The Preciousness of the Soul

Matthew 16:26 — 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?

Every person carries a treasure about him — a divine soul. Our Savior here sets a price upon it; he lays the soul in the balance against the whole world, and the soul weighs heaviest. What is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

The world is a stately structure, enriched with beauty and excellence; it is like a curious piece of tapestry set about with diverse colors. It is a bright mirror in which much of the wisdom and majesty of God is resplendent. But as glorious as this world is, every person carries a more glorious world about him — a precious soul. A great thing is the soul. It would bankrupt the world to give half the price of a soul; it will undo the world to buy it, and undo the person who shall sell it. If we can save our souls though we lose the world, it is a gainful loss. If we lose our souls though we gain the world, our very gains will undo us. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

The words divide into five parts.

First, a supposal of a purchase: if a man shall gain. Christ does not say he shall gain — he puts a case. It is only supposed.

Second, the purchase itself — the world.

Third, the extent of the purchase — the whole world, the world with all its revenues and benefits.

Fourth, the terms of this purchase — he shall lose his soul. Not that his soul shall be annihilated — that were happy — but he shall lose the end of his creation; he shall miss glory. The loss of the soul is amplified by two things.

First, the identity — his own soul, that which is nearest to him, that which is most himself. The soul is the most noble part; it is the innermost person of the person — he shall lose his own soul.

Second, the irrecoverableness of the loss: what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The words contain an understatement — less is said than is meant. What shall he give? As if Christ had said: he has nothing to give. Or if he had something to give, nothing would be accepted for it. The soul cannot be exchanged; there shall be no bail taken for it. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Fifth, our Savior's verdict on this purchase: for what is a man profited? As if Christ had said: he will have a hard bargain of it, he will repent of it at last. It is the fool's purchase: for what is a man profited?

Observe: the soul of man is a jewel more precious than a world. All souls are of one price; the soul of prince and peasant — all are equal. Every soul is of more value than a world. For the illustration of this doctrine there are two things to be demonstrated.

First, that the soul is very precious.

Second, that it is more precious than a world.

That the soul is very precious. What Job says of wisdom I may fitly apply to the soul: man does not know the price of it; it cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire; the gold and crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold (Job 28:13-17). The soul is the glory of creation. The inscription of it may be this: The soul is a beam of God; it is a sparkle of celestial brightness, as Damascene calls it; it is, according to Plato, a glass of the Trinity. There is in the soul an image and resemblance of God — an analogy of similitude, as the schoolmen speak. If David so admired the rare texture and workmanship of his body (Psalm 139:13-15): I am wonderfully made, I was intricately wrought in the lowest parts of the earth — if the case is so curiously wrought, what is the jewel inside? How richly and gloriously is the soul embroidered — divinely inlaid and enameled! The body is but the sheath (Daniel 7:15): I was grieved in the midst of my body — in the Chaldean, in the midst of my sheath. The most beautiful body is but like a velvet sheath; the soul is the blade of admirable metal. The soul is a sparkling diamond set in a ring of clay. The soul is a vessel of honor; God himself is served in this vessel. The soul is the bird of paradise that soars aloft; it may be compared to the wings of the cherubim, having a winged swiftness to fly to heaven. The soul is capable of communion with God and angels. The soul is God's house that he has made to dwell in (Hebrews 3:6); the understanding, will, and affections are the three stories in this house. What a pity that this goodly building should be let out with the devil as its tenant! The preciousness of the soul is seen in two particulars.

It has an intrinsic worth and an estimated worth.

The soul has an intrinsic worth, which appears in two things.

Spirituality: the soul is a spiritual substance. The ancients said our souls are formed in the same mold as the heavenly spirits. The soul is spiritual in three ways: in its essence, its object, and its operation.

In its essence. In its object. In its operation.

The soul is spiritual in its essence. God breathed it in (Genesis 2:7) — it is a spark lit by the breath of God. The soul may be compared to the spirits of the wine, the body to the dregs; the spirits are the more pure and refined part of the wine — such is the soul; the body is more coarse, the soul is the more refined and sublimated part of man. Do not misunderstand me: when I say the soul is spiritual and a beam of God, I do not mean it is of the same substance as him. Servetus, Osiander, and others erroneously thought that when God breathed into man the breath of life, the soul conveys into man the spirit and substance of God — which opinion is absurd and sinful. For if the soul were part of the Divine Essence, then the Essence of God would be subject not only to change and passion, but, worse, to sin — which it is blasphemy to assert. So when we say the soul is spiritual, the meaning is: God has invested it with many noble endowments; he has made it a mirror of beauty and printed upon it a surpassing excellence. As the sun shining upon a crystal conveys its beauty, not its being.

