5 Great Fools According to the Bible

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM 14 APRIL 2025 - MR JOHN WEIR

PROVERBS 1 VERSES 1 TO 7

5 GREAT FOOLS ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE

The Bible has much to say about fools. If you were to lift a bible concordance you would find there are 69 verses in the bible that refer to the word "fool", 42 verses to the word "fools" and 52 verses to the word "foolish". The Oxford English Dictionary describes a fool as a person who behaves or speaks in a way that lacks intelligence or good wisdom. In Proverbs 1 verse 7 we read "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Does that not describe the days we are living in? People don't want correction, guidance or instruction. Thank God for those who corrected me, set the standards, helped and warned me, they were not afraid to tell me when I had done wrong. I am sure many of you can relate to that in your life.

The atheistic fool. Psalm 14 verse 1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." These individuals don't believe in God. Do you know any atheists? I meet many of them on the streets and doors. They claim to be atheists, that they are a product of evolution. 17 billion years ago from one life cell came every living being. Charles Darwin came up with the theory - do you know he is buried in a church? Westminster Abbey. These people live as they please, answer to no-one. To them there is no moral law. Live and let live. We want to live as we please. Don't tell us what to do. There are many atheists in the government, in our schools and universities, in the medical world. They have no guilt or shame. Without God. Anything is permissable. You take God out of society and anything goes. If you were to go to the city of Dublin you would meet people who belong to Atheism Ireland. They are out parading in the streets. 31% of people born after the year 2000 claim to be atheists. Did you know that there is one young person in a school in Larne who identifies themselves as a cat? Our world shows that there must be a creator. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." God has revealed his power over all the earth. There is no doubt that there is a creator. Changed lives prove that God exists. The Lord saves souls and changes lives. That is proof of Jesus having touched us and changed us. You know a miracle has happened in your heart. Hearts have been changed. People have been converted from alcohol, drugs, gambling. Religious people and atheistic people have been converted. I remember a man saying "if God is dead what is this thing living in my soul?" As an evangelist I have had the privilege of meeting the best of Christian people, humble men and women who love Jesus. The proof is undeniable. They are living proof. Perhaps you know people who have been changed by Jesus. The Lord has done something wonderful in their lives. Can it happen to you? Absolutely. 

I wasn't there when Jesus died
I wasn't there to see him rise
But I was there when he saved my soul
For within my heart his love arose 

Are you in love with this person called Jesus Christ? The blind man in John 5 said "Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." Many of us were dead in our sins as Ephesians 2 verse 1 says "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Jesus came along and opened our blinded eyes. That is the requirement to be in heaven - to be born again. Do you want to be in the kingdom of God? You must be born again. The true Christian has a mark about them. You know something is genuinely different. Their life speaks. Creation proclaims God. Lives that have been changed proclaim Christ. The bible proves God is real. We have to study our bible. We can see prophecy happening before us. Do you read and see what is going on in the world? Prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes. The king is coming soon. Even the non-Christians have been saying the world is going mad. The atheistic fool.

The fool who dies without God - 2 Samuel 3 verse 33 "Died Abner as a fool dieth?" When people die and they are not saved, have died in their sins and left behind no testimony and you attend their funeral there is no mention about the Lord. That is sad. An humanist funeral is apparently awful. Never any mention of the Saviour. One of the most difficult things in the ministry is having to take a funeral of someone who has left no testimony. You just have to preach the gospel. Why did Abner die as a fool? He died outside of Hebron, the city of refuge. Joab lured him out of the city and Abner died without hope. Oh to be without a Saviour with no refuge. Now imagine people waking up after they have died and they are in hell. So many say the deceased is now at peace, they are having a great party now. The bible says something differently. Now when the Christian dies it is a different story. John Knox said "Live in Christ, die in Christ and the flesh need not fear death."  John Owen said "I am going to him whom my soul hath loved, or rather hath loved me with an everlasting love; which is the whole ground of all my consolation."  When our time comes let us die well. That we are not calling the pastor to pray with us because we are panicking about going out to a lost eternity. I don't know when our time will be but let our death be a testimony to others. I have known people who have led a godless life, living for themselves and die without a testimony. Do you know who the greatest fool will be? Those who have sat in churches, listened to great sermons preached but were never saved. They have attended missions, went to Sunday School, had godly parents but rejected Christ. They died without the Lord. "God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble." Judas died unclean, Stephen died unafraid and Paul died unashamed. 

The fool who mocks sin - Proverbs 14 verse 9 "Fools make a mock at sin; but among the righteous there is favour." We are living in a day and generation when people mock sin. They boast about sin on social media. They boast about how much drink they have had, how many they have slept with, how many drinks they can take, how many drugs they have taken. Sin rules men and women, young people, married people, families, relationships. Sin pays out horrible wages. For many people sin has ruined them, ruined their lives completely. But there is one who is a friend of sinners. Maybe there is one sin that has ruined you. The blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin. Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from our unrighteousness. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." People think it is great when a father can buy his son his first drink, take him to the bar and nightclubs. 

The fool who builds his life on sand - Matthew 7 verse 26 "And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand." The sermon on the Mount, guidance and teaching on the way to live. 2 doors 2 trees, 2 houses. Anyone who rejects his teaching is foolish. "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." When people who are not Christians have battles and trials they have no anchor, no help. They turn to all the things the world has to offer for peace and satisfaction. It is wonderful when we go through a storm that we can pray to our heavenly father, talk to other Christians, have the Holy Spirit within us to help us. We know we are not on our own. Jesus said "I will never leave you nor forsake you." It is good to spend time with God every day. He will help you through the storms. We have an anchor that keeps the storm. When the hard time comes the Christian is like a lighthouse. The storms come against it but the lighthouse stands strong. It is easy to praise the Lord when we are on the mountain and everything is going well but when you are in the valley and storm that is when your faith is proved. That is why we need to stay close to Jesus. That is when we can be like the man in Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Have you ever asked advice from the person who has built their life on the teachings of the bible? That has stayed close to the Lord? 

The rich fool - Luke 12 verses 19 to 21 "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." He was a rich farmer and Jesus called him "thou fool". This man had made no preparation for eternity. God calls him a fool. He thought he would live for many years. "Eat, drink and be merry" and that night he went out into eternity. Full of health and strength one day and the next day he was in eternity. I know people who have thought and planned for their retirement and they never got to see it. This man probably had a great funeral, a great send off but he was still a fool. There are many farmers and you can't get them into missions because they are so busy. You can gain the whole world and lose your soul. 

5 great fools - Paul said "we are fools for Christ's sake." Maybe as a Christian people are calling you a fool today, You have the Lord as your Saviour and are ready for heaven.