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Adult Bible Class December 4, 2022
THE VALUE OF A SOUL
THE VALUE OF A SOUL
1. Introduction to class and outline of subjects to be covered
2. Phil Sanders words. They say minor surgery is when it happens to someone else, and major surgery is when it happens to you. Someone else’s soul may not seem very valuable to you, but your soul is the most valuable thing you possess.
3. Bob Danklefsen did a campaign in the 1980’s at Gardner Street. He was with the “we care ministries” at Whites Ferry Road Church in West Monroe, La. As I recall Dean Meyers was baptized at that time. Bob’s question was “What if the Lord were to come right now? Would you know for sure, nothing doubting, that you would go to Heaven? Mark 8: 36-37 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what a man give in exchange for his soul?
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
4. Comments about younger years, two experiences in plant when life could have ended. Wasn’t really thinking about destiny, but now it is common as many of my friends and work associates have passed, and I know they were not Christians.
5. 1 Peter 1: 18-19
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
6. In 1 Peter 1:7-10 the apostle informs Christians that the faith they have in Christ is much more precious than gold that perishes, and it will bring them praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, “whom having not seen you love. Though you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” The salvation of our souls is the end and ai of God’s divine revelation in the Bible.
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
7. WHAT IS THE SOUL? Genesis 2:7 God breathed into the nostrils of man and he became a living soul.
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
8. Jesus made this astounding statement about the soul. Matt. 10:28
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEKN THE SOUL AND THE SPIRIT OF MAN?
9. The word “spirit” is a specific term and designates that part of us which is not susceptible of death and which survives the dissolution of the body. Acts 7:59. It is infused in us directly from God and is not a product of human generation. Hebrews 12:9
59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
10. Soul is a generic word and its meaning must be determined, in any given instance, from the context in which it appears.
It is a synonym for person. Acts 2:41, 1 Peter 3:20
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
1 Cor. 2:14 The natural man is the unspiritual man, who judges everything by what he know; therefore, he rejects the things of the Spirit of God. Because he does not possess the Holy Spirit, he is not equipped to receive appreciatively truth that comes from the Spirit.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Acts 2:27 It is a synonym for the never-dying spirit. Here the soul signifies the immortal nature; that entity of the Lord which was not to undergo death.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
11. The value of a soul lies at the heart of Christian discipleship. Jesus Christ, our Savior, was sent to a sin sick and dying world by a benevolent God to seek and to save that which was lost”. Luke 19:10.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
12. The Lord’s mission was transferred prior to his ascension first to the apostles (Matthew 28: 18-20) and then to others (2 Timothy 2:2). The apostles were charged to make disciples of all nations. (Matt: 18:19).
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
13. As followers of Christ we have this responsibility passed on to us as contemporary disciples.
GOD CARES FOR THE SOULS OF MEN
GOD CARES FOR THE SOULS OF MEN
14. God devised a scheme of redemption for mankind even before man was created. (1 Peter 1:18-20, Titus 1: 1-3)
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;
15. God further demonstrated his love for mortal souls by preparing mankind for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus Christ brought the Gospel to earth from heaven personally. (John 1:17).
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
16. At a divinely appointed time the Savior came to earth to reveal the “mystery” of the Gospel. (Col 1:26).
26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
17. God exhibited his supreme love for souls by sending his only begotten son to earth to die for a sin laden, unworthy world. (John 3:16, 1John 4 9-10, Romans 8:32).
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
JESUS CHRIST ALSO CARES FOR MEN’S SOULS
JESUS CHRIST ALSO CARES FOR MEN’S SOULS
18. John 4:34; 6:38 Christ love for souls is clear as he willingly fulfilled the mind of the Father and came to earth and shed his blood on the cross.
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
19. 1 Peter 4:1,2; Philippians 2:5 Every disciple should endeavor to possess the will or mind of Christ.
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
20. Luke 19: 41-42 Jesus grieved over lost souls in Jerusalem which would not respond to the Gospel.
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
21. Matt 18: 18-20 The Great Commission shows divine care for man’s most valuable possession—his soul, and represents the transferal of Christ’s mission to save souls to earthen vessels.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
EVERY CHILD OF GOD WHO INHERITS THE BLESSINGS INHERENT IN THE GOSPEL ALSO INHERITS THE GREAT COMMISSION GIVEN BY THE LORD, FIRST RECEIVED BY THE APOSTLES, AND LASTLY GIVEN TO EACH SUCCESSIVE GENERATION OF FAITHFUL DISCIPLES. Emphasis –faithful.