Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Okay, once again, thank you for being here. Let's turn in our Bible to the book of Proverbs.
[00:00:09] Last week, we started our major theme on the subject of the simple man, and we will continue that this morning.
[00:00:21] And so we'll do a little bit of review be before we get into our main lesson. We'll start in Proverbs chapter 14.
[00:00:34] Proverbs 14.
[00:00:40] Just a little bit of review.
[00:00:46] So who can give me a good definition that we looked at from several verses that describe what it means to be a simple man? There are many descriptions of men and women in Proverbs. In fact, there's an actual book written called The Men and Women of Proverbs, and it discusses the simple, the wicked, the strange woman, the woman of wisdom, those kinds of things, the virtuous woman. And that's an interesting study. In fact, we're doing some of that. But when we're looking at the simple last week and this week, hopefully we'll finish up the simple today, who can give me a good definition of what the simple man is?
[00:01:26] Anybody want to try? Yes, sir.
[00:01:30] Sheepishly raising your hand?
[00:01:33] Go ahead.
[00:01:36] Exactly.
[00:01:38] The simple is the biblical terminology for what would be not being naive. But it's not just naive, as we'll see in just a minute. It includes that, but it's really the idea of naive indicates that you don't know something, but maybe you haven't had the opportunity or experience to know that thing, whereas the simple man is a little more complex than that. It includes naivete, but it also includes other causes why we wouldn't have knowledge, because it's not just experience. Now, what other class of people is described as simple? There was a specific class of people that we talked about that was described as simple.
[00:02:21] Anybody remember? Yes, ma'am. Children, the term in Proverbs is the young man. Of course, it applies to women as well.
[00:02:31] And the reason that the young man is simple is just simply because he hasn't had experience to learn the things that can give him wisdom. So the young man is described as simple in chapter one, verse four, and in chapter seven, verse seven.
[00:02:51] All right. Then we also looked at Proverbs 14, verse 15, which we are right there. It says, the simple believeth every word. But the prudent man looketh well to his going, referring to his naivete. That is, he believes what he hears without skepticism, because he hasn't learned the pain of believing things that are wrong and going along with things that are actually harmful.
[00:03:16] All right, we talked about the wise man. In Proverbs 22, the Bible describes the wise man considers the path of his feet, but the simple man does not do that.
[00:03:31] He considers the path of his feet. The simple man does not do that. And as a result, he does not understand. He lacks knowledge to understand that the path that he is currently walking, what its endpoint looks like what the result of that might be.
[00:03:50] In fact, I saw a news article not too long ago where a man was actually it was the widow. If I'm not mistaken, the widow of a man was suing Google Maps because the man was following Google Maps, and it led him to a bridge that actually had been demolished. And he was killed because apparently, he was driving with his eyes closed. But no, I don't mean to mock that kind of thing. It might have been at night or whatever, but the point being is he was on a path that he did not know. He was ignorant to it, and as a result, there was great danger. He had no idea because he had never been down that path before.
[00:04:38] And there's all kind of spiritual applications to that, right? Just because you've not been down a path before doesn't mean that you have to crash and burn. Because I'm sure on that where that bridge was out, there were signs alerting people to danger, right? And that's why God has given us his word. Because even though we don't have experience in a certain matter, doesn't mean that we have to just rush headlong into it that he gives us warning beforehand. The question is whether the simple man will take heed to the warning.
[00:05:13] That's the question. Because all of a sudden, in that case, I'm getting ahead of myself. All of a sudden, you're driving down the road, bridge is out, you see the sign. You don't have experience. You've never been down this road before, necessarily, but you see the sign.
[00:05:28] And the man who heeds the warning from the sign is the man who is all of a sudden goes from being a simple man to a wise man. You know what, he didn't have to crash to figure it out.
[00:05:41] That is the lesson of the simple man that I just gave you. So if we can just close in prayer and have some coffee until church service. No, just kidding.
[00:05:53] All right.
[00:05:54] We also saw how there's a simple being simple is our natural state. We come into the world we come into the world possessing nothing, including wisdom, not just clothing, not just riches, including wisdom. We come into the world like that. And so we come into the world as a young man that is simple.
