Sin has been dealt with by the work that He accomplished
at the cross. All of it, completely and forever,
we rejoice in that good news. We're glad that
we can say it as well with my soul. Father, if
there be someone here today struggling under
the load of sin and guilt, oh, this morning,
may that heart be opened. to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He may come in and forgive the sin and bring
eternal life and make it well with that soul
too. In His name we pray, Amen. I'm going to
ask you to open your Bible to the book of Proverbs
with me as we continue our study in this book
of God's Word. Today the first part of a message
entitled playing the fool I'm going to read verse
7 which says the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. We've seen that before That's the
source of wisdom. That's where it comes from
But fools despise wisdom and knowledge Kenneth
Aiken, in his commentary on Proverbs, suggests
that Lady Wisdom is like a school teacher. And
in her class of students, she has a number of
different kinds, including three that are difficult
to deal with. Dr. Aiken says that Lady Wisdom
names them for us in verse 22 of this chapter,
which says, Love your simple ways. How long will
mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
The three difficult students in wisdom's school
are named simple, scoffer, and fool. They are
not exactly the same thing. The simple person
in the language of Proverbs means one who is
gullible, one who is easily seduced. Chapter
14 and verse 15 gives us a further insight regarding
the simple one when it says, a simple man believes
anything. That's the hallmark of someone who
is simple in the terms of Proverbs. Someone who
is inexperienced and someone who beyond that
is lazy and therefore irresponsible. As it says
in chapter 1 verse 32, the waywardness of the
simple will kill them and the complacency of
fools will destroy them. One who is simple is
one who is irresponsible and lazy as well as
inexperienced and therefore gullible. It is possible
for one who is simple to become like the second.
difficult student in wisdom school whose name
is Scoffer. Scoffer is one who is arrogant. He
is self -opinionated. He is a deliberate troublemaker.
He goes by a couple of other aliases. They are
Mocker and Scorner. His name really means to
make mouths. It's kind of an odd expression,
isn't it? To make a mouth. And so you immediately
get the idea that Mocker is one who uses his
mouth. He's a very verbal kind of person. And
he uses his mouth to express his own arrogant
opinions. Chapter 21 in verse 24 gives us another
word about this student. And there it says, the
proud and arrogant man, Mocker is his name. He
behaves with overweening pride. He's one of those
people that when you're around him, you just
feel oppressed because all he can talk about
is himself and his opinions. His world focuses
on the letter I. Proud and arrogant. Mocker is
his name, or scoffer. The third difficult student
in the School of Wisdom is called Fool. Actually,
there are three different Hebrew words in Proverbs
translated as ful into the English. They are
so close in meaning that it's not worth the time
to try to differentiate them. But a ful is at
the end of the list. There is sort of a progression
that is suggested here. Wisdom tells us about
simple, who's a little difficult to handle but
who is basically inexperienced and gullible,
who'll believe anything. The one who's been simple
too long and who's believed too much becomes
a mocker and becomes verbal in arrogance. And
if that is not corrected, the one who is a mocker
will become a fool, one who is insensible, one
who is stubborn and completely self -sufficient,
at least in his own mind. One does not become
a fool overnight. The fact is that any of us
can be foolish. But one does not become a fool
overnight. That is the result of a process. It
is a process that produces a mature disposition
and attitude that is fixed. And basically it
says, I don't need God, I only need myself. I
don't like the values that God gives and I reject
them. And therefore, he orders his life without
God. That's why the psalmist begins Psalm 14
by saying, the fool says in his heart, what?
There is no God. Or as someone said, he says
literally, no God. That is, no God is going to
tell me what to do. That's a fool. It's someone
who has arrived at that point in life, he has
processed to the place that he says, no God is
going to tell me what to believe and how to live
my life. Jesus tells us a story about a farmer
in Luke chapter 12. I'd like you to look at that
a moment because here we have the epitome of
a yuppie in Jesus' day. Now, you don't exactly
call farmers yuppies. But remember that farmers
were the most successful people in Jesus' day.
They had land. They were able to grow crops.
And so Jesus tells us about this yuppie farmer.
Chapter 12, verse 16 of Luke. The ground of a
certain rich yuppie produced a good crop. He
thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no
place to store my crops. You will notice here
that this man was very capable. He was a capable
farmer. He was able to get his ground to produce
and produce very well. And he said, this is what
I'll do. Here's a man who's an astute businessman.
He knows what to do. He's had a good crop, but
he has a vision for the future. He says, here's
what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build
bigger ones. And there I will store all my grain
and my goods. And I'll say to myself, you have
plenty of good things laid up for many years.
