Let's open with me to the book of Proverbs. Last time I had the opportunity to preach, I was working my way through Genesis. And then somebody else started to preach on Genesis. Who shall not be named? And is doing a very good job at it. So anyway, we're going to move to the book of Proverbs, at least for tonight. So Proverbs chapter 26. And we'll read the first 12 verses. Ah, the bulletin, it's not 1 through 2, but 1 through 12. I'm sure that was my typing error. So Proverbs chapter 26, starting with verse 1. Pay attention to God's Word. Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. Whoever sends a messenger, a message by the hand of a fool, cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool. Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard. Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Now, you kids out there, are we supposed to call people names? Would you get in trouble if you called your brother or your sister a fool? Probably. Sounds a lot like calling somebody stupid. And at least in my house, there's consequences for using that S word. So what's the Bible doing here? This section has been called a book of fools or a mirror of fools. And as we read through it, hopefully you noticed that in every verse except verse 2, it talks about the fool. It uses the same word throughout for fool. And there's no other place in Proverbs where we have that set up. It seems very intentional that we have these puts together. Now, why can the Bible call people fools and weak hands? Well, when we call people names, even when grown-ups call people names, it's usually out of anger, isn't it? You're mad at the person and you want to hurt them. It's like hitting them with the word. And so even Jesus in Matthew 5.22 says you shouldn't call someone a fool when you're doing it in anger. He says, but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the fire of hell. Well, the book of Proverbs isn't trying to insult out of anger. It's instead trying to instruct. It's trying to instruct us on how to live in this world and how to live well in this world. So that we avoid, as much as possible, misery and hardship, things that are bad. And that, as much as possible, we experience blessing and prosperity, things that are good. And the book of Proverbs does this by calling on you to be wise. Be wise and not foolish. And as we go about our lives, we meet and we live among a lot of different people. You kids even know that. You have many different people at school or in sports or just on the local playground. And us adults, we meet people in work, in our neighborhood, at other places where we hang out. And one of the things that the book of Proverbs does, as it instructs us on how to live well, is it tells us how to interact with these many different people that we meet. And it's this way that the Bible talks about fools. Because some of the people that we know are not living wisely, but foolishly. They've embraced ways of living that lead to misery and hardship instead of blessing and prosperity. And the book of Proverbs wants to warn us, to teach us on how to interact with them. Otherwise, we also might be affected by their foolish lives, their foolish ways. But as we say that, that's not all we should learn as it speaks of fools. We also need to look at ourselves. We need to evaluate the ways we act, the ways we think. In what ways are we being foolish? The fools aren't just the people out there. The fool is often the one right here. Now, one more thing is important as we look at our text. And that's that foolishness is not the same thing as sin. Sin is certainly a type of foolishness, a type of folly. But not all foolishness is sinful. And as an example, we could say that if it's cold outside and you go out without a coat, is that sinful? No, I wouldn't say that. Is it foolish? Certainly. You're going to be cold and miserable, and that's not good. And we could use other examples, too. Many would say that if your entire retirement fund is invested in one company, that might not be the wisest thing to do, especially from recent events. Is it a sinful thing to do? No. But is it foolish? Yes. And so we need to see that. People are foolish in different ways, although sin, the book of Proverbs makes clear, is that ultimate folly that we have. And so as we look at our text, we'll have three points. Honor and fools, and that'll be our longest point. Answering fools, and then hope for fools. So honor and fools. Now, kids, let's say you're in your class, and there's a kid who's goofing off in class, and your teacher gives them a candy bar. What would you think of that? And then there's another one in your class. who takes his homework, what you're supposed to be working on, folds it into a paper airplane and then flies it around in the class. And your teacher says, all right, you get to be line leader next day. What would you say? Would that be right? You'd say, no, this isn't right. That's not the way it's supposed to be. People who talk out of turn, who don't raise their hand, who don't do their homework, they're not supposed to be given rewards. They're supposed to have punishments. And if your teacher kept doing those things, I imagine most of you would start to make paper airplanes so that you could be line leader. You would start going along with it. Well, Proverbs 26, in the first couple of verses here, one through three, says something similar about fools. They do not deserve honor. Instead, they deserve punishment. They should not be looked up to. They should not be given privilege. They should not be given prestige. Instead, they should be given the rod of discipline. Verse 1 talks about snow. When does it snow? Well, in Escondido, it doesn't really snow. But in the mountains, when