(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

What I want to preach about this morning is the subject of foolishness, that's the title of the sermon, foolishness. Now foolishness is something that the Bible speaks a great deal about, in fact if you were to look up the word fool, fools, foolishness, and add it all up, you'd have close to two hundred different verses where the Bible deals with the subject of foolishness. And we're going to spend a lot of time looking at those verses and a lot of that time is going to be spent right here in the book of Proverbs, so we'll be turning a lot but don't worry we'll be turning within that one book for the most part this morning. Now the subject of foolishness is an important subject to understand, it's something that we have to understand how severe it is, and in studying this and reading these verses I've noticed that there are certain characteristics of a fool, there are certain characteristics of foolishness that we should take heed to, that we should pay attention to in order to make sure that we don't end up as fools, or that we can easily identify somebody who is a fool. You'll see that there's a lot of verses that all seem to point to similar characteristics about a fool. Now if you would turn over to Proverbs chapter 9, Proverbs chapter 9 will see one of the first characteristics of a fool. Now we read here in Psalms 19 and of course here in Proverbs that the purpose of the book is to gain wisdom and knowledge, and in fact that's exactly, the fool is the exact opposite of that, it's lacking wisdom, it's lacking knowledge, it's not having understanding. The Bible says there in verse 7 of chapter 1 that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, then it says but fools despise wisdom and instruction. See a person who is a fool is somebody who despises wisdom, it's somebody who despises instruction, and that's the first characteristic I want to talk about this morning when we're talking about foolishness. See foolishness is a lack of wisdom, it's a lack of understanding, it's somebody who doesn't have the proper understanding of something, it's somebody who professes themselves to be one thing when in fact they don't even understand what it is they're talking about. That person is a fool. Bible says there in Proverbs chapter 9, look at verse 13, a foolish woman, so what kind of woman is this? She's foolish, right? So we're going to look at the characteristic of a fool. A foolish woman is calamitous, she is simple, right? She is simple and then it goes on and says and knoweth nothing. So a fool is somebody who lacks knowledge, like this woman here who knows nothing, that's a foolish woman. When we see somebody who doesn't know anything, when we go to them and ask them a question about some subject or topic and they don't know anything, you would say well that person is simple, they know nothing. But it also says here that a foolish woman is calamitous. It gives the idea of somebody who is very loud and boisterous, somebody who makes a lot of noise, somebody you would look at and say well maybe perhaps they should know something about this subject. Perhaps they do have some wisdom or knowledge, but when you begin to pin them down and start to ask them certain questions, it becomes very evident very quickly that they know nothing about the subject, that they are very foolish. Proverbs chapter 14, go ahead and turn over there to Proverbs chapter 14, again we're going to be turning a lot within the book of Proverbs so try to keep up with me. Proverbs chapter 14, I'll read you from Ecclesiastes 7 where the Bible says, I applied mine heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things and to know the wickedness of folly, even the foolishness of madness. So he's saying here, look, I tried to know knowledge and I tried to know wisdom and he also said that I even sought out foolishness and madness, the opposite of knowledge and wisdom. Bible says, you're turning over to Proverbs chapter 14, the Bible says, go from the presence of a foolish man when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge. See when you're near a foolish man, when you're around somebody who's foolish, you're going to understand something very quickly that they don't have knowledge. And the Bible is saying, go from the presence of a foolish man. When you understand that of somebody who is a fool, when they don't have knowledge, when they're saying that they have something, when their lips are moving and they're proclaiming to have some kind of knowledge but stupidity and foolishness and simpleness is what's coming out of their mouth, the Bible says, go from the presence of that person because all they're going to do is just dumb you down too, they're just going to affect you and make you stupid as well. Let's turn one chapter over to Proverbs chapter 15, the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 5, hear now this, O foolish people, and what's it say about these people? They are without understanding which have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not. You see, foolish people, they have a real hard time understanding, they have a real time hearing what they ought to hear. They're very thick headed people often, they're very stubborn and ignorant person is often a fool. Here and there in Proverbs chapter 15, look at verse 7, the lips of the wise disperse knowledge. So a wise person is somebody who, when their lips are moving, when they begin to speak, that they can share knowledge. You would think that somebody in the position of a pastor would get up and be able to disperse knowledge, right? That would be something you would expect. If you were to go pay money, go to some university and sit behind in a classroom and have some professor get up, you would expect that person to have some wisdom about the topic at hand and that they would be able to disperse some knowledge. It would be very ironic if they got up there and knew nothing about the subject. Say you were going into some higher math class, you were going in there to learn some high math at some university somewhere and the teacher got up and didn't even know how to do division, didn't even know multiplication. They'd say, well this is foolish, this is foolishness, it's a waste of time. And you'd probably go from the presence of that man, you'd get up and walk out. You're there in Proverbs chapter 15, the Bible says, the lip of the wise disperse knowledge, then it says, but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. It says the heart of the foolish doeth not so. The Bible says that it's the thoughts and the tense of the heart, and that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The wisdom speaks, their lips disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool, what's in their heart is foolishness and that's what comes out of their lips. Wisdom will not come out because it can't because they are foolish. Go ahead and turn over to Proverbs chapter 1. So on this thought, on this first characteristic of foolishness or being a fool, we see that foolishness or being a fool is somebody who lacks wisdom, somebody who does not have wisdom. Jeremiah chapter 6, they are altogether brutish and foolish, the stock is a doctrine of vanities. He's saying these people are brutish and they're foolish and he was rebuking them at that time for worshipping, they were getting into idolatry and he was rebuking from that. That's why it says the stock is a doctrine of vanities. That's often what we see foolish people getting involved with, isn't it? Vain doctrines, vain jangling, going on about stupid and irrelevant doctrines that have nothing to do with anything in this life, that benefit nobody. And that's what we see a lot of fools getting involved with today. So we see first of all that foolishness is a lack of knowledge or wisdom, it's somebody who does not have understanding about a topic or subject. Even though they might proclaim to have such knowledge, it becomes very evident that they do not. The problem is foolishness leads to failure. That's the next thing I want you to notice, is that often when you see a fool, when you see someone who's very foolish, mark it down, if you give them enough time, they're going to fail. They're going to fall short, they're going to destroy themselves eventually, depending on to what degree they are foolish and in what area, it's going to come back and bite them. Foolishness leads to failure. That's the next thing I want us to notice about the characteristics of foolishness. You're there in Proverbs chapter 1, before we read that I'm going to read to you from 1 Samuel chapter 26 where the Bible says, Then said Saul, I have sinned, return my son David, for I will no more do the harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. Of course, we