LUKE 15 8-10 COMME�TARYEDITED BY GLE�� PEASE

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a]

and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the

house and SEARCH carefully until she finds it?

BAR�ES, "Ten pieces of silver - In the original, ten “drachmas.” The drachma was about the value of fifteen cents, and consequently the whole sum was about a dollar and a half, or six shillings. The sum was small, but it was all she had. The loss of one piece, therefore, was severely felt.

There is joy in the presence ... - Jesus in this parable expresses the same sentiment which he did in the preceding. A woman would have more immediate, present, joy at finding a lost piece, than she would in the possession of those which had not been lost. “So,” says Christ, there is joy among the angels at the recovery of a single sinner.

CLARKE, "Ten pieces of silver - ∆ραχµας�δεκα, ten drachmas. I think it always

best to retain the names of these ancient coins, and to state their value in English money. Every reader will naturally wish to know by what names such and such coins were called in the countries in which they were current. The Grecian drachma was worth about sevenpence three farthings of our money; being about the same value as the Roman denarius.

The drachma that was lost is also a very expressive emblem of a sinner who is estranged from God, and enslaved to habits of iniquity. The longer a piece of money is lost, the less probability is there of its being again found; as it may not only lose its color, and not be easily observed, but will continue to be more and more covered with dust and dirt: or its value may be vastly lessened by being so trampled on that a part of the substance, together with the image and superscription, may be worn off. So the sinner sinks deeper and deeper into the impurities of sin, loses even his character among men, and gets the image and superscription of his Maker defaced from his heart. He who wishes to find the image of God, which he has lost by sin, must attend to that word which will be a lantern to his steps, and receive that Spirit which is a light to the soul, to convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He must sweep the house - put away the evil of his doings; and seek diligently - use every means of grace, and cry incessantly to God, till he restore to him the light of his countenance. Though parables of this kind must not be obliged to go on all fours, as it is termed; yet they afford many useful hints to preachers of the Gospel, by which they may edify their hearers. Only let all such take care not to force meanings on the words of Christ which are contrary to their gravity and majesty.

GILL, "Either what woman, having ten pieces of silver,.... Or "drachmas": a "drachma" was the fourth part of a shekel, and of the same value with a Roman penny; and was worth of our money, seven pence half penny; so that the ten pieces amounted to six shilling's, and three pence: the Ethiopic version renders it "ten rings": this parable is delivered, with the same view as the former; the scope and design of them are alike, being occasioned by the same circumstance, only the passiveness of a sinner in conversion is here more fully signified; who can contribute no more to the first act of conversion, which is purely God's work, than a lost piece of silver to its being found: by the "ten pieces or silver" are designed, all the Jews, or the whole body of that people; as they were before signified, by the hundred sheep; they having been God's peculiar treasure, though they were now in general become reprobate silver: and by the "woman" the proprietor of them, is meant Christ; and in what sense he was the owner of them, has been shown on Luk_15:4. The "nine" pieces design the Scribes and Pharisees; and the one lost piece, expressed in the next clause,

if she lose one piece, intends the elect among the Jews, and who chiefly consisted of publicans and sinners; and the regard had to these, is signified by the following expressions,

doth not light a candle: by which is meant, not the light of nature or reason in man: for though this is called a candle, and is of Christ's lighting, yet that by which he looks up his lost people, for this is become very dim: and though by it men may know there is a God, and the difference between moral good and evil, by it they cannot come at the knowledge of things spiritual; as of God in Christ, of the sin of nature, and of the plague of the heart; nor of the way of salvation by Christ, nor of the work of the Spirit, and the nature and need of it; nor of the Scriptures of truth, and of the doctrines of the Gospel, nor of the things of another world: neither is the law of Moses intended; for though there was light by it into the knowledge of sin, yet not clear; and though the ceremonial law was a shadow of Christ, and did give some instructions about him, and the doctrines of the Gospel, and blessings of grace, yet but very obscure hints: but by this candle is meant, the Gospel itself; which, like a candle, is lighted up in the evening of the world; and may be removed, as it sometimes is, from place to place; and where it is set, and blessed, it gives light, and is useful both to work and walk by; it does not always burn alike clear, or is always held forth in the same purity: and it will give the greatest light at last, as a candle does, even at the end of the world: now Christ is the lighter of this, and from him it has all its light, who is the maker of it; he keeps it light, and by it he looks up and finds out his elect ones; though this is not a direction to him, who perfectly knows who they are, and where they be, but is rather a light to them, that they may know and find him:

and sweep the house: which phrase sometimes designs outward reformation, as in Mat_12:44 and sometimes God's judgments upon a people, as in Isa_14:23 but here the preaching of the Gospel, and the power that goes along with it, to the the effectual calling of the elect: the "house" in which Christ's lost piece of silver, or his chosen ones were, may design the nation of the Jews, who are often called the house of Israel; this was a house of God's building and choosing, and where he dwelt; and among these people for a long time, God's elect lay, though all of them were not so; and about this time the Lord was about to break up house keeping with them; yet as there were some few among them, that were to be looked up and called, therefore this house must be swept, as it was

by the ministry of John the Baptist, by Christ himself, and by his apostles: and this suggests, what must be the state and condition of God's elect, being in this house, before it was swept, and they found out; they were out of sight, in great obscurity and darkness, with a deal of rubbish and dirt upon them, and pollution in them; and impotent to that which is good, and to their own recovery, and yet capable of being recovered: and this phrase hints at the power and efficacy of divine grace, that goes along with the word, in looking up and finding lost sinners; in enlightening their dark minds, quickening them, being dead in sin, taking away their stony hearts, regenerating them, enstamping the divine image upon them, removing every thing from them they trusted in, and working faith in them, to look to, and believe in Christ: and as in sweeping of an house, a great stir is made, a dust raised, and things are moved out of their place; so by the preaching of the Gospel, an uproar is made in the sinner himself; in his conscience, which is filled with a horrible sight of sin; which is very loathsome, and causes uneasy reflections, fills with shame and confusion, and greatly burdens and distresses, and with the terrors of the law, and with dreadful apprehensions of hell and damnation; in his will there is a reluctancy to part with sinful lusts and pleasures, with sinful companions, and with his own righteousness, and to be saved by Christ alone, and to serve him, and bear his cross: and in his understanding, things appear in a different light than they before did: and great stir and opposition is made by Satan, to hinder the preaching of the Gospel, as much as in him lies, and persons from coming to hear it; and if they do, he endeavours to hinder, by catching it from them, or diverting them from that; by insinuating, it is either too soon or too late, to mind religion; or that sin is either so great that it cannot be forgiven, or so trivial, that a few prayers, tears, alms deeds, &c. will make amends for it; by distressing them about their election, or about the willingness of Christ to save them; or by stirring up others to dissuade and discourage them. Moreover, when the Gospel is preached in purity and with power, and souls are converted, there is a great stir and uproar in the world, and among the men of it; because the doctrines of it are foolishness, and strange things to them; and oppose their sense of things, and strip them of what is valuable; and men are hereby distinguished from them, and taken from among them: and there is also a stir and an uproar made by it, among carnal professors of religion, as there was at this time among the Scribes and Pharisees; and all this bustle is made, for the sake of a single piece of money:

and seek diligently till she find it? not only a light is set up, an hand of power put forth in using the besom, but a quick sharp eye looks out for the piece of silver: this diligent seeking and finding, are to be understood not of the grace of Christ in redemption; nor of his restoring backsliders; but of his converting sinners, through the preaching of the Gospel, both in his own person, and by his ministers, his Spirit making their ministrations effectual: the diligence, care, and circumspection of Christ, to find out lost sinners, while the Gospel is preaching, are here signified: it is not the preacher that looks out for them, though he that is a faithful minister of the word performs his office diligently and carefully, and he desires nothing more earnestly than the conversion of sinners; but then he knows not who are, and who are not the elect of God, and is ignorant of what Christ is doing, whilst he is preaching: Christ's eye is upon his lost piece; he perfectly knows the persons of the elect, as they are his Father's choice, and his gift to him; he knew them in the counsel of peace, and covenant of grace, in the fall of Adam, and their natural estate; he knows the places where they all are, and the time when they are to be converted; and distinguishes them amidst all the filth that attends them, and the crowd among which they are; and he continues seeking, till he finds them; which shows the perpetuity of the Gospel ministry the indefatigableness of Christ, and his sure and certain success: the reasons of all this care and diligence, are his love to

them, his propriety in them, his Father's will, and his own engagement; and because they must be for ever lost, did he not seek after them.

HE�RY, "The parable of the lost piece of silver. (1.) The loser is here supposed to be a woman, who will more passionately grieve for her loss, and rejoice in finding what she had lost, than perhaps a man would do, and therefore it the better serves the purpose of the parable. She has ten pieces of silver, and out of them loses only one. Let this keep up in us high thoughts of the divine goodness, notwithstanding the sinfulness and misery of the world of mankind, that there are nine to one, nay, in the foregoing parable there are ninety-nine to one, of God's creation, that retain their integrity, in whom God is praised, and never was dishonoured. O the numberless beings, for aught we know numberless worlds of beings, that never were lost, nor stepped aside from the laws and ends of their

creation! (2.) That which is lost is a piece of silver, drachmēn - the fourth part of a shekel.

The soul is silver, of intrinsic worth and value; not base metal, as iron or lead, but silver,the mines of which are royal mines. The Hebrew word for silver is taken from the desirableness of it. It is silver coin, for so the drachma was; it is stamped with God's image and superscription, and therefore must be rendered to him. Yet it is comparatively but of small value; it was but seven pence half-penny; intimating that if sinful men be left to perish God would be no loser. This silver was lost in the dirt; a soul plunged in the world, and overwhelmed with the love of it and care about it, is like a piece of money in the dirt; any one would say, It is a thousand pities that it should lie there. (3.) Here is a great deal of care and pains taken in quest of it. The woman lights a candle, to look behind the door, under the table, and in every corner of the house, sweeps the house, and seeks diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and methods God makes use of to bring lost souls home to himself: he has lighted the candle of the gospel, not to show himself the way to us, but to show us the way to him, to discover us to ourselves; he has swept the house by the convictions of the word; he seeks diligently, his heart is upon it, to bring lost souls to himself. (4.) Here is a great deal of joy for the finding of it: Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost,Luk_15:9. Those that rejoice desire that others should rejoice with them; those that are merry would have others merry with them. She was glad that she had found the piece of money, though she should spend it in entertaining those whom she called to make merry with her. The pleasing surprise of finding it put her, for the present, into a kind of

transport, heurēka, heurēka - I have found, I have found, is the language of joy.

JAMISO�, "

LA�GE, "Luk_15:8. Either what woman.—In order to indicate that not the material worth of what is lost, in itself, but the worth which it has in the eyes of the possessor, is the cause of the carefulness of the love which seeks it, the Saviour takes a second example from daily life, but not now from something so valuable as a sheep, but from a äñá÷ìÞ , in itself rather insignificant. For the woman, however, this loss is of great importance, since her whole treasure consists of ten such drachmæ.— Äñá÷ìÞ , the common Greek coin which, at that time, was in circulation among the Jews also. The Attic drachma was = ¼ stater, [17.6 cents]; the Alexandrian twice as heavy. It appears that we have here to understand the first, which, not seldom even somewhat lighter, was in circulation at the time of the Saviour. The ten drachmae are then about equal to $1 76. See Winer, in voce.

Doth not light a candle.—In the most practical manner the labor of the woman to come again in possession of the lost drachma is now sketched after the life. It is as though one saw the dust of the broom flying around in sweeping, until she succeeds in discovering in a dark corner the lost piece, and immediately picks it up. The coin, which was originally stamped with the image of the Emperor, but had been thrown into the dust and become almost unrecognizable, is the faithful image of the sinner. “Sum nummus Dei, thesauro aberravi, miserere mei.” Augustine. As to the rest, the lighting of the lamp, the sweeping, and the seeking, belong, in our eyes, so entirely to the pictorial form of the representation, that it appears to us almost arbitrary to see therein (Stier) the indication of the threefold activity of the preacher, the eldership, and the whole Church for the saving of the lost one. “If we would attribute to every single word a deeper significance than appears, we should not seldom incur the danger of bringing much into the Scripture which is not at all contained in it; for as the artist, for the beautifying of his picture, does much that is not indispensably necessary, so has Christ also spoken many words which stand to the main matter which is to be imaged forth by the figure in only a remote, often, indeed, in no relation at all.” Zimmermann.

L. M. GRANT, "The woman losing and seeking the silver coin illustrates the energy and grace of the Spirit of God in seeking the lost sinner. The woman is not a picture of the Spirit, but of the Church of God in which the power of the Spirit works in seeking the lost. The lamp being lit speaks of testimony. The sweeping of the house reminds us of the broadcasting of the gospel of grace; while the diligent search is the special care of personal concern for individual souls. Wonderful it is that the Church is given the great privilege of sharing with the living God in His care for souls, and in His rejoicing in the repentance of the lost, for the lost piece of silver is clearly a picture of a lost sinner who, when found, is said to be a sinner who repents. Of course the silver itself, being inanimate, has no such feelings, but it pictures the dormant state of the unbeliever --valuable, yet lost, and worth the labor of seeking. The woman too expected others to rejoice with her in her finding the silver. So in the presence of the angels of God there is joy in the contemplation of one sinner repenting.

WILLIAM KELLY, "To my mind it is impossible to avoid the conviction that these

parables have a root in God Himself as well as a reference to His operations on the

heart of man. As we saw that the first is a most clear prefiguration of Christ's work

(the Shepherd being the well-known figure that He Himself adopted to set forth His

interest and His grace for those that need Him), so also in the last parable there

cannot be a question that the father sets forth God Himself in the relationship that

He establishes by grace with the returning prodigal. There is also another sense of

that relationship with the elder son, whose self-righteousness was so much the more

glaring because of his want of respect and love for such a father, though known, no

doubt, on a lower ground.

But if this be so, how can we avoid the conviction that the intermediate parable has

a similar connection and that the woman has a propriety and a peculiar fitness, just

as much as the shepherd and the father? If, therefore, the shepherd represents the

work of the Son of God come as Son of man to seek and to save that which was lost,

and if the father shows the relationship in which God reveals Himself to him who is

brought back to Him and who learns His love within the house, we cannot doubt

that the woman must set forth the ways of God working by His Spirit." We know

that the Spirit now particularly deigns, not only to act in man, but also in the

Church, and this may ACCOU�T for the fact of the figure of the woman, a woman

being habitually used to set forth the Church of God. However this may be, that in

some form or another under the woman is set forth the activity of the Spirit of God

cannot be questioned. So we shall find that all the details of the parable fit in with

this view.

"Or, what woman having ten drachmas, if she lose one drachma,384 doth not light a

lamp and sweep the house and seek carefully till she find it?" �ow we find the lost

creature is represented, not by a sheep, which, if it has life of a certain sort, has it

only to go astray; not by a man, who is at last, after having perverted all that God

gave him, brought into intelligent enjoyment of God; but in this parable the lost

piece of money is an inanimate thing, and this is most fitted to express what a lost

sinner is in the mind of the Spirit of God. He not only slipped aside, though capable

of being the object of a new action by grace outside self to find him; but meanwhile

the soul is but a dead thing spiritually, with no more power to return than the

missing piece of silver. The propriety, therefore, of this coin being used to represent

the sinner where there is evidently not the slightest power to GO BACK to God,

where it is utterly helpless, where only the Holy Ghost can avail, is manifest. But the

woman does not so easily reconcile herself to. the loss of her piece of silver. She

lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and seeks diligently till she finds it. The lamp

clearly sets forth the testimony of the Word of God; and this it is particularly in the

use of the Spirit of God. The Lord Jesus Himself and God as such are thus spoken

of. But it is the Spirit alone who, as we know, brings it home to the heart in

conscience or peace, when we are brought to God. The Spirit has the character of

agency very peculiarly, and in this agency employs the word. The lamp, therefore, is

said here to be lit. But that is not all. The woman sweeps the house and searches

diligently till she finds it. There is painstaking love, the removal of obstacles, minute

working and searching. Do we not know that this is pre-eminently the part God's

Spirit is wont to take? Do we not remember when truth was powerless to reach us?

The Lord Jesus is rather the suffering Saviour; His mighty work assumes that form.

The Holy Spirit of God is the active agent in the soul. The Father freely gave

according to His infinite love and counsels. Having in Himself the deep enjoyment of

love, He would bring others, in spite of their sins, to be righteously without them, in

order to make themselves happy in the enjoyment of Himself. But the Spirit of God,

just as beautifully, engages Himself in activity of effort and ceaseless painstaking,

till the lost thing is found.

"And having found it, she calleth together the friends and neighbours, saying,

Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma, which I had lost." In every case,

whether it be the Son, or the Father, or the Holy Ghost, there is communion. We

know that our communion is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ; but it

cannot be less familiar to the believer that there is the communion of the Holy

Ghost. This is what appears to be set forth here at the close of the second parable:

the spreading of universal joy among those who enter into the mind of God. "She

calleth together the friends and neighbours, saying, Rejoice with me." Thus on all

sides is real delight, every person of the Godhead having His own appropriate place

and part in the wonderful work of redemption, but, further, deep Divine joy in the

result of redemption. "Thus I say unto you, There is joy before the angels of God for

one repenting sinner." It is not here generally in heaven, but joy in the presence of

the angels of God. They enter into it. They may not have the same immediate

concern in it, but it is in their presence; and they delight in it ungrudgingly and

unjealously without being the parties to derive direct or personal results from it.

Their joy is in what God delights in, and hence in what He is to the creatures of

God. What a new scene of enjoyment, too - joy among those who had been lost to

God, and enemies to God! "There is joy before the angels of God for one repenting

sinner."

ELLICOTT, "(8) Either what woman having ten pieces of silver.—The main lesson

of the parable that thus opens is, of course, identical with that of the Lost Sheep. We

are justified, however, in assuming that the special features of each were meant to

have a special meaning, and that we have therefore more than a mere ornamental

variation of imagery. Looking to these points of difference we note (1) the use of the

silver coin (the drachma) as a symbol of the human soul. Here the reason of the

choice lies on the surface. The coin is what it is because it has on it the king’s image

and superscription. Man is precious because he too has THE IMAGE and

superscription of the great King, the spiritual attributes of Thought and Will, by

which he resembles God, stamped upon him. (2) There is, perhaps, a special

significance in the fact that the coin is lost in the house, while the sheep strays from

the fold. What seems implied here is the possibility that a soul that is precious in the

sight of God may be lost even within the society, Israel or the Church of Christ,

which is for the time being the visible house of God. (3) It is a woman who seeks,

and not a man, and the change, at least, reminds us of the woman in the parable of

the Leaven. (See �ote on Matthew 13:33.) It is hardly an adequate explanation in

either case, though it may be true in itself, that the variation was made to interest a

different class of hearers, the women who were listening, who had no experience in

going after the sheep that was lost. We must at least see in it the lesson that what we

call feminine virtues and graces are needed for the deliverance of souls that have

fallen—patience, and diligence, and minute observation—not less than what we

think of as the more manly qualities of courage, and enterprise, and endurance.

Lastly, in the “woman” of the parable we may venture to see that which answers in

part to the ideal representation of Wisdom in the book of Proverbs (Luke 8, 9), in

part to the Church as answering in its collective unity to the ideal of womanhood, as

Christ Himself does to the ideal of manhood (Ephesians 5:23).

Doth not light a candle, and. . . . seek diligently . . .?—The symbolic meaning of each

act lies almost on the surface. To “light the candle” can be nothing else than to put

forth the full power of truth and holiness. To “sweep the house” can be nothing else

than to use all AVAILABLE means for discovering the possible good that lies

hidden or seemingly lost. In the later actual life of the Church, faithful preaching of

the word answers to the one, faithful organisation of charity to the other. The rest of

the parable is simply an identical reproduction, mutatis mutandis, of the conclusion

of the former.

COFFMA�, "Or what woman having ten pieces of silver; if she lose one piece, doth

not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it? And

when she hath found it, she calleth together her friends and neighbors, saying,

Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost. Even so, I say unto you,

there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COI�

A�ALOGIES I� THE PARABLE

The woman = the church throughout all the ages

The lost coin = the "dropout" from church

The lighted lamp = the word of God

The broom = the church's concern for true virtues and morality

The diligent search = the church's urgent ACTIVITY to save souls

The rejoicing = the joy in heaven over one who is saved

Which I had lost ... This is a significant acceptance of blame on the part of the

woman for having lost the coin, which inherently is incapable of losing itself. This

stands for people in all ages who, in a sense, are lost from God's service through sin

or ineptitude within the church itself. Volumes could be written on the things which

churches do or leave undone, causing the loss of precious souls.

I. �ote the coin as the type of a man.

(1) Both are from the earth, silver being refined from earthly ore, and man having

been created of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7).

(2) Both are valuable. Silver coins have ever been recognized as items of value, but

sometimes men have been ACCOU�TED as cheap in the eyes of their fellows.

Earth's warlords have ever looked upon men as mere pawns in the struggle for

power; and historically, the rich and the powerful have often held human life as

cheap indeed (Matthew 10:29,30).

(3) Both may be exchanged for something else. Man may exchange himself for

eternal life (Luke 16:9). On the other hand, he may sell himself to do evil in God's

sight (1 Kings 21:20). Esau sold his birthright for one mess of pottage (Hebrews

12:16). A man, like a coin, may be exchanged for something else.

(4) Both are stamped with THE IMAGE of the maker, the coin with the likeness of

the emperor, and man in the likeness of God who created him (Genesis 1:27). The

image of God in every man distinguishes him from the lower creations, and proves

that he is not a mere brother to a beast.

II. The lost coin is very like a sinner, or backslider.

(1) Both were lost through no fault of their own. The woman lost the coin; and all

men are in a condition of loss and death through the sin of Adam (Romans 5:14,15).

Death reigns over all men, even over those who have not sinned as Adam sinned. We

are using the term "lost" in this CO��ECTIO� with regard to man's mortal

condition, and not as endorsing the speculation concerning original sin.

(2) The lost coin and the lost man are alike fallen. That the coin in the parable was

upon a lower LEVELis evident in the use of the broom; and the sinner too is said to

be fallen. It is said of Judas that "he fell" (Acts 1:25); and the sinful church was

declared to have "fallen" from its first love (Revelation 2:25).

(3) Both the lost coin and the lost man suffer increasing damage. The lost coin

becomes tarnished, even chemically altered, losing eventually the superscription

upon it; and likewise the lost man finds the image of God in his soul progressively

effaced and tarnished by sin and shame.

(4) Both the lost coin and the lost man become increasingly difficult to recover. The

longer each is lost the harder it is to find. Every child should be saved as soon as

possible after the age of ACCOU�TABILITY(Ecclesiastes 12:1). Well does the

Spirit of God teach that the earliest possible instant is none too soon to seek

salvation in the name of the Lord.

III. This parable also reveals valuable lessons on how to find the lost.

(1) First, the woman lighted a lamp; and the church would do well to follow that

example. Without a lighted lamp, one would never find a lost coin in a dark place;

and unless the church shall hold aloft the lighted lamp of the word of God, the lost

shall not be recovered. The only light is the Bible. Churches seek in vain to light up

this world's darkness by preaching human philosophies, legends, political

convictions, social schemes, or anything else other than the holy word revealed in

the �ew Testament. "Thy word is a lamp ... and a light" (Psalms 119:105).

(2) The woman searched diligently for the lost coin. The church should be diligent in

the PROGRAM of evangelization, the same being the church's most urgent

business.

