Proverbs 9:1-18

I'll be in the Old Testament this evening in the book of Proverbs chapter 9.! One thing we can certainly say about Proverbs is it is not just a book of suggestions.

And that's how a lot of people take it. It can be taken like that, but in spiritual matters and in spiritual context, it's a book of instruction that we are to have.

There's a lot about a certain fool throughout the book of Proverbs. There's a lot about the wise throughout the book of Proverbs. In the first eight chapters, we actually see Solomon writing mainly to his son.

And he says a couple of times over to hear, to hear the instruction that's being given in those chapters and in the words they speak.

And we see it several other times on beyond chapter 8 and chapter 9. But we read a lot about the foolish and the wise in those chapters as well, as well as throughout the rest of Proverbs.

But we get to Proverbs chapter 9, and this is the last chapter before we get to the big section of Proverbs, which is a lot of short and punchy one-verse Proverbs.

And some of them are repetitive. Some of them repeat themselves throughout the book. But this is kind of the culmination of those first eight chapters that Solomon has been giving instruction to hear and to do what's wise, to go on the path of the Lord. We read about all these things in the first eight chapters.

So my intention tonight is to go through all 18 verses of Proverbs chapter 9. I don't think that we'll be as long as some of you might think that we'll be in that, but that is my intention.

It can actually be broken up into three different sections. You've got verses 1-6 can be a section. Then we've got verses 7-12 can be a section.

Then verses 13-18 can be a section. And the middle section there almost seems as though it was just thrown in to take up space on the paper.

But there's a purpose behind that section, and we'll get to that here shortly. So all that being said, Proverbs chapter 9 beginning at verse 1 says, He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame, and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.

Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself. But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple, and knoweth nothing.

For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, to call passengers who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Back to verse 1. In Proverbs chapter 9, Wisdom hath built her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.

Verse 2, she hath killed her beasts, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. So in these two verses here, we have wisdom, depending on what commentary you might be using, what preacher you may have read a sermon that they preached in the past about this, or heard them preach a sermon about this.

There's two different women brought up in this proverb here, in Proverbs chapter 9. There's lady wisdom, and there's lady folly, or the foolish lady that we read about in the last few verses here.

But here it says, Wisdom hath built her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars. Wisdom has prepared something here. And again, in verse 2, it says, She hath killed her beasts, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table.

Wisdom has done these things. Wisdom has built her house, but not only has she built her house, but it says that she hath hewn out the seven pillars, that which her house stands upon.

So in other words, wisdom has this house that we can picture here from this scripture, and from the other scriptures that we read throughout the book of Proverbs. Wisdom would have built a house that is most magnificent to look upon.

But not only is it magnificent, not only is it pretty, not only is it something to gaze upon, but it says that she has hewn out her seven pillars. The foundation of the house was steadfast.

The foundation of the house was strong. And wisdom is the one that has built this house. And folks, when we have and we utilize the wisdom of Almighty God, that wisdom is founded on none other than Jesus Christ.

That wisdom is founded on the perfect wisdom of Almighty God. We've been going through James for the past several weeks on Wednesday nights, and we know from James in chapter 1, it says, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.

Folks, there is no better place for us to gain wisdom from. There is no other place, period, that we can gain wisdom from. True wisdom comes from He who has perfect wisdom, and that is Almighty God.

And wisdom has built her house. She has built this wonderful, magnificent, glorious house, and she has placed it upon seven pillars. Folks, that being the number of perfection, that being the number of completeness, or completion, she has built her house, and there is no tearing this house down.

This makes me think of the parable that Jesus Christ spoke at the end of the sermon on the mount in Matthew in chapter 7, when He's talking about the man that built his house upon the rock, and the man that built his house upon the sand.

And Jesus said, He that heareth not words, and doeth them, I will lock in him, unto the man that built his house upon the rock. But he that hear my words, and doeth them not, he will lock in him to the man that built his house upon the sand.

And Jesus said that the rain descended, the storm came, the winds blew, and they beat on that house. And the one that was founded upon the rock, it stood.

