 Here we are chapter 9 We'll be looking at Proverbs chapter 9 today I chose to simply entitle this particular portion of our study through the book of Proverbs forsake foolishness and Live you'll see that as we look at this portion of scripture forsake foolishness and Live so let's begin reading together here in Proverbs chapter 9 verse 1 And we'll read verses 1 through 6 Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn out her seven pillars She has slaughtered her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also furnished her table She has sent out her maiden. She cries out from the highest places in the city Whoever is simple let him turn in here as for him who lacks understanding She says to him come eat of my bread Drink of the wine I have mixed forsake foolishness and live and go in the way of understanding Now as we're looking at this we have seen that wisdom has been personified And we have seen that wisdom is being presented to us, especially in chapter 8 and now in chapter 9 Wisdom has been presented to us as being at work We see in chapter 8 verses 27 and 28 how he had written When he prepared the heavens When he prepared the heavens I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep When he established the clouds above when he strengthened the fountains of the deep and he goes on What he was saying there is wisdom was revealed in the work of creation The creation of the universe as well as the earth and so as we enter into chapter 9 Wisdom is revealed at work still but this time wisdom is being revealed as being at work amongst men Notice how he says in verse 1 wisdom has built her house So what we have here and I have to develop this with you because you're going to see a contrast In a few verses, so let me Lay a foundation for us as as we look at this wisdom in verse 1 is is depicted as building her house She's being presented as a Middle Eastern queen That's the picture you have here when it speaks of wisdom building her house. She's being presented as as royalty It's a picture of her and her attendance And it says that wisdom has built her house this house in scripture Sometimes the house is used to refer to the inhabited world And so what you're seeing is wisdom in at work amongst the inhabited world Job 38 verses 4 through 6 Says where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding who determined its measurements Surely, you know who stretched the line upon it To to what were its foundations fastened who laid its cornerstone? That's a picture of construction there the house is very often used to speak of the inhabited world In Hebrews chapter 1 verse 10 the writer said you lord in the beginning laid the foundation Of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands In a chapter 3 of Hebrews verse 4 Every house is built by someone he who built all things is God And so what you have here is you have wisdom's work in the world and wisdom's work, especially amongst men And so it speaks in that way In verse 1 again, it speaks of her hewing out seven pillars So when it says she has hewing out her seven pillars, you need to remember that there is something called numerics biblical numerics Sometimes people may say Biblical numerology, that's not the proper word numerology speaks of an occult practice The word numeric speaks of numbers and how the word how the how a number is used in scripture And when you go through scripture very often not always but very often the number seven Is used to speak of perfection or completion The number seven is used in that way I'll give you one example genesis chapter 2 verse 2 On the seventh day god ended his work which he had done He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done And so seven is the number of completeness or perfection So she has hewing out seven pillars And so this is speaking of the completeness of wisdom And it speaks of this house that she's building notice with me that the house is large enough to hold a banquet A banquet for any who desire to attend that they might have Wisdom it goes on to say in verse 2 she slaughtered her meat mixed her wine She has also furnished her table Sent out her maidens cries out from the highest places of the city Whoever simple let him turn in here as for him will ask understanding She says him come eat up my bread drink of the wine I have mixed for sake foolishness and live going the way of understanding So she has slaughtered her meat. He says She's mixed her wine Wisdom has repaired a feast It's a feast for all who desire To be at her table It's a picture of something that is generous as well as delicious And it also is a picture of something that is Desirable So that's the picture you have here. It's a banquet. It's it's something that That a hungry person would really find Inviting and that's the picture that we have here Notice in verses 3 and 4 how it says that she sent out her her maidens She cries out from the highest places of the city In verse 4 it speaks of her issuing an invitation whoever is simple let him turn in here So the table is ready guests are invited But here's the thing To enter and to partake requires desire and humility The call is for anyone And the call is open This is a public invitation What's interesting It's a public invitation for the naive as well as the shallow So in order to receive wisdom You actually have to have humility because you have to realize that We have to realize that we are naive and we are shallow Because if we don't we'll never have wisdom That's That's something that almost seems contradictory In order to gain wisdom. I have to say I'm