Jesus was teaching us about the greatest profit

JESUS WAS TEACHING US ABOUT THE GREATESTPROFIT
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Mark 8:36 36Whatgood is it for someone to gain the
whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
GreatTexts of the Bible
A World for a Life
For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life
(RVm. soul)? For what should a man give in exchange for his life (RVm.
soul)?—Mark 8:36-37.
1. The text is often spokenof as if it stateda problem in profit and loss. But
the point of it may be missed in that way. Fora man may have some profit
and suffer some loss, and balance the one againstthe other. Christ says it is all
profit or all loss. It is in fact an exchange. We have a life and barter it for a
world. It is a double exchange, oran attempt at it. First the life is given for the
world—“Whatdoth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his
life?” And then, when the bargainis seento be a bad one, the attempt is made
to barter the world for the life—“Whatshould a man give in exchange forhis
life?”
We are not to understand these two verses, says James Vaughan,1 [Note:
Sermons, iv. 1.] as if they conveyedexactly the same truth. The thoughts are
two—andperfectly distinct. The first—supposing a man to have his “soul,” is,

“What shall it profit him if, for any advantage whatsoever, he loses it?” And
the other, supposing he has “lost” it, “How canhe getit again?”
2. This does not raise the question, once much debated, whether it is possible
to make the best of both worlds. In that question the two worlds are takento
mean the present and the future, and betweenthese there is no opposition. If a
man does not make the best of this world, by finding God in it and living for
Him, he will not make the best of the world to come; nor will he make
anything of it. In our text the question is betweenfinding pleasure in this
world apart from God, or finding God in this world and all our pleasure in
Him.
So we have first the World, next the Life, and then the double exchange
betweenthese two.
I
The World
What is the World? It is this world we live in. God made the world: did He
not make it to be enjoyed and used by man? Undoubtedly He did. But not that
the world should be enjoyed to the exclusionof the Makerof it. Suppose that
you invite some one to your table. You furnish the table. But what would you
think of the guestwho occupiedhimself entirely with the table, eating and
drinking without once lifting up his head to hold conversationwith you? God
made man chiefly for conversationand communion with Himself. And when a
man prefers to occupy himself with the goodthings of this world, he is gaining
the world and losing his ownsoul.

To gain the world is to gain (1) the riches of the world, as the rich young ruler
(Mark 10:22), or as Demas;(2) the honours and fame of the world, as
Nebuchadnezzar(Daniel 4:30), or as Herod (Acts 12:21-23);(3) the sinful
pleasures of the world (Hebrews 11:25;Proverbs 23:31);(4) the amusements
and follies of the world (Ecclesiastes11:9).1 [Note:R. Brewin.]
At Aix-la-Chapelle is the tomb of the greatEmperor Charlemagne. He was
buried in the central space beneaththe dome; but the manner of his burial is
one of the most impressive sermons ever preached. In the death-chamber
beneath the floor he saton a marble chair—the chair in which kings had been
crowned—wrappedin his Imperial robes. A book of the Gospellay open in his
lap; and as he sat there, silent, cold, motionless, the finger of the dead man’s
hand pointed to the words of Jesus:“What shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”2 [Note:H. H. Griffiths.]
I built me my own little world,
Not God—but my world was fair;
I perfumed it fragrant with blossoms,
I hedged it around with care.
And I said, “It is well; it is quarried
Strong now, as strong love dare plan;

A home for two hearts it is carven,
Built by the will of a man.”
And I shouted and sang “Jubilate!”
The heart within me was light,
It heard not the brooding footstep
That bringeth the blinding night.
It saw not the cloud from the sun-set
A man might hold in his hand,
Yet it swamon nearer and blacker,
To darken my pleasantLand.
And a wind span out o’ the East—
God has four—a sword his breath,

And he shook my portals and pillars
With a shaking that meaneth death.
God o’ four winds! Thine eastwind smote it;
My fair world trembled and fell:
Still I stood—atmy feetin ashes
Lay the World I loved so well.1 [Note: Agnes H. Begbie, The RosebudWall,
21.]
II
The Life
What is the Life? The word psyche, here translated “life,” and often
translated “soul,” is the equivalent of nephesh in Hebrew, the conscious life of
feeling and desire. The New Testamentdistinguishes this life from merely
physical animation on the one hand, and from the higher life of the pneuma
on the other. Thus the life or soul (ψυχή) holds a mediating position between
the body (σῶμα) and the spirit (πνεῦμα), and the word is used with a loweror
a higher reference in different contexts. So says Swete, and gives examples of

the lowerreference (Matthew 2:20; Matthew 6:25; John 10:15 ff.; Romans
11:3; Php 2:30), and of the higher (Matthew 11:29; Mark 14:34; John 12:27;
Hebrews 6:19; 1 Peter1:22).
Life, says Menzies, stands here, not for one of severalelements of the human
person, as with Paul, but for the whole sentient life of the individual. Christ
does not mean, says Stopford Brooke,1 [Note:The GospelofJoy, 266.]a
personal, selfishthing inside of you which was in danger of hell-fire or
punishment, and which had first to be savedfrom them, and then put into a
comfortable position in heaven. But He did mean all those qualities and their
harmonies which make up in a man, in a societyor in a nation, a character
like the characterof God, our Father.
What an incalculable depth of gratitude we owe to our authorized English
translation of the Bible! But it has done us all the same a few wrongs;and
among these not the leastconsiderable is that often, even in the same passage,
it has translatedone word in the original at one time “soul” and at another
time “life.” The result is we have gotinto the habit of thinking that a man’s
soul is something mystical, something vague, something different from that
actual, breathing, struggling human life which he knows so well. But it is not
so. The soul is nothing else than the life, the sum of vital powers which we
expend. To save your soul is nothing else than to preserve your life; to make
the bestof yourself; to lose your soul is nothing else than to defile, to spoil, to
waste your vital powers, to make the worstof yourself. Of course, if this is to
be true, you must remember that your soul is yourself and yours beyond the
grave;and to save your soul is to make the best of yourself consideredas an
immortal being.2 [Note:Bishop Gore.]
What is it to lose the soul? It is (1) to lose Christ and all spiritual enjoyments;
(2) to lose heavenand all its joys for ever; (3) to lose all rest and peace to all
eternity (Revelation14:11); (4) to lose all hope of everbettering our condition

(Revelation9:6); (5) to lose the very world itself (Luke 16:23-24).3[Note:R.
Brewin.]
Large numbers of men hardly seemto have a life to forfeit; they can hardly be
said to live; their intellect has never felt the thrill which comes with a true
intellectual awakening;their consciencehas never discoveredhow august duty
is; the infinite mystery and glory of the eternal Kingdom which environs every
man has never been revealedto them; there are the germs and the possibilities
in them of a very greatlife, but the germs have never been quickened, the
possibilities are remote from realisation.4 [Note:R. W. Dale.]
I remember some years ago being present at a meeting held in honour of an
old teacherwho was passing into retirement. A large company had gathered
together, among them men who had made their mark in public life. Severalof
these rose and spoke in the old man’s praise. He was not a man of unusual
attainments or of notable gifts, but he had evidently done these men, who were
paying him honour, a service they had come long distances to acknowledge.
As I listened to the words of generous eulogyI discerned what it was that
drew them all to respectfulgratitude. The words they quoted with deepest
feeling were not his pregnant comments on men and things, not his wittiest
jests, and not his wisestcounsels. Theywere the words in which they had felt
the trembling of a deep passion, all the deeperfor a shy man’s reticence,
which believed that eachof them had a spiritual nature to be createdanew in
the image of Christ. These men, busy in the keenstruggle of life, one by one
bowed down in reverence before the man whose years had been spent, and
whose duty had been fulfilled, under a supreme sense of the value of the soul.1
[Note:W. M. Clow.]
III

The Exchange
The exchange is to give the man himself, all that makes him a man, for the
things that are without. And when the discovery is made that the exchange is a
bad one, it is the futile attempt to get back the man in exchange forthe things.
But it may be consideredin respectof the physical life, the intellectual life, the
moral and sociallife, and the spiritual life.
1. The Physical Life.—Doesit profit a man if he gain the world and forfeit his
physical life? Is the loss of bodily strength, physical vigour, nervous energy,
and all the capacityfor enjoyment which these things bring—is that loss
sufficiently offsetby the gain of a whole world? The other evening I counted
over in my mind no fewer than thirteen men who within recentyears had died
under fifty-two years of age literally from the pressure of overwork. These
were all highly successfulmen, not licentious nor drunkards, and not all of
them were irreligious men. But in gaining their little world they had simply
toiled and struggledfor themselves, denied themselves hours of relaxation and
rest. Late and soonthey were at the daily grind of getting without spending,
and, physically depleted, they died, not only in the prime of manhood, but in
the summit of success,when, humanly speaking, there was everything to live
for. They had gained a world, and had forfeited the only life which could
enjoy it. At their funerals, I doubt not, remarks were made on the mysterious
Providence which had cut short their days in the meridian of their maturity.
But, as a matter of fact, there was no mysterious Providence about it. The men
had died by their own acts, by the surrender of the righteous claims of their
physical life in the struggle to gain a world. Well, was it worth while? Does
that bargain pay? Is money of so much matter to any man that he should
make himself a suicide for that one end?1 [Note: D. Sage Mackay.]
One summer afternoona steamercrowdedwith passengers, many of them
miners from California, was speeding along the Mississippi. Striking suddenly

and strongly againstthe wreck of another vessel, which, unknown to the
captain, lay near the surface of the water, her bow was stove in, and she began
to fill rapidly. Her deck was a scene ofwild confusion. Her boats were
launched, but did not suffice to carry off one-fourth of the terrified
passengers. The rest, divesting themselves of their garments, castthemselves
into the river, “some on boards, and some on brokenpieces of the ship. And so
it came to pass that they escapedallsafe to land.” All exceptone. Some
minutes after the lastof them had quitted the vessel, anotherman appeared
on her deck. Seizing a spar, he also leaped into the river, but, instead of
floating, as the others had done, he sank instantly, as if he had been a stone.
His body was afterwards recovered, andit was found that he had employed
the quarter of an hour in which his fellow passengers hadbeen striving to save
their lives, in rifling the trunks of the miners. All round his waisttheir bags of
gold were fastened. In one short quarter of an hour he had gainedmore gold
than most men earn in their lifetime.2 [Note:A. C. Price.]
2. The Intellectual Life.—You cansee men dying, dying as trees sometimes
die, not from the roots but from the top. It is a melancholy sight. Their
intellect is dying year by year as they become richer. Fifteenyears ago their
intellectual interests were vigorous, varied, and active;now they are narrow,
monotonous, and languid; their whole strength has gone into the pursuit of
wealth, and all their higher intellectual faculties are withering. I do not mean
merely that very much of the book knowledge thatthey had when they left
schoolor college has beenlost—loss ofthat kind is almostinevitable, and no
greatharm comes of it. I remember hearing a very able man, who was a high
wrangler(I am not sure whether he was not a senior), I remember hearing
him say, “I should be very sorry if I remembered all the mathematics I knew
when I took my degree.” Butmen not only lose their book knowledge, they
lose their very intellectual life. Through this passionate devotionto business
some of the intellectual powers decay, and you can see them decaying, and
that, I say, is a melancholy thing; they keeptheir eyesight, their hearing is as
keenas ever; but their higher faculties are fast going;they are no longer able
to feel the enchantment, the fascination, the wonder of the greatcreations of
genius—Milton’s majestic song, the meditative verse of Wordsworth, the

