What kind of fool are you

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

And turn with me this morning in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 10.

Ecclesiastes 10 · chapter mention

Ecclesiastes chapter 10.

Ecclesiastes 10 · chapter mention

And if you do not have an outline, would you please hold your hand up?

So our ushers, brother Bob back there, make sure you have one of the outline, the message this morning.

Anyone that needs an handout, would you just slide your hand up and they'll come right to you and give it to you?

All right.

I think everybody has one, Bob.

That's good.

Thank you.

I hope you've been enjoying the series as much as I have.

In fact, we have this message this morning, and then next week will be the last message in the book of Proverbs.

Last week we looked at live like you're dying.

Live like you're dying.

And we made the profound statement of before you can prepare to live, you need to be prepared to die.

And boy, what some truths.

Many of you responded Facebook on how God spoke to our hearts last week.

Well, growing up, I uh I used to listen to the oldie goadies, still do every once in a while.

And back when I was growing up, I was the president of the student body in high school.

In the 11th grade, I was the president.

And uh there was a group back then, when I was in 11th grade, titled The Tams.

Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.

You remember that hit?

They only had one or two hits, but then they came back with another one, and the title of the song was What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am?

Anybody remember that?

Thank you.

Y'all just scared to tell your age.

I understand, okay.

What kind of fool do you think I am?

Well, as I was going through chapter 10 these last two uh weeks, taking every word apart, I realized that's really the great title of this chapter.

What kind of fool do you think I am?

Because really, King Solomon deals with four types of fools in this passage.

And he describes to us each of those fools.

And that's what we're gonna be looking at this morning as we begin our look into chapter 10.

And then next week is the final conclusion.

And that's gonna be the title of the message.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

Chapters 11 and 12, and they're short chapters together, so it's gonna be awesome.

Actually, it's gonna be the application of all the discussion and the examination that Solomon and the argumentation that Solomon has taken us through about life.

It really is.

It's fantastic the way he concludes it for us in chapters 11 and 12.

And then, first Sunday in April and the whole month of April, four messages.

We're going to Calvary.

Amen.

We're going to the cross.

The whole month of April, we're going to be looking at a place called Calvary.

And then, starting in May and June, we're going to be looking at the book of Philippians, the joy book of the Bible.

In fact, I figured after going through Ecclesiastes, we needed some joy so that we would go next after the study on the cross.

We're going to uh four small chapters, but powerful.

My life verse, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.

Philippians 4.13.

So it's going to be some great studies.

You don't want to miss a Sunday if you can help it.

Solomon begins before he can cludes his message.

Solomon thought it was wise as he comes to chapter 10 to remind us again of the whole theme that he has really conveyed through the whole book of Ecclesiastes.

But not only is this the theme through the book of Ecclesiastes, it's also his theme through most of the book of Proverbs.

Remember what we said?

He wrote three books, well, he wrote a lot, but three books.

We call it the uh the love song book, the love story in the Song of Solomon.

We call it the book of romance, and then the book of Proverbs, the Book of Rules, and then Ecclesiastes, the book of regrets.

Uh, but then he brings us, and that we saw in chapter 9, where he started turning his heart back to God, and how that he did, by the time he died, had come back to the principles that he had written so vehemently in the book of Proverbs.

And so we really have the theme, wisdom going through the book of Proverbs and through the book of Ecclesiastes, wisdom versus folly.

Wisdom versus foolishness.

And so we see right here in chapter 10 the word folly.

It is the Hebrew word siklouth.

Sikluth.

And it means foolishness, it means senselessness.

It means really just folly.

It means of no good.

That's what the Hebrew word there means.

It's used nine times in chapter 10.

And verse 1, we see he laid down the basic principle that folly, foolishness, senselessness creates problem, problem, should I say, for those who commit it.

And he had already compared a good name in chapter 7, verse 1.

He says, hey, a good name is better than fragrant perfume.

It's better than the most elaborate perfume.

In other words, as good as the most expensive perfume can cost, he says, a testimony, a fantastic, unbelievable, living for God's life cannot be compared with the most expensive perfume.

So with that said, he comes back to the that perfume analogy.

So this time, Solomon kind of begins with a rather distasteful picture.

Look at it, verse one.

Dead flies petrify the perfumer's ointment and cause it to give off a foul odor, so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.

Verse 2, a wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart is at his left.

Even when a fool walks along the way, he lacks wisdom.

And he shows everyone that he is a fool.

Wow.

Wow.

Man.

In other words, we see a delightful, beautiful smell now turns into a stench.

It turns into a foul odor.

And I thought to myself, how many times have we been walking with God and we've allowed, now watch, and here's the analogy.

A little fly, how many, you know, flies can be annoying.

Amen.

Have you ever been in a picnic and all you see is flies?

You don't even want to eat.

It really destroys your appetite because the flies are trying to light on everything.

Amen.

So here he uses a little dirty fly that falls down in the vat of this unbelievable, beautiful aroma of perfume, ointment, and now all of a sudden that one little fly causes a stench.

It causes a foul odor.

And I thought to myself, that the use right here of this tiny fly as the image, it has a reason.

And here's what he's talking about.

We can be ruined by something just as relatively as small.

In other words, we don't have to make a huge mistake to destroy our testimony.

Hello.

All we have to do is to make a little mistake.

