Adrian Rogers - The Value of a Human Soul
I want you to turn to a familiar passage, Mark chapter 8, and we're going to begin reading in verse 34. And as you're finding it, let me tell you that you do not merely have a soul, you are a soul. And your soul is of infinite worth. Your soul is worth more than all of the possessions and pleasures of this world put together. Your soul, made in the image of God, will never ever cease to exist. Your soul could no more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist. Your soul will go on and on and on through eternity: timeless, dateless, measureless. Your soul made in the image of God will exist forever. Your soul lives in a house called a body. You are a soul. You have a body. Your soul will exist forever, either in Heaven or in Hell. It will never cease to exist.
Now listen to God's Word here, Mark chapter 8 and verse 34 through 38, "And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also He said unto them, 'Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life, for My sake and the Gospel's,'" and the word Gospel means good news, "'the same shall save it.'" And then Jesus asks a very pertinent, a very pressing question. And I want you to listen to this question because this question comes like a javelin from the heart of God into your heart.
Listen to it, listen to this question, "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of the Father with His holy angels".
Now again I want to remind you that there is within you, the real you, which is the soul. First of all I want you to think of the tremendous worth of a soul. Just how valuable is a soul? How valuable is your soul? Well, that brings this question, what makes anything valuable anyway? May I suggest some things that make any objection or anything valuable? First of all is creativity. You see, if a thing is formed with incredible creativity, that makes it valuable. A painting by Picasso or Michelangelo, a creative artist, would have incredible value because of the creativity behind that thing. Now, who created the human soul?
Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 says this, "And God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life and man became a living soul". God did that. God formed you of the dust of the ground. God breathed into you His spirit, the breathe of life and then you became what the Bible calls, "A living soul". And God says something about your soul, about you, that He doesn't say about anything else that He made. God painted the sunset. God arched the rainbow in the skies. God sculpted the wings of the butterfly and all of these things are wonderful, but God says about your soul, the One who created your soul, He made you into His image.
Think about that, in His image, in His likeness. And that's the reason the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10, "For we are His workmanship". That literally means that we're His poiema, we're His masterpiece. You are the handiwork of almighty God. And if a painting by Raphael would be valuable, how much more is the human soul? Creativity. I'll tell you something else that makes something valuable, not only creativity, but potentiality. Not only for what a thing is, but for what a thing may become. Do you realize the incredible potentiality in you?
Theoretically, there're three in the seat that you occupy right now. The person you are at this moment, the person you could be for evil if you do not yield your heart, your life to God. The depth of depravity you may sink into may be beyond your imagination. But oh the person you could be, yea, the person you will be if you will yield your life to Jesus Christ, because one day you will be conformed to the image of God's Son. You will be like Jesus.
The Psalmist said in chapter 17 verse 15, "I shall be satisfied when I awaken in Thy likeness". You could be like the Lord Jesus Christ. You talk about potentiality. Michelangelo, that we mentioned a little while ago, was an artist. He saw a block of marble and it is reported that he said, "There's an angel in that block of marble and I'm going to set him free". He saw not a block of marble, he saw a work of art, a potentiality, a possibility. That's what God sees when He sees you. Folks listen, you probably dare not dream what you will be if you'll give your heart to Jesus Christ. Suppose I go to Heaven, I'm there for the first time, I'm looking around Heaven. I want to see the citizens in Heaven, and then I see a magnificently bright and beautiful, glorious, awesome creature.
I say, "That's Jesus". "Oh," he says, "No, I'm not Jesus". "Well, you must be an angel". "No, I'm not an angel". "You mean, you're a human"? "Yes". "Like me"? "Yes". "Well, you must be Peter, Paul, James"? "No". "Well, who are you"? "I'm Bob Sorrell". "Bob, I hardly recognized you". What a change, what a difference that has been wrought when we are made in the likeness of Jesus Christ. I'll tell you a third thing that makes something valuable. Not only creativity, and not only potentiality, but durability. How long would it last?
