Proverbs 1:28 (Mini Sermon)

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28. Pro 1:28 - "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:" A. Scoffers always think that judgment is a long way off (2Pe 3:4). i. Therefore they set at nought wisdom's counsel and receive none of her reproof (Pro 1:25). ii. After wisdom has cried tirelessly for a sufficient amount of time (Pro 1:20-27), she stops crying. iii. This is evident by her change of pronouns from ye and you in verses 22-27 to they and them in verses 28-33. iv. Beginning in verse 28, wisdom no longer speaks to the simple ones, but instead talks about them. v. Once wisdom stops crying, the fools who turned a deaf ear and scorned at her words start crying. vi. Unfortunately for them though, it's too late; wisdom's office hours are over and her door is shut. B. God gives ample time for men to heed His warnings before judgment ensues. i. But when a man's allotted time is up, it's up, and there is no turning back the clock. ii. When distress and anguish comes upon them (Pro 1:27) they then decide that they want to listen to wisdom's cry, and they call upon her. iii. But just as the men in Noah's day who likely beat upon the door of the ark when the flood waters rose, but received no answer, so the simple ones who ignored and scorned wisdom's counsel call upon her, but she will not answer. iv. They seek her early as soon as trouble arrives; but, as a train that has already left the station, they will not find her. C. The Lord's ears are open to the righteous, but when the righteous work wickedness and rebel against Him past their space of repentance (Rev 2:21) the Lord shuts His ears to their prayers and turns His face against them (1Pe 3:12). i. Consider some examples. a. The fornicator (i) He was warned repeatedly by the LORD in His word to forsake his whoremongering (1Co 6:18) and to "remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house" (Pro 5:8). (ii) He will call out to God when he contracts a sexually transmitted disease and beg for Him to take it away, but He will not answer. (iii) How foolish and regretful will he feel in that day when he remembers God's admonitions through His word, his pastor, and his parents that he stupidly despised and took no heed to (Pro 5:11-13). b. The sodomite that contracts AIDS. c. The adulterer who loses his wife, children, church, and reputation. d. The alcoholic who is diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. e. The drug addict whose brain is fried. f. The smoker who gasps for breath while dying from emphysema. g. The glutton who has his feet amputated because of self-inflicted diabetes. h. The paraplegic teenager who insisted on driving recklessly. i. The gambler who bets away his life savings. j. The undisciplined spender who files for bankruptcy or dies in poverty because he didn't save money. k. The lascivious man who is left impotent and unable to perform sexually due to his pornography addiction. ii. Their cry will all be the same: "how have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!" (Pro 5:12-13) D. When God repeatedly cries out to His children and receives in response indifference, mockery, and rebellion, He turns away His ear and will not answer their cries for relief when judgment begins (2Ch 36:14-17; Mic 3:4; Jer 11:11-12, 14; Jer 14:11-12; Eze 8:18; Zec 7:8-14). E. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31).