SERIES: A FOOL AND HIS FOLLY!

#2 "THE FOOL WHO DISGRACES GOD!"

Proverbs 14:9

1.  The late President Calvin Coolidge returned home from attending church early one Sunday afternoon.  He met his wife, who was unable to attend with him, that morning; and, he sat down to eat dinner.  His wife was interested in what the preacher spoke on in his sermon.  Coolidge told her that he spoke on ‘Sin.’  She pressed him a little further, and asked, “Well, what did he say about sin?”  And, being a man of few words, Coolidge responded, “I think he was against it!”

2.  In a day of soft diplomacy, and political correctness, straight talk is a rare commodity.  Most statements are couched in diplomatic terms so as not to offend anyone.   Words with sharp edges are rounded off and shaped to more easily fit the ears of the hearer.  T. S. Eliot was correct when he said,

“We humans cannot bear very much reality!”^[1]

3.  We live in a day when where we are more divided than at any time since the Reformation.  We are divided over what is right and what is wrong.  We are divided over what is good and what is bad.  We are divided over what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. 

4.  However, even more tragic is the fact that we have made the wrong thing the right thing, and the bad thing the good thing.  No longer is there any thought of what we should do, our decisions are based on what we want to do.  And, the modern day motto holds true, “If it feels good, do it!”

5.  I think of a recent poll conducted by George Barna, which revealed how Americans feel about sin:

58% believe that Satan is “not a living being, but only a symbol of evi

32% contend that there are some crimes, sins, or other things people might do which cannot be forgiven by G

29% believe that the whole idea of sin is completely outdated.^[2]

5.  Many of our day lend their ear to the voices of influence upon them.  For example:

In Chemistry, men listen to Levoisier

In Pottery, men listen to Wedgewood

In Astronomy, men listen to Hershel

In Poetry, men listen to Shakespeare

In Philosophy, men listen to Plato

In Invention, men listen to Edison

In Sculpture, men listen to Michelangelo

In Music, men listen to Beethoven.

6.  But, when it comes to truth men best listen to God.  He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

7.  The fact of the matter is that while man’s perception, and opinion has been altered over the years, God hasn’t changed His mind about sin.  He still abhors it.  He still condemns it.  And, He still judges it.  J. H. Jowett aptly summarized man and God’s view of sin:

Man call is an accident; God calls it an abomination.

Man calls it a chance, God calls it a choice.
Man calls it a defect, God calls it a disease.
Man calls it an error, God calls it an enmity

Man calls it a fascination; God calls it a fatality.
Man calls it a luxury, God calls it a leprosy.

Man calls it a mistake, God calls it a madness.
Man calls it a trifle, God calls it a tragedy.
Man calls it a weakness, God calls it willfulness 

7.  And, according to Proverbs 14: 9, God calls any man a ‘fool’ who looks at sin differently than He does.  He is the fool who disgraces God.  There are 3 truths we must consider.

1.  Notice the opening phrase of Proverbs 14: 9, ^“”Fools make a mock at sin”.  The word ‘fool’ comes from a word that literally means, “growing thick of fluids.”  The word was used to speak of a thickheaded person who refused to listen to counsel. 

2.  Thus, the “fool” that is spoken of here is that one who has failed to see the counsel of the Word of God, and the reproach of sin.  In fact, this fool is one who fails to see:

1.  Notice verse 34.  Solomon makes clear sin’s mark, when he says,

 “³⁴Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

2.  The truth still remains that sin not only brings a reproach, but it always leaves a mark.  Once sin enters the picture, the picture is always the same.  It is a picture that is marred, defiled, and stained.  It leaves an ugly mark.

3.  David spoke of the mark that sin leaves, in Psalm 32: 3-4,

^3”When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. ⁴For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.”

4.  Isaiah examined the sin of his people, Israel, and described its mark as an open, festered wound that had went untreated, in Isaiah 1: 5-6,

“the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.  ⁶From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

5.  Sin is simply missing the mark.  It is failing to measure to the standard of God.  It is violating God’s law.  It is doing what God has commanded us not to do.  The best definition of sin that I have ever read is found in James 4:17,

^17”Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

6.  Susannah Wesley defined sin to her son, John Wesley, by saying,

“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things--that to you is sin."

6.  Once sin is committed, and God’s law is violated, there is a mark. Sin always leaves a mark.  It may be manifested in a variety of ways, but the end is the same: an ugly mark.

7.  Rembrandt, the Dutch painter, put upon his canvas his idea of the crucifixion of Christ.  If one looked carefully, behind the shadows, one would notice that one of the men helping nail Jesus to the cross was Rembrandt himself. 