know Saul was somebody who ended up failing miserably in his life, didn't he? And here he is admitting that it's at this point in his life where he's trying to hunt down David for no good reason at all other than his own envy and his own desire to hang on to the kingdom even though God said it would be taken from him. He says that I have played the fool at that point in his life, and he goes on and says I have erred exceedingly. So he said, hey, I made a huge mistake, I've been a fool, and that's often what we see fools doing, making big mistakes. Somebody who's consistently making a fool of themselves is somebody who's just making mistake after mistake after mistake, they're failing, they're failing, they're failing, they can never get it right, they can never get it together, they can never make any progress. These people are making the same mistakes over and over, repeating the same stupid things that have been proven wrong time and time again, they're fools. That is one of the characteristics of a fool, is that it leads to failure. Proverbs chapter 1 verse 32, you're there, the Bible says, for they're turning away the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. It says the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. You see, a fool can't handle being prosperous. A fool can't handle being put in a position of power. A fool can't handle being put in a position where he has some influence. It destroys them, because they're fools. Proverbs chapter 7, the Bible says, go ahead and turn over to Proverbs chapter 10, I'll read you from 7. Go to Proverbs 10, the Bible says in Proverbs 7, he that goeth after her straightway, of course this is talking about a young man going after a whore, he that goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks. So God is trying to illustrate what it's like when a young man is going after a woman in fornication, in that sin, that wicked sin, he's saying, look, it's like an ox going to the slaughter. And now, as somebody who's worked briefly in the dairy industry, in a farm back in Michigan, there was a time when we had, at this farm, that they would raise certain cows for beef. And you know what? There was a time when they had to load them up on the cart, and those oxes, those cows were going to slaughter. And the thing about it, I think the illustration that God's trying to use here is that they don't realize where they're going. They have no clue, they have no idea where they're going, they get on there so simply, you know, you load them up on the wagon to haul them away, and they just go right on in there, just as everybody, like nothing's wrong, just like it's just right as rain, but they don't know that they're going to be slaughtered. And that's what God is saying that these men are like, that are chasing after women, and then he goes on and says this, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks. You know, a fool goes to be correct, now of course this is probably referring to the stocks of course we would think of those things where they would put your head and your arms through and they would clamp you down in the village square, you did some stupid thing, you did something, you had your punishment, well that would be the stocks, might be a place where you'd get whipped or beaten, you know that's what a fool is like. So we see that a fool is somebody who often needs corrected. It's somebody who is going to be destroyed. It's somebody whose life leads to failure. That is one of the characteristics of foolishness, is that it leads to failure. Proverbs chapter 10, look there in verse 8, the Bible says, the wise in heart will receive commandments but a prating fool shall fall. A prating fool shall fall. You see, the fool is going to fall. That's the characteristic I'm trying to get across to us today, we need to understand this because foolishness today is something that's just, you know, glanced, glossed over in our society. We have a lot of fools that are being glorified in our society, we have a lot of fools that are just, you know, being very prosperous in our society, we think it's something funny to laugh at, like, oh look at that, that's so foolish, yada yada, and people think it's something funny. But the Bible says that a prating fool shall fall, it's somebody who's going to fail. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 14, wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. And the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. You see, one of the characteristics of a fool is that they fail, is that they're destroyed, is that they're often corrected. Proverbs chapter 11, he that troubleeth his own house shall inherit the wind, the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. The fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. Of course he's saying here, look, it might even be the person who's growing up in the house, and someone who's well to do, that should have inherited great position and power and wealth. But if they're a fool, they're going to be the servant. And it's going to be the wise person who usurps them. It's going to be the wise person who's exalted and put in a place of influence. Whereas the fool, he's going to be the servant. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 30, he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. We need to pay attention to this verse today, especially as young people, and understand something, that your friends, you better change your attitude, you hear me? Real fast. You better understand something, that your friends will influence you. Your friends are going to take you down a path, right or wrong, that the people that you hang around with, they have a direct influence on who you are and what you do and what your life will turn up to be. And he says here that he that walketh with wise men shall be wise. Now that makes sense, doesn't it? That if you're rubbing shoulders with somebody who's wise, that that wisdom is going to wear off on you. That if you listen to the things that they have to say because they're wise, you're going to increase knowledge. That's why it's good to sit under a pastor who has some wisdom, a pastor who has some experience, a pastor who has some understanding, because he can share that with you. Because when you're walking with a wise man, you can't help but become wiser for it. But then it says, but a companion of fools, does it say a companion of fools shall become foolish? No, it says a companion of fools shall be destroyed. You might not even necessarily be the fool, but you're a companion of one, you might be destroyed. You know, I can look back in my own life and see myself being influenced by some fools in my younger years, my teenage years, and some trouble that I ran across and saying, man, if I hadn't been for those guys, you know, if I had just not decided to hang out with that crowd, I could have spared myself some grief. I could have spared myself some sin in my life. I wouldn't be suffering consequences that come with that if I had not been a companion of these fools. And they will destroy you in time. The Bible says that a fool's lips enter into contention. You see, a fool is often somebody who likes to do a lot of arguing. And it's often somebody that after, even after they've been proven wrong, they just continue, they persist, and that they're correct, even though it's been demonstratively reproved. It's been, and they've just been proven wrong time and time again. Every single point that they have has been refuted over and over and over, and they keep persisting and saying, hey, no, I'm right. And they just want to keep insisting and arguing. What do they do? Their lips enter into contention. That's what a fool does. A fool does not receive correction. He enters into contention, and then he goes on and says, and his mouth callest for strokes. There's another verse that says, your servant will not be corrected by words. There's a kind of time and place for it, and I don't think it's something we should go around doing. But the Bible's showing us here, look, that often the only way to correct a fool is just to slap him. Some people, you ever hear that expression, you know what that guy needs is a swift kick in the pants? You know, someone ought to slap some sense into that guy. I mean, often that's what it comes down to. I mean, often with employees, of course, people don't do this today in America, you can't really get away with it. It's probably not, I don't know, maybe it's not the right thing to do. But often, you know, a servant will not be corrected by words. You ever have somebody, I mean, think about with your children, you can sit there and yell to your blue in the face and say and say and say and tell them what to do and tell them what to do and they never do it. What does it come down to? It