LUKE 12:16-21 “THE LIFE OF A FOOL”
A) Some people are fools ... There is no doubt at all in my mind!
* I’m certain that I have met a few! * However, I don’t go around calling everybody I meet a fool!
* I don’t know enough about them! * The only person I know who has the knowledge and
authority to call a man a fool and back it up is God!
* He’s the one who calls men fools! * He just points out a fellow and says .......
* “See that man right there ... Look at the way he lives, the things he does, the places he goes, that
man’s a fool.” * I say, “Amen Lord, You’re right.”
B) And when God calls a man a fool, that’s final, he is one!
* He may have an I.Q. of 140 ... Have a PHD and be a professor in a university .......
* If God says he’s a fool, he’s a crackpot, he’s a nut!
C) This man in this parable was just such a fool! * He was a smart man ... He had to be!
* No man ever got rich farming without some know-how! * He was a hard worker!
* He was conservative with his money! * Now he was ready to retire while yet a young man!
* This man would’ve been an outstanding member of any community, yet God called him a fool!
* Why? * I think I know the reason why!
D) The basic philosophy of his life was the philosophy of a fool!
* There are four foolish things in his way of life clearly seen in this parable .......
(1) PERSONAL INTERESTS; SELFISH AMBITIONS; PERSONAL PLANNING; AND NO
ROOM FOR GOD! * This man was not an atheist!
A) Of course, the man who is an atheist is a fool ... Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1 .......
* The man who denies the existence of God is a number one nut! * Two things wrong with him ...
* In the first place, he will not face the evidence of plain, clear, reasonable facts as they are!
* In the second place, his black, wicked, rebellious, ungodly heart is so set against God, that he
wouldn’t believe in Him if God met him on the street and introduced Himself!
* He doesn’t want a God ... He wants to live as he pleases, have his own way, follow his lusts
and sins ... And God will not permit that!
B) God has certain moral laws and rules for living!
* The atheist doesn’t want those rules and so, he rejects them!
* If you get his selfish, sinful, filthy, immoral heart cleaned up, you’ll have no trouble with his
brains! * The problem is in his heart!
C) If people want proof that there is a God, all they have to do is open their eyes and look
around them! * Take a good look at the human body .......
* One fellow got smart and invented the camera! * I praise his genius, but God got the jump on
him ... The first camera was the human eye!
* It has the lens, the shutter, the dark box, is automatic, has all color film, and interprets the
pictures after it takes them! * God made the eye before man even thought of the camera!
* Don’t get excited over the invention of TV, you’ve had two in your head for years!
D) Another guy thought he was bright, so he made a microphone! * That’s wonderful!
* Without it, we’d have no radio, no television, and it all started with the microphone!
* Yet the most perfect microphone known to man was made by God ... The human ear!
* It picks up vibrations in the air, turns them into sounds and sends the results to the brain!
E) Somebody put together the modern telephone system ... That’s fantastic!
* But God beat them to the draw ... He made the most highly sensitive and perfect telephone
system in the world ... The human nervous system!
* Millions of tiny nerves are interwoven through your body!
* They’re so well insulated that they never get the messages tangled!
* They keep you informed about conditions around you! * Stick your finger in the fire .......
* God made that before you even saw a telephone!
F) It also repairs itself ... The body, that is, not the telephone!
* If you knock the bark off your hand, it’ll just grow some more!
* Knock the paint off your fender and see if it grows back!
* Man makes nothing as good as God does! * Ill. The automobile .......
G) The watch ... Started out as a checker ... Grew into a button ... Then into a compass ...
* Then changed into a gas gauge ... On to a speedometer, and finally grew into a watch!
* I find it easier to believe in watch makers! * “Agnostic” comes from 2 Greek words .......
* “Gnosko” which means “to know,” and “Alpha” means “before it makes it negative.”
* I don’t have much sense, but when I meet somebody dumber than me, I can sound smart!
H) The word really means “not to know,” simply saying, “You don’t know anything.”
* Dictionary: “Professing ignorance.” * Atheists’ and agnostics’ and infidels’ lives don’t meet the
approval of a holy God, they’re afraid to face God, so they hope there’s not one!
* This man in Luke 12 was not an agnostic! * If you had questioned him, he would have agreed,
“Sure, there’s a God ... I believe He made the heavens and the earth, sun, moon, and stars.”
* “But now, God can run the universe, and I’ll take care of the grain fields. I don’t have time for
Him at the present ... Maybe later. Right now, I’m too busy.”
* “There’s no room in my life, no place in my business for God.”
I) Notice the personal pronouns: “What shall I do ... I have ... I do ... I will ...”