(3) The woman used a broom to sweep the whole place. Churches which have

allowed the whole atmosphere within their fellowship to be polluted with unrebuked

sin, open immorality, or any other defection from the path of duty should take a

lesson from the broom. Both the lamp and the broom are necessary. The church

cannot be effective in the saving of souls until it has lighted the lamp and

EMPLOYED the broom.

IV. This parable, like the preceding one, stresses the joy of the angels of heaven over

the salvation of the lost.

Seeing that the angels of God are interested in the salvation of souls, how diligent all

men ought to be in looking after the one thing needful, namely, the soul's

redemption.

�or is the rejoicing over sinners saved restricted to the courts of heaven. The

woman with her friends and neighbors rejoiced; and so will the church which works

to save men. The saving church is a happy church.

BURKITT, "The scope of this parable is the same with the former.

1. To express the joy that is found with God and his holy angels, at the recovery and

conversion of a notorious sinner.

2. To justify Christ in conversing with such sinners in order to their repentance and

conversion, from the malicious reflections of the Pharisees made upon our Saviour

for so doing: the sense of the words seems to be this, "If you do all justify the

diligence and care of a woman, using all possible means to recover the loss of a piece

of silver that has Caesar's image upon it, why (might our Saviour say) will you

Pharisees censure and condemn me for seeking to recover and save lost sinners, that

have THE IMAGE of an holy God instamped upon them?"

Learn hence,

1. That the conversion of a sinner from a course and state of sin and wickedness, is

highly acceptable and PLEASI�G unto God.

2. That it is reasonable to suppose, that the holy angels in heaven do conceive a new

joy at the notice and news of a sinner's repentance and conversion unto God: how

the angels come by this knowledge, whether by virtue of their ministry here below,

or whether God is pleased to reveal it to them above, as a thing extremely welcome

and delightful to good spirits, it is neither material to enquire, nor possible to

determine. But their happiness not being intensively infinite, it is certain that they

may be happier than they are.

�ote 3. That God is not only willing to receive and embrace returning and repenting

sinners, but the news of their repentance is entertained with so much joy in heaven,

that if it be possible for the blessed inhabitants of that place to have any thing added

to their happiness, this will be a new accession to it: for though the happiness of God

himself be intensively infinite, and can have nothing added to it; yet the happiness of

angels and glorified spirits being but finite, is capable of addition: and as their

knowledge and love do increase, so their felicity may be growing and improving to

all eternity; so that it is reasonable enough to suppose that there is really joy among

the angels and spirits of just men made perfect, over every sinner that repenteth.

I�TERVARSITY PRESS, "The second parable parallels the first. Here a silver coin

has been lost. It sounds as if the coin is a drachma, which equals a denarius--a day's

wage for the average worker (Josephus Antiquities 3.8.2 195). As with many things

that are dropped and lost, the search BEGI�S with the certainty that "it must be in

here somewhere." The search is likely to be taking place in the evening, since the

woman must light a lamp to look for the coin. She sweeps the house clean, looking

carefully, until it turns up. We can almost hear her "there it is!" relief as the search

ends successfully. Like the shepherd, this woman calls her friends together to

celebrate the discovery of the lost coin. So there is rejoicing in the presence of the

angels of God over one sinner who repents. The reference to angels is a

circumlocution for God's joy. The courts of heaven are full of praise when a sinner

turns to God.

Is there any significant difference between the two parables? At their most basic

level they make the same point. The second parable, however, stresses the search a

little more than the first. Recovering a lost sinner can take diligent effort. But the

effort is worth it when the lost is found. Sinners should know that God is diligently

looking for them. Disciples should diligently engage in the search for sinners on

behalf of the Master they serve. Jesus provides a clear example for us to follow.

Finding lost "sheep" and missing "coins" is a disciple's priority. Jesus involved

himself with sinners; so should disciples.Parable of the Forgiving Father (15:11-32)

HAWKER, "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? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Here, if I do not err, is represented, under the similitude of a lost piece of money, our lost estate by nature. And, without torturing the figure, may be not unaptly supposed; by the lighting of a candle, and sweeping the house until it be found, is represented the blessed office of God the Holy Ghost, in enlightening, regenerating, and renewing grace. Our whole nature, when first formed in the image of God, had the pure impression. But in the Adam-apostacy, like a lost piece of money, the image was marred. It is the work of God the Spirit to restore: and this is effectually done, when, by illuminating grace, he commandeth the light to shine in the heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2Co_4:6. And the same blessed effects are said to follow upon this occasion of recovery, as in the former. Holy joy breaks forth afresh in the streets of the new Jerusalem, with more rapture, on every instance of a sinner raised from the Adam-fall to the image of God in Christ, than over the unchanging state of the elect angels, who never fell, and therefore needed no repentance.

SBC, "The Search of Love.

Three parables stand together in this chapter. The occasion of all is one and the same—the murmuring of scribes and Pharisees against the Saviour, who would eat with sinners. And the general drift of all is the same—the feeling of God towards repentant sinners,

illustrated by man’s feeling towards a possession lost and found. Thus far there is unity—there is even identity—in the three. But no two parables of our Lord are really identical, however like may be the incidents of one to those of another. And so it is here. There is a climax natural and real in the three losses in this chapter. In the first parable the owner of a hundred sheep loses one of them; in the second the owner of ten pieces of silver loses one of them; in the third the father of two sons loses one of them. Now, the second lost thing, though it is less valuable than the first, is to the owner more so. The third is a loss different in kind, and appealing yet more forcibly to the understanding and heart of mankind. There is a climax also in the thing signified. The sheep has strayed in its ignorance from the flock and the pasture. The son exiles himself of self-will and rebelliousness from the home and from the father. Between these two extremes of mere simplicity and utter wilfulness lies the insensate unconciousness of the lost coin.

I. The woman who has lost one of the ten pieces cannot acquiesce and rest in her loss. Little in itself, to her it is vital. She waits not for the light of day, but discovering her loss at night, by night she sets herself to repair it. She lights the lamp, sweeps the house, and seeks diligently till she finds it. It is a parable of the love of God. God represents Himself as missing one soul. Little is that soul in itself to the great God. But God would show to us that each one is precious. Each one was separately created; each one has a place designed for it in the universal temple; each one not filling that place leaves a blank. The eye of love misses it, and therefore the hand of love seeks it.

II. The parable goes on to speak of a sweeping. I know it is a homely figure—too homely, perhaps, for some tastes—beneath the dignity, some might say, of the pulpit; only that here Christ has gone before, has written it in His Book, and given it to me for a text. And how wonderful, however homely, is this figure! The love of God first lights up in the world this lamp of revelation, telling man what man could not know; for no man hath ascended up to heaven to read there, in the light of that world, the things that were and that are and that shall be. First this,—the remembering that this light will never fall of itself upon the lost coin, the very loss of which lies in its being out of sight of the man himself. Then, secondly, the love of God sweeps—sweeps, I say, the house, which is the man. You suffered the dust of earth to lie thick upon you—perhaps the amiable dust of kindly sentiment, of satisfied affection; or perhaps the ugly dust of eager grasping, of predominant self, of overmastering passion; and so, evading the illumination, you necessitated the sweeping. It was the love of God still.

III. The love of God will seek diligently till it find. Marvellous word! Record at once of difficulty and perseverance. How much is repaired ere the finding be accomplished! To find the lost soul is not easy. The whole work of sanctification is wrapped up in it. Every thought has to be brought into captivity; every motive has to be elevated. Objects indifferent once, or distasteful, are to be made the aim of the life; and that holiness, which to fallen man is repugnant, must be cultivated for a purpose to fallen man repulsive—that he may at last see God. This is the meaning of that diligent search by which love at last shall find; for without success love cannot live. Love cannot sleep till its object be accomplished. No toil is too great, may she but attain.

C. J. Vaughan, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 832.

References: Luk_15:8.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 352; J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity, part i., p. 84; Expository Sermons on the New Testament, p. 86.

Luke 15:8-10

The piece of silver—whatever it was—was great to the owner. And here lies the point in the analogy. A soul, an individual creature, an atom in God’s universe, may be in itself a very insignificant thing, but it is great to God. This is its dignity. How great, how dear to God, no man can adequately judge, because no man is a creator, and no man is a redeemer. It needs absolutely to have created a thing, and absolutely to have redeemed a thing, before you can calculate what its worth would be to one who stood to it in those relations. Let us go with this woman in her quest. It is deliberate, painstaking, protracted, effectual.

I. First she lights a candle—the well-known emblem in the Bible, of three things: first, the Spirit of God in a man’s soul; second, the word of God; third, the consistent lives of ministers and other servants of God. And these three together make the great detective force, and so ultimately the great restorative power, which God uses in this world.

II. With the lighted candle, the woman went to sweep the house. In the parable of the shepherd, the sheep was gone out into the wilderness. Here, the lost one was still in the house. It seems to me more affecting to be a lost soul in the house, than to be a lost soul out in the wilderness. It is a great commotion and disturbance to sweep, but then it leads to cleanliness and order. So God’s sweepings are severe things. But then it is only to brush away what had no right to be there. You will not presently complain, you will not regret the turmoil—when the costly thing, that was almost hidden—sparkles again in the. hand of its great Proprietor.

III. All the parables agree in the one blessed, crowning thought—"till she find it." It is not a light achievement. Even with the lighted candle, and with the close sweeping, she had to seek diligently—to go up and down, and do her work over and over again. But love—the love she had for her lost treasure, carried her on, and she did not stop, she could not stop, till she found it.

J. Vaughan, Sermon preached Oct. 29th, 1865

Man’s Fall God’s Loss.

I. The first division of the picture in this parable represents God as contemplating as a loss to Himself the state of sin into which man has fallen. God had a property of the heart in man’s welfare: He had created him holy, like Himself. When sin waylaid man, cast him down, stripped him, and robbed him, and left him for dead, God was as one bereaved.

II. In the second part of the picture God is represented as making an effort for the recovery of man from the sin and misery into which he has fallen. God will not let His human treasure go without an effort to recover it—a persistent effort to recover it. This is the chief and abounding meaning of the second part of the picture. This is the gospel which has been ringing clear above the world’s sin and trouble for ages. There is no one point, as I understand the teaching of Christ, so urgently insisted upon in that teaching, and so much impressed upon the mind and heart of the world, as this idea of God seeking for His children. The more one seeks to look at this, the more one feels how true it is that the inflexible righteousness of God, that the infinite love of God, is full of a

determination not to let His human treasure go without an effort to recover it. This is the key of history.

III. The third point is that, God and the good angels rejoice in heaven over the recovery of man. It is often represented that the angels rejoice, and they do; but the Father rejoices first, and with an alert and subtle sympathy the angels catch the influence of the Divine joy as the high mountain tops catch the early rays of the rising sun. God’s heart is the centre of the joy. See who the separate parts of the picture answer to one another. There is the first, the householder weeping for her lost piece of money, then searching for the piece, then rejoicing over the recovery: that is to say, God contemplating man’s sin as a personal loss, God putting forth effort for His creature’s recovery, and God rejoicing over his recovery, and the empty place in His Divine heart filled again.

A. Hannay, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 113.

KRETZMA� 8-10, "The scope, tendency, and lesson of this parable is identical with

that of the previous one. A single piece of silver out of ten which a woman possesses

may not seem a large sum to lose (it corresponded roughly in value to the denarius,

worth not quite seventeen cents), but the owner evidently places a different estimate

upon it. She lights a lamp, she sweeps the house, she seeks most diligently till she

finds the lost coin. In the first parable the tender solicitude of the Redeemer was

brought out; here the unremitting diligence and SEARCH for the lost is

emphasized. And then comes the joy in the same form of expression, a joyful shout

to acquaint the people with the fact of her success. Thus also there is joy, wonderful

and inexpressible, in the presence of the angels of God over a single sinner that

repents and is won for the kingdom of heaven. The worth of a single soul exceeds

that of the whole world, Mat_16:26; Mar_8:37; Jam_5:20. Some commentators

make the application in such a way as to say that the Holy Ghost's work in the heart

of the sinner is here pictured. Just as the woman searched the whole house with all

diligence, so the Spirit of God, in the work of regeneration, is of a cleansing and

illuminating kind. He is not turned away by the frightful aspect of the natural

heart's depravity; He is not deterred by a long and arduous search for a backsliding

sinner. �ote also: The lost piece of silver is a very fitting emblem of a sinner that is

estranged from God and has become a slave of sinful habits. The longer a piece of

money is lost, the less probability is there of its being found again; it will lose its

glittering newness and be covered with dirt and grime: so the sinner sinks ever more

deeply into the filth of sin, loses his character and standing among men, and

deliberately defaces THE IMAGE of his Maker from his heart. Let such a one

beware lest his time of grace expire and the searching mercy of the Spirit be turned

in other directions.

JAMES �ISBET, "THE LOST COI�

‘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.’

Luk_15:8

Dust flying, confusion reigning, a woman, with a lighted candle, SEARCHI�G in

the dark corners of the house—it is a strange picture certainly. But it is one of the

most striking that the Divine Artist ever painted.

I. The lost coin.—Observe, this coin was dropped, not ‘in the depths of the

unfathomed sea,’ not in the highway of the world without, not on some wild and

trackless moor, but in the house. Within the house it surely might be found:

recovery was not hopeless. And what house is here intended but the Church.

(a) This coin upon the floor was useless. Current coin of the realm is intended to be

used. Even so, Christian, if you are living in worldliness and self-indulgence, you are

dead while you live—dead, at least, to usefulness.

(b) Further observe, that this piece of silver was without doubt defaced. Do men

take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus? Or has CO�TACT with the

world obliterated all traces of the Divine likeness in our souls?

(c) �otice, again, that this coin was dishonoured. There it lay, amid dirt and

rubbish, trodden under foot. If your destiny is so high, you will not be suffered to

slumber thus. If you are a saint indeed, and yet are fallen in this world’s dust,

Christ’s broom and candle are not far off your soul.

II. The search.—There are two parts in this PROCESS, both of which are

instructive.

(a) The first thing to be done was to light a candle. You can find nothing in the dark.

‘At that time, saith the Lord, I will search Jerusalem [not Babylon] with candles,

and will punish the men that are settled on the lees: that say in their heart, The Lord

will not do good, neither will He do evil’ (Zep_1:12). Well, if it be so, better be

judged now than condemned hereafter. Let us have no part dark, no wicked way, no

unmortified lust, no secret pride, no long-cherished grudge, no shrinking from the

cross, no love of filthy lucre.

(b) The candle, however, is not the only instrument that the Holy Spirit used. A

broom is needed. Christ must sweep as well as illumine. We know the first effect of

the use of the broom. The dust flies in CLOUDS. The first effect of the approach of

God’s Spirit to the soul with broom and candle is always to raise the dust. Don’t

imagine it can be otherwise. God’s plan is not to cover over evil, but to bring it to

the surface and get rid of it. What though the dust does fly; cannot the Great

Housekeeper cleanse it? Has He no recipe to lay the dust? He has an unfailing

remedy—‘�o wound has the soul that Christ’s blood cannot cure.’

Rev. E. W. Moore.

(SECO�D OUTLI�E)

THE PRECIOUS�ESS OF EACH SOUL

This is a parable of the love of God. God represents Himself as missing one soul.

God would show to us that each soul is precious. Each one was separately created;

each one has a place designed for it in the universal temple; each one not filling that

place leaves a blank. The eye of love misses it, and therefore the hand of love seeks

it.

I. God’s love lights a lamp of revelation in the world.—Though you may care little

about your lost soul, God cares for it much. God has lit His candle—the candle of

Divine revelation, and He is throwing its illumination upon you. We wonder you

come here to church if you do not intend to be shone upon. There is that in you

which cries out for God—which you cannot persuade to rest out of God’s light.

Many a man feels without knowing what he wants. The Divine Master interprets.

You want God’s love. Hinder not, thwart not God’s search for your soul. But love

herself might light the candle, and yet the lost coin not be found under the long

accumulation of dirt—of easily besetting sins and long-indulged habits. So the

parable goes on to speak of a sweeping. It is a homely figure—beneath the dignity of

this pulpit, some might say, only that here Christ has gone before.

II. The love of God sweeps the house, which is the man.—Is not this the real

meaning of that sickness, that bereavement, that disappointment, which seemed to

you so casual, or so wanton, or so cruel? The love of God had failed in its

illumination. You suffered the dust of earth to lie thick upon you—perhaps the

amiable dust of kindly sentiment, of satisfied affection, or perhaps the ugly dust of

eager grasping, of over-mastering passion; and so evading the illumination you

necessitated the sweeping. It was the love of God still. And now there comes into the

very life’s life a stir and an agitation which cannot be disregarded. �ow BEGI� all

manner of questionings from which previously you were free. While you cared not

for God you took God for granted. All is confusion, added difficulty and conflict;

you are passing now from death unto life, not passed. The love of God is at work,

and will seek diligently till He find.

III. This seeking is unto finding.—Love will not stay till she finds. Help her,

brethren, every one, in her gracious, her wonderful work. Help the joy of angels.

Kick not against the goad. It drives till you will let it lead. Then all is peace,

‘quietness, and assurance for ever.’ To find the lost soul is not easy. The whole work

of sanctification is wrapped up in it. Every thought has to be brought into captivity:

every habit uncoined and re-nicked.

—Dean Vaughan.

CHARLES SIMEO�, "THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER

Luk_15:8-10. 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? And when

she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying,

Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto

you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

THERE is nothing in which we are so deeply interested as the extent and riches of

the Redeemer’s grace. His familiar converse with publicans and sinners affords the

richest encouragement to us, when we are bowed down under a sense of guilt. His

condescension towards them indeed excited only disgust in the proud Pharisees; but

Jesus was the more careful to vindicate the conduct which they condemned, and in

repeated parables assured them, that it was the joy of his heart to save even the

vilest of mankind. The parable of the lost piece of money very nearly resembles that

which precedes it: nevertheless it suggests many useful thoughts which are

appropriate to itself. Its import may be unfolded under the following observations:

I. There are none so worthless but the Lord is deeply concerned about them—

The woman expressed very great anxiety about the piece of silver she had lost—

[The piece of silver was but of very trifling value in itself [�ote: About sevenpence

halfpenny.]: yet she felt much solicitude about it in her mind; nor was she content to

lose it, notwithstanding she had several others left.]

Thus is our blessed Lord concerned about the souls of men—

[In some points of view the soul is undoubtedly of great value, nor can the whole

world itself be put in competition with it: but to Jesus the souls of men are not of the

smallest importance. If they were righteous, their goodness could not extend to him

[�ote: Psa_16:2.]: they could never profit him, nor add to his happiness [�ote: Job_

22:2-3.]. If all that ever EXISTED were annihilated, he would suffer no loss: if men

were necessary to his honour or happiness, he could create millions in an instant.

But the souls of men are inexpressibly vile and guilty in his sight: till they have been

washed in his blood, they are exposed to his wrath and indignation; nor is it any

thing but his marvellous compassion that preserves them from everlasting

destruction [�ote: Lam_3:22.]. �evertheless he is greatly concerned about the loss

even of one amongst them. Though he has myriads that are now safely lodged in his

hands, he cannot rest satisfied about those that are yet in danger. By the prophets he

expressed his deep regret for those that were in a perishing condition [�ote: Jer_

13:27. Hos_11:8.]: in the days of his flesh he wept over the most abandoned of the

human race [�ote: Luk_19:41.]: and to this hour he is grieved at the thought of any

dying in their sins [�ote: 2Pe_3:9.].]

�or is his concern for them expressed only by inactive wishes:

II. There are no exertions, however great, which he will not use for their

recovery—

The woman is represented as doing every thing which could be devised for the

recovery of her lost piece of silver—

[She instantly lighted a candle, that she might SEARCH in every dark corner of her

house. She moreover swept her house, that, if it were hid under any dirt or rubbish,

she might find it: nor did she relax her endeavours till they were crowned with

success. What more could she have done if the lost money had been of the greatest

value?]

Thus our Lord uses all possible means for the recovery of lost souls—

[Were we lying in utter darkness? he has brought the light of his Gospel: this light

he has sent into all the darkest corners of the earth [�ote: Isa_9:2.]. In the days of

his flesh he used all diligence himself: since that time he has commissioned his

servants to go into all the world. He has enjoined them to “be instant in their work,

in season and out of season:” he has even threatened that, if one perish through

their negligence, he will “require his blood at their hands:” he has moreover sent his

Spirit to aid them in their endeavours, and to search the very inmost recesses of our

benighted souls. However fruitless their exertions may have been, they are never to

give up any for lost, as long as there is a possibility of their being found. May he not

well say, “What could I have done more for them than I have done [�ote: Isa_

5:4.]?” If he appeals to us about the conduct of a woman who had lost her money,

how much more may he appeal to us respecting his own conduct?]

When his labours are successful, then his kindness appears in its brightest colours—

III. There is nothing so PLEASI�G to him as the recovery of one from his lost

state—

The woman is represented as inviting all her neighbours to rejoice with her—

[The cause of her joy seems very inadequate to such expressions of it: but women,

being conversant mainly with domestic matters, are apt to be affected with small

things. Her whole property also being small, she may be supposed to feel the more at

the recovery of that part which had been in danger; and the circumstance of its

having been lost would render the subsequent possession of it more pleasant.]

Thus our Lord and all the angels in heaven rejoice over a repenting sinner—

[This is the main scope of this parable, as well as of that which precedes, and that

which follows it; hence it is strongly marked in every one of the parables: we must

not therefore omit it, or think the repetition of it tedious. Our Lord well knew the

misery of a soul that perishes in sin: the angels too are doubtless well informed on

this subject. Were it never to be sensible of its loss, there would be the less reason to

regret it: but, if not put among the treasures of God, it must be for over miserable.

To prevent this is the joy and delight of our blessed Saviour. For this he came down

from heaven, assumed our nature, and died upon the cross: for this he is dispensing

to us CO�TI�UALLY his word and Spirit. The effecting of this is the

consummation of all his wishes and purposes: hence, however inadequate a cause of

joy this may seem, he accounts it his highest honour and happiness. He is “satisfied

with the travail of his soul,” when one that was lost is found; and all the angels that

surround his throne rejoice together with him. As all hell is moved with triumph at

the condemnation of one sinner [�ote: Isa_14:9-10.], so does all heaven exult in the

elevation of one to happiness and glory.]

Infer—

1. How strange is it that men should have so little regard to their own souls!

[The generality of men are as careless of their souls as if they were of no value. But

should we disregard that which the Son of God seeks with so much anxiety? Should

we be so indifferent about our own happiness, when all the angels of heaven would

shout for joy at the prospect of it? Let us never be satisfied with being immersed in

darkness and wickedness — — — Let us rather be ambitious to have a place among

the Lord’s treasures — — — And let us be THA�KFUL that, though lost, we are

not yet gone beyond recovery.]

2. How blessed are the effects of a faithful administration of the Gospel!

[It is by the Gospel that Jesus comes to search for lost sinners. If indeed it be

delivered only in a general way, it will scarcely ever prove effectual for men’s

salvation: it is only the close application of the word, that will ever reach the

conscience: but, when faithfully preached, and accompanied with God’s Spirit, it

will find out men in their darkest recesses. O that God may now make use of it to

sweep away the rubbish under which we have lain! — — — and that we may be

found of him, ere he “sweep us away with the besom of destruction!”]

3. What reason have we to adore the condescension and grace of Christ!

[If he did not seek for us we should lie in our sins to all eternity, and when found at

the last day, that word would be verified in us [�ote: Jer_6:30.]— What kindness

then is it in him to use such means for our recovery! — — — Let us never forget

what obligations we owe to him. Let us acknowledge ourselves his, that he may do

with us as he will. He will then keep us that we may not fall from him any more

[�ote: Joh_10:28. 1Pe_1:5.], and will lodge us safely in his coffers amidst the

treasures he has been collecting from the foundation of the world [�ote: Eph_1:10;

Eph_1:14. Mal_3:17.].]

