LOSING YOUR LIFE TO SAVE IT!
Mark 8:31-38
INTRODUCTION: Tents are important, but not nearly as important as the people they protect from the elements on camping trips. Do you know that God has given you a soul and that your body is the tent? Sadly, so often in life we see people far more concerned with their body-tent more than they are about their soul.
- THE VALUE OF A SOUL!
Listen to what our Lord Jesus had to say about the value of a soul: Mark 8:34-35. Then our Lord Jesus made this statement: Mark 8:36-38. Look once more at Mark 8:36-37. You are a soul and you have a body. Your soul is of infinite worth in God’ sight and it should be of infinite worth in your sight. Your body is just a tent your soul lives in for a short period of time: 2 Corinthians 5:1. Your soul is made in the image of God and will never cease to exist. The only question is: “Where will your soul exist for all eternity?” Why is your soul so valuable? Creativity: Who made it? Genesis 2:7. God made you and you are His workmanship: Ephesians 2:10. Possibility: Not only what you are today, but what you could become! One day you will be just like your Lord Jesus: 1 John 3:1-3. Durability: How long will it last? Our soul will last for all eternity. Rarity: How many are there like it? You are one of a kind: Psalm 139:14-16. Desirability: What will someone pay for it? 1 Peter 1:18-19. God values your soul enough to have allowed His only begotten Son to die for your soul! John 3:16.
2. THE TRAGIC WASTE OF A SOUL!
What a tragedy it is to waste a soul. Mark 8:34-37. No one has ever gained the whole world but many have lost their soul for far less than the whole world. No matter how much of the world you ever could gain you cannot keep it anyhow. 1 Timothy 6:6-8. If you want to know how rich you are add up everything you possess and subtract everything that death cannot take away from you. That is how rich you are. The things of this world will never satisfy your soul. Ecclesiastes 5:10; John 4:7-13. If you lose your soul it is a tragic loss because it is an immeasurable and irreplaceable loss. Hebrews 9:27; Ezekiel 18:4: That is the Law of sin and death. You do not need to lose your soul; anyone who wants to save their soul can do so now! Romans 8:1-2.
3. THE TIMELESS BLESSINGS FOR YOUR SOUL!
There are tremendous and timeless blessings of the soul. Mark 8:34: that is talking about conviction! Mark 8:35: That is talking about conversion! Mark 8:38: This is talking about the need for confession! We must come to the point of openly and publicly confessing Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Acts 16:31; Mark 8:36.