* The man had “I” trouble! * He couldn’t see God or anyone else for looking at himself!
* He lived for himself ... He was in love with himself ... He labored for himself .......
* He worshipped his own ego! * Some people have a touch of this trouble!
* Like the man who said, “Of all my wife’s relatives, I love her husband the most.”
* Many men feel the same ... I guess they are just born with that love for self!
* Little three year old boy ... Hug daddy and say, “I love you ...” * Mama ... Himself ...
* Any person who is so possessed with himself, will lock God out of his heart, his life, his home,
his family, and all his affairs of life ... He is as foolish as the atheist!
J) Now, some people say they believe in God, but they don’t live like it!
* They acknowledge His being, but don’t recognize Him in their life!
* He has no place in their heart, their home, their job, their life, or their plans!
* They might as well be atheists, they live as one!
* From a practical standpoint, there is no difference! * They are in love with, and living for self!
* Their motives, ambitions, and desires are all selfish ... They have no time for God!
* That is the philosophy of a fool! * “Preacher, are you calling me a fool ...?” * No ... God is!
(2) FOOLS ARE MATERIALISTS! * “What do you mean by that, Preacher?”
A) I mean that they put material things above spiritual things!
* His motives and ambitions were for “much goods.” * He lived for dollars and cents, houses and
lands! * He cared for his own body, but not for his own soul!
* And by the way ... He’s not the last materialist that ever lived ... There are a few walking around
today in our churches! * (“Preachers are money hungry,” ... Let me explain something to you)!
B) I know the controlling element in a preacher’s life is not suppose to be money, right?
* Did you know it took as much of the grace of God and blood of Jesus to keep you out of hell as it
did to save any preacher you ever knew? * There’s really no great difference with God!
* Then you ought not live for money either! * The driving force of your life is not to be dollars,
jobs, automobiles, houses, possessions!
* You should have some greater motive for which to live!
* If the only reason you have for living is material possessions, you don’t have much of a reason
for staying alive!
C) Oh, I know what some of you are thinking, “But Preacher, I’ve got to make a living, I must
have money ... There are so many needs!” * I understand what you mean!
* There is a material, physical need, and it must be met! * Let me illustrate .......
* Suppose instead of eating supper tonight, you read the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible.
* Instead of breakfast tomorrow, read Psalm 1 ... Instead of lunch, read Psalm 23.......
* Instead of supper, read Psalm 100 ... The next day read Isa. 53 for breakfast, John 1 for lunch,
and 1 Cor. 13 for supper!
D) You go on in this manner with no food, for 30 or 40 days, and see what happens to you!
* You’ll die, and the undertaker will reap the benefits of your foolishness and bury you!
* It’s not a bad idea to read a chapter in the Bible everyday, but don’t depend on that for physical
strength! * You’d better feed that body peas and cornbread or something, or it will die!
E) However, if you think your only need is physical, you are deceived!
* Every man has at least two needs ... Physical and spiritual!
* Don’t forget, your soul gets hungry too ... Not for peas and cornbread!
* You can’t feed your soul dollars and cents, you’ll choke it to death ... It won’t eat it!
* It hungers and thirsts for God ... Things won’t satisfy your spiritual appetite!
F) The truth is God will provide all our needs ... Matt. 6:31-34 “Therefore, take no ...”
* However, there is a condition to getting those needs provided for ... “Seek ye first ...” (v.33)
* There is no need in worrying over what you need ... Phil. 4:19 “But my God shall supply ...”
* Here’s the third philosophy of a fool .......
(3) FOOLS THINK THE WAY TO HAPPINESS IS: EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY!
A) That’s foolishness ... Besides, happiness and merry making is not the same!
* There is pleasure in sin for a season, but there’s no real joy at all!
* Here’s how to test your joy ... Does it last, or is it temporary?
* Anybody can laugh and sing when skies are clear, burdens are few, and the world is going right! * But, do you lose your song when troubles come? * If so, it’s not genuine!
B) Paul and Silas knew real, genuine joy! * They were in the depths of a dark, and damp, insect
infected dungeon in Philippi ... Their backs were dripping with blood!
* The flesh was ripped off the bones by the scourge, and hot pain cut through their body!
* Their hands and feet were in instruments of torture, and in the darkness, at midnight, they began
to think about how good Jesus was!
* He poured out His blood for them, and now counted them worthy to suffer for His name!
C) They got so happy that they started singing! * Their voices echoed through that cold, clammy
prison, and they were happy with blood on their backs, bonds on their feet, and bars around them.
