For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
The great exchange
1. The text assumes a certain inherent dignity in the human soul itself.
2. The folly of those competing rivalries, on account of which men seem willing that this inestimably precious soul should be lost. (D. Moore. M. A.)
The value of the soul
1. In its origin.
2. In its operations.
3. In its redemption. (J. Sherman.)
Lost
What volumes of meaning there are in that one word lost. A ship lost-a traveller lost-a brother lost-a parent lost-and, notwithstanding every effort to save, all as nothing to a lost soul. (C. T. Pizey, B. A.)
An appeal to the young
I. The nature of the soul.
1. The soul is the seat of thought.
2. The soul is the subject of moral government.
3. The soul is the heir of immortality.
II. The worth of the soul.
1. Refer to the great atonement as the most magnificent proof of the soul’s worth.
2. To the triumphant joy awakened in heaven by the conversion of one sinner from the error of his ways.
3. To the certain anticipations of misery or bliss which await each soul as it passes into eternity. (J. Morison, D. D.)
The foolish bargain
The man who, for the sake of worldly happiness, shall lose his soul, makes a foolish bargain.
I. Explain and prove this. In order to judge of a bargain we must take into account the thing bought, and the price paid for it. Worldly happiness is considerable, but it must come to an end.
II. The worth of the soul. It is the most excellent part of man. It will never die. The value of a thing is often best known when it is lost. How greatly you are concerned in this. (E. Cooper.)
The worth of the soul
In order to elucidate the meaning of the text-
I. Institute a comparison between the things which are here set in competition with each other.
1. By "the world," we are to understand pleasure, riches, and honour. This, if considered in itself, is vile. It is earthly in its nature. It is unsatisfying in its use. It is transitory in its continuance. “If it be considered as it has” been estimated by the best judges, it is worthless (Hebrews 2:8-9; Ecclesiastes 1:14; Philippians 3:8; John 6:15; John 17:16).
2. The “soul,” on the contrary, if considered in itself, is noble. It is exalted in its origin (Hebrews 12:9). Capacious in its powers. Eternal in its duration. Doomed to everlasting happiness or misery. As estimated by the best judges, it is invaluable (Acts 20:24). The gift of God’s Son to die for it-of infinite value in His sight. Such being the disparity between the value of the world and that of the soul, we are prepared to-
II. See the result of the comparison. We suppose, for argument sake, that a man may possess the whole world. We suppose also that, after having possessed it for awhile, he loses his own soul. What, in the issue, “would he be profited”?
1. Enquire concerning this in general. Would carnal enjoyments compensate for the loss of heaven? Would transient pleasures counterbalance an eternity of glory? Would he have anything to mitigate his pain (Luke 16:24)?
2. Enquire more particularly. These questions are strong appeals to our hearts and consciences. They bid defiance to all the arts of sophistry. Let the “lover of pleasure” etc., etc., ask, “What shall it profit me,” etc.? Conclusion: Which have I more regarded hitherto, the world, or my own soul? Which do I intend in future to prefer, etc.? (C. Simeon.)
Caring more for the body than for the soul
“Two things a master commits to his servant’s care,” saith one: “the child and the child’s clothes.” It will be a poor excuse for the servant to say, at his master’s return, “Sir, here are all the child’s clothes, neat and clean, but the child is lost!” Much so with the account that many will give to God of their souls and bodies at the great day. “Lord, here is my body; I was very grateful for it; I neglected nothing that belonged to its content and welfare; but as for my soul, that is lost and cast away for ever. I took little care and thought about it. (Flavel.)
The value and loss of the soul
1. Every man has a soul of his own.
2. It is possible for the soul to be lost; and there is danger of it.
3. If the soul is lost, it is the sinner’s own losing; and his blood is on his own head.
4. One soul is worth more than all the world.
5. The winning of the world is often the losing of the soul.
6. The loss of the soul cannot be made up by the gain of the whole world.
7. If the soul be once lost, it is lost for ever; and the loss can never be repaired or retrieved. (Matthew Henry.)
What is a man profited?
