The soul God's
desire.
3. Another thing by
which the greatness of the soul is made manifest is this, it is that—and that
only, and to say this is more than to say, it is that above all the
creatures—that the great God desires communion with. He 'hath set apart him
that is godly for himself,' (Psa 4:3); that is, for communion with his soul;
therefore the spouse saith concerning him, 'His desire is toward me,' (Song
7:10); and, therefore, he saith again, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them'
(2 Cor 6:16). To 'dwell in,' and 'walk in,' are terms that intimate communion
and fellowship; as John saith, 'Our fellowship, truly our fellowship is with
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ' (1 John 1:3). That is, our
soul-fellowship; for it must not be understood of the body, though I believe
that the body is much influenced when the soul has communion with God; but it
is the soul, and that only, that at present is capable of having and
maintaining of this blessed communion. But, I say, what a thing is this, that
God, the great God, should choose to have fellowship and communion with the
soul above all.
We read, indeed, of
the greatness of the angels, and how near also they are unto God; but yet there
are not such terms that bespeak such familiar acts between God and angels, as
to demonstrate that they have such communion with God as has, or as the souls
of His people may have. Where has He called them His love, His dove, His fair
one? and where, when He speaketh of them, doth He express a communion that they
have with Him by the similitude of conjugal love? I speak of what is revealed;
the secret things belong to the Lord our God. Now by all this is manifest the
greatness of the soul. Men of greatness and honour, if they have respect to
their own glory, will not choose for their familiars the base and rascally crew
of this world; but will single out for their fellows, fellowship, and
communion, those that are most like themselves. True, the King has not an
equal, yet He is for being familiar only with the nobles of the land: so God,
with Him none can compare; yet since the soul is by Him singled out for His
walking mate and companion, it is a sign it is the highest born, and that upon
which the blessed Majesty looks, as upon that which is most meet to be singled
out for communion with Himself.
Should we see a man
familiar with the King, we would, even of ourselves, conclude he is one of the
nobles of the land; but this is not the lot of every soul—some have fellowship
with devils, yet not because they have a more base original than those that lie
in God's bosom, but they, through sin, are degenerate, and have chosen to be
great with His enemy—but all these things show the greatness of the soul.
The soul a vessel for
grace.
4. The soul of men
are such as God counts worthy to be the vessels to hold His grace, the graces
of the Spirit, in. The graces of the Spirit—what like them, or where here are
they to be found, save in the souls of men only? 'Of His fulness have all we
received, and grace for grace' (John 1:16). Received, into what? into 'the
hidden part,' as David calls it (Psa 51:6). Hence the king's daughter is said
to be 'all glorious within,' (Psa 45:15); because adorned and beautified with
the graces of the Spirit. For that which David calls the hidden part is the
inmost part of the soul; and it is, therefore, called the hidden part, because
the soul is invisible, nor can any one living infallibly know what is in the
soul but God Himself. But, I say, the soul is the vessel into which this golden
oil is poured, and that which holds, and is accounted worthy to exercise and
improve the same. Therefore the soul is it which is said to love God—'Saw ye
him whom my soul loveth?' (Song 3:3); and, therefore, the soul is that which
exerciseth the spirit of prayer—'With my soul have I desired thee in the night;
yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early' (Isa 26:9). With the soul
also men are said to believe and into the soul God is said to put His fear.
This is the vessel into which the virgins got oil, and out of which their lamps
were supplied by the same. But what a thing, what a great thing therefore is
the soul, that that above all things that God hath created should be the chosen
vessel to put His grace in. The body is the vessel for the soul, and the soul
is the vessel for the grace of God. But,
5. 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 (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18,19). We do use to esteem of 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? Judge of the soul by the price that is paid for it, and you must needs confess, unless you count the blood that hath bought it an unholy thing, that it cannot but be of great worth and value. 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 horse shoe,11 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 was 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 (2 Cor 8:9). But would He have done this for inconsiderable
things? No, nor for the souls of sinners neither, had He not valued them higher
than he valued heaven and earth besides. This, therefore, is another thing
by which the greatness of the soul is known.
