Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 15 - This Man Recieveth Sinners - Christ's Object Lessons
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen, This man receiveth sinners. As the publicans and
- 0:06Speaker 1: sinners gathered about Christ, the rabbis expressed their displeasure. This
- 0:10Speaker 1: man receiveth sinners, they said, and edith with them. By
- 0:15Speaker 1: this accusation, they insinuated that Christ liked to associate with
- 0:19Speaker 1: the sinful and vile, and was insensible to their wickedness.
- 0:23Speaker 1: The rabbis had been disappointed in Jesus. Why was it
- 0:26Speaker 1: that one who claimed so lofty a character did not
- 0:29Speaker 1: mingle with them and follow their methods of teaching? Why
- 0:32Speaker 1: did he go about so unpretendingly working among all classes.
- 0:37Speaker 1: If he were a true prophet, they said, he would
- 0:39Speaker 1: harmonize with them, and would treat the publicans and sinners
- 0:42Speaker 1: with the indifference they deserved. It angered these guardians of
- 0:46Speaker 1: society that he with whom they were continually in controversy,
- 0:50Speaker 1: yet whose purity of life aught and condemned them, should
- 0:53Speaker 1: meet in such apparent sympathy with social outcasts. They did
- 0:57Speaker 1: not approve of his methods. They regarded themselves as educated, refined,
- 1:02Speaker 1: and pre eminently religious, but Christ's example laid bare their selfishness.
- 1:07Speaker 1: It angered them also that those who showed only contempt
- 1:10Speaker 1: for the rabbis and who were never seen in the synagogues,
- 1:13Speaker 1: should flock about Jesus and listen with rapt attention to
- 1:16Speaker 1: his words. The scribes and Pharisees felt only condemnation in
- 1:20Speaker 1: that pure presence. How was it then that publicans and
- 1:23Speaker 1: sinners were drawn to Jesus. They knew not that the
- 1:27Speaker 1: explanation lay in the very words they had uttered as
- 1:30Speaker 1: a scornful charge. This man receiveth sinners. The souls who
- 1:34Speaker 1: came to Jesus felt in his presence that even for
- 1:37Speaker 1: them there was escape from the pit of sin. The
- 1:40Speaker 1: Pharisees had only scorn and condemnation for them, But Christ
- 1:44Speaker 1: greeted them as children of God, estranged indeed from the
- 1:47Speaker 1: Father's house, but not forgotten by the Father's heart. And
- 1:51Speaker 1: their very misery and sin made them only the more
- 1:54Speaker 1: the objects of His compassion. The farther they had wandered
- 1:58Speaker 1: from him, the more earnest the longing, and the greater
- 2:00Speaker 1: the sacrifice for their rescue. All this the teachers of
- 2:04Speaker 1: Israel might have learned from the sacred scrolls of which
- 2:07Speaker 1: it was their pride to be the keepers and expounders.
- 2:10Speaker 1: Had not David written David, who had fallen into deadly sin.
- 2:14Speaker 1: I have gone astray, like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant,
- 2:18Speaker 1: had not Micah revealed God's love to the sinner, saying,
- 2:21Speaker 1: who is a godlike unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and
- 2:25Speaker 1: passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage,
- 2:28Speaker 1: He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in
- 2:31Speaker 1: mercy the lost sheep. Christ did not at this time
- 2:37Speaker 1: remind his hearers of the words of scripture. He appealed
- 2:40Speaker 1: to the witness of their own experience. The wide spreading
- 2:43Speaker 1: table lambs on the east of Jordan afforded abundant pasturage
- 2:47Speaker 1: for flocks, and through the gorges and over the wooded
- 2:50Speaker 1: hills had wandered many a lost sheep, to be searched
- 2:53Speaker 1: for and brought back by the shepherd's care. In the
- 2:56Speaker 1: company about Jesus there were shepherds, and also men who
- 2:59Speaker 1: had money, and stood in flocks and herds, and all
- 3:02Speaker 1: could appreciate his illustration. What man of you, having an
- 3:06Speaker 1: hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not
- 3:09Speaker 1: leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go
- 3:11Speaker 1: after that which is lost until he find it. These souls,
- 3:15Speaker 1: whom you despise, said Jesus, are the property of God
- 3:19Speaker 1: by creation and by redemption. They are his, and they
- 3:22Speaker 1: are of value in his sight. As the shepherd loves
- 3:25Speaker 1: his sheep and cannot rest if even one be missing,
- 3:29Speaker 1: So in an infinitely higher degree does God love every
- 3:32Speaker 1: outcast soul. Men may deny the claim of his love.