sweetmusic of Shelley, the storm winds that sweepthrough the verse of
Byron, the childlike charm of Charles Lamb, the political vision of Edmund
Burke and the gorgeouspomp of his rhetoric—have lost all power to console,
to charm, to animate them.1 [Note:R. W. Dale.]
The late George Romanes, one who himself stoodin the first rank of scientific
knowledge, andwho enjoyed a singularly large range of acquaintance among
men of light, has put it on recordin his posthumous thoughts about religion
that he has found it in his own experience true,—and he passedthe greater
part of his life in unbelief, though, thank God, that unbelief passedinto belief
at the end—and in that of his friends, that wide knowledge does not make a
man happy; for man is personal, he was made for God, “and unquiet is the
heart of man until it rests in Thee.”2[Note:BishopGore.]
Only the other day a well-knownman told me that some years ago he had sent
a copy of his first book, then just published, to a prominent master of finance,
a man who, from nothing, had amasseda colossalfortune. Some time after,
my friend met this man, who, in congratulating the author, remarkedthat “he
should feelparticularly flattered by the fact that he had read the book at all.”
“Why so?” inquired my friend. “Because,”repliedthe millionaire, “it is the
only book of any kind I have read in five years!”1 [Note:D. Sage Mackay.]
3. The Moral and SocialLife.—The records ofrecent days, involving the
downfall of so many men high up in public estimation, have revealed, as with
flaming fingers, how possible it is in these days to secure reputation and
wealth and influence at the expense of integrity and honour. In the fierce
struggle for wealthmen have deliberately trampled their principles, and in
gaining a world they have forfeited their moral ideals.

And what is true of the moral life of the individual is not less true of the social
life. There is the steady effort which the capitalists in England are now
making for mastery; there is the effort which labour is making againstthe
capitalists. It is not my business here to approve or to blame either section,
but it is my business to saythat if either side, during the strife, or after the
victory, lose their soul—if they lose the sense of justice betweenman and man;
if they forgetthat men, being God’s children, are brothers one of another,
knit togetherby love; if in victory, they are greedy of self-interestor cruel; if
they do wrong to freedom, if they are not magnanimous, if they become
incapable of forgiveness—there willbe no true advantage to themselves in
their success, andthey will do harm to mankind.2 [Note:Stopford Brooke.]
There was one living who, scarcelyin a figure, might be saidto have the whole
world. The Roman Emperor Tiberius was at that moment infinitely the most
powerful of living men, the absolute, undisputed, deified ruler of all that was
fairestand richest in the kingdoms of the earth. There was no control to his
power, no limit to his wealth, no restraint upon his pleasures. And, to yield
himself still more unreservedly to the boundless self-gratificationof a
voluptuous luxury, not long after this time he chose forhimself a home on one
of the loveliestspots on the earth’s surface, under the shadow of the
slumbering volcano, upon an enchanting islet in one of the most softly
delicious climates of the world. What came of it all? He was, as Pliny calls
him, “tristissimus ut constathominum,” confessedlythe most gloomy of
mankind. And there, from this home of his hidden infamies, from this island
where on a scale so splendid he had tried the experiment of what happiness
can be achievedby pressing the world’s most absolute authority, and the
world’s guiltiest indulgences, into the service of an exclusively selfishlife, he
wrote to his servile and corrupted Senate, “Whatto write to you, Conscript
Fathers, or how to write, or what not to write, may all the gods and goddesses
destroy me worse than I feelthat they are daily destroying me, if I know.”
Rarely has there been vouchsafedto the world a more overwhelming proof
that its richest gifts are but fairy gold that turns to dust and dross, and its
most colossaledifices ofpersonalsplendour and greatness no more durable
barrier againstthe encroachmentof bitter misery than are the babe’s

sandheaps to stay the mighty march of the Atlantic tide.1 [Note: Farrar, Life
of Christ, i. 136.]
4. The Spiritual Life.—But it is of the diviner regions of life that our Lord was
especiallythinking. If the signs of failing health, of approaching death, are not
hard to recognise in the physical, they are not harder to recognise in the
spiritual, sphere. There is less reverence in worship, there is less care for it,
there is less heart in it; Christ, the living Christ, is not so constantly presentto
the thought; there is less of exultation in Him; His glory is gradually becoming
dim, and it seems to have descendedfrom the heights, and to have takenits
place with no splendours about it among common men. Faith in Christ is less
vigorous and intense, and there is less concernthat other men should have
faith in Him. If a man who was an effective Sunday-schoolteacherat twenty is
only a Bank Directoror a TownCouncillor at fifty, if he has no spiritual gift
and cando no spiritual work, honourable and Christian as his present
function is if fulfilled in a spirit of loyalty to Christ, he has suffered loss of life,
loss of rank. If, however, with the public functions he still possessesand
exercises the spiritual gift, and exercisesit faithfully, then it is well with him,
his life is fuller and richer than before.2 [Note:R. W. Dale.]
A man must live; we justify
Low shift and trick to treasure high
A little note for a little gold
To a whole senate bought and sold

By that self-evident reply.
But is it so? Pray tell me why
Life at such costyou have to buy?
In what religion were you told
A man must live?
There are times when a man must die.
Imagine, for a battle cry,
For soldiers, for soldiers with a swordto hold—
For soldiers with the flag unrolled—
This coward’s whine, this liar’s lie—
A man must live?
A World for a Life

BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Master's Summons To His Disciples
Mark 8:34-9:1
A.F. Muir
Like a commander addressing his soldiers. Full of clearvision and resolve.
I. THE AIM. (Ver. 38, Mark 9:1.) It is the overcoming of spiritual error and
Satanic influence, and the establishment of the kingdom of God.
II. THE CONDITIONSOF ITS ATTAINMENT. (Ver. 34.)These are open to
all. The multitude is addressedequally with the disciples. There appears to
have been a disposition in many to join themselves to his fortunes. He
therefore lays down the terms of his service, so that none may enter it without
knowledge ofits nature.
1. Self-denial.
2. Cross-bearing.Notquite identical with the preceding, although involving it.
"A Christian," says Luther, "is a Crucian (Morison). His cross,"eachhaving
some personaland peculiar grief, sorrow, death, through which he has to
pass. This cross he is to take up voluntarily, and to carry, long ere it shall have
to bear him.
3. Obedience and imitation. There can be no self-assertionor private end to be
sought by individual believers. "The footsteps ofJesus." It is a cross evenas
the Masterhas to be crucified. The same spirit and plan of moral life must be
shown. He is our law and our example.
II. INCENTIVES. (Ver. 35-Mark 9:1.)

1. Christ's example and inspiration. He says not "Go," but "Come." He goes
before, and shows the way.
2. The endeavor to save the lower "selfwill expose to certain destruction the
higher self;" and The sacrifice of the lower"self" and its earthly condition, of
satisfactionwill be the salvationof the higher "self." "Life," or "soul," is used
here ambiguously. A moral truism; a paradox to the worldly mind. "It is in
self-denial that we first gain our true selves, recovering our personalityagain"
(Lange).
3. The value of this higher life cannotbe computed. All objective property is
useless without that which is the subjective condition of its possession.
Righteousnessis that which makes individuality and the spiritual nature
precious, and imparts the highest value to existence. Everyman has to weigh
the "world" againsthis "soul."
4. Recognitionof Christ on earth is the condition of his recognitionof us
hereafter. It is not merely that we are "not to be ashamed;" we are to "glory"
in him. The recognitions, the "welldone" of Heaven, the highest reward. Even
here the great triumphs of truth confer honor upon those who have striven for
them.
5. The triumphs of the kingdom of God are not long ]PGBR> deferred. Some
of Christ's hearers lived to see the overthrow of Jerusalemand the universal
diffusion of the gospel. The spiritual vision is purified to discern the progress
of truth in the world. Those victories which Christian morals and spirituality
have already won within the experience of living Christians are an ample and
abundant reward. - M.

Biblical Illustrator
For what shall it profit a man?
Mark 8:36, 37
The worth and excellencyof the soul
Dr. Scott.
The soul of man is of inestimable value.
1. In respectof its capacityof understanding.
2. In respectof its capacityof moral perfection.
3. In respectof its capacityof pleasure and delight.
4. The high price which God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghosthave set upon
our souls.
(Dr. Scott.)
The gain of the world comparedwith the loss of the soul
H. F. Pickworth., T. Taylor, D. D.
I. THE GAIN SUPPOSED.
1. It is an uncertain gain — "If."

2. It is a difficult gain.
3. It is a trifling gain.
4. It is an unsatisfactorygain,
5. It is a temporary gain.
II. THE LOSS SUSTAINED.
1. The loss of heaven.
2. The loss of happiness.
3. The loss of hope.
III. THE INQUIRY PROPOSED.
1. Will the pleasures of sin compensate you for eternalpain?
2. Will any worldly gain compensate you for the loss of the soul?
3. Christ shunned the offer, you acceptless.
4. Or will you ask, "Whatmust I do to be saved?"
(H. F. Pickworth.)
I. THE MANNER OF PROPOUNDINGTHIS TRUTH. The manner of
propounding is by a continued interrogation, which not only carrieth in it
more strength than an ordinary negation, but stirreth up the hearer to ponder
and well weighthe matter, as if he were to give his judgment and answer;as if
the Lord had said in largerspeech, "Tellme out of your own judgments and
best understanding, let your own consciencesbe judges whether the whole
world were a reasonable gainfor the loss of the soul, or whether the whole
world could recoversucha loss, or no."
2. In the manner note another point of wisdom, namely, in matters of much
importance, as is the losing of the soul; or else of greatdanger, as is the
winning of the world, to use more than ordinary vehemence.