shallow but the answer is yes I was in church one time and I was going to say that's like a paradox and the minister Pastor was giving a bible study And my sister Madeleine was seated next to me and he said and this is one of those It's a paradox. He went like that. My sister was seated next to me. She said and she writes a little note Some of you never do that here. I know we've never found him on the floor ever When's he gonna stop? No, we've seen that But in the uh there my sister wrote a little note to me He the the pastor I just said And it's a paradox So she writes what's a paradox? She so I wrote Handed it to her and she opened it up and I wrote two doctors You're not supposed to laugh in church at the wrong time But she she she she got hardly contain herself. I never forget that I still to this day Well, these are else that's a paradox and she remembers that we're in church But he is one of those things there if you want to have wisdom the way into wisdom is to understand that you don't have it The way to to have something like that is to admit That I don't possess it. So that requires humility I have to admit that i'm simple. I have to admit That I lack understanding Now over the centuries This portion has been interpreted to apply to the church You see the house for example Referring to the church of the living god even as paul speaks of the church in that way You see the seven pillars and And christian theologians have pointed out that the seven pillars would speak of the foundation of eternal truth You see that the the meat has been slaughtered That shows us wisdom has made provision for the guests and so We would recognize that as being the sacrifice of jesus You have the mingled wine This would speak of the sweetness and purity of the holy spirit because the holy spirit is referred to as new wine It speaks of sending out her maidens And that would refer to the mission of the church To reach the lost It also says that she cries out from the highest places crying out Once again speaks of an open invitation And here's what she says verse five Come eat of my bread Drink of the wine I have mixed And then forsake foolishness and live Go in the way of understanding Come eat of my bread drink of my wine Well, you would understand obviously red and wine. What would that represent in the new testament? The body and blood of jesus christ and so there's a picture here Giving to us an invitation to salvation And it's saying that you need to partake fully of this in order that you might have divine life Within you it reminds me of a teaching that jesus gave in the city of cupurnium When you read your bible here in new testament You're going to see that the city of cupurnium is the city that's mentioned quite often It's a place that became the headquarters for jesus jesus was born And uh born in bethlehem raised in nazareth But at a certain point he moved his headquarters of ministry into the port city of cupurnium And so when you read your new testament very often you will see quite a number of things that occur In the city of cupurnium and one occasion It's found in john chapter six. You see that the lord jesus christ has just Has just performed the miracle of feeding a multitude with fish and loaves that he multiplied in And after he had done that uh john records how he had gone and and the people had followed him And they they wanted to to be near him because and he says it to him he says You're here because I I produced food for you and I fed your hunger And now he begins to speak to them and he begins to share with them Concerning what it means to have a real relationship with god through him and at a certain point in john chapter six It's found in verses 52 through 56 jesus said to them Most assuredly I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the son of man drink his blood You have no life in you Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life And I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is food indeed My blood is drink indeed he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in Him and so you see the invitation in the old testament that is fulfilled by jesus christ and the new Come eat of my bread drink of the wine. I have mixed again Remember that paul refers to jesus as the power and wisdom of god So jesus christ would be portrayed here in proverbs as giving that invitation to partake fully in him that we might have life Now notice in verse six how it says forsake foolishness and live Going the way of understanding foolishness Foolishness speaks of living sinfully Foolishness very often especially in the proverbs is speaking of the person Who lives as if there is no god? When you look in the psalm psalm 14 verse 1 The psalm it says the fool says in his heart There's no god And then he goes on to describe this fool. They are corrupt They have done abominable works and then he goes on to say there's none who does good And so forsake foolishness the invitation is for the ungodly to change the way The invitation is for the ungodly to come to know god instead is instead of living as if there is no god Come to the understanding and knowledge of him And you do so because that is the wise thing to do like it says in psalm 111 verse 10 The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom all who follow his precepts have good understanding To him belongs eternal praise Notice with me all are invited But not all come to eat the bread of life Not all come to imbibe of the spirit of god to drink the spirit of god in if you will Remember when we were in first timothy chapter four And verse 10 