Take life easy. Eat. Drink. And be merry. Isn't
that wonderful? Here's good old 1990s American
life. Here's the American dream fulfilled by
this man. He's got it all going his way and life
is going to be wonderful. He can take an early
retirement and can eat, drink and be merry. For
the many years of his life yet to come, he's
got it all in place. But God said to him, you
fool. This very night, your life will be demanded
from you, then who will get what you have prepared
for yourself?" Jesus says, this is how it will
be with anyone who stores up things for himself
but is not rich toward God. It is not an overstatement
to say that we live in a society of fools. Because
what this parable pictures is the world, the
society, the culture in which you and I live.
And God says to the one who epitomizes it, you're
a fool. You live your life as though there is
no God. You conduct yourself saying no God is
going to tell me how to live. And you store up
for yourself all of those things that your wisdom
and your ability can gain. And you lose your
soul. Need to understand that when God called
this man a fool, he was not saying he was mentally
deficient in some way. In other words, he's not
retarded. He's a very smart individual. But he
is a man who is deficient in his spiritual understanding
and in his moral values because of the choices
that he makes. It's not that he has no capacity,
it is that he has no desire to fear God. He has
closed his mind to God and the result of that
is his values are all wrong and he dies a fool.
One who has no moral value, one who has no use
for God's instruction in his life is a fool.
It is as true today in 1992 as it was in the
days of Jesus when he told this parable and in
the day when the Proverbs were written in ancient
Israel. The one who has no use for moral values
and no time for God's instruction in his life
is a fool. And he condemns himself, really. He
condemns himself to a wasted life. What is a
fool like? Well, Proverbs suggests to us a number
of different pictures of a fool as comparisons.
As we look at some of these this morning, I want
us not to be thinking about somebody else. Not
thinking about that brother -in -law or that
cousin or that neighbor or that guy down in the
office. But let's think about ourselves. Because
any of us can adopt the ways of fools, at least
for a while. We can become foolish ourselves.
And so as we think about what a fool is like,
let's ask God to expose any foolishness in our
own hearts. We need to honestly examine ourselves.
The first picture that I found in Proverbs to
share with you this morning of a fool is found
in chapter 17 and verse 16 of the book. The picture
is of a student who wastes his opportunity. Proverbs
17 verse 16. Of what use is money in the hand
of a fool since he has no desire to get wisdom.
Moffat translates this verse in this way. Why
does the fool offer the sage a fee when he has
no mind to learn? The point of this proverb is
that the fool has his tuition in his hand to
give to his instructor But he has no serious
interest in learning anything. The result of
that is that he allows his interest to wander
in the classroom. Notice in verse 24 it says,
a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
Have you ever seen a person like this in a classroom?
He sits there, the teacher's giving the instruction.
He's paid the price for that college course.
and he sits there looking out the window daydreaming.
Thousands of miles, perhaps, from that classroom
and what the teacher's trying to get across.
He's paid his money, but of what use is it? He
has no mind that desires to learn anything. His
interest is wondering, and therefore he does
not profit from the instruction of the classroom.
Verse 10 says, A rebuke impresses a man of discernment
more than a hundred lashes a fool. You see, the
teacher sees this student daydreaming and takes
him out and gives him some lashes. Now, this
is the old days, of course. He takes the student
out in the hallway and gives the student some
lashes. And what the Bible says is that a hundred
lashes will not cause a fool to change his ways.
A fool is like a student who wastes his opportunities.
He has the opportunity to learn, he can enrich
his life, if he will, with what's available to
him, but he wastes the opportunity. In chapter
15 and verse 5, the writer says it this way,
a fool spurns his father's discipline. A fool
turns away from the discipline of the authority
in his life, whether it be a parent or a teacher.
The fool says, I don't want that. I don't have
time for that. He may even have to sit in the
classroom like a lot of students do, but he refuses
to open his mind to learn. You and I are in a
classroom every day. God is seeking to speak
to our hearts. He is seeking to instruct our
lives every day. And so often we waste our opportunities
to learn. That's why James tells us in James
1 that we ought to rejoice in every trial, every
kind of trial that comes into our lives. Because
those trials are classrooms. that God is taking
us into. And he says there that if any of us
lack wisdom, in other words, we're foolish, and
we don't know how to use this trial, we don't
know how to benefit from this classroom, he says
then let that person who lacks wisdom ask of
God who gives to all men wisdom liberally. He
does not hold back. A fool doesn't learn in the
classroom of life because he will not learn.
He will not learn. He chooses not to listen to
God. He wastes his opportunities. A fool will
not listen to discipline. There were two young
boys who had heard their parents warning about
playing with particular empty drum that was on
their property. The parents said, you stay away
from that drum. Don't play with it. It's dangerous.