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver

Man resembled to silver coin

1.

And that in regard of matter. �o metal except gold (which indeed is most solid and

perfectly concocted with sufficient heat, so that it never corrupteth by rust) is to be

compared with it. So man is the excellentest of all God’s creatures except angels,

and but a little inferior unto them Psa_8:5).

2. In regard of lustre. For albeit silver in the ore be base and unsightly to look on,

yet coming out of the mint purified and fined, it is beautiful. Thus, though man,

while he was in the lump of clay, was without beauty; yet being formed, God put

upon him great glory and majesty (Psa_8:1-9.), so that in beauty and fairness he

excelled all other visible creatures, as by those relics yet remaining, and to be found

in sinful men, we may gather. As the complexion of David (1Sa_16:12). The beauty

of Absalom, in whom there was not a blemish from top to toe (2Sa_14:1-33.). The

stature of Saul (1Sa_10:1-27.)

3. In regard of stamp. Money hath some impress and image on it, as the Jewish

shekel, which on the one side had Aaron’s rod, and on the other side the pot of

manna. So the Romans had Caesar’s image upon their coin, whereby they

acknowledged subjection; and the coin which Jacob paid unto the Shechemites was

stamped with a lamb (Gen_33:19). Thus had man the image of his Maker, which

God stamped on him as a mark of his possession.

4. Money hath its stamp and form from regal authority; it must be refined and

made (for it makes not itself) by the prince’s royalty. Thus man was the work of

God’s bands (Psa_100:1-5.), and His alone (Job_10:8).

5. Silver hath a good sound above other metals. And hence it was that trumpets of

silver were commanded by the Lord to be made (�um_10:1-2) for shrillness and

clearness. Thus man above other creatures had a tongue given him to praise his

Maker with, which is therefore called the glory of man (Gen_49:6; Psa_16:9).

6. Silver commands all things, and answers all things, as speaketh Solomon Ecc_

10:19). There is nothing (whether holy or profane) but are at the beck and

command of it. Such a commanding power had man by his creation over all

creatures (Psa_8:6). “Thou hast made him to have dominion in the works of Thy

hands”; such authority God gave him Gen_1:28), willing him to “rule over the fishes

of the sea, over the fowls of heaven, and over every beast that moveth upon the

earth.” Silver is not all of a like worth; there are different pieces and of different

value. The Jews had their gerah, and half shekel, and shekel (Exo_30:13), with

divers other corns of silver. So all were not of a like degree in the creation, though

all excellent and good; for God observed order from the beginning. Amongst the

angels some are superior, and some inferior; there are degrees amongst them (Col_

1:16). (�. Rogers.)

The lost coin

I. LOOK AT THE THI�G LOST, A�D YOU WILL FI�D SEVERAL POI�TS OF

IMPORTA�CE THEREBY SUGGESTED.

1. It was a coin. That is to say, it was not simply a piece of a precious metal, but that

metal moulded and minted into money, bearing on it the king’s image and

superscription, and witnessing to his authority wherever it circulated.

2. But the corn was lost, and this suggests that in sinful man the image of his Maker

has gone out of sight, and the great purpose of his being has been frustrated. His

intellect does not like to retain God in its knowledge; his heart has estranged its love

from God; and his life is devoted to another lord than his Creator. He is lost.

3. Yet he is not absolutely worthless. The coin, though lost, has still a value. If it can

be recovered, it will be worth as much as ever.

4. But yet, again, this coin was lost in the house. The woman did not let it fall as she

was crossing the wild and trackless moor, neither did she drop it into the

unfathomed depths of ocean. Had she done so, she would never have thought of

seeking for it; she would have given it up as irrecoverable. �ow, this points to the

fact that the soul of the sinner is recoverable. It is capable of being restored to its

original dignity and honour. It has in it still potentialities as great and glorious as

those which ever belonged to it.

II. This brings me to the consideration of THE SEARCH, WHEREI� WE HAVE

ALSO SOME THI�GS SUGGESTED WHICH ARE PECULIAR TO THIS

PARABLE. Eastern houses, unlike our own, are constructed in such a way as to

keep out the light and heat of the sun as much as possible. They have few windows,

and even the few which they have are shaded with such latticework as tends to

exclude rather than admit the sunbeam. Hence the rooms are generally dark; and

so, even if the coin were lost at noonday, the light of a candle would be required to

seek for it. �or was there, in Eastern dwellings, the same scrupulous cleanliness that

we love to see in so many homes around us. The floors were often covered with

rushes, which, being changed only at rare intervals, collected a vast amount of dust

and filth, among which a piece of money might be most readily lost. Hence the

lighting of a candle and the sweeping of the house were the most natural things to be

done in such a case. But whom does this woman represent? and what, spiritually,

are we to understand by the lighting of a candle and the sweeping of the house? The

woman, in my judgment, symbolizes the Holy Spirit, and I look upon the means

which she employed in her search for the lost coin as denoting the efforts made by

the Holy Spirit for the recovery of a lost soul. �ow let us see what these were. She

lighted a candle, and swept the house, and searched diligently. The light most

evidently represents the truth; but what are we to make of the sweeping? Some

would take it to illustrate the purifying work of the Holy Ghost in the heart. But

that view cannot be maintained, since the purifying of the soul is not a work in

order to, but rather subsequent upon, its recovery. I take it rather, therefore, to

represent that disturbance of settled opinions and practices--that turning of the

soul, as it were, upside down--which is frequently seen as a forerunner of

conversion; that confusion and disorder occasioned by some providential dealing

with the man, such as personal illness, or business difficulties, or family

bereavement, or the like, and which frequently issues in the coming of the soul to

God; for here also chaos often precedes the new creation. Truth introduced into the

heart, and providential disturbances and unsettlements in order to its introduction--

these are the things symbolized by the lighting of the candle and the sweeping of the

house. The truth which the Holy Spirit employs for the purpose of conversion is the

Word of God, all of which has been given to men by His own inspiration; and the

especial portion of that Word which He uses for His saving work is the wondrous

story of the Cross.

III. We come now, in the third place, to look at THE JOY OVER THE

RECOVERED COI�; and here, as before, we shall restrict ourselves to that which

is peculiar to this parable. In the story of the lost sheep, while the social character of

the joy is certainly referred to, the speciality in the gladness of the shepherd over its

finding lay in the fact, to which prominence is given in the appended note of

interpretation, that it was greater than over the ninety and nine which had never

strayed. Here, however, the peculiarity is in the sociality of the joy. God’s joy, if I

may dare to use the words, needs society to make it complete; and the fact that there

are those beside Him to whom He can make known the story of each recovered soul,

redoubles His own gladness, and diffuses among them His own Divine delight. �or

let it be supposed that this is a mere fanciful idea, for which there is no foundation

in Scripture apart from the teaching of this parable. What says Paul? “God hath

created all things by Jesus Christ; to the intent that now, unto the principalities and

powers in heavenly places, might be known through the Church the manifold

wisdom of God” Eph_3:10). �ow, these words mean, if they mean anything at all,

that through means of the Church, God designed to show to principalities and

powers in heavenly places His manifold wisdom. In the manifestation of this wisdom

God has His highest work, and, in its appreciation by spiritual intelligences, through

the Church of Christ, He has His greatest joy. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

The search of love

Type of a soul ignorant of its death, utterly unconcerned with the thought of sin. Yet

a coin, having image and superscription. It may be covered with dust, it may be half

defaced or hidden under heaps of rubbish; but it has not returned, and cannot

return, into the uncoined state. Meet emblem of man’s soul in its lowest estate. “I am

God’s coin,” said one of old; “from His treasure-house I have wandered.” And it is

because we are God’s, that He seeks.

I. GOD’S LOVE LIGHTS A LAMP OF REVELATIO� I� THE WORLD. Though

you may care little about your lost soul, God cares for it much. He has lit His

candle--the candle of Divine revelation, and He is throwing its illumination upon

you. Hinder not, thwart not, His search for your soul. Love herself might light the

candle, and yet the lost coin not be found under the long accumulation of dirt--of

easily-besetting sins and long-indulged habits. So the parable goes on to speak of a

sweeping.

II. THE LOVE OF GOD SWEEPS THE HOUSE, WHICH IS THE MA�. Is not

this the real meaning of that sickness, that bereavement, that disappointment which

seemed to you so casual, or so wanton, or so cruel? It was the love of God still.

III. THE SEEKI�G IS U�TO FI�DI�G. Love will not stay till she finds. Help her.

Kick not against the goad.

IV. TREAT THE TEXT AS A PRECEPT. Light a candle, sweep the house, and seek

diligently till you find. (Dean Vaughan.)

The lost groat

I. THE LOST GROAT.

1. It is a symbol of the human soul.

(1) The soul seems to be of little value, if considered in its imperfections, in its

inability to perform supernatural acts, and even more so, if compared to the holy

angels, who are purer than gold, brighter than diamonds.

(2) �evertheless, the groat, as a coin, has its value. So is the human soul of great

value, because it is created according to the image and likeness of God, redeemed by

His precious blood, sealed by the Holy Spirit. Thus it is raised to a supernatural

state, and enabled to merit the glory and bliss of heaven.

2. How the groat, the human soul, is lost.

(1) By the deceitfulness of the devil, who, driven by envy and hatred, endeavours to

deprive the Divine MASTER OF His coin, the coin of its splendour. He buries the

soul in the mire of sin.

(2) Through the fault of man. Whilst he is unmindful of being God’s own property,

undervalues the worth of his soul, keeps company with thieves, his soul is lost.

3. The consequences are most deplorable.

(1) The lost soul is covered with the filth of sin, from which it can never cleanse itself

by its own power.

(2) The value of the soul diminishes. The merits of the past are lost, the power of

ignorance and concupiscence increases.

(3) The coinage disappears. Sin deforms the Divine image and likeness; at its

entrance grace leaves the soul; and man falls under the curse and displeasure of

God.

II. THE SEEKI�G WOMA�.

1. This “woman” is the Church.

2. The “candle” is Christ, the light of the world.

3. The “friends and neighbours” are the angels and saints. (W. Reischl.)

The parable of the lost silver

I. AS THE SILVER WAS PRECIOUS TO THE WOMA�, SO ARE OUR SOULS

I� THE SIGHT OF GOD OUR SAVIOUR. We estimate a person’s value for a thing

by the price he gives, the sacrifice he makes, to obtain or recover it. How dear, then,

was man to God, who loved him when fallen; yea who so loved the world, that He

gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but

have eternal life.

II. AS THE PIECE OF MO�EY WAS LOST TO THE WOMA�, SO IS EVERY

O�E WHO CO�TI�UES I� SI� LOST TO GOD. He is alienated from the life of

God through the ignorance that is in him.

III. AS THE WOMA� SEARCHED FOR HER LOST TREASURE, A�D SPARED

�O PAI�S TO RECOVER IT; SO DOES JESUS CHRIST SEEK THE SOUL

THAT IS LOST BY SI�.

IV. AS THE WOMA� CALLS HER FRIE�DS A�D �EIGHBOURS TO

REJOICE WITH HER, FOR THE LOST PIECE FOU�D; SO IS THERE JOY I�

HEAVE�, I� THE PRESE�CE OF THE A�GELS OF GOD, OVER O�E

REPE�TI�G SI��ER. For this joy, Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame.

Thus He sees of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied. And His joy is shared by the

angels that surround His throne.

1. Let this parable, then, rebuke self-righteousness; let it teach humility.

2. Again--let this parable suggest the most powerful motive to instant repentance.

For what motive is there, like Christ’s enduring and seeking love? (E. Blencowe, M.

A.)

Man’s fall God’s loss

This parable pictures God as the Redeemer of man in three different modes or

attitudes--shall I say of feeling?

I. The first division of the picture represents GOD AS CO�TEMPLATI�G AS A

LOSS TO HIMSELF THE STATE OF SI� I�TO WHICH MA� HAS FALLE�.

�o one but God could have ventured thus to represent God. God mourns the fall of

man as a lost treasure, as something in which He delighted, and of which sin has

robbed Him. God has a property of the heart in man’s welfare.

II. In the second part of the picture, God is REPRESE�TED AS MAKI�G A�

EFFORT FOR THE RECOVERY OF MA� FROM THE SI� A�D MISERY

I�TO WHICH HE HAS FALLE�. The fact of atonement is here; the quickening

work of the Holy Ghost is here, and the manifold ministry to man is here; by all

which God is seeking to bring men to Himself and save them from sin; and the more

one seeks to look at this, the more one feels how true it is that the inflexible

righteousness of God, that the infinite love of God, is full of a determination not to

let His human treasure go without an effort to recover it.

III. The third point is that GOD A�D THE GOOD A�GELS REJOICE I�

HEAVE� OVER THE RECOVERY OF ME�. (A. Hannay.)

A priceless gem

I. THE HOMELY STORY.

1. It may seem like a little thing to you--this sixpence; but what is great to a child is

not small to the father; and that is not little to God that is great to any man. He who

knows all about the homes, and the hearts that beat in London in such homes,

knows that sometimes the difference between sixpence and no sixpence may mean

all the difference between food and no food, shelter and no shelter for the night, ease

from pain, or no ease from pain. Oh, what magic that prosaic thing, the piece of

silver, can work! Look at our �onconformist father. Lawrence. See him seated

under a hedgerow on the morning of the great Puritan exodus in 1662; see him

looking as if fit to die, for he thinks about his hungry and homeless little ones. What

is it that suddenly makes the eye flash, and the face quiver, and the foot spring?

Only the sight of a lost piece of silver. He had just found a sixpence in the ditch

before him, and it fairly seemed to him as if it had come down into that ditch from

the very Throne of thrones that very moment.

2. The central person in this story is a woman--not some stately Cleopatra, not some

gay Herodias, not some grand lady with face beautiful as a dream, and step graceful

as a wave, who, having possessed ten gems of rarest water, or ten pearls of great

price, has lost one of them; but only a poor village woman, who, having saved up for

the rent, or a rainy day, ten pieces of silver, has lost one. She searches; finds; calls

her neighbours together to rejoice with her. The event was not enough to electrify a

cabinet but it was enough to lighten her heart, and to send a sensation all through

her little world.

II. THE DIVI�E MEA�I�G.

1. Look at the coin, and then think of the value of the soul. Souls look through those

waiting, gazing eyes around me, souls look out from those listening ears, souls thrill

along those nerves. Souls! Why will ye cleave to the dust? Awake, know yourselves,

and try to think about your own unimaginable value.

2. Look at the coin lost, and think of the soul lost in the house of this world. Some

years ago the men working on the Thames Embankment--laying its foundations--

found a lost piece of silver, stamped with the image of a Roman Emperor. Perhaps

that piece of silver had been lost 1,800 years. My spirit flashes back to that spot, and

to that moment, and I see the scene just how it all happened. I see a man coming

down from the green solitudes of Camberwell, where the Roman station is, coming

down to the edge of the river. I see him cross from what we now call the Surrey side,

to what we now call the city side. I see him, as he step| out of the boat, take his purse

out to pay the ferryman, and I see the piece of silver slip from his fingers through

the water, and there it stuck in the black slime of the river. It was for ages lost to the

purpose for which it was made. It might as well not have been silver. �ow I say

there are souls lost like that coin.

3. Look at the coin lost, but not knowing that it is lost, and think of the soul lost in

this house and not knowing that it is lost. The frivolist. The sensualist. The

formalist. These no more know they are lost than does the coin when it has rippled

along the floor and slipped into a chink in the darkness! But it is a fact all the same.

Once, certain explorers on an Arctic expedition were working their way through the

still, gray air in the eternal silence, when they suddenly came upon an antique,

spectral-looking ship locked in blocks of ice. They boarded it, and one man took his

lantern and ran down the campanion-ladder into the state-cabin. He held it up. He

found all the ship’s company there. There sat the captain, with his hand upon the

log-book; and there sat the mate, and there sat the doctor, and there sat the others.

“Captain!” There was no stir. He cried again, “Captain!” But there was only the

silence that creeps and shudders. “Captain!” He held his light up again and flashed

it around--and what did that light reveal? Dead hands! dead lips! dead eyes!--dead

men! The cold that had been strong enough to steel them through, and to freeze the

life of their blood, had been strong enough to arrest the touch of Decay’s hastening

fingers, and to keep fixed in the form and attitude of life Death itself, and to keep it

thus--so it was said--for nearly half a century. Oh I man do but think of what it is of

which I am speaking. Dead souls! Lost souls!

4. Look at the search which this woman is making in the house, and think of the

Holy Spirit’s part in searching for the lost soul. There was once heard in the Isle of

Wight a little girl say to her mother, when sweeping the cottage floor, “Mother,

mother, pull the blind down, the sunshine makes the room so dusty.” And so it is

that the light in the house of the Interpreter may seem to make the room dusty, but

it seems to create what it only reveals: it makes us think that we are worse than we

are when we are only wiser than we were; it make us see ourselves, see our Saviour,

and then, “ there is joy in the presence of the angels of God.” (C. Standford, D. D.)

The lost silver piece

I. First, the parable treats of man, the object of Divine mercy, as LOST.

1. �otice, first, the treasure was lost in the dust. The woman had lost her piece of

silver, and in order to find it she had to sweep for it, which proves that it had fallen

into a dusty place, fallen to the earth, where it might be hidden and concealed amid

rubbish and dirt. Every man of Adam born is as a piece of silver lost, fallen,

dishonoured, and some are buried amid foulness and dust. Thou art lost by nature,

and thou must be found by grace, whoever thou mayst be.

2. In this parable that which was lost was altogether ignorant of its being lost. The

silver coin was not a living thing, and therefore had no consciousness of its being lost

or sought after. The piece of money lost was quite as content to be on the floor or in

the dust, as it was to be in the purse of its owner amongst its like. It knew nothing

about its being lost, and could not know. And it is just so with the sinner who is

spiritually dead in sin, he is unconscious of his state, nor can we make him

understand the danger and terror of his condition. The insensibility of the piece of

money fairly pictures the utter indifference of souls unquickened by Divine grace.

3. The silver piece was lost but not forgotten. The woman knew that she had ten

pieces of silver originally; she counted them over carefully, for they were all bet little

store, and she found only nine, but she well remembered that one more was hers

and ought to be in her hand. This is our hope for the Lord’s lost ones, they are lost

but not forgotten, the heart of the Saviour remembers them, and prays for them.

4. �ext, the piece of silver was lost but still claimed. Observe that the woman called

the money, “my piece which was lost.” When she lost its possession she did not lose

her right to it; it did not become somebody else’s when it slipped out of her hand

and fell upon the floor. Those for whom Christ hath died, whom He hath peculiarly

redeemed, are not Satan’s even when they are dead in sin. They may come under the

devil’s usurped dominion, but the monster shall be chased from his throne.

5. Further, observe that the lost piece of money was not only remembered and

claimed, but it was also valued. In these three parables the value of the lost article

steadily rises. This is not very clear at first sight, because it may be said that a sheep

is of more value than a piece of money; but notice that the shepherd only lost one

sheep out of a hundred, but the woman lost one piece out of ten, and the father one

son out of two. To the Lord of love a lost soul is very precious: it is not because of its

intrinsic value, but it has a relative value which God sets at a high rate.

6. The piece of money was lost, but it was not lost hopelessly. The woman had hopes

of recovering it, and therefore she did not despair, but set to work at once. I

congratulate the Christian Church too, that her piece of money has not fallen where

she cannot find it. I rejoice that the fallen around us are not past hope; yea, though

they dwell in the worst dens of

London, though they be thieves and harlots, they are not beyond the reach of mercy.

Up, O Church of God, while possibilities of mercy remain!

7. One other point is worthy of notice. The piece of silver was lost, but it was lost in

the house, and the woman knew it to be so. What thankfulness there ought to be in

your minds that you are not lost as heathens, nor lost amid Romish or

Mohammedan superstition, but lost where the gospel is faithfully and plainly

preached to you; where you are lovingly told, that whosoever believeth in Christ

Jesus is not condemned. Lost, but lost where the Church’s business is to look after

you, where it is the Spirit’s work to seek and to find you. This is the condition of the

lost soul, depicted as a lest piece of silver.

II. Secondly, we shall notice the soul under another condition, we shall view it as

SOUGHT. By whom was the piece of silver sought?

1. It was sought by its owner personally.

2. This seeking became a matter of chief concern with the woman.

3. �ow note, that the woman having thus set her heart to find her money, she used

the most fit and proper means to accomplish her end. First, she lit a candle. So doth

the Holy Spirit in the Church. But she was not content with her candle, she fetched

her broom, she swept the house. If she could not find the silver as things were in the

house, she brought the broom to bear upon the accumulated dust. Oh, how a

Christian Church, when it is moved by the Holy Spirit, cleanses herself and purges

all her work!

4. Carefully note that this seeking after the lost piece of silver with fitting

instruments the broom and the candle, was attended with no small stir. She swept

the house--there was dust for her eyes; if any neighbours were in the house there

was dust for them. You cannot sweep a house without causing some confusion and

temporary discomfort. It is to be remarked, also, that in the seeking of this piece of

silver the coin was sought in a most engrossing manner.

5. This woman sought continuously--“till she found it.”

III. The piece of silver FOU�D. Found!

1. In the first place, this was the woman’s ultimatum, and nothing short of it. She

never stopped until the coin was found. So it is the Holy Spirit’s design, not that the

sinner should be brought into a hopeful state, but that he should be actually saved:

and this is the Church’s great concern, not that people be made hearers, not that

they be made orthodox professors, but that they be really changed and renewed,

regenerated and born again.

2. The woman herself found the piece of money. It did not turn up by accident, nor

did some neighbour step in and find it. The Spirit of God himself finds sinners, and

the Church of God herself, as a rule, is the instrument of their recovery.

3. �ow notice when she had found it what she did--she rejoiced. The greater her

trouble in searching, the higher her joy in finding. What joy there is in the Church

of God when sinners are converted!

4. �ext, she calls her friends and neighbours to share her joy. I am afraid we do not

treat our friends and neighbours with quite enough respect, or remember to invite

them to our joys. Who are they? I think the angels are here meant; not only the

angels in heaven, but those who are watching here below. The angels are wherever

the saints are, beholding our orders and rejoicing in our joy. The joy is a present

joy; it is a joy in the house, in the Church in her own sphere; it is the joy of her

neighbours who are round about her here below. All other joy seems swallowed up

in this: as every other occupation was suspended to find the lost silver, so every

other joy is hushed when the precious thing is found. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The lost piece of money

I. WHAT BEFELL THIS WOMA�. She had ten pieces of silver, and of these she

lost one--only one. That lost piece is man’s soul. We were not always, not once, not

at first, what we are now.

II. WHAT THIS WOMA� DID TO FI�D THE MO�EY. She did everything

proper in the circumstances. She could not have done more. Assuming that the

woman symbolizes the Spirit of God, the candle shining in her hand is the Bible,

God’s revealed Word, which He takes and carries into the recesses of the sinner’s

soul, revealing its foulness and danger and misery, and making him feel his need of

a Saviour. As to the sweeping, which disturbs the house and reveals a foulness that,

so long as it lay unstirred, was perhaps never suspected: that may indicate the

convictions, the alarms, the dread discoveries, the searchings and agitations of

heart, which not unfrequently accompany conversion. It is not till the glassy pool is

stirred that the mud at the bottom rises to light; it is when storms sweep the sea that

what it hides in its depths is thrown up on the shore; it is when brooms sweep walls

and floor that the sunbeams, struggling through a CLOUD of dust, reveal the

foulness of the house; and it is agitations and perturbations of the heart which

reveal its corruption, and are preludes to the purity and peace that sooner or later

follow on conversion.