But the one that was founded upon the sand, He said it fell, and great was the fall of it. Wisdom has built her house, and she has built it on seven pillars.

Folks, this is how we need to build our own houses, our own spiritual houses. We build them on the perfect pillars, and the completion of the work of Jesus Christ.

This is the only foundation that will stand. This is the only foundation that we can rely on, is that which God has provided. That brings us to verse number two. She hath killed her beast, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table.

Not only has she built it on her house, not only has she put a strong foundation underneath it, but it says she has killed her beast, she hath mingled her wine, and she hath also furnished her table.

She's gotten everything ready. Why has she gotten everything ready? What has wisdom gotten everything ready for? That brings us to verse number three. She hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city.

Hey folks, wisdom does not remain quiet. Wisdom does not make a spectacle of itself, or in this case of herself, that it does not remain quiet. She sent forth her maidens into the city, but it also says, hey, she didn't let the maidens do all the work.

The Bible here says that wisdom has cried herself unto the people, unto the people that are mentioned here. It says, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither.

As for him that wanteth understanding, she said to him, come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. So wisdom has sent forth her maidens to cry this very thing out, and wisdom herself sets in the highest places of the city, crying the same thing.

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. Folks, this word, this word simple here, this is not an insulting term, it is not a derogatory term, it is simply talking to people, someone who is inexperienced, someone who is standing at the crossroad, someone who has not made the decision for life or for death just yet.

That's the simple that we are talking about in the context of Proverbs in chapter 9. And it says, She sent forth her maidens, she cries upon the highest places of the city.

Whoso is simple, cries going out to everybody, whosoever of you, whoso hears this, and is simple, let him turn in hither. As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

Come and eat what I have prepared. What is the invitation that is going out here, folks? Wisdom has done all the work. She is the one that built in her house. She is the one that founded it on the seven pillars.

She is the one that slaughtered the beast. She is the one that prepared the table. She is the one that mingled the wine. She is the one that prepared it all. And the invitation here is going out to those who are simple.

It is going out to those to say, Hey, come and eat at my house. Come and commune with me. Come and fellowship with me. Come and take of that which I have provided.

What does that sound like to you? Boy, that sounds like a gospel invitation. That sounds like exactly what God has done with Jesus Christ. Come and commune with me.

Come have fellowship with me. Jesus said himself that there is no man that can come unto the Father, but by him. If we want communion with the Father, if we want relationship with the Father, it will be through and by Jesus Christ and he alone.

There is no other means of communication or fellowship or communion with God other than Jesus Christ. So when the gospel invitation goes out, when the invitation goes out, that, Hey, you are a sinner, but God is able to save your soul through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

God is saying, in essence, come and partake in everything that I have provided for you. That's exactly what wisdom is saying here in this proverb that we're reading here in Proverbs chapter 9.

Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Now, a lot of people make a big deal over this mingling of the wine in the Scripture, and particularly those in the Baptist circle make a big deal over that.

Folks, the mingling of the wine was one of two different things. They would either mingle it with water to dilute it some, or they would mingle it with honey and spices in a celebratory type of fashion to make it that much sweeter to those that were taking part of it.

But folks, regardless of the type of mingling that we're talking about here, whether it was water or whether it was honey and spices, that's not important. The important thing is that wisdom prepared us herself.

It was her wine. We read just a few minutes ago when we went through all 18 verses of this chapter that the lady Folly, the foolish woman, she was using many of the same things.

She was using many of the same methods that wisdom was using. But hers were stolen. Hers were bitter. There was nothing to hers. We'll get to that soon enough though.

Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish and live and go in the way of understanding. This one verse here tells us so much. To go with wisdom.

To go on the path of wisdom. To receive wisdom. And folks, that's exactly what we do when we receive salvation. When we receive the free gift of Almighty God and Jesus Christ.

When we receive that. We receive understanding. But what must we do? What is required here in this verse? Forsake the foolish. We must forsake something and we must follow something.

