eBible Fellowship

Hello and welcome. Allow me to ask you a question today. How much of this world do you have? Yes, this is the question that the Bible presents. How much of this world do you personally have? How much do you own?

Well, if you are average, then you probably have a lot. You have your home and the things in your home. If you are in America, you have a car or two. You might have many things compared to others. But if you look at the whole world itself and all that is in the world, your portion is, more than likely, rather meager. It is rather meager. You do not have a great stake in this world. You do not own enormous chunks of the earth. No, you have your little portion within your country, within your state, within your city, within your county, within your neighborhood, not unlike most people. And, of course, there are some who have much larger shares of possessions in this world.

So why does the Bible get into this? Why does the Bible bring up this kind of question, which it does? Allow me to read a passage in Matthew 16:24-26, which says:

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 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?

You see, Jesus is looking at this question from the perspective that there is this world and that a man can have a portion in this world. Actually, He is looking at this from the vantage point of owning the whole world. Yes, you could not only be that billionaire who has tremendous amounts of money and houses, and so forth, with great, great possessions, the richest man on earth; but no, go beyond that, go far beyond that and give yourself the whole earth, the whole world and everything in it. Imagine that you own it all, that it is all yours. Everything that you see, everything that you want, and everything that you desire is yours. This is the analogy or the picture that Jesus is presenting.

Okay, you can have it all. But, however, what are you profited if in possessing the world you lose your soul? “Well, I am profited much,” someone might say. “I can have tremendous satisfaction. I can have everything that I have ever wanted and everything that I will ever want. I can have the best food, the best clothing. I can just have every need met at a moment’s whim. People will respect me. I will have great power and authority. Oh, this would be the greatest thing if I possessed it all!”

Well, maybe. Maybe. Of course, there are all kinds of troubles that come with riches, but we will not get into that. However, we will look at what the Bible tells us, and the Bible tells us not to love the world, not to love the whole world and not to love a portion of the world, your portion, not to love the world so much that you will lose your soul.

Well, why should a person not love the world? Why should an individual not go after the things of the world and grab them and hold onto them tightly and heap up piles of riches and treasures, as much as he can get, until even, if it were possible, to get the whole world? Is that not what people try to do? Yes, this is what many try to do, but God greatly warns against this because “the world passeth away,” as we read in 1 John 2. In 1 John 2:15-17, the Bible says:

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.

You see, this is the point that Christ is trying to get across. This is the point: he who gains the whole world, but in the end loses his soul. And the end is coming. It is going to be May 21, 2011. This will be “the day of the Lord” and it will continue for five months. This will be the end of the riches and the possessions and the inheritance that people have in this world. All of the world will be lost on October 21, 2011. It will be gone. It will be destroyed. It will be completely annihilated and cease to exist, and so will your treasure, so will your house (no matter how big a mansion), so will your cars (no matter how fast they can go), so will your clothes (no matter which designer designed them), so will all of the riches and beautiful things of this life pass away.

So, dear friend, will you likewise be destroyed? If you continue to cling and hold onto these possessions, you will be destroyed along with them and you will cease yourself. You will be annihilated yourself on that day.