III. THE WOMA�’S JOY AT FI�DI�G THE PIECE OF SILVER. There is a

peculiar pleasure felt in recovering what we have lost; or in having anything placed

beyond the reach of danger which we are afraid of losing. �o boat making the

harbour over a glassy sea, its snowy canvas filled by the gentle breeze, and shining

on the blue waters like a sea bird’s wing, is watched with such interest, or, as with

sail flapping on the mast, it grates on the shingle, is welcomed with such joy, as one

which, leaving the wreck on the thundering reef, comes through the roaring

tempest, boldly breasts the billows, and bringing off the half-drowned, half-dead

survivors, shoots within the harbour amid flowing tears and cheers that, bursting

from the happy crowd, rise above the rage and din of elements. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The Bible a moveable light

The candle is a moveable light, carried by the woman from place to place. Wherever

a lost piece of money is to be sought, there the candle must be carried that the

searching may be thorough. This carrying of the candle, first into one place and

then into another, is the Church’s part in seeking for lost souls. While the whole

truth for man’s salvation is presented in Holy Scripture, and any man who would

inquire as to the way of life may there find the light he needs to guide him aright,

men do not readily search the Scriptures for themselves, that their own souls may be

saved. In recognition of this neglect, illustrated in one way under the image of the

wandering sheep, in another under the image of the lost piece of money, the

necessity for the active work of seeking is acknowledged by the Church, as it is here

taught by the Saviour. (Calderwood.)

A woman’s loss

You will have noticed that whereas in the other two parables of “the sheep,” and

“the prodigal,” it is “a man” who is represented as rejoicing over the returning one--

here it is “a woman.” This may, indeed, be only to show that every kind of affection

combines in the joy over the penitent--the man’s strength and the woman’s

tenderness. But there may be more. At least, almost all the ancient divines have seen

another sense in it. They consider that under the female appellation is meant here,

as in many other places, the Church; and that the thought intended to be conveyed

is of the Church having sustained the loss, and the Church, as a Church, seeking

diligently for the lost one. And yet not altogether the Church, as something distinct

and independent in itself--but the Church as that in which the Holy Ghost dwells--

the HolyGhost acting through the means of grace which constitute a Church. So, in

the three parables, they would see the Trinity all combined in the same feeling of

love and happiness--the Son designated by the Shepherd; the Holy Spirit in the

Church, by the woman; and the Father, by the parent of the prodigal. A great

thought and a true one, even though the steps by which we here arrive at it may

appear to some fanciful. Certain it is, that every soul which is in a condition to

perish, is lost, not only to God, but to the Church. And well were it if the Church

always so regarded it. And well if every member of the Church so felt it a personal

loss to himself that any one single soul should die, that he could not help but stir up

himself, and stir up others, to seek that soul till it was found. Would that the Holy

Ghost were going forth in the one great Catholic Church, uniting in this feeling and

in this resolve--that she would give herself no rest so long as there was one precious

soul committed to her care which was lying undiscovered and unredeemed. For

mark, brethren, the woman--different in this from the shepherd and the prodigal’s

father--seeks a thing which her own folly and her own carelessness had lost. First,

she “lights a candle”--the well-known emblem in the Bible of three things--first, the

Spirit ofGod in a man’s soul; secondly, the Word of God; thirdly, the consistent

lives of ministers and other servants of God. And these three together make the

great detective force, and so ultimately the great restorative power which God uses

in this world. O that every Church had lighted their candle! O that our candles were

burning better! O that the Holy Ghost--prayed for and honoured, cherished and

magnified in His own office--were here to be a great Illuminator in the midst of us!

O that every baptized person were shining as he ought to be, in his daily walk, in

good works, and kind acts, and witnesses of God’s truth in this world! O think you,

brethren, how then would the dark places of our land begin to grow bright again!

How would the whole house shine! How would the poor lost ones be found! So, with

the lighted candle, the woman went to “sweep the house.” It is a great commotion

and disturbance to “sweep”; but then it leads to cleanliness and order. So God’s

sweepings are severe things! But then it is only to brush away what had no right to

be there. It is only to disclose precious things out of the rubbish. And there are

precious things in our souls so covered with dust that they need sweeping.

Afflictions will come, and scatter to the winds the incrusted sediment that has been

so long thickening upon a man’s mind. And for the time, while the sweeping is going

on, the confusion and the obscurity will seem only the greater. But you will not

presently complain--you will not regret the turmoil--when the costly thing, that was

almost hidden, sparkles again in the hand of its great Proprietor. Sweep our house,

Lord, for we need it--not with the bosom of destruction, though we deserve it--but

sweep away, Lord, as thou knowest best, every “refuge of lies” where our soul lies

buried! All the parables agree in the one, blessed, crowning thought--“till she find

it.” It is not a light achievement. It was not a day’s work--it was not a week’s work--

or a year’s work--the recovery of that soul of yours. Many an enterprise was begun

and laid down again, and never ended by men, in that very interval which elapsed

between the time when God--your faithful, untiring God--began to deal with your

soul, and the time when He made you go to Him. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The Church’s neglect of souls

Sometimes, in visions of a mournful fancy, I seem to see this Mother-Church of ours

sitting within her ancient and noble house, sitting as a woman exceeding fair, but

very cold and still; and so she sitteth with her hands folded before her, as though

she said to herself, “I shall be a lady for ever; f shall not sit as a widow, neither shall

I know the loss of children.” And year by year, century after century, the dust falls

and gathers, and falls in the silence around her, and all things are covered as with a

shroud, and the precious coins are lost to sight and buried deep beneath. And then I

seem to see her arousing herself at last from her long waking dream, and looking

about with dismay for her lost treasures--bestirring herself to find them, sweeping

the dust away here and there, bringing to light with busy toil many a shining effigy

of the great King. And then I seem to hear indignant voices of those who clamour

and storm against her for disturbing quiet things, and making unnecessary

agitation, and raising an unpleasant dust; all the rich people, and the comfortable

people, and the people that are well at ease, and all that have no care for souls--all

are angry with her, and cry out to her, “Why can you not sit still as you did before,

and if the dust falls, let it fall, and if the coins of the King be lost, let them be lost?

only trouble us not, only do not vex our souls with all this stir and dust.” Once again

I seem to see her that sometime sat as a queen and was not moved; I seem to see her

disconcerted and perplexed, anxious to recover the lost, yet anxious not to give

offence; I see her hesitate and quail, and lay aside her search with sorrow, and sit

down again, but not at ease; I see the dust begin to fall and settle again, and fall and

gather around her thicker and thicker, until every shining coin be lost beneath the

growing litter of neglect. Last of all, I see a day arise, black with wind and rain,

against that ancient house wherein the woman sits; I see the tempest of God’s anger

loosed upon it, I see the lightning of His indignation launched against it; I see her

crushed and buried beneath the wreck, among the silver pieces which she lost and

did not find. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)

The Oriental setting of this parable

The touches about lighting the candle (or better, lamp, or light), sweeping the house,

and seeking diligently, and calling the friends and neighbours together, are not

without some pertinent modem Oriental illustrations. Most of the native houses are

without glass windows, and are very dark when shut up. Often the windows are

small, and sometimes kept shut, as a rule depending on the door for light. They are

dark places. The floor, too, is often earth, or perhaps mortar, and very dirty. Where

animals dwell with the family, as is very common, the dirt is such as is best left to

the imagination. In such cases the particulars mentioned in verse eight are by no

means superfluous. So, too, the calling of the friends and neighbours together. One

of the difficulties in picking up the Arabic language among the common people is

the paucity of subjects of conversation. Little is to be heard except bargaining

among the men, and ACCOU�TSof the most ordinary household operations among

the women--except in the case of some rather public scolds, whose voices, without a

particle of exaggeration, sounds to the Occidental like the falling and rattling of

boards. The occasion of losing and finding a piece of money would be a piece of

great good fortune to the gossips, as the writer has actually witnessed. It would be

an incident for a nine days’ talk. And such terrible busybodies as they are I Every

one knows, at least, all his or her neighbours’ business, and more besides, to an

extent not readily defined. The woman who loses and finds a piece of money would

not be long in calling her friends and neighbours together; nor would they be slow

to come even uninvited. The babel of telling the story and commenting and

congratulating is not to be imagined in our land. The talk could be heard a long

distance. (Professor Isaac H. Hall.)

The ten pieces of silver

In the three parables recorded in this chapter there is so evidently a progress and

ascent of thought, they mount so naturally to a climax in their revelation of the

redeeming love of God, that if at any point we fail to make that progress out, if we

encounter anything in them which wears the aspect of an anti-climax, we are

checked, disappointed, perplexed. And yet in the second of these parables there is at

one point an apparent retrocession, where all else implies a forward and upward

movement of thought. Every one can see how immense an interval there is between

the one sheep lost out of a hundred, and the one son out of two, and that the

younger--and in the Bible commonly the dearer--of the two. But where is the

connecting link? How should the lost piece of money be dearer to the careful

housewife than the lost sheep to the faithful shepherd, who knows and cares for

every one of his flock and calleth them each by his name? One out of ten marks a

great advance upon one out of a hundred indeed; but would it not be less to lose

even ten silver coins than a single sheep--less in value, less in love? The answer to

that question, the solution of the difficulty, is to be found in an Eastern custom, the

application of which to the parable before us all commentators on it have, so far as I

know, overlooked. The women of Bethlehem, and of other parts of the Holy Land,

still wear a row of coins sewn upon their heart-dress, and pendant over their brows.

And the number of the coins is very commonly ten, as I, in common with other

travellers, have ascertained by counting. The custom reaches back far beyond the

Christian era. In all probability, therefore, it was not simply a piece of silver which

was lost out of her purse by the woman of our parable, but one of the ten precious

coins which formed her most cherished ornament; and this would be a loss even

more vividly felt than that of the shepherd when one out of his flock of a hundred

went astray. So that immense as is the advance from both the care of the shepherd

for his sheep, and of the pride of the woman in the burnished coins which gleamed

upon her forehead, to the yearning and pitiful love of the father for his prodigal and

self-banished son, we can nevertheless find a link between the first and last terms of

the climax, and trace an advance even between the grief of the shepherd over his

stray sheep, and that of the woman over her lost coin. A piece of money in her purse

might easily be stolen or spent; but a coin from the head-dress could not be so much

as touched by any stranger, nor even taken from its wearer by her husband unless

she cut it off of her own ACCORDand placed it in his hands. It was safe, sacred,

dear. It was a strictly personal possession, and might very well be an heirloom--like

the “silvers” of the Swiss women--hallowed by many fond and gracious memories.

(A. G. Weld.)

Broken harmony

If, as has been alleged, the ten pieces of silver form the bride’s necklace, and

constitute a marriage token, like our wedding ring, the work of the whole is marred

by the destruction of its unity. And thus we can gauge more accurately God’s loss by

man’s sin. The oneness of the creative plan is broken. From those beings whom God

made for the harmonious unfolding of His purposes, for the manifestation of His

glory, and for the beautifying of His universe, one order has broken loose and

impaired the symmetry and perfect working of the whole. (J. W. Burn.)

Lost to use

Whatever ornamental or symbolical uses this coin might serve, it was the Roman

denarius, and had, therefore, a money value.

Stamped with the monarch’s image and superscription, it was a means of purchase,

and was capable of self-multiplication in the way of usury. So, made in the Divine

likeness, man is the current coin of the Lord’s universe. He is so constituted in mind

and body as to be of use to God in executing His sovereign purposes, and in

multiplying himself in sought and rescued souls. �o agency for these ends is

comparable to man, and men failing in this high vocation are lost. And how many

are thus lost? lost as utterly to usefulness as though they themselves, as well as their

talent, were wrapped in a napkin and buried in the earth! And amongst them are

many who are painfully anxious about their precious souls, but are lost because they

act as though there were no precious souls but their own. For the solemn

admonition of the Saviour holds good here: “Whosoever will seek to save his life

shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s, the same

shall save it.” (J. W. Burn.)

Lost in the house

What a meaning this parable has for those who are lost in a Christian home, school,

sanctuary, and who, while neither blasphemers, nor infidels, nor libertines, and

while maintaining a nominal connection with God and His cause, are lost! Lost to

duty, with all around them conducive to consecration; lost to the love of God, while

daily loaded with Divine benefits! (J. W. Burn.)

The Spirit’s work in the soul

He is Christ’s fan and Christ’s fire. He thoroughly purges His floor and throws a

lurid light on the sinner’s state. He sweeps away the cobwebs of error by His

powerful convictions, and pours the truth of sin and righteousness and judgment

into the mind. He overturns the temple of formalism by the might of His power and

lays bare the hollowness of those who worship God with their lips while their hearts

are far from Him. The dust of self-deception flies as His sharp appeals to the

conscience leave the self-deluded without excuse. Some dire affliction clears the soul

of its worldliness, and the lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God are confronted

with their doom. He strips the sham of all his dissimulation by the manifestation of

the stern realities of God and of eternity, and demonstrates the futility of the

profession of religion without the possession of its power. Often His work has to be

repeated. Encumbrances removed are replaced and removed again. Hunted from

one corner the sinner takes refuge in another, and is still pursued. �or does the

Spirit cease to strive with man until resistance becomes hopeless obduracy, and until

the final quenching of His light leaves the sinner in outer darkness. (J. W. Burn.)

The utility of disturbance

And as mere habit and neglect hide souls from themselves, and from the just

sympathy and care of their fellows, God’s Spirit sends its great disturbing agencies

into the society, the nation, the age, or into the narrower bounds of the family. The

besom does not really make the new dust; but it only brings the old and long-

gathering DEPOSIT more, for a time, into the air and upon the lungs. The

messengers of the gospel are, for the time, regarded as “turning the world upside

down.” Or God’s providences in calamities, and wars, and social revolutions, show

men the magnitude of past hereditary errors. The besom of judgment goes shaking

society out of its torpor and equanimity. It was so in Luther’s day, and in Calvin’s.

It was so in the Puritans of our ancestral Britain, and in their colonists who crossed

to this country. God, by them, broke up many a pile of quiet litter; and brushed

aside many a film of long-settled green mould, picturesque in its verdure, or

venerable in its grey, hoar antiquity, which had gathered upon the national

conscience. But a Bunyan, and a Milton, and a Baxter, and an Owen, and a Howe

were precious medals brought out by the besoming; and constitutional freedom and

national morality, and English literature, and Christian piety were greatly enriched

by the agitation. It was so in the revolution that made us a nation. It was so in the

agitations that went over Europe in the train of our first revolution. It was so in our

last great struggle. It has been so in modern missions. Would you put that shaking

and bosoming peremptorily and effectually down? We hear, behind the turmoil and

the thick streaming clouds of dust, as God’s great besoms sweep along, the words of

an august cry: “I will overturn, and overturn, and overturn until He, whose right it

is to reign, shall come.” (W. R. Williams.)

God’s SEARCH for the lost

God is as incapable of being indifferent towards His lost mankind, as is a mother

towards her lost child. Lost mankind are not only His lost, but His lost children. His

piece of money is money indeed, for originally it came out of the mine of His eternal

nature. Heathen poets, Christian apostles, and modern philosophy are agreed that

mankind “are His offspring.” And does not the Source of all hearts feel? And is He

not concerned for His lost? In the Divinity of indifference I cannot believe. And yet I

am strongly inclined to think that, to many, one great offence of the gospel is, that it

is too gracious, too tender, too womanly. They can conceive God to have Almighty

power, infinite wisdom and justice, but they cannot give Him credit for infinite

affection. They know that a woman will light a candle and go into every hole and

corner, stooping and searching, until she find that which she has missed; but they

have no idea that this can be a true parable of God’s concern for His lost children.

They are not surprised to find a heart in my Lady Franklin: they are not surprised

at any measures that she may set on foot to recover the lost one. They are not

surprised that the British and American Governments should be concerned to seek,

and if possible, to save Sir John and his crew. �o one said, they are not worth the

expense and labour of seeking, because they are few. �ot far from a million pounds

were sacrificed in this search. Besides money, good brothers were not found

backward to expose their own lives to danger, in the distant hope of finding and

relieving their missing brothers. Have the English Government and people so great

a concern to recover their lost, and has God none? Better say that a drop contains

more than the ocean, that a candle gives more light than the sun, that there are

higher virtues in a stream than in its source, and that the creature has more heart

than God. Otherwise confess, that the gospel is infinitely worthy of the heart of God;

and never more imagine the great Father to find rest under the loss of His human

family, in the consolation: “They are nothing compared with My universe, they will

never be missed. (J. Pulsford.)

Lost treasure

In the parable of the lost coin the first thing that strikes us is, that something

considered of value had been lost. The lighting of the candle, the sweeping of the

house, the diligent search, everything else being laid aside to attend to this matter,

all showed that the thing lost was regarded as quite important. So when the soul of

man becomes lost through sin, the most valuable object in the world is lost. Whether

we reflect upon the soul’s vast power of endless progress; its wonderful capacity of

investigating the universe, from the lowest depths of earth to the highest star; its

ability to hold converse and communion with the great God Himself, and there to

find its highest delight; its rapidity of thought by which it can move through the

universe in the twinkling of an eye; or the great interest that has been manifested in

it by all heaven--we must see its amazing value. The exceeding value of man’s soul is

seen in what Jesus has done for it. Men often put forth great efforts for very

insignificant objects. But when we see the Saviour leave His bright throne in the

heavens, and become a homeless wanderer upon the earth, that He might save lost

souls, we are able to form some estimate of the soul’s value. Oh, yes; in Calvary we

see how much is lost when the soul is lost! This is the precious thing that was lost.

What a loss I The loss of reputation, of wealth, of health, of property, of life--all are

nothing to such a loss as this. And such is man’s position out of Christ. (J. R. Boyd.)

PULPIT, "Luk_15:8

Either what woman having' ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? Another and very homely picture is painted in this parable. This time the chief figure is a woman, a dweller in a poor Syrian village, to whom the loss of a coin of small value out of her little store is a serious matter. In the story of the lost sheep the point of the parable turns upon the suffering and the sin of man, under THE IMAGE of a lost sheep searched for and restored by the Divine pity. Here, in the second parable-story, the ruined soul is represented as a lost coin, and we learn from it that God positively misses each lost soul, and longs for its restoration to its true sphere and place in the heaven life and work for which it was created. In other words, in the first parable the lost soul is viewed from man's standpoint; in the second, from God's. If, then, a soul be missed, the result will be, not only missing for itself, but something lost for God.

EXPOSITORS BIBLE, "The second, which is a twin parable, is from domestic life. As in the parables of the kingdom, Jesus sets beside the man with the mustard seed the woman with her leaven, so here He makes the same distinction, clothing the Truth both in a masculine and a feminine dress. He asks again, "Or what woman" (He does not say "of you," for if women were present amongst His hearers they would be in the BACKGROUND) "having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost." Much objection has been taken to this parable for its supposed want of naturalness and reality. "Is it likely," our objectors say, "that the loss of a small coin like a drachma, whose value was about sevenpence-halfpenny, could be the occasion of so much concern, and that its recovery should be enough to call forth the congratulations of all the village matrons? Surely that is not parable, but hyperbole." But things have a real as well as an intrinsic value, and what to others would be common and cheap, to its possessor might be a treasure beyond reckoning, with all the added values of association and sentiment. So the ten drachmas of the woman might have a history; they might have been a family heirloom, moving quietly down the generations, with whole poems, aye, and even tragedies hidden within them. Or we can conceive of a poverty so dire and strait that even one small coin in the emergent circumstance might grow into a value far beyond its intrinsic worth. But the parable does not need all these suppositions to steady it and keep it from falling to the ground. When rightly understood it becomes singularly natural, the truth of truth, if such an essence can be distilled in human speech. The probable interpretation is that the ten drachmas were the ten coins worn as a frontlet by the women of the East. This frontlet was given by the bridegroom to the bride at the

time of marriage, and like the ring of Western life, it was invested with a kind of sanctity. It must be worn on all public occasions, and guarded with a jealous, sacred care; for should one of its pieces be lost, it would be regarded as an indication that the possessor had not only been careless, but also that she had been unfaithful to her marriage vow. Throwing, then, this light of Eastern custom upon the parable, how vivid and lifelike it becomes! With what intense eagerness would she seek for the missing coin! Lighting her lamp-for the house would be but dimly lighted with its open door and its small unglazed window-how carefully and almost tremblingly she would peer along its shelves, and sweep out the corners of her few rooms! And how great would be her joy as she saw it glistening in the dust! Her whole soul would go out after it, as if it were a living, sentient thing. She would clasp it in her hand, and even press it to her lips; for has it not taken a heavy care and sorrow from her heart? That one coin rising from the dust has been to her like the rising of another sun, filling her home with light and her life with melody; and what wonder that she hastens to communicate her joy, as, standing by her door, after the eastern wont, she holds up the missing treasure, and calls on her neighbors and friends (the substantives are feminine now) to rejoice with her.

GEORGE MURRAY, "THE LOST COI�

"What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece,

doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until

she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth together her

friends and neighbours, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the

piece which I had lost. Even so, I say unto you, there is joy in the

presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." — Luke

xv. 8-10 (R. V.).

It is wonderful the power of " line," and here we have

a figure drawn with very few strokes, a heroine in

homespun. Vividly there starts up to the mind's eye

a frugal woman, absorbed in the routine of her house-

hold cares : one to whom money is valuable, for the

time - honoured reason that it is somewhat scarce.

Like the humble widow in the garret of a modern

town, she has been left by fortune — or the want of it —

to fight a hard battle for existence. Ten pieces of

silver — in our currency a paltry six-and-sixpence —

represent her hard-won savings, laid up against a rainy

day. Or rather there were ten ; for somehow, when

she comes to count them, one has disappeared, and

151

152 JESUS A�D HIS PARABLES

must have dropped aside. Whereupon dismay is

written on her countenance, self-debate is busily at

work within her brain. Although only a " penny " to

the better off, the loss is great to her, in view of the

particular claims certain to be made upon her shrunken

store. Search must instantly be entered upon. So

she takes a lamp ; for the houses of the Jews were dark,

glass was rare and windows small ; daylight struggled

through a doorway, half open in the Eastern sun.

The floor, of earth, was littered thick with rushes, and

must be sifted as a likely lurking-place. So she gets

a-s weeping, and what a dust she raises, what a tumbling

of the household articles about. The search is pictured

as nothing if not thorough ; no nook into which the coin

may have rolled escapes her peering scrutiny and all-

commanding broom. She shall " seek diligently " —

whole-souled resolution is the idea — till the truant

is discovered. And perseverance is rewarded ; for

suddenly, from out some grimy corner, she sees the

missing silver, shining amid a heap of sweepings.

What a light that was to her straining eyes ! We

think we see her bustling figure dimly through the

cloud of dust : now amply energetic, anon darting

downwards, the instant she " hath found it." Ex-

clamation, no doubt, followed ; and the beam of

satisfaction on her face is broad, as she appears at

the door, hurrying out in female fashion to tell the

THE LOST COI� 153

village neighbours of her news. Readily they gather

round her, and listen to the elaborated tale. They

willingly accord that echo of congratulation which her

looks and gestures are seen at the proud moment to

expect. " Rejoice with me," she cries in ecstasy —

genuine joy paying no heed to strict measures of pro-

portion — "for I have found the piece which I had

lost ! "

What genius, and more than literary genius, in

the choice of illustration ! To take up an image so

unconventional, and from the richly human, yet

unconsidered sphere, to draw the divine moral —

"Even so, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence

of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth "

(ver. 10).

