You Fool! (Proverbs 18:1-9)

[00:00:01] Let's start by playing a game. It's an easy game and it's a short game. Basically, I want you to complete the saying aloud together. So complete the saying if you know it. [00:00:17] What goes around comes around. There you go. What goes around comes around. Maybe you guys will know this one. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Two in the bush. I think that was mostly the small group leaders that knew that one. Don't ask me what it means. I'm not actually sure what it means. Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Maybe Ask Anthony. He looks like he knows what it means. [00:00:43] How about this one? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, shame on me. Very good. This last one actually reminded me of the infamous moment that President George W. Bush, he attempted this quote. [00:01:01] You guys probably are too young to even know that this happened, but maybe you've seen a video of it. He says, fool me once, shame on. Shame on you. Fool me, you can't get fooled again. [00:01:13] President Bush forgot the words. Now, he was trying to make a grand point, but instead he ironically makes himself kind of look foolish for not actually knowing the same. [00:01:26] And nobody likes to be considered a fool. [00:01:30] And more specifically, that is the topic that we're trying to cover in the Psalms is who is a fool or what is foolishness? How can I avoid being the fool? What do the proverbs say about foolishness? [00:01:46] The proverbs use this word often, and even when they're not using it or when he's not using it, it's relevant. Now, maybe you don't call people a fool. Maybe you call them a clown. I don't know. Is there a new term for a fool that I should know about? Is there? [00:02:02] No. Maybe not even clown. Maybe that's outdated. I have no idea. Maybe older people, maybe you would call someone a bozo instead of a fool. Whatever you say, it kind of means the same thing. And the proverbs are full of fool or foolish. [00:02:20] And the word fool is applied to a whole lot of people. It's actually an exhaustive group of people. It includes everyone, even us. [00:02:30] Even things that we do are considered foolish. [00:02:33] And now it's sometimes easy for us to kind of brush that off. Brush that off because it's kind of a, you know, kind of a silly word. No one really uses it seriously anymore. But when we read verses like Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 which says, the fool says, in his heart there is no God, this sort of raises the stakes. A bit, does it not? [00:02:56] So, basically, if it doesn't bother you to be called a fool, maybe it would bother you to be called an atheist. That's kind of what those verses are doing. [00:03:04] Maybe we'll take it seriously when the Bible calls us fools because it's. It's not an insult, it's a judgment, it's a declaration of fact when we are considered a fool in Scripture, and so we all need to take it seriously. To be a fool means that you stand opposed to God. That's fundamentally what it means to be a fool. Biblically, you stand opposed to God as the one who denies that God is even real. And if you're a Christian, you must reject this foolishness because Christ offers perfect wisdom in its place and a new heart that is capable of rejecting this foolishness. [00:03:51] However, you know, maybe you're in the room and you are atheistic or agnostic, or maybe you're just playing with these doubts in your head. Maybe this is a secret life for you. Whatever the case, I hope that through God's word, your foolishness is revealed to you clearly. [00:04:10] Now, the topic we're covering through the Proverbs, as I've said, is foolishness. Now, as a reminder, this is kind of what we're going to be doing from here on out. In Proverbs, we read Proverbs 1 through 9. Pretty straightforward, easy to divide, and then Proverbs 10 through least through 29, and then even into 30 and 31 a little bit. It's a little harder to connect sections. So we're going to take a topic and idea using the tools that we Learned in Proverbs 1 through 9, and we're going to kind of trace that through Proverbs 10 through 31 and see what the book as a whole says about this idea. That's how we're going to tackle it. And so today we're starting with probably the most broad topic I could have chosen. In Foolishness. We're going to see what Proverbs 10 through 31 says about foolishness. So here this evening is my attempt at summarizing what the book says about foolishness. So here's the main idea of the sermon. [00:05:10] Rejecting wisdom and God results in a sinful mouth, an irresponsible lifestyle, many other sins, and a life of eternal hardship. So rejecting wisdom in God results in a sinful mouth, an irresponsible lifestyle, many other sins, and a life of eternal hardship. So Proverbs 18:1:9 is kind of our key text. So if you want to open there that would probably be the place you want to hang out. It provides material for three of the five points. Now, the five points are basically just different ways that the book presents foolishness. [00:05:48] And so we're going to get three of those from this passage and then we'll go on from there. So the first one is rejecting wisdom or rejecting God. Rejecting wisdom is point number one. But let's read Proverbs 18:1 9. [00:06:07] Whoever isolates himself, seeks his own desire. [00:06:11] He breaks out against all sound judgment. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. [00:06:21] When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace. So actually, I'm going to stop there because these first three verses kind of help us hammer in on this idea of rejecting wisdom. [00:06:35] Now they mention the fool in these verses, either explicitly or just inferring the fool in some way. The fool is immediately described as someone who is what we might call a loudmouth, arrogant, prideful, stubborn, unteachable. [00:06:54] And this is a huge issue because the book of Proverbs is a curriculum. It is teaching to be unteachable, to be the fool is to reject the entire purpose of the book, to just let it go in one ear and out the other, to not care at all, to be completely apathetic, to think you have it all figured out, and so this book doesn't matter to you. [00:07:21] Proverbs 12:15 reinforces the issue. [00:07:24] And by the way, let me pause and say I'm going to reference a lot of verses throughout Proverbs. It will be hard to flip back and forth. You can try, but I would recommend at least writing it down first so you can recall what verses were going under what heading. Proverbs 12:15 says, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But a wise man listens to advice, and you'll see that same idea in Proverbs 15:5. [00:07:52] You see the fool here. He thinks he knows better. He thinks that everyone should just agree with him because he's probably right. He's probably the smartest and the most intelligent, and he's got it all figured out. He doesn't need any help. [00:08:09] That's what the fool is doing. He doesn't need help. And so we see in verse one that he isolates himself. He seeks his own desire. He knows it all, so he's close minded to others. [00:08:22] I want you to reflect. Is this your attitude? [00:08:29] It was certainly my attitude, especially when I was your age. I would describe myself as insufferable to my family. The way that this was my attitude. I was a contrarian, which means I disagreed with everything, no matter what. [00:08:47] And I only cared about winning arguments, didn't even really care about the truth. I just cared about feeling like I was right, like I stumped my brother or sister or even my parents. [00:08:59] I didn't really care about the truth. And so in that way, I was sort of like the skeptic. I was a fool. Now, to the skeptic that might be in the room, I address the atheist or agnostics. Do you behave as though you've figured it out? [00:09:15] Do you try to seek answers yourself? Do you dismiss claims of the Bible because a guy on YouTube or TikTok or even teacher has told you so, has tried to poke holes in your belief? [00:09:30] Have you already dismissed all of these answers without asking people that actually believe the Bible? [00:09:38] So that's my encouragement to you when you encounter such skepticism and false teaching. Don't take it from the people that disbelieve the Bible from the start. [00:09:49] Take wisdom from people who believe it and can teach you what it actually says. But of course, this lesson applies to far more than just people who are skeptics, who are maybe atheists or agnostic. It applies instead to many of us who are professing believers in Christ. [00:10:08] It does. [00:10:10] For example, I want us to think that it does apply to us. It applies to us when we reject the clear teaching of the Bible. It applies to us when we live our lives however we want, without any regard for what the Bible says. So an example is, is gossip no big deal to you? Do you use whatever language do you cuss to fit in? [00:10:38] Do you think that you can be affirming of your friends who live lifestyles and homosexuality or transgenderism, and you think you can at least kind of affirm them in a way, but not participate yourself? [00:10:52] Well, the Bible gives us instructions on this stuff too. For example, Romans 1, after talking about sinful sexual desire, says, though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. [00:11:10] I think this principle extends far beyond sexual sins. Those are just probably the most egregious that we see day to day. [00:11:20] Giving approval or consent to anyone's sin, whatever it might be, is counted as wickedness itself. [00:11:28] It is counted as sin itself. So do you refuse to give up your sins? But do you also refuse to call out sins in others that are close to you? [00:11:40] Sorry, I can answer your questions at the end, even if the sin is not Homosexuality or transgenderism. If you reject, don't reject sin all around you, then you are considered a fool as well. [00:11:54] So are you going to listen to what the word says? Proverbs 17:10. It says, A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. [00:12:06] This is to say that following wisdom requires us to listen to rebuke, either from other people or when we read it in the Word. When the Word confronts our lifestyle or the lifestyle of others, what do we do with that? Do we trust it or toss it aside? To