- 3:36Speaker 1: They may wander from him, they may choose another master.
- 3:39Speaker 1: Yet they are gods, and he longs to recover his own.
- 3:43Speaker 1: He says, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in
- 3:46Speaker 1: the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
- 3:48Speaker 1: So will I seek out my sheep and will deliver
- 3:51Speaker 1: them out of all places where they have been scattered
- 3:53Speaker 1: in the cloudy and dark day. In the parable, the
- 3:57Speaker 1: shepherd goes out to search for one sheep, the very
- 4:00Speaker 1: least that can be numbered. So if there had been
- 4:03Speaker 1: but one lost soul, Christ would have died for that one.
- 4:08Speaker 1: The sheep that has strayed from the fold is the
- 4:10Speaker 1: most helpless of all creatures. It must be sought for
- 4:13Speaker 1: by the shepherd, for it cannot find its way back.
- 4:16Speaker 1: So with the soul that has wandered away from God.
- 4:19Speaker 1: He is as helpless as the lost sheep, and unless
- 4:22Speaker 1: divine love had come to his rescue, he could never
- 4:25Speaker 1: find his way to God. The shepherd who discovers that
- 4:29Speaker 1: one of his sheep is missing does not look carelessly
- 4:31Speaker 1: upon the flock that is safely housed, and say, I
- 4:34Speaker 1: have ninety and nine, and it will cost me too
- 4:36Speaker 1: much trouble to go in search of the straying one.
- 4:38Speaker 1: Let him come back, and I will open the door
- 4:40Speaker 1: of the sheep fold and let him in. No no
- 4:43Speaker 1: sooner does the sheep go astray than the shepherd is
- 4:46Speaker 1: filled with grief and anxiety. He counts and recounts his flock.
- 4:50Speaker 1: When he is sure that one sheep is lost, he
- 4:53Speaker 1: slumbers not. He leaves the ninety and nine within the
- 4:56Speaker 1: fold and goes in search of the straying sheep. Darker
- 5:00Speaker 1: and more tempestuous the night, and the more perilous the way,
- 5:04Speaker 1: the greater is the shepherd's anxiety, and the more earnest
- 5:07Speaker 1: his search. He makes every effort to find that one
- 5:10Speaker 1: lost sheep. With what relief he hears in the distance
- 5:14Speaker 1: its first faint cry. Following the sound, he climbs the
- 5:18Speaker 1: steepest heights, he goes to the very edge of the precipice,
- 5:21Speaker 1: at the risk of his own life. Thus he searches,
- 5:24Speaker 1: while the cry growing fainter, tells him that his sheep
- 5:27Speaker 1: is ready to die. At last, his effort is rewarded.
- 5:31Speaker 1: The lost is found. Then he does not scold it
- 5:34Speaker 1: because it has caused him so much trouble. He does
- 5:36Speaker 1: not drive it with a whip. He does not even
- 5:39Speaker 1: try to lead it home. In his joy, he takes
- 5:42Speaker 1: the trembling creature upon his shoulders. If it is bruised
- 5:45Speaker 1: and wounded, he gathers it in his arms, pressing it
- 5:48Speaker 1: close to his bosom, that the warmth of his own
- 5:50Speaker 1: heart may give it life. With gratitude that his search
- 5:54Speaker 1: has not been in vain, he bears it back to
- 5:56Speaker 1: the fold. Thank God, he has presented to our imagination
- 6:00Speaker 1: no picture of a sorrowful shepherd returning without the sheep.
