{"id":466,"date":"2018-04-18T14:44:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T14:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reviveusohgod.com\/?p=466"},"modified":"2021-08-12T01:29:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T01:29:53","slug":"the-man-god-called-a-fool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/reviveusohgod.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/18\/the-man-god-called-a-fool\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man God Called a Fool"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Man God Called a Fool<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Text: Luke 12: 13-21<\/p>\n

\u201cThen one from the crowd said to Him, \u2018Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.\u2019 But He said to him, \u2018Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?\u2019 And He said to them, \u2018Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one\u2019s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.\u2019 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: \u201cThe ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, \u2018What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?\u2019 So he said, \u2018I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, \u2018Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.\u2019\u201d \u201cBut God said to him, \u2018You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?\u2019 So is he who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul said to Timothy \u201cFor the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn away from the truth, and be turned to fables.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>(2 Timothy 4:3-4). The time has come when people claiming to be followers of Christ and of God do not wish to hear the hard words of God. You no longer want to hear that you need to tear down and pluck up the errors and sin in your lives. Many of you only want to hear the things that make you feel good. You only want to hear teachers and preachers that will tell you what you want to hear. But there are times when God has to speak a hard word.<\/p>\n

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In the text that I read from Luke, God called this man a fool.<\/p>\n

Consider with me the times that God calls a man a fool<\/p>\n

1.)\u00a0 God calls you a fool if you think all that you have belongs to yourself.<\/p>\n

2.)\u00a0 \u00a0God calls you are a fool if you think that all you have you got by yourself.<\/p>\n

3.)\u00a0 God calls you a fool when you think what you have will last a long time.<\/p>\n

4.)\u00a0 God calls you are a fool when you think you are guaranteed tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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In the first place you are a fool in the eyes of God when you think that all of your possessions belong to you alone. In the text before us this farmer produced a bumper crop. His barns were already filled to the full. He had no where to put his new harvest. We see that this presented him with a problem.\u00a0 Verse 17 says, \u201cAnd he thought within himself, saying, \u2018What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Now to a farmer that is a problem. If you can\u2019t get your crops out of the field to proper storage they will eventually rot in the field. However, this problem was just the man\u2019s surface problem. He had a problem that was even deeper than that. This man\u2019s real problem was selfishness and covetousness. As far as this rich farmer was concerned, he wasn\u2019t about to share anything with anybody. You can see his selfishness in what he says: \u201cI have no room to store MY crops\u2026I will pull down MY barns\u2026 I will store all MY crops and MY goods\u2026I will say to MY soul\u201d.<\/em><\/strong> He thinks that all his worldly possessions are his own. He had a problem that went way down into the very depths of his soul. Many of you today have a problem that is bugging you but it\u2019s not your real problem. The problem is a deeper problem. The greatest problem is that your soul is empty and you need Jesus. You may have problems in your marriage! You may have problems in your finances. But that may only be a surface problem. The real problem may be that your marital problems are related to the absence of Jesus as king in your marriage. The problem with your finances may be that you chase after all the material things of this world. But you don\u2019t follow the Bibles guidelines for finances. But your real problem is down deeper, it\u2019s a problem of the soul. This man\u2019s real problem was not the surface problem that he states. This man\u2019s problem was a problem of the soul. He was selfish! He was greedy! Again, notice what he says in the Scripture \u201cWhat shall I do, since I have no room to store MY crops?\u2026 I will pull down MY barns and build greater. And there I will store all MY crops and MY goods, and I will say to MY soul\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong> He thinks that everything that he has from his soul to his material possessions belongs to himself and to himself alone. How long has he had this problem? A long time. \u00a0This man didn\u2019t need the crops that he had! He already had barns to the full and overflowing with last years\u2019 harvest. Did he need the harvest he had just brought in? No. He was going to keep it all for himself. He wasn\u2019t about to share it with anybody. He could have given that whole crop to the poor or his workers and never missed it. He could have left the whole crop in the field and said to the town \u2018Go help yourselves\u2019. But the man had a deeper problem. He was selfish. All he could think about was himself, He thought it was all his. God called this man a fool.<\/p>\n

