USE SECOND.—Is it so? Is the soul such an excellent thing, and the loss thereof so unspeakably great? Then here you may see who the greatest fools in the world are—to wit, those who, to get the world and its preferments, will neglect God till they lose their souls. The rich man in the gospel was one of these great fools, for he was more concerned about what he should do with his goods than how his soul should be saved (Luke 7:16–21). Some are for venturing their souls for pleasures, and some are for venturing their souls for profits; they that venture their souls for pleasures have but little excuse for their doings; but they that venture their souls for profit seem to have much. 'And they all, with one consent, began to make excuses—an excuse for what? why, for the neglect of the salvation of their souls. But what was the cause of their making this excuse? Their profits came tumbling in. 'I have bought a piece of ground;' 'I have bought five yoke of oxen;' and 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come' (Luke 14:15–20).
Thus also it was with the fool first mentioned; his ground did bring forth plentifully, wherefore he must of necessity forget his soul, and, as he thought, all the reason of the world he should. Therefore, he falls to crying out, What shall I do? Now, had one said, Mind the good of thy soul, man; the answer would have been, But where shall I bestow my goods. If it had been replied, Stay till harvest; he returns again, But I have no room where to bestow my goods. Now, tell him about praying, and he answers, that he must go to a building. Tell him, he should frequent sermons, and he replies, He must mind his workmen. 'He cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?' (Isa 44:20).
And see if, in the end, he did not become a fool; for though he accomplished the building of his barns, and put in there all his fruits and his goods, yet even till now his soul was empty, and void of all that was good; nor did he, in the singing of that requiem which he sang to his soul at last, saying, 'Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry,' show himself ever the wiser; for, in all his labors, he had rejected getting that food that indeed is meat and drink for the soul. Nay, in singing this song he did but provoke God to hasten to send to fetch his soul to hell; for so begins the conclusion of the parable—"Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?' So that, I say, it is the greatest folly in the world for a man, upon any pretense whatever, to neglect to make good the salvation of his soul.
There are six signs of a fool, and they all meet in that same man who does not concern himself, and that to good purpose, for the salvation of his soul. 1. A fool has no heart, when the price is in his hand, to get wisdom. (Prov 17:16). 2. 'It is a sport to a fool to do mischief.' and to set light by the commission of sin (Prov 10:23). 3. 'Fools despise wisdom;' 'fools hate knowledge' (Prov 1:7, 22). 4. 'A fool,' after restraint, 'returneth to his folly' (Prov 26:11). 5. 'The way of a fool is right in his own eyes' (Prov 7:15). 6. The fool goes merrily 'to the correction of the stocks' (Prov 7:22).
I might add many more, but these six shall suffice at this time, by which it appears that the fool has no heart for the heavenly prize, yet he has to sport himself in sin; and when he despises wisdom, the way is yet right before him; yea, if he is for some time restrained from vice, he greedily turneth again thereto, and will, when he has finished his course of folly and sin in this world, go as heedlessly, as carelessly, as unconcernedly, and quietly, down the steps to hell, as the ox goeth to the slaughter-house, This is a soul fool, a fool of the biggest size; and so is everyone also that layeth up treasure for himself on earth, 'and is not rich towards God' (Luke 7:21).
