side, it is sufficient to draw over a cord; the cord draws over a rope, the rope draws over a bridge, by which a highway is opened for all comers. Thus is the gulf passed that lies between the goodly character of a youth fresh from his fathers family and the daring heights of iniquity on which veteran libertines stand. From the brink on this side the youth darts over a thought which makes itself fast to something on these forbidden regions. Deeds will quickly follow when the way is prepared.
2. The sinners that entice from without are fellow-men, who, having gone astray themselves, are busy leading others after them. The deed most characteristic that the father of lies ever did was to lead others after him into sin. An evil-doer has a craving for company in his wickedness. By a natural necessity, the licentious recruit among the ranks of the virtuous, the drunken among the ranks of the sober. It is a power of nature that is taken and employed to enslave men. Men are gregarious. The principle of association is implanted in their nature, and is mighty, according to the direction it gets, for good or evil. This great power generally becomes a ready agency of ill.
II. The enticements. These are manifold. As addressed to well-educated, well-conducted youths, they are always more or less disguised. The tempter always flings over at least his ugliest side some shred of an angels garment. Few young men who have enjoyed a religious education come to a sudden stand, and at once turn their back upon God and godliness. Most of those who do fall diverge at first by imperceptible degrees from the path of righteousness. The importance of the ancient rule, Obsta principiis (resist the beginnings), can never be overrated. Watch the beginnings of evil. High in the list of dangerous enticements stands the theatre. The custom of society encouraging the use of intoxicating drinks constitutes one of the most formidable dangers to youth in the present day. But we never yet met with a drunkard who either became one all at once or who designed to become one. In every case the dreadful demon vice has crept over the faculties by slow degrees, and at last surprised the victim.
III. The defence. Consent thou not. It is a blunt, peremptory command. Your method of defence must differ from the adversarys mode of attack. His strength lies in making gradual approaches; yours is a resistance, sudden, resolute, total. It is not by partial compliances and polite excuses that enticements are to be repelled. With such adversaries you are not obliged to keep terms. Much depends on the unfaltering, undiluted, dignified No of one who fears God more than the sneer of fools. The shortest answer is the best. The means of resisting may be found in--
1. Refinement of manners.
2. Profitable study.
3. Benevolent effort.
4. Improving company.
But though the society of the good is an instrument of protection not to be despised, it is still subordinate. There is another companion. There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. You cannot fight the enticements of sinful pleasure in your own strength. Under the Captain of salvation you may fight and win. (William Arnot, D. D.)
Men each others tempters
There are two worlds from which temptation reaches us--the world in which we live, and the world below us. There are two classes of beings who act as tempters, devils and men. There is, however, but one class of characters; sinners alone can be tempters. We do not know how the first sin originated.
I. Look at the case supposed.
1. It is a common case. Sinners do entice. It is in the nature of sin to make men tempters one of another. The social character of mankind seems to involve this.
2. It is a serious case. Generally speaking, the tempters are stronger than the tempted. The tendencies of our human nature are in the direction of transgression. The principles of every sin are latent in us all. Those principles may be undeveloped because they have not been appealed to; but let an appeal be made, and they will be manifest. Temptation is presented to a nature more or less susceptible.
3. It is by no means a hopeless case. There is One who can be a refuge, a strength, and a present helper.
II. Look at the advice given. Consent thou not. Without consent the temptation cannot take effect, and without consent the temptation can do no real harm. If you do consent, be sure your sin will find you out. To consent now is to expose yourself to greater danger hereafter. If you consent to enticement to-day, it will be almost an impossible thing to refuse to-morrow. (S. Martin.)
Enticemerits and enticers
Some point is gained by regarding this as Solomons advice to his son Rehoboam, who probably was an only son, and certainly was brought up amidst the dangerous luxuries and flatteries of Eastern court life. One of his chief perils lay in evil companionships. The surface of society never tells the truth concerning it. It is strange to find Rehoboam warned of wild banditti (Pro_1:11-14). Illustrate from the Prince Hal of English history and common sentiment concerning such men as Robin Hood. Drinking, gambling, and impurity are the wild evils of our time, and the caution of the text applies to them.
I. Temptations must come. This is a necessary law for those who are placed on probation. Forms of enticement differ in different ages. In each age, in each setting of social circumstances, there is a lawless, self-indulgent side. There is in all young people a love of romance, and a high-spiritedness, which makes them delight in adventure; but selfishness and covetousness are the dispositions which most readily respond to enticements of social evil. None can hope to escape temptation, none should wish to escape it. There is no possible culture of moral character without such testing.
II. Sin lies in consenting to enticements. Personal consent is essential to sin. What advice can then be given to the young?
1. Do not put yourself in the way of temptation.
2. Meet enticement with simple refusal.
III. The character of an enticement is shown in the character of those who present it. We are often placed in difficulty by the disguises of temptation. Especially before we have gained life-experience. By the hands and the neck it does seem like Esau. By the talk it does seem a wise serpent. A fair judgment of it is often beyond our power, But judging those who offer the temptation is always possible. If a man is not a good man, you had better suspect what he wants you to do. If you know a man is good, you may begin with confidence in his advice. If sinners entice, it is always safe not to consent. If the good invite, it is always best to consent at once. God is the infinitely good One, and to His call and invitation instant and unquestioning response should be given. (Weekly Pulpit.)
Virtuous obstinacy
I. The tempters are called sinners. A sinner here is one who has himself gone out of the straight path of duty, and is now a wilful wanderer, aiming to draw others into his own dangerous course.
