Proverbs 24:9 - Homiletics

Sin and folly

However these words are read, they point to an association of sin and folly. This may be regarded from two points of view, according as we start with the thought of the sin or with that of the folly.

I. SIN IMPLIES FOLLY .

1 . It chooses the worse of two courses . Thus it blunders into self-injury. Evil is not only culpable in the sight of God; it is hurtful to the evil doer. Its path is dark, degraded, disappointing. It is foolish to turn from the way of light and honour and satisfaction to such a course.

2 . It is short-sighted . In choosing a way one should look to the end of it. It is madness for the belated traveller to turn aside to the grassy path when the rough, stony road would take him home, and he knows not whither the pleasanter way will lead him. "The wages of sin is death;" it is, then, nothing but folly to work for the master without considering his direful payment.

3 . It perverts the thoughts . Sin involves folly, and it also leads to greater folly. Many sins directly poison and paralyze the intellectual faculties. All sins confuse the lines of right and truth. Thus the man who lives in sin is minding his eyes to the greatest facts. To know of the doctrine we must do the commandment ( John 7:17 ). The wilful sinner obscures the doctrine by breaking the commandment.

II. FOLLY ISSUES IN SIN . We now look at the conjunction from the opposite point of view. We start with the folly. This is to be regarded as a seed of sin. It is true that sin is primarily concerned with the moral nature. A man cannot really sin altogether in ignorance, because if he does not know that he is doing a wrong thing, to him the thing is not wrong. But, on the other hand, there is a culpable ignorance, arising from carelessness, disregard for truth, moral obliquity. Now, as sin is at the root of that ignorance, so the ignorance may, in such a case, serve as a link m the miserable chain of consequences that drags new sins into existence. These facts should lead us to certain practical conclusions.

1 . It is our duty to seek the light that we may avoid sin . Truth is not merely given as a luxury, it is, first of an, a beacon light. It is to guide us over the wilderness in the right way.

2 . The teaching of children is a moral and religious duty . The advantages of education are usually discussed from a utilitarian standpoint. But the chief advantage is that it should open the eyes of children to the wisdom of doing right and to the folly of wickedness. Many poor children grow up among scenes of vice and crime without having an opportunity of knowing of a better way. The Christian Church is called to be a light in the world, leading from sin, not forcibly, but by showing the clear wisdom of goodness, as well as its moral obligation.