By Walter L. Surbrook
Text: "But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall he required of thee." -Luke 12:20.
There are three references in the New Testament to rich men. Whether these are three different individuals or three stages in the career of the same individual is hard to prove. I want, however, to use it as three stages in the career of the same individual.
1. His soul is awakened. Mark 10:17-22. 2. His soul is required. Luke 12 :20. 3. His soul is in hell. Luke 16:19-31.
The first time we see this man is in Mark's Gospel, the 10th chapter, beginning with the 17th verse. Here he came to Jesus as a humble soul, kneeled down and, looking up into the Savior's face, said, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered, "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions."
Here this young man came to the light for the first time. His slumbering soul was aroused, his torpid spirit was awakened. But when he saw the conditions of salvation, he backed down and went away just as he came.
I. HE PLAYED THE FOOL. Here he played the fool for the first time, and from this moment he drops out of sight in history. There is no reference to him and we hear nothing of him until tonight's lesson, when his soul is required. I want you to notice the difference between this man now and what he was when he first came to Jesus. At that time he was humble, he was prayerful, he fell on his knees and asked the Lord what he should do. But tonight he is a different man. Tonight he is seared; his soul is callused; there is no God in all of his spiritual horizon. He is not asking a thing of God or man, but he is self-centered, he has lost that sweet spirit of counsel and humility; he is self-willed and full of ego. Instead of counseling God, he consults his own depraved heart. Listen to him soliloquizing with his own greedy soul that is full of avarice. When he saw that his barns would not contain his crops, he did not consult his neighbors, he did not consult God, but he said, "What shall I do?" Then apparently finding the solution to his trouble in a reply from his covetous heart, he said, "I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods." When he was first under conviction, he did not talk in this manner. He was seeking counsel from the Lord, but now his stingy mind is occupied otherwise and his soul is so far from God that he never thinks of counseling Him. All of his tenderness of soul is a thing of the past. The greatest loss any man can suffer, outside of losing his own soul, is to lose his tenderness of spirit and, in turn, to become filled with his own ways.
He had gone so far from God that lie now became a materialist, for he thought he could feed his immortal soul on earthly things, like hay, grain, potatoes, and cabbage. He said, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Then, like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky, God spoke. Oh, how many men have suffered a loss similar to that which this man suffered in backing up on God! The soul is bound to he occupied -- either God will have first place or the devil will have sway. The soul will either be engrossed with Divine things or else employed with devilish things. His spiritual blindness had led him so far into the dark that he thought he would find soul rest, but there is no soul rest outside of Jesus Christ.
Where did this man make his next mistake?
II. HE LEFT GOD OUT OF HIS PLANS. This man's experience serves as a good illustration of what it means to plan without God. Every nation, as well as every individual, that makes plans without consulting God is bound to suffer. The Reign of Terror which France passed through for seven horrible years, 1789-1796, serves as a good illustration to show what it means for a nation to leave God out of her plans. France had been priest-ridden and Roman-soaked for years, until, as a nation, she became sick at heart of the practices and teaching of the Roman Church. Then, like the pendulum of the clock which swings from one extreme to the other, in an attempt to break the powers of Rome, the nation swung clear over into the mazes of atheism. She not only banished, but slaughtered, many of her clergy. They declared that death is a long sleep, and that there is no God but Reason, and in derision they placed a French harlot on a throne and gave her the appellation, "The Goddess of Reason."
They tied the Bible to the tail of a mule and dragged it through the streets of Paris. The heart of the nation grew sick and shuddered, as every man's hand was against his neighbor. Not only were the lives of thousands of the peasants taken, but they dragged their king, Louis XVI, from his throne and sent him to the guillotine. They then dragged Queen Marie Antoniette to the block. They attacked their statesmen and some of their greatest diplomats, as Danton, Robespierre, and Mirabeau, and took them to the guillotine. They sent their financiers, like Turgot and Necker, also to the same bloody machine. Blood flowed in France until the highways and byways were drenched with the gore of human victims.
In a few short months thousands of churches were turned into Temples of Reason. A new calendar was made and the Christian era was wiped out. Sunday was forgotten, and a festival to the worship of Reason was instituted for each tenth day. Sacred songs were replaced by patriotic songs. It was indeed a Reign of Terror! Friend could not meet friend in the streets without fearing his dagger. The lanes and avenues of the city, and the highways and byways of the country, were dyed with the blood of the assassinated citizens, until the very heart of humanity shuddered and grew sick at the spectacle. Men were ready to rush into the arms of desperation as an asylum from the furies of infidel anarchy.
Never had a nation overthrown with greater violence the religious habits and customs of its people. The services of the Christian religion were now everywhere abandoned; the pulpits were deserted throughout the revolutionary districts; baptism was not administered; the confessional was silent; the burial service was no longer heard; the sick received no communion; the dying, no consolation. Infants entered the world without a blessing, and the aged left it without a hope. A dark pall of religious gloom rested over the nation, until Napoleon, returning from Egypt, released ecclesiastics from prison and again proclaimed a measure of religious freedom. Over one hundred and thirty years have passed since the Revolution, and, to this day, France has never fully recovered herself from its appalling effects. It does not pay a nation to leave God out of her plans -- no, not even for seven years!
