For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Sermons
I. SELF-SEEKING IS SELF-LOSING. Jesus is warning his disciples of the dangers and hardships of his service. Many will be tempted to shrink from the cross in order to save their lives. They are told that a cowardly unfaithfulness under persecution is not the way to save their lives. It is true a violent death may be thus avoided. But what is the use of a life preserved at the cost of honour and fidelity? It is not really saved, for it is so degraded that it has become a worthless thing. Thus it is a wasted life, a lost life. The same is true today under other circumstances. The man who denies Christ for his own convenience lowers himself to the level of worthlessness. He who greedily grasps at his own pleasure to the neglect of higher interests so impoverishes his nature by his mean and narrow way of living that his life is really ruined. This is the case on earth. It will be more apparent in the next world, when Christ comes to "render unto every man according to his deeds" (ver. 27). Even in spiritual things, if a man's religion is purely selfish it will be of no use to him. If he thinks only of his own salvation, and nothing of the service of Christ and the benefit of his fellow men, he will be lost. It is not the teaching of Christ that our great business is to save ourselves. Religious teachers are greatly to blame for inculcating this most unchristian notion. Christ comes to save us from ourselves; but this will not be effected by the cultivating of a habit of supreme self-seeking in religion. Such a habit is ruinous to all that is worthy in a man. Therefore ver. 26, which is often quoted in favour of a self-seeking religion, should be read in the light of ver. 25. II. SELF-LOSING IS SELF-FINDING. This is the opposite to the principle just considered; it has a positive importance of its own that demands careful consideration. 'How is the paradox verified in experience? We must first of all call to mind the immediate circumstances our Lord had in view. His disciples were being warned of coming persecutions. Some of them would lose their lives in martyrdom. Yet then they would most truly find them, for they would be the heirs of life eternal, and would live on in the bright future. That is the first lesson of the words. But they go much further. What is true under persecution is true at all times. The martyr temper is the Christian spirit. We gain the only life worth living on earth when we deny ourselves and embark on a career of unselfish service. The abandonment of selfish aims is the acquisition of heavenly treasures. There is a blessedness in the life of obedience and self-surrender that the selfish can never know. Happiness is not attained by directly aiming at it; it comes in as a surprise to him who is not seeking it when he is busy in unselfish service. Now, these lessons are driven home and clenched by the obvious truth of the following verse (ver. 26). What is the use of a world of wealth to a man who loses his life in acquiring it? The pearl seeker who is drowned in the moment of clutching his gem is a supreme loser even while he is a gainer. Nothing will compensate a man for making shipwreck of his life by self-seeking. - W.F.A.
For whosoever will save his life. One of the moral paradoxes of Scripture — the most decided, the most contradictory, the most reckless (if we may so say) of them all. A complete inversion of language. And it is no isolated expression. It is forced on our attention again and again. We cannot wander far in any direction without encountering this startling signpost, announcing the path of destruction as the only high-road to salvation. The context, moreover, enhances the paradox. We are told that a man's life (or soul, for it is the same word in the original) is absolutely priceless to him; that no exchange can be an equivalent; that no compensation will requite him for the loss: yet in the same breath we are bidden to despise it, to abandon it, to fling it away like a broken potsherd or a rank weed. The contradiction is direct and positive; and in this contradiction the lesson is to be sought.I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THIS SOUL OR LIFE OF MAN? It is the living principle; the centre of man's capacities, passions, energies; the very seat of his personality. A man's soul is everything to him. Obviously, then, the health or sickness, the saving or the losing, the life or death of this soul, must be a matter of infinite moment, both in time and eternity; for it guides his actions, regulates his affections, influences his feelings. It is to his whole being what the mainspring is to a watch. II. WHAT ARE THE FACULTIES AND DURATION OF THE SOUL? This question cannot be evaded; it must be faced. Its practical consequences are too momentous to admit of delay. If this life which we call " life " is only a passing moment of an infinite future, only the seed-time of a heavenly harvest, the infancy of an eternal manhood, — then treat it as such, educate and discipline it as such. You cannot go on drifting through life, till you find yourself at the edge of a cataract. No man going on a journey neglects so to arrange his route that at nightfall he shall halt at some place where food and shelter will be obtained. Darkness will overtake him, perhaps, in any case, for even the grateful interposition and warding of the twilight may not be sufficient; but what sane man would not shrink from finding himself in the darkness in a barren, trackless desert, exposed to the pitiless storm? III. How IS THE SOUL TO BE SAVED? By losing it. The meaning of these words in their primary application is simple. To Christ's disciples and their immediate followers, no comment was necessary. In an age of persecution, the willingness to lose the lower life for the salvation of the higher would be only too often tested in a literal sense. And the corresponding application now need create no difficulty. Whoever purchases ease by dishonesty, or comfort by neglect of duty, or popularity by concession of principle — preferring self where truth, honour, love, purity, or reverence demands self-negation, self-abandonment — that man loses his soul, loses his life, by saving it. IV. BUT THOUGH THE MAN WHO SAVES HIS SOUL IS SURE TO LOSE IT, THE CONVERSE DOES NOT NECESSARILY FOLLOW. Here an important proviso comes in — "for My sake." There are many ways of losing the soul; but only one way of losing it so as to save. The profligate libertine squanders his means, and neglects his health, and flings himself away; but he does