A Pearl of Unknown Value

*’7/“<2 man find a pearl of great price a?td htoweth not what if is, he maketh no more esteeni of it than of a piece of glass or a common bead, and is ready to sell it for a few pence. But ifnp07t the offer of it to a skilful lapidary, the jeweller at first sight biddeth two or three thousand crow7ts for it, doth he not change his mittd, and think this jewel is of greater value than he took it to be? So he?x: man knows not the value of his soul, and does not greatly set by it. Ada7n lost his own soul and the souls of all his posterity for a7i apple, and we sell our birthright for a 77iess of “pottage. But whe7i Christ, who 77iade souls, a7id knoweth the value of them, ca77ie to recover lost souls, he gave hi77iself for usj did he 71 ot hereby teach us to set a higher price up07i the77ij for nothi7ig but hispreciotcs blood could This is a suggestive simile, and may suggest the framework of a sermon on “the estimate which men set upon their souls, and the hints which God has given them as to their real value by what he has done in reference thereto.” In the shop of a diamond-merchant at Amsterdam we saw great machinery and much power all brought to bear on what seemed to be a small piece of glass. One might be sure of the value of that transparent morsel if he would but look around and see what skill and labour were being expended upon it. God has laid out for the good of a soul the watchfulness of angels, the providence of this world, the glory of the next, the councils of eternity, himself and all that he hath, the Holy Spirit and all his divine influences, — yea, he spared not his only Son. Say, soul, what must thou be worth thus to have all heaven’s thought, and power, and love laid out for thee? “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul.?” Let not a man attempt to answer the question till he hath heard the Lord himself say, “I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.”