COUNTING THE COST

The gift of God is eternal life – but we must also take up the cross daily and finish the race.

It has been commonly said,

“If the living know what the dead know, the whole world would follow Jesus.”
and
“If we could talk to anyone in hell for even a minute, every one of them would say, ‘Give your life to Jesus Christ – do not wind up here.’”

What is the price of a soul? To God, we are priceless. He created us each and every one, to be with Him. When we failed in disobedience, He paid the highest price for anything, anytime, anywhere in all of history. He sacrificed His only Son so that our sin-debt could be made clean. He did not do it so we could continue in disobedience but that we could now be free from the bondage of sin and it’s awful costs, in the now and hereafter.
 
What is the price of a soul to the devil? Why are each one of us so important to him, to trip and even destroy us? It is because of his desire to be greater than God. His value of a person is not to help, but to destroy, and our destruction, yours, mine and everyone else’s, is success to him.
 
There is only one way to keep from going to hell because the price of sin is eternal death. These are the terms of the One who created us. And if we do not accept the offering of Jesus’ pardon and truly follow Him, then in reality, we are choosing to continue in disobedience and opting to pay the full price for our sins, which is hell, eternal separation from God. For those that choose it, there will be no light, peace or goodness, no joy or happiness, it will be total misery, pain, regret (according to what we did and deserve) and probably much worse than the human brain can comprehend in our current state.

• Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 
So what is the value of our souls to each of us? How many people are in hell for drinking the kool-aid (lies and tricks) of the devil? The Bible says that sin happens when we give a temptation time to tempt us. When we choose to consider the temptation, and keep considering it, the end result will be sin.
 
There is a certain kind of “spiritual discernment” that is a key factor in going to heaven or hell. We are blinded from this spiritual discernment when the carnal nature is in rule. This discernment could be called “godly wisdom” or “godly sense.” If we “willfully never choose Christ,” then we “never find godly wisdom or godly sense.” Once our hearts start to be ready to choose Christ, we start developing this type of discernment (recognizing right from wrong, truth from lies). And once we repent and come into the light, we become free from “the carnal nature and its lordship” and “godly wisdom and sense come into power.” In time, if the growth continues, we develop and grow in Christ and spiritual discernment. Sadly, not everyone who receives the Gospel, continues to grow in Christ. Only a percentage stay true to the Lord. And for the person who forfeits the Lord, he also forfeits wisdom. This type is a hot mess. For they once knew better but were blinded by the devil when he found their weak spot.
 
It is not enough to choose Christ one time. The Lord says we must take up our cross every day. And finish the course true to Him. If a person comes to the Lord but not wholeheartedly, it will be a matter of time until what they would not give up becomes a tripping point. When the Gospel is received and becomes alive in us, it brings about a spiritual turnaround. And what follows is a new and wonderful life in Christ, but living in a fallen world. The only way to make it to heaven is to wholeheartedly stay on course. When we fall, we must keep repenting and get back up, determined to keep the faith no matter what.
 
I recently caught up with an old friend that I considered to be a mighty person of the faith. And when I asked how they were doing, they told me that they could not get free from a seriously besetting sin. They want to be victorious, but they love the benefits of that sin. If this person keeps choosing that sin over the voice of the Holy Spirit, they will lose all discernment. Even now, they have rationalized that it is not that bad and believe they will get free from it someday. The devil found their weak-spot, which started as an unhealed trauma from when they were young. If they continue listening to the devil and forfeiting the Lord, they are in danger of hellfire. Our next breath is not promised, and neither is tomorrow.
 
How many believers start out well and fail? Some become experts at hiding it and others openly abandon the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

• Mark 4:18-19 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

 
The recipients spoken of by Jesus in this parable, hear and receive the seed of the Gospel, but they cannot grow to completion because their faith is choked out by “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the entering in of the desires for other things.” They start to grow but become “unfruitful.” The devil is an expert on human nature because our fallen nature comes from Adam and Eve, as they chose to listen to him, instead of the Lord. When it happened, their godly innocent nature was forfeited and the carnal nature entered humanity. Pride, greed, lust and all human weakness is in tandem with the characteristics of the devil. How many people forsake the Lord, for what is tempting? How many people in hell would tell us that “all that they were greedy for or lusted after,” was totally not worth it? Others might say that what they feared became their demise and that they should have feared the Lord more than any of the worries of this world.

• Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

 

• Luke 9:24-25 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”

 
So what else might people in hell tell us? There is no doubt that many would warn us about unforgiveness. Many of the people who believed they were going to heaven but refused to forgive others, as Jesus forgave them, found out that unforgiveness cost them eternal life. We cannot have a pardon from God for our wrongs and then refuse mercy to others.

• Matthew 6:12-15 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

 
If a person does not learn the Bible while growing in Christ, and realize that it is not a matter of how wronged we were or how big someone else’s sin was, it is a matter of, “if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” I believe there are many who called themselves Christians in hell right now that would tell us, “Forgive, just forgive, it is not worth it.”
 
When Jesus told the story of Lazarus and the rich man, it was a true story. Some want to believe it was a parable, but it was a story that Jesus told in teaching. It is found in Luke 16:19-31 and posted at the end of this message. There is so much that can be gleaned from it. The rich man was desperate for two things, first he wanted Lazarus to be sent with bit of water for his tongue as he said he was “tormented in the flame.” And the answer was that it was not possible. Secondly, he said, 'I beg you therefore, father (Abraham), that you would send him (resurrect Lazarus) to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'” The answer was also no, for if “they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
 
There is no doubt that hell is real and thanks to Jesus Christ, we do not have to go there. Accepting Jesus’ pardon and repenting from sin and its rule over us is what it means to become a Christian. Continuing to do so is continuing in the faith. In the end, it will not matter what we did right, if we finish wrong. This is evident by many verses in the New Testament and there is even a story found in Ezekiel, which is reflective of these thoughts.

• Ezekiel 18:21-24 "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live? "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

 
The most important thing is how we finish, not how we start. In Ezekiel’s day, Jesus had not come yet, and they were on the sacrificial system. Today we have grace, but we must finish our course staying faithful. There are no Bible verses saying that God lets people who finished unfaithful to enter into heaven.
 
In conclusion, what is the value of your soul to you, and mine to me? What do we want more, to follow Christ with all our hearts, or ignore God and let sin rule us? Our loved ones in heaven desperately want us to make it there and God wants us there too. And there is no doubt that the people we have known that are in hell now, truly wish they could warn us not to make the same mistakes they did. But the choice is up to us. And our choices not only affect us. As spouses, we can help each other grow in Christ, or allow the devil to use us making life harder and drive us away from God. As parents and grandparents, we influence the souls of our children and grandchildren for good or evil. As friends, coworkers, neighbors and more, our influence is extended to all those around us. So what is the value of their souls to us? By choosing Christ and staying faithful to Him, we bless and encourage others to do the same. But by choosing evil, we harm ourselves and further the kingdom of darkness. Let us live wisely in love and obedience to the Lord and faithfully finish our lives in good-standing with God.
 
 
 
 
 
Scripture reference in article:
Luke 16:19-31 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "
 
 
 
 
 

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