Connecticut western news., 1890-07-23
THE LOST AND FOUND.
LESSON W, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
 NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 27.


 NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 27. Text of the Lesson, Luke XIV, 1-1O-Com- init Verses, 4-7-Golden Text, Luke xv, 1o-Commentary by Rev. D. M. Stearns.
 Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per mission of H. s. Hoffman, publisher, Phiadel- phia
 l. 'Then drew near unto Him all the pobhcans and sinners for to hear Him." Whatever else these might have to forsake in order to be His disciples, they would not have to renounce that which is perhaps the hardest of all to lay aside -religiousness or self right eousness- flor they did not profess to have any. They were despised by the holy people of the day. The Kingdom was not for them. 3. "And the Pharisees and scribes mur- mured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them" They said grand true thing when they said "This man receiv- eth sinners" He said Himself, ''I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repent ance" Quke V, 32). And Paul, by the Spirit, rings it out as "A faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinnersn q Tim. 1, 15). 8 "And He spake this parable unto them" The whole chapter is one parable in three parts, showing the love of the Good Shepherd, the Spirit and the Father, in searching for and welcoming back the lost one. The lesson today brings before us the first two parts of the parable, the third part being reserved for next week Both in creation and in redemp- tion the Father, Son and Spirit are seen work ing for the welfare Of the creature. "In the beginning God created" ''In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. All things were made by Him." By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath epirit) of His mouth" "And God said, Let us make man in our image" Gen. i, 1; John 1, 1, 8; Ps. xxxiii, 6; Gen. i, 26). So also in redemption "God SO loved that He gave His only begotten Son." "The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me-" Through the Eternal Spirit He offered Him. self without spot 4o God" John iii, 16; Gal. ii, 90; Heb. tx, IA. And, stranger still, both Father, Son and Spirit come to make their abode in the heart of the true penitent who has turned to God John xiv, IT, 2S.
 4. "Go after that which is lost until He find it" First we have the Son as the Good Shepherd seeking the sheep which is lost. The same illustration is found in Matt. xviii, 11-14, in connection with His saying, "The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost" The sinner is brought before us as 8 lost and helpless soul, unable to do anything to restore himself; not knowing the way back, and even if he knew it he Is without strength to get there
 6 "And when He hath found it, He lay eth it on His shoulders, rejoicing" Out in the desert He heard its cry; sick and help less, and ready to die; and the cry of the helpless reached his heart. He said to Moses, II have surely seen the aff1iction of my peo- pie which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry for I know their sorrows" Ex. iii, 9. aIn all their afiiction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He re- deemed them; and He bare them and carried them all the days of old" "And of Benjamin He said, he shall dwell between His shoulders" Qsa- xiii, g.; Deut,Axxiii, 12. 6. "And when He cometh Home" tlphank God for this, that, having found the sheep which was lost, He bringeth it home. He does not lose any by the way. Of those whom the Father gives to Him He loses none. He says, 'I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand" John X, 20.
 Rejoice with me; for have found my sheep which was lost" Not only is his own heart glad, but he will have his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him because the lost is found. Jesus would have His people to rejoice with Him. for he says, "These things have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you. and that your joy might be full"
 2. Fl say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." If a shepherd is so glad over the recovery of a lost sheep that he causes his neighbors to rejoice with him, "How much is man better than sheepf' Matt. xii, 12). And how much is the finding and bringing home of lost soul better than the finding and bringing home of a lost sheep. But here is a revelation of the unseen by one who has been there and knows all about it: joy in heaven, and whyi Because sinner has repented.
 8. "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek dil- igently till she find it." In the sheep there might be a consciousness of its being lost, but piece of metal has no feeling and Is not con- scious of anything. It may be that we are thus reminded of the soul that is ''dead in sinsn Eph. ii, 5, and requires the convicting power of the Spirit John xvi, 8. The wo- man with her light is the active agent in this case, and, as in the former, she seeks till she finds Israel, as a nation, is compared to a woman Qsa. hv, 1, 5; xii, II, etc.)
 9. "Rejoice with me; for have found the piece which I had lost" Again, as in the former case, are friends and neighbors called upon to rejoice. All who have the Spirit of God ought to rejoice in the work of the Spirit wherever that work is manifest; and if we were filled with the Spirit what going forth there would be after lost ones and back sliders. If friends and neighbors rejoice in the restoration of a piece of silver to its owner, the piece of money being the pecu- liar property of its owner, how much more should Christians rejoice in the conversion of every soul, wherever on the face of the whole earth that soul may be saved, because every redeemed one becomes member of that body of which all the redeemed form a part, and of which Christ is the head Eph. iv, 15. 16) And every member added to the body (al though in His book all the members were written, when as yet there was none o1 them, Ps. c1xxix, 1@ just hastens SO much the manifest completion of the body, ths marriage of the Lamb, and the coming of the Kingdom Then shall be the true home bringing and the fullness of joy of all the redeemed.
 10 "Likewise, say unto you, there IS joy in the presence of the angels & of Cpd God Q 1ge, Se, shall be las in verse D, but there is joy 1T Heaven over one penitent sinner. If we saw only one soul saved as the result of a day! teaching or preaching, we might not fee very much encouraged; but when we remem ber that every repentant soul, young or old small or great, causes Joy in Heaven, it ought to make us rejoice, too; with great joy. Think of Jesus patiently and diligently seeking tht soul of Nicodemus, and just as patiently ano diligently the soul of the poor sinful woman of Samaria, and let us be encouraged to more diligent personal effort When praying onct with repentant one, upon whose mind tht memory of mothers prayers was doing
 T prayer: ssNow it may be that the angels have already told your mother about this trans action" The joy that filled that mans hear at the very thought of the possible joy of hi mother in Heaven made the words of thi verpe seem very real to ma