WEBVTT 00:00:03.986 --> 00:00:14.477 Well, if you were around back in 2014, which I think most of you were, if you might have been an opportunity had an opportunity to see the film called Imitation Game. 00:00:14.477 --> 00:00:20.731 Till that film came out, it was an Oscar winning film, or at least nominated. 00:00:20.731 --> 00:00:24.750 The name Alan Turing probably didn't mean too much to you. 00:00:24.750 --> 00:00:26.405 Maybe you don't still know that name. 00:00:26.405 --> 00:00:31.012 You ask who was Alan Turing and why was he so important? 00:00:31.481 --> 00:00:42.469 Well, turing was born back in 1912 and as he grew up, he got the opportunity in England to be a part of the government's Code and Cypher School. 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:43.872 And say what was that about? 00:00:43.872 --> 00:01:19.272 Well, he was basically a code breaker and by the time he got to the point that World War II began in 1939, they called him to be a part of this really major code breaking part of the government because they had a problem with this device called the Enigma Machine and he was part of the team that was set to break the Enigma code that was topped out on the machine and the Germans and their allies used it to encrypt and code secret messages to one another. 00:01:19.272 --> 00:01:22.870 So he was a part of that a code breaking team and his role. 00:01:22.870 --> 00:01:36.829 After he finally was able to do that, they came up with another machine called the Bomb and it was able to figure out all what a great name right, figure out the code to the Enigma Machine and the Enigma code. 00:01:36.829 --> 00:01:43.584 And because of that, turing and his team really shortened the war by a great deal and they saved a lot of people. 00:01:43.584 --> 00:01:53.469 And I use that to kind of give an analogy for us, because in a spiritual sense we all, I think, need a solution that sort of breaks the Enigma code of life. 00:01:53.469 --> 00:02:00.173 Solomon has been talking about the meaningless of life and that it is an Enigma. 00:02:00.173 --> 00:02:07.528 We don't always know why we go through the problems that we go through and there's not always answers available to us readily. 00:02:07.528 --> 00:02:16.305 But when it comes to solving problems, making tough decisions and here's what I've found is that people make a plan A and A. 00:02:16.305 --> 00:02:17.788 What Plan B? 00:02:17.788 --> 00:02:20.947 Sometimes plan C and a, d and so on. 00:02:20.947 --> 00:02:24.948 But I found that the perfect plan doesn't always exist. 00:02:26.281 --> 00:02:38.792 And I was interested to hear about this couple of guys who got together and they were good friends and the one friend said to the other he said I know you've been having trouble finding the date and he said yeah, I have. 00:02:38.792 --> 00:02:43.891 He said well, I went ahead and got you set up with a blind date. 00:02:43.891 --> 00:02:45.509 He said you did what? 00:02:45.509 --> 00:02:47.120 So why did you do that? 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:48.705 And he said what's the matter with that? 00:02:48.705 --> 00:02:49.602 He said, well. 00:02:49.602 --> 00:02:56.330 He said what if the girl is just not good looking and I have to spend the whole day with somebody that I really don't want to be with? 00:02:56.330 --> 00:02:59.188 And he said, well, there's wait a minute, there's an app for that. 00:02:59.188 --> 00:03:01.545 And he said the way the app works. 00:03:01.545 --> 00:03:16.633 You download the app and when you get on your date, if it's like you're kind of not liking what you see, the phone will call you on this little app and then you can pick up the phone and say mom, is that you, are you in trouble? 00:03:16.633 --> 00:03:20.227 I'm going to go and you're free on get out of the date. 00:03:20.227 --> 00:03:23.109 He said, well, that sounds like a, sounds like a plan. 00:03:23.109 --> 00:03:30.325 So the guy got out, he got on the date and right before the girl arrives he's thinking well, this is going to work out great. 00:03:30.325 --> 00:03:42.842 The girl walks in and they get to look at each other and all at once, before they get the chance to even greet each other, the girl gets a phone call Mom, is that you, are you in trouble? 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:56.211 So, as I say, life is full of problems, right, and we don't always have the answers by using human wisdom. 00:03:56.211 --> 00:04:04.007 We need the wisdom of God, can't rely on our own experience, can't rely on our own knowledge, and so we have to look for something beyond ourselves. 00:04:04.007 --> 00:04:11.644 Right, and Solomon has been reminding us all along that we live in a world, as I said, where life is meaningless. 00:04:11.644 --> 00:04:17.529 And what do you do when life doesn't make sense? 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:18.612 Where do you go? 00:04:18.612 --> 00:04:19.682 Hope? 00:04:19.682 --> 00:04:20.444 You go to the Lord. 00:04:20.444 --> 00:04:23.880 And you know we have this sometimes, this little bag of tricks, we. 00:04:23.880 --> 00:04:25.648 I call it the little bag of tricks. 00:04:25.648 --> 00:04:29.810 It's something we always revert to to give us our answers, the way we work. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:41.384 But the thing that we find in this passage is sometimes the best way to learn the value of anything is to look at its opposite, and this is what Solomon does. 00:04:41.384 --> 00:04:48.932 He's been talking about wisdom and now he turns, in chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes, to talk about something else, the opposite. 00:04:48.932 --> 00:04:59.730 He's going to contrast the wisdom of God by looking at the foolishness of a fool, and he's going to show us in the process what do we do when we run out of answers. 00:04:59.730 --> 00:05:01.964 So let's look at that. 00:05:01.964 --> 00:05:08.103 If you've got Ecclesiastes 10 up, we're going to read this together and just see what Solomon has to teach us. 00:05:08.103 --> 00:05:11.769 Solomon is teaching here in Ecclesiastes 10. 00:05:11.769 --> 00:05:17.430 Let's just read together Dead flies make the perfumers ointment give off a stench. 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:20.827 So a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 00:05:20.827 --> 00:05:25.949 A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left. 00:05:25.949 --> 00:05:32.247 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense and he says to everyone that he is a fool. 00:05:32.247 --> 00:05:40.665 If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest. 00:05:40.665 --> 00:05:47.762 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were, an error proceeding from the ruler. 00:05:47.762 --> 00:05:53.069 Folly is set in many high places and the rich sit in a low place. 00:05:53.069 --> 00:05:58.370 I have seen slaves on horses and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:03.928 He who digs a pit will fall into it and a serpent will bite him. 00:06:03.928 --> 00:06:11.250 Who breaks through a wall, he who quarries stones is hurt by them and he who splits logs is endangered by them. 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:16.995 If the iron is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength. 00:06:16.995 --> 00:06:19.906 But wisdom helps one to succeed. 00:06:19.906 --> 00:06:24.569 If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:31.612 The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. 00:06:31.612 --> 00:06:37.562 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness and the end of his talk is evil madness. 00:06:37.562 --> 00:06:45.403 A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him? 00:06:45.403 --> 00:06:50.769 The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. 00:06:50.769 --> 00:06:58.031 Woe to you, o land, when your king is a child and the princes, your princes, feast in the morning. 00:06:58.031 --> 00:07:07.367 Happy are you, o land, when your king is the son of the nobility and your princes feast at the proper time for strength and not for drunkenness. 00:07:07.367 --> 00:07:12.949 Through sloth, the roof sinks in and through indolence the house leaks. 00:07:12.949 --> 00:07:22.100 Bread is made for laughter, wine gladdens life and money answers everything, even in your thoughts. 00:07:22.100 --> 00:07:32.848 Do not curse the king, nor, in your bedroom, curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter. 00:07:34.752 --> 00:07:41.725 And so you think about this passage, and Solomon's words here may not be easily followed. 00:07:41.725 --> 00:07:55.673 I went through this week and just tried to make some sense about putting the words and thoughts he had in mind, but I came to this conclusion Solomon's lesson in this chapter is really simple Don't be a fool. 00:07:55.673 --> 00:07:58.072 Don't be a fool. 00:07:58.072 --> 00:08:02.396 And to make the point, he really does. 00:08:02.416 --> 00:08:07.375 He begins with one of the more memorable verses in the whole book, and I just like this verse. 00:08:07.375 --> 00:08:08.535 It's the verse one. 00:08:08.535 --> 00:08:13.083 It says Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench. 00:08:13.083 --> 00:08:16.553 So a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 00:08:16.553 --> 00:08:18.519 And so you get the picture. 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:48.394 There's this perfumer who is making a batch of perfume and he is making something that smells good and although there's nothing wrong with the fragrance, maybe while his back is turned, maybe someone comes up and interrupts him in the course of his business making this perfume, and the sweet smell draws the flies and some of them die and they fall into the mix and they turn the batch of perfume into a stinky bouquet. 00:08:48.394 --> 00:08:50.778 And that's the picture he wants you to see. 00:08:50.778 --> 00:08:53.796 And it's super seize, it covers the whole chapter. 00:08:53.796 --> 00:08:57.019 So keep this in mind as we go through this. 00:08:57.110 --> 00:08:58.875 You say well, how could this happen? 00:08:58.875 --> 00:09:02.576 This fly, when he's doing this? 00:09:02.576 --> 00:09:03.678 Is he not paying attention? 00:09:03.678 --> 00:09:15.477 Well, that's what happens in life A moment of apathy, a moment of self-indulgence, a moment where we are careless and somehow the fly gets into the perfume. 00:09:15.477 --> 00:09:18.376 And so Solomon says don't let that happen. 00:09:18.376 --> 00:09:19.231 Don't be a fool. 00:09:21.070 --> 00:09:25.638 Solomon here has this, and I think you know we can almost smell this image, can't we? 00:09:25.638 --> 00:09:32.462 This smelly image is really like a pungent way of describing a fool's offensive behavior. 