“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Christ’s attitude, as He first broke this news to His disciples, must have been extremely grave. There was no joviality, no gaiety in His voice, no reassuring smile on His face. All we have to do is look at Peter’s reaction to the announcement. “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”
Am I correct in assuming that the word “then” in verse 22 and then again in verse 24 indicate that all of this is in the same on-going context? Jesus’ announcement provoked Peter’s rebuke, which then prompted the Lord’s rebuke of Peter. Then the Lord made reference to Satan’s distaste for the things that be of God. And following that Jesus went on to say, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Isn’t it true that verses 24 to 28 are directly related to Christ’s revelation about His death and resurrection? Isn’t it true that the serious nature of verse 21 continued to the end of the chapter? Christ speaks of His own self-denial and sacrifice and then after Peter’s denial, before He moves on to the self-denial and potential sacrifice of the disciples. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” But then Jesus doesn’t stop there. He had spoken of His sacrifice in Jerusalem and of His resurrection – three days later. And then finally, “the Son of man shall come (again) in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” All of this is within the same context, with the same solemnity and importance.
I would like us to consider three serious things this morning: the soul, the Saviour and then salvation.
The SOUL is a subject which philosophers have often addressed since time immemorial.
It has evoked time and thought because it is a complicated – as well as being an important subject. We don’t have to look very far to discover that. The word is found four times in verses 25 and 26, but they don’t all jump off the page at us. “For whosoever will save his life (psuche psoo-khay’) shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life (psuche) for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul (psuche)? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (psuche)? The Greek word, which is rendered “soul,” is also rendered “life” almost as often. Apparently in some ways “soul” equals “life.” It is also translated “mind” three times and “heart” once. So it is a complicated word. And it is just as complicated in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word “nephesh” is used.
The first time that we read of the soul, it is found at the very heart of human creation. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” As the best of all the Bible encyclopedia puts it, “by an easy transition the word comes to stand for the individual personal life – the person.” That author in ISBE uses the Lord Jesus as a part of his definition. When Jesus died He commended His spirit to the Father. But as John 10:15 says, Christ gave his soul (psuche psoo-khay’) as a ransom for His sheep. He said – the spirit is the outbreathing of God into the creature, the life-principle derived from God. The soul is man’s individual possession, that which distinguishes one man from another.
All of us – every living person on the face of the earth – including Christ – are individual souls – (psuche’). Each of those souls have life, individuality, some degree of mental ability, uniqueness. Each of those souls was derived through his or her parents. Inside our mothers, we grow lungs, and minds, and hearts, which we begin to use when we are born. And another part of us – our essence if you like – was also in our mother’s womb – our soul. God has given us life – not as a direct gift or miracle, but through our parents. You are a living soul through them.. But keep in mind that you are an eternal soul – the soul does not die when the body dies. There is physical life, which comes to an end, but there is a more important soul-life which is eternal. In Luke 16 Christ describes the deaths of two people – their physical lives ended, but they both “awoke” in a different kind of life. One found himself blessed – through the grace of God. But the other soul awoke in torment, separated from God. They were both physically dead, but their souls were still alive – one in hell and the other in Paradise..
Outside the miracle of Jesus’ incarnation every living soul born upon this earth arrived spiritually dead. When Adam sinned against the Lord, his spirit died, even while his body and soul continued to live. Eventually Adam’s body also died, but his soul continued to live, and is still alive today. When Adam and Eve had children, Cain and Abel and the others were eternally living souls, but with dead spirits. It is not until God regenerates those spirits that there is genuine spiritual life in people. That is why “ye MUST be born again.” We receive our souls from our parents, but in order to have regenerated spirits, we must turn to God.
In our scripture, Christ Jesus reminds us that the value of the human soul is beyond measure. “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” What is the most valuable thing on the planet? A 1918 Inverted Jenny postage stamp, Canada’s 1868 2¢ Green, or the British Guiana 1¢ magenta? Maybe to you it is your spouse or your children. Someone might say that the most valuable thing on earth is “freedom.” “Give me liberty, or give me death.” Take whatever might be the most valuable thing in your mind and then multiply it a thousand times. Your eternal soul is infinitely more valuable than even that. I guarantee that you would be willing to exchange your most valuable possession after one minute in Hell.
“What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own SOUL? or what shall a man give in exchange for his SOUL?” Perhaps we need to ask which aspect of (psuche) the Lord is speaking– physical life or the soul? There is no doubt in my mind that the subject is eternal rather than physical. There is nothing in the physical world which compares to the value of a single eternal soul – your soul.