toss it aside is to reject wisdom as the fool does. [00:12:30] Verse three then gives a hint at the consequences of such a foolish life. [00:12:36] Look at verse three. We see contempt, dishonor, disgrace. [00:12:42] That's what's in store for the fool. [00:12:46] This is reality for all those who reject wisdom. [00:12:50] But now, how do we avoid this? How do we avoid falling into this trap of rejecting wisdom? How can we not reject it if our natural inclination as sinners is to do so? Right. We've all done this in different ways. Everybody is guilty for rejecting wisdom. So what do we do? Fortunately, Proverbs also gives us the answer in chapter 28, verse 26. [00:13:21] Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool. But he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. [00:13:29] Walk in wisdom. That's the answer. [00:13:34] Trust what you read in the Word and seek to obey it. [00:13:39] Trust the word first. John 3, 9, 10 says, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning. For God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. [00:13:52] By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. [00:14:05] This is telling us that your life should look like a Christian life if you claim to be a Christian. That's basically what John is saying here. When we do not do that, when we do not pursue righteousness and walk with wisdom and follow Christ, what we end up doing is not looking like children of God, but children of the devil, which is harsh language, but it's what John says. [00:14:30] So your life should look Christian if you are a Christian, because Christ has given the Spirit and the power to you to do so. He has given you the Word to know how to live according to his will. And again, if you're a Christian, he's given you that same spirit to help you understand and apply that Word to your life. You're not left in the dark. You're not given a set of standards and left alone. If you trust in the Lord, if you have faith in Christ, then He also gives you the tools you need to be able to do this. [00:15:05] He as well, he accomplishes this work to begin with by his perfect life of righteousness. And he grants you that righteousness through faith in him by his death on the cross. So have faith in Christ and be wise. Because Christ is the wisdom of God. [00:15:24] No wisdom is fully grasped outside of Him. [00:15:28] So don't reject wisdom. Trust Christ. Now look back at Proverbs 18. We're going to read verses four through eight. Now, the words of a man's mouth are deep waters. [00:15:41] The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. [00:15:45] It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice. [00:15:51] A fool's lips walk into a fight and his mouth invites a beating. [00:15:56] A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. [00:16:01] The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body. [00:16:09] So the second way, according to the book of Proverbs, that foolishness really manifests itself is through misusing the mouth. That's our second point, misusing the mouth. [00:16:20] Now, the first verse there says that a man's words are deep waters. See that term, deep waters. [00:16:31] Now that's an interesting term. We don't usually talk like that. The word for deep here is actually. Or the word, you know, the word translated into deep in English is only ever used either in Leviticus to describe skin diseases as they go deep into the skin, or it's used in a few other negative scenarios. [00:16:52] Therefore, the phrase has a negative connotation to it. This is not saying that the man's words are deep man, that's deep. You know, they're not significant and thoughtful. It's not saying that at all. What it's actually saying is that it is deep, as in dark, inaccessible, not helpful and dangerous. [00:17:15] That is what it means, that his words are deep water. [00:17:19] And this is contrasted then with the words of the wise, which is like a bubbling brook. So you can imagine a bubbling brook. It's accessible, it's there, we can take advantage of it, we can use the water, we can see it, it's calming, it's peaceful compared to the deep, dark trenches of the ocean with their dangerous sea creatures in pitch black darkness. [00:17:44] That is the comparison of the wise man's words and the fool's words. [00:17:49] So we should seek to speak words that are accessible, calming, and easy to attain. [00:17:57] But see how the fool uses or misuses his mouth. See, the fool in this text is inflammatory. The fool stirs up conflict. The fool's lips walk into a fight, we read, and his mouth invites a beating. He's stirring up conflict and trouble with his words. Now, the conflict might start a fight, it might be doing that. But more realistically, I think a lot of us have this happen in our lives, more so by stirring up drama and slandering people and gossiping. That's equally troublesome. It causes fights and conflict, but in a different way, in an emotional way rather than a physical way. [00:18:38] Proverbs 10:8 and Proverbs 10:10 also say a babbling fool will come to ruin. And then verse 14 of that chapter says something similar. So it will often be better for us to withhold words at all rather than