Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Proverbs approaches topics from many different angles.
Sometimes it’s good to answer a fool, sometimes it’s not.
Wealth is a good reward for hard work but that same wealth can be a snare for your soul.
Proverbs acknowledges that life is complicated.
But one thing that Proverbs is absolutely certain of, one thing where there are no shades of grey, is sexual immorality.
While mostly silent in the latter portion of the book, Proverbs dedicates a full two and a half chapters instructing us to stay away from the forbidden woman.
Proverbs 5:1–6 (ESV)
1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
6 she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
The Attraction
The wisdom of Proverbs is so incredibly needed today.
We are surrounded by a constant barrage of sexual temptations.
It’s in all of our advertisements with companies grabbing your eyes with a scantily-clad stranger.
It’s in all of our TV shows as we watch our protagonists save the day and be rewarded with more than a kiss.
We hear about sex scandals ruining political careers.
Pastors and church leaders are caught having affairs.
And we see it up close and personal, with inappropriate work relationships, old flings connecting on Facebook, and pornography just a click away.
It’s no wonder why sexual sin is such a temptation for so many.
It satisfies a physical longing for touch and intimacy.
It satisfies the ego and makes you feel validated.
It feels good to be desired.
It also can affect your standing in society.
People use virgin as an insult for the young and inexperienced or socially awkward.
Men in particular are praised in society for sleeping with beautiful women, and lots of them.
When considering sexual acts from a worldly perspective, it sounds like a big win all around!
Although Proverbs speaks as a father to a son, this temptation is not just for the young man - these warning cross age and gender.
Proverbs 5 warns that a forbidden woman can ensnare a man, but we know there are men who want to ensnare women.
And if you think that you’re at an age where sexual temptations are no longer effective against you I would like to remind you that Solomon was old when his wives turned his heart away from God (1 Kings 11:4).
This is a problem for man and woman, both young and old.
Proverbs lays out two paths for us - one of wisdom and one of foolishness.
And as much as we might want to walk wisely we are warned that there will be those who want to lead us down the path of sin, and we will want to follow them.
We need to internalize God’s wisdom, to keep discretion and guard knowledge with our lips because the lips of the stranger will be guiding us to them.
But that stranger is forbidden!
Truer to the Hebrew she’s the strange woman.
The strangers of the Old Testament were the hostile foreigners that Israel was forbidden to intermarry with.
The strange woman is one who has no place in your marriage - she is an outsider to your family - she is forbidden.
And if we find ourselves keeping company with her it leads to disastrous results.
A Path to Hell
Our faithfulness to our spouses is a reflection of our faithfulness to God.
This is why God tells Hosea to take an adulterous wife, so he can experience firsthand what God goes through when we sin against him.
This is why after discussing marriage in Ephesians 5, Paul tells us that “The two shall become one flesh” and says that’s talking not just about husband and wife, but Christ and the church.
This is why after David laments his adultery with Bathsheba in Psalm 51 he says “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”
When we are led astray in our marriages we are being led to the gates of Hell.
Once we’re on that path we’ll find it difficult to get back.
It’s beyond difficult to cut ties with someone you are entangled with physically and emotionally.
Have you ever had a friend in an abusive relationship?
You hear the horror stories of what it’s like for them at home.
Maybe you even hear some first-hand, or see some bruises.
But what really kills you is that they know they’re in an abusive relationship - but they can’t help but keep going back.
Even though we know the illicit affairs are sinful, we keep coming back.
We leave God in order to keep the forbidden woman.
I saw this just earlier this year with a woman who knew she was living in sin with her fourth husband, but wouldn’t let go of that relationship.
She chose a forbidden man over God.
This comes into play with those who have homosexual attraction.
They want all physical and emotional intimacy, but with the wrong people.
And many will end up choosing a forbidden man or woman over God.
Having an affair won’t just ruin your marriage, it can ruin your eternal destiny.
She Destroy’s Your Life
Not only is adultery sinful, it’s just really stupid.
Despite all that initial allurement that draws you in, in the end that sweetness is exchanged for bitterness and the smoothness for a sharp sword.
I love vanilla flavored things.
Saying that something is vanilla to describe it as plain or boring is just flat-out wrong.
One day I come home from school and it’s just me and my brother.
And Clint tells me “Hey, we love vanilla ice-cream, vanilla perfume, vanilla mints, so have some vanilla extract!”
He pours me a big spoon-full and it smells great and I can’t wait to taste it and you might know how it all ended.
Everything told me that this was going to be great and that I would love it.
But in the end it was bitter like wormwood.
One bad decision and all your labor, wealth, and years go to another.
One act can weigh on your mind for the rest of your life.
One moment of sweetness fills your life with bitterness.
How many times have we seen or heard of affairs destroying lives?
Family
You break your spouses heart
Kids and other family take sides
Children split between households, belonging to the invader and not the spouse
You’ve invaded another family
Financial
Child support/alimony
Divorce lawyers
Societal consequences
If you’re unfaithful to the person you love most, what makes you think I trust you?
On Preventing Adultery
Recognize How It Starts
What’s interesting is that nowhere in this text is the forbidden woman described as being physically beautiful.
Physical descriptions of the forbidden woman are rare throughout Proverbs.
Overwhelmingly the forbidden woman’s attraction is found in her words.
Her lips drip honey.
In a world before our deserts and soft drinks and refined sugar the sweetest thing you could find was honey.
God described how good the promised land was by calling it a land “flowing with milk and honey.”
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