Sermon Title: The Soul is Precious (Game Over)

Sermon Text: Psalm 49:1-2, 6-8

Preached on: July 29, 2011 (Midway Baptist)
Rob Fleshman

What happens if we win? Lose? We do things around like we do for a reason. We go all out at
VBS time, and have lots of fun while doing it, but there is much more going on than just fun and
games. Ps 49:1-2, 6-8--1 Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: 2 Both
low and high, rich and poor, together.6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in
the multitude of their riches; 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to
God a ransom for him: 8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

The stakes are high. Let me explainIf I were to ask you tonight what is your most precious
possession, some would answer family; finances; healthetc. But here is something much more
precious than any other possession - your own soul. There is more to us than meets the eye. We
are a Trinity of a being, made up of three parts. You are a body, you are a soul, and you are a
spirit. 1 Thess 5:23--And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
when God looks at you and me, He sees souls! He sees the human race as SOULS, not bodies.
And the Lord Jesus Christ says that the soul is infinite in value. Matt 16:26--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? Jesus says your soul is worth more than this whole wide world. The US
national debt currently stands at some $14 trillion dollars and yet not even THAT amount of
money could make a dent in the value of a soul! All the oceans, all the mountains, all the
continents, all the silver, all the gold, all the rubies, all the diamonds, all the stocks, all the bonds,
all of the resources put together - all of it ... is not worth one single solitary soul!

I My Soul is in DEMAND (v8a)

For the redemption of their soul is preciousOn a practical level, we know by experience that
one of the key things that makes something so value is how rare it is. You say, "There are many
souls." Yes, but God never makes duplicates. YOUR soul is uniqueone of a kindthe only
one like it. Illustration: Slave Auction at FFA. If no one wants something, then its not worth
anything at all. But if there are two bidders who are willing to give anything for itlook out!
There are two bidders for the soul of every man, woman, and child in this service tonight.
God and the devil. Both bidders want your soul, but only one bidder cares anything about you.
Matthew 9:36-38--36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on
them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then
saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye
therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Luke 19:10-
- For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.[soul]. Jesus Christ left His
rightful home in Heaven, with all of its splendor and glory, to come to this earth, and to die a
cruel death on the cross, just so that He might save your lost soul.Id say thats demand!

II My soul has a DESTINY (v8b)

and it ceaseth for ever:) Your and my soul has a destiny, and will live somewhere forever
A passage of scripture describes Jesus looking out over the city of Jerusalem, and all of the
people coming and going and carrying on about their day; Jesus is looking at this and weeping,
and crying out, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem Do you know why Jesus wept when He saw the
multitudes? Because He knew their endHe knew the destiny for every LOST soul.
Illust: Jan 12, 2010, an earthquake shook the island of Haiti, killing an estimated 200,000 plus
people. What if knowing the coming destruction, you were allowed to be in Haiti the days
BEFORE Jan 12th! You would be warning people through tears of the coming destruction, and
begging people to find refuge. You would weep knowing their destiny, their future. And thats
our philosophy behind preaching here at Midway Baptist, I preach once, not sure as to ever
preach again. As a dying man, to dying men. App: And so it was with Jesus..He knew that
destiny is the place the Bible refers to as hell. Lk 16:22-26--22 And it came to pass, that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and
was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and
Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in
this flame.

Illus: In 1997 Chinese firefighters succeeded in putting out a 400 year old fire. The fire in the
Baiyanghe coalfield started in 1560. The fire consumed over 127 million tons of coal before it
was extinguished. 400 years is a long time, but it is nothing in view of eternity. App: The fires
of Hell will never end or be put out, and for over 2000 years that poor, tormented soul has been
crying for one, solitary drop of water to cool his tongue. And as awful as that is, it is only the
beginning. Throughout all eternity he will be crying for that drop of water, and he hasnt got it
yet, nor will he ever. The tortures of Hell are terrible enough if they were for only one day. And
if they lasted a thousand years, then the human mind could never comprehend the torture and
awfulness of Hell. But its not for a day, or a year, or 1000 years, but the LOST SOUL will be
tortured for eternity!

To make matters worse, Luke 16:26--And beside all this, between us and you there is a great
gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us,
that would come from thence. When a lost man or woman loses their soul and wakes up in hell,
the first thing they discover is their destiny is irreversible. Can you imagine in your mind the
shock? On earth, in this lifetime, most things can be reversed, a second chance to right the
wrong, a mulligan if you will; but when we step out into eternity this is not the case. In eternity
things are forever fixed. There is a great gulf that is fixed so your destination is irreversible.

Illus: EenieMeenie.Miney. We aint gonna have no mo! Sometime we have a bad

day, or a bad week, perhaps even a bad month, where things dont go our way, and we get
discouraged and start feeling sorry for ourselves, and how BAD we have it, and how GOOD
other people around us have it. Oh, but this rich man in hell, what would he give to sit here as
we sit tonight, and hear the saving gospel message just one more time, and have the opportunity
to respond to the invitation just one more time. Just one more time. The GAME IS OVER FOR
HIM, but if it were only possible, he would give anything to be in your shoes tonight and have
one more opportunity to say yes to Jesus. One more chance to lay hold on eternal life. One
more chance to cry out to God, NOT for a drop of water, but to cry out to God for the
redemption of His soul.
III My Soul Can Be DELIVERED (v7, 15)
Psalms 49:7, 15--7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him: 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive
me. You cant redeem the soul of another, much less your own soul. The devil, who is
described in the Bible as the god of this world, cant redeem your soul, but he does work to
condemn it, and is offering in exchange for your soul all the temporary trappings of this world,
and the pleasures of sin for a season. But God can redeem your soul, and He has chosen to do so
by sending the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in your place on the cross. 1 Pe 1:18-19--Forasmuch as
ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Isaiah 53:5-6--5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.