## Is There Any Profit?

## Matthew 16:26

I'm sure you have noticed the unstableness of the Wall Street. It has gone up and down in great numbers. When it goes down the investors get very nervous. They can see their profits going out the window.

The world system is totally built on the fact of making profit. Profit means getting gain from some service or endeavor. When the profits are down prices usually go up. Every business is operated on the premise of making profit. Every position of employment is secure only as profit is experienced. If profit is not realized, then job layoffs are usually in order.

The Bible lays out several things that bear no profit. I want to point these out to you today. We each need to use these as a guideline for our lives.

Mat 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?"

I. No Profit In Riches

Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

A. Think about this.

1. The Lord is telling us that there is no profit when a person loses their soul.

2. It doesn't matter how much they may gain in this world.

3. When a rich person dies without Christ, they have lost everything.

(1 John 2:15-16) "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. {16} 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."

B. The world consists of three areas:

1. Lust of the flesh.

a. Never saying no to the flesh.

b. Giving it everything it wants.

2. Lust of the eyes.

a. Allowing the eyes to get all that they see.

3. The pride of life.

a. The uncontrolled lust of the pride of man.

b. Allowing pride to go its length.

C. If we could achieve or fulfill these three, then we would have gained all of the world.

1. Man Seeks Riches In The Wrong Manner.

a. Note: Luke 12:16-21

b. If God wants us to have wealth, let Him give it to us.

(Prov 23:4) "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom."

c. Ill gotten wealth will bring sorrow.

2. The Bible Normally Looks At Riches In The Negative.

a. Luke 16, the rich man had much and died and went to hell.

b. Jesus said, the rich hardly go to heaven.

c. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.

d. The reason riches are looked upon as negative is that not many can have riches and still have a proper relationship with God.

e. It is impossible to serve God and mammon.

3. We must learn to take the teaching of the Bible over any man made philosophy.

4. If the Bible says there is no profit in worldly gain, then we should listen to the Bible.

II. No Profit In Religion

A. Paul Discusses Various Aspects Of Religion.

(Rom 3:1) "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?"

(Gal 5:2) "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing."

1. The context here is that the Jews are boasting of their religious position.

2. Circumcision is referring to the Jewish religion.

3. Paul then instructs them saying that they could not be any more religious than he was.

(Phil 3:4-7) "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: {5} Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; {6} Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. {7} But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ."

4. Paul is denouncing his gain by religious rites.

5. There is no profit in religion.

B. No Profit In The Gift Of Tongues.

(1 Cor 14:6) "Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?"

1. We hear great boasting today about a religious advantage for those who speak in other tongues.

2. Paul says, "What shall I profit you...?" He is referring to speaking in tongues.

3. Religion will send more people to hell than will alcohol, dope, or prostitution.

a. Religion is deceitful.

b. Religion will tell you that what you have is acceptable with God.

c. If you base your life on some kind of religion that is foreign to the Bible, it will steal you away from heaven and send you to hell.

4. Religion is a stumbling block into heaven.

a. Religion is a deterrent to salvation.

b. Note: Mark 10:17-22

c. He was very religious.

d. He had kept the law in every point, yet he had not been accepted into the kingdom of God.

C. Don't depend upon religion.

1. The only way you can go to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ.

2. You can become the most religious person in the world and die and go to hell.

3. Religion is the enemy of the cross.

4. It is the enemy of salvation.

5. Religion is the devil's way. Don't follow religion.

III. No Profit In Dead Faith

(James 2:14) "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?"

A. Church Attendance.

1. Church attendance is important to the growth of believers, but it cannot make us believers.

2. Many people try to prove their faith in Christ by their church attendance. "Oh yeah, I go to my church…"

3. Church attendance is not much proof of our faith in Christ.

B. A lost person can attend church regularly.

1. Dead faith means there is no works.

2. To possess faith and not perform works is dead faith.

3. Dead faith will not save you.

4. If our faith in Christ does not activate our soul for service to God in many ways, then James is saying we have dead faith, and we are not saved.

5. Dead faith brings idle words.

(James 2:16) "And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

a. Prayer

1) We take prayer requests in every service.

2) In many cases there are life and death situations.

3) If we promise a person to pray for them, and don't, then we have uttered idle words, and there is no profit for anyone in such a thing.

b. Meeting Needs.

1) Supposing we know of a family in our midst who is having a hard time financially.

2) Maybe they come to you or you go to them and during your conversation this condition is brought up for conversation.

3) If we leave the meeting saying, "God bless you, and I will pray for you."

4) We are guilty of "idle words."

5) If we have what they need and we do not give it to them, then where is the profit?

6) Maybe the situation is that all we have is just what they need.

7) If we have, in our possession, their need and you do not give to them, where is the profit?

IV. There Is Profit In Salvation

A. Salvation is eternal.

(John 10:28) "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

1. We find that the Scripture teaches that when people get saved they are profited greatly.

(1 Cor 10:33) "Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."

2. I would rather be saved than to be the sole heir of Bill Gates.

3. To have that peace of the knowledge that we know that heaven will be our home is of much greater benefit than earthly riches.

B. It matters not how rich, it matters not how poor - any person who rejects the love of God that was displayed upon the cross will go to hell.

(Rom 1:16) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

1. Salvation is a matter of faith or belief.

2. Paul instructed the Phillipian jailer to "…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…" Acts 16:31

3. Belief in Christ offers tremendous profit.

Consider our lives as an investment. Where will we invest our life to gain the greatest benefit? Not in the wealth of this world -- not in religion -- not in dead faith - we need to invest our lives in eternity. Jesus said , "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth … But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…" cf Mt. 6:19-20