^ R. Browning, SaiU. ' H. T. Kerr. » Life and Sermons, 386.
196 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
Ah Lord, Lord, if my heart were right with Thine,
As Thine with mine, then should I rest resigned,
Awaiting knowledge with a quiet mind Because of heavenly wisdom's anodyne. Then would Thy Love be more to me than wine,
Then should I seek being sure at length to find,
Then should I trust to Thee all humankind. Because Thy Love of them is more than mine. Then should I stir up hope and comfort me
Eemembering Thy Cradle and Thy Cross;
How Heaven to Thee without us had been loss. How Heaven with us is Thy one only Heaven,
Heaven shared with us thro' all eternity,
With us long sought, long loved, and much forgiven.^
^ Christina G. BossettL
A World for a Life.
Literature
Askew (E. A.), The Service of Perfect Freedom, 76.
Brooke (S. A.), The Gospel of Joy, 263.
Butler (H. M.), Harrov) School Sermons, ii. 259.
Clow (W. M.), The Secret of the Lord, 123.
Finney (C. Q.), The Way of Salvation, 48.
Keble (J.), Sermons for the Christian Year : Lent to Passion tide, 116,
Lightfoot (J. B.), Ordination Addresses, 271.
Little (W. J. Knox), The Hope of the Passion, 130.
Mills (B. R. v.). The Marks of the Church, 164.
Mursell (W. A), The Waggon and the Star, 32.
Neville ("W. G.), Sermons, 34.
Price (A. C), Fifty Sermx>ns, vii. 177.
Ryle (J. C), The Christian Race, 231.
Spurgeon (C. H.), New Parle Street Pulpit, ii.. No. 92.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), iv., No. 452.
Vaux (J. E.), Sermon Notes, 3rd Ser., 2.
Christian World Pulpit, xv. 30 (Solomon) ; xviii. 202 (Cuthbertson) ;
xlvii. 161 (Gore) ; 1. 36 (Dale) ; liii. 252 (Wilkin). Churchman's Pulpit (General Advent Season), xiv. 155 (Hobhouse). Homiletic Review, Ivi. 138 (Mackay). Preacher's Magazine, [1900] 430 (Brewin).
«9B
A WORLD FOR A LIFE.
For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life (RVm. soul)? For what should a man give in exchange for his life (RVm. soul) ?— viii. 36, 37.
1. The text is often spoken of as if it stated a problem in profit and loss. But the point of it may be missed in that way. For a man may have some profit and suffer some loss, and balance the one against the other. Christ says it is all profit or all loss. It is in fact an exchange. We have a life and barter it for a world. It is a double exchange, or an attempt at it. First the life is given for the world — " What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life ? " And then, when the bargain is seen to be a bad one, the attempt is made to barter the world for the life — " What should a man give in exchange for his life ? "
We are not to understand these two verses, says James Vaughan, ^ as if they conveyed exactly the same truth. The thoughts are two — and perfectly distinct. The first — supposing a man to have his " soul," is, " What shall it profit him if, for any advantage whatsoever, he loses it ? " And the other, supposing he has " lost " it, " How can he get it again ? "
2. This does not raise the question, once much debated, whether it is possible to make the best of both worlds. In that question the two worlds are taken to mean the present and the future, and between these there is no opposition. If a man does not make the best of this world, by finding God in it and living for Him, he will not make the best of the world to come ; nor will he make anything of it. In our text the question is between finding pleasure in this world apart from God, or finding God in this world and all our pleasure in Him.
^ Sermons, iv. 1. 199
200 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
So we have first the World, next the Life, and then the double exchange between these two.
I.
The World.
What is the World ? It is this world we live in. God made the world : did He not make it to be enjoyed and used by man ? Undoubtedly He did. But not that the world should be enjoyed to the exclusion of the Maker of it. Suppose that you invite some one to your table. You furnish the table. But what would you think of the guest who occupied himself entirely with the table, eating and drinking without once lifting up his head to hold conversation with you ? God made man chiefly for conversation and communion with Himself. And when a man prefers to occupy himself with the good things of this world, he is gaining the world and losing his own soul.
To gain the world is to gain (1) the riches of the world, as the rich young ruler (Mark x. 22), or as Demas; (2) the honours and fame of the world, as Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 30), or as Herod (Acts xii. 21—23); (3) the sinful pleasures of the world (Heb. xi. 25 ; Pro v. xxiii. 31); (4) the amusements and follies of the world (Eccles. xi. 9).^