00:09:32.462 --> 00:09:33.294 And that's the point. 00:09:33.294 --> 00:09:35.855 It doesn't take a lot right. 00:09:35.855 --> 00:09:40.918 Look at that line that says a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 00:09:40.918 --> 00:09:45.351 You might circle that word little right, a little honor. 00:09:45.351 --> 00:09:47.298 Folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 00:09:47.298 --> 00:09:51.639 This takes a little foolishness, doesn't it, to stink up a place. 00:09:51.639 --> 00:10:01.620 You think about it For life, for work, for marriage, for relationships, for money. 00:10:01.620 --> 00:10:19.821 A single mistake can get you fired, a single sin can destroy your marriage, the wrong word can end a friendship that maybe has lasted for years, and you think about it as something you take a risk on can ruin your reputation. 00:10:19.821 --> 00:10:21.673 Just takes a little thing. 00:10:21.673 --> 00:10:25.500 And how many of us could say at one time in our life we've done something small. 00:10:25.500 --> 00:10:30.519 Maybe you've sent a text to somebody and you go oh, after you sent it, what did I just do? 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:35.698 Or the spelling thing happens and it changes what you meant to say in the first place. 00:10:35.698 --> 00:10:39.970 Right, it's like how could I say that? 00:10:39.970 --> 00:10:41.296 But this is Solomon's point. 00:10:41.296 --> 00:10:51.096 All it takes is one rash word, one offhand comment or root remark or hasty decision, one little thing and it spells everything. 00:10:51.096 --> 00:10:55.359 So with that image in mind, I want us to go through this. 00:10:55.509 --> 00:11:05.162 This wise king Solomon gives us a wise look at a fool and remember, he's contrasting that between wisdom and kind of highlights it. 00:11:05.162 --> 00:11:08.157 So when we hear the word fool, what do you think about? 00:11:08.157 --> 00:11:18.600 When you think about a fool, I think a lot of people just consider a fool as somebody who's silly, who's like a clown, maybe frivolous jokester, or even a stupid person. 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:35.681 But the Bible attaches a moral idea to this person who is called a fool, and that's why Jesus says if you call somebody a fool, you're in danger of the fires of hell because you're thinking about, you're saying something about the moral, about the heart of that person. 00:11:35.681 --> 00:12:01.361 You don't know that, but there are a number of words in the Hebrew that talk about and describe a fool, and they range from in meaning, from someone who is naive and irresponsible, someone who is ignorant of God in his ways, all the way over to the extremely Godless person who scripture in Psalm 52.1 says he says in his heart there is no God. 00:12:02.090 --> 00:12:04.578 So you see, there's a range of meaning for a fool. 00:12:04.578 --> 00:12:17.110 But, among other things, the person that's like that is marked by pride, he's marked by arrogance, he has no sense of sin and he's ultimately has no fear of God. 00:12:17.110 --> 00:12:21.681 Remember, the Bible says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. 00:12:21.681 --> 00:12:31.220 And so he is careless, reckless and indifferent about the most important thing, and that is the eternal consequences of his actions. 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:35.096 And I want you to see he gives us four observations here. 00:12:35.096 --> 00:12:43.879 He makes that we need to see as he talks about a fool, and they have to do with the heart, the power, the character and the failure of a fool. 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:45.263 So let's look at these. 00:12:45.549 --> 00:12:50.119 Let's first look at the heart of a fool, and that's in verses two and three, one through three. 00:12:50.119 --> 00:12:52.437 Solomon states something pretty obvious. 00:12:52.437 --> 00:12:59.121 He says you know you deserve people, and some people make foolish choices while other people make wise choices. 00:12:59.121 --> 00:13:01.436 Well, we know that that's true enough. 00:13:01.436 --> 00:13:08.054 But he goes on to tell us why that person makes foolish decisions, and he gives us two reasons. 00:13:08.054 --> 00:13:14.323 The first reason is this he says the fool's heart is bent toward godlessness. 00:13:14.985 --> 00:13:16.070 Look at the verse, verse two. 00:13:16.070 --> 00:13:22.604 He says a wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left. 00:13:22.604 --> 00:13:29.693 And so you have this picture of someone who is, who is bent toward things that he knows displeases God. 00:13:29.693 --> 00:13:33.519 Maybe he doesn't know that displeases God, but he's inclined toward them. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:46.602 And sometimes our heart is maybe we don't even realize it sometimes is inclined toward the things that God doesn't see as pleasing to him, and it can ruin our life. 00:13:47.350 --> 00:13:56.400 And so Solomon says it's like two people walking down a road here, and the choice has to be made in life about what direction do we take when we have the opportunity. 00:13:56.400 --> 00:14:00.440 Do I go to the right or do I go to the left? 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:05.251 And by the way, this is not talking about political right and left, right, it's not that. 00:14:05.251 --> 00:14:09.818 It's the choice between good and evil, right and wrong. 