Clearly the aim of the parable, like that of the one

which precedes, is to make a spiritual application of

the homely truth, that the greatest joy is over things

lost and recovered. There were those in Palestine, as

there are these now, who were negligent in interest,

not to say aloof in attitude, as regards the poor and

lowly, the abandoned and degraded. The highest

possible happiness, could they but have seen it, falls to

people who concern themselves with the reclamation of

such. If you lose a coin, argues Jesus, instantly and

eagerly you search for it, as being something precious.

Universal experience confirms that there is peculiar

154 JESUS A�D HIS PARABLES

pleasure when seeking is rewarded with success. So

of God, who prizes every soul of man, and misses at

once the individual who lapses from His treasury.

Therefore it is, and in the divine name, that ministering

servants of His seek anxiously the fallen ; they labour

and they long to lay their hands in joy upon these

lost ones, at present so degraded amid the dust of time

and of sense.

In the case of the shepherd, it will be remembered,

although the feeling of loss was prominent, there came

in the emotion of pity for the sinner's plight — the

silly, straying sheep, reduced by its own waywardness

to most melancholy case. Here the ruling passion is

appreciation of value — a precious and immortal soul is

at stake. That soul is missed by God, and is as valu-

able to Him, as were the pennies to the woman in the

earthly tale. In providence, therefore, every endeavour

is made for the salvation of less favoured ones ; and

only the Church of Christ can truly know the long

labours which that crusade has implied. What life-

passion of devoted souls, modelled on the Master's ;

what never-ending sacrifice, what contendings on the

page of history, this diligence in seeking has called

forth. �ot without dust too, to moralise in passing ;

almost blinding the believer at times, making him sad

of heart, as he strains his gaze to follow the half-hidden

workings of God. What clouds of controversy, what

THE LOST COI� 155

upturnings of the staid habits, the placid convention-

alities of the world. What seeming disorders of a

gospel, bringing not peace, but a sword.

And yet how glorious is the consummation of all

these anxious toils. The acme of the story, we must

not forget, is the happiness that issues in contrast at

the close. Think of the results of the redeeming efforts

of workers in the name of Jesus, in dark places of the

world, where light, as in the woman's dwelling, is

represented by most feeble gleams. Going with the

candle of the Lord among the lowest of the low ; what

sorry coins in seeming now, what poor reflections of the

image of their Maker ; coated over thick with sin -dust,

with unspeakable defilements of the world, the flesh,

and the devil. But what a mission of mercy to pick

up with loving hands any such much-marred soul :

to wash away its stains, to burnish it to brightness,

and give it back to God, filling up the blank that

has been there and has been offending the All-seeing

Eye.

Absence has made the heart grow fonder, and during

all the search the Father has been yearning for the lost.

Joy, therefore, is unbounded at the close. It is like

a torrent bursting from a pent-up source, and it over-

flows like that of the woman with her neighbours and

her friends. The Church is like the human body,

whose members share alike in the emotions that pass

156 JESUS A�D HIS PARABLES

through it ; so that when one has occasion to rejoice,

the others rejoice with it. The hearts of the faithful

are knit together, as by a containing band of sympathy.

It is in accord with the law of gravity, and mathemati-

cally true, that our mighty globe moves to meet the

falling of a marble or of a pin-head, though eye hath

not seen, nor ear heard, the movement thereof. So of

the great heart of Christendom, though it be un-

conscious, like the beating of our own hearts, it throbs

in harmony over every latest triumph of salvation.

The spirits of just men made perfect, the aspiring

souls of the militant on earth, thrill in unison. God

Himself has no holier satisfaction than the advance-

ment of His Kingdom — to see the sons of men,

even one poor outcast, received back in penitence,

and made partakers of a glory like His own.

" I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of

the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth "

(ver. 10).

The story is singularly impressive. To think of the

great God of heaven and earth having a sense of loss

regarding the most obscure offender. The world

makes little of its units ; one man, they say, is never

missed. What is a single, frail, and evanescent creature

among the millions and billions of the globe, the end-

less succession of sentient beings through the ages ?

But how different the Christian view ! The individual,

THE LOST COI� 157

endowed with intellect and emotion, with conscience

and with will, has a nature fitted for high ends. He is

intended to fulfil God's purpose of love, to share in

His glory, to enjoy Him for ever. What a loss, there-

fore, alike to his Maker and to himself, that he should

fall away from this lofty calling. And specially a loss

in the economy of the universe, because there has been

work assigned him to do : specific work, which lies

more to his hand than it does to any other's. Such

deficiency is glaring to an Omniscient Being ; the loss

must be a felt loss. God is virtually pictured in the

parable as perceiving the blank at once, whether it

be in the near or the far perspective of His colossal

realm.

The best illustration comes when we think of Jesus

Himself as the seeker and finder ; the worker in

intimate communion with the Father, the well-beloved

Son. These publicans, thronging to His audience, of

what account were they in the eyes of men ? Disre-

putable from their office ; socially abhorred ; hopelessly

severed, it was thought, from the great hope of Israel.

And the " sinners " of whom we read, who were they ?

Profligates. Outlawed by the life they led; equally

insignificant with the others, according to the canons

of the time. Pharisaism met them with a scowl.

It disdainfully gathered in the skirts of its proud piety,

as they passed, and turned complacently to heaven

158 JESUS A�D HIS PARABLES

relentless pairs of supercilious eyes. What a sin, it said,

in Jesus to have them in His company ! Ah, but this was

the glory of His Gospel, that He saw in such the image

of the Father ; blurred, but capable of being cleared

of evil, brightened to the beauty of holiness, handed

back to their Owner in the heavens. Yes, this is the real

revelation of the Christian, that God cares even for

the low, that He has a sense of loss regarding them,

and that He is actually disconsolate till He recovers

the chief of sinners. The highest moral effort of

intelligence is Pity ; and when do we more revere

the mind that was in Jesus, than when we see

Him thus filled with compassion — seeking out the

degraded in their obscurity, and sorrowing until they

are restored ? If we can imagine a text upon the

tomb of the Master, it would be this : " The Son

of Man is come to seek and to save that which was

lost."

Another thought, suggested by the circle of ideas

in which the story moves, is this, that not only does

the great search spring from sense of loss, and end in

extraordinary joy, but it is thorough like the woman's,

and persevering in its course. How manifold, in

modern days, are the visible ministrations of the Church,

how ceaseless the unseen strivings of the Spirit.

Thousand-voiced is the call of conscience and of duty ;

multitudes of higher feelings address themselves in

THE LOST COI� 159

entreaty to our hearts. Countless are the influences,

including even our crosses, that constrain us to the

way that we should go. How abounding, above all,

the personal sacrifices of the true followers of Jesus,

seeking for living souls, prone among the dead things

of the world. Low indeed we lay : sin-soiled, degraded

in spiritual darkness ; when lo, a radiance from on

high shines round about us ; we are sought out in name

of the Son, who holds out to us, like a lamp, the

perfections of that Life which is the Light of men ; and

oh, wondrous condescension, He stoops over us in mercy,

He lifts us, as something precious from the clay, He

renews our poor dim image, He restores us to the riches

of His grace, He takes us to Himself, a treasure in the

heavens.

Here is a lesson for all time — the dearest joy in life

is joy in the beholding of triumphant goodness. Those

who know the power themselves of the happiness bound

up with holiness, must fain see the same descending

upon their fellows. The worldling thinks he can be

happy of himself, and in himself ; but the distinctive

Christian principle is sacrifice, the Cross our emblem

o'er the globe. Giving is greater than receiving ;

for the psvchological reason, if for no other, that it

is so beneficial in its action, and reaction, on the soul.

Let this, then, be our joy : to be interested in others,

and to lay ourselves out on their behalf; and bring

160 JESUS A�D HIS PARABLES

them to the keeping of God, to the happiness and

holiness and peace of His spiritual rule. The

Master's whole life and teaching are inspiration and

example on the theme. "Fulfil ye my joy, 11 was the

pleading of His greatest follower, the Apostle Paul.

And what saith the old Prophet ? " They that turn

many to righteousness shall shine as the brightness of

the firmament 11 — shine as do the stars, for ever and

ever.

JOSEPH BE�SO� 8-10, "Luke 15:8-10. Either what woman — As if he had said,

To illustrate the matter by another obvious similitude, that it may yet more

powerfully strike YOUR minds, what woman, having ten pieces of silver — Though

each of them but of the value of a drachma; or about seven pence halfpenny, and the

whole only about six shillings three pence sterling MO�EY: if she lose one piece —

Out of her little stock; doth not light a candle, &c. — Will not immediately make

SEARCH for it, and take all possible pains to find it. And when she hath found it,

calleth her FEMALE friends — To acquaint them with her good success, concluding

it will be agreeable news to them. It might seem hardly worth while to ask the

CO�GRATULATIO� of her friends on so small an occasion as finding a drachma;

but it is represented as the tenth part of her little stock, and the impressible and

social temper of the sex may, perhaps, be considered as adding some propriety to

the representation. Likewise, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God, &c. —

We may conclude from hence, that, at least in some extraordinary cases, the angels

are, either by immediate revelation, or otherwise, informed of the conversion of

sinners, which must, to those benevolent spirits, be an occasion of joy; nor could any

thing have been suggested more proper to encourage the humble penitent, to expose

the repining Pharisee, or to animate all to zeal in so good a work, as endeavouring to

promote the repentance and conversion of others. Indeed this part of both these

parables is finely imagined. The angels, though high in nature, and perfect in

blessedness, are represented as bearing a friendly regard to, and as having exact

knowledge of, many things done here below. Thus, from men’s conduct in the

common affairs of life, described in these parables, Christ proves it to be the general

sense of mankind, that every sinner should be sought after by the teachers of

religion. For, as men are so moved with the loss of any part of their property, that

they seem to neglect what remains while they are employed in endeavouring to

recover what happens to be missing; and, when they have found it, are so overjoyed,

that, calling their friends, to whom they had given A� ACCOU�T of their

misfortune, they tell them the good news, that they may rejoice with them; so the

servants of God should labour with the greatest solicitude to recover whatever part

of his property is lost, namely, his reasonable creatures, who, having strayed from

him, are in danger of perishing eternally. And they have powerful encouragement to

do so, as the reformation of a single sinner occasions more joy in heaven than the

steadfastness of ninety and nine righteous persons. By this circumstance, likewise,

he insinuated that the Pharisees, who pretended to more holiness than others,

instead of repining at his conversing with, and instructing sinners, ought to have

imitated the example of the heavenly beings, and to have rejoiced to find these men

delighted with his company and discourses, who enjoined them a much stricter life

than they hitherto had been used to, inasmuch as this was a certain token of their

repentance, and seemed to promise a speedy and thorough reformation. The drift of

both parables is to show, that the conversion of sinners is a thing highly acceptable

to God, and, consequently, that whatever is necessary thereto is so far from being

inconsistent with goodness, that it is the very perfection and excellence of it. Daniel

12:3.

CO�STABLE, "Jesus' repetition of the same point, in another, similar parable, shows the

importance of the lesson He wanted His hearers to learn.

Again, Jesus' concern for women comes out in this illustration with which His female

listeners could identify. In the previous parable, a relatively rich man lost one of his

sheep, whereas in this one a relatively poor woman lost one of her coins. The "silver

coins" in view would have been Greek drachmas, the equivalent of Roman denarii, each

worth about a day's wage. They may have been part of the dowry, or the savings, that

some Palestinian women wore around their heads on a chain.676 In any case, the "coin"

she "lost" was precious to her, even though it did not represent great wealth. Its value is

clear from the trouble to which she went to find it. The sheep was lost because of its

foolishness (v. 4), but the coin was lost because of the woman's carelessness, through no

fault of its own but by surrounding circumstances. Peasants' houses in Palestine normally

had no windows, so she needed to get "a lamp" to help her see.677 Similarly, it cost Jesus

much to seek and to save the lost. God actually searches for lost sinners (cf. Gen. 3:8-9)!

The woman's recovery of what had been "lost" led to great "joy" and "rejoicing."678

This parable repeated the point of the previous one, namely, that there is rejoicing in

heaven when one sinner repents. However, it also stresses the fact that God willingly

goes to great lengths to seek out and to find the lost. This attitude contrasts with that of

the Pharisees and lawyers (v. 2). According to Morris, there is no rabbinic equivalent to

God seeking sinners.679

An almost identical parable to this one was common among the Jews of Jesus' day.680

However, in the Jewish parable, the moral was that a person should search the Torah

more diligently than this woman searched for her lost coin, since Torah study would yield

an eternal reward, not just temporal enjoyment. It taught the merit of works, whereas

Jesus' parable taught the compassion of the Savior and the joy in heaven over the

salvation of the lost.

Perhaps Jesus intended to focus on the Jews in the first parable, since He compared the

lost one to a sheep from the Master's fold (Israel). The second parable may compare the

lost coin to a Gentile, since a Greek coin was lost. This is the only reference to this coin

in the �ew Testament. If so, the numbers may be significant. Only a small number of

Jews would experience salvation, compared to a greater proportion of Gentiles who

would believe the gospel. The Book of Acts reveals the comparative unresponsiveness of

the Jews and the receptivity of the Gentiles.

RAY STEDMAN, "There are three very revealing movements in this little story: The first is the circumstance of the lost coin. The coin referred to here is a small silver piece worth, in our money, about 16 cents. The lady had ten of these, so the total value of her wealth was $1.60. That is not very much, but it was more than simply some money to this woman because it had great sentimental value. We learn from those who have STUDIED the customs of ancient days that this was part of her dowry.

When a woman married she took money that she had accumulated throughout her life and sewed it into a headdress which she wore on her wedding day. She used ten silver coins --which is why our Lord picked this NUMBER to illustrate the story. Therefore these ten coins were of tremendous significance to her as a woman. They symbolized her dowry. They represented not just the value of the money, but all that she had to contribute to the marriage. This headdress was of such value to the women of that time that, by law, it was impossible for it to be taken from them -- even to pay a debt.

I have often thought that these Eastern customs of marriage were much more sensible than ours. We can see Western degeneracy in the fact that now the father of the bride must pay all the costs of a wedding. It was much better in the East where the women needed to contribute only this little bit. The bridegroom paid everything else. As the father of four daughters I should like very much to reintroduce these customs into our modern scene!

The point of the illustration that the Lord is giving here is that something was lost -- but lost at home. The value of the story of the lost sheep is that, though the sheep did not mean to, it had wandered away and the shepherd had to leave the ninety and nine to go

out and find it. Similarly, the value of this illustration is that the coin was lost at home where you would not expect to find lost things. This coin did not wander off. It was in the place of apparent safety. Nevertheless it was lost -- probably through carelessness or neglect, although nothing is said about the cause. It may have been by some accident. The woman is unaware that the coin is lost until suddenly she discovers that it is gone. When she wakes up to realize that the coin is missing she is stirred to a flurry of ACTIVITY to recover it because it is of extreme value to her. That is the story, and our Lord intended it to hit with impact on those who heard.

It has meaning to us today only as we APPLY it to our own situation. It forces upon us the question, "Do I have something lost at home?" Perhaps better, "Is someone lost?" --because our Lord is not talking about things but is illustrating the value of lost persons. Is someone lost in your home -- a child, perhaps, that you have taken for granted is a Christian, but, as he grows up, something makes you realize that he is not? You may wake up to realize that these whom you have taken for granted to be safe and sound in your home are not; they are lost.

There are millions like this today in Christian homes -- many even in this congregation. We have raised them in our Christian homes. We have taught them the Scriptures as best we knew how. We have helped them to memorize Scripture. We have taught them how to know the Lord, and how to walk with him. But, as they grow up, if we are honest, observant, and sensitive as parents, there may come a time when, in the absence of any POSITIVEevidence to the contrary, we must face the realization that these children are not really saved, are not Christians, are not born again. They are lost -- and lost at home.

This is a frequent occurrence because we parents tend to put too much trust in externals. I have long ago learned not to trust the fact that a child has made any sort of public profession of becoming a Christian as evidence that he has actually become a real Christian. Many people have held evangelistic meetings for them, and children have raised their hands, and confessed faith in Christ. The parents have naively assumed that these children have really become Christians. But we need to understand that we cannot impose adult standards of commitment upon children, because they are born imitators. You can have a meeting with five hundred children you gather right off the streets. If you have presented something interesting and fascinating, and they have been caught up in the flow of the PROGRAM, you may make an appeal to them at the end of it, and they will do whatever you ask. But that does not men they have actually been changed. To assume so is the mistake many Christian parents make.

I frequently meet children who have come through this system and have grown up into adults. Their parents have assumed, because they were obedient to attend Sunday school and to go with them to church, that they had become Christians. But actually they never made an inner commitment of the heart, and the children have grown up without a real knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of our Sunday school teachers was saying to me just this morning that he had been asking his class some questions about the Bible. As long as they concerned mere information the students were all responsive. But when he began to probe their inner lives

and their inner reaction and response to the person of Christ, he found that they had hardly anything to say. They did not know anything. There was no genuine experience of the reality of the Lord Jesus.

I do not know how many times I have heard someone say, "When I was a kid my folks made me go to Sunday school, and I went all my life. I won all the medals and prizes for attendance. But, as soon as I got out on my own, I quit and I've never gone back. It never meant anything to me." That is the situation our Lord is describing here. One is lost, and lost at home.

The second movement of our story takes us immediately into the efforts of this woman to find what was lost. She launched upon a remarkable campaign. When she realized that this valuable coin was lost, she went into action. Her activity in this story reveals the heart concern of God for people who are lost like this. God's heart moves out to them. Also revealed is the process of recovering such lost people. I am sure every parent will be interested in what follows.

This woman did three things which are extremely important: First, she lit a lamp. That is what to do before anything else. She realized that she was working in darkness. She needed more light in this search. I think you see how clear the symbolism is. If we are going to find those lost at home, we are going to need the light of the Scriptures. We need to understand how God works, and how children operate. There is only one source in the world where we can get that information accurately, and in a trustworthy way, and that is from the Scriptures. So we need to light the lamp of Scripture when we realize that our children do not know Jesus Christ.

This woman felt she needed light, as we must feel the need of learning more of reality. I am sure you know how this feels. There is not a parent here who has not felt his ignorance in confronting this kind of situation, and sensed how little he understands children. How much we need to understand what a child thinks, how he thinks, and how to approach him about God.

There is no book greater than the Bible to consult for that. The New Testament and the Old alike are full of passages that deal with the problem of reaching children. Nothing is more important in this connection than the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is the record of the talks of a father with his son, and of how a father begins early in the life of his son to lay the foundation that will lead that boy to the fullness of manhood, in an experience of trust in the living God. There are books and passages in the New Testament also that deal with how to approach a child, and, furthermore, how to recognize true life.

The problem is that there are many parents who do not understand how to recognize the signs of a genuine impartation of life in Jesus Christ. They have taken the word of a child, or the expression of his experience, as the ground of salvation. I have known parents, and mothers particularly, who were so confused about this that even when their children had grown up and obviously had left the path of any possible testimony of Christian faith --had flung their faith overboard and openly displayed indifference and unconcern for the things of God -- these parents had come to me and said, "I know he's a Christian, because

when he was five years old he received the Lord Jesus." But that is fooling yourself. That is no sign at all.

The Scriptures tell us that if the Spirit of God is at work in the heart, there will be evidence of it. As John tells us in his first letter, "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren," (1 John 3:14 RSV). Love awakening for other Christians is one sign. Paul says, "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity," (2 Timothy 2:19b KJV). A desire to turn from that which is obviously evil is another sign. There are other indications of the fruit of the Spirit throughout the Scriptures. These are what we must learn if we are going to evaluate our children rightly.

Not only that, but we must also learn how to strengthen and nurture the life that is already there, so that it grows as the child grows and moves into adulthood, so that it begins to blossom and flower and to produce Christian character and a Christian life.

Second, this woman swept the house. In those days it was customary to spread straw on the floor. Usually the floors were earthen and, in order to have something soft underfoot, straw was spread. A coin falling down in it would naturally be difficult to find. So the woman took a broom and swept up all the straw and thus made it much more possible to find it.

What does this symbolize to us? You can see clearly that it indicates a need to lay bare the circumstances of the family, to open up and to be transparent and honest within the family circle. There is a need to admit fault -- to admit both the possibility of failure and its actual occurrence on the part of parents toward children, if it is true. There is a need to let your children see that you are not perfect, and are not claiming to be perfect, as parents. You must admit, as freely as you expect them to admit, the mistakes that you make and the errors that you have fallen into. This is what makes possible the finding of lost ones.

I know that is not easy to do. Something about being adults appeals to our pride, and we love to preserve an air of infallibility with regard to our children. When they are little, they think that we hung the moon in place. They think that mother and dad know all the answers, that there is nothing hidden from them, that they know everything. But as they grow up we have to dispossess them of that delusion. To continue it is easy because we enjoy that feeling. We feel great that our children think we are so tremendous. But nothing is more dangerous than to let them grow up continuing to believe that we think that of ourselves. Parents need to unburden themselves and admit their problems.

I must confess to you that there is nothing more difficult in a pastor's household than for the pastor to admit that he is wrong. He has not only his whole family thinking that he knows everything, but half the church does, too. And for him to have to say to his children, "I'm sorry, I made a mistake," is a hard thing to do. But I have had to do it, and I hope you will do it, too, because nothing will contribute more in a household to laying the groundwork of reality in the Christian faith, than to have the parents open up and be honest and transparent in their problems with their youngsters.

The third thing this woman did was to search diligently. She lit a lamp; she swept the house; and she SEARCHED diligently. That means she thought about ways of finding this coin. She gave herself to this task. She did not just look around a little in her spare time; she stopped everything and she swept the house out. Foot by foot she went over the floor, searching for this lost coin -- it was that valuable to her.

The symbolism and the application in our own lives again is quite clear. Parent after parent has told me, "If I only realized how important it was to have given some time to my children when they were growing up. But I was caught up in the business of MAKING MONEY. I thought it was so important to get ahead. I thought it was essential to have all the nice things that the neighbors had. I was so intent on making enough money to buy a new car, or another television set, or to get a cabin in the mountains. Now I realize that if I had only given some time to my children how much more valuable that would have been!" And so the analogy here, our Lord teaches, is to someone who immediately stops everything and takes the time to know and to love his children, until they open up, until a response is obtained, until there are communication channels open, and it is thus possible to reach and to find that which was lost.

I do not have to dwell upon this. I know you are hearing it from many sides today. But this lack of proper attention is the reason why so many of our young people are drifting away. So many of them have no confidence in the older generation because they feel that adults do not know them. Parents are caught up in their own affairs while their children run around the streets without any supervision, without their parents knowing or caring where they have been or what they are doing. I see this in my own neighborhood and everywhere I go. But this must not be true among Christians. For, if we have a concern for our children and desire to see them one with God, we must realize the great possibility that they can be lost right at HOME.

