The Value of a Soul
The churches
of
Christ Greet You (Romans
Read Text: Matthew 16:26
1. The value of a soul lies at the heart of Christian
discipleship.
a. Jesus Christ, our Savior, was sent to
a sin-sick and dying world
b. by a benevolent God "to seek and to
save that which was lost" (Luke
2. The Lord's mission was transferred before his Ascension
a. first to the apostles within the
framework
of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)
b. and then to others (2 Timothy 2:2).
3. The apostles were charged to "make disciples of all nations"
(Matthew
28:19)
a. and that responsibility has now
passed
from them to contemporary disciples.
b. It’s the same as when runners pass a
baton
c. to their fellow team members in a
relay
race.
4. It is a grievously sad day, however, when many children of God
a. seem to care little for the welfare
of
their own souls,
b. and naturally these same brethren
c. exhibit even less concern for other
souls!
5. Some that are weak in the faith rarely assemble with the
Saints.
a. Others have fallen away and gone back
into the world.
b. Some who seem to care little for
their
soul
1. will
spend
practically all their time watching TV,
2. going
to
the movies, playing games,
3. or
eating, drinking, working, and sleeping.
6. Yet, they will not go into the community,
a. schools, workplace, or even their own
homes
b. to teach the lost souls around them.
7. Planet Earth is now home to six billion souls,
a. the vast majority of whom are lost
b. and will cross the threshold of
eternity
c. unprepared to meet man's Creator and
God.
8. It is evident from Scripture, though,
a. that all Heaven is keenly interested
in
the spiritual welfare of humanity.
b. Also, there are many godly disciples
1. who are
concerned
about the souls of fallen brethren;
2.
concerned
about the souls of the alien sinners;
3. and of
utmost importance, concerned about their own souls.
9. A single human soul is more valuable than all this world's
wealth
a. were every bit of it gathered
together
(Read again Matthew
b. Man's soul is so valuable that its
purchase price is not silver and gold,
c. but the precious blood of Christ (1
Peter
1. God has
always required blood
2. as the
payment for cleansing and forgiveness (cf. Ex. 12:5).
10. The only source from which the soul of man
a. could possibly get its great or
incomparable value is God Himself.
b. Therefore, each soul possesses an
inherent value established by God.
c. Thereby, every soul is priceless,
even
if men fail to realize this fact.
11. There is no more valuable possession or commodity available to a
man
than his own soul.
a. Furthermore, every soul is as equally
valuable
b. as every other soul upon the face of
the earth,
1.
irrespective
of dissimilarities such as race, ancestry,
2. age,
gender, social status or any other worldly distinction.
I. God Cares for the Souls of Men
1. God's intention before the creation of the world to redeem
man
a. once he fell away
b. shows that God is deeply concerned
about
the souls of men.
2. Before the creation, before Adam and Eve
a. were placed in the Garden of Eden,
b. and obviously then, before man ever
sinned,
1. God saw
through His foreknowledge
2. that
mankind would sin and be lost.
3. He, therefore, devised a scheme of redemption for mankind
a. even before man was created (Read 1
Peter
b. When the fullness of time came, “God
sent
forth his Son” (Gal. 4:4; cf. Rom.
4. Read Titus 1:2.
a. The Greek word here translated
"world"
may be variously interpreted.
b. The American Standard Version of the
Bible
c. renders it as "before times eternal."
5. The same scheme of redemption in Ephesians 3:1-12
a. is repeatedly called a "mystery."
b. Verse ten names the church as the
institution
c. by which this former "mystery" or
Gospel
is to be proclaimed.
6. Verse eleven includes the "mystery" and the church
a. in the "eternal purpose" of God.
b. This is all saying that the coming of
Jesus Christ to save lost men
1. was in
the "eternal purpose" of God!
2. God
planned
for the redemption of man before man's fall (cf. Eph. 1:3-12).
7. Only God's intense love for valuable, human souls
a. would prompt him to devise the
salvation
of His creation
b. before the world began.
8. God loves us!
a. That’s why we should love Him (1 John
b. We show our love by keeping His
commandments (John
1. But God
knew too well that His human creation
2. would
be rebellious, and He planned for its redemption anyway.
9. God further demonstrated His love for mortal souls
a. by preparing mankind for the coming
of
the Messiah.
b. Whereas God formerly sent His law to
mankind through Moses,
1. He has
now
sent Jesus Christ personally
2. to
bring
the Gospel to earth from heaven (John 1:17; Heb 1:1ff).
