How To Mess Up Your Life & Hurt Others In The Process!

 

Proverbs 5 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.  3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:…

In the book of Proverbs the topic of intimacy, purity and faithfulness in marriage comes up often. Parts of chapter 2, all of chapter 5, the majority of chapter 6, all of chapter 7 focuses on Purity verses Promiscuity.

Proverbs 5 is about Promiscuity and how the committing of this sin can quickly ruin a person’s life – thus our sermon title.

Marriage in America:

• In the 1870’s there was 1 divorce for every 34 marriages. By the early twentieth century 1 in 5 marriages ended in divorce. Today, it’s 1 in every 2 marriages end in divorce.
• Over one million American children are affected by divorce each year.
• 70% of American children spend a significant part of their childhood in a single parent home.
• 75% of women and 80% of men remarry within 5 years after divorce. 
• Second marriages are at greater risk of ending in divorce than first marriages.
• More people are part of second marriages today than first marriages.
• The leading stated cause of divorce is adultery (not the root problem).
• Statistics say up to 33% of marriages will be affected by adultery.
• Only 3 % of those who get divorced for their “lovers sake” actually marry the person with whom they were cheating. The divorce rate among those who do is 75%.

Introductory comments: The intention of our text is not to pin the blame for sexual promiscuity on women. The reason for the particular perspective of this text is because these are the words of a father to his son – hence the warning to watch out for the seductress. There is a male equivalent.

1.   THE CONSEQUENCE OF PROMISCUITY: Prov 5:20 “Why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?”

• Divorce. Cheating on your spouse will wreck your marriage.

Proverbs 5:22 “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.”

•  Poverty. Proverbs 5:10 “Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;”

The sex industry rakes in billions of dollars a year. It empties people’s pockets. One of the quickest ways to become poor is to have an affair. The affair will often lead to divorce. Divorce is the quickest way for 2 people to become poor.

• Regret. Proverbs 5:11-14 “Lest…thou mourn at the last,… ¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; ¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! ¹⁴ I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.”

What does Solomon forecast in these verses? Regret!! Divorce does not solve problems – it creates others.

• Illness. Proverbs 5:11 “…when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,…”

If you remain sexually pure and then get married to someone who has had the same commitment before God, the odds of you contracting a STD is virtually zero.

If you view sex as a right of passage and are determined to sow your wild oats, you might as well book an appointment with your Doctor. Sexual immorality makes people sick physically, mentally and spiritually.

• Heartbreak, Embarrassment & Shame. Proverbs 5:14a “I was almost in all evil…” can be translated, “I was on the verge of total ruin,…”

Your own heart, your spouse’s, your children, your parents will be broken. Once the word is out that a person has cheated on their spouse their “stock” drops.

• Dangerous Conclusions. On average 1400 women are murdered each year by their spouse or boyfriend. There are 570,000 reports of Domestic Violence each year and 170,000 of those require hospitalization.

Proverbs 6:27-35 “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸ Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? ²⁹ So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent… ³² …he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. ³³ A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. ³⁴ For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.”

• Judgment. Proverbs 5:21-22 “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. ²² His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.”

A quick way to get in trouble with God is to violate His instruction concerning sexuality. To be under God’s judgment is a fearful thing.

2.   HOW TO GUARD AGAINST PROMISCUITY.

• Educate your children about Love & Marriage. Prov 5:1 “My son,….”

• Flee Flirtation. Proverbs 5:3 “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:”

• Guard Your Relationships. If you have substantial, close, secluded, contact with a member of the opposite sex, the chances are greater that you will get into sexual trouble with that person over time.

Proverbs 5:4-5 “But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.”

• Filter the Filth. If you watch T.V with sexual content, surf the internet for porn, read sexually charged novels or magazines or frequent places that flaunt sex, you will have “sex on the brain.”

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

• Romance your spouse. Proverbs 5:15-19. “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well… ¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. ¹⁹ …and be thou ravished always with her love.”

The fire will get hotter if you feed it. The same is true in a marriage relationship. A marriage needs feeding. A marriage is the only place that a couple has the blessing of God to express themselves intimately.

• If your marriage is in trouble seek counsel. Prov 11:14 “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

CONCLUSION:

• Are you married? Stay faithful. Guard your heart. Build your relationship with your spouse. Be careful with close friendships of the opposite sex.

• Are you single? Guard your virtue! Keep yourself pure while trusting God for the right life partner.

• Are you in a relationship that you know is wrong? If so, end it and with repentance toward God, put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.