Just How Valuable is a Human Soul?
Mark 8:37
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
14 Feb, 2010
AM
I.
Introduction (Mark 8:37)
A.
If I
ask you this morning what is your most precious possession - I wonder what you
would answer? Your Family? Finances? Physical health? Some treasure that you
hold onto?
B.
There is something much more precious than any other possession - your own soul.
C.
It
just by itself is worth far more than a million euros, or millions of millions
of euros ... even beyond billions of euros. The
D.
Jesus says your soul is worth more than this whole wide world. All the oceans,
all the mountains, all the continents, all the silver, all the gold, all the
rubies, all the diamonds, all the stocks, all the bonds, all of the resources
put together - all of it ... is not worth one single solitary soul!
E.
By
this question that Jesus asks, He is telling us just how valuable our soul is!
II.
Message
A.
What is a Soul? The Definition of a Soul
(Gen 2:7)
1.
When
God looks at you and me, He sees souls! He sees the human race as SOULS, not
bodies
a.
Acts
2:41 “and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
b.
Acts
27:37 “And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.”
2.
We
are more than what we see. We are a Trinity of a being (1Thes 5:23) Made up of
three parts
a.
You
have a Body
b.
A
Soul
c.
a
Spirit
3.
You
don’t have a soul, you ARE a soul. God made you a living SOUL! Not just a living
body!
a.
You
are a soul - it doesn’t belong to you, IT IS YOU. You have a body - you
ARE a soul.
b.
We
are BODY SOUL and SPIRIT - But, what’s inside, matters most!
1)
On a
grave in
2)
Humorous but truthful!
c.
Your
body is an outer shell that contains something eternal – your soul!
d.
Your
spirit is an inner shell that contains something eternal – for God’s Spirit to
dwell in
4.
Your
soul is that part of you that is the source of all your emotions and your will:
a.
It
is where your REAL heart is
b.
Your
soul is what dreams, wishes, yearns, desires, wonders
c.
It
is what decides, chooses, trusts, and fears
d.
It
is what loves, hates, enjoys, rejects
e.
Your
flesh/body/skin/bones doesn’t do any of that! Your soul does all that!
5.
Your soul is in the
shape of your body and has everything your body has (Rev 6:9)
a.
Eyes, a mouth, a
voice, a tongue (the rich man in hell)
b.
A heart, feelings
c.
Hands, feet, arms,
legs
d.
All of my outer hands
and feet and eyes and skin are only coverings of the real me and my real eyes
and hands and feet that are on the inside!
e.
Your soul is the only
part of you that really matters!
6.
Your
soul is the image of God in you (Gen 1:26,27)
7.
In
simple words, your soul is the REAL YOU! – it is your personality. Your
body is only a covering, a shell, a tent that YOU dwell in (2Cor 5:1-8)
a.
One
of these days, we will leave this robe of flesh
b.
Rachel’s soul left her before she was buried (Gen 35:15-19)
c.
Paul
looked forward to the time of his “departure” (2Tim 4:6) – same with ME!
B.
The Condition of the Soul.
1.
Now
it get’s serious. Now we all stand in front of the Bible like an X-Ray machine,
and we see the condition of our soul, and it is not going to be pretty!
2.
Modern man is convinced that he is evolving, improving – BWAH HAH!
a.
Never mind World War 1 and World War 2, Korean,
b.
Ignore all the crime and injustices in the world today.
c.
Ignore all the full jails and prisons – can’t build them fast enough
d.
Don’t read about all the court cases and the crimes that FILL our streets and
our schools
e.
Don’t listen to the reports of domestic violence and abuse
3.
Let’s look at the infallible record of God’s word and see just what condition
our souls are in
a.
Jer
17:9, 10 - Desperately wicked
b.
We
are sinners – breakers of God’s laws; rebellious against God’s word; resisters
of God’s Spirit; stubborn against God’s will
c.
Ephesians 2:1-3
1)
Dead
in trespasses and sin – spiritually DEAD
2)
Simply following the course (pattern) of this world (like a stick floating on a
river, headed for the falls) – mankind is not following God!