10. At a divinely appointed time,
a. after many centuries of interaction
between God and man,
b. the Savior came to earth (Galatians
c. to reveal the "mystery" of the Gospel
(Colossians
11. The ages preceding the Gospel Age were preparatory
a. to the deliverance of the Gospel by
our
Lord;
b. therein were figures and shadows of
the Gospel Age (Hebrews 8:4-5; 9:9, 23-24; 10:1).
12. If the human soul were not so valuable,
a. God would not have painstakingly
prepared
man
b. for the reception of the single, holy
and divine plan
c. by which he could redeem his soul.
13. A third way in which God exhibited his supreme love for souls
a. was by sending His only begotten son
to
earth
b. to die for a sin-laden, unworthy
world
(Read Rom.
1
John 2:1-2; 4:9-10).
14. Furthermore, while men were content in and enjoying the pleasure of
sin,
a. enjoying all the gusto one time
around
b. and otherwise unconcerned about
eternity,
c. God loved men's souls enough to offer
up Jesus for our sins (Romans 5:8; Hebrews
II. Jesus Christ Also Cares For The Souls of Men
1. Jesus greatly values the human soul.
a. Hence, he willingly fulfilled the
mind
of the Father
b. and came to earth and shed his blood
on
the cross (Quote John
c. Every disciple should endeavor to
possess
the will or mind of Christ ( Phil. 2:5),
d. which mind will compel him to also
fulfill the mind of the Father (Read 1 Peter 4:1-2).
2. Second, the compassion and tears of the Lord
a. also show his concern for souls.
b. Jesus once grieved and wept over lost
souls in Jerusalem
c. who would not hearken to the Gospel
(Luke 19:41-42).
3. Even when being crucified by those for whom he came to save,
a. our Lord expressed unparalleled love
of
souls;
b. He said, ". . . Father, forgive them;
for
they know not what they do . . ." (Luke 23:34).
4. The final facet of our Lord's earthly ministry,
a. the giving of the Great Commission,
b. also shows divine care for man's most
valuable possession, his soul.
5. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke
24:46-47)
a. represents the transferal of Christ's
mission to save souls (Luke 19:10)
b. to "earthen vessels" (2 Corinthians
4:7).
6. The object of Christian discipleship is to save souls.
a. Begun by the Lord, this mission of
discipling the nations
b. is so important that it has been
willed
c. to each successive generation of
disciples
to complete and fulfill.
7. Herein do the value of a soul and discipleship merge.
a. The cost of discipleship must be
vigorously borne
b. because souls are priceless.
III. The Angels Are Concerned About The Spiritual Condition Of Men
1. Angels rejoice when souls obey the Gospel (Luke 15:7, 10).
a. By implication, the angels are
grieved
or sorrowful at the loss of souls.
b. As heavenly messengers, angels, have
often been party
c. to the redemption of men by revealing
God's will to man.
1. When
men
obeyed those heavenly messages
2. they
were
saved in prospect of Christ's coming.
2. The primary function of angels was to serve
a. as a medium of revelation of God's
will
to man (Dan. 10:1-21; Rev 1:1).
b. At least once, an angel also directed
a preacher to a lost soul.
c. who needed to hear the Gospel (Acts
IV. The Apostle Paul Was Also Concerned About The Souls Of
Men
1. The apostle Paul acknowledged the inherent value of the
human
soul.
a. All his Christian life and godly
service
b. were predicated upon the value of
souls.
2. So, Paul made many personal sacrifices and endured multiple
afflictions
a. to preach the Gospel to lost souls.
b. Had he not been completely convinced
about the value of souls,
1. he
doubtless would not have suffered as he did
2. for the
cause of Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
3. The apostle to the Gentiles also willingly suffered the
forfeiture
a. of his station in life as a Pharisee
and
a Jew
b. for the preaching of the Gospel to
lost
souls (Philippians 3:4-11).
4. He counted as nothing his educational,
a. cultural and birthright advantages
b. because he valued the lost souls of
men
more than all these.
5. Like Christ, as the apostle Paul neared the conclusion of his
ministry
a. and life upon the earth,
b. he passed the Gospel baton to others.
6. In anticipation of his death, yet acutely aware of the value
of
souls,
a. he charged others with the
responsibility
to herald
b. the blessed Gospel of our Lord (2
Timothy 2:1-2; 4:1-8).
