2 Corinthians 4:16-18 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.… 1. Man has two natures. 2. The outward nature is subject to the law of decay. The law of dissolution is operating on the body every moment. Particle after particle departs with every pulsation. 3. Whilst the outward man decays, the inner man may grow in strength. We would not depreciate the assistance which "the inner" derives from "the outer." Like the atmosphere to the seed, the body is the medium which conveys to the soul those sunbeams and showers which quicken it into life and nourish its powers. All that is taught is that the soul can grow even while the body is decaying. Note — I. THE CONDITIONS OF THIS SOUL GROWTH. 1. There can be no growth, of course, without life. All plants and animals, however young, cease to grow the moment life departs. But the life must be healthful. What is the healthful life of a soul? Supreme sympathy with God. 2. There must be wholesome nutriment. No life can live upon itself. 3. There must be proper exercise. Christianity has a power to impart the life, supply the nourishment, and stimulate the exercise. II. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS SOUL GROWTH. 1. Beautifulness. The growth of a flower is beautiful, so is the growth of a child, so is the growth of an empire. But the growth of a soul in virtue, in usefulness, in assimilation to God, is a more beautiful object than these. That flower will wither, but the soul will advance for ever — rise from "glory unto glory." 2. Constancy. Growth is not a thing of fits and starts. The plant, the child, grow every hour; they do not grow one day of the week and pause on the others. If we are not religious always we are never religious. 3. Blessedness. A growing state is a happy state. See the lambs, the little bird, the child, etc. If you are growing in soul you are happy. 4. Endlessness. The capacity for growth in all other life under the sun is limited. The tree that grows a .thousand years finds a point at which it stops and decays; not so with the soul. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." 5. Responsibleness. Man may not be responsible always for the growth of his body; if he has a dwarfish body, he cannot help it, but if he has a dwarfish soul he himself is to blame.We learn from this subject — 1. The necessary condition of man's well-being. It is not that your wealth should increase, your influence extend, your social circle widen, for your body decays, and with this all these things lose their worth, but it is the growth of the soul. 2. The absolute necessity of the gospel. You cannot grow without spiritual life, nourishment, and incentives to action. And nothing but the gospel can give you these. 3. The true method of using the world. It is to make it promote the growth of the soul. 4. The Christian's view of death. It is nothing but a change in the mere costume of our being. "This mortal must put on immortality!" (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. |
    |