Revelation 14 describes a series of angels and judgments… “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Forget for a moment the mark of the beast and what it is to worship him – focus on just one thought – “The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…” Those souls, in torment without rest for ever and ever, would give the wealth of the world for their deliverance. But it will never come. It saddens me to say that some of YOU may be among that tormented crowd.
But there is HOPE in the Lord Jesus Christ OUR SAVIOUR.
“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Why must Jesus go and die? In order to give his life a ransom for many. The words “ransom” and “exchange for his soul” are linguistic synonyms. There is nothing that a sinner might give, even if he possessed all the wealth of the world, to ransom his soul. But Christ Jesus gave His precious, sinless, and glorious life, to do exactly that. As I have said many times recently, the Son of God came into this world for that purpose. He came as the Lamb of God, to become the final and perfect sacrifice for sin. He became incarnate in order to become one of us, but without sin, so that He could be our substitute under the wrath of God. He came to give His life a ransom for many of us. There is nothing that a man can give in exchange for his soul, but our sacrifice or gifts are not necessary, because Christ has already made the ultimate sacrifice.
In verse 27 the Lord adds to the divine time table – “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels…” Is this the first time that Christ has said anything about His return? According to the references in my Thompson Chain Bible, it is. And according to all the other reference books that I checked. This is brand new revelation for those disciples. But of course that makes perfect sense, because the disciples were just now beginning to learn that Jesus must be killed and rise again the third day. The divine plans for the Millennial Kingdom have not been cancelled – they cannot be cancelled because they are divine – a part of the eternal decree. But the disciples hadn’t realized that, first, must come the sacrifice of Christ for their sins. They don’t yet realize that two thousand years will be fit in between Jesus’ ascension into heaven and His return to establish that kingdom. Ah, what glorious news this is, despite the part about ”then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
Last week I raised a question for which I didn’t really offer an answer – at least one which satisfied me. Verse 24 – “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Is there a difference between “coming after” Christ and “following Christ” – and if so what is it? “Coming after” certainly refers to becoming one of the disciples of Christ – one of the Lord’s servants on earth. But at least a part of “coming after” Christ is eventually entering into eternal Glory with Him. How far were those disciples willing to go with the Lord? All the way to heaven.
And this brings up the all important subject of SALVATION.
Even though this a subject which I address regularly, I come to it today almost out of default, because, at least in the words of our immediate text, that subject is not there. The second most important rule in hermeneutics – the interpretation of the Bible – The second most important rule of Bible interpretation is to understand the words under consideration within their original context. Don’t pull single verses, or even small groups of verses, out of the general theme of the passage. For example, a promise made to Israel might not apply to the people of the United States – might not. Keep it in the context. When Revelation 21:4 says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,” that doesn’t guarantee you will be overcome with happiness before noon today. And when Romans 8:28 says, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” that doesn’t mean your life might not have a few problems today. The context has to be maintained. And sometimes that context includes the whole word of God, or all of the New Testament.
It might be easy for someone to read our text and arbitrarily decide that if they take up their cross, and follow the vicar of Christ to his church, that follower will eventually go to heaven. Or he might think that if someone denies himself and gives up chocolate for Lent he will find eternal life. Some people believe that if they become celibate nuns or monks they earn a spot in Heaven – basing their conclusions on these verses. There may be hundreds of millions of people who look at verse 27 and think to themselves that if they work really hard they will be rewarded with a mansion in Heaven. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Not only do such thoughts not ring true with the general teaching of the New Testament, but verse 27 isn’t talking about deliverance from sin at all. Salvation from sin is not a reward. It is not something which sinners can earn or win, like some sort of prize or wage. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
Earlier, I said that when Adam sinned he spiritually died, and his children have all been born spiritually dead. There is no amount of work, service, self-denial, cross-taking or Christ-following that can put life back into that sin-dead spirit. As Jesus said, “ye must be born again” – regenerated. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” While verse 26 says that there isn’t enough wealth on earth to ransom a man’s soul, Christ said, “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Christ suffered these things in order to buy our souls out from under the wrath of God and to give life back to our eternal spirits.
It not by our works of righteousness which does the ransoming and regenerating. It is by Christ’s righteousness, and by His sacrifice on our behalf. The only thing that we can do is bow before the grace of God. We must acknowledge our human helplessness and submit ourselves to the Lord. Repent of your sin and self before God, and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”