The Paradoxity Of Gain
God or Gain
Introduction
In Mark 8:36 it says “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Gain appears 29 times in scripture, 13 times in the Old Testament and 16 times in the New. According to Merriam – Webster’s dictionary gain means “resource or advantage acquired or increased, an increase in amount.” Gain is term used commonly in our day and age, people who have big business, even those who work for others. Gain is a business term. The writer of the gospels in the book of mark, was trying to let us know that it would be worthless, or will not profit anything if the gainer, gains everything but he/she is lost. Two verses earlier, Jesus told the people that “whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” He then continues and say “for whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.”
The Paradoxity of Sin …show more content…
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary a paradox is a self-contradictory statement, which at first seems true.
Sin is a paradox. It may look like fun, sound like fun but it is not fun. In Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” There are so many people that have fallen into sin, not because of how gruesome it looked but because of how attractive it seemed to look. I am a personal example of falling into sin because of it ‘so-called’ attractiveness. In Romans 6:23, it clearly shows us that though sin may be attractive, its payment is death. The road of sin is a road that ends in
death.
The Pain of Gain As we read earlier on in Romans 6:23 that the wages or payment of sin is death, the payment of gain is pain. Let me make a disclaimer, I am not saying that working and making money, or aspiring to be someone in life is wrong, but when your aim is just to gain, then all you are going to reap will be pain. Let’s look at some people that only focused on ‘gains’ in the Bible. Firstly lets look at the rich man in Luke.
Luke 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luke 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luke 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
This man had everything someone might desire. He was a rich man the Bible said. He was very successful, he had so much goods that, he had to build, a brand new barn to store all his goods. Because the one he had was too small. All he thought about was his goods. He had no room in his heart for God, because it was already full of himself. In verse 19 he said “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” the bible called him a fool in the next verse. God himself called him a fool. This man thought he had everything he needed, but he was worng, he had everything he wanted but not everything he need, for you see he needed God, but he did not have him, he had gain but not God. And look at what his end was. It all ended in pain for this man, all what he had worked for, the Bible said will be given over to someone else. I believed as he looked from hell, he saw all his goods with somebody else, everything he thought was gonna make him happy in the hands of someone else. He then realized how stupid it was for him to have all that gain without having the God who made him. Lets look at someone in the old testament. Samson is another example. A lot of us might wonder, what does Samson have to do with gain; oh, but he does have something to do with it. Samson may not have owed a fleet of cars, or massive houses, but he had something no one else had, that was divine strength. He was the strongest man that ever lived. I don't know what its like to be the strongest person alive, but I think it does feel good. I imagine every young woman's dream was to marry this young, robust, man. No woman wants to marry a man that can't protect her. So I am sure they all had Samson as their dream man. He had something no one else had. He had gain, but not only that, he had God. He had everything he wanted or rather everything he needed. A lot of people who have goods, or who are increase in substance, are not always godless. Some of them know God. The bible did not say money is the root of all evil, it says the Love of Money is the root of all evil. Its that love of money, gain, dress, power, etc.. that causes pain. Samson wasn't satisfied with everything he had, the love for the world, was in him. He was so strong he could defeat any amount of philistines by himself, or carry the temple gates, but he could not fight the love for the world. That one only God could deal with. In verse one of Judges 14, the bible said Samson went down to Timnath. His love for the world was so strong, it took him by the hand and led him to sin. After that, we start seeing the downfall of this great man. He eventually, lost his strength, and was taken captives by his enemies. The man who was once so strong that he slayed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Now because of his love for the world, he lost everything. He now grinded at the mill of his enemies, he could not reminisce and see where his actions had led him, what pain the love of the things of this world has caused him. Some people might say Samson's story was a success story, in some ways thats true, but God's plan for him was not to die with his enemies. Even though he killed more people at his death than he did during his lifetime, he still suffered some consequences, he died with his enemies. Samson was the strongest man that ever lived, yet he could not win in one on one match against sin. He placed Gain before God, and he lost the glory. Another example form the Old Testament is wise king Solomon. Solomon was the wisest man that lived. We all ask ourselves the question, how can someone be so wise yet so foolish? Solomon definitely started out in the fear of God. He loved God, it was because of his love for God that he was granted wisdom, after he asked God for it. He had no love for gain at first. Seldomly, today we ask God for things that will benefit others. Most of the time its something that will benefit ourselves, but Solomon asked for wisdom, wisdom to rule his people in the fear of God. If you ask me I’ll say thats a really good start. The bible said God gave him wisdom and he also gave him riches, even though he did not ask for it. Solomon was a good king, we will almost said he did it, but the bible said in 1stKi 11:4 “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”As Solomon got old, even though he was the wisest man, he let himself get carried away. Through the influence of his pagan wives, he turned away from God. He had everything he wanted, he had over 700 women. He had riches in abundance but looked at all that and said in Ecclesiastes 2:21-26
Ecc 2:21 For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Ecc 2:22 For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun?