1. The good in the gain is imaginary and fantastical; the evil in the loss is real and substantial.
2. The good in the gain is convertible into evil; the evil in the loss is never to be improved into good.
3. The good in the gain is narrow and particular; the evil in the loss is large and universal.
4. The good in the gain is mixed and sophisticated; the evil in the loss is pure and unmingled.
5. The good in the gain is full of intermissions; the evil in the loss is continual.
6. The good in the gain is short and transitory; the evil in the loss is eternal. (Dr. J. Scott.)
Profit and loss
I. The soul’s worth:
(1) nature;
(2) capacities;
(3) immortality;
(4) purchase-price.
II. The soul’s loss, is loss of
(1) holiness;
(2) happiness;
(3) heaven;
(4) hope.
III. Enforce the question:
(1) gain uncertain, loss inevitable;
(2) gain imaginary, loss positive;
(3) gain temporary, loss irretrievable. (Pulpit Germs.)
Value of souls
A converted Jew, pleading for the cause of the society through whose instrumentality he had been brought to a knowledge of Christianity, was opposed by a learned gentleman, who spoke very lightly of the objects of the society and its efforts, and said “he did not suppose they would convert more than a hundred altogether.” “Be it so,” replied the Jew; you are a skilful calculator; take your pen now, and calculate the worth of one hundred immortal souls!”
Inestimable value of the soul
Are there not things more precious than gold and bank stocks? When the Central America was foundering at sea, bags and purses of gold were strewn about the deck as worthless-as merest rubbish. “Life, life,” was the prayer. To some of the wretched survivors, “Water, water; bread, bread; “ it was worth its weight in gold, if it could have been bought. And oh! above all-far above all, the salvation of your soul is precious. Is it not yet lost? Is it saved? (Christian Treasury.)
Insurance of the soul
A little boy on his father’s knee said, “Pa, is your soul insured? Why do you ask, my son? I heard Uncle George say that you had your house insured, and your life insured; but he did not believe you had thought about your soul, and he was afraid you would lose it. Won’t you get it insured right away?” It was all too true; and the question led the father to seek the Divine guarantee of his soul’s well-being.
Care for the soul
It is recorded concerning one of the martyrs, that when he was going to the stake, a nobleman besought him, in a compassionate manner, to take care of his soul. “So I will,” he replied; “for I give my body to be burned, rather than have my soul defiled. (Archbishop Sacker.)
The value of the soul
I. We possess immortal souls of incalculable value. The incomparable worth of the soul appears from
(1) the nature of its powers;
(2) the price of its redemption;
(3) the efforts for its possession;
(4) the duration of its existence.
II. Our souls are in imminent danger of being lost.
1. The loss of the soul is certainly possible.
2. The loss of the soul is highly probable.
3. The loss of the soul is deplorable.
4. The loss of the soul is utterly irreparable.
III. Nothing can compensate for the loss of the soul.
1. The case supposed-“If he gain the whole world.”
2. The inquiry instituted-“What is a man profited?”
3. The exchange proposed-“What shall a man give?” (Sketches.)
The incomparable worth of the soul will also appear
from the following considerations:-
I. From its essence and capacities. The body is composed of dust, like the bodies of other animals, but the soul was infused by the breath of God. It is capable of the heavenly exercises of love, pity, and mercy. The extent of its capacities is amazing. It is capable of exerting itself like an angel in the employments of the heavenly world. Vast capacities has the soul for happiness and misery. The happiness which appertains to the soul is far the most noble in its kind. If to contemplate the sun and moon produces a delight full of dignity, what does the contemplation of Him who spoke these orbs into being? The soul alone is capable of enjoying God. What is the world to this?
II. From the amazing respect that has been paid to it. God has discovered His high regard for the soul by the pains He has taken to give a written revelation to the world. Angels also discover their high regard for the soul by leaving the realms of glory to consume their time upon this distant planet by daily ministrations to its salvation.
II. What completes the value of the soul is its immortality and perhaps eternal progression.
How may we best know the worth of the soul? By considering-
I. What is meant by the soul.
1. “Soul,” or ψυχὴ, the word here used, is put for life, by a metonymy of the efficient for the effect, because our life depends upon the soul. Thus: “Take no thought for your life”- ψυχὴ (Matthew 6:25).
2. The word “soul” is put for the whole man frequently in Scripture. Thus, the number of persons “that came with Jacob into Egypt” is reckoned by so many “souls” (Genesis 46:26).
