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I. THE OCCASION OF THIS PARABLE.

II. THE INCIDENTS IT DESCRIBES.

1. The circumstances in which this person was placed.

2. The anxieties of which he was the subject.

3. The projects upon which he resolved.

4. The spirit by which he was actuated.

(1)  Ungodliness.

(2)  Earthliness.

(3)  Selfishness.

(4)  Presumption.

5. The fearful doom which awaited him. A person once said on his death-bed, "I have gained thirty thousand pounds." A very decent sum, many may be disposed to remark; it is not the lot of every adventurer to be so successful. But there was something he lost as well as gained; and, in general, the losses and the gains are placed one against the other. "I have gained," was his language, "thirty thousand pounds, but I have lost my soul." These were the two sides of the balance sheet which he was now, at the close of life, making up: thirty thousand pounds on the one side, the soul lost on the other. The separate items on both sides of the sheet might have been numerous. He did not gain the sum specified all at once, nor was the soul lost at once. But the winding up of the whole affair, after adding to this and deducting from that, presented the conclusion which has been given. But was it a good speculation? We should like to put the question to men of judgment, of practical wisdom, of cool and calculating habits, who can turn a matter over, looking first at one side, and then at the other, and ask them, whether it really was? But whatever their opinion might be, we have the verdict of One, whose competency to judge in such a case cannot be questioned. His language is, "What shall it profit a man if he gain" — not thirty thousand pounds, but — "the whole world, and, lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

III. THE LESSONS IT INCULCATES. The attainment of heavenly riches should be our great concern.

1. They are durable.

2. Their possession is unattended with any danger.

3. They are accessible to all.

4. They should be sought earnestly, and without delay.

(Expository Outlines.)

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KJV: And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

WEB: He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly.