Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name this day. May your kingdom come, may you reign supreme in the hearts of your people today. May your gracious rule extend mightily in my heart today. May your will be done in the lives and homes of your people, and may you guide me in your ways. Please give to your saints today refreshment, strength, and nourishment from your word. As I read your word now, may you please strengthen and feed my soul for the day ahead. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Reading

Prov 1:10 - “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.”

Meditation

Plainly put, what we find in this verse is a warning not to consent to the enticements of sinners. Question: what does it mean to consent? We’re talking about compliance here. When we have sinners, godless folk, to be our companions, and the worldly enticement comes, consent means that we understand what they’re offering and then we receive it. It’s to comply with their way of life. It’s to conform with them in what they do, to follow after them. When our workmate gossips and slanders someone, for example, consenting is gossiping and slandering along with them, not defending the reputation of the one who is being slandered. When someone tempts you into an unlawful sexual relationship, consent would be to give in to that temptation. If those around us live lazy and irresponsible lives, consent would be to fall in step with laziness and irresponsibility.

Be ye doers of the word…

A chief point of application to guard against giving this kind of consent is to firstly be mindful of the kind of company that we keep. To begin with, don’t make close friends with sinners. When it comes to choosing your companions, your life may well hang in the balance on this decision. By all means, treat unbelievers kindly, do good to them, extend hospitality to them, and be friendly. In some relationships, there may be a closeness that develops over some common interest or connection (e.g. with a neighbour, a doctor, etc.). I’m not saying that we ought to be relationally distant, but there is a kind of closeness and intimacy that we ought not to cultivate with them. Having a close, spiritually unguarded relationship with an unbeliever will mean that we are putting ourselves regularly into situations where we may be enticed into godless ways of thinking, speaking, and living. Especially in the context of our passage, our relationships with obviously and flagrantly immoral people must not be such that might lead us into sin. We must be on guard against this.

Conversely, we ought also to explicitly seek godly friendships. Just as sinners can lead us astray, so too spiritually mature and godly people can lead us on the right path. What if you don’t have any godly friends? Start by asking God to provide them for you. Secondly, consciously make an effort to develop fellowship and friendships with your fellow believers – especially those whom you can clearly see are serious in their faith and mature and godly in their manner of life. Get close to the people you look up to. Furthermore, read good, spiritual, godly books. Take the puritans to be your friends and mentors. Above all, stay in constant fellowship with Christ. Take him to be your closest friend, because in truth it is he who speaks to us in all these means of grace. Let Christ’s word abide in you, for the words of sinners will take you on a path of death. You will lose your life. The words of Christ will have the opposite effect, they will give life. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration.

Lord I do pray that you would forgive me for my sins, and especially that you would forgive me for the sin of letting godless voices have an undue sway and influence over my soul. I pray that you would please forgive me for the times when I have heard and listened to those voices of enticement, and for the grievous sinful consequences that followed. Have mercy on me, O Lord, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgression. Wash away my iniquity, and cleanse me from all my sins. Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord, and take not your Holy Spirit from me, restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you, save me from the guilt upon me, Lord, who saves me. And Lord I pray that you would provide wisdom and opportunity for me to invest in godly friendships and relationships also, please provide godly older saints whom I can imitate, and help me to be a good friend to others also. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Get full access to Old things New. at rcbhpastor.substack.com/subscribe