What a Fool!

By Dr. Monroe Parker  (1909–1994)

In Luke 12:16–21, Jesus told a parable about a man whom many call the rich fool and one whom I have come to think of as a wise fool.

“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 pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

“And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

“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?

“So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

When God calls somebody a fool, you can just put it down that he is a fool, so we must accept the fact that this man was a fool.

On the other hand, when we consider this man, we are impressed that he was a rich man and a practical man. He was a worldly-wise man. There was nothing wrong with his being rich.

There is no special virtue in poverty for poverty’s sake. Some people are poor because God cannot trust them with money. Others are poor for Christ’s sake, and there is virtue in that.

But the man of the parable was not foolish because he was rich. It seemed to be a wise thing for him to build larger barns and take care of the surplus crops with which he had been blessed. I feel sure the Lord would have called him a fool if he had plowed under his crops or destroyed them in any other way.

I. The Folly of Secularism

But the man was a fool in the first place because he left God out of his thinking. He did not say, “God, what wilt Thou have me to do?” He said, “What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?…This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul…”

“I-I-I-I.” The man had “I” trouble. He was self-centered. His philosophy was that of secularism, the way of life which has well-nigh damned America.

Theoretically this man was not an atheist, but practically he was. That is the trouble with the average man in America today. He believes that there is a God, but God to him is a far-off, vague sort of abstraction who bestows spiritual benefits upon a sanctified few.

Man Forgets God...

But man forgets that God is interested in the everyday course of life. The farmer sometimes forgets that it is God who makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall and crops to grow.

The scientist sometimes forgets that it is God who put the atom together with such stability that when man with his greatest achievement splits it asunder it becomes two atoms, and a neutron.

The politician forgets that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan. 4:25). He forgets the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, who, in his resolution to the Continental Congress that prayers be held in that assembly every morning before they proceeded to business, said:

The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of the truth that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.

Practical Atheism

It is practical atheism which God calls foolish. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Ps. 14:1; Ps. 53:1). The fool knows there is a God, but in his heart he says, “I don’t want a God; there is no God for me.” This is more foolish than being intellectually ignorant of the fact of God, if indeed it is possible for one to be ignorant of that. To know that there is an Almighty God who created the universe and who is interested in the individual and has authority over our lives and then to become oblivious to that fact is the height of folly.

The Wrath of God

That is why the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven.

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

“Professing themselves to be wise [sophisticated], they became fools [morons].”—Rom. 1:21,22.

All the crime and all the war and all the suffering and all the corruption and perversion of the human race are the result of this fact. Men “changed the truth of God into a lie” (vs. 25), and that is why God gave them up to vile affections to receive “in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (vss. 27,28).

Picture of Present Age

In all literature, sacred or profane, I know of no word picture which more aptly fits this present age than that which the inspired apostle paints concerning the ‘sophisticated morons’ who “did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” He said that God gave them up unto vile affections and gives a horrible description of their depravity.

It sounds like news stories which inform us of perversity in our national capital that is about to become a political issue. But when the lid is lifted from the situation, it has to be placed back on because of the stench that arises.

Paul tells us that they were “filled with all unrighteousness” (vs. 29). Not only do they lack righteousness, but they are also “filled” with the attitude of being unrighteous. I talk with people every day who seem proud of the fact that they are godless.

They are filled with “fornication,” moral degeneracy. Nothing could better describe this age when sex appeal is used in advertisements to sell everything from ice cream to pitchforks, when so many marriages end in divorce and when so many babies are born illegitimately.

They are filled with “wickedness.” When I was in Tijuana, Mexico, I was shocked at the hundreds of lives of iniquity in that comparatively small border city. When I expressed my surprise to a missionary, I was told that tens of thousands of Americans pour across the border every Saturday and Sunday to wallow in the Devil’s hog pen.

Paul goes on with his word picture.

“Being filled with…covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

“Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

“Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

“Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”—Rom. 1:29–32.

These are the conditions which prevail in our land because we have been foolish enough to leave Jesus Christ out of our thinking. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34).

God Has a Plan

God has a plan for you. He is concerned about every detail of your life—where you go, what you do, what you say and what you think. He is concerned about where you live, what you pay for an automobile, the company you keep, how you conduct your business, how much you give to the church and whom you marry.

The Only Successful Plan

The only really successful life is the God-planned, Spirit-directed life. If you think you can beat God in planning your life successfully, you are a fool. He is able to make all things work together for your good. Many people ask me how they can know God’s plan and will. Pray for wisdom and do the thing that seems wise.

The trouble with the man in the text is that he did not pray for wisdom but tried to work out his problem in the wisdom of his own fleshly mind. Some young people want to see God’s blueprint for their lives. You are the material, and God is the Builder. He has a blueprint, but it may not please Him to tell you what He is doing with you.

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; Lead Thou me on.

The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead Thou me on!

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene—one step enough for me.

Paul had a vision when he received his call to Macedonia, but he was already at Troas, just across the Aegean Sea, and the next day he crossed the sea into Macedonia. God often leads like that—He opens the door just as you get to it.