it selfishly, and to him the promise does not apply. V. LOSS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE IS GAIN. This does not merely apply to sacrifices made consciously and directly in the cause of Christianity. If Christ be (as we believe) the very and eternal Word of God; the very expression of the Father's truth, righteousness, purity, love; then the sacrifice of self to any one of these things is a saving of the soul by losing it; then the martyr to truth, to holiness, to purity, to love, may claim his portion along with the martyr to religion, for he has thrown himself away, has lost his soul for Christ's sake. VI. THE SAME CONTRAST AND THE SAME ALTERNATIVE MAY EXIST WITHIN THE SPHERE OF RELIGION ITSELF. It is possible to be anxious about saving the soul, to be extremely religious in a certain sense, but yet to risk the losing of it in the very desire of saving it. The soul must brace itself by vigorous exercise — spend and be spent. The true method of salvation is a great venture of self, a forgetfulness of self, a going out of self. Lose your soul in energy; spend yourself in alleviating some misery, instructing some ignorance, or reforming some vice. Fling your soul away, that, after many days, you may recover it again, purified, strengthened, renewed, living once more. (Bishop J. B. Light foot.) It hath cost many a man his life, when his house has been on fire, to attempt through covetousness to save some of his stuff; venturing among the flames to preserve this, he has perished himself. Many more have lost their souls, by attempting to carry some of their own stuff — their own self-righteousness — with them to heaven. O sirs! come out, come out; leave what is your own in the fire; flee to Christ naked!(Gurnall.) It is reported, in connection with a railway accident that happened a few years ago, that the only person who lost his life was a gentleman who jumped out of the train with a view to save it; all the other passengers who kept their seats were preserved.God can infinitely more than counterbalance all temporal losses by the larger and richer outpouring of His Spirit on the soul. He may demand our worldly wealth; but if He increase our spiritual riches, are we not therein great gainers? Can He not, by the consolations of His Spirit, raise us far above all temporal distresses; and, by opening up a prospect beyond the grave, make us to glory in all tribulations (Romans 5:3-5). It was thus that St. Paul took, as he strongly phrases it, pleasure in infirmities, and persecutions, and distresses, for Christ's sake. It was thus that, in ancient days, they took cheerfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Even so may we expect it to be with us in this world. If our afflictions abound, even so shall also our consolations abound by Christ. And the consciousness, the comfortable reflection, that with a single eye we have sought God's glory, will make every pain a pleasure, every loss a gain.(R. B. Nichol.) I. THE THINGS OF THIS LIFE MEN MAY OBTAIN BY REJECTING THE RELIGION OF CHRIST. They may obtain a considerable portion of earthly riches; the sensual gratifications of life; the distinctions of worldly honour and praise.II. IN WHAT RESPECT THESE ADVANTAGES SHALL BE LOST TO THEM. They shall often be interrupted in their enjoyment of them. Sometimes they are overtaken with overwhelming calamities. They must all necessarily be forfeited at death. They produce the most appalling consequences in the eternal world. III. WHAT WE MAY BE CALLED TO SACRIFICE IN BECOMING THE DISCIPLES OF JESTS. Christ called His disciples to lose all will and choice with respect to this world's good. We may be called to lose the approbation of friends; to endure the frowns of the world; lose life itself. IV. IN WHAT RESPECTS WE SHALL FIND AGAIN THE THINGS WE SACRIFICE. In the midst of these sacrifices — we have what is better than life; we are attaining a greater assimilation to the life of Christ; all our sacrifices terminate at death; we shall be superabundantly rewarded at the last day. (J. Burns, D. D.) People Elias, Elijah, Jeremiah, Jeremias, Jesus, John, Jonah, Jonas, Peter, SimonPlaces Caesarea Philippi, Jerusalem, MagadanTopics Desire, Desires, Gives, Lose, Loses, Safe, Sake, Save, WishesOutline 1. The Pharisees require a sign.5. Jesus warns his disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13. The people's opinion of Jesus, 16. and Peter's confession of him. 21. Jesus foretells his death; 23. reproves Peter for dissuading him from it; 24. and admonishes those who will follow him, to bear the cross. Dictionary of Bible Themes Matthew 16:25 8115 discipleship, nature of 8120 following Christ Library October 14. "Get Thee, Behind Me, Satan" (Matt. xvi. 23). "Get thee, behind me, Satan" (Matt. xvi. 23). When your old self comes back, if you listen to it, fear it, believe it, it will have the same influence upon you as if it were not dead; it will control you and destroy you. But if you will ignore it and say: "You are not I, but Satan trying to make me believe that the old self is not dead; I refuse you, I treat you as a demon power outside of me, I detach myself from you"; if you treat it as a wife would her divorced husband, saying: "You are nothing … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Christ Foreseeing the Cross The Divine Christ Confessed, the Suffering Christ Denied The Unity of the Church. The Human Jesus. Words with a Freshly Honed Razor-Edge. The Threefold Cord of Jesus' Life. The Important Question The Signs of the Times Twelfth Day. Fidelity in Rebuke. "Take My Yoke Upon You, and Learn of Me," &C. Edwards -- Spiritual Light Of Sufferings Of Suffering which must be Accepted as from God --Its Fruits. Of the Royal Way of the Holy Cross The Great Confession - the Great Commission - the Great Instruction - the Great Temptation - the Great Decision. Last Journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. The Preparatory Service; Sometimes Called the Confessional Service. A Divine Saviour. Self-Denial. The Foundation of the Church among the Heathen Christ the Son of God. Tries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician. Tries to Join the Southern Army. Fails Again. His First Appointment. Feeling of Responsibility. His Concerning the Sacrament of Penance Links Matthew 16:25 NIVMatthew 16:25 NLT Matthew 16:25 ESV Matthew 16:25 NASB Matthew 16:25 KJV Matthew 16:25 Bible Apps Matthew 16:25 Parallel Matthew 16:25 Biblia Paralela Matthew 16:25 Chinese Bible Matthew 16:25 French Bible Matthew 16:25 German Bible Matthew 16:25 Commentaries Bible Hub |