7. Again we say, the Great Commission which the Lord passed to
the apostles
a. is also the commission and
responsibility
b. of the contemporary disciple by
inheritance.
8. Every child of God who inherits the blessings of the Gospel
a. also inherits the Great Commission,
given
by the Lord,
b. first received by the apostles
c. and lastly given to each successive
generation of faithful disciples.
V. Where Is Your Concern?
1. All of Heaven (God, Christ, the angels) and all godly
disciples
a. are concerned about and places an
immense value on the souls of men.
b. But, why do some Christians and
sometimes whole congregations
1. appear to
idly
watch friends, neighbors and loved ones
2. depart this
life completely unprepared to meet God?
2. Why do the children of God often appear to be little concerned
a. about even their own spiritual
welfare?
b. The answer may be that:
1.
We
do not really believe that non-Christians are really lost,
2. or we
do
not really care enough.
3. Christians cannot really sense that non-Christians are lost
a. while adopting the philosophy:
"We are
Christians only, but not the only Christians."
b. As long as the children of God
believe
that there are Christians
1. in the
denominations
around us,
2. the
church
will not take the Gospel to its friends,
3.
neighbors
and loved ones.
c. There is only one church (Eph. 4:4;
4. As soul conscious Christians and congregations,
a. we need to use every biblically
defensible and expedient method
b. (permitted within the perfect
law
of liberty - James
c. to turn our city and the world upside
down (Acts 17:6).
5. Whose soul are we allowing to go to a devil's hell
a. because we have not told him about
the Gospel?
b. How many souls will we allow to die
and
go to hell
1. before
the congregation of which we are members
2. is
willing
to turn our community upside down?
6. It appears that many of God's children have forgotten
a. why they are really in this world
(Read Ecclesiastes
b. Some Christians have traded their
souls
away for a piece of this green earth (Matt. 16:26).
7. This is true especially in materialistic America.
a. In order for a soul to be saved,
b. it must concern itself with its own
salvation (Philippians 2:12)
c. and exhibit the same concern for
other
souls (Mark 16:15-16; Read James 5:19-20).
8. Dare Christian disciples show less affection for lost souls
a. than what has been exhibited by God,
Jesus Christ,
b. the angels, and the apostle Paul?
9. Our friends, neighbors and loved ones are dying in sin every
day;
a. what are we going to do about it?
b. Souls are at stake, including ours!
10. Evangelistic success depends not on passive programs of evangelism
a. organized by a local congregation or
its preacher or elders,
b. but evangelistic success begins with
the individual.
11. If contemporary disciples would properly order their priorities
(Matt. 6:33),
a. the Great Commission would be more
expeditiously
fulfilled in our time.
b. The Great Commission was fulfilled
once
in the 1st century (Col. 1:23).
1. It can be
fulfilled again today.
2. But it will
take
the efforts of each Christian.
12. The construction of extravagant church buildings,
a. family life centers, gymnasiums,
tennis courts
b. greatly and unnecessarily detracts
from
the completion
c. of the most noble assignment known to
man (Matt. 28:18-20).
13. It is a sad day when the inference by which we can
a. (legitimately) build a meeting house
to facilitate our edification (1 Cor. 14:12; Acts 20:7)
b. overrides the primary mission of the
church
- evangelism.
14. The church that is not evangelistic has no future
a. and may presently lose its
candlestick (Revelation 1-3).
b. Only the Gospel can make a disciple
out
of a sinner.
15. Many missionaries here and abroad who are dedicated
a. to taking the Gospel to the lost
b. could more readily preach the glad
tidings
of the Word of God
1. if only
more congregations were mindful
2. of
their
charge to disciple the nations.
Conclusion
1. The judgment day is
approaching,
a. in the which some soul,
b. maybe someone with whom you or I work
or play,
c. may point an accusing finger at you
or
me.
2. Will he say that you or I neglected or even refused
a. to tell him about the Gospel, though
we
knew he was lost?
b. Will God also tell us to depart?
(Matthew 7:21-23; John 15:1-6; 2 Cor. 5:10-11;
Rev.
20:12-15).
3. Loved ones, if you are concerned about
your
soul's salvation
a. and the salvation of the souls around
you,
b. won’t you from this day forward
c. plan to be a more effective soul
winner
for Jesus?
4. Together, we can turn to the Bible
alone
for divine instruction
a. regarding the redemption of the most
valuable item anywhere -
b. the soul.