how paul had spoken of the lord in this way. He said that god is the savior of all men Especially of those who believe The invitations to everybody Jesus christ the blood of christ the sacrifice of jesus christ is sufficient To save every single human being who is on the face of the earth and has ever been Since he was there dying on the cross and pouring out his blood He is sufficient He is enough for all the bible teaches that very clearly That jesus christ is the savior of all men When god allowed his son and placed his son if you will on that cross To die as the propitiation to die as the ransom to be the sacrifice lamb of god Who gave his life for the world When jesus christ took upon himself the the sin of the whole world And he became sin for us He did so that we might become the righteousness of god in him And he took upon himself our sin And it was the sin of the world and yet when the gospel goes out and we proclaim to people Come to faith in christ receive the lord He'll wash you clean of your sin. Your problem isn't simply economic Your problem isn't simply a lack of opportunity or a lack of education. Your your problem isn't completely Settled on the fact that you had a rough upbringing or you didn't have a dad. You didn't know your mom All of those things of course contribute to our The misery that we live in But that's not the root of the problem And that's one of the things that people fail to understand we um We can't be educated into happiness And we we can't be We can't be given money until we're happy Now if you want to if you want to give me some to see if that works or not It doesn't Just be less unhappy. But what happens is you can't buy and we know that I mean there were four profits when I grew up Called the Beatles and one of them Saying you can't buy me love And and you know as shallow as that music was at that time The message is true. That's true. You can't buy me love. Love can't be bought Love is something that is freely given to us by god and salvation is something that we didn't purchase It was purchased for us and the invitation is given to us to receive by faith to humble ourselves and say god be merciful to me I'm a sinner. I'm miserable and I have a tremendous need in my life And there's a hole in my heart that I've tried to fill with so many different things But the only thing that will really completely fill that that gap in me is you and that's what salvation is And that's how you come to a knowledge of god is by receiving So the invitation has come and eat of my bread and then the requirement is forsake foolishness If you turn from your wicked ways god will hear us and turn Himself towards us and we'll have a relationship with him This invitation is given but not always responded to in faith Hebrews 3 15 says it like this Well, it is said today If you will hear his voice Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion When god's holy spirit speaks to you and convicts you of sin. Don't harden your heart. So the invitation continues to this very moment Verse seven he who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself He who rebukes a wicked man Only harms himself Do not correct a scoffer lest he hate you Rebuke a wise man And he will love you Give instruction to a wise man And he will be still wiser Teach a just man And he will increase in learning interesting interesting interesting Scoffer we don't use that word A scoffer Somebody defined the word scoffer as a cynical heckler We probably don't use the word heckler either do we You know somebody who's Like in the crowd you're speaking and they just keep interrupting you And they keep putting you down saying things to you You're starting to make a point And they they yell out in church a few years ago now I was teaching and I had somebody get upset And he stood up And he flipped me off And yelled Some words That weren't appropriate And I told her all listen if you're mad at me Just send me an email Right now his ears are burning you say there was a there was always said something about me again I'm just playing of course No, this guy sit up and flipped me off and he was swearing at me and walked out, you know That's happened many times For people some of you perhaps have seen it sometimes I haven't even seen it I just keep talking I don't notice because I can't see anyway You know I thought he was waving, you know, I didn't I didn't count his fingers, you know, but But a scoffer is a cynical heckler It's the person that when you're speaking interrupts you puts you down calls you names It's a person that is what has been called self-inflative It's also a word that is used to describe what would be called the derisives a derisive A derisive bully, if you will a scorn her This is a person who refuses to live by God's word. This is someone who ridicules it And will ridicule anyone who shares It with him I think his his name is bill mar I mean, that's what they do. He does that he And some of you know his name if you don't that's okay. Don't waste your time finding out but All of us if you share if you share your faith if you share your faith Some of you may say I've never had somebody do that. Well, just keep sharing your faith Because eventually you do eventually you'll have somebody say to you that you're stupid You'll have somebody say how ridiculous I've had it many times That just happens they they will say things to you and they they try to Make you feel stupid as you're sharing. That's a scoffer This is the one who refuses to live by God's word Well, he's saying the result of correcting someone like this is shame And and