Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 1:20-33 (Wisdom Laughs Last) (Part 4)

Who laughs last laughs best. I am reminded how a particular aristocratic, noble woman in England who despised Winston Churchill once addressed him when she served tea to him in public. She said, sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your tea. And everybody, of course, laughed because this was an expression of her contempt for him, to which Winston Churchill very aptly responded, lady, if I were your husband, I would drink it. He who laughs last laughs best. I'd like you to turn in the word of God this morning to Proverbs, the first chapter, where we begin our reading at the 20th verse, and consider the subject, Wisdom Laughs last, Proverbs, chapter 1, verses 20. To the end of the chapter. Hear now God's word. Wisdom crieth aloud in the street. She uttereth her voice in the broad places. She crieth in the chief place of concourse at the entrance of the gates in the city. She uttereth her words, how long, ye simpletons, will ye love simplicity and scoffers? Delight them in scoffing and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my rebuke. Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you. I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called and ye have refused. I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded. But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh in the day of your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as a storm and your calamity cometh as a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you, then will they call upon me. But I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of Jehovah. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices, for the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely and shall be quiet without fear of evil. And thus far the reading of God's word. Wisdom is now personified for us in the Book of Proverbs. Wisdom comes to us not simply as an attribute or a characteristic. Wisdom comes to us as a person. Wisdom comes in the form of a female person, a woman. Dame Wisdom, we might call her. And Wisdom is crying out in the streets three times in the book of Proverbs. We will find Wisdom personified in this way openly crying out to men. We see it here in Proverbs 1:20. Wisdom cries aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the marketplace. And in chapter 8, verses 1, 2, and 3, wisdom is seen in the same light. Doth not Wisdom cry, and understanding, put forth her voice on the top of high places, by the way where the paths meet. She standeth beside the gates at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud. And then also in chapter nine, verse three, she hath sent forth her maiden. She crieth upon the highest places of the city. Wisdom is portrayed throughout this book, then is constantly beckoning to men, beseeching men, pleading with men to hear her overtures. Wisdom offers counsel and advice and discretion to men, and she begs that they would hear. I want you to notice that her overtures are made publicly. They're made in the marketplace, they're made in the streets. They're made at the gates and at the entrance to one's home. Quite in contrast to the secretiveness of the invitations of thieves that we saw last week. The want to lurk in dark places are quite in contrast to the COVID propositions of prostitutes who don't want to come right out and say that they are prostitutes, but make their invitations secretly to those who pass along the way. Wisdom is not like that, because truth and purity and Wisdom have nothing to hide. Wisdom declares openly her wares. Wisdom says, this is what I would say. Let everyone hear it. I can't help but remember those telling words in John, the third chapter, where the apostle John reminds us at the 19th verse, and this is the judgment that the light is come into the world. And men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God. There's enough of a message here that, frankly, we could take a month just to talk about this. Why is it that we sometimes are inclined to keep from others the thoughts of our minds, our motivations? Why do we want to keep from others the reason for what we are doing, or keep from them what we are doing? Can you imagine a situation apart from maybe a surprise birthday party? Can you imagine a situation in life where there is any good reason to hide from others what we are doing or what we are about or how we are feeling or thinking, unless what we are doing is impure unless what we are doing is morally shameful to us. Why is it that those who have evil motivation, those who are not walking in the ways of the Lord, those who are not proposing righteousness need to keep their invitations somewhat secretive. But those who walk in the truth and those who have pure conscience are willing to come to the light. John tells us that sinners will not come to the light lest their deeds be reproved. I've had a number of occasions in my life, both individually as a Christian and individually as a pastor, but also as our session. We've had some occasions where people have said they don't want to tell us what their reason for doing something is. They don't want to let this be known, but they want to insist, and this is not just people speaking to the session, but also in private council, that they insist, there's nothing