WHAT IS YOUR LIFE?
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But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE?
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE?
The word " psukee" is a Greek word translated sometimes into the English word "life," and at other times into the English word "soul."
The word is one of three words which make up the whole man.
The whole man is thus described: "That your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" .
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The "soul" is that part of the man which has contact with his fellow-men.
The word is often used, Scripturally, to designate the whole life of the individual — the space between birth and death.
The "spirit" is that part of the man through which he has his contact with God.
The spirit alone understands the things of the Spirit of God. The natural man, that is, the soulish man, the man of soul, cannot understand the things of God for they are spiritually discerned, that is, discerned through the Spirit. The spirit of man is renewed and enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God.
The "body" is that part of the man which lends him contact with material things.
The body has five senses — seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling and tasting.
These senses act as the medium through which the body reaches out to material things.
It is the purpose of this lesson to discuss exclusively the "life," or the "soul" of man.
A Debased Idea of Life
"Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?".
The highest conception of life, with many, is no more than "food and raiment."
It is for these things that the Gentiles seek.
Yet why should men be anxious, saying,
"What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?".
Does not our Heavenly Father know that we have need of all these things?
Let us consider two illustrations of this false view of life.
1. The Book of Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes discusses this very subject.
The preacher sought to find out what was good for a man, all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow.
The Book answers the question from the "under the sun" viewpoint.
It never looks at life, in its relationship to the life above.
Concerning the "spirit" it is in doubt, and almost despair.
The Book scarcely gets any higher than "let us eat, drink, and be merry," it presents God's pen photograph of one who stresses the "soul-life" and ignores the "spirit;" it therefore emphasizes only "that which is done under the sun."
1. The rich young farmer
The parable describes the rich man, who sought to put into practice the Ecclesiastes philosophy of life.
His idea was that "life" consisted in the abundance of the things which a man possesses.
When he had nowhere to bestow his fruits, he said:
"This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry".
No sooner had the rich man uttered this debased idea of life, than God spoke unto him and said:
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
How strongly, then, does the Spirit urge:
"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat * *. The life is more than meat".
The nations of the world still seek after "eating and drinking." Alas! Alas! Life surely holds a far deeper significance than mere feasting.
He who says, "I must enjoy life, I must have my fling, I must taste of the sweets of life," will soon find that such things will eat into his very being, and spoil his life.
The Bible plainly says
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
What a debased idea of life is that which concedes that life consists in satisfying the desires of the flesh and of the mind!
A False Idea of Securing Life
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
1. Finding the life and losing it.
The word for findeth, is "hurisco."
The chapter is discussing the need of confessing Christ before men.
In this connection Christ says,
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Christ continues to show how in following Him, a man will be set at variance against his father; and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
He says, "A man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:35, 36).
After this statement, Christ urged:
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
Then, come the words of our text: "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it".
Thus the expression "findeth his life," suggests a man seeking to shield his life from the suffering entailed by a true discipleship.
Seeking to find in life, freedom from sacrifice, from suffering on account of family, of friend or of foe, is, in reality, losing the life.
He who chooses the pathway of flowers, the pathway free from thorns, may find his life down here, but, in finding it, he will lose it for evermore.
2. Saving the life, and losing it
The Greek word this time is "sozo."
The connection in which the verse is found brings us the statement of Christ, "And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Matt. 16:21).
Peter immediately rebuked the Lord; the Lord in turn rebuked Peter, saying, "Get thee behind Me, Satan, * * thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (vs. 23). Christ then called the people unto Him with His disciples and He said unto them, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it" (vss. 24, 25). The message is plain. We must be willing to pour out our life as a drink-offering for Jesus Christ.
Let us follow the example of our Lord and refuse to save our life from the cross-bearing to which all the redeemed are heirs.
We must not pity ourselves, spare ourselves from suffering with Christ outside the camp. If we save our lives we will lose them. Rewards are only to the faithful.
3. Loving the life, and losing it
The Greek word this time is "phileo."
The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Philip told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Jesus answered them saying:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
After this Christ was troubled in His soul, and He said, "What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify Thy name"
The meaning of all of this is plain, if we would serve the Lord Jesus, we must follow Him; we must be willing to lose our life, even unto death, in His behalf.
Thus we will guard our life until life eternal. On the other hand, if we love our life, and refuse to die — we shall lose it, so far as the world to come is concerned.
Again the question of rewards and not of eternal salvation is before us. Let the three words remain in our thoughts:
He that findeth his life —
He that saveth his life —
He that loveth his life —
Shall lose it.