Could you please turn to Mark's Gospel, chapter 8? And there's a few verses at the very end of that chapter. We want to read verse 34 to the end. Mark's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 34. And when he had called the people unto him, with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever 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, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Amen, we know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word. Verses 36 and 37 will at least give us the theme that we want to think about this evening. And the theme that we want to think about is the welfare or the well-being of the soul. And you'll notice that twice over in these verses, the soul is mentioned. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The welfare or the well-being of the soul. Can we just bow in prayer for a moment and ask the Lord to bless his word. Our Heavenly Father, we do look to thee tonight to bless thy truth. And we pray that that which has already gone forth will be used of thee. the singing, the testimony, the reading of the scriptures. Lord we come now to the preaching of thy word and we pray our father that thou would be pleased to use thy word and bless it to all of our hearts this evening as we gather around it now and as we consider this theme that is here presented to us in these verses. We pray that thou will come and speak to all of our hearts, and may there be a word and season this night to us, for we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. The Lord Jesus Christ is here, the speaker, and he is speaking about the most important subject that we could ever consider, namely, the well-being of the soul. Now there's the well-being of the body that is important to consider and to look after and to attend to. There's also the well-being of the mind that also needs to be given consideration. And those two are important in and of themselves, the well-being of the body and the well-being of the mind. But there is a third element to our constitution that we need to consider and that is the well-being of the soul. It is not just enough to think about the body or even to think about the mind. We also must think about the soul. The well-being of the soul is something that the Word of God directs us to consider. There's almost 500 references to the soul in the Bible. Almost 500 references to the soul in the Bible. We have come here to this portion where in two verses after each other the Savior makes mention of the soul. in both of these verses he's addressing this this all-important matter and it's not that i want us to consider this evening for a little while and just particularly one aspect of this i want us to to think tonight about the reality of the soul the reality of the soul. Because these meetings have been arranged for that purpose, that we might address this particular matter and think about the well-being of the soul. It is the most important matter of all and at other times and in other circumstances people might give thought and heed to the welfare of the the body or even the welfare of the mind. But tonight we are coming to think about the well-being of the soul and even through these meetings, meeting by meeting, it is with that desire that we give ourselves to the consideration of this point. We're not here tonight to think about the well-being of the body or the well-being of the mind. We're here tonight to think about the well-being of the soul. That's what the Word of God would have us to consider. That's what is more important than anything else. It's not that those other things are not important. They are. They have their place. And it's important that we do give heed and thought to them and attend to them in various ways. But over and above whatever importance might be placed upon the well-being of the body or the well-being of the mind, here's something that stands above them all, and that's the well-being of our soul. How is it with our soul? There's an individual in the scriptures we read of her in the Old Testament and how she ran to meet the prophet. And the prophet saw her coming and he sent his servant. And he sent his servants with a particular word. He said to his servants, run and meet the woman and ask her, is it well? Is it well? Well, we could ask that question, applying it to the soul. Is it well? But not just thinking about the body or thinking about the mind. We could ask that question, applying it to the soul tonight. Is it well? Is it well with the soul? How is it with our soul? Whatever can be said of the body or whatever can be said of the mind, what can be said tonight about the most important part of us? And that is the welfare of our soul. Because that's the most important. of all the matters that we could ever think. And therefore I want to think a little bit tonight about the reality of the soul. Because there are many today, an ever increasing number sadly, who do not believe in the reality of the soul. It's the opinion of many that they have no soul at all, that they're only a body and only a mind. And that's it. That's the sum of their constitution. And they never acknowledge that they have anything more to consider than that. They look upon themselves in many ways as no better than the brute beast who lives and dies. And that's the end of them. And they have convinced themselves of this truth. There's no soul. I don't have a soul, all I am is a body and a mind and that's all I need to consider and they deny the reality of the soul. and therefore denying the reality of the soul, they never give a second thought to these things. They never think about the well-being of their soul. They never think, well, is it well with my soul? They never think, therefore, of heaven or hell because these are matters that are connected with the soul. In fact, they use the denial of the existence of their soul to shut out these things and to have no