The Parable of the Rich Fool
A Sermon on Luke 12:13-21
Originally preached Aug. 27, 1967
Scripture
13¶ And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of …
Sermon Description
In this sermon on the parable of the rich fool from Luke 12:13-21, preached on a Sunday evening to the Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids (Michigan), Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones exposes the danger and tragedy of self-deception. The parable arose from a man interrupting Jesus' teaching to ask him to intervene in a family inheritance dispute. Jesus, shocked by the request, warns the man and the crowd to "beware of covetousness". He then tells the parable of a rich man who treasured up possessions for himself but was not "rich toward God." The man's folly, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, was rooted in self-deception regarding his own capacity as a thinker and planner. While successful in business, the rich man left God completely out of his thinking and planning. He failed to consider his soul, God's claim on his life, and the fleeting nature of earthly possessions. The sermon challenges hearers to examine themselves and ensure God is central in all of their reasoning and aspirations.
*Special note on Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s Preaching Method
During his ministry, it was Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s practice to preach sermons geared towards the edification of believers at the Sunday morning service and sermons geared towards the evangelism of unbelievers at the Sunday evening service. This sermon serves as a good example of a message geared towards unbelievers, whereas its counterpart from the morning service an example geared towards believers. This method has been referred to half-jokingly by contemporaries as "Saints in the morning, Sinners at night!" However, it must be noted that this practice did not mean that within Dr Lloyd-Jones’s sermons edification and evangelism were mutually exclusive. There would be plenty within each sermon to feed and convict both believers and unbelievers alike.
Sermon Breakdown
- Jesus is interrupted while teaching by a man asking him to intervene in a family inheritance dispute.
- Jesus, shocked by the mundane request in light of his weighty teaching, warns the man and crowd to "beware of covetousness."
- Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool to drive home the point that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
- The rich man in the parable was successful in business but deceived about his own capacity as a thinker and planner.
- The man left God completely out of his reasoning, exposing the poverty and folly of his thinking.
- He failed to consider his own mortality and the fact that his life and possessions ultimately belong to God.
- God calls the man a "fool" not out of anger but sorrow over the man's self-deception and misplaced priorities.
- Accumulating earthly treasure while neglecting to be "rich toward God" is the height of folly.
- The sermon challenges hearers to examine themselves.
- True wisdom considers God, the soul, eternity and spiritual riches above fleeting, earthly possessions.
Other Sermons
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.