With no running water, no electricity, etc. one night, Mikes' wife begins to deliver a baby.
The local doctor is there in attendance.
Mike said, "What d'ya want me to do, Doctor?"
"Hold the lantern, Mike. Here it comes!"
The doctor delivers the child and holds it up for the proud father to see. The doctor said, "Mike, you're the proud father of a fine strapping boy."
But before he could get the words out of his mouth, he said, "Wait a minute. Hold the lantern, Mike." Soon the doctor delivers the next child. "You've a full set now, Mike. A beautiful baby daughter."
Again the Doctor cuts in, "Hold the lantern, Mike, Hold the lantern!" Soon the Doctor delivers a third child.
The doctor holds up the baby for Mike's inspection. But Mike is amazed and he says to the doctor, "Do you think it's the light that's attracting them?"
People have SAID and DONE some very foolish things!!!
Illus: These Hollywood actors and actresses are known for doing dumb things.
For example, remember when Jane Fonda during the Vietnam war went to the enemy side and got into one of the enemy’s tank aimed at our American troop and said some disgusting things.
This is when she earned the name of ‘Hanoi Jane’ thanks to her radio broadcasts, which attempted to shame American troops.
She later apolized for getting into the tank but said she did not apologized for what she said. THAT WAS A DUMB THING TO DO!!!
That is, there has been times when some of us have talked some very foolish things we did in the past, especially in our youth.
When we start thinking about these things it is hard to believe for us to believe that we could have been so foolish!!!
For example, we have SAID THING AND DONE and afterward we asked ourselves, “WHAT WAS I THINKING OF WHEN I DID SUCH A FOOLISH THING?”
We did these things because we were not thinking at all. If we were, we would not have done them.
Illus: When it comes to THINKING, have you noticed that women are very curious by nature what men are thinking?
For example, you will be sitting in a restaurant eating a plate full of spaghetti, and your wife will say to you, "What are you thinking about?"
Now immediately every man knows this is a very important question and he had better answer it right if he wants to finish his meal. He certainly better not say, “I was thinking about that pretty red head over there!”
To him, the answer should be obvious to her. He is eating spaghetti and he is concentrating as hard as he can on how he can wrap that spaghetti around his fork without getting it all over his suit and tie!
Everyone of us have SAID THINGS and DONE THINGS if we thought it through we never would have done it or said it.
We have all SAID THINGS and DONE THINGS that was very foolish.
But did you know the Bible tells us there are two kinds of fools. For example, some are-
I. SATAN’S FOOLS
Look at Psalms 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…”
There are foolish people who will walk around saying, “There IS NO GOD!” Those who make these statements are the dumbest people on the face of the earth.
In fact, God’s Word tells us they are fools.
Notice the word “Said”. That is, there are folks who are so foolish to say THERE IS NO GOD!”
There are some folks you do not know how dumb they are until they start talking. But after they start talking they remove all doubt about their foolishness.
Listen, there are a lot of dumb people, but the dumbest person on this earth is the person who lives on this earth and says to himself and to others, “There is no God!”
Here they standing on God’s Creation and declaring publicly THERE IS NO GOD!
Illus: Anyone know if there is a watch, there has to be a watch maker, but they will not acknowledge there is God the Creator!!!
There are TWO KINDS OF ATHEISTS that the Bible says are FOOLS!
(A) THE MOUTH FOOL (THE PROFESSING ATHEIST)
People have DONE some very foolish things with their lives, but most of all they have SAID some dumb things. People’s mouths have gotten them in trouble more than anything else.
For example, remember when…
• The “Dixie Chicks” made unpatriotic remarks in a foreign country and it has cost them greatly AND HAD HUNDREDS OF DEATH THREATS.
• Trent Lott made some racial slurs at Senator Strong Thurmond’s retirement party, and he paid for those remarks dearly in the political world.
• Tom Daschle made some remarks about the President in time of War, and also has paid for those remarks.
When will politicians and entertainers ever learn that when they open their mouths they had better be careful what words come out?
And generally when people have something to say, NO ONE CARES TO LISTEN TO THEM!!!
Illus: The story is told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment.
To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning."
The guests responded with phrases like:
• Marvelous!
• Keep up the good work.
• We are proud of you.
• God bless you, sir.
It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. The ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming."
Illus: How good a listener are you?
1) Since you think about four times faster than a person usually talks, do you use this time to think about other things while you're keeping track of the conversation?
2) Do you listen primarily for facts rather than ideas when someone is speaking?
3) Do you avoid listening to things you feel will be too difficult to understand?
4) Can you tell from a person's appearance and delivery that there won't be anything worthwhile said?
5) When someone is talking to you do you appear to be paying attention when you're not?
6) Do certain words and phrases prejudice you so you cannot listen objectively?
7) When listening are you distracted by outside sights and sounds?
---Leadership, Vol.1, No. 4, p. 99.
Illus: Someone said, “We can look at a person and we might wonder if they are a fool, but once they open their mouths they remove all doubt.”
There are some it seems, who can not shut their mouths and they make fools of themselves. They just will not shut up!
But the dumbest thing that a person can say is stand on God’s Creation and say, THERE IS NO GOD!!!
WHY IS THAT THE MOST FOOLISH THING A PERSON CAN SAY?
Illus: Bill Gordon says, “Atheism is rationally ridiculous. The most anyone can claim about the non-existence of God is agnosticism - to say you don't know. But as soon as one takes the atheist's viewpoint, he opens himself and his philosophical system to a dilemma. No finite being can say there is no God, for outside the limits of his knowledge God may exist. To be an atheist one must claim to know everything. Of course this is one of the attributes that only God possesses. Therefore, the only way one can prove God doesn't exist is to be God which is rationally ridiculous.”
A person that will go around and say, “There is no God”, shows their foolishness.
The atheists make fools of themselves constantly.
Illus: Heywood Broun said, "Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God." (Heywood Broun-Instant Quotation Dictionary, p. 33.
The PROFESSING ATHEIST is considered to be the MOUTH FOOL, he goes around making these ridiculous statements, such as, “There is no God.”
But their is another kind of atheist that God considers to be a fool.
B. HEART FOOL (THE PRACTICING ATHEIST)
He does not go around proclaiming with his MOUTH that there is no God, BUT HE LIVES HIS LIFE AS IF THERE IS NO GOD.
By the life they live, their heart within is saying, “There is no God to govern my life. I do what I want to do, because I am my own God!”
The PRACTICING ATHEIST is as much a fool as the PROFESSING ATHEIST, the only difference is that:
• One talks like a fool
• And the other one lives like a fool.
We have looked at SATAN’S FOOLS, but now let’s look at the-
II. SAVIOR’S FOOLS
1 Cor. 4:9-10, we read, “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.”
WHO ARE THESE THAT ARE FOOLS FOR CHRIST SAKE?
A. THOSE WHO TRADE THIS EARTHLY LIFE FOR A HEAVENLY LIFE
Look at Mark 8:35, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Illus: Years ago Dr. Belger had a family attending his church that had a son and a daughter. The son was very special, when he attended Dr. Belger at the age of 10 to 12 years of age he would take notes of his sermon. This family lived in a nice neighborhood with a double garage. He and his sister would gather the children up and he would take the notes he heard Dr. Belger preached and preach to these neighborhood children.
• It is no doubt about it this boy had the call of God on his life and he one day wanted to go into the ministry.
• His father had other ideas, he told him that he needed to be a lawyer. He could make more money than going into the ministry.
• Now as far as this father was concern for his son to go into the ministry was foolishness and throwing his life away to go into the ministry.
Illus: There are folks today who believe you who have made time to come to worship God could have used that time more wisely:
• Fishing
• Hunting
• Going to the mountains
• Going to the beaches
• Going to a family reunion
Illus: There are folks today who believe that we Christians who put 10% of our pay check in the offering plates are a bunch of fools.
They do not understand the Bible teaches the TITHES BELONG TO THE LORD. When we put God’s tithes in the offering plate we are not giving a dime. If the tithes belong to the Lord we are only proving we are trust worthy to put in the offering that which belong to Him.
Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.
We do not start giving until we put in our offerings.
There are people who have become so attached to this world they are not willing to turn loose, even if it means they will go to a Christ-less eternity.
Illus: Remember Lot’s wife. God told them specifically that when they left Sodom they were not to look back. But when they were leaving, she loved that place so much, she had to look back and at least get one more glimpse of it. And the Bible says she turned into a pillar of salt.
This was a very salty region, and it seems that maybe God is saying, “Since you love this place so much, I’ll make you a permanent part of it.”
Remember the rich man that loved things in Luke 12. He wanted to build a bigger barn so he could store more of what this world has to offer. But the Lord spoke harsh words to him.
Look at Luke 12:20, we read, “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”
It is bad when someone calls us a fool, but it is worse when God calls a man a fool.
When God calls him a fool, that is exactly what he is. When a man is willing to trade what the world has, for heavenly things, he is not wise.
We see THOSE WHO TRADE THIS EARTHLY LIFE FOR THE HEAVENLY LIFE, and-
B. THOSE WHO BEAR THE SHAME AS WELL AS THE NAME
Look at Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
There are some folks that would like to accept the Lord, but it is NOT THINGS that hold them back, IT IS PEOPLE.
They know if they accept the Lord it is going to cost them some SHAME, and they are not willing to bear the shame.
Conclusion:
Lost person, I want to ask you something. What is in your life that you are willing to die and spend eternity in hell for? IS IT SOMETHING or is it SOMEONE?
I am sure that you will admit like all of us admit we have said and done some dumb things.
But the dumbest thing a person can do is to reject the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
You can do something about that now, make this to be the day you accepted the Lord as your Savior.
We are all a fools of some kind.
I. SATAN’S FOOLS (Psalm 14:1)
(A) THE MOUTH FOOL
(B) THE HEART FOOL
II. SAVIOR’S FOOLS (1 Cor. 4:9-10)