thought about heaven or hell or spiritual things at all because they've come to this conclusion, I don't have a soul. Therefore I don't have to think about any of these things. I can just live for temporal things. I can just live for earthly things. I can just live for the things that apply to the body and meet the needs of the body and the pleasures that satisfy the body. And they never think about their soul. But the word of God would have us to consider the existence of our soul. And the existence of our soul, we are more than a body. We have all been created with a soul, and that makes us distinctly different from the brute beast. Now, like everything else that the Lord made, we were made from the dust of the ground as well, but we were made differently. And that takes you away back to the very beginning of the Word of God, and to the first place that you come upon this word soul, and it's in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. And the very first occurrence of this word in the Bible indicates to us something of the uniqueness of our makeup. Because we are not like any other creature that is found on the face of the earth. And in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 it says the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground there's his his physical constitution and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul he became a living soul there's no there's there's a difference There's no similar words that's used of any other creature there that God made at the beginning. Man was different. He was made of the dust of the ground like the other creatures were made as well. But man was made slightly different because God breathed into him the breath of life. And as a result of what God breathed into him, he becomes a living soul. we become something different so we are more than a body the body's mentioned there it's made of the dust of the ground but there's something else that is there there's something in addition to the body there is the soul that the lord put into each individual as well so we have a soul tonight the soul is real just because we cannot see it doesn't mean it is unreal doesn't mean it doesn't exist Just because something is invisible doesn't mean it cannot be seen. It is not real just because it cannot be seen. And our soul, while we cannot locate the soul within the body, it is not possible to do that. That does not take away from the fact that it exists. The Lord here is telling us in his word that he made man differently from all the creatures that are upon the face of the earth. Yes, they have that body that's made out of the dust of the ground. There's that physical part of us. But then there is an additional part of us, there is a soul that has been breathed into us. It's even interesting to notice there, in what the Lord has to say in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7, that we are primarily a soul. We are primarily a soul. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul. The Lord didn't say he became a living body. He was a living body. He had a body. Just the same way as we have a living body this evening. But the Lord didn't say he became a living body. The Lord said he became a living soul. Because that's the primary part of our constitution. That's what makes us so different to every other creature that God had made. And therefore, the body and the soul are separate one from the other. They can be separated. That's what happens when we die, leave this scene of time. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. It's not annihilation. It is not the ceasing to exist. physical death is the separation of the soul and the body because we have this physical frame this physical body that we have but God breathed into man a soul so he has a soul that is different from the body and at physical death when the body dies it's separated from the soul so there's evidently a difference if we can separate the soul from the body is separated in death but also Hebrews chapter 4 reminds us that the word of God has the ability to distinguish between the soul and the body as well and it tells us there the soul and the spirit Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word of God is able to discern between the physical frame, it speaks there about the joints and the marrow, which is a reference to our physical frame, but also to the soul and to the spirit as well. The Word of God is able to distinguish We may not be able to see the difference, we may not be able to locate the soul at all within us, but the word of God does. The one who gave the soul, he's able by his word to distinguish between the soul and the body and the spirit. So these things are different, and we are made in this particular way. And the Lord Jesus has a warning for us in this regard. In Matthew chapter 10, and in verse 28 he gives a very clear warning on this and he says fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell so he's referring to those who have only power to kill the body and that's people on earth and they have power at times to kill the body whether violently they have power to kill the body or whether as where capital punishment is practiced and somebody has committed a capital crime and they forfeit their life they're those that have the ability to take away somebody's life and the Lord says you're not to fear that individual because that's all that they can do they can't touch the soul they cannot see it They cannot even locate it. They cannot even act against it. They cannot harm the soul, though they may harm the body. The Lord Jesus says they are not able to harm the soul. But then he says, fear him. Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And that's not an earthly person. That's a divine person who is in view there. That's God himself who has the power over the soul. He breathed into man and made him a living soul. It is the Lord, as I've said, by his word, who's able to discern the soul and the body and the spirit. And he is the one who can destroy the soul and the body. He can cast both into hell. He can cast both soul and body into hell. And the Lord warns us that this is a real possibility. that we can end up being lost in hell. Our souls can go down to that place of eternal misery. And the Lord tells us to be warned, tells us to fear him that can do this thing. So the Bible does stress the existence of our soul, but the Bible warns against the lie of the devil. The devil is very subtle. The devil is real and he's very subtle and one of the things that he subtly does is to deceive us with regards to our soul. He would have us to believe that there is no soul. He would have us to deny that there is a soul. What better way of damning a soul in a lost hell forever than to convince the individual that they have no soul in the first place. Sure, that's the surest way of bringing somebody down to eternal ruin than there ever is any other means of doing so. It is to deceive an individual, convince an individual that they have no soul and that they do not need to think about its well-being and its welfare and then they will neglect the soul and they'll never think about fearing God at all and they'll go on to live for the things of this life and the things of time and sense. They'll just eat and drink and be merry and they think that tomorrow they will die and that will be the end of them and they never give a second thought to their soul. and before they know it their soul is indeed ruined and destroyed in hell forever. It's the perfect strategy to damned souls. It's for the devil to promote the lie that a man or a woman or a young person has no soul. And the Bible assures us the devil is a liar. He's a liar from the beginning. He lied right at the very beginning of time. When he deceived our first parents, he did it by a lie. He told them a lie. He said, ye shall not surely die. He contradicted the word of God, and he substituted something in its place. Our first parents had the word of God and had the command of God and they were forbidden to eat of that one tree, the fruit of that one tree, on the pain of death. And the Lord said, you eat that and you will surely die. And the devil comes along and he contradicts him and he tells him, no, you're not going to die. In fact, it's the very opposite. God is hiding something from you. He's keeping something back from you. And if you but ate of that fruit, you'd soon discover that God is keeping something back from you. It was a lie. He deceived our first parents into eating that forbidden fruit, and they discovered in a moment of time that they could never reverse. they had sinned against God and that the devil was a liar. The devil lies and the devil is still propagating the lie today and he will continue to do so to the end of time he is a liar from the beginning and he is a liar to the end and his lie one of the lies that he uses today is to tell people you don't have a soul Oh, you have a body and you ought to think about it and you ought to pursue all the pleasures and joys and comforts that there are in this world for the body. You should love those things and pursue after them. No, you don't have a soul and you don't need to think about your soul and you never need to think about its well-being. That's the lie of the devil. And by that lie, sadly, the devil deceives many as an individual into thinking that they have no soul. And how tragic it is if we would be deceived by the lie of the devil, and we would think, I have no soul. I don't really need to think about these things or care very much for them, for I have no soul. How tragic that would be. And yet, that is what happens in many's a heart and in many's a life. But the Lord tells us we have a soul. So who do we believe? Do we believe the God of heaven, who made man and breathed into him and made him a living soul? Or do we believe the devil? Who are we going to believe? Because they say opposite things. God says in his word, we have a soul. Fear him that can cast body and soul into hell. And on the other hand, the devil comes along and he says, no, there's no soul. You've only a body. Just live for the things that meet the need of the body. Are we going to believe the devil or are we going to believe the word of God? The Lord clearly says in his word, as I say almost 500 times, you read about the soul. in the Word of God. And we have thought about the first one, the first mention of it. But I want you also not only to think about the existence of the soul, I want you to think about the evidence that we have a soul. We cannot see the soul. We cannot locate the soul. It's not possible to do a post-mortem on someone and find their soul. You'll find all the other parts of the body that are there and that we know so well. Somebody doing a post-mortem will find those parts of the body, because that's part of the physical make-up and constitution of us all, but nobody will ever locate the soul. In the moment that someone dies physically, the soul departs and leaves the body, so the soul isn't even in the body. But even if it was in the body, it still would not be able to be located by any earthly individual, because it's not something that is physical. So we cannot see the soul, but can we see evidence that points to the existence of our soul? Even in our own lives and circumstances? Are there things that we can observe, even within our own lives? Things that we're conscious of, ourselves, even as we sit in this meeting? Is there evidence? Is there that which we can point to and suggest and consider in the light of the Word of God? And we can say, here's evidence that points to the existence of your soul. You might not see your soul, you might not be able to locate it or find it, but it exists, it's real, and the Lord warns us about it, and we need to seek after its welfare. Well, let me