00:14:09.818 --> 00:14:13.528 And so the fool can't make a good decision. 00:14:13.528 --> 00:14:16.897 He's directionless because he doesn't have a godly heart. 00:14:16.897 --> 00:14:18.529 He has problems there. 00:14:18.570 --> 00:14:23.307 And so making the right decision, having the wisdom to choose the right thing, that's wisdom. 00:14:23.307 --> 00:14:27.857 And it's because of this inclination toward his heart he chooses the wrong road. 00:14:27.857 --> 00:14:30.975 So you can say the fool is going down the wrong path. 00:14:30.975 --> 00:14:33.211 Now I know for all of us. 00:14:33.211 --> 00:14:36.725 We all want to know and have the right direction. 00:14:36.725 --> 00:14:38.804 We want to know that we're going the right path. 00:14:38.804 --> 00:14:43.178 Well, the thing Solomon tells us is choose wisdom and you will. 00:14:43.178 --> 00:14:44.985 You hear from God and you will. 00:14:44.985 --> 00:14:47.190 So don't be bent in that way. 00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:50.577 Don't be a fool to head out in a godless direction. 00:14:50.926 --> 00:14:58.219 Second reason he talks about is that the fool lacks understanding of where his choices will take him. 00:14:58.219 --> 00:15:05.044 He chooses the wrong road, but he also doesn't know that the road he's chosen is going to end up in a terrible place. 00:15:05.044 --> 00:15:06.628 He says this. 00:15:06.628 --> 00:15:11.979 He says if you are, even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, in verse 3. 00:15:11.979 --> 00:15:14.634 And he says to everyone that he's a fool. 00:15:14.634 --> 00:15:17.225 In other words, everybody can see this guy's nuts. 00:15:17.225 --> 00:15:18.167 He is a fool. 00:15:18.908 --> 00:15:22.116 And if you're pursuing wisdom, guess what? 00:15:22.116 --> 00:15:29.339 If you are pursuing wisdom, you can tell in a moment when someone is acting like a fool or saying something that's foolish. 00:15:29.339 --> 00:15:39.373 So, over and over in the book of Proverbs, we find this lack of understanding or lack of sense that Solomon is talking about, and this is what gets the fool into trouble. 00:15:39.373 --> 00:15:46.653 Proverbs 15, 21 says this folly is a joy to him who lacks sense. 00:15:46.653 --> 00:15:51.900 But a man of understanding walks straight ahead. 00:15:51.900 --> 00:16:03.096 And so we see the fool has an empty head because he has a godless heart, and so Solomon is wanting us to see this first point it all has to start. 00:16:03.096 --> 00:16:04.097 It starts with the heart. 00:16:04.097 --> 00:16:07.495 Are we inclined toward the things of God or are we not? 00:16:07.495 --> 00:16:13.211 And maybe some of you here today don't know God, and the way you find out is do you pursue wisdom? 00:16:13.211 --> 00:16:16.518 And we're going to find out where that leads us to in just a minute. 00:16:16.625 --> 00:16:30.636 Solomon goes on, though, to note an ironic reality, as he brings up something that occurs in places of influence and we see that and that is in the power he describes of the fool Verses four through seven. 00:16:30.636 --> 00:16:36.638 He says folly is said in many high places and the rich sit in a low place. 00:16:36.638 --> 00:16:38.227 You ever said this, he said. 00:16:38.227 --> 00:16:41.976 You ever said how did that person get there? 00:16:41.976 --> 00:16:44.493 How did that person get in that position? 00:16:44.493 --> 00:16:45.907 I've said that. 00:16:45.907 --> 00:17:03.956 Maybe at your work, maybe in places where someone was over you, or you know, you've thought about how did that person get the position of being the vice president and the person who was kind of wise and seemed to have things together? 00:17:03.956 --> 00:17:09.494 He's the low man on the totem pole and he doesn't have much influence at all. 00:17:09.494 --> 00:17:14.715 That will not withstanding that God puts people in place of authority. 00:17:14.715 --> 00:17:16.106 Solomon still. 00:17:16.106 --> 00:17:21.436 He identifies this oddity as the real world. 00:17:21.436 --> 00:17:23.710 This is what happens, in fact. 00:17:23.750 --> 00:17:35.186 He says the source of that, he calls it evil, and he says in verse five, he says an error proceeding from the ruler is the source, and that word Hebrew. 00:17:35.186 --> 00:17:42.445 In Hebrew, error refers to sort of a thoughtless, reckless, unthinking sin, the person. 00:17:42.445 --> 00:18:05.435 Whether they do it through ignorance or arrogance, they do something that is against God, and you know when that happens, it brings a level of pain to everybody below them, and you know that Solomon gives us some really good advice about this, though, because he tells us what are you supposed to do when somebody's like that, when you, when you were having to deal with a fool? 00:18:05.435 --> 00:18:09.834 Well, first thing, he says, is don't resign because you're discouraged. 00:18:10.865 --> 00:18:20.279 Verse four says if the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest. 