8.  Twenty years later, Rembrandt painted another picture of himself.  As a young man he determined to deny himself no pleasure.  He lived a wild life.  He sought every pleasure and every delight.  Hence, one by one the torches of his life went out.  As a result, in middle age we see the painting of the artist shrunken, an old rag around his throat, weakness in his chin, the mark of the beast upon his brow, the eyes heavy and dull without vision or beauty.  It showed the result of his sin.  The marks had been left behind.  His body, once a noble mansion, had given over to darkness and decay.

9.  The drug addict is left with the needle marks in his arm.  The drunkard is left with a shattered life, and damage to his vital organs.  The pornographer is left with a mind warped with sexual immorality.  The murderer is left with a cold grave, which houses his victim.  Be not deceived, sin always leaves its mark.

1.  Sin is never complete with its mark.  Its completeness is seen in its misery.  Sin is a miserable thing.

2.     Gary Richmond, a former zookeeper, explained that raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, I felt compelled to mention the change coming to a pet raccoon owned by a young friend of mine, Julie. She listened politely as I explained the coming danger. I'll never forget her answer. "It will be different for me. . ." And she smiled as she added, "Bandit wouldn't hurt me. He just wouldn't." Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild.

4.     Sin, too, often comes dressed in an adorable guise, and as we play with it, how easy it is to say, "It will be different for me." However, the results are always predictable.

5.     Many justify their known acts of sin by saying, “It’s nobody’s business.  This affects no one but me!”  But, nothing could be farther from the truth.  The fact of the matter is that  sin affects not only the participant, but everyone around him as well.  Sin, while personal, yields a universal effect. And, it is always a miserable thing.

4.  Paul explained this misery in Galatians 6: 7,

^“7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. ⁸For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

5. Simply put, we pay the price when we sin.  Sin always has consequences.  Sin always brings a payday.  Sin leaves an ugly mark, and it loves an unforgettable misery.  The man God calls a ‘fool’ fails to examine the reproach of sin!

1.  THE REPROACH OF SIN THAT MUST BE EXAMINED!

1.  While sin brings a reproach, it also bears a result.  In fact, there is one thing about sin that you can always remember it always carries a price tag.  You can mark it down, bank on it, and expect it to happen.  There is a result of sin.  There is:

1.  Notice 14: 12.  Solomon outlines the endeavor of man to seek his own path, as well as the end result.

 ^12”There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

2.  The Bible has much to say about the death that all men shall face as a result of sin.  In Ezekiel 18: 4, we’re told that,

“the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

3.  In Romans 5: 12, Paul explains it,

^“12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

4.  In Romans 6: 23, again Paul gives an elementary explanation of why men face death,

“The wages of sin is death.”

5.    The writer of the book of Hebrews explained it in Hebrews 9: 27,

^27”And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

7.  The ratio of death is irreversible, and irrefutable.  The odds are always in its favor.  That is, one out of every one man dies.  The result of our sin is a death all men shall face.

1.  The wages of sin is death.  The result of a life, and a consequent death without God is eternal destruction and damnation. Possibly the gravest image of this is mentioned in Revelation 20: 11-15:

^11””And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  ¹⁴And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

2.  F. B. Meyer summarized it well,

“According to God’s constitution of the world, the wrongdoer will be abundantly punished!”^[3]

3.  The great preacher L. R. Scarborough was called to the bedside of a dying man, who had shot himself in the heart.  He went to that home, a home of neglect and sin.  He discovered that the man had been on a drunken spree, recovering from the wild time, he found himself sick and discouraged.  And, thus, took his own pistol and shot himself.

4.  The preacher walked over to the man’s bedside, and for 4 solid hours, the dying man grasped his hand.  Dr. Scarborough begged him for hours to give his heart to Christ, but the man refused.  Just before he died, the family was called in.  His oldest boy, came and hugged, and kissed his father goodbye.  Then, the rest of the children came, one by one, until all six had said their ‘Farewell.’  Finally, he came to say goodbye to his wife, who was a godly Christian woman.  He took her by the hand and said,

“Molly, you have been a good wife.  For these 16 years you have had to do all of the praying. You have had to do all of the Bible study and teaching to our children.  You have had to do all of the church-going and godly living.  I have not helped you at all, Molly.  For 16 years you have stood for me in religion.  Now, I am dying and I want to know if you are going to stand for me at the judgment bar of God?”  The pale, sad faced woman, with tears covering her face, said, “Old fellow, I have done everything I could do for you, but at the judgment bar of God, you will have to stand in your own shoes!”  And he died, and went out to meet God unprepared!  ^[4]

