I don't want to be guilty of
setting one scripture against another, and I don't want to
be guilty of isolating any portion of God's Word for special attention
to the exclusion of the rest of the Word of God. I hear people
saying, now this is the most important verse in the Bible,
and this is my favorite verse of scripture, and I don't want
to do that. set some verse out here and say,
now that's most important and the other's not so important.
But my scripture this morning, the one I've selected, what I'm
trying to do is get some interest on your part in this passage
of scripture. But I believe that there's something
very special, something very significant, something very solemn,
and something very personal about the words of this text that I'm
going to read. It's found in Mark 8, verse 35
through 37. I wish you'd listen to it very
carefully. I think it's pertinent. I think
it's solemn and serious, and it's the most personal comment.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking, and listen to what he said. For
whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake And the Gospels shall save it. For what shall it profit a man
if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Now, that's a very solemn portion
of God's Word. Very solemn. And I believe very
personal. Let me read a part of it again.
Our Lord said, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Now, the background of this comment
is found back in verse 31. Now listen to it. Our Lord had
taught the disciples the gospel of the cross. The gospel of substitution
that's right go back to verse 31 of mark 8 and listen to the
master And he began to teach them he began to show them that
the son of man must suffer many things and be killed and After
three days rise again now there he began to teach them to show
them the cross The gospel of substitution this is what I've
tried to preach and teach on this channel Television broadcast
for these 10 years. I'm trying to show you that Christ
must die in order that we might live He who knew no sin was made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him
He was wounded for our transgressions. It's by his stripes. We're healed
He must bear our guilt and be buried and rise again and ascend
to heaven And intercede there for us that we may live. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission. Almighty God cannot
forgive sin without a sin offering. He cannot forgive sin without
a sacrifice. There's got to be a lamb slain.
There's got to be a sacrifice, a sin offering. The high priest
must have a suitable sacrifice. There must be blood on the mercy
seat covering the broken law. That's the message all the way
through the Old Testament. And that's what our Lord is teaching
His disciples there in verse 31. He began to teach them that
the Son of Man must, must suffer many things, must be killed,
must be buried and rise again the third day. They didn't understand. They just didn't understand.
And in verse 32, Peter took Him aside. In other words, privately,
and begin, the scripture says, to rebuke it. To rebuke the master
for these thoughts. He says, Lord, talk no more of
death, let's talk of life. Talk no more of suffering, let's
talk of living. Talk no more about sacrifice,
let's talk about a kingdom. Let's talk about a powerful political
kingdom. Let's talk of a compromise. Let's
consider ourselves. Let's don't talk about death
and dying and burial and the grave. Let's save your life.
Don't destroy your life. You're here for a purpose. We've
got a wonderful purpose to accomplish. We've got to blend with this
world and we've got to build a kingdom. We've got to exercise
our strength and might and power. We can't build a kingdom by dying. We can't build a kingdom by being
put to shame and suffering and reproach. Let's don't talk about
dying. Let's talk about living. In verse
33, the Lord rebuked Peter. He rebuked him before them all. You know what he said? Strong
words. He said, Get thee behind me,
Satan. This is satanic. This kind of
talk is satanic. It's under the power and influence
of Satan. Your regard is not for the will
of God. That's not what you're interested
in. You're interested in your flesh, Peter. You're not interested
in the will of God. Your heart is not concerned for
the glory of God. But your heart is concerned for
those things that appeal to your flesh right now, that appeal
to your own luxury and comfort and happiness and success. You're not thinking of eternal
glory. You're thinking of present comfort. You're not thinking
of eternal glory. You're not thinking of eternal
happiness. You're not thinking of the eternal purposes of God
and the justice and holiness of God. You're thinking of right
now, this flesh, this life, its happiness, its comfort, and so
forth. You are satanic in your thoughts.
And that's verse 34. That's when the Lord called the
people. Then he called the people unto him with his disciples,
with the twelve. He called them to Him. Now, with
the twelve. Now, if He brought the twelve,
you say, Preacher, you're talking to all these sinners out here.
I'm talking to you. Well, you're talking to all the unbelievers.
I'm talking to you. And I'm talking to myself. He
brought the people and His twelve disciples, and He began to teach
them the law of discipleship. Here's the law of discipleship.
Here is the law of redemption. In verse 35, listen, here's the
heart of true faith, verse 34 and 35. Here's what it means
to truly live, to truly know Christ. Listen to it. And he
said, he called the people with the 12 disciples to himself and
he said, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. That was in direct reply
to what Peter had said. He taught them about sacrifice. He taught them of the cross.
