SERMON I. THE VALUE OF THE SOUL. MATTHEW XVI. 26. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? THESE are the weighty and instructive words of our blessed Saviour; in which he has stated the condition of wicked men, with respect to the present world, in a manner the most favourable. He has not represented them as disappointed, detected, and disgraced; as abandoned by human society; as visited by the awful judgments of Providence; as left a prey to the remorse of an awakened conscience; and sunk in all that complicated VOL. I. wretchedness, which is frequently beheld. He makes the supposition, that all their designs prosper; that all their wishes are crowned with success; that they not only escape with impunity, but have the world at their devotion: yet he asks, "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?” Undoubtedly, these words imply that the soul is liable to be destroyed; that sin is the mortal disease, which preys upon all its nobler capacities; if it do not finally dissolve its entire substance. But the loss of the soul does not necessarily imply the utter extinction of its being. The soul is lost; not merely when it is annihilated, but when it is corrupted, and enslaved; when it lies in ruins. It may be stripped of all its excellence, its glory, and its happiness, long before it is deprived of conscious existence. The soul may therefore be lost in this life; lost to all the valuable ends of living-and "what were a man profited, if he should gain the whole world,” at the expence of losing all capacity of enjoyment, and involving himself in irretrievable wretchedness? The experiment has been made: it has been found, that the whole world could give no content to a distempered mind. What were the reflections of Alexander, after draining the blood of so many nations, and overturning the thrones of so many princes? How did he congratulate himself, as the supposed conqueror of the habitable earth? Did not all his victories terminate in a flood of tears? You may perhaps imagine, these were tears of humanity, for the desolations he had brought upon mankind. No. It was Ambition, grieving that the havoc was over; and bemoaning the melancholy void within. There is another instance upon record, of the wretchedness of an ungoverned mind, |