But they spurned the instruction and the discipline
of the parents. They decided they wanted to find
out what was inside that large drum that was
sitting out there in the property. And so they
went over and took the top of it off, unscrewed
that lid and... decided to see what was inside
they needed to light a stick and so they they
found a match and lit a stick and poked it down
in the drum except the drum was filled with fumes
from gasoline and it exploded in their faces
they both lived but one of them was blinded and
they were both crippled the rest of their lives
because they did not listen to the discipline
of their parents There are some of us who bear
wounds because we have not listened to God. There
are some of us who are entering into the next
phase of our lives crippled because we would
not heed the discipline of the Lord. He sought
to bring wisdom to our lives in that moment of
instruction, in that trial that pressed hard
upon us. Instead of listening to God, we said,
God, no. I don't want to hear it. God gives us
the privilege of doing that, but he weeps because
he knows that we will pay a price when we turn
from his wisdom. Wisdom requires teachability
in the students. A teacher in a classroom today
can only work with what he's got in that classroom.
We hear a lot about how teachers today are not
producing like they ought to do, like teachers
used to do. I'll tell you what, they don't have
students like they used to have. Especially back
in your day and mine, right? Oh, it's true. I
remember a Spanish teacher in high school. Really
unique individual. A lady who had retired from
one school and came over to ours to teach us
in her retirement. She told us the story. She
was talking about her teaching and the trouble
she was having with these poor students in this
class that I was in. And she told the story about
this man who arrived in heaven. And St. Peter
took him by the hand down the golden streets
they walked and he pointed out this mansion and
that mansion. This man was all impressed with
these houses in heaven. Finally they got down
to the end of this block and they turned and
they went back into an alley and there in the
corner of the alley was this little tar paper
shack. Saint Peter said, here sir is your home.
The man was utterly flabbergasted. Everybody
else had these mansions and he had just this
thing of sticks and tar paper. And he said, what's
the reason for this? Saint Peter said, well,
sir, I'm sorry. We did the best we could with
what you sent ahead. Well, the Spanish teacher
said, I'm doing the best I can with what I've
got in this classroom. We blame a lot on teachers
today, but I'll tell you what. Students are not
coming to school to learn like they used to.
And the problem for that often goes back to the
home and the crisis in the home and the family
and our culture. Students must be teachable if
they will be taught. And it's up to each person
to make himself or herself teachable. Let me
ask you a question. Are you teachable? Are you
teachable? Will you allow God to speak to your
heart? Some of you have just sat down in the
classroom of life. You're entering into a session
this week with God. And God is saying, I want
to instruct you. I want to teach you the values
that are important in life. Are you teachable?
Will you say, Lord, I will listen? Lord, I will
take heed to what you say. Open my ear to hear
you write. Don't be the fool. Don't play the
fool. Don't turn God off. Don't harden your heart
to Him. You're going to pay the tuition one way
or the other. You might as well decide while
you're in the classroom to sit there and listen
to God and take heed of what He says. Secondly,
A fool is like a merchant who hawks his wares.
Chapter 15 in verse 2 suggests this picture.
It says the tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The NESV
says it spouts folly. Literally, should I tell
you this? You will remember what this word means,
gushes. In the Hebrew it means It belches out
folly. Pretty descriptive, isn't it? Not very
tasteful, but it's quite specific. The mouth
of the fool belches out his foolishness. The
picture here seems to be of a merchant. Just
imagine in your mind this Oriental merchant.
He's very real. He exists in many of the markets
of the East and the Middle East. His merchandise
is spread out on the table behind him. And his
words are like those of a circus barker in our
nation. And he calls the people of the street
to come and look at his wares and to buy. He
brags and he boasts about what is on his table.
But in fact, if you look closely, what is there
is cheaply made. It's a poor imitation and just
junk. for the most part, without any value. That's
the merchant that is suggested here in this verse
by the writer of Proverbs. The merchant who is
out in the street hawking his wares. It's a person
who cannot keep his mouth shut. He really has
nothing to offer of any value. He has nothing
to say, but he always has an opinion. There's
always a story to share. And instead of being
embarrassed or flustered by the lack of true
values and what he's talking about, he just brazenly
boasts openly of them. This is suggested more
in chapter 18. Look in verse 2. A fool finds
no pleasure in understanding, but he delights
in airing his own opinions. Do you know anybody
like that? You see him every year at the family
reunion, don't you? Look in verses 6 and 7. A
fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites
a beating. In other words, when he's talking,
he's saying, please beat me, please hit me, because
he just talks and talks and talks and has nothing
of any value. Verse 7. A fool's mouth is his
undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
He openly displays his lack of values and is
so foolish, he doesn't even realize it. I will
not name the politician, but there is a representative
from this area who is putting on an ad on television
in which he espouses all the things that he stands
for, things which have absolutely no value to
God or to decent society. And yet, he's voted
for this, and he's been a part of that, and he
stood for this in Congress, and what he is is
a fool. who is hawking his wares, his foolishness,
he's belching out of his mouth his own foolishness
and doesn't even realize it. And the sad thing
is that a lot of people in our area take in everything
he says, which says something about them. The
story is told about a minister who was opening
his mail one morning and as he drew a single
sheet out of the envelope. It had written on
it one single word. He opened it up and it read,
Fool. Well, the next Sunday, he got up in the
pulpit and he said, I have known many people
who have written letters and forgotten to sign
their names, but this week I received a letter
from someone who signed his name and forgot to
write the letter. Isn't that great? A fool is
like a merchant who hocks his wares. And it's
worthless. Wisdom requires, on the other hand,
a quiet willingness to listen and then a thoughtful
response. A wise person listens more than he
speaks. A wise person does not say everything
that comes to his mind. He weighs his words and
then speaks thoughtfully. I don't know about
you, but my shoes are getting tighter. My toes
feel a little cramped as I talk about this. We
can all be foolish, can't we? And this morning
we need to ask the Holy Spirit to expose in our
lives where we're playing the fool. Those of
us who are Christians, where we too have played
the fool, and ask God to give us a heart of repentance
about that, and to acknowledge our sin before
Him, and if necessary, to go to someone else
that we may have offended by our foolishness
and ask forgiveness, and then to sit down in
that school and say, Lord, teach me. Teach me.