3)
Obeying the prince of the power of the air (like puppets) – not obeying God
4)
The
children of disobedience - not the children of God!
5)
Living in the lusts of our flesh
6)
Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind
7)
By
nature the children of wrath.
d.
Ephesians 2:12
1)
Without Christ
2)
Aliens from the commonwealth (riches) of
3)
Strangers from the covenants of promise
4)
Having no hope,
5)
Without God in the world!
e.
Romans 3:10-18 “As it is written”
1)
There is none righteous, no, not one:
2)
There is none that understandeth
3)
There is none that seeketh after God.
4)
All
are gone out of the way
5)
They
are together become unprofitable
6)
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
7)
Their throat is an open sepulchre
8)
With
their tongues they have used deceit
9)
The
poison of asps is under their lips:
10)
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
11)
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
12)
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
13)
The
way of peace have they not known:
14)
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
4.
In
other words, we are ruined on the inside – DEPRAVED
a.
We
love sin – maybe not all sins, but we love OUR sins – to each his own!
b.
We
love darkness rather than light
c.
We
love ourselves rather than God
d.
We
love sin rather than righteousness
e.
You
would rather be angry than forgiving
f.
You
would rather hold a grudge than honour God and humble yourself
g.
You
would rather die than get right with God and live His way
h.
We
would rather lose our family than give up drink
i.
We
would rather lose our health than give up cigarettes
5.
We
were BORN that way - Psa 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did
my mother conceive me.” At birth, I was a selfish, self-centred sinner!
C.
The Value of a Soul.
1.
Its Design makes it Valuable
– you have been MADE like GOD! Designed to be just like Him with all the
emotions He has, all the feelings, all the creativity, all the speech and
thoughts that are like Him! No computer even comes close to imitating what we
can do just by design!
2.
Its Designer makes it Valuable
– GOD made you, not an accident
a.
Which is worth more? A Ford or Mercedes – a banger or Lamborgini?
b.
Are
you wearing Calvin Klein? Nike? Addidas? or Dunnes?
c.
The
almighty, infinite, all wise GOD made you and me. Your designer makes you
priceless
d.
We
are the crowning work of Creation. We are not an accident of evolution!
3.
Its Durability make it Valuable
a.
When
you buy a car or a house, you want to buy something that is going to last
b.
THAT
is what makes it valuable. No good buying something for €3,000 that you know
next week won’t run anymore, or will leak and fall in on itself at the first
sight of rain!
c.
The
body is the house in which your soul is.
d.
The
body will one day die. It will be
put in the ground and will one day not be around.
e.
But
when the he sun has become a cold, dark cinder, and when time shall be no
more, your soul will still live and be in existence somewhere, either in heaven
or hell
f.
Your
soul, made in the image of God will exist forever and ever and ever and ever.
g.
The
body will rot; the mind may go; but the soul is eternal and immortal.
4.
Its Demand makes it Valuable
(Contrast Ps 142:4 with 1Peter 5:7)
a.
What
else determines value? How RARE something is!
1)
Did
you know that Gems are worth more than Gravel?
2)
I
read somewhere that the rarest autograph is the signature of Christopher
Columbus. The rarest stamp, is the
one cent British Guyana stamp. The
rarest coin is the Argenta of Athens, the first silver dollar.
And all of these things are extremely valuable because they are so rare.
3)
You
say, "There are many souls." But God never makes duplicates.
4)
Good
news is that God offers ETERNAL life to every Soul!!!
b.
If
no one WANTS something - its not WORTH anything at all.
c.
I
may not be worth much to you, but according to God, I am worth EVERYTHING!
d.
Do
you want to know how much He was willing to PAY for this lost soul of mine?
1)
Go
to
2)
Examine the blood drenched cross at
3)
Watch Jesus endured the darkness and depravity. He paid the price in pain for
your pardon.
e.