comes down to some strokes. A spanking is what is required to get the result that you desire, the behavior that you need out of those children. The Bible says that a fool's mouth callest for strokes. Now, it's not talking about a backstroke. It's not talking about rolling in a boat. It's talking about slapping them across the face. And often that's what, that's all a fool's good for. And you know, that's why we should depart from a fool, because we don't want to meet people that just go around and slap these folks. But really, the Bible's showing us, look, that's really the only, that's the only thing you can do with these people. Then it just gets to a point with them, there's a point argument, you know what, you got to just backhand them and walk away and don't even do it. Because they're fools and all they want to do is contend. So we see that a fool is somebody who's lacked wisdom. A fool is somebody whose life is going to lead to failure. They're going to fail. The Bible says in Proverbs 19 that the foolish man perverted his way, his heart fretted against the Lord. Proverbs 19, 29, judgments are prepared for scorners and strikes for the backs of fools. So it's saying here that a fool's mouth call for strokes, that a fool is somebody that's going to go to the correction of the stocks, and it says that a fool, his back is, deserves stripes. That a stripe is for the back of fools. What's that talking about? It's talking about getting a whipping, a lashing. That fools often will do things so foolish and they'll go so far in their folly that it gets to the point not only where they deserve the correction of the stocks, not only where their mouth deserves to be slapped, but it gets to the point where they deserve to be plain whipped. And there's still countries today where this is enforced. I remember back in, I don't know, it was junior high or elementary school when there was an American teenager that went over into, I think it was Singapore, and decided it would be a good idea to go out and buy some spray paint, and he went out and started spray painting graffiti over Singapore, but what he didn't realize is that in Singapore, that's punishable. That's against the law. And it's not just a fine. What they do is they take you, and the punishment at that time, and I don't know if it's still true today, is that they took him and they caned the back of his legs, they took a bamboo chute and beat him across the back of the legs. And people say, oh that's so inhumane, but you would rather put him in a cage for nine months. You would rather make him a felon for the rest of his life. You know, and the Bible doesn't teach that, the Bible doesn't teach prison, the Bible teaches a beating, a public beating. And you know what, I bet the next time that kid saw a can of spray paint, he thought, you know, that thing's not meant to be used on people's private property. He probably thought twice about it when he thought he was tempted to do it again. He said, you know what, I would really like to go to face somebody's private property, but then the thought of that beating came back and it was mine, and he thought, you know what, the pain's not worth it. The pain and the suffering that I would have to go through physically isn't worth my desire to go and sin. And you know what, you say, well that's mean, people shouldn't do that. You know, what are you talking about, public beatings, capital punishment, that kind of stuff shouldn't happen. But you know what, that stripe is for the back of fools, and I bet a lot of fools would get straightened out today in their folly if they got a beating over it. And I bet you there's a lot of fools sitting in prisons today for crimes, for non-violent crimes that would rather take a beating than to waste away the rotten jail somewhere, they'd probably be made better for it. You know, it reminds me of kids, these parents that want to put their children in time out. People who just put their kids in time out are raising brats, some of the brattiest children I've ever known are the ones that are just getting time out, but they get the countdown from ten, ten, nine, eight, and eventually the parent has to go and yank them by the arm to get them to do whatever they want anyways. I remember hearing Pastor Anderson talk about running into that public, I remember the first time I ran and saw somebody do that in public. I think we were at a park somewhere on a merry-go-round and it was our turn, you know how the merry-go-round starts and then the first group goes around and everybody waits in line and the merry-go-round stops and everybody gets off, and the next, the carousel, it's not a merry-go-round, it's a carousel, and the next group gets on, right? Well there's that transition where the people that just rode have to get off and the new riders are getting on. Well there was this little boy who just was bound and determined to stick around for that next ride, he did not want to go, his ride had ended. I remember watching the dad start to do his countdown and he got all the way down to one and that boy didn't budge, but what did he end up having to do? Just grab the kid by the arm, kicking and screaming and flailing and just causing all kinds of embarrassment to his parents, but you know what, maybe if the boy had been regularly disciplined with the spanking and knew that his parents meant business when they said hey, when they told him to do something he better do it, I bet they wouldn't have that problem. And you say, well you know, that's not right, well foolishness is something that needs to be corrected often with some kind of physical pain, you know, I'm not talking about, obviously we don't want to be cruel, but the Bible is very clear here that stripes are for the backs of fools. It goes on in Proverbs chapter 26, it says, a whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. It says look, these foolish people, they ought to be beaten, they ought to be smacked, they ought to be whipped, they ought to take a rod and beat them. That's what it says fools are for, because what you're trying to do with the fool is to keep him from destroying himself, you're trying to beat some sense in him and say look, what you're doing, your behavior is foolish, and that's how fools are to be treated because foolishness leads to failure. You know, if you're to the point in your life where you're getting the whipping, you're getting the beating, you're getting the slapping, when all these things are already happening, you've already failed. Foolishness has already taken over. You've already failed in some area of your life, you need to receive that correction. The Bible says in Psalms 107, fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted. You say, oh the beating, that's such an affliction. No, it's their iniquity that's bringing the affliction upon them. It's their own foolishness, it's their transgressions, it's the foolishness of their own hearts that has led them down that path to the place where they are going to be afflicted. And they ought to be afflicted because they're fools. So we see, first of all, that foolishness is a lack of wisdom or knowledge. That's what it is to be a fool. And we see that foolishness, because of that lack of wisdom, because of that lack of knowledge and understanding, that it leads to failure, and often it leads to being to correct it. Yea, even with physical punishment, the Bible's showing us here, at least it ought to be. But it also goes up, the next thing I want us to understand about a fool is that fools have nothing of benefit to offer. Fools are useless. They have nothing of benefit to offer. Go over and turn over to Proverbs chapter 17. Proverbs 18, excuse me, Proverbs 18, this is going to be a quick point. That's why it says, you know, when you perceive not the words of understanding a man, to go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not the words of wisdom in his lips. I know we read it earlier, I'm misquoting it. But when you can't, there's no point hanging around a fool, because he's going to destroy you. A companion of fools will be destroyed. He has nothing to benefit you. There's nothing good from hanging around a fool. When somebody is showing themselves to be a fool, they have nothing to offer you. They're a fool. I don't care in what area of life they're a fool in. If they can't understand one thing, why would you trust them for another? You know, if a person can't understand something about the Bible here, why would you trust them over here? If they're saying, oh, the Bible says this, the Bible teaches this, and it's flat out wrong. And you can show them and say, look, you're wrong. You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. And they persist in that. Why would you want to trust them over here in this area of whatever topic might be over here? They have nothing to offer. The Bible says in Proverbs 18 verse 2, a fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. You see, fools often, they're just very selfish people. They're concerned only about themselves. Their heart, it says that his heart may discover itself. They're only interested in what they can get out of something. They're only interested in what they can discover about themselves. They want to show how smart they are. They want to be so different than everybody else. So that's a fool. I don't want to spend a lot of time on that one because there's other areas or characteristics of a fool that I'd like to cover. I want to go on next to this, that fools are a grief to those that are afflicted by them. Fools are a grief to those that are affected by them. Fools are a grief to those affected by them. If you're somebody who has a fool in your life, if you're somebody who has somebody in your life that is a fool, they're going to be a source of grief to you. They're going to be a source of shame. Go ahead and turn over to Proverbs chapter 10. Proverbs chapter 10. Proverbs chapter 10, in verse 1 the Bible says, the Proverbs of Solomon, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. So it's saying here, look, if you raise somebody who's wise, if you raise somebody who has sound understanding and discernment and has some integrity, they're going to be a source of joy to you. They're going to make you glad. But if you raise a fool, a foolish son, it says here that he's going to be the heaviness of his mother. I don't know how often we put that on the mom, but it's also kind of contrasted there with the father too, when it says a glad father, well if it's a wise son, but if it's a foolish son, well the dad's not going to be glad about that either, that he's going to be the heaviness to his mother. It's just showing us here that a fool is a grief to his parents. If children grow up and play the fool and go out and act like a fool, they're going to be a source of grief to their parents. You see, fools are grief to those that are affected by them. The Bible says in Proverbs 15, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. A foolish man despiseth his mother. Not just maybe necessarily through the way he behaves towards his mother, but the things that he does as a fool, it just shows him that he despises his mother, the things that maybe perhaps she taught him. Maybe perhaps the things that she tried to ingrain to those children that they disregard like a fool would is an act of them being spiteful towards their own parents. Proverbs chapter 17, he that begeteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow. You know what, I've known parents throughout my life that have raised children that grow up to be fools, that grow up to be ungodly and wicked people, that make complete and utter messes of their life, and I'll tell you something, the parents, as much as they might wear their knees out in prayer, they doeth it to their own sorrow. That child then is a source of sorrow and shame and grief to them. Easing a fool is not something that we should ever want to do. We have to understand that if we have been behaving foolishly, if we are going out and acting the fool, if we are going out and doing stupid things, and getting ourselves into situations that we ought not be in, hanging around people that we ought not be hanging around with, and getting ourselves into trouble, we have to understand something, it's sorrow to our parents. It's sorrow to our parents. The Bible says in Proverbs 17, a foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her that bear him. I mean, can you ever imagine as a child growing up and having parents that love you and cared for you and took care of you and were devoted to you and helping you and wanting to see you succeed in life and you go out and make yourself a fool, bringing your parents to the point where they say, you know what, I'm ashamed of you. I mean, that would cut to the heart. I can't imagine many things in life that would be much worse than to have your own parents look at you when they say, you know what, I'm ashamed of you. The way you're behaving, the things that you're doing, you're nothing but a source of sorrow. You're breaking our hearts. You're a fool. And this is very true. It's bitterness to her that bear him. Every time she gets that call from the son, hey mom, yep, I'm in jail again. Hey mom, yep, I knocked up another girl. I got another illegitimate child running around out there that I can't take care of. It's grief to your parents. It's shame to your parents. You're a fool in your life and your parents are being affected by it. A foolish son is the calamity of his father. Look, I'm not just making this up. You know, I went to the Bible and said, well, what does the Bible say about foolishness? And we're saying here that one of the great attributes, one of the attributes that God emphasizes in His Word is that fools are a grief to those that are affected by them. And I'm saying here that a foolish son is a calamity of his father. He is the calamity of his father. I mean a calamity, a catastrophe, I mean a train wreck. Something terrible has gone wrong, calamity. What happened? I raised a foolish son. My son's a fool. Somebody who I was hoping would grow up and be successful and be able to take care of his parents and honor his parents and bring, you know, be a great source of joy and pride and we can rejoice over this child that we raised, he's become a fool. He's a calamity. You know, he's 20 something years old and I'm still bailing him out of jail. So he's constantly borrowing money. You know, he can't drive anymore. He's got so many DUIs, we have to cart him around. He's still a child. He's a big man-child. He's a calamity. He's a fool. He's a source of grief to those that are affected by them. Not only are fools of no benefit, not only are fools bound and destined to fail, not only are fools somebody who lack wisdom, not only are they a grief to those that are affected by them, but fools are harmful to others. It's not just that, you know, they're a source of grief, but they are actually harmful to other people. They will actually bring you physical, spiritual harm in your life. Bile says in Proverbs 17, let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather than a fool in his folly. That's a strong statement. I mean, they say that a bear robbed of her whelps, a mother bear, or if you're out there out in the woods and you come across a bear, often a bear will run. But if it's a mother bear who has cubs, that's one of the most dangerous creatures you could ever come across on this earth, is a bear with cubs. Because a bear is very protective, and if they feel threatened whatsoever, they will attack to protect those bears, those whelps. And he's saying here, let a bear already rob, alright, she's already mad, she's already on the lookout, she's already on the defense, she's already ready to attack, she's saying let her meet a man, it would be better for you to run across that than to run across a fool in his folly. That's a strong statement. It would be better for you to potentially be mauled by a bear than to meet a fool in his folly. I mean, think about that, that strong statement. I mean, a fool in his folly, it's a path of destruction that he's on. And anybody caught in his wake is just collateral damage, and he will drag anybody down with him. That's a very powerful statement to show us that fools are harmful to others. Look at Proverbs chapter 24, Proverbs chapter 24, Proverbs chapter 24. Fools are harmful to others. It says there in Proverbs chapter 24 that the thought of foolishness is sin, and the scorner is an abomination to men. These people will bring so much harm in your life that the people that know better, people that are wise to this, people that understand the destructiveness of a fool's folly, they'll say, you know what? Those guys are an abomination. We don't want anything to do with these fools. And you know, you call somebody out for being a fool, you show them how they're a fool, you say, you know what? Avoid this guy, he's a fool, you know, you're making an abomination. You're saying we don't want anything to do with a guy who's a fool. Why? Because he'll bring you down. Because he will destroy you as well. It would be better for you to be a bear rather than a fool in his folly. Now we'll go on here and you say, well that sounds bad. You know, I really don't want to run into a fool. I don't want to run into somebody who lacks wisdom or knowledge or understanding. I don't want to hang around somebody whose life is bound for failure and I don't want them to rub off on me. I don't want to hang around people like a fool who can't benefit me at all. Who can't edify me, who can't encourage