3. Our Saviourin the manner teachethhow naturally we are all of us inclined
to the world, to seek it with all greediness, andso have need of many and
strong back biases.
II. THE MATTER AFFORDS SUNDRYINSTRUCTIONS:—
1. The more a man is addicted to gain the world, the greateris the dangerof
losing his soul. They that will be rich fall into many temptations and snares.
2. Desire to be rich and gain the world stuffeth the soulwith a thousand
damnable lusts, everyone able to sink it to hell.
3. Desire ofgain threatens dangerand singular detriment to the soul; because
it brings it almostto an impossibility of repentance and salvation; Matthew
19:20:"It is easierfor a camelto pass through the eye of a needle, than for a
rich man to be saved."
4. As it keeps out grace in all the means of it, so it eats out and castethit out of
the heart, as the lean kine ate up the fat, and were lean and ill-favoured still.
(T. Taylor, D. D.)
Gaining the world
J. Vaughan, M. A.
What a man loses this side of the grave by this unholy bargain.
1. A goodconscience.
2. His communion with God.
3. His hope in the future.Some are selling their souls —
1. Forpleasure.
2. Forthe world.
3. Forbusiness.

4. Forfear of ridicule.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
A sum in gospelarithmetic
Dr. Talmage.
I propose to estimate and compare the value of the two properties.
I. The world is A VERY GRAND PROPERTY. Its flowers are God's thoughts
in bloom. Its rocks are God's thoughts in stone. Its dew drops are God's
thoughts in pearl. How beautiful the spring with bridal blossoms in her hair.
"Oh," you say, "take my soul! give me that world." But look more minutely
into the value of this world. You will not buy property unless you can geta
goodtitle. You cannot get a goodtitle to the world. In five minutes after I give
up my soul for the world, I may have to part with it. There is only one way in
which I can hold an earthly possession, andthat is through the senses:all
beautiful sights through the eye, but the eye may be blotted out — all
captivating sounds through the ear, but my earmay be deafened — all
lusciousness offruits and viands through my taste, but my taste may be
destroyed— all appreciation of culture and of art through my mind, but I
may lose my mind. What a frail hold, then, I have upon any earthly
possession!Now, in courts of law, if you want to geta man off a property, you
must serve upon him a writ of ejectment, giving him a certaintime to vacate
the premises;but when death comes to us and serves a writ of ejectment, he
does not give us one secondof forewarning. He says, "Offof this place! You
have no right any longer to the possession." We might cry out, "I gave a
hundred thousand dollars for that property" — the plea would be of no avail.
We might say, "We have a warrantee deed for that property" — the plea
would be of no avail. We might say, "We have a lien on that storehouse" —
the plea would be of no avail. Deathis blind, and he cannot see a seal, and
cannot read an indenture. So that first and last, I want to tell you that when
you propose that I give up my soul for the world, you cannot give me the first
item of title. Having examined the title of a property, your next question is

about insurance. You would not be silly enoughto buy a large warehouse that
could not possibly be insured. You would not have anything to do with such a
property. Now, I ask you what assurance canyou give me that this world is
not going to be burned up? Absolutely none. Geologiststell us that it is
already on fire, that the heart of the world is one greatliving coal, that it is
just like a ship on fire at sea, the flames not bursting out because the hatches
are kept down. And yet you propose to palm off on me, in return for my soul,
a world for which, in the first place, you give no title, and in the secondplace,
for which you cangive no insurance. "Oh," you say, "the waterof the oceans
will washover all the land and put out the fire." Oh no, there are inflammable
elements in the water — hydrogen and oxygen. Call off the hydrogen, and
then the Atlantic and the Pacific oceanswouldblaze like heaps of shavings.
You want me to take this world for which you can give no possible insurance.
Astronomers have swept their telescopes throughthe sky, and have found out
that there have been thirteen worlds, in the last two centuries, that have
disappeared. At first, they lookedjust like other worlds. Then they got deeply
red — they were on fire. Then they gotashen, showing they were burned
down. Then they disappeared, showing that even the ashes were scattered.
And if the geologistbe right in his prophecy, then our world is to go in the
same way. And yet you want me to exchange my soulfor it. Ah no, it is a
world that is burning now. Suppose you brought an insurance agentto look at
your property for the purpose of giving you a policy upon it, and while he
stoodin front of the house, he would say, "That house is on fire now in the
basement" — you could not getany insurance upon it. Yet you talk about this
world as though it were a safe investment, as though you could getsome
insurance upon it, when down in the basementit is on fire. I remark, also, that
this world is a property, with which everybody who has takenit as a
possession, has had trouble. Now, betweenmy house and this church, there is
a reachof land which is not built on. I ask whatis the matter, and they reply
that everybody who has had anything to do with that property gotinto trouble
about it. It is just so with this world; everybody who has had anything to do
with it, as a possession, has beenin perplexity. How was it with Lord Byron?
Did he not sellhis immortal soul for the purpose of getting the world? Was he
satisfiedwith the possession? Alas, alas, the poet graphically describes his case
when he says:

"Drank every cup of joy, heard every trump
Of fame; drank early, deeply drank; drank draughts
Which common millions might have drank. Then died
Of thirst, because there was no more to drink."Oh yes, he had trouble with it,
and so did Napoleon. After conquering nations by the force of the sword, he
lies down to die, his entire possessionthe military boots that he insisted on
having upon his feet while he was dying. So it has been with men who had
better ambition. Thackeray, one of the most genial and lovable souls, after he
had won the applause of all intelligent lands through his wonderful genius, sits
down in a restaurantin Paris, looks to the other end of the room, and wonders
whose that forlorn and wretchedface is; rising up, after awhile, he finds that
it is Thackerayin the mirror. Oh yes, this world is a cheat. Talk about a man
gaining the world! Who ever gained half the world?
II. NOW, LET US LOOK AT THE OTHER PROPERTY — THE SOUL. We
cannot make a bargain without seeing the comparative value. The soul! How
shall I estimate the value of it? Well, by its exquisite organization. It is the
most wonderful piece of mechanism ever put together. Machinery is of value
in proportion as it is mighty and silent at the same time. You look at the
engine and the machinery in the Philadelphia Mint, and as you see it
performing its wonderful work, you will be surprised to find how silently it
goes. Machinerythat roars and tears soondestroys itself; but silent machinery
is often most effective. Now, so it is with the soulof man, with all its
tremendous faculties — it moves in silence. Judgment without any racket,
lifting its scales;memory without any noise, bringing down all its treasures;
consciencetaking its judgment seatwithout any excitement; the
understanding and the will all doing their work. Velocity, majesty, might; but
silence — silence. You listen at the door of your heart. You can hear no sound.
The soul is all quiet. It is so delicate an instrument, that no human hand can
touch it. You break a bone, and with splinters and bandages the surgeonsets
it; the eye becomes inflamed, the apothecary's wash cools it; but the soul off
the track, unbalanced, no human power canreadjust it. With one sweepof its
wing it circles the universe, and over-vaults the throne of God. Why, in the

hour of death the soul is so mighty, it throws aside the body as though it were
a toy. It drives back medical skill as impotent. It breaks through the circle of
loved ones who stand around the dying couch. With one leap it springs beyond
star, and moon, and sun, and chasms of immensity. Oh, it is a soul superior to
all material things. I calculate further the value of the soul by the price that
has been paid for it. In St. Petersburg, there is a diamond that Government
paid two hundred thousand dollars for. "Well," you say, ''it must have been
very valuable, or the Government would not have paid two hundred thousand
dollars for it." I want to see whatmy soul is worth, and what your soul is
worth, by seeing what has been paid for it. For that immortal soul, the richest
blood that was ever shed, the deepestgroanthat was ever uttered, all the
griefs of earth compressedinto one tear, all the sufferings of earth gathered
into one rapier of pain and struck through His holy heart. Does it not imply
tremendous value? I argue also the value of the soul from the home that has
been fitted up for it in the future. One would have thought that a street of
adamant would have done. No, it is a streetof gold. One would have thought
that a wall of granite would have done. No, it is the flame of sardonyx
mingling with the greenof emerald. One would have thought that an
occasionaldoxologywouldhave done? No, it is a perpetual song.
(Dr. Talmage.)
The chief thing forgotten
So short-sighted and foolishis man! I once read of a womanwhose house was
on fire. She was very active in removing her goods, but forgot her child, who
was asleepin the cradle. At last she thought of the poor babe, and ran, with
earnestdesire, to save it. But it was now too late; the flames prevented her
from crossing the threshold. Judge of the agonyof mind which wrung from
her the bitter exclamation: "Oh, my child! my child! I have savedmy goods,
but lostmy child!" So will it be with many a poor sinner, who spent all his life
in the occupations ofthe world, while the "one thing needful" was forgotten.
What will it then avail for a man to say, "I secureda goodplace, or a good

trade, or profession, but I lost my soul? I made many friends, but God is my
enemy. I heaped up riches, but now they must all be left."
Profit and loss
J. Service, D. D.
What is the goodof life to us if we do not live? what is the profit of being a
man in form and not a man in fact? what is the worth of existence if its worth
is all, or, for the most part, outside of us and not in us? There are two remarks
which might be made in illustration of this question, in the sense in which I
take it.
I.The gain here spokenof is nominal, imaginary.
II.The loss is real, and it is the greatestconceivable.
I. I shall only have time here to saya few words with regard to the latter
point. As to the former I will only say, that to lose the soul, not to live man's
higher life, is really also to lose the world, whether you mean by it the material
world, or the activities and pleasures ofhuman life. It is only in an imaginary,
entirely illusory way that any man who loses his soul gains the world. We gain
as much of the world as really enriches us, really enters in the shape of
thought and feeling into the current of our existence, really affords us
unmixed and enduring satisfaction, and we gain no more of the world than
this. We have of the world not what we call our own, but what we are able to
enjoy and no more. It is not to gain the world, to gain riches which canbuy
anything the world contains, unless you can buy along with it the power to
enjoy it. Thus rich men gain the whole world and do not gain it at all. They
have no delight in books, no interest in public affairs, no zest for amusements.
They have gained the world, and do not possessit. Their world is almost the
poorestconceivable. It does not enrich them. It does not occupy their
affections, orfill up their idle hours; it does not lend stir or variety or charm
or value to their existence. Cultivate and expand the mind: in proportion as
you do so, though your fortunes remain stationary, you gain the world. On the
other hand, an educated man may be poor — the inhabitant of a garretor of a