II. The way of tempting called enticing. Sometimes the enticement of flattery is employed; sometimes misrepresentation; sometimes allurement; sometimes the barest artifice. The most dangerous artifices are those that tend to shake the only sure foundations of moral obligation and responsibility.
III. How are these tempters to be dealt with? Parental authority and affection enforce the solemn charge. Call in reason to your aid. Call in reflection. Call in self-knowledge. Call in the solemn warnings of Gods holy oracles. Call in watchfulness and prayer. Covet the approbation of conscience. Stop to count the final cost. Let the sensual allure, let the unbelieving misrepresent, let the reckless scoff; but by the help of God, in the name of all that is virtuous and praiseworthy, for the happiness of your whole present life, in the aspiration after a life of perfect virtue and of perfect bliss, let your one decisive answer ever be, No. (J. Bullar.)
The enticements of sinners
Youth, neglected or corrupted, makes manhood despicable or vicious. The crimes of riper years multiply and embitter the infirmities and the sorrows of age. Beware of poisoning the youthful mind with false principles. Leave the rational powers gradually to unfold themselves. You may aid reason in its operations, but never let authority supply the place of conviction, nor cheek a passion, but by an argument level to the comprehension. This is the pernicious doctrine of the new philosophy, which is but another name for infidelity. Better advice is, watch the first dawnings of intellect. It begins to open sooner than most suspect. Its natural tendency is towards error. It belongs to you to inform and to direct it. Watch, with equal care, the first emotions of feeling and passion; their tendency is equally towards vice. Tell your children that virtue derives its chief and its only religious value from its conformity to the nature and will of God, and that vice is odious and detestable from its opposition to both.
I. Is it not strange the wicked should seek to entice others? That human nature is corrupted appears in the practice and the contagion of vice. Vice, the natural product of a tainted heart, first makes its appearance in the moral constitution; grows by indulgence, and is propagated by example.
1. Sinners are prompted to the seduction of others by natural impulse. It results both from their principles and their habits.
2. The wicked are led to seduction by a second motive. They feel a shame which they refuse to acknowledge; they are anxious to wear off this painful impression in their own minds, and divide the disgrace of their conduct in the opinion of mankind by the society of others.
3. Vice is also attended with fear. The man wants society in order to dissipate thought.
4. Vice, indeed, requires society either for its full enjoyment or the effectual accomplishment of its purposes.
5. Indefatigable is the kingdom of darkness in propagating itself.
6. Infernal influences may be necessary to account for the activity of the wicked in seduction.
II. The methods employed in the work of seduction. The efforts of the seducer are not systematic and uniform. They are accommodated to circumstances and tempers. You are not guiltless if you suffer yourselves to be seduced. No temptation amounts to a physical necessity of transgressing; neither sin nor sinners can prevail against you without your own inclination. Your most effectual weapon of defence is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, in connection with the other parts of the Christian armour. (David Birchan, D. L.)
Bad company
I. The company portrayed.
1. Lawlessness. Sinners (Pro_1:10; 1Jn_3:4). To sin is to sink.
2. Persuasiveness. Entice thee. The gilded trappings of many modern amusements, the gay apparel of fallen virtue, the promise of good to be enjoyed that never comes, are baits by which thousands are lured into sin.
3. Combination. Come with us (Pro_1:11). Combine, said a great politician, when speaking to a class of men who had a grievance which they wished to redress. So says the enemy of souls. In the ranks of the wicked hand joins in hand (Pro_11:21).
4. Cruelty. Let us lay wait for blood.
5. Cowardice. Let us lay wait. Cruelty and cowardice are often allied.
6. Selfishness (Pro_1:13). The emptying of other peoples houses is of no consequence so that they fill their own. It is said of Napoleon, that for every step he rose in greatness the head of another fell.
7. Sociability (Pro_1:14). This sounds pleasant enough; but what of the money to be put into the purse? Blood-money.
8. Activity (Pro_1:16). There is in the wicked an impulse which impels them to hurry into sin.
II. Thy counsel given.
1. Heed good advice (Pro_1:8). The voice of the tempter is powerless to him who listens reverently to the voice of God (Mar_1:11; Mar_1:26).
2. Learn to say, No (Pro_1:10).
3. Shun evil company (Pro_1:15). Evil companions, says one, first make us sad, and then they make us bad.
4. Keep away from the haunts of evil. Refrain thy foot. Some who would not associate with the ungodly frequent the places where the wicked congregate. They go to see, and in some cases as the result of seeing, fall to rise no more. The Swiss mules have a habit of going close to the edge of dangerous precipices. If men were as sure-footed in the path of life as are mules upon the mountains, they might do so too; but with natures prone to evil, it is safer to keep as far as possible from the place where danger is.
5. Cultivate true godliness. A godly character is a wall of defence which the worldly are often afraid to attack. (H. Thorne.)
Warning against the enticements of the wicked
I. The evil enticement mentioned in the text.
1. The wicked deed, it is promised, shall be done in secrecy and with concealment.
2. It is a bold and spirited act to which the young man is incited. The appeal is made to his pluck and love of adventure (Pro_1:12).
3. The allurement is held out of great spoil.
4. The offer of frank and jovial companionship.
II. The dissuasive warning of the text (Pro_1:10).
1. Consider the awful extremes to which your evil course may lead.
2. Consider how faithfully and plainly you have been warned.
3. The ruinous consequences of a wicked course. (T. G. Horton.)
Admonition to the young
I. Who they are against whose enticements the young are to be on their guard.
1. Such as have abandoned themselves to vice and crime. The gratification of devils is to have men as sinful and miserable as they are.
2. Those who, however moral in the eye of men, are yet destitute of godliness. It has always been the policy of the enemy of souls to lead men into the depths of iniquity by little and little. The drunkard, for example, is as sober, enlightened, industrious, respected in society, beloved in his own family as any other when Satan first approaches him. Now, were the destroyer of man at once to show to this individual the full picture of that beastliness and misery to which he intended soon to reduce him, there would still be a sufficiency of moral courage, of self-preservation, of human feeling in him to cause him to flee even with horror and with tears from the snare. But Satan is too cunning and too intent upon success. He has patience in mischief, and can exercise it long in order to gain a mighty end.
3. Those especially who are acquaintances or companions. The companionship of the young is usually formed by accidental circumstances, without thought or discrimination. Some become companions at school, some by neighbourhood, some by relationship, some by serving under the same master, or working in the same establishment.
4. Those also who are strangers. Alas! such is the moral condition of man that we must live in this world in a state of constant suspicion. It was by listening to a stranger that our first mother was deceived; and in the same way was the man of God, who had been sent from Judah to denounce the wrath of Jehovah against Jeroboam and his idolatrous altar at Bethel, betrayed into an act of fatal disobedience.
II. The nature of the enticements against which the young are here warned.
1. Sinners will entice them by their example.
2. Sinners will entice them by holding out false hopes and representations of enjoyment in the courses to which they allure them.
3. By misrepresenting or denying the truth of God.
4. By ridiculing their moral fears.
5. By appealing to the multitudes. We naturally hate singularity, and in nothing so much as in religion.
6. By flattering kindness and attention.
7. By pretensions to religion.
III. Illustrate and enforce the admonition, consent thou not.
1. It is only with their own consent that the young can be led astray. The guilt as well as the bitter consequences of their yielding to sin will rest with themselves.
2. To be ready to refuse their consent to the enticements of sinners, their hearts must be well established in regard to both the ways of sin and the ways of righteousness.
3. The young are to cherish in their minds a suspicion and terror of all who would entice them to sin.
4. Let them carry about with them habitually a fear of God and a sense of His presence.
5. Let them consider the extreme difficulty of entering into life. Instead of tampering with sin, and exposing ourselves to its snares, we would have enough ado to gain heaven though no such allurements lay in our path.
6. Let them ponder much and deeply the misery of those who are pursuing the pleasures of sin.
7. Let them keep steadily before their minds the terrors of the wrath that is to come.
8. Let them now give their consent to the invitations of Christ. (Joseph Hay, M.A.)
Counsel for the tempted
I. Temptation is inevitable.
1. The name of temptation is legion, for they are many, and yet one. The strongest agencies appear in human form--sinners, who are agents of the devil. They may be our companions. They may even call themselves our friends.
2. It is not a sin to be tempted.
II. The power of temptation. Its power lies in the word entice. Enticements are the bait on the devils hook. Pleasure is one of them. Seeing life is another. The love of liberty or of asserting independence is a powerful lure. The dread of being laughed at is a strong compulsion. Nobody will know is often the last inducement which subdues the will and silences the conscience.
III. The limits of temptation. Temptation is mighty, but it is not almighty. No one has power over our will so that we must yield.
IV. The way of escape. Consent thou not. Augustine traced the ways of the battle. They are Cogitatio, Imaginatio, Delectatio, Consensio. Consent is the final stage of a lost battle. It is the lowering of the flag before the enemy; the opening of the gates of the citadel of life.
V. Say no to the tempter, but say yes to Christ. He says, Lo, I am with you alway; I have prayed for you that your faith fail not; Take therefore the whole armour of God, etc. (John Reid, M. A.)
A courageous decision
In America there were some eight young men who went out one Sabbath morning along the hanks of the Potomac, and they were breaking the Sabbath and acting in a most outrageous way, when the bell of the village church rang out, and one of the young men stopped short and said, I must go to church. The others said, What dye mean? Youre surely not going to church? Yes, I am going. Oh, George is getting pious, and so he ought to be baptized, and here we are by the Potomac River, and we will baptize him by immersion. And so they were about to plunge him in the river, when he said, Stop one minute, boys, and then Im in your hands; but before you plunge me into the river, I want to tell you one thing. My mother was an invalid, and I never saw her out of bed, and when I was about to leave home and choose an occupation, she said to me, Now, George, after you are all ready to go, I want to see you in my room, and to give you my dying blessing, for I am certain I shall never see you again. Your father has not money enough to bring you home at the holidays, and I am very certain before you return I shall have left you for ever, so be sure and come. I went into my mothers room after I was ready, and she asked me if I would kneel down by the bedside, and I knelt down. I remember just how her hand looked. I remember the blue vein on the thin wasted hand as she put it out over me. Then she dropped it upon my head and said, This is my benediction. I will never see you again, and I want you to remember this: you will be out in the world, and there will be a great many temptations over you; but remember when sinners entice thee consent thou not. Now, said he, I am going to church. Well, they said, you mustnt go to church. He started; they followed, half in derision, half in earnestness. They came to the church door. They went in. That day the gospel was mighty in the heart of that young man. Then and there he yielded himself to God. Before many months had passed along, some from one kind of influence, some from another, but all those young men, had entered the kingdom of Christ. Six of them are in heaven, two of them are occupying high positions in the Church, and all because that young man dared to do his duty. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Let us lay wait for blood.--
The robber of Solomons time
The temptation against which the teacher seeks to guard his disciple is that of joining a band of highway robbers. At no period in its history has Palestine ever risen to the security of a well-ordered police system, and the wild license of the marauders life attracted, we may well believe, many who were brought up in towns. The vain men who gathered round Jephthah (Jdg_11:3), the lawless or discontented who came to David in Adullam (1Sa_22:2), the bands of robbers who infested every part of the country in the period of the New Testament, and against whom every Roman governor had to wage incessant war, show how deeply rooted the evil was there. The story of St. John and the young convert who became a robber, the most interesting of all apostolic traditions, may serve as another illustration. The history of many centuries (our own, e.g., in the popular traditions of Robin Hood and of Henry V.), presents like phenomena. The robber-life has attractions for the open-hearted and adventurous. No generation, perhaps no class, can afford to despise the warning against it. (Dean Plumptre.)
