1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,000 It was just a couple weeks ago, it seems like that Lance was 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,200 preaching in Ecclesiastes, right? 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:09,760 And if you remember, he had a message in Ecclesiastes 11. 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,240 I'm sorry, Ecclesiastes 10 called the description of the 5 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,280 fool. And when I saw that, I'm like, 6 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:17,400 oh man, he's going to steal my Thunder because I was going to 7 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,320 preach Psalm 53 all about fools. But I decided to go ahead and do 8 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:22,960 it because I'm excited about this tonight. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,160 But let me ask you tonight a question. 10 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,080 Have you heard about this group of people called the Flat Earth 11 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,440 Society? Anybody heard of those people? 12 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,040 They got a lot of recognition a few years ago because Kyrie 13 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,040 Irving, who's a basketball player for the Dallas, is it 14 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,440 Mavericks joined them and came out saying he believed the earth 15 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,720 was flat. So I did AI was reading an 16 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,080 article about them and this is this is on their web page. 17 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,240 It says the Flat Earth society man's the guns against 18 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,480 oppression of thought and the globalist lies of a new age 19 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,880 standing with reason. We offer a home for those 20 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:04,200 wayward thinkers that March bravely on with reason and truth 21 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:07,720 in recognizing the true shape of the Earth flat. 22 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,840 Come join us in our forums and get started learning about the 23 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,520 greatest lie ever told. You know, I read that and I was 24 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:21,360 preparing this message about fools and because the earth was 25 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,560 all settled, that it was round by Greek philosophers. 26 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,480 Aristotle, you know, in the 384 BC, knew it was round. 27 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,120 And there's a guy named E Ruth Pasethus, if I could say his 28 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,880 name, in the 3rd century, he actually calculated the 29 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,600 circumference of the Earth round. 30 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,560 Islamic scholars knew that in the early nineteen, 10th 31 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:44,960 centuries, knew the Earth was round. 32 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,960 And of course, European navigators sailed the Earth, 33 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:49,800 knew it was round in the 16th century. 34 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,080 If you've ever been to Russia with us and you fly the plane 35 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,120 way up, you can actually see the curvature sometimes at night in 36 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:58,280 the airplane. OK. 37 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,000 And then there are millions of pictures of Earth. 38 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,760 Ellen Musk must send a rocket ship every week up north, up the 39 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,480 skies. And they always shoot back 40 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,000 pictures of Earth. And guess what? 41 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,600 It's round, right? So you look at the sky and you 42 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:15,640 see the moon. The planets are all round. 43 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,400 But what's really strange is there's even some Christians 44 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,720 that have joined this society. But what does the Bible say? 45 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:28,480 It had it right 3500 years ago. Isaiah 4022 says it is he who 46 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,160 sits above the circle of the earth. 47 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,480 Proverbs 827 says when he established the heavens, I was 48 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,760 there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep. 49 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,320 God had it right thousands of years ago. 50 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,720 So I think these Flat Earth society are a bunch of fools 51 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,000 now. I would call them stupid, but my 52 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,120 wife says I'm not allowed to use the word stupid anymore. 53 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:53,520 Apparently it's not politically correct. 54 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,440 But I always tell her, well, Proverbs 12/1 says whoever loves 55 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,840 discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is 56 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:06,080 stupid. But then the new legacy standard 57 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,960 Bible just changed it. They changed it to whoever loves 58 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,280 discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is 59 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,120 senseless. So maybe that's a better word. 60 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,240 I want you stupid so at least I can call them fools and 61 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,200 senseless. We've had incredible advances in 62 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,320 education, science, medicine, and especially technology. 63 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,840 We can send spaceships to Mars, cure diseases, all the 64 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:32,680 incredible advancements of society. 65 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,520 Yet we have more fools than ever. 66 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,880 The Bible has a lot to say about fools, especially in the wisdom 67 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:45,000 books or the poetry books, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 68 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:50,120 and not so much Song of Solomon. But it mentions fools 95 times 69 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:55,560 in those five books out of the 117 times in the entire Bible. 70 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,720 And if I had time tonight, we're going to have a baptism tonight. 71 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,360 So I'll go a little quicker. But next time write down 72 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,400 Proverbs 26. Proverbs 26 is the Fool and 73 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,680 Sluggard chapter of Proverbs. And if you read the first 12 74 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:15,320 verses of Proverbs 26, you will notice that 11 of the 12 verses 75 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,600 talk about fools. So I won't read it tonight, but 76 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:26,280 I'll let you do it, OK. And so tonight we're going to 77 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:30,480 read not just Psalm 53, but we're going to read Psalm 14. 78 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,440 And I think you'll see why. So turn to me to Psalm 14. 79 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:39,080 Our Psalm tonight is only 6 verses, but we're going to read 80 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,360 Psalm 14, which is 7 verses. And we'll talk about why did the 81 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,440 Holy Spirit put these two almost alike Psalms in our Bible. 82 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,600 So First off, Psalm 14 says to the choir, master of David, the 83 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,840 fool says in his heart, there is no God. 84 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:58,560 They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds. 85 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:02,200 There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven 86 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:05,280 on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, 87 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,680 who seek after God. They have all turned aside 88 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:10,480 together, they have become corrupt. 89 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,720 There is none who does good, not even one. 90 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,920 Have they no knowledge. All the evil doers who eat up my 91 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:21,120 people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord, there 92 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,320 they are in great terror. For God is with the generation 93 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,720 of the righteous. You would put to shame the plans 94 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,480 of the poor, but the Lord is His refuge. 