cottage;but the world which exists for him, in which he lives, is rich and
spacious. In the observationof nature, in the study of books, above allin the
study of man, he finds deep, unfailing delights. The seas whichbreak on the
shores of other lands, the storms that sweepoverthem, the streams that flow
through them, the people who inhabit them, are all full of interest to him, and
possesshim And are possessedby him. In comparisonwith that of a man
devoid of intellectual life, his world is one full of a thousand various pleasures,
and occupations, andpossessions.Without something higher and better than
even intellect and mental culture and activity, you cannot gain the world,
exceptin a poor and illusory manner. Only if you have the soul to scorn
delights and live laborious days, not for fame but for the goodof others, to
spend riches and health and intellect and life, not in ministering to selfish
tastes, be they either fine or coarse, but in doing good, helping others to be
better and happier, in being to them a minister of the things which God has
given you, and a herald to them of the glad tidings of God's love, and man's
fellow feeling and charity; — only if you have such a soul canyou truly gain
the world, enjoy its best, purest, most various, and abundant pleasures and
satisfactions,and also have the sting takenout of its worsttrials and
afflictions. The luxury of doing goodin the love of goodness,ofgiving rather
than receiving, is the bestand richest which the world affords. It was a luxury
to enjoy which the Son of Man advised one whom He loved well, one who had
gained the world and had large possessions, to sell all that he had and give it
to the poor, and come and follow Him. The gain here spokenof, then, is
illusory.
II. The loss is realand immense.
1. In the first place, the soul is lostby not being exercised. Life which is not
effort, growth, increase, is not life at all; it is life lost. Souls are not in danger
of being lost when they are without such light as we enjoy. They are lost.
There is no contingencyin the matter. Where man's higher life has not been
calledforth, the loss is not what may be, but what is — it is condemnationand
death. Only compare a savage ofany country with a Christian of your own
land, and see if the loss is nothing or little. I speak of the heathen abroad,
because whatis to be said of them has its application at home. Use the body,
exercise your limbs, observe the laws which governthe use of your physical

nature, and you will thus best secure its health and soundness. In the same
way it does not save the soul to entertain, as many do, a constantand
worrying anxiety as to the soul. Use the soul, exercise your higher life, and you
will thus save the soul, thus promote your higher life.
2. I remark, in the secondplace, that the soul is lostwhen it is perverted and
corrupted. It is perverted and corrupted in the sphere of the lower life. In this
sphere souls are doubly lost, as a citadelfor which contending armies strive
for weeksand months is doubly lost when those who ought to hold it are
driven out and those who ought not to hold it enter in. They are lost as a
friend is lostwho becomes a foe; they are lost as guns are lost in battle when
they are turned upon their retreating owners. When, instead of a man having
passions and commanding them, passions possessthe man and command him,
all human life, all higher life is lost; it is gradually or rapidly narrowed,
curtailed, darkened, debased, emptied of its worth and value. The soul is
perverted in the sphere of the lowerlife. It is more important, perhaps, to
remark that it is perverted and corrupted in its own sphere. It reminds us that
souls are perverted in their own sphere — perverted not only by passionbut
by religion. If the light that is in you be darkness, how greatis that darkness!
If your religion is false, where can you be in contactwith truth? Souls lost
through passionoften keepa mysterious reserve of goodnessin which there is
hope. It is not so where religion is not love, but sectand party, selfishness,
spiritual pride, bigotry; where religion, instead of demolishing every wall of
partition betweenman and man, and betweenman and God, erects new
barriers and new divisions. Man's higher life of faith and goodness is here
under a double curse — it is cut off at once from nature and from grace, itis
severedat once from the world and God, it has neither paganhealth nor
Christian beauty, neither natural bloom nor spiritual glory.
3. It is easy, I remark in conclusion, to exhaust the world and life in all
directions but one. As for the greatmass of men, they are by their very
condition denied all, or almost all, that makes life attractive, beautiful,
enjoyable. Even much study itself is a weariness ofthe flesh. As we think of all
this, we are tempted to say — Surely every man walkethin a vain show; they
are disquieted in vain. Other life is vain — man's true life is not vanity, nor
vexation of spirit. For all men, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, for the

drudge toiling in darkness in a mine, for those whose labours are in the lofty
fields of science, there is a life possible, not remote, far off, unnatural, but
their own life, man's true life, life of faith and goodness,Christ's life in the
unseen and eternal, from which vanity is remote, to which vexation cannot
come, in which the rich find the true use of riches, the learnedand gifted of
their gifts, the poor an untold wealth in poverty, all men the grandeur, worth,
sacrednessofthis mortal existence. In the same way, I will add, is immortality
brought to light also. Fleshand blood may turn againto clay, all human glory
may fade; but truth and righteousness andlove are Divine and cannotdie. A
life which is filled by these is a part of the life of God, who inhabiteth eternity.
(J. Service, D. D.)
Selling one's soul
C. S. Robinson, D. D.
I. Let us examine, in the first place, THIS FINE HUMAN POSSESSION,
which the devil wishes to obtain, called, by all of the evangelists who report
Jesus'words, a man's "ownsoul."
1. Think of this: Eachof us has a whole soul to himself. There is that within us
which has measurelesscapacities. There is within us, too, that which has
marvellous susceptibilities. A human heart can weepand sing, groanand
laugh, shudder and shiver. There is, also, that within us which has untold
possibilities. Eachbirth begins a history, the pages of which are not written
out at once. It canbe a Nero or a Paul, a Saul or a David, a Bunyan or a
Byron, a star or a shadow.
2. Think of this next: This soul is entirely eachman's own. We might have
expectedsuch a thing, for all God's gifts and creations are perfect. He gave
eachhuman creature one soul, and then he placed the individual ownerin
dominion over it. Hence, He respects the property title in all His dealings with
it. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (see Revelation3:20). Even the
devil has no power to stealawaya man's soul unawares.

3. Then think of another thing: Greatestimates have been set upon the value
of a human soul.
4. Then, again, think of this: If lost, this soul of ours is all lostat once. When a
soul is sold to the devil, it resembles real estate, in that it carries all
improvements with it. For the sale of soul transfers all the powers of it. The
intellect enters perdition unchanged. Moreover, this ruin carries with it all the
soul's sensibilities. We cansuffer here; but no one can picture with language
how the finally lost at last learn to suffer. The sale of the soul, furthermore,
carries with it all its biographies. Our souls are our biographies incorporated
in existence. Eachfibre of being is a thought, a word, or a feeling. He who sells
his soulto the devil sells his father's tenderness and his mother's tears, his
chances ofgood, his resolutions of reform, his remembrance of Sabbaths, his
own fruitless remorses oversin, his educations, his embellishments — his all.
II. Now let us, in the secondplace, turn to considerthe DEVIL'S PRICE FOR
A SOUL, called, by the evangelists allalike, "the whole world."
1. Observe the rather fine show it makes.
2. But now, on the other hand, it is just fair that men should note some
delusive reserves concealedin this luring price. Forexample, remember that
the devil never offered the entire world to anybody except Jesus Christ(see
Matthew 4:8, 9). He never said anything like that to a common man. Let us
give even Satanhis due. One lie there is he has not yet told upon this earth. He
has offeredno man the whole world. Norhas any one personever had it. Nor
does anybody keepwhat he gets.
3. Still further: observe as you contemplate this lure of the devil, which he
calls his price, the painful drawbacks one meets in the enjoyment of it after it
is attained. The world we get attracts jealousythe moment we have it in
possession. Mere possessionof"the world" brings satiety. One of the kings in
Europe, it is recorded, weariedand disgusted with luxurious pleasures,
offered a vast rewardjust for the discovery of what he called "a new
sensation." The princes of the earth are not contented. Rasselas wasrestless
even in the Happy Valley. The gain of this world engenders a fresh craving for
more. Poetic justice at leastwas that when the Parthians rewardedCrassus

for the infamy of his avarice by pouring melted gold down his throat until he
was full of it; then he had enough, and died. Then love is lost in the strife of
desire.
III. All that remains now to be considered, IS THE GRAND OFFER OF
CHRIST, as He attempts to arrestthe ruinous bargain He sees going rapidly
on toward its consummation.
1. First, What does the Saviour say? The answeris found in the context. From
this we learn that Christ's offer for a man's soul, is the soul itself. It is as if He
said, "Give Me your soul, and I will secure the everlasting possessionofit to
yourself; if you will lose your life — or soul — to Me, I will see that you shall
save it." He will take nothing awayin this transfer but our imperfections and
our sins.
2. Then what will the Saviour ask? Only this: "Come to Me; repent of sin;
trust Me for an atonement;enter upon My service;try to do good; restin My
love; perfect yourself for heaven."
3. Can the Saviour be actually in earnest? The Sonof God became the Son of
man in order to make this offer for human souls.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Loss of the soul -- its extent
J. J. Given, M. A.
I. IT IS AN ENTIRE LOSS. When Francis I. lost the important battle of
Pavia, he described it by saying, "We have lost all but honour." But there is
nothing to qualify or mitigate the loss of the soul. It is the loss of losses, the
death of deaths — a catastrophe unequalled in extent, and unparalleled in its
amount through all the universe of God.
II. A LOSS WITHOUT COMPENSATION. The greatfire of London
consumed six hundred streets, thirteen thousand dwellings, and ninety
churches, and destroyedproperty to the amount of seven and a half millions

of pounds sterling. Yet that calamity was in some sort changedinto a blessing;
for the rebuilding of the city, in a superior style of architecture, and with
more regard to sanitary arrangements, banished foreverthe fearful plague
which had previously made such havoc. But for the loss of the soul nothing
can countervail so as to make amends for it.
III. IRREPARABLE. Other lossesmay be repaired. Lost friendships may be
regainedor replaced; losthealth may be restored;lost property recovered;
but the loss of the soul cannever be retrieved. When Sir Isaac Newtonhad
lost some most important and complicatedcalculations, the result of years of
patient thought and investigation, by the burning of his papers, the loss to him
was immense; and yet, with patience equal to his genius, he could say to the
favourite animal that causedit, "Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowestthe
labour thou hastcostme!" But what is the loss even of years of patient
philosophic investigationand profound mathematicalresearch, compared
with the loss ofa human soul, capable of conducting, in some degree, similar
investigations, and of repeating and repairing them if lost?
IV. CAST AWAY. The seconddeath.
(J. J. Given, M. A.)
How awful the charge of souls
H. Woodward, M. A.
Ministers have taken even the care of immortal souls, their educationfor
eternity, their discipline for heaven!Have we ever essayed, howevervainthe
effort, to take the dimensions of a soul, to sound its depths, and explore its
vast capacities?Look at the infant child that appears but little raisedabove
the level of mere vegetable life. Mark the gigantic strides by which he rises in
a few short years to such wonders of intelligence, that he dives into the hidden
mysteries of nature, calculates the distance of the stars, and, by the magic of
his telescope, sees worldascending above world, and system towering above
system, up to the footstoolofthe throne of God! Into what, then, may a soul
expand, when, free from the prison house of flesh, it is let out to expatiate

