chapter 12. I'm going to start reading in verse 15. And he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I will fold down my barns, and I will build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and all my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. And God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself that is not rich toward God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray to you in the high and holy name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to meet here in your name. We pray that your hand would be with us as we go through your word and study this passage. We pray that you bless us and that you would bring your spirit here and bless all those who preach and stand today to declare your word. Lord, allow them to. Declare your word clearly and allow it to go forth in power. We pray these things in Christ name, Amen. The Parable of the Fool. So this is a familiar story or a parable to many of us. And as I was reading it, a few things occurred to me. And number one is what a fear-provoking story to read this and to find this man, much like many of us, involved in his daily life, thinking about his day-to-day, and yet he finds in the end that night his soul is required of him. We find someone here who is dealing with God outside of Christ. What a fear-provoking thought. I don't want this to be me, and I don't want this to be you. And so we're to pay particular attention to this and some of the things carried herein. So I think when we look at this, first we kind of have to say, what is it not saying? Because I think there's gross misunderstanding with what is actually said here and what our initial reading of it is versus what I think the word is conveying. What it's not saying is don't work hard and try to build up things that you work towards. We're told to do whatever we do as unto the Lord. Whatever it is you do, you are to be the best. You are to work as hard as you can and you are to show forth as if you were doing it as unto the Lord. So that's what it's not saying. It's also not saying, don't save your money, don't worry about retirement later in life. These are means that the Lord has provided us to be able to live and work and operate in society. So it's not saying that either. And it's also not saying, and I think this is one of the probably the most misunderstood part that I think false prophets misuse, is saying, you better give or God is going to get you. Because that's ultimately the last verse is, He wasn't rich towards God, and he should have been. And that's the way they utilize this. So I think we have to start off by saying this is what it doesn't mean. So now let's look at it in terms of what does it actually mean. And I think one of the, and I'll read most of the scriptures that I'm referencing here just for time's sake. The scripture that this is kind of referencing is 1 Timothy 6.10. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The issue is the love of money. There's nothing wrong with money. It's when it becomes our love, our focus, our guide. These are means that the Lord has provided us to be able to live. I, like most people, would rather have money to pay for my bills and things that I need than not. There's a difference between that and it being my love. It says the love of money. It's the driving principle when I become a servant to it. Because we've seen throughout the scriptures clearly that God saved kings. God saved princes. He also saved paupers. So on both ends of the spectrum in terms of having money or means to pay for things or not, Really what we can see it actually has no bearing on salvation at all. It's become a distraction to this man. So having it or not has nothing to do with salvation. And really when I started to think about this, it doesn't matter what end of the spectrum you are. Because even the poorest of the poor can covet after money because he doesn't have it. And so he loves money just as much as the man who has everything. So you can't look at one end or the other and discern something about their salvation based on whether the Lord has given to them more or less than another. So I think in many cases, this parable is incorrectly ascribed to those who may have much in this world. And so I think that's definitely not the way we look at it. In 1 Samuel 16, when the prophet Samuel was called into Jesse, Saul had been rejected, and he said, you've got to go find the king that I've anointed. This is the one that I've chosen. And so he said, but don't look on the outward countenance, because God looks upon the heart, not what's on the outside. From the outside, we would look at somebody and say, that's the one I'm going to choose. That clearly has to be the Lord's anointed. But God looks on our hearts. What I show to you and what you show to me is not what God sees. He knows our hearts, the intents, the thoughts. All these things are what God looks upon. And so here God is looking upon the heart. And the rich man in this story was not condemned for his riches. He was not condemned for not giving as much as he should have. He was condemned because he robbed God of his glory. He was condemned in loving and trusting something else more than the living God. This is what his condemnation was. He derived his joy, he derived his comfort, and he derived his protection, the driving force of his life. that he cared for something else more than the Lord God. So this became the issue for him because you can see the Lord gave a commandment that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and spirit. This was what would happen with this man and the purpose of this parable. It doesn't mean don't love your spouse, don't love your children. Don't love whatever occupation that you're called into in this life. It does not mean don't love those things. But, and this is a big but, when my actions, my motives, my love of these things, or even people in our lives are shown to be what I love, what I live for, and what I choose to do in place of following the Lord. This is when we find ourselves in alignment with the same man in the story. And we can count ourselves, the Lord says in his passage, as a fool. The fool has aligned himself with the things of this world, whether it be people, things, places, whatever it is, it's something other than God. It's something other than loving him. I looked up the word fool because I wanted to make sure what my understanding of that word was, was what was being reflected in the scripture. And the word, you know, because I