suggest to you some things. First of all, there's what is known as the seed of religion in mankind. And that is a simple truth that wherever man is found on the face of the earth, you will find him to be a religious being. You can go to places tonight where Western civilization has never really penetrated. Certainly Christianity has never reached any of those places, so it can't be Western civilization or it can't be the influence of Christianity that has brought this about. But you will find man to worship something. And every now and again on the news or in the media you will come upon a report about some tribe that has been found in the Amazon or in Indonesia or some other place in the world, some remote place in the world. And you will find that report and read about it that they have been found and located. Every one of them are worshipping something. Every one of them. Every one of those so-called lost tribes. recently discovered tribes that have had no contact with what seems the outside world, certainly no contact with Western civilization, certainly no contact with Christianity, ever for anybody to claim, oh, they've been influenced by Christianity. None of those things stand true because they've been so isolated. And yet you find those people worshipping something. What's the reason? Why do they worship something? Sometimes it's dead ancestors that they're worshipping. Sometimes it's sticks and stones that they've set up to be gods or representation of their gods. Sometimes it's spirits that they're worshipping. They're worshipping something. They're worshipping something. And it points, you see, to this what is called as the seed of religion that is in mankind. And it bears witness to the fact that we have a soul. We have a soul. In fact, when you find the fact that when these tribes are discovered and observed, they're found to be worshipping something, bears witness to the fact we have been made with a soul. We are a soul. But not only is there the seed of religion, but what about the sense of right and wrong that is in mankind? Everybody has a sense of right and wrong. Now, it might be different from one person to another. One person might have a very low threshold of what is wrong in their opinion, and they might be very liberal in their views, and they might allow a lot and give license to a lot. But somewhere along the line, they have a sense of right and wrong. Somewhere, you cross the mark with even the most liberal of individuals. Even an individual who gives license to What anybody else would long say is not right. Even those who are most liberal in their view, somewhere along the line you get to a place where they say, no, that is not right. That is wrong. Everybody has a sense of right and wrong. As I say, it differs from one person to another person. There's many reasons for that, but at the bottom line, everybody has a sense of right and wrong. And every one of us sitting here in this meeting, when we hear something, we immediately make a judgment upon it. Oh, that's wrong. Or that's right. Something comes on the news. Something's reported again in the press. Maybe something controversial. And immediately, we make a judgment. Immediately, we come to a conclusion. Either that is right or wrong. there's a sense of right or wrong within us. We are made with a sense of right or wrong. We are not like the animals. We are not like all those other creatures that God made and he has put in the earth that have no sense of right and wrong at all. No, we are found to be a religious being on this face of the world wherever man is found. We have also discovered man has got a sense of right and wrong. The scale may go up and down from person to person but nevertheless it is there. Where does the sense of right and wrong come from? It's evidence, you see, we have a soul. It's evidence that we are different. God has made us different. We are not like the other creatures in the earth. They don't have a sense of right and wrong. They don't make moral judgments and moral decisions. No, it is only you and me, human beings, that have this sense of right and wrong and make moral judgments and decide something's right or something's wrong, all bearing witness to the reality of our soul. We've got a soul. But something else that is evidence of the existence of our soul as well, and that's the scenario of good and evil in the world. We're all conscious of good and evil in the world. You're not too long in this world until you realise there's evil in the world. All that and we're different. What a difference the world would be if there was no evil. But you can't live very long in this world until you discover there's evil. And maybe the longer you live in this world, the more you realize just how much evil there is in the world. And what depths of evil can man plummet? There are things that are done that are beyond understanding. They're beyond understanding. They're so evil, so wicked. Will somebody engage in some act or practice that is so wicked? What explains good and evil in the world? Nobody can deny there's good and evil in the world. Every government across the face of the globe is battling against the existence of evil in the world. Every government, every society is battling against the existence of evil in the world. Nobody can deny that there's evil in the world. and they're trying to enact laws and nudge people in a particular direction to change conduct or change behavior and to live in a particular way, all because there is an acknowledgement there's good and evil in this world. There's that which is good that ought to be practiced. There's that which is evil and that ought to be avoided. What explains the existence of good and evil in the world? It's the fact we have a soul. In us there is a soul. and while we cannot locate the soul and you can never say there's the soul we can observe the evidence that points to the existence of our soul