Church of Christ Studies

The Rich Fool

In Luke 12: 13-21, I read to you as follows: "And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth 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 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."

 

I think that the story illustrates very forcibly the disposition of humanity, and I am certain that throughout the Bible there is not a phase or an attribute, a passion or a characteristic, of human beings but that has been portrayed in the life of some one delineated by inspiration for our consideration and instruction.

 

Here is a man who is wonderfully interested in receiving a part of an earthly estate. He wants his brother spoken to, that the inheritance may be divided so that he can have his part of it, doubtless to spend in gratification of his own lust; and he was so anxious about the matter that he wanted Christ to take a hand in the division and distribution of the estate. Because this is such a universal trait and so widely applicable unto men and women, Christ took the occasion to teach us a wonderful lesson; and just at that point he set up a signpost and on it inscribed these words, to be perpetuated down the ages: "Beware of covetousness." That element, that trait, was paramount in the life and disposition of him who made the inquiry; and Christ being able to analyze it and reduce it to a plain, simple matter, said to them: "Beware of covetousness: for [get this principle] a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

 

I am just as certain, friends, that most of us have the wrong conception of life and duty as that in your midst I stand. it has scarcely dawned upon but few of us that the great summum bonum of life's possibilities and realities is otherwise than centered in the things that are temporal and transient in their nature.

 

I know of no sin in all of the catalogue portrayed to human beings that is so detestable in the eyes of the Lord as is that general characteristic of humanity known as "covetousness." The Bible has so much to say along that line. We claim to believe the Book, and in certain passages, and especially when they are applicable to the other fellow very largely, we bear down on them heavily. I feel and appreciate in common with you the great truth expressed by Paul in 1 Tim. 6: g, 7, when he said: "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." Now, I would believe that statement if I were to read it in an almanac. Why? Because I know that it is so. I know that a person has never been born on the earth that brought anything into it, and out of the teeming millions that have been called upon to change worlds, they have taken nothing out; and hence with his conclusion, having fact as a basis, let us therewith be content.

 

I read in one of our journals or papers right after the death of Mr. Pierpont Morgen how his body lay in state in New York City and was visited by throngs of people, who came to gaze upon the remains of the great multimillionaire and the financial wizard of the land. According to that story, some one, in passing, raised the question to a fellow passer-by as to how much Mr. Morgen left, and the other fellow hit it exactly when he said: "He left it every bit." And that tells the tale. We bring nothing into this world. it is certain we can carry nothing out. "Having food and raiment let us be therewith content."

 

Paul said (Gal. 3:5) : "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, [now note] and covetousness, which is idolatry." Now, you would not have to leave Tennessee and go into foreign lands that we style "heathen" in order to And idolaters. All over this fair land and country of ours there are souls that are blinded, deceived, and deluded by the love of money. Every man who puts something else before God in his life is an idolater. it is "seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;" and the man who puts his business and financial interests and worldly affairs first and Christianity and religion second, I think, is treading upon dangerous ground and is unfit for the kingdom of heaven. Christianity, ladies and gentlemen, must be chiefest and first, or else not at all. God is a jealous God, and you cannot serve two masters. He will not accept a fifty-fifty service; but, paramount and First of all, his work and his service must be the chief end and aim of life.

 

Paul said in the same connection (Col. 3:6) that because of man's uncleanness, evil concupiscence, inordinate affection, and covetousness, "the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience." Then, later, the warning again (1 Tim. 6:9-11), when he said: "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money [not money, but the love of money] is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things [as you would a poisonous serpent]; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." Then listen at the climax reached when Paul argued in Eph. 5:5, making what we call in logic an ed hominem argument, an appeal to the brethren: "Ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

 

Why, friends, that just settles it. No use to argue about a thing of that kind. Paul just simply classifies the characteristics as manifested and exhibited by this rich man in Luke 12 among those that are positively forbidden, absolutely prohibited, from the possibility of entering into the kingdom of God and of Christ.

 

All through the Bible there are warnings against covetousness, penuriousness, close-fistedness, stinginess; and I think, brethren, these, perhaps, are the greatest sins of which professed Christians to-day are guilty. A covetous man, a miserly soul, a stingy character, is the most unlike Christ of any soul imaginable; and, so far as I am concerned, I would rather die a hundred times the death of a drunkard and expect God to pardon me than to go down to my grave conscious of the fact that I have been stingy, penurious, and covetous, when the very mainspring of God's attributes and characteristics was giving unto mortal man. The richest jewel of heaven, the Son of God, was given through love and mercy that you and I might have life, and have it more abundantly.

 

Now, from that I would not have you draw the conclusion that I am against a man's making money. Exactly the reverse. I wish to-day, if it were not perhaps vain, that every child of God on earth had an abundance of this world's goods. But there is a danger attached to riches. Brethren, just as long as you can keep money your servant and you be the master, all is well; but the chances are, and the temptations are, and the realities are, so many times, that money becomes the master, riches the dominating factor, and the possessor thereof becomes the servant; and when this is true and a man comes to rely upon his riches and to trust therein, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for such a man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I am not stopping to split hairs as to whether or not that meant that a camel must bow down and crawl under the gate, which is low, or whether it be a plain, old-fashioned needle, having a little eye that I could not put a thread through. it is just as easy for a camel to go through that eye as for a man that trusts in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven. That is the thought that Christ wants to emphasize, and that is the writing upon the signpost, brethren: "Beware of covetousness." If there were no danger, there would be no signpost. When I pass along through the thoroughfares of this country and see warnings, it always suggests to me that there is danger; and I never look out and see the red light but that it suggests that there is a possibility of wreck and ruin. Beware ! Who beware? Men of earth, professed Christians, as well as all others. To get the right conception and the proper philosophy, life does not consist in the abundance of what a man possesses. In a quotation used so often by Brother T. B. Larimore let me say: "Man needs but little here below, nor needs that little long." I think that is expressive of the great and Divine truth. But if my life be right and my practice be right, I haven't the shadow of a doubt but that, as I come toward the close of my career, I may be able to voice the sentiment of David, who said: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Now, Christ illustrates this by saying that there was the ground of a certain rich man that brought forth plentifully, so much so that the man didn't have a place where to bestow his fruits and his goods; and after thing on the matter for a while, he ultimately reached this decision: "I will tear down my barns, and I will build even greater ones in which to bestow my goods and my fruit; and when all this is done, then I will sit back and say to my soul:'Now, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease; all is well at our house. it does not make any difference about the rest of the world, but you have plenty for a long number of years. Let there come famines and pestilences and droughts, let