When I was a youngster, I worked and started buying my own clothes. I went down U.S. 1 in West Palm Beach to Clematis Street and rather than turning left where the finer stores were, I turned right to the low rent district. Went in to a little shop there and I saw a pullover shirt that I thought was just beautiful and the price was so low. I said, "Boy, I know how to buy clothes". And I bought this shirt and brought it home, wore it one time, my mother put it in the washing machine and folks that was the end of it. It was gone. I mean, it just came apart. It had no durability. No wonder it was of such low price. Again, I want to tell you folks that your soul will never end.
I was reading from the Word of God, the book of Daniel chapter 12 and listen to verses 2 and 3, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise," and I hope you are, "and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever". Everlasting shame, everlasting righteousness. Durability.
I think Billy Sunday, the evangelist, said it this way, he said, "If you can imagine a little bird who would take a grain of sand from the Earth and begin to fly to a distant planet and it would take him a million years to fly to that distant planet. And then he would drop that grain of sand. And then that little bird would fly back to the Earth and it takes him a million years to fly back to the Earth and he gets another speck of dust, another grain of sand. And then the little bird flies back again to that distant planet, a million years. Back and forth, back and forth he goes". And then Sunday said, "When he will have transplanted the Earth to that distant planet, every speck of it," he said, "it will only be breakfast time in eternity".
Think about it. Your soul will go on and on and on. Durability makes a thing of great, great value. Folks, I'm telling you, you will exist forever somewhere, either in Heaven or in Hell. You say, "Pastor Rogers, don't use that word, Hell. That's out of vogue. That's not politically correct". Let me ask you a question, of all of the people who've ever lived on planet Earth, who was the most loving? You don't have to guess about that. What's His name? Jesus. I want to ask you another question. Who had more to say about Hell than any other preacher in the Bible? Jesus. A man is not cruel because he preaches about Hell, any more than a doctor is cruel who warns about cancer. That's not cruelty to face facts and to teach people facts about God's Word.
Dr. Robert G. Lee, former pastor of this church, said, "I'd rather be called cruel for being kind than be called kind for being cruel". And the cruelest thing that a man could do would be to fail to warn people to flee from the wrath to come. Your soul will exist either in Heaven or in Hell and it is my duty to inform you of that. Your soul is valuable because it will never end. I'll tell you something else that makes a soul, or any object valuable, and that's rarity. If a thing is rare, it tends to be more valuable. That's the reason gold is more valuable than dirt. Of course, it's more beautiful, but it's rare.
Diamonds are rare. Collector's things, if they are rare, are valuable. I read somewhere that the most valuable autograph is an autograph of Christopher Columbus. The most valuable stamp is the one cent stamp of British of Guiana. The most valuable coin is the Argenta dollar of Athens. Why are these things so valuable? Because they're rare. Your soul is so rare. You're going to say, "Well, there are plenty of souls". No, you missed the point. There is only one you. God never makes duplicates. You are the handiwork, the crafting of almighty God. And God has made you specifically, individually, carefully crafted you. You're His poiema, you're His masterpiece. You are rare. There's no other, no other just like you.
What makes something valuable? Rarity. But let me just wrap all those up and I'll tell you what really makes your soul valuable; it's desirability. Now, every appraiser will tell you this. If you want to know what your house is worth, don't tell me how much you paid for it, don't tell me that you recently had it painted, don't tell me about anything else; I'll tell you how much your house is worth. And do you know what he basis his appraisal on? One thing; how much someone will pay for it. That right? That's really the worth. Does somebody want it? I mean, the value of anything is based on what? Desirability. Who wants it! How much will he pay for it?
Well, if you want to know how much your soul is worth? Climb up to Heaven and put your ear upon the beating heart of God and with every beat it will say, "I love you. I want you. I desire you". Climb down to Calvary's cross and see Calvary's love and see the blood as it falls to the ground and see Jesus as He dies in agony and blood. Why? He's paying for your soul. Go down deeper into the very pit of Hell and see the suffering and the agony and realize that Jesus Christ endured the fires of Hell, baptized His soul in Hell, that He might save your soul. Then you'll know how much one soul is worth. Worth more than all the world. That's the value of the soul. Your soul is very valuable.