to worry about, that it's all very righteous and good. Well, you need to understand that that is almost 99% indictment of yourself, that you will declare for yourself your innocence, but don't want anybody else to have to make that judgment. You don't want anyone else to know what's going on or why you're doing this. You would like to conceal from others your behavior, the reason for your behavior, what you're thinking. The book of Proverbs makes it clear that those who walk in wisdom have nothing to hide. Wisdom speaks in the marketplace. Wisdom says, this is what I'm thinking. This is why I say what I do. We need to remember this. Men love darkness because their deeds are evil. Wisdom is not evil. Wisdom is open for all to see and hear. And not only does this have a moral lesson for us, this is a very important religious and philosophical lesson. Those of you who are students of the history of philosophy, and in particular students of the history of ancient philosophy and religion, will remember, especially in the ancient and medieval worlds, the long tradition of Gnosticism and esoteric wisdom. Esoteric wisdom, by the way, the very word esoteric means for the insiders, over against exoteric, those who are on the outside. Esoteric teaching are for the initiates, those who have been screened, those who have gone through their initiation process, those who have been accepted into the secret inside group. Then there are these little tidbits of wisdom for them. These are not things that can be tested openly. These are not things that are to be declared out in the light. They are for the club. There's this club mentality in a great deal the world religions that tell us that the wisdom that is being proclaimed by them can only be known by the insiders. Others can't even discuss it. Others couldn't be counted on to understand or to see the point. But wisdom in the biblical outlook, wisdom in terms of our Christian religion is something that we can promote in the marketplace. Wisdom is something we can take to men and declare it in the streets. Granted, fools will not see it, but it's not because we've kept it a secret. It's because fools have a heart and a mind that is bent against God and against godliness. But the wisdom the Bible would have us portray is not a secret. Not only should we not have secrets hiding up our evil motives and our evil thoughts and our evil behavior, but the Bible presents to us a religion of openness. Wisdom declares what she would say before all that. This is not Gnostic. This is not somehow for the elite. It's for everyone. Another point should be made here, I think, and that's that wisdom speaks to men not simply in the privacy of their homes or in the seclusion of their churches. Where is wisdom speaking? You know, we would expect in our day and age, if we were to listen to our culture define for us the limits of religion. Wisdom would be speaking at church. Wisdom would come and stand behind a pulpit and talk to people who want to hear this. Wisdom would talk about private matters, about our devotion to God, about prayer, reading the Bible, maybe about evangelism. But wisdom wouldn't be out there in the gutter. Wisdom wouldn't be out there in the slimy marketplace. Wisdom wouldn't have anything to say about economics and politics and about public affairs. But you see, biblical religion is not only a religion of openness. It's a religion that deals with everything in the open, and it deals with everything. Wisdom goes to the marketplace and sees the irreligion of men in the marketplace and in the streets and in the high places and in their homes. Wisdom says, you show your foolishness and I give you a rebuke turn. And not simply come to church, not simply privatize your devotion to God, but start showing wisdom in the way you behave out in the world. This is a remarkable thing, isn't it, that so much could be found in this openness of wisdom. It's crucial. One other point can be made as well, and that's that wisdom calls them in from outside. If we were to rewrite this passage and do it in the style of liberal Christian theology, if we were to do it in the style of Hindu theology, if we were to do it in the style of any other theology geared to humanistic aspirations and presuppositions. Wisdom would not call from outside. Wisdom would beckon from inside man. Because man inherently has the spark of divinity. Man has goodness within him. Man does not listen to something outside. But man must cultivate and develop that inner goodness that is there. He simply needs to grow up in his religious devotion. But the Bible is exactly right. Wisdom comes to us from outside ourselves. It's not something that we can develop from within. It's received, to put it very simply, by the grace of God. It's the gift of God. He offers wisdom to us. Look at Proverbs 2, 6. For Jehovah giveth wisdom. That's the point. Wisdom calls to us. God is beckoning. God is offering this gift of insight and wisdom. And what the Old Testament says about the word of God as a creative force, the word of God is a controlling force in the world. What the Old Testament says about the personification of wisdom is found in the New Testament, applied to the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. One thinks of John 1. 