II. The Folly of Materialism

The foolishness of this rich, worldly-wise fool is seen not only in his philosophy of secularism, but also in its companion philosophy, materialism. He said to his soul, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

You cannot feed your soul on fruits and grain. Your poor hungry soul cannot feed upon stocks and bonds and bank accounts.

Suppose that instead of eating breakfast tomorrow morning you read the First Psalm, then instead of going to lunch, you read Psalm 2, and instead of going to dinner, you read John, chapter 14. Say, that might not be a bad suggestion!

But try that for a month. You cannot do it. You must have food for the body. Neither can you feed your soul on material things.

Security

This man whom God called a fool said, “Thou hast much goods laid up for many years.” He thought he had security for his old age. How frustrated people are becoming over this business of security! They want to get fixed so they will be secure.

But having goods in a barn does not mean security. Stocks and bonds and bank accounts and real estate and insurance do not guarantee security. These things have their place, but they do not guarantee security.

The only place you can find security is in God. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33).

III. The Folly of Taking It Easy

The man was a fool in the third place because he thought that he could have it easy. “Take thine ease.” If you are not a Christian, you cannot have it easy because “the way of transgressors is hard” (Prov. 13:15), and “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5). We read that “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera” (Judg. 5:20) because he was fighting against God.

You may amass great fortunes and live in the lap of luxury and be as comfortable as the president, but if you are not right with God, you cannot have it easy. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa. 57:21).

And if you are a Christian, you will not have an easy time. It is hard to live the Christian life. Paul tells us that we must wrestle “against principalities, against powers…against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?

Sure, I must fight if I would reign; Increase my courage, Lord.

I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain supported by Thy Word.

A Picture of Peace

I once read of an art contest in which the subject of all the paintings was peace. One artist painted a little babe gently held in its mother’s arms.

One painted a baby asleep in a cradle with its mother tenderly watching over it.

One painted a wolf and a lamb lying down side by side, as this is a Bible picture of peace.

But the winner of the contest painted a little bird in its nest with its mate perched on a twig nearby singing as if its little heart would burst with joy, though the limb on which they had built their nest was extended over a mad cataract rushing and swirling down below.

That is a beautiful picture of the Christian’s peace—peace in spite of the turbulent trials of life. Your soul cannot take it easy. The soul of the wicked cannot have it easy, nor can the soul of the righteous. But the righteous have peace.

I had rather be on the firing line for God and have peace in my soul than to sit down and try to take it easy with ‘fightings and fears within.’

IV. The Folly of Sinful Pleasure

The man of the parable revealed that he was a fool not only in his basic philosophies of secularism and materialism and trying to take it easy, but also in yielding to the selfish and sinful desires of the flesh and mistaking this indulgence for happiness. “Soul… take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

Merriment is not happiness. A godless world can make merry, but it cannot be happy.

There was a very popular motion picture in 1932 entitled Merrily We Go to Hell, and a friend of mine used the title for a sermon topic. How true it is that men go merrily to Hell.

They “make whoopee” and “roll ’em high,” but they are not happy. I heard a young man say, “I am going to buy a quart of liquor and get happy.” No, young fellow, you are not going to get happy. You are going to get drunk.

There is no happiness to be found in drinking liquor. There may be merriment, but there are also dissipation and sin and sorrow and death in that.

Happiness is not what the world calls a good time. Happiness is not found in the pleasures of the world. All that sinful pleasure can do for you is to animate the desire for more. Then you want more and more until your very soul is on fire with the passions of Hell.

Happiness is not found in pleasure or wealth or fame or ease, but in the will of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Elusive Bubbles

Some time ago I watched a group of children running after bubbles on a church lawn. A young man was making the bubbles from bubble compound using a little wire contraption, and there were hundreds of them floating in a gentle breeze.

The sun was shining, and all the colors of the visible spectrum were reflected in the bubbles. The children were eagerly running and jumping and reaching for them; but, of course, as soon as a child would touch a bubble, it would burst.

Those children were having a lot of fun, but they were not quite satisfied with it, because they could not catch and hold those bubbles. I saw there an illustration of the children of this world running after the elusive joys, reflecting spectrums of false promise, but as empty as a bubble.

Someone says, “I am going to be happy when I have a larger barn filled with grain.” POP! That is an empty bubble!

“I will be happy when I graduate from high school.” POP!

“Well, I’ll be happy when I go to college.” POP!

“I did not find happiness there, but just wait until I graduate from college.” POP!

“I will be happy when I get married.” POP!

“When we get our new home”; “when we get a television set”; “when we get a deep freeze”—POP! POP! POP!

A college career, a solid marriage, a home and these other things may fit into the picture of true happiness, but real happiness is found only in the will of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Real Happiness

Happiness is what Paul had when in a cold prison he wrote:

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”—Phil. 4:11,12.