95 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,200 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion when the 96 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,320 Lord restores the fortunes of His people. 97 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,320 Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. 98 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:45,360 Psalms 14 Now turn to Psalms 53. And I know it's hard just 99 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,120 reading it to see the differences. 100 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,840 Psalms 53 says to the choirmaster. 101 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:55,600 According to a Mahalath, a masculine of David, the fool 102 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,360 says in his heart, there is no God. 103 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,160 They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. 104 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,760 There is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on 105 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:06,720 the children of man to see if there are any who understand, 106 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,240 who seek after God. They have all fallen away 107 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:11,880 together. They have become corrupt. 108 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,640 There is none who does good, not even 1. 109 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,920 Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people 110 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,960 as they eat bread, and do not call upon God. 111 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,960 There they are in great terror, where there is no terror. 112 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:29,320 For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you. 113 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,960 You put them to shame, for God has rejected them. 114 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,120 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion. 115 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,520 When God restores the fortunes of His people, let Jacob 116 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,080 rejoice, let Israel be glad. Father in Heaven, we thank you 117 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,160 that we can read these two short Psalms tonight. 118 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:47,360 May your Holy Spirit speak to us tonight. 119 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,120 That everyone here would not be a fool, would not be foolish, 120 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,800 but they'd have wisdom and that they would follow Jesus Christ 121 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,560 and be born again in Jesus name, Amen. 122 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,600 So did anybody notice any differences between Psalm 14 and 123 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,600 Psalm 53? Anybody have a legacy standard 124 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,400 Bible? It probably pops out there more. 125 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:07,880 I'm not reading out of that tonight. 126 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,040 Well, First off, Psalms 14 has seven verses, right? 127 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,160 And Psalm 53 has 6 verses. And that's because verse 5 of 128 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:21,360 Psalm 53 replaces verses 5 and 6 of Psalms 14. 129 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:26,480 OK, we'll look at that later. OK, so verse 5 of Psalms 53 130 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,880 replaces verse 5 and 6 of Psalm 14. 131 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:35,960 Now you may not notice that Psalms 14 has seven verses and 132 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:42,240 the name of God is mentioned 7 times and the name Lord Capital 133 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,960 Yahweh or Jehovah is used four of those seven times in Psalms 134 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,240 14. Yet when we read Psalms 53 it 135 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,600 also mentions God seven times, but it does not use the name 136 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,680 Yahweh. It uses the Hebrew name Elohim. 137 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,560 So in the legacy standard Bible you would notice it because as 138 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,280 Yahweh in your English Bible you would have to see the Lord in 139 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:11,520 Psalms 14 and just God in Psalm 53 for Elohim. 140 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,720 And that makes sense because remember, Psalms is five books. 141 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,120 And in book 1, which is Psalms 1 to 41, the common name or 142 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,000 predominant name for God is Yahweh. 143 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:29,240 And in book 2, Psalms 42 to 72, Elohim is the prominent name for 144 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,160 God. You can see that as you study it 145 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,440 closer and closer. And then what's the difference? 146 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:39,080 Well, most commentators believe that Psalms 14 seems to address 147 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:45,880 Israelite fools who ignore God, while Psalms 53 addresses 148 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:50,160 Israel's enemies, foreigners who think they can attack and 149 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,360 destroy God's people. And another reason is why 150 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,880 they're two Psalms. Well, what's the Holy Spirit 151 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,320 telling us through David? Some commentators believe David 152 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:06,200 wrote Psalms 14 as a boy and Psalms 53 late in his life as an 153 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,640 older man. Spurgeon said David, after a 154 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,800 long life, found men no better than they were in his youth. 155 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:18,360 If our age has advanced from 14 to 53, we shall find the 156 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,200 doctrine of this Psalm more evident than in our youth. 157 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,080 And next, some have tried to make the claim that Psalm 53, 158 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:30,520 even though it says it's ascribed to David, was rewritten 159 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,760 by the worship leaders in the temple, the sons of Korra, to 160 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,600 celebrate a great military delivery delivery. 161 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,000 And I'll talk more about that when we get to verse 5, because 162 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,160 verse 5 says, for God scatters the bones of him who encamps 163 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:48,560 against you. So I, I, I'm going to lean 164 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:51,240 towards that. OK, what type of Psalm is this? 165 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,040 Well, some would say it's a lament, others would say it's a 166 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,240 wisdom Psalm, but it's really a unique Psalm that just draws 167 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,040 different genres. It's kind of wisdom, it's kind 168 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:05,120 of lament, but it does teach us that God will eventually destroy 169 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,400 all the enemies of Israel. And you have to go to Revelation 170 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:14,400 chapter 19, verses 11 to 21 to see where God does destroy all 171 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,280 the enemies of Israel. We have a superscription in 172 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,000 Psalm 53. It says to the choirmaster 173 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,720 according to a a MA hololith and that ma hololith is apparently a 174 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:29,320 type of a musical instrument or a tune on musical instrument and 175 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,920 mass skill, as we said last week, is a instruction or why 176 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,600 sing? We have three points on your 177 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,200 outline. If you have an outline tonight, 178 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:39,600 I hope you do the depravity of fools. 179 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,800 And we have a bunch of characteristics of fools and 180 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,600 then we have .2 the destruction of fools, which is just one 181 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,160 verse. And then we have in the last 182 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:49,640 verse the faithful are delivered. 