This morning, beloved, we consider together our Lord's parable, which is entitled, in the editor's note, The Parable of the Rich Fool, from Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, and before we read a portion of Luke chapter 12, let's read together Psalm 49. Psalm 49, and then turning over to Luke 12. Hear now the Word of God. No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him. The ransom for a life is costly. No payment is ever enough that he should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that wise men die, the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. But man, despite his riches, does not endure. He is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves and of their followers who approve their sayings. Like sheep, they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning. Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem my life in the grave. He will surely take me to himself. Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases, for he will take nothing with him when he dies. His splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lived, he counted himself blessed, and men praise you when you prosper, he will join the generation of his fathers who will never see the light of life. A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish. In Luke chapter 12, we read beginning at verse 13 through 34, the text being verses 16 through 21. Beginning at verse 13. Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Jesus replied, Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? Then he said to them, Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them this parable, The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God. Then Jesus said to his disciples, Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds. Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it, for the pagan world runs after such things, and your Father knows that you need them. but seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, a few weeks ago I mentioned the Gospel according to the bumper sticker which says, The one who dies with the most toys wins. Oh really? How can that be? You see, that contradicts another saying that we sometimes hear that says you can't take it with you. You can't take your earthly possessions with you when you die. Sometimes we even joke about the fact that we've never seen one of those funeral limousines with a casket in it pulling a U-Haul behind it to the cemetery. Yet the desire to get ahead in life and to increase in wealth and possessions and the desire to become independently wealthy is no joking matter as Jesus makes clear. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1, verses 9 and 10, people who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. In this portion of Scripture for our consideration, Jesus is dealing here with greed as verse 15 makes clear, or as other translations say, covetousness. Now, we need to understand, though, beloved, that Jesus is not condemning wealth and riches. There is nothing sinful about the blessings of God, which is exactly what wealth and riches are. But He is condemning the separation of riches from God. The separation of the physical from the spiritual. In the context, he has been teaching about the blessing and the importance of the kingdom of God and about spiritual things. But then all of a sudden, there is this man totally preoccupied with his physical life, totally concerned about the temporary things, and he rudely interrupts Jesus, asking Him to make an earthly courtroom decision about inheritance. Just like so often today, there was a family squabble about money. But you see, this was not our Lord's purpose for coming, as He says. He did not come to be a judge and arbiter between two men. But as only He can do then, He uses this as an opportunity to teach with this parable about the danger of coveting and greed and finding lasting security in one's possessions. Jesus is talking about making earthly riches that which is at best to be a means of ministering to life or serving life. And He's talking about the danger of making earthly riches. Instead, the goal of life and the master over life. He is warning against the false and the ungodly idea that life depends upon earthly treasure. We see this warning when He says in verse 15, Then He said to them, Watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Now we must confess, though, that in some way or another, this warning goes straight to the heart of each and every single one of us. Whether we have little or much. Whether we are young or old. See, already at an early age, boys and girls learn what money is and what it can do. Boys and girls, it has a certain amount of power, doesn't it? You learn that very quickly when you're at a ball game and there's a concession stand and you want a candy bar. How do you get that candy bar? You can't just take it. It takes money. Money has buying power. Money talks, as we say. And those who are older, of course, plan for retirement. many with a desire to spend those golden retirement years in leisure and in luxury. And of course, this is commended by the world. This is to be our goal according to the world's standards. But we need to be careful, because it might not be commended by God. And for that reason, our Lord teaches the lesson of true kingdom treasure. We notice, first of all, the deceitful influence of earthly riches. Secondly, the dishonoring attitude reflected toward God. And finally, the deadly effect of misplaced treasure. Sounds like heavy points, doesn't it? The wording of them. But I trust you understand that the wording of these points is taken right from the example of the rich man Jesus describes as well as those described in