amidst its native heavens! Or, what may such a nature be in its ruins, in a fall
corresponding to such a height! These, then, are the mighty concerns with
which we have professedlyengagedto intermeddle. For the perdition or
salvationof beings on so immense a scale, we shallhave to render an account.
(H. Woodward, M. A.)
All gainis loss when a man does not save his soul
Quesnel.
He who possessesallthings without God, has nothing. No man is so foolish as
to be willing to purchase an empire at the price of his life; and yet the world is
full of those pretenders to wisdom, who give up salvationand immortal life for
a vain pleasure, a handful of money, or an inch of land. How much are the
greatestconquerors to be pitied, if, whilst intoxicatedwith their victories and
conquests, they ravage and lay waste the earth, their own souls are laid waste
by sin and passion, and destroyedto all eternity.
(Quesnel.)
The price of the soul
H. B. Ottley M. A.
An appealto the instincts of common sense, which comes speciallyhome to a
commercialnation like the English. The selling price — the marketvalue of
everything is challenged. All schemes and proposals — whether in the realm
of politics or of commerce — are met with this question. The eagerdesire for
profit carries men awaytill there is no room left for any other purpose in life.
For money men will almostdare to die. There are men who for money's worth
will sellothers' lives — ship owners the lives of their sailors, mothers the
happiness of their daughters. But there are more precious treasures atstake
sometimes than even flesh and blood. Some will tamper, for money's worth,
with what involves the loss of the soul. This is a gain which it is dead loss to

win; a price which it is suicidal to pay — selling for money that which no
money canbuy again; giving — like the foolishGlaucus — goldenarmour for
brazen; trading on capital; embarking, with rotten securities, ona bubble
scheme. No amount of earthly gain canfree the soul from death and
judgment. The moral life once gone — its vitality not destroyedbut ruined
and turned againstitself — how shall it be recovered? Evennow there is a
foretaste ofthis awful state. At times there is within the heart a very hell of
sin; jealousy, covetousness, cruelty, selfishness,all combining to make such a
hell within the breastas a man would shrink from disclosing evento his most
lenient friend. Plain soberreason, then, obliges us to considerChrist's
question.
(H. B. Ottley M. A.)
What shall it profit..
S. Cox, D. D.
? — To be good, nay, to pursue goodness as ourruling aim, is to make, or gain
our souls. To be bad, or not to follow after that which is good, is to unmake or
lose the soul. And hence, whateverother aims we may lawfully, or even
laudably, place before us, this should stand first with us all. For what are we
profited if we should achieve the highest distinction — what are we profited
should we become greatpoets or artists, greatscholars orstatesmen, if we did
not use our powers for goodends? Or, to use the sacredfamiliar words,
"What is any man profited if he should gain the whole world only by the loss
of his own soul?" Nay, more; what is the world profited if he should lose that?
I often think of Sir Walter Scottkissing Lockhart, that bitter man of the
world, and saying to him with his dying breath, "Be good, my dear, be good."
For Scotthad gone far both to gain the world, and to lose it; only to discover
at last — as soonerorlater you will discover — that nothing but goodnessis
of any real worth. To be good, to do our duty in a dutiful and loving spirit, is
the crownand top of all performance. And nothing short of this, nothing
apart from this, will be of much comfort to us through life or in death. For,
whateverEngland may do, it is very certainthat God "expects everyman to

do his duty" — his duty to himself, to God, and to his neighbour — not only
on this exceptionalday or that, but every day.
(S. Cox, D. D.)
Losing the soul
S. Cox, D. D.
If you yield to temptation and fail in the hour of trial, if you ceasefrom the
work and retire from the strife, whateverelse you may gain, you will be losing
your soul — losing possessionofit, losing command of it, losing hope for it.
You will be adjudging yourself unworthy of the life eternal, condemning
yourself to live in the flesh and walk after the flesh, instead of living and
walking in the spirit. All that is noblest, purest, best in you will die for want of
sustenance orwant of exercise. All that is loftiest and noblest in thought, in
morality, in religion, in life, will lose its powerover you, its charm for you,
and will fail any longerto quicken responsesoflove and desire within you. If
you would know to what depths you may sink should you relinquish your aim,
you have only to recallan experience which canhardly be strange to any man
of mature years who has kept his soul alive. Forwho has not met an early
friend, after long years of separation, only to find that by addicting himself to
sensuous or selfishaims, by cherishing a vulgar and worldly spirit — or, in a
word, by walking after the flesh — he has belied all the fair promise of his
youth, and growninsensible to the charm and powerof all that you still hold
to be fairest, noblest, best? Speak to him of the open secrets ofbeauty, of
purity, of truth, of love, and he stares at you as one who listens to a forgotten
dream; or perhaps — as I once saw a poor fellow do — bursts into tears, and
exclaims, "No one has spokento me like that for an age!" If you would waken
any real interestin him, elicit any frank response, your whole talk must take a
lowerrange; you must come down to the level on which he now lives and
moves. What has the man been doing with himself all these years? He has
been losing his soul, suffering it to "lust in him unused." He has exchangedhis
"immortal jewel," not for the whole world — though even that were a losing
bargain — but for a little of that which even the world confessesto be vile and

sordid and base. To that base level even you may sink, if, amid all trials and
temptations and defeats, you do not steadfastlypursue the high spiritual aim
which Christ invites and commands you to cherish; if you do not seek above
all else to be good, and do not therefore follow after whatsoeverthings are
just, true, pure, fair. Hold fast to that aim, then; that by your constancyyou
may gain and possess yoursoul.
(S. Cox, D. D.)
Loss of the soul
J. B. Brown, B. A.
And what is it to lose a soul? It is to let weeds grow there instead of flowers. It
is to let selfishness grow, suspicious, curious tempers grow, wantonness grow,
until they have all the field to themselves. Setthese in full force within a being,
and add, if you will, a whole universe of possession:it is hell You may think
that these are only strong rhetoricalwords. It is just as simple literal fact as
that two and two make four. I do not think that you will need to look far
around you in the world for the proof of it.
(J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Monuments of soul ruin
C. H. Spurgeon.
Often, when travelling among the Alps, one sees a small black cross planted
upon a rock, or on the brink of a torrent, or on the verge of a highway, to
mark the spot where men have met with sudden death by accident. Solemn
reminders these of our mortality! but they led our mind still further; for, we
said within us, if the places where men sealthemselves for the seconddeath
could be thus manifestly indicated, what a scene would this world present!
Here the memorial of a soul undone by yielding to a foul temptation, there a
consciencesearedby the rejectionof a final warning, and yonder a heart

forever turned into a stone, by resisting the last tender appeal of love. Our
places of worship would scarce hold the sorrowful monuments which might be
erectedover spots where spirits were foreverlost — spirits that date their
ruin from sinning againstthe gospelwhile under the sound of it.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Lost, in seeking forgain
R. A. Bertram.
One summer afternoon, a steamercrowdedwith passengers, many of them
miners from California, was speeding along the Mississippi. Striking suddenly
and strongly againstthe wreck of another vesselwhich, unknown to the
captain, lay near the surface of the water, her bow was stove in, and she began
to fill rapidly. Her deck was a scene ofwild confusion. Her boats were
launched, but did not suffice to carry off one-fourth of the terrified
passengers. The rest, divesting themselves of their garments, castthemselves
into the river, "some on boards, and some on brokenpieces of the ship and so
it came to pass that they escapedallsafe to land." Some minutes after the last
of them had quitted the vessel, anotherman appeared on her deck. Seizing a
spar, he also leapedinto the river, but instead of floating as the others had
done, he sank instantly as if he had been a stone. His body was afterwards
recovered, and it was found that he had employed the quarter of an hour, in
which his fellow passengershad been striving to save their lives, in rifling the
trunks of the miners. All around his waisttheir bags of gold were fastened. In
one short quarter of an hour he had gainedmore gold than most men earn in
their lifetime; but was he advantagedthereby, seeing that he lost himself? And
though you should gain power, or rank, or fame, or learning, or greatwealth;
though your life should be one prolonged triumphal procession, allmen
applauding you; though all your days you should drink unrestrained of the
cup of the world's pleasures, and never reach its bitter dregs; yet what shall
you be advantagedif, nevertheless, youlose yourself, and, at last, instead of
being receivedinto heaven, are castaway?

(R. A. Bertram.)
Greatloss for momentary gratification
When Lysimachus was engagedin a warwith the Getae, he was so tormented
by thirst, that he offered his kingdom to his enemies for permission to quench
it. His exclamation, when he had drunk the waterthey gave him, is striking.
"Ah, wretchedme, who for such a momentary gratification have lostso great
a kingdom!"
What shall a man give in exchange for his soul
Bishop Ryle.
? — Think what a solemn question these words of our Lord Jesus Christ
contain! What a mighty sum they propound to us for calculation!
I. EVERY ONE OF US HAS AN UNDYING SOUL. This is not the only life
we have to do with — we have every one of us an undying soul. There is a
consciencein all mankind that is worth a thousand metaphysical arguments.
What though we cannot see it? Are there not millions of things which we
cannot see, and of the existence of which we have nevertheless no doubt? I do
ask you to realize the dignity and the responsibility of having an immortal
soul; to realize that in your soul you have the greatesttalentthat God has
committed to your charge. Know that in your soul you have a pearl above all
price, the loss of which nothing canever make up.
II. ANYONE MAY LOSE HIS OWN SOUL. Weak as we are in all things that
are good, we have a mighty power to do ourselves harm. You cannotsave that
soul of yours, remember that. We are all by nature in greatperil of losing our
souls. But someone may ask, How may a man lose his soul? The answers to
that question are many. Justas there are many diseaseswhichassaultand
hurt the body, so there are many evils which assaultand hurt the soul.
Numerous, however, as are the ways in which a man may lose his own soul,
they may be classedunder these three heads.