[00:06:13] The question is whether we will love that state or whether we will seek to be delivered from that state. So what we want to look at now just on the tail end of that is Proverbs 14, verse number 18. Notice what it says. And this is the warning that I was trying to give you last time as we finished.
[00:06:33] It says the simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
[00:06:43] See, that the simple inherit folly. You know, the word inherit in the Bible is a very oft used word, the simple inherit folly. It just simply means he possesses it that's one inheritance. It's a possession, okay? Whether it's something material like a house or whether it's something immaterial like a certain morality and ethic. In this case, it's referring to an ethic. The simple one who is ignorant inherits folly. In other words, left to himself, left to himself, without any warning, without any intervention, a simple man will rush headlong into folly. Now, why last week we talked about that. Why anybody want to take a stab? Who remembers? Why is that the case?
[00:07:36] Going once, going twice, free will, I guess, related to that. Anybody else have a stab?
[00:07:48] It's our nature.
[00:07:50] It's our nature. In other words, if we're just left to ourself, we're simple, we don't know any better, we're ignorant, and we just continue going down going down the path we're going down. We'll have an inheritance, all right, but it'll be folly and all the associated pain that comes with folly. That's what's interesting. The simple inherit folly.
[00:08:13] It is the natural state that we have, and it is a state of great peril because, as I said, you don't have to do anything and this applies in other ways, too, but you don't have to do anything special to meet with pain and suffering as a result of not of being ignorant or being naive. You don't have to do anything special. You just have to live normal life. And that's what will happen.
[00:08:43] Because it's our nature. Remember, we all have a downward bend in our nature.
[00:08:49] It's a downward bend.
[00:08:51] We have a magnetic you could say a morally magnetic attraction to sin.
[00:08:58] And so unless there's some intervention, we're just going to lolly gag down our way. Do you all know the term lolly gag?
[00:09:04] I didn't know if that was a military term. We just lolly gag down the path, having no idea because we don't have knowledge, having no idea that we're about to get ourselves into a lot of trouble and pain and suffering. Listen, it's not just about sin. Sin is obviously the most important thing because that's our relationship to God. But with sin comes great suffering, death.
[00:09:29] So I'll say it like this, and we'll move on.
[00:09:38] There is great peril and danger in remaining a simple man or woman.
[00:09:46] Some people think, well, it's best.
[00:09:48] Listen, I've met, and you have probably met, too that I scratched my head at some people.
[00:09:53] Josh and I were talking about this with his job.
[00:09:57] How that? There's some people that he works with and they don't want anything more than what they have.
[00:10:05] They want to just stay right where they are. And I know that's a different subject a little bit, but the idea is they don't want any more knowledge than what they have. They just want to pull the lever, press the button and draw the paycheck.
[00:10:16] They don't want any more responsibility. They don't want to learn anything else. They just want to stay right here and some people are like that with simplicity. They just want to stay right here. They don't want any more information because they enjoy the pleasure that they're getting from this life that they live.
[00:10:35] That's dangerous, because that ignores the perils that exist in the world, in the devil, and in our own nature. Which will it'll pull us straight? It'll pull us straight away from God and with all those sufferings. All right, let's pray and then we'll look at Proverbs, chapter one. Okay, let's pray together. Lord, thank you for those that are here today and those that are listening in that can't be here. Lord, please give grace to Miss Judy and to her son even now. Give him wisdom and protection as he talks to this spiritualist. Help him to be filled with the Spirit.
[00:11:19] I pray that you'd give Miss Judy grace as well and help her with her issues, with her chest pains.
[00:11:26] Thank everyone that's here that has come here, Lord, seeking your face. And I pray that, Lord, you would teach them and instruct them and fill their cup, Lord. Give them joy and gladness from knowing Your word.
[00:11:41] And bless our study and guide it in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:11:48] Proverbs one, if you would.
[00:11:59] In the book of Proverbs as related to the simple man, there are two women.
[00:12:07] Two women this morning and this morning service, I'm going to also talk about women. So y'all just hold on and bucky your seatbelt.
[00:12:18] There are two women in Proverbs, both of whom are calling out to the simple man.
[00:12:27] Very interesting and poetic way the Lord describes this. First, in Proverbs, chapter one, verse 20 is Lady Wisdom. We talked about her last week, right? Lady Wisdom.
[00:12:42] Again, it's interesting that wisdom is personified as a lady rather than a man.