me, but would rather destroy me. You know, you say I don't want to be somebody, grow up and be a fool and be a grief and afflict my parents. I don't want to be such a fool and be so harmful that men would call me an abomination and want nothing to do with me. You say I don't want to be a fool, I don't want anything to do with fools. How do I avoid it? Don't worry, because a fool is obvious. That's my next point. When we look at foolishness in the scripture, we see that there are some very negative effects of being a fool, very negative effects of hanging around a fool, that foolishness and fools are nothing that we want to have anything to do with, and we say, wow, wait a minute, we go on an alert, we're concerned, what do we do? How do we avoid these people? Well, don't worry too much because a fool is very obvious. Most of the time, of course, there's exceptions, but the Bible makes it very clear here that fools are pretty easy to identify. Look at Proverbs chapter 12, Proverbs chapter 12 verse 16, Proverbs chapter 12 verse 16, the Bible says, a fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth shame. He's saying a fool's wrath is presently known. You can say, oh, yeah, you see what's going on with this guy, his wrath, you see the wrath and the judgment that's coming upon in his life? Everyone can see it. It's obvious that this guy's a fool. Oh, you see how he's in and out of jail all the time? You see how he has all these illegitimate children? See how he doesn't understand anything, how he opens his mouth and just a bunch of nonsense comes out? It's presently known. It's not hard to figure out. Look at Proverbs chapter 12 verse 23, a prudent man concealeth knowledge, but the hearts of fool proclaimeth foolishness. I mean, it's not just that he talks about foolishness. It's not just that he kind of mentions foolishness. It's not just that, you know, he subtly hints towards foolishness. No, he proclaims foolishness. A fool often, when they're caught up in their folly, will stand up and proclaim their foolishness. I mean, it'll be obvious to everybody how much a fool they are. It'll just pour out of their mouth to no end. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 14, look there at Proverbs chapter 14. You see, I don't want to avoid the fool. These are strong warnings about the fool. I don't want to have to sit here and decide between a bare rock over whelps or a fool in his folly. I want to avoid both. I don't want anything to do with this guy. What do I do? Well, fools are obvious. Look at Proverbs chapter 14 verse 33, wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding. But that which is in the midst of fools is made known. It's made known. It's not covered. It's not secret. It's made known. A fool is obvious. He proclaims foolishness. What's in his heart comes out and it's made known. Look at Proverbs chapter 15 verse 2, the tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. I love the language of the Bible. It gives us such a clear understanding of what these people are like. It says that they proclaim foolishness. It says that they are made known. It says that their mouths pour out foolishness. It's not a dribble. It's not a drip. It's not a leak of foolishness that comes out of the mouth. It says they pour it out. I mean, imagine somebody pouring out a pitcher, somebody getting a big bucket of water and pouring it out and just splashing and going everywhere. It's obvious that it's there. You know, if you ever try to find a small leak, sometimes that's hard to find. If you ever, you know, get that little spot in your drywall and your ceiling of that little water stain and you go, boy, there's a pipe up there where there's a hole in the roof somewhere that's leaking, that can be quite the chore to go find it, to go find a small little leak, especially in the roof where it might have run down a rafter or across a piece of conduit and then begun to drip. I mean, water can go, you know, can flow and go to different places. It might have started way over here, but ran over here because it's just a small little drip. Well, you don't have to worry about that with the fool. A fool is obvious because the Bible says that a fool pours out foolishness. You know, he's like that guy, you ever see those videos where they have the above ground pools and they decide to get rid of the thing and so instead of trying to just drain it, they go and they bust open the side and all the water, just gallons and gallons, hundreds of gallons of water just pouring out of that pool all at once. That's what a fool is like. He just pours out his foolishness. It's just pouring out of him, his mouth. It comes right out of his mouth. It just pours right out. It's like a waterfall of foolishness. And everybody around can just stand back and go, whoa, let's not get any of that on us. It's real obvious where the leak is. It's real obvious where the source is, where the mess is coming from. It's coming out of the mouth of that fool over there because his mouth will just pour it out and everybody knows it. A fool is obvious. So we see how harmful fools are. We see how dangerous hanging around a fool can be but we don't have to worry too much about it because a fool is obvious because it just pours out and he makes himself known. The Bible says in Proverbs 29 that a fool uttereth all his mind but a wise man keepeth it in until afterwards. You know, a wise man says there's a topic or there's a subject or there's an area that he's not quite sure he fully understands. Well, if he's wise, he keeps it in until afterwards. Maybe he gets around some other wise men. Maybe he seeks some godly counsel. Maybe he sits down and considers another point of view and weighs it all out. But a fool will utter all his mind. First foolish thing that pops in his brain if he thinks it sounds good runs with it. You know what? He's a fool and he's obvious to everybody and everybody can look at him and see it pouring out of his mouth and everybody can see him uttering all his mind and say, fool. And you see how much scripture there is on the subject of a fool and how there's these consistent characteristics of a fool and one of the things about a fool is that it's obvious. The Bible says, for a dream cometh in the multitude of business but a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. A fool likes to talk. A fool likes to hear himself speak. A fool likes to, you know, today we would say he likes the YouTube videos, right? He likes to get himself out there in the public eye. He likes to get the views. He likes to get the thumbs up. Maybe he even likes the thumbs down. He doesn't care. He just wants everyone to hear what he has to say. A fool's voice is known by a multitude of words. He poured out foolishness. He utters all his mind. That's what a fool is. That's what a fool does. A fool is obvious. You know, we want to, we've seen the dangers. We want to avoid the fool and we don't have to worry too much about it because fools are so obvious and that's what makes them all the more foolish because they don't even understand how obvious they are. Look at, well don't look there, I'll just read it to you, Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him and he saith to everyone that he is a fool. I mean, they like to utter their mind so much. They just pour it all out. They just like to let everything, the multitude of their words just come pouring out of their foolish heart and their foolish mind and they say to everyone that they're a fool. And everybody can look at that individual and say, what a fool, because he's presently known. Now of course there are exceptions and I know of one recently that comes to mind when I read this verse that says even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise. See even a fool, if he would just shut up, if he would just close his mouth and not talk and not utter all his mind and not pour out his foolishness, people might say, well you know what, boy that guy, he doesn't say much. He's a man of few words. They say, oh you know that saying, deep waters or still waters run deep. Everyone ever heard that, those still waters, they run deep. That guy that just seems so stoic. The guy that doesn't speak very often. You know, and I'll go ahead and just say the name. This reminds me of Garrett Kirchwey, you know the guy who was on staff at Faithful Word. He's come out as a oneness, he's come out as just this total heretic. After bidding in this church for years, after being on the payroll of this church for almost a year, he just turns out that he's a complete heretic. And what was amazing to me, or what I found interesting, was that all the people that have known Garrett for years, and Garrett released his video about critiquing the Trinity, and he put himself out there and his arguments, which