think many of us think, well, it's just somebody that's stupid. And I'm not really sure that that's what it was trying to say. It says it's someone who does not give reflection upon their own situation. who is not considering the cost, and I think that was the best one that came out of that. Consider the cost. When we reflect, we're not able to see ourselves clearly, see ourselves for what we are. This man did not see himself for what he was, someone who loved the things that he had, took his joy, took his comfort, all from the things that he had. We are also not considering the cost. The cost for that attitude was his soul. The cost for that attitude was there's no coming back from that. Because it said, as he took comfort in all his things that he had, the Lord said, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Required of thee. It's not an option not for you to deal with now where you're at. So this came This came hard to me to look at, because you consider all the things that we become distracted with in this life. This man was given money. Money comes and money goes. The older you get, you find that whatever you get, you may have it for a moment, it's gone in a moment. You've got something that happens, you think you've got everything in order, and then everything's turned upside down. And it's like, now I'm chasing again. And so that's what it feels like. People. We put our trust in people, our love, our families, people that are important to us. People eventually die. Relationships expire. Things change. And then, and then what? What are we left with then? The money's gone, and then what? The things that you work for, your house, your job, your car, all these things that we spend our lives trying to build towards, then they get old. They break. The car I drive now is different than the car I had 20 years ago, because that car doesn't work anymore. And then what? What am I left with after the money's gone, after the people are gone, after the things that we've spent toiling our lives towards are gone? What then? Then it's just you and God. If you look in chapter 12, verse 34, The Lord speaking here to the people he's talking to, he says, for where your treasure is, that which you deem valuable, there will your heart be also. If the Lord looked on you, and he does, what would he find? On your heart, because I think this is the key here, is looking upon your heart. What would he find? Not what I show the world, not what I show you, but what's really in your hearts, what would he find? And in this story, it does not tell us, and I found this interesting as well, it doesn't tell us whether this man acknowledged the existence of God or not. It doesn't say whether he knew God existed or whether he didn't care that God existed or didn't want God to exist. It doesn't say any of those things. That has no bearing on what his situation is and what his ending is before God. So whether you want him to be there, whether you don't, it doesn't change. You will have to deal with him. Just like this man. God was not his love. He was not the treasure of his heart, and therefore he is required to deal with the choices of those actions. If you look over here in verse 37, it tells us about the servants who do love and who do look for God. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Truly, I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, in the middle of the night, and find them so doing, watching, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, He would have watched and not suffered his house to be broken in. Be you therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh in an hour when you think not. And what we're saying here is if you knew when somebody was gonna break it in your house, if you knew at two o'clock they were coming, wouldn't you be watching? Wouldn't you be waiting? The point is, is the Lord does not give us any indication when he's gonna come, when he's not. But the one indication of love and dedication and looking to him is that they're watching. They're waiting and they're expecting. Not caught and then say, oh, I've got to put my house in order now. It's too late. Just like this man when the Lord came to him after he had tried to put his house in order the way he thought, I've got to build bigger barns to contain all the goods that I have. This fool, this night, your soul is now required of you. There's no trying to fix it. It's too late. I want to be one of those servants who are watching. I want to be one of those servants who are waiting and who are expecting. And I ask the Lord to deliver me from my own corrupt heart, who will love other things. I will be drawn to other things. I know it, and I know you will be too. I ask him to protect me from my greatest enemy, and that's myself. And if you don't know that yourself is your greatest enemy, then your enemy has great rule over you. and there are certain times that ourself has rule over us and we're not even aware of it. So much of the time we're not aware of it. And so we ask the Lord to deliver us from this. So how does he do this? How does he deliver us from ourselves? How does he deliver us from our greatest enemy? What can I seek out to be able to be delivered from this? Well he tells us in verse 30, well 29, we seek not and seek not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither you be of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need of these things. But rather, seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." All these things that we're seeking after, to work towards, to get, work through our strife of this life. He's saying, don't look for those things. Seek the kingdom of God and all these things that you're trying to get will be added to you. And so in doing this, it's seeking the kingdom of God. So what is seeking the kingdom of God? I had to ask myself that question because in some ways it's a, it's an abstract term. What does that mean? The kingdom of God, it's not just seeking heaven. What is the kingdom of God? As I started this parable out, sometimes to define what something is, we have to say what it's not. The Lord said regarding his kingdom, my kingdom is not of this world. That means all the things that we're trying to do, all the things that you see, it has nothing to do with anything to do with God. This world here and everything we work toward will be burned up and everything in it. There is nothing here that will last. His kingdom is not of this world. So when you consider, you see people that try to do many things in the Lord's name. All the houses built in Haiti in Jesus' name have no bearing whatsoever on what your status is before God. None of those things matter to him because he says, my kingdom is not of this world. So then, how do I seek the kingdom of God? I think this is very clear. If you'll flip back to Mark chapter one, Look in verse 14, we see what the kingdom of God is. Now, after that, John, John the Baptist was put into prison, was put into prison for preaching the gospel. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. So it tells us here, it's preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, go on. And saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. And what does he tell about it? Repent ye and believe the gospel. This is the simplicity of the kingdom of God is preaching the gospel, preaching what it is. Gospel just means good news. I almost like saying that better than the word gospel because it takes away from what it means. It means good news. To repent is nothing more than to change your mind. What I used to believe, I don't think that anymore. and to believe the gospel means to understand and to believe and see for you personally that the good news is good news to you. You can only believe in what is preached from the word of God. I think we can definitely say in today's world and what we see most of what goes on in places that say that they are places of worship is just somebody standing up there saying things that people want to hear. It has nothing to do with what's actually in the Word of God. They take one verse, build a whole message around it, but yet it completely contradicts what the rest of the Word of God is. So we have to be honest with what we're actually preaching. So we preach what's in the Word of God. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Savior is what his name means, Savior. for he shall save his people from their sins. What is the good news? The good news is there's a Savior. If you don't realize that is good news, you don't know that you're a sinner and you don't understand what God will do where sin is found. God will punish sin, all sin. If there's a Savior for sinners, that is good news. To someone who needs saved from their sins, Savior is good news. If you're not a sinner, okay. This book is not for you You can't have any of the promises in here if you don't need a Savior Don't look to this book for anything about God if you don't need a Savior You better find another way to stand perfect before God if you don't need a Savior God loves one person God loves Jesus Christ his son and And all who are in his son, he loves also. Outside of Christ, God loves no one. Because all are found in sin. There's none that doeth good, no, not one." So it does, and amongst men and women, we can find people that are better than us. And some that we may look and say, well, they're worse than me. We are all sinners before God. How we see ourselves and what we think about ourselves is absolutely meaningless in terms of the judge that we have to stand before. So what I think about me versus you or somebody else absolutely means nothing. If we're all in the same boat, then we all sink together, we all swim together. So that's how we're looked upon. in terms of how we're seen before God. So how can I know if I can be one with Christ? Because I don't want to be found guilty. I want to be associated with his son, the one person that he does love. I want to be associated. The simplicity of the gospel is found in this. Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it will be open to you. And somebody is thinking, well, I've asked and I've not received. Well, no, you haven't. Asking amiss where you really don't have an intent and a love for wanting to know Jesus Christ, to wanting to know God, to be forgiven of your sins, that's a different thing than just wantonly saying, well, pick me. This is not what it's asking. It's asking, Lord, show me who I am. Show me my need for Christ. Reveal your gospel unto me. Cause me, whatever your ways are, make that to be the desire of my heart. That is asking, and it will cause you to seek. It will cause you to not give up. You're constantly seeking. You're constantly coming. The Lord shows something to you, and then in time, you grow cold, and you get sometimes brought to an awareness of being cold, and that causes you to be uncomfortable, and it makes you to come more. Lord, don't leave me where I'm at. Don't leave me blind. Don't leave me dead. Bring me back. And you will continually knock, continually come until the Lord opens to you. And these are the things that the Holy Spirit works in us. He causes us to come. Having an awareness is some estimation that the Lord has done something for you. Otherwise, you're dead. You don't know. You can't feel. You don't see. Anyone who truly wants to be saved will be saved because you will come and you will ask. Big statement requires a big scripture to go with it because otherwise those are just words. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is what we are called to do. What is my response to this? Lord, call me. Don't look at that and say, well, he didn't make me call. He will make you call. He will cause you to. I'm gonna read you a verse in closing here out of Psalm 91. You don't have to turn with me. Because he has set his love upon me, Therefore, will I deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. You see Romans 10 what I just read to you where it said whosoever that's anybody who will call upon the name of the Lord. He's saying right here. I'll deliver him because he knows my name. He knows to call on my name and what does he say when we call upon his name? He shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him, and I will honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Yes, this is speaking of Christ spiritually, but it's also speaking of the man or woman who will call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, call upon his name. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. May the Lord deliver us from the fate of this man that we read about, who put all his trust in all he had, and that night his soul was required of him. And he loved everything and didn't seek the kingdom of God. In seeking the kingdom of God, we are seeking to hear the preaching of the word. We're seeking to repent, to turn from the things that we thought about God, that he's shown us in his word are not true of him. and to embrace and to believe the gospel. Lord, enable us all to do just that.