Ecc 2:23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Ecc 2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?
Ecc 2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. If you notice, there is a word that is almost in every verse, and that word is 'labor'. At the end Solomon called all our labors vanity and vexation of spirit. If the wisest man tells us that I think we better adhere to it. He had everything he wanted yet he said all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Amazingly, this wise man gave us some wise advice, in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” I think when we think about just fulfilling our own desires, we should comeback to this scripture. The pain that came with all of Solomon substance was unbearable. His wives turned his heart away from God, and the kingdom was divided. He had a good intention at first. When he started marrying other women, he did it to affirm peace with other nations, but eventually it ended up in utter destruction. Usually People dont start acumulating wealth or running after it for the wrong reason, they usually have a valid reason, but as time goes on, the devil start exalting that wealth in their eyes, and it gets a hold of their heart, they fall in love with it, and the bible said that's the root of all evil. It's like opening the door and letting evil in. when evil comes in the wages is regret, guilt and sometimes ultimately death. It was because of Solomon mistake that latter on down the years Israel winded up in captivity. We've gotta watch materialism. Its pretty enticing at first. You've got to realize that your love God cannot suppress you love for the world. Its either all for God, or all for the devil, there is no middle grown. That is why John in 1st John 2:15-17 said “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” John did not say love half of the world, but he said love Not the world. That means not even an inch of love for this world. You know why he said love not, because the owner of this world is the devil. So when you love the world, in actual fact, you are loving the devil. I don’t think anyone in their right mind, wants to fall in love with the devil. Sad to say, a lot of people do that everyday, they are so engulfed in the affairs of this world, not knowing that really they are actually just participating in the acts of the devil. Nothing is free folks, everything comes with a price, even riches, some might say my hard work is the price, but when u fall in love with it, there is grievous consequences we pay. The pain you suffer, is more than one can imagine. A lot of times the saddest part about is that, it usually affects those around us. So if we sow a seed of selfishness, greed, love of materialism etc. we will reap pain. We have looked at people whom gain had a hold of them. Now let's look at people who had gain, but were not in love with. Our first example is Job. In Job 1:1-3 we get a brief description of what kind of man he was. Job 1:1-3 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” I thought that was an excellent description, he was great in substance but he was one that feared God and eschewed evil. Out of all the other examples we discussed, this was the only one that was mentioned, as one that feared God. Don't get me wrong, some of these other examples love God I agree, but Job's description was superb. Back in Ecclesiastes Solomon told us what the conclusion of the matter was, and it was to FEAR GOD... I thinks its amazing to find that this was given as a description of Job. One that feared God. That was why even though he was abundantly blessed with goods, it did not destroy his relationship with God. If we read the book of Job we can see that satan tries to tell God that it was because Job had all this material stuff that's why Job loved God. One thing that stands out in this episode between God and satan was how God became Job defendant. Its one thing for the best lawyer in the state to defend you in a case, but oh its a whole new thing for God himself to defends you. That was a big proof right there, that Satan is not all knowing, because all his accusations against Job were false. Everything he said was based on assumption and presumption, but God who is all knowing knew Jobs heart, and so he could comfortably defend Job. We should be encouraged that the devil does not know, anything about us, he can only know if we tell him. God even went as far as to saying, that there was none like him, He said he was perfect and upright. Whether we admit it or not, Job had an awesome testimony. If satan was to make an accusation against us, will God be able to defend us like He did Job, or will he have to say; I think you are right for once Satan, they are serving me because of what I am providing them with. We see from verse 13 onward, Job faced one of the most amount of troubles mentioned in the Bible. In one day he lost all his children. He lost his cattle, all his riches we gone in just a little time. His own wife told him to curse God and die. His friends made a wrong assumption of him. Because of the way the saw how he went through so much trials. Amidst all that, Job could say Job 19:25 “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” It takes someone with a real love for God to say something like that, after you have lost everything you had. We clearly see that Job's love was not in his wealth, in as much as he loved his family it was not in his family. He acknowledge this in Job 1:21 “And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I hope all of us can have the love that Job had for God, when it didn't matter if he lost all his riches or not, he was not going to be shaken in his faith in God. I am pretty sure if any of us would have lost as much as Job did, we would have given up on God. Let us learn from the righteous man Job. He was one of the richest man in his day. He had riches, but riches did not have him. What has your heart? Anything apart from God will not last. At the end all it will bring is pain. Are we living just to make money, get a fancy house, a really nice car, a bulky bank account? Don't get me wrong all these things are good, but a life without Christ is miserable. Lets look back at my text. In Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” I like what the song writer said, I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords to give.
