Summary: How much is your salvation worth? How much is your ministry worth? This sermon challenges the listener to evaluate the cost of selling out to sin.

Ten Shekels and a Shirt

Text: Judges 17:5-11

And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.

And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.

Introduction:

It has been said that everything and everyone has a price. In other words if the price is right it’s for sale. I read in the NY Times that a bookstore on 41st St. called The Gotham Bookmart is going to move from the location it has been in for more than 50 years. The original owner bought the site for $60,000, and the present owner is asking $7.1 million. There has been some outcry because of the nostalgia associated with the bookstore. But it all comes down to how much a memory is worth, how much a landmark can be bought for.

Mastercard has marketed their business with the slogan, “Some things money can’t buy, for everything else there’s Mastercard.” Some things have a price, but there are still some things that can’t be bought.

I. Worth the Price

 “You don’t appreciate something you don’t pay for yourself.”

 David would not offer a sacrifice on an altar that was not purchased.

 Some things are worth the price you pay

 Acts 2:38 is a small price to pay for Salvation

 Hell is a high price to pay for deception.

II. The Cost of Selling Out

 Selling out is the same as going out of business.

Saul - Lost Kingship

Demas - Loved the world

 When you go out of business, you rid yourself of everything that you valued.

 To turn your back on God is to turn away from salvation.

 You give up far more than you gain

 Satan doesn’t show the other side of sin.

 The smoker with eaten up lungs, or cancer of the mouth

 The alcoholic with holes in his liver and bleeding from his veins

 The drug addicts gaunt, expressionless eyes and fried brain

 Sin doesn’t show it’s price until payday has passed

III. It Ain’t For Sale

 Naboth wouldn’t sell his vineyard.

 I Kings 21:2-3

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

 I’ve got something that the world didn’t give…

 Matthew 16:27-28

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

 Second-Hand sin is never a substitute for First-Hand Faith

 Some things just aren’t for sale

Conclusion:

The Gotham Bookmart may sell out and move, companies may merge, be bought out or closed for business, but dreams are never for sale. Your dream, your ministry, your salvation can’t be bought with money or material things. There are still some things that aren’t for sale.