He taught them of the alienation of this world, the hatred of
this world. He taught them that sin must
have a sacrifice. Peter said, oh no, let's build
a kingdom. Let's don't talk about dying.
Let's talk about living. Let's don't talk about sacrifice and
suffering and all that sort of thing. Let's talk about success
and health and wealth and prosperity. God doesn't want you to die.
God wants you to live. God wants you to be happy. God
wants you to have a castle. God wants you to have a mansion.
God wants you to have a bank account. God wants you to have
a boat and an airplane. God wants you to have all these
things. That's what I'm talking about suffering. And that's when he
said, Satan, you get behind me. You savors not the things of
God. You don't understand the glory
of God. And that's when he called the people around him with the
twelve. And he said, let me tell you something. And you get this
loud and clear. Whosoever shall come to me, come
to me. Would you come to Christ? Would
you have life eternal? Would you win Christ and be found
in Him? Would you be His disciple? You
must come to Christ. Not to a doctrine, not to a denomination,
not to a tradition. You must come to Christ. He said,
Whosoever will come to Me, let him deny himself. Now here's
where the battles fall. And here's where it's won or
lost. No man can serve two masters. Self and Christ cannot both reign. I know a lot of people try and
a lot of people talk good religion while they serve themselves,
but it is an impossible task. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. I died. Nevertheless, I live. The world is crucified to me.
I'm talking about the social world. I'm talking about the
material world. I'm talking about the political
world and brethren. I'm talking about the religious
world. The world is crucified unto me. Christ is my life, and
I am crucified to the world. You coming to Christ? Here's
the law of discipleship if you're coming to Christ. And that's
the reason he said, sit down and count the cost. This is not
some hasty, sudden decision that you made by walking an hour and
shaking the preacher's hands, I've decided to let Jesus save
me. This coming to Christ is coming and denying self. being
crucified to the world, and wait a minute, he's not through. And
he said, take up your cross. And you know what the cross is?
It's a symbol of death. It's a symbol of death. And he
said, you take up your cross and follow me. This is what Paul
did. He lost his friends, he lost his family, he lost his
companions, he lost his prestige, he lost his power, he lost his
possession, he lost everything. But he said this, what was gained
to me, I count it a loss for Christ. In fact, he said, I consider
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ
my Lord. And furthermore, I count them
this political world, this world of prestige and power, this world
of glory, this world of so-called health and wealth, this material
world, this social world, and this ungodly religious world
with all of its profiteering and commercialization and con
men, I count it but dung, I count it but rubbish and garbage for
the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord." That's the law of discipleship,
to come out from among them and be separate, be dedicated, be
committed to Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Lord, not sweet little
Jesus boy and not Jesus Christ superstar and not the Jesus that's
wringing his hands hoping somebody let him have his way, but I'm
talking about the reigning, conquering, anointed Son of God who has all
power over all flesh. His kingdom. He's the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. Any man come to me, there's no
discharge in this battle. It's a raising the flag of King
Jesus, it's a total commitment, and it's a laying down of ourselves
and taking up of a cross and following Christ. Now listen
carefully. Here's the alternative. You say, is there no alternative?
There's an alternative, I'll give it to you. That's when he
said it. In the next verse, that's my
text, that's verse 35, that's when he said this. Now remember,
he said, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. That's when he said, here's
the alternative. Whosoever shall save his life
or preserve his life on earth, that's what he said. preserve
his fleshly comfort. I'm not willing to come to Christ
under those terms. I'm not willing to be crucified
with Christ. I'm not willing to turn my back
on those things that are important to me in this world. I'm not
alright. I'm just not willing to lay down my life and sacrifice
my way. Then okay, preserve your way.
Preserve your life. Preserve your standing. Preserve
your social influence. Preserve your friends. Hold on
to them. That's alright. That's what the
Master said. Here's the alternative. Whosoever
shall save his life or preserve it on earth, his worldly existence,
at the expense of his relationship with me, will lose his life eventually. Eventually. But whosoever shall
be willing to lay down his life, give up his present world, which
is in conflict with God, his social world, which is in conflict
with Christ, his political world, which is in conflict with Christ,
his religious world, which is in conflict with the claims,
the royal claims of King Jesus, whosoever shall be willing to
give that up for my sake and for the gospel's sake, and that
may be your pastorate, that may be the church that won't let
you preach the true gospel, and you compromise. Save your job,
save your life, save your salary, save your prestige, hold on to
it, and lose your life. But whosoever shall lay down
his life for my sake or the gospel's sake, he'll save his life. He'll
preserve his life unto eternal glory. That's what he said. But
what shall it profit a man if he saves his life? If he holds
on to these things, if he preserves his position and power and prestige
and salary, and influence, and friendships, and family. He holds
on to these things and saves them, and he gains the world.