- 6:03Speaker 1: The parable does not speak of failure, but of success
- 6:06Speaker 1: and joy in the recovery. Here is the divine guarantee
- 6:10Speaker 1: that not even one of the stray sheep of God's
- 6:12Speaker 1: fold is overlooked, not one is left unsuccored. Every one
- 6:16Speaker 1: that will submit to be ransomed. Christ will rescue from
- 6:19Speaker 1: the pit of corruption and from the briars of sin.
- 6:24Speaker 1: Desponding soul, Take courage, even though you have done wickedly.
- 6:27Speaker 1: Do not think that perhaps God will pardon your transgressions
- 6:30Speaker 1: and permit you to come into his presence. God has
- 6:33Speaker 1: made the first advance while you were in rebellion against him.
- 6:37Speaker 1: He went forth to seek you with the tender heart
- 6:40Speaker 1: of the shepherd. He left the ninety and nine and
- 6:43Speaker 1: went out into the wilderness to find that which was lost.
- 6:46Speaker 1: The soul, bruised and wounded and ready to perish, he
- 6:49Speaker 1: encircles in his arms of love and joyfully bears it
- 6:52Speaker 1: to the fold of safety. It was taught by the
- 6:56Speaker 1: Jews that before God's love is extended to the sinner,
- 6:58Speaker 1: he must first repent. In their view, repentance is a
- 7:02Speaker 1: work by which men earn the favor of heaven, and
- 7:04Speaker 1: it was this thought that led the Pharisees to exclaim
- 7:07Speaker 1: in astonishment and anger, this man receiveth sinners. According to
- 7:12Speaker 1: their ideas, he should permit none to approach him but
- 7:14Speaker 1: those who had repented. But in the parable of the
- 7:17Speaker 1: lost sheep, Christ teaches that salvation does not come through
- 7:20Speaker 1: our seeking after God, but through God seeking after us.
- 7:24Speaker 1: There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh
- 7:27Speaker 1: after God. They are all gone out of the way.
- 7:31Speaker 1: We do not repent in order that God may love us,
- 7:33Speaker 1: but He reveals to us his love in order that
- 7:36Speaker 1: we may repent. When the straying sheep is at last
- 7:39Speaker 1: brought home, the shepherd's gratitude finds expression in melodious songs
- 7:43Speaker 1: of rejoicing. He calls upon his friends and neighbors, saying,
- 7:47Speaker 1: unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my
- 7:50Speaker 1: sheep which was lost. So when a wanderer is found
- 7:53Speaker 1: by the great shepherd of the sheep, Heaven and Earth
- 7:56Speaker 1: unite in thanksgiving and rejoicing. Joy shall be in Heaven
- 8:00Speaker 1: over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and
- 8:03Speaker 1: nine just persons which need no repentance. You, Pharisees, said Christ,
- 8:08Speaker 1: regard yourselves as the favorites of heaven. You think yourselves
- 8:11Speaker 1: secure in your own righteousness, Know then that if you
- 8:16Speaker 1: need no repentance, my mission is not to you. These
- 8:19Speaker 1: poor souls, who feel their poverty and sinfulness, are the
- 8:21Speaker 1: very ones whom I have come to rescue. Angels of
- 8:25Speaker 1: heaven are interested in these lost ones, whom you despise.
- 8:28Speaker 1: You complain and sneer when one of these souls joins
- 8:31Speaker 1: himself to me. But know that angels rejoice and the
- 8:34Speaker 1: song of triumph rings through the courts above. The rabbis
- 8:38Speaker 1: had a saying that there is rejoicing in heaven when
- 8:41Speaker 1: one who has sinned against God is destroyed. But Jesus
- 8:44Speaker 1: taught that to God, the work of destruction is a
- 8:47Speaker 1: strange work, that in which all Heaven delights is the
- 8:50Speaker 1: restoration of God's own image in the souls whom he
- 8:52Speaker 1: has made. When one who has wandered far in sin
- 8:57Speaker 1: seeks to return to God, he will encounter criticism, And
- 8:59Speaker 1: as trust, there are those who will doubt whether his
- 9:02Speaker 1: repentance is genuine, or will whisper he has no stability.
