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DEMANDS AND JUSTIFIES SELF-DENIAL.

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late) when men will be willing, had they never so much, to give it all in exchange for their souls. For so the question implies-"What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” What would he not give? What would he not part with at that day, the day in which he shall see himself damned, if he had it, in exchange for his soul?

CHAPTER II.

WHAT THE SOUL IS.

THE first observation, or truth, drawn from the words is cleared by the text, "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"—that is, there is not any thing, nor all the things under heaven, were they all in one man's hand, and all at his disposal, that would go in exchange for the soul, that would be of value to fetch back one lost soul, or that would certainly recover it from the confines of hell. "For the redemption of the soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever." Psalm xlix. 8. And what saith the words before the text but the same- "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" What shall profit a man that has lost his soul? Nothing at all, though he hath by that loss gained the whole world; for all the world is not worth a soul, not worth a soul in the eye of God and judgment of the law. And it is from this consideration that good Elihu cautioneth Job to take heed. "Because there is wrath, beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the forces of strength." Job xxxvi. 18, 19. Riches and power, what is there more in the world? for money answereth all things —that is, all but soul-concerns. It can neither be a price for souls while here, nor can that, with all the forces of strength, recover one out of hell-fire.

So, then, the first truth drawn from the words stands firm -namely, THAT THE LOSS OF THE SOUL IS THE HIGHEST, THE GREATEST LOSS; A LOSS THAT CAN NEVER BE REPAIRED OR MADE UP.

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In my discourse upon this subject I shall observe this

method

I. I shall show you what the Soul is.

II. I shall show you the Greatness of the Soul.
III. I shall show you what it is to lose the Soul.

IV. I shall show you the Cause for which men lose their souls; and by this time the greatness of the loss will be manifest.

I. I shall show you what the Soul is, both by the various names it goes under, and also by describing its powers and properties; though in all I shall be but brief, for I intend no long discourse.

1. The soul is often called the heart of man, or that in which things, either good or evil, have their rise; thus desires are of the heart or soul; yea, before desires, the first conception of good or evil is in the soul, the heart. The heart understands, wills, affects, reasons, judges, but these are the faculties of the soul; wherefore heart and soul are often taken for one and the same. "My son, give me thy heart." "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts," &c. Prov. xxiii. 26; Matt. xv. 19; 1 Peter iii. 15; Psalm xxvi. 6.

2. The soul of man is often called the spirit of a man, because it not only giveth being, but life, to all things and actions in and done by him. Hence soul and spirit are put together as to the same action-" With my soul have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early." (Isaiah xxvi. 9). When he saith, "Yea, with my spirit I will seek thee," he explaineth not only with what kind of desires he desired God, but with what principal matter his desires were brought forth: it was with my soul, saith he; that is with my spirit within me. So, in that song of Mary, "My soul, doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Not that soul and spirit are in this place to be taken for two

superior powers in man; but the same great soul is here put under two names or terms, to show that it was the principal part in Mary-namely, her soul, that magnified God, even that part that could spirit and put life into her whole self to do it. Indeed, sometimes spirit is not taken so largely, but is confined to some one power or faculty of the soul, as "the spirit of my understanding;" Job xx. 3; and "be renewed in the spirit of your mind;" Eph. 4. 23; and sometimes by spirit we are to understand other things: but many times by spirit we must understand the soul, and also by soul the spirit.

3. Therefore, by the soul we understand the spiritual, the best and most noble part of man, as distinct from the body; even that by which we understand, imagine, reason, and discourse. And indeed (as I shall further show you presently) the body is but a poor empty vessel without this great thing called the soul. "The body without the spirit, or soul, is dead" (James ii. 26), or nothing but a clod of dust. It is said of Rachel, Gen. xxxv. 18, “Her soul departed from her, for she died." It is therefore the chief and most noble part of man.

4. The soul is often called the life of man; not a life of the same stamp and nature of the brute; for the life of man —that is, of the rational creature-is that (as he is such) wherein consisteth and abideth the understanding and the conscience. Wherefore, then a man dieth, (i. e., the body ceaseth to act, or live in the exercise of the thoughts which formerly used to be in him,) when the soul departeth, as I hinted even now; "her soul departed from her, for she died;" and as another good man saith, "in that very day their thoughts perish." Psalm cxlvi. 4. The first text is even more emphatical: "Her soul was in departing, for she died." There is the soul of a beast, a bird, &c., but the soul of a man is another thing; it is his understanding, and reason, and conscience, &c. And when this soul departs, he

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dies. Nor is this life, when gone out of the body, annihilated, as in the life of a beast; no, this in itself is immortal, and has yet a place and being when gone out of the body it dwelt in; yea, as quick, as lively is it in its senses, if not far more abundant, than when it was in the body; but I call it the life, because so long as that remains in the body, the body is not dead. And in this sense it is to be taken where Christ saith, "He that loseth his life for my sake, shall save it unto eternal life;" and this is the soul that is intended in the text, and not the breath, as in some other places is meant. And this is evident, because the man has a being, a sensible being, after he has lost the soul; I mean not by the man a man in this world, nor yet in the body, or in the grave; but by man we must understand either the soul in hell, or body and soul there after the judgment is over. And for this the text also is plain, for herein we are presented with a man sensible of the damage that he has sustained by losing of his soul: "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" But,

5. The whole man goeth under this denomination; man, consisting of body and soul, is yet called by that part of himself that is indeed chief and principal. "Let every soul (that is, let every man) be subject to the higher powers." Rom. xiii. 1. "Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls." Acts vii. 14. By both these, and several other places, the whole man is meant, and is also so to be taken in the text; for whereas here he saith, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" it is said elsewhere, "For what is a man advantaged if he shall gain the whole world and lose himself?" and so consequently, or, "What shall a man give in exchange (for himself) for his soul?"-(Luke ix. 25) his soul when he dies, and body and soul in and after judgment?

6. The soul is called the good man's darling. "Deliver,"

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