What will it profit him if he gains the world and loses his
soul? It's not worth it. It's not worth
ten million worlds. That's what our Master said,
and we're always quoting, what shall it profit a man if he gains
the world and loses his soul? Do you hear what he said prior
to that? This verse meaning is built on the foundation that's
gone before. He said, you saved your life,
you preserve it, you conserve it, your prestige and power and
position at the expense of your relationship with God. Oh, you'll
save your life. You won't have to suffer in this
world. You won't have to suffer the reproach of Christ. You won't
have to suffer for the doctrines of grace. You won't have to suffer
for the true gospel of God. Oh, no, save your life. Don't
suffer, but you'll lose it. But whosoever is willing to bear
whatever reproach, persecution, or trial may come your way, for
Christ's sake, you'll save your life. For what shall it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? And my friends,
before very many days have passed by, I must go the way of all
flesh. I started this television broadcast
when I was about 47 years old. I'm now 57. These 10 years have
gone so quickly. In 10 more, I'll be nearly 70.
Now one of these days the doctor is going to make his last visit
to my room and the family is going to be called in, my children
and grandchildren, wife or whoever my friends are will be called
in and some comment will be made and life will slip away, quietly
slip away and the eyelids will close, the eye strings will break
and the mortician will come bring his purse and haul my body out
and put it in the back and take it down to the funeral home and
they'll fix me up so I'll be presentable, you know, to look
at. And the friends will come calling and they'll express their
sympathy to my family. And then they, like so many times
I've been in services like this, they'll close that lid. I've
watched them close hundreds and hundreds of them over these 30
some odd years. And the funeral director nonchalantly without
any feeling at all will tighten those bolts for the last time.
It's shut. And he'll tighten them up. And
then some preacher will follow the hearse out to the cemetery
and there'll be a hole already dug in the ground. They've all
got that prepared with flowers piled over the dirt. And they're
going to drop that coffin down in that ball. And their body
will kiss and hug and say goodbye. And then they'll put that lid
on that vault and start throwing the dirt down on my coffin, and
they're going to plant some flowers. And the boys will take their
shovels and pack the dirt and put their jackets on and turn
and walk off, and there I am. My body is. Now, now then, let's
talk about values. Okay? Now let's talk about important
things. Now. Now. The grave's an awful
leveler. It's an awful leveler. What's
really important now? You come on, you tell me. What's
really important now? Maybe I've been wealthy, but
I'm a poor, poor, poverty stricken, dead mass of flesh now. I don't
have a dime, not a dime. There are no pockets in funeral
suits. Naked I came into this world, naked I'm going out. I
may have been healthy, had health, bragged about it, took my vitamins
and all my minerals and good Those sort of thing, you know,
ate right, slept right, did right, walked right, and now I'm just
a poor rotten mass of flesh, just like everybody else. I may
have been famous and well thought of, but I'll grant you this,
in two months I'll be forgotten. The place thereof will know it
no more. Or they'll talk about you for a while, but not for
long. Somebody will move into your place real quickly. Maybe
I've been religious, but I'm still now facing the judgment. Are you with me? What shall it
profit a man if he gained this whole world now and lose his
soul? I tell you one day the value
of all things is going to change drastically, drastically. Those things, you sitting there
with your diamonds on, one of these days diamonds and gold
won't be worth dust in the street. That's what somebody said. The
hour cometh when money and banknotes and bonds will be no more than
waste paper. Waste paper. Diamonds and gold
will be like dust in the street. Houses and land will be as worthless
as children's old worn out toys. Fame and honor will be no more
than faded flowers and dying grass. One of these days our
glory will be our shame. One of these days those things
in which the natural man has gloried will be his total shame. And that which men have been
ashamed of will be somebody's glory. Ashamed of Jesus, yes
I may, when I have no sins to wash away. One day our glory
is going to be our shame. And the shame, the thing we've
been ashamed of is going to be somebody's glory. The time will
come, I guarantee you, as sure as God reigns, And the Bible's
his word. One day, the time will come when
a man will trade all that he ever had, all that he ever knew,
all that he ever accomplished for one gospel sermon and just
one grain of faith. And somebody said, oh, what a
day that will be. And that's the reason our Lord
knew, our Lord knows these things. And he said, what shall it profit
a man if he gained the whole world? It's his. Lay it in your
lap. And lose your soul. I want to
consider briefly three things. I want you to think about them.