The man of the parable prepared his soul for health and long life and many barns filled with fruits. But the apostle Paul prepared his soul for any emergency—prosperity or adversity, peace or war, gifts from Philippi or privation of prison, life or death. The world says, “This is a wise man. He has made preparation for a long life.” God says, “He is a fool; he is not prepared to die.”

V. He Thought He Had a Lease on Life

He was a five-fold fool. He left God out of his thinking, he thought he could feed his soul on the material, he thought he could take it easy, he thought merriment was happiness, and he thought he had a lease on life.

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” It may be that this man knew his need of salvation and expected someday to make preparation for death, but he was a fool because he thought he had plenty of time.

A Foolish Old Man

The man who puts off the most important matter of life is foolish. I talked with an old man about his need of Christ one night. He said to me, “Son, I heard the Gospel before you were born.”

I replied, “Then you have put off salvation for a long time. This could be your last call.”

He said, “Don’t worry about me. I know the Gospel. I will be saved before I die, but I am not ready.”

I answered with the Bible, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1). The man became angry and refused to talk, but he died that night at two o’clock.

Foolish Young Lady

In a cafeteria one day I saw a young lady working behind the counter who looked familiar to me. She smiled and nodded her head. Then I remembered having seen her in my service the night before. She had raised her hand for prayer.

I stopped and spoke to her about trusting Christ. She said that she was interested but that she was young and had plenty of time.

I answered, “You are young, but you do not have plenty of time.”

I told her that she had only one young life to give to God and that, though it is wonderful that God can save an old person, it is even more wonderful that He can save a young person and thereby save one for this life as well as for the next.

People were coming down the line behind me, and I could not block the way. The next day, however, one of my associates talked with her. She returned to the meetings but would not accept Christ, because she said she had plenty of time.

 One night the proprietor of the cafeteria came and asked me to go with him to the city hospital where the young lady lay dying. He told me that he was a Christian and that he had some Christian employees who had told him of my efforts to win the young lady to Christ.

We reached the hospital and found the girl delirious. A nurse promised to phone me if she came out of her delirium. The next day the nurse called and told me that the young lady passed away during the night. She thought she had plenty of time, but she was foolish.

There is a time, I know not when, a place, I know not where,

Which marks the destiny of men to glory or despair.

Too Late

Unsaved friend, it is in all kindness and humility that I say to you, if you refuse to face the facts I have just presented to you or if, after facing them, you go on without the Lord Jesus Christ, you will play the fool.

Jesus Knocks at the Door

Oh, how foolish is the mind of man! “The foolishness of God is wiser than men” (I Cor. 1:25). I am free to confess that I was a fool, indeed, because I turned Jesus away from my heart’s door often before that memorable day when, praise God, I let Him come in. He knocked one day, and I said, “Who is there?”

He said, “Jesus.”

I asked, “What do You want, Jesus?”

He said, “I want to come in and set things right.”

I said, “No, You will spoil my plans, and You will kill my joy.” My plans needed changing, and my joy was false; but I turned Jesus away.

He came back one day and knocked again. I said, “Who is there?”

He answered, “Jesus.”

“What do You want, Jesus?”

“I want to come in and bring salvation to you,” said He.

But I sent Him away. Then one day He knocked again, and I let Him come in. Thank God, I let Him come in!

He stood at my heart’s door mid sunshine and rain

And patiently waited an entrance to gain.

What shame that so long he entreated in vain,

For He is so precious to me.

Just now the Lord Jesus Christ is knocking at your heart’s door. He loved you and gave Himself for you. He took all of your sins in His body and died on the cross to pay your penalty of guilt. He now lives and is able to save. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Don’t go on without Jesus, Friend. Don’t be foolish. Surely you will not play the fool! Open your heart to the risen Christ!

Editor’s Invitation:

Dr. Monroe Parker, the greatly used evangelist, has earnestly warned you not to be a fool. A fool is not someone who is intellectually ignorant, but someone who has been deceived by the master manipulator of the ages, Satan.

The man in Luke 12 was acting in a way that appears reasonable to us, but he had adopted just about all of the philosophies that our modern society promotes. Many now are being misled by the same deceiver.

God’s judgment fell on this man and will fall on all who follow the same path. Has God opened your eyes to the truth? Will you turn from your unbelief and receive Christ as your Saviour before it’s too late? As this message shows us, we are not guaranteed to have another day on this earth.

If you will just now trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross to pay your sin debt and rose from the grave to be your eternal Saviour, would you send me the decision form below so that we can know of your decision? We will pray for God’s blessings on your new life and send you some helpful free literature to assist you living in God’s will.

Dear Dr. Smith,

I have read “What a Fool!” the sobering sermon by Dr. Monroe Parker. I know that I am a sinner and in danger of God’s judgment. I believe that Jesus paid for my sin on the cross of Calvary and that He rose triumphantly from the grave on the third day. I now place my trust in Him to save my soul. I want to live for Him until He takes me to Heaven. Thank you for praying for me; I would like to receive the free literature that will instruct me in how to live for Jesus.

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