How many times, and I hear it all the time today, well, I did something wrong, but it was not really a big deal.

We hear that all the time.

Church, listen to me, when we lie, and especially not telling the truth, you know, 90% plus people today believe it's okay to tell a little white lie.

That's the little things we're talking about.

The little deceitfulness, the little lies, the little, hey, the little craftiness, the little dishonesty.

It's the little things.

Listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians 5, 6.

He's talking to the church.

A little leaven, you know it, does what?

Ruins the whole church.

And he's saying a little sin can start out in the church, can ruin the whole church.

A little sin, not a big sin.

See, we don't have any problem with the biggies.

You know, we know, hey, hey, thou shalt not steal and kill, commit adultery.

But, you know, if you get caught and all of a sudden you just tell a little white lie, boom, you don't see anything wrong with that.

You don't see anything wrong with that.

But it's the little things.

Hey, what did Solomon say?

It's the little foxes that can what?

Spoil the whole vineyard.

Solomon 2.15, the Song of Solomon.

And then what about James chapter 3?

James 3 · chapter mention

And boy, we're going to look at that today.

Oh, about the tongue.

And I'm not going to dwell yet because we're going there when we get to one of the points about the talker.

But anyway, he said it's like a fire.

You know what he says about the little tongue?

It's like a fire right out of the pits of hell that brings destruction to wherever it goes.

Wow.

Wow.

That's pretty powerful, folks.

In fact, I'll tell you how powerful it is.

He says, if you can't control your tongue, you're not religious.

You're not spiritual.

Wow.

That's powerful.

That's powerful.

So Solomon deals with that.

And then what about a little tiny spark?

We've seen the unbelievable, destructive forest fires that one little spark can do.

So Solomon starts out and he says, just as a little dirty fly goes into the ointment and hey, destroys the whole vat of perfume or the whole vat of whatever you're fixing, he says, that's what a little sin can do to our lives.

Amen or o me.

That's what a little, that movie, that, you know, well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's go on.

So, in fact, in verse 18, the last verse that we saw last week, he said, one sinner, one sinner can destroy what?

Much.

He can bring much destruction.

Right there before he goes to chapter 10.

Look at what he said.

Remember?

He said, but one sinner destroys much good.

Say that with me.

One sinner destroys much good.

One little sin can destroy much good.

Isn't that sad?

In that hour of temptation, in that moment of that lust of the flesh, that lust of the eyes, that pride of life, that one moment you can give in and destroy all the good that you've done.

Wow.

Wow.

So what kind of fool do you think I am?

What dead flies are to perfume, here's what he's saying.

Folly, foolishness, is to the honor of the Christian.

That's pretty powerful, folks.

But that's what he's saying.

So here's the question.

Why is one person foolish and another wise?

And that's what he's dealing with.

Verse 2.

Look at what he says.

A wise man's heart is his right hand, but a fool's heart is left.

Now, in the scriptures, right and left hand had a symbolism of right hand being good and left hand being bad or weak.

It really does.

And you can see that.

You know, he separated the goats and the sheep.

The sheep went to the right and the goats went to the left.

So it's a symbolism of right and wrong.

It really is.

So what Solomon is saying here, listen to what he's saying.

He's saying a wise man's heart is in the right place.

Amen?

A wise man's heart is in the right place.

In fact, Proverbs 423.

Oh, Steve, Steve Green.

No, I'm sorry.

Not Steve Green, but uh Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote one of the oldie goadies that it's unbelievable.

Every time I heard it the other day, and I say, yes, Proverbs, and he wrote it from Proverbs 423.

Guard your hearts, for out of it flows the issues of life.

That's what Proverbs 423 says.

In other words, put a protection around that heart, that center of emotions, that that center of consciousness, guard your hearts, because out of that heart comes what you really are.

Jesus.

Wow.

Is that not good, church?

Is that not good?

And so he said, guard your hearts.

And since Solomon says the fool doesn't have wisdom in his heart, then he gravitates to that which is evil.

He gravitates to that which is foolish.

He gravitates to that which is senseless and doesn't make sense.

In fact, he gravitates so far to what is wrong that he's so foolish that he turns around and he says to us that are, hey, walking in the things of God and have a right heart, he says, We are fools.

Wow.

That's how dark he is.

He calls those that are walking in the right path fools.

That's pretty powerful.

In fact, it's pretty sick.

But that's what we see in verse 3.

Look at what he says.

Even when a fool walks along the way, he lacks wisdom, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

In other words, he turns and he's a fool, but he turns around and calls us that are doing right fools.

Is that not where we're living today?

Is that not Isaiah chapter 5?

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

Hey, hey, what did Isaiah, what did the great prophet say?

Woe to those that call what?

Evil, good, and good evil.

Is that not where we are today?

That's exactly what Solomon's dealing with right here.

Woe unto those that call good, evil, and evil good.

So, what kind of fool are we today?

Number one, the foolish ruler.

Look at verses four through seven.

And if there's any person who needs wisdom, it is the ruler of a nation.

Can I get an amen?

The Bible says, blessed is the nation.

Psalms 33, 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

Amen.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

The Bible says in Proverbs 14, 32, Righteousness exalts a nation to greatness, but sin is a reproach to all people.

Amen?

Boy, do we need that today in America?

Can I get an amen?

And oh, in fact, somebody showed me a uh an app or something on it.