183 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,760 Real simple outline. Let's look at point #1 the 184 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,120 depravity of fools verses one to four. 185 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:59,280 And these are just simply characteristics of the fools and 186 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,680 a sub point. A fools deny God. 187 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,000 The Psalm begins with the observation. 188 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,240 The fool says in his heart there is no God. 189 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,120 It just says the fool. Now, you know the Hebrew word 190 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,880 for fool is novel, and we'll talk about that. 191 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,880 Or Nabel, we'll talk about that. Because you remember he was 192 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,000 married to Abigail. And in First Samuel 25, David 193 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,440 went to get some food from him and he refused. 194 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,960 Spurgeon said. The fool has said in his heart 195 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,720 there is no God, and this he does because he's a fool. 196 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:34,760 Being a fool, he speaks according to his nature. 197 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,880 Being a great fool, he meddles with a great subject and comes 198 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,880 to a wild conclusion. The atheist is morally as well 199 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,840 mentally a fool, a fool in the heart as well as a fool in the 200 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,400 head, a fool in morals as well in philosophy. 201 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,240 With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well 202 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:59,080 conclude that a fool's progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, 203 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:04,760 ruinous. 1 He who begins and and impiety is ready for anything. 204 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:09,400 No God being interpreted means no law, no order, no restraint 205 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,520 to lust, no limit to passions. Now it's not just a reference to 206 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,280 a particular person, but to every person in the human race 207 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,200 who denies God, including Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus. 208 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,200 They also are, in a way, atheists. 209 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,680 The chief characteristic of of a fool is one who decides to live 210 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,480 a godless life as if there is no God. 211 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,840 Today we call these people practical atheists. 212 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,040 When we hear the word fool, we think of a stupid person right? 213 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,840 Or a senseless person. But this person makes a 214 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,160 conscious choice to engage in destructive behavior. 215 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,920 He lives to as a practical atheist who denies 216 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,280 accountability to God and the judgement of God in the future. 217 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,680 Fools who deny God, persistent living as if there's no God in 218 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:57,400 his or her daily life. You're all familiar with that 219 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,960 great chapter in Romans one which talks about these people 220 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,520 in Romans one. We read it quite often in this 221 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,920 church, verses 18. I'll read verses 18 to 23 in 222 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,400 Romans one. It says, For the wrath of God is 223 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,720 revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and 224 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,280 unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress 225 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,760 the truth. For what can be known about God 226 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,720 is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 227 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:27,480 For His invisible attributes, namely His internal power and 228 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,200 divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the 229 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,200 creation of the world in the things that have been made. 230 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,920 So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they 231 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,800 did not honor Him as God, nor give thanks to Him. 232 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,080 But they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish 233 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,880 hearts were darkened. And then verse 22 says claiming 234 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:53,240 to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of 235 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,520 immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds, 236 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,160 animals and creeping things. You have famous atheists like 237 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,000 Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, the Science guy, Bill 238 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,440 Nye, and very clear that God sees atheism as absolute 239 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:10,840 foolishness. If you deny the existence of 240 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:15,840 God, God says you are a fool. B Fools do iniquity. 241 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,560 Continuing verse one says they are corrupt, doing abominable 242 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,920 iniquity. There is none who do good here. 243 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,760 We have one of the strongest statements in the entire Bible 244 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,040 in the passages about the corruption of the human race. 245 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,960 The first declaration is they are corrupt and the Hebrew words 246 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:37,160 here mean rune or devastate. This is the word that was used 247 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,880 to describe complete corruption of man prior to the flood in 248 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:46,320 Genesis chapter 6 and Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18 and 19. 249 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:52,080 The corruption is so bad that it deserves judgment like God did 250 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:53,800 the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. 251 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,160 The second declaration in verse one is of the fool is that they 252 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:02,440 doing abominable iniquity. We don't use that word today but 253 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,920 it means abhorrent, it means appalling, it means awful, it 254 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,520 means disgusting. The third declaration is of a 255 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,520 fool is there is none who does good and if you notice that the 256 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:15,880 verse of N1 it says there is no one who does good. 257 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,960 The end of verse 3 again it says there is none who does good. 258 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,960 This is called an inclusio. You see this a lot in the 259 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,640 Psalms, which so that you have an inclusio which frames the 260 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,000 description of the wicked. Yes, there are some believers 261 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:35,600 who do good in their life, right? 262 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,400 We all know them, but not in God's sight. 