God's Wisdom And Man's Foolishness Series

a. Four were smelly fishermen

b. One was an IRS agent

c. The rest were people we know nothing about except that they were common everyday people

d. One was even a person that Jesus knew would betray Him

e. These were definitely not the men that worldly-wise people would have chosen to accomplish

such an important job.

3. Consider the person chosen to be the “apostle to the Gentiles”

--Saul was the greatest enemy of the church yet Christ called him to apostle-ship on the road to

Damascus

CONCLUSION: A. Jesus gave two parables about wisdom and foolishness

1. The first has to do with the importance of hearing God’s word and then obeying it

a. Mt. 7:24-27 – Jesus tells about two builders. A foolish builder who built his house

on a foundation of sand that would not stand up to the storms of life. The other was

a wise builder who built his home on a foundation of solid rock where the storms of

life could assail it without fear of the foundation giving way.

b. Jesus wanted us to understand the importance of obedience

2. The second has to do with being prepared for Christ’s return

a. Mt. 25:1-13 – Jesus tells about 10 virgins, five who were ready to greet the

bridegroom and five who were not ready

b. Jesus wanted us to know that His return could happen at any time

--vigilance and preparedness are also important

B. I want to conclude tonight with a story that’s quite old but quite to the point:

There was a king who had all his world could afford. The thing he loved most,

however, was to laugh.

Once while being entertained a jester came along wishing to join in the festival of

activities and also wishing to perform for him. His opportunity came and he put the best

comical show together he had ever done and the king never laughed so hard.

Once the activity was all over the king wanted to hire this jester to be his personal

jester. Once hired, the king handed him a small stick and said, “You are the most foolish

man alive. When you find someone more foolish than you, then you give them this stick,”

and the king laughed heartily.

After many years had passed by the king lay sick on his death bed ready to go at any

moment. He called for his jester, for he wanted to laugh one more time before he died.

When the jester was through he asked to speak to the king personally.

Once alone with the king the jester asked, “King where are you going?” The king

responded, “On a far journey.” The jester asked again, “And how do you plan to get

there? The king responded, “I don’t know.” Then the jester pulled the stick from his

back pocket and handed it to the king. The king was stunned and asked why he had given

him the stick. The jester replied, “King, today I have found a more foolish man than I.

For you see, I only trifled with the things of life, but you have trifled with things of

eternity!”