1. I saw this article the other day: A young woman named Megan Duskey, a 23-year-old public school teacher, fell after attempting to slide down the banister of a four-story staircase that led to the Palmer House Hotel ballroom in Chicago.
2. Reports said she had been drinking.  Drunk or sober -- what a foolish way to die! 
3. We used to have to worry about fast drivers and drunk drivers.  Now there are texting drivers!
4. The other day I was getting gas at the gas station, thinking about what to preach this morning, when I noticed a sign on the back of the kerosene truck parked in front of me: "It is better to lose a minute in life, than losing life in a minute." 
5. Back in August, the 17-year-old daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Thailand slipped off her shoes and climbed out onto a window ledge at a Manhattan apartment before plummeting more than 20 stories to her death.  She was very drunk. 
6. What a foolish way to die.   Actually, many people die from foolishness. Recently, a lady dropped her cell phone on the subway tracks.  She jumped down onto the tracks to retrieve it and was killed by an incoming train.  What a foolish way to die!
7. Some people swallow drugs in balloons in an attempt to smuggle these drugs into our country. But sometimes the balloons burst inside and cause a massive overdose.  Then the smuggler dies before he ever gets here.  What a foolish way to die!
8. Some people are immoral and die of AIDS or some other disease.
9. Some people try to commit a crime and are killed buy their victim or by the police.  These are all foolish ways to die!
10. A retired Pennsylvania police officer accidentally killed himself while attempting to shoot a snapping turtle behind his home.   What a foolish way to die!
11. A thunderstorm knocked down a power line upstate New York, and a 64-year-old drunk decided to do something about it. Firemen had to chase him away from the downed power line several different times, but when they weren't looking, he ran up over to the power line and used an industrial saw to try and cut the power line in half.
12. The electric shock killed him instantly.  What a foolish way to die!
13. Back in August, a doctor named Jacquelyn Kotarac (a 49-year-old internist) who was involved in an "on-again, off-again" relationship with a man tried to force her way into the man's home by sliding down his chimney. She got stuck in the chimney, and her dead body was found there three days later.  She climbed a ladder to his roof, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the chimney flue, according to the Bakersfield, California police. Her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a stench and fluids coming from the fireplace. The house-sitter and her son investigated with a flashlight and found her dead, wedged about two feet above the top of the interior fireplace opening.  What a foolish way to die!
14. In the Bible, we see some horrible deaths.  In I Samuel 25:3 we read that Nabal ("Fool") "was churlish and evil in his doings."   He was rude and insulting to David's young men. and when David found out he girded on his sword, and he said, "Gird ye on every man his sword."
15. First Samuel 25:13 says, "And they girded on every man his sword; and David also: and there went up after David about four hundred men."   David was determined to kill Nabal and all his men.
16. Nabal had a good and beautiful wife, and she went out and begged David not to kill her wicked husband. 
17. David was impressed with Abigail and he granted her request.  But nevertheless, God killed foolish Nabal (I Sam. 25:32-38).
18. Another notable death was the death of Absalom, the son of King David.   Absalom's hair got caught in the branches of an oak tree, and his mule kept walking, leaving Absalom hanging there "between the heaven and the earth" (II Sam. 18:9).  Then Absalom was killed by crafty Joab while he hung there. 
19. It was Joab who had also killed Abner, in revenge for the death of his brother Asahel.
20. When King David heard the news concerning Abner's death, the Bible says he lamented over Abner, and said, "Died Abner as a fool dieth?"
21. I have long been impressed with that statement: "Died Abner as a fool dieth?" (II Sam. 3:33).
22. The Bible has much to say about the death of fools (cf. Luke 12:16-21).
23. Ecclesiastes 7:17 says, "Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?"
24. Proverbs 5:23 says, "He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."

I. IT IS FOOLISH TO IGNORE GOD (PRO. 5:21).

1. Proverbs 5:21 says, "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings."
2. Proverbs 15:3 says, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."
3. These Scriptures refer to God's omniscience and omnipresence.
4. David said, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psalm 139:7, 8).
5. Second Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."
6. The phrase, "the eyes of the LORD" is found often in Scripture.  The first reference is in Genesis 6:8, where we read, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."
7. Later we are told that, "David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD" (I Kings 15:5).
8. We are also told that wicked king Omri "wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD" (I Kings 16:25).
9. Later on we are told that his son Ahab "wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD" (II Chron. 21:6).
10. Unfortunately, most people act as if God's eyes were closed.  They act as if God were unaware of their behaviour.
11. "Be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23).

II. IT IS FOOLISH TO BE TRIPPED UP BY SIN (PRO. 5:22).

1. Proverbs 26:27 says, "Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him."
2. We see that often in the Bible.  Esther 7:10 says, "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified."
3. Daniel 6:24 says, "And the king (Darius) commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den."
4. It is foolish to be tripped up by sin. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned men and women have been tripped up by sin.
5. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, there has been a natural drift in men toward evil.  Sin always pulls men down.
6. That is why it is so important to keep reading the Word of God.   Psalm 119:11 says, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
7. DL Moody wrote these words in the flyleaf of his son's Bible: "This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book."
8. Unless we draw close to God, and resist sin, sin will trap us, entangle us, and destroy us.
9. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death."
10. Ezekiel 18:4 says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."
11. Bro. Casillas referred to a man who would not admit that he was a sinner.   Bro. Casillas told him, "I can prove you are a sinner.  If you die, you are a sinner."  Well, the man died!
12. I would hate to have to preach your funeral and say, "He did not believe he was a sinner, but he died and now he knows the Bible is true!"
13. The sinner's "own iniquities" (Pro. 5:22) take hold of him and drag him down to hell (cf. Pro. 5:1-5).
14. Spurgeon said, "The ungodly man first of all finds sin to be a bait, and, charmed by its apparent pleasantness he indulges in it, and then he becomes entangled in its meshes so that he cannot escape. That which first attracted the sinner, afterwards detains him. Evil habits are soon formed, the soul readily becomes accustomed to evil, and then, even if the man should have lingering thoughts of better things, and form frail resolutions to amend, his iniquities hold him captive like a bird in the fowler's snare."
15. It is a principle laid out in the Word of God that sin becomes God's instrument for punishing sinners.
16. William Arnot said, "Both for restraint in this life, and final judgment at last, this is the method employed.  It is not only true in general that the wicked shall not escape, but also in particular that his own sin is the snare that takes the transgressor, and the scourge that lashes him" (Studies in Proverbs).
17. In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures, part bird and part women, who lived on an island.  They had beautiful voices and were very seductive, and they lured sailors with their enchanting music and voices.  The sailors would be seduced by their beautiful voices and would wreck their boats and die.

III. IT IS FOOLISH TO DIE WITHOUT INSTRUCTION (5:23).

1. It is very foolish to go through life without God.  William Gladstone served as Prime Minister of England four times (1868–1874, 1880–1885, February–July 1886, and 1892–1894), more than any other person.
2. One day a young man told Mr. Gladstone that he would soon complete his studies at Oxford University and was planning on study law and becoming a successful barrister.
3. Mr. Gladstone said, "Splendid!  And what then?"
4. Young man: "Then I plan to stand for election and become a member of Parliament."
5. Gladstone: "Wonderful, and what then?"
6. Young man: "Then, sir, I plan to rise to prominence in the party and be appointed to a  cabinet post."
7. Gladstone: "A worthy ambition, and what then?"
8. Young man: "Oh, Mr. Gladstone, I plan one day to become Prime minister and serve my Queen with the same distinction  as you."
9. Gladstone: "A noble desire, young man, and what then?"
10. Young man: "Well, sir, I suspect in time I will be forced to retire from public life."
11. Gladstone: "You will indeed, and what then?"
12. Young man: "I expect that one day I will die."
13. Gladstone: "That you will, and what then?"
14. Young man: "I don’t know sir, I have not thought any further than that."
15. Gladstone: "Young man, you are a fool. Go home and think your life through from its end."
16. Remember what the LORD said to the certain rich man in Luke 12:20, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."
17. In the very last chapter of the Bible we read these startling words, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still" (Rev. 22:11).
18. An ungodly man mocked the Bible, and denied that there was a literal lake of fire and brimstone.
19. He said to a Christian woman, "No such amount of brimstone could be found in one place."
20. The Christian lady wisely replied, "Every sinner brings his own brimstone with him!"
21. She knew her Bible! Romans 2:5 says, "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."
22. The ungodly carry their guilt and shame and sins with them all the way to hell.
23. Last week, a Jehovah's Witness mocked God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He laughed at us as we attempted to explain the Gospel to him and his companions.
24. He said God is love and therefore will not send anyone to hell.  He does not believe in hell but he will soon find out hell is real.
25. Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, "How can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. 23:33).
26. Our Lord described hell as a place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
27. Psalm 9:17 says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
28. Only a fool would laugh at the Word of God (Pro. 5:23).

CONCLUSION:

                     "WHAT THEN?"
When the great factory-plants of our cities
Have turned-out their last finished works,
When our merchants have sold their last products,
And sent home the last of the clerks;
When our banks have transacted their business,
And paid out the last dividend;
When the Judge of the Earth calls a reckoning,
And asks for a balance -WHAT THEN?
 
When the Church choir has sung its last anthem,
And the preacher has made his last prayer;
When the people have heard their last sermon,
And the sound has died out on the air;
When the Bible lies closed on the pulpit,
And the pews are all empty of men,
When each one stands facing his record,
And the Great Book is opened - WHAT THEN?
 
When the actors have played their last drama.
And the mimic has made his last fun,
When the film has flashed its last picture,
And the billboard displayed its last run;
When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished,
And gone out in the darkness again,
When the trumpet of ages is sounded,
And we all stand before Him - WHAT THEN?
 
When the bugle-call sinks into silence,
And the long marching columns stand still;
When the captain repeats his last orders,
And they've captured the last fort and hill;
When the flag has been hauled from the mast-head,
And peace seems to reign among men,
When those who rejected the Saviour
Are asked for a reason - WHAT THEN?

Anon.