Proverbs | The Allure Of Folly (February 28th, 2021) - Mike Armstrong

So if you would grab your copy of the word now and get it open to Proverbs chapter nine.

Proverbs nine.

Now, what we're going to be doing here over the next number of weeks is kind of continuing a little bit of the model that we've been doing over the last number of weeks.

And we had our kind of those small gatherings over at the service.

We had a shorter sermon time.

We had a time of prayer together for those who were in attendance and having that all built into the service.

We're going to actually continue that now from now, likely until uh Easter.

So it's a shorter message again today.

We're actually going to have some times of prayer, whether that's you know just with your family or you want to spin your chair around and pray with person uh behind you or next to you.

Uh, we're encouraging you to do that.

We're gonna have that at the end.

So just kind of giving you the heads up uh that we're going towards that.

We're gonna have prayer points on the screen for you that you can be working your way through.

But really, this is an opportunity to elevate the importance of prayer.

Again, we all need wisdom so much uh in so many different areas, and so we want to be praying about the topic that we're talking about today, but of course, praying for whatever is on your heart and that God would give us uh the wisdom as a church uh that we need.

Okay, so just giving you again uh a little bit of a sense is what today and the next few weeks are going to look like.

Now, um I know that with uh with the lockdowns uh that have been going on this winter, uh outdoor rinks have absolutely exploded uh in popularity, uh, which I celebrate.

Now, just curious, is anybody in here like build an outdoor rink in your yard?

Anyone at all?

I see like one hand, a couple of hands, okay, good.

The rest of you maybe you're like, I'm not telling that guy I have a rink, he'll come over.

Um and I can appreciate that, the shrewdness of that.

Um, but yeah, absolutely.

These have been um um just like the biggest thing ever, as I think parents are like, man, we're like, what can we do exactly?

Uh we need to get our kids out, we need to get active, and you've been maybe making use of the public uh outdoor rinks uh in town here or in uh your town.

I know some parents are so sick of skating and so sick of you know tying up skates in minus 18 weather, and it's like permafrost bite, and uh you can't wait for the warmer weather that we're actually experiencing uh right now.

Uh but one of the places uh that people have been skating, and and maybe you've done this as well, are those um those stormwater uh management ponds.

Okay, I know they're all kind of called something different depending on uh where you're at, those retention ponds.

I think you know uh what I'm talking about, but it's it's a place where you've no doubt seen a sign like this.

Let's take a look at this sign here.

Um, you know, it's it's a warning sign, right?

And it's it's telling us in many ways, don't skate here, right?

Or or or you can't swim, or even some of them say no fishing here.

They just they they want you to um not not use this for fun and for um pleasure.

And I mean the obvious intention of a sign like this um is to warn us of the threat of danger.

Okay, I mean we we all know what can happen when um ice starts to get uh too thin.

Okay, and I know this as well.

I know that it's it's a little bit inconsistent.

Some ponds it seems like it's okay to skate on, and and other ones they're they're kind of cracking down on it and and whatnot.

I don't even understand all of that.

And and and so maybe though you've you've kind of read that that sign before, but you've got like your skates over your stick and you're going towards it because because when when the weather is like perfect, right?

It's like maybe minus four or five, and the sun's out, it it's bright, the ice is is is pristine.

I mean, man, is the is the allure to just get out there and and play some shiny or to skate, man, is that ever strong, right?

You know, like you see the warning there, but at the same time, you want to get out and you want to play.

Well, it's our passage today that kind of got me thinking about all of this, because it provides us with a warning of sorts uh uh when it comes to just how strong the allure of folly is.

Okay, now folly or is really just another word for foolishness.

Okay, so we all know what we're talking about here, right?

And I think we would we would understand that foolishness is pretty obviously like the opposite of wisdom.

Okay, it's the thing that's contrasted with wisdom all throughout the book of Proverbs.

As much as Proverbs is a book about wisdom, and and we know this, we're aware of that, it speaks so much of what wisdom is and paints many pictures of what wisdom looks like.

