Be Wise About Sex Series

A. Once there was a preacher who was explaining to his son about the “facts of life” or better known as “the birds and the bees.”

1. The youngster listened wide-eyed and attentively, and when his dad was finished, he asked with great concern: “Does God know about this?”

2. Rest assured: God knows all about this – He designed and created sex – and His rules and guidelines about sex have our best interests at heart.

B. The book of Proverbs contains four primary texts that provide wisdom and warnings about sexual matters.

1. Taken together, this is the longest and most extensive teaching on sexual morality found in all the pages of God’s Word.

2. On the one hand, it is not surprising that Solomon would devote so much attention to being wise about sex because he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

3. But on the other hand, it seems ironic that it doesn’t look like he followed his own advice, but maybe what happened is that later in life he saw the error of his ways in this matter and was trying to keep others from taking the wrong path that he had taken.

4. Nevertheless, in spite of Solomon’s own failures in this area, his teachings are still valid and anyone who puts them into practice is wise.

C. Because Solomon was writing to his son, he cautioned his son about the sexual temptations and traps that “adulteresses” and “prostitutes” would put before him.

1. Had Solomon been writing to his daughter, he would have cautioned her about the sexual temptations and traps that “adulterers” or “gigolos” would put before her.

2. These principles and warnings are helpful for those who are single and for those who are married, and they apply to all kinds of sexual immorality, including pre-marital sex and extra-marital sex.

D. I want to present Solomon’s writings as a whole so that we can feel the impact of them in general, and then I want us to go back and pull out the helpful specific principles and warnings.

1. I will be reading several long sections of Proverbs, but God’s Word is so powerful and I hope we will all be inspired and challenged by God’s Word.

E. Solomon first introduced the subject of sex in Proverbs 2:16-19: 16 It [wisdom] will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a wayward woman with her flattering talk, 17 who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; 18 for her house sinks down to death and her ways to the land of the departed spirits. 19 None return who go to her; none reach the paths of life.

1. Let’s briefly notice a few things that Solomon points out.

2. First, the enticer will use flattering talk (we will notice that this comes up often in these readings) – most of us like having our ego stroked.

3. Second, the enticer doesn’t care about their previous commitments to spouse or to God.

4. Third, the results of that path of sin only leads to death and destruction (We will notice that this will be repeated in many of the readings).

F. Next, Solomon devoted all of chapter 5 to the subject of sex: 1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding 2 so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge.

3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, 4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. 6 She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

7 So now, sons, listen to me, and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth. 8 Keep your way far from her. Don’t go near the door of her house.

9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel; 10 strangers will drain your resources, and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.

11 At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, 12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction. 13 I didn’t obey my teachers or listen closely to my instructors. 14 I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community.”

1. Let’s again briefly notice a few things.

2. First, we notice again that the enticer uses words that are smooth and sound sweet.

3. Second, the results of that path of sin only leads to death and destruction.

4. Third, Solomon lists the things that get lost on the path of sexual indulgence.