I need to learn. Wisdom invites us to come into
the school room. Let's not sit back there in
the corner with simple and scoffer and with fool.
Let's not sit over in that corner. Let's sit
up here in the front and open our hearts to God
and say, God, I am teachable. I am clay in your
hands. Show me the values of life that I ought
to have. And you know when we do that, The blessing
is ours. The blessing is ours. Our lives are
full, they are rich, they are meaningful, they
are lengthier. All the blessings that come to
the wise as recorded in Proverbs will be ours.
It is wise then to listen and to be taught. Let's
bow together. What would the Holy Spirit be saying
to your heart this morning about this matter?
Have you played the fool this week? Have you
listened to the wrong party? Have you shut God
out of an area of your life saying, no God, I
don't want you in there? That's foolishness.
That's like a student who wastes his opportunity.
God wants to be in there. He wants to be involved
in that thing in your life right now that's creating
such a hassle, such a struggle, such a heartache.
Let Him in. Let Him teach you what He wants to.
It'll be for your good. Have you been like a
merchant? spouting off, hawking your wares, belching
out your own opinions, and you realize that that's
wrong, and God's brought you under conviction,
that you need to listen more, tell Him that right
now. It may be that there's someone here without
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Maybe you're
like that man that Jesus told about. You have
lots of things stored up. Your retirement looks
pretty good. But your soul is on its way to hell.
As this group sang this morning, Jesus has something
to offer to you that you can't say no to. It's
eternal life and forgiveness of your sin. Will
you receive it today? Will you believe on Him
for the salvation of your soul? In just a moment
we're going to stand and we're going to sing
a verse or two of Just as I Am without one plea,
but that Thy blood was shed for me. That's the
only plea we've got. And if today you need to
make some commitment public, perhaps you need
to trust Christ as your Savior this morning.
You'll do that right now. Or you've trusted Christ
in private, but you've not made it public before
others. Will you come and make that public confession
that you have? trusted Jesus Christ for salvation.
Maybe as a Christian you will come today saying,
Pastor, I need to pray with someone. My life
is in shambles. I've played the fool and my life
is a mess. I need someone to pray with me this
morning. I want to invite you to come as soon
as I finish praying. will stand and sing a verse
of Just As I Am. You prepare yourself now to
obey God and do what He tells you to do. And
now, Father, bring to fruition your work in those
lives that you desire to, and give, I pray, the
courage to make that step, that decision, that
commitment that needs to be made at this hour
in obedience to the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name,
amen. Would you stand with me, please? My friend
of Christ is speaking to you. Come right now
and join me here. And let someone have prayer
with you today. Thou bidst me come to Thee, O
Lamb of God, I come. I come. Just as I am and
waiting not. Don't wait. Just as I am, and waiting
not To claim my soul of one dark part To Thee,
whose blood can cleanse Lord Jesus, I'm glad
that your invitation extends beyond the end of
this service. And I pray that you will continue
to urge and to invite and compel anyone who's
troubled this morning, who's living a life that's
a lie, who's out of step with you, I pray that
you will continue to compel that one to come.
And Lord, as we go our way, we pray that we may
live wisely, fill us with the spirit of wisdom
and of revelation, the Holy Spirit, control our
lives, And this week teach us in the classroom,
and when we return for another time of worship,
may we come back a wiser people, because we have
sat in the classroom of wisdom this week and
have learned. And God is in the midst of our
lives, and we're living our lives in obedience
to him. Bring us back together that way. Dismiss
us now, Lord, with your blessing, and may your
grace be upon each of your own. Amen.