It said, re-elect no one in the elections coming up.

Re-elect no one.

It's almost, yeah, hey, you know what it should say?

Hey, elect only the righteous.

Elect those that are walking in wisdom.

Elect those with a right heart.

Now that is the correct way.

So we see when God asked Solomon what gift he wanted, when he could ask for anything, what did he ask for?

Remember, he asked for wisdom.

I want wisdom to guide my people.

Wow.

Oh, wouldn't it be great to have a president, to have a governor, to have a senator, or to have a congressman, or to have a mayor, or to have a preacher.

To say, oh God, give me wisdom to guard and protect and guide my people.

Amen?

That is what Solomon is saying, and that is what Solomon did.

Lyndon B.

Johnson, who was one of the presidents, not one of my favorite presidents, but as I was studying the presidents, he made this statement, and I thought, that's pretty good.

He said, a president's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.

Wow.

Now you gotta think on that a little bit.

Because your first thing slightly, oh, that's not right.

Not to do what is right, but to know what is right.

Because when you know what is right, then you can do what is right.

Can I get an amen?

What's wrong with a lot of our leaders?

They don't know what is right because they don't know the word of the living God.

Sanctify them through thy word.

Thy word is truth.

And you shall know the truth.

And the truth, what?

What do we say about this book?

Three things.

We love it, we learn it, we live it.

Thy word have I hit in my heart that I might not sin against thee.

Thy word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

It is clear biblical truth, one of our key core values here, verse by verse.

So we see that here, and it's very important that we understand that.

In fact, one of the greatest tragic examples in the scriptures is Solomon's son, Rehoboam.

Remember when Rehoboam became king, and I gave it to you, I'm not going to take time to go read all the verses, 24 of them in 1 Kings 12, but here's what happened.

Instead of following the advice of the wise, older, mature Christians, the counselors, the godly counselors, you know what he did?

He listened to them, but then he turned to the youth.

He turned to the young ones.

And instead of doing what the godly counselors told him to do, hey, he turned and he said to them, I'm not going to listen to those old guys.

I'm going to listen to my young guys.

And no, we're not going to take it easy on the people.

We're going to make it ten times harder.

And he ended up destroying the whole kingdom.

He split it right down the middle.

God help us.

Amen.

God help us.

Why?

Proverbs 11, 14 says, where there is no counsel, you got to see this.

Where there is no counsel, the people perish.

Amen.

Where there's no counsel, the people perish.

They fail.

But in the multitude of counselors, there is direction.

There is peace.

There is happiness.

There is success.

Because we listen to those that are wise.

It is so important that we understand that.

That's Proverbs 11:14.

Proverbs 11:14

Now, so what are the best rulers?

The best rulers and leaders, really, they are awesome.

They're awesome.

Those that have a heart for God, that is the key.

Now, I want you to look at something about these foolish leaders.

Two things about them.

Number one, verse four, if a ruler is proud and angry, he may say and do foolish things that cause him to lose respect of his people.

That's what we see in verse 4.

If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post for conciliation, pacifies great offenses.

In other words, just because he gets angry and blows it, don't you get upset and don't you lose your coup.

Don't you run out and quit.

Don't you give up.

You stay calm.

You stay, hey, you stay calm and you ask God's Spirit to give you temperance, and you are the able, through your godliness and your righteousness and your loving kindness, can change the attitude of the ruler.

Amen.

That's powerful.

That's powerful.

Don't give up, don't quit.

That's what he's saying.

The picture here is of a proud ruler who's taking advantage over his people.

Look at what he says in Proverbs 16, 32.

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

Do you see that?

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that takes a city.

I have one of my major problems as I was growing up was my anger.

A lot of people don't realize that today.

Because over the years God has dealt with me.

My girls say that I have mellowed out at my older age.

Probably.

Is that true, honey?

You think so?

I have mellowed out.

I lied.

I think so.

But if you hadn't known me 20 years ago, long as you were on my good side, we were okay.

But if you saw the other side, oh Lord help us.

Lord help us.

And I'm not proud of that.

Because I've learned that side of me got me in so many problems.

By the way, you know what I learned?

The fruit of the Spirit, what's this?

Is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, gentleness, and temperance, self-control.

Boy, that used to eat my lunch.

Galatians 5, 22, and 23.

And that's what the book says.

So it's so important that we understand how important it is to be under control.

Can I get an amen?

In fact, remember what he said in Ecclesiastes 8, verses 2 and 3?

Ecclesiastes 8:2

Oh, it was good.

He talks about Solomon's dealing with the unfaithful ruler and the tyrant, the ones that's giving you such a hard time.

And here's what he said.

Powerful.

I say, keep the king's commandment for the sake of your oath to God.

In other words, you keep under control.

You stay under control because your working is unto the Lord, not the king that's being a tyrant, a king that's being, you know, ugly and rude and taking advantage of you.

And then verse 3, he says, and this is so powerful, do not be hasty to go from his presence.

Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.

He says, hey, hey, don't run away from him.

Be a living testimony to him.

Stand for what's right.

He didn't say compromise, but he said, stand for what's right in a loving way.

Amen.

No, I'm not going to do that.

In fact, what is it?

Acts chapter 5, he says, we are to obey our rulers in all things unless it goes against the word of God.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Amen.

So we're to be a living testimony.

So that's what he's talking about.

