Foolish Worldly Thinking – Part II
An all-creatures Bible Message

Foolish Worldly Thinking – Part II
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
5 August 2018
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Proverbs 10:1-23
Ephesians 4:17-24

Foolish worldly thinking – part II is a continuation of last week’s discussion about most of the people upon this earth who are not living in the heavenly will of God, but follow the corrupt ways of this world.
 
Their foolish worldly thinking allows, and in many ways causes, the violence, corruption, indifference, and injustice that leads to the suffering and death of millions of humans and billions of other animals every year.
 
And, each and every one of us needs to recognize these facts, and take a peaceful and positive step to help end this foolish worldly thinking and free creation from its present corruption.
 
The Bible is full of examples of people with foolish worldly thinking; sometimes they are called foolish, other times they are called fools, and still other times they are depicted as ungodly people.
 
As we look at Proverbs 10:1-23, we will see a lot of these examples compared with righteous Godly people…

1. A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

And we could add his father also, for a foolish child can bring grief upon the whole family, unless the foolish child is following in the steps of his or her mother or dad.

2. Ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness delivers from death.

There are a lot of people in this world who seem to profit from their ill-gotten gains, but one day their ill-gotten gains will catch up with them, if not here on earth, it will definitely catch up with them when they come before the Lord.
 
Likewise, righteousness may not deliver from death here on earth, but it most definitely does in heaven.

3. The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger,
But He will thrust aside the craving of the wicked.

The wicked ungodly people of this world often try to prevent the righteous from getting what they need to survive, but the wicked will be thrust aside when they come before the Lord.

4. Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

A negligent hand is describing a person who is not interested in what he or she is doing, and doesn’t really care about the outcome, but they still want to earn the same amount as a person who is diligent, and they will not succeed in the long run.
 
When we are peacemaking children of God, and live in His heavenly will, everything that we do is also in the heavenly will of God, and we will get our reward in heaven, if not sooner here on earth.

5. He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

This is the same kind of situation that we were talking about in verse 4.

6. Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Think about the beatitudes in Matthew 5, and all that we are told about the blessings we receive for naturally doing the things that God wants all His obedient children to do.
 
These are the people who will help end all the exploitation and killing of animals, and in turn help free creation from its present corruption, and we are to be like them.
 
Most people in the world don’t want to admit that their actions and words lead to violence in the world, but if we look around the world we can easily see that most people are contributing to the violence that causes millions of humans and billions of other animals to suffer and die.
 
Their foolishness and hardness of heart are the main cause, whether or not they deny it.
 
Foolish worldly thinking does not win in the end, and will always be surpassed by those who are righteous and live in God’s heavenly will.

7. The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.

Wicked and foolish people may seem to win at times, but they will always fail in the end.

8. The wise of heart will receive commands,
But a babbling fool will be thrown down.

The foolish worldly thinking of most people prevents them from sincerely listening to instructions that are meant to help them; instead they just want to have their ears tickled, and such thinking will bring them down in the end, but in the meantime many humans and animals suffer and die.

9. He who walks in integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will be found out.

This proverb is best looked at spiritually, because walking in integrity is walking in the heavenly will of God, and our place in heaven is secure, even if the world kills us; however, those who pervert their way to save their physical lives will be seen, even by the world, as walking in the ways of the devil.

10. He who winks the eye causes trouble,
And a babbling fool will be thrown down.

These are examples of foolish worldly thinking, and the results of such people’s actions.

11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

God’s word is always a fountain of life, but those who follow the corrupt ways of the earth, even in secret, are concealing violence, and they are all around us in the world, and we need to be on the alert for them, so that we don’t fall into their traps.

12. Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.

Hatred is really a form of fear, which is the opposite of love, for as we are told in the Bible, perfect love casts out fear, and only foolish worldly thinking rejects this perfect heavenly love.

13. On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding.

In other words, those who live in the heavenly will of God talk about His desire for our lives and are full of wisdom.
 
Those who live in the corrupt and evil ways of this world with all its violence and corruption lack understanding and wisdom, but we disagree that we can force anyone to truly believe; we need to love them into the kingdom, but the choice is still theirs.

14. Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

True children of God are full of His knowledge, which leads to life everlasting, and in the meantime, peace on earth if we follow His edicts, but those foolish people of this world hang on to their wicked ways that cause so much violence in the world, which cause millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.
 
There is no middle ground; either we are for God and His heavenly way, or we are for the devil and all his bloodthirsty ways.

15. The rich man's wealth is his fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

This is really the way of this world and not of God, for our fortress should always be the Lord our God and His heavenly ways.
 
On the other hand…

16. The wages of the righteous is life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.
 
17. He is on the path of life who heeds instruction,
But he who forsakes reproof goes astray.

If we are truly on the path of life, it means that we are following the instructions of the Lord and not the devil who is leading the foolish worldly thinking people astray.

18. He who conceals hatred has lying lips,
And he who spreads slander is a fool.
 
19. When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
 
20. The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,
The heart of the wicked is worth little.
 
21. The lips of the righteous feed many,
But fools die for lack of understanding.

It’s not what we say that makes us who we are; it’s our consistent lifestyle before the world around us that shows who we really are.
 
And the examples expressed in the above verses depict the kind of people whose words try to make them more than they really are…foolish worldly thinking people.

22. It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.

It is as we said above about the beatitudes. If we are truly children of God, we will naturally do the things that the Lord desires us to do, and we will be blessed and full of joy.

23. Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool;
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.
NASB

Our life is not a game in which we can play with the devil’s sport, and pretend we are really children of God.
 
God knows the truth, and He can easily recognize those who are filled with His heavenly wisdom, and we need to be them.
 
Let’s now take a look at Ephesians 4:17-24, and see how Paul addresses foolish worldly thinking…

17. This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

The futility of their mind means that they are contemplating things in terms of the corrupt ways of this world and not in the heavenly will of God.

18. being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

When people are hard of heart they lose their understanding of the things that God wants them to do and instead rely upon the ways the devil and his followers think and act, because the devil is the great deceiver who wants to lead us away from God and be part of the violence and bloodshed that the devil relishes.

19. and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

People who have become callous are also those who have become hard of heart, and because we are told that they have “become” callous, it means that it is not the way that God created us to be; in other words, such people actually learn to become hard of heart, just like the majority of the people in the world around us.
 
We also need to remember that greediness, coupled with indifference and gluttony, are the primary components in the raising and killing of animals for human food, which is counter to God’s creation intent that we eat only plant foods (Genesis 1:29).

20. But you did not learn Christ in this way,
 
21. if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

Note very carefully what Paul is saying here, “if people have heard”; the truth of the matter is that the Holy Spirit speaks to everyone, but as we look around the world, it becomes obvious that relatively few people really listen to what He is saying to them; instead they turn away from God and follow the corrupt and evil ways of this world.

22. that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
 
23. and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
 
24. and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
NASB

This is what happens when we heed the unction of the Holy Spirit.
 
This is what happens when we turn away from foolish worldly thinking and begin thinking like Jesus.
 
And, most importantly, this is what happens when we begin living in the heavenly will of God and speaking and acting like Jesus in the world around us.
 
Amen.

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