Now here's something else I want you to think about. Not only the worth of the soul, but think of the waste of the soul. What a waste if you don't give it to the Lord. That's what Jesus is saying in Mark 8:36, "What should it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul"? Now, if you're a business man, folks, it doesn't balance; you're on the lost side of the leger. What pitiful profit you would make. Why is that such a bad bargain? Why, if you sell out the lord Jesus, and you say, "I'm not going to give my heart to Jesus. I love this world. I'm going to live for this world. I'm not going to take up any cross and follow Jesus. No sir. I'm going to save my life".
Jesus said, "You'll lose it. You'll lose it". Why? I mean, if you turn you back on Jesus and say, "I'm going the way of the world. Why is that so foolish"? Well, number one, no one has ever gained the whole world have they? Alexander tried it. Hitler tried it. Napoleon tried it. Genghis Kahn tried it. Stalin tried it. Nobody ever gains the whole world. But if you could gain the whole world, you couldn't keep it. I mean, suppose you gained the whole world, you're still going to die and leave it. And what you gained what part of the gain, let's say you gained some of it, the gnawing tooth of time, the foul breathe of decay, the mossy fingers of the centuries, will just take what you think you have.
What you do gain, you can't keep. I'll tell you something else, not only can you not gain the world, and not only can you not keep what you do gain, but I'll tell you something else, what you do gain and what you do keep temporarily will never ever satisfy the deepest longing of your soul. Did you know that? Pleasure won't do it. Fun and games won't do it. Trinkets won't do it. Cars won't do it. Clothes and furs and vacations; you were made for God. Your soul was made for God and until your soul finds its rest in God, your soul will never find satisfaction. This world can't satisfy you. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5:10, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver".
You see, it's such a bad bargain because the world cannot satisfy you. Now, you know, it's pitiful profit because there's such lasting loss. Think about the loss of a soul. I mean, just imagine that you lost your soul. What kind of a loss is that? Well, first of all folks, it is an immeasurable loss. I've been dealing with precious people who have lost children, and what a heartache that is. I've been dealing with some people who have lost wealth. I've been dealing with some people who have lost health. But nothing compared to the loss of a soul.
Have you counted the cost, if your soul should be lost? If you gained the whole world for your store, have you counted that cost? It is an immeasurable loss. There is no other loss that can compare with the loss of the soul. But not only is it an immeasurable loss, listen to me folks, it is an irreplaceable loss. Joyce and I have a little baby in Heaven. We haven't really lost him because we know where he is. Because you know God gave us after that little boy went to Heaven, God gave us another son. He's a missionary now in Spain. But you will never have another soul. Our children are not lost even though they've gone. We're going to them.
But you see, the loss of a soul is an irreplaceable loss. You'll never ever replace that soul. On a more frivolous note, a new bride was in tears when her husband came home. He said, "Why are you crying"? She said, "I baked you some biscuits, the dog got up on the table and got them and ate them". She was just crying. He just tried to comfort her. He said, "Oh sweetheart, don't cry. We can get another dog". You'll never get another soul. Your soul is an irreplaceable loss. I'll tell you something else. It's an irreversible loss.
Don't get the idea that if what Adrian is preaching today is true, that one day when you die and you face God, you say, "Well I see it all now. I realize that I was wrong and I realize that I should have repented. But Lord, You're a God of mercy, so God, as I stand before You at the Great White Throne to be judged I want You to have mercy on me. I want You to reverse what I did in life. I want You to forgive me because I now want mercy". No, if you die without Jesus Christ, you'll not reverse that decision.
The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, "It's appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgement". Now if you want mercy, you may have it. If you want forgiveness, you may have it. If you want grace, you may have it. If you want Jesus, you may have Him. If you want salvation, you may receive salvation. But now listen to me, there is no second chance after death. The loss of a soul is an irreversible loss. Now why is that? Well, you might say, "I'll just throw myself on the mercy of the court".
Just imagine that you're standing there now before the Great White Throne. The end of time has come and one by one the names are called. One by one they're judged and now you're face to face with Almighty God. What would you say to Him when your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Would you say, "Well I never heard the Gospel"? You certainly couldn't say that because you're hearing it today. Could you say, "Well Lord, I died suddenly, I didn't have time to be saved"?