Not only is it disastrous for a nation to leave God out of her plans, but it is more serious for an individual to make his plans without God. Too many today are like the young lawyer who had been an orphan. An old gentleman who had some money took mercy on him and sent him away to school. After he had graduated from high school, the old gentleman sent him to college. Here the young man took a course in law. After graduating from his course in jurisprudence and being admitted to the bar, he came over to see his generous benefactor who had so kindly financed him through college. The old gentleman was seated when the young man came in. After inviting the youth to have a chair, he asked him his plans. The young man stated, "I am going out to Denver to put up my shingle and practice law."
"Very well," the old gentleman said, "what then?"
"Well, I expect to make friends, have a good suite of rooms, and a good library."
"Very well. What then?"
The young man replied, "I expect to get married, have a good home, and be a successful lawyer; in other words, be prominent enough so that when the neighbors look out the window and see my wife and family driving down the street they will say, 'This is Attorney ___'s wife and family.'"
"Very well, What then?"
The young man replied, "I expect to send my boys to school and give them a good education and a start in life like you have given me
"Very well. What then?"
The young man paused for a moment and in a hesitant tone of voice said, "Well, I suppose I'll be old and gray-headed and ready then to sit down and die."
Fire flashed from the old man's eyes as he leaped to his feet and said, "My God, what then?" The young man had every plan laid from graduation from college until he was ready to sit down and die, but he had no plans after death. He had left God out of his plans.
III. HE THOUGHT HE HAD A LEASE ON LIFE. The rich man of our text thought he had a lease on life, for he said, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years." How many have thought, like this rich man, that there is plenty of time to get religion. There is no need to get excited; it is not necessary to allow anyone to get us wrought up. But procrastination has proved to be the thief of time, and neglect has robbed many an individual of his soul.
When I was finishing my university work in the West, I became personally acquainted with a godly man who tells a sad story of two soldier boys who left Fort Thomas, Kentucky, one Sunday night and went across the river to Cincinnati to attend a mission. God was in the service and conviction rested heavily. The two young men's names were Tom and Charlie. Charlie got under deep conviction, while Tom seemed to be unmoved. The altar call was given. The boys, sitting side by side, made no response. When the service was over, they arose to leave the hall. It was winter time, and there was some ice on the threshold of the door. There was a large spring on the door to pull it shut rapidly. As the boys walked out and let go the door it made a peculiar sound and a quick slam.
Charlie leaped as if he were shot and said, "My God, Tom, what was that?"
Tom replied, "It was just the door
Then in low, muttering tones Charlie said, "Tom, it wasn't the door, bet when I shut the door, I shut God out of my life!"
Tom retorted, "What's the matter with you, Charlie, are you getting religious, too?"
But Charlie said, "Torn, when I shut that door, I shut God out of my life! I was under conviction, the Spirit was pleading with my soul. I should have gone to the altar, but I refused, and when I shut that door, I shut God out of my life!"
The boys walked on in silence for some little time toward camp, then Charlie said, "Torn, I am going to die! Write home and tell mother I have gone to hell."
"O Charlie, don't say that! I don't like to hear you talk that way."
But Charlie said, "Tom, I shut God out of my life and I am going to die! Write home and tell Mother I have gone to hell!"
Tom pled with Charlie not to talk that way, but Charlie insisted he was going to die and go to hell.
After the boys reached their barracks, Tom retired and was soon sound asleep. Charlie crawled into his bunk, bet there was no sleep for his eyes. He rolled and tossed all night while Tom slept soundly. The next morning Tom came over to see Charlie, but Charlie was very ill.
Charlie said, "Tom, write home and tell Mother I have gone to hell!"
The army doctor was called and it was found that Charlie had a raging fever. The doctor tried to help him, but his system refused to respond to medical aid. He continued sinking deeper and deeper into the grip of his fever and final sickness. Torn tried to encourage him, but he insisted that he was going to die and urged Tom to write to his mother and tell her that he had gone to hell.
All day Monday, Charlie was in a raging fever. Monday night he became delirious. On Tuesday, Charlie died just as he had told Tom he would -- and went to hell!
This young man thought lie had a lease on life. He thought, no doubt, like thousands of others, that there is no need to get in a hurry about seeking the Lord; but in less than sixty hours from the time Charlie shut God out of his life, his soul had taken a mad leap into the dark, and he had taken up the wail of the damned of all ages. Charlie played the part of the fool.
If you miss a boat there will be another in a few days. If you miss a train there will he another in a few hours. If you miss a car there will be another in a few minutes. But if you miss the call of God, you have missed it forever, for God said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." When once God leaves the soul, that soul is forever lost!
