The Value of a Soul—“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isaiah 61:1. He is the only One that had power to do it. Here the great price has been paid for souls sunk in sin. Man must be of value. Christ weighs him. Christ’s taking human nature upon Himself shows that He places a value upon every soul. “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. This is the value God places upon man, and again He says, “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.” Isaiah 13:12. But God will do nothing without the co-operation of the human agent. (Te 287.1) MC VC

Beclouded by Intemperance—“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.... And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations: and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.” Leviticus 10:1-10. The minds of Nadab and Abihu were beclouded because of intemperance, and in the place of taking the fire God had commanded them they took the common fire, and God destroyed them. If they had kept themselves free from wine they would have distinguished the difference between the sacred and the common. But they went directly contrary to God’s requirements. (Te 287.2) MC VC