verse 21 where Jesus says, This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. Jesus begins this parable, the ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. Now again, first of all, we must notice that nowhere and at no time does Scripture condemn one for being rich, for having many possessions. And we shouldn't either. Jesus doesn't condemn this rich man for being rich. Abraham, David, Solomon, Job, none of them or others were condemned for being rich. Instead, Scripture makes it clear that riches come from the hand of God. And in the same way, we have no evidence at all that this rich man gained his riches dishonestly. It wasn't through stealing or cheating or bribery or extortion or any other wrong means that this man became rich, but apparently through honest, hard work. He was already rich, you see, but his fields gave evidence that once again his crop was going to be a bumper crop. And therefore, this rich man was going to become even richer. But with the increase in riches comes a problem. The buildings on his farm are too small. Of course, it's a problem we would all like to have, right? And his solution is to tear down the old barns and to build newer, bigger barns. And again, beloved, this in and of itself is not sinful. In fact, it might even be considered as stewardship, good stewardship, to count the cost. Because surely it would be wasteful. It would be a tragedy if the produce rotted because there was no place to store it. There's nothing wrong with investing properly. The problem was in his attitude. He suffered from, how do you like my politically correct language because the world would never say it was his fault. So we say he suffered from the deceitful influence of earthly riches. His problem, beloved, was the sin of greed and covetousness. Notice, maybe you have, but notice the pronouns used here. I, I, I, my, my, my. In verses 17 through 19, the rich man says, I six times, and my five times. Notice this sample. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to myself, or as another translation says, I will say to my soul. This rich man represents so many for whom the deceitful influence of earthly riches causes them to focus on one place and one place only. Themselves. Their world becomes small. And they become the center of that world. And nothing else matters. But not only that, they are in their own eyes to be congratulated because in their eyes, they deserve all the credit for who they are and for what they have. They made their riches possible. Their abundance comes from their own hands and no one else deserves any credit for what they have and no one else is going to get their hands on what they have. But that deceitful influence spreads further as this rich man demonstrates, as he falsely believes his life depends upon his riches. In verse 19 we read, he says, And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. For Him, beloved, His life does consist of His possessions and nothing more than His possessions. For Him, earthly goods served a much greater purpose than just providing for the body. You see, for Him, they also sustained the soul. Surely, material goods are the proper food for the soul because they bring happiness, they bring contentment, they bring peace, right? After all, beloved, how often don't we say, if only I had more money, I could. If only we had a bigger house, we would. If only we had a newer car, then. And the investment world teaches us that if we want to maintain our standard of living after we retire, that we have to save so much now in order to have that much then. The truth is we often feel more secure when we live in the comfort of having all of our physical needs met. Let's be honest, so often without even realizing it, our confidence does come from a healthy bank account because I know that when an emergency comes, I can handle it. I'll be ready. Beloved, this rich man was even deceived to the point of thinking that because he had plenty of good things laid up for many years, that he would be around for many years to come. To him, his whole life, even his soul was secure because of his earthly riches. Nothing could get in his way even before his crop was harvested, Even before the new barns were built, this rich man sits back with that dreamy look in his eyes as he thinks of that future of grandeur. Much like those who dream of winning a large lottery. Like those who have it spent even before they have it in their hand. Now this man's sin really is not difficult to see. Boys and girls, I believe even you can understand this. In his greed, which gives way to selfishness, he completely wiped God out of the equation, thereby wiping out the equation because God is the equation. The deceitful influence of earthly riches gave way to the dishonoring attitude reflected toward God. This man, you see, takes credit for everything and he fails to acknowledge the true source of blessing. He fails to acknowledge God. And by doing that, he set himself in the place of God, which, beloved, is the worst form of idolatry, to set one's self and to set one's interest before God. It's no accident that our Lord labels this rich man as a fool. Because what does the Bible say? In Psalms 14, verse 1 and 53, verse 1, it says, The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Foolishness means to be without reason, to be senseless, to be empty-headed. And the character of foolishness is to refuse to evaluate things in the light of true reality. To not even see reality. A fool distorts reality to fit the sinful imaginations of his own heart. A fool, in summarizing verse 21, is one who works hard to lay up treasures in a world he is hastening from. But doesn't give any care in laying up treasures in a world he is