The soul is a thing, though of most worth, least minded by most. The
souls of most lie waste, while all other things are inclosed.
Soul-concerns are concerns of the highest nature, and concerns that
arise from thoughts most deep and ponderous. He never yet knew what
belonged to great and deep thoughts, that is a stranger to
soul-concerns.
The soul is capable of having to do with invisibles, with angels,
good or bad, yea, with the highest and supreme Being, even the holy
God of heaven. I told you before that God sought the soul of man to
have it for his companion; and now I tell you that the soul is
capable of communion with him, when the darkness that sin hath
spread over its face is removed. The soul is an intelligent power,
and it can be made to know and understand depths and heights and
lengths and breadths, in those high, sublime, and spiritual
mysteries that only God can reveal and teach; yea, it is capable of
diving unutterably into them. And herein is God, the God of glory,
much delighted--that he hath made for himself a creature that is
capable of hearing, of knowing and of understanding his mind, when
opened and revealed to it.
The greatness of the soul is manifest by the greatness of the price
that Christ paid for it to make it an heir of glory, and that was
his precious blood. We do use to esteem things according to the
price that is given for them, especially when we are convinced that
the purchase has not been made by the estimation of a fool. Now the
soul is purchased by a price, that the Son, the wisdom of God,
thought fit to pay for the redemption thereof; what a thing then is
the soul!
Suppose a prince, or some great man, should on a sudden descend from
his throne or chair of state, to take up, that he might put in his
bosom, something that he had espied lying trampled under the feet of
those that stand by; would you think that he would do this for an
old horseshoe, or for so trivial a thing as a pin or a point? Nay,
would you not even of yourselves conclude that that thing for which
the prince, so great a man, should make such a stoop, must needs be
a thing of very great worth? Why, this is the case of Christ and the
soul. Christ is the prince, his throne is in heaven, and as he sat
there he espied the souls of sinners trampled under the foot of the
law and death for sin. Now what doth he, but comes down from his
throne, stoops down to the earth, and there, since he could not have
the trodden-down souls without price, he lays down his life and
blood for them.