3. This word “soul” is taken most properly and strictly for the form, constituent, and better part of man; that breath that is breathed into him from God, when man becomes a living soul (Genesis 2:7). In this acceptation we proceed to inquire-
II. What this “soul” is.
(a) The soul is a distinct substance from the body. This will appear if we consider
(1) that such things as are proper to distinct substances-as, to “ dwell in the body,” whilst a man lives; to “leave the body “ when he dies-are attributed to the soul;
(2) that it does “ substare,” i.e., is the subject of accidents-such as are virtue and vice, arts and sciences; which cannot inhere in bare matter;
(3) that it was made after the body;
(4) that it exists separately from the body-“Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). It is certain his body was not with our Saviour’s.
(b) The soul is a spiritual substance.
1. Were it only that the soul is so often called “ a spirit “ by God Himself in His Word, it were a very considerable argument to prove that it is a spirit (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Zechariah 12:1; Acts 7:59).
2. That the soul is a spiritual substance, is evident in that it is not produced out of matter (Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 12:7).
3. A third argument to prove that the soul is a spirit, is, because in it man bears the image of God-“God is a Spirit” (John 4:24).
4. The actions or operations of the soul are such as cannot proceed from any bodily being.
5. The soul is a spirit, in that it is in the body, and one body cannot be in another. The soul takes up no place, as bodies do; it is tota in tote.
6. In what the soul’s excellency does appear.
I. The first thing that speaks the soul’s prerogative is its original. It is accounted no small privilege to be nobly born.
II. Then again in the end it is designed for.
1. The soul of man is made for to bring glory to God.
2. The soul of man is made capable of enjoying God.
The endeavours that are used for to gain souls.
I. God’s endeavours.
1. His parting with His Son, and Christ with His heart blood and life, for them.
2. I might add unto God’s giving of His Son for our souls, His giving of His Spirit to the soul.
3. God’s valuing of our soul appears in the care and pains which He takes for our souls daily.
(a) In that He hath instituted means whereby He might come to obtain our souls, nay, to strengthen and comfort them, and have communion with them.
(b) He bears with us, and exercises a great deal of patience towards us, if so He might at length gain our souls; and says, “when shall it once be?”
(c) His bearing with the whole world of wicked men, notwithstanding their blasphemies and open defiances of Him, is only out of love to some few souls who serve and fear Him.
(d) All the providences of God in which He worketh hitherto, are intended by Him for the good of our souls, and done by God out of respect unto them.
II. Endeavours used by Satan for our souls.
(e) The duration of our souls. Application:
1. If the soul be so precious, we have heard enough to make us abhor sin for ever.
2. This does recommend and endear our blessed Saviour to us.
3. This commends holiness in all its parts to us.
4. Have a care that ye do not lose these souls that are so valuable. Consider that-
(1) the danger your souls are in is very great;
(2) the loss of your souls is very great;
(3) the loss is never to be repaired.
(4) Shall I add, that this soul is thine own, and that thou hast not, nor ever shalt have, another, and therefore it behoves thee to keep it safe.
(5) Thou must answer for the loss of thy soul: God hath entrusted it with thee. (P. Vinke, D. D.)
The soul’s inestimable value
A problem that deserves the study of the longest life. The best medium through which to view this all important question is the following verse. In this light I view this great question, and what do I see?
I. That we have in our possession a jewel called the soul, astonishing in its properties, and inestimable in its value. The soul is-
(1) Divine in its origin;
(2) astonishing in its properties-vitality, rationality, accountability;
(3) an immortal principle;
(4) has fallen from its glory;
(5) has been redeemed by Christ;
(6) angels rejoice over its salvation.
II. The possibility of that soul being lost, the loss will be inexpressibly great.
1. What is the loss of a lost soul? The loss of grace in time. Glory in eternity.
III. The characters who, if they die as they are, will suffer and endure this fearful loss. “Is it I?” If you are living in open sin, etc., it is you. Have you repented, believed in Christ, etc.? Look at this matter in the light of the judgment day, and read Matthew 25:1-46.
IV. The indesirable, inexpressible, inconceivable folly of the man that barters away his soul-get what he will in exchange, riches, honours, pleasures, etc.
V. The wisdom of that man who is determined to have his soul saved-cost what it will.
VI. that next to the salvation of our own souls, it is our highest duty and best interest to promote the salvation of others. (W. Dawson)
.
The world an impossible enjoyment
He that hath all the world (if we can suppose such a man), cannot have a dish of fresh summer fruits in the midst of winter, not so much as a green fig: and very much of its possessions is so hid, so fugacious, and of so uncertain purchase, that it is like the riches of the sea to the lord of the shore; all the fish and wealth within all its hollownesses are his, but he is never the better for what he cannot get; all the shell-fishes that produce pearl, produce them not for him; and the bowels of the earth shall hide her treasures in undiscovered retirements: so that it will signify as much to this great purchaser to be entitled to an inheritance in the upper region of the air; he is so far from possessing all its riches, that he does not so much as know of them, nor understand the philosophy of her minerals. (Jeremy Taylor)
The world-gainer more a delight to others than to himself
Nay, those things which he esteems his ornament, and the singularity of his possessions, are they not of more use to others than to himself? For suppose his garments splendid and shining, like the robe of a cherub, or the clothing of the fields, all that he that wears them enjoys, is, that they keep him warm, and clean, and modest; and all this is done by clean and less pompous vestments; and the beauty of them, which distinguishes him from others, is made to please the eyes of the beholders; and he is like a fair bird, or the meretricious painting of a wanton woman, made wholly to be looked on, that is, to be enjoyed by every one but himself: and the fairest face and most sparkling eye cannot perceive or enjoy their own beauties but by reflection. It is I that am pleased with beholding his gaiety; and the gay man, in his greatest bravery, is only pleased because I am pleased with the sight; so borrowing his little and imaginary complacency from the delight that I have, not from any inherency of his own possession. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The world enjoyed by men who do not sell their souls for it
The poorest artizan of Rome walking in Caesar’s gardens, had the same pleasures which they ministered to their lord: and although, it may be, he was put to gather fruits to eat from another place, yet his other senses were delighted equally with Caesar’s: the birds made him as good music, the flowers gave him as sweet smells; he there sucked as good air, and delighted in the beauty and order of the place, for the same reason and upon the same perception as the prince himself; save only that Caesar paid, for all that pleasure, vast sums of money, the blood and treasure of a province, which the poor man had for nothing. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The gain of the whole world no benefit
Cannot a man quench his thirst as well out of an urn or chalice, as out of a whole river? It is an ambitious thirst, and a pride of draught, that had rather lay his mouth to the Euphrates than to a petty goblet; but if he had rather, it adds not so much to his content as to his danger and his vanity. (Jeremy Taylor.)
Enjoyment of the world limited by lack of capacity
If any man should give to a lion a fair meadow full of hay, or a thousand quince trees; or should give to the goodly bull, the master and the fairest of the whole herd, a thousand fair stags; if a man should present to a child a ship laden with Persian carpets, and the ingredients of the rich scarlet: all these, being disproportionate either to the appetite or to the understanding, could add nothing of content, and might declare the freeness of the presenter, but they upbraid the incapacity of the receiver. And so it does if God should give the whole world to any man. He knows not what to do with it; he can use no more but according to the capacities of a man; he can use nothing but meat, and drink, and clothes; and infinite riches, that can give him changes of raiment every day, and a full table, do but give him a clean trencher every bit he eats; it signifies no more but wantonness and variety, to the same, not to any new purposes. He to whom the world can be given to any purpose greater than a private estate can minister, must have new capacities created in him: he needs the understanding of an angel, to take the accounts of his estate; he had need have a stomach like fire or the grave, for else he can eat no more than one of his healthful subjects; and unless he hath an eye like the sun, and a motion like that of a thought, and a bulk as big as one of the orbs of heaven, the pleasures of his eye can be no greater than to behold the beauty of a little prospect from a hill, or to look upon the heap of gold packed up in a little room, or to dote upon a cabinet of jewels, better than which there is no man, that sees at all, but sees every day. (Jeremy Taylor.)
Knowledge has a greater enjoyment of the world than mere possession
But then, although they only have power to relish any pleasure rightly, who rightly understand the nature; and degrees and essences, and ends of things; yet they that do so, understand also the vanity and the unsatisfyingness of the things of this world, so that the relish, which could not be great but in a great understanding, appears contemptible because its vanity appears at the same time; the understanding sees all, and sees through it. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The gain of the world outweighed by a sharp pain
The greatest vanity of this world is remarkable in this, that all its joys summed up together are not big enough to counterpoise the evil of one sharp disease, or to allay a sorrow. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The world a poor reward for the pain of getting it
But in the supposition it is, “If a man could gain the whole world,” which supposes labour and sorrow, trouble and expense, venture and hazard, and so much time expired in its acquist and purchase, that, besides the possession is not secured to us for the term of life, so our lives are almost expired before we become estated in our purchases. And indeed, it is a sad thing to see an ambitious or a covetous person make his life unpleasant, troublesome, and vexatious, to grasp a power bigger than himself, to fight for it with infinite hazards of his life, so that it is a thousand to one but he perishes in the attempt, and gets nothing at all but an untimely grave, a reproachful memory, and an early damnation. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The mad exchange
And this I observe to be intimated in the word, lose. For he that gives gold for cloth, or precious stones for bread, serves his needs of nature, and loses nothing by it; and the merchant that found a pearl of great price, and sold all that he had to make the purchase of it, made a good venture; he was no loser: but here the case is otherwise; when a man gains the whole world, and his soul goes in the exchange, he hath not done like a merchant, but like a child or a prodigal; he hath given himself away, he hath lost all that can distinguish him from a slave or a miserable person,he loses his soul in the exchange. For the soul of a man all the world cannot be a just price; a man may lose it, or throw it away, but he can never make a good exchange when he parts with this jewel; and therefore our blessed Saviour rarely well expresses it by ζημιοῦν, which is fully opposed to κέρδος, “gain; “ it is such an ill market a man makes, as if he should proclaim his riches and goods vendible for a garland of thistles decked and trimmed up with the stinking poppy. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The soul exchanged for a paltry convenience
But we must come far lower yet. Thousands there are that damn themselves; and yet their purchase, at long-running, and after a base and weary life spent, is but five hundred pounds a-year: nay, it may be, they only cozen an easy person out of a good estate, and pay for it at an easy rate, which they obtain by lying, by drinking, by flattery, by force; and the gain is nothing but a thousand pounds in the whole, or, it may be, nothing but a convenience. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The soul now ignorant of its capability
If the elephant knew his strength, or the horse the vigorousness of his own spirit, they would be as rebellious against their rulers as unreasonable men against government; nay, the angels themselves, because their light reflected home to their orbs, and they understood all the secrets of their own perfection, they grew vertiginous, and fell from the battlements of heaven. But the excellency of a human soul shall then be truly understood, when the reflection will make no distraction of our faculties, nor enkindle any irregular fires; when we may understand ourselves without danger. (Jeremy Taylor.)
The loss of the soul an insupportable calamity
But yet from these considerations it would follow, that to lose a soul, which is designed to be an immense sea of pleasures, even in its natural capacities, is to lose all that whereby a man can possibly be, or be supposed, happy. And so much the rather is this understood to be an insupportable calamity, because losing a soul in this sense is not a mere privation of those felicities, of which a soul is naturally designed to be a partaker, but it is an investing it with contrary objects and cross effects, and dolorous perceptions: for the will, if it misses its desires, is afflicted; and the understanding, when it ceases to be ennobled with excellent things, is made ignorant as a swine, dull as the foot of a rock; and the affections are in the destitution of their perfective actions made tumultuous, vexed and discomposed to the height of rage and violence. (Jeremy Taylor.)
A foolish choice
The old rabbins, those poets of religion, report of Moses, that when the courtiers of Pharaoh were sporting with the child Moses, in the chamber of Pharaoh’s daughter, they presented to his choice an ingot of gold in one hand and a coal of fire in the other, and that the child snatched at the coal, thrust it into his mouth, and so singed and parched his tongue, that he stammered ever after. And certainly it is infinitely more childish in us, for the glittering of the small glow-worms and the charcoal of worldly possessions, to swallow the flames of hell greedily in our choice: such a bit will produce a worse stammering than Moses had: for so the accursed and lost souls have their ugly and horrid dialect, they roar and blaspheme, blaspheme and roar, for ever. (Jeremy Taylor.)
