The Unwise, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. You see, you can learn wisdom two ways. You can learn it through education or you can learn wisdom through experience. If you learn it through education, you're way ahead of the game. If you learn it through experience, you have some very painful memories. That's what Solomon is saying. You don't have to remain naive. You can actually learn wisdom. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 119, he said, I have more insight than all my teachers.

Why? Because I've lived my life on the basis of the framework of your Word. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt.

Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. There is a story that was told of an academic meeting at a major university. And right in the beginning of the meeting, an angel came into the room and appeared in front of the academic dean of the school. And he told him that because of his unselfish and exemplary behavior, that the Lord was going to reward him with a choice that would be his.

He could have infinite wisdom or infinite wealth or beauty. And immediately, without a thought, the academic dean said, wisdom. And the angel said, done.

And then the angel, a puff of smoke, a little bolt of lightning, and he was gone. And it was silent in the room and everybody sat there and there was kind of a glow a little bit around the academic dean. And he was just sort of sitting there pondering as he had all this acquired wisdom. And the silence grew longer and longer. And finally somebody said to him, please just just say something to us.

So the academic deans rubbed his chin and said, I should have taken the money. His answer resonates with us. You see, we live in a culture where wisdom is not cultivated.

Or is it sought? Chuck Swindoll says in his book, Living on the Ragged Edge, that wisdom is the God-given ability to see life with rare objectivity and to handle it with rare stability. I love the use of his word, rare.

Rare objectivity, rare stability. You see, the Lord would love for you to live your life with wisdom. But very few of us live our lives that way.

I started a series living a foolproof life. And I said the very first thing we must deal with is the most important question of all when it comes to making choices and decisions. And that question is, what is the wise thing to do? And then we expanded that with the idea, what is the wise thing to do in light of my past experiences, my present circumstances and my future hopes and dreams?

The problem, though, is it takes a whole lot more than simply a question. We resist wisdom. We are inherently resistant to wisdom.

And the question is, why is that? Would you open your Bibles to Proverbs chapter one? The Book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom. It's the heart of the wisdom literature. It's written by Solomon, the personification of wisdom, considered the wisest man who ever lived. But Solomon, right from the beginning of the book, wants to let us know just how important wisdom is.

He says the Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction to discern sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity, to give prudence to the naive, to the youth, knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear increase in learning. A man of understanding will acquire wise counsel to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and the riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

When Solomon writes the book, he basically is going to talk about two kinds of people all the way through the book. And they're easy to understand, the wise and the unwise. And he's saying it basically you fall in one of those categories. You're either wise or you're unwise. And if you're unwise, then you fall into one of three different groups. I would pray that you don't, but I'm suspicious that you might fall into one of these groups. And I want to deal with each one of them this morning.

The very first one shows up in verse four of chapter one. He says that if you have wisdom, it will give prudence to the naive. Prudence to the naive. The naive are unwise. Now, the naive are not necessarily, by the way, against wisdom. They simply haven't lived long enough to know any better.

They are children, teenagers, young adults. They are naive. They are deficient with enough information in order to make a wise choice. That's the struggle for the naive. And they're much too simple, another way of translating that Hebrew word rather than naive, when it comes to discernment.

Turn with me to chapter 14. And he sort of gives us another characteristic of the naive in verse 15. And he says the naive believes everything. The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps. The naive will believe almost anything. You were teenagers.

Some of you still are, but all of you were. And you know what that means. You can see this. You know, you're just hanging around with a buddy, and a guy comes by and says he's got his mother's car for the night. It's a Friday night. And she said not to go too far away, but, hey, did you hear what's going on across the lake? And they said, oh, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. And then you pick up another friend, and he got from his dad's garage a six-pack. Oh, and this is going to be one, one big night.

This is going to be so cool. And then, of course, you know, there's the call, and then your parents come and pick you up, and you have to explain all the things. What happened? You're naive. You're susceptible to that. And naivety can be much, much worse than, by the way, just simply a bad night on the town.

Being naive can be extremely dangerous. Turn back to chapter 7 of Proverbs, and Solomon gives the most vivid picture of naivety you could ever see. Proverbs 7.

He's speaking to his son, and my thought is his son's a young man, and he's trying to spare his son the experiences that he might have to face. He said, my son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live in my teaching as the apple of your eye. He says, bind them on your fingers.

Write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you're my sister. He says, my son, what I wish for you is that you'd be wise. Who wouldn't, as a parent, want a young person, a young child of yours to be wise? Solomon says, I want you to be wise. He says, call understanding your intimate friend so that it may keep you from an adulteress, from a foreigner who flatters with her words. Now, he is going to be speaking about adultery, but it's much more than that. He's using the form of the adulteress with a young teenage boy to show what happens anytime the naive are faced with sinful temptation that can be extremely destructive to their life. And so he starts this picture. He says, for at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice and I saw among the naive. There's the naive. I'd say 17-year-old boy, hormone driven.

OK, he's 17 and discerned among the youths, a young man lacking sense. He says, passing through the street near her corner. And he takes the way to her house. In the twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night and in the darkness.

He's gone there many times. He walks by many times. He starts out at twilight, then he goes to the evening, then he goes to the darkness, the middle of the night.

He keeps going by later and later. By the way, one of the great principles in parenting teenagers, there is a word, by the way, of tremendous conflict, but sometimes between teenagers and parents. The word's called curfew. Now, teenagers and naive, they have no understanding of it.

Parents have been there and done that, and they do. And as a parent, you always would know, and you know this to be true, after midnight, how many good things can happen? You see, how many? Not many, but by the way, my friend has a two o'clock. My other friend doesn't even have a curfew.

They come in the next morning if they want to. The words are the naive. So you see how this progressed. Behold, a woman comes to meet him dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. Now, this is a woman that dressed like a street walker. She's not a street walker. She's a wife. You'll see this in a moment, but she dresses like a harlot.

Now, for anyone with wisdom, that is a danger, danger, danger situation, but not for the naive. It says, she is boisterous and rebellious. Her feet do not remain at home. She is now in the streets and now in the squares and lurks on every corner.

You see, he's talking about her personification, a meaning anywhere terrible, dangerous sin could happen, not just adultery. He said, so she seizes him and she kisses him, and with a brazen face, she says to him, I was due to offer peace offerings, and today I paid my vows. Therefore, I have come out to meet you to seek your presence earnestly.

I have found you. You think, what? You usually don't start that kind of conversation out with religious talk. But what is she saying? She said, I've made my offerings today. I've done the vows. I have the meat and the food from my offering.

I have to eat it today. You see, I have plenty of food that was offered. How would you like to come to my house for dinner?

Now, remember what she looks like, but remember this, he's naive. I have spread my couch with coverings, with colored linens of Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh and alloys and cinnamon. Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with caresses. For my husband is not at home. Wow.

For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He's taken a bag of money with him.

At the full moon, he will come home. Look, this is a great way to talk to the naive. We can get away with this. You see, there'll be no repercussions. We can get away with this.

Husband's out of town. With her many persuasions, she entices him. With her flattering lips, she seduces him. You see, this culture's a little different. If her husband comes home early, he has the right to kill this young man. If this is brought to the attention of the culture, they have a right to stone them both. This night could cost him his life. But to the naive, he doesn't even think about that.

You see, he doesn't give any thought to that. Then this incredibly vivid picture that Solomon gives. He says this to him. He says, suddenly, he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter.

What a picture. Now, think of an ox. They're going to sacrifice an ox.

They're going to kill it, usually a tremendous blow to the head, and they lead it to the slaughter. Now, the ox has grown from the time it was a little calf, and now it's a very large, muscular animal, and it's fed every day, and it probably walks around with the owner and gets fed. Now, this gigantic ox and owner is bringing the ox for sacrifice, and the ox could get away any time the ox wants to. But the ox is too stupid to know what's going to happen. You see, the ox doesn't know, and all of a sudden, what is a typical walk is no longer a typical walk. The ox walks right up, gets the shot on the head, and the next thing you know, it's down. The next thing you know, it's gutted, and after that, it's eaten. He says, just like this young boy, he was too stupid to know.

It's an amazing picture that he gives. He said, or as one infeders to the discipline of a fool, until an arrow pierces through his liver, a fatal boil. He said he won't even know what he's doing until it costs him his life.

Why? He's naive. It says, as a bird hastens to a snare, so he does not know that it will cost him his life. Boy, think of how many young people have died making really stupid decisions, just some really ridiculous, short-sighted decision. You see, when he's naive, he can't ask the question, what is the wise thing to do necessarily, and then say, based on my past experiences. The problem with the naive is you don't have any past experiences, so you can't really go to that. Then you could say, well, what is the wise thing to do in light of my present circumstances? Well, wait till my friends hear about this.

I just spent a night with a lady. You see, my present circumstances and the peer group pressure that I have, this still seems like a pretty good idea. But what about in light of my future hopes and dreams?

I may not have a future. He never even considered it. Think of that, though.

Think of how many 17-year-old guys is driving a car 130 miles an hour, not thinking about anything, of how dumb that really is. He says, now, therefore, my son, listen to me. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her past, for many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain.

Her house is the way to Sheol. It's the way to the grave, descending to the chambers of death. He says, don't you see what this is?

Don't you see the potential? Because he's naive. Turn to chapter 22. Chapter 22 of Proverbs. And again, the principle. And notice what he says about the naive. He said, the prudent sees the evil and hides himself. But the naive go on.

They just go on, and they're punished for it. You see, what he is saying is, son, don't go that route. Don't do that.

It could cost you way more than you're willing to pay. Think of how many dumb choices you've made as a teenager that you look back on in your life now and say, why did I do that? Why was I involved with that? By the way, you don't have to be naive. Turn to chapter 2 of Proverbs. And he says, look, there's a way to deal with the adulteress.

There's a way you can deal with it, son. And here's what Solomon writes, verse 1. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, and you make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding. For if you cry for discernment, he says, lift your voice for understanding. If you seek her, if you seek wisdom as silver, and search for her as hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice. And he says, preserves the way of the godly ones. And then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course, for wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will guard you and understanding will watch over you to deliver you from the way of evil. He says, from the man who speaks perverse things.

Wow. You see, his statement is, you can get this. You don't have to remain naive.

I can remember all the years that both of our sons were teenagers. And what my wife and I would say to them constantly is, what we're going to tell you is the truth. Now, the thing is to remember is we can't make you act upon it. You don't have to. We can't make you act a certain way.

You can do what you want with it. But, if you don't act upon the truth, then you're still going to learn the lesson of wisdom, but you're going to learn it from experience. You see, you're going to learn it from the consequences of your choices. You see, you can learn wisdom two ways. You can learn it through education or you can learn wisdom through experience. If you learn it through education, you're way ahead of the game. If you learn it through experience, you have some very painful memories.

That's what Solomon is saying. You don't have to remain naive. You can actually learn wisdom. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 119, he said, I have more insight than all my teachers. Why?

Because I've lived my life on the basis of the framework of your word. My teachers aren't as wise as I am. You see, wisdom for the naive is something that can be gained, but the naive is unwise. There is a next group that's unwise. Solomon calls that group the fool. A fool knows his choices are unwise. But a fool doesn't care. Turn to Proverbs 26. Proverbs 26.

In a description of the fool, Solomon says in verse three that a whip is for a horse and a bridle for a donkey and the rod for the back of a fool. He says, do not answer a fool according to his follies, he said, or you will be like him. He said, to try to point something out to a fool is extremely difficult.

In fact, it's often even foolish to try. He said, answer a fool, he says, as his folly deserves. He says that he not be wise in his own eyes. He said, let me tell you what a fool is like.

He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. Who would ever send a message by the hand of a fool? He said, like legs which are useless to the lame, so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

So when you try to teach your education and wisdom a fool, a fool won't listen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift.

Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word, 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana, 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .