Not For Sale

Temple Baptist Church - 11-08-2009

Mark 8:34-38

Introduction:

A. Many people today are so sin hardened that they will not come to Christ and be saved. You cannot get them to come to church like you once could. They are too occupied with self, busy with work, or too religious to be reached.

B. Many people are leaving good churches today.

1. Many of these are Lost – tares among the wheat; they are the “ground” that was not good and therefore fruitless. 2 Timothy 3-4, 2 Thessalonians 2

2. Many of these are Laodicean – cold or indifferent to the things of God. Revelation 3

3. Many of these are Lustful – they give in to the desires of the flesh and the love of the world. 1 John 2

C. Many just plainly “sell out” for one price or another. There is an old saying, “Everybody has his price!” Unfortunately, most of the time, this saying is true. Even people of seemingly great integrity often sell out when the price is right.

D. My question this morning is: Do you have a price and, if so, what is your price? What is my price this morning?

E. You and I that are saved have been purchased at a horrendous price: Calvary! We have been bought with a price and are not our own this morning. We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ! We have not right to sell out that which is not ours to sell.

F. It is a terrible thing to sell out for a great price, much less to sell out cheaply. In these verses, our Lord is speaking to his disciples, not the unsaved! Read them again! What will a man; what will you; what will I give in exchange for my soul this morning?

G. I have known preachers who have sold out cheap! They had a good wife, great children, wonderful ministry (pastors, evangelists, missionaries) and gave them all up for nothing! Once they crossed that line, it was over! Things can never be the same again after selling out! What will you give in exchange for your soul this morning?

H. You should make up some “Not For Sale” signs and place them in strategic places. Place one on your computer monitor! Place one on your TV set! Place one on the sun visor of your car! Control what you see and where you go!

I. There are many people in the Bible who sold out cheap.

1. Adam and Eve, who had everything—the Garden of Eden with all of its beauty, wonderful food, perfect climate, not a bead of sweat, sweet fellowship with the Creator—traded it all for one solitary piece of fruit!

a) It cost them their lives - Genesis 2:15-17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (They died spiritually! They died physically!)

b) It cost them their home - Genesis 3:23-24 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

c) It cost them physically: now there is pain and suffering - Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

d) It cost them their productivity - Genesis 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

e) Now there is sorrow, pain, suffering, disappointment, discouragement, sin, death, and separation! Was it worth it Adam? Was it worth it Eve? I think not! One piece of fruit; they sold out CHEAP! I am sure that the devil could have made a better offer than that! Was it worth it, Adam? Was it worth it, Eve?

2. Esau, Isaac’s firstborn, was the heir apparent! He was to be the reigning patriarch of the family. He was to be the priest of the family. He was to have the double portion! He was to receive the blessing of his father.

Genesis 25:30-34 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Hebrews 12:16-17 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. (Esau was a worldly man who traded his birthright for one “morsel of meat!” He regretted it for a lifetime. I am sure Jacob would have made a better offer than “one morsel of meat!” I am sure you could have waited for supper! You sold our cheap. Was it worth it Esau?)

3. Achan, one of God’s chosen people—Israel. He was to inherit his portion of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. Hard to be that! But, he sold out cheap!

Joshua 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

Joshua 7:20-21 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

Joshua 7:24-26 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. (Achan saw, lusted, and took the “accursed thing.” It cost him his life! It cost him his family! It cost him his possessions! It cost him Canaan! Achan sold out CHEAP! He ended up dead with all of his family. Was it worth it, Achan?)

4. Samson, one of the most noted of all of the Judges of Israel. A man of great strength, anointed of the Holy Spirit.

Judges 16:4-5 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

Judges 16:18-21 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. 21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. (I am sure that a man like Samson could have had his choice of the most beautiful women in Israel. Samson was a man of strength but not a man of character. Samson sold out CHEAP! He could have been blessed of God! He could have been used of God! He was interested in the lust of his flesh and lost it all for what he could have had in a godly manner. Was it worth your eyes, your position, and your power, Samson?)

5. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha. What a divine privilege to pour water upon the hands of God’s man.

2 Kings 5:23-27 And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 24 And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. (Position, power, prestige, and possibly to take the place of Elisha as Elisha took the place of Elijah! He sold out CHEAP! He died with the leprosy of Naaman! Was it worth it Gehazi!)

6. David, a man after God’s own heart! King of Israel; champion of the common people; the “sweet psalmist” of Israel! The name “David” means beloved! Beloved of both God and man.

2 Samuel 11:2-4 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.

2 Samuel 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

2 Samuel 12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. (David sold out CHEAP! Yes, Bathsheba was a beautiful woman but Jerusalem and Israel was full of beautiful women. He could have had his choice. A man of beautiful countenance, mighty in valor, decorated in war, talented in worship, and rich beyond measure. He sold out cheap! It cost him his child, Absalom, the purity of Tamar, his best friend—Ahithophel! Was it worth it, King David?)

7. Judas Iscariot, one of the chosen 12 disciples! What a privilege to be chosen of, called by, and be able to serve out Lord Jesus Christ! But, Judas Iscariot sold out CHEAP!

Matthew 26:23-25 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. 24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. 25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

Matthew 26:15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

Matthew 27:3-5 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (Thirty pieces of silver, Judas! Couldn’t you have bargained for more? He sold out CHEAP! He hanged himself, died, and went to hell! Was the thirty pieces of silver worth it, Judas? Was it worth it, Judas?)

8. Ananias and Sapphira, members of the first church! What a blessing to have seen the Lord and the power of the Holy Ghost working in the early church. But, Ananias and Sapphira sold out CHEAP!

Acts 5:1-2 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Acts 5:4-5 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

Acts 5:7-10 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. (It was theirs! They could have used or spent it as they wished! They chose to lie to God and keep back a part of what was sold. They sold out CHEAP! They lost both their possessions and their lives. They could have had both! Was it worth it, Ananias? Was it worth it, Sapphira?)

9. Demas, a fellow servant and fellow soldier with the great Apostle Paul! Would you not have liked to be associated with that man of God? What a privilege! But, Demas sold out CHEAP!

Acts 5:7-10 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. (There is nothing else said concerning this man who loved the Lord and the Apostle Paul. But, I would imagine that the price was great! Demas sold out CHEAP! Was it worth it, Demas? I think not!)

J. I could go on but I am sure that we all get the point. For a little money; for 5 minutes of pleasure; for an elevated position; for a little bit of fame; we can all sell out the blessings of God in our lives! Now, here is the message! When we sell out CHEAP:


1. We Sell Out Our Wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave it all for us as we sell Him as cheaply as Judas sold Him! The most important thing in the world to the Christian is his wonderful Lord! I am his and He is mine! He loves me and I love Him!


2. We Sell Out Our Immaculate Testimony For The Lord. It takes a lifetime to build a godly testimony of salvation and only a moment’s time to bring it crashing down for the duration of our lives. When our testimony becomes tarnished, it is impossible to completely undo the damage done to it. Look at the list of names that I used in the introduction and you will see the remnants of sinfulness continue to tarnish their names thousands of years later. The good that they did forgotten!


3. We Sell Out Our Wife Or Husband. I owe my all to my wife. To betray her trust, love, and shame her before the church is unthinkable! I cannot imagine life without Barbara. To lose her in death would be a terrible thing but I could live with that knowing that she was in Heaven waiting for me. To lose her because of sin would be devastating! Outside of the Lord, the most wonderful thing that you and I have in this world is our family!


4. We Sell Out Our Beloved Children. God gave them to us to love, provide for, protect, and guide in the things of the Lord and life. To sell them out for such a small price in unthinkable. “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord!” God gave them to us to raise for him. “The fruit of the womb is his reward!” When we have children, we are accountable to both God and them. Our children deserve a godly heritage and Christian upbringing. They did not ask to be here, we brought them here and now they need to be saved, guided in a godly manner, and to sell them out is a travesty!


5. We Sell Out Our Church. How the church needs faithful, God loving people in these last perilous times. We sell out cheap and bring shame and reproach on the body of believers collectively! I owe you more than that! You owe me more than that! I love this church and I love you. So many men and women have sold out the church for things that were short lived and lived to regret it. Thank God for the ones who get right and get back but the majority never do that.


6. We Sell Out Our Friends. One of the most important things that we have in this life are true friends that stick closer than blood kin in some instances. A man should lay down his life for his friends and yet, sometimes, believers sell them out cheap. Our neighbors respect us for what we stand for. One of my neighbors was having problems with his children and their friends who partied while he was gone. He put a stop to it because of us. God forbid that we live worse than the heathen!


7. We Sell Out Our Ministry. Yes, we all have a ministry, We are to “faint not” in the work of the Lord. Pastors, evangelists, missionaries, deacons, soul winners, exhorters, givers, and the list goes on. You and I have a ministry. God help us not to sell it out. There is work to do and to sell out our usefulness for the Lord and good of souls is criminal! Our ranks are becoming depleted and there are gaps upon the walls! Fewer young people selling out to serve the Lord and more older people leaving the ministry!


8. We Sell Out Our Good Name. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches! My mom and dad gave me my name. It is a good name. When I go home to Kentucky, I do not have to bow my head in shame because of the Johnston’s who live there. Barbara Lynn Simons Johnston got her name from her mom and dad. It is a good name. She does not have to be ashamed of Bill and Nadine Simons! She does not have to be ashamed of her family. To sell out CHEAP is to sell out our good names.


Conclusion: What is your price this today? What is it that you are interested in that will bring down all of these things? You and I had better be careful! Better men than I; better men than you; better women than you have gone down the road to shame and destruction because of a little money; for 5 minutes of pleasure; for an elevated position; or a little bit of fame! “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”