Maybe at some time in the past somewhere your
sweetheart said “I’d rather die than live without you.” Maybe...maybe
not. If you would have said “So long-see ya”
He would have went and found another woman (Not one as good as you of
course)
f.
But
Jesus looked at us and said to His Father “Father, I’d rather die than live
without my Bride.” And He did!
g.
Luke
19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost."
h.
1
Peter 1:18-19 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition
from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot:”
D.
The Loss of a Soul (Mark
8:36)
1.
We
worry about losing things: the loss of health, many have worried about the loss
of jobs, and loss of friends
2.
But
there is a loss that is tragic – disastrous – catastrophic
a.
Not
lost like a set of keys – misplaced. They can be found!
b.
But
lost like, FOREVER lost – no way to get it back!
c.
Alexander the Great- Adolph Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte- At one time each of them
ruled the world - they conquered continents. But they were all LOSERS!
3.
Some
people childishly hope that when they die, everything goes black, and they just
“disappear” – that is a false hope – it is the lie of the devil
4.
Everyone is at risk of losing their soul, unless Someone saves it for them!
5.
The
results of our sin are eternal - death (Rom 6:23a)
a.
Not
just death as in death of the body! No! That would be too easy!
b.
No!
There is an end, that never ends!
1)
Luke
16:22,23
2)
Hebrews 9:27
3)
Matthew 10:28
4)
Matthew 25:41
5)
Rev
14:10,11
c.
God
is referring to a place called HELL – experiencing the righteous wrath of God
d.
You
don’t believe in that? Then you are rejecting the word of Jesus Christ, not of
the church, or some religion, or some tradition, but of God Almighty!
6.
Do
you know why Jesus wept when He saw the multitudes?
a.
Not
because of the wrath that was coming upon them
b.
But
because they didn’t care the wrath was coming upon them!
c.
It
would be like walking around Port-a-prince in
d.
You
would weep knowing what was ahead, and that these people, 110,000 of them could
be saved, but they wouldn’t listen!
e.
THE
SAME IS TRUE TODAY!!!
E.
The Redemption of a Soul
(Luke 19:10)
1.
Ah!
Thankfully there is a way of escape! A way of salvation! There is a way to save
your soul!
2.
The
soul is the part that Christ seeks to save – not your body, not your wallet, not
your bank account!
3.
Not
by good works, or by paying a load of money (1Pet 1:18,19)
4.
The
only remedy for sin in your soul is the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God (
5.
That’s why Jesus came.
a.
Not
to be the greatest Teacher of all time – even though He was
b.
Not
to do such impossible miracles – even though He did them
c.
Not
to rebuke the hypocritical religious leaders – which he did very well
d.
But
to give His life, HIS SOUL as an offering for sin (Isa 53:6,7,10,11)
F.
The Door of a Soul (Rev
3:20)
1.
Jesus is knocking, pleading, waiting
2.
So
am I! (2Cor 5:11a)
3.
So
are a lot of other people in your life – praying for you, inviting you, talking
with you
4.
Sinner, Please turn to Jesus – (Matthew 11:28,29)
5.
Christian, please have some compassion on souls (Psalm 142:2; Jude 21-23)
6.
Please! be obedient to God’s word (Matthew 28:19,20)
a.
The
door of the soul must be knocked on and knocked on, and talked through, and
reasoned with
b.
God
has given us plenty of keys to try to unlock doors (Acts 26:18) – USE THEM!
III.
Conclusion
A.
What
is your soul worth?
B.
What
is it worth to YOU?
C.
I
know what it is worth to God!
D.
But
it needs to be worth something to you!
1.
More
than your popularity
2.
More
than your health
3.
More
than your smartness and intelligence and education
4.
More
than your money and career
E.
Not
just talking about your soul, but the soul of your Dad, your Mom, your sister,
brother! The soul of your wife, your son, your husband, your daughter! The soul
of your best friend, and the soul of your worst enemy
F.
They
all have a never-dying soul, that is precious to God, and of eternal value to
God
G.
He
has gone to the cross for them, and for you!
H.
Will
you not respond, and let Him save you this morning?