IV. HE BECAME THE PROPERTY OF DEMONS. There is one more truth to which I want to call your attention. If you will notice, the marginal reading is somewhat different from the text as above quoted. It reads as follows, "This night do they require thy soul of thee." This is a splendid rendering from the original. It may be translated, "This night they do ask thy soul from thee," or, "This night they are asking thy soul from thee." The question which faces us is this Who are the "they" to whom this Scripture refers? It cannot be God, for there is only one God and "they" is plural. The "they" are the demons into whose hands he had sold his soul.
When this man came to Jesus Christ and saw the conditions of salvation, he drew back and pulled himself away from God; and when a soul does this, he automatically throws himself into the hands of demons and becomes, more or less, the prey and subject of demons. You will notice in the context he says, "My soul." This is not a soul purchased or redeemed by the blood of Jesus, but "my soul", for I am working out my own salvation. This blind soul, in refusing God, became the property now of devils. The text literally means that this night demons will hover in your bedroom. Some will sit on the dresser, some on the picture molding, some on the foot of the bed, others on the side of the bed, some will pull at your covers and peer over into your eyes and wait for you to die; and, the instant your last breath leaves your body, demons will claim their property and drag your lost soul down to a devil's hell. This night the demons will claim their own property!
Just as literally as holy angels came for the righteous soul of Lazarus when he died, just so surely demons will be after the souls of lost men and women when they die. We used to sing a song entitled, "From the Pulpit to Torment." It was the experience of a preacher who came up to the light on Holiness, refused to get sanctified, and backslid. Then, when he was dying, he confessed his condition. One stanza of the song went something like this:
"Three demon spirits hovered around his lowly bed, To bear his soul to torment, away down among the dead."
If your eyes could be opened when a sinner dies, you would see the atmosphere of that room filled with demons.
I was preaching in a western city a few years ago, and one night I used this text. When I got through speaking, a trained nurse came to me and said, "Brother Surbrook, I wish I could tell you some of my experience as a nurse." She went on to say, 'I just came from a case in L ___. It was that of a rich man who died without God. That man's dying hours were simply indescribably awful!
He would rise up in bed, stare out into the distance, then draw back with a wild look, and scream, 'Take them away! take them away!' as he would pull the covers up over his head. I tried to comfort him and said, 'What is it, Mr. B ___?' and he would shriek out, 'Can't you see the devils after me? Don't you see them right over there?' He died fighting demons!" When he was dead they placed a plate on his casket which read, "At Rest." His body was, but his lost soul had seen its last minute's rest, for he was damned forever!
I used this text in a large camp meeting a few months ago, and, at the close of my altar call, a medical doctor came up and said, "Brother Surbrook, you surely gave it to us tonight, didn't you?"
I said, "Oh, I don't know.
When he saw I was reticent to commit myself, he said, "You did, but not a bit too strong. I would like to tell you some of lay experiences as a medical doctor." The long altar was full of seekers and I had but a moment to talk, but in that moment the doctor said to me, "A few days ago a young lady came to the hospital and we operated on her for gastric ulcers. After she had returned to her room and regained consciousness the Holy Spirit whispered to me, 'That girl is going to die'. After that had been whispered to me a few times, I went to her room to see her. As I approached her, I said, 'You are a sick girl. I wonder if you are prepared if the worst should come.'
"In a moment her soul was stirred and she cried out, 'O doctor! am I going to die? Am I going to die?'
"I saw I had to handle her carefully or she would go wild in a few moments, so I quietly said, 'We never know when our end may come.' Then I said, 'Have you ever been converted, or had a chance to seek the Lord?'
'Oh, yes, doctor, just a few nights ago I was in a Holiness tent meeting and had a chance, but I did not seek salvation.'
The doctor said, "We prayed for that girl from 10:00 A. M. to 1:00 P. M. but there was no help from the Spirit; then I had to leave and the girl who had been in a holiness tent meeting, under conviction, a few nights before, died without God." She had left God out of her plans, thinking she had a lease on life.
I warn you, if you, like the man of my text, leave God out of your plans, thinking you have a lease on life, you, too, will find your soul required in an unprepared moment to be seized by demons and hurled to the abyss of damnation, world without end!
Eternity's Beggar
A rich man was he, and his acres were broad,
And his barns lie tore down to build more;
"But thy soul is required, thou fool," said his God,
"Then to whom shall thy goods be restored?"
Eternity's beggar! the call he had heard,
But the warning, he turned it away;
O sinner! then list to the voice of thy God,
And turn to the Lord while you may.
He looked all aghast at the sound of that voice,
And gazed on his rich, earthly store;
But it melted away; he had made a sad choice,
He was poverty's slave ever more.
Out, out from his mansion be wandered away,
To the depths of eternity's night,
To beg for relief, and to long for the day,
Which shall gladden, no never, his sight.
-- Vivian A. Dake