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How about you? Do you think that all that you have is yours and yours alone? You\u2019re not about to share any of it with anybody. Do you have more than you could ever possibly need? You have money stored up in banks and CD\u2019s and the stock market. The more you get the more you want. You\u2019re never satisfied with your abundance. You have all the latest movies, the latest DVD\u2019s, the latest audio equipment. You\u2019ve been to all the hip concerts but it\u2019s not enough. You could give away 4\/5ths of what you have and you wouldn\u2019t miss it at all. There are Christians who are just as guilty. You think everything you have belongs to you. Some Christian brother or sister comes to you with a need but you\u2019re not willing to help them. God gives wealth for the purpose of helping others who are in need, especially those who are of the household of faith first. It\u2019s time for the church to set its eyes upon the Kingdom of God. It\u2019s time for the Church to get its eyes on its purpose and spread the Gospel into the community around us It\u2019s time for us to get serious with God. It\u2019s time to get up. It\u2019s time to arise from sleep for the day is dawning. The last day is upon is. The Day of judgment is over the hill. It\u2019s time to sound the trumpet. It\u2019s time to sound the alarm. Some of you are lost without Christ. This man in the parable was a wealthy man. God isn\u2019t against wealth. But he does say that \u201che who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God\u2019<\/em><\/strong> is a fool.<\/p>\n

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Secondly, a man is a fool in the eyes of God when he thinks that all he has he got by himself. Luke 12:16-17 says that \u201cThe ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself saying, \u2018What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops? So he said, \u2018I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/strong>I! I will pull down MY barns. Can you see that man pull down those barns by himself? Can you see that man building all his brand new barns by himself? Can you? Can you see that man single-handed putting all that grain in his new barns by himself? But isn\u2019t that what he said? \u201cI will tear down MY barns. I will put up my crops.\u201d I am a self-made man. I have made me what I am. I did all by myself. Nobody, nowhere helped me get where I am. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. Good Old Boy! But God said he was a fool. Nowhere does this man thank any one for what he has? He doesn\u2019t thank his workers and he doesn\u2019t bother to thank God for any of it. Why? It\u2019s because he thinks that he got it all by himself.<\/p>\n

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No one in this world has gotten where they are without somebody\u2019s help. Either their daddy left it to them in a will or somebody bought their first product. The bank may have loaned you the money. A business partner may have given you the idea for your business. Someone along life\u2019s road gave you a helping hand. Nobody ever popped out of their mother\u2019s womb and began to do everything by themselves. Somebody fed you. Somebody taught you math or business principles. Nobody in this world can honestly say \u201cI am a self-made man or a self-made woman!\u201d If God hadn\u2019t sent the right amount of rain to this farmer in this story this man never would have produced a crop. Or if God hadn\u2019t kept the man healthy, he wouldn\u2019t have had the strength to work the fields. He thinks he got it all on his own. Do you? God says that you\u2019re a fool.<\/p>\n

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A third way in which a man can be a fool in Gods\u2019 eyes is to think his possessions will last a long time. In Luke 12:19 is man said, \u201cAnd I will say to my soul, \u2018Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong> This man actually believed that all the things he stored up in the barn would last for a long time. What if a hurricane came through his crop tomorrow and destroyed the crop and leveled the barns? Then where would all of it be?\u00a0 What if he came down with some terrible disease that nobody could cure and he had to sell of his goods and all of his land to pay the doctors to come and take care of him? Then where would it all be? \u201cSoul, you have many goods laid up for many years\u201d<\/em><\/strong>. God said that he was a fool! A fool! There are people that are sticking money away in the bank. They\u2019re buying stocks and bonds to make an eggs nest for themselves so that they can say to themselves \u2018Oh, now you can take it easy. You can have a good time. What if you get cancer tomorrow? Or what if the stock market crashes like it did in the 30\u2019s? Tomorrow you\u2019ll be broke. In the 1930\u2019s many jumped out of thirty story buildings killing themselves cause they lost everything. Where a man\u2019s heart is, where a man\u2019s heart is, if your heart is in the glamour and the possessions of this world; if your heart is in the glitter and the lights of this world then your heart is in the wrong place and God says that you are a fool! Again I say there is nothing wrong with preparing for the future but is that where your heart is? Where is your heart? Is it on the latest rock star, who tomorrow will no longer be at the top of the chart? Just a passing flicker in the night! Chasing butterflies! Chasing fireflies! You ever chase them things? They are fun to chase. You catch some occasionally.\u00a0 But you will never catch them all.\u00a0 Chasing the fireflies of this world. But one day you\u2019re going to wake up and your hands will have a little of that florescent glow that\u2019s left after you catch it. And that\u2019s all. The Lord said that this man thought that \u2018he had many goods and that it would last a long time.\u2019 God called this man \u2018a fool\u2019.<\/p>\n