The Gain of Goods Judges 5:19 “The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.” Money in this verse implies goods. Back in the days, when a king or ruler would capture a city, they would strip the city of all its riches, but in this case, they only came to fight, they did not desire to gain the goods of the land. Today the only reason we do what we do, go where we go and act how we act is to gain the goods of men. In fact, even preachers nowadays preach certain messages, just to get a good offering. Certain evangelists or TV preachers tell people just to send in their money and they will receive healing or blessing etc. They have changed the real meaning of the Gospel, now it’s no more about God but Gain. Interestingly enough, even the holiness preachers and teachers are drifting that way. God help us! We may ask ourselves why would preachers want to jeopardize the souls of men and women just for few thousand dollars. There are various reasons for that. Firstly they have no true love for God. The love of God will move us to do things we in our own-selves will not want to do. In 2nd Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ constraineth us;” God did not send his son down to earth to die for man's sin because he wanted to, but it was love that moved him. In the well known scripture in John 3:16 the Bible said “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Great love hath no man than this. If we look through the bible everything thing God did was moved by love. Its because God loves us, thats why he has to punish Sin. Lets look at some characteristics of Love. First love covers sin. 1st Peter 4:8 “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” Charity in this verse is referring to love. The bible is not saying that love will hide sin, because if you love someone you would like to see them living an upright life, but love covers the room for sin. You can also look at it this way, when you love someone, if they had done some wicked sins in their past, you will not seek to bring things up, but you will leave things buried and try to keep things buried. The past is the past, not a leverage or a bargaining chip. Sad to say, a lot of Christians are still living in the past. And most of the time, its the past of someone else's life. If God has forgiven them who are we to try to bring it all up back again in their face. In Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” If God who is all-knowing, says He will not remember, then I suggest we do the same. That's one big aspect that God demonstrates his love. How do we demonstrate our love for God and others? Another character of love is, love crucifies the flesh. Crucifying the flesh does not mean physically laying my body down on a cross and going through the crucifixion process. Its a process where you lay aside your desires and ambitions for God's desires. In Romans 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”Paul in this book is trying to tell us that, just as Jesus died on that cross, so must we also crucify and lay down the old man on an altar. The old man is not some scrawny, weak old feeble man, on the contrary its pretty strong, and sometimes it gets the best of us. Its that part of us that wars against us constantly. The part of us that wants to rejects the truth of God's word and tries to live by how we feel. Paul is encouraging us to put this man to death. The secret weapon to defeat this strong man is Love. A love for God. If we look further down the epistles Paul writes Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” This is an amazing verse, it was my favorite scripture for a while, it still is. But we see Paul clearly follows up that Crucifixion process he was talking about in Romans. This time he says I am crucified with Christ. According to my own English, to be with someone, means that there are two people and they are together. So Paul is saying, Just as Christ was moved by love and died for us, so also he is dying to self because of the love of Christ. If we look towards the end of the verse, it say who 'loved me'. It was like a give back experience for Paul. Even though Paul could not really pay the full price for redemption, he willingly give his 100% love to God, as God had done for him. In all this the main factor is love. A one hundred percent love devoted to something or someone has no room for self. What do you love? Some of us buy gold and silver, because we are afraid that the economy is going to crash and so we store up goods, hoping that we'll have plenty when the time comes. I believe in one thing, If I seek his kingdom first, all my needs not wants, will be provided. Another characteristic of love is it cries. You don't hear about this more often. Maybe we need to hear about the tears of love more often in our services. Weep is mentioned 49 times in the Bible, tears – 36 times, cry – 181 times. This just shows how tears are important. To cry shows a sign of humility and desperation. In our churches today, people have lost their tears. That a sure way, to know that they are not longer in love with God. The shortest verse in the bible, shows the master weeping. John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” If we look through the gospels, almost every-time he did a miracle, the bible said he was moved with compassion. My definition is crying is compassion in a visible form. Now don't get me wrong I know people can work up some tears and act like they really are feeling it, but it will show up eventually. When was the last time you prayed for some stranger and because of the love for their soul you wept. In the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus prayed, [Luke 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.] it was not that he was praying so he would not have to go to the cross, but that agony he felt, was because of the love for our souls, he loved us so much, he could feel the pain that sin had done to us. As he prayed, he cried and prayed for our souls. How do you pray for others? Do you ask God to bless them, or do you have such a love for their souls, that you identify with every part of them and you weep for their souls. Were is the tears for souls? I think we've left it at the altar. We have fallen out of love with God, so we do not have the passion we once had. The situation may seem hopeless, but all is not lost, in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 the bible says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” We need to get back to that altar and ask God for that love that made us weep for lost souls, the love that was willing to give up the gains of this world for the gain of one soul.