That's how we reach these proud leaders.

Now notice the second thing about the unruler.

The foolish ruler, should I say, this senseless ruler.

Not only is he proud and angry, but number two, he's very, he can be the opposite.

He can be very easygoing.

He can be very pliable.

In other words, he can give in to everything.

He takes a stand for nothing.

Or he changes the rules in the middle of the game.

We don't know anything about that, do we?

Hello.

Hello.

And you know why he does it?

It's because he's not listened to the wise counselors.

He's taken in those young counselors, and what he's done, he's made them his sounding board, and they're sounding to him what he wants to hear, or what they want instead of what's best for the country.

It's all about them.

And so he's getting the wrong counsel.

And so we see it really develops very quickly into unbelievable things.

Listen to what Proverbs 19 says.

He says, the servants will ride on horses while the nobleman will walk.

In other words, here's what that really means.

Delight.

He says, delight is not seemly for a fool, much less than a servant to have rule over princes.

But notice what he says again.

He's saying that because of these young princes that have come in, they're tickling his ears.

That's what, hey, he's getting what he wants to hear, but a lot of times it's not only getting what he wants to hear, they are telling him what they want.

And he conforms.

If I could put it an easier way for you to understand, this is what I call a leader that is politically correct.

Right here.

Notice the second kind of fool.

Not only do we have the foolish ruler, but secondly we have the foolish workers.

Verses 8 to 11.

Now this is pretty, this is pretty neat.

In fact, I got to laughing.

He who digs a pit now, or well, or a place to store grain or something, you know, back in those days.

He says, This is really bad.

He who digs a pit will fall into it.

And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a snake.

He who hey goes to the quarries, the stone quarries, may be hurt by them, and he who splits wood may be endangered by it.

If the axe is dull and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength, but wisdom brings success.

Duh! Now let me tell you what God taught me out of that.

This is good.

It really is.

I got to looking at that and I said, well, and I gave you the what lack, hey, we lack wisdom when we do four things, and I saw that here.

First of all, he's talking, he's talking about a guy that goes digs, digs a hole, and next thing you know, he goes back and he comes back and he forgets he dug the hole or something, and he just falls in his own hole.

Now, is that smart?

Now, don't, I'm not gonna ask you if you've ever done that.

Let me give you another example.

You're using your glasses and you put them on your head, and ten minutes later you want to know where your glasses are.

And your wife says they're on your head.

And you feel like an idiot.

Well, that's what happens when you dig a hole.

You turn around and go get something, come back and step in the hole.

That's not real smart.

And then the second example, he's building a wall or trying to tear a wall down, and there's there's some holes there in the wall, and curiosity decides he's just gonna stick his hand in there and see what's in there, and he gets bitten by a snake.

Duh! Don't you think you'd take a light and look in there before you put your hand in there?

Just a thought.

And then the other ones, he's out there in the corner with all the stones, and and there's some stones that look like they're really not stagnant.

Well, and he goes over there, and I wonder why they're not stagnant.

Boom, and they fall on his head.

Then the other one, he's got an axe.

Instead of taking down sharpened axe, he's just sitting there going, I wonder why I can't cut this log.

Well, dummy, sharpen the axe.

So I laughed, I laughed, and I laughed.

And what's really funny, I came up with four things.

Here they are.

This is mine.

Verse 9 and 10.

We like wisdom when we try to work harder instead of smarter.

We're working with a dull axe.

Sharpen the axe.

In other words, learn your trade.

If you gotta do something, go learn it.

Spend time training.

Amen.

Amen.

In other words, you remember those Christmas toys you had to put together for your kids?

How many of you read the instructions first?

Kelly did.

One.

Always.

Two.

Duh.

And we wonder why it's not.

And then halfway through, you say, man, this thing's no good.

It won't work.

Well, you got it backwards.

And oh yeah.

Yeah, when you get through and you got all these extra parts.

And you know what you say?

You say, you know what, man, why did they give me too many parts?

Duh.

Maybe you didn't put it together right.

And then you wonder the first time they use it, it falls apart.

Well, that was just a cheap toy.

Maybe it was the guy that put it together.

Just a thought.

Amen.

But then notice what else?

We lack wisdom when we, verse 8, fail to take proper precautions.

In other words, when you dig a big hole, put something around it so you don't fall in.

Warning.

Ho.

Deep.

Don't step here.

Precautions.

Don't be in such a hurry.

The other one, see.

Over overconfident and reckless in verse 8.

In other words, it's just, hey, I know what I'm doing.

I can do this.

I'm gonna dig that hole with that back hole.

I'm the best bet.

And then next thing you know, hey, you're backing up and you forget to look behind you, and poop, now the back hole and everything's in the hole.

You never done that, have you, dear?

Hello?

You with me?

Okay.

Ask me about what?

Oh no.

That's a bad story.

That's a five thousand dollar bad story.

That was when I was younger.

The the guy said, Don't go up that hill.

Now, to me, that means for all them not to go up the hill.

But I'm experienced.

I'm a dirt bike.

I can ride.

I know how to handle this thing.

Here I go.

I get about half, three-quarters up the hill, and I'm thinking, this is fun.

I'm looking back, I said, it's pretty steep, but man, this is fun.

Because on a dirt bike, you just get up and keep getting it.

And so I'm just keep getting it.