The robbers speech
I. Young men are in great danger of being drawn away to sinful courses. Because they have not that grounded experience that others have, nor are so able to look through shows into substances. Because they are wilful and headstrong, and will follow their own lusts, notwithstanding good mens persuasions.
II. Secrecy is great bait to wickedness. Because shame is a great bridle to keep men from open wickedness. Many are kept in by it whom no counsel will keep from evil ways. Because fear of punishment is a bit that keeps others from sin. Take heed of secret solicitations to secret evils.
III. Wicked men have many secret devices to bring their wicked designs to pass. As Esau (Gen_27:41), Jezebel (1Ki_21:9). It is their study day and night (Psa_36:4; Pro_4:16).
IV. Wicked men promise themselves success of their mischievous plots. They think their mine too deep for men to countermine, and look not to God, who can go beyond them. This shows us how deeply sin is rooted in sinful souls, so that they dare promise themselves good success, not only in lawful, but also in sinful affairs. (Francis Taylor.)
My son, walk not thou in the way with them.
Bad company
Hardly any young man goes to a place of dissipation alone. Each one is accompanied. No man goes to ruin alone. He always takes some one else with him. We may, in our places of business, be compelled to talk to and mingle with bad men; but he who deliberately chooses to associate with vicious people is engaged in carrying on a courtship with a Delilah, whose shears will clip off all the locks of his strength, and he will be tripped into perdition.
1. I warn you to shun the sceptic--the young man who puts his fingers in his vest and laughs at your old-fashioned religion, and turns over to some mystery of the Bible and says, Explain that, my pious friend--explain that; and who says, Nobody shall scare me; I am not afraid of the future. Alas! a time will come when the blustering young infidel will have to die, and then his diamond ring will flash no splendour in the eyes of Death as the grim foe stands over the couch waiting for his soul.
2. Again, I urge you to shun the companionship of idlers, There are men hanging around every store, and office, and shop who have nothing to do, or act as if they had not. Idleness is next door to villainy. Thieves, gamblers, burglars, shop-lifters, and assassins are made from the class who have nothing to do.
3. I urge you to avoid the perpetual pleasure-seeker. Look out for the man who always plays and never works. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Dissuasion from joining the robbers
The sum of all this advice is as if he had said, Oh, my son, sinners will entice thee with these or such like words and promises, and lay such snares for thy inexperienced youth; but remember that thou art my son, and not theirs, and therefore hast more reason to hearken to me, who speak to thee out of a fatherly affection. Hearken not, therefore, to their counsels, flatteries, or promises. Show thyself so strange to them that thou wilt not so much as enter into their way, much less walk into it.
I. Children should rather hearken to their parents good counsel than to others bad. Because they are more engaged to parents than to any other for life, education, pains, and means. Parents counsels are given in love, and are for their good.
II. Young men have need to labour for knowledge to discern between Good counsel and bad. Because they are often put to it. Young men stand, as Hercules in his dream, between virtue and vice, solicited by both. Because there are fair pretences for all sins. Gluttony is called the free use of the creature; drunkenness, good-fellowship; prodigality is called liberality; covetousness, thrift; lust is entitled love; pride goes for handsomeness. It needs a good touchstone to distinguish between gold and copper well gilt over. No less skill is needed to distinguish between real and apparent good. Weigh things by the light of reason and the light of Scripture.
III. Allurements to sin ape no excuse for sin. Because allurers have no power to compel. They may, and ought to be refused.
IV. Company excuses no man in his sins. Company cannot alter the nature of things. It cannot make good evil or evil good. There is choice of company; all company is not evil. Company may draw our corrupt nature to sin, but cannot excuse us for Sin.
V. Continuance, or walking in sin, is dangerous. It is the sign of a hard heart to continue in sin. The mouth of the conscience is stopped. It makes the heart more hard still. Custom will make a man not start at the greatest sins.
VI. The very entrance into sinful ways is full of danger, like a downfall--no stay till you come to the bottom. Keep out of evil ways, or get out quickly. (Francis Taylor.)
The pernicious effects of evil company
The condition and circumstances in which we are placed here are such that society is necessary to the happiness, if not to the very being, of mankind. Besides this necessity, which compels us to seek assistance from society, there is a natural inclination which strongly prompts us to it. Solomon, having observed this absolute necessity of friendship and society, and of what high importance it is to choose friends and companions rightly, hath, in this Book of Proverbs, given many rules concerning that choice, of which the text is one. Walk not in the way of sinners; enter not into any friendship with wicked men. I shall show the dangers of evil, and the advantages of good, company.
