Subject Eighty-six

A FOOLISH MAN

Scripture: Luke 12:13-21

1. Man has two possessions
   1. Man has the physical, material things (the body and all the things this physical body needs).
   2. Man also has a soul and a spirit, which are real although they are intangible.
   3. Prove the existence of the soul and the spirit, and explain the nature of each.
      (Refer to Subject 65, “The Value of the Soul.”)
2. Two directions for man’s attention
   1. Man can pay his attention to the physical, material things, or may pay his attention to the soul and the spirit.
   2. Most people pay attention to the material things, the things of the physical life, and very few pay attention to the soul and the spirit. The lower class of people pay attention to the material things; the higher class of people pay attention to the soul and spirit.
3. A foolish man
   1. This passage of the Bible tells about a man who asked the Lord Jesus to divide his inheritance for him. To divide the inheritance is to pay attention to the material things, the possessions of the family.
   2. The Lord Jesus let him know right away that He came not that men would pay attention to material things, but that men should pay attention to the soul and the spirit, that is, to pay attention to life. The Lord said that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses, in other words, not in material things.
   3. The Lord spoke a parable, and in that parable the one who came to Him was a foolish rich man.
   4. The Lord said that the rich man was foolish, because he cared only for his physical and material needs. That man had such a plentiful harvest that he did not have enough storage space, so he wanted to tear down his barns to build some bigger ones. He intended to rely on these material provisions, so that he might take his ease, eat, drink, and be merry. No one knew that on that very night God would require his soul. This was his foolishness.
4. The choice of the wise
   1. Consider how much more important the soul and spirit are than the body.
   2. Treasure the spirit and the soul, and despise the body.
   3. Receive Christ as your Savior.