Sermon Tone Analysis

Seatbelts can be a hassle.

Some people just don't want to be bothered even when the law requires them to buckle up.

According to the Associated Press, a New Zealander named Ivan Segedin took it to an extreme.

The police ticketed him 32 times over five years for failing to use his seat belt.

Even though this was costing him big money, Segedin refused to buckle up.

Finally, instead of obeying the law, the man decided to rely on deception.

He made a fake seat belt that would hang over his shoulder and make it appear that he was wearing a seat belt when he was not.

His trick worked for a while.

Then, he had a head-on collision.

He was thrown forward onto the steering wheel and killed.

Discussing the accident, the coroner described the fake seat belt: "Though his car was fitted with seat belts, an extra belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seat belt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder."

Folly.

Foolishness.

Wow it really is real.

Many of us know this.

Unfortunately we see foolishness all around.

It always seems to find its way into our lives, whether it is other people of even ourselves.

But foolishness is a reality.

We even have to assume foolishness in life.

Many companies do.

The following warnings were found on consumer products:

On a Duraflame fireplace log: "Caution—Risk of Fire."

On a Batman costume: "Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly."

On a bottle of hair coloring: "Do not use as an ice cream topping."

On a cardboard sun shield for a car: "Do not drive with sun shield in place."

On a portable stroller: "Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage."

Yet foolishness seems hard to identify.

But its so easy to define?

Can we really identify foolishness?

Identifying folly is a bit harder to identify that we think.

Well, Solomon was no fool when it came to foolishness.

He’s gonna help us today.

Lets take a look.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

Beware of Foolishness

Defining Foolishness

Delivered from Foolishness

The first thing we will look at today is a very graphic description of this thing called foolishness and how all it takes is a little bit.

Second, we will see the simple yet difficult definition of foolishness given by Solomon.

Finally, we will see how the right path is not right or wrong but the only.

Christ is the way the truth and the life.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us all to be affected by or be the cause of foolishness in this life under the sun, but it is the wisdom of God, our Lord Jesus who will give us a new heart to see Christ as the way the truth and the life.

I. Beware of Foolishness

- “All it takes is a little bit?”

“Am I living wisely or foolishly?”

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

232).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

A. Oh My Lord… Something smells.

This is the imagery used by Qoheleth to describe this thing called folly.

B. The image is so strong that we can catch a whiff of the stench of the rancid perfume.

There really was nothing wrong with the perfume, it just had attracted some flies.

As a result, some of the flies died, and the stench of their carcasses had turned the smell rancid.

The image is so strong that we can almost catch a whiff of the foul perfume.

Although there was nothing wrong with the fragrance itself, it had attracted a swarm of flies.

Some of the insects had died, and the stench of their carcasses had turned the perfume rancid.

C. At least to me, what is worse than a horrid stench is a horrid stench mixed with somthing that smells good.

This is kinda the idea.

I had a roommate in college who did not like to take a shower, instead like to spray wis body with cologne.

Ugh that made it so much worse.

I used to tell him it does not work.

The cologne is not hiding the smell, its just mixing with it.

Now instead of body oder, it is body oder and cologne.

Rancid… at least for me.

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

231).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

D. Yeah Solomon never forgot that smell, and he uses it here as an analogy for foolishness.

Metaphorically, Wisdom is sweet, like fragrant perfume.

But it does not take much foolishness to turn things sour because foolishness stinks.

All it takes is one harsh word, one rude remark, one hasty and impulsive decision, one foolish pleasure, or one angry outburst to spoil everything.

It just takes a little bit.

A little to make something the opposite of what it is.

The Solomon of Ecclesiastes never forgot that smell, and he uses it here as an analogy for folly.

Wisdom is sweet, like fragrant perfume.

But it does not take much foolishness to turn things sour because folly stinks.

All it takes is one rash word, one rude remark, one hasty decision, one foolish pleasure, or one angry outburst to spoil everything.

As Derek Kidner observes, “It is easier to make a stink than to create sweetness.”

E. Derek Kidner writes, “It is easier to make a stink than to create sweetness.”

F. So you see here, the fist thing he writes, concerns the diffusive and pervasive nature of foolishness and just how leaven like it is.

And all it takes is a little bit.

Just a little.

It did not take very long for the foolish teaching in Galatia to cause the people to turn.

Foolish cause ruin in one hour what it took ten years to build.

Beware of Foolishness.

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

231).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

G.

All it takes is a little bit.

See this is the problem today.

We are compromising in just little increments that we do not realize that it is spreading throughout.

Its ok this one time, oh its not that big a deal, its just a little compromise here and there, a little bit of foolishness and now it is stinking up modern evangelicalism.

Beware of Foolishness

H.

We got false prophets behind the pulpits, we got false teachers and heretics on TV and radio.

Christian music radio has singers who deny the Trinity, believes that God being a woman is helpful, and denying the fact that homosexuality is a sin.

Oh common Shane lets not overreact over all this, its not that big a deal.

Its not that big a deal.

This is happening not just in the church, but our families, our marriages, our friendships, our very lives.