[00:12:48] But we'll just have to conjecture as to why. The reasons for that.
[00:12:54] Verse 20 says wisdom cryeth without she uttereth her voice in the streets.
[00:13:00] She cryeth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates in the city. She utterth her words. So she's on the street corner where people are saying, how long, ye simple ones, will you love simplicity? Stop right there.
[00:13:17] Love simplicity. That's exactly what I was just saying.
[00:13:25] No desire for greater knowledge.
[00:13:30] Now, here's a question. If a man or a woman wants to remain ignorant, will they remain a simple person?
[00:13:43] No, they won't. What will happen is, through very poor experience and a great deal of suffering, they will become something far worse than simple.
[00:13:57] They will become something like ungodly, which is also in Proverbs. Or worse yet, they'll be the wicked or the scorner, which is also in Proverbs.
[00:14:06] So loving simplicity, desiring to just listen. I like where I'm at now. I don't want anybody to tell me anything different or tell me I'm wrong or give me correction. Because oftentimes that's what wisdom does. Wisdom gives. Let's just read it. This is what wisdom. Lady Wisdom is saying, how long, ye simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their scorning. And fools hate knowledge. You see that? You see the progression there? The simple love simplicity. They just want to be ignorant. But you get to the fools. The fools hate knowledge. That's different. Simple. The simple person just wants to remain ignorant. The fool actively despises knowledge and resists it.
[00:14:54] Okay, turn you at my reproof. Is that not what I just said?
[00:15:00] I don't want any correction. The simple man who loves simplicity says, I don't want any correction.
[00:15:07] I don't want to change anything I'm doing because the life I'm living is making me happy. And there's pleasure in it. Referring to sin.
[00:15:15] Listen. And what I mean by pleasure is this. Usually we're talking about the nature of man and how the simple man is drawn away from God usually because of the lust of the flesh. Here's the bottom line. I'm not going to be vulgar, but I'm going to be straightforward and frank with you. When you're talking about a simple and naive person, a person who loves simplicity, basically what that person wants is they want to indulge the flesh because it brings them pleasure. And that's it. Whether it be drinking, whether it be sexual immorality, whether it be partying and rioting. Listen, that's what simple people do. I knew people like that growing up.
[00:15:55] That's all they cared about.
[00:15:57] They weren't hostile to God, but they wanted to just be right here and they just wanted to indulge those lusts again.
[00:16:10] You can't just stay there.
[00:16:13] You don't have that choice. It's not in the multiple choice.
[00:16:17] There is no f where you can pick it.
[00:16:21] All right, turn you with my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known notice that we talked about the definition of a simple. I will make known my words unto you because verse 24 because I have called and ye refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded. But ye have said it not all my counsel and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. Now stop there. Be careful about applying this to God.
[00:16:53] This is not talking about God mocking at people's calamity. In fact, the Scriptures do not. The Scriptures indicate that God mourns and is grieved at the death of the wicked.
[00:17:06] Right? This is referring to wisdom. Lady Wisdom.
[00:17:11] I will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. When your distress and anguish cometh unto you. Now remember, she's calling out to Wisdom on a street corner. And now what has happened? Those that have not listened to her, where are they at now?
[00:17:31] Distress, destruction, reproof.
[00:17:36] Verse 28 then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me for that. They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel and they despised all my reproof.
[00:17:55] Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. That's the simplicity right there.
[00:18:10] Now hear me just as an example. So here's what happens.
[00:18:14] It mentions the prosperity of fools shall slay them. Here you have a simpleton, someone who lacks knowledge, who is naive and who chooses to be that way. And they see somebody who has money, right?
[00:18:28] Now that they see that person with money and they think, man, look at what they can they can buy as much drink as they want.
[00:18:36] They probably have as many women as they want. I'm trying to be discreet here, but I also have to state it.
[00:18:44] They have all that they need.
[00:18:50] They don't even regard or think about the prosperity of the fool, that that person himself is a fool.
[00:18:56] They don't know to think of the end of that man, to consider where all of this is going to lead him both in this life and in the next.
[00:19:04] All they see is the immediate right there in front of them.
