"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy the soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

In our world where fashions and customs continue to change, where new cars come from the salesroom with built-in obsolescence, where furniture and gadgets quickly go out of style, where children’s toys hardly last from one birthday or holiday to the next, and where more and more items become dispensable and disposable (with everything from paper wedding dresses to throwaway flashlights), less and less emphasis is placed upon quality, authenticity and durableness, and more and more significance is set upon discardableness, throwaway-ness, and cheapness.

We live in an age where great effort is made to make things as inexpensive, impermanent and short-lived as possible, with oftimes only a fake appearance of being attractive and usable - an appearance which all too often disappears and is gone.

Now the sad thing, the eternally sad thing about this discardableness is not primarily that our highways and roadsides are littered and unsightly, that our beaches and resort areas are checkered with styrofoam cups, plasticware and tin cans, nor that our closets and garages are cluttered and disorderly, or that our municipal dump heaps are burning with continual air and atmosphere pollution. These things are bad in themselves. However, the really sad thing is that people transfer this posture of temporalness, carelessness, and cheapness to their own souls, the one aspect about ourselves which God tells us is immortal and worth more than the whole world combined - more than billions in cash, bonds and real estate. "... the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) "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?" (Matthew 16:26)

Why is the soul so precious, so important, worth more than the whole world? There are several reasons. The first is because of the manner in which the soul came into being. In Genesis we are reminded that God put forth more effort in creating the life of humans than he did in creating all the rest of the universe. Whereas, by simply speaking his almighty word, God called the cosmos into being, the Scriptures are careful to inform us that God intimately involved himself in the creating of a soul. He didn’t simply say, "Let there be ...", but "The Lord God formed a man ... and breathed into (him) ... the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7) Man became a thinking, reasoning, striving, aspiring being, capable of fellowship with the almighty God. This is one reason why the soul is more valuable than all the vastness about us.

Another reason for the soul’s worth is it’s durability. Who of us would not prefer a Mercedes Benz with a twenty-year lifespan to an auto with only a twenty-four month guarantee or 20,000 miles? The cautious buyer in making a selection asks himself, "Will it last?"

Now, of the world, we know that it will not last. According to him who made the world (and surely he ought to know) "... the day will come ... in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10) But what about the soul? It will never be consumed. Our text states, "Fear not them which kill the body; but are not able to kill the soul." (Matthew 10:28 KJV) One cannot kill the soul. It cannot die. It will live on through the endless reaches of eternity.

Perhaps you have heard of the man known as Mr. Eternity who lived in Australia until his death in 1967. Early in life he was an alcoholic derelict who before reaching middle age was converted through a rescue mission and later himself became a street-corner evangelist, Shortly after his conversion, he heard a sermon entitled "Echoes of Eternity." He was so captivated by the importance of the word "eternity" that he began using his free time to spread the one-word message across Sidney. "Eternity went ringing through my brain. Even though I could scarcely write my own name, I felt the divine urge to write this word."

So, fifty times a day for over thirty years, he wrote "eternity" on the sidewalks of Sidney, usually in the early morning, with white chalk and with faultless script. When he passed away, the Sidney morning newspaper carried a story of this unusual man who had chalked "eternity" on the city streets over half a million times in that metropolis of significant population. The thought of eternity does impress upon us the seriousness with which we must regard our soul.

Yet another reason for the soul’s value is the price of its redemption. "Ye were bought with a price," says St. Peter. We needed to be bought, for we had sold ourselves - our souls. Our first parents, in whom all here are included, gave over their souls for a lustful look and a taste of forbidden fruit. You and I have done the same thing a thousand times over, bartering away our soul for a vengeful thought, a moment of sinful pleasure, a handful of clinking coins.

We didn’t know the value of a soul. But God knew it, and out of sheer grace he paid the price. What price? Silver and gold? The whole world? "No," says Peter, "... ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ...," (1 Peter 18, 19) "... Who for us men and for our salvation came down." (Nicene Creed)

Heaven emptied itself of its costliest treasure in order that it might ransom the souls of people that they might have eternal fellowship with God. You and I will never, in this life, fully fathom the price paid for our redemption: God leaving his throne, God in a manger, God suffering, God on a cross, God shedding his blood, the price of a soul!

We now must come to the inevitable question, "What does the great value of a soul demand of us?" What obligation would you feel if God had deeded this entire globe over to you? Yet one soul is worth more than this whole materialistic world! What does this great value demand of us?

For one thing, it certainly demands that each of us give every possible consideration to the welfare of our own soul. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26) It demands that we care for our souls just as earnestly as we do our bodies. We eat three square meals a day (sometimes even between meals) to provide our temporal bodies with sufficient nourishment. Well, what about our soul? Is it well-fed or do we skip opportunities to worship and attend Sunday Bible classes and opportunities for family devotions and daily Bible reading? We rest six to eight hours at night to rejuvenate our bodies which last only seventy or eighty years. Do we do the same with our souls? Do we withdraw from the noise and din of the world to meditate and pray and unload all our burdens upon the Lord? Do we do this daily? To skip these things is just as serious as skipping the physical counterparts. In fact, there are probably more dying "spiritually" in our world from poor habits of the soul than "physically" from malnutrition, exposure or poor bodily hygiene. We are told that 8,000 to 10,000 die daily of physical hunger in our world, but 100,000 to 120,000 die spiritually each day. If not one sparrow falls to the ground without our heavenly Father’s will, how much greater is his concern for members of the human family. As Jesus states, "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." (10:31)

Besides impelling us to care more for our souls, the other great thing which the value of the soul demands of us is the concern we should have for getting spiritual nourishment to other souls just as precious as our own. Jesus urges us to acknowledge him before others. (10:32)

Of course, there will always be enough excuses for not doing this. Most will sound plausible to our ears. We may even be happy in our clever ability to keep ourselves so busy doing the little perishable things such as keeping social engagements where the name of Christ is never mentioned, taking friends of friends on Sunday morning outings, showing them every beach, zoo, park, and flower garden, but shuddering to share with them the one thing of eternal consequence in the entire visit. How tragic to neglect sharing concern for their future, their real existence unendingly in the realm to come.

The aim of our text is to cut through all of this hesitance, procrastination, and lethargy and to help us put our entire set of earthly priorities in proper alignment. It is to help us realize that so much of what we set our hearts and hopes upon is actually only dross. It is to help us establish once and for all that, "... the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

This is quite an undertaking for our age which is so concerned with the physical, the material, the sensual and the hedonistic; but with God "... nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20) God has broken into many a secular and short-sighted life before, and he can do so again - also in your life! He can do this for everyone who truly wants to have that treasure which moths and rust do not consume and where thieves cannot break into and steal. He desires for us the treasure of eternal life in heaven, a treasure with blessings already in this life from him who has promised, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on Thee." (Isaiah 26:3)

This encouragement should impel us to draw daily upon God’s word by diligently studying it’s gospel promises, to pray regularly in the name of Jesus in thankfulness for all blessings, to faithfully confess all sins known and unknown and to rededicate ourselves daily to the purposes of his kingdom and in so doing nourish our souls unto life everlasting. May it be true of us:

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:16,17). Amen.