The third movement of the story brings us at last to finding and rejoicing:

"And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:9-10 RSV)Speaking as a father I can tell you that there is nothing more satisfying than to find YOURchildren growing up into solid, trustworthy, Christian maturity. There is nothing that warms the heart more than to see the evidences of faith, the warmth of Christian love, and depth of Christian commitment in the heart of one of your own children. Remember what John writes in his third letter, saying what every father can echo: "No greater joy can I have than this, to hear that my children follow the truth," (3 John 1:4 RSV). That is joy. The poet, Edgar A. Guest, said:

If I don't help my boy to grow up right, I'll call myself a failure no matter how much money I make or how big a reputation I get. I have a number of tasks to do all of which I should like to do well. To be a failure in any one of them would be disappointing. Yet I could bear that without whimpering if I were sure I had not failed my boy. Not so much of me in the BANK, and more of me and my best in the lad -- that's what I should like to

have to show at the end of my career. For me to succeed as a father, he must succeed. Unless my boy comes to manhood fit for the respect of his fellow men, I shall have been a failure. The glory of our handiwork lies not in ourselves, but in our children.So our Lord described the joy that was in the heart of this woman when she found this coin which was lost. She called all her neighbors and friends to share with her this overwhelming joy. And you know, despite all the problems that may come in the raising of children, despite the battles, the failures, the tears, the heartaches -- if, as you see them coming to manhood and womanhood, they have struck deep roots down into the depths of Christian truth, and have come to understand and to know the Lord Jesus as a living, vital factor in their life, and have begun, somewhat feebly perhaps, but have begun at least, to rest upon his forgiving grace and to understand his overwhelming love, to understand how to walk with him and to draw strength from him, and to encounter the battles and the difficulties of life with the courage and strength which he alone can impart, then it does not make any difference what all the difficulties, problems. and heartaches were. Your own heart will be filled with this kind of joy as you see them ENTERING life committed, concerned, growing, settled in faith, solid and SECURE.

And Jesus said that joy is shared in heaven, as well. The angels glory before God, he said. There is a celebration in heaven when one of these who are lost at HOMEOPENS up his or her heart and finds a living Lord. He likens it to the celebration that was held when the lost sheep was found. It is a superlative expression. They shoot off cannons, they ring bells, they swing from the chandeliers. It is a great time of unrestrained joy before God over a lost one that is returned.

What a revelation of the heart of God this is! How God longs to see those who are lost recovered, whether they have wandered away, or whether they are lost at home where it had seemed that they had been in a place of safety. Yet all of us know of instance after instance of those who have been raised in Christian homes, but who have been lost all the time.

God help us to face this with the realism of the whole picture of our Lord's parable, that we might stop and take the STEPS that are necessary to find these that are lost at home, before it is too late.

9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and

neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I

have found my lost coin.’

GILL, "And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends,.... See Gill on Luk_15:6 a parable somewhat like to this, the Jews (x) have on those words in Pro_2:4

"If thou seekest her as silver", &c.

"it is like to a man that has lost a "shekel", (a piece of money,) or beryl rings, within his house; he lights up many lamps and many candles, until he lights on them; and lo, these things much more: for if a man for the things of the temporary life of this world, lights many lamps and candles, until he lights upon them and finds them; the words of the law, since they are the life of this world, and the life of the world to come, shouldest thou not search after them as for hidden treasure?''

PULPIT, "Luk_15:9, Luk_15:10

And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together,

saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say

unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that

repenteth. Again, as in the parable of the lost sheep, we find this longing for

sympathy; again the finding of this sympathy in heavenly places, among heavenly

beings, is especially recorded. There is a slight difference in the language of

rejoicing here. In the first parable it was, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my

sheep which was lost;" here, "...for I have found the piece which I had lost." In the

first it was the anguish of the sheep which was the central point of the story; in the

second it was the distress of the woman who had lost something; hence this

difference in the wording. "What grandeur belongs to the picture of this humble

rejoicing which this poor woman celebrates with her neighbours, when it becomes

the transparency through which we get a glimpse of God himself, rejoicing with his

elect and his angels over the salvation of a SI�GLE sinner!" (Godet).

WILLIAM ARNOT, "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? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."--LUKE xv. 8-10.

The three parables of this group, as has been already intimated, do notconstitute a simple consecutive series of first, second, and third: thegroup consists of two parts, and the first part contains two parables.The saving of the lost is represented in the first division as it isseen from God's side, and in the second as it is seen from man's. In thefirst, the Saviour appears seeking, finding, and bearing back the lost;in the second, the lost appears reflecting, repenting, resolving, andreturning to the Father.

The two parables which constitute the first division are genericallycoincident, but specifically distinct. Both represent the side on whichthe sinner is passive in the matter of his own salvation, and theparable of the prodigal alone represents the aspect in which he isspontaneously active; but while the first two agree in their mainfeature, they differ in subordinate details. The second goes partly overthe same ground that has already been traversed by the first, andpartly takes a new and independent track of its own.[80]

[80] Recognising in the lost coin mainly a repetition of the same lesson which the lost sheep contained, but justly anticipating from the mere fact of a repetition, that the second will present some features which were not contained in the first, Dr. Trench finds the expected difference in this,--that "if the shepherd in the last parable was Christ, the woman in this may, perhaps, be the Church." After suggesting as an alternative that the woman may represent the Holy Spirit, he remarks that these two are in effect substantially identical, and finally rests in the conclusion that it is "the Church because and in so far as it is dwelt in by the Spirit, which appears as the woman seeking her lost." This able expositor speaks with evident hesitation when he represents the Church as the seeker here; and accordingly we find him with a happy inconsistency affirming in a subsequent paragraph that "as the woman, having lost her drachm, will light a candle and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it, even so the Lord, through the ministrations of his Church, gives diligence to recover the lost sinner," &c. I am willing to accept the phraseology of this sentence, but it is obviously at variance with the view which he had previously presented, and to which he recurs in the close, that in this parable it is the Church which seeks the lost, while in the preceding parable it is the Saviour. Further, if he maintain that the woman seeking the lost coin represents the Lord seeking sinners through the ministrations of the Church, he must also maintain that the shepherd seeking the lost sheep represents the Lord seeking sinners through the ministrations of the Church. If the Lord himself is in both cases equally the seeker, there is no reason in the text of Scripture, and Dr. Trench suggests none from any other quarter, why he should be represented as seeking through the ministrations of the Church in one case and not in the other. The letter of the word and the nature of the case peremptorily demand that the qualification regarding the instrumentality of the Church should be attached to both or to neither. In either case it remains that, in respect to the person who seeks the lost, these two parables teach precisely the same lesson.

The house in which the coin is lost means, according to Dr. Trench, the visible Church: the result is that the Church (invisible)

searches in the Church (visible) for sinners that have been lost there, and restores them when found to the Church, but whether the visible or invisible I cannot discover. The Church then calls upon the angels to rejoice with her over the recovery of the lost. This exposition seems confused and inconsistent; and it is a dim mysterious conception of "the Church" that constitutes the disturbing element.

From the similarity of structure and the studied identity of expressionin the two cases, I gather surely that the persons who seek and findthe lost in those two parables both represent the same Seeker of lostmen, the Lord Jesus Christ. On any other supposition, I cannot find aspot on which the foundation of a satisfactory exegesis can be laid. Theintroduction of the second parable by the particle either ([Greek: e])in the eighth verse, prepares us to expect, not another subject, butanother illustration of the same subject; whereas, when the Prodigal Sonis introduced in the eleventh verse, the connecting link distinctlyindicates a change of theme.[81]

[81] Nor do I see any force in the minute criticism by which Dr. Trench endeavours to make out that while the sheep were the shepherd's property, the money did not belong to the woman. He says, "I have found my sheep which was lost;" while she says, "I have found the piece which I had lost;" but these are nothing more than varieties of expression. The absolute identity of the terms in which the two cases are introduced, proves that these seemly and slight variations of phraseology at the close, do not indicate a substantial difference. "What man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them?" and "What woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece?"--these questions, so carefully and completely parallel, conclusively show that, after making allowance for the necessary difference in the nature of the subjects, the two cases, in relation to possession, loss, and finding, are precisely the same.

Assuming from the fact of its repetition that some feature or featuresof the lesson must be contained in the second picture which the firstwas not fitted to display; and finding in the possessors, with theirmisfortune, their success and their joy, no difference, but on thecontrary, a studied balanced parallelism, I look for the distinction inthe nature of the property which, in the two cases respectively, waslost and found. The sheep is an animated being, with desires, andappetites, and habits, and locomotive powers; when it is lost, it islost in virtue of its own will and activity. The silver coin, on theother hand, is a piece of inanimate matter; and when it is lost, it islost through its own gravity and inertia. When support fails, it fallsto the ground. Here lies an inherent and essential difference between

the two cases. It is through this opening mainly that light comes to meregarding the specific difference between the lessons which these twocognate parables respectively convey. The inquiry at present concernsthis difference only, for the doctrine which is taught in common by bothis abundantly obvious. While in both examples alike the property is lostand found again, the manner of the loss and the finding corresponds ineach case to the nature of the subject. In the case of the livingcreature, the loss is sustained through its spontaneous wandering; inthe case of the inanimate silver, the loss is sustained through itsinherent inertia. The one strays in the exercise of its own will, andthe other sinks in obedience to the laws of matter; the method of searchvaries accordingly.

Both parables alike represent the sinner lost and the Saviour findinghim; but in the one case the loss appears due to the positive activityof an evil will, and in the other to the passive law of gravitation. Notthat, in the spiritual sphere, one sinner departs from God by anexercise of his corrupt will, and another is drawn away by the operationof an irresistible law; it is one transaction represented successivelyon two sides. The representations are different, but both are true. Inthe fallen, sin is both active and passive. The sinful select their owncourse and go astray in the exercise of a self-determining power; theyalso gravitate to evil in virtue of an inborn corruption, which actslike a law in their members. In connection with these two sides orfeatures of sin, the two doctrines opposite and yet not contrary, thesovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, meet and embrace eachother in the work of redemption. To the disease of sin in both itsphases,--as an active choice and an innate tendency,--the divinephysician has prepared an antidote; He brings the wanderer home, andlifts the fallen up.

Compare once more the lost sheep and the lost coin: in both the sinfulare lost, and in both the Saviour saves; but there we see a spontaneouserror, and here the effect of inherited corruption. These, when kepttogether like the right and left sides of a living man, constitute, inthis matter, the whole truth: to tear them asunder is to kill both.

The number of the coins is appropriately fixed at ten, while the numberof sheep was a hundred. Ten sheep would not have required or repaid thecare of a shepherd; and a hundred pieces of silver would not, inordinary circumstances, have been at one time in the hands of a workingwoman. The difference of numbers is fully accounted for by the naturalcircumstances, and no benefit is obtained by squeezing from it adistinct spiritual signification. The numbers, I think, belong to theadjuncts of the material pictures, and they constitute only elements ofdisturbance when they are brought into the interpretation.

The lessons which some draw from the preciousness of the metal on theone hand, and the image of the king which it bears on the other,although attractive and useful in themselves, are not relevant here. Itis better to forego for the time even precious morsels of instruction,than to obtain them by doing violence to those exquisiteanalogies which the parables present.

WHEDON, "Jesus was the seeker not only of the Israelite publican, the sheep of the flock, who was stupid and wandering though conscious, but he sought the sinner, the heathen, perhaps, who was self-forgotten and unconscious. Both these classes he, no doubt, found here by the shores of the Jordan. The former belonged to his domestic, the latter to his foreign, mission. To this last class Luke himself may have belonged; hence he alone, of the Evangelists, gives this parable.

Verse 99. Her friends and her neighbours—Here the Church is perhaps a Church; we have a picture of the union of the various sections into which the universal Church must of necessity be divided; and it is a common rejoicing over the conversion of sinners and the triumphs of the cross.

Rejoice with me—Just as these Scribes and Pharisees ought to have rejoiced with Jesus when stupid Jewish wanderers, or senseless Gentile outcasts, listened to his gospel and renounced their sins. This joy of the Church over the converted sinner is pictured forth by Jesus to show these DOCTORS of the Jewish Church that if they are of the true Church they will rejoice too.

Which I have lost—For the Church has lost every soul that is lost. Every soul is redeemed by Christ. Every soul is met as it enters probation with the saving power of the atonement, and is truly an heir of heaven. Every soul enters life a proper member of the Church; of which membership baptism is the true recognition. And if the soul be left unconscious, as a piece of metal, of its own worth, and become hard in sin, and buried in darkness and dust, with THE IMAGE, not of the blessed Redeemer, but of the gods of heathenism, which are but forms of the devil, it is the Church who lost them, and the Church who may rejoice when she has found that which she had lost.

10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in

the presence of the angels of God over one sinner

who repents.”

GILL, "Likewise I say unto you,.... As before, in Luk_15:7

there is joy in the presence of the angels of God; who are the friends and neighbours of Christ: See Gill on Luk_15:6,

over one sinner that repenteth; which they have knowledge of, either by immediate revelation from God, or by observation in the church where they attend: the reason of this joy is, because there is one rescued out of the hands of Satan and his angels, between whom and them, there is an implacable enmity; and because another subject is added to Christ's kingdom, and by which it is enlarged, the prosperity of which they greatly desire; and because another heir is born in that family, to which they belong, and they have another social worshipper with them: and this joy is said to be "in the presence of" them; and so may design the joy of others, as of Father, Son, and Spirit, which is in their sight and knowledge; and also the joy there is among themselves.

HE�RY, "The explication of these two parables is to the same purport (Luk_15:7, Luk_15:10): There is joy in heaven, joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth, as those publicans and sinners did, some of them at least (and, if but one of them did repent, Christ would reckon it worth his while), more than over a great number of just persons, who need no repentance. Observe,

(1.) The repentance and conversion of sinners on earth are matter of joy and rejoicing in heaven. It is possible that the greatest sinners may be brought to repentance. While there is life there is hope, and the worst are not to be despaired of; and the worst of sinners, if they repent and turn, shall find mercy. Yet this is not all, [1.] God will delightto show them mercy, will reckon their conversion a return for all the expense he has been at upon them. There is always joy in heaven. God rejoiceth in all his works, but particularly in the works of his grace. He rejoiceth to do good to penitent sinners, with his whole heart and his whole soul. He rejoiceth not only in the conversion of churches and nations, but even over one sinner that repenteth, though but one. [2.] The good angels will be glad that mercy is shown them, so far are they from repining at it, though those of their nature that sinned be left to perish, and no mercy shown to them; though those sinners that repent, that are so mean, and have been so vile, are, upon their repentance, to be taken into communion with them, and shortly to be made like them, and equal to them. The conversion of sinners is the joy of angels, and they gladly become ministering spirits to them for their good, upon their conversion. The redemption of mankind was matter of joy in the presence of the angels; for they sung, Glory to God in the highest, Luk_2:14.

(2.) There is more joy over one sinner that repenteth, and turneth to be religious from a course of life that had been notoriously vile and vicious, than there is over ninety-nine just persons, who need no repentance. [1.] More joy for the redemption and salvation of fallen man than for the preservation and confirmation of the angels that stand, and did indeed need no repentance. [2.] More joy for the conversion of the sinners of the Gentiles, and of those publicans that now heard Christ preach, than for all the praises and devotions, and all the God I thank thee, of the Pharisees, and the other self-justifying Jews, who though that they needed no repentance, and that therefore God should abundantly rejoice in them, and make his boast of them, as those that were most his honour; but Christ tells them that it was quite otherwise, that God was more praised in, and pleased with, the penitent broken heart of one of those despised, envied sinners, than all the long prayers which the scribes and Pharisees made, who could not see any thing amiss in themselves. Nay, [3.] More joy for the conversion of one such great sinner, such a Pharisee as Paul had been in his time, than for the regular conversion of one that had always conducted himself decently and well, and comparatively needs no

repentance, needs not such a universal change of the life as those great sinners need. Not but that it is best not to go astray; but the grace of God, both in the power and the pity of that grace, is more manifested in the reducing of great sinners than in the conducting of those that never went astray. And many times those that have been great sinners before their conversion prove more eminently and zealously good after, of which Paul is an instance, and therefore in him God was greatly glorified, Gal_1:24. They to whom much is forgiven will love much. It is spoken after the manner of men. We are moved with a more sensible joy for the recovery of what we had lost than for the continuance of what we had always enjoyed, for health out of sickness than for health without sickness. It is as life from the dead. A constant course of religion may in itself be more valuable, and yet a sudden return from an evil course and way of sin may yield a more surprising pleasure. Now if there is such joy in heaven, for the conversion of sinners, then the Pharisees were very much strangers to a heavenly spirit, who did all they could to hinder it and were grieved at it, and who were exasperated at Christ when he was doing a piece of work that was of all others most grateful to Heaven.

JAMISO�, "Likewise— on the same principle.

joy, etc.— Note carefully the language here - not “joy on the part,” but “joy in the presence of the angels of God.” True to the idea of the parables. The Great Shepherd. The Great Owner Himself, is He whose the joy properly is over His own recovered property;but so vast and exuberant is it (Zec_8:17), that as if He could not keep it to Himself, He “calleth His friends and neighbors together” - His whole celestial family - saying, “Rejoice WITH ME, for I have found My sheep-My-piece,” etc. In this sublime sense it is “joy,” before “or in the presence of the angels”; they only “catch the flying joy,” sharing it with Him! The application of this to the reception of those publicans and sinners that stood around our Lord is grand in the extreme: “Ye turn from these lost ones with disdain, and because I do not the same, ye murmur at it: but a very different feeling is cherished in heaven. There, the recovery of even one such outcast is watched with interest and hailed with joy; nor are they left to come home of themselves or perish; for lo! even now the great Shepherd is going after His lost sheep, and the Owner is making diligent search for the lost property; and He is finding it, too, and bringing it back with joy, and all heaven is full of it.” (Let the reader mark what sublime claims Himself our Lord covertly puts in here - as if in Him they beheld, all unknown to themselves, nothing less than heaven in the habiliments of earth, the Great Shepherd above, clothed in a garment of flesh, come “to seek and to save that which was lost”)!

CALVI�, "Luk_15:10.There will be joy in the presence of the angels. If angels mutually rejoice with each other in heaven, when they see that what had wandered is restored to the fold, we too, who have the same cause in common with them, ought to be partakers of the same joy But. how does he say that the repentance of one ungodly man yields greater joy than the perseverance of many righteous men to angels, whose highest delight is in a CONTINUED and uninterrupted course of righteousness ? I reply, though it would be more agreeable to the wishes of angels (as it is also more desirable) that men should always remain in perfect integrity, yet as in the deliverance of a sinner, who had been already devoted to destruction, and had been cut off as a rotten member from the body, the mercy of God shines more brightly, he attributes to angels, after the manner of men, a greater joy arising out of an unexpected good.

Over one repenting sinner. The word repentance is specially limited to the conversion of those who, having altogether turned aside from God, rise as it were from death to life; for otherwise the exercise of repentance ought to be uninterrupted throughout our whole life, (511) and no man is exempted from this necessity, since every one is reminded by his imperfections that he ought to aim at daily progress. But it is one thing, when a man, who has already ENTERED upon the right course, though he stumble, or fall, or even go astray, endeavors to reach the goal; and another thing, when a man leaves a road which was entirely wrong, or only starts in the right course. (512) Those who have already begun to regulate their life by the standard of the divine law, do not need that kind of repentance which consists in BEGINNING to lead a holy and pious life, though they must groan (513) under the infirmities of the flesh, and labor to correct them.

(511) “Tant que nous sommes en ce monde;” — “ long as we are in this world.”

(512) “Quand celuy qui estoit du tout esgare tourne bride pour commencer a bien faire;” — “ he who had altogether gone astray turns round TO BEGIN to do well.”

(513) “Combien qu’ soit tousiours necessaire de gemir;” — “ it be necessary for them always to groan.”

PULPIT,"Luk_15:10

The joy of the angels.

Our first thought may be—What do the angels know about us? But our second thought should be—How likely it is that the angels would be deeply interested in us! For, granted that there are "heavenly hosts" who are in supreme sympathy with God, and who are therefore careful to watch the workings of his holy will in the broad realm he rules, what is there more likely than that they would be profoundly interested in the recovery of a lost world, in the restoration of a rebellious and ruined race? We could well believe that it would be the study of the angelic world, the practical problem that would engage their most earnest thought, if it did not occupy their most active labours. And this being so, we can understand the greatness of their joy "over one sinner that repenteth." For—

I. THEY KNOW, BETTER THAN WE, THE STERN CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. Not, indeed, by experience. Experience is not the only teacher, and it does not at all necessarily follow that one who has had some experience of a course of conduct knows more about it than another who has had no experience at all; otherwise we should be driven to the absurd conclusion that guilty man knows more about sin than God does. Many of the inexperienced are a great deal wiser than many who have had "part and lot in the matter," because those learn from all they witness, and these do not learn from anything they do and suffer. The "angels of God" witness the commission and also the fruits of sin they see what lengths and depths of wrong and wretchedness it brings about from year to year, from age to age; they see what evil it works within and without, in the sinner himself and on all with whom he has to do. As they live on through the centuries, and as they learn Divine wisdom from all that they behold in the universe of God, they must acquire a

hatred of sin and a pity for sinners which is beyond our own emotion and which passes our reckoning. How great, then, their joy when they witness the emancipation of one human soul from spiritual bondage, the birth of a spirit into the life eternal!

II. THEY KNOW, BETTER THAN WE, THE BLESSED FRUITS OF OBEDIENCE. Here they have their own angelic experience to guide and to enlighten them. With added years of loyalty to the King of heaven; with the spiritual enlargement which (we can well believe) comes with a holy and stainless life, they rejoice in God and in his service with ever-deepening delight; their heritage becomes ampler, their prospects brighter, as the celestial periods pass away; and when they think what it means for one holy intelligence to be filled with the fulness of Divine life and of heavenly blessedness, we can comprehend that they would rejoice "over one sinner that repenteth."

III. THEY ARE DEEPLY INTERESTED IN THE PROGRESS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and they know, better than we, how limitless is the influence one soul may exercise.

1. Because they earnestly, supremely desire the honour of God, the glory of Christ on the earth, they rejoice that one more spirit is brought into loyal subjection to his rule.

2. Because they desire that everything may be put under his feet, they rejoice that all that one man can do—which means more in their measurement than it means in ours—will he done to further his cause and exalt his Name.—C.

CHARLES SIMEO�, "A�GELS REJOICE OVER PE�ITE�TS

Luk_15:10. I say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one

sinner that repenteth.

HOWEVER paradoxical the observation may appear, man is really an enemy to his

own happiness. He loves sin, which is the source of all misery: and hates repentance,

which is the only remedy for that misery. He cannot persuade himself that that

which he professes to seek after, is to be found in penitence and self-denial. But, had

we no other proof of the blessedness which ATTACHES to true repentance, it were

sufficient to know, upon the authority of Jesus Christ himself, that the very angels

in heaven rejoice over any sinner in whom this good work is begun.

We will take occasion from our text to shew you,

I. What is that repentance which causes joy in heaven—

It is not every kind or degree of repentance that produces this effect: none but that

which is effectual to the sinner’s salvation, will excite these benevolent emotions in

the breasts of angels. It consists in,

1. Sorrow for sin—

[This is absolutely necessary. If sin be not our burthen and grief, we have not the

smallest spark of true repentance. There is a great difference indeed between the

sorrow of the world, and that which is caused by a sense of sin. But in this there

must be an agreement, that sin must lie as a heavy burthen upon the soul; and

under a sense of it we must experience brokenness of heart and contrition: for it is

“the broken and contrite heart, and that only, which God will not despise.”]

2. Hatred of sin—

[Many will be sorry that they have brought themselves to shame and trouble, when

they have no aversion to the sins which they have committed. Many also will hate sin

in others, when they do not hate it in themselves. When David, for instance, was

totally unhumbled for his own enormous wickedness, he was so indignant against

the man who was supposed to have taken the poor man’s lamb, that he would have

had him put to death for his offence. And Jehu was extremely zealous against the

idolatry of Ahab, while yet he was very indulgent to his own crimes. But if we are

truly penitent, we shall hate our own sins more than any; and shall be disposed to

seek their utter destruction, even though they be dear as a right hand, or a right eye.