As much as it does that, it also shows us very clearly what foolishness looks like.

A person of folly, what do they do?

How do they act?

Right?

And so today we're gonna be we're gonna be coming at this from that angle, looking at the foolish person and and and the temptation, the allure of all of that, so we can understand it as a way to, again, grow in wisdom.

Okay, so here is our big idea here today, okay?

It's this I am wise when I refuse the allure of folly.

Okay?

Drop that down.

Write that down if you can, and uh, think about that today.

Think about that this week.

Okay, well, let's look at this now.

Uh, starting in verse 13, we're gonna read verses 13 down to verse 18 here.

Here's what it says it says, the woman folly.

Okay, now literally that just means uh the foolish woman.

Okay, and so as Solomon's the author here, and Solomon often likes to personify wisdom.

Wisdom, she is like, you know, XYZ.

Okay, now here he is doing that with with with folly, with foolishness.

Here's what here's what the foolish woman is like, and here's what she tries to get you uh to do.

But it describes her a little bit here, verse 13.

The woman folly is is loud.

Okay, this is the picture of like the loud, obnoxious, like in your face, doesn't know to be quiet, says the dumb, foolish thing, right?

That's the that's what foolishness is.

Loud, attempting to avert your attention away from righteous living.

That's what foolishness does.

That's the temptation there.

Okay, speaking of temptation, look at the rest of the verse.

It says she is seductive.

This is what foolishness is.

Seductive.

So the picture of, uh, to be honest, a prostitute, right?

Like the the this you picture this vile temptress.

That's that's what foolishness is.

It it lures us in, right?

It says that she knows nothing.

Again, literally, it just means she knows no shame.

She knows no shame whatsoever.

She's restless.

It can mean that as well.

Maybe you picture back to when you were younger and and maybe you were in junior high, high school, whatever it might be, maybe even younger, and you've got you know those long summers, and you get kind of bored, and you get restless, and you get anxious, and you don't know what to do.

I mean, that almost always turns into something bad, right?

Right?

You know this.

Restless.

That is what foolishness is pictured as here.

Okay, she's verse 14 says, she sits at the door of her house.

She takes a seat on the highest places of the town.

Okay, so so foolishness is visible, right?

Constantly trying to be within your line of sight.

Okay, visible.

15 now.

A calling to those who pass by.

Remember, she's loud, she's seductive, she's calling to those who pass by who are going straight, key word, straight on their way.

Okay, so foolishness in your life is is trying to turn you off of the straight and the narrow path, the right path towards Christ-likeness, and living in a way that honors God, and trying to obnoxiously, seductively, loudly get you off of that.

Get your focus and your gaze fixed on her.

Okay, now, verse 16, this is what she says.

She says, Whoever is simple, okay, that's not a compliment.

Okay, whoever is simple kind of means like silly.

If you're you're silly or kind of ridiculous, right?

Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.

Come on now, come on in, engage with me.

Okay, and to him who lacks sense, she says again, stolen water, okay, is stolen water a good thing?

Probably not.

Right?

Stolen water is sweet.

And bread eaten in secret, again, taken, stolen, is pleasant.

Okay, so you see there the the false promise there of foolishness.

The false promise that when you sin you win.

Right?

Come on now, come on in.

This this stolen bread that it's it's gonna be sweet to you, the water is gonna be sweet to you, this is pleasant to you, this is only good, not getting you to think about the consequences, not getting you to think about the regret and the and the pain and the problems that foolishness causes.

Okay, that's what is she what she is tempting us all towards, right?

It's the the allure of those momentary pleasures of sin.

Well, again, failing to you know to focus whatsoever, and and let us think about how those those pleasures are so fleeting, right?

And always end up with some kind of consequence, which which we see here in verse 18.

It says, but he, okay, so this is now the foolish person, the person who is giving into the the allure of folly, okay, but he does not know that the dead are there where foolishness is, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Okay, Sheol literally meaning grave.

