Opening illustration: One would think that selling one’s soul, as Faust offered his to the devil in Goethe’s Dr. Faustus, is only a figment of literary fiction. Medieval as it seems, however, several cases of soul-selling have occurred.
Wired magazine reported that a 29-year-old university instructor succeeded in selling his immortal soul for $1,325. He said, “In America, you can metaphorically and literally sell your soul and be rewarded for it.” One wonders how the purchaser intended to collect.
We can’t literally sell our soul, but we can lose our soul to gain something else. We need to ponder Jesus’ question, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16: 26). Our answers today would differ only in specifics from the responses of Jesus’ day: the world, the flesh, and the devil. The lusts that captivate us and the thirst for unbridled pleasure, success, revenge, or material things have certainly taken on far more importance to many people than any considerations of eternity.
Let us turn to Matthew 16 and see what the price of man’s soul is.
Introduction: A true disciple of Christ is one that does follow him in duty, and shall follow him to glory. He is one that walks in the same way Christ walked in, is led by his Spirit, and treads in his steps, whithersoever he goes. “Let him deny himself.” If self-denial be a hard lesson, it is no more than what our Master learned and practiced, to redeem us, and to teach us. “Let him take up his cross.” The cross is here put for every trouble that befalls us. We are apt to think we could bear another’s cross better than our own; but that is best which is appointed us, and we ought to make the best of it. We must not by our rashness and folly pull crosses down upon our own heads, but must take them up when they are in our way. If any man will have the name and credit of a disciple, let him follow Christ in the work and duty of a disciple. If all worldly things are worthless when compared with the life of the body, how forcible the same argument with respect to the soul and its state of never-ending happiness or misery! Thousands lose their souls for the most trifling gain, or the most worthless indulgence, nay, often from mere sloth and negligence. Whatever is the object for which men forsake Christ that is the price at which Satan buys their souls. Yet one soul is worth more than all the world. This is Christ’s judgment upon the matter; he knew the price of souls, for he redeemed them; nor would he underrate the world, for he made it. The dying transgressor cannot purchase one hour’s respite to seek mercy for his perishing soul. Let us then learn rightly to value our souls, and Christ as the only Savior of them.
What is the COST of your SOUL?
1. Cost for discipleship (v 24)
(a) Desire ~ To have a sincere desire to belong to Christ - If any man be Willing to be my disciple, etc.
(b) Deny oneself ~ To renounce self-dependence, and selfish pursuits - Let him deny Himself.
© Take up cross ~ To embrace the condition which God has appointed, and bear the troubles and difficulties he may meet with in walking the Christian road - Let him take up His Cross.
(d) Follow ~ To imitate Jesus, and do and suffer all in his spirit. It pertains to true commitment, the risk of death and no turning back - Let him Follow Me.
Illustration: How can salvation be offered to us as a free gift of God, yet Discipleship have a great cost? Consider this analogy: Suppose you have a desire to climb Mount Everest. Suppose a wealthy businessman heard of your desire and offered to pay for the entire expedition. It costs about $70,000 to do it. He would buy all the expensive clothing and gear; he would pay for your transportation, the guides, and the training. It’s totally free for you in terms of financial cost. But if you accept his free offer, you have just committed yourself to months of difficult training and arduous effort. It could even cost me my very life, because many good climbers die trying to climb Mount Everest. It is free and yet very costly.
2. Cost of life-lost (v 25)
(a) save life (for self) = lose it ~ Whoever is desirous of preserving himself from troubles, reproaches, persecutions, and death; and takes such a method to do it, as by forsaking Christ, denying his Gospel, and dropping his profession of it; and by so doing, curries favor with men, in order to procure to himself worldly emoluments, honor, peace, pleasure, and life, he will expose himself to the wrath of God, to everlasting punishment, the destruction of soul and body in hell, which is the second death, and will be his portion. Will you denounce Christ if a gun is put on your temple to die for Him or live for yourself?
(b) lose life (for Christ) = save it ~ Whoever is willing to forego all the pleasures and comforts of life, and be subject to poverty and distress, and to lay down life itself, for the sake of Christ and the Gospel (when it demands), rather than deny him, and part with truth, in the other world, to great advantage; he shall enjoy an immortal and eternal life, free from all uneasiness and affliction, and full of endless joys and pleasures.