it may even result in personal harm. You may be attacked Proverbs 15 verse 12 reads a scoffer doesn't love one who corrects him Nor will he go to the wise Proverbs 29 one says He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck Will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy you see there are times when you when you share a word of correction And the person that you're bringing a word of wisdom and correction to gets really upset And will get mad and that's what he's saying verse 7 He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself Because there are times that you may bring a word of correction to somebody who's not going to listen to you In a normal in a normal course of life This this may this may Be something that I should say Sometimes because i'm a pastor and I and I speak the way that I do with In the manner that I do you may think that that I that I just enter into debates and arguments Easily and quickly, but the fact is I don't the fact is I don't There are many many times where people have been saying things to me where I they don't know i'm a pastor They don't know what I do And they're just saying things that are rude and obnoxious or they do something and I don't intervene I don't go there and say you know what you need to stop doing that. I I don't do that I don't intervene unless I sense that I I need to and most of the time I don't and I especially know that to try and correct somebody who's angrily scornful Can be dangerous that that person could could turn on you and and and attack you So you have to have wisdom You know, I I've mentioned how that I I brought my father to christ And I said to him the things that I said you're a good man best man I'll ever know you'd be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to christ That was my dad. I was speaking to who who basically because he was my father Resisted the temptation to kill me. But there are other people That I wouldn't say that to There are other people that I'm very I would be very careful with so I'm letting you know Don't leave this place and say I just got to grab people by the throat and say you're going to hell or heaven And make your choice because that's not the wisest thing to do And also be aware that there are times and the family may get together for a holiday like easter christmas or new year or whatever birthday and somebody's acting the fool And that doesn't mean that you have to take them aside and correct them You need to have wisdom in that because sometimes it is to be downright dangerous So have wisdom before you do something and that's basically what he's saying He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself. He who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself Then he goes on at verse eight do not correct a scoffer lest he hate you But he goes on to say rebuke a wise man and he will love you And so don't rebuke a scoffer lest he hates you But a wise man will love you for the correction. You see the one desiring to gain wisdom Will actually have a love for you for bringing a word of correction. Why is that? Well, it's because they're seeking to grow in their knowledge of the lord And it's because they're mature And humble enough to see that correction was needed Proverbs 27 6 is a beautiful scripture. We'll see it someday Faithful are the wounds of a friend There are times when your friend is the only one who can tell you the truth And then you get all mad at him Your friend says you've got a bad temper and then you get all mad at him No, I don't I had a friend his name is jim And jim and I were talking one day and I said to him jim Jim you you you're very You're very much without joy You I said you need the lord jim And you are very much without joy because he was very much. How could you couldn't have joy without the lord? So I said you're very and he yelled at me. I'll never forget he yelled at me friends can do that He did he yelled at me and he said I'll have you know, I have more joy than anybody. I know as he was yelling at me in anger And yet there are times when you probably have Well, this is how you do it. You pray father. I need to share with my friend I'm concerned for them. I haven't seen them In church or they're not walking with you anymore. I'm concerned you pray you seek the lord and Then you have friends sometimes praying for you because you say I have to go see a very dear friend of mine And I have to share with them And you do And you go and you knock on the door and they invite you in and you sit down you begin to visit And then at a certain point you say to them I just want you to know something. I want you to know. I love you and I want you to know i'm concerned for you And this is what i'm concerned about And you don't know how they're going to respond you don't because they could go They could go off on you or kick you out of the house. There's a thousand and one things And they look at you and they say You know what I haven't been I haven't been walking with the lord the way I should And the holy spirit has been convicting me and I just want to tell you thank you Thank you for loving me enough to tell me the truth Thank you for caring about me There are people who do that There are people who will listen and that's what he's saying here basically Don't correct a scoffer unless he hates you but rebuke a wise man. He'll love you Verse nine give instruction to a wise man And he will be still wiser teach a just man And he will increase In learning So wisdom can be added to And it profits the one who is open to instruction A just man can grow in righteousness