The soul is spiritual in its object; it contemplates God and heaven. God is the sphere and center where the soul fixes itself. If you could lift a stone into the highest region, though it broke into a hundred pieces, it would fall to its center. God is the end toward which the soul moves, as to its rest (Psalm 116:7): return to your rest, O my soul. He is the ark to which this dove flies. Nothing but God can fill a heaven-born soul; if the earth were turned into a globe of gold, it could not fill the heart — it would still cry, Give, give. The soul being spiritual, God alone can be its adequate object.

The soul is spiritual in its operation; being immaterial, it does not depend upon the body in its working. The senses of seeing, hearing, and the rest of the organs of the body cease and die with the body, because they are parts of the body and have their dependence upon it. But the soul, as Aristotle says, has a nature distinct from the body; it moves and operates of itself though the body be dead, and has no dependence upon or coexistence with the body. Thales Milesius, an ancient philosopher, defines the soul as self-moving — it has an intrinsic principle of life and motion though it be separate from the body. And thus you have seen the soul's spirituality.

The preciousness of the soul appears also in its immortality. There are some who say the soul is mortal; indeed it were well for those who do not live like men if they might die like beasts. But as Julius Scaliger well observes, it is impossible for anything of a spiritual, uncompounded nature to be subject to death and corruption. The souls of believers are with Christ after death (Philippians 1:23). Oecolampadius said to his friend who came to visit him on his deathbed: Good news, I shall shortly be with Christ my Lord. And the devout soul shall be ever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The pagans had some glimmerings of the soul's immortality. Cicero says the swan was dedicated to Apollo because it sings sweetly before its death; by this symbol they signified the joy of virtuous men before dying, imagining the delights they should enjoy after this life. And we read it was a custom among the Romans that when their great men died, they caused an eagle to fly aloft in the air, signifying that the soul was immortal and did not die as the body.

The soul's immortality may be proved by this argument: that which is not capable of being killed is not capable of dying. But the soul is not capable of being killed. Our Savior Christ proves the minor proposition: Luke 12:4: do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do. Therefore the soul, not being capable of being killed, is not in a possibility of dying. The essence of the soul is metaphysical; it has a beginning but no end; it is eternal going forward. The soul does not grow old; it lives forever — which can be said of no earthly created glory. Worldly things are as full of change as of motion, and like Jonah's gourd, have a worm eating at the root.

The soul has an estimated worth.

Jesus Christ has set a high value and estimate upon the soul; he made it and he bought it, therefore he best knows its price. He sold himself to buy the soul. Zechariah 11:12: they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. He was content not only to be sold, but to die; this enhances the price of the soul — it cost the blood of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:19): you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. God must die that the soul may live; the heir of heaven was mortgaged and laid to pawn for the soul of man. What could Christ give more than himself? What in himself was dearer than his blood? O precious soul, that has the image of God to beautify it and the blood of God to redeem it! Christ was the priest, his divine nature the altar, his blood the sacrifice which he offered up as an atonement for our souls. Now reckon what a drop of Christ's blood is worth, and then tell me what a soul is worth.

Satan also values souls — he knows their worth. He says as the king of Sodom said to Abraham: give me the persons, and take the goods to yourself. So Satan says: give me the persons. He does not strive to take away your estates, but your souls. Whence come all his warlike strategies and subtle snares but to catch souls? Why does this lion roar but for his prey? He envies the soul its happiness. He lays the whole train of temptation to blow up the entire fortress of the soul. Why does he lay such suitable baits? He allures the ambitious person with a crown, the covetous with a golden apple, the sensual with beauty. The devil is angling for the precious soul. If Satan the lion must be kept in his hellish den, it is all the heaven he hopes for — to reach forth his paw and pull others in with him.

Having shown the soul's preciousness, the next thing to demonstrate is that the soul is more precious than a world. The world is made of a cruder material; the soul is heaven-born, of finer quality, of more noble descent. The world is a great book in which we read the majesty and wisdom of its Maker. But the soul is the image of God (Genesis 1). The soul is a studied piece; when God made the world it was but a word — let it be, and it was done. But when he made the soul, all the persons of the Trinity sat together at the council table (Genesis 1:26): let us make man in our own likeness. The soul is a glass in which some rays of divine glory shine. The soul since the fall may be compared to the moon in its new phase, very much obscured by sin. But when it is sanctified by the Spirit and translated to heaven, it shall be as the full moon, shining forth in its perfect glory.