263 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,080 I think a Mother Teresa where I live in India, we lived in West 264 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,120 Bengal for many years. OK, but they're, they are, they 265 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,560 may do good deeds, but they're not doing it for the glory of 266 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:51,920 God. Their good is not pleasing to 267 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,080 God. This statement is at the heart 268 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,680 of what we call the total depravity of man. 269 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:02,640 Proverbs 10/23 says doing wrong is like a joke to a fool. 270 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:08,560 Proverbs 1319 says but to turn away from evil is an abomination 271 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,200 to fools. So let's look at see fools don't 272 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,400 seek God. Verse 2 says God looks down from 273 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,760 heaven on the children of man. Our text says that God looks 274 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,040 down from heaven and God really doesn't need to look down from 275 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,640 heaven. We all know that he's omniscient 276 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,800 and and knows everything. So we have a just a figurative 277 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,480 statement here. This is there's a divine search 278 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,360 God is is having among the unbelieving world to see who 279 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,080 might be seeking God or attempting to please him. 280 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,560 But it's a vain search, a search that will lead to judgement as 281 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,120 in the other times in Scripture when God looked down. 282 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,400 And if you've been with us, Lance has covered this and many 283 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,640 times God looked down and Noah's flood, Genesis 6, God looked 284 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,200 down at the Tower of Babel, Genesis 11 and God looked down 285 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,280 at Sodom and Mora in Genesis 18. And those three times there was 286 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,560 judgement in all three cases. It says that God looks to see if 287 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,520 there any who understand who seek after God. 288 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,240 You know when God speaks, we should listen, right? 289 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,280 When God speaks twice, we should really pay attention. 290 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,920 So when Paul, God speaks three times, we really need to pay 291 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,839 attention. So you probably know that 292 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:28,400 Apostle Paul uses the part of verse 2 and verse 3 to reiterate 293 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:33,600 it in Romans 310 to 19. So the Holy Spirit records those 294 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:39,080 verses three times in Psalms 14 verses 2 to 3, Psalms 53, verses 295 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:44,200 2 to 3, and Romans 311 to 12. No one understands. 296 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,680 No one seeks God. All have turned aside together. 297 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,920 They have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. 298 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,960 So the Holy Spirit is saying three times, no one understands, 299 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,440 no one seeks God, no one is holy and no one does good. 300 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,160 The fool who is the unbeliever does not seek God. 301 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,960 The human race apart from God is universally corrupt and 302 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,480 depraved. Unbelievers don't like to hear 303 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,520 about their sin, but the Bible is clear on the subject. 304 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:17,280 Proverbs 18 two says a fool takes no pleasure in 305 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,160 understanding, but only in expressing his opinions. 306 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,760 Fools don't seek God. They don't want to read the 307 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:25,320 Bible. They don't want to listen to 308 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,000 your gospel presentation. Let's look at Dee. 309 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,480 Fools are defiled. Verse 3 says they've all fallen 310 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,800 away. They have be, they have they 311 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,200 have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not 312 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,080 even one. If you go to the the book of 313 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,840 Proverbs, which I mentioned 65 times, it has verses on fools. 314 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:47,480 The very first one is Proverbs 17 and it says the fear of the 315 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,640 Lord is the beginning of knowledge. 316 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:53,640 Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 317 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,320 And if you were to take the next Proverbs one, if you go to the 318 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:05,000 next paragraph, verses 10 to 18, you will see that those fools 319 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:07,320 will go down into a path of violence. 320 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,080 OK, Jeremiah 422 says for my people are ignorant fools. 321 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:16,120 They know me not. They are simple minded children 322 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:21,520 who have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to 323 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:27,360 do good they do not know how. And then E fools persecute the 324 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,680 godly. It says have those who work evil 325 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,320 no knowledge. This verse is at this verse God 326 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,800 is asking a question, a rhetorical question. 327 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,160 OK, God is saying, have they no knowledge? 328 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,240 He's saying don't they know what they're doing? 329 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,560 The fool is spiritually ignorant of the evil they do and of 330 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:48,360 course its consequences. You know, we preach or share the 331 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:52,520 good news of the gospel, but we always begin with the bad news, 332 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,720 right? I always begin with Romans 323 333 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,240 and tell a person that all have sinned. 334 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,840 Every man, woman ever born in the world, exception of Jesus 335 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,360 Christ has sinned. And then I tell him Romans 623 336 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:09,000 that the the penalty, the consequences for that sin is the 337 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,080 wages of sin is death. God is a righteous and just 338 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,600 judge, and He must punish sin, and He will. 339 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,600 And then I take him to Hebrews 927 that says, when we die you 340 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,840 will face judgment. The unbeliever may know what sin 341 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,240 is, but they deny its consequences or block them out 342 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,360 of their mind. Only when the Holy Spirit opens 343 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,440 their heart to understand can they have knowledge. 344 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,600 Then has the line Who eat up my people as they eat bread, when 345 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,000 it says they eat up my people as they eat bread. 346 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,760 It's an analogy meaning fools devour God's people as it's as 347 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,200 natural for us to eat bread in the morning when you have your 348 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,360 toast. These fools persecute the godly. 349 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,400 Roman Psalm 14 was about Israeli fools who ignored God. 350 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,560 If Psalms 53 is about 400 armies that ignored God, they would 351 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:01,760 persecute Israel. They thought they could come and 352 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:03,560 conquer. They thought their gods were 353 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:05,040 greater than the ones you're living God. 354 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:07,560 But you know, they hate the ungodly. 355 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,880 You know, I think of the violence that is out there with 356 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,000 the LBGQ committee often, not always, but quite often, they 357 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,000 target churches, they target Christian schools, and it has to 358 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,320 be from Satan. I watched a video last night and 359 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:24,320 I don't know what was going on, but there was some type of 360 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,920 Christian service in Seattle, what Seattle, WA and Antifa was 361 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,000 there blocking people to get in the service. 362 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,640 And they actually surrounded a mom with a baby and that was 363 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,480 what the video was. She's trying to go to this 364 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,160 Christian service and they were blocking her, refusing her, 365 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,520 allow her to go in. Now that's Seattle, but what 366 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,800 happens when it's Los Angeles or out there? 