The Gain of Goodly apparel Zephaniah 1:8 “And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.” If you have not done this lately, take a glance at the world around you, all you’ll see is fashion on the rise. Today, young, old middle aged, everyone wants to keep up with the change in clothing even Christians. There is a lot of people who all they are interested in is, to wear the best clothes, have the nicest shoes etc. God does not want us to worry about things like that, if you have clothes to wear, be content. You don’t have to wear the best dress or the best suit. In Matthew 6:30 “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Let us put our trust in God, he has all what we need.
Gain of the Globe Matthew 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?” The whole world here indicates, the Global society. The writer ask us a real vital question. What shall it profit a man? Man in this context means both male and female. Have we ever ask ourselves, what do we live for? I am sure there will be multiple answers to it. Do we live for ourselves, do we live for others, or do we live for God? If we look at society today, 70% of people live for themselves. Very few people think of others, when they do something, it’s a world me, self-centeredness. e.g.
Introduction
In Mark 8:36 it says “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Gain appears 29 times in scripture, 13 times in the Old Testament and 16 times in the New. According to Merriam – Webster’s dictionary gain means “resource or advantage acquired or increased, an increase in amount.” Gain is term used commonly in our day and age, people who have big business, even those who work for others. Gain is a business term. The writer of the gospels in the book of mark, was trying to let us know that it would be worthless, or will not profit anything if the gainer, gains everything but he/she is lost. Two verses earlier, Jesus told the people that “whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” He then continues and say “for whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.”
The Paradoxity of Sin …show more content…
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary a paradox is a self-contradictory statement, which at first seems true.
Sin is a paradox. It may look like fun, sound like fun but it is not fun. In Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” There are so many people that have fallen into sin, not because of how gruesome it looked but because of how attractive it seemed to look. I am a personal example of falling into sin because of it ‘so-called’ attractiveness. In Romans 6:23, it clearly shows us that though sin may be attractive, its payment is death. The road of sin is a road that ends in
death.
The Pain of Gain As we read earlier on in Romans 6:23 that the wages or payment of sin is death, the payment of gain is pain. Let me make a disclaimer, I am not saying that working and making money, or aspiring to be someone in life is wrong, but when your aim is just to gain, then all you are going to reap will be pain. Let’s look at some people that only focused on ‘gains’ in the Bible. Firstly lets look at the rich man in Luke.