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:28.807 In other words, don't give into the evil that you see going on around you and the people that seem to be fomenting it, that seem to be causing it. 00:18:28.807 --> 00:18:48.785 Occupy your post, stay in your position, be faithful where God has put you, and you know who knows that you might be in that very place, because God has put you there for your own influence and you have no clue about how God is going to use you to stay where you are. 00:18:48.785 --> 00:19:02.737 And I'm not saying that there's not a time and we aren't called to leave, but in the most, most cases, god puts us where he puts us because he wants us there, he allows us to be there and it's wise, he said, to stay put and to do that. 00:19:02.737 --> 00:19:10.019 A second reason he calls us to and how do we deal with fools in those situations is simply this expect the unexpected and outrageous. 00:19:10.285 --> 00:19:25.278 Verse seven says I have seen slaves on horses and princes walking on the ground like slaves and I think, by our own observation and reckoning, you know some we would say are our in power, who shouldn't be in power. 00:19:25.278 --> 00:19:31.676 And we also say that there are some people that ought to be in power, that why aren't they there? 00:19:31.676 --> 00:19:35.855 Because they seem to be the more wise person, wise people. 00:19:35.855 --> 00:19:41.215 What shouldn't be is, and what isn't happening should be happening. 00:19:41.215 --> 00:19:54.651 He says it like this and I give you a different translation of it in verse seven, I've seen unproven upstarch writing in style while experienced veterans are put out to pasture, and that's really common. 00:19:56.125 --> 00:19:58.490 Here's the thing I think, maybe more than any time in history. 00:19:58.490 --> 00:20:13.617 I've seen this happen in our day, when people who are in power we think maybe they shouldn't be, and the outrageous things that they do, we kind of question and say, god, why are they there instead of somebody else? 00:20:13.617 --> 00:20:22.537 And I think that way you probably have to, but we have to say that as followers of Jesus Christ, you know, we don't get to make that call. 00:20:22.537 --> 00:20:27.757 God is in control of the person that's in those places because, guess what? 00:20:27.757 --> 00:20:30.512 He has put all authorities in place. 00:20:30.512 --> 00:20:38.352 He's the one has put those people there for his own purposes, for his own reasons, and this is why we should not resign. 00:20:38.352 --> 00:20:48.096 God's power is greater than the greatest sin, and he is also able to make you effective in the place that he's put you. 00:20:48.096 --> 00:20:58.493 Maybe you carry more power in the place that you're in right now than you would be if you were where you wished you could be Right, and so we just don't know how God works things out. 00:20:58.493 --> 00:21:02.498 But this is this is really what Ecclesiastes is talking about. 00:21:02.565 --> 00:21:03.268 Solomon is talking about. 00:21:03.268 --> 00:21:04.471 This is the power of the fool. 00:21:04.471 --> 00:21:07.653 He has a lot of potential to do a lot of damage. 00:21:07.653 --> 00:21:10.835 Just a little thing will change a lot of things that are not good. 00:21:10.835 --> 00:21:17.952 Now, third thing he brought and brings to us, and this has to do with the character of a fool, and that's versus 12 through 19. 00:21:17.952 --> 00:21:34.086 And I am skipping over some verses We'll come back to verses six and 11 in a minute but verses 12 and 15, they sort of summarize Two issues that flow from the fool's heart, that have to do with his character, because character flows from the heart, he says. 00:21:34.086 --> 00:21:47.810 Verse 12, the lips of a fool consume him, and verse 15, the toil of a fool wearies him and so he's talking about what your words and your actions? 00:21:49.926 --> 00:21:55.417 And one of the primary characteristics of a fool, according to Solomon, is they talk too much. 00:21:55.417 --> 00:21:59.114 They have more words to say than to know what they're talking about. 00:21:59.114 --> 00:22:08.351 And the general tone of a fool's conversation, really, if you listen well, is it's bent toward evil things and talk that is godless. 00:22:08.351 --> 00:22:12.438 It doesn't reflect the nature and person of God or God's ways. 00:22:12.438 --> 00:22:25.554 So even to the point of saying some really insane stuff, and you can make some application of that on your own, but God is the last thing on their mind when they talk. 00:22:27.305 --> 00:22:27.926 Listen to what he says. 00:22:27.926 --> 00:22:34.172 The words of a wise man's mouth when him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. 00:22:34.172 --> 00:22:38.095 It's a word that says that his words eat him up. 00:22:38.095 --> 00:22:42.372 How ironic is that he speaks words but his own words eat him up. 00:22:42.372 --> 00:22:49.436 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness and the end of his talk is evil madness. 00:22:49.436 --> 00:22:51.932 In other words, it leads to insane stuff. 00:22:51.932 --> 00:22:56.715 A fool multiplies words though no man knows what is to be. 00:22:56.715 --> 00:22:58.952 In other words, the fool doesn't know his future. 00:22:58.952 --> 00:23:07.894 He doesn't even think about his future, much less eternity, and he can't tell anyone even though he thinks he can about those kinds of things. 00:23:07.894 --> 00:23:11.471 And see, he says, who can tell him what will be after him? 00:23:11.471 --> 00:23:12.114 Well, nobody. 00:23:12.114 --> 00:23:17.310 Nobody can talk to a fool, because they're not listening, and so they talk to him. 00:23:17.464 --> 00:23:20.848 That's a second characteristic of a fool, he says as we talk about. 