- 9:06Speaker 1: I do not believe that he will hold out. These
- 9:10Speaker 1: persons are doing not the work of God, but the
- 9:12Speaker 1: work of Satan, who is the accuser of the brethren.
- 9:16Speaker 1: Through their criticisms, the wicked one hopes to discourage that
- 9:19Speaker 1: soul and to drive him still farther from hope and
- 9:22Speaker 1: from God. Let the repenting sinner contemplate the rejoicing of
- 9:26Speaker 1: Heaven over the return of the one that was lost.
- 9:29Speaker 1: Let him rest in the love of God and in
- 9:31Speaker 1: no case be disheartened by the scorn and suspicion of
- 9:34Speaker 1: the Pharisees. The rabbis understood Christ's parable is applying to
- 9:38Speaker 1: the publicans and sinners, but it has also a wider meaning.
- 9:42Speaker 1: By the lost sheep, Christ represents not only the individual sinner,
- 9:46Speaker 1: but the one world that has apostatized and has been
- 9:49Speaker 1: ruined by sin. This world is but an atom in
- 9:52Speaker 1: the vast dominions over which God presides. Yet this little
- 9:56Speaker 1: fallen world, the one lost sheep, is more precious in
- 9:59Speaker 1: his sight, then are the ninety and nine that went
- 10:01Speaker 1: not astray from the fold. Christ, the loved commander in
- 10:05Speaker 1: the heavenly courts, stooped from his high estate, laid aside
- 10:09Speaker 1: the glory that he had with the Father in order
- 10:11Speaker 1: to save the one lost world. For this he left
- 10:15Speaker 1: the sinless worlds on high. The ninety and nine that
- 10:18Speaker 1: loved him and came to this earth to be wounded
- 10:21Speaker 1: for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. God gave
- 10:25Speaker 1: himself and his son that he might have the joy
- 10:27Speaker 1: of receiving back the sheep that was lost. Behold what
- 10:31Speaker 1: manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
- 10:34Speaker 1: we should be called the sons of God. And Christ says,
- 10:38Speaker 1: as thou hast sent me into the world, even so
- 10:40Speaker 1: have I also sent them into the world to fill
- 10:43Speaker 1: up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.
- 10:46Speaker 1: For his body's sake, which is the Church. Every soul
- 10:49Speaker 1: whom Christ has rescued is called to work in his
- 10:52Speaker 1: name for the saving of the lost. This work had
- 10:55Speaker 1: been neglected in Israel? Is it not neglected to day
- 10:59Speaker 1: by those who professed to be Christ's followers? How many
- 11:02Speaker 1: of the wandering ones have you, reader, sought for and
- 11:05Speaker 1: brought back to the fold. When you turn from those
- 11:08Speaker 1: who seem unpromising and unattractive, do you realize that you
- 11:11Speaker 1: are neglecting the souls for whom Christ is seeking. At
- 11:15Speaker 1: the very time when you turn from them, they may
- 11:17Speaker 1: be in the greatest need of your compassion. In every
- 11:20Speaker 1: assembly for worship there are souls longing for rest and peace.
- 11:24Speaker 1: They may appear to be living careless lives, but they
- 11:27Speaker 1: are not insensible to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
- 11:31Speaker 1: Many among them might be one for Christ. If the
- 11:34Speaker 1: lost sheep is not brought back to the fold, it
- 11:37Speaker 1: wanders until it perishes, and many souls go down to
- 11:40Speaker 1: ruin for want of a hand stretched out to save.
- 11:43Speaker 1: These erring ones may appear hard and reckless, but if
- 11:47Speaker 1: they had received the same advantages that others have had,
- 11:50Speaker 1: they might have revealed far more nobility of soul and
- 11:53Speaker 1: greater talent for usefulness. Angels pity these wandering ones. Angels
- 11:58Speaker 1: weep while human eyes are dry and hearts are close
- 12:01Speaker 1: to pity. Oh, the lack of deep soul touching sympathy
- 12:05Speaker 1: for the tempted and the erring. Oh, for more of
- 12:07Speaker 1: Christ's spirit and for less, far less of self. The
- 12:11Speaker 1: Pharisees understood Christ's parable as a rebuke to them. Instead
- 12:15Speaker 1: of accepting their criticism of his work, he had reproved
- 12:19Speaker 1: their neglect of the publicans and sinners. He had not
- 12:22Speaker 1: done this openly, lest it should close their hearts against him.