1. You may murder your own soul by open sin, or serving lusts and pleasures.
2. You may poison your own soul by taking up some false religion.
3. You may starve your own soul to death by trifling and indecision. But, does
it take much trouble to ruin a soul? Oh, no! There's nothing you need do! You
have only to sit still, etc. But are there many, you ask, who are losing their
souls? Yes, indeed, there are t But, who is responsible for the loss of your
soul? No one but yourself! But, where does your soul go when it is lost? There
is but one place to which it can go.
III. THE LOSS OF ANY MAN'S SOUL IS THE HEAVIEST LOSS HE CAN
SUFFER. No man living canshow the full extent of the loss of the soul, nor
paint it in its true colours. Nothing can ever make up for the loss of the soul in
the life that now is. The loss of property and characterare not always
irreparable; once lost the soul is lost for evermore. The loss of his soul is
irretrievable! Does any one of you wish to have some clearidea of the value of
a soul? Then go and see whatmen think about the value of a soulwhen they
are dying. Go and read the sixteenth chapter of St. Luke. Measure it by the
price that was paid for it eighteenhundred years ago. We shall all understand
the value of a soul one day. Seek to know its value now. Do not be like the
Egyptian queen, who, in foolish ostentation, took a pearl of greatvalue,
dissolvedit in some acid, and then drank it off. Do not, like her, eastawaythat
precious soul of yours, that pearl above all price, that God has committed to
your charge.
IV. ANY MAN'S SOUL MAY BE SAVED. I dare say the proclamation is
startling to some; it was once startling to me. "How can these things be?" No
wonder you ask that question. This is the greatknot the heathen philosophers
could never untie — this is the problem which sagesofGreece and Rome
could not solve — this is a question which nothing cananswerbut the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. BecauseChristhas died upon the cross to bear men's sins.
2. BecauseChriststill lives.

3. Becausethe promises of Christ's gospelare full, free, and
unconditional.Application:
1. Do not neglectyour own soul.
2. Come to Christ without delay.
3. To all who have sought to have their souls saved, and have found Jesus a
Saviour, "cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart," etc.
(Bishop Ryle.)
The soul
T. Watson.
The soul is excellentin its nature. It is a spiritual being, "it is a kind of
angelicalthing." The mind sparkles with knowledge, the will is crownedwith
liberty, and all the affections are as stars shining in their orbs. How quick are
the motions of a spark!How swift the wings of cherubim! So quick and agile
are the motions of the soul. What is quicker than thought? How many miles
can the soul travel in an instant? The soul being spiritual moves upward; it
has also a self-moving power, and can subsist when the body is dead, as the
mariner can subsistwhen the ship is broken; it is also immortal — a bud of
eternity.
(T. Watson.)
Preciousness ofthe soul
C. H. Spurgeon.
It is a misapplication of forces for the nobler to spend itself upon the meaner.
Men do not usually care to spend a pound in the hope of getting back a groat
and no more, and yet, when the soul is given up for the sake of worldly gain,
the loss is greaterstill, and not even the groat remains.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Soul a jewel
T. Watson.
The soul is a jewel, a diamond setin a ring of clay; the soul is a glass in which
some rays of the divine glory shine; it is a celestialspark lighted by the breath
of God.
(T. Watson.)
Winning the world
C. H. Spurgeon.
I do verily believe, that the winning of the whole world of power, is in itself so
slight a gain, that it were fair to strike the balance, and say there is little left;
for evenAlexander himself envied the peasantin his cottage,and thought
there was more happiness on the plains among the shepherds than in his
palace amongsthis gold and silver.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
A witness to the worth of the world
C. H. Spurgeon.
Alexander, I summon thee! what thinkest thou: is it worth much to gain the
world? Is its sceptre the wand of happiness? Is its crown the security of joy?
See Alexander's tears!He weeps!Yes, he weeps for another world to conquer!
Ambition is insatiable!The gain of the whole world is not enough.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Profit and loss
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED IF HE SHOULD GAIN THE WHOLE
WORLD? Poweroverextensive empires. Powerovergreatriches. Treasures
of knowledge and pleasures. Whatwill it profit him when he comes to die? In
the day of judgment? when he gets to hell?
II. THE LOSING THE SOUL. Its intrinsic value. Its capabilities. Where the
soul must go to that is lost.
III. THE PRACTICAL LESSON.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Gaining the world pretty sport
C. H. Spurgeon.
This world is like the boy's butterfly — it is pretty sport to chase it; but bruise
its wings by an over-earnestgrasp, and it is nothing but a disappointment.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(36, 37) His own soul.—Better, life in both verses. The word “lose” is not the
same as in Mark 8:35, and had, perhaps, better be rendered forfeit, as
implying, what the other word does not necessarilyimply, the idea of a
penalty.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
8:34-38 Frequent notice is takenof the greatflocking there was to Christ for
help in various cases. All are concernedto know this, if they expect him to
heal their souls. They must not indulge the ease ofthe body. As the happiness
of heaven with Christ, is enough to make up for the loss of life itself for him,
so the gain of all the world in sin, will not make up for the ruin of the soulby
sin. And there is a day coming, when the cause of Christ will appear as
glorious, as some now think it mean and contemptible. May we think of that
season, andview every earthly objectas we shall do at that greatday.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
He spake that saying openly - With boldness or confidence, or without
parables or figures, so that there could be no possibility of misunderstanding
him.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
Mr 8:27-38. Peter's Noble ConfessionofChrist—Our Lord's First Explicit
Announcement of His Approaching Sufferings, Death, and Resurrection—His
Rebuke of Peter, and Warning to All the Twelve. ( = Mt 16:13-27;Lu 9:18-
26).
For the exposition, see on[1461]Mt16:13-28.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Ver. 36,37. Luke saith, if he lose himself and be castaway. Thoughquchn was
rightly translatedlife in the former verse, the sense justifying that translation
of it there, yet here it is as truly translated soul; for there are many things
which men value in proportion with their lives, their honour, estates,nay,
many value their lusts above their lives; and Christ himself here teachethus
that his disciples ought to value his honour and glory, and their steady
professionof faith and holiness, above their life, because he that will lose his
life shall save it. See the notes on these words, See Poole on"Matthew 16:26".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For what shall it profit a man,.... In the long run, in the issue of things, who by
denying Christ, and his Gospel, may not only save his life for the present, but
procure for himself greatriches and wealth:
if he shall gain the whole world; were that possible to be done, and which the
ambitious, worldly man is desirous of; yet supposing he: had his desire, of
what avail would this be in the upshot of things, should the following be his
case, as it will,
and lose his own soul? which is immortal and everlasting, whenthe world, and
the glory of it pass away, and so is of more worth than the whole world. The
world can only be enjoyed for a season, and that with a greatdeal of fatigue
and trouble; but the soul continues for ever; and if it is lost and damned, its
torment always abides, and the smoke of it ascends forever, its worm never
dies, and its fire is never quenched; See Gill on Matthew 16:26.
Geneva Study Bible
{11} For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his ownsoul?
(11) They are the most foolish of all men who purchase the pleasures of this
life with the loss of everlasting bliss.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 36. - What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul? (ζημιωθῆναι);literally, forfeit his life (ψυχή). The word ψυχή in the
Greek, originally meaning simply "breath," as the sign of life, is of very
comprehensive import, embracing not merely "the breath of life," but also the
"soul," or immortal part of man, as distinguished from his mortal body, also
the mind or understanding, as the organ of thought. "Life" seems here to be
the bestEnglish synonym, as being, like the Greek ψυχή, the more
comprehensive term.

PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
DANIEL AKIN
The Normal Christian Life: Following and Serving the King
Mark 8:27-38
Introduction: 1) What you think and believe about Jesus will determine how
you serve Him and
how you live out your life. It is inevitable that the former will impact the
latter. If, like Robert
Funk of the infamous and dying ―Jesus Seminar‖ movement, you think he
was ―a subversive
sage‖whose ―witticisms tendedto undermine the everyday view of things,‖
you will admire him
but you will not worship Him. Or if, like SusanHaskins, you think ―he was a
feminist,‖ you will
applaud his advocacyofwomen’s rights and pursue an egalitarianagenda
that will significantly
impact your thinking on church, marriage and family. Or, if like Bart
Erhman, you think he was
―a first century apocalyptic prophet who expectedthe imminent end of his
[world]‖, you will

conclude He was wrong, did not rise from the dead, and even compare Him, at
leastin part, to
the Hal Lindsey’s of Church history (Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New
Millennium, 244
45).
2) But there is another faulty perspective of Jesus that is far more dangerous
and seductive,
especiallyfor the people in our churches, a Jesus exposedby David Platt in his
book Radical:
Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. In a December23, 2010,
―CNN Belief
Blog‖, David writes, ―We American Christians have a way of taking the
Jesus ofthe Bible and
twisting him into a versionof Jesus that we are more comfortable with. A
nice middle-class
American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and would never call
us to give away
everything we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not
infringe on our
comforts. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid
dangerous extremes, and
who for that matter wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings
comfort and
prosperity to us as we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream.‖
2

3) Any fair and honestreading of Scripture will reveal that this is not who
Jesus is and it is not
what Jesus demands. Indeed the text before us could not make things more
clear. Bottomline:
Jesus says know me, trust me, follow me, and die.
Transition: 1) This text naturally divides into 3 movements with distinct but
related themes. It
will provide the answerto 3 crucial questions:1) Who is Jesus? 2)What did
He come to do? 3)
What is my proper response? 2)It is the beginning of the ―Great
DiscipleshipDiscourse‖(8:31
10:52)which has a very distinctive structure.
- 3 times Jesus predicts His passion(8:31-33;9:30-32;10:32-34).
- 3 times immediately following He instructs them concerning true
discipleship and what it
means to truly follow him, because they just do not getit! In 8:32 Peter
tries to correcthim on
what kind of MessiahHe will be. In 9:34 they are debating greatness in the
kingdom. And in
10:37 James and John beatthe others in asking to sit on His right hand and
left hand in the
kingdom.
Thus our Lord informs them and us what the normal Christian life looks like
and what it means
to follow and serve the King, a King who came to die and serve;a King who
calls His followers
to die and serve too.