[00:19:08] And as the verse says, the prosperity of the fools shall destroy. So he says, I'm going to pursue that then, because that looks fun, that looks pleasurable, I'm going to do that. Who doesn't want money and all those things? And so he chases after him and by the third step he falls into a pit with spikes in it.
[00:19:34] That's what happens.
[00:19:36] The prosperity of fools destroyed him.
[00:19:41] But verse 33 whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely just by listening to wisdom.
[00:19:50] He shall be quiet from fear of evil. You notice the peace.
[00:19:55] The peace.
[00:19:58] You know, if you have never tasted a drop of alcohol, there's a world of suffering you've never even come close to experiencing.
[00:20:07] Know that.
[00:20:11] Now, that's not to say if you have tasted alcohol that somehow you're lesser of a Christian because God forgives you for all that.
[00:20:19] But that doesn't mean that all that suffering you experienced is not still with you. It most certainly is. The consequences of our sin don't just go away because we seek forgiveness from God, although God forgives us.
[00:20:33] That's why it's best to not sin, right? That's wisdom. That tells us that.
[00:20:43] And I could insert many, many other examples of sins and foolishness of various kinds that I won't mainly for discretion. But look at chapter number eight, if you would. Proverbs eight, we'll see this lady Wisdom again. We'll just skip around chapter eight. I don't want to read the whole chapter.
[00:21:11] Verse one, Bible says, doth not wisdom cry and understanding put forth her voice. Here she is preaching again.
[00:21:19] She standeth in the top of the high places, by the way in the places of the path. She cryeth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in of the doors. Unto you, O men, I call and my voice is to the sons of men. Notice verse five. Who's she talking to?
[00:21:36] O ye simple, understand wisdom and ye fools, be of an understanding heart.
[00:21:47] Now skip on download 34 or verse 33. Rather he says here and wisdom says, hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth life and shall obtain favor of the Lord.
[00:22:26] But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul.
[00:22:31] And all they that hate me love death.
[00:22:34] That's a pretty pointed way to say it. Notice shall obtain favor of the Lord. Listen. A simple man, a person who remains simple can never be a man, can never be a woman who knows God. Because at some point, in order to know God, in order to come to, as Proverbs would say, the fear of the Lord there has to be an introduction of wisdom and knowledge. Right? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So as long as a man is simple in pure simplicity like that, he can never have a right relationship to God. At some point at some point knowledge has to come in and he has to be willing to receive it. All right, look at chapter nine, just right on the same column there in my Bible, verse one through verse six. Look at what it says. Wisdom hath builded her house she hath hewn out her seven pillars. She hath killed her beast. She hath mingled her wine. She hath also furnished her table she hath sent forth her maidens. She cries upon the highest places of the city. Here she is preaching again whoso 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 forsake the foolish and live and go in the way of understanding.
[00:24:04] You see this wisdom crying out. All right, so you have Lady Wisdom in the public places. This is the imagery here in the public places crying out, trying to get those who love simplicity, those who are naturally just in their natural state calling out to them because she wants to give them understanding. Because she doesn't want them to suffer the pain that sin and evil brings. She doesn't want them to experience the natural result of foolishness.
[00:24:36] She's trying to give them knowledge so they'll avoid it.
[00:24:40] But then in the same chapter, chapter nine, there's another lady, verse number 16, starting in verse 1413. Rather the Bible says this a foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing that's interesting.
[00:25:04] But she wants others to join her.
[00:25:07] For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city. Notice she's at the same place she's in public in the high places of the city. This is where Lady Wisdom sets up her pulpit, where she calls out to people.
[00:25:23] The foolish woman is there too.
[00:25:27] Notice what it says to call passengers who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. Now look at verse 16. Kind of hold your finger there and look at verse number four in the same chapter if you look at them simultaneously. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him it is exactly the same words.
[00:25:57] So Lady Wisdom and the foolish woman are saying the same words to the simple.
[00:26:03] But she says this stolen waters are sweet. Notice stop. What is she appealing to?
[00:26:14] And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
[00:26:18] Bread eaten in secret is pleasant. What is she appealing to?
[00:26:22] We talked about it with the simple man. What drives and leads the simple man? It's the flesh, right? Is that what you're going to say?
[00:26:31] His own sensual desires. What is she appealing to?
[00:26:34] His own sensual desires. You see that?
[00:26:40] Verse eight. Notice but he what's the next two words?