does it snow? It snows in the winter, of course. And snow in the summer is out of place. Well, what about rain? Rain in the harvest. Now, for this, this is a little more difficult for us. But Israel had a similar climate to us, and we get rain in the rainy season. And once late spring, early summer comes, that's when rain doesn't fall anymore. And it was the same in Israel, and that's when their harvest was. And if you got rain in the harvest, it was not only out of place, it could actually be destructive. It could hurt your crops. It could hurt what you were growing. For us, it isn't quite as bad. We just get a damp Dutch festival. Now, verse 1 tells us, like these things, an honor, honor to a fool is out of place. It's not right, and it can even be harmful. It can even cause further grief. Now, what does it mean for a fool to have honor? What is he talking about with that word? Well, it's probably referring to position in society. They were given responsibilities. They were given respect. They were given some sort of rewards. People looked up to them. People listened to them. It's the same word that elsewhere is used of glory. They've been given glory or honor. Honor should be something that you earn. It's something that you should be given when you've shown that you can be trusted. Something that is given only when there are good reasons for people to look up to you, to have faith in you and trust in you. Well, verse 3 gets the opposite side. And as we think about that, who's ever seen somebody up on a horse who obviously had no reason to be up on a horse? They're talking to it, maybe trying to nudge it along, because they have no idea how to get this horse to move, and the horse is just ignoring them. Well, I had that one time, but it was on a camel. We were in Egypt, and we rented some camels. You can do that in Egypt. And we were by the pyramids, and they taught us a little lesson on how to ride these camels. And so then Heidi and I went off into the desert by the pyramids, and by ourselves, and we got to a spot where we thought it would be a good place for a picture. And so we wanted to make our camels sit down. Well, they knew we didn't know what we were doing. And so we have a lot of pictures of us on top of camels not sitting down because we didn't know the instructions, and I think mainly it was because the owners didn't give us the long stick that they often carried with that camel. Well, verse 3 tells us that just as you don't reason with a horse, you don't try to persuade by words a donkey to do what you want it to do, just as that you use a whip instead, you use a bit. Thus, fools only, or often only, respond to discipline. The rod was the standard form of discipline in the Old Testament. It's mentioned often in the Proverbs, very often with regard to children. But it could be used on adults also. But I don't think we should focus specifically on the rod. It was really standing there for any sort of punishment. And who are fools here? Well, they are the ones who always have to learn the hard way. Now, I'm sure that's not true of any kids here. Any kids who don't learn their lesson, even little lessons such as leaving piano books on the piano, I won't name names, unless there's a punishment, then it gets your attention. Then you know that you need to do something different. Well, the book of Proverbs here is really looking at those who, in their adult life, continue in that way. They never outgrow that pattern. They still only learn by punishment, but then the consequences are often much more severe. In our society, it's usually money or jail time, or it could be even worse. And God, by his grace, can use those punishments to call those people who are acting foolishly. But I pray and hope that you young people here, you know that the police officer and the judge will not be nearly as nice, nearly as gracious as your father and your mother when you break the rules once you grow up. You need to learn those lessons now, how to respect authority, to grow in wisdom, so that you don't need to learn them later. So, we looked at verse 1 as honor is not fitting for a fool. We looked at verse 3, what is fitting, what is often used, a rod for the back of the fool. But what about verse 2, right in between these? It is the one verse that does not contain the word fool in it. And yet I think it helps to solidify what we see in the two verses surrounding it. It ties with verse 1 because just as honor isn't fitting for a fool, so an undeserved curse, as you see there, right? As a sparrow flits, a swallow flies, a curse that is causeless, undeserved, it doesn't go where it's aimed at. And so as someone who cursed someone else but there was no reason in that curse, It says that curse is not vowed. That curse is not going to reach where it's going. And so it has that similarity. Honor shouldn't be on a fool. An undeserved curse doesn't go to somebody who doesn't deserve it. But then it ties in with verse 3 also. Because there we said a rod is what fools deserve. And so we know that when that rod comes to those fools, it is because it's deserved. It's not as that undeserved curse. And so it helps emphasize those points. But verses 6 through 10, we'll jump up to them because they help explore for us a little bit more what it means to honor a fool. They give us examples of that. And if you look at verse 8, you can see how these are connected. Verse 1 talked about honor, not bitty, be fitting for a fool. Verse 8 says, like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool. So we're back to that same subject here. And the verses around it explain and give examples. As 7 and 9 both talk about a proverb in the mouth of a fool. And then verses 6 and 10 both talk about somebody who is