If the soul is so precious, see what worship God expects and accepts — namely, that which comes from the most noble part of the soul. Psalm 25:1: To you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. David did not only lift up his voice, but his soul. Though God will have the eye and the knee — the service of the body — yet he complains of those who draw near with their lips while their hearts are far from him (Isaiah 29:13). The soul is the jewel. David did not only put his lute and viol in tune, but his soul in tune to praise God. Psalm 103:1: Bless the Lord, O my soul — his affections joining together in worship made up the concert. The soul is both altar, fire, and incense; it is the altar on which we offer up our prayers, the fire which kindles our prayers, and the incense which perfumes them. God's eye is chiefly upon the soul; bring a hundred dishes to table, he will take from none but this — this is the savory meat he loves. He who is best will be served with the best; when we give him the soul in a duty, now we give him the flower and the cream. A soul inflamed in service is the cup of spiced wine and the juice of the pomegranate which the spouse makes Christ drink (Song of Solomon 8:2). Without the worship of the soul, all our religion is but bodily exercise (1 Timothy 4:8), which profits nothing; without the soul we give God but a corpse. What are all the papists' fastings, penances, and pilgrimages but going to hell in more pomp and state? What are the formalist's prayers, which even cool between his lips, but dead devotion? It is not sacrifice, but sacrilege; he robs God of that which he has a right to — the soul.

If the soul is so precious, then of what precious account should ordinances and ministers be?

Ordinances are the golden ladder by which the soul climbs up to heaven; they are channels of the water of life. Those who are against ordinances are against being saved.

Of how precious account should ministers be, whose very work is to save souls; their feet should be beautiful.

Their labors should be precious; they labor with God and they labor for your souls. All their sweat, their tears, their prayers are for you; they plead for your souls, and often spend their lives in the cause.

The liberties of faithful ministers should be precious. Constantine was a great honorer of the ministry. If you see any of those in this holy function who are like a drug that is hot in the mouth but cold in operation — if you see them either idle or ravenous, if they do not rightly divide the word and live uprightly — censure them without hesitation. In the law the lips of the leper were to be covered; a minister who is by office an angel but by his life a leper deserves silencing. A good preacher but a bad liver is like a physician who has the plague; though his advice and prescriptions may be good, his plague infects the patient. If you find a Hophni and Phinehas among the sons of Levi, whose unholy conduct makes the offering of God to be despised, you will save God a labor in removing them. But be sure to distinguish between the precious and the vile; while you let out bad blood, be careful to preserve the heart's blood; while purging out ill humors, do not destroy the vital spirits; while removing the snuffs, do not eclipse the lights of God's sanctuary. It is work fit for a Julian to suppress the orthodox ministry and open the temple of the idol. The Romans sacked the city of Corinth and razed it to the ground for an insult offered to their ambassador; God will avenge the affronts offered to his ministers (Psalm 105:15). If souls are of such infinite value, how precious should the liberties of those whose very design and negotiation is to save souls be! (1 Timothy 4:16; Jude 23)

If the soul is so precious, take heed of abusing your souls. Socrates exhorted young men that they should look their faces in a glass, and if they were fair, they should take care to do nothing unworthy of their beauty. Christians, God has given you souls that sparkle with divine beauty; do nothing unworthy of these souls, do not abuse them. There are four sorts of persons who abuse their souls.

Those that degrade their souls.

Those who set the world above their souls; who pant after the dust of the earth (Amos 2:7). As if a man's house were on fire and he took care to preserve the furniture but let his child burn in the fire.

Those who make their souls servants to their bodies. The body is but the brutish part; the soul is the angelic. The soul is the queen regent, adorned with the jewels of knowledge and wielding the scepter of liberty. What a pity that this excellent soul should be made a vassal and put to grind in the mill, while the body sits in a chair of state! Solomon complains of an evil under the sun (Ecclesiastes 10:7): I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants on the earth. Is it not an evil under the sun to see the body riding in pomp and triumph, and the soul — that royal and heaven-born thing — walking as a servant on foot?

Those who abuse their souls, that sell their souls.

The covetous person sells his soul for money; as it is said of the lawyer that he has a tongue to be sold for a fee, so the covetous man has a soul for sale. Achan sold his soul for a wedge of gold; Judas sold his soul for silver — and what cheap bargains he made! For thirty pieces he sold Christ, who was worth more than heaven, and his own soul, which was worth more than a world! How many have damned their souls for money (1 Timothy 6:9-10)! It is observed that eagle's quills mixed with hen's feathers will in time consume them; such is the world to the soul. If you mix these earthly things with your soul and let them lie too near you, they will in time consume and undo your soul.

The ambitious person sells his soul for honor. As Alexander the Sixth sold his soul to the devil for a popedom. And what is honor but an imaginary thing? A torch lit by the breath of people, with the least puff of censure blown out! It is a miserable thing to depend on the fame of others. How many souls have been blown to hell with the wind of popular applause?

The sensual person sells his soul for pleasure. Heliogabalus drowned himself in sweet water; so many drown their souls in the sweet perfumed waters of pleasure. Plato calls pleasure the bait that catches souls — they are caught as fish on a hook. Pleasure is a silken halter, a flattering devil; it kills with embracing.

Those who abuse their souls that poison their souls. Error is a sweet poison; Ignatius calls it the invention of the devil. A man may as well damn his soul by error as by vice, and may as soon go to hell for a drunken opinion as for a drunken life.

Those who abuse their souls, that starve their souls — those who say they are above ordinances. But surely we shall not be above ordinances until we are above sin. The apostle says that in the blessed sacrament we are to remember the Lord's death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26) — that is, until Christ comes to judgment. How then can anyone omit the sacraments without a contempt and affront to Christ himself? If Paul and the apostles — those giants in grace — needed the Lord's Supper to confirm and strengthen them, how much more do we need such holy ordinances, who have but infant-faith! Satan likes these fasting days — he would have men fast from ordinances; if the body is kept from food, it cannot live long.

If the soul is so precious a thing, take heed that you do not lose your soul; consider what a loss it is, as appears in two things.

It is a foolish loss to lose the soul (Luke 12:20): you fool, this night your soul shall be required of you. It is a foolish loss in a threefold respect.

It is a foolish loss because there is a possibility of saving the soul; we have time to work in, we have light to work by, we have the Spirit offering help. The soul is like a ship laden with jewels; the Spirit is a wind to blow. If we would but loosen anchor from sin, we might arrive at the port of happiness.

It is a foolish loss because we lose the soul for things of no value; worldly things are infinitely below the soul. The world is but an enchantment; these things glitter in our eyes. But at death we shall say we have set our eyes on that which is not. To lose the soul for such poor things is foolish — it is as if one should throw a diamond at a pear tree and lose his diamond.

It is a foolish loss for a person to lose his soul when he himself has a hand in it; is it not folly to give oneself poison? A sinner has his hands dipped in the blood of his own soul (Hosea 13:9): your destruction is from yourself. They lay wait for their own blood (Proverbs 1:18). The foolish sinner nourishes those lusts that kill his soul. The tree breeds the worm, and the worm eats the tree. Were it not folly for a garrison to open its gates to the enemy that besieges it? The sinner opens to those lusts which war against his soul (1 Peter 2:11). This is a foolish loss.

It is a fatal loss to lose the soul.

It is an unparalleled loss because in losing the soul so many things are lost with it. As a merchant in losing his ship loses many things with it — his money, plate, jewels, spices. So he who loses his soul loses Christ, loses the Comforter, loses the society of angels, loses heaven.

It is an irreparable loss; other losses may be made up again. If a man loses his health he may recover it; if he loses his estate he may regain it. But if he loses his soul, this loss can never be made up. Are there any more Saviors to die for the soul? As Naomi said to her daughters: are there yet any more sons in my womb? (Ruth 1:11) Has God any more sons, or will he send his Son again into the world? No — if the soul is lost, Christ's next coming is not to save it, but to judge it. Christian, remember you have but one soul, and if that be gone, all is gone. God, says Chrysostom, has given you two eyes; if you lose one, you have another — but you have but one soul, and if that perishes, you are completely undone. The merchant who ventures everything in one ship — if that ship is lost, he is quite ruined.

The loss of the soul is an eternal loss; the soul once lost is lost forever. He that loses his soul may say as that wicked doctor of Paris on his deathbed: Parcite funeribus, mihi nil prodesse valebit; Heu infelicem, cur me genuere parentes? Ah miser aeternos vado damnatus ad ignes. The sinner and the furnace shall never be parted (Isaiah 33:14). As the sinner's heart will never be emptied of sin, so God's vial shall never be emptied of wrath; it is an eternal loss.

Do what you can to secure the most important thing — to save these precious souls. In times of danger people call in their debts and labor to secure their estates. All who are yet in their natural state — your souls are mortgaged. If your land were mortgaged you would endeavor to redeem it; your souls are mortgaged. Sin has mortgaged them, sin has laid your souls in pawn — where do you think your souls are? The pawn is in the devil's hand; a person in the state of nature is said to be under the power of Satan (Acts 26:18). There are but two ways to fetch home the pawn, both set down in Acts 20:21: repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Unravel all your works of sin by repentance; honor Christ's merits by believing. Upon this wing the soul flies to the ark Christ and is secured from danger.