First of all, the loss of my soul. That's me. You see, I have
a body. I am a soul. I hear people say,
man has a soul. No, he doesn't. Man is a soul. Has a body. Soul dwells in this
tent, this tabernacle. The tabernacle will be laid aside.
But I'm a living soul. It'll live always. And the loss
of my soul is an indescribable loss. I've been to an asylum. I've been to a place where it's
just full of retarded, mentally retarded people, and that's sad.
A lost mind is sad. It's sad. But it can be recovered. And then search parties out on
the side of a mountain, a lost child, that's sad, but that child
may be found. But I'm telling you, a lost soul,
now that's something else. or the eternal wail of a lost
soul to hear Christ say, I never knew you. Depart from me into
everlasting condemnation. I never knew you. Bind him hand
and foot and cast him into outer darkness where there's weeping
and gnashing of teeth. A lost soul to lose my soul. Now this is the reason I said
when I started this message, this is the most solemn, serious,
and personal comment I could ever read to you." The hymn writer
said, I dreamed that the great judgment morning had dawned and
the trumpet had blown. I dreamed that the nations had
gathered for judgment before God's white throne. From the
throne came a bright shining angel and he stood on the land
and the sea and he said with his hand raised to heaven, time
will no longer be. Well, the rich man was there
at the judgment, but his riches had melted and vanished away.
A pauper, he stood before God. His debts were too heavy to pay. The moral man came to the judgment,
but his self-righteous rags would not do. You see, the people who
had crucified Jesus, they had passed off as moral men too. And oh, what a What a wailing
as the lost were told of their fate. They cried for the rocks
and mountains. They prayed, but their prayers
were too late. An indescribable experience.
A lost soul forever and forever and forever. Show you something
else. How do men lose their souls?
Well, I'll give you briefly just four or five things to consider.
I'll tell you how a man can lose his soul. He can lose his soul
by open rebellion and sin against God. The fool has said in his
heart, no God for me. That's a lost soul. No God for
me. No God, no redemption. No God,
no salvation. No God, no glory. So you can lose your soul by
open sin and rebellion against God. Just go on the way you're
going. And then secondly, a man can lose his soul by ignoring
the means of grace. What are the means of grace?
preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel. God had chosen by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. I
know, my friends, there's very little true, real gospel preaching
going on today. I know that. I know most churches
are social clubs, entertainment centers, in competition with
other religious organizations, but somewhere in this land of
ours, surely there's somebody who has the good of people and
the glory of God at heart and is preaching The gospel of Jesus
Christ. Go and hear it. Go in here. Get
you a tape. Tune in on the television. Go
to hear somebody preach the gospel. Not promote a school or promote
his kingdom or promote his family, but who promotes Christ and calls
your attention and faith to the Son of God. Go hear him. Don't
ignore the means of grace. Without the preaching of the
gospel, there's no faith. You can't call on him in whom
you haven't believed, and you can't believe in him of whom
you haven't heard, and you can't hear without a preacher. Then
a man may lose his soul by adopting a false religion. A false religion
and following a false preacher. There's just one gospel. Not
several, just one. You say, well, all of them got
something. Only one gospel. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission for sin. There's
none other name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
Christ Jesus. We're redeemed not with corruptible
things such as silver and gold from our vain conversation received
by tradition from our fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ. Don't you adopt a false religion. Don't just adopt a
religion because it's convenient. Well, my religion lets me be
what I am and do what I do. I know it's a convenient religion.
It's a damning religion. The only religion it saves is
the religion of Christ. And that's substitution and satisfaction
and redemption and blood sacrifice. Another way a man can lose his
soul is by holding on to a false profession of religion. Confirmation
as a child, sprinkling as a child, making a decision in early youth,
an old experience. Listen to me. The name of Christ
on your lips means nothing if Christ does not live in your
heart. And being baptized with water means nothing if you've
never been baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit. And circumcision
and sacraments and traditions and customs are outward folly
without faith in Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son of God hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God shall not see life.
What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose
his soul?