All of a sudden, the whole side of the mountain starts moving.

I'm thinking, you know something?

I'm in trouble.

This is not smart.

I was not precautious.

I have one choice.

Stay there and let that thing roll on top of me all the way down that mountain.

So I did what I did with my dirt bike.

I turned that sucker and I gunned it.

And here I go, James Bond 007.

Woo! Bam! And sure enough, I got up and I brushed.

I'm like, boom, boom, you'd have thought I was in a James Bond movie.

There's only one problem with that.

My grad assistant was following me.

If the preacher's doing it, Dr.

Lovett's doing it, I'm gonna do it.

And he ended up going.

We had to pay$5,000 for a snowmobile.

What do you call that?

Foolish.

That's what you call that.

Foolish.

Not being precautious.

Thank you, honey.

Thank you very much.

I wasn't gonna tell that one.

But anyway, we see.

Look at the third one.

The last one.

Work harder, not smarter, verses 9 and 10.

Fail to take proper precautions.

Verse 8, overconfident and reckless, verse 8.

But now what's this one?

Oh, verse 11.

I love this one.

And a serpent may bite when it's not charmed.

Wow.

Now, I got I got kind of excited about that because I've always been intrigued with these cobra charmers.

You know how they sit there and play the flute and that big old cobra was spread out.

And I'm thinking to myself, something's not right here.

That guy can't be real smart.

That's the most deadly snake alive.

He bites you, you dead.

Okay?

I meant dead within two minutes.

I'm not talking about you don't even, you all you have time to do is pray.

That's it.

Lord, I'm coming.

That's it.

All right?

And then I started studying about that.

Snakes don't have ears.

Do you know that?

Their sound comes through this bone structure of their head.

So I'm thinking they can't hear the flute, so why in the world is he playing the flute?

They can hear vibrations.

But you know what I learned?

You know what charms a snake?

Exactly.

When he's doing this.

Playing the flute.

He's being very methodical.

And he's hypnotizing the snake.

Isn't that something?

Hey, now wait, but watch this.

So now notice, and that was very common during Solomon's days.

I meant it was entertainment.

It was like going to a big entertainment.

I meant Cobra, the deadless dead advertising.

And so watch what Solomon says here.

This is awesome.

A serpent may bite when it's not just.

In other words, you are foolish to be in a hurry and not take time to churn that snake.

And sometimes they would because they wanted to go to, they're making money.

It's all about money.

Let's go to the next place.

Let's go to the next corner.

Make more money.

So what happened, he would get up there and instead of taking discipline, here's the word, instead of discipline himself to do it right, he would take a shortcut.

And every time he, hey, back then, if a snake charmer took a shortcut, it meant death.

Now here's the application.

So many times we take shortcuts, and it destroys our testimony.

Can I get an O me?

Oh me.

So the last thing there, and it's not in your notes because God taught me that early this morning.

The lack of discipline to do it right.

That's what Solomon was talking about.

Wow.

That's awesome.

Well, look at the third fool.

What kind of fool am I?

Am I a foolish leader?

Am I a foolish worker?

Number three, am I a foolish talker?

Oh my.

Look at the end of verse 11.

I want you to write this word or the word babbler.

The babbler's no difference.

Now notice what he compared.

He compared the guy that's not disciplined enough to do it right to a babbler.

Now, the word babbler there is a very, very, should I say, interesting word?

It's lashon, the Hebrew word lashon, and it means tongue, but it also means talkers.

In other words, they just talk to hear themselves talk.

Have you ever heard anyone like that?

Don't say it.

No names, please.

I mean, these people know, hey, you start talking to them, they know everything about everything.

I mean, they do.

I mean, and if they don't know it, you would, hey, you wouldn't know it.

Amen.

They're babblers.

Now, let me tell you another synonym for this.

Talkers, it also can mean slanderers.

It also can mean deceivers.

And it also can mean a tongue of fire, which is used in James 3.

Powerful.

So, Solomon had much to say about the speech of fools in his paragraph.

Number one, look at what he said.

Verse 12.

First, hey, a foolish talker uses destructive words.

Look at verse 12.

Destructive words.

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious.

But now notice the comparison.

But the lip or lips, plural, of a fool shall swallow him up.

Wow.

Shall swallow him up.

They're destructive.

Proverbs 10.32.

Listen to what he says.

In Proverbs 10.32, he talks about the wise person will speak gracious words that are suited to the listeners on that occasion.

It's powerful.

He says the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.

Wow.

That is powerful.

You know what that means?

It means that they know what they're about to say is not going to be hurtful or condemning or deceitful.

Now I didn't say I know there's times you have to correct people.

That's not what he's talking about.

He's talking about you can be corrected in the right way with the right words.

Can I say amen?

Amen.

So, but the mouth of the wicked speaks for it.

In other words, the mouth of the wicked's just gonna rip you apart.

Just gonna rip you apart.

Look at Proverbs 25, 11.

A word fitly spoken.

Oh, I love this, is like apples of gold and pictures of silver.

In other words, it's like giving you a gift.

There is nothing more precious than when you're down and out for somebody to come and say, Sylvester, God just told me I hey to tell you He loves you.

He's in and whatever you're going through, He's gonna see you through.

What an encouragement, especially if you're walking through hell.

Amen?

Amen.

Instead of Sylvester, man, you look down.