And so it's painting this picture of destruction and pain and problems and misery that that uh awaits those who get sucked into the allure of folly, of foolish living.

You know, so as we as we look at God's word as we do every week, you know, I think it's so important that we learn to not just kind of understand what the text means, but really to be to be thinking about like how does this apply to me?

And I would encourage you to allow the word of God, not just today, every day, but but we're thinking about this passage here to really shine a light on you right now and how you're living and where you're at, and allow it to expose what's going on in your life, in your heart, in your mind, and your actions.

And I would just ask you the question here in what ways are you allowing yourself to succumb to the allure of folly?

Okay, what are the different ways that you're you're starting to get off that path and uh of godly living and spirit-filled living, and you're starting to just please the flesh and again going down that path.

In what ways are you doing this?

You remember we've talked a lot about those four source idols uh that are that are in our life, right?

Any any idolatry that we have can be traced back to these four things.

I'll repeat them again because I think it's so important that we understand kind of who we are and what our tendencies are here.

Okay, maybe for you, the allure of folly is in the area of comfort.

Right?

Is that it for you?

There's there's so much discomfort in our world today, right?

There's so much, like I just hate what's happening with the virus, and my job situation has changed, and I'm uncomfortable because I'm just at home and I'm locked in all the time, and and I see my family, and God bless them, I love them, but I need some time away.

And you know, you're uncomfortable in many ways, and so maybe your desire for comfort is leading you into foolishness.

And you're running headlong or slipping or stumbling or whatever, however you want to describe it, into pleasure.

Because pleasure brings you comfort, or it's just constant entertainment, or it's spending money foolishly because getting things makes you feel good for a bit, but you're spending money that you can't have, and it's all in an attempt to make yourself feel comfortable, but at the end of the day, it's it's folly.

Okay, maybe for you it's it's approval, and that's the foolishness that you are seeking.

And I I need that person's approval, or I'm trying to earn God's approval, and you don't realize that you already got it if you're a Christian.

He already loves you perfectly.

You don't need to earn that through uh moral living, right?

But but you're running down into that path.

Maybe for you, you're like a control freak or or or or a power person.

You you want control over your life and and you want power, and you're just wired in such a way where you want everything to tick a certain way, and you like the sense of power that you have over your circumstances or even over people.

But for you, when you when you when that stuff falls apart and and and it's exposed so often and so easily that we don't have the control that we want, or we don't have the power that we that we wish we had, and and and and maybe for you it's it's that you're that you're anxious all the time and you're stressed out, or you're just an angry person, and that you're running headlong into this pursuit of comfort or or power, and it is again at the end of the day, it's foolishness.

Again, what are the ways that you're allowing yourself to succumb to the allure of folly?

Are you able to identify them?

Do you know what your ways are?

Those ways that the woman folly is calling to you.

She's calling to you loudly, she's calling to you seductively, as the text says, drawing you towards her, when again, straight on your way is what you know you should be doing.

Right?

And and deep down, there's there's even a desire, like I know what I'm doing is not right, and it feels kind of out of control, and I I can't stop this, and I can't get back, but but it seems lately that like you're just kind of behaving in a way that's just simple, as the text says.

You, if you're being honest, you you're lacking sense.

Oh, that's in verse 16.

Well, anytime that we start slipping in these areas, church, I think a natural question is, Meg, man, how do I get back to where I was?

Or how do I get into a place that I've never been before?

And and and following the Lord and getting the upper hand and not being not being lured in by the woman folly.

And so here's a question that we'll ask, and we'll have this on the screen.

How to refuse the allure of folly?

Three things here for you, and you can write these down if you like.

But first one, and we've talked about it already, but just know your weaknesses.

Right?

You gotta you gotta know your tendencies.

Do you know, do you know what tempts you?

Do you know what your weaknesses are?

Can you identify those idols?

Can you say, like, out of those four source idols we talked about, like this one's my strongest one, or these two or three, or like those are those are tough for me right now.

Comfort, approval, control, power.

