On a Collision Course with Sin (Proverbs 5:1-23; 6:20–7:27)

A missing stop sign, a dark intersection, and a fatal crash set the stage for a candid look at what happens when we pull down moral boundaries and speed into danger. We draw a straight line from that tragedy to the way our culture replaces caution with clever slogans, especially around sex, and we ask a hard question: what is the real cost of calling risk “safe”?

Guided by Proverbs 5–7, we trace seduction’s arc from honeyed words and flattery to the bitter taste of wormwood. The conversation is practical and honest: temptation often feels like finally being seen, yet the sweetness curdles into regret, broken trust, and visible scars. We unpack how delight turns to disgust, disgust to dishonor, and dishonor to disaster, not as scare tactics but as pattern recognition backed by wisdom and real-world data on consequences many prefer to ignore.

We don’t scapegoat or simplify. Responsibility is shared, the stakes are human, and grace is real even when outcomes linger. Most importantly, we offer four clear guardrails: stop justifying small compromises, hit the brakes early, abandon the myth of immunity, and call on God the moment desire knocks. Boundaries are not deprivation; they are protection for integrity, relationships, and long-term joy. If you’ve ever wondered how to navigate desire without wrecking what you value most, this is a map worth keeping.

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Chapters

• 0:00 A Stolen Stop Sign Tragedy
• 2:18 From Traffic To Moral Stop Signs
• 4:18 Proverbs’ Warning On Sexual Sin
• 5:12 Honeyed Words And Hidden Costs
• 7:42 From Delight To Disgust To Dishonor
• 10:00 Disaster, Disease, And Denial
• 11:37 Shared Responsibility And Real Danger

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:16

Some time ago, I read the news report of three young men. They were driving home from a bowling alley in Tampa, Florida, and even though it was dark, they thought they had the right of way as they drove through an intersection. The trouble was the stop sign that should have been there had been stolen by thieves. A large truck came through and slammed into this car, and all three young men were instantly killed. What a senseless tragedy. I've learned that stealing traffic signs is very common today, and the favorite sign to steal is the stop sign. You know when I read that I couldn't help but think that there's another kind of stop sign that's being removed and the casualties are mounting up. Our world seems to favor removing any stop sign whenever it relates to a sexual issue. In fact, the stop signs seem to be replaced with speed up signs. Our world is ignoring the tragedy of removing these stop signs. In fact, our world today has connected the word safe to sex outside of marriage. That's like some official going to the beach where sharks have been sighted and hammering up a sign that says safe swimming, or someone posting a sign at a drainage ditch next to some industrial plant that says safe drinking water. Beloved, there's no such thing as safe sin. Solomon is actually going to devote more than two chapters in this book of Proverbs to the subject of sexual sin. And he's hammering up a stop sign for us. He's giving us a strong warning that we can't steal or hide away. Beloved, let this study today in our wisdom journey be a powerful reminder to you. We need to faithfully obey God's stop signs. Now, in in broad terms, the biblical word most often used for sexual immorality is the word fornication. The Greek word is pornea, and that gives us our English word pornography. It's a broad term that refers to any kind of forbidden sexual activity. And let me tell you, beloved, what the Bible says on this subject has nothing to do with how you feel or what you desire or what your culture considers legal. This is this is the word of God. Here are divine stop signs for our benefit. Now today we're in Proverbs chapter five. This entire chapter, in fact, much of chapter six and all of chapter seven, are devoted to this matter of sexual sin. Solomon is going to take us now to the scene of a collision. And he begins by telling us that this sexual sin is starting out by promising something rather delightful. He writes here to his son now in Proverbs chapter 5 and verse 3. The lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. I mean, he makes it sound so right, so fulfilling. Isn't this temptation going to be satisfying? Well, over in chapter 7, Solomon plays out this scene in detail as he watches a man heading toward this intersection. This is going to be a moral collision. He writes here in verse 8. He was passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. Verse 14. She says, I had to offer sacrifices, and today I've paid my vows, so now I have come out to meet you, and I have found you. In other words, I'm a religious girl, I've paid my vows, and I've been looking for a great guy like you. All sounds so sweet, doesn't it? But what begins with sweetness and honey and flattery is going to quickly turn sour and harmful. It begins with delight, but delight turns to disgust. Back here in chapter five, Solomon sort of fast forwards the tape and says here in verse 3, her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood. Wormwood was this small flowering bush in Palestine, and from it was made this bitter drink. It was used for digestive problems, even used for liver disease. It was used to increase sweating. It was an attempt to rid the body of disease. So look at what this jar of honey turned out to be a bitter tasting cup of wormwood. So delight turns to disgust, and then I want you to notice the digression here because disgust is going to turn into dishonor. Now here in chapter six, Solomon writes this warning in verse twenty seven. Verse thirty three adds, He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. Now, although forgiveness is available for anybody who repents, the consequences of sexual sin may last a lifetime. They certainly did for King David. David's polygamy, adultery, that all set the table for divided family for murder and intrigue and jealousy and strife. In fact, it gave his son Solomon every excuse to go even farther in sexual sin, which Solomon certainly did. Now, rather ironically, at this point in his life, Solomon is warning his son here that you can't carry fire around and not expect to get burned. You're not going to get away with it. In other words, you play with fire and you're going to get burned. Delight turns to disgust, disgust turns into dishonor, and now dishonor turns into disaster. Now back here in chapter 5, Solomon writes in verse 11, and at the end of your life you groan when your flesh and body are consumed. See, he's describing the physical effects of sexually transmitted diseases. By the way, the Center for Disease Control recently recorded that 26 million new sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in just one year. That's almost 50 every minute. In spite of penicillin and other drugs, millions of people are contracting new generations of infections, and they're turning out to be uh incurable. Why don't we hear about this pandemic? I'll tell you why. Because we live in a world that is eagerly taking down God's stop signs so they can enjoy sin for a season, and it is leading to collision. Solomon ends his warning by writing here now over in chapter seven and verse twenty four. And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Now, by the way, we're not going to lay all the blame here on the woman presenting the temptation, and God's word isn't doing that. It takes two people to drive into that intersection of sexual sin. So the question, though, is what do we do about this danger? Especially in a world around us where the stop signs have been replaced with speed up signs. Well, let me give you four practical precautions that you can take. First, don't justify little compromises as innocent. Beloved, immorality doesn't begin in a hotel room. It begins in a boardroom. It begins in a classroom. It begins at at the local market. It begins in the mind long before it ever involves the body. Secondly, don't wait till it reaches a danger point to start fighting the temptation. Let me tell you, the best place to put on the brakes is sometime before you reach that intersection. Stop at that first glance, that first invitation, that first moment where you realize this is inappropriate. Third, don't assume that you're stronger than temptation. Don't allow yourself to say, you know, that isn't going to happen to me. That's not a problem for me. No, you and I are not immune to any temptation. Never fool yourself into believing it isn't all that wrong or you can stop anytime you want. You know, I've had people who are engaged in something the Bible forbids. I've had them tell me that they're not hurting anybody. Well, yes, they are. They're actually in the process of destroying their own lives. As that old saying goes, sin is going to cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. It's going to keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay. And with that, let me give you a fourth practical precaution. When temptation knocks on your door, and it's going to knock, ask the Lord to go and answer the door. Call on the Lord and call on him immediately for his strength and his help. And in the meantime, don't take the stop signs down where God has put them up. He put them up there for your protection, your integrity, your purity, your good. So leave them right where they are. Well, until our next wisdom journey, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.