Man, you got sin in your life?

What's going on here, son?

See the difference?

Major difference, isn't it?

But both are what?

Acceptable?

No.

But both are common.

But the acceptable.

Fitly spoken, at the right word, at the right time, at the right place.

And I ask God every day to let me be that.

I want to be an encouragement to you and to my people and to our community.

Amen.

I want to be an encouragement to my wife and to my family.

Amen.

Man, that's so important.

Especially dealing with your children.

Listen to what Isaiah, this is awesome.

Isaiah 54.

The Lord always knew the right thing to say at the right time.

You're going to love this verse.

The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned.

Here's what we want to pray for.

Write it down.

Pray every morning for the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.

Hey, he wakeneth morning by morning.

He wakeneth my ear to hear as the learned.

In other words, I get in the word, I get encouraged, I get filled with the Spirit of God, and everywhere I go, God used me to be an encouragement to everybody I see today.

Is that not awesome?

Amen.

Can you imagine if we all were trying to do that to each other?

What kind of society we would have?

Wow.

Say, preacher, that's good.

That is good.

That is good.

They're not destructive.

In Scripture, destructive words are compared to weapons of war.

Proverbs 25, 18, they're called a club.

James 3, 5 through 6, a fire.

James 3, 7 through 8, a poisonous beast.

Why?

I want you to see that.

I said I wanted you to see that.

I want you to go to James chapter 3.

James 3 · chapter mention

Look at James chapter 3.

James 3 · chapter mention

Start in verse 5.

Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

In fact, I want you to look compared to your body.

Now I've got a short, stubby tongue.

My dog, Rocky,'s got a long tongue.

In fact, his so long it sticks out like that.

He can't keep it in his mouth in so long.

But have you ever noticed how small your tongue is?

But scripture says it's the most destructive part of the body.

Look at what he says.

Now watch this, huh?

Boast great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles?

In other words, he says it's like a little spark.

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, full of sin.

Did you hear me?

Full of sin.

The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell, right out of the pits of hell.

Wow.

Wow.

Is that not unbelievable?

Is that not unbelievable?

Now look at verse 10.

I didn't have that on.

Out of the same mouth proceeds blessings and cursings.

And then he says, that ought not to be.

Now let me listen to me.

Listen to me.

I'm fixed to get it right for the rubber meets the rope.

This tongue, God says, cursing and hey, and blessings ought not to come out of the same mouth.

If you're a Christian, there ought to be a difference in the way you speak.

And four letter words should not be in your vocabulary.

Amen.

That's called cursing.

That should not be in your vocabulary.

I used to get a whipping when I you know what was a cuss word in my grandparents' house?

If you said darn, bend it over, son.

That's cussing.

Shoot.

Bend it over, son, and that's cussing.

And I said, How in the world is that cussing?

Because I know what you're thinking.

Bend it over.

I'm serious.

Anybody else like that grew up in a home like amen?

Hey, and you said what?

Huh?

Bend it over.

That's not not showing respect.

We live in society, they huh?

What?

Can't you say yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no ma'am.

Amen.

Amen.

I still say it to my elders.

I'm trying to teach my little grandson.

I went to his birthday party.

My little granddaughter, huh?

I say, Braden, look at me.

Sir.

You say, sir, I give you a dime.

You say, huh, I take a dime away.

And at the end of the day, he had he lost everybody his money.

He said, I don't like this game, Poppy.

Well, you're not getting any money if you're going to say, huh?

What?

Then he'd say, yes, sir.

I say, oh, that sounds good.

Have you even just said let me ask something.

Huh?

Yes, ma'am.

Does it take a PhD to figure out which one sounds the best?

Come on, folks.

That's it.

Now I know some of the grew up at home didn't believe in doing that.

I've had people tell me when when oh when my kids would say, they don't have to call me sir, yes, ma'am.

I say, yes, they do.

Yes, they do.

Because I'm teaching them to respect their elders.

Now, yours may not have to, but mine do.

So you tell them, yes, sir, son.

Yes, sir.

Amen.

Now I know what you're thinking.

You're just on your hobby horse.

No, I'm not.

Scripture says that we're to give honor to our elders.

Amen.

That's what it says.

I can tell you what, you want your kids to be thought well of.

You teach them, say yes, sir, and no, sir, and yes, ma'am, no, ma'am.

They'll think, yeah, they got the greatest parents ever.

Why?

Just for that simple, because it's such a lack of teaching of that today.

Disrespect.

By the way, that carries over when they grow up into everything.

Jobs, government, everything.

Can I get an amen?

Am I out here by myself?

Can I get an amen?

I might be by myself, but I'm still gonna preach it.

Amen.

You want me to help you?

You show respect.

You be diligent.

Don't dig a hole and fall in it.

Amen.

That's what Solomon's teaching.

That's what he's teaching here.

Notice the second thing.

Unreasonable words, verse 13.

Unreasonable.

The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, and the end of his talk is raving madness.

It just gets worse, worse.

Oh, I wanted you to go.

I want, we got to go by that destructive.

Go to Romans 3.

God showed me this Thursday.

And I said, our people got to see that.

I think it's on there.

Romans 3, verses 10 through 14.

Romans 3:10–14

Is that on your outline?

I think it is.

I want you to put a star by those.

Because here's what it says.

As it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one.

There's none that understandeth.

