Place: Lurgan Baptist 28:11:2004. Readings: Psalm 14 James 4:13-17 THE BIGGEST FOOL IN THE WORLD

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Arthur Nicholson
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1 Place: Lurgan Baptist 28:11:2004 Readings: Psalm 14 James 4:13-17 THE BIGGEST FOOL IN THE WORLD In 1744 Louis the 15 th of France, was one of the most loved kings in France s history. France was in terror, and Paris seemed like a city taken by storm. Louis the 15 th took initiative, and devoted special effort and attention to put France back to prominence again. The people loved him, not so much for what he had done, but for what they hoped he would do. They showed their loved for him by giving him the surname, Louis the well beloved. Thirty years later Louis the 15 th of France lay sick and at the point of death. The churches did not pray, the people did not pray, no one in all France prayed for his recovery. In fact, Louis the well-beloved, had become the most hated man in France. In 1744, he might have asked, What have I done to be so loved? In 1774 he might have asked, What have I done to be so hated. My. the truth is he had done nothing! I wonder is that you this.? You have heard the gospel, you know God s way of salvation, you know that Christ ought to be the Saviour of your soul, and the Lord of your life but you have done nothing! You know this. of the existence of God, you know that life is brief, you know that your powers are limited by God s providence, you know that tomorrow might never come for you, but you have done nothing. You continue to go your own way, and steer your own course and James that is sin. For to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. My. the greatest good that you can do for your soul is to trust the Saviour. Have you ever done that? If not, then you are The Biggest Fool in the World! Psalm 14 says, The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. The Philosophical Atheist, the atheist who in his heart and mind truly believes that there is no God, is simply a fool. But I don t think that he is the biggest fool in the world. I think the practical atheist is the biggest fool in the world. What is a practical atheist? Just someone like you. Someone who believes in the existence of God, someone who acknowledges the Lord Jesus to be the only Saviour, someone who accepts all the facts of the gospel but someone who lives day in and out as if there is no God, no Christ, no Saviour. Is this you? Are you a practical atheist? Is this not the picture that James is painting here? He is describing a practical atheist, he is the

2 painting the picture of a wheeler-dealer. Here was a man who thought that he had the world by the tail, but he did not realise that the world had him by the neck. He was a man who had no time for the Lord, not realising that there come a time when in his life when the Lord would have no time for him. Now there three factors led to this man becoming the biggest fool in the world. The first thing was, (1) HIS ARROGANT DECISION Here was a man who thought he had his act together. He had his future all figured out. He had already mapped out in his mind what was going to happen tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. Indeed in his minds eye he already had the next year of his life totally planned out, or at least he thought he did. Can you see, (a) HIS PRESUMPTION: 1. This man thought he knew When he was going: Come now ye who say today or tomorrow, He was so sure of what was going to happen today or tomorrow. Now he did not consult the Lord in this. He had no idea whether he would be alive today or tomorrow, much less a year from now. He just presumed that he had that time guaranteed. Are you also presuming on time? Let me ask you. What if tomorrow never comes? What if your plans are left incomplete, your dreams unfulfilled, your hopes dashed because for you there will be no tomorrow. 2. This man though he knew Where he was going: We will go into such a city, he had poured over the best maps, analysed the best trade routes, he had put his finger to the economic wind and he decided that this city would be the best city in which to conduct his business. He just presumed that nothing would happen all the way. 3. This man thought he knew Who was going with him: We will go into such a city, he fully intended to take his business partner along with him. He just presumed that he both he and his partner would be alive a year from now. 4. This man thought he knew What he was going to be doing:

3 We will buy and sell and get gain. He had his financial forecast down to a tee. He just assumed that in the incoming year business would be good, interest rates would be down, the economy would be up, and he would be making piles of money. This was a man who had a passion for profit. His goal was his God and his God was money. His sin was not that he was interested in gain, his sin was that he was not interested in God. Does your lifestyle mirror his this.? Have you got it all figured out? How long you have to live! How much you have to invest! My. what if tomorrow never comes for you? At the age of nine, the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was walking in the snow with his uncle. As they reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed to his own tracks in the snow which were straight, and then he showed Frank his steps, which were meandering all over the field. His Uncle said, Notice, how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle, and the woods again. My tracks, however are constantly going toward my goal. Frank Lloyd Wright said that that day, he learned a lesson that he never did forget. He would never again wander through life with no purpose. Here was a man who had a purpose but it was an aimless purpose, because the Lord was not in all his plans. (a) and that led to: (b) HIS PRIDE: For that ye ought to say.. all such rejoicing is evil. Here was a man who stood up on his own two feet. He stuck his nose up to the world, his finger in God s face and he said, this is what I m going to do and you can like it or lump it, but you cannot stop it. I am going to do just what I please. I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. My. are you bragging about what you are going to do without ever talking to the Lord about it? James says all such boasting is evil. You see, here was a man who simply did not care about the will of God, he didn t care what God thought. He didn t care what God might want. The Lord never entered into his plans. His presumption led to his pride and his pride led to (c) HIS PROCRASTINATION: Therefore to him. it is sin, ( 4:17 ) Here was a man so busily involved in the urgent that he had no time for the important. He was so busy getting gain that he had no time to get right with God. He knew what he had to do but he did not do it. My. are you guilty of procrastination? I heard about a man who was talking to