Can you identify that that when you start to go down this this pathway of of foolishness, what are the lies that you're believing?

And and do you know, like, again, it's the truth that that overcomes those lies, the truth of God's word.

Are you able to identify those lies and remind yourself of truth?

Do you know your weaknesses?

Do you know your tendencies?

Second thing here, how do we refuse the allure of folly?

Well, it's be sobered by the potential destruction.

Well, that that doesn't sound fun.

It's not fun, but but it's a necessary step.

Right?

It kind of goes back to the first message that we talked about from Proverbs uh chapter one.

Okay, and it's the fear of the Lord, the beginning of knowledge, right?

The fear of the Lord there, understanding that that man, if I continue to go down this path, it is going to, it could blow up on me.

Right?

This could cause major consequences that I'm gonna have to live with even when I've been forgiven, even when the Lord is doing a work.

Right?

Destruction is not where any one of us needs to go or potential destruction.

We don't want to be thinking about that.

And again, that's not what verse 18 in this passage certainly shows us.

So we so we need to be sobered by that.

And if you're like, man, I I want to be sobered by that, but I'm not, we need to pray, right?

We need to pray and ask the Lord, God, would you would you shake me out of this?

Would you would you help me to see this that that where I'm headed is just it's not good.

It's not good for me, it's not good for other people, it's certainly not good for my relationship with the Lord.

Here's the third thing, and then we'll get into some prayer.

How to refuse the allure of folly.

You gotta set in motion a plan of escape.

Right?

There's some action kind of required, some opportunities here for you when you're trying to refuse the temptation and all of that.

You you get you gotta have a plan of escape.

What are you gonna do when that temptation comes?

I think we have to talk about repentance when we're talking about this, right?

We've got to confess the sin.

We've got to we've got to deal with that before the Lord.

Again, when your heart doesn't even feel like it's there and you want to repent, but you know it's just it's kind of empty words right now, and I'm going through the motions, right?

Just ask the Lord, God, would you get me to the place where my repentance is is real and genuine?

I can't manufacture this in my heart.

I need I need your your spirit.

Okay, more on that in a second, but but simply fleeing the temptation, fleeing the folly is a big part of refusing the allure of it.

I love Proverbs 5, verse 8.

Proverbs 5:8

It just says, keep your way far from her.

The context of that proverb is is sexual sin, it's adultery.

It says, Don't don't even go near it.

Right?

And and maybe that's the foolishness that you're struggling with right now, or or maybe it's it's it's some other area of temptation.

But I think the that verse can apply to those to whatever area, right?

Keep your way far from or whatever the temptation is.

Don't continue to walk into a place where you're gonna get tempted, whatever that might be.

Okay, whenever we're thinking repentance, we're thinking fleeing, and we we want to get right.

So many of us, we just want to do that privately, don't we?

I don't want to let anybody in on this.

I I think if I just pray, if I just confess it to the Lord, that's that's enough.

That's that's good enough.

It's not.

We need other people.

That's why God has has given us the church, right?

We need we need accountability.

Now, maybe what you're thinking is, man, I've tried the accountability thing and that was lame.

Right?

It just didn't work.

I tried telling somebody about my issues and they were kind of like, okay, I'll pray for you, I guess.

And we didn't really know what to do.

And and and and then I felt like I was just kind of avoiding them because I didn't want them to ask me the hard question, and and and they didn't want me asking them the hard question, and so it all just kind of fell apart real quickly.

Listen, that's not accountability.

Accountability works when you are the one going to the person saying, Hey, here's where I'm slipping, here's where I'm tempted, here's where I'm falling.

Would you would you help me through this?

Would you would you pray with me?

Would you support me?

Would you encourage me with the scriptures?

That's what accountability is.

That's how that works.

And you need somebody, somebody in your life that you can be real honest with.

That's gotta be a component of your plan of escape.

Of course, that at some point, uh you know, combined with all of this, what we're talking about here today, is the idea that at the end of the day, you need the grace of God.

Right?

You need the Spirit of God to do the actual work of changing your heart.