00:23:20.848 --> 00:23:24.496 His character is that they actually do very little work. 00:23:24.496 --> 00:23:31.376 Now, they may be busy, they may be about a lot of stuff, but none of it is kingdom stuff. 00:23:31.376 --> 00:23:34.385 It's nothing that will do good, he says. 00:23:34.385 --> 00:23:36.250 The toil of a fool worries him. 00:23:36.250 --> 00:23:43.372 He's busy, but he doesn't want to do any work, for he does not know the way to the city. 00:23:43.372 --> 00:23:46.234 So what in the world does that mean Doesn't know the way to the city. 00:23:46.234 --> 00:23:48.893 In other words, he's busy for no good purpose. 00:23:48.893 --> 00:23:53.931 He's on the road but he's going nowhere and he doesn't really care that he gets there. 00:23:53.931 --> 00:24:01.811 Not knowing the way to the city is a way of saying that his activity is pointless and worthless and it accomplishes nothing. 00:24:01.811 --> 00:24:04.332 And this is what Solomon sees. 00:24:04.332 --> 00:24:05.229 That's what he observes. 00:24:05.229 --> 00:24:06.729 They do very little work. 00:24:08.404 --> 00:24:12.056 In verse 16, I think it is Solomon's thoughts sort of lead him on. 00:24:12.056 --> 00:24:30.452 He's talking about these things that have to do with character, and he brings a warning to a land or a nation who has the unfortunate experience of being under a person in power who doesn't know when it's time to roll up his sleeves and work. 00:24:30.452 --> 00:24:36.633 City leaders make it a bad place to live. 00:24:36.633 --> 00:24:39.166 Listen to the words. 00:24:39.166 --> 00:24:42.556 Woe to you, oland, when your king is a child. 00:24:42.556 --> 00:24:49.050 It doesn't mean he's literally a child, it means he acts like a kid and your princes feast in the morning. 00:24:49.050 --> 00:24:59.172 Happy are you, oland, when your king is the son of the nobility and your princes feast at the proper time for strength and not for drunkenness. 00:24:59.172 --> 00:25:13.596 Through sloth, the roof sinks in and through indolence, the house leaks, and so, because of laziness, the nation, the land, suffers and it falls apart. 00:25:16.105 --> 00:25:24.092 Here's something else, because I think in the end, solomon he sort of makes this tongue in cheek comment in verse 19. 00:25:24.092 --> 00:25:25.576 Maybe you caught it. 00:25:25.576 --> 00:25:28.939 He says, well, money answers everything. 00:25:28.939 --> 00:25:34.291 Yeah right, I think that's what he's saying Money, money answers everything. 00:25:34.291 --> 00:25:51.415 And think about who knew this better than Solomon, who'd had the riches of the world and could have chosen to do anything, pretty much just like people who are rich today and they get to the end of the road, the journey of pursuits, and they're not happy, they're empty. 00:25:51.415 --> 00:26:00.057 Now, my mom used to say money is not everything, but it sure sues a world of hurts. 00:26:00.057 --> 00:26:08.329 Now I thought well, that's true, that can be true, but it doesn't solve everything, it doesn't solve the most important things. 00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:18.895 Solomon, I think, is saying that there's something far more important, and that is that you and I have peace with God, and then we have the peace of God. 00:26:18.895 --> 00:26:23.606 Money can't buy those things, it can't buy happiness, it can't buy joy, it can't buy peace. 00:26:23.606 --> 00:26:28.991 What will you trade for those things? 00:26:28.991 --> 00:26:32.548 God has to be in the mix. 00:26:32.548 --> 00:26:35.009 This is what Solomon is getting at. 00:26:35.704 --> 00:26:48.875 So far, solomon's observations have shown us the heart, the power, the power and the character of someone who he calls a fool, and all to highlight how vital wisdom really is. 00:26:48.875 --> 00:26:49.425 It's like that. 00:26:49.425 --> 00:26:52.575 Set this apart so you can see how important wisdom is. 00:26:52.575 --> 00:26:53.946 Look at the fool. 00:26:53.946 --> 00:26:57.071 Now let's go back up to verses 8 and 11. 00:26:57.071 --> 00:27:02.327 Now let's see 8 through 11 and see the last thing he describes, and that's the failure of a fool. 00:27:02.327 --> 00:27:05.551 And it's shown to us by four examples. 00:27:05.551 --> 00:27:13.718 He says by an example of digging a pit, quarrying stones, cutting a tree and charming a snake. 00:27:13.718 --> 00:27:25.175 He says he who digs a pit will fall into it and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall, he who quarries stones is hurt by them and he who splits logs is endangered by them. 00:27:25.175 --> 00:27:30.435 If the iron is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength. 00:27:30.435 --> 00:27:33.171 But wisdom helps one to succeed. 00:27:33.171 --> 00:27:38.355 If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer. 00:27:38.355 --> 00:27:57.029 And so if you notice in those verses, if we think he's talking about the fool and I think he is the fool gets bitten twice in these examples and at first glance I mean I would read through this and I thought at first well, maybe Solomon is just describing life. 00:27:57.029 --> 00:28:02.876 I mean you put yourself out there and invariably, if you put yourself out there, you're going to get hurt. 00:28:02.876 --> 00:28:07.115 That's just life if you take the risk. 00:28:07.115 --> 00:28:10.551 But I think he's saying something far more important. 