- 12:26Speaker 1: But his illustrations set before them the very work which
- 12:28Speaker 1: God required of them, and which they had failed to do.
- 12:32Speaker 1: Had they been true shepherds, these leaders in Israel would
- 12:35Speaker 1: have done the work of a shepherd. They would have
- 12:37Speaker 1: manifested the mercy and love of Christ, and would have
- 12:40Speaker 1: united with him in his mission. Their refusal to do
- 12:43Speaker 1: this had proved their claims of piety to be false.
- 12:47Speaker 1: Now many rejected Christ's reproof, Yet to some his words
- 12:51Speaker 1: brought conviction upon these. After Christ's ascension to heaven, the
- 12:55Speaker 1: Holy Spirit came and they united with his disciples, and
- 12:58Speaker 1: the very work outlined in the parable of the Lost
- 13:01Speaker 1: Sheep the lost piece of silver. After giving the parable
- 13:06Speaker 1: of the lost Sheep, Christ spoke another, saying, what woman,
- 13:09Speaker 1: having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece,
- 13:13Speaker 1: doth not light a candle and sweep the house and
- 13:15Speaker 1: seek diligently till she find it. In the east, the
- 13:19Speaker 1: houses of the poor usually consisted of but one room,
- 13:22Speaker 1: often windowless and dark. The room was rarely swept, and
- 13:26Speaker 1: a piece of money falling on the floor would be
- 13:28Speaker 1: speedily covered by dust and rubbish. In order that it
- 13:31Speaker 1: might be found even in the daytime, a candle must
- 13:34Speaker 1: be lighted, and the house must be swept diligently. The
- 13:38Speaker 1: wife's marriage portion usually consisted of pieces of money, which
- 13:41Speaker 1: she carefully preserved as her most cherished possession, to be
- 13:45Speaker 1: transmitted to her own daughters. The loss of one of
- 13:48Speaker 1: these pieces would be regarded as a serious calamity, and
- 13:51Speaker 1: its recovery would cause great rejoicing, in which the neighboring
- 13:54Speaker 1: women would readily share. When she hath found it, Christ said,
- 13:59Speaker 1: she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice
- 14:02Speaker 1: with me, for I have found the peace which I
- 14:05Speaker 1: had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy
- 14:08Speaker 1: in the presence of the angels of God over one
- 14:11Speaker 1: sinner that repenteth. This parable, like the preceding, sets forth
- 14:16Speaker 1: the loss of something which with proper search may be recovered,
- 14:19Speaker 1: and that with great joy. But the two parables represent
- 14:23Speaker 1: different classes. The lost sheep knows that it is lost.
- 14:27Speaker 1: It has left the shepherd and the flock, and it
- 14:29Speaker 1: cannot recover itself. It represents those who realize that they
- 14:32Speaker 1: are separated from God, and who are in a cloud
- 14:35Speaker 1: of perplexity, in humiliation, and sorely tempted. The lost coin
- 14:40Speaker 1: represents those who are lost in trespasses and sins, but
- 14:44Speaker 1: who have no sense of their condition. They are estranged
- 14:47Speaker 1: from God, but they know it not. Their souls are
- 14:50Speaker 1: in peril, but they are unconscious and unconcerned. In this parable,
- 14:55Speaker 1: Christ teaches that even those who are indifferent to the
- 14:57Speaker 1: claims of God are the objects of his pitying love.
- 15:00Speaker 1: They are to be sought for that they may be
- 15:02Speaker 1: brought back to God. The sheep wandered away from the fold.
- 15:07Speaker 1: It was lost in the wilderness or upon the mountains.
- 15:10Speaker 1: The piece of silver was lost in the house. It
- 15:13Speaker 1: was close at hand, yet it could be recovered only
- 15:15Speaker 1: by diligent search. This parable has a lesson to families.