Matthew 16:26 — "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Every person carries a treasure within — a divine soul. Our Savior places a value on it here. He sets the soul on the scale against the whole world, and the soul weighs more. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"

The world is a magnificent structure, full of beauty and excellence — like a finely crafted tapestry woven with many colors. It is a bright mirror in which much of the wisdom and majesty of God is reflected. But as glorious as this world is, every person carries within him something more glorious — a precious soul. The soul is a great thing. The entire world could not afford to pay half the price of a soul. Gaining the world at the cost of a soul will ruin the buyer, and losing the soul will undo the one who sells it. If we save our souls while losing the world, that is a worthwhile loss. If we lose our souls while gaining the world, our very gains will destroy us. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

The text has five parts.

First, a hypothetical purchase: if a man shall gain. Christ does not say he will gain — He poses a scenario. It is only a supposition.

Second, the purchase itself — the world.

Third, the scope of the purchase — the whole world, with all its wealth and benefits.

Fourth, the cost of this purchase — he forfeits his soul. Not that his soul is destroyed — that would almost be a mercy — but he loses the very purpose for which he was created. He misses glory. The loss of the soul is made worse by two things.

First, the intimacy of the loss — his own soul, that which is closest to him, that which is most essentially himself. The soul is the most noble part of a person — it is the innermost self. He forfeits his own soul.

Second, the finality of the loss: what will a man give in exchange for his soul? The words contain an understatement — less is said than is meant. What will he give? The implication is: he has nothing to give. And even if he had something to give, nothing would be accepted. The soul cannot be ransomed after the fact — no bail will be taken for it. "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Fifth, Christ's verdict on this transaction: "For what will it profit a man?" Christ is saying: he will have made a terrible bargain and will regret it in the end. It is the fool's purchase: "For what will it profit a man?"

Observe: the soul of a person is a jewel more precious than the whole world. All souls share the same worth — the soul of a prince and the soul of a peasant are equal. Every soul is worth more than a world. Two things must be demonstrated to establish this doctrine.

First, that the soul is very precious.

Second, that it is more precious than a world.

That the soul is very precious. What Job says of wisdom I apply fittingly to the soul: "Man does not know its worth; it cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, nor in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold" (Job 28:13-17). The soul is the glory of creation. It may be described this way: the soul is a beam from God — a spark of heavenly brightness, as Damascene calls it; a mirror of the Trinity, as Plato puts it. Within the soul is an image and likeness of God — what the scholastic theologians call an analogy of resemblance. If David marveled at the remarkable construction of his own body (Psalm 139:13-15) — "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I was intricately woven in the depths of the earth" — if the case is so beautifully crafted, what must the jewel inside be? How richly and gloriously is the soul fashioned — divinely inlaid and adorned! The body is only the sheath (Daniel 7:15): "I was distressed in my spirit" — in the Aramaic, "in the midst of my sheath." Even the most beautiful body is only like a velvet sheath; the soul is the blade forged from extraordinary metal. The soul is a sparkling diamond set in a ring of clay. The soul is a vessel of honor — God Himself is served in this vessel. The soul is the bird of paradise that soars upward. It can be compared to the wings of the cherubim — with a swift, winged ability to fly toward heaven. The soul is capable of fellowship with God and angels. The soul is God's house, which He has made for Himself to dwell in (Hebrews 3:6). The understanding, will, and affections are the three levels of this house. What a tragedy that this magnificent dwelling should be occupied by the devil as its tenant! The preciousness of the soul is seen in two particulars.

The soul has an intrinsic worth and an estimated worth.

The soul has an intrinsic worth, which is seen in two things.

First, its spirituality: the soul is a spiritual substance. The ancient thinkers said our souls are formed in the same mold as the heavenly spirits. The soul is spiritual in three ways: in its essence, its object, and its operation.

In its essence. In its object. In its operation.

The soul is spiritual in its essence. God breathed it into man (Genesis 2:7) — it is a spark ignited by the breath of God. The soul may be compared to the pure spirits distilled from wine, while the body is like the dregs. The spirits are the more pure and refined part — and so it is with the soul. The body is the coarser element; the soul is the more refined and elevated part of a person. Let me be clear: when I say the soul is spiritual and a beam from God, I do not mean it is made of the same substance as God. Servetus, Osiander, and others wrongly believed that when God breathed into man the breath of life, He was conveying His own divine spirit and substance into man — an opinion that is both absurd and sinful. For if the soul were part of the Divine Essence, then God's Essence would be subject not only to change and suffering but, far worse, to sin — which is blasphemy to even suggest. So when we say the soul is spiritual, the meaning is this: God has endowed it with many noble qualities. He has made it a mirror of beauty and stamped upon it a remarkable excellence. Just as sunlight shining on crystal conveys its brightness — not its own being.