[00:26:45] Ah. And therein lies his simplicity. He has no idea where it goes. He just thinks it's fun, it feels good.
[00:26:55] No idea where it goes. He knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
[00:27:08] I'm glad the Lord doesn't pull punches right and doesn't sugarcoat it for our ears. Look at chapter seven.
[00:27:17] We'll see this lady one more time. This foolish woman.
[00:27:23] Verse number six.
[00:27:29] For at the window of my house I looked through my casement and beheld among the simple ones I discerned among the youths. We saw this already a young man, void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner and he went the way to her house.
[00:27:48] Simple.
[00:27:51] He has no idea that him walking by and near her house, innocently air quoted for those listening that while he walks by something is going to reach out and grab him because he doesn't understand his own wicked nature.
[00:28:13] This is why young men especially all men, but young men especially, need to listen to those that give them warning because it will reach out and grab you.
[00:28:26] It will reach out and grab you and destroy you. And you won't be able to do anything about it.
[00:28:35] Verse in the twilight, in the evening black of dark of night, there met him a woman I'm skipping a little bit. Tyravin harlot, sull of heart she's stubborn a feet by not in her house she caught him verse 13 and kissed him again. Appealing to the lust of the flesh.
[00:28:54] She says, I have peace offerings, I've come to meet you there's. Flattery deck my bed with coverings of tapestry CardWorks.
[00:29:03] Take our fill of love into the morning. The good men is not at home. Theirs should be the first warning sign, or one of the first.
[00:29:13] Her husband's not at home.
[00:29:15] Verse 21. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips she forced him.
[00:29:23] He goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter as a fool to the correction of the stocks till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare. Notice what it says. And what's the next two words?
[00:29:39] There you go.
[00:29:42] Simple.
[00:29:44] If he knew all that in advance, he might not be near her house.
[00:29:48] But he can know in advance.
[00:29:51] That's the key.
[00:29:55] You know what? You look down at verse number 26. She hath cast down many wounded yea. Many strong men have been slain by her. Strength has nothing to do with it, Macho.
[00:30:09] Nothing whatsoever to do with it.
[00:30:12] It's all about wisdom, which starts with the fear of the Lord. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
[00:30:25] So you have these two women.
[00:30:29] This simple man here, he has and one thing I wanted to mention to you is here you have a simple man, which means he's void of wisdom. So for lack of a better example, we'll just use a crude one, all right? So you can imagine his brain, which we know wisdom is not just about the brain, but imagine his brain is the seed of wisdom.
[00:30:54] Inside his brain is a vacuum.
[00:31:01] Some of us think maybe that's our lot, I guess.
[00:31:05] Inside his brain is a vacuum. He's simple. He doesn't have wisdom and understanding. He doesn't have the knowledge he needs. And that's why we say that young men have nothing between their ears. Literally, right? Right, Josh.
[00:31:20] Anyway, the young man has a vacuum in his brain. Here's the thing I want you to understand. In this case, you have two women, lady Wisdom, as well as the woman of the world, the strange woman, both of whom are standing on the street corner calling out to him. They both want to give him a version of wisdom and knowledge.
[00:31:41] They both want to give him a version of them.
[00:31:45] You know what? One of them is going to put their wisdom into his mind because it's a vacuum. It wants information.
[00:31:58] Because the Bible does talk about in James chapter I think it's chapter three, verse 15, it talks about the wisdom that is from above, that's from God, what we're talking about here, and the wisdom that is from below the earth, earthly, which is a reference mostly to the sensual desires, that which is related to the flesh. If you read James three, maybe we'll next week. But there are two kinds of wisdom. There's the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below. There's the wisdom of lady wisdom and the wisdom of the woman of the world.
[00:32:35] And this man's brain is in a state where it wants wisdom.
[00:32:40] One of the two is going to fill his mind.
[00:32:44] Either the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God.
[00:32:52] That's why we need to heed what the Lord says. Here's the thing. I want to part with you with this. This is what we'll talk about next week.
[00:32:59] A simple man does not have to remain simple.
[00:33:03] There is a way to leave the numbers of the simple and to pass from simplicity to wisdom, to be a wise man or woman. There is a way to do that in the scripture. And that's what we want to do. Let's pray.
