THE KING’S BUSINESS
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about the joy of the sinher! But those scandalized Pharisees and scribes—found •no joy in it. “The woods are full” of such, {but they are not in the open' as muchr as they used to be. III. B ible S tudy of S hepherd and S heep .- —Genesis 4:2; 31,:38-40; 1 Samuel 17:34- 36; Isa. 53:6; Psalm 119:176; 80:1; Isaiah 40;1J ;, Ezekiel 34:11, 12; John 10:10-18; Psalm 23. .C : IV. A W ord on the C oin . . Malachi 3 :17 ; Isaiah 62:3. V. S uggestive N otes ; T. Strike; the trail for a lost sheep. 2. Strike.a light and: sweep thé; house.' : 3. Don’t give up. till you find. 4. When you get ÿour sh e è p shoulder him. ’ 3' 5. It is a great joy to find. 6. Get up a jollification in Church. 7. Keep up heart, “There are angels hov’ring round.” i. 8. Are youj on the Shepherd’s shoulder ? 9. Are you one of the Bridal jewels? ■ 10, Is there any jby'among thé angels on your account? better days, brought to his senses by the dire depths; of-his present miseries. There a - sheep, or a treasured bit of precious metal; here a‘ son; there a shepherd, or an owner, here a; father. There the loser is the seeker, here the lost; there‘the neigh bors congratulate,-here the household makes merry with ‘festive meal, music and mor tion. There, none | objeeted to the restora tion of property,, here the surly, brother rails against the reinstatement of; a son,' the salvation of, a soul, and sets the sinner (himself) in the most unworthy light; of all. “How much better .is. a man:than a sheep.” {;,
Peter 2:22), 1>etween such publicans gnd Pharisees. (4) The coin, not by its own fault but beêaüSe_of cifÇunastarTces; it^had no control over, apart from restraint by its tendency to ■gravitate earthward fell •and rolled. iflto the darkness and the dirt. A dead thing, unconscious of loss it would have lain there forever but for the diligence of its owner who felt her loss, whose bridal adornment would not be complete without it; The woman may; be the Church, responsible to make ready for the Bridegroom, her, orna;-; ments being her glory (1 Peter 3:3, 4; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 19:7). She may be the Spirit, the Church the broom, and lighted lamp the Inspired Word. The sheep’s folly led it info danger; the coin’s tendency rolled it’ in the dirt. The Lord, thè Spirit, the Church and the Word, are engaged in seek ing, finding and saving the lost. 4. Sorrow is Changed to Joy: To the Shepherd, the woman, and even the angels (“H e said it”)’. Seé Hebrews 12:2; Jude 24 (remember the Shepherd’s shoulder) ;' Acts 11:18; 2 :46, 47;'2 Peter 1:12; Rëve-r fetion 5:11, 12. I think the coin brighten ed up, and the sheep took himself for i skipping lamb—but leave -the figuré; how ‘ Without ‘parallel. “The most beautiful” -—“the crown and pearl”—“the masterpiece of the parables”—“the Gospel within’ the' Gospel ;” “the most touchingrstory,' in liter ature.” The favorite ;and! ’most effective evangelistic passage. ■IL- I ts P lace in thè -G roup . - The Climax. The sheep showed the' sin ner ‘a stupid, *stràying, imperilled creature ; the poin an insensate,- dead thing, gravitati- ing into dirt and darkness. Here he is à wilful, conceited ingrate, debauched :arid- de graded, with memories Of 3 noble origin and
L esson V.—May 3.-=-T he P rodigal S on .— Luke 15:11-32 ■TEM PERANCE-LESSON. ■: r--0- T G olden T ext .—/ m il arise and go to :my father, and' will say to him-, Father, I have finned against heaven, and in thy sight. —Luke .15:18, L L iterary Q ualities . :
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