The soul is spiritual in its object — it contemplates God and heaven. God is the sphere and center where the soul settles. If you could lift a stone into the highest region of the sky, however many pieces it broke into, it would still fall back to its center. God is the destination toward which the soul moves, as to its rest (Psalm 116:7): "Return to your rest, O my soul." He is the ark to which this dove flies. Nothing but God can fill a soul born for heaven. If the earth were turned into a globe of gold, it still could not satisfy the heart — it would keep crying, "Give, give." Because the soul is spiritual, God alone can fully satisfy it.

The soul is spiritual in its operation. Being immaterial, it does not depend on the body to function. The senses of sight, hearing, and the rest of the body's functions cease and die with the body, because they are part of the body and depend on it. But the soul, as Aristotle observes, has a nature distinct from the body. It moves and acts on its own even when the body is dead, and does not depend on or cease to exist with the body. Thales Milesius, an ancient philosopher, defined the soul as self-moving — it has an internal principle of life and motion even when separated from the body. And so we have seen the soul's spirituality.

The preciousness of the soul also appears in its immortality. Some claim the soul is mortal. One might almost say it would be better for those who do not live like human beings if they could die like animals. But as Julius Scaliger rightly observes, it is impossible for anything of a spiritual, simple nature to be subject to death and decay. The souls of believers are with Christ after death (Philippians 1:23). Oecolampadius said to his friend who came to visit him on his deathbed: "Good news — I shall shortly be with Christ my Lord." And the devoted soul will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Even the pagans had glimpses of the soul's immortality. Cicero says the swan was dedicated to Apollo because it sings sweetly before its death. By this symbol, they expressed the joy of virtuous people as they approached death, imagining the delights they would enjoy in the life to come. And it was a Roman custom, when great men died, to release an eagle into the air, signifying that the soul is immortal and does not die with the body.

The soul's immortality can be proved by this argument: that which cannot be killed cannot die. But the soul cannot be killed. Christ Himself proves this: "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul" (Luke 12:4). Therefore the soul, being incapable of being killed, is not subject to death. The essence of the soul is metaphysical — it has a beginning but no end. It is eternal going forward. The soul does not grow old. It lives forever — which cannot be said of any earthly glory. Worldly things are as full of change as they are of motion, and like Jonah's plant, they have a worm eating at the root.

The soul also has an estimated worth.

Jesus Christ has placed a high value on the soul. He made it and He bought it — so He knows its price better than anyone. He sold Himself to purchase the soul. Zechariah 11:12: "They weighed out thirty shekels of silver as My price." He was willing not only to be sold but to die. This makes the price of the soul even clearer — it cost the blood of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:19): "You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold, but with precious blood — the blood of Christ." God had to die so that the soul might live. The heir of heaven was, so to speak, pledged and handed over as a ransom for the soul of man. What more could Christ give than Himself? What within Himself was more precious than His blood? What a precious soul — bearing the image of God to give it beauty, and redeemed by the blood of God! Christ was the priest, His divine nature the altar, and His blood the sacrifice offered as atonement for our souls. Reckon what a single drop of Christ's blood is worth, and then tell me what a soul is worth.

Even Satan values souls — he knows what they are worth. He says what the king of Sodom said to Abraham: "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." So Satan says: give me the persons. He does not trouble himself to take your wealth — it is your soul he is after. What are all his crafty strategies and subtle traps for, if not to catch souls? Why does this lion roar if not for his prey? He is envious of the soul's happiness. He lays the whole train of temptation to blow up the entire fortress of the soul. Why does he craft such carefully matched lures? He dangles a crown before the ambitious, a golden apple before the greedy, and beauty before the sensual. The devil is fishing for the precious soul. If Satan cannot drag souls back to hell with him, it is the only heaven he can hope for — to reach out his paw and pull others in with him.

Having established the soul's preciousness, the next point is that the soul is more precious than a whole world. The world is made of cruder material. The soul is heaven-born — of finer quality and nobler origin. The world is a great book in which we read the majesty and wisdom of its Maker. But the soul is the image of God (Genesis 1). The soul is a carefully considered work. When God made the world it was by a simple word — let it be, and it was done. But when He made the soul, all three persons of the Trinity deliberated together (Genesis 1:26): "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." The soul is a mirror in which rays of divine glory shine. Since the fall, the soul may be compared to the moon in its new phase — largely darkened by sin. But when it is sanctified by the Spirit and brought to heaven, it will shine like the full moon, displaying its perfect glory.

