In this sermon, the speaker focuses on two important questions asked by Jesus in Mark's Gospel. The first question is about the value of gaining the whole world but losing one's own soul. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the value that God places on our souls and the consequences of losing them. The second question asks what a person would give in exchange for their soul. The speaker highlights the temporary nature of worldly possessions and the eternal significance of our souls. The sermon concludes with a reading from Psalm 42, emphasizing the longing of the soul for God and the need to find hope and satisfaction in Him.

Shall we turn now in our Bibles to the 42nd Psalm. I'll read the first, the unnumbered verses. Pastor Brian will lead the congregation as you read the even numbered verses. And shall we stand as we read the word of God. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with a voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites from the hill of Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep, as the noise of thy water spouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with the sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that we can call upon you and find your help to sustain us when we're going through those troubled times in life. When we find ourselves discouraged, when we can't seem to figure out, Lord, what's going on, we can call upon you and find your help, your guidance, your strength, your wisdom. Lord, be with us today, we pray, as we study now the word. Open our hearts, Lord, to the work of your Holy Spirit, that you might work in each of our lives this day. Speak to us, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated. We're continuing our journey through the Bible this week in Mark's Gospel, chapters 7 and 8. So we encourage you to read them over and then join with us tonight at seven o'clock as we gather to worship the Lord and continue our journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This morning we'd like to draw your attention to Mark's Gospel, chapter 8, verses 36 and 37, where Jesus asked these questions. 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? Jesus asked these two vital questions and I want you to seriously consider them today. What will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world but lose his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Just what is your soul? In the psalm that we read this morning, David asked, why are you cast down, oh my soul? Why are you disquieted within me? The Bible mentions our soul more than 400 times. What is the soul? The soul is basically you. It is the essence of you. It is what you are. Your body is not you. The Bible refers to the body as a tent and a tent is usually considered as a temporary dwelling place. And so for a while I am dwelling, my soul is dwelling in my body. But the body isn't the real me, just an instrument that God has created by which I can express me. So it is through the medium of the body that I can relate to you, what I am, what I feel, how I think. And you relate to me, what you are, how you feel, how you think. We come into relationships with each other as we come to know each other, respect each other, admire and love each other. And that's what God's purpose of really giving us these bodies, that they might be the medium by which our souls can express themselves. One day my soul is going to move out of this body and my body will be left here to be disposed of by others. But I will not have ceased to exist. I will go on consciously living, only now in another body. Paul said, we know that when this earthly tent is dissolved we have a building of God. It's not made with hands, it's eternal in the heavens. So then we who are living in these tents do often groan, earnestly desiring to be freed, not that I would be an unembodied spirit, but I desire to be clothed upon with that body which is from heaven. For I know that as long as I'm living in this body I'm absent from the Lord, but I would choose rather to be absent from this body that I might be present with the Lord. Jesus said, don't fear those who can kill your body but are not able to kill your soul, but fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So the soul is your consciousness and Jesus indicates that that does not end when you die. Jesus spoke in Luke's gospel about a certain rich man who had it made. He fared sumptuously every day. There was a poor man that was brought daily and laid at his gates. He was filled with sores and he survived off of the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Came to pass that the poor man died, was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus being comforted, he said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus unto me that he might dip his finger in water, touch my tongue. I'm tormented in this heat. Abraham said, son, remember in your lifetime you had the good things, Lazarus the evil. Now he is comforted while you're tormented and beside this there is this gulf between us. It's impossible for those that are here to come over there and for those that are there to come over here. He then said, I pray thee if he cannot come to me would you send him back to warn my brothers lest they come to this fearful place. So that the rich man was still very conscious. He had a memory of his past life. He was conscious of Lazarus' existence with Abraham. That should settle once and for all the question, will we recognize one another in heaven? Surely he did recognize Lazarus and had a consciousness and awareness of his family that was still on earth. His death did not bring a cessation of his existence. So what we call death is not truly death. It's just the moving out of this tent, our body, into another body, a building of God that is not made with hands. Your body will die, but your soul lives on. Thus the question, what should it profit a man if he should gain the whole world but lose his own soul? No man has yet gained the whole world. Alexander the Great probably came sort of close, closer than anyone else. We read that he had conquered the known world of his day, then sat down and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. I suppose that Bill Gates has gained more of the world than any of us ever will. I do not know how many homes he has, but he can only live in one at a time. I do not know how many beds he has, but he can only sleep in one at a time. He must have many palatial dining rooms, but he can only eat in one at a time. And I imagine that he has a lot of exotic cars, but he can only drive one at a time. So in reality, he really does not have much more than I have. For I have a home that I live in, and I have a car that I drive, and a bed to sleep in, and a dining room to eat in. So what can you say? You know, why do you need so many? I am content with what I have, but from what I understand, Donald Trump isn't content with what he has. And so I guess that I'm richer than he is, because the Bible says, godliness with contentment, that is great riches. There are so many people who are seeking to gain more of the world. They're willing to do almost anything in order to gain more. Some are willing to cheat, to lie, to steal, and some even to kill in order to get more of this world. But you know, I'm always amazed, amazed when I read of a person who is a billionaire, who has been arrested for fraud, or for, you know, some wild scheme to raise money. And I think, if he's a billionaire, why would he have to stoop to, you know, try and rip people off of their money doing, you know, illegal things? I can't understand that. If you have a billion dollars, you wouldn't be able to spend it. You could try, but you'd never. Why would you try and