You couldn't say that because you have time this morning. Could you say, "Well I didn't like Adrian Rogers"? Oh, I hope you do, but you may not. A lot of folks don't. But you know what I think He may say to you? "I didn't say, 'Believe on the preacher.' I said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'" Acts 16:31. He said, "But I didn't know what church to join. There's the Baptist church, the Methodist church, the Presbyterian church, the Church of God, the Church of Christ, Episcopalian church; I didn't know which one to join". He'll say, "I didn't say believe on the church, I said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'"
Well, you say, "But, I wasn't going to be a hypocrite. I wasn't going to go down there and profess faith in Jesus until I was sure I could live it". And He'll say, "I didn't say believe on yourself. I said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'" Folks, what I'm trying to tell you is this, that this loss is an irreversible loss. If you want salvation; if you want the Lord Jesus Christ; if you want to know that when you die, you're going to Heaven, you can know it, but you must receive the Lord Jesus Christ now. The Bible says in Ezekiel 18 verse 4, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die". And I want to say this, and here's the sad thing. It's an inexcusable loss.
You see, you don't have to be lost. Why? Because Christ died for you; that's what our text is all about here in Mark chapter 8. Look at it again if you will, if you have your Bible open there. Jesus is going to the cross and Peter tries to keep Him from going to the cross. And in Mark 8 verse 31 to 33, "He began to teach them that, 'the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and the scribes and be killed. And after three days rise again.' And He spake that saying openly, and Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned about He looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter saying, 'Get thee behind me Satan. For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.'"
I'm telling you, the devil did not want Jesus to atone for your sin. And nor do men think that it's necessary. But you see, Jesus has suffered, bled, and died and paid the sin debt. He was buried! He rose again! Your sin has been atoned! Your sin potentially is forgiven and that is the reason for you to go to Hell is inexcusable!
Three men were in a restaurant. Two of them got in an argument. The third man was listening. The third man was a Christian, the other two weren't. One of the two men who were arguing finally got so angry with the other; he put his finger in his face and said, "You go to Hell". The Christian heard him say that, leaned over and tapped him on the shoulder and said, "I've been reading the instructions. You don't have to go if you don't want to". You don't have to go if you don't want to. I'm telling you folks, you don't have to go if you don't want to go. Now, if you refuse God, Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels.
C.S. Lewis said, "The two categories of people in the world: those, who like Satan, say to God, 'Not Thy will, but mine be done.' And those, who like Jesus, say to the Father, 'Not my will, but Thine be done.'" All of the world can be categorized in those kinds of people. Then C.S. Lewis said this, "To those who say to God, 'Not Thy will but mine be done,' when those people drop into Hell, God must say to them, 'Not My will, but thine be done.'" Do you understand? It's not that God sends people to Hell.
Second Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not willing that any should perish". But friend, you must make that decision. It is an inexcusable loss. You need not die. You need not lose your precious soul. Here's a good question. If you're an unsaved person, let me ask you this question. And there are a lot of unsaved people. Some of them may be members of this church here today. Having your name on the church roll certainly won't get you into Heaven. If a person were to come to you with a bargain, we're talking about gaining and losing here, suppose a person were to come to you and offer you this kind of a deal.
Suppose they were to say to you, "I have a deal for you. I will give you all of the wealth, all of the pleasure, all of the power, all of the fulfillment, all of the excitement, all of the luxury, anything your heart desires you may have, but there's one thing I would require. I would like the little finger off your right hand. Now if you'll give me your little finger I'll give you everything else. Would you take that deal"? I'm telling you there are millions who would. "Oh, a finger? I don't want to lose my finger, but you mean I can have everything else and all I have to do is just go without that finger. There it is, take it".
But now suppose he raised the ante a little bit. And he says, "No, that's not what the deal is. You've got to give me your hand". "My hand"? "Yes". "But I can have everything else, everything"? "Yes, but it cost your hand". "Take it". Some would. But then suppose he says, "But, no, it's your arm". Or suppose he says, "No, it's both arms". Or suppose he says, "No, it's your ability to talk, or maybe your eyes". How many of you would give your eyes for everything else the world has to offer? Say, "Now, wait a minute. How about your eyes, and your ears, and your hands"? You say, "You've got to be crazy. I mean, you think I'd give my eyes, my ears, my hands, just for this world. That's stupid".
