Sin Personified Prov. 5:3-5 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

This sermon outline comes from notes I took on a sermon I heard Pastor Rick Sowell preach 25 years ago.  The strange woman in Prov 5:3-5 is a good picture of sin.  She is sin personified.  This woman is very deceptive.  What you see is not what you get.  And sin is just like she is.  From this passage we see that sin is:

Exciting – Prov 5:3 – Paul calls it the pleasures of sin [Heb 11:25] – James says it is enticing [Jas 1:14] – that’s why Paul said that we are not to even talk about it [Eph 5:3] – the mere mention of certain sins can cause the mind to become so stirred up with imagination that it is well-nigh impossible to resist the temptation to act on what you are thinking about.

Exaggerated – Prov 5:4-5 – you see and think about the part of sin that entices you and neglect to consider the consequences – I am reminded of Eve in the Garden of Eden – all she could see were the beautiful and desirable aspects of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – she could not see the curse, the sorrow, the painful child-birth, the sweat, the labor, or the death that was prophesied by God [Gen 2:17] – sin appears to be much more beautiful than it is in order to disguise its true ugliness – the party on Saturday night is fun – death by cirrhosis of the liver is wretched.

Evasive – Prov 5:6 – this woman keeps changing like a chameleon so that you can’t figure out what she’s up to – like the fashion of this world that passeth away she is ever changing [like fads] – sin is the same way – it sneaks up on you – you might have said when you were younger that you would never commit the sins you ended up committing when you were older – your resolve was weakened by the evasiveness of sin – she tricked you.

Expensive – Prov 5:9-13 – the price of sin goes up with time – you pay the price in the money you spend – you pay with the toll it takes on your mind and body – eventually you pay with your own life [Rom 6:23].

Exhaustive – Prov 5:14 – sin will dominate your life until it wears you out – have you ever studied the lines of sin on the countenance of a man or woman who is worn out with sin – I have said about some people who died young as a result of sin, “they lived two lifetimes in one” – that is they ran so hard with sin that the literally wore themselves out in half the span of a normal life [Ps 55:23].

Enslaving – Prov 5:22-23 – “holden with the cords of his sins” – it’s like this – every time you sin, there is another string attached – in time you are captured – we say about alcoholics and drug addicts that they are “hooked” – you can’t enjoy the victory over sin that is promised in Jesus Christ because you have put yourself in bondage to sin – dying of lung cancer or COPD often starts with smoking that first cigarette – dying with a drug overdose starts with that first high – living (or dying) with an STD starts with fornicating the first time – once you start down one of these roads you may not ever stop and you will cause yourself or others tremendous misery in the meantime.

Conclusion: Prov 5:8 when you see sin all dolled up for the night you just need to look past the presentation and recognize that sin dressed up all pretty is just as deadly as a serial killer – she wants you in her clutches until she can drain the last dime out of your pocket and the last drop of blood out of your veins – she’s a bloody killer underneath her lavish disguise – don’t be fooled by what you see and hear – listen to the words of God and run away from her as fast as your legs will carry you – and don’t look back!!