There's none that seeketh after God.

They're gone.

They are all gone out of the way.

What?

Out of the right way.

They're walking in the foolish way.

Now watch this.

They all have become, what is that word?

Unprofitable.

Now watch.

There's none that doeth good.

No, not one.

Now, are you ready?

Let me show you what indicates that they're unprofitable.

They're no good is their mouth.

Their throat is an open sepulchre.

Dead.

With their tongues, they have used deceit, the poison, remember I said it's like poison snakes, your tongue?

It's under their lips.

Now look at verse 14.

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

If you hear somebody all they can do is curse and they're bitter, they are lost as they can be.

There is nothing good about them.

And you don't want to be around that if you can help it.

But what you want to do is not run from them, but be a loving example and share your heart with them.

Hey, right now, I guarantee you, no one at the Y anywhere is going to use God's name or use four-letter words in front of me.

I say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I'm sorry, but I'm a pastor.

And I just, you know, I can't be around that kind of talk.

That's all I have to say.

You know those same people, I know what you're saying.

Well, they're going to think you're super spiritual.

No, absolutely not.

You know what?

I have become, I have become good friends with most of those folks now.

And they, and now when I walk in the locker room and say, hey, the preacher's here, you know why they're saying that?

Watch your mouth.

Amen.

And I'm not trying to be some super spiritual.

I'm just standing up because I, hey, I want to, I'm, I want to, I want to be right.

I want to be an example.

Amen.

And those older gentlemen that use the foul language, guess what?

When they say something to me, I call him yes, sir, and no, sir.

I've gotten to know a general who's 80 years old and he can whip everybody there in racquetball.

And I call him general and I call him sir.

Respect.

Amen.

Unreasonable words.

They don't make sense.

Paul calls these unruly and vain talkers.

They just talk to talk.

You ever heard anybody like that?

A fool's Ecclesiastes 5 3 says a fool's voice is known by as many words.

The third types of word, uncontrolled words, verse 14.

In Proverbs 10, 19 says, In the multitude of words, sin is not absent.

Did you hear me?

Listen to what James said in chapter 3, verses 1 and 2.

The person who can control his or her tongue is able to discipline the whole body.

I got convicted about that.

If I can control my tongue, I can control my donut eating.

Oh, I'm terrible.

I could eat, I could deep my weight in donuts and don't say I have Bible.

That's what God told me about this control.

Full of words, verse 14 says, you just talk.

Talk.

Now listen what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, verse 37.

Matthew 5:37

This is powerful.

This will cut out most of our conversation.

Y'all ready?

Listen what Jesus said.

Let your communication be, yay, yay, nay, nay.

For whatsoever is more than these cometh evil.

Good grief.

Man, that's powerful.

I saw that.

I saw that cabin and I said, Lord, that means I can't do a whole lot of talking.

He said, Yep, that's right.

Let you, yay, yay, yay.

Hey, you nay, nay, nay.

We could all learn a little bit from that, couldn't we?

Oh me?

Oh me?

Yeah, yay.

And then number four, boastful words, verses 14 and 15.

Foolish people talk about the future as if they know all about it and they control it.

Oh, I know.

Hey, I know what's going to happen.

Let me tell you what Proverbs 27:1 says.

Proverbs 27:1

Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

And then what else?

Throughout the book, six different times, Solomon's already told us from chapter 2 that we don't know what's going to happen.

Amen.

We don't know what's going to happen.

Ecclesiastes 6, 12 and on.

But anyway, hey, and you know what's good about this?

You got to see this.

You got to see this.

I laughed.

This is another funny part.

I want you to see something.

All right, let me find.

Yeah, look.

All right.

He starts talking, and he says to uh, let me make sure I want to find that verse.

Oh, yeah, at the end of it.

At the end of verse 15.

Look at what he says.

The labor of fools wearies them, for they do not even know how to go to the city.

He's boasting about how smart he is and how accomplished he is, and he doesn't even know how to get back home.

I mean, but you hear him talking, he knows everything, but he doesn't even know how to get back home.

He doesn't even know how to get to the job, Bob, where he's supposed to work.

That's bad, isn't it?

That's bad.

Oh, tell me fools don't put our feet in our mouths.

Amen.

Is that not true?

That's definitely humor.

All right, let's finish it up.

Last one.

What kind of fool are you?

Now the leader takes us to the foolish officers, the bureaucrats.

Lord help us, who were a part of the machinery of the kingdom.

Now Solomon's talking about all those leaders under him.

He gave four characteristics.

I want to give them to you.

One, he says in verse 16 through 17, they indulge themselves.

They indulge themselves.

In other words, the king is immature, so he gathers people around him that are immature.

But if he's a true nobleman, he will surround himself with noble officers.

Now let me show you what I learned with this.

Here we go.

In other words, a true, noble, right leader does what's good for the country first.

Amen.

Does what's good for the church first, what's good for the business first.

He uses their authority to build the nation.

Righteous and exalts the nation, but sin is a reproach to all people.

Proverbs 14, 34.

But now watch this.

But office holders, those that are immature, use the nation to build their own authority.

Wow.

Oh, look at me.

They enjoy the power.

I call it the power trip.

They love to boss people around.

They love to say I'm in charge.

And you're going to do what I say.

I don't.

My way or the highway.

That's those kind of people.

And then look what else I saw.