speak something foolish. [00:18:57] To be wise. Some practical advice is to learn when to not speak at all. Proverbs 17:28 says, Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise. When he closes his lips, he's deemed intelligent. That's interesting, right? [00:19:12] It's like I'm going to butcher the phrase. There's a phrase, you know, it's better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt that you are a fool. See the fool when he opens his mouth? Nobody's doubting. Yeah, that guy's a fool. Well, at least when you keep silent, sometimes people might forget. And so we want to be careful with our words and be careful even when we speak. And we should follow the advice of James, be quick to hear and slow to speak. [00:19:43] That is generally what we should do. Now, the words here of the fool are also likened to a whisperer. See that? [00:19:52] That's in verse eight. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body. Now, this whisperer, it indicates a gossiper. That's the connotation of the word. That's what we're getting at. So there's a lot of talk about gossip, and I think that's appropriate because it's horribly damaging. And it's probably the type of negative speech I would venture to guess most affects us all. [00:20:21] And we are probably most tempted by it. We have probably all gossiped, not necessarily equally, but we've all done it, and many times. We justify it in a lot of ways, but it is crushing, it's divisive, it's hurtful, but we constantly brush it away as casual. That it doesn't really matter. [00:20:45] And sometimes we try to justify it like we're being helpful in some way to a situation or a friend by doing it. [00:20:54] The advice I think the Solomon or the Father in this would give is don't justify it ever. Just avoid it, because it's like a guilty pleasure. That's kind of what's being said when we read it goes down into the inner parts of the body like delicious morsels. It's the type of sin you really want and crave. And to get more and more of it's sneaky. It's a guilty pleasure, but that means it makes you guilty. [00:21:25] And we see that phrase, the inner parts of the body, where this whispering goes. Now, this phrase indicates your heart and soul. It's not really talking about your stomach. It comes actually, you know, scholarsome think it comes from an Egyptian phrase, a casket of the belly, which to them meant an internal box which contained your heart, your mind and your thoughts. [00:21:51] So when we were gossiping, it's like you're feeding sin into the deepest parts of your being. [00:21:58] And so ask yourself, are you filling your heart, filling your mind, filling your thoughts with slanderous gossip? Or you can think of it in another direction. Are you feeding vile gossip to people you consider your friends? [00:22:14] Because when you speak it to your friends, you're drawing them into the same sin. So don't poison your friends, don't poison yourself. [00:22:24] Proverbs 14:3. It says, by the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them. So will you with your words ruin your friends? Or will you preserve them? Will you build them up? Will you bring the Gospel and bring Christ into your relationships with your words? Are we going to poison our relationships Instead, look to Christ and His Word. Read the Gospels and see how wisely Jesus used His words when dealing with people. [00:22:59] I think we can confidently say that His Word is not vile, it's not ruinous. It's like the bubbling brook that we should seek our words to be like. [00:23:09] So when you stoop down to drink from the words of Christ, you are filled with life. [00:23:15] Think about your words and my words killing? Or are they bringing life? Or maybe, which end is it closer to? [00:23:27] Now look at Proverbs 18, verse 9. [00:23:31] Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. [00:23:37] So this is the third way that foolishness is talked about in the Proverbs. [00:23:44] Being lazy and irresponsible, you read through the Proverbs. That theme is rampant and we might even Do a specific lesson on this topic, as we might with the other two. We just did. But this is how the fool is described as a sluggard. Lazy, irresponsible. And if we thought the rebukes of how we misuse our mouth are stinging, this is sometimes even worse. [00:24:11] Can you believe a sluggard? Someone said slack in his work is counted with the one who destroys. [00:24:18] Think about that for a second. The sluggard, the lazy person who does nothing. He does nothing is counted along with he's brothers with companion, with he who destroys. [00:24:31] This reminded me of a time in high school. [00:24:35] A friend of mine, for some reason, he stole something from a teacher. It happened to be a bobblehead. He stole the bobblehead from a teacher's shelf and destroyed it because he didn't like the teacher. [00:24:51] Do not recommend, by the way. But the next thing I know, later in the day, I was called into the office, actually into the hallway, by the principal and the dean of students, and I emptied my entire bag for them as they were searching for this ball head. I emptied every individual item I had in there, put it on the floor, and then they