00:28:10.551 --> 00:28:13.250 Now I was really struggling. 00:28:13.250 --> 00:28:15.111 What is he saying in these verses? 00:28:15.265 --> 00:28:24.273 This week I ran across a verse in Proverbs 26, verse 27, which kind of threw some light onto this passage for me and hopefully for you. 00:28:24.273 --> 00:28:37.335 It's verse 26 of Proverbs 26, 27 and it reads like this whoever digs a pit will fall into it and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. 00:28:37.335 --> 00:28:44.917 So that verse is almost identical to what we're reading in Ecclesiastes in some part. 00:28:44.917 --> 00:28:46.691 But what is he saying in that verse? 00:28:46.691 --> 00:28:55.885 It kind of says for every evil action by a fool, there is an equal and opposite reaction that's going to come back on him In the end. 00:28:55.885 --> 00:28:58.092 It's going to harm him or crush him. 00:28:58.092 --> 00:29:01.689 Living like a fool, you don't get off. 00:29:01.689 --> 00:29:02.791 It's got free. 00:29:02.791 --> 00:29:06.009 It will come back to you. 00:29:06.009 --> 00:29:06.931 That's what he's saying. 00:29:07.625 --> 00:29:23.221 In the end result is basically this the folly is self-destructive If you choose to live a certain way, if you leave God out of the picture and you let your heart bend you to things that aren't godly and are not pleasing to him. 00:29:23.221 --> 00:29:26.548 It's self-destructive. 00:29:26.548 --> 00:29:31.684 And so what we have in these verses illustrates a sort of poetic justice. 00:29:31.684 --> 00:29:33.580 This is what Solomon's getting. 00:29:33.580 --> 00:29:42.501 It's poetic justice that falls upon the person who rejects godly wisdom, and as he does, he acts like a fool. 00:29:42.501 --> 00:29:45.259 This is the failure of a fool. 00:29:47.214 --> 00:29:51.946 Well, solomon ends after he describes the person who is a fool. 00:29:51.946 --> 00:29:56.365 He just ends this passage by leaving us with a word to the wise. 00:29:56.365 --> 00:30:10.020 He's now talking to us and heard a quote by Charles Spurton, who said one time the doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of our own ignorance. 00:30:10.020 --> 00:30:15.826 The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of our own ignorance. 00:30:15.826 --> 00:30:23.903 In other words, we're not always as wise as we think we are Right, and at one time or another I've been a fool, you've been a fool. 00:30:23.903 --> 00:30:25.739 Oh, guys, children, I've been a fool right. 00:30:29.535 --> 00:30:30.700 Sometimes we do things we regret. 00:30:30.700 --> 00:30:32.458 Sometimes we look back and we go. 00:30:32.458 --> 00:30:34.002 Why in the world did I do that? 00:30:34.002 --> 00:30:49.445 It spoils a lot of sweet things Going back to that image that he puts out there at the front, flying the ointment, and one of those things has to do with the foolishness of criticizing those in authority. 00:30:49.445 --> 00:31:06.902 He ends this with verse 20 and says even in your thoughts do not curse the king, nor, in your bedroom, curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter. 00:31:06.902 --> 00:31:12.339 In other words, you never know who's listening, even in the most intimate places in your bedroom. 00:31:12.339 --> 00:31:18.077 Don't be surprised, the walls have ears. 00:31:20.734 --> 00:31:28.689 You know, years ago I had a chance to go to China with a friend on a mission trip. 00:31:28.689 --> 00:31:36.224 We had a chance, we brought one UT student with us and we got there to China and it was, as I say, it was, a mission trip, sort of undercover. 00:31:36.224 --> 00:31:47.226 We were warned don't do anything foolish Like don't flaunt your Bible we could bring our Bible at that time but don't try to share it with anyone. 00:31:47.226 --> 00:31:49.162 Well, that was the reason we were going there. 00:31:49.162 --> 00:31:52.505 We were going to and I won't tell you what the organization was, but it was interesting. 00:31:52.505 --> 00:31:58.635 We got there at the place in Beijing and walked into the hotel room and we could. 00:31:58.635 --> 00:32:06.084 It was weird because we could just see the people at the desk were just looking at us and were thinking what is this about? 00:32:06.084 --> 00:32:11.044 And we got up to a room and we kind of jokingly said well, I wonder if the room is bugged. 00:32:11.044 --> 00:32:17.253 So we started talking silly stuff just to kind of get a rise out of the people. 00:32:17.253 --> 00:32:21.825 If they were listening and nothing illegal or nothing, that would have really gotten us into trouble. 00:32:21.825 --> 00:32:23.028 Probably foolish anyway. 00:32:23.695 --> 00:32:26.440 But you know, here's the thing. 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:29.846 There are governments around the world. 00:32:29.846 --> 00:32:38.960 If you say something about those in authority, it could land you in a deep, in a deep trouble, maybe put you in prison, maybe, I don't know, maybe you could lose your life. 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:44.619 But he's talking about. 00:32:44.619 --> 00:32:46.484 Don't say this in the presence of the King. 00:32:46.484 --> 00:32:48.435 We forget. 00:32:48.435 --> 00:32:56.147 There is a person we call the King of Kings, that always hears, always sees. 00:32:56.147 --> 00:33:01.019 Here's what it says in Exodus 22, verse 28,. 