Illustration: Richard Wurmbrand was sent to study Marxism in Moscow, but returned clandestinely the following year. Pursued by Siguranţa Statului (the secret police), he was arrested and held in Doftana prison. Wurmbrand subsequently renounced his political ideals. He started to preach Christ. Wurmbrand, who passed through the penal facilities of Craiova, Gherla, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, Văcăreşti, Malmaison, Cluj, and ultimately Jilava, spent three years in solitary confinement. His wife, Sabina, was arrested in 1950 and spent three years of penal labor on the Canal. Pastor Wurmbrand was released in 1956, after eight and a half years, and, although warned not to preach, resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959, and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured. Eventually, he was the recipient of an amnesty in 1964. Concerned with the possibility of further imprisonment, the Norwegian Mission to the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania for $10,000. He was convinced by underground church leaders to leave and become a voice for the persecuted church. Wurmbrand traveled to Norway, England, and then the United States. In May 1966, he testified in Washington, D.C. before the US Senate’s Internal Security Subcommittee. He became known as the "The Voice of the Underground Church", doing much to publicize the persecution of Christians in Communist countries.
3. Cost of worldly gain (v 26)
To gain the whole world means to possess it as our own - all its riches, its honors, and its pleasures.
“To lose one’s own soul” means to be cast away, to be shut out from heaven, to be sent to hell. Two things are implied by Christ in these questions:
(a) Lose soul ~ That they who are striving to gain the world, and are unwilling to give it up for the sake of their faith in Christ will obviously lose their souls.
(b) Soul exchange ~ That if the soul is lost, nothing can be given in exchange for it, or that it can never afterward be saved. There is no redemption in hell. What we accumulate on earth has no value in purchasing eternal life. We must not forget that even the highest social or civil honors cannot earn us entrance into heaven. Evaluate all that happens from an eternal perspective and you will find your values and decisions changing.
Illustration: A little boy climbed up on his father’s knee, and looking up into his face, asked, “Papa, is your soul insured?” “Why do you ask that question, Sonny?” “Why, Papa, I heard Uncle George say that you had your house insured and that you had insured your barn and your life, but he was afraid you had not thought about insuring your soul and he is afraid you will lose it. Papa, won’t you go and get it insured right away?” The father bowed his head and was silent. He owned broad acres of land, and his buildings were all covered with insurance. He had insured his life for the maintenance of his wife and little son; yet not one thought had he given to his own soul. And “what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Are any of us here in this situation today? There is nothing better than surrendering your soul to your maker ~ Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen!
4. Reward for ‘True Disciples’ (vs. 27 – 28)
(a) Works following being with Christ ~ The word “reward” means recompense. He will deal with them according to their character. The righteous he will reward in heaven with glory and happiness. The wicked he will send to hell, as a reward or recompense for their evil works. This fact, that he will come to judgment, he gives as a reason why we should be willing to deny ourselves and follow him. Even though it should be now attended with contempt and suffering, yet then he will reward his followers for all their shame and sorrow, and receive them to his kingdom. He adds Mark 8: 38, that if we are ashamed of him here, he will be ashamed of us there. That is, if we reject and disown him here, he will reject and disown us there. We cannot judge the salvation of others. That is the work of Christ.
(b) See God manifested ~ All these apostles, except Judas Iscariot (the traitor), lived to see the wonders of the day of Pentecost; some of them, John particularly, saw the Jewish nation scattered, the temple destroyed, the gospel established in Asia, Rome, Greece, and in a large part of the known world. We have a hope and assurance that one day we will see Christ face to face.
Conclusion: Nothing on earth compares to the gifts of God’s love and forgiveness. If the pleasures of this world are preventing you from trusting in Jesus Christ, please think again. It’s not worth the cost of your eternal soul. — David C. Egner
Rejoice, O soul, the debt is paid,
For all our sins on Christ were laid;
We’ve been redeemed, we’re justified—
And all because the Savior died. —D. De Haan
Jesus is the only fountain who can satisfy the thirsty soul.