let me put it back in and go back in the room. [00:25:14] I actually eventually was punished and given detention. [00:25:20] I was not the thief. I was not the destroyer. But I actually didn't know. [00:25:27] I actually didn't know that my friend did that. [00:25:31] I just didn't tell on it. I didn't plan it with him. I told him not to do it at one point. But I didn't tell them the truth. I did nothing. I quite literally did nothing at all. But you guys can see, hopefully that my nothingness was bad. [00:25:51] My nothingness was an active sin, something I did wrong. That's sort of like what laziness is like. You're doing nothing. But that nothingness is actively sinful. It's actively not doing good. It's actively not doing justice, like in my case. And so this is why there are so many prohibitions against laziness. It is imminent everywhere. [00:26:19] Proverbs 14:16 says, One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil. But a fool is reckless and careless. [00:26:28] Proverbs 21:25 says, the desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. [00:26:38] But Read also Proverbs 13:4. [00:26:41] The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. [00:26:53] Laziness is not just a casual thing. It's not just a bad habit that we want to beat. [00:27:02] It is deadly eternally. It is Dangerous. [00:27:07] It actually subverts our very nature as humans. We were created to work. [00:27:13] God created Adam and immediately gave him work to do. And even after the curse, when they're kicked out of Eden, they are given things to do. They still work the land, they still are fruitful and multiply. They cultivate and dwell on the earth. That is still something we do. We are built, created to be productive. When we're lazy, we subvert how God made us to be. It's the opposite. So this ultimately means that when we do this, your soul will get nothing. When you do nothing, it will be empty. But diligence represents those who are faithful. [00:27:55] Now this is not because you can diligently work yourself into righteousness. You can't work and do things and be productive into eternal blessing. But it means that believers, the faithful, those who trust in Christ's works, they are also known by their works on earth. [00:28:17] We saw that a little bit in that first John passage we read a bit ago. But James 2:2023 also explains how Abraham's life taught us this lesson. [00:28:27] James wrote, do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father, justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works. And faith was completed by his works and the Scripture was fulfilled. That says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God. [00:28:57] So your works, your deeds are evidence, because good works are only good, true and genuine when they are done alongside faith in Christ. [00:29:11] That is the foundation. Turning to the wisdom of God, turning to Christ and having faith in him and allowing that, and using what Christ teaches you in his Word and the power of his Spirit to obey and do good things. [00:29:26] A lazy person destroys this beautiful image, especially a lazy Christian, as we've been redeemed by Christ. But then don't do anything to show that redemption to the world. We don't show any evidence when we are sluggards. [00:29:43] But foolishness also results in more than just this. It results in a plethora of sins. That's why our fourth point is sinning in general. Because there are just so many verses, as I read through the book, of different ways that foolishness leads to sin. So I had to create a catch all category here. That's what this is, Proverbs 10:23. We'll start there. [00:30:05] Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding. [00:30:13] It's Kind of easy sometimes to treat sins, especially what we would consider small sins, as a joke. Have you ever found yourself or been found out to be minimizing your sin or trivializing it or kind of making it a joke? Light hearted. [00:30:31] I think we do that a lot of times, maybe subconsciously to make ourselves feel better. But we should know that it doesn't, it doesn't do any good. [00:30:40] All sin is equally condemning in the eyes of God. [00:30:45] I want you to hear that. All sin is equally condemning in the eyes of God. Now, it's not that all sins are equal in earthly consequences, right? [00:30:56] Lying to your parents, you're not going to get the same consequences as if you murder somebody, right? Obviously, earthly consequences, not necessarily equal, and that's okay. But all sins are equal in their eternal consequences. And that our sin is the reason we deserve eternal punishment, eternal separation from Christ. [00:31:18] We deserve the wrath of God because of our sins, no matter what they are, no matter how numerous they are, no matter how much they are in comparison to someone else. It doesn't matter. We are all culpable. We're all under condemnation if we're outside of Christ. [00:31:33] So we must be in Christ. But that means we cannot justify our own way out of eternal punishment. We can't trivialize our sin to make us feel like, well, our resume is a little bit better, you know, I'm a little bit better than this guy. I sin less or I don't do