4 his neighbour and he said, do you know there is nothing like getting up at 6.00am in the morning, going for a five mile run, swimming 30 laps in the swimming pool, and doing 100 sit-ups before breakfast. His neighbour said, how long have you been doing this? He said, I start tomorrow. My. do you have a problem with procrastination? Do you intend to get saved sometime, but at the present time you re simply putting off the matter of salvation? Do you not realise that procrastination is the thief of time, the grave of opportunity, the lie of the devil and the recruiting sergeant for hell. My. there are thousands in hell this. who never intended to be there but they put it off and their convenient season never came! (1) (2) HIS IGNORANT DEDUCTION Here was a man who had planned the next year when God said he could not even be sure of the next day. As brilliant a business man as he was he had badly miscalculated on two very important issues. The first was: (a) THE DOUBTFUL FUTURE OF LIFE: Ye know not what shall be on the morrow, this man said we will, God said ye know not, this man thought he was independent, God said he was ignorant. Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. Man s knowledge seems so impressive. My. we can split atoms, build skyscrapers, transplant organs, we can send a man to the moon and predict where and when he will land on earth, yet we don t even know what is going to happen tomorrow. You may be a genius intellectually, but when it comes to your knowledge of tomorrow, you are ignorant. In this incoming year in the will of the Lord thousands will say goodbye to their families, they will say, I will back in a little while, not knowing that their cars will become their coffins. Do you recall John Lennon? A man of fame, probably one of the most famous men in the world. A man of fortune, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A man of fans admired by thousands the world over, yet not even at the prime of his life could he stop the bullet from an assassin. Lennon had no idea what his life would be like on the morrow. I wonder how many are in hell tonight because they intended to accept Jesus Christ tomorrow. It is reported that Colonel Rahl, commander of the British troops in Trenton, New Jersey, was playing cards when a courier brought an urgent message stating that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and didn t bother to read it until his card game was finished.

5 Then, realising the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but it was too late. His procrastination caused many of his men to be killed, and the rest of the regimen to be captured. Do you know what the wisest man on earth said? Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. ( Prov 27:1 ) Procrastination is my sin It brings me naught but sorrow I know that I should stop it In fact I will tomorrow. My. yesterday is a fading memory, tomorrow is a fleeting gamble. The only thing we are sure of is today. Dr. R. G. Lee said, Yesterday is in the tomb of time, tomorrow is in the womb of time, only now is yours. Don t miscalculate the doubtful future of life if you need to get saved, get saved now! (a) And then he miscalculated on: (b) THE DELICATE FABRIC OF LIFE: For what is your life? It is even as a vapour that appeared for a little time and then vanisheth away. 1. Life is Significant: It is a precious thing, that physical, human life. 2. Life is Short: Even as a vapour, The picture is that of the steam rising from the kettle. I do not care how young you are, or how young you feel, you have just a short time to live. Everyone s life is short. Some of us may have shorter lives than others but every life is short. Life is like your breath on a frosty day. It s like a puff of smoke, that just withers away in the wind. My. life is a now you see it, now you don t proposition. Life is fragile, life is fleeting, it is so short. Life just seems to slip through our fingers. When I was a child, I laughed and wept, Time Crept When as a youth I dreamed and talked, Time Walked When I became a full-grown man, Time Ran