we have a soul tonight the word of god declares it to be so that that would be sufficient or ought to be sufficient for us but there's other evidence around about us where We can say here, this, that and the other thing all point to the existence of a soul. They're unexplainable otherwise. And that man has a soul. Man has been created different. And if that is the case tonight... If you and I have been created different and we have a soul, then we need to think about its welfare. Then we need to ask ourselves the question, is it well with my soul? This soul that the Bible tells me that I have, this soul that I'm told in the scriptures, fear him that can cast body and soul into hell, if there is a soul and the Bible confirms it and the evidence around me in this world confirms that I have a soul, ought I not then to think about its welfare? Ought I not to say to myself, is it well with my soul? Have we ever thought about our soul? There's the existence of the soul, the evidence for the soul. I want you to think finally about the essence of the soul. What is the soul all about? Well, the soul has to do with you and God, me and God. It has to do with our personal relationship with the God of heaven. That's what your soul is all about. You see, not only do we have a self-consciousness, but we have a God-consciousness. We have a God-consciousness. I'm always interested to hear atheists when they come on the radio or in the press or whatever, and they're talking about becoming an atheist, and I'm always waiting to notice the language that they use, because they always say, I became an atheist. They never say, I was born an atheist, because atheists aren't born. Atheists aren't born. Nobody is born an atheist in this world. People become an atheist, and just listen to them. The next time you hear them on the radio, or television, or whatever they're speaking, listen to how they describe themselves and their own experience, and what has happened to them, and what has brought them to the conclusion, the place where they deny God, and they will tell you, oh, I became an atheist. because they certainly weren't born one. We are born with a consciousness of God. And the soul has to do with our relationship with God. And that's why the question then has to be asked, is it well with my soul? Is it well between me and God? Is it well between you and God? Is it well with your soul? Is it well with my soul? How is it between us and the God of heaven? Because that's what the soul has to do with. The soul is the moral, the spiritual part of us. It gives us a God consciousness. The soul is eternal. The body is too, but the body dies for a period of time, long or short. And it will lie in the grave or wherever the dust of the body is scattered. But the soul lives on. The soul is always eternal. It never ceases to exist. It will always exist. And immediately it leaves the body. It will wing its way out into God's eternity, either to heaven or to hell. And it will do that in a fraction of a moment. You see, that's why we need to ask the question, is it well with my soul? Because where is it going? That's the question that has to be asked. When it takes its leave of the body, where is it going? Is it going to heaven? Or is it going to hell? Is it well with the soul? It can only be well with the soul if we're going to heaven. And that's why in closing, I want you to turn over, it's not the last reference to the soul. We've looked at the first one, Hebrews chapter 10, but it's almost one of the last references to soul in the Bible. And I want you to turn over to this because it speaks here, we read here about the saving of the soul. We've thought about the existence of the soul. and how the soul came into being there at the very beginning. Well, in Hebrews chapter 10, and the two last verses of this chapter, it says, Now the just shall live by faith. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. We've been noticing there in Mark 8 two verses where the soul appears in one verse after another. Here's another place where the word soul appears two verses one after the other. Paul mentions it in verse 38 but in verse 39 particularly is the one we want to notice because he talks about the saving of the soul. It can't be well with your soul and it can't be well with my soul tonight unless our soul is saved. Unless Christ saves your soul and my soul, it can't be well. You can't answer that question in the affirmative. We mentioned that woman that we read of in the scripture where the prophet sent the servant to ask her, is it well? In fact, he asked the question three times because he says, is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And the woman said, it is well. That was her answer. Even though her child was dead, she said, it's well. It's well with all three of us. Even though her child had just died. Only by knowing Christ as her savior. Can it be said it's well with your soul and well with my soul? So is it well? Is it well? May we be able to say it's well, it's well with my soul. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we pray that we might indeed be those who consider the reality of our soul. And may we answer that question tonight in the quietness of our own heart. Is it well with my soul? Oh Lord, we pray. we might be able to answer in the affirmative, we might be able to say it is well, even with the words of that hymn, it is well, it is well with my soul. O Lord have mercy, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon men and women generally. upon friends, family members, neighbours, those out around about us here in this estate tonight, Lord. We pray that they might be able to say as well, as well with my soul, O Lord of mercy. Write thy word upon our hearts, we pray, and bless us as we come to a close and as we go our separate ways this evening. May we know thy abiding presence, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.