Since the soul is so precious, consider what kind of worship God expects and accepts — namely, worship that comes from the most noble part of a person, the soul itself. Psalm 25:1: "To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul." David did not only lift up his voice — he lifted up his soul. While God does want the eye and the knee — the service of the body — He complains of those who draw near to Him with their lips while their hearts are far from Him (Isaiah 29:13). The soul is the jewel. David did not only tune his lute and harp — he tuned his soul to praise God. Psalm 103:1: "Bless the Lord, O my soul" — his affections joining together in worship made up the song. The soul is at once the altar, the fire, and the incense. It is the altar on which we offer our prayers, the fire that ignites them, and the incense that perfumes them. God's eye is chiefly on the soul. He will not receive from any other dish — this is the food He prizes. He who is best deserves to be served with the best. When we give God the soul in worship, we give Him the finest. A soul set ablaze in service is the spiced wine and the juice of the pomegranate which the bride makes her beloved drink (Song of Solomon 8:2). Without the worship of the soul, all our religion is mere physical exercise (1 Timothy 4:8), which profits nothing. Without the soul, we offer God only a corpse. What are all the fasts, penances, and pilgrimages of Roman Catholics but a more elaborate way of going to hell? What are the formal prayers of the religious hypocrite — which grow cold even as they leave his lips — but dead devotion? That is not sacrifice but sacrilege — he robs God of what God has a right to: the soul.

Since the soul is so precious, how precious should we consider the means of grace and the ministers of the Gospel to be?

The means of grace are the golden ladder by which the soul climbs toward heaven — they are channels carrying the water of life. Those who oppose the means of grace are opposing the means of their own salvation.

How precious should ministers be — men whose very calling is to save souls? Their feet should be considered beautiful (Romans 10:15).

Their labors deserve to be honored. They labor before God and on behalf of your soul. All their effort, their tears, their prayers are for you. They plead for your soul, and many spend their lives in the cause.

The freedom of faithful ministers should be cherished. Constantine greatly honored the ministry. If you see any in this sacred calling who are like a medicine that burns in the mouth but does nothing in the body — if you see ministers who are either lazy or corrupt, who do not rightly teach the Word and do not live uprightly — censure them without hesitation. Under the law, the lips of a person with skin disease were to be covered. A minister who is by office an angel but by his life a leper deserves to be silenced. A good preacher who lives badly is like a physician with the plague — his prescriptions may be sound, but his plague infects the patient. If you find a Hophni and Phinehas among the sons of Levi, whose scandalous conduct makes people despise the offering of God, you will be doing what God would otherwise have to do Himself by removing them. But be sure to distinguish between the precious and the worthless. While draining bad blood, be careful to preserve the heart's blood. While purging out what is harmful, do not destroy what is vital. While trimming the charred wicks, do not put out the lights of God's sanctuary. It is the work of a Julian to suppress the faithful ministry and prop up false religion. The Romans sacked and leveled the city of Corinth because an insult was offered to their ambassador. God will avenge the wrongs done to His ministers (Psalm 105:15). If souls are of infinite value, how precious should be the liberty of those whose entire purpose is to save souls! (1 Timothy 4:16; Jude 23)

Since the soul is so precious, be careful not to abuse your soul. Socrates urged young men to look at their faces in a mirror, and if they were handsome, to take care to do nothing unworthy of their appearance. Christians, God has given you souls that shine with divine beauty. Do nothing unworthy of these souls — do not abuse them. There are four kinds of people who abuse their souls.

Those who degrade their souls.

Those who place the world above the soul — who pant after the dust of the earth (Amos 2:7). This is like a man whose house is on fire who rushes to save the furniture while his child burns inside.

Those who make the soul a servant to the body. The body is the lesser, brutish part; the soul is the noble, angelic part. The soul is the rightful ruler, adorned with the jewels of knowledge and wielding the scepter of reason and will. What a tragedy that this excellent soul should be made a servant — forced to grind at the mill — while the body sits enthroned! Solomon notes an evil he observed (Ecclesiastes 10:7): "I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking on foot like slaves." Is it not an evil to see the body riding in triumph while the soul — that royal, heaven-born thing — trudges along on foot like a servant?

Those who abuse and sell their souls.

The greedy person sells his soul for money. As it is said of the corrupt lawyer that he has a tongue that can be bought for a fee, so the covetous man has a soul for sale. Achan sold his soul for a wedge of gold. Judas sold his soul for silver — and what a terrible bargain he made! For thirty pieces of silver he sold Christ, who was worth more than heaven, and his own soul, which was worth more than the whole world. How many have damned their souls for the love of money (1 Timothy 6:9-10)! It has been observed that eagle quills mixed with hen feathers will in time destroy them. The world is the same way with the soul. If you allow earthly things to mix with your soul and let them lie too close to you, they will in time consume and ruin it.

The ambitious person sells his soul for honor. Alexander the Sixth sold his soul to the devil for the papacy. And what is human honor but an empty thing? It is a torch lit by people's applause — put out by the slightest breath of criticism. It is a miserable condition to depend on the opinion of others for your sense of worth. How many souls have been swept into hell by the winds of popular applause?