6 Soon I shall be passing on, Time Gone. Do you know who was the oldest man who ever lived? His name was Methuselah and the Bible says that he lived to be 969 years old. ( Gen 5:27 ) Can you imagine the value of his social security benefits? Yet I believe that if you had met Methuselah on his deathbed and said, Methuselah, as you look back on your 969 years what impressed you the most? He would have looked you in the eye and said, Life is just like a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Every now and then I come across someone in my ministry whom the Doctor has told does not have very long to live. My. none of us have very long to live. We are reminded of that over and over again in the Word of God. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, ( 1 Chron 29:15 ) Job says, O remember that my life is wind, a breath. ( 7:7 ) The psalmist says, My days are like a shadow that declineth, and I am withered like grass. ( 102:11 ) Someone has well said that life hangs by a thread in a world full of swords. The certainty of life is that it vanishes. A merchant in Bagdad sent his servant to the market. Before long the servant returned white and trembling. In great fear he said to his master, Down in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd. When I turned around I saw that it was death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Please lend me a horse that I made go to Samarra and hide so death cannot find me. The master loaned him a horse and off he set. Later that day the merchant went to the market place and saw death standing in the crowd. He went over to her and asked, Why did you frighten my servant this morning? Why did you make a threatening gesture? Death replied, That was not a threatening gesture. I was only startled and surprised. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra. Each of us has an appointment in Samarra. My. the question is what way will you meet that appointment? Will you meet it with confidence because you are saved or will you meet it with fear because you are lost? Do you see this man now? The Biggest fool in the world. Can you see His Arrogant Decision, his Ignorant Deduction finally, (3) HIS FLAGRANT DISOBEDIENCE Therefore to him. to him it is sin, A famous evangelist said, the greatest sin in the life of the non-christian is not the sin of commission, it is the sin of omission. A Sunday School teacher asked her class

7 what are sins of omission? A little boy raised his hand and said, The sins of omission are those sins which we should have committed but didn t. Well, he almost got it right. A sin of omission is when we fail to do something that we ought to do. You see, sin is not only doing the wrong thing, it s the failure to do the right thing. My. you are faced with two choices this.! (a) WE CAN INCLUDE THE LORD IN OUR LIVES: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, Do you know what you ought to do this.? Like this fool have you been living life without Christ? Thinking about self but not about God, thinking about the body but not about the soul, thinking about time but not about eternity. Is it not time you sought the Lord? (a) Or (b) WE CAN EXCLUDE THE LORD FROM OUR LIVES: Therefore. to him it is sin. My. you are lost and you need to be saved. You know that you need to be saved. You understand the gospel. You realise that Christ died for your sins and rose again to be your Saviour. Now if you want to go to hell just don t do anything about what you have just heard. Dr. Joe Hankins was a great evangelist who lived several years ago. One Saturday afternoon he went to a Christian lady s home to speak to her husband about his soul. He pleaded with that well known business man to trust the Saviour. He prayed for him. He begged him to settle the matter, and to get right with God, but to no avail. Finally the man stood to his feet and said, Preacher I am not just ready to do that, but I tell what I will do. I will come to church in the morning and when you give the invitation I will come forward to accept Christ. Dr. Hankins was thrilled, Great I will see you in the morning at church. He put his Bible back into his pocket and headed for the door, but as he put his hand on the doorknob the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart and told him to go back and to settle this matter today. He went back to the man and said Pat I don t like this, why don t you trust Christ now. The man got angry, he said Preacher I am a respected business man when I give someone my word I keep it. Now I said I would settle it tomorrow and that is final. Once again Dr. Hankins headed for the door was about to leave when the Holy Spirit of God stirred his heart. He came back a second time opened his New Testament and read these words Behold now is the accepted time. salvation. Then he said, Pat God says you ought to be saved to day, the Devil says you ought to wait until tomorrow. Now who are you going to listen to? What s it going to be Pat, God or the Devil?

8 The man looked at Dr. Hankins and said, Preacher I have been listening to the Devil all my life, right now I am going to listen to God. And he got on his knees and cried out in repentance and faith and trusted the Saviour. The next day after the morning service Dr. Hankins was greeting the folk when this man s nephew ran up and said, Pat had a heart attack early this morning. He seems to be doing alright but he wanted me to let you know why he was not in church today. Dr. Hankins went home and was eating lunch when the phone rang. Pat s sister in law was on the line. She said, Preacher Pat had any another heart attack, this one is more serious, the doctors does not give us any hope. There s nothing you can do but we love to have you over here if you can. He said, I ll be over right away. Before he left home the phone rang again, Preacher its all over. Pat just died. But before he died he said, Would you please tell Dr. Hankins I am so glad I took God s way instead of the Devils and accepted Christ as my Saviour yesterday afternoon. That man could have done nothing and avoided Christ and avoided heaven, but he could not have avoided death and he could not have avoided hell. The biggest fool in the world is the man who goes to hell when he could have gone to heaven. Will you be that fool?

Hey, Don t Forget To Include God In Your Plans

Hey, Don t Forget To Include God In Your Plans CD No. Time: 12/ 29/ 2010 - Wed. N. travisleemartin@hotmail.com Text: James 4: 13-17 - www.coolspringsbaptistchurch.org -----------------------------------------------------------------------------