367 00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:47,840 Matthew 510 says blessed are those who are persecuted for 368 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,960 righteous sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. 369 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,840 It's happening in Seattle and it could happen elsewhere. 370 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,800 Thomas Watson said 300 years ago. 371 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:02,000 This is a Christ hating world and a St. eating world. 372 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,000 And lastly, it says and do not call upon God. 373 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,160 This sounds like it might mean to pray, but it's probably more 374 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,520 having to do with calling upon God by worshipping him or 375 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,160 acknowledging him. And they can't do that because 376 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:16,920 they lack spiritual understanding. 377 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,600 So the just a little bit of application in .1. 378 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,160 I just wanted to mention a few of the fools we have in the 379 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:28,240 Bible. First Samuel 26 verse 21 we have 380 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,080 the fool of Saul. Saul says I have sinned. 381 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,400 Return my son David, for I will not harm you again because my 382 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,160 life was precious in your sight. Behold, I have played the fool 383 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,320 and have committed a serious error. 384 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:48,800 So not only did Saul disobey Samuel in God, but he was a 385 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,320 fool. And then of course, first Samuel 386 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:57,280 2525, you know the story of novel, OK, and you know that 387 00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,480 David's David's men protected him. 388 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,040 And then on a feast day, David sent ten of his men to go to 389 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,440 novel and say, can we have some food for the feast? 390 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,440 And novel mock David and said no. 391 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,560 And then when David heard about it, he is 400 men put on their 392 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,560 weapons and they were going to go kill every person there but 393 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,400 Abigail. A servant came to Abigail, and 394 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,360 Abigail went and bowed before David, and she said, let not my 395 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,480 Lord regard this worthless fellow novel, for as his name 396 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:33,800 is, so is he novel is his name, and folly or foolishness is with 397 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,360 him, and you know God would strike him down later. 398 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,320 And of course, in Matthew 23, Jesus calls the Pharisees blind 399 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,680 fools for their hypocritical act of, you know, ceremony, cleaning 400 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:50,160 inside of the cup but being filthy, cleaning the outside of 401 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,040 the cup but being filthy on the inside. 402 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:56,240 And of course, we all know the parable of the rich man in Luke 403 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:00,000 1216. OK, I think it was 30 years ago 404 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,440 that Lance said, you know, this was the only place in the Bible 405 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,840 where God directly calls somebody a fool. 406 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,640 And Jesus said in a parable, the land of a rich man produced 407 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,960 plenty. And he thought to himself, what 408 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,200 shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my 409 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,560 crops. And he said, I will do this, I 410 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,840 will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I 411 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,200 will store all my grain and my goods. 412 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,240 And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for 413 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,920 many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. 414 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:35,760 Verse 20 But God said to him, Fool, this night your soul is 415 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,240 required of you, and the things you're prepared, whose will they 416 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,280 be? So is the one who lays up 417 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,360 treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. 418 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,160 So there's four fools we have in the Bible. 419 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,840 You know, there's joy in knowing Jesus Christ and having the Lord 420 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,120 of your life. We are no fools. 421 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:57,000 We may make mistakes, we may send some time and we confess 422 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,080 that sin, but the Bible tells us that it's the unbeliever that's 423 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,800 the fool. Proverbs 14 seven says leave the 424 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,760 presence of a fool, for there you do not need words of 425 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:09,440 knowledge. Have you ever talked to a fool? 426 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:11,960 And after a few minutes, you just want to get out of there, 427 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,440 right? So fools deny God, fools don't 428 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,840 see God, fools are defiled, and fools persecute the godly. 429 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,240 Let's look at at #2 the destruction of fools. 430 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,600 And 1st off, fools are in terror, OK? 431 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:31,240 It says there they are in great terror where there is no terror. 432 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:37,080 So if you compare Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, they both begin verse 433 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,840 5 with the line there they are in great terror. 434 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,480 OK, But this is where the Psalms differ because Psalms 14 435 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,720 continues with the line for God is with the generation of the 436 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,480 righteous. But Psalms 53 on line 2 of verse 437 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:58,000 5 says where there is no terror there they are in great terror 438 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,920 where there is no terror. So this verse says there's a 439 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:06,680 place where there was no terror, where the wicked had No Fear of 440 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,600 God. And most commentators believe 441 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:16,280 that Psalm 53 was rewritten as after a great victory, and that 442 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:20,320 victory would be the victory of Sennacherib when he surrounded 443 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,000 Jerusalem with 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. 444 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,440 This is one of the great stories in the Bible. 445 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,160 How great is it? It's mentioned three times. 446 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:35,080 Second Kings 18 and 19, Second Chronicles 32 and then Isaiah 447 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,000 right in the middle of Isaiah 36. 448 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,480 It tells the story and I won't take time tonight to read it, 449 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,520 but it says his Syrian Army was encamped around Jerusalem. 450 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,600 They're waiting to attack. They're not in terror. 451 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,440 They have wiped out every army, every country. 452 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,920 And if you read the story, the the generals go to Jerusalem 453 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,080 wall and they're telling we conquered Lakish, we conquered 454 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,480 this place, we conquered this place. 455 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,840 What that what do you think your God's going to stop us? 456 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:00,880 They're mocking the living God of the universe. 