And this man desires to be taught He goes on in verse 10 the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom The knowledge of the holy one is understanding for By me your days will be multiplied in years of life will be added to you Your wise your wise for yourself And if you scoff You will bear it alone Now the fear of the lord is a foundation of a good life Remember the full acts as if there's no god But the wise are continually aware of the majestic power of god And he's saying that having a healthy fear of the lord actually increases you It adds to your learning It encourages you to receive correction The fear of the lord will will produce a long life that is productive In deuteronomy chapter six verses one and two This is the commandment These are the statutes and judgments which the lord your god has commanded to teach you That you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess That you may fear the lord your god to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command you You and your son and your grandson all the days of your life that your days may be prolonged The fear of the lord prolongs your days It teaches you to avoid things that could cut your life short It encourages you to do the things that produce peace in your life So he says it begins there the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's where it begins He says in verse 12 if you are wise your wise for yourself if you scoff You will bear it alone. That's an interesting thing If you are wise you are wise for yourself If you scoff you alone bear it The consequences of our decisions And our way of life reflect chiefly on ourselves Here's something practical to think about In a time where we have learned To blame everybody else for the poor things that we go through the problems that we have and it's pretty easy to do that Many years ago. I heard this Somebody said that one of the things that has influenced the united states in the most negative way over the last many years Has been the intrusion of Freudian psychology Which gave to us The ability to explain away all of our bad behavior And this psychology psychology of the nation We have been psychologized in many ways philosophize in many ways It is very true There are there is an entire culture today American culture that is very capable of blaming everybody For the condition they find themselves in we know that don't we it's true We know how to blame my mom We know how to blame my dad We know how to blame my educational system We know how to blame all those people for not giving me a chance We know how to blame every and then what is giving itself over to Is envy and jealousy and a lot of anger and that's what we have in our nation right now And there's an awful lot of it if you're successful There's somebody who is upset that you're successful If you have a new car, there's somebody who gets upset because you shouldn't have a new car Why because they want that new car? And so what has happened is envy has taken over a lot of hearts And we blame a lot of people for bad choices that we have made That the bottom line is if I sew to the flesh from the flesh, I do reap corruption And ultimately the things that I do will have consequences And so the consequences of my own decisions Are going to be reflected in my way of life In Galatians chapter 6 verses 4 and 5 it says let each one examine his own work Then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another For each one shall bear his own load So if you're wise you're wise for yourself The consequences of our decisions our way of life reflect cheaply on ourselves because in many ways We have sewn to the wind. We will reap the whirlwind And so he's making it very clear that we have to be aware of the consequences of our choices You see wisdom has its own advantages and it ultimately rewards the one who exercises it And wisdom is satisfying and is most certainly worth pursuing But if you reject wisdom you will reap the consequences of a foolish life Ultimately we stand before the Lord and we stand before him alone I wonder how many of us think that when we stand before God we're going to be able to bring all the people we can blame for our life And the Lord says I'm going to speak to you about your life. Just a second. Let me bring my mom You do you don't know what my mom was like and that's the reason I'm this way You see We stand before the Lord and we can't blame Others for the choices that we make. Yes, there are others who have influenced us and yes We have to be very careful who we allow to influence us. There's no doubt about it We contribute to one another's choices But ultimately When the choice is made it's something that I have to own up to People can hear the gospel But they can reject its message Ultimately, they will reap the consequences In john 12 48. Jesus said it like this He who rejects me and does not receive my words Has that which judges him the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day You see people make decisions and very often they make a complete rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ You see that in the new testament once again When that the Lord would be speaking to the religious leaders and very often they would hear what he was saying But reject his words. You see it with the scribes. You see it with Pharisees Luke writes about it in chapter 7 verses 29 and 30 When he says when all the people heard him and all the people heard Jesus even the tax collectors Justified God having been baptized with the baptism of john But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves not having been baptized by him They rejected God's word They didn't repent and thus they are going to end up reaping the consequences of such a choice In verse 13 a foolish woman is clamorous She's simple knows nothing for she she sits at the door of her house on a seat By the highest places of the city To call to those who pass by who go straight on their way Whoever is simple Let him turn in here And ask for him who lacks understanding. She says to him stolen water is sweet And bread eaten in secret is pleasant But he does not know that the dead are there that her guests are in the depths of hell What a cherry thing to close with, huh? Let's look at that And find application first notice something notice how foolishness is described in contrast to wisdom Notice that foolishness is described as clamorous Again, that's not a word that we use generally clamorous speaks to something that is loud foolishness is Described as being boisterous She's described as someone who's making a lot of noise and gaining a lot of attention Um She's on a bullhorn if you will she's carrying a placard. She's wearing a funny costume. She's marching She's calling out Pay attention to me drawing attention to herself And as she's doing that she is Looked at as being or described as being simple. She knows nothing She's foolish. She's undisciplined. She's uncertain But there she is seated in in in a prominent place in the city. She's out in the open So this tells us that foolishness actually attempts to imitate wisdom And we see that all the time All you need to do is watch the news And listen to the commentators and the arguments that go on and you'll see very often that foolishness Is attempting to imitate wisdom We're living in a day right now That that has taken place and and I know this can be offensive to some Hopefully it is an offensive to any of us in here right now when this goes over the air I'll find out who it offended But we're living in a time that that you almost have to voluntarily blind yourself To just not see You know, I used to tease I used to in a teasing way Some of you have been with me for a while and you've heard me say something like this Where I've said just because I say I'm something doesn't mean that that is what I am I um and I've said, you know, I I could say to you right now that I'm a six foot five Swedish person And that's what I am and I've teasingly said that just to make a simple point You can say that I'm Bjorn again, you know, anyway And and I have said to you If I were to say that That I'm a six foot five or if I said I'm a six foot eight african-american basketball player Everybody in this room would say oh He needs to take some time off He's in he's under stress. He's deluded Would you say that you wouldn't say that would you say that on tv? When a commentator is telling you you have the right to choose exactly what you are just by saying it So if you want to be a Filipino woman, even though you're a Swedish man You can be that is true That is happening now There is there there are so many definitions of who you are now You can be basically who you want to be and nobody has the right to tell you that's not what you want That's That to me is unheard of but it is being taught today from preschool into college That's going through that's permeating our entire educational system right now. Some of you know that You choose what you want to be So bruce jenner can be a woman and everybody says she now because he says it And and it reminds me of that old children's story of the emperor Who with no clothes he's running around naked because you know, he thinks that he's got beautiful And then they they told the emperor they said well, you know, it looks like you don't have any clothes on but only the most royal can see it And so he he's out there. He's walking around naked And he's parading himself naked. We all know the story of the emperor with no clothes And then a little boy is standing out in the midst and he says he ain't got no clothes on And it took a child to say what the adults refused to admit We're living in society like that right now guys. I did not believe in my lifetime That I would see something like this I just I I just It's no complaint. It's a challenge for us to learn to communicate But i'll tell you it's a fact We're living in a state that I think is a crazy crazy state. I could go on and on about that. I won't But it is it has changed in my lifetime This state that we live in which was the golden state Has really changed and it's all the philosophy that's coming from our governmental system really is and it's the rejection Of christ and rejection of the simple truths of scripture And wisdom is on the street corner crying out You have to admit that you're not even simple in order to partake of me You have to admit that and if you do i've got a banquet that's laid out for you And it will feed you and you will your life will be changed, but foolishness does the same thing And she cries out in a clamorous way getting attention drawing people through herself And that's the point that's being made right here as we look at this Whoever is simple let him turn in here and ask for him who lacks understanding So foolishness is inviting us to partake of foolishness Bad advice is given constantly Receiving it and acting upon it only produces pain That's why we need to be wise in who we allow to influence us Psalm 1 verses 1 and 2 remember this blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly Nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful But his delight is in the law of the lord and