It will teach us to say with David, “I hate every false way.”]

3. A lothing of oneself on ACCOU�T of sin—

[Sin is a disorder that defiles and debases the whole soul. That is no exaggerated

description of the prophet, who says of us, that “from the sole of the foot even to the

head, there is no soundness in us, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.”

�ow we may conceive in a measure, what lothing we should feel if we saw a person

full of sores and ULCERS: and such is the disgust which a view of our own souls

should create within us. This is repeatedly mentioned as the experience of the Lord’s

people, even after that God is pacified towards them [�ote: Eze_20:43; Eze_16:63.]:

and every one who really knows himself, will exclaim with Job, “Behold, I am vile, I

repent, and abhor myself in dust and ashes [�ote: Job_40:4; Job_42:6.].”]

4. A fleeing to Christ from the guilt and power of sin—

[As long as we retain a hope of healing our own souls, we have not that “repentance

which is unto life:” we evidently have low thoughts of sin, both of its guilt and

power. We must be brought to an utter despair of washing away our sin by our

tears, or of breaking its force by our resolutions. We must see that there is no hope

for us but in the atoning blood of Christ, and in his all-sufficient grace: and we must

rely simply on him, saying, “In the Lord have I righteousness and strength [�ote:

Isa_45:24.].”]

The importance of this to man is obvious: but it is not so clear,

II. Why the angels take so deep an interest in it—

Whether the spirits of departed men have any knowledge of what passes in this

world, may well be doubted: but it is certain that the angels are intimately

connected with mankind, and take a lively interest in the things relating to them.

They view the return of a penitent with peculiar delight;

1. Because it tends so greatly to the benefit of man—

[The angels cannot but be apprised of the misery into which the once happy, but

now apostate, spirits are fallen: and they know that a participation of that misery is

reserved for impenitent sinners. Whether they feel any pity towards a sinner in the

midst of his rebellion, we cannot say: but we apprehend, that they rather look upon

him with holy indignation, and stand ready to execute any judgment that God may

see fit to inflict upon him [�ote: Act_12:23.]. But their benevolent hearts rejoice, if

they see any one fleeing from the impending judgments, and setting his face in good

earnest towards the heavenly kingdom. They congratulate him in their minds, and

exult in the thought of having him to all eternity a partner of their joys.]

2. Because it opens fresh scope for the exercise of their own love—

[It is essential to benevolence to delight in opportunities of exerting itself for the

benefit of the objects beloved. �ow, as soon as ever a sinner repents and becomes an

“heir of salvation, angels are sent forth to minister unto him.” “They encamp round

about him” for the purpose. If they behold him turning out of the path of duty, as

Balaam; or lingering in a place of danger, as Lot; or in any respect likely to “dash

his foot against a stone;” they will lend him their friendly aid in such a way as shall

tend most to his eternal welfare. How they act upon us, we are not told: but of their

agency there can be no doubt. It is highly probable that they are busily

EMPLOYED in counteracting the devices of those wicked spirits, who are ever

seeking to destroy us. In a dying hour, we are sure they encompass the bed of a true

penitent, and watch for the dismission of his spirit from its house of clay, in order

that they may bear it in triumph to the realms of bliss. �or are their labours of love

then terminated: for in the day of judgment they will gather together the saints

wheresoever they were scattered, in order to present them before the throne of their

Judge, and expedite the final completion of their happiness. These offices being so

congenial with their own feelings, they rejoice in every thing that affords them an

opportunity to perform them.]

3. Because it brings the highest glory to God—

[The contemplation of the Divine glory is doubtless the highest source of their

felicity. �ow in the return of a penitent sinner they behold all the persons of the

Godhead shining forth in the brightest splendour. They behold all the wisdom and

power and grace of the Father glorified, whenever his eternal counsels respecting

the salvation of a soul are accomplished. They behold the infinite virtue of the Son’s

atonement, whenever the iniquities of a repenting prodigal are blotted out. They

behold the wonderful “love of the Holy Spirit, and the invincible efficacy of his

operations, when a creature, once bearing the impress of Satan himself, is

transformed into THE IMAGE of his God. When they had first a clear prospect of

these things at the incarnation of our Lord, they sang, “Glory to God in the

highest;” and every fresh manifestation of this mercy has filled them with additional

and increasing joy.]

Address—

1. To the impenitent—

[Think what painful reflections your state suggests to those benevolent spirits;

‘There are those infatuated people, laden with sins; on the brink of eternity;

followed with overtures of mercy; assured that if they die in their present state they

must perish for ever; and yet CO�TI�UI�G impenitent! What a miracle of mercy

it is that God does not instantly cut them down, and assign them the portion they

deserve!’ Think too how the evil angels are exulting over you; ‘There they are; we

have them fast in our chains; we shall soon have them as partners of our misery;

then how shall we triumph over our God! Yes; the Father’s counsels with respect to

them will all be frustrated; the blood of Christ will have been shed in vain; the

Spirit’s operations will have been successfully resisted: though we shall be in hell

ourselves, we will enjoy our triumphs even there; for we shall have robbed man of

his happiness, and God of his glory.’ O brethren, consider whether ye are willing to

afford such a triumph to your bitterest enemy: and beg of Jesus, who is “exalted to

give repentance and remission of sins,” that he will bestow these blessings upon

you.]

2. To the penitent—

[Let others deride or condemn your change, we will congratulate you upon it [�ote:

Psa_126:3.]. The angels would feel no joy at your acquiring a large estate: �o; “if a

beggar were elevated from a dunghill to a throne,” they would not account it worth

one single thought. But if the poorest or vilest person in the universe repent, it fills

them with unfeigned joy. They have not so much joy in the very presence of God,

but it is capable of being augmented by such a sight as this. �or is it a day of

Pentecost alone that attracts their attention. Even a solitary instance of conversion is

sufficient to exhilarate their souls. Go on then, my brethren, sowing in tears; and

you shall ere long, in conjunction with the holy angels, reap a harvest of eternal joy.]

LANGE, "Luk_15:10. Likewise … there is joy, ãßíåôáé .—Here the Saviour speaks not comparatively, but absolutely; not only in general of joy in Heaven, but ἐíþðéïí ôῶí ἀãã . ô . È . It is, however, not entirely correct, if this word is used as a direct proof of the opinion that the angels rejoice over the conversion of a sinner, for the Saviour is not speaking directly of the gaudium angelorum, but coram angelis. As the Shepherd and the Woman rejoiced before and with their friends, so does God rejoice before the eyes of the angels over the conversion of the sinner; but as the friends and neighbors rejoice with the Woman and the Shepherd, so can we also conceive the angels as taking part in this Divine joy. But if it is God, in the whole fulness of His being, who is represented, it is then inadmissible to understand it exclusively, either of the Holy Ghost (Stier, Bengel), or of the Church of the Lord (Luther, Lisco). The APPLICABILITY of the parable to both is

willingly acknowleged by us, but that the Saviour’s intention was here to refer to the munus, either of the spiritus sancti, or of the ecclesiœ, peccatores quœrentis, can hardly be proved. Equally rash does it appear when Bengel, in the friends and neighbors of the Shepherd and of the Woman, finds an intimation of the different ranks and classes of the angels, vel domi, vel foris agentes.

JAMES �ISBET, "THE DOCTRI�E OF SI�

‘I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that

repenteth.’

Luk_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 goodness, that sin is the whetstone on

which the axe of goodness is ground. Doubtless there is truth in this view, though

not the whole truth. Almighty God is seated above the water floods, be the earth

never so unquiet. He is always bringing the good out of the evil. God, we must

believe, always overrules the ERRORS, and sins, and mistakes of mankind for good.

We can never, however, take that view of sin as a whole, because we look at the

Cross of Jesus. When we look at the Cross of Jesus Christ, we see that sin is the

hateful and appalling antithesis of all goodness, not merely the necessary factor of

its evolution.

II. There is in human life no more instructive study than of the education of the

human race in the idea of sin.—It is there of course in the natural man; you will find

it amongst the heathen. Then you turn to that wonderful nation, the elect people of

God, which was entrusted with the supreme duty of preserving the religious idea for

the rest of mankind. You will find accordingly, when you study the Old Testament,

an extraordinary deepening in the whole idea of sin, but especially a deepening in

the sense of its gravity. Then we turn to the Christian revelation. The Christian

revelation gathers up within it all that is true of the Jewish revelation, with these

added points of gravity. In Christ is revealed the model life, and the revelation of the

model life reveals the gravity of sin, and in Christ upon the Cross is revealed the

appalling nature of sin; for if the Cross is the measure of the love of God, the Cross

is no less the measure of the sinfulness of sin. So we see it all gathered up into the

Sinless Sufferer, into the ideal Penitent, into the broken heart of Jesus, as He uttered

that cry, as the expression of what sin really is, in the eyes of the All Holy God: ‘My

God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me.’ And this EDUCATIO� in the gravity of

the idea of sin goes on still. God is always EDUCATI�G His children individually in

the idea of sin, and I mention this because some people are unnecessarily distressed

because, as they seem to progress in the spiritual life, they also seem to be more and

more conscious of sin. It is obvious that it must be so.

III. Let us turn to the great divisions of sin.—There are, as you know, two great

divisions: there is racial sin, or, as theologians call it, original sin: and there is actual

sin.

(a) There is racial sin.—Do we not all know that very often the citadel is betrayed

before ever the assault from outside has taken place? Do we not all know that there

is no need to struggle to be evil? Let yourself go. Strive no longer. Let the stream

carry you down, and you will easily fall into the abyss. Do we not know that the very

word ‘virtue’ expresses it; that if we are to persist, it means a hard battle right to

the end, lest we be swept off our feet as the stream rushes by. There is a tendency to

sin within. There is racial sin.

(b) There is actual sin—that appalling revelation of the evil we actually commit. Sin

against God, sin against man, sin against ourselves, sins of omission, sins of

commission. Sins when we turn within the innermost shrine of our being, and there

is the awful unveiling of the sins of thought, and of what we might be but for the

grace of God

IV. The penalty of sin.—I am absolutely convinced, after twenty-five years’ ministry

to those who have been burdened with the weight of their sin, and indeed from one’s

own inner experience of sin, that sin carries with it its own nemesis. I do not mean

that nemesis always overtakes the sinner in this life; but it does so, so frequently,

that we may infer that, sooner or later, either here or hereafter, it will do so. The

nemesis is in the sin.

V. One point of practical APPLICATIO�.—Inasmuch as sin can only be cured by

its discovery, there is no duty more incumbent upon all God’s people than the duty

of careful self-examination.

Rev. G. F. Holden.

Illustration

‘When we hear St. Paul say, “I am the chief of sinners,” we BEGI� to wonder what

can be our own position, and we also begin to wonder whether the great Apostle is

not using hyperbolical language. �ot at all. St. Paul is expressing exactly what he

meant and felt. He had drawn so near to the ideal standard of our Lord Himself that

his whole sense of sin had become deepened. So also we get sometimes in the phrases

of God’s servants remarks about sin which sound almost unreal, if not revolting. If

ever there was a saint of God; if ever there was one man on whom the Cross was

laid all through his life; if ever there was one whose whole heart and mind and soul

were dedicated to Almighty God, it was surely Dr. Pusey; and yet we find him

saying this: “I am scarred and seamed all over with sin, so that I am a monster unto

myself. I can feel only of myself like one covered with leprosy from head to foot.”

What is the real meaning of such language as this? It is just this: that as we progress

in holiness, as we draw nearer to God, so our whole standard is altered, and we

begin to see the truth about sin.’

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Joy in the presence of the angels of God

Joy among the angels over repenting sinners

I.

THE CLASS REPRESE�TED AS BEI�G SPECIALLY EXCITED BY THE

EMOTIO� OF JOY OVER A SI��ER’S REPE�TA�CE. “The angels of God”--

uncorporeal, immaculately holy, composed of various orders, active messengers of

God to men.

II. Why do the angels rejoice when a sinner repents?

1. Because true repentance culminates in that holiness of heart and life which is the

chief glory of the angels.

2. Because the moral character of a sinner’s influence is for ever changed by his

conversion.

3. By repentance and conversion a sinner escapes eternal retribution for his sins,

and SECURES moral fitness for eternal life.

III. WHAT LESSO�S DO WE LEAR� FROM THESE FACTS?

1. That we manifest the spirit of the angelic race when we labour to lead sinners to

Christ and rejoice over their conversion.

2. That the preaching with which the angels sympathize is of that type best

calculated to bring sinners to repentance.

3. The appalling peril of a sinner over whose repentance no angels have rejoiced. Sin

has but one logical issue--eternal death. Give the angels a chance to rejoice to-day

over your repentance. (S. V. Leach, D. D.)

Heaven’s joy over the repenting sinner

I. The truth here declared.

1. The joy mentioned is special.

2. The joy is shared, originated by God Himself.

II. THE CAUSE OF THE A�GELIC JOY.

1. A sinner.

2. �ot the sinner while engaged in sin.

3. One sinner that repenteth.

4. Repentance stands before us here showing plainly two sides.

(1) Produced by the grace of God.

(2) A deliberate act on the part of the sinner. It is the confluence of these two

streams that issues in true repentance.

III. WHY SUCH GLAD�ESS SHOULD BE SHOW�.

1. When a sinner repents, God’s purpose is effected.

2. Christ’s kingdom is E�LARGED.

3. A soul is saved.

Conclusion:

1. Behold the value of a single soul.

2. Observe the necessity of repentance. (W. S. Bruce, M. A.)

Angels and men

I. THE �ATURE A�D CHARACTERISTICS OF A�GELS. Spiritual beings of

high dignity and capacities.

1. Their might. They excel in strength. The army of God.

2. Their power. Great mental endowments.

3. Their purity.

II. THEIR JOY AT THE RECOVERY A�D CO�VERSIO� OF SI��ERS.

1. It proceeds from their superior knowledge of what man’s place in the intelligent

universe is: his Divine origin, and sublime destiny.

2. The conversion of a sinner brings joy to the angelic hosts, because thereby their

liege Lord is honoured, His name exalted, His grace magnified, His rule

acknowledged, and His word found not to have returned to Him void.

3. Their happiness is to see happiness, and conversion is the first step to a sinner’s

happiness.

III. THE DUTY DEVOLVI�G UPO� OURSELVES, TO DO THAT WHICH

MAY AUGME�T BOTH THEIR JOY A�D OURS. We must engage in good

works, and endeavour, each in his own vocation and ministry, to lead sinners to

repentance. (D. Moore, M. A.)

Angels joyful over the repentance of a sinner

I. VIEW THE SCE�E O� EARTH WHICH THE TEXT SPREADS BEFORE US.

What is its nature? To the carnal eye it presents nothing that is attractive or worthy

of regard. It opens to our view, not an individual in a state of hilarity and mirth,

indulging himself in sensual delights; but a poor weary, heavy-laden sinner,

repenting of his transgressions.

1. Repentance includes brokenness of heart.

2. Self-abhorrence enters into the spirit of true repentance.

3. Godly sorrow for sin is an essential ingredient of evangelical repentance.

4. The spirit of prayer is always associated with repentance.

5. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is connected with scriptural repentance.

II. LET US GLA�CE AT THE HEAVE�LY SCE�E.

1. Angels are benevolent beings; partaking largely of the moral qualities of the

Deity, of the beneficence and compassion of His nature, they feel interested and

delighted in whatever promotes the welfare and happiness of God’s intelligent

creatures.

2. Angels are joyful at the repentance of a sinner, because a splendid victory is

achieved.

3. Angels are joyful at the event, because an immortal being is saved.

4. There is joy among the angels at this occurrence, because God is glorified in it--

each person in the Trinity. (Essex Remembrancer.)

Angels rejoice over repenting sinners

I would employ this subject in order--

I. TO REMI�D CHRISTIA� BELIEVERS OF CERTAI� DUTIES WHICH

THEY OWE. We learn, then, from the words before us, that the repentance of

sinners is, to these holy beings, an occasion of rejoicing; and this may be supposed to

arise, in the first place, from the reverence and love which they indulge for the

character and authority of God. In a kingdom where the sovereign, ruling in equity

and in mercy, dwells generally in the affections of his loyal subjects, when rebellion

and treason lay down their arms and sue for mercy, the circumstance is surely

hailed by every loyal subject as a matter of sincere rejoicing.

2. The joy indulged by angels over the repentance of a sinner, may be considered as

arising, secondly, from that spirit of benevolence, that love to human nature, which

forms, of course, one principal feature in their character, as it is an attribute of that

God, whom, in this respect as well as in others, they must be considered to resemble.

They, therefore, rejoice over the repentance of a sinner, because it is the beginning

of his own salvation, and also, because it is the beginning of blessedness which is

likely to extend, in a greater or less degree, to all around him.

3. The joy indulged by angels over the repentance of a sinner may be considered as

arising, thirdly, from the interest they take in the spread of the Redeemer’s

kingdom.

4. Another reason, probably, which has sometimes been referred to, why angels

rejoice over the repentance of a sinner is, that they may have been instrumental,

though in a way unknown to us, in bringing that sinner to repentance. For it has

been said, there is nothing extravagant in supposing that He who so frequently

employs, in the salvation of the souls of men, the instrumentality of human agents,

should sometimes employ, though in a way unknown by us, the instrumentality of

angels; and if so, we find in this circumstance another reason why angels indulge the

joy referred to in the text, over the repentance of a sinner.

II. That while these words supply admonition and instruction to Christian believers,

they ARE ALSO DESIG�ED A�D FITTED TO SUPPLY E�COURAGEME�T

TO PE�ITE�TS.

III. BY WAY OF ADMO�ITIO� A�D REPROOF, TO ADDRESS A WORD OR

TWO TO THE IMPE�ITE�T A�D U�CO�VERTED. First of all observe what a

contrast there is between the joy that angels express on the repentance of a sinner

and your unconcern about your own repentance. Once more I would observe, still

addressing myself to persons of the same description, if, according to the declaration

of my text, there be “joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that

repenteth,” then may we not suppose that, if there be such a thing as joy in hell,

there is joy there over every one that goeth on in his iniquity? (J. Crowther.)

The joy of heaven over a repentant sinner

I. In the first place, ATTE�D TO THE EVE�T ITSELF THUS EXPRESSED--“a

sinner that repenteth.” In the first part of this statement we are all included, being

all sinners. From the second part we may be excluded, for we may not be all

penitents. There are also stupid unconcerned sinners, who look no farther than the

body. There are light-minded, careless sinners, whom sorrow never CLOUDS, to

whom pleasure in every form is welcome, and into whose hearts no serious thought

ever enters. And there are worldly-minded sinners, who have no time, no

inclination, and no leisure, for religion. There are also procrastinating sinners, who

admit the necessity, but delay the duty, of repentance. �ay, there are even, in some

measure, convinced and awakened sinners, whose convictions have not terminated

in conversion. Like Cain, they complain, and they wander, and they reckon

somehow, that God is hard, and that they are suffering more than they can bear.

Like Esau, they weep, but it is for an earthly portion, and because they succeed not

according to what they reckon due to their talents, their skill, or their industry. Or,

like Ahab, they may clothe themselves in sackcloth, and sit in ashes, and walk

steadily for a season, but still their hearts are not right with God. The repentance

supposed is not a seeming but a real repentance, and is in complete harmony with

the law and the gospel. The law is honoured by the terror which it produces: the

gospel is honoured by the peace which it maintains. God is obeyed, and the penitent

himself praises God, and says, He hath delivered mine eyes from tears, my feet from

falling, and my soul from hell.

II. Let us proceed now, then, to meditate on THE JOYFUL�ESS OF THE EVE�T

ME�TIO�ED I� THE TEXT. “There is joy,” says our Lord, “in the presence of

the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Think, then, in the first place, of

the high character, of the high rank of the order of beings now spoken of as

rejoicing--Angels, who occupy a higher place in the scale of creation than men.

2. In the second place, we may consider the intensity, the universality of the feeling

that is produced. It might be true to say of the angels in heaven, that they rejoice,

though the joy was but slight or transient, although it pervaded only a part of the

heavenly host. The idea, however, conveyed to us here is the idea, not of a slight or

of a transient, but of a deep and of a permanent impression, and it is the idea,

moreover, not of joy only among a few, but of joy among all, of but one feeling and

one expression of feeling, through all the innumerable company of angels.

3. Again we may think, in the third place, of the season at which such joy is stated as

commencing, not when the sinner enters heaven, not when his repentance issues in

eternal life.

4. I have only to state in the last place that each case of conversion is supposed here

to be of sufficient magnitude to produce this joy. There is joy in the presence of the

angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. �umbers are not necessary in order to

convey to us the idea of value or importance. �o doubt there was great joy on the

day of Pentecost; and when thousands were converted, no doubt there was great joy

afterwards, when 5,000 were added to the Church; no doubt there was great joy

again, when a multitude of the priests and of the people believed; but still each

individual as marked in heaven’s book, may be considered as a fit occasion for

praising God, and as serving to minister to the delight of angels. Or we shall even

take it in another light--you may suppose that one soul converted may, in special

circumstances, or at particular seasons, or because of the individual character, be of

great importance, even as the conversion of Paul included within itself the

conversion of thousands--even as Paul was a chosen vessel, and took many from

darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. (J. Geddes, D. D.)

The birth of a soul a cause of joy

Let it admonish us to beware that we repine not at the bringing in of any into the

state of grace. Shall heaven smile and earth frown? Shall the angels be glad and we

sad? Shall we mock, scorn, deride, yea persecute our brethren for no other cause

but this; that they have made heaven merry by their repentance and turning?

Wretched creature, cursed caitiff, that dares thus do. Is there not joy in the whole

family upon the birth of a little infant? Is not the father glad that a child is born

unto him, the mother glad she is delivered, the servants glad that the family is

enlarged, the children glad that their number is increased? If any be discontented it

is some baseborn, an Ishmael--the son of the bondwoman not of the free. (�.

Rogers.)

Joy in heaven over repenting sinners

I. WHO REJOICE?

1. God the Father.

2. The Son of God.

3. The blessed angels.

II. WHY DO THEY REJOICE?

1. God the Father rejoices--

(1) Because His eternal purposes of grace, and His engagements to His Son, are then

fulfilled.

(2) Because bringing sinners to repentance is His own world.

(3) Because it affords Him an opportunity to exercise mercy, and show His love to

Christ by pardoning them for His sake.

(4) Because it gratifies Him to see them escape from the tyranny, and from the

consequences of sin.

2. The Son of God rejoices--

(1) Because He has given them their life.

(2) Because in repenting they begin to return His love, and acknowledge the wisdom

of His dispensations.

3. The angels rejoice--

(1) Because God rejoices.

(2) Because it is their disposition to rejoice in the happiness of others.

(3) Because God is glorified and His perfections are displayed in giving repentance

and remission of sins.

Inferences:

1. From this subject we infer the incalculable worth of the human soul.

2. From this subject we infer that the consequence of dying in an impenitent state

will be unspeakably dreadful.

3. From this subject we infer that all who repent will certainly persevere and be

saved. Suppose, for one moment, that such may fall and perish? Would God, would

Christ, would angels then rejoice to see sinners repent?

4. What an astonishing view does this subject give us of the benevolence of angels.

Though they are perfectly happy, and though our character and conduct must to

them appear inconceivably hateful, yet they forget themselves to think of us; they

forget their own happiness to rejoice in ours.