were so stupid, people were blown away about how dumb they were, that's what I kept hearing over, I just couldn't believe it, how stupid his arguments were. And everyone's saying, I thought Garrett was so smart, I thought Garrett was such an intelligent guy. You know what I said? Yeah, because he never said anything, because he was a very stoic individual, because he didn't speak much. Because a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise. That's what the Bible says, now he's the exception to the rule, right? And it just goes to show you, there's some wisdom to keeping your mouth shut, not just uttering life against your mouth, or on your mind, and just opening your mouth and pouring out your foolishness. But that would be the exception, right? Somebody who can just, you know, maybe they don't say much, think, well that guy must have some knowledge, but give him time, give him time and let him open his mouth and utter all his mind, and pour out his foolishness, and he'll be obvious to everyone. Oh, fool. Easy to mark, easy to avoid, easy to not have anything to do with. Now fools, what makes them so dangerous is not just the fact that they're a fool. That they'll drag you down, that they'll affect you, that if you get caught up in their folly, it's going to come back on you, and you're going to end up being a grief and shame to others. What makes them especially dangerous is that fools don't receive correction. That's the next characteristic of a fool. The next characteristic of a fool is that fools don't receive correction. They're some of the most thick-headed people you'll ever meet, are fools. They don't want to receive correction. I mean, their life could be a wreck. Their life could be a mess, and you try to say, hey, if you just do this, if you just work on this, if you just get this right in your life, things would be better, but they won't, they won't refuse it. They'd rather sit there and wallow in their own shame and foolishness than to get it right. Because a fool doesn't receive correction. We're going to look at several passages of Scripture here that will show us that. Look at Proverbs chapter 1, where we started, verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. They despise it. They don't want to be corrected. They don't want someone to say, hey, look, I hear what you're saying, I see what you're putting out, you're a fool, you're wrong, you need to get it right. And they say, nope, nope, I'm right, you're wrong. And you can show them over and over again, and you know, especially this, this is what comes to mind is these flat earthers. I mean, these are the biggest bunch of blockheads you ever run across, thick-headed, just numbskulls who cannot be corrected. They'll say, well, what about this, this, and this in the Bible? And then, and then somebody will go on YouTube, somebody will preach an entire sermon proving them wrong. Someone will go on and make a YouTube video and show them and explain to them, you know, how a circle is actually a sphere and the Bible is correct. You know, when it says that he said it upon the circle of the earth, that proves that it's a globe. And they'll say, no, no, no, no. And they'll just continually fight because they don't want to be corrected. They can't be corrected. And flat earthers are some of the worst. That's where they're worth arguing with half the time. But sometimes you might catch those people that are kind of, you know, teetering on the edge of the flat earth, excuse the pun, right? But maybe that might be a reason to maybe try to contend with these guys a little bit because there might be somebody tuning in to the whole drama and they might be, you might be able to pull, pluck a couple of them before they just completely fall off the edge into that foolishness. But fools don't receive correction. It's not just these flat earthers. I mean, it's just fools in general. They cannot be corrected. The Bible says in Proverbs 22, how long ye simple ones, somebody who's simple, you know, that's a Bible way of saying stupid, being a dummy. How long ye simple ones when ye love simplicity and scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. You see, a fool hates real knowledge. They hate something that would, you know, if somebody comes and says, hey, look, actually, you know what, there's some, we've done some studies, you know, we've actually sat down and did the math and there's some educated people that have come to them and tried to explain to them, people who understand the Bible better than, people understand the wording of the Bible, understand how things are and try to explain it to them and give them some knowledge. They hate it because they don't want to be corrected because they're a fool. Proverbs chapter 12, the Bible says, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkens unto counsels is wise. You see, it's the guy who's going to say, you know what, I'm not sure about this. I don't understand this in the scriptures. There's this area in my life that I'm not fully grasping what it is I need to do. I need some help. I need some instruction. The wise guy's going to hearken unto counsel. He's going to go find somebody who has some experience. He's going to go find somebody who has some real wisdom and say, can you help me in this area? But the fool, he's already right in his own eyes. No, I've already got it all figured out. I've already got it all figured out. I've done the time I put in the study. I've spent hours on YouTube looking at watching these videos and listening to everybody else. I've already got it all figured out. But the whole time he's been listening to fools. You know, a fool goes to another fool and just is made more foolish for it. But the wise person, he'll receive the correction to go to somebody and say, hey, can you help me? Can you correct me? Can you show me where I'm wrong? Can you help me to have some understanding, some wisdom? The Bible says in Proverbs 13, the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil. They're so hung on to their foolishness. They want to just hang on to it to the bitter end and it's an abomination. They could just never let it go to depart from their evil. They're just so dug in and that's the true sign of a fool is when he digs in his heels. When he opens his mouth, pours out his foolishness, and when the correction comes, when the reproofs comes, when the rebukes come, he just digs in his heels. That's a fool. That's somebody who can't be corrected because fools don't receive correction. With a wise person, with a tender heart, and some real genuine humility about them, can be corrected, can be told, hey, you're wrong, get it right. They'll be made wiser for it. The Bible says in Proverbs 15, 5, a fool despises his father's instruction. I mean, here you have a father instructing his son, a man, a seasoned man of age, a man who's experienced life, a man who knows some things about the world, about how to make it in this world, about what things you need to do, the character that you have, and he's trying to give some instruction to his son and he despises him for it. He says, you know what, I don't need to hear it from you. I got it all figured out. You know, the proverbial teenager, you know, who already figures it out, you know, hire the teenager while they still know it all. You know, by the time you're about 25, hopefully you're starting to figure it out and you don't know it all. And then you probably should start listening to people that have been around a little bit longer than you. But they despise it. They despise a father's instruction. And he goes on and says this, but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. When his dad comes to him and says, son, you're failing here, you're messing up, you're screwing things up. You need to get this right. He doesn't despise him for it. He says, you know what, dad, you're right. I'll regard that reproof. And he'll be made better for it. Listen, nobody starts out perfect. You know, I get a little ahead of myself, but we all start out as fools. You know, newsflash. And we need to be able to be corrected in our lives, we need to be able to receive reproof in our life if we're not going to end up as fools for the rest of our life. A reproof entereth into a wise man more than a hundred strikes into a fool. A reproof entering into a wise man, when somebody comes to somebody who already has a little bit of wisdom and says, look, you need to get this right. You've messed up. You're wrong here. Whatever area it might be, the wise man will receive it and say, you know what, I'll receive that reproof. And he will, and it will enter into him. You know, it'll become a part of who he is. I mean, I look back on my life when I started, when I got in a good church and got into Bible preaching, I mean, I had a pastor who