A wicked barter
You wonder at the folly of that rude and naked savage who would barter a coronet of gold for small worthless trinkets, and buy the wonders of a mirror, the tinkling of a bell, or the string of coloured beads, with a handful of pearls, fit ornaments of a crown. Yet what is that compared with the folly of him who, in exchange for the toys of earth, gives his soul? (Dr. Guthrie)
The folly of hazarding eternal life for temporal enjoyment
I. How inconsiderable the purchase.
1. If we had it all, yet the great uncertainty of holding it, or any part of it.
2. The impossibility of using and enjoying it all.
3. If we had it, and could use it all, the improbability of being contented with it.
II. How great a price is paid for it.
1. The loss is great.
2. Irreparable.
3. The severe reflection men will make upon themselves for their folly. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
The world gainer destitute of the joy of hope
God hath so contrived things that, ordinarily, the pleasures of human life do consist more in hope than enjoyment: so that if a man had gained all the world, one of the chief pleasures of life would be gone, because there would be nothing more left for him to hope for in this world. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
Prosperity an aggravation of subsequent misery
If the happiness were true and real, it were an imprudent method. As if a man should choose to enjoy a great estate for a few days, and to be extremely poor the remaining part of his life. If there were any necessity of making so unequal a bargain, surely, a man would reserve the best condition to the last; for precedent sufferings and trouble do mightily recommend the pleasures that are to ensue, and render them more tasteful than they would otherwise have been; whereas the greatest heightening of misery, the saddest aggravation of an unhappy condition, is to fall into it from the height of a prosperous fortune. It is comfortable for a man to come out of the cold to a warm fire; but if a man in a great heat shall leap into the cold water, it will strike him to the heart. Such is the fond choice of every sinner, to pass immediately out of a state of the greatest sensual pleasure, into the most quick and sensible torments. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
The after reflection of a lost soul
With what indignation will he look upon himself, and censure his own folly! Like a man who, in a drunken fit, hath passed away his estate for a trifling consideration: the next morning, when he is sober and come to himself, and finds himself a beggar, how does he rate himself for being such a beast and a fool, as to do that in a blind and rash heat which he will have cause to repent as long as he hath a day to live. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
Is life worth living?
“What shall a man give in exchange, for his life?” This question has been largely on the lips of the world of late.
I. Life in its origin and destiny, is a deep mystery. Its only solution, as its only worth, is found in faith and religion. Life is growth under a force and principle guided by intelligence. To be, to act, and to suffer or enjoy, is to live.
II. Its unfolding may take place around either of two centres-self or god. Life offers us, in this direction, either bondage or freedom. It is determined by choice. He who decides to live to himself, becomes the slave of sin, passion, and lust. He who chooses God, attains to freedom, etc.
III. Whether life will secure worth will depend upon what we believe.
1. In natural science.
2. In mental philosophy.
3. In morals.
4. In religion.
IV. Belief and knowledge will have their effect upon character and conduct, and will manifest themselves. In what we become ourselves, and in what we help others to become.
V. Reasons. Why we should make the most of life and fill it with worth.
1. God gave it and upholds it.
2. God has redeemed it in order to give it worth.
3. God has a plan for each life, which, if followed, will lead from grace to glory, and from the utilities of time to the rewards and inheritance of eternity. Unless we do so, most assuredly, in the light of our text, life will not be worth the living, and indeed it were far better never to have been born. (L. O. Thompson)
The loss of the soul irreparable
If the soul perish, it is, once more, an irreparable loss-a loss that cannot be retrieved. A man may lose health, and yet, by the blessing of Providence upon medical aid, he may become more healthy than before; a man may lose property-his all in the world, and yet, by industry and the smile of Providence, he may become richer than before; a man may lose friends-God may raise up others in their room; but, Oh, if the soul is lost, it is lost not for a day a month, or a year, but for eternity; and it is that word “eternity” which gives emphasis to bliss or woe, to ease or pain, to hell or heaven. (R. Newton. D. D.)
The loss of the soul eternal
There is no proportion between the one and the other. There is some proportion between a particle of matter and the globe-there is some proportion between a drop of water and the ocean; but there can be none between the little drop of time and the shoreless, fathomless ocean of eternity. The man, then, that gains the whole world for time and loses his soul for eternity, can gain no profit. (R. Newton. D. D.)