Four Bible Fools
Text: Psalm 14:1
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Understand the Bible's meaning of "fool" as distinct from common usage.
- Identify the four classes of fools Scripture describes.
- See that the "wise fool" — who knows God's will but will not do it — is the worst of all.
Thesis
In the Bible a "fool" is not the simple or unintelligent but the morally condemned, and Scripture marks out four classes — the atheist, the ignorant church member, the rich fool, and the "wise fool" who knows God's will and will not do it, the last being the climax of folly.
Burden
The Bible uses the word "fool" very differently from how we use it. We mean someone slow or silly; Scripture means someone morally wrong — a person condemned by his own choices, often a clever person at that. That shift in meaning is the whole point, because it lets a man be brilliant by the world's measure and a fool by God's. This outline lays out four classes, and the sting is in the last: the "wise fool," who knows God's will perfectly well and simply will not do it. That one is not the village simpleton; it may be the well-taught church member. The burden of this lesson is to measure ourselves by God's definition of folly, not the world's — and to fear most the folly that knows better.
Introduction
The remark popularly attributed to Mark Twain — that as he grew older he was astonished how much his father had "learned" — captures how the young fool overrates himself. God knows man, and He has classed many into four kinds of fools. The outline examines the Bible's meaning of "fool," the marks of a fool, and the four classes.
I. The Bible Meaning of "Fool" (Matthew 5:22)
- It is different from the common use — not "stupid" but morally wrong.
- It means one [morally] condemned — a person whose folly is in his heart and conduct, not his IQ.
- And we are forbidden to call a brother "fool" in contempt (Matt. 5:22) — the word is God's verdict to pronounce, not a slur for us to fling.
II. The Characteristics of a Fool (Proverbs 1:7)
- He thinks himself smarter than anyone else.
- He hates knowledge — "fools hate knowledge... fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Prov. 1:7, 22).
- He is a mischief-lover — he would rather make a monkey of himself than a man.
- He plays the fool to his own shame — a self-inflicted disgrace.
III. The Four Classes of Fools
- The Atheist — "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Ps. 14:1).
- To say it with certainty he would have to be omniscient and omnipresent himself — to have searched all reality and found no God.
- Yet everything in nature points to a Designer: a plan implies a Planner, art in nature implies an Artist, the order of mathematics implies a Mathematician.
- "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps. 19:1). To look at all this and say "no God" is, in the Bible's exact word, folly.
- The Ignorant Church Member (Ephesians 5:16-17) — one who will not learn God's will.
- Children should know their Father's will — "understand what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17); willful ignorance is folly (Gal. 3:1, 3).
- All our duties are taught in the Bible, and the Bible is our guide — the member who will not study it is a fool by neglect.
- The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21) — one who trades the eternal for the temporal.
- He values money above his soul (Jer. 17:11; Luke 12:16-21).
- He knows more of the temporal than the eternal.
- He sells his soul for money — "what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (Matt. 16:26).
- The Wise Fool (Matthew 7:24-27) — and this is the climax.
- He knows God's will but does not obey it.
- He knows God's power to enforce that will.
- He refuses or neglects to do it — building on sand though he has heard the words (Matt. 7:24-27).
- This is the climax of all folly: not ignorance, but knowledge unobeyed. He is the worst fool precisely because he is no fool at all by the world's measure.
Application
Measure yourself by God's definition, not the world's. You may be intelligent, educated, even respected, and still be one of these four fools. Do you, in your heart if not your words, live as though there were no God to answer to — a practical atheist? Are you the church member who will not trouble to learn his Father's will, content to stay ignorant of the Book that is your guide? Do you, in fact, value money and the temporal above your soul, however you would describe yourself? And the sharpest question of all: do you know God's will and simply not do it? That last is the climax of folly, and it is the one most likely to be found in a church building, among people who have heard the truth and filed it away unobeyed. The cure for every kind of biblical folly is the same — submit to the God the fool ignores, learn the will the fool neglects, value the soul the fool sells, and do the truth the wise fool merely knows.
Conclusion
A fool, in the Bible, is not the simple but the condemned — and there are four kinds: the atheist who denies God against all evidence, the church member who will not learn God's will, the rich man who sells his soul for money, and the wise fool who knows God's will and will not obey it. That last is the climax. Do not be wise in everything and a fool in the one thing that matters.
Invitation
The wise fool's whole tragedy is knowing and not doing — do not be him today. You have heard God's will; now do it: believe on the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, confess His name, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). Be the wise man who builds on the rock by acting on the words of Christ (Matt. 7:24). Come while we sing.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fool | — | not the mentally deficient but the morally and spiritually corrupt | one whose practical denial of God shows in his life | one whose practical denial of God shows in his life; biblical folly is a heart-condition, not a low IQ | Ps. 14:1, Hebrew nabal |
| Said in his heart | — | the atheist's "no God" is often less a reasoned conclusion than a wish of the heart | a desire to be rid of God that then poses as intellect | a desire to be rid of God that then poses as intellect | Ps. 14:1 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Don't call a brother "fool" | I | Matt. 5:22 |
| A fool hates knowledge | II | Prov. 1:7, 22 |
| The atheist fool | III.1 | Ps. 14:1; 19:1 |
| The ignorant church member | III.2 | Eph. 5:16-17; Gal. 3:1, 3 |
| The rich fool | III.3 | Jer. 17:11; Luke 12:16-21; Matt. 16:26 |
| The wise fool (knows, won't do) | III.4 | Matt. 7:24-27 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 65. Doctrinal audit: core-framework (the biblical "fool" as morally condemned; four classes, climaxing in the one who knows God's will and will not obey — tying to the wise/foolish builders); no correction. The atheist section presents Boles' classic design argument (Designer/Planner/Artist) as his reasoned appeal. Style audit: OCR cleanup. The opening Mark Twain remark is presented as a saying attributed to Twain (it is apocryphal) and used as Boles' illustration, not asserted as verified fact — handled per the caution on quotes attributed to real public figures. Source note: no primary-text line; Ps. 14:1 (the lead "fool" verse) supplied as text and flagged. All of Boles' citations verified and retained; Matt. 7:24 expanded to 7:24-27.