in his law He meditates day and night While foolishness is sitting at the door of her house On a seat by the highest places of the city calling out to those who pass by who go straight on their way And the invitation again whoever is simple let him turn in here Ask for him who lacks understanding she says to him stolen water is sweet Bread eaten in secret Is pleasant what an interesting interesting phrase stolen water is sweet Bread eaten in secret is pleasant Stolen water there is a certain exhilaration That is that is experienced When you cross a boundary that you were taught never to cross there's a certain Rush that you get the first time you steal something and don't get caught There's a certain Adrenaline rush when you lie and get away with it There's a certain high That you can have when you seduce somebody or when you enter into an improper sexual relationship or When you take another man's wife Or steal another woman's husband Stolen water is sweet that the The rush the excitement There have been songs that have been sung and written about these things forever Been on the radio since I can remember radio And they speak about having to meet in secret places and You know or me and mrs. Jones and you can name them. I mean there's you know got a thing going on and That's an oldie that's a blast from the past I can hear the old people's false teeth rattling in the jaws right now But that's that's that's we all know that you know that the thrill of of Connecting in that way stolen water is sweet And that's what he's saying here foolishness leads you into something that at first appears to be pleasant But ultimately it destroys you When eve Was tempted by the serpent and the the forbidden fruit was pointed out to her It's good for so many things It'll give you wisdom and tastes good and all of the things that the serpent pointed out to eve The appeal Was overwhelming And the bible tells us that she took of it and she gave it to her husband with her And he ate There was that Taken of that but mankind humankind fell When adam or took of it You can never You can never Sin and get away with it. Please remember that always you may think that you can but you can't You can't Sometimes the lord is very patient and he doesn't deal with you immediately. We know that don't we There have been times that that I have done something as a young believer especially The heavens didn't open in the hand of god with the fly swatter didn't come out and smash me And I thought I I got away with it. It wasn't that bad Must not be wrong Sometimes the lord is just extremely patient with you. He gives you opportunity after opportunity to repent he does I've done that with my children when they were small I I I would not react sometimes quick as I might have Hoping to give them a space to repent So that they'd voluntarily see it was wrong And turn and sometimes the lord does that to us But ultimately we will reap what we sow And we may think that getting involved in that relationship with that co-worker or that neighbor That we're going to get away with it what you never do Those are the kinds of things you never get away with you just think you're getting away with it At the moment stolen water is sweet And at the moment we're at eating in secret tastes good Because you don't think anybody knows It may have excitement that the result is terrible It's interesting how it says here in verse 18 He does not know that the dead are there that her guests are in the depths of hell Hell is in this passage here. It's a it's a Hebrew word. It's sheol Sheol is translated by the word grave 31 times In the old testament It is translated with the word health 31 times and it's also referred to as the pit three times Sheol is the underworld. It's the old testament designation for the abode of the dead It's the place of no return And it's where the wicked are sent And they are sent there for punishment It is the place of eternal exile And he says he does not know that the dead are there her guests are in the depths of hell Eternal exile eternal judgment So instead of wisdom's banquet foolishness results in eternal judgment Somebody said it has been said that Many eat on earth What they digest in hell That is something that we see in the story of the rich man and Lazarus Lazarus had a poor life the rich man ate sumptuously every day. Ultimately they both die Lazarus ends up in what is called the bosom of Abraham while the rich man is in the place of torment And as this is taking place according to Luke 16 verses 24 and 25 The rich man cried and said father Abraham have mercy on me send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger In water cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame But Abraham said son Remember that in your lifetime you received your good things Likewise Lazarus evil things But now he is comforted you are tormented The rich man ate well dressed beautifully had banquets daily Lazarus sat at the gate Filled with sores and had no medicine so the dogs would come and lick his wounds And they both died the warning is obvious pleasure on earth without god is temporary So choose god Choose wisdom choose a relationship with him And realize that you do reap The consequences through eternity You may be deceived into thinking you're getting away with it Solomon would be saying But remember there are eternal results to rejecting the wisdom that god offers through We would in new testament terms say it like this the wisdom that is given to us in jesus christ to the gospel And so if there's anything that we seek as we seek so many things seek wisdom