I. You must know and personallyconfess who Jesus is. 8:27-30
Jesus carries the 12 almost 25 miles north of the Sea ofGalilee for a time of
private
instruction. Caesarea Philippi is an unlikely locationfor the first human
proclamation
of Jesus as the Messiah. In the outer regions of paganism, idolatry and
hostility to the
Hebrew faith, Jesus is first proclaimed as the Christ. Mark says they are ―on
the
way‖, a phrase that occurs 9 times in chps. 8-12 and draws attention to the
prophetic
―the way of the Lord‖ in Mark 1:2-3. ―The wayof the Lord‖ has been
prepared (by
3
John the Baptist) and now the Lord is on the way to His predetermined
destiny and
the cross.
We are at a crucial turning point in Mark’s gospel.
As Jesus brought gradual physical sight to the blind man of Bethsaida (8:22-
26), He
will now bring gradual, spiritual sight to the disciples concerning who He is
and what
kind of Messiahhe will be.
1) There is an inescapable question. 8:27-28
Jesus asksa simple and straight forward question (v. 27). It is a question the

12 have pondered since he calmed the sea in 4:41: ―And they were filled with
greatfear and said to one another, who then is this, that even the wind and the
sea obey him?‖.
The disciples respond with a number of popular opinions making the rounds.
We see these same judgments back in Mark 6:14-16.
→ John the Baptist – a view representedby Herod Antipas (Mark 6:14-15),
who believed Jesus was Johnraisedfrom the dead.
→ Elijah – the prophetic forerunner before the eschatological―Dayof the
Lord‖ ( Mal 3:1; 4:5-6).
→ One of the prophets – perhaps the one promised by Moses in Deut 18:15,
18.
These were stellar, outstanding assessments to be sure. Eachis positive and
affirming. Much like those who today would applaud him as a greatmoral
teacher, the example who all should seek to emulate. Theyhonor Him but
4
misrepresentHim. They applaud Him while denying Him for who He really
is.
Transition: This is an inescapable question and it demands an accurate and
acceptable answer. ―Who do people say that I am?‖
2) There is one acceptable answer.8:29-30
Jesus now shifts the question to His disciples and makes ―the question of the
ages personalin v. 29, ―But who do you say that I am?‖

Accurate declarations ofwho Jesus is has been given so far by: Mark the
narrator (1:1), ―Jesus Christ, the Son of God‖; God the Father (1:9), ―You
are
my belovedSon, with you I am well pleased‖;and demons (1:25), ―the Holy
One of God‖, (3:11) ―You are the Son of God‖, (5:7) ―Jesus, Sonof the Most
High God.‖
Now the voice of Peteris added, ―You are the Christ, the Messiah, the
Anointed One of God.‖ ForMark’s purposes the complementary declaration
(―Truly this man was ―the Son of God‖) will come at the end of his gospel
from the mouth of a Gentile, Roman centurion.
At the centerof Mark’s gospelwe have the one and only acceptable answer
concerning the identity of Jesus. Peterand the 12 rejectthe prevailing
opinions of the crowds and religious leaders (note their negative evaluationin
3:22!), and so must we!
Popular and trendy views of Jesus must always surrender to the clearand
consistentwitness of Scripture and the apostolic church. James Edwards is
right, ―The categoriesofJohn the Baptistor Elijah or one of the prophets
are
5
no closerto the realJesus than are the various ―Jesus‖figures of historical
criticism or Enlightenment rationalism or feminism or Aryan and racist
theories or the Jesus Seminaror the various sociologicalmodels in our day‖

(Mark, 248). Buck the trends! Stand on the Word againstthe assaults!
Personally, publicly and even proudly declare you allegiance to Jesus
proclaiming He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the one and only Savior of the
world. There is no room for vacillation or compromise for the one who
follows Jesus.
II. You must learn and affirm the ways of God not man. 8:31-34
These are hinge verses connecting the first part of Mark and the secondhalf.
Mark
1:1-8:30 has led to the confession―Youare the Christ.‖ Mark 8:31-16:8 will
lead to
the confession―You are the Son of God‖ and revealthe kind of MessiahHe
will be, a
Suffering Messiah, something hinted at previously in 1:11 and 2:20, but now
made
plain in 8:32.
Now that we are clearon who Jesus is, Jesus will make clearwhat He came to
do (see
10:45).
I am indebted to Tim Keller at this point.
First Half – Who He Is
―Gospel‖:―The King has come!‖ Our response:―Repent and believe.‖
1stConfession:By an ―insider‖ – Peter:―You are the Christ.‖ (8:29).
SecondHalf – What He came to do
―Gospel‖:―The King must die!‖ Our response:―Take up your cross and
follow Him.‖

6
2nd and Climatic Confession:By an outsider – Gentile, Roman Centurion:
―Truly this
man was the Son of God‖ (15:39).
A King who dies is not what they expected. It is not what they wanted. It is,
however, what they and we all desperatelyneeded. Look carefully at what we
learn.
1) God’s ways are often hard but clear. 8:31-32
Jesus begins a new chapter in the disciples education. It is time for them to
graduate
from elementary to high school, evenif they are not ready.
Jesus is the Christ, the Davidic Son of Psalm 2, the apocalyptic Son of Man of
Daniel 7. He will usher in an eternal Kingdom over which He will rule and
reign as
King and Lord. However, God’s waywill be different than they had
anticipated and
what a world that exalts powerwould expect:1) He will suffer many things, 2)
Be
rejected, especiallyby the religious establishment, 3) Be killed, 4) Rise 3 days
later.
All of this must happen. It is necessary. It is essential.
- It is what the Scriptures promised.
- This is why He came.
- This is what sin’s payment demands and we cannot provide.

- This is where the law of Godand the love of God will meet!
- This is where judgment and grace kiss!
Rob the word ―must‖ of it meaning and you empty the gospeland the cross
of its
glory. God’s ways are often hard but clear.
2) God’s will is often a challenge but perfect. 8:32-33
7
Peterwas on board with Jesus as the Christ. Peterwas not on board with
Jesus going
to the Cross. As Jesus rebukedthe demons in 3:12, He now receives the same
from
Peterin 8:32. Petercalls Him out. That was a bad call on Peter’s part!
Peterapparently spoke up for all the disciples as implied by v. 33. He quickly
gets in
return what he had just given (―rebuke‖is the same Greek word) and more!
―Getbehind me Satan!‖ (imp. of command). Jesus treats Peterlike he was
Satan, a
demon-possessedman! It is harsh but justified and necessary. Like Satanat
the
temptation in the wilderness (Matt 4:9-11), he offers Jesus the crown without
the
cross. He has a better plan than God does.
Like so many then and today, he wants a Jesus who fits his agenda. He wants
a Christ

on his terms! He knows the kind of MessiahJesusneeds to be and attempts to
reshape
and redefine Him to fit Him conception.
Application: Are we not often guilty of doing the exact, very same thing?
Serve how,
where, I want! Give me a Jesus I cancontrol, one I conjure up in my image
and
likeness! No, you and I must learn and affirm the ways of God not man. You
may not
fully understand it. It may not be easyor safe. It will, however, be best. In
fact, it
will be perfect (Rom. 12:2).
III. You must understand and acceptthat Jesus calls you to deny yourself and
die for
His sake andthe gospel’s. 8:34-38
God’s ways are often hard but usually clear. They are a challenge but always
perfect.
The passionof the Christ reinforces these biblical truths.
8
Now, how must we respond? Confident that God’s will is perfect, even if it
might not
be safe, we embrace the call of Jesus to follow Him and to die in order that we
and
others might truly live! Note the 3-fold nature of our dying.
1) The self-centeredlife must be put to death. 8:34

Jesus calls to Himself the 12 and the crowd that continues to follow Him and
lays out
the essence ofthe normal Christian life, the basics of discipleship, what sadly
in our
day looks like ―the radical Christian life‖.
Being Jesus’disciple requires 3 essentials. Theyare not negotiable.
1) Deny yourself, 2) Take up the cross, 3)Follow Me.
1) Deny yourself – Give up the right to self-determination. Live as Christ
directs.
Treasure and value Jesus more than yourself, your plans, your comforts, your
goals,
your aspirations. Put to death the idol of I! Say no to you and yes to Jesus!
2) Take up your cross – Die! Luke 9:23 adds ―daily‖ because that is what we
must do.
Be honest: deciding to die is not normal or natural. However, it is necessary
to be
Christ’s disciple. And, it is not a quick death. It is a slow death, a painful
death.
3) Follow Me! Are we willing to believe Jesus? Are we willing to obey Jesus?
It will
be radical not comfortable because it involves a death to the self-centeredlife.
2) The safe-life must be put to death. 8:35
Verses 35-38 allbegin with the work ―for.‖ Jesus is now providing the basis
or the
foundation for the challenge of v. 34. [Read v. 35].

Save or treasure your life, your soul, above all else, and you will lose it. The
one who
plays it safe and considers his existence more important than Jesus will lose
both Jesus
and his eternal life.
9
In contrast, the one who loses orgives his life for Jesus ―andthe gospel‖will
actually
save it! Only Mark adds ―the gospel.‖ Jesus plainly says that following Him
involves
risking it all, safety, security, satisfactionin this world and life. But, in the
end, He
promises us that it leads to a reward this world cannever, ever offer.
There is a life worth giving for the glory of God and the gospel! It is a dying
to self
that others might live! It is risking it all for the sake ofChrist and others! It
is not
safe! But it is the normal Christian life! J. I Packersays, ―There are, in fact,
two
motives that should spur us constantlyto evangelize. The first is love to God
and
concernfor His glory; the secondis love to man and concernfor his welfare.‖
(Evangelismand the Sovereigntyof God (Downers Grove, IL Intervarsity
Press, 1961,
73).

C. T. Studd (1860-1931), missionaryto China, India and later the Sudan said
it so
beautifully, … ―we will dare to trust our God … and we will do it with His
joy
unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times soonerdie
trusting
only in our God than live trusting in man‖ (Radical, 178).
John Piper adds, ―world evangelizationis no longer an option in which the
super
zealous cangain extra brownie points…Godwill always cause His true people
around
the globe [and in this room] to give up their lives for the gospel.‖
3) The self-serving life must be put to death. 8:36-38
Your life is setfree to live the normal/radical Christian life when you see
death as
reward, when you can say with Paul, ―for to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain‖
(Phil 1:21).
Vs 36 Question (read) Answer: Nothing
10
Vs 37 Question(read) Answer: Nothing
Illustration on 4-17-98 Linda McCartney, wife of Paul McCartneyof the
Beatles died.
Newsweekconcludedas article on her death by saying, ―The McCartney’s
had all the

money in the world,‖ said a tourist who stopped to take in the atmosphere
outside the
ranch. ―Enoughto afford their privacy. Enough to give them a beautiful
view. But all
the money in the world wasn’t enough to keepher alive.‖
Jesus concludes the 1stmajor lessonon discipleship in v. 38 [read]. Again, I
appreciate the way John Piper puts it, ―What’s the opposite of being
ashamedof
somebody? Being proud of them. Admiring them. Not being embarrassedto
be seen
with them. Loving to be identified with them.
So Jesus is saying, ―If you are embarrassedby me and the price I paid for
you (and
he’s not referring to lapses of courage whenyou don’t share your faith, but a
settled
state of your toward him)—if you’re not proud of me and you don’t cherish
me and
what I did for you—if you want to put yourself with the goats that value their
reputation in the goatherd more than they value me, then that’s the way I will
view
you when I come. I will be ashamed of you, and you will perish with the
people who
considerme an embarrassment.‖(3-28-10).
Conclusion:Dietrich Bonhoeffer(1906-1945)was a German Lutheran pastor
who was hanged
by Nazi Germany just prior to the end of World War II. His book The Cost
of Discipleshipis a

classic. He understood what the normal Christian life should look like. He
got it when it comes
to following and serving the King whose name is Jesus. The waymay be hard.
But the path and
the end is glorious. Listen to his challenge.
The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every
man must experience is the call to abandon the
11
attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of
his encounterwith Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender
ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death.
Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing
and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with
Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a
death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow
him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monasteryand
go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus
Christ, the death of the old man at his call. Jesus’summons to the rich young
man was calling him to die, because onlythe man who is dead to his own will
can follow Christ. In fact every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our
affections and lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ
and his call are necessarilyour death as wellas our life. The call to
discipleship, the baptism in the name of Jesus Christmeans both death and
life. (p.99)
May all of us learn how to die for Christ and the gospel, that we, and others,
may truly live.