457 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,880 And you know what happened? So there was no terror, but 458 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,080 suddenly there was terror. The Angel of the Lord came out 459 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,680 and killed 185,000 of them. So many people believe that is 460 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,080 what this verse is talking about. 461 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,600 Years ago, I think when I was in high school, there's a line of 462 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,040 clothing that said No Fear. Do you remember that? 463 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,800 No Fear. Well, we should change it to 464 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,840 great fear. OK Dave Choppa, we need a 465 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:27,400 T-shirt like that says great fear. 466 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,440 But if you have Jesus Christ as your Savior, we are not fools 467 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,480 and we're not in fear. First John 4718 says, But this 468 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,400 is love perfected with us so that we may have the confidence 469 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:44,960 for the day of judgement, because he is so also as we are 470 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,160 in this world. There is No Fear in love, but 471 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,880 perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, 472 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:55,120 and whosoever fears has not been perfected in love. 473 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,720 B fools will be destroyed by God. 474 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:03,360 So verse 5 continues, and it's different from Psalms 14 because 475 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:07,840 Psalms 53 continues in verse 5. For God scatters the bones of 476 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,880 him who in camps against them. What does that mean? 477 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:15,160 Well in the story of Sennacherib and the Assyrian army, Isaiah 478 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:20,960 3736 says the Angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 479 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,560 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when the people arose early 480 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,240 in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. 481 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:33,840 So for an ancient in ancient Israel or ancient times to leave 482 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,280 a body unburied was very disgraceful. 483 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,240 Even criminals who were executed were buried. 484 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,640 Deuteronomy 2123 talks about that. 485 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:44,960 You got to give a proper bearing. 486 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,960 So for bones to be scattered, you can imagine 185,000 dead 487 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:50,800 bodies. The birds of the air and the 488 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,400 animals would eat them. That would be very shameful. 489 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,520 Let's look at the rest of verse or the next part of verse 5. 490 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,760 Fools will be fools will be shamed. 491 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,800 And it says you put them to shame and did God put them to 492 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,840 shame? So when you read the story, 493 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:12,000 185,000 troops were killed. But it also says that I 494 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,240 mentioned the envoys went to the wall of Jerusalem and they had a 495 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,680 lot of mocking. The story actually in in Second 496 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,440 Kings is 61 verses long. That's why I can't read it 497 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,400 tonight. But one of time, one of the 498 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,960 taunts was this. They came to the walls of 499 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,440 Jerusalem and they said, don't let your God in whom you trust 500 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,840 deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into 501 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:38,280 the hand of the king of Assyria. And Second Chronicles says they 502 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:42,000 even wrote letters of contempt to Hezekiah. 503 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,880 God did deliver Hezekiah and Jerusalem and Sennacherib 504 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,680 departed. He returned to shame into 505 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,720 Nineveh, and he was murdered by his own sons. 506 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,760 So God put the entire Assyrian army, including the king 507 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,200 Sennacherib, to shame. Fools will be put to shame. 508 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:05,600 There will be judgment on fools. A Christian, though, will never 509 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,480 be put to shame. But God will shame the fools or 510 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,480 the unbeliever. And I mentioned this verse makes 511 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,920 me think of all the big shot atheists in our society. 512 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,800 And I mentioned the three of them who who they think the 513 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:19,880 unbelieving world is so intellectual. 514 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,840 They think they are so smart with their many books and their 515 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,840 anti God speeches. But they will be put to shame 516 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,040 someday and we believers will be vindicated. 517 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:34,120 Next fools will be rejected, it says, for God has rejected them. 518 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,280 They're going to be put to shame because God has rejected them. 519 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,520 And you remember the last verse in the parable, the rich fool, 520 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:47,080 It says God said this night your soul has been required of you. 521 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,800 You know, it's just a warning for all people who deny or 522 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:55,200 oppose God. Hebrews 1020, Hebrews 10/31 says 523 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,880 it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God. 524 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,360 And all fools someday will fall in the hands of God unless they 525 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,400 repent and believe. And let's look at the last 526 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,360 verse, verse 6. The faithful will be delivered, 527 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,320 and it says his salvation is by God. 528 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,320 The psalmist says, oh, that salvation for Israel will come 529 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,880 out of Zion. The psalmist was long for 530 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,720 deliverance and restoration to come from the Lord. 531 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,320 The psalmist knows that God dwells among his people and that 532 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,480 His presence is in the temple in Zion, which is Jerusalem. 533 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,960 In fact, if this Psalm was rewritten, you know, changing 534 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,360 slightly changing Psalm 14 about the destruction of the Syrian 535 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,680 Army, it was a great deliverance, and it was so great 536 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,680 that the Holy Spirit records it three times in our Bible. 537 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,720 But it also speaks of a future spiritual salvation. 538 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:52,360 Psalms 14 and Psalms 53 may be the strongest verses in the 539 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,360 Bible on the depravity of man. And then match that with Romans 540 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,080 310 to 19. There is no one righteous, not 541 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,840 even 1. Salvation for Israel did come 542 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:07,440 out of Zion for for them at that battle, and it will come out for 543 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,920 Israel in the future. Romans 11/26 says. 544 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:15,120 And in this way all Israel will be saved as it is written. 545 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,000 The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness 546 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,880 from Jacob, and this will be my covenant with them when I take 547 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,600 away their sins. Salvation came out of Zion when 548 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,200 Jesus died on the cross, making a way of salvation not just for 549 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,000 Gentiles but for Jews and Gentiles. 