came to me and it straightened me out and straightened me out and straightened me out. I went to work for him when he had his own roofing company. I don't know how many times that man should have fired me and kicked me out the job site, but he was patient and he dealt with me and he reproved me. And you know what, one of the things I'll never forget that he said to me, he said, you receive correction well. And I said, well, I want to keep that up because that's helped me. Because that's gotten me out of this, you know, I was a fool. It's bringing me out of the way of the fool to receive some reproof. So I received it. I let it enter into me and become a part of who I am. I wanted to be a part of my fiber of my being. But it says that that enters into a wise man more than a hundred stripes than a fool. I mean, you can beat a fool and beat a fool and beat a fool and beat him a hundred times. And he still doesn't get it because he's thick, because he's a fool. That's why it says, speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. Speak not in the ears of a fool. Don't waste your time with somebody who can't be corrected, somebody who's so dug in, somebody so entrenched in their foolishness that they can't even receive correction, it's not even worth speaking to them because they're a fool. The Bible says, as a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. I love the language of the Bible. It makes it so clear and plain. And he's saying here, as a dog returns to his vomit. Have you ever seen that? That's disgusting. That's gross. I mean, if we saw that, we'd turn the other way. We'd say, stop it. Stop it, Fido. Go get a real meal. We'd try to help him out a little bit, maybe get him a bowl of food, maybe clean that up so he wouldn't go back and eat it, right? But he says that's what a fool's like when he goes back to his folly because you can beat the fool, you can try and instruct the fool, you can try to straighten the fool out, but you know what? He just goes right back to his folly like a dog to his vomit. He just gobbles up his folly and he enjoys it. So we see that fools don't receive correction. Now, I believe that's because a fool who doesn't receive correction is because they didn't receive it early in life. If you don't receive correction when you're a child, it's harder for you as an adult to receive correction. You're more easily offended. That's why we got all these snowflakes today. That's why we got all these millennials that are growing up and you can't say anything half way that's perceived as negative around them because they just melt and wilt and cry and sob because they were never corrected as a child because no one ever told them no. No one ever tried to correct them and punish them and straighten them out. You see, foolishness, if we don't want to be fools, if we don't want to be somebody who's so obviously a fool, then you know what? If you don't want to raise a fool, you don't want to be a fool, well then foolishness must be corrected early. Foolishness is something that must be corrected early in life. It's something that you have to get at. You see, foolishness, the Bible says in Proverbs 22, is bound in the heart of a child. Now I love the fact that it says bound. It didn't say foolishness is in the heart of a child. You could have said that. It can't say, you know what, foolishness is in the heart of a child. No, he said foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. Now you think about that bound, that means like a bind, like a knot, like a strong rope. Like it's something that's in there and it's in there tight and it's hard to get out. You know, I remember, I can't remember where I heard it, but I'm sure it was a sermon that I heard somewhere along the line about somebody took this verse and they said, think about when Rahab let down the spies out of the city and it says that she bound a rope to let them down. Do you think she just tied a little slip knot, you know, and just tied it to the leg of the chair to let these grown men down out of the window? When she bound that rope, when she tied that knot, I mean, she tied it around, she wrapped it around the fridge several times, she's double knotting that thing, I mean, it's bound, right? That's the language the Bible is using here, that foolishness, that the foolishness in the heart of your sweet little darling child is bound in there, that it's tight, that it's something in there that has to be loosened up. Have you ever had to deal with a really tight knot? I remember when I used to work in excavation, you know, there's a lot of binding and a lot of ratchet straps to hold down heavy equipment and things like that and often, you know, you end up getting this knot in it and I kid you not, there were knots, we had to get it undone that were so tight, the only way to get them loose, to get them out, was first you had to lay the knot down on a hard surface and drive over it with the truck and you had to squish that knot and work it and let it get loose and then you could start to pull it apart and pull that knot apart. Look, foolishness is bound in the heart of your child and if you think a little time out it's going to loosen it up, you're a fool. You're way off base. A foolishness is something that's bound, meaning it's something that has to be worked out. It's something that has to be loosened up. It's something that has to be unbound and taken apart and loosened and let go. That's what foolishness is and it's bound in the heart of a child. You see, foolishness has to be dealt with early in life. It's something that has to be corrected. You know, I'm somebody, and I'm ashamed to say it, it's not something I'm proud of, but I'm somebody who did not have foolishness dealt with. I had to suffer the consequences of sin and praise God for His grace and His mercy, but you know what, even today there's still things in my life, I'm still suffering from the consequences of those foolish decisions and actions that resulted from it not being dealt with early. People need to be taught that there's consequences for sin, that your foolishness are going to bring results, and foolishness is bound in the heart of the child. So how do you deal with it? Well, it says the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. It's not just that it'll loosen it up, you know, just use the spanking to kind of loosen it up and then you can talk to your child, you know, you can talk them down off the ledge and deal with them with reason with the child. No, it says the rod of correction, it'll loosen that up and then it'll drive it far from him. It's a process. That foolishness is bound in there. You've got to loosen it up, you've got to get that belt out, you've got to get that paddle out, and you've got to lovingly correct your child. People today, they just gasp at this, you know, but my wife goes out with my children in public and she gets all these compliments about how well behaved they are, and meanwhile their three-year-old's throwing a fit, they've got one kid, they can't control it, and it's throwing a fit in the aisle, it's throwing itself in the ground, and it's kicking and screaming and just acting a fool. Well what's the difference? Well hey, somebody's driving it far from them with the rod of correction and somebody isn't. Somebody's loosening up that foolishness in their heart, loosening it up, and with time and consistency and discipline, it's going to drive it far from them. I mean foolishness is something we want far from us. We don't want it just loosened up in our life. We don't want just a little bit of foolishness in our life, we want it far from us. We want distance between us and foolishness. But here's why it has to be dealt with early, because if you don't deal with it early, you're going to deal with it even worse later on. And it gets to the point with fools that they can't be dealt with any longer, that they're so foolish, that it's so ingrained in who they are, you can't loosen it. There's no hope of driving it anywhere. The Bible says in Proverbs 27 verse 22, though thou shouldest bray a mortar, a fool in a mortar among wheat and pestle. You ever seen those, the mortar, the pestles? My mom used to have one of these old rocks that they would, a little pestle that they would just grind the different spices and they would grind wheat and grains and things like that. They would grind it out. And he's saying if you were to take a fool and you were to do that same thing, to try and separate all the parts of that fool like you would wheat, trying to separate the chaff and the wheat, that you would grind these things out into a fine powder, and it's something that you could divide up and separate. He said, though thou shouldest bray a fool and mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet his foolishness will not depart from him. He's saying, look, it gets to the point with a fool, if you don't correct it early, if you let it carry on with their life, if they get so thick-headed and stubborn and stupid it gets to the point in their life that it's too late. It's so ingrained in who they are, you can't separate it. It's the fabric of their being. It's who they are. They're a fool. And that's what they'll be for the rest of their life, is a fool. And we've seen it. That's why they have that saying, no fool like an old fool, the old guy who never got straightened out as a child, never got it right as a young man, never got corrected, refused the instruction, lived his whole life as a fool, now he's on the corner in some freeway begging for money, too lazy to work, or maybe the drugs and the alcohol have wreaked such havoc on his body, he's incapable of working and now we're all supposed to feel sorry for him. Sorry you spent your life as a fool, got no pity for you. You're the one who didn't want to receive correction when it came. You're the fool. You see, foolishness is something that has to be corrected early, otherwise it becomes a part of who you are, and there's no separating. There's no hope of loosening it, there's no hope of driving it away. And you say, you know what, I'm one that, you know, my parents didn't discipline me, my parents didn't teach me how to not be a fool, they didn't give me the rod of correction, you know, I've got some foolishness in my life, I'm a young person, I'm a young man, woman, and you know, I can see what you're saying, I can see in my life, I'm reading the word of God, I'm getting to the preaching word of God, I'm saying there's some things in my life that I've got to get straightened out, there's some things in my life I'm not right about, I'm not right with God. I'm foolish in these areas. Well, if that's you, then you have to understand that maybe it's too late to be corrected early, but foolishness has to be forsaken. It still might not be too late for you to forsake your foolishness. The Bible says in Proverbs 9, 6, forsake the foolish and live, and go in the way of understanding. I mean, if you're not so foolish you've gotten to the point where you can't be corrected but you still have some sense about you, you can say, you can at least admit that you're wrong somewhere, you at least can be corrected. You know what, it's not too late for you to forsake the foolish and live, and not be destroyed. It's not too late for you to go and live for God, and go in the way of understanding. Stay in the Word of God, stay in the Church, stay under sound preaching, avoid the fool, forsake the old friends, forsake it. I remember that was the biggest turning point in my Christian life, was when I forsook my foolish friends. And they all turned on me and said, oh you're too righteous and holy for us, but you know what, it was one of them that called me on the carpet over it. They said, hey man, you got saved, now you're talking about Jesus and the Bible, but you're still doing this and that with us? He says, you can't do that, you look like a hypocrite. And I said, you know what, you're right, see ya. And they got mad because I chose God over them. I said, I'm going to forsake the foolish, because I've already seen what that's brought in my life, the hardship, the anguish, the heartache, the shame, the reproach. I said I'm going to forsake the foolish, I'm going to live, and I'm going to go in the way of understanding. And it wasn't easy, it's been a bumpy road, but praise God, I'm still on it. And that should give hope to any of us, that if we're not gotten to the point where we're the guy that you can't even grind it out of him, even though you're going to beat you with a hundred times the strife, your foolishness is so ingrained, you can't be corrected at all in anything, if that's not you, there's still hope that you can forsake the foolish. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, it is an honor for a man to cease from strife, but every fool will be meddling. Why don't you cease from that strife, why don't you cease from that thing in your life, that area in your life, those people in your life that are bringing strife, that are bringing contention, that are bringing the negative effects of foolishness into your life, why don't you forsake that, why don't you cease from that, instead of being meddling, instead of messing around, still playing around with this foolishness, still enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season like a fool. And you know, it might be that we're one who's just, we've already proclaimed to everybody what a fool we are, you know, I could think of several people that I know that are like this, and they just opened their mouth and declared themselves a fool publicly, they've just poured out their foolishness with their flat earth moments, whatever it might be, I mean these people that just go out there and let everybody know what a fool they are, maybe that's somebody here today, maybe there's somebody that's going to hear this sermon and say, you know what, it's obvious to me that you're right, and you know what, I'm thinking now that I'm a fool, and that I've kind of told people I'm a fool. The Bible says if that was done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or as thought evil, lay that hand upon thy mouth, you know the best place to start for a fool is just to shut up. I mean we saw earlier how a fool just pours out his foolishness, how his mouth calls for strokes, how it's his lips that just enter into contention, it's his mouth that's the problem with a fool half the time, I mean that's how we know we can discern a fool, it's from what comes out of his mouth, it's what bubbles up out of his heart and pours out of his mouth and spews out for everyone to say, oh, he's a fool, because he's obvious because of his mouth. Well if that's you, and you want to forsake the foolish and live, you need to just lay your hand upon your mouth. Just shut up and learn for a while. Just sit down, be quiet, you know, and when you have a question about something, go to some wise counsel and learn, and give it time. Because you know, the righteous man covereth shame, or the prudent man covereth shame, you know, and he doesn't repeat a matter. He forgives, he forgets, and if you're around good godly people, even though you might have declared yourself to be a fool, if you give it time and you cease from your foolishness and you lay your hand upon your mouth and you stop lifting up yourself, they'll forget about it. They'll let you live it down. And praise God for that. That there's still hope, even for a fool, to some point. Now I do believe there comes a point in a person's life where the foolishness has wrought such irrevocable harm that it's too late. That even if we were to grind them in a grinder, you couldn't separate their foolishness from them. But if that's not us, or if we're still young, don't despise the correction of your parents. You gotta thank God for parents that'll teach you not to be a fool. Don't grow up and be ashamed, children, to your parents. Don't grow up and be a grief and a sorrow of heart to your mother and to your father. Let that foolishness get driven out of your heart and understand that God wants to see you succeed in the Christian life and that your parents want what's best for you spiritually. And that requires dealing with your foolishness because we all start out as fools and we have to have it corrected. So receive that correction. Be wise. Be humble. Receive the correction. Don't be a fool. And if you're older, forsake the foolish. Lay your hand upon your mouth and go in the way of understanding. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask now that you would just bless the remainder of the day, bless the services that come, bless the soul winning that's done. Help us, Father, to not be fools, but to be wise and have an understanding heart. Help us to go to your word with humility. Help us to receive correction with humility. Help us to not be so puffed up to think that we know it all and that it ought to be so obvious to some people, Father, that what they're saying is foolish when what they're proclaiming is just being so stood against and just being so vehemently reproved that maybe they should step back and consider the fact that they're a fool and that they need to receive some correction and that they might be able to recover themselves. And Father, I pray that for those in the room, Lord, children, those of us that are older, that we would not get to the point in our lives where we cannot be corrected, that we would not go down this path of being fools. Help us to receive that correction that we might be a blessing to those around us and not a curse. We ask these things in Christ's name, Amen.