PROFIT AND LOSS

MATTHEW 15:2

A. "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?
  1. Background to the words of our text:
    1. Peter's attempt to keep Jesus from paying the price of the cross of Calvary - Matt. 16:21-22
    2. Jesus, knowing the prompting of Peter, rebuked him - Matt. 16:23
  2. The price of discipleship:
    1. Received special emphasis by our Lord compare Matt. 16:24 with Mark 10:28-30
    2. An appeal is made to the human profit system B. PROFIT AND LOSS - "FOR WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED, IF HE SHALL GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL"
  3. Man's natural endeavor:
    1. Is geared to the profit system - compare James 4:13-14 with Luke 12:16-20
    2. To get gain of the material things of life seems to be his first and all consuming concern
    3. All of it is to gratify the human desires and the human ego
  4. But, our text points to infinitely higher values:
    1. Man's own soul - the life of being; the life of lasting achievement; the life that will continue in the world to come
    2. The life that includes fellowship with God - that is able to contemplate the value of eternal things
    3. The life that does not live unto itself but lives for others
    4. The life that will produce the greatest good
  5. That is truly the eternal factor:
    1. Which holds the balance of human endeavor
    2. It is the truth that decided the dedication of Moses - Heb. 11:24-26; Daniel - Dan. 1:8; the disciples of Christ - Mark 10:28-30; to choose the way of the cross; to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; it is the secret of their immortality C. A TIMELY LESSON
  6. To look at our modern profit and gain system realistically:
    1. Suppose we could get control of the whole world; all the money in the world, all the advantages wealth offers to the rich, all the honors the world has to offer - all the pleasures the world offers for us to enjoy
    2. At the expense of our health - our soul peace, our connection with God; our bringing true happiness to our fellow men, our having the hope of life eternal, of being fellow heirs of the world to come
  7. These are eternal truths:
    1. Based upon the opening text
    2. And this is the moment when we shall do well to ponder the words of our Lord
  8. It is much preferable for us:
    1. To live in want as far as the material things of life are concerned
    2. And to be rich in God; I would rather be poor Lazarus than the rich man - Luke 16:19-31
    3. I would rather be the poor widow - Mark 12:41-44 than to be Nabal - I Sam. 25
  9. There is no wrong in being blessed in store with the material things of this life:
    1. They are the gift of God - Abraham was blessed with them - I Chron. 1:11- 12; Eccl. 5:19
    2. They are to enrich the needy and the cause of God
  10. What we must weigh:
    1. The true value of life - my life - your life
    2. Do my accomplishments, my accumulations tend to forget God, to neglect, the nourishment of my soul - my spiritual nature
    3. If and when that is the case then we must make a change before we lose our soul - Examples: the rich farmer - Luke 12:16-20; the man of the parable that lived in luxury - Luke 16:19-31
    4. What is important for us is that we store up treasures where the thief cannot steal; where the rust or the moth cannot destroy - Matt. 6:19
    5. How significant are the words "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord...that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them" - Rev. 14:13


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