Sermon notes from Sunday 6 October 2013
Luke 12 verses 13 – 21
Jesus
spoke this parable of a rich fool. A
farmer but a fool - verse 20. God put
that name on him. Why did he call him a
fool? He made so many preparations for
everything but not one for eternity.
This was a parable in response to a question from a young man. Jesus saw the danger in striving or such an
inheritance as he wanted – verse 13. He
wanted the Lord to step into the midst of the situation that somehow he could
profit some more from the inheritance.
He said to this young man “there was a rich farmer whose crops brought
forth an abundant harvest.” This man
thought only of the tangible things, the temporal things. He had a tight grip on things many a person
is holding unto his religion and not taking gift of eternal life from
Christ. This man was building an
empire. He was blinded by his passion
and neglected his soul. 3 areas of this
man’s life that Jesus pointed out - his toiling, his hard work, his inward
thoughts and the tragedy that befell him.
His toiling. He was not a
fool in his skill. He applied his skill
doing well for himself. Perhaps some of
the farming community looked up to him.
He knew the value of what could come out of this land. He was skilled
in all he did. He had a good eye for
business. He was putting all the skills
he had into building himself a fortune.
God who gave him his brain, mind, body to go out and make great
living. He is using every skill he had
to bring in this great harvest. Nothing
else mattered. Unlike the man who went
out to buy precious stones. One day he
came and bought a precious stone never seen anything like it before. He could see a beauty coming from that stone
that everyone else neglected. He picked
it up, set it down and went away, sold everything he had so he could purchase
this stone. Salvation is the most
precious thing we could ever possess.
Yet it is so sadly neglected.
When the invitation comes forth many refuse it. This man was bargaining with his soul. He was skilled in his toiling. It was beneficial too. He didn’t get the crops without sacrifice. He didn’t get to this stage in his life by
lying in his bed. It was all he could
think of. Many are sacrificing so much
that they might build an empire. Toiling
so hard to just build an empire. Many
bypass Calvary because of who they are and what they have done. They believe it will be enough to get them
into heaven. If we bypass Calvary we
will go to a closed door of heaven. Here
was a man who was sacrificial. His
toiling was successful at
harvest. He had an abundance of
everything. He was perhaps the envy of
the farmers in the area. What this man
didn’t realise was he was gambling with a precious soul. There are still many doing that today. They gamble with a profession that is
false. This man was successful. Wouldn’t it be awful to be successful and yet
lose your soul? Not a fool because of
his skill or his sacrifice or his success.
He left God out of his plans. He
had everything going for himself yet he was losing his soul.
His
inwards thoughts. What is he thinking of
planting? He purchased the best
seed. He done so much with his land, now
harvest is here and he is bringing it in in abundant measure. Now he has a problem. “What am I going to do with all this?” His thoughts were sincere but they were the thoughts of a deluded man. He had used the energy God gave him, put all
his energies into working now reaping a great harvest. The only thing I can do is pull down my barns
and build bigger. It was sincere
planning. He couldn’t leave the crops in
the field. He planned without God,
forgot about God. These were the
thoughts of a deluded man, came from the sinful and deprived heart. He is depending on this heart to guide him
right. Jesus said “out of the heart
proceedeth evil thoughts.” This is the heart
we depend on to make decisions. A heart
that was touched by sin. Never knew the
blood of Jesus Christ. God spoke to
Jeremiah the prophet “the heart is deceitful about all things … who can know
it.” His thoughts were selfish. 11/12 times he refers to himself. This is my planning. This man thought he would take life easy for
now. He had good intentions. Many will have the best intentions, will get
saved next week. His thoughts were spurious. He was looking down the passage way of
life. He was saying he was going to
enjoy the rest of his life. He was
boasting of tomorrow. We shouldn’t boast
of tomorrow because we don’t know what it will bring forth. Tomorrow is simply eternity hid from
view. Felix was the king and he had Paul
standing in front of him. This was the
man who was a preacher of the gospel. He
proclaimed faith in Jesus Christ. Felix
had the power in his hands to do whatever he wanted to do. One thing he didn’t have the power to do –
“go thy way when I have a convenient time I will call you again.” Felix didn’t realise he was not going to have
another time. We cannot claim another 5
minutes of our lives. It is all simply
in God’s hands.
The
awful tragedy that struck this home.
Maybe it was an accident. Maybe
it shocked the whole community. The man
had passed away. He never thought this
was his last day on earth – verse 20. He
knew not of this appointment. It was
made in heavenly places. It was a secret to him until death knocked his
door. He was not informed of it until it
came. The appointment was made. He had to go.
James said “what is your life, it is but a vapour that appears for a
time and then is cut off.” Here was a
tragedy that was also sudden. He boasted of his crops and barns. He thought he had years left on his
life. He didn’t have months or years or
even days. “This night thy soul is
required of thee.” Proverbs 29 “he that
is often reproved shall suddenly be cut off and that without remedy.” Death can be sudden. Are we prepared for it? Have we visited that place called
Calvary? Have we seen what Jesus has
done for our sin? A tragedy that was separating – “then whose shall those
things be?” You cannot bring them with
you. This is the last night you will
have on earth then who will all these things be. Death would separate this man from his
family, his farm, his friends, his future but more importantly separate him
from God for all eternity. The rich man
in Luke 18 fared well every day. When he
died he lifted up his eyes in torment.
Abraham told him “do you remember when you were on earth the good times,
the pleasures you had but now you are separated from them.” It will be a sad place for those holding onto
so much of this old earth. Don’t hold
onto a weak profession only to miss out.
Come to Christ and trust him. God
made it clear – you worked all your years, made great plans, brought in a great
harvest, there are no problems with any of that but you are a fool because you
left me out.
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