* You’ve got to admit, that’s peculiar circumstances for singing! * They had an unusual song!
* You don’t find that song in the crowd ... In the juke box ... Nor behind flashing lights!
* The world can’t give it ... It doesn’t understand it ... And praise the Lord, it can’t take it away!
* You keep looking for happiness and peace of mind in eating, drinking, and making merry, but
you’ll never find it! * That’s the philosophy of a fool!
(4) FOOLS THINK THEY WILL LIVE MANY YEARS! * Four elements made this man a fool:
A) My fruits, goods and barns ... Much goods ... Be merry ... And many years!
* The only person I know who is confident that you’re gonna die is the undertaker!
* He’s counting on it! * Why do you think he’s got a big stock in caskets? * TO BURY YOU!
* He knows you’re gonna die, whether you believe it or not, but you will die!
* You’re not aware of the day or time of it, but die, you will!
B) Death comes suddenly ... Creeps up unexpectedly ... Catches you off guard .......
* He gives you no warning ... There is no time to repent, no time to prepare, no chance to be saved!
* That is why most people go to hell ... They think they have plenty of time!
* The devil says, “There’s no need to rush, you can settle it tomorrow.”
* And they wake up in eternity, lost, without God!
CLOSE
A) That’s what happened to the young man in this parable ... Death came suddenly!
* He stood at the beautiful mansion, and looked out over those moonlit fields of grain.
* There were oceans of wealth, rolling in waves in the night breeze ... The golden heads
glittering in the bright moonlight!
* The rich man said, “Much goods ... What am I going to do? My barns won’t hold all this year’s
crop. I’ll have to tear down the old barns and build more and bigger.”
* “I’ll store it for the future ... Then I can take it easy for a while!”
B) He passed through a spacious living room into the drawing room!
* As he sat at the drawing board, he outlined the plans for the new barns!
* (He never built them, he just planned to build them)!
* He arranged the layout, and retired for the night!
C) In his extravagant bedroom, on a bed covered with a spread of interwoven golden and silver
threads, he laid his body to rest for the night! * As he relaxed, he said to himself .......
* “Soul, much goods, for many years. I’ll have a long time to enjoy life.”
* He dropped off to sleep with a smile of false security spread across his face!
* The servants were all asleep in their quarters ... The slaves rested from their labor!
* The guards stood outside at the gates ... The night was dark and still!
D) Suddenly the silence was broken by a scream ringing from the master’s room!
* The guards rushed in with swords in hand! * The aroused servants ran to check the trouble!
* The family pushed its way into the young man’s room, and surrounded the bed and watched
his body twist in agony and pain! * The face was flushed red with fever!
* The bloodshot eyes stared in a faraway, glassy, unnatural look!
* The death rattle was in his chest, and the gurgle in his throat!
E) The cold, chilly fingers of death were creeping along the veins of his body!
* The blood began to congeal around his heart ... The muscles of his body tied into knots, as a
piercing scream tore from his voice!
* His body stiffened with a convulsive shiver, and lay lifeless!
* The voice of God, like a clap of thunder out of a cloudless sky, burst forth from heaven, and
echoed in that room, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.”
F) The long arm of God reached right down into his bosom, seized a firm grip on his soul, and
snatched it into eternity!
* He didn’t give it up, God took it ... He didn’t release it, God required it .......
* He didn’t surrender it, God demanded it!
* And when the sun rose over those beautiful golden fields of ripe grain, he was in another world!
* He lived a fool’s life, died a fool’s death, was buried in a fool’s grave, and went to a fool’s hell!
* Any man who puts off salvation, thinking he has many years is following the philosophy of a
fool!
G) One last question: If God said to you, “This night, thy soul shall be required of you .......”
* And tonight you died, where would you be tomorrow?
* The skidding tires of a loose automobile sends it crashing into a tree, and they cut your mangled,
lifeless, bloody corpse out of that twisted steel ... You never knew what hit you!
* As you sleep tonight, one spark from a faulty wire turns your house into ashes!
* Tomorrow morning they fish your charred, burned body from the smoking, smoldering ruins!
H) Sitting there, your neck suddenly relaxes, and your head falls forward on your chest!
* Your lungs collapse ... Your heart stops ... You gasp your last breath, and fall forward, crumbling
into a lifeless heap in the floor .......
* Where would you go, if suddenly you dropped dead?
* Are you prepared to die, should death come instantly, right now?
I) Only a fool would live his life without God!
* Don’t be a fool ... Get saved ... Trusting Jesus is your only preparation for death!
* Receive Him into your heart today ... You’ll be glad you did!
