IS IT IN YOU?

Have you ever been walking in your neighborhood and thought…wow, that just smells sooooo good?

Someone doing Laundry and you smell the exhaust from the dryer

Its the “Spring Scent” or “Fresh Rain” Scent

Someone BBQing (Like our BBQ on Memorial Day)

Heritage BBQ Story

Selling Meat out of their garage… 8)

What is your most favorite smell on the planet?

Is it a meal that someone makes

You walk in the door, your eyes light up and your heart elevates?

Is it the smell of fresh cut grass or fresh cut wood?

The scent of “Fresh Rain”

Now Imagine with me for a second if you had that smell in your nose…you were about to take a bite of that steak….and then it started smelling Putrid (Horribly Terrible)!

Would you still want the meal?

It Instantly Ruins it for you!

Ecclesiastes 10:1–3 “1 Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, And cause it to give off a foul odor; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. 2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, But a fool’s heart at his left. 3 Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, And he shows everyone that he is a fool.”

(NTL) As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor. 2 A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one. 3 You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!

What is In You Will Determine what comes out of you

Is It In You?

Gatorade Commercial?

Gatorade comming out of the pores of athletes

It is the Gatorade that Powers them to DO GREAT THINGS!

V:1- Does It Stink: Perfume-Super Valuable/ Can be very Expense

Ecclesiastes 7:1 “1 A good name is better than precious ointment (Perfume).

A Good Name; something that is worked for, for so long and so hard-

Just like Perfume is worked on for so long to get that “Perfect Scent”

Can be ruined in an instant.

V:1- Folly: (SeehkRoot):

Used 9x’s in Chapter 10

Lack of Good Sense, An Absurdity

Galatians 5:9 “9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

You just need a pinch of leaven and the lump of flower now rises

Juliana- Sour Dough- A little of the “Wrong Kind” of Water and it doesn’t rise.

V:2- Is It Week: Right and Left

Cultural Context

Right= Strong

Most people were/are Right Handed

Left=Weak

Also the Root of the Latin word “Sinister”

V:3- Is it Unsure- A fool is evident by his walk/actions

Even when he is walking along “the way” you can tell what is in him

Sobriety Test- Walking on the straight line

He is a fool and not operating in Wisdom

We are quick to spot this in the lives of others and call them out—> But do we see it in our own lives?

Those that are IN the Lord

Psalm 1:1–6 “1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Is HE In YOU?

V:3- He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

Sounds like a life that I want to experience!

Not a weird prosperity doctrine of “Everything going to be perfect”

Brings forth Fruit-

The Fruit will be the Lord working in your Life and through your life to make you look more like HIM.

4 Ecclesiastes 10:4-10 If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes. 5 There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake 6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. 7 I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants! 8 When you dig a well, you might fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake. 9 When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you. When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax. 10 Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.

What Is In You Will Determine Your Outcome

V:4- Is Your Outcome Rash or Responsible

Just because you are facing opposition or obstacles don’t be rash and run.

Press in, Persevere, Push on in Humility

Proverbs 15:1–2 “1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.”

A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes

Imagine what it can do if you are working hard, walking in righteousness, and willing to yield

V:5-7 Is Your Outcome Right or Wrong

President Lyndon Johnson Said Wisely

“A Presidents Hardest Task is not to do what’s right, but to know what’s right.”

That Requires Wisdom and Humility

Wisdom to know that you don’t know it all

Humility to ask others for their wisdom

(1 Kings 3) Solomon in His Humility asked the Lord for Wisdom

This “Ruler” in His Pride is doing what is right in his own eyes

We are all “Rulers”

Rulers of Others

At work

At Home

In Life

Rulers of ourselves

Is your outcome Right or Wrong?

Are you in Humility asking for Wisdom?

V:8-10 Is your outcome Effective or Ineffective

If Wisdom is in you, you will be thorough and thought through.

If Folly is in you, you will be failed and feeble

Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

When the Lord sets something out before us, do we consider the path that He has us on?

Are we thought through?

Falling into the well…

Getting Hit by the stone

Hurt by the wood

For some of us this is our downfall

For others it is analysis paralysis

Ecclesiastes 10:11-20 If a snake bites before you charm it, what’s the use of being a snake charmer? 12 Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. 13 Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness; 14 they chatter on and on. No one really knows what is going to happen; no one can predict the future. 15 Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they can’t even find their way home. 16 What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant, the land whose leaders feast in the morning. 17 Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader and whose leaders feast at the proper time to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk. 18 Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house. 19 A party gives laughter, wine gives happiness, and money gives everything! 20 Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.

What Is In You Will Determine Your Output

Luke 6:45- Out of the abundance of your heart, the mouth Speaks

V:12- Destructive Words

Proverbs 10:32 “32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.”

Proverbs 25:11 “11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.”

V:13- Unreasonable Words

What they say doesn’t make sense

The Longer they talk the more it doesnt make sense

Game with my boss Jack

Proverbs 17:28 “28 Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.”

V:14a- Uncontrolled

They chatter on and on…

V:14b-15 Boastful

Foolish people talk like their either know all about it or are in control

According to Solomon, what makes one person foolish and another wise? (Ecclesiastes 10:2; Prov 4:23)

What are the greatest dangers of folly?

How can we discern the difference between wisdom and foolishness?

Share a time when the Word of God helped you discern what is folly or fill you up with Spiritual Wisdom to avoid folly.

What do Provers 16:14 and Proverbs 25:15 tell us about how we should interact with proud leaders?

Share of a time when you have done this well or not so well :D.

How do Solomon’s 4 Characteristics of a fool’s speech apply to our world today?

What cautions does this give for the believer?