And this is so true.

The office holders, they use public funds for their own selfish purposes.

Throwing parties and having a good time.

But I got good news for you.

It is the judgment of God when people are given immature leaders.

I want to show you something.

Isaiah, I want to show you this.

This is a little scary here, and I'm not going to comment.

I'm just going to tell you and let the word speak for itself.

Isaiah 3, verses 1 through 5.

Isaiah 3:1–5

And throughout the Old Testament, if you go through the Old Testament and you're reading through the Old Testament, reading through the Bible, you see that every time God brought judgment on the nation Israel, it was because they had unjust kings and leaders.

Every time.

Every time.

And here's what happens.

For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, does take away from Jerusalem and from Judea, from, excuse me, from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water.

In other words, the whole blessings of God.

In other words, what he is saying right here is that he takes away and brings judgment on the nation of God when their leaders are immature, selfish, and overbearing.

That is a judgment that comes from God to his people because his people have been disobedient.

Wow.

Wow, wow, wow.

Can I say what I think that means?

We get what we deserve.

People ask me right now, what's wrong with America?

Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he reap.

We've allowed, we've had churches sit back, keep quiet, and try to be politically correct when they ought to be carrying the flag, taking the heel, because they're afraid they'll be criticized, or they'll lose their tax exemption, or all the other things.

I've got news for you.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Amen.

God help us.

God help us.

It's so sad.

And he talks about in 1 Timothy 3, 6, elders, elders, mature leaders in the church, mature leaders in government.

That's what he's talking about.

Now notice the second thing, verse 18, incompetence.

The foolish officers are so busy with enjoyment and they have no time for employment, both the buildings and the organization starts to fall apart.

In other words, they are so engrossed in doing what they want and enjoying themselves, being movie stars that the whole building falls apart.

The whole kingdom falls apart.

Isn't that sad?

1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 10 talks about put no novice in a place of leadership.

1 Timothy 3:10

No novice in the place of leadership.

Listen to what it says.

And let those be proved.

Let them prove themselves.

Then let them use the office of a deacon or an elder being found blameless.

Mature godly men.

Same way for that's the way we also ought to look at people, hey, in a higher government.

Amen.

Hey, the Bible says when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.

But when the wicked bear through, the people mourn.

Proverbs 29, too.

So we see how important it is.

Listen to what our another president said.

I love researching our presidents.

Woodrow Wilson wrote: A friend of mine says that every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells.

Grows or swells.

When I give a man an office, President Wilson said, I watch him carefully to see whether he is swelling or growing.

Number three, indifference, verse 19.

Personal philosophy here of the foolish officers.

They eat, hey, eat all you can, enjoy all you can, and get all you can.

That's their motto.

The love of money is the root of all evil.

1 Timothy 6 10, and then Amos, the judge, there, the prophet, said, Woe unto you when you take this philosophy and you do not help the poor and do not help the people in need.

God help you.

That's when he's going to send the immature leaders to you.

God help us.

And then the last thing, in discretion, verse 20.

A little bird told me, Boy, is that not true?

Have you ever heard about the little bird told me?

Now this is pretty tough, but it's so true.

Here's what he's saying.

We are not to talk about our leaders.

In this context, they were talking about the king behind his back.

They were talking about the king behind his back.

Remember?

We're not to talk about them, we're to pray for them.

Can I get an amen?

I've been so guilty of that.

But I've been better.

God has so convicted me through my own preaching.

That was supposed to be funny.

You called it play.

You laughed.

To watch my mouth and what I say about our leaders.

That's why I quit watching Fox, and I used to love it.

I quit.

I've quit watching the news.

There is so much negative, I was beginning to be just like them.

And talk just like them.

I've just quit.

I said, I'm not doing that anymore.

I'm going to pray.

I'm going to pray for my leaders.

I'm going to pray for our conqueror.

I'm going to pray for my mayor.

Hey, I may not agree with what they're doing and what they're saying, but who am I?

I'm not going to be the evil man talking back bad about them.

I'm going to pray for them.

Amen.

Amen.

I'm not going, hey, I'm not going to talk about my pastor.

Can I get an amen?

I'm going to pray for him.

I'm not going to talk about my pastor.

I'm going to pray for him.

I'm not going to talk about our church council.

I'm going to pray for him.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I wrote this and I'm through.

A statesman.

I want to be a statesman.

A statesman ask, what is best for my country?

A politician asks, what is best for my party.

But a mere office holder that we just talked about, a hireling, ask, what is safest and most profitable for me?

I got news for you.

It's not about you.

Amen.

It's not about me.

It's about him.

Not I, but Christ.

Galatians 2.20.

God forbid if I should glory in anything except the cross, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.

Amen.

Amen.

So as he ends chapter 10, here's what he's saying.

Live for God.

Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it all to his glory.

Enjoy life one day at a time, because you may not have tomorrow, and yesterday's gone.

Enjoy today.

Behold, now's the time.

Behold, now's the day of salvation.

Right now.

Enjoy it.

And the whole time you live in, live for him.

Hey, and enjoy what he gives you.

Whether it be little, whether it be much.

Enjoy what he gives you.

And then endure what he sends you.

Rain comes on the good and the evil.

Amen.

But the difference is when you're good and the rain comes, he has the umbrella.

He has the umbrella.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Every head bowed, every eye closed.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.