hastening to. The afterlife. Children, when you're young, this life seems to move so slowly. It takes forever to get to your birthday, doesn't it? Life just drags. But you see, each day that goes by means you are one day closer to death. Sounds kind of like a nasty thing to say, doesn't it? But it's true. One day closer to death. So what's next for you? Where are you laying up treasure? The writer of Proverbs tells us that the fool is blind to everything and everyone but himself. The writer says, The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, and the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit. The folly of this rich man dishonors God, first of all, in the fact that he ignored his responsibility to God. He ignored the fact that God alone is the great provider of every good and perfect gift. All things, even our earthly riches, are owned by God, and He entrusts these things to us. We have them by loan, you might say. And we are to acknowledge Him with these things and to glorify God in our use of these things, whatever they might be. As well, this rich man didn't make the decision of what to do about this productivity, his bumper crop. He didn't make it a matter of prayer. He didn't pray about it. Beloved, so often we pray for prosperity, But when God gives it, how many actually then lay their wealth at the throne of God asking Him to direct them in their use of His gifts? Let's be honest, aren't we a little bit afraid of how God might direct us? Earthly goods are truly riches only when we see them as being from God. Proverbs 22, verse 4 says, humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. By failing to confess his dependence upon God and instead selfishly depending upon himself and his possessions, the rich man also completely forgot his neighbor. You see, the purpose of his bigger barns in his eyes was not for stewardship in helping the needy, but to selfishly take life easy. You see, he had put in his time. He had paid his dues, he thought. So now he would retire and he would reap the benefits for many years. The early church father, Augustine, beautifully points out that the true storehouses for surplus wealth, which is that over and above that which we need, the true storehouses for surplus wealth are the bosoms of the needy, the houses of widows, and the mouths of orphans and of infants. His dishonoring attitude toward God is then further reflected in the fact that failing to see God also as the owner of his soul. This rich man thought that he could feed his soul with the food of earthly riches, and he failed to consider the fact that his life, with its beginning and its end, ran according to the schedule of God's clock. In his folly, he failed to consider that he was not the captain of his own ship. He was not the master of his own fate. He learned the hard way that his life was not in his own power, but was at the disposal of another. For as Job says, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And finally then, with this rich man, Jesus teaches of the deadly effect of misplaced treasure. Now by misplaced, I'm not talking about something being put somewhere by accident. Something put where one didn't really mean to put it, but I'm talking about that which is intentionally put in the wrong place. Those who lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, those who substitute the temporary comfort of earthly treasure in the place of God and serve their money instead of God will lose all they have. And they will stand before God naked one day. Verse 20, But God said to him, You fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? And notice the contrast here between the false comfort of having plenty of good things laid up for many years and this very night your life will be demanded from you. You see, He who planned for many years to come never even saw the light of another day. The Bible says in Proverbs 27, Do not boast about tomorrow. For you do not know what a day may bring forth. Not one of us knows if we will be here tomorrow. Not one of us knows if we will make it home from church safely today. He who tried to please his soul with earthly treasure lost his soul because he failed to feed it with the bread of heaven. Beloved, this man's possessions could not prevent his death. Boys and girls and young people, we need to know this, don't we? Our stuff, our things cannot prevent death. But we can go a step further. this man's possessions could not even give him one more day of life. And they certainly couldn't purchase for him eternal life. The psalmist says in Psalm 49, he speaks of those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches. And he says of them, no man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him. The ransom for a life is costly. The writer of Proverbs tells the truth about riches when he says in chapter 11, Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. Jesus says in verse 21 that anyone who stored up things, treasures for himself, but is not rich toward God will be just like the rich man of this parable. And again, Psalm 49, verse 17 describes this. For he will take nothing with him when he dies. His splendor will not descend with him. And Paul says in 1 Timothy 6, verse 7, For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. In other words, they shall go naked out of the world as they came into it. And beloved, they shall have no benefit at all by what they have hoarded up in this life. No benefit in death. No benefit on the day of judgment. No benefit in their eternal state. Upon death, when it comes to earthly treasure, the answer to the question, well, how much did he or she leave? It can only be all that he or she had. With regard to the question at the end of verse 