get more? And imagine this, you're a billionaire, but you've been arrested, and maybe spend 25 years in jail. Well, what's all your money going to do for you while you're there? But on the other hand, Jesus is saying, what would it profit you if you gained the whole world, but you lost your own soul? You went through life, the richest man who ever lived, but you went through eternity in hell. What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world, but lost his own soul? Let's just say that you could gain the whole world. Just how long do you think you would enjoy it? How long do you expect to live? 100 years? How old are you now? Well, if this afternoon you'd win some kind of a lottery, then you won the world. How many years would you have to enjoy, then, your possessions? But how long do you think you could enjoy them? Now, let's say that you've gained the whole world. You're 90 years old. You could probably have the most expensive exotic surfboard that has ever been created. You could even create your own surf lake with the pumps and everything else. But do you think you could stand up on the board? So, if you had the whole world, how long could you enjoy it? But what does it mean to lose your own soul? It means to be separated from God and His kindness and His love forever. It means to be separated from them forever. The second question Jesus asked was, what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Now, we read in the scriptures that Satan took Jesus up into a high mountain, showed him all of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And he said to Jesus, all of these I will give to you if you'll just bow down and worship me. For they are mine and I can give them to whomever I will. Satan is out to purchase your soul. What would you give in exchange for your soul? How much would you require of him? Offering to Jesus the whole world, all of the glory of the world. And Jesus said, it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. But many people are willing to sell their souls to Satan. Some for worldly fame. But how long is that going to last? Others are willing to sell for a can of beer. I was living in Tucson, my second pastorate. There was a man prominent in Tucson who took a liking to KNI. And he said to me, you know, Chuck, I would like to come to your church and support your church. I would like to be a part of it. I really long to be. But the business that I am in is very hectic. Lots of pressures every day. And so when I get home from work, I'm tense. And he said, I like to go to the refrigerator and get a can of beer and just sit down and drink the can of beer and relax. But I would really like to be, you know, in your church and be a part of the whole thing. But, you know, I just can't give up my can of beer. Well, I thought, I'll shock him. And I said to him, well, who said you have to give up your can of beer? I drink all the beer I want. I didn't tell him that I don't want to drink beer, but I do drink all I want. But I thought, you know, isn't that sad? I would like to serve the Lord. I'd like to be in the church. I'd like to participate. But the can of beer. What will a man give in exchange for his soul? Others a night on the town. But just what holds you back from surrendering your life fully to Jesus Christ? Whatever that is, that is what you are willing to give in exchange for your soul. But I think of the value that God puts on your soul. He values your soul so highly that he was willing to give his only begotten son to die an ignominious death upon the cross to redeem your soul from Satan's power. And that's just how much he values your soul. Satan has little value for you. He will use you for his own purposes. And then when he is through, he'll discard you like garbage. That's just how much he values you. But with Jesus, he spoke about a treasure. He spoke about a pearl of great price. He spoke about how highly he treasures you and your soul. Peter wrote in his first epistle, for as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your empty worthless life. But with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without spot or blemish, the redemption of a man's soul. I do not know how much Satan or what Satan may be offering you for your soul. But I know that the Lord is offering you eternal life in his kingdom. Where Satan might be offering you the whole world, that's for a limited time. We know that. But what God is offering to us is for eternity. There's another way of looking at this, what will a man give in exchange for his soul? And that is looking at it as, what are you willing to give to redeem yourself before God? Now, I read a few years back that Ted Turner promised a billion dollars to the United Nations. I suppose as his desire to do something worthwhile before he or after he dies. I read just recently where Bill Gates and his wife have left several billion dollars for different philanthropic kind of works. But all of the money in the world could not purchase your soul. There are people who are trying to redeem their souls by their good works. You may spend every waking hour working for some noble cause, but that could never redeem your soul. Jesus paid the price to redeem your soul and nothing less than the blood of Jesus Christ can avail. We sang this morning, Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. I love that last verse that says, and when before the throne I stand in him complete. And in my mind I picture myself standing one day before God, before the throne of God, complete in Christ. And as I stand there before God, I know that I'm not worthy, I don't deserve this. But that verse, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat. When I'm standing there before the throne of God, if you're there and you see me stand, just know that in my mind I'm thinking, ah yeah, Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left its crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow. What will a man give in exchange for his soul? But what would it profit you if you did gain the whole world and lost your own soul? Realize how valuable your soul is, the value that God places upon it. And what would you give in exchange for that? Father, we thank you that you did love us and do love us. And that you sent your son to redeem us, to redeem our souls from the power of darkness and from death. That we might know the joy of eternal life with you in your kingdom. And Lord, we pray for those today who have been selling out so cheap for just a moment of pleasure. The baubles of this world, the excitement or the thrills, or the fame or the glory. Help them, Lord, to realize they're selling too cheap. Help them to realize, Lord, there's nothing that can equal the value of being saved, of being a part of your kingdom, of being redeemed through Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray that you'll help them this day to receive that gift of eternal life, because Jesus paid the price. We ask it, Lord, in his name. Amen. Shall we stand? The pastors are down here at the front to pray for you today, who would like to accept God's offer, the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. It's free to you. Cost God plenty, but Jesus paid it all. And it's the only, only thing that can redeem your soul. All of the money in the world, all of the good works in the world, could never, ever redeem you. Only the blood of Jesus Christ. So we would encourage you to accept God's love and God's offer to you today, and to receive the gift of God offered to us through our Lord. And may you go this day from here, washed, cleansed from the past sins, a child of God, looking forward to that glorious eternity with him in his kingdom. Lord, lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.