that sin. And I come to church, you know, and I try to read my Bible, those sorts of things. This is not how salvation and God's wrath work. There's only one kind of justification permitted at the gates of heaven. There's only one justification that gets you in Galatians 2, 16. [00:32:09] Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. [00:32:17] So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law no one will be justified. [00:32:30] Justified means to be declared righteous. It is a legal declaration we are guilty. But if you're justified, you're declared righteous in the eyes of God. That's attained through faith in Christ. That's what that's saying. So quit sin, because a person who trusts in Christ must live holy to the Lord. And of course that's so much easier to say than to do. We need to live a life of repentance and constantly be turning to the Lord and from our sin. [00:32:59] Because our nature is obviously to not Turn from that sin. Proverbs 26:11 tells us this says, like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. [00:33:15] This is a dangerous game to play. Our nature is to turn again and again to sin, to continue to be enslaved in it, to indulge ourselves more and more. But this is not the calling of Christ. [00:33:29] Go over to Proverbs 26, verses 1 through 3. [00:33:37] Like snow in summer, rain and harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. [00:33:44] Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying. A curse that is causeless does not alight. [00:33:52] A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. [00:34:00] This kind of brings us to our fifth point. The fifth way in which foolishness manifests itself in the book of Proverbs is that the fool will be harmed, will be punished, will be disciplined. [00:34:15] And we also read in Proverbs 19:29, condemnation is ready for scoffers and beating for the backs of fools. [00:34:27] Turn away from the vomit of your sin. [00:34:31] Don't keep returning to it. We know that is self evidently stupid and foolish to do. [00:34:40] If you turn the Christ, then you will be saved and served a fresh meal of righteousness. You don't have to turn to vomit anymore. You have been freed from that. You don't have to to eat the vomit. Remember that. You don't have to. Christ has freed you from it. He has given you the ability. Proverbs 13:20 says, Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm again. Walk with the wise Walk with the wise. Now how do we do that? Of course, we do that with friendships in the church, with fellowship here, making sure our closest friends are those who align with us in faith. But first you need to be there's more to it. You need to be radically and completely committed to a faithful walk with Christ because He is the wise. If you're going to walk with the wise, it means you walk with Jesus in discipleship. You walk side by side with him. You walk in step, and you trust the path he's leading you on. At the very beginning, almost the very beginning of this book. In Proverbs 3 we read, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. [00:36:09] Are you trusting in the Lord with all your heart, or do you doubt? Hold some things, some parts of your life back from Him. Instead of walking with the wise, are you walking near the Wise do you keep Jesus within eyeshot. But you're not really walking with him. That means you're not on the path. You are in danger of being harmed. Walk with Christ. [00:36:32] Walking with the wise begins with walking with him. [00:36:37] And when you walk with Christ, you'll do exactly what the Proverbs is teaching us. [00:36:43] Rejecting wisdom and God results in a sinful mouth, an irresponsible lifestyle, many other sins, and a life of eternal hardship. But when we walk with Christ in wisdom, we live in a way that is pleasing to God. [00:36:59] Even when you inevitably fall short of the standard set in Proverbs over and over again, you live a life of repentance. That means you turn to Christ. You turn from your sin. You don't go back to it. You don't let your enslavement to sin continue. You turn to Christ, your new master. We don't justify our sins. We don't ignore them. We don't keep going back to the vomit. [00:37:27] We allow our faith. We have faith in Christ. We allow that faith to tether us to Christ. So when we walk with Christ down the path of a faithful life, when you fall down, if your faith tethers you to Christ, you're not getting left behind. You're not getting lost. You can pick yourself back up and continue to walk with him. He is patient to walk with you. [00:37:50] So stop trying to do it on your own. Follow Christ through faith. Let's pray. [00:38:00] Father God, we acknowledge this evening that in our natural state we are all fools. We continually don't meet the standard of holiness that you deserve. [00:38:15] But God, we trust that your Son, Christ, through his death has made a way that we can walk with the wise. [00:38:22] We can live a life pleasing to you that is also a faithful witness to others. Lord, help us to see how we can do that. [00:38:31] Help us to see our blind spots this evening that we can walk closer with Christ. [00:38:36] We pray this in Christ's name, Amen.