May all of us learn what is and how to live the normal Christian life.
BARCLAY
THE SUPREME VALUE IN LIFE (Mark 8:37)
8:37 Whatprofitis it for a man to gain the whole worldand to forfeit his life?
Forwhat is a man to give in exchange forhis life?
It is quite possible fora man in one sense to make a huge success oflife andin
anothersense to be living a life that is not worth living. The realquestion Jesus
asks is, "Where do youput your values in life?" Itis possible fora man to put
his values onthe wrong things and to discoverit too late.
(i) Aman may sacrifice honourforprofit. He may desire materialthings and
not be over-particularhow he gets them. The worldis full oftemptations
towards profitable dishonesty. GeorgeMacdonaldtells inone of his books
about a draper who always usedhis thumb to make the measure justa little
short. "He took fromhis soul," he said, "andput it in his siller-bag."The real
question, the question whichsoonerorlaterwill have to be answeredis, "How
does life's balance sheetlook inthe sight ofGod?" Godis the auditor whom, in
the end, all men must face.
(ii) Aman may sacrifice principle for popularity. It may happen that the easy-
going, agreeable, pliable manwill save himself a lot of trouble. It may happen
that the man inflexibly devotedto principle will find himself disliked.
Shakespeare paints the picture ofWolsey, the greatCardinal, who served
Henry the Eighth with all the ingenuity and wit he possessed.
"Had I but serv'd my Godwith half the zeal
I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age
Have leftme nakedto mine enemies."

The realquestion, the questionevery man in the end will have to face, is not,
"Whatdid men think of this?" but, "Whatdoes Godthink ofit?" It is not the
verdict of public opinion but the verdict ofGod that settles destiny.
(iii) Aman may sacrifice the lasting things for the cheapthings. It is always
easierto have a cheapsuccess. Anauthor may sacrifice thatwhichwould be
really greatforthe cheapsuccessofa moment. Amusician may produce
ephemeral trifles whenhe might be producing something realand lasting. A
man may choose a jobwhichwill bring him more money and more comfort,
and turn his back on one where he could render more service to his fellow-men.
A man may spend his life in little things and letthe big things go. Awomanmay
prefer a life of pleasure andof so-calledfreedomto the service ofher home and
the upbringing of a family.
But life has a way ofrevealing the true values and condemning the false as the
years pass on. Acheapthing never lasts.
(iv) We maysum it all up by saying that a man may sacrifice eternityfor the
moment. We would be savedfrom all kinds of mistakes ifwe always lookedat
things in the light ofeternity. Many a thing is pleasantforthe moment but
ruinous in the long run. The testof eternity, the testofseeking to see the thing
as Godsees it, is the realesttestofall.
The man who sees things as Godseesthemwillnever spend his life onthe
things that lose his soul.
BRIAN BELL
Mark 8:34-38 6-23-13 OurCross-Walk I. Slide#1 Announce: A.
Family Camp Video B. Greetings to Marleenin from Albania, and Cindy
Arnhold. C. IsraelInfo Mtg - Sun 1:30pm in front office. No need to come if
you were at the 1st. D. Children at Risk - in new room at 3pm. Updates,

prayer, & we will be watching a short video of Christine Caine to encourage
us in our fight againstinjustice. E. Pray for... 1. Haiti Teachers Teamw/HEF -
Des & team leave tonight. a) 150 Haitian Teachers;representing 17 schools;
representing 4500 students. 2. MercyProjects Ukraine summer camp - Zach
& Jonny G. [8-12yrs;100 kids; B.S. & classes]3. MercyProjects
Armenia/Georgia summer camp - Jeff T [prob w/orthodox priest] 4. Pastor
Rob TaylorCCBrentwoodTenn - Out running, 500’from home found laying
in the street. Heart attack. 5. Pray: We don’t come here because we’re
suppose to but because we needto... II. Slide#2 Intro: Our Cross-Walk A.
Last section(vs.31-33)we talkedabout His cross...andas if this was not enough
shock for one day, Jesus has another for His disciples & the crowd...now for
our cross. 1. If you’re serious about following Me…you must take the same
path…it’s a cross-walk.a)It’s costly…but worth it – No fine print here
friends. B. Jesus turns to the crowd & challenges them w/some of the most
solemn & searching words that ever fell from His lips. 1. Understand the
make up of this group: some hanging upon his every word; others interested
in Him; others attractedby Him; some loved the associationwith his
popularity; some enjoyed the miracles;some the occasionalfree lunch; they
all felt they wanted to be with Him in some way. a) But Jesus battles a
thoughtless, hasty professionof faith. 2. What would you sayif Jesus spun
around this morning, pointed at you, & askedyou, in front of everyone, “Why
are you following Me?” - What would you say? [Oh, & you had to tell the
truth!]
III. Slide#3 OUR CROSS-WALK(34) A. He gives 3 conditions for true
discipleship: Deny Himself, Take up his Cross, Follow Me. B. Slide#4a Deny
himself – If we cling to our rights, our privileges, our life selfishly…we lose in
the end.
1
1. Negatively, One must deny himself decisivelysaying no to selfish interests
and earthly securities. (BKC) a) Self-denial is not to deny one’s personality, to
die as a martyr, or to deny “things” (as in asceticism). b) Rather it is the
denial of “self,” turning awayfrom the idolatry of self-centerednessand every
attempt to orient one’s life by the dictates of self-interest. 2. Maybe the reason

we aren’t making much progress in our Christianity is because we’re still
trying to give the orders? 3. Slide#4bTo deny self is to surrender. a) There is
a Moment of surrender @ Salv.; & a Practice ofsurrender (sanct), which is
moment-by-moment & lifelong. 4. So, to deny self is to: say no to yourself;
relinquish all claims to your life; and renounce your right to run your life. a)
You know Christian, you don’t belong to yourself. 1Cor.6:19,20Don’tyou
realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and
was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you
with a high price. b) Jesus Christ has absolute claim on your life. You are no
longerto live a self-centeredlife but a Christ-centeredlife.
C. Slide#5a Takeup his cross – our crossesare not simply trials or hardships.
Nor is it a call to give up certain things. Our cross is not an unfair boss, nor a
difficult child. Our cross is not even an illness nor a handicap…but it is a call
to DIE. [Paul said, I die daily 1 Cor.15:31]1. Positively, one must take up his
cross, decisivelysaying yes to God’s will and way. a) Across comes from
specificallywalking in Christ’s steps, embracing His life. b) It’s when we bear
the disdain because we are embracing the narrow way of the cross. It’s when
we live out the business ethics of Christ in our marketplace & the sexual ethics
of Christ in our world. It’s when we embrace weaknessinsteadofpower. It’s
when we extend ourselves in difficult circumstances forthe sake ofthe gospel.
c) It’s not the difficulties in your life that are cross-bearing,but the difficulties
for Christ’s sake whichare. 2. Slide#5bThe cross aninstrument of death. a)
Crucifixion was used by Rome to express its mastery over its subjects. (1) It
was complete submission of the victims will, to the will of another. (2) Let
everyone know Rome was supreme, that they were dominated by Rome. b)
Am I willing to surrender my life to Jesus? c)Am I willing to put my life
under complete subjugation into the will & desire of another...thatbeing
Jesus?
2
d) Am I willing to place my plans, my will, my desires to be secondaryto the
will of Jesus? D. Slide#6 To Take Up our cross is not to hang on it, it’s our life
long journey TO the cross. 1. Condemned prisoners were generally made to
carry the crossbaroftheir cross to the site of execution. It is our Cross-Walk.

2. The Trappist monk Thomas Keating once said, “The cross Jesusasksyou to
carry is yourself.” It's all the pain you inflict on yourself, it's the pain you
inflict on others.” E. Here He sifts out the true Christians from His fair
weatherfollowers. 1. Gal.2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no
longerI who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
2. Take up your cross is also called:consecration, making Jesus your Lord,
dying to self, yielding to the spirit. 3. Slide#7 What matters is not what you
call it, but that you do it. 4. God wants your life…All of it. 5. Surrendered
people obey Godeven when it doesn’t make sense. a)Abraham: followed
God’s leading w/o knowing where. b) Joseph:trusted God’s purpose w/o
knowing why everything happened the way it did (i.e. sold into slavery;
trumped up rape charges;2 yr prison sentence). c)Hannah: waitedfor God’s
perfect timing for a child, w/o knowing when. d) Mary: experienceda miracle
w/o knowing how.
6. Slide#8 Gal. 6:14 God forbid that I should boastexceptin the cross ofour
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world. 7. First he must give up all right to himself; that is, ceasebothering
about selfpreservation, self-aggrandizement, and self-protectionagainst
ridicule, and abandon self-assertionas a way of life. a) Slide#9 This is how the
world is crucified to me. 8. Slide#10 Second, he must take up his cross:that is,
settle for a life into which the world’s favor and esteemdo not enter. Only
criminals going to execution - people from whom the world’s favor has been
totally withdrawn - carried crossesin those day. a) Slide#11 This is how I am
crucified to the world.
F. Slide#12 Follow me - Whoa follow you? – If you’re going to the cross…then
that means… we’re-going-to-our-cross. 1. Slide#13 Giuseppe Garibaldi, the
greatItalian general/patriot/politician[led 1,000 volunteers in the capture of
Sicily and Naples (1860)]appealedfor recruits in these terms, “I
3
offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced
marches, battles & death. Let him who loves his country in his heart, & not

Jesus was teaching us about the greatest profit

Jesus was teaching us about the greatest profit

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