_EXCLUSIVENESS AND FORMALITY_ ‘The Pharisees and scribes murmured.’ Luke 15:2 The crowds which gathered about our Lord in the course of His mission were eminently representative of the various phases of Jewish life and thought. Of all types of society, that of the Pharisee is perhaps the most mar... [ Continue Reading ]
_PENITENCE AND COMMUNION_ ‘This Man receiveth sinners.’ Luke 15:2 Among the many devices of the Enemy, against which the Christian has to be put upon his guard, one of the most dangerous is that of making _ mistakes_ as to right and wrong. No sooner does Satan find that we begin to resist open te... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE SHEEP THAT WAS LOST_ ‘What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?’ Luke 15:4 It was along this plain and among these ‘wildernesses’ that our Blessed Saviour was most... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE SHEEP FOUND_ ‘Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ Luke 15:6 A beautiful sight to see the shepherd in Palestine sitting amid his flock, or walking with his staff, while in long line his sheep follow him. Christ’s own words are the best comment on His own parable: ‘I am... [ Continue Reading ]
_LOST AND FOUND_ ‘Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep … [and] the piece which I had lost.’ Luke 15:6 We have here two beautiful pictures. Though the lesson to be learned from each is the same—_ God’s love in seeking for lost souls_—yet there is a difference between them in regard to the th... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LOST COIN_ ‘Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it.’ Luke 15:8 Dust flying, confusion reigning, a woman, with a lighted candle, searching in the dark corners of the house—it is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE DOCTRINE OF SIN_ ‘I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.’ Luke 15:10 We are to speak of sin. I. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SIN?—There is first of all the philosophic definition of sin; that sin is the serviceable and necessary foil of goodn... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE TWO SONS_ ‘A certain man had two sons.’ Luke 15:11 Let us apply the parable to our own times and our own land. There is no need to dwell on the attitude of the Eternal Parent. He has not changed. But what of the two sons among us to-day? I. THE YOUNGER SON’S POSITION.—In this wealthy and n... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE PRODIGAL SON_ ‘He came to himself.’ Luke 15:17 I. LET US FOLLOW THE SINNER IN HIS REBELLION.—Mark that— (_a_) _ Sin is vicious in principle_. (_b_) _ Sin is ruinous in operation_. (_c_) _ Sin is ever multiplying its destructive issues_. II. LET US WATCH THE SINNER IN HIS REPENTANCE.—Th... [ Continue Reading ]