550 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,080 And then B. His restoration is by God. 551 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,360 It says when God restores the fortunes of his people. 552 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:43,920 God destroyed the Syrian Army, wiped them completely out, and 553 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,680 he gave Judah and Jerusalem a time of peace. 554 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:51,040 Hezekiah would have a few more years, maybe 15 more years to 555 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,720 live. So the fools in Psalms 14 are 556 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,520 Jewish and the fools in Psalm 53 are the enemies of God. 557 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,160 God is going to destroy them and He will eventually. 558 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,520 In lies Romans 11/26 says save the remnant of Israel and then 559 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:11,200 see his celebration is in. God says let Jacob rejoice, let 560 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,120 Israel be glad. The rejoicing and the 561 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,080 celebrations would be brief because Hezekiah's reign didn't 562 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,160 last too much longer. And then fools would take over. 563 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,800 The kings would be and fools would lead Israel. 564 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,040 And this will be a downfall. And God would judge Israel and 565 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,280 they would be destroyed and taken to Babylon. 566 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,280 But ultimately the salvation will come from the Lord when it 567 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,200 comes to judge the world. And that will be a great day of 568 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,400 rejoicing, a great day of deliverance. 569 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,600 And So what can we learn from this short Psalm, the 570 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,960 application? Well, I I was going to take a 571 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:47,520 little bit of time talk about Proverbs. 572 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:54,680 I mentioned in Proverbs 65 of the 117 times in our Bible, we 573 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:57,400 have the word fool. But there's actually four kinds 574 00:33:57,400 --> 00:33:59,440 of people in Proverbs. I think I've shared with this 575 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,480 before, but I'll do it again. OK. 576 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,480 The first type of person Proverb mentions is a called in my 577 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:09,679 translation simple. The King James may say naive. 578 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:14,080 It literally means empty head. When that baby is born is 579 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,600 literally an empty head. There's no knowledge in there. 580 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:21,159 So that's the word simple. It's used 15 times in Proverbs. 581 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,400 They're born simple. The second type of person in 582 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,480 Proverbs is wise, and that's used over 60 times. 583 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:32,560 OK, The third type is what we're talking about tonight, fools, 584 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,040 and it's mentioned 65 times. And the fourth type of person in 585 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:40,920 Proverbs is what we call a scoffer, and that's mentioned 13 586 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:43,639 times. So you know, Psalms one, the 587 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:46,320 very first Psalm says there are two paths. 588 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,679 There's a godly path and there's an ungodly path. 589 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:54,800 So the godly way, that simple mind, OK, that empty head, that 590 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,000 knight head, mothers and fathers have a responsibility to fill it 591 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,480 with knowledge, with biblical wisdom. 592 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,240 And that child should become wise. 593 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:08,640 And if they do, it says in Proverbs 1/4 to give prudence to 594 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:12,560 the simple knowledge and discretion to the youth. 595 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,800 In Proverbs 22, six says, train up a child in the way you should 596 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,680 go. Even when he is old, he will not 597 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,240 depart from it. So way #1 is the godly way. 598 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:25,800 You take that simple mind, that empty head, and you fill it with 599 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:30,120 biblical wisdom. OK, one of my favorite preachers 600 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,920 I like to follow is Bodhi Bachman. 601 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,760 And he says that if you send your children to Caesar to be 602 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,560 educated, you should not be surprised when they come back as 603 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,960 Romans. So too many parents are having 604 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,840 their kids educated and not filling that mine. 605 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,360 OK, let's talk about the ungodly way that Proverbs mentions. 606 00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:54,720 Same thing. You have that simple empty head 607 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,200 with no knowledge. But if you don't fill it with 608 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:02,400 biblical wisdom, or you let the Caesar or the Romans fill it or 609 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,960 the school districts or whatever, they will become 610 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,000 fools. Bodhi Bachman says that almost 611 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,480 80% of children who grew up in churches, when they become 612 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,480 teenagers and run off to college, they walk away from the 613 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,280 faith. They they may have made a 614 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,920 profession at VBS or something, but they're fools. 615 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:22,160 They're not walking with the Lord. 616 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:26,040 And so this is her greatest reminder. 617 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:27,200 OK, I'm not done. I'm sorry. 618 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,840 So the simple minded, then they come fools. 619 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,160 And lastly, they could become scoffers. 620 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,040 Have you talked to some of them? I was with the youth group 30 621 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:40,240 years ago. And so we just had Easter, we 622 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:43,080 just had Mother's Day, and some of the children that I wear in 623 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:44,800 my youth group came to church those Sundays. 624 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:46,440 And they're not walking with the Lord now. 625 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,080 And there's hope for fools. There's hope for fools, you 626 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:54,320 know, God will run after them. But scoffers, not so much hope, 627 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,000 but there's some out there. So this Psalm is a reminder to 628 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:01,040 us that the greatest disciples you mom and dads have are your 629 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,360 children. You may never be a missionary, 630 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,000 but actually we're all missionaries. 631 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,120 The question is what kind of missionaries you are. 632 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,200 Husbands, your greatest disciple is your wife. 633 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,320 Mothers and fathers, your greatest disciple is your 634 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:14,880 children. And you only have 18 or so years 635 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:19,440 to fill that little precious mind with wisdom so they don't 636 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:22,600 become fools. If you don't, they will go the 637 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,360 way of the unbeliever. Let's talk now about unbelievers 638 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:28,200 and believers. First off, let's talk about 639 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,480 unbelievers. It says in our our Psalm there's 640 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:35,960 no one righteous, not even 1/3 times Psalm 14, Psalm 53 and 641 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:38,600 Romans 10. The whole world has become 642 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:41,480 corrupt and chooses to live in defiance of God. 643 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,920 When people ignore God or the idea that God exists, they 644 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:47,800 ignore distinctions between good and evil. 645 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:50,280 They are fools and they will face judgement. 