- 15:20Speaker 1: In the household there is often great carelessness concerning the
- 15:23Speaker 1: souls of its members. Among their number may be one
- 15:27Speaker 1: who is estranged from God. But how little anxiety is
- 15:30Speaker 1: felt lest in the family relationship there be lost one
- 15:33Speaker 1: of God's entrusted gifts. The coin, though lying among dust
- 15:37Speaker 1: and rubbish, is a piece of silver. Still its owner
- 15:40Speaker 1: seeks it because it is of value. So every soul,
- 15:44Speaker 1: however degraded by sin, is in God's sight accounted precious.
- 15:48Speaker 1: As the coin bears the image and superscription of the
- 15:51Speaker 1: reigning power, so man, at his creation bore the image
- 15:54Speaker 1: and superscription of God. And though now marred and dim
- 15:58Speaker 1: through the influence of sin, the trays of this inscription
- 16:01Speaker 1: remain upon every soul. God desires to recover that soul
- 16:05Speaker 1: and to retrace upon it his own image in righteousness
- 16:08Speaker 1: and holiness. The woman in the parable searches diligently for
- 16:12Speaker 1: her lost coin. She lights the candle and sweeps the house.
- 16:16Speaker 1: She removes everything that might obstruct her search. Though only
- 16:20Speaker 1: one piece is lost, she will not cease her efforts
- 16:22Speaker 1: until that piece is found. So in the family, if
- 16:26Speaker 1: one member is lost to God, every means should be
- 16:29Speaker 1: used for his recovery on the part of all the others.
- 16:32Speaker 1: Let there be diligent, careful self examination. Let the life
- 16:36Speaker 1: practice be investigated. See if there is not some mistake,
- 16:40Speaker 1: some error in management by which that soul is confirmed
- 16:43Speaker 1: and impenitence. If there is in the family one child
- 16:47Speaker 1: who is unconscious of his sinful state, parents should not rest.
- 16:51Speaker 1: Let the candle be lighted, search the word of God,
- 16:54Speaker 1: and by its light. Let everything in the home be
- 16:57Speaker 1: diligently examined to see why this child is lost. Let
- 17:01Speaker 1: parents search their own hearts, examine their habits and practices.
- 17:05Speaker 1: Children are the heritage of the Lord, and we are
- 17:07Speaker 1: answerable to him for our management of his property. There
- 17:12Speaker 1: are fathers and mothers who long to labor in some
- 17:14Speaker 1: foreign mission field. There are many who are active in
- 17:17Speaker 1: Christian work outside the home, while their own children are
- 17:20Speaker 1: strangers to the Savior and his love. The work of
- 17:24Speaker 1: winning their children for Christ. Many parents trust to the
- 17:26Speaker 1: minister or the savuschool teacher, but in doing this they
- 17:29Speaker 1: are neglecting their own God given responsibility. The education and
- 17:34Speaker 1: training of their children to be Christians is the highest
- 17:36Speaker 1: service that parents can render to God. It is a
- 17:40Speaker 1: work that demands patient labor, a life long, diligent and
- 17:43Speaker 1: persevering effort. By a neglect of this trust, we prove
- 17:46Speaker 1: ourselves unfaithful stewards. No excuse for such neglect will be
- 17:50Speaker 1: accepted by God. But those who have been guilty of
- 17:54Speaker 1: neglect are not to despair. The woman whose coin was
- 17:58Speaker 1: lost searched until she found it. So, in love, faith
- 18:01Speaker 1: and prayer, let parents work for their households until with
- 18:05Speaker 1: joy they can come to God saying, behold I and
- 18:08Speaker 1: the children whom the Lord hath given me. This is
- 18:11Speaker 1: true home missionary work, and it is as helpful to
- 18:14Speaker 1: those who do it as to those for whom it
- 18:16Speaker 1: is done. By our faithful interest for the home circle.
- 18:19Speaker 1: We are fitting ourselves to work for the members of
- 18:22Speaker 1: the Lord's family, with whom, if loyal to Christ, we
- 18:25Speaker 1: shall live through eternal ages. For our brethren and sisters
- 18:29Speaker 1: in Christ. We are to show the same interests that
- 18:31Speaker 1: as members of one family we have for one another.