dependent. Who often hires, has a fool as their worker and what results for them. And as we look at these, they really emphasize the same point. That giving honor to a fool will not lead to success. Instead, it will probably end up in disaster for you and those around. And so to start in verse 8, in the center of these, we read about one who binds a stone in a sling. In ancient Israel, a sling was a long, probably leather, but a long rope or strap-like thing with a center pocket. And you'd put the stone in that center pocket and then you'd grab the two ends and you'd swing it around and then you'd let go of one end and that stone would go flying out. Well, imagine what would happen if you took duct tape and put that stone and tied it to that center pouch. As you swung it around and then you let go of one end, the stone can't go anywhere. Instead, what'll probably happen is it'll keep spinning and come back and hit you in the head. That, or as you're holding the one in, it'll slip out, and then it'll go hit those people standing beside you. And so, as silly as that is, that's what it's like for one who gives honor to a fool. It is not only dangerous for you, but those round about. Verses 6 and 10, we'll now go to those outside sections, use very interesting imagery to talk about one who is hiring a fool. Verse 6 says, if you need to send a message and you send it by a fool, well, usually you're sending a messenger because you can't do it yourself. It's like hiring another set of legs. Well, it says you might as well cut off your own legs. You might as well drink poison, drink violence, because the fool will not be dependable. the fool will not end up being successful in what you send him to. If you jump up to verse 10, there we have an archer, somebody with a bow and arrow. And people with bows and arrows in war, they're supposed to shoot at people, the bad guys. But here we have a guy who's just shooting anybody. He's just shooting randomly into the crowd. And it says that one who hires a passing fool or a drunkard is like that. He's entrusting himself to these ones who are not trustworthy. And not only will it probably hurt him, it'll probably hurt those who are roundabout. And so we could summarize these. Don't entrust yourself or your livelihood to a fool. And those of you who are in business already know this. A good worker is a precious thing. Someone who can do a job and not need you to always look over their shoulder. A bad worker, on the other hand, is probably worse than no worker at all. They are more harm than their health. Now, look at verses 7 and 9. Now we get these two that talk about proverb in the mouth of a fool. And I would say that they're both talking about still this thing of giving honor to a fool. But here it's not hiring them, but putting them in a position where they're a teacher of some sort. They're in some sort of authority. And so we look at verse 7. Someone who is lame, he can't use his legs. Like a lame man's legs which hang useless. He can't run, he can't jump with those legs. They are attached to his body, but he can't use them at all. Well, it says, so also is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. A fool might learn something. He might learn a clever statement. He might learn a nice proverb. But the problem with a proverb is it's not good enough just to know it. First off, you'd have to do it. You can know all the Proverbs, but if you don't apply them, they don't help at all. But Proverbs also need to be applied in the right situation. And that's where a fool is probably wrong too. He either doesn't do it or he doesn't know when to do it. And not only that, it's in his mouth. And so this is probably a fool who is giving Proverbs to others, giving an advice. And his advice will not help. It will not come to pass. But it's not just that it's useless. Look at verse 9. Like a thorn, or here a thorn bush that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools. The image here seems to be a drunk person with a stick with thorns on it who's stumbling around and waving it. Now, drunkards aren't known necessarily for their aim. But still, if you are roundabout, you want to get away from them. Or you're going to get scratched. You're going to get scraped. Well, the same thing with a fool who has a proverb. He doesn't know how to apply it, and he ends up hurting those roundabouts. And for this, I can't help but think of Job's three friends. Job, who lost all of his wealth, his family, his health. These three friends come to comfort, and what do they have? They have a proverb. Suffering comes to the sinful. That's basically what they say again and again. And they beat Job up with it. You are suffering, so you must be sinful. Repent. What comforters they are. And in the end, God rebukes them. Rebukes them for their folly. And so here we must be very careful in who has teaching roles, who has positions of authority. I would argue that the Apostle Paul in many ways supplies this as he thinks of elders and deacons. He says, look how they act in their personal lives if you want to know how they will serve the church. How do they administer the authority they're given over their own children? Look at that to see if they're fitting for the honor of serving. But I think we could also expand this just in general to include even those you choose to have around you, those you choose to have as your friends. Proverbs 13 verse 20 says, Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. you're around these people, you end up acting like them. And we could even look at society at large. What has it done? Well, our culture loves to honor fools. We see this especially in entertainment and sports. Someone who has a great voice. Someone who is a great actor. Someone