According to this scripture here. Proverbs 9 and 6. Forsake the foolish and live and go in the way of understanding. We forsake the foolish. We forsake the foolish things of this world.

Hey folks, the world will calculate wisdom and the world will consider wisdom on the intelligence of people. On the intellectual intellectuality of people.

On their accomplishments. On their achievements. On what they have done. On what kind of degrees they have. On what schools they graduated from. But folks, the Bible does not do that. We read it in verse 10 of Proverbs chapter 9.

But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There is no wisdom outside of the Lord. Now we can have some worldly wisdom, but folks, it's temporal and it's all going to go away one of these days.

It's all going to be burned up. It's all going to be done away with. But the wisdom of Almighty God is just as eternal as God Himself. Because it is of God.

It is from God. And everything of and from God is as eternal as He is. Forsake the foolish. Folks, there's a promise in this. If we forsake and we follow.

If we forsake the foolish and we go in the way of understanding what is the promise? We live. We have life. If we forsake the foolish for the foolish things of the world, the foolish philosophies of the world, the foolish doctrines of the world, we forsake those things.

And we go in the way of understanding we are following in the way of understanding and the promise in the middle of all that is that we live. Forsake the foolish and live.

In other words, if we cling to the foolish, if we cling to the foolish things of this world, if we cling to unbelief, if we cling to these doctrines that say you can be saved and still live in the old way that you want to, if we cling to these doctrines that there is no hell, that there is no such thing as eternal punishment, if we cling to these doctrines that there are multiple millions of different ways to get unto Jesus Christ, folks, we will not live.

But if we go in the way of understanding, we will have life and have it more abundantly. Hallelujah. Forsake the foolish and go in the way of understanding.

And if you do these things, you'll live. Who does that sound like? That sounds just like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, if any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself.

Take up his cross daily and follow me. Denying yourself. That's forsaking foolishness. Taking up your cross and following him. That is going in the way of understanding.

And Jesus Christ elsewhere in the Gospel says, he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. Hey folks, that's having life. You'll have life if you lose your life for the sake of Jesus Christ.

You will have life that goes beyond what we know here. You will have eternal life and eternally blessed life in the very presence of Jesus Christ.

Praise God. Forsake the foolish. Go in the way of understanding and live. Verse 7. This is a section that almost seems like it shouldn't be here.

I'm going to tell you what we're seeing here though. We have wisdom in the first six verses. In the last few verses, beginning at verse 13, we have the foolish woman.

And what we find with the foolish woman. And what we find at the end of that path. These verses here, verses 7-12, lie between all that. Folks, we've got two different calls that are going out in this one proverb in these 18 verses.

There's the call of wisdom. There's the call of the foolish woman. And in between all that are people who are hearing both calls. They're hearing the call of wisdom.

And they're hearing the call of the clamorous woman or the foolish woman who is clamorous according to the Scripture. So the question here is which call are we hearing?

And which call, or not which call are we hearing, it's what call are we heeding to? Because whether you're here saved or lost, you're hearing both calls. Even the saved people, we hear both calls.

All throughout our Christian walk, we hear both calls. We hear the foolish woman calling to us from her own house. Not calling to us. She hasn't sent out any maidens or anything.

We don't read anything about that from the foolish woman at the end of this proverb. But we hear her calling. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. But we hear her talking about what she has to offer.

And we know the end in verse 18. But here in these next few verses, we see the calls going out to all kinds of different people.

And the question is, which call are we heeding to? He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame. And he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

This goes out as a warning, folks. This goes out as a warning to us. Verse 8 says, Reprove not a scorner. Now hold on. Hold on. We just read in verse 7.

He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself ashamed. Then we reprove not a scorner. What are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to reprove a scorner and receive a blot?

Are we supposed to receive shame unto ourselves? Or are we just not supposed to reprove the scorner? Folks, let me tell you now. This is talking about speaking truth. This is talking about speaking the wisdom of verses 1-6.

Talking about speaking that wisdom. We are part of the maidens that wisdom has sent out into all the different places to proclaim the truth, to proclaim wisdom to those who are simple.

Jesus Christ Himself proclaimed truth and He was scorned for it. We are to proclaim truth whether we get scorned for it or whether we get praised for it.

We are to proclaim it. Hey, Paul done the same thing. Peter done the same thing. All the apostles done the same thing. They proclaim wisdom. They proclaim the truth of God.

And some of it was to the benefit of the kingdom of God. And some of it brought scorn and brought shame to those people which proclaimed it. But there's a warning here.

He that reproofeth a scorn getheth to himself shame and he that rebuketh a wicked man getheth himself a blood. Folks, this is very liable to happen. Anytime someone goes out with a message of wisdom, with a message of truth, of the truth of God's Word, with a message of the Gospel, we are subjecting ourselves and we are setting ourselves up for scorn from a world that hates God, from a world that hates the Gospel, from a world that hates Jesus Christ.

We are setting ourselves up for that. And then we see, Reprove not a scorn lest he hate thee, rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. This is not a command in the Scripture for us to not reprove a scorn.

The reproof has already happened in verse 7. It says, Reprove not a scorn. He's done began scorning. Folks, there's some people we just have to leave it to the Holy Spirit to do His work.

That doesn't mean we don't tell them the truth. He's already received the truth. Again, verse 7, He that reproofeth the scorn or getteth a blood to himself. The reproof has already happened to the scorner.

Who is a scorner? A scorner is someone who mocks the truth. A scorner is someone who hears the truth of the Scripture. They hear the truth that they are indeed a sinner and they hear the truth that God is indeed the Savior.

They hear the truth that Jesus Christ left the glory above, came here, condescended to sinful man, lived amongst them, dwelt amongst them, ate at the tables with sinful man, gave His life for sinful man, was buried, was resurrected, and now sits in heaven at the right hand of majesty.

And they mock that truth. That's what a scorner is. That's what a scorner is. And the worst part about people like that, it's their pride that causes them to do that.

I'm telling you all this firsthand. I'm telling you, I was like this. I was like this. I thought I was smarter than the Bible. I thought that I was smarter than the Word.

I thought that I had it all figured out just like scorners think that they have it all figured out. They say, I don't need your wisdom. I don't need the wisdom of God. I don't need the wisdom brought up in the first six verses of Proverbs chapter 9.

I don't need these things. I have learned enough and I don't need to learn anything else. That is the prideful attitude of a scorner. And they are the very ones.

It could bring a blot to our name. It could bring shame to our name. In their eyes. Not in God's eyes. Hey folks, we go out, we present the Gospel. We've done all that God requires us to do.

But there are some folks, there are some folks, you just have to leave it to God and the Holy Spirit. to do their work. They will not hear from you anymore.

But the thing is, most people that scorn, most people that mock that truth, like if you go out door knocking, you go out street preaching, you meet somebody at the grocery store, whatever the case is, and they immediately get mad when they find out you're from a church.

Or they immediately get mad when you mention the name of Jesus Christ or you mention the Gospel. Hey folks, that tells me they've heard the Gospel at some point in their life. They've heard it. I don't have to stand there and preach it to them.

Because they've heard it. They've heard about the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They've heard that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And they've heard that Jesus Christ is the only way unto salvation.

And that is what angers them. But you remember, dear Christian, you remember, they are not angry with you. Their anger is not lashing out at you personally. They are angry with God.

They are angry with the message of the Gospel, with the message of the Bible. It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with God. Jesus said, you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

And He meant it when He said, verse 9, or I'm sorry, verse 8, again, Reprove not a scorn, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. There's a contrast here.

You reprove a scorn, and they will hate you. But you rebuke a wise man. You rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Folks, that's the stark difference between scorn and someone who hates God and hates the Bible and someone who loves God.

Is that if we rebuke someone, a brother or sister in Christ, if we rebuke them because of something that they have said, because of some doctrine that they have presented, because of some belief that they have had.

We rebuke them, and we rebuke them with Scripture, and we prove them wrong with the Scripture. We don't do it with a haughty mind, and we don't do it with a prideful attitude. We do it in love because we want them to walk as closely with God as they possibly can.

That's why we would rebuke someone. But they would receive that rebuke. They would receive that teaching. Hey folks, the greatest example in all of Scripture, as far as this goes, is when David had his sin with Bathsheba, and God sends the prophet Nathan to David, and Nathan tells him the story.

Hey folks, David was the king. David had all authority and all power to silence Nathan. He could have shut him up. He could have had him killed. He could have put him in prison.

He could have done any number of things. But what did David do? He humbled himself. And he said, I have sinned against the Lord. That is someone who was rebuked with the truth of God and received it and received that teaching.

We could all learn a whole lot from that. I could learn a whole lot from that. Verse number 9, give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser.

Teach a just man and he will increase in learning. If we give instruction to a wise man, he will be even wiser. That instruction must be received.

Just like salvation. Just like the wisdom of Almighty God. It must be received. Hey folks, the knowledge of God and the wisdom of God is all around us in creation.

Did we not talk about that this past Wednesday night? Quite in depth about the creation of God. How nature itself speaks of a Creator God of the universe.

God's wisdom is everywhere. People say, I believe all this happened by chance. People say, I believe nothing created everything. What an impossibility that is.

What an impossibility that nothing can create everything that we know. People will say, I believe that animals have such and such characteristics and do such and such things and act in such and such a manner.

Folks, they do that from the time they're born. Some of them with no training. Some of them, their parents are killed or whatever the case is. Folks, how many times have you seen a little tiny groundhog?

I can use that example around here, Tina. A little tiny groundhog that mama's been killed out in the road. She got run over. But that little groundhog still knows how to be a groundhog.

He didn't learn it from a fox. He didn't learn it from a dog. He learned it because Almighty God Himself in Genesis 1 instilled in Him what He or her was supposed to be and how He or her was supposed to act.

That's how they do that. That's how they do that. Fish are born knowing how to swim. They didn't have to be taught. They just know it. Because when God designed them, He said, they're going to have to swim because I put these gills in them.

That's how they're going to get their oxygen. So on and so forth. They're going to have to be able to do this from the get-go. That came from God. That came from God. Folks, when we have wisdom, when we have God's wisdom, and someone instructs us further in the wisdom of God, that should make us so gleeful, so joyful, and so happy that we have obtained even more wisdom of Almighty God.

Give instruction to a wise man and He will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and He will increase in learning. Who of us does not want to increase in learning? Who of us in here is just?

I am, but only by the blood of Jesus Christ. And I desire to increase in learning. Whether that be from the teaching and preaching of God's Holy Word by another man, or whatever the case is, whether it be by instruction of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, as I read and study the Word of God, I desire to receive more learning.

And you should all, we should all desire to receive more learning of God and His ways and His Word. Because the more we learn about that, folks, the closer we will walk with God.

Who doesn't want that? Verse 10, folks, this is the middle of the proverb. This is the center. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Again, I said just a little while ago that the world ranks wisdom and calculates wisdom on a man's intelligence, on his achievements, on his accomplishments, on his clout, on his influence.

They calculated all kinds of different things, but the Word of God does not do that. The Word of God says that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.

And I'm not talking about fearing God. I'm not talking about being terrified of God because He's unpredictable and because He's mean. That's not what we're talking about.

We're talking about a reverential fear. We're talking about being in awe of who God is, what God has done, and what God promises to do for His people on into the future.

That is the fear of God that we are talking about here. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you fear God, if you reverence God, if you respect God, if you stand in awe of God, if you love God, that is the very beginning of His wisdom.

And everything else flows out from that. Folks, wisdom begins on a foundation. What is that foundation? It is when we realize and we submit ourselves to the fact, to a biblical fact that God is God and we are not.

That's where wisdom begins. When we realize that and we submit ourselves to that and we practice that. Folks, that is the foundation of it all. And everything else that goes out from life must go from that foundation.

If it goes from any other type of foundation, folks, sooner or later, just like we were talking about earlier with the parable Jesus spoke in Matthew 7, sooner or later, that structure will crumble.

But when we have the foundation that God is God and we believe that God is God, He is sovereign, He is almighty, He is omnipotent, He is omniscient, and He loves us and He gave Himself for us, when we begin with that foundation, it cannot and will not crumble.

Hallelujah! I can promise you that from the Scriptures. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. I've told you all before and I'll say it again.

Knowledge is not wisdom. Knowledge is not wisdom. I know a lot of people out there right now, they're very knowledgeable about a lot of things, but they're not very wise. Folks, before I was saved, I was knowledgeable about the Bible.

I was very knowledgeable about the Bible, but I had no wisdom. I had no spiritual wisdom whatsoever. I knew the stories of the Bible, I knew the accounts of the Bible, I knew the history of the Jews, I knew the history of the church, I knew a whole lot of stuff about the Bible before I was ever saved.

I had knowledge, but I had zero wisdom. wisdom. But God, but God is still working on that wisdom with me.

And God is still, if you're here saved and born again, God is still working on that wisdom with you. If you have knowledge of the Scripture, that knowledge can turn into wisdom. God, but it takes Almighty God to do that.

And that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. And the knowledge of the Holy is the understanding. Understanding the ways of God. Understanding the things of God. I cannot tell you, I understand everything that is in this book.

I wish I could, but there's more about this book that I don't understand than there is in this book that I do understand. But I understand enough to where I can tell someone that they are a sinner, that Jesus Christ gave His life, that they could be saved, and they could have everlasting life with Him for all of eternity.

I know enough about it to tell someone that. And I praise God for that. Verse 11, For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Folks, this is the blessing. This is the blessing. What have we read about in these other few verses above this? These other four verses above this? We've read about reproving the scorner.

We've read about how we shouldn't reprove the scorner. We've read about how that could bring shame unto us. How that could make us a blot in their eyes. We've read about these things.

We've read about giving instruction to the wise. We've read about how the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. We've read about all these things. Then we get to verse 11.

If thou be wise, for by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. This is the blessing for by me.

How do we know what God's ways are? By reading the book. We know the ways of God by reading His Word and by listening to faithful teaching and preaching of the Word.

That's how we know the ways of God. God says, by me. By me, by my ways. By my Word. For by me, thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased.

How many people do you know, have you known in your life that their days have been shortened because they have not followed the ways of God? How many people do you know their days have been shortened because of sin?

Because of addiction? Because of immoral choices? Because of this? And because of that? Folks, it happens every day! This is not a promise though that if you follow the things of God nor is it a promise that you follow the law of God that you're going to live to be 200 years old or that you'll live to be 150 or that you'll even live to be 40.

That's not a promise. But folks, this is given here to show that there are blessings for following the ways of God. So many people look at the law of God and they look at His judgments and they look at His statutes and they look at that as a fence to keep you away from something.

Folks, that's the oldest deception in all Scripture. That's exactly what the serpent taught Eve. That's what he implicated to Eve in the garden. God is keeping something wonderful from you.

If you eat this fruit, you shall be as God. But folks, the law was never meant to keep us from happiness. The law is simply a boundary.

It is a boundary to do what though? To keep us in the path of blessing. Following the law. And we won't follow it to a T. But folks, when we strive, when we strive to follow the law, and I'm not just talking about the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20, I'm talking about everything that God has spoken within His book.

If God has spoken it, God has commanded it, God has mentioned it, it is considered law if God spoke it. When we do our dead level best to follow that, the blessings of God will come.

They will come. Again, the law isn't given to keep us away from happiness, folks. The happiness that the world offers, the happiness that the foolish woman at the end of this proverb talks about is very temporal.

It's very real as far as the flesh is concerned. But it's very temporal. Very temporal. Verse number 12, If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.

But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bury. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself. In other words, what Solomon is getting at here is that no one else can receive this wisdom on your behalf.

The pastor can't believe for you. The Sunday school teacher can't believe for you. Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Peppa cannot believe for you.

They cannot receive the wisdom of God on your behalf. If you will be wise, it will be because you chose to go on the path of wisdom.

No one else can do it for you. No one else can do it for you. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself. But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bury it.

Two sides of that coin. No one else can receive wisdom on your behalf. and no one else can bear your rebellion against God is what I get out of that verse.

No one else will take your punishment outside of Jesus Christ. We all know He took the punishment for all the sinners of the world, but folks, we're talking about one another here. Just as Mommy and Daddy cannot receive wisdom on your behalf, they cannot receive your punishment on your behalf.

We will all ultimately stand before God. Paul said himself in the book of Romans, we must all stand at the judgment seat of Christ.

He was writing to believers when he said that and he was writing about believers and unbelievers alike when he said it. We must all stand at the judgment seat of Christ.

And what will we do there? We will give an account for what we have done in these bodies, what we have done with our lives, whether it will be good or whether it will be bad. Whether it be righteous or whether it be evil.

Whether it be for the benefit of the kingdom of God or whether it be for the benefit of ourselves. We will stand before God and that should humble everyone here including me. That knowledge should humble us.

Verse 13 A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing. A foolish woman is clamorous. What is this clamorous?

What do you think of when you think of the word clamorous? I think of somebody that is noisy. I think of somebody that is all discombobulated and in disarray and making all kinds of racket.

And folks, there are a lot of people in this world, I am talking about people in the church world that are this very way. They make all kinds of racket. They make all kinds of noise.

And they know how to do that. But there is absolutely no substance to what they are doing. There is no substance to their worship. There is no substance to their church service.

They just think that if they come in the church house, if they come within the four walls of the meeting house of Almighty God and they make enough noise that God will recognize that.

Folks, that's what this clamorous woman here is doing. She's making noise to do what? To draw attention to herself. And that's what folks that do that are doing.

They're drawing attention not to God. They're drawing attention to themselves. A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple. Folks, I read nothing about wisdom being simple.

What did I tell you all the word simple was talking about? Someone who is inexperienced and someone who has not quite made their decision which path they're going to take, which voice they're going to heed to.

That's a simple person. So in other words, the foolish woman is just as the simple person that wisdom is calling to. She is just like the people that she is calling to in these last few verses of Proverbs in chapter 9.

She is just like them. A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing. What strong words that is. And what strong words this is.

And folks, again, she talks with confidence. She talks like she knows what she's saying. She talks like she has experienced what she is saying.

But she knows nothing according to the Scripture. She knows nothing of wisdom. Remember, we've got to keep this in context. She knows nothing of wisdom.

Verse 14, For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city to call to passengers who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith unto him.

Folks, she is doing the exact same thing that wisdom was doing. She is using the exact same methodology that wisdom was using. Now, wisdom, it says that she was crying from the high places of the city, but here, this foolish woman here, it says she's just sitting there at her house.

She hasn't sent out any batings with her message. She hasn't done this or done that. That wisdom did. But she's using many of the other same methods.

But her message is different. Her message is different. And because her message is different, she must keep it somewhat secret. She sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city to call to passengers who go right on their ways.

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him. Using the same thing, folks, this is exactly what deception is.

What you are reading in these last few verses here. This is deception. She saith to him, stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

What's wrong with that? Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. What did wisdom provide?

We just read it not too long ago. Remember, wisdom had built in her house. She had hewn out her seven pillars. She had slaughtered the animals. She had mingled the wine. She had prepared her table.

But every one of those things said that she had prepared her animals. She had mingled her wine. She prepared her table. She built her house.

She hewed out her seven pillars. pillars. It all belonged to her. And here, this foolish woman says, stolen waters are sweet.

She's making it sound like the things that are forbidden are somehow better. And that is the deception that has been since the garden.

That which is forbidden is somehow better than what God has provided and what God has allowed. What God has told us that he can and that he has done for us.

That's what this foolish woman is saying to these simple people. And folks, again, the people that are mentioned here, it can apply to both saved and lost.

We are constantly at war with our flesh. Folks, our flesh wants the things of this world. Our flesh wants the things that this world has to offer us our flesh wants immorality.

Our flesh wants things that are going to get us high, get us drunk, wants things that are going to instantly gratify us when God says, I will give you Jesus.

I have given you Jesus. He can be everything and is everything that you could ever possibly want. And our flesh says otherwise. Our flesh says otherwise.

Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Trying to convince these people of this. This is the foolish woman. And she's clamorous, she's noisy, and she knows nothing, but she's speaking like she does.

In verse 18, but he knoweth not, who is he? This would be the simple one that she's calling to. He knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Where are the dead at? Again, verse 13, a foolish woman is clamorous, she is simple and knoweth nothing. She sits at the door of her house. That's where the dead are.

And that's where she is inviting the simple into. Is into her house. Folks, sin, if it appeared immediately as destructive as it truly is, there would be a lot fewer people that would be enticed by it.

If we saw the end matter of sin immediately, we would not be nearly as enticed by it. But that is not the way of the enemy.

That is not the way of the accuser of the brethren. That is not the way of the devil. That is not the way of demons. It wasn't the way of the serpent. And it's not the way of Satan right now. They will tempt us.

They will say this will make you happy. This will bring you joy. This will bring you comfort. This will bring you peace. This will bring you gratification. This will bring you all those things that you feel you don't have right now.

And that sounds wonderful. That sounds punglorious in our ears and in our mind. But folks, if we have read the scripture, and if we have the wisdom of almighty God, as far as the scriptural account goes, we know the end.

We know the end. But he knoweth not that the dead are there. Remember, this is someone who was inexperienced and someone who had not yet made a decision of which path to take.

There's two paths. There's two messages that are going out here. I read nothing about a third destination here. I read nothing about anything to do with a third number.

I read nothing about that here. There are two messages and there are two destinations. There are two paths. There is wisdom and there is folly.

There is God and there is Satan. There is heaven, there is hell. There is the Bible and there is life without the Bible. There is righteousness and there is unrighteousness.

And that is it. There is salvation and there is damnation. That's the only two ends that there are. He, but He knoweth not that the dead are there.

He's going in because He's been enticed. Stolen waters are sweet and bread in secret is pleasant. He's been enticed with those, but He does not know what's on the other side of that door.

He knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell when He gets inside that house. He sees it full. He sees it full, but what is it full of?

A bunch of dead people. Now folks, we've got to keep this on a spiritual plane here. I'm not talking about bodies stacked up on the walls and bodies stuffed down in the basement and in crawl spaces.

I'm talking about people that have made the same decision as this simple person. Here it is. Made the same decision. He heard the call of wisdom.

He heard the call. Come to my banquet. Come and eat of my feast. Come and drink of my wine. Hey folks, the invitation was there.

The invitation has been given all throughout Scripture. God told Noah, come now unto the earth. Isaiah said, oh, tell ye who are athirst to the waters.

Jesus said, come to me. Anyone who is athirst. And drink of the water of life freely. The invitation is there. The calls are going out.

The question is, which call are you listening to? Don't say, will this gratify me? Don't say, will this make me happy?

The question you need to ask yourself, and the question I always must ask myself, is where does this path end? end? Where does this path end?

Ask that with everything in your life, every situation that comes up, every circumstance that arises, ask yourself, where does this path end?

Does it glorify God? Or does it help me? Folks, those of us who are saved, if it helps us to glorify God, so be it, but it will not go outside of what this book says, and it will not go outside of the instruction of the Holy Spirit that this book says that the Holy Spirit will have.

There's many people out there, many people out there right now that will say, I have a special revelation from God. I have heard from God. Don't you worry about whether you can find what I'm about to tell you in the Bible or not, because me and God got a special relationship, and He has revealed something to me.

Paul said, if anyone comes preaching another gospel, even if it be an angel from heaven, let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. If it falls outside of this book, let it and the person speaking it be accursed.

God bless you all. That's the message for this evening. I appreciate your attention.