You ever get to the place where you're repenting and you're kind of working through a particular slip or stumble or failure, or however you want to label that, and you're like, man, at the end of the day, I just need God to do something in me.

Right?

That's exactly right.

You need the grace of God to do a work which drives us to prayer, which drives us to greater humility.

It it kind of knocks at that pride that we often have.

I can do this myself.

If I just think the right way here, if or if I just say the right things to God or or tell people enough about my life, but not really what's going on, or if again, if I just do it all by myself, I'll be fine, but no, at the end of the day, we need the spirit.

We need his grace, we need his power.

And then you need to also add this component to the whole setting in motion, a plan of escape thing.

You need to be backfilling your heart with the gospel.

Right?

So many times we we want to remove the foolish living out of our hearts and out of our minds and our actions, but we don't fill it with truth.

We don't fill our minds and our hearts and our souls with the goodness of who Christ is in the gospel.

Right?

We don't do that far too often.

So we need to be reminding ourselves that, Lord, as I'm tempted to foolishness and the seductiveness of that, and and and I need to go there.

I want to go there, I feel myself compelled to go there.

I have to remind myself that everything I truly need, I have in Jesus Christ.

I have to remind myself, or I'm tempted to beat myself up, you know, way, way, way too much.

I have to remember that through the gospel, I'm forgiven.

Through the gospel, I am made new.

I have to remind myself, those of us who are tempted towards legalism, and I've got to behave a certain way in order to get God to approve of me.

No, no, no.

Jesus, Jesus already approves of you.

He already did everything that you needed to do from a righteousness standpoint to bring you close to God.

You need to rest in that.

You need to remind myself, remind yourself that Christ has done it for you.

Trying to earn God's respect, approval, love, forgiveness, all of that.

It's exhausting.

You're gonna wear yourself out, you're gonna grow so weary, you need to rest in the fact that Christ did it for you.

It's given to you as a gift.

You see how I took like 25 seconds there, and I just I just talked about like a couple of components of the gospel, and it just it sets our minds in the in the right spot, it gets our hearts going in the right direction.

We need to be backfilling the stuff that we want out with with the good stuff, with the truth of the gospel, with the scriptures.

Every time we open the word of God and we're We're praying, and when we're thinking, we're reminding ourselves of who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

And so listen, these are the things that we want to be praying for right now.

And so we're going to have a time of prayer, like I mentioned.

And again, you can feel free to spin your chairs around.

All these chairs are going to get folded up and put it away anyway.

So don't worry about keeping it all neat and tidy.

You can pray in your families, gather with some people, and spend a bit of time of praying when the time is done, as you're done, the service is over.

I know John is going to come up and he's going to be playing some music behind us as we do that.

And I just want to say this as well.

For those of you who are at home right now, we're going to have a time of Zoom prayer, just as we've been doing.

And that's going to be starting up in about nine minutes.

We're going to be starting up at 11 o'clock.

And so I will see you there.

And I would love to pray with anybody at home who needs to pray through these things as we seek the Lord.

So the prayer points are going to be on the screen.

I'm going to pray right now.

You are loved.

I definitely want you to know that.

But let me pray and then we'll go from here.

Lord, thank you so much for this time and your word and Lord, the warning of all of this.

Lord, we need the warnings.

Lord, in our heads, we kind of know that foolishness is bad, but our flesh is weak.

Our pride is strong.

And we get sucked into these things.

God, would you pour out power today in this room, in this building, in the homes of the people in our church, Lord, and change our course, change our direction.

God, give us a heart and a passion for wisdom.

Lord, help us to hate sin, to not love it, hate it.

Because we love you.

Help us to respond here today out of the kindness of your heart and the goodness of giving us Jesus.

We have everything that we need.

We have your word, we have direction, we have your spirit, and we have grace.

May you pour that out.

May we grab hold of it.

May you be pleased by our prayers.

May you hear our cries.

Lord, we thank you for your kindness.

We thank you for your goodness.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.