1. As the foundation of all, let me mention, first, the authority of the Holy Scriptures, choosing a few out of the many passages to this purpose with which the sacred writings abound. Make no friendship, saith Solomon, with an angry man, lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. To this purpose the prophet expostulates very sharply with Jehoshaphat concerning the alliance into which he had entered with Ahab, a wicked and idolatrous king: Shouldst thou love them that hate the Lord? There is something very strong and solemn in the adjuration used by St. Paul to the Thessalonians: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly.
2. To this authority of Holy Scripture I add the confirmation of reason, to show that we ought to be careful in the choice of companions from this consideration, that the nature of a mans friends or company must be of great consequence to his well-being. And this appears from hence, because they always have an extraordinary influence, not only upon his own temper and behaviour, but upon all his chief concernments. Now, comfort in distress is one of the chief advantages that may be gained by friendship, and one of the principal ends proposed by it. But how can this be hoped for from any wicked person? However agreeable his temper may be to a mind at ease, however soothing his discourse to the ear of the prosperous, yet can it bring little comfort to a troubled spirit. Besides, the only support in adversity is religion, the firm belief of a wise and good Providence, directing all things to the best ends. And how is it possible for a man to administer comfort from this consideration who lives in rebellion against that great Being? or how can one who hath any love to religion delight in the company of him who disclaims or disregards it? Even our interest is injured by intimacy with wicked men; for being guided by their passions and sacrificing their most sacred obligations to their vices, they are inconstant and insincere, and likely to betray our interests who neglect and forfeit their own. Whereas, in conversing with the good man, there are many advantages. His known sincerity secures us from the anxiety of suspicion; the principles upon which he acts remove all fears of change in him. Reputation, it is evident, cannot be obtained by living in familiarity with wicked men. Friendship either finds or makes men alike; and the world justly supposes that we resemble those with whom we live in strict intimacy. For this reason nothing can be of greater use to our character than a close union with wise and good men. From what hath been said may be drawn some observations worthy of our attention and care.
1. We should fix in our minds a right sense of the great use which may arise to us all from society and mutual converse.
2. All among us who may be considered in the different relations of parents or masters ought to be careful, not only for ourselves, but for those who are committed to our charge or dependent upon us, in the choice of companions.
3. We should labour to acquire those good qualities which are most proper to fit us for receiving and giving improvement by company. Such as candour and ingenuousness of mind, by which we are brought readily to acknowledge our own mistakes and to do justice to the perfections or pre-eminence of another. Such, likewise, is humility, a virtue which makes us inclined to listen and learn. We should also study to bring advantage to company, as well as receive from it; to which end we should establish a persuasion of our truth, honesty, and good-nature. (J. Lawson.)
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.--
A warning against evil associations
In things temporal the knowledge of peril leads naturally to the avoidance of it. The parallel of the text implies the existence of danger, under the simile of the spreading of the net, and develops the character of the safeguard, viz., consciousness of the purpose for which the net is spread. Three sources from which the dangers of young people specially arise: evil associations, false principles, and a perverse and wicked heart. The majority of young men in the world consist of the sceptical, who despise religion; the sensual, who hate it; and the indifferent, who neglect it. The sceptical or philosophical young man is one who has read much, but reasoned little. His philosophy consists in perplexing and unsettling what others believe rather than in propounding anything rational of his own. He affects a thorough contempt of the old tracks and beaten paths, and disclaims all views of religion that do not afford scope for human reason. There is a second class of tempters who leave the intellect untouched, but who do the work of the enemy, and spread nets for the soul by means of appetites and lusts. Its aim is to make the most of time as it passes, to drain the cup of pleasure while yet it remains within our grasp, to resolve the existence of man into the gratification of sense, and leave futurity, which must be, and eternity, which may be, to shift for themselves. There is yet a third class of evil associates or tempters, by whom snares are spread for the soul, who do not pride themselves on their sensuality, like the second, or on their infidelity, like the first, who literally care for none of these things. These are persons who consider religion as a thing decent and proper enough for those who have time to spare, such as children and servants, but account it only the occasional concern of men devoted to study or engaged in business.
1. The antidote for the subtle poison insinuated by the infidel is to be found in the just consideration of Christs atonement.
2. The antidote to the allurements of the sensual is the just consideration of Christs example.
3. The most effectual antidote to the stealthy and subtle poison of the companionship and example of the indifferent is the just appreciation of the promises of Christ. Until the infidel can observe the brightness of Christs glory; until the sensualist can sully the purity of Christs holiness; until the worldling can demonstrate the fallacy of Christs promises, safety may always be found by looking unto Jesus, by looking unto Him in our hours of need. (Thomas Dale, M.A.)
Persuasions and dissuasions
In vain. So our translation and some others read it. Some take it to be in vain in regard of the bird, which will take no warning, but will fly to the meat, though it fall into the net. So will thieves go on till they come to the gallows, notwithstanding examples of others hanged before, or counsels of friends. Others apply it to the young man himself, as if Solomon had said, If birds have wit to see and avoid snares, thou, my son, being a reasonable creature, shouldst much more see the danger of these evil mens counsels.
I. Variety of reasons are needful to dissuade from evil, Because of our private unbelief; because of our positive unbelief; because of mens different dispositions.
II. Reasons brought to confirm truth must be solid ones. Because nothing but truth should come from an informer (teacher). Reasons ought not only to be true, but to bear up all truths. How can a man think to persuade others by that which does not persuade himself?