who knows how to throw and catch a ball. Someone who can drive the lane and dunk. They may do those things with amazing skill, but then we see them open their mouths. And what do they say? So often it's not wisdom that comes out. It's folly. And so we must be careful. We can't be dazzled by their outward success. We have to look past that glitter and sparkle, that bling, and see what really drives the lives they're living and where it leads. Now, having said all that, we have to turn the spotlight back on ourselves too, don't we? Are we worthy of honor? Are we reliable workers? Are we trustworthy counselors? Are we role models worthy of admiration? Now, I think in humility we would all say in an ultimate sense that no, We all have our failings in that. But we know that God in his grace can work through. And hopefully we see the fruit, the fruit of the new life we have in Christ in our own lives. Otherwise, we should listen to the rebuke. Now, as we move on to verses 4 and 5, we come to answering fools. And verses 4 and 5 have caused much discussion because they seem to contradict each other. And the Bible usually doesn't contradict itself. Answer not a fool according to his folly. Answer a fool according to his folly. Which is it? Which are we to do? Well, one solution is to say that it's referring to different subjects. And this was what the rabbis did. They said if a fool's folly is about the Bible, you need to answer him. But if it's about anything else, be silent. Don't give them an answer. Another solution says that according to his folly, notice it has that in both of those, according to his folly, that it can be taken in two different ways. You do not need to answer a fool in the same manner as his folly because that brings you down to his level. So if he's insulting, you're not supposed to return insults. If he is all cranked up and ready for a heated argument, you are not supposed to respond in anger. And there's some wisdom in some of those suggestions, but I don't think that that gets exactly at what we have here. Instead, we need to look at what comes after. We need to see what we have in the second half of each verse. What are you to do to a fool? Are you to answer him or are you not to answer him? Well, the answer is yes, sometimes, and no, sometimes. It depends. And so as we look at verse 4, notice what it focuses on in the second half. Lest you be like him yourself. What is the danger in answering a fool's folly? That you, even you, will become like him. Now, to pick on you kids again, when your brothers and sisters want to argue with you, does it usually accomplish anything if you argue back? Does that usually lead to something successful? Or does it usually lead to both of you getting angry and then maybe one or two of you stomping off to mom and dad if it gets that far? It might be better if your siblings want to argue if you just remain quiet, if you do not answer them. Well, it's the truth for adults too. Some people like to argue. They make comments. They throw things out there to bait you to come and do a response, to get you into a discussion that you really know is going to be pointless, that it really won't go anywhere. But still you fall for it. You get drug in, and you end up looking as foolish as them. And there are a number of different Proverbs that really bring this out. Proverbs 18, verse 2 says, A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 23, verse 9 says, Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. 29, 9 says, If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. 29, 11 says, A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man holds quietly back. And so there's that sign. Will it make you become as much of a fool as him? Well, look at verse 5. There we have the other sign. Lest he be wise in his own eyes. What's the danger in not answering the folly of a fool? Well, the danger is that that fool may be confirmed in their folly. They may become wise in their own eyes, and maybe even in those round about them. Silence is taken as assent, and an opportunity to correct an erring soul is lost. There are also a number of Proverbs that speak of the need for rebuke. Proverbs 25, 26 says, Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. 27, verse 5 says, Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 28, 23 says, Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue. So how do you know when to answer and when not to answer? We've seen the two dangers here. Well, that is often the nature of wisdom. You have to discern what will best fit the situation. Now, I can think of at least one principle that helps, and that is, are you trying to answer this fool out of genuine concern for them and others round about? If we're answering for our own benefit, to prove our own knowledge to them or to others, that is when we end up looking like fools ourselves. And you kids, I imagine that's usually why you enter into the argument. Is it really because you love your brother and sister and want the best for them that you choose to argue with them? No, it's usually because you want to show them you are right and they are wronged. But that ends in frustration and makes you look like a fool. But what about other situations where you can have genuine concern? There still is much that needs to be thought about. There are some obvious situations. Should you get in an argument with a drunk? Probably not. They're not in their right mind. They won't remember it anyway. It would be useless. But there's many other situations that are more difficult to know what to do. Is this particular argument, this particular statement, this particular fool, is it in a situation where there can be something productive that comes out of it? Some positive conclusion? Or is it something that will just lead to a useless argument? I think a good example of answering a fool according to his folly comes from the Apostle Paul. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he's talking to the Corinthians, and they've been persuaded by these other leaders round about, these ones that had these supposed great qualifications, these super apostles. They've followed their boasting, and they've bought into it, and so they've chosen to follow them. And so Paul, in 2 Corinthians, 11 through 12 says I'm going to speak as a fool to you so that I can win you back over I'm going to boast about the things that I know I shouldn't boast about I know I should only boast about Christ but I need to answer your folly and so I will show you that I have just as many or more marks and reasons for you to follow and obey my authority. And he does it because of his love and his concern. He wants to answer their foolish statements, the foolish things that they've been doing. And so I think it takes great wisdom and insight to do it. And I know that I'm thankful that there have been those that have done it for me. And you've probably had others that have done it for you, as you are rebuked in your folly. And that's what we need to think of as we again turn the tables. How do we respond when we're the one being answered, when we're the one being rebuked, when we're the one being corrected? Do we rage and laugh as the fool? Do we give full vent to our spirit? Or are we the one who takes instruction, who takes rebuke? And that leads us to our last point, hope for fools. And this is what we find in 11 and 12. Verse 11 is very much a summary of the nature of a fool. Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. He's unwilling to give up his folly, his way of life that leads to hardship and misery. Now, my family, we don't have a dog, we have a cat. And cats aren't necessarily any smarter than dogs. Our cat likes to eat rubber bands. That doesn't always pass well, if you know what I mean. And yet it continues to eat rubber bands. And that's rather disgusting. And this proverb is supposed to be disgusting. It's supposed to prick you in that. A dog gagging, throwing up over on the side of the road and then eating it. This disgust, as we think of that, is what we're supposed to associate with a fool returning to his folly. He does something harmful. He does something that will cause him misery. He does something even sinful. And instead of learning, he does it again. He does it again. Those fools and their folly, I sure am glad that I've never made the same mistake twice. Fallen into the same sin twice. Three times, four times, 40 times. Oh wait, that's exactly what I do. And that's where we need to see that the book of Proverbs, it wasn't given so that people already wise could congratulate themselves, pat themselves on the back and say, aren't you glad that we're not fools? No, it was given because we are all foolish to some degree. It calls upon the simple, the naive, the scoffer, and even the fool to listen and become wise. And calls on those who were already wise to some degree to grow in wisdom. There are those out in the world whose foolishness we are being warned about. how to avoid being caught in their folly, but may we never stop evaluating the folly in our own thinking, our own actions, our own hearts. Because the minute you think you're wise, that is when you become even worse than a fool. Look at verse 12. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Someone wise in his own eyes can no longer see his own folly. He's become blinded to it. He refuses to acknowledge it. He doesn't listen to correction or advice because, of course, he knows better. He has become proud instead of humble. Proverbs 18, verse 12 says, Before destruction, a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. There is more hope to correct a fool than someone wise in his own eyes. And we should see a connection here with verse 5 that we were just looking at. Answering a fool according to his folly there. Why were we doing that? We were exhorted to do it, lest he become wise in his own eyes, lest he become hardened in this way, prideful in his own folly. Verse 12 tells us there is a hope for fools, that they can be turned from their folly into a life of wisdom. And as we said earlier, folly, it's not only dealing with sin. There's many different follies that we need to be turned from. But at its greatest level, it is about sin. And so we could ask the question, where does the ultimate hope for fools come from? And my youngest son would probably say, Daddy, that's too easy of a question. It's Jesus, of course. We, in our foolish sinfulness, need to see that and turn and in faith look to the one who can give us life. Not only does he give us life, he gives us his spirit, the Holy Spirit, often called the spirit of wisdom, the one who can make us wise. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that we will never become wise in our own eyes. May your word be constantly before us. Your law, your wisdom literature showing us our sin and our folly. May we listen to those around who would point out our sin, our folly. May we listen to your word as we read and we study. And we pray that you give us wisdom. You have promised to give it to those who ask. Make us wise for all that we will face in this life. Make us wise even with those round about us so that we are not dragged down in the folly that they tie themselves to. Instead, give us wisdom so that we may know the right time, the right season, the right opportunity to point out their folly to them and to show them the ultimate hope that they can have in Jesus. And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.