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Finally God calls a man a fool when he thinks that he is guaranteed tomorrow. In Luke 13:19:the man said \u201cAnd I will say to my soul, \u2018Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink and be merry.\u2019<\/em><\/strong>\u201d This man thought that he would be alive tomorrow. He thought he had the guarantee of another day. Scripture says \u201cYou do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d (James 4:14).The Psalmist said \u201cAs for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>(Psalm 103:15-16). The Apostle Peter quoting the Prophet Isaiah said \u201cAll flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the LORD endures forever.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>(1 Peter 1:24-25). All your plans for your life can go up in smoke or crumble at the trembling of an earthquake. Your life is here today and gone tomorrow.\u00a0 This man was so convinced that he had a long time to live. He made all kinds of preparations for this world. But he had made no preparations for eternity. He failed to provide for the world to come. He made all the right steps in the eyes of the world. He was a shrewd businessman but he was not prepared to meet God. And the Lord said to him, \u201cYou fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided<\/em><\/strong>?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Do you dare believe that you will be here tomorrow? Do you give any thought to the fact that this day might be the last you ever live? Are you so busy preparing for your future in this world that you have given no thought for eternity? Are you so wrapped up in the pleasures of this life that you give little or no thought to your sins against an eternal God? You put off again and again speaking to God about your eternal soul. Charles Spurgeon once wrote a sermon entitled \u2018One More Night with the Frogs\u2019. It is based on the story of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. The plagues had devastated the land. The plague of frogs was everywhere. Frogs to eat, frogs to drink, frogs to bathe in, frogs to sleep with. Frogs were everywhere. Pharaoh wanted Moses to get rid of the frogs. So Moses asked Pharaoh \u2018When?\u2019 Pharaoh responded \u2018Tomorrow!\u2019 Pharaoh wanted one more night in his sin; one more night in his rebellion against God, one more night of shaking his fist in God\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

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Some of you are just like that. You want one more night in your rebellion, one more night in you sexual debauchery, one more night in your drunkenness, one more night with the frogs. You do not have the eternal perspective. What will you do when God says to you, \u201cYou fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u201cPrepare to meet your God.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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We have seen four times in which God calls a man a fool. A person is a fool in the eyes of God if he or she:<\/p>\n

1.)\u00a0 thinks all he has belongs to himself,<\/p>\n

2.)\u00a0 thinks what he has he got all by himself,<\/p>\n

3.)\u00a0 thinks what he has will last a long time,<\/p>\n

4.)\u00a0 thinks he has a guarantee of tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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No man wants to be called a fool; certainly not in the eyes of men. If you don\u2019t want to be called a fool in the eyes of men, do you want to be called one in the eyes of God? If you live your whole life long and die without Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are the greatest fool of all! If you die saying \u201cNo!\u201d to the savior of the world, then you are a fool. If you reject His payment for your sins and the gift of eternal life, if you refuse to believe His promise that He has transformed you through the blood into the image of Christ then you will die a fool. Better to be a fool in the eyes of men than a fool in the eyes of God. Come today and surrender totally to Him.<\/p>\n

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Sing the hymn: Only Trust Him<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Man God Called a Fool     Text: Luke 12: 13-21 \u201cThen one from the crowd said to Him, \u2018Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.\u2019 But He said to him, \u2018Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?\u2019 And He said to them, \u2018Take heed and beware … <\/p>\n

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