III. There is a world of injustice in the world. Men have different humours and affections. We must be just in the midst of an unjust generation.
IV. Wicked men have cunning devices to do mischief. To expedite the business the sooner, that they may quickly effect their desire, and to remove all impediments. Take heed of ungodly mens plots. Use the doves innocency, but with the serpents subtilty. (Francis Taylor.)
Warned by seeing
Early in the morning I went out with a fowler to catch wild pigeons. We hastened through the gorge of the mountain. We spread out our net, covering up the edges of the net, as well as we might, with the branches of trees, so that the fowls of the air might not discover it. We arranged the call-bird; its feet fast, its wings flapping, so as to invite all the fowls of the air to come and lie there. Then we retired into a booth of branches, and waited for the birds to come. In the far heights we saw a flock of birds approach. They came nearer and nearer, and lower and lower, until they were just able to drop into the net, when they suddenly darted away. We were disappointed. We waited, and after a while saw another flock of birds come nearer and nearer, and lower and lower, until just the moment when they were about to drop into the net, suddenly they darted away. I said to the old fowler, What is the reason of this? Let us examine the thing. So we went out, and we found that, by the flutter of a tree-branch, part of the net had been exposed, so that the birds, coming near, had seen their danger and had escaped. And when I saw that, I said to the old fowler, That reminds me of a passage of Scripture: Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Traps for men
There are two classes of temptations--the superficial and the subterraneous--those aboveground, those underground. If a man could see sin as it is, he would no more embrace it than he would embrace a leper. I want to point out the insidious temptations that are assailing more especially our young men. The only kind of nature comparatively free from temptation, so far as I can judge, is the cold, hard, stingy, mean temperament. What would Satan do with such a man if he got him? Satan is not anxious to get a man who, after a while, may dispute with him the realm of everlasting meanness. It is the generous young man, the ardent young man, the warm- hearted young man, the social young man that is in especial peril.
1. The first class of temptations that assault a young man is led on by the sceptic. He will not admit he is an infidel or atheist. Oh, no! he is a free- thinker; he is one of your liberal men; he is free and easy in religion.
2. The second class of insidious temptations that come upon our young men is led on by the dishonest employer.
3. Temptations to drink. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Moral traps
I. Sin lays traps for souls. Sin has woven a net and laid it along the path of life. This net is wrought of diverse materials, such as sensuality, avarice, ambition. Traps are adjusted for men of every mental type, of every period in life, in every social grade.
II. These traps must be exposed. The fowler conceals his net. Sin works insidiously. It takes advantage of mens circumstances, ignorance, and inexperience. The work of the true philanthropist is to expose the traps.
III. These traps bring ruin to their authors. They lay wait for their own blood. Retribution overtakes them. If they escape violence themselves, the Nemesis pursues them. Their schemes may seem to prosper here, but justice tracks their steps, and their ruin is inevitable. (David Thomas, D.D.)
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain.--
Greed of gold
Midas, the Phrygian king, asked a favour of the gods, and they agreed to grant him whatever he should desire. The monarch, overjoyed, resolved to make the favour inexhaustible. He prayed that whatever he touched might be turned into gold. The prayer was granted, and bitter were the consequences. Whatever the poor king touched did turn to gold. He laid his hand upon a rock, and it became a huge mass of gold of priceless value; he clutched his oaken staff, and it became in his hand a bar of virgin gold. At first the monarchs joy was unbounded, and he returned to his palace the most favoured of mortals. Alas for the short-sightedness of man! He sat at table, and all he touched turned in mockery of his wish to gold--pure, solid gold. Then the conviction came rushing upon his humbled mind, that he must perish from his grasping wish--die in the midst of plenty; and remembering the ominous saying he had heard, The gods themselves cannot take back their gifts, he howled to the sternly smiling Dionysius to restore him to the coarsest, vilest food, and deliver him from the curse of gold.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Pro_1:10. Entice thee, “lay thee open.” Miller here reads…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_1:10. Entice thee, “lay thee open.” Miller here reads “if sinners would make a door of thy simplicity, afford thou no entrance.”
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Pro_1:17. Some interpret this verse as referring to the godly who escape the snares laid for them, others to the wicked, who, not so wise as the bird, plunge themselves into ruin by plotting against the good. Then the blood and lives of Pro_1:18 refer to the blood and life of the sinner.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_1:10-19
ENTICEMENT TO SIN AND EXHORTATION AGAINST YIELDING TO IT
I. Youth will certainly be tempted.
1. Because he is in an evil world. In this world everything that possesses life is in danger of losing it. The tree is liable to have its root eaten by the worm, the smaller creatures in the animal world are beset with danger from those above them in size and strength, the fish in the sea is ever in danger of the hook or the net, the bird of the fowler’s snare, the forest king of the hunter’s gun. Man, in respect to his mere bodily existence, is surrounded by influences antagonistic to the preservation of his animal life. And this danger often presents itself in the form of enticement. The crumbs lure the bird into the trap, the bait tempts the fish to bite the hook. A smooth sea and bright sunshine in the morning tempts the fisherman to the voyage upon the treacherous deep, which becomes his grave in the evening. Moral life is not excepted from this rule. Wherever the youth finds himself in the world he will be tempted, because he is everywhere surrounded by influences which war against his soul life.
2. Because it is an ordination of God. The Divine Ruler has ordained that men shall suffer temptation. There are things in this world which are the common lot of all men, from the highest to the lowest. Disease and death come alike to the proudest monarch and his meanest subject, to the man of highest intellect and to the most unlettered savage. And temptation is also an ordained heritage of man. Not even the “second Adam, the Lord from heaven,” was exempted from this rule.