00:33:01.019 --> 00:33:07.748 You shall not curse a ruler of your people. 00:33:07.748 --> 00:33:15.538 And so, in spite of the evil effects of the foolish people, sometimes we see around us and over us. 00:33:15.538 --> 00:33:28.724 You know it's wise to keep our thoughts to ourselves, because the King of Kings hears and he sees, and we never know what's going to happen, how he's going to respond to that. 00:33:28.894 --> 00:33:36.969 Jesus, even in our ministry to this world, reminded us of the benefit of being wise. 00:33:36.969 --> 00:33:57.621 He said in Matthew 10, 16, behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, and so as we live in the world we're living in and we have the problems we're facing, be wise, be wise. 00:33:57.621 --> 00:34:03.497 So today I thought, as we went through this, I thought well, this stepped on my toes a little bit. 00:34:03.497 --> 00:34:10.726 Maybe it stepped on yours and maybe you feel like, boy, I've been a fool at times. 00:34:10.726 --> 00:34:14.623 Maybe you've done something foolish this week and you regret it. 00:34:14.623 --> 00:34:28.737 Here's the thing there's hope for a fool and there's hope for the fool in the gospel, because you can begin to follow a person that will change everything. 00:34:31.335 --> 00:34:43.164 The Bible says that Jesus is the wisdom of God and it says in Colossians 2, he is the key that opens all the hidden treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge. 00:34:43.164 --> 00:34:45.436 Think about that. 00:34:45.436 --> 00:34:53.746 You hold a key, if you know Jesus, to the wisdom of the world. 00:34:53.746 --> 00:34:55.737 That's incredible. 00:34:55.737 --> 00:35:00.063 It's found in a person and his name is Jesus. 00:35:00.063 --> 00:35:13.740 So the better you know Jesus, the more opportunity you have to connect with him and get the wisdom that you need for any problem you're going through or any failure you have met this past week or in your past. 00:35:15.394 --> 00:35:23.119 I want to kind of go to the end of this for us and just make this an exercise for us, because I think none of us. 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:26.867 We've all been fools at one time or another. 00:35:26.867 --> 00:35:33.170 Right, we've all made mistakes, and we only got wisdom to make it in this world. 00:35:33.170 --> 00:35:38.873 And Solomon basically tells us don't be a fool, be wise, get wisdom. 00:35:38.873 --> 00:35:43.974 And so I want to read you a verse out of James 1. 00:35:43.974 --> 00:35:50.028 And this is a promise that you can hang your life on If you don't know what to do. 00:35:50.188 --> 00:35:53.891 You're going through some struggles and you're wondering how do I handle what I'm going through? 00:35:53.891 --> 00:36:03.791 It could be a health issue, a marriage issue, grandkids' kids' issue, maybe it's something at your job and you're just like well, I don't know what to do here. 00:36:03.791 --> 00:36:17.130 Well, here's what James says If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given him. 00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:21.494 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. 00:36:21.494 --> 00:36:30.114 So it is a promise God gives wisdom to those who seek it and who actually show enough faith to do what. 00:36:30.114 --> 00:36:36.355 Ask him for it and he says I'll give it to you generously if you'll just ask. 00:36:36.355 --> 00:36:38.251 So I want us to end our time. 00:36:38.251 --> 00:36:51.489 If you'll stand, and right here, right now, I'm going to give us just a minute and just say you're going through something today, some problems, some struggles, something where you need answers. 00:36:51.489 --> 00:37:01.775 And right now, in the moment that we have here together, would you just ask God for wisdom for that thing? 00:37:01.775 --> 00:37:03.746 Let's do that. 00:37:39.436 --> 00:37:44.804 So, father, we know that you hear our prayers as we offer these things up to you in faith. 00:37:44.804 --> 00:37:54.824 We do pray that you would generously pour out your wisdom where it's needed today, lord, that we don't want to come up with our own wisdom. 00:37:54.824 --> 00:38:01.969 You tell us that there's an earthly wisdom and there's a heavenly wisdom, and we pray right now for wisdom from heaven. 00:38:01.969 --> 00:38:20.844 You know, the thing that makes me think today is that if you don't know Jesus, you don't have wisdom, but you can ask Jesus right now to be part of your life. 00:38:20.844 --> 00:38:24.831 You're just the most wise thing you can do today and say Jesus, I don't know you. 00:38:26.266 --> 00:38:43.010 Would you reveal yourself to me today and maybe, if you're here and you do know the Lord, that you would be humble enough to say it's not working, things are not right, things are broken and I need an answer. 00:38:43.010 --> 00:38:48.451 And the promise that we have is that Jesus will not leave us high and dry. 00:38:48.451 --> 00:38:54.974 He will, through His Holy Spirit, give us, through the spirit of wisdom, what we need. 00:38:54.974 --> 00:39:04.213 And so, father, we just give you thanks and praise for what you're going to do this week, as you reveal yourself to us and you show us what you want us to do. 00:39:04.213 --> 00:39:08.630 We thank you for that and ask, in Jesus' name Amen. 00:39:08.630 --> 00:39:09.295 God bless you.