 5.  On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards traveled to Enfield, Connecticut, a few miles from his home, and read to a vast congregation America’s famous sermon, “Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God!”  The text was taken from Deuteronomy 32: 25, “Their foot shall slide in due time,” and the subject was the imminence of judgment and the

horrors of perdition.  It was terrifyingly vivid:

“Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on the earth, yea doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, than He is with many of those who are now in the flames of Hell.  The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber, the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot ready to receive them, and the flames do now rage and glow.  Unconverted men walk over the pit of Hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their own weight, and these places are not seen!”^[5]

6.  The sermon caused an immediate sensation in the town of Enfield.  According to history, even before the sermon was finished, “people were moaning, groaning and crying out” such things as “What must I do to be saved?”  In fact, there was such a “breathing of distress and weeping” that Edwards had to quiet and calm the people several times so he could conclude.  Men had seen eternity flash before them and found themselves separated from God facing eternal damnation.  That is the result from a sinful life one can expect.

1.  THE REPROACH FROM SIN THAT MUST BE EXPLAINED!

2.  THE RESULT OF SIN THAT MUST BE EXPECTED!

1.  One might ask, “How should we respond to a matter so grievous and heinous as our sin?” “How should we respond to something which God hates and condemns?”  Solomon examines two ways which we can respond to sin.

1.  Notice our text, Proverbs 14: 9.  Solomon describes the folly of a careless look at sin, by saying:

 ^9”Fools make a mock at sin.”

2.  Notice verse 16. 

^“16A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.”

3.  The man God calls a fool is one who disgraces God.  He disgraces God because he takes a careless approach to that which God hates:  SIN!  He laughs at sin.  He ridicules sin.  And, he takes an arrogant stance toward sin.  He looks sin square in the eye and laughs in its face.

4.  The word “sin” in our text verse, verse 9, is a word that is more literally rendered “guilt.”  The word alludes more specifically to the trespass, or ‘guilt’ offering of Levitical days.

5.  The trespass, or ‘guilt’ offering was required for two kinds of sins: those against the holy things of God, and those against one’s neighbor.  The ritual included the sinner confessing the sin, restoring the property, paying a fine, and sacrificing a ram unto the Lord.

6.  At the cross, the Lord Jesus became our trespass, or ‘guilt’ offering.  He bore our sins in His body, and He paid the full price for our sins.  Our great High Priest did it all for us, once and for all!

7.  Thus, the man God calls a ‘fool,’ in the text, is a man who literally mocks the sacrifice of the Cross.  He ridicules the atoning work of Christ.  He continues to live his selfish, and wicked life, all the while trampling the blood of Christ under foot.  His folly is his careless response to sin.

1.  Notice verse 9.  The fool’s response to sin, and the wise man’s response to sin are in total contrast.

 ^9”Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor.”

2.  The man calls a fool takes a careless response to sin.  He laughs in its face, and shames the sacrifice of the blood of Christ.  However, the wise man finds favor in his careful response to sin.  He views it as God views it, and seeks forgiveness for it.

3.  The wise man admits his sin, confesses his sin, and enjoys forgiveness for his sin.  He finds favor in the eyes of God for his careful approach to sin.

4.  I am reminded of the controversial Billy Sunday, the former professional baseball player, who became an evangelist.  Sunday never spared the feelings of himself, nor anyone else when it came to his attacks on sin.  He thundered against evil from the Gay Nineties through the Great Depression.  He preached Christ as the only answer to man’s need until his death in 1935.

5.  Not long before his death, Sunday was preaching one of his familiar sermons on sin, and said,

“I’m against sin. And, as long as I’ve got a foot, I’ll kick it.  As long as I’ve got a fist, I’ll fight it.  As long as I’ve got a head, I’ll butt it.  As long as I’ve got a tooth, I’ll bite it.  And, when I’m old, and fist less, and footless, and toothless, I’ll gum it until I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition!”^[6]

6.  The man God calls a fool has not that approach to sin.  He longs for it.  He looks for it.  He lusts for it.  However, the man who finds favor is the man who takes a careful response to it, and realizes that Jesus Christ is the only remedy for sin.

7.  I think of a place I had the privilege to visit a couple of years ago, upon my trip to London.  It is 2-3 miles off the south coast of England, and it is so deep that all of the dissolved sewage of London is released there.  Every day of the week, except for Sunday, a ship loaded with garbage goes to that spot, and at the press of a button, all of the filth of the city is pumped into the depths of the sea.  However, the remarkable thing is that minutes later you can fill a glass with that seawater and drink from it without contamination or harm.  The sea is so deep that the poison cannot surface.

8.  So it is with God’s great sea of forgiveness and forgetfulness.  It is so deep that once our sin is confessed, it’s poison and pollution can never resurface.  Oh yes,

“There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains!”