3. Because it is necessary for the formation of moral character. The seaman needs to come into conflict with the stormy winds and the rough waves of the ocean if he is to become a skilful mariner. The very effort which he puts forth to overcome them makes him more fit for his calling. So men must have temptation in order to test their powers of resistance; the struggle against sin, if successful, strengthens the moral character.
II. The elements which form the strength of the temptation.
1. The secresy promised by the tempter. “Let us lay wait for blood,” let us lurk privily for the innocent, etc. No one commits a crime against his fellow man, without an underlying hope that he will not be found out; he even persuades himself that it is hidden from God. “They say, how doth God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (Psa_73:11).
2. The hope of gain. Advantage of some kind is supposed to be the fruit of every sin. That which the tempter uses here is an increase of wealth. “We shall find all precious substance,” etc. This temptation is most common. A man is persuaded that by a very slight risk he can make a large fortune, that the deed will never come to light, and these two persuasions have been the ruin of hundreds.
3. The number of the tempters. Here several are represented as tempting one. “Come with us.” Numbers always influence us even when no persuasion is used. Men are naturally inclined to do what the many do, to go with the multitude. There is an undefined feeling that safety is with the majority, or, at least, that the being involved with many others lessens personal responsibility. This element of temptation is very powerful in a world where “the many” go in at the gate which leadeth to destruction, and “few” walk in the way which leadeth unto life (Mat_7:13-14).
III. The way of escape from the tempter.
1. Calling to mind his filial relation. “My son.” It is a great help to a youth who is in danger of being drawn away from his steadfastness in the path of virtue to call his parents to mind. His father’s instructions and example, his mother’s love and prayers, the grief that his fall would bring upon them will, if reflected on, be a means of escape from the tempter’s snare. The thought that he is a son ought to be sufficient to keep him from straying.
2. A consideration of the certain end of sinners. Those who promise themselves and others secresy shall be taken openly. The bird will not be decoyed into the net if he sees it spread, the trap must be laid in secret if it is to be successful. But sinners go on in sin although they are forewarned by God, by their own consciences, by the law of human society, and by the experience of others what the end will be. “Be sure your sin will find you out,” is written, not only in the book of God, but within us and around us. The young man is to bear in mind that they are fools who tell him there is gain to be had by sin. Those who seek to take life in order to enjoy the property of others, or in any way to wrong their fellows for their own fancied gain, shall themselves, like Haman, be hanged upon the gallows which they have made. Let the youth reflect up the sad histories of those who now fill our convict-prisons, and he will feel that it is indeed true that evil-doers “lay wait for their own blood.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_1:10.
I. A supposition implied, that sinners will entice. Sin is of so virulent and malignant a nature, that it tainteth the whole air about it and filleth it with infection, and there is no safety to be found within its neighbourhood without the blessed antidotes of piety and carefulness. And the sinner will take as much pains to pervert his companions, as the Jews did to make proselytes, and with the same fatal design and consequence, viz., to make them twofold more the children of hell than themselves. For since the good have all other advantages, and vastly outweigh them in intrinsic worth, they will endeavour to come as near a level as they can by making up in number what they want in value. Besides, it silences in some measure the loud alarms of their own consciences, when many join with them in their vicious performances, and the approbation of others, by complying with their practices, lulleth them to sleep in a dull security.
II. A caution subjoined, “Consent thou not.” To which end—
1. Consider the baseness and danger of consenting. We must sacrifice our reputation, render ourselves unfit for the company of men of worth, and exchange the glorious liberty of the children of God for that of vassals of iniquity. We must call in question the existence of God, and expose ourselves to that avenging hand which will lie heavy upon sinners to all eternity.
2. Take some plain and short directions to secure yourself against their enticements. Repel the first attempts upon your character. When that which is wrong is spoken or acted in your presence, do not suffer yourself to give it inward approbation. Withdraw from such society as soon as possible. Seek God’s assistance.—Nicolas Brady, D.D.
This verse, in brief compass and transparent terms, reveals the foe and the fight. With a kindness and wisdom altogether paternal, it warns the youth of the danger that assails him, and suggests the method of defence.—Arnot.
Carry a severe rebuke in thy countenance, as God doth (Psa_80:16). To rebuke them is the ready way to be rid of them.—Trapp.
Pro_1:11-13. Two unreasonable and insatiable lusts they propose to gratify.
1. Their cruelty. They thirst for blood, and hate those that are innocent, and never gave them any provocation. Who could imagine that human nature should degenerate so far that it should ever be a pleasure to one man to destroy another?
2. Their covetousness. What, though we venture our necks, we shall fill our houses with spoil. See here
(1) the idea they have of worldly wealth. They call that precious substance which is neither substance nor precious; it is a shadow and vanity, especially that which is gotten by robbery. It is the ruin of thousands, that they overvalue the wealth of this world.
2. The abundance which they promise themselves. Those who trade with sin promise themselves mighty bargains. But they only dream that they eat, the housefuls dwindle into scarcely a handful.—Henry.