646 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:54,200 And yes, I'm talking about some of our relatives and it hurts to 647 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,080 say that, but they are fools. But there, as I said, there's 648 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,680 still hope for fools. Hopefully they haven't gotten to 649 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,880 the next step in Proverbs, which is the scoffer, where there's 650 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,120 little hope. OK, one commentator said, this 651 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:09,480 Psalm gives a powerful description of the sinfulness 652 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:13,160 and spiritual ignorance of the world in which the righteous 653 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,920 must live. The destruction is not limited 654 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,840 to a few enemies, but to the whole human race who persist in 655 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:23,320 living as if there are no God. So if you have fools or you 656 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,160 know, fools, we need to do 2 things. 657 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:27,840 We need to pray for them and when you share the gospel with 658 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,800 them again and again, we all know someone who's rejected God, 659 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:35,240 the Bible, and the way of salvation, but Psalm 53 is a 660 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:38,960 warning to them that they need to repent and believe in Jesus 661 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,840 Christ before it's too late. We need to share with them. 662 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:47,400 Second Timothy 2/24/26 says that that that they may come to their 663 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:51,800 senses and escape the snare of the devil after being captured 664 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,360 by him to do his will. They're not following God, 665 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:56,000 They're following the devil right now. 666 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,080 What about believers? You may think that this Psalm 667 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:01,000 has nothing to do with me because I'm a believer. 668 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,840 I'm not a fool. I am wise to salvation and I'm 669 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,120 certainly I'm not a fool who doesn't believe in God or reject 670 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,440 God. I believe in Jesus Christ. 671 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:12,600 He died on the cross for me. He was buried and he rose from 672 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,720 the dead and sits at the right hand of God and will come a 673 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:17,920 second time to Take Me Home to be with him. 674 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:23,040 Psalms 53 reminds us that Christians can act like atheists 675 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,880 and fools sometimes. One commentator said. 676 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:32,200 Every deliberate sin presupposes A functional atheist. 677 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,840 When David sin, he didn't just get up and decide I'm going to 678 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,280 commit adultery today. In the heat of the moment, he 679 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:44,200 pushed all thoughts of God away to the back of his mind so he 680 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,520 could have Bathsheba, his neighbor's wife. 681 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:51,000 He was acting like an atheist, but we can do the same thing we 682 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:55,440 are deliberately when we push God to the back of our minds so 683 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:59,280 we can do what we want. So just five quick things need 684 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,640 to remain in fellowship with other believers. 685 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:03,400 You know, I'm talking to the choir tonight. 686 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,120 You come out on Sundays, You come out on Wednesday nights. 687 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,000 Our pastor is not here to tickle our ears on Sunday. 688 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:13,800 He preaches Christ in all His Holiness and we need to be holy 689 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,320 as he goes. God is holy. 690 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:18,320 You need to be continued to read your Bible daily. 691 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:22,560 You know you heard that saying the Bible will keep you from sin 692 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,120 or sin will keep you from the Bible, right? 693 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,120 God speaks to us through Scripture. 694 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:33,680 Third, we need to sing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs in 695 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:37,320 our heart throughout the day, keeping our minds on Jesus 696 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:40,280 Christ, on His Majesty and his grandeur. 697 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:44,880 Fourthly, thinking of heaven. And if you've been with us, with 698 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:47,960 Pastor Lance and Thessalonians and almost every book of the 699 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:51,320 Bible, you know, Lance said, the clearer you see the future, the 700 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:55,480 cleaner you live in the present. First John 3 says, Beloved, we 701 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,080 are God's children now, and what will be has not yet appeared. 702 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,560 But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, 703 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:04,760 because we shall see him as He is. 704 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:09,560 And everyone who has his hope in him purifies himself as he is 705 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:12,920 pure. And #5 you need to run from 706 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:17,520 anything that deadens your soul to Christ and blinds your eyes 707 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,800 to his beauty. Sin can cover your eyes like 708 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,440 cataracts and cloud your vision of God, but you need to keep 709 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,960 your eyes on Jesus. Let's pray, Father in heaven, 710 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:29,880 and thank you for that. We can look at this short Psalm 711 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,000 tonight. And Father, I pray that every 712 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,280 person in this room tonight would know Jesus Christ as the 713 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,600 Lord and Savior in their lives. Father, I pray that if there's 714 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:42,320 anybody that's not sure, anybody who's not following you tonight, 715 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:45,320 that tonight would be the day of salvation and that they would 716 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,680 obey you and follow you and they'd not be fools. 717 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:51,080 And Father, I pray for my relatives, my nieces, my 718 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,400 nephews, my relatives, and all the relatives we have here 719 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,640 tonight that aren't following Christ, that perhaps grew up in 720 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,560 church, that have wanted from the faith. 721 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,920 On the CCC prayer letter, there's over 25 people asking 722 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,600 for prayer for relatives who don't know Jesus Christ. 723 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:09,000 Follow. They're fools. 724 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,600 They're denying God. They may know of him, but they 725 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:14,200 put him in the back of his mind and they need to repent and 726 00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,240 believe. Give us more chances to share 727 00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:20,120 the gospel with them. Help us to share Psalm 53 that 728 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:24,480 that judgment will come and they can't escape that judgment to 729 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,240 come. So we do pray for all of our of 730 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,920 our relatives that they would come to Christ Father. 731 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,840 We now pray for the baptisms that we're about to partake in. 732 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:33,440 Jesus name, Amen.