- 18:35Speaker 1: And God designs that all this shall fit us to
- 18:38Speaker 1: labor for still others. As our sympathies shall broaden and
- 18:41Speaker 1: our love increase, we shall find everywhere a work to do.
- 18:45Speaker 1: God's great human household embraces the world, and none of
- 18:48Speaker 1: its members are to be passed by with neglect. Wherever
- 18:52Speaker 1: we may be there the lost piece of silver awaits
- 18:55Speaker 1: our search. Are we seeking for it? Day by day
- 18:58Speaker 1: we meet with those who take me no interest in
- 19:00Speaker 1: religious things. We talk with them, we visit among them.
- 19:04Speaker 1: Do we show an interest in their spiritual welfare? Do
- 19:07Speaker 1: we present Christ to them as the sin pardoning Savior
- 19:11Speaker 1: with our own hearts warm with the love of Christ?
- 19:13Speaker 1: Do we tell them about that love? If we do not,
- 19:16Speaker 1: how shall we meet these souls lost eternally lost? When
- 19:19Speaker 1: with them we stand before the throne of God The
- 19:23Speaker 1: value of a soul? Who can estimate? Would you know
- 19:26Speaker 1: it's worth go to Gethsemane and their watch with Christ
- 19:29Speaker 1: through those hours of anguish, when he sweat as it
- 19:32Speaker 1: were great drops of blood. Look upon the Savior uplifted
- 19:36Speaker 1: on the cross. Hear that despairing cry, My God, My God,
- 19:40Speaker 1: Why has sow forsaken me? Look upon the wounded head,
- 19:44Speaker 1: the pierced sighe, the marred feet. Remember that Christ risked
- 19:48Speaker 1: all for our redemption. Heaven itself was imperiled at the
- 19:53Speaker 1: foot of the cross. Remembering that for one sinner, Christ
- 19:56Speaker 1: would have laid down his life. You may estimate the
- 19:58Speaker 1: value of a soul. If you are in communion with Christ,
- 20:03Speaker 1: you will place his estimate upon every human being. You
- 20:06Speaker 1: will feel for others the same deep love that Christ
- 20:08Speaker 1: has felt for you. Then you will be able to win,
- 20:12Speaker 1: not drive, to attract, not repulse those for whom He died.
- 20:17Speaker 1: None would ever have been brought back to God if
- 20:19Speaker 1: Christ had not made a personal effort for them. And
- 20:22Speaker 1: it is by this personal work that we can rescue souls.
- 20:25Speaker 1: When you see those who are going down to death,
- 20:27Speaker 1: you will not rest in quiet indifference and ease. The
- 20:31Speaker 1: greater their sin and the deeper their misery, the more
- 20:33Speaker 1: earnest and tender will be your efforts for their recovery.
- 20:37Speaker 1: You will discern the need of those who are suffering,
- 20:39Speaker 1: who have been sinning against God, and who are oppressed
- 20:43Speaker 1: with a burden of guilt. Your heart will go out
- 20:45Speaker 1: in sympathy for them, and you will reach out to
- 20:47Speaker 1: them a helping hand. In the arms of your faith
- 20:50Speaker 1: and love. You will bring them to Christ. You will
- 20:54Speaker 1: watch over and encourage them, and your sympathy and confidence
- 20:57Speaker 1: will make it hard for them to fall from their
- 20:59Speaker 1: said passes. In this work, all the angels of heaven
- 21:04Speaker 1: are ready to co operate. All the resources of heaven
- 21:07Speaker 1: are at the command of those who are seeking to
- 21:09Speaker 1: save the lost. Angels will help you to reach the
- 21:12Speaker 1: most careless and the most hardened. And when one is
- 21:15Speaker 1: brought back to God, all heaven is made glad. Seraphs
- 21:19Speaker 1: and cherubs touch their golden harps and sing praises to
- 21:22Speaker 1: God and the Lamb for their mercy and loving kindness
- 21:25Speaker 1: to the children of men. End of Chapter fifteen.