Pro_1:11. The warning, as such, is true for all times and countries, but has here a special application. The temptation against which the teacher seeks to guard his disciple is that of joining a band of highway robbers. At no period in its history has Palestine ever risen to the security of a well-ordered police system, and the wild licence of the marauder’s life attracted, we may well believe, many who were brought up in towns (Jdg_11:3; 1Sa_22:2), and the bands of robbers who infested every part of the country in the period of the New Testament, and against whom every Roman governor had to wage incessant war, show how deeply rooted the evil was there. The history of many countries (our own, e.g., in the popular Traditions of Robin Hood and Henry V.) presents like phenomena. The robber-life has attractions for the open-hearted and adventurous. No generation, perhaps no class, can afford to despise the warning against it.… Without cause may mean in vain, and receive its interpretation from the mocking question of the tempter: “Doth Job serve God for nought?” The evil-doers deride their victims as being righteous gratis, or in vain.—Plumptre.
If sinners have their “come,” should not saints much more? Should we not incite, entice, whet, and provoke one another, rouse and stir up each other, to love and good works? (2Pe_1:13; Heb_10:24; Isa_2:3; Zec_8:21.)—Trapp.
Pro_1:12. The force of the verse noteth the allurement of wickedness from the cleanly despatch of it, so that nothing appeareth of the doing of it.—Jermin.
We will be as Sheol, as Hades, as the great underworld of the dead, all-devouring, merciless. The destruction of those we attack shall be as sudden as that of those who go down quickly into Sheol. (Num_16:30; Num_16:33)—Plumptre.
Pro_1:13. Wickedness has always been a very bragging boaster. These sinners make a brag like that which the devil made to Christ: “All these things will I give thee.” Covetousness is a strong chain to draw men on to wickedness.—Jermin.
Pro_1:14. The first form of temptation is addressed to the simple lust of greed. The second, with more subtle skill, appeals to something in itself nobler, however easily perverted. The main attraction of the robber-life is its wild communism, the sense of equal hazards and equal hopes. To have “one purse,” setting laws of property at nought among themselves, seems almost a set-off against their attacks on the property of others.—Plumptre.
Pro_1:15. “God will not take the wicked by the hand.” (Job_8:20.) Why, then, should we?—Trapp.
The affairs of this life are the highways of the King of Heaven; thou mayest walk in the ways of them, but not with the wicked. It is an argument of a wicked man but to company with the wicked. We judge evil accompanyings to be next to evil deeds.—Jermin.
Pro_1:16. They may talk of walking, of walking in pleasures and delights, to get thee to walk with them. But, though, from what thou findest at first, thou little thinkest what will be the end, yet let me tell thee that it is to evil the journey tendeth; to that it will quickly come, for their feet run unto it. What shame is it that evil should be so pursued after!—Jermin.
Pro_1:17. These men are plotting with their eyes wide open. The verse teaches the great doctrine of deliberateness to ruin. Men go to hell when they expect it; at least, they go when it is a trap to them, of which they know the setting. They go open-eyed on into the gin.—Miller.
The great net of God’s judgments is spread out, open to the eyes of all, and yet evil-doers, wilfully blind, still rush into it.—Plumptre.
Pro_1:18. These couriers of hell, who carry the despatches of the devil, cannot run faster to the hurt of others than they do to their own mischief; they cannot make more haste to shed the blood of others than they do to shed their own blood.—Jermin.
Pro_1:19. These “ways” are certainly some of the worst. The persons described are of the baser sort; the crimes enumerated are gross and rank. Yet when these apples of Sodom are traced to their sustaining root, it turns out to be greed of gain. The love of money can bear all these. When this greed is generated, like a thirst in the soul, it imperiously demands satisfaction wherever it can most readily be found. In some countries of the world it still retains the old-fashioned iniquity which Solomon has described. In our country, though the same passion domineer in a man’s heart, it will not adopt the same method, because it has cunning enough to know that it will not succeed. Dishonesty is diluted, and coloured, and moulded, to suit the taste of the times. But the ancient and modern evil-doers are reckoned brethren in iniquity, despite the difference in the costume of their crimes.… This greed, when full-grown, is coarse and cruel. It has no bowels. It marches right to its mark, treading on everything that lies in the way. If necessary “it taketh away the life of the owners thereof.” Covetousness is idolatry. The idol delights in blood. He demands and gets a hecatomb of human sacrifices.—Arnot.
Midas, the Phrygian king, asked a favour of the gods, and they agreed to grant him whatever he should desire. The monarch, overjoyed, resolved to make the favour inexhaustible. He prayed that whatever he touched might be turned to gold. The prayer was granted, and bitter were the consequences. What the king touched did turn to gold. He laid his hand upon the rock and it became a huge mass of priceless value; he clutched his oaken staff, and it became in his hand a bar of virgin gold. At first the monarch’s joy was unbounded, and he returned to his palace the most favoured of mortals. Alas for the shortsightedness of man! He sat at table, and all he touched turned to gold—pure solid gold. The conviction rushed upon him that he must perish from his grasping wish—die in the midst of plenty; and remembering the ominous saying he had heard, “The gods themselves cannot take back their gifts,” he howled to the sternly smiling Dionysius to restore him to the coarsest, vilest food, and deliver him from the curse of gold.—Biblical Treasury.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 try to entice you into their sin
try to entice you into their sin
"try to persuade you to sin as they do"
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refuse to follow them
"refuse them" or "do not listen to them"
If they say
Here the speaker gives an example of what sinners may try to entice someone to do. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
lie in wait
"hide and wait for the right time"
translationWords
sin
innocent
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:10-19 The father warns his child not to join…
1:10-19 The father warns his child not to join a gang of sinners in their plan to pounce on the innocent, for their evil actions will rebound on themselves (see 28:10; Pss 9:15; 35:8). The evil way is a path of violence and robbery.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.