Deciding What’s Really Important
Matthew 16:26-27
Oprah Winfrey is rich beyond our imagination yet she believes that there are many paths to God.
Ted Turner believes that what we really need is a one world religion. He made that statement after his wife at the time, Jane Fonda became a Christian
Bill Gates may be one of the richest men in America and give more than anyone else when it comes to charity but there are no indications that I find that he will go to Heaven.
A person who I consider a friend and is also a Christian often talks about money and his desire to do whatever it takes to get his hands on some.
Let’s face it friends; we live in a world that bases your success on how much stuff you’ve got.
And Jesus on the other hand, told us that our success won’t be based on money.
Matthew 6:24 (NKJV)
24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
So I guess what we really need to be asking ourselves this morning is “what’s really important to us”
Are we more concerned with our bank account than the account we have with Christ.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:10
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
And it isn’t always money. For a lot of us, we put the stuff that money can buy ahead of our relationship with the Lord.
And for a lot of us, it comes down to not so much how much we’ve got but what we do to hang on to what we’ve got.
For some of us, even if we don’t have much, we put aside our relationship with the Lord for the pursuit of the almighty dollar.
We live in a material world that shoves it down our throats of having the latest and greatest.
We want more, more, more!!!
Yet we fail to hear the Lord’s words of wisdom when it comes to how we handle our stuff.
Listen to what He says.
Matthew 16:26a
26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
What we need to remember is that this particular sentence was spoken after Christ encouraged us to deny ourselves of worldly pleasures, take up our crosses and follow Him.
He was asking us what would it matter if we had everything of earthly value in our possession ; what if we had everything we ever wanted?
What if we never wanted for anything because we already had everything there was to have?
And we still were locked out of Heaven.
If we could have it all and do nothing but seek the pleasures of this world, we would still be found wanting in the end.
Because if our soul was lost, we couldn’t and wouldn’t find anything to replace it.
You lose it, it’s gone forever!
You lose it to Hell it is lost forever!!!!!
Even so, we as the Body of Christ seem to not see the importance of a person’s soul.
Yet Jesus wanted us to understand that we gain nothing from the world if we turn our backs on God.
1st point
I. You can’t put a price on a soul
If you die with the most toys, you still die
You can have everything money can buy
You can hold all kinds of powerful positions
And your portfolio will never stack up to the condition of your soul.
The human soul will either go Heaven or Hell
It will either be saved or lost
There is no middle ground, no exchanges and no do-overs once we close our eyes for the last time
Your family can’t buy your way out of Hell
You can’t bargain your way out either.
You may be sitting here today wondering why I am preaching on a subject like our souls.
You may be sitting there thinking “I’m saved, what difference does it make?”
What about those that you know who haven’t made that decision?
How about the people who if they died today would go straight to Hell?
I wonder if any of you give two rips about the lost people that you know.
DOES HELL EVEN KNOW THAT YOU EXIST?
I remember the story from Acts about the demon possessed man who told some Christian wannabes
Jesus I know, Paul I’ve heard of. Who are you?
When you fail to tell them about the life changing and life saving power of Jesus Christ, you’re basically telling them that it’s okay that they go to Hell!
I personally would never want to be responsible for someone standing before the Lord and them saying “no one ever told me about salvation through You Lord.”
I would rather be known as the church that went out and shared the good news than the church that turned its back on the people of Bedford County.
I would rather be known as that church that tells people about Jesus than a church that judges people.
I would rather be known as that church that’s different than other churches than the one nobody knows about.
Bedford County is full of churches that if they closed their doors, no one would notice.
Matthew 16:26b
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus asked this follow up question in regards to our service or lack of it to Him.
What will you give to save your soul?
What are you willing to give up?
What I find really ironic about life is this:
The more we live for our own selfish needs, the more miserable we become.
But the more we do for the Lord and the more we do in His name, the happier and more satisfied we become.
Yet Jesus seemed to be telling us that there are many people that would rather spend their entire life pursuing the gold, silver and trinkets of this world than to hear about your Jesus.
Can we put up enough for our soul?
Is there anything of this world that you possess that can or will be a suitable payment in exchange for your soul.
Jesus knew ahead of time that people would wait until the last minute and get in by the “skin of their teeth.”
Who would ever want to take a chance like that?
Who in their right mind would ever believe that this world gives us the best we can get and that’s all there is to it.
If we were to correctly answer this question, we would have to say that we would give EVERYTHING in exchange for our soul.
And we should be willing to do it right now!
And we should want to tell everyone we come in contact with!
And why is that?
2nd point
II. No one is guaranteed one minute beyond now.
We could leave here this morning and step into eternity.
We could go to the hospital for something minor and never come home again.
You could drop over in worship this morning.
And the truth is that so could any of your friends, neighbors or relatives who think they will skate by because they’re nice and don’t bother anybody.
And a lot of those nice people aren’t gonna make it because they’re embarrassed that someone will find out.
