SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 288, 29 April 1911, Page 6

SUNDAY READING.

"CHRIST'S ESTIMATE OP THE VALUE OP MAN. (By Rev. John Laird). I "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Mark viii.-3G. I A minister once said in the presence of a lady that he believed man had no soul. The lady expressed her indignation at his hypocrisy for being a minister while he held the view that man had no soul. Well, he said in reply, I have no soul. I am a soul. I have a body. He was right. The soul is that which sees with the eyes, hears with the ears, thinks with the brain, that something myself, which is behind my actions undefinable but real. | This text has been often used in the past only to warn men of the necessity of seeking salvation, and of giving that attention to our spiritual interests which we ought to. No doubt that is one of the purposes Christ had in mind when he uttered these words. But that does not by any means exhaust this text of its meaning. The sentence gives an insight into the mind of Christ, and gives us a revelation of what value he put on men. Christ never spoke in direct language of the worth of man. Here, he lets us see that a man is of more value than a world. The first thought I would seek to impress on you is

CHRIST'S ESTIMATE of the value of man. The enthusiasm of: humanity is growing, and growing fast. He is the thing in God's universe that is of permanent worth. Other things are of j value only as they minister to and exalt him. The worth of man ever looms large in the mind of Christ. That is revealed by what He says about him. The -world -was made for man. He shocked the Pharisees by asserting that the Sabbath was made for man. The Creator cares for the odd sparrow that is thrown into the bargain, and man is of more value than many sparrows. God clothes the grass and gilds the lily, but cares much more for man. Christ said it were better for a man that a mil!-' stone were hanged about his neck and that he was drowned in the sea than that he should ever cause a man to' stumble. Christ also reveals His estimate of the worth of human kind by th« way He acts toward man. He is moved with compassion over man's folly and foolishness. He exercises infinite patience and care. He weeps over Jerusalem,' because they are blind to their own best, interests. For man's sake He has become his brother, friend and Redeemer.' If we saw a number of boats on the sea outside of our harbor for weeks and months assisting quite a number of divers to search the bosom of the deep 1 for a lost diamond, if the beach foci miles around was also guarded and' searched daily for this jewel, what con-j elusion would we come to about that which was lost ? Would we not all be-. 1 lieve .that it must be of great value and that the one who lost it is very j eager to find it ? Man has lost his way, I he has gone from '.he Father's home, and the fict of Christ's mission and sacrifice ought to teach us that God considered no price too great to pay for his redemption and salvation. The cross is not only a proof of God's love and «f the reality of man's sin, but also in-' dicates that he that is made "in the image of God" must be of real worth. If man had not been the child of God, that cross with its shame, its sorrow, its pain and woe would never have been erected outside Jerusalem a spectacle to men, angels and devils. That strange expiring cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me," would never, have rent the air. Men have put a VERY LOW ESTIMATE on themselves and their fellow-men' often, and do it still. Man once sold, his fellow as a slave and treated him' with less kindness than we do the brute' creation. Some of our statesmen onlyl look upon men as source from which to raise a revenue, witness, e.g., the! iniquitous opium traffic which England 1

forces on the Chinese, though they ad-1 Hiit it is "morally indefensible." "Oh cursed thirst for gold, To what do you not drive mortal hearts."

Again, think of the way in which i men and women destroy their manhood [ and womanhood by drink and other | vices. That which was ordained to be a temple of God and "a thing of beauty] for ever," how it has been made a den' of thieves, who rob life of all real joy j and of all that makes life worth living,' and makes the fine gold of humanity be-1 come dim. When Christ was here on earth, He went to the poor, the outcast, 1 the publican, and the despised of the I Pharisees to find the jewels of God. Be came to all men, but by His mission He showed us that none have wandered, outside the reaim of the love of God, I nor outside the possibility of restora-j tion. He will go after the one sheep! that was lost and went astray, and seek to bring men and women one by one into the Kingdom. He often appeals to and wrestles with individuals. If Christ acted thus toward us, let us try and realise our worth, and see ourselves and our fellow-men with, if it is possible, I the eyes and mind of Christ. Christ values man not perhaps so much by what he is, but by what he can become, because of the possibilities that surround the soul. Christ stands at the door of the human heart and seeks ', earnestly to gain admission. His name is Saviour. He has come that we might] have life and have it more abundantly.' Paul, the hard, self-righteous, cruel Pharisee, becomes by the power of the 1 indwelling Christ, the loving gracious man, and the great missionary of the 1 Gentiles, and is not only willing to die for the welfare of men, but is at last 1 sent home by the sword of the executioner. I EVOLUTION AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. Advocates of the theory of evolution —and it is only yet a theory, very feasible, but with many difficulties—l ' would like to see that" theory firmly established for this reason, that'it would | show that possibilities of progress may i yet belong to man. Evolution, whatever may be its value, is not needed to teach us that man can make spiritual progress. Christ in the sermon on the Mount outlines the line of conduct that

will make man become perfect even as His Father in heaven is perfect. Christ also teaches that man is not made for time, but for eternity. The spiritual world was real to Him as it may be perhaps to us when we see Him. He is now preparing the mansions for His • people. Man's immortality is not only I in his heart; it is in the mind and heart pf Christ. The salvation of man is not only to make him righteous here, | but to make him an heir with Christ, who is the heir of all things, and give him an inheritance, uncorruptible, undefined and of eternal duration in the heavens. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but when Christ is revealed His people shall not only be with Him, but like Him. That is why Christ puts such a value on man. That is why He came to earth to open the Kingdom of Heaven—righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost—to all believers'. He | weighed man in the light of the coming .eternity. How many there are like ■ Bunyan's man and the muke rake refus- ; irig the golden crown of salvation , through the redemption that is in Christ. ! Sin ruins man. The Blood of Jesus [ Christ cleanseth from all sin. Christ ; calls only one man a fool, and that is t the man who neglects the salvation of , his soul, for what shall it profit a man I if ho shall gain the whole world and . lose his own soul ? .1