20, then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? We must wonder if many could see the fighting within families and the court cases and the hatred that has taken place because of the earthly treasures they left behind, how many would rather have left absolutely nothing? And especially of God's people, how many would have rather given it all to God's kingdom work? I heard a minister say, once the best gift Christian parents can leave to their children is to give all of their inheritance to charity. Give it away. But Jesus makes it clear where true kingdom treasure is to be laid up. He calls us to be rich toward God. And to be rich toward God means to possess by the grace of God the redemption purchased only by Jesus Christ, that costly redemption. To be rich toward God means to enjoy reconciliation with God, peace with God, and fellowship with Him for Jesus' sake. To be rich toward God is to have God for us in the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. To have God with us in His providence. To have God in us through His Holy Spirit. And to have God before us in the hope of heaven. To be rich toward God is to glory in His Word. This is true food of the soul. You see, the soul is not satisfied with earthly riches any more than the body's physical hunger can be satisfied by eating diamonds. Earthly treasure. Earthly treasures, beloved, separated from God the giver, do not enrich the soul, but instead impoverishes the soul. But to be truly rich means to have that which is more precious than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Paul says to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. And only when one is rich toward God through God's forgiving grace will earthly treasure then be of any value to him. Will he see it as a trust from God and will it be used by God to draw that one closer to himself? Only then will earthly treasure, be it little or much, be seen as a gift from God to be used for His glory and to advance His kingdom. Only when one is rich toward God will he know that his earthly treasure is used best when it is used for God and in thanksgiving to Him. Paul calls us to trust God in our use and to use our riches in doing good works. Ready to give. Willing to share. Only when our real treasure, beloved, is Jesus Christ and His salvation will we enjoy God's favor in everything that we possess. See, the point of this parable is not about being rich or poor with regard to earthly treasure, but it's a warning about placing our confidence, our security, and our trust in ourselves and earthly treasure, whether rich or poor. It's a warning about not considering it as a trust from God. True kingdom treasure is found only in God, who not only provides for our care in this life, but beloved, who alone enriches His people. For eternal life. God enriches those who believe in Jesus Christ by grace through faith, by giving the blessings of forgiveness, peace, holiness, and heaven. One day, on Judgment Day, He who laid up treasure for Himself will stand naked before God with nothing to rely on. No one by His side. No one to help. But those who laid up treasure in heaven will stand before God clothed with the rich robes of Christ's righteousness. They will stand there with Christ at their side. And on His benefits alone do they find their hope. Those who gloried in earthly goods will perish with those goods, but those who gloried in the cross of Jesus will enjoy the eternal treasure of heaven. Those who rejected Jesus Christ in favor of their earthly treasures will be rejected by His favor and they will be consumed just like earthly treasure. But the child of God has this comfort as Psalm 49.15 says, But God will redeem my life from the grave. He will surely take me to Himself. Why? Because Christ has paid that costly redemption price for the souls of His people, not by silver or gold, but with His own precious blood. Beloved, man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, but in the abundance of the richness of God's grace. The wise man Auger in Proverbs 30 said, Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me, lest I be full, filled with poverty, and deny you and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor. I'm sorry, filled with riches and deny you or poor, filled with poverty and steal and profane the name of my God. Beloved, don't worry about your earthly possessions whether little or much. Jesus promised that God knows your needs. He will provide. But ask yourself, do I have true kingdom treasure? It can only be found in Christ Jesus. Luke 12.34 says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where is your treasure? Where is your heart? May it be tucked safe in the bosom of God, our Heavenly Father, who has promised to provide all that we need for this life and the next. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we confess that so often When we set our sights and our desires in the wrong place, we give a different value to the things of this life than we are called to give. Father, we thank You and praise You for the heavenly, the eternal, the spiritual riches which are ours in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nothing on this earth can compare with these things. Not all the gold and silver, not all the cattle on a thousand hills can compare with any of this that you've given to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. But the riches we possess in Christ transform all the things of this life. And may we truly see the gifts you give to us as blessings from your hand for the sake of Jesus Christ. And may we ever live to serve and honor and praise you with all that You give to us, with our bodies and our souls. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.