And I would agree with you. But folks, I'm talking to people who are giving a whole lot more for a whole lot less. Are you listening? You are giving more than your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet, you're giving your soul! And you're gaining a whole lot less. You're not gaining this world. And if you did gain it, you couldn't keep it. I'm telling you that is an inexcusable loss. You don't need to die and go to Hell. Now how can you be saved? In this passage, Jesus speaks of conviction. He says in Mark 8 verses 34 and 35, "You must deny yourself". That means to say, "I am sick and tired of this old way". That speaks of repentance.
You say, "I am wrong. Not only that I've done wrong, I am wrong. I, Adrian, am wrong. I'm a sinner by birth, by nature, by practice, by choice. I choose against me". You say, "Nobody wants to choose against himself. Everybody wants to save his life". I know that. But Jesus said, "Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospels the same will save it". Keepers weepers - losers finders. You lose your life and you will find it in the Lord Jesus. There's conviction, and then there's conversion. "Take up your cross and follow Me." Matthew 16:24.
What does taking up your cross mean? It means that you die to the old way, when Jesus died for you, you died with Him. You embrace the cross. You believe that He died for your sins. You say, "Lord Jesus, Your blood is my atonement". Conviction, conversion, and then that last verse speak of confession. For Jesus says this, listen to Matthew 8 verse 38, "For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Word before this sinful and adulterous generation of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in the glory of the father with His holy angels". But Jesus said, "When somebody will confess Me before men, I'll confess them before My Father".
Wouldn't you like for Him to call your name in Heaven today? Wouldn't you like for Him to say, "She's Mine, He's Mine? They gave their heart to Me. They turned from their sin. They embraced the cross. They're not ashamed of Me. They confess Me and now Lord I confess them". You say, "Adrian, coming forward in the service, does that save me"? No. Trusting Jesus is what saves you.
But let me tell you a story. I heard this years ago about a revival crusade, and they were giving a public invitation and a little girl was in the back, a young teenager I suppose, and she was weeping under deep conviction of sin. A personal worker went back there to talk to her and said, "Won't you come forward and confess Christ as your personal Savior"? She said, "No, I can't go down there in front of all of those people. I can't do that. Can't I be saved back here"? The personal worker said, "No, if you want to be saved, you've got to come forward".
Now I know what you're thinking, but let me get finished. "If you want to be saved, you've got to come forward". She said, "I can't do it". The next night under deep conviction again, the same thing happened. Same song, second stanza. The worker went back said, "Young lady, won't you please come forward and confess Christ as your personal Savior and Lord". She said, "I just can't do that, not in front of all of these people. I can't do that. Can't I be saved back here"? He said, "No you cannot".
The third night, the same thing. He went back there, said, "Young lady, will you come forward and confess Christ as your personal Lord and Savior"? Do you know what she said? She said, "Yes, I will. Yes! I'll go anywhere, I'll do anything if I can be right with God". He said, "Now you don't need to come forward, you can be saved back here". Do you understand that? Do you understand what it's all about? Jesus is just simply saying, "If you are ashamed of Me, I'll be ashamed of you and the faith that will not lead to confession will not lead to Heaven".
You're not saved by walking an aisle. But when you are saved the Bible says, "When you believe on Jesus, you'll not be ashamed of Him". You're not going to slip into Heaven as a secret disciple. He hung naked on a cross for you and He is saying to you today, "What would it profit you if you gained this whole world and lost your soul"? It's absolutely, totally inexcusable. And you need to be saved today.
Would you bow your heads in prayer? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. If you're not certain that you're saved, would you like to be saved, would you? Would you like to know that you really do have life? Jesus said, "I've come that you might have life". Could I lead you in a prayer? We'll call this prayer the sinner's prayer. And you can pray and accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You can do it right now. Would you pray this prayer?
Dear God, I know that You love me. Thank You for loving me. And I know that You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me and You promised to save me if I would trust You. Jesus, I do trust You. I believe You're the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with Your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead. And now I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Come into my life. Take control of my life and begin today to make me the person You want me to be. And Jesus, give me the courage to make it public. Help me never to be ashamed of You. In Your name I pray, Amen.