5. From this subject we may learn whether we are prepared for heaven. We

presume none will deny that preparation for heaven implies something of a heavenly

temper. If, then, we are thus prepared we have something of such a temper. Like the

angels, we are pleased with God’s sovereignty, and rejoice when sinners repent. We

desire and pray that the kingdom of God may come and His will be done on earth as

it is in heaven. (E. Payson, D. D.)

Joy of the angels

This assurance, coming from the lips of Jesus Himself, exhibits Christianity, both in

its spirit and in its grandeur.

I. THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIA�ITY. The fact which Jesus teaches hero is that

gladness and surprise, that joy and gratified affection, with which love welcomes at

last its alienated but unsurrendered objects. In one word, my friends, our Saviour,

in the passage before us, shows the identity of the great sentiment of love in heaven

and upon earth, in the depths of Divine love and in the heart of man. He appeals to

those affections which are most profoundly interwoven in our being. He exhibits the

spirit and power of the gospel as not above or foreign to the elements of our own

consciousness, but intimately allied to it. He based this appeal upon that which can

be demonstrated from the most familiar and common experience. But let me say

further, under this head, that by the light of this central love and compassion we

should interpret the different parts as well as the grand whole of the gospel. All the

sayings of Jesus Christ are to be interpreted in harmony with that spirit; we must

take the deep essence and substance of the gospel. We are to receive what grows out

of that--what most accords with its general sentiment. And I say what most accords

with the general sentiment of the gospel, with the deep spirit and substance of the

gospel, is this simple doctrine, that God cares for the sinner, for the vilest and most

abandoned sinner who is upon earth. In a mother’s heart there is a love that cannot

be altered and exhausted, and that will claim that abandoned sinner when he comes

back. So in the Infinite bosom, and in the bosoms of all heavenly beings, their exists

the same love; the spirit that sent Jesus Christ on earth is that spirit; the purpose of

Christ’s mission is to declare that spirit. That is the peculiarity of the gospel over

and above everything else. Precisely where man’s faith falls and man’s hope falters,

is it that the gospel becomes clear and strong.

II. THE GRA�DEUR OF CHRISTIA�ITY. CO�SIDER ITS GRA�DEUR AS

ILLUSTRATED in the announcement of Jesus. The declaration in the text reveals

two things--the nature of man and his spiritual relations. It exhibits man as a living

soul, and as a member of the great family of souls. It strips away all conventionality

from him. Christianity is primal democracy, lifted far above anything that either

pro or con bears that name in our day as a party distinction. It is the great doctrine

of man higher than his conditions, nobler than any material good. Why? Because he

is a living soul; because within him there are deathless powers; because he is allied

to God by a nature that no other being on this earth bears, and faculties that no

other creature on this footstool possesses. And this is the source of ‘its great

achievement in modern civilization. Subtile theorists ask what Christianity has done

for the progress of man. Christianity has thus sown the seeds of all progress, laid the

foundation of all truth in government, and of all righteousness in society. It has been

the master-key to all the grand efforts that man has made to be delivered from

bondage, from oppression, from social wrong. It is the soul of liberty; it is the

oriflamme that leads the hosts of humanity forward from effort to effort, to higher

and higher social attainments. This is what Christianity has contributed to

civilization and progress; it is the spring of all the, noble efforts of all time. In the

next place, it reveals the relations of man to the whole spiritual universe--his

relationship to all spiritual beings. Christianity is the complement of scientific truth

in the spiritual facts it reveals to us; and nothing is more grand than man’s relation

to spiritual beings--than the fact that the universe is filled up with blessed

intelligences. I do not need to see them, or hear them, to be convinced of this fact; I

know by surer sight than the eye, by more certain hearing than the ear, that they

exist; I know it by my vital consciousness of a God and of a heaven. And

Christianity interprets that fact. It shows man, poor, wretched, vile as he may be,

linked with these innumerable relations. And what else does it show? It shows

identity of nature in all spiritual things on earth and in heaven. Oh, if you could tear

all the Bible in strips, but leave this one saying of Christ, what mighty truth and

consolation there would be in it! “There is joy in heaven over one sinner that

repenteth.” How much that reveals to us--lets in upon us. Joy in heaven! Then there

are beings in heaven capable of joy, just like ourselves--beings in sympathy with us.

Joy in heaven! Oh, forlorn and wayward brother! you are despised of men, and

scorned, and perhaps feel that you ought to be; you have sinned vilely and grossly;

but do you know what you are? There might be joy not only in that earthly home

that nestles among the hills where your poor mother is praying for you to-day, but

also great joy in heaven. What a revelation of an identity of nature--of a celestial

sympathy! Moreover, there is not only sympathy, but there is solicitude there. God

is anxious for your return. (E. H. Chapin, D. D.)

Joy in heaven over a repentant sinner

I. THE OBJECT OVER WHICH A�GELS REJOICE.

1. A sinner. Vile, apostate, rebellious man.

2. A sinner in a particular state of mind. A sinner that repenteth. What is

repentance? It is a state of mind adapted to our condition: such a disposition as is

suited to our state. It is an affecting discovery of our situation, our wants, our

danger. It is a bewailing of our sad condition. With an almost broken heart the

sinner comes to the Saviour’s feet, crying, with emotions of heart never before felt,

with emotions which no language can fully express--“O save me, I have sinned, I

have sinned! O save me, or I perish!”

II. THE GROU�DS OF THIS STRA�GE JOY.

1. We may trace it to love. Love, when fixed on a right object, and exercised in a

right manner, is a source of happiness. It is so on earth; and love makes heaven

chiefly what it is as a world of joy.

2. Another ground of this joy of angels over a repenting sinner is their delight in the

Divine glory.

3. They behold in the repentance of a sinner the advancement of the great work of

grace, and receive in him a new pledge of its final accomplishment.

III. THE PROBABLE REASO�S FOR WHICH OUR LORD HAS MADE US

ACQUAI�TED WITH IT.

1. It was no doubt to vindicate His own conduct in calling and saving heinous

transgressors.

2. It shows us that there is something in repentance which is pleasing to God--that

there is something in repentance of an excellent character.

3. These things are recorded to comfort and encourage the broken heart. (C.

Bradley, M. A.)

Repenting sinners, a source of joy in heaven

I. In the first place, then, WE HAVE THE SPECTACLE WHICH IS HERE

PRESE�TED, A SI��ER REPE�TI�G. �ot the most noteworthy object, some of

the wise ones of this world would be tempted to say--not the most noteworthy object

earth could present to the eye of God. There are many fairer and brighter scenes

upon earth to attract the regard of her God and King. Man’s vagrant gaze is always

wandering hither and thither in search of some scene of interest, or some form of

beauty, on which for a moment it may rest; but who thinks of gazing with interest

and hope, unless instructed out of the gospel of Christ, upon one sinner that

repenteth? �o; it is the halls of science, and the temples of art, and the statesman’s

cabinet, and the battle-field of nations, which centre all man’s regard. Wherever the

battle-cry of keenly conflicting interest is swelling on the ear, where brave words are

being spoken, and brave deeds being done, thither man’s eye restlessly turns. It is

the rising and the setting suns of empire, the waxing and the waning tide of

greatness; the rise, culmination, and decline of those stars that lead man’s social

progress; the chiefs and the heroes who are set far on in the van of the world--these

offer to man the theme of his loftiest contemplations. And perhaps it is by the cradle

of social reforms--it is by the birthplace of political revolutions and reformations

that man’s purest and holiest vigils are held. My brethren, I am not here to deny the

interest which may ATTACH to any of these scenes or occasions. There is not one of

these elements, so pregnant with future results to society, which are at work now,

seething and surging in that great moral fermenting vat which we call society, that

the angels do not look upon. That great battle which is being fought in every age,

and perhaps never more earnestly fought than now--the battle which the ancients,

for want of a better name, called the battle of the Gods and Titans--what we know

as the battle of Chaos and Creation, Anarchy and Order, Might and Right, Slavery

and Liberty--all these they look upon; nothing of this is hidden from their gaze. We

do rightly to take deep interest in all these things, to let our hearts be stirred by

them all. All these, God’s angels look upon; nothing is hidden from their sight. But

one thing they see through all these--amidst all these great interests of society--one

thing they see, which for them has more momentous interest, because they see that it

has more pregnant consequences; it is the spectacle of one sinner that repenteth, one

poor man, it may be. All that interest, remember, is concentrated upon the

individual. I say there is that man wrestling in the sweat and agony of his soul with

his spiritual tyrants and task-masters, he is bidding them defiance, he is casting

them forth; but no trumpet-call summons the world to be spectator of his conflicts.

There is nothing to distinguish his battle, so as to attract the eye of the man of this

world. �o, it will be in silence, silence that sometimes gives no outward indications

of what is passing--silence, perhaps, only broken by these pleadings of a broken and

contrite spirit, half uttered, half articulate, which God sees and answers as prayers--

perhaps it may be thus that the repentant sinner will carry on and complete the

work. Repentance is just the first stage and the first sign of that new life of the

Christian, that life of which the Saviour said, “Ye must be born again”--that life

which cannot come into a human spirit save by the work ofGod’s living Spirit

within man’s heart. �o man can work this transformation of himself, no man is

strong enough to wrestle with this great monster of evil by himself. I say repentance

is just the first stage of that new Divine life of which the Saviour spoke, in which a

man, being freed from sin, has progressively his fruit unto holiness, and the end

thereof life everlasting.

II. Direct your thoughts to THE JOYFUL WATCHERS OF THE SPECTACLE

HERE PRESE�TED. The progress of a soul through the various stages of its

redemption excites, for the most part, very little interest upon earth. It connects

itself with no great human interests, and it ministers no aid to purely human

designs. But how differently is it regarded in heaven! Scribes and Pharisees, if they

like, may mock at repentance; sophists and infidels, if they like, may jest at the

penitent tear, or the pleading and struggling groan of a broken and contrite spirit;

but I say to you, Christ says to you by my lips--I am speaking His own words--that

“there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over even one repenting sinner.”

Brethren, we should teach ourselves to believe this. We cannot see it; nature does

not seem to care for us; all we look upon seems to take little care for us in regard to

our spiritual experience, but God and His angels watch us earnestly, and no sigh is

breathed and no tear falls that is not caught and cherished by the spirits that are

before the throne. I say this repentance, the soul turning away from sin by the

power of the grace of Christ which it has received, awakens supreme interest, is a

matter of intense importance to all dwellers in the spiritual world. Aye! as the soul

thus rises from the dust to adorn herself with the only jewels that Christ cares for--

jewels of penitence, humility, and charity--methinks there are God’s angels then

harping with their harps, prepared to celebrate with vestal strains the indissoluble

union of a repenting and ransomed spirit with its Lord. Those are the joyful

watchers of the spectacle.

III. �ow, in the third and last place, in bringing these remarks to a conclusion, I

dwell upon the rising interest to which I have already averted more fully. Let us

inquire WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THIS I�TEREST WHICH THEY FI�D I�

THE SPECTACLE OF A REPE�TI�G SI��ER, and of their exulting joys. Of

course we can only understand a portion of this matter, and only a portion of that

portion can be brought within the limits of a brief discourse.

1. But, first, I should say that the angels of God who look upon all that is passing

upon earth, all the scenes of interest that earth presents--scenes in which we are

bound to take an interest, in which certainly the Christian ought not to be

behindhand in his interest as compared with his fellow-men--look upon a repenting

sinner as the directest and completest result of Christ’s working upon earth, and,

therefore, they abundantly rejoice. He who was with God, who was God, by whom

all things were made, became flesh and dwelt among us; and here, in a sinner

repenting, you have the directest result of His Incarnation.

2. A second reason is this. In a sinner repenting we must remember there is a rising

up of a fresh witness to God’s righteousness, a fresh subject of God’s kingdom in the

universe, and, therefore, do the angels rejoice.

3. Lastly, in a sinner repenting, the angels see the widening of the kingdom of the

Redeemer. They see that He sees increasingly of the travail of his soul, and is

satisfied, and, therefore, one thinks they rejoice. He is their King as well as ours;

their Master as well as ours. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

Joy of the angels over even one repentant sinner

How loving are the angels to men; for they rejoice over one sinner that repenteth.

There she is, in that garret where the stars look between the tiles. There is a

miserable bed in that room, with but one bit of covering, and she lieth there to die!

Poor creature! many a night she has walked the streets in the time of her

merriment; but now her joys are over; a foul disease, like a demon, is devouring her

heart! She is dying fast, and no one careth for her soul! But there, in that chamber,

she turns her face to the wall, and she cries, “O Thou that savedst Magdalene, save

me; Lord, I repent; have mercy upon me, I beseech thee.” Did the bells ring in the

street? Was the trumpet blown? Ah! no. Did men rejoice? Was there a sound of

thanksgiving in the midst of the great congregation? �o; no one heard it; for she

died unseen. But stay. There was one standing at her bedside, who noted well that

tear; an angel, who had come down from heaven to watch over this stray sheep, and

mark its return; and no sooner was her prayer uttered than he clapped his wings,

and there was seen flying up to the pearly gates a spirit like a star. The heavenly

guards came crowding to the gate, crying, “What news, O son of fire? “ He said,

“‘Tis done.” “And what is done?’ they said. “Why, she has repented.” “What! she

who was once a chief of sinners? has she turned to Christ?” “‘Tis even so,” said he.

And then they told it through the streets, and the bells of heaven rang marriage

peals, for Magdalene was saved, and she who had been the chief of sinners was

turned unto the living God. It was in another place. A poor neglected little boy in

ragged clothing had run about the streets for many a day. Tutored in crime, he was

paving his path to the gallows; but one morning he passed by a humble room, where

some men and women were sitting together teaching poor ragged children. He

stepped in there, a wild Bedouin of the streets; they talked to him; they told him

about a soul and about an eternity--things he had never heard before; they spoke ,of

Jesus, and of goodtidings of great joy to this poor friendless lad. He went another

Sabbath, and another; his wild habits hanging about him, for he could not get rid of

them. At last it happened that his teacher said to him one day, “Jesus Christ

receiveth sinners.” That little boy ran, but not home, for it was but a mockery to call

it so--where a drunken father and a lascivious mother kept a hellish riot together.

He ran, and under some dry arch, or in some wild unfrequented corner, he bent his

little knees, and there he cried, that poor creature in his rags, “Lord, save me, or I

perish”; and the little Arab was on his knees--the little thief was saved I He said--

“Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly”; and up from that old arch, from

that forsaken hovel, there flew a spirit, glad to bear the news to heaven that another

heir of glory was born to God. I might picture many such scenes; bat will each of

you try to picture your own? You remember the occasion when the Lord met with

you. Ah! little did you think what a commotion there was in heaven. If the Queen

had ordered out all her soldiers, the angels of heaven would not have stopped to

notice them; if all the princes of earth had marched in pageant through the streets,

with all their robes, and jewellery, and crowns, and all their regalia, their chariots,

and their horsemen--if the pomps of ancient monarchies had risen from the tomb--if

all the might of Babylon and Tyre and Greece had been concentratedinto one great

parade, yet not an angel would have stopped in his course to smile at those poor

tawdry things; but over you the vilest of the vile, the poorest of the poor, the most

obscure and unknown--over you angelic wings were hovering, and concerning you it

was said on earth and sung in heaven, “Hallelujah, for a child is born to God to-

day.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Why should angels rejoice in the success of redemption?

To this question we reply generally, that redemption is the mightiest display of the

Divine attributes; and that, wrapt as angels are in admiration and adoration at their

Maker, whatever sets forth His properties must be to them a fresh source of praise

and ecstasy. Without doubt we must add to this general ACCOU�T, the affection

which they entertain towards men as members of the family of creation, their

consequent desire for their happiness, and their knowledge that happiness is

secured by repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But

probably the joy in question results mainly from the glory accruing to God, or from

the manifestation which redemption puts forth of the attributes of Deity. And

therefore we shall chiefly labour to show you how the scheme of our salvation was a

new discovery of God to heavenly beings, and why, therefore, there should be joy in

the presence of those beings whensoever a sinner takes hold of the obedience

proffered in the gospel. �ow, the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God--

under which all His other attributes are comprehended--these constitute the

glorious majesty of our Creator; and of these, weare bold to affirm, our redemption

is the noblest manifestation. If this be once proved, you will readily understand why

angels rejoice over penitent sinners. Angels must be gladdened by every exhibition

of the high prerogative of their Maker; and if redemption be signally such an

exhibition, then redemption--as wrought out for all, or as applied to individuals--

must signally minister to their joyousness. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

In the heavenly empire

A pious Armenian calling on Mr. Hamlyn, a missionary at Constantinople,

remarked, that he was astonished to see how the people were waking up to the

truth; how even the most cultivated were seeking after it as for hidden treasure.

“Yes,” said he, “it is going forward; it will triumph; but, alas! I shall not live to see

it, alas! that I am born an age too soon.” “But,” said Mr. Hamlyn, “do you

remember what our Saviour said, ‘There is joy in the presence of the angels of God

over one sinner that repenteth’? You may not live to see the truth triumphant in this

empire; but should you, by Divine grace, reach the kingdom of heaven, and be with

the angels, your joy over your whole nation, repentant and redeemed, will be

infinitely greater than it could be on earth.” He seemed astonished at this thought;

but after examining the various passages to which I referred him, he yielded to the

evidence with the most lively expressions of delight. “O fool, and SLOW of heart,”

said he, “to read the gospel so many times without perceiving such a glorious truth!

If this be so, no matter in what age a Christian is born, nor when he dies.”

The greatness of repentance

Repentance is a great thing, or the angels of God would not rejoice over it. It is no

insignificant matter. If we did not understand it, and all the consequences that flow

from it, and did not quite perceive all the reasons why angels rejoice, yet we should

naturally conclude that it must be great from this fact. Suppose we entered a strange

city end found the bells ringing out a merry peal from every tower, the cannon

roaring out their harsh joy from every fort, the streets at night blazing with

illuminations, every countenance cheerful, the whole land vocal with joy, and all

keeping jubilee together; why, we should say, “This great and intelligent people

would not rejoice thus over a trifle; some great thing must have taken place”; if we

did not know what it was. Oh! enter heaven when a sinner has repented, and find it

all jubilee! Must it not be a great thing that would fill heaven thus with bliss? The

repentance of a sinner does it. And then mark, it is not the conversion of a nation

like China, with its three hundred millions of inhabitants, nor India with its myriads

of idolaters, nor blood-stained Madagascar, nor Tahiti, nor �ew Zealand: not the

conversion of an empire, but the conversion of a single soul. �ot merely the soul of

some great persecutor, like Saul of Tarsus, whose conversion may at once change

the aspect of a country, and release it from intolerance and murder, and introduce it

to liberty and joy. �ot the conversion of a mighty monarch, who, once a despot, is

now become through Christianity the father of his country. �ot the conversion of a

philosopher, whose great name might be supposed to add celebrity to Christianity.

�ot the conversion of a great poet, who had prostituted his genius to celebrate vice,

and now consecrates it to the glory of God who gave him the intellect. �o, but the

conversion of “a sinner,” apart from all the personal circumstances in which that

sinner might be found: any sinner; the inhabitant of a workhouse--the pauper’s

child--or the pauper himself; for it is repentance, stript of all that is adventitious, all

that might otherwise gather around it. It is the dropping of all these, and it is the

bowing down of any human heart in the attitude of submission to God, and in the

purpose of forsaking sin: it is that, which angels rejoice over. (J. A. James.)

H. BO�AR, "God's Joy Over The Returning Sinner

"Likewise, I say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one

sinner who repents."—Luke 15:10.

Let us not overlook the words with which this statement is introduced, "I say unto

you." He speaks as the faithful witness; testifying of what he knows; what He has

seen and heard in that heaven where He came.

It is of a sinner that he speaks—a sinner such as those who were now gathered

round the Lord—a publican, a profligate, a harlot; not some worthier sinner, but

one of the worst. He wishes the Pharisees to understand the feelings of God above—

to these sinners below; to see that God's thoughts were not their thoughts. Whatever

earth might do, heaven took an interest in them. The "religious" ones of earth might

turn away; the holy ones of heaven did not.

It is of a sinner's repentance that He speaks; of that mighty change whereby old

things pass away, and all things are made new. It was to produce this change—this

change of the whole inner man—this total renovation of being, that the Son of God

came. He came to "call sinners to repentance."

It is of one sinner that He speaks; not of multitudes; so that no one may think that it

is the �UMBER that is the occasion of his statement. It is one sinner; one of

Poor publicans that He thus so graciously holds up to view; it is one poor fragment

of lost humanity, despised by all else—which He here declares to be the object of his

own and of the divine compassion. So was it always in his life here; one woman of

Sychar; one woman of Tyre; one Zaccheus—thus He declares his interest in

individual souls. He cares for each.

But it is SPECIALLY of the joy which the Lord speaks of that I ask you to think. It

is not simply pity or love—but joy.

(1.) It is joy in heaven. There is always joy there, but sometimes it swells up and

overflows. On the occasion of the EVE�T referred to, there is peculiar joy—an

outburst of irrepressible gladness in that glad and glorious heaven which the

presence of God fills.

(2.) It is the joy of God. It is He himself who is thus represented as rejoicing. The joy

is in heaven; and it is the joy of God himself; the joy of the Shepherd on finding the

lost sheep; the joy of the woman on finding her lost silver; the joy of the father on

finding his lost son.

(3.) It is joy in the presence of the angels of God. As the shepherd and the woman

call together their friends and neighbors, so God calls his heavenly hosts. In their

presence He utters his joy; and He calls on them to rejoice with Him. He is full of

this joy of love, this joy at recovering the lost, that He must have them to share it

with Him. There is something in this representation of the divine joy that brings it

very close to us, as it makes it so like our own in its way of manifestation. How like

ourselves is this way of DEALI�G with his joy and getting vent to it, and making

others partakers of it. Is it not a strange truth this—that the infinite Jehovah should

need, and should ask for, the creature's sympathy in his joys? How like that infinite

heart must be to ours! How near to us does this bring the Eternal One!

From all this we learn much; chiefly such truths as the following:

(1.) The knowledge in heaven of what is going on here on earth. How far this

extends we cannot say. It refers here only to what concerns the great redemption-

scheme; and even as to that, the knowledge is only that which is directly

communicated by God, when He has something SPECIAL to announce. But heaven

knows this at least: that there is such a place as earth; that it is full of God's lost

property; that God loves it; that it is not hell; that salvation is there, and that God is

every day getting hold of some lost one there. �ews is constantly going up to the

heaven of heavens; and God is making known so much of it as suits his purposes of

sovereign wisdom and grace. Probably, they do not know all; but certainly they

know what is fitted to augment their gladness, and call forth their songs.

(2.) The delight which God has in saving. This is manifest from the pains He takes

about this; the perseverance and patience; the patient endurance of rejection and

hatred; and all this in the desire to rescue the captive, and to win him BACK, heart

and soul, to himself. He seeks and saves "with his whole heart and soul" (Jeremiah

32:41). He loves to bless; and when He has blessed, He rejoices over the sinner to

whom the blessing has come. As the father receives the prodigal, so does the great

Father receive his wanderers; calling all heaven to join in his song over them, "This

my son was dead and is alive again—he was lost and is found!"

(3.) The appeal which He is thus snaking to the sinner. �o appeal could be more

forcible than that which is thus made by the great love of God—the overflowing joy

He has in saving. Will you CO�TI�UE in sin, and rob both God and the angels—

yes, and yourself too—of such a joy? All heaven would rejoice over your salvation,

and will you not be saved? Will you persist in wandering, in worldliness, in

ungodliness? Are you determined to be lost when God is so bent on saving you?

(4.) The encouragