[0:00] Take your Bibles, if you would, turn with me to the book of Proverbs, and we will go to Proverbs chapter 9, and then we'll slip over to Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10.
[0:12] Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10. I'm excited to get to share with you a great truth tonight. I hope you'll really pay attention. Some people may not know Jesus as their Savior, and I think the key verse in this list of Proverbs, this proverb that goes together pretty well, here is verse 10.
[0:32] Read what the Bible says. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. If I can learn that there is a God, and that I respect Him, and I fear Him, and I acknowledge that He is the one who has the power over my life, my health, my eternity, that's the beginning of wisdom.
[1:00] When I know there is a God, and I expect and understand that He's in charge, and when I know Him, I'm beginning to understand. Let's have a word of prayer, and I want to show you two invitations here.
[1:13] Father in heaven, I love you, and I pray that you would save tonight. God, I have asked you every day for a long time to save, and I'm asking you to do that tonight.
[1:26] I'm asking you, dear God, to answer a long time prayer by a lot of people and to save. I pray, God, that people would not go home without knowing you as their personal Savior.
[1:36] And I pray, dear God, that Christians would get straight and settled how important it is that we know you, believe in you, and look to you, and I'll give you praise for it all.
[1:48] In Jesus' name, amen. Well, take your Bible and go with me, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 1. If you have an ink pen, there are two ladies about to offer two invitations.
[1:58] Two ladies about to offer two invitations, and there are two different invitations, two extreme invitations in Proverbs chapter 9.
[2:09] Look, if you would, at chapter 9 and verse 1. Wisdom has built her house. She has built her house. She's got everything ready in chapter 9, verses 1 through 3.
[2:24] She's built it all. She has killed the animals. She has got the drink ready. She's got the table set. She's got all the silverware and the plates and the saucers and the cups and the glasses are ready.
[2:41] And the table is spread. And she goes out into the highest parts and says, If you're willing to listen, if you're not a know-it-all, if you don't know everything, if you won't be so arrogant, if you'll just be simple, I want to invite you to a banquet.
[2:59] Look at verse 4. Whosoever is simple, let him turn in hither. For as for him that wants understanding, she said, come and eat. You want to know? You want to understand?
[3:10] Come in. I got a banquet set up for you. Come in. I got everything ready for you. Come. Come. I've done everything. All you need to do is receive this free gift. And so this person, wisdom, personification of an idea here, wisdom, she's got a whole banquet set up.
[3:28] She's got a house. It's big. It's enormous. Everything's ready. And she's inviting people. That's how the chapter starts. Now go down, if you would, with me to verse 13.
[3:39] And in verse 13, another woman steps forth. But this woman's not wisdom. This woman's foolish. Look, if you would, at verse 13. A foolish woman.
[3:51] A foolish woman is clamorous. She's simple and knows nothing. And she's offering people to come. So she comes out foolish.
[4:02] Now you know what? If you got a little bit of Bible knowledge, you know what a fool is. A fool is a person that says there's no God. A fool is a person that says, you know, I don't need to believe in God.
[4:13] I don't have to fear God. I don't have to respect God. I'm smarter than that. I know more than that. I understand life. I know what I'm doing. I don't need to fear God.
[4:25] And that is actually a fool. The fool says in her heart, there is no God. So you got one person on this one end of the story. And they're saying, hey, come. Come and you will be able to enjoy all that God's got prepared for you.
[4:40] And you can enjoy that. And the other person saying to you, don't do that. Come here. Go if you would down to verse 17. The foolish woman says, stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten and secret is pleasant.
[4:56] She said, boy, don't go over to wisdom. Wisdom, it's going to be like you got to honor God. And you got to serve God. And you got to believe there's a God. You got to believe there's a heaven.
[5:07] And you got to believe there's a hell. And you got to believe that you got to have to turn to him and trust him. And that's what you got to do over there. But come over here to my place. Come over here to my place. And we'll party.
[5:17] And we'll have a good time. And we'll do all that we want to do. Stolen water. We'll steal and kill and thrill. And we'll enjoy life. And we'll do that.
[5:28] And the wise man Solomon says in verse 18, but the guy that goes into the foolish woman doesn't understand that everybody goes in there is dead.
[5:39] Look at it. He says he knows not that the dead are there and her guests are in the depths of hell. They've died and buried, been buried in the place of lost people, of dead people, of people that don't know God.
[5:55] I would walk you through this in just a second. But I need you to understand we got a massive contrast. Here's the wise man talking to his son. And he's been talking to all this chapter, all this book.
[6:06] And he talks to his son. He said, now, son, you're going to step out in the world. There's going to be two invitations. When you step out there among the people and you start getting around people, you're going to get two invitations. One invitation is going to be to do the right thing and to believe God.
[6:21] The other invitation is going to be to not believe God and to be foolish and to die God and doubt God. And that's what that's going to call you to over here. So you're going to have a choice. I'll either believe or I won't.
[6:32] I'll respect God and I'll fear God or I won't fear God. I'll be a fool or I'll be wise. And wisdom's calling you to come to the party.
[6:44] Wisdom said, I got it all prepared for you. By the way, when you get the New Testament, that is all summed up in one verse. This whole proverb summed up in one verse.
[6:55] The Bible says the wages of sin is death. If you want to not believe in God and you want to come over here with the foolish, you want to come over here with the folly and you want to play the games and have the stolen waters and eat the sweet delights of sin and play around over here.
[7:13] You can, but you need to know that the dead live here. You need to know that people in hell live here. The wages of sin is death. If you sin against God, if you do the wrong thing, if you choose to not serve God, you need to understand you earn what you deserve.
[7:31] You get paid for what you did. You said, I choose sin over salvation. You said, I choose my life and my way over his life and his way.
[7:42] I choose this. Then you earn the wages of sin. The wages of sin, the wages of sin is our death.
[7:53] You're going to die. You're going to go to hell. But the gift of God's over here. The gift of God. See, wisdom said, hey, come on. Come. I got my house built. I got all the tables filled up.
[8:05] I got the food here. I've already killed all the animals. I got everything. Come on. Come on. Come over here and enjoy this and live. Come and live. Over here it says, come and live.
[8:16] Over there it says, come and play. There's no such thing as dying. There's no such thing as trouble. You don't have to believe any of that stuff. And you can live over here in the house of folly.
[8:28] But shh. This is where all the dead people live. This is where all the people that went to hell live. That's where they are. But over here is where people live. Go back with me if you would to chapter 9 and verse 1.
[8:41] He said, wisdom hath built her house. She hath hewn out seven pillars. She's got everything ready. In verse 4 she says, now you need to listen to this.
[8:53] She said, if you'll listen, come. That's what verse 4 means in Tennessee Hillbilly. Look at verse 4. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. If you, can I tell you why most people go to hell?
[9:06] Well, most people go to hell because they know too much. They know that more than God knows. And they know more than what the Bible says.
[9:17] They know more than what's right. See, they know. And they're over there going, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm too smart to believe that. I can't believe a man could die on a cross.
[9:27] And one man could die and everybody could be saved. I'm not going to believe that. I can't believe that the world was created in six days. That's just foolishness. I don't believe that. I'm over here partying.
[9:38] But the invitation was to the simple. Did you read the verse? It's to the simple. It's to the guy that goes, I don't know. I'm not sure here.
[9:50] I'd like to know, but I don't know. And that's what the verse says. Look at the verse. Look at the verse, if you would. It says, it says in verse 4. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. As for him that wants understanding.
[10:02] The guy who's saying, I don't know, but I'd like to know. I don't know, but I'd like to know. Well, you know what the guy over here is saying. He said, I don't care. I got my life.
[10:13] I got what I want to do. I'll accomplish my stuff. And I'll play around. Get your Bible. And go back over there with me if you would. Go back over down to verse 17. Stolen waters are sweet.
[10:24] Bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Let me just tell you. You come over here. We're going to have a party. By the way, this crowd over here is always talking about that crowd.
[10:35] This crowd over here is thinking they don't have any freedom. That crowd over there, they got to serve God. They got to believe in God. But over here, I am God. And I make decisions. And I do what I want to do.
[10:46] And it's up to me and my opinion. But the truth of the matter is those over there live because one died. And those over here die because they refuse the one who died.
[10:57] Go back in your Bible with me if you would. Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 6. I am begging you to listen. Verse 6 it says, forsake the foolish and live.
[11:15] And go in the way of understanding. You know what he's saying? Stop being a dingbat. Stop running around with the people that mock God.
[11:28] Stop running around with the people. You need to go, wait a minute, buddy. That don't make sense. Forsake it. See, you can't get saved as long as you want to hold on to believing there, isn't there, God?
[11:40] You can't get saved as long as you want to hold on to believing you're somebody. He said, forsake the foolish and live. So if you could just picture it with me, it's like you got this guy here in the middle.
[11:52] And there's two ladies offering an invitation. One is offering an invitation to the house of wisdom built. And another is offering an invitation. She's a foolish woman.
[12:03] She's a wicked woman. She's a prostitute. She's a lady of the night. She's calling you away from your wife. She's calling you away from holiness. But she says, come on over here.
[12:13] It's going to be fun. Don't do it. But while you're standing there, wisdom says, listen to me. Listen to me. Don't listen to foolishness.
[12:24] Don't listen to foolishness. It says, go in the way of understanding. There's understanding. You see, you don't really understand anything. Do you know who made you? You don't understand anything.
[12:36] Do you know what the purpose of your life is? You don't understand anything. Do you realize that the God of heaven loves you and wants to forgive every one of your sins and give you eternal life?
[12:47] And you'll live forever in his presence. And you don't understand anything. Do you know that? He said, forsake. Look at the verse. He said, forsake the foolish and live.
[12:58] I'm going to the way of understanding. Look at verse 7. Verse 7, he says, he reproves a scorner, gets to himself shame. All right, let me put that in Tennessee hillbilly for you.
[13:13] If you scold a mocker, somebody who makes fun of the things of God, he'll just embarrass you. So no need talking to him.
[13:25] You see, if he's simple and he's standing here, he could still choose to turn to Jesus. He could still turn to choose to wisdom and go to wisdom in the house that wisdom built.
[13:36] He could still be saved. He could still have new life. He could still, because he's simple. But if he's a mocker, he's standing back here going, I don't believe in that stuff of God. I don't believe in that.
[13:47] I'll live my life. I'll do it my own way. I'm a good person. Nobody's telling me anything. Who do you think I am? He's a mocker. Because the Bible said, for all of sinning comes short of the glory of God.
[14:00] The Bible said, for all of sinning, the mocker's going, they might have sinned, but I didn't sin. The mocker's back there mocking. He said, but if you scold a mocker, if you tell a mocker you need to get saved, the mocker will just be laughing in your face.
[14:15] He'll make fun of God. He'll make fun of the Bible. He'll do everything he can not to believe. Read the verse with me. Don't reprove a scorner, because he'll hate you.
[14:29] Excuse me, I'm verse far in. Seven. He that reproves a scorner gets to himself shame. And he that rebuketh a wicked man gets himself a blot.
[14:42] So now I've got another guy. You see, there's a simple man standing here, and I hope you're simple tonight. Hope you're willing to listen to what the Bible says. You can be saved.
[14:54] You can go over there. Simple, come on over and get understanding. But if you're a scorner, if you're a mocker, if you're the kind of guy that makes fun of things of God, you're just going to embarrass me for even trying to talk to you tonight.
[15:07] And if you're wicked, if you've already got a perverted and filthy and dirty heart that doesn't love God, you're just going to put a stain on me and it'll never go away.
[15:17] You're going to say all kinds of bad things about me. You're not going to like it because you made up your mind. No way he goes to hell. Because God sends them there.
[15:29] They go to hell because they choose not to believe that God loves them and Jesus died for them. No one goes to hell because God's a bad guy. They go to hell because they're bad. They go to hell because they won't believe.
[15:42] They go to hell because they won't respect God. They go to hell because they'd say there is no God and Jesus didn't really die and they're mocking. Go down if you would to verse 8. Let's say in verse 7 he said, He that reproves a scorner gets shamed.
[15:58] In verse 8 he said, Reprove not a scorner or he'll hate you. You see, this guy, he's a mocker. He gets up in the morning, I don't need that God stuff.
[16:09] I don't need Jesus. I don't need the Bible. I don't need none of that. You know who I am? I'm the man. That's how he talks. You say to him, Hey, if you died today, you know where you go?
[16:21] What are you doing to ask me a dumb question? I'll go to the funeral home. You think, man? He just laughs and mocks and he's ugly. And if you ever tell him he's not going to live, he'll hate you.
[16:40] You had no right to talk to me like that. You had no right to tell me I was a sinner. You have no right. You have no right. You have no right to tell me that. I'll do what I want to do.
[16:51] But then he gives you another guy in the same verse. Look at the verse right here by my head. He said, there's a wise guy. This wise guy, he's a guy that's like, you know, I'm moving out of simple and I'm moving into wise.
[17:04] See, wise means I'm heading that way. Wise means I'm starting to realize there really is a God. Amen. I'm starting to realize Jesus really did die on a cross for me. And the wise guy says, wow, I didn't really understand till now.
[17:20] I didn't understand. It was hard for me to accept the fact that I sinned. You see, the Bible says in Romans 3.10, as it is written, there's none righteous.
[17:31] I didn't get that. I never saw myself as that sinner. I never saw myself like that. But as it's written, there's none righteous. Not one.
[17:41] No, not one. I didn't realize for all have sinned. All have failed to God. All have done wrong. I never put that together with me. I never did.
[17:54] But I'm realizing that. I never realized that Jesus loves me and died on a cross for me. The Bible says in Romans chapter five and verse eight, but God commended, God proved, God showed his love toward us.
[18:14] Even while we were still sinning, while we were still doing wrong, he showed his love toward us, but God commended his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
[18:27] He didn't die for Christian people. He died for sinning people. He didn't die for strong people. He died for weak people. He didn't die for good people. He died for bad people.
[18:38] But he had to die for people who'd be willing to admit they were bad. See, because if you're not willing to admit that, you're still over in the wicked area and you're not in the wise area.
[18:51] Verse eight, reprove not a scorner or he'll hate you. But if you'll reprove a wise man, he'll love you. And then he says in verse nine, would you look at verse nine?
[19:07] He said, if you'll give instruction to a wise man, he'll get wiser. If you'll teach a just man, he'll increase in learning. Now you listen to me tonight.
[19:19] I don't know who you are, but I beg God to save you. You see, you can be the fool over here who thinks, well, this life is all that matters.
[19:37] That's party. Let's eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we'll die. You can think like that all you want. But this is where the dead people live. And you need to understand biblically, no one ever stops existing.
[19:58] Everybody lives somewhere forever. The bad people, Adolf Hitler is more alive today than he was in World War II.
[20:11] And Cain, who killed his brother Abel, is more alive today than he was when he killed his brother. But now he lives in a place of torment with a memory that knows everything God did for him, but he chose not to believe.
[20:31] He chose not to believe. So if you're going to stay foolish, it's where you're going. And you can mock it all you want. You can make fun of it all you want, but it's where you're headed.
[20:43] And over here, wisdom is calling you. Wisdom says, come here. I've got it all fixed. I've done all the sacrificing. I've got everything ready.
[20:55] I just want you to come get a free gift. But God commended his love. God showed his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The gift of God's eternal life, he gives it to you.
[21:07] When you trust Jesus, he gives it all to you. And so you stand here, and if you're not too far gone, if you're not too far gone, if you're not too far gone, you can listen and learn.
[21:29] Are you too far gone? If you're too far gone, you'll go to the foolish. But if you're not too far gone, you can learn. And the more you learn, the more you'll want to learn.
[21:41] And the wise will get wiser. And you can teach this just man, and he'll just keep on growing. The whole chapter is based around two invitations. One invitation to sin, one invitation to salvation.
[21:54] One invitation to die and burn in hell forever, and one invitation to enjoy the presence of God for all eternity. Go down to verse 10. Verse 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
[22:10] If you'll just say, I know there's a God, and I know Jesus died for me. If you'll just trust him, the rest of it will take care of itself.
[22:22] The fear of the Lord, respecting God, believing he is, believing he is who he said he is, that's where it all starts. And the knowledge of him, that's real understanding.
[22:33] I may be nearly 67 years old, and I've read a ton of books. I've had a lot of education. I've done a lot of travel, but that's not where understanding starts.
[22:44] Understanding starts with knowing the God of heaven. Verse 11, for by me, thy days shall be multiplied.
[22:56] If you'll just trust God and go to wisdom, he'll multiply your days, he'll increase your life. But I want you to look at verse 12.
[23:07] I want you all to pay attention to verse 12, because whatever decision you make, it's all on you. Whatever decision you make, it's all on you. If you're wise, be wise for yourself.
[23:19] If you're a mocker and a scorner, you'll bear it by yourself. Now listen to me, verse 12 is important, because you see, nobody can take you to the foolish house, and no one can take you to the wisdom house.
[23:33] You must decide. You'll either trust and accept, or you won't trust and you'll reject. But you, it's all on you.
[23:44] Not your mama, not your daddy, not your brother, not your sister, not the preacher, not the church. And you can blame anybody you want, say, I would trust God, but, no, no, no, no, it's all on you, buddy.
[23:55] It's all on you. You wake up in hell, it's all on you. Look at the verse. If you be wise, be wise for yourself. But if you're a scorner, it's still on you.
[24:08] It's on you. Trust or don't. It's on you. Now there's a foolish woman.
[24:22] She's clamorous. And so you'll know, this word clamorous means she makes a lot of noise. It means she makes a lot of noise.
[24:34] So she's over here. And to be honest with you, I mean, every commercial screams, come to sin with me. Let's drink together. Let's have sex together. Let's get a divorce together.
[24:45] Let's just do whatever we want to do. It's all about me. She's real loud. She's real loud. But can I tell you something about her? She may be loud, but she doesn't know anything. Look at the verse.
[24:57] She's loud. And she makes a lot of noise. But now she's really simple. She's a dingbat. She's over here saying, hey, we're not going to die. And they got her casket in the back room waiting on her to die.
[25:11] Because she's going to die. She's simple. And she knows nothing. Verse 14, she's calling everybody to come. And verse 15, she says, y'all come on.
[25:23] You just go by here. Come on. Verse 16, she says, if y'all will listen, come on in here. She says in verse 17, it's sweet and it's pleasant.
[25:34] But in verse 18, the wise man said, when you step in there, you don't know it, but you just walked into the funeral home. Look at it.
[25:45] He knows not that the dead are there. They've prettied that room up, haven't they? The music's going. The wine's flowing. They're making like everything's good.
[25:58] But you know who's there? A bunch of corpses. Dead, rotting corpses. That's what's there. And everybody who visits her, read it.
[26:12] Depths of hell. Depths of hell. I want you to know he loves you. The God of heaven loves you. He loves you.
[26:25] With all of his heart, he loves you. He loves you so much, he sent Jesus to a cross to die for you. He loves you. He doesn't want you to go to hell.
[26:36] He knows that you're being deceived by the foolish house over here. He's calling you to the house of wisdom. Will you have enough sense tonight to trust him?
[26:49] To simply accept the gift that he offers you? If you will, eternal life is yours. Young man stood here just a little bit ago, talked about how that was the greatest day of his life, the best feeling he ever had.
[27:04] It's yours. If you'll trust Jesus. And I ask you to do it right now. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Father in heaven, I ask you to work. God, I have begged you every day for a long time.
[27:18] And I'm asking you one more time. Please save. Oh God, save. Oh God, save.
[27:31] Convict. Convict. Let them see their sin. Let them see their failure. Let them know they need to trust you. God, let them be saved tonight.
[27:42] God, don't let them die and go to hell. God, don't. God, save them. God, save. God, please save. Oh God, you hear prayer.
[27:55] You answer prayer. I thank you because I do believe you'll convict and show. I just pray God they'll be willing to surrender to you. With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're here and you're not saved, I want you to know that Jesus loves you.
[28:11] The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. So God loved so much that he sent Jesus to die on a cross so that everybody could be saved.
[28:24] If you're not saved tonight, I don't want to call on you to be saved. I ask you to trust Jesus. Would there be anybody tonight? Say, I'm not sure I'm saved. I'm not sure I go to heaven, but I wish somebody pray for me.
[28:35] I wish somebody talk to me. Would there be anybody in this room? Just hold your hand up. You may be listening online. I ask you to trust Christ right now. Anybody in this room would say, I want to be saved. I want to know Jesus. Would there be anybody?
[28:47] Would there be anybody? You could talk to somebody here that invited you, that loves you. They'll share the gospel with you. Gospel means good news. It's only good news if it gets to you in time, but it got there tonight.
[29:02] The Lord's given it to you again. Would you trust Christ as your savior? Father in heaven, I beg you to work. I beg you to save.
[29:13] I beg you to change lives. With his bowed and eyes closed, we're going to sing. And whenever you're finished praying, you can stand and sing. But I'm begging you to trust Christ tonight.
[29:24] Turn to the person beside you and say, I'm ready to trust Jesus as my savior. And I promise you, God will change you. Would you do that right now?