1. Of course, in the beginning was the word. Jesus is the very expression of God's mind. We read in 1st Corinthians 1:30 that Christ is made unto us. Wisdom from God. Who is it that's speaking here in Proverbs 1? Who is this personified wisdom beckoning to men to receive by grace the understanding that God gives? It's Jesus Christ. Ultimately, it's the second person of the Trinity calling out in the streets. Now, that may surprise us because wisdom is personified in female terms here. But that oughtn't to bother us. This is figurative language. This is not declaring some theological point, although many modern commentaries have taken opportunity to say the woman's liberation movement appears to be right. But that's just so much nonsense. What we have here is a personification. Wisdom is a feminine noun in Hebrew, by the way. It's personified in the feminine for that reason, if nothing else. But the point is, there's a person here, a person offering wisdom. It is God. It is the second person of the Trinity, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And to whom does wisdom speak? Verse 22. How long you simpletons and scoffers and fools. We have nothing less but a summary of the fool's gallery. Again, the three kinds of fools are mentioned here in these rhetorical questions. First, simpletons. Who's the simpleton? The simpleton is the person who is naive and ignorant, too lazy to learn. And one becomes the simpleton with no effort, just sit around and vegetate and you will be a simpleton in the eyes of the Bible. You don't have to apply yourself. This isn't an accomplishment. It's something that just comes to you by default. How long, you naive simpletons, will you love your simplicity? And then secondly, scorners are mockers, scoffers. How long, you scoffers, will you delight in scoffing? The scorners are those who mock maliciously, who take willful effort to rise up and say those things which show an inner emptiness and a perverse way. They mock, they scorn, they scoff. And then finally we have mention of, in my translation, the fool, actually the Hebrew word for fool, as a troublesome person, an arrogant troubler of men, those who are disrespectful, foul mouthed, untrustworthy and intent on causing problems. You've probably known people like that. You hate to have them around at a party because they just look for trouble. They look for the bad thing to say and the wrong thing to do. And notice what wisdom says then. These are rhetorical questions. You simpletons, how long will you love simplicity? You scoffers, how long will you delight in scoffing, you fools, how long will you hate knowledge? The things which fools do are not random, they are not haphazard. We like to believe in our modern outlook on man, that when men do bad things it must be contrary to their character. It's an accident. We all make mistakes here and there. You know, to err is human, right? Well, it's not just that. We have a basically good person who then does a foolish thing here and says, oh well, kind of jumps back from the fire. I don't want to get burned by that again. No. Wisdom says, how long will you continue in this, you fools, you love your folly. You scoffers, you love to mock. You simpletons, you love your simplicity. How long will you continue with that character? These things, you see, the way fools live, are characteristic. They love their folly. And so in verse 23, wisdom offers help. Wisdom offers three things here, and they're all good gifts, although I think we will not see it at first. Wisdom says, I offer you rebuke. Isn't that great? I offer you as well, my heart, translated by most of your Bibles as spirit. And wisdom offers my thought, which isn't far from what you'll have in your translation, my words. Wisdom says, receive my rebuke, receive my heart, receive my thought. These are promised to those who are willing to abandon what they love so much, their simplicity, their mocking and their folly. But look at that first one. Wisdom offers a rebuke. Wisdom says, here, I have a rebuke for you. Take this. One kind of thinks for a moment of the aftershave commercial. You know, where a guy gets slapped around and says, thanks, I needed that. Wisdom says, you need to be slapped around a bit. You need to be rebuked. And this is good. This is gracious. This is a gift for you. Are you convinced? How would you all like to be rebuked today? Criticism is hard to take, isn't it? We don't like to be criticized. And very few people that I know have learned to respond to criticism with ease. Because, you see, criticism seems so ego damaging. But wisdom cries out to men, receive my rebuke. I offer you reproof. This is what you need, Fools. Take it. Thank me for this. Say we needed that. But we don't. The Bible says you simply cannot become wise, however, until you lower your defensiveness, until you open yourself up to hear the hard counsel of others. How many here would you like to stand up and say that? My testimony today is I want to be criticized. I love it when people come and show me the right way. I want people to show me that I'm going in the wrong paths. Yes, it is my testimony that I have learned the need to hear from others. None of us would stand up and say that. We don't. I'll tell you, it's the end of the world when somebody criticizes us, isn't it? We stew and we fret about that sort of thing. We can't get it out of our minds. It bothers us. It alienates social friendships. We don't want to go to churches where there's criticism. Well, we've seen that plenty of times. Criticism's hard to take. And the book of Proverbs says, you're a fool if you don't take it. How often does Proverbs say this? We have to look at a number of passages. Proverbs 12. One whoso loveth, correction, loveth knowledge. But he that hateth reproof is stupid. Now, the word stupid, of course, can be used as a nasty way of putting somebody down. Just a term of derision. It's not used that way here. Stupid in the literal sense of brutish, insensitive, unable to receive instruction. Senseless stupid. Rebuke a child. See? A bad attitude. We need to tell your children when they show that attitude, that a person who hates reproof is Stupid. It is stupid and senseless to not want to hear about your mistakes. Proverbs 12:15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But he that is wise hearkens unto counsel. For there's one you could read every day of your life and not have read it too much. The fool says, I'm right. There must be some reason why I'm right, and there's some defense for anything that I've said or done. But the wise man is the one who hearkens unto counsel. When somebody comes and says, look, I need to give you some advice, friend, he says, I want to hear it. I'm not automatically right in my own eyes. Look at Proverbs 15:31,32. The ear that hearkeneth to the reproof of life shall abide among the wise. He that refuseth correction despises his own soul. But he that hearkeneth to reproof getth understanding. The stupid person who does not want to hear a rebuke or counsel hates himself. And there is so much psychological wisdom in that. You need to stop and think about that. I don't have time to draw out all the applications of that right now, but just think about this. Why is it we don't want to be reproved? One of the reasons is that we're embarrassed about what we're being reproved about. We too don't like what we see in ourselves, and the thing is to keep it a secret. And when somebody else gets onto the fact that I need to be reproved for this, and that person comes and I reject that, I just show that I hate myself even more. I hate my life. Because to not hear a reproof and to correct myself is to go in a wayward fashion toward destruction, as the Bible tells us. Look at Proverbs 17:10. A rebuke entereth deeper into one that hath understanding than a hundred stripes into a fool. You take a man who is wise and understanding, a humble, godly, patient, progressively sanctified man, and you go and say one word of reproof to that person, and it will enter in much deeper than taking and beating him a hundred times if he's a fool. You can hit a fool a hundred times before you finally get the point. But a wise person openly receives rebuke and says, yes, I need to think about that. I need to do something about that. Proverbs 19:20. Hear counsel and receive instruction. Lest thou mayest be wise, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. The Bible calls on us to be people who are teachable and open, one has to remember that. Proverb 17:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend. When a friend comes to you and wounds you, if he's truly if she's truly a friend, those wounds are faithful. They're good for you. They are healthy for you. You need to receive them. It's interesting to me how often Proverbs distinguishes between wise men and fools on just that point of whether they will respond to rebuke in the proper way. If you go back to Proverbs 9:7:8, you'll see that here's the telling point as to whether you're a wise person. Proverbs 9:7 he that correcteth the scoffer getteth to himself, reviling he that reproveth a wicked man getteth himself a blot, reprove not a scoffer. Lest he hate thee, reprove a wise man, and he will love thee. You see the difference? You go to a fool and reprove him, he'll hate you. He'll get even with you. He'll retaliate. He'll say something back. He'll talk behind your back. You speak to a fool, and what you're going to get is a blot upon your name. But you go to a wise person and say, look, I really think you need to see how you've gone wrong here. And he'll love you for it. He'll say, thank you, I needed that. Look at Proverbs 13:1. A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer hears not a rebuke. Proverbs 15:12. A scoffer loves not to be reproved. He will not go unto the wise scoffers when they get around wise men who tell them how they should live, or around wise men whose behavior in itself or attitude show, by contrast, how wrong they are. They won't go around wise men because they love not to be reproved. Wise men love reproof scoffers hate it. This is the persistent message of the book of Proverbs. Those who will not receive a reproof do so to their own hurt. Proverbs 15:10 There is grievous correction for him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. Proverbs 15:32. He that refuseth correction despiseth his own soul but he that hearkeneth to reproof getteth understanding. And so let's go back to Proverbs 1 and understand then, that criticism is Hard to take, but wisdom says, I offer this to you as a gift. Receive my rebuke. Hear my counsel. Let me correct your way. It will be good for you. It's a sign of God's graciousness that he rebukes us. Can you forget the message of Hebrews 12? How do we know that God loves us? Because he chasteneth us. He does this as a father to his son. God doesn't let us wander in paths of foolishness. And then, just like some kind of senile old grandfather in the sky, say, oh, well, children will be children and let us go. God seeks us out. God pulls us back. God gives us a good whack when we need it. And he says, it's because I love you. You know who doesn't chastise his children? It's the father who hates his son. You know who doesn't receive a chastisement from his father? It's the bastard. According to the Bible, it's the one who doesn't really have a father who cares for him. And God is our heavenly Father. Says, I love you. Receive my rebuke. You need it. Let me correct you. Listen to me. Don't be a fool. Now, what are some foolish alternatives to accepting a rebuke? Whether it comes from the pulpit or from pastoral counseling or from a friend or perhaps your boss. I mean, there are a lot of sources of wisdom and correction in our lives. And when we don't receive it, seems to me we have some foolish alternatives that we follow. One, I've seen this often, by the way. I practice all these myself, so I'm speaking as an expert. One is to be silent and try to ignore it. It's amazing. Sometimes you'll say something to somebody you know, and it's almost like they didn't hear you. And that's their way of dealing with adversity. Instead of responding to it, they just kind of overlook it, ignore it. Or here's a good one. I guess we could all think about this. We could pout when somebody comes and says, you know, you've gone wrong here. Pouting is such a great way to. I mean, husbands and wives practice this so well, don't they? Cold War in the family. Pouting because someone said what you needed to hear. Really? And then, of course, there's rationalization. Isn't that sad when you rebuke somebody and their response is to try to make an excuse. Now, don't get me wrong. Sometimes when we go to a brother, we do need to hear what he has to say, because we haven't understood the circumstances of his behavior, we've judged his heart when we didn't have evidence to do that. I'm not saying that everyone who offers a rebuke in this fallen, fallible world is right. But when we are right, it's a very sad thing. So often our tendency is to say, I must be right. There must be some good reason for why I did this. Instead of saying, well, I needed to hear this rebuke. I need to get straight about this. Another way in which we foolishly respond is by repudiation. We just openly deny it. It's not true. I don't need to be taught. I don't need to hear you and the one that is so sad. All of these are sad. But this especially, you see, works such destruction in the Christian community, retaliation. I think this is one of the most common ways. When someone rebukes or has something to say of a critical nature to you, then you say, I'll get even. I'll talk to others about you. Or even if you aren't so malicious as to talk to others about that, what you want to say to that person is, well, who do you think you are? And after all, you've done this wrong. And your attitude's not so good either. That has nothing to do with what they are saying to you. However, if you were a wise person, you would say, I'll do what the Bible says in the proper time to deal with their sins when they come to me about mine. That's the subject for discussion. It's not a matter, well, let's see whose bucket of sin is fuller. And if yours is fuller, you have no right to speak to me. The fact is, you've got something in the bucket and it needs to be dealt with. And then finally, anger is a way in which fools respond to rebuke. Wisdom calls out, though wisdom calls upon fools to abandon their foolishness at the hearing of her rebuke. Of course, if they do that, they show by that response that they've given up their foolishness. That in fact they are wise. Because it's the wise man who wants to hear the counsel, the rebuke and reproof of wisdom. In our text, the story continues, and it's a sad one. It's a very old story, but it's a sad old story. Wisdom is spurned. Look at verses 24 and 5. Because I have called and you have refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded, but ye have set at nought all my counsel and with none of my reproof in verses 29 and 30. For they that hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. I mean, far, far, far more often in the history of human relations has that been the outcome than the other. It's the old story. Humans are loathe to take their medicine. They don't want to recognize there's something wrong with themselves. Indeed, to listen to wisdom, to submit to the fear of the Lord, to be a person who takes a rebuke and changes his or her way, to walk in paths of righteousness, is to place yourself in a very small minority, isn't it? And it's not just that it's a small minority. It's a minority that's ignored or ridiculed. We don't like that. We don't want to be mocked as somehow stodgy and uptight people that correct our ways. Because wisdom says, don't be lazy, don't be lecherous, don't tell lies, don't be proud. We would like to live as the world would live. And so men don't respond favorably to the overtures of Wisdom. They ignore Wisdom and they cancel all her intended corrections. They would have nothing to do with me, Wisdom says, and that attitude shows that there's inside them a despising of knowledge. Real fools, they hate knowledge, and they personally fail to live in the fear of the Lord. And what's the outcome of this? This is the point of this morning's message. When wisdom calls to you, when wisdom through the second Person of the Trinity, when the Son of God speaks and beckons you to change your way, when he, through your friends or your pastor or your employer, whoever it may be, would have you corrected. And you say, I'll have nothing to do with this. When I don't want to hear wisdom, when we will not respond to the overtures that God gives us, what does wisdom do? The modern world doesn't want to hear this. My guess is you don't want to hear this. It hurts me to tell you this. God will laugh at you. It says right here in verse 26, I will laugh in the day of your calamity. I will mock you. When your fear comes upon you, when your fear comes as a storm and calamity comes as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, I will laugh. After all, fools have been laughing at purity. Fools have been laughing at sound reproof. Fools have been laughing at Wisdom. And now God's holy and infallible word informs us, now Wisdom will laugh at the fools, as he who laughs last laughs best. This kind of shocks us. We don't think of God as laughing at people, but the Bible presents God as a laughing God, not as a carefree God, not as a joking God, not laughing in that vein at all, but laughing in derision. Look at Psalm 37:13. Psalm 37:13. The context, verse 12. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. And the Lord will laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. God, in seeing the outcome of wickedness, will laugh in derision at those who refuse to Turn or Psalm 59:8 but thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them. Thou wilt have all the nations in derision. When men singly are men corporately, when men by themselves or in groups reject the word of God, when they reject the counsel of God and walk in disobedient, unrighteous ways, God pleads with them. God works patiently with them. God calls on them to turn to him. But the day will come when God will finally turn against them, and in derision laugh and say, then you will bear the consequences. You would have nothing to do with me. And the day has now come when I will give you the desire of your heart and have nothing to do with you. And this is a dreadful message, one that we need to take very seriously to heart. God stops working with us. The consequences of despising wisdom are now detailed in generalizations. To be sure, and please don't be a fool and read this saying. Oh, but I know an exception to this rule. This didn't happen in this particular case. Wisdom is speaking about the general course of life, what you can usually count on. Overall, the way of life works this way. Fools come to calamity. Those who refuse the rebukes of wisdom will lead stormy lives. Verse 27 when your fear comes as a storm and your calamity comes as a whirlwind, distress and anguish will come upon you. You live as a fool and despise the rebukes of wisdom, and you can expect a stormy life. Some of you have had some pretty stormy lives lately, haven't you? You know in the privacy of your own heart or in your own home how bad things can get. You've lived as fools if you haven't heard the rebuke God wanted you to have. And that stormy life is exactly what God says you should Expect when you reject him. And each calm spell in the fool's life is shattered by news of what? Yet another disaster. You've known people like that, haven't you? Maybe you've known yourselves. You go from disaster to disaster to disaster. Verse 28 indicates that at long last fools will be broken down by their calamity, and they'll call out for wisdom. Verse 28. Then will they call upon me. Then will they call upon me. Finally, shattered by all of the storms of life, the fool will look up to God and say, I need help. And this is chilling, because God's word says, and in that day I will not hear. Then will they call upon me. But I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me. Wisdom's invitation has been withdrawn, and the opportunity for learning, the opportunity for changing has passed by. This tells us, my friends, that fools sometimes reach a point of no return, that fools develop such patterns and habits of thought which do not see the fear of the Lord, that they irreversibly head for destruction. And even as they are on their way over the cliff, as it were, they'll call out for help, and God will say, it's too late. There will be no opportunity. You see, at some point in your life, there will be no opportunity to develop the skills of prudent and godly behavior. And then it will be too late to prevent disaster. Now, how long does that have to be for you? How long will it take for you to change your attitudes? How long will it take for you to turn from your waywardness? You've been toying with sin here and toying with sin there and saying, well, this immature spiritual attitude can be dealt with. Eventually you're wrong. Wisdom calls out and rebukes you. And Wisdom says, if you will not hear, if you will not get serious about following me, the day will come when I will say no more. The invitation's withdrawn. You may seek anywhere you want, but you will not become a wise person. Your foolishness will have become part of your character indelibly. Proverbs 29, verse 1. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. And so you hear constantly the call of God. You hear constantly the rebukes of Scripture. You know in so many ways how your life must change, but you put it off and you put it off and you put it off. And all I can tell you, my friends, I don't know when God will do this for you. I don't know at what point you will have crossed the line. But I warn you, you will cross the line and God will say, no more. Be a fool. Constant refusal to learn wisdom hardens you. And here it is true. He who hesitates is lost. Don't hesitate today. You know. Look to God, the privacy of your own heart, but in honesty of character, and say, God, I need to be reproved. I'm a wayward child and I need to be spanked. I need to be chastised. I need to be counseled and directed and put in the right way. Don't let me go. Don't let me wander anymore. Don't allow me to be complacent in my sin and disobedience. Turn me, God. Turn me today. Don't hesitate. Don't wait till Monday morning. Don't wait until next week or until you finally put certain things in place in your life. This day I call on you to turn to God to confess your foolishness, to humble yourself and say, God, I need the grace of your wisdom to fill me. I need your spirit poured out upon me. My friends, don't be deceived. God isn't mocked. As Galatians tells us, what a man sows, he shall reap. And so we read in verse 31, therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. Whatever a fool sows, he shall also reap, and he will eat it to the full. The foolishness of men has its harvest, but it's a harvest of brambles, a harvest of noxious weeds. And the Bible says fools will stuff themselves with their own poison. The consequences of disobedience to God, God cannot be avoided. You mustn't think that in the vast number of people who have lived on this globe in the vast number of years in which human life has gone forward, that somehow God loses track of a marble here or there, that God doesn't keep up with everyone's life, and that maybe, just maybe, you'll fall through the cracks. Maybe you can live like a fool and not stuff yourself with the foolishness and its consequences. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, and God will see to it that all men receive their pay. The day is coming when your foolishness will be rewarded with the fruits of foolishness. Verse 33 says, however, those who hearken unto me shall dwell securely and shall be quiet without fear of evil. Boy, what a great message for people living in the 20th century. Look at these things. They're so highly valued today. Security, safety, freedom, from fear. That's a booming business, the security business in our. In our world, right, we ignite watchmen and we train guard dogs. And there are alarm systems you can put in your home and sophisticated locks developed for everything from bank vaults to hubcaps. Boy, we want security in our day. And wisdom says the only real path to security, the only real source of safety, so that you can have an inner calm that says, I'm afraid of nothing. What can man do to me since I'm right with God? The only true source of that security comes from hearkening to God's word. Well, wisdom doesn't stop beckoning. Wisdom is working in every culture, in every age, with all men. Wisdom is today beckoning out in the marketplaces of Placentia and in the streets of Orange County. Wisdom is calling out for you to start living a godly life, to submit and receive by God's grace, His wisdom and direction for your life in all of its aspects. Now, would you laugh at what I've said today? Would you mock at the idea of changing your life and hearing a rebuke? Remember, he who laughs last laughs best. Let's pray. God, please don't laugh at us today. Indeed, we are in fear and trembling at the prospect that you should get to the point that in derision for our hard heartedness, that you would now laugh at our calamity. Oh, God, you're our only hope in calamity. You're our only safety in the midst of the storm. And so we pray that you would allow the storms and disasters of our lives to pass and that that you might put us into the sunshine of your love, the security of knowing that you care for us and that you will treat us as children who are willing to hear their Father's rebuke. Children who do need to be chastened, corrected and set in the right way. Lord, we want that. And we confess this morning. We don't simply want it in general, in the privacy of this particular prayer. Prayer. But Lord, we would open ourselves to your agents and messengers. We would listen to wisdom as it comes to us very specifically from others. Make us people who are not so defensive. Help us to open ourselves up to hear correction, to hear wise counsel, and to receive even the wounds of a friend. Make us a teachable people. Take away the hard heartedness that is in us, that's in so many of us. Give us hearts of flesh that are able to respond to youo Word, are sensitive to youo Word, and are willing to do youo bidding. Drive the foolishness out of us this day, so that we might be able to rejoice in the wisdom that yout Son has for us and not know the utter dread of a final day when we wisdom is left laughing. For we pray in the blessed name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our only hope in life and in death. Amen.