 

If there were no danger, there would be no signpost. When I pass along through the thoroughfares of this country and see warnings, it always suggests to me that there is danger; and I never look out and see the red light but that it suggests that there is a possibility of wreck and ruin. Beware ! Who beware? Men of earth, professed Christians, as well as all others.

 

To get the right conception and the proper philosophy, life does not consist in the abundance of what a man possesses. In a quotation used so often by Brother T. B. Larimore let me say: "Man needs but little here below, nor needs that little long." I think that is expressive of the great and Divine truth. But if my life be right and my practice be right, I haven't the shadow of a doubt but that, as I come toward the close of my career, I may be able to voice the sentiment of David, who said: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

 

Now, Christ illustrates this by saying that there was the ground of a certain rich man that brought forth plentifully, so much so that the man didn't have a place where to bestow his fruits and his goods; and after thing on the matter for a while, he ultimately reached this decision: "I will tear down my barns, and I will build even greater ones in which to bestow my goods and my fruit; and when all this is done, then I will sit back and say to my soul:'Now, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease; all is well at our house. it does not make any difference about the rest of the world, but you have plenty for a long number of years. Let there come famines and pestilences and droughts, let wars and rumors of wars or what not come; but just simply eat and drink and be merry; have what the word calls a good time.'"

 

Now, that is the way the man reasoned and soliloquized over the matter. Plenty of this world's affairs; new barns and new buildings, literally filled, absolutely overflowing in luxury and abundance; and then he fancied he could say to himself: "Take your ease as you journey along the pathway of life." Now, when the young man made this request, Christ turned to those around and gave to them and to you and me a wonderful lesson. "Thou fool." O, he wasn't a fit subject for the lunatic asylum; he didn't have to have a man to go around with him over the streets. He could carry on business affairs and make fine trades and run a manufacturing establishment or own a fine car, but yet—I didn't say it, but God did—that man was a fool. They are not all dead yet. Some of them are not even sick.

 

Well, why is the man a fool? "This night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"

 

Now, I think it would be a reflection upon you and me if we were not able to see why Christ called that man a "fool." Every other one that has walked in his steps, rested upon his wealth, and had that conception of life is subjected to the same characterization by the God of heaven.

 

Watch the final application: "So is he"—watch the spiritual point. That man was a fool because he laid up treasures and then proposed to rest easy the balance of his days. "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." There is the application to you and me. I would rather be stripped to-day of all the treasures of earth, robbed of its wealth and luxuries, pass along the streets in tattered garments clad, and be rich toward God, than to be one of the wealthiest of the earth and yet be poverty-stricken with reference to God and Christ. Now, this man furnishes some fine examples of two or three things that I want to suggest to you. His first great blunder and remarkable error was in the fact that out of all of his planning and deliberation God Almighty was left out.  I want to say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that man makes a fatal mistake who goes into business and does not take as a partner, as a counselor, as an adviser, the God of heaven, when the Lord has laid down in the Hook of books the greatest of all business maxima, rules of life, principles of economy, and every phase conducive to our temporal as well as spiritual benefit. That man is a fool that goes out upon the platform of the world's affairs and does not take God into partnership in his business.

 

This man made another great blunder when he thought the human soul could be satisfied and provided for with material things. There is something about the soul of man that cannot be satisfied with the things that are transient and perishable in their nature. All the wealth of the earth fails to satisfy the longings of the human soul, and I put it down as a principle to-day and challenge a study of it: The greatest happiness and the sweetest associations of earth are not among those that are clad in purple and Ane linen, that fare sumptuously every day, and dwell in palaces decorated and adorned, all of which suggests the idea that love and quietude and peace of mind are not dependent upon wealth or our station in life. Many a man living away up at the head of the creek, in a little box house, with a stick-and-dirt chimney, pillows his head at night and sleeps in gentle slumber and sweet peace; while, on the other hand, many of the rest of the world, with all their wealth and luxury, are experiencing a regular hell on earth. Hence, the social and domestic troubles, trials, and discords are a direct denial of the idea that the soul and the best that is in man can be satisfied with the perishable things of earth.

 

A third thought, and the last one, is, this man thought that he had a perpetual lease on life; and God wants to show him that it is not so. What we have has been given us as trustee and only temporarily. After a while we will be snuffed out, and some one else will take our place and be loaded with our responsibility. Hence, we must use our blessings wisely or lose them in the by and by.

 

I trust, my friends, that none of us will fail to stop in our onward rush to meet the busy concerns of life and meditate upon our duty. First of all, we ought to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, believing confidently, being absolutely assured that all other things will be added. If I conform my life to the conditions and requirements that Heaven has laid down, trusting him for guidance and direction evermore, at last he will guide my footsteps up the glittering strand into the heights sublime, into the joys which alone can satisfy the anxieties and longings of the human heart.