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Bro. Otis Fisher
Open your Bibles to Luke 12, 17, please. We're going to go back just a little bit.
We'll pick it up in the middle of his parable. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall
I do? Because I have no room to bestow my fruits.
This man put a lot of emphasis on the word
I. He had a bad case, verge of perpendicular -itis.
What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.
And he said, this I will do. I will pull down my barns and build a grater.
And there will I bestow all of my fruits and 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. The way of the world.
In Haggai 1 .6, we have these words. You have sown much and bring in little.
You eat, but you have not enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink.
You clothe ye, but there is none warm.
And he that earneth wages careth wages to put into a bag with holes.
But God said unto him, thou fool. God called him a fool.
This night thy soul will be required of thee. Then who shall those things be that you have provided?
There's three questions for which we will be responsible to God.
First, how much did you make? Second, how did you make it?
And third, how did you use it? Twenty -one, so is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God.
This man had gathered all of his treasure on earth, but had stored none in heaven.
The same idea is expressed in this epitaph. Here lies John Racket in his wooden jacket.
He kept neither horses nor mules. He lived like a hawk, died like a dog, left all his money to fools.
Our Lord called this man in the parable a fool. But notice what kind of a man he was.
All outward appearances indicate that he was a good man. He was a law -abiding citizen.
He was a good neighbor. He was a fine family man. He was above suspicion.
He was living the good life in suburbia in the best residential area of the city.
He was not a wicked man or a member of the mafia. He was not in crooked politics.
He was not engaged in a shady business. He was not an alcoholic or a keeper of women on the side.
This man seemed to be all right. Yet our Lord called him a fool.
Now, why? Why did
God call him a fool? Virg, we all know people like this, don't we?
They're good people, as the world judges good. But they're a fool.
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, neither for the body what you shall put on it.
David turned to Matthew 6 .34, will you please? Now, we should live by that.
The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Self -consuming care, the opposite of trust. This will, as the
Greeks say, tear you to pieces. You think about yourself only.
Since God gave us life and body, it must follow he will give us food for the life and clothes for the body.
I'm reminded of a little poem. I had a little tea party this afternoon at three.
It was a very small, three guests in all, just I, myself, and me.
Myself ate all the sandwiches while I drank up the tea. It was also
I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me. This is the way people live.
The parable of the rich fool is one of the most pungent paragraphs in the word of God.
Yes. I, myself, and me.
Well, the Lord said eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
That's what he said. That's the problem. That's what makes a man a fool, to think of himself only.
If you live as though this life is all there is, and you live just for self, and as though there is nothing beyond death, you're a fool.
24. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them.
How much more are ye better than the fowls? Jesus did not keep the law by keeping the law.
Now, hear me. Jesus did not keep the law by keeping the law.
Russell, what's that mean? How is it that Jesus did not keep the law by keeping the law?
Well, someone help him out. It was...
Yes. I don't know who said that. It was by walking in perfect love with the
Father, and he kept the law. Now, shall these birds that neither work nor store get their living?
Then shall we who do both not have a living?
25. And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
I'm pretty much who I am. I'd like to be taller, but I'm not.
I'm glad I'm not shorter, and I am. If we have resigned our height and length of days to God, why should it be any harder to refer all things to him?
Why is that harder, David? Yes. Well, we have assigned our height and our length of days to God.
Why should it be any harder to refer all things to him? That's right.
You come ready -made, and you can't change it. Have you noticed the strong judgment that is pronounced upon the rich in the last days?
James 5 -1 describes it. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Riches have become a curse. Our great nation thought that the almighty dollar would solve the problem of the world, and we're in a bigger mess than ever.
We're arguing now about should we keep in God we trust on our silver dollar.
Well, I think we ought to take it off. It's hypocritical anyhow. We trust in the dollar, not
God. If you then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
That brings me to say that all of nature is a parable.
Think about it. If then God so clothes the grass which is today in the field and tomorrow cast in the oven, how much more will he clothe you,
O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what you shall eat, nor what you shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Let your mind not be continually perplexed between hope and fear, and you just wander back and forth.
For all things do the nations of the world seek after, and your
Father knoweth that you have need of these things. Our Father made the need.
He will certainly make the supply. I need to stop here.
Start with 31, David. All right, is there a word from anyone?