Mark 8:38 says:
38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
I sometimes find myself wondering how many of my church family is ashamed of their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Some of you make me wonder sometimes. Sure you’re here today but what will you do with your relationship tomorrow?
A lot of self professing Christians talk a good game on Sunday but when it’s time to put up, they clam up!
And some people who profess to be Christians would have a hard time convincing me if I didn’t see them in church and met them on the street.
What will you give in exchange for your soul?
Better yet, what will you give in exchange for your saved soul?
If you are saved, you were saved with time to spare.
What about that person who isn’t saved yet?
No one is guaranteed any more time than we already have been given.
If living for your own selfish desires does nothing but make you miserable and unsatisfied, why not surrender all of that and turn it all over to Christ?
We have the privilege of going home to Heaven someday and live in a mansion prepared for us and furnished by Jesus.
I don’t know about you but that sounds a lot better than the 150 year old bat infested house we live in now.
When I think about the difference between the two, it is easier to understand what Paul meant in Philippians when he said:
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Our attitude should be “while I live on this earth, everything I do is on account of Christ.”
Everything I do, say and experience I can attribute to what He is doing in me.”
I’m His. He bought me with His blood on the cross.
So what would I give up in exchange for my soul that belongs to Jesus Christ?
EVERYTHING OF ANY VALUE!!!!
The same Jesus who told us to take up our cross and follow Him is the same one who brought us to the foot of the cross and showed us the truth.
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light!
We have something better to look forward to.
Matthew 16:27 (NKJV)
27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
The same Jesus of Genesis 1 is the same Jesus of John 1 and Acts 1.
It was Jesus who first said “I shall return.” It wasn’t General Douglas McArthur.
It was Jesus who originally said
“I’ll be back.” Not The Terminator.
None of us know the date and time He shall come but the bottom line is that everyone is going to know when He gets here.
Acts 1:11says:
This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
And He won’t come back with a ticker tape parade either.
Jesus will come back in the glory of the Father with angels accompanying Him.
It will be unlike any event in human history.
And it may be likely that those who have intentionally lived to fill their pockets and fatten their bank account will find themselves in a world of trouble.
I figure that guys like Donald Trump will be in world of hurt on that day.
For all that they have, it won’t be enough to pay the cost of their soul.
On that day there will be two kinds of people in the world.
Those who have a relationship with Jesus Christ and those that don’t!
Saved and Lost!
There will be a lot of people who will say “Uh Oh.”
People will be trying to buy their way in with worldly wealth.
And the Bible says “He will reward each according to his works.”
What will Jesus have to say about your works?
Will He say well done good and faithful servant
Or depart from me I never knew you.
Are you all so certain that you will be in the first category?
Amazingly, the people who think they are super Christians are usually the ones who act anything but Christlike.
There is good news for you if you are missing the mark.
3rd point
III. We can prepare for eternity now.
We still have time to turn it around right now.
You may not be guaranteed one more minute but you can make a commitment to Christ for the next minute of your life right now.
I don’t expect anyone here today to live a perfect life.
It’s impossible. No one can.
IF I’ve learned nothing else in this vapor of a life that I’ve lived, I’ve learned the difference between living for Jesus Christ and living for me.
The life I lived prior to Jesus Christ was a selfish existence of self gratification and self indulgence that left me feeling empty.
A life of serving Christ and living for Him actually means something.
I wasn’t even sure that this was the right message to preach until Thursday morning around 1am.
Zach from the SC group found out that his friend was dying from a heart condition and he wasn’t going to rest until we all got together to pray for his friend.
This was a young man who cared about another person’s soul.
Zach shared with us that his friend is unsaved and claims to be an atheist.
The power of the Holy Spirit moved 20 or so people to gather together in the middle of the night to pray for a young man who was dying without Jesus Christ as his savior.
I have no doubt that through prayer, that young man will step into eternity knowing Jesus.
That’s what it’s all about friends.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost and He commanded us to go into the world and share the good news, to witness, disciple, baptize and teach.
He will come back soon I hope. What will He find us doing?
He taught us to love the unlovable and not show prejudice or partiality when it comes to the condition of the souls of our fellow humans.
Before we can look to others, we have to take a long hard look at our own souls this morning.
If Jesus came back today, what would your reward be?
If you can’t with 100% assurance say that your soul belongs to Jesus Christ, I’m going to invite you to come forward this morning and make the most important decision you can ever make and invite Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal savior.
If you’ve never been baptized and the Holy Spirit is prompting you, I invite you to come
If you are being prompted to join with this church in formal membership, I invite you to come.
If you feel that you that it’s time to turn things around and re-dedicate your life to the Lord, I invite you to come.
As always, I invite you to come to seek the Lord for any prayer needs you may have.
Jesus calls everyone publicly. When you take that first step of faith, you are professing a need for Jesus Christ in your life.