The pleasure-seeking person sells his soul for pleasure. Heliogabalus drowned himself in sweet water. In the same way, many drown their souls in the sweet, perfumed waters of pleasure. Plato calls pleasure the bait that catches souls — they are caught like fish on a hook. Pleasure is a silken noose, a flattering destroyer. It kills with its embrace.

Those who abuse their souls by poisoning them with false doctrine. Error is a sweet poison. Ignatius calls it the invention of the devil. A person can damn his soul through false belief just as surely as through immoral living, and may go to hell for holding a corrupt opinion just as readily as for living a corrupt life.

Those who abuse their souls by starving them — those who say they are beyond the need for the means of grace. But we will not be beyond the means of grace until we are beyond sin. The apostle says that in the Lord's Supper we are to remember the Lord's death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26) — that is, until Christ comes to judge the world. How then can anyone skip the sacraments without showing contempt for Christ Himself? If Paul and the apostles — those giants of grace — needed the Lord's Supper to strengthen and confirm them, how much more do we need these holy ordinances, when our faith is still in its infancy? Satan approves of these fasting days — he would have people fast from the means of grace. If the body is kept from food long enough, it cannot survive.

Since the soul is so precious, take care that you do not lose it. Consider what such a loss means, as appears in two ways.

It is a foolish loss to lose the soul (Luke 12:20): "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you." It is foolish in three respects.

It is foolish because there is a real possibility of saving the soul. We have time to work in, we have light to work by, and the Spirit is offering help. The soul is like a ship loaded with treasure. The Spirit is the wind ready to blow. If we would only lift anchor from sin, we could sail into the harbor of eternal happiness.

It is foolish because we lose the soul for things of no real value. Worldly things are infinitely beneath the soul. The world is an enchantment — these things glitter in our eyes. But at death we will say we set our eyes on what was not truly there. To lose the soul for such poor things is as foolish as throwing away a diamond to hit a pear tree — and losing the diamond.

It is foolish because a person loses his own soul by his own choice. Is it not the height of folly to poison yourself? A sinner has his own hands stained with his soul's blood (Hosea 13:9): "Your destruction is from yourself." "They lie in wait for their own blood" (Proverbs 1:18). The foolish sinner feeds the very desires that are killing his soul. The tree breeds the worm, and the worm eats the tree. Would it not be folly for a garrison to open its gates to the very enemy besieging it? The sinner throws open his gates to the sinful desires that are making war against his soul (1 Peter 2:11). This is a foolish loss.

It is also a fatal loss to lose the soul.

It is a loss without equal, because in losing the soul so many other things are lost along with it. When a merchant loses his ship, he loses everything that was aboard — his money, his valuables, his jewels, his goods. In the same way, the person who loses his soul loses Christ, loses the Comforter, loses the fellowship of angels, and loses heaven.

It is an irreversible loss. Other losses can be recovered. If a person loses his health, he may regain it. If he loses his wealth, he may earn it back. But if he loses his soul, that loss can never be repaired. Will there be other Saviors to die for the soul? As Naomi said to her daughters-in-law: "Do I have any more sons in my womb?" (Ruth 1:11) Will God send His Son into the world again? No — when Christ comes next, it will not be to save the soul but to judge it. Christian, remember: you have only one soul, and if it is lost, everything is lost. God, as Chrysostom says, has given you two eyes — if you lose one, you still have the other. But you have only one soul. If that perishes, you are completely undone. The merchant who stakes everything on a single ship — if that ship goes down, he is ruined.

The loss of the soul is an eternal loss. Once lost, the soul is lost forever. The person who loses his soul may repeat the words of that wicked theologian in Paris who cried out on his deathbed: "Have pity on my burial — nothing can help me now. Woe to the wretch! Why did my parents bring me into the world? I go away condemned to eternal fire." The sinner and the furnace will never be separated (Isaiah 33:14). Just as the sinner's heart will never be emptied of sin, God's cup of wrath will never be emptied. It is an eternal loss.

Do everything you can to secure the most important thing — the salvation of your precious soul. In times of danger, people call in their debts and work to protect what they own. All who are still in their natural, unregenerate state — your souls are mortgaged. If your property were mortgaged, you would do everything possible to redeem it. Your soul is mortgaged. Sin has mortgaged it — sin has put your soul in pawn. Where do you think your soul stands right now? The pawn is in the devil's hand. A person in the natural state is said to be under the power of Satan (Acts 26:18). There are only two ways to recover what has been pawned, and both are stated in Acts 20:21: repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Undo your works of sin through repentance. Honor Christ's merits by believing. On these two wings the soul flies to Christ — the ark — and finds safety.