Luke 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luke 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luke 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
This man had everything someone might desire. He was a rich man the Bible said. He was very successful, he had so much goods that, he had to build, a brand new barn to store all his goods. Because the one he had was too small. All he thought about was his goods. He had no room in his heart for God, because it was already full of himself. In verse 19 he said “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” the bible called him a fool in the next verse. God himself called him a fool. This man thought he had everything he needed, but he was worng, he had everything he wanted but not everything he need, for you see he needed God, but he did not have him, he had gain but not God. And look at what his end was. It all ended in pain for this man, all what he had worked for, the Bible said will be given over to someone else. I believed as he looked from hell, he saw all his goods with somebody else, everything he thought was gonna make him happy in the hands of someone else. He then realized how stupid it was for him to have all that gain without having the God who made him. Lets look at someone in the old testament. Samson is another example. A lot of us might wonder, what does Samson have to do with gain; oh, but he does have something to do with it. Samson may not have owed a fleet of cars, or massive houses, but he had something no one else had, that was divine strength. He was the strongest man that ever lived. I don't know what its like to be the strongest person alive, but I think it does feel good. I imagine every young woman's dream was to marry this young, robust, man. No woman wants to marry a man that can't protect her. So I am sure they all had Samson as their dream man. He had something no one else had. He had gain, but not only that, he had God. He had everything he wanted or rather everything he needed. A lot of people who have goods, or who are increase in substance, are not always godless. Some of them know God. The bible did not say money is the root of all evil, it says the Love of Money is the root of all evil. Its that love of money, gain, dress, power, etc.. that causes pain. Samson wasn't satisfied with everything he had, the love for the world, was in him. He was so strong he could defeat any amount of philistines by himself, or carry the temple gates, but he could not fight the love for the world. That one only God could deal with. In verse one of Judges 14, the bible said Samson went down to Timnath. His love for the world was so strong, it took him by the hand and led him to sin. After that, we start seeing the downfall of this great man. He eventually, lost his strength, and was taken captives by his enemies. The man who was once so strong that he slayed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Now because of his love for the world, he lost everything. He now grinded at the mill of his enemies, he could not reminisce and see where his actions had led him, what pain the love of the things of this world has caused him. Some people might say Samson's story was a success story, in some ways thats true, but God's plan for him was not to die with his enemies. Even though he killed more people at his death than he did during his lifetime, he still suffered some consequences, he died with his enemies. Samson was the strongest man that ever lived, yet he could not win in one on one match against sin. He placed Gain before God, and he lost the glory. Another example form the Old Testament is wise king Solomon. Solomon was the wisest man that lived. We all ask ourselves the question, how can someone be so wise yet so foolish? Solomon definitely started out in the fear of God. He loved God, it was because of his love for God that he was granted wisdom, after he asked God for it. He had no love for gain at first. Seldomly, today we ask God for things that will benefit others. Most of the time its something that will benefit ourselves, but Solomon asked for wisdom, wisdom to rule his people in the fear of God. If you ask me I’ll say thats a really good start. The bible said God gave him wisdom and he also gave him riches, even though he did not ask for it. Solomon was a good king, we will almost said he did it, but the bible said in 1stKi 11:4 “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”As Solomon got old, even though he was the wisest man, he let himself get carried away. Through the influence of his pagan wives, he turned away from God. He had everything he wanted, he had over 700 women. He had riches in abundance but looked at all that and said in Ecclesiastes 2:21-26
Ecc 2:21 For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Ecc 2:22 For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun?
Ecc 2:23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Ecc 2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?
Ecc 2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. If you notice, there is a word that is almost in every verse, and that word is 'labor'. At the end Solomon called all our labors vanity and vexation of spirit. If the wisest man tells us that I think we better adhere to it. He had everything he wanted yet he said all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Amazingly, this wise man gave us some wise advice, in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” I think when we think about just fulfilling our own desires, we should comeback to this scripture. The pain that came with all of Solomon substance was unbearable. His wives turned his heart away from God, and the kingdom was divided. He had a good intention at first. When he started marrying other women, he did it to affirm peace with other nations, but eventually it ended up in utter destruction. Usually People dont start acumulating wealth or running after it for the wrong reason, they usually have a valid reason, but as time goes on, the devil start exalting that wealth in their eyes, and it gets a hold of their heart, they fall in love with it, and the bible said that's the root of all evil. It's like opening the door and letting evil in. when evil comes in the wages is regret, guilt and sometimes ultimately death. It was because of Solomon mistake that latter on down the years Israel winded up in captivity. We've gotta watch materialism. Its pretty enticing at first. You've got to realize that your love God cannot suppress you love for the world. Its either all for God, or all for the devil, there is no middle grown. That is why John in 1st John 2:15-17 said “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” John did not say love half of the world, but he said love Not the world. That means not even an inch of love for this world. You know why he said love not, because the owner of this world is the devil. So when you love the world, in actual fact, you are loving the devil. I don’t think anyone in their right mind, wants to fall in love with the devil. Sad to say, a lot of people do that everyday, they are so engulfed in the affairs of this world, not knowing that really they are actually just participating in the acts of the devil. Nothing is free folks, everything comes with a price, even riches, some might say my hard work is the price, but when u fall in love with it, there is grievous consequences we pay. The pain you suffer, is more than one can imagine. A lot of times the saddest part about is that, it usually affects those around us. So if we sow a seed of selfishness, greed, love of materialism etc. we will reap pain. We have looked at people whom gain had a hold of them. Now let's look at people who had gain, but were not in love with. Our first example is Job. In Job 1:1-3 we get a brief description of what kind of man he was. Job 1:1-3 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” I thought that was an excellent description, he was great in substance but he was one that feared God and eschewed evil. Out of all the other examples we discussed, this was the only one that was mentioned, as one that feared God. Don't get me wrong, some of these other examples love God I agree, but Job's description was superb. Back in Ecclesiastes Solomon told us what the conclusion of the matter was, and it was to FEAR GOD... I thinks its amazing to find that this was given as a description of Job. One that feared God. That was why even though he was abundantly blessed with goods, it did not destroy his relationship with God. If we read the book of Job we can see that satan tries to tell God that it was because Job had all this material stuff that's why Job loved God. One thing that stands out in this episode between God and satan was how God became Job defendant. Its one thing for the best lawyer in the state to defend you in a case, but oh its a whole new thing for God himself to defends you. That was a big proof right there, that Satan is not all knowing, because all his accusations against Job were false. Everything he said was based on assumption and presumption, but God who is all knowing knew Jobs heart, and so he could comfortably defend Job. We should be encouraged that the devil does not know, anything about us, he can only know if we tell him. God even went as far as to saying, that there was none like him, He said he was perfect and upright. Whether we admit it or not, Job had an awesome testimony. If satan was to make an accusation against us, will God be able to defend us like He did Job, or will he have to say; I think you are right for once Satan, they are serving me because of what I am providing them with. We see from verse 13 onward, Job faced one of the most amount of troubles mentioned in the Bible. In one day he lost all his children. He lost his cattle, all his riches we gone in just a little time. His own wife told him to curse God and die. His friends made a wrong assumption of him. Because of the way the saw how he went through so much trials. Amidst all that, Job could say Job 19:25 “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” It takes someone with a real love for God to say something like that, after you have lost everything you had. We clearly see that Job's love was not in his wealth, in as much as he loved his family it was not in his family. He acknowledge this in Job 1:21 “And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I hope all of us can have the love that Job had for God, when it didn't matter if he lost all his riches or not, he was not going to be shaken in his faith in God. I am pretty sure if any of us would have lost as much as Job did, we would have given up on God. Let us learn from the righteous man Job. He was one of the richest man in his day. He had riches, but riches did not have him. What has your heart? Anything apart from God will not last. At the end all it will bring is pain. Are we living just to make money, get a fancy house, a really nice car, a bulky bank account? Don't get me wrong all these things are good, but a life without Christ is miserable. Lets look back at my text. In Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” I like what the song writer said, I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords to give.
The Gain of Goods Judges 5:19 “The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.” Money in this verse implies goods. Back in the days, when a king or ruler would capture a city, they would strip the city of all its riches, but in this case, they only came to fight, they did not desire to gain the goods of the land. Today the only reason we do what we do, go where we go and act how we act is to gain the goods of men. In fact, even preachers nowadays preach certain messages, just to get a good offering. Certain evangelists or TV preachers tell people just to send in their money and they will receive healing or blessing etc. They have changed the real meaning of the Gospel, now it’s no more about God but Gain. Interestingly enough, even the holiness preachers and teachers are drifting that way. God help us! We may ask ourselves why would preachers want to jeopardize the souls of men and women just for few thousand dollars. There are various reasons for that. Firstly they have no true love for God. The love of God will move us to do things we in our own-selves will not want to do. In 2nd Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ constraineth us;” God did not send his son down to earth to die for man's sin because he wanted to, but it was love that moved him. In the well known scripture in John 3:16 the Bible said “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Great love hath no man than this. If we look through the bible everything thing God did was moved by love. Its because God loves us, thats why he has to punish Sin. Lets look at some characteristics of Love. First love covers sin. 1st Peter 4:8 “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” Charity in this verse is referring to love. The bible is not saying that love will hide sin, because if you love someone you would like to see them living an upright life, but love covers the room for sin. You can also look at it this way, when you love someone, if they had done some wicked sins in their past, you will not seek to bring things up, but you will leave things buried and try to keep things buried. The past is the past, not a leverage or a bargaining chip. Sad to say, a lot of Christians are still living in the past. And most of the time, its the past of someone else's life. If God has forgiven them who are we to try to bring it all up back again in their face. In Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” If God who is all-knowing, says He will not remember, then I suggest we do the same. That's one big aspect that God demonstrates his love. How do we demonstrate our love for God and others? Another character of love is, love crucifies the flesh. Crucifying the flesh does not mean physically laying my body down on a cross and going through the crucifixion process. Its a process where you lay aside your desires and ambitions for God's desires. In Romans 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”Paul in this book is trying to tell us that, just as Jesus died on that cross, so must we also crucify and lay down the old man on an altar. The old man is not some scrawny, weak old feeble man, on the contrary its pretty strong, and sometimes it gets the best of us. Its that part of us that wars against us constantly. The part of us that wants to rejects the truth of God's word and tries to live by how we feel. Paul is encouraging us to put this man to death. The secret weapon to defeat this strong man is Love. A love for God. If we look further down the epistles Paul writes Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” This is an amazing verse, it was my favorite scripture for a while, it still is. But we see Paul clearly follows up that Crucifixion process he was talking about in Romans. This time he says I am crucified with Christ. According to my own English, to be with someone, means that there are two people and they are together. So Paul is saying, Just as Christ was moved by love and died for us, so also he is dying to self because of the love of Christ. If we look towards the end of the verse, it say who 'loved me'. It was like a give back experience for Paul. Even though Paul could not really pay the full price for redemption, he willingly give his 100% love to God, as God had done for him. In all this the main factor is love. A one hundred percent love devoted to something or someone has no room for self. What do you love? Some of us buy gold and silver, because we are afraid that the economy is going to crash and so we store up goods, hoping that we'll have plenty when the time comes. I believe in one thing, If I seek his kingdom first, all my needs not wants, will be provided. Another characteristic of love is it cries. You don't hear about this more often. Maybe we need to hear about the tears of love more often in our services. Weep is mentioned 49 times in the Bible, tears – 36 times, cry – 181 times. This just shows how tears are important. To cry shows a sign of humility and desperation. In our churches today, people have lost their tears. That a sure way, to know that they are not longer in love with God. The shortest verse in the bible, shows the master weeping. John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” If we look through the gospels, almost every-time he did a miracle, the bible said he was moved with compassion. My definition is crying is compassion in a visible form. Now don't get me wrong I know people can work up some tears and act like they really are feeling it, but it will show up eventually. When was the last time you prayed for some stranger and because of the love for their soul you wept. In the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus prayed, [Luke 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.] it was not that he was praying so he would not have to go to the cross, but that agony he felt, was because of the love for our souls, he loved us so much, he could feel the pain that sin had done to us. As he prayed, he cried and prayed for our souls. How do you pray for others? Do you ask God to bless them, or do you have such a love for their souls, that you identify with every part of them and you weep for their souls. Were is the tears for souls? I think we've left it at the altar. We have fallen out of love with God, so we do not have the passion we once had. The situation may seem hopeless, but all is not lost, in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 the bible says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” We need to get back to that altar and ask God for that love that made us weep for lost souls, the love that was willing to give up the gains of this world for the gain of one soul.
The Gain of Goodly apparel Zephaniah 1:8 “And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.” If you have not done this lately, take a glance at the world around you, all you’ll see is fashion on the rise. Today, young, old middle aged, everyone wants to keep up with the change in clothing even Christians. There is a lot of people who all they are interested in is, to wear the best clothes, have the nicest shoes etc. God does not want us to worry about things like that, if you have clothes to wear, be content. You don’t have to wear the best dress or the best suit. In Matthew 6:30 “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Let us put our trust in God, he has all what we need.
Gain of the Globe Matthew 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?” The whole world here indicates, the Global society. The writer ask us a real vital question. What shall it profit a man? Man in this context means both male and female. Have we ever ask ourselves, what do we live for? I am sure there will be multiple answers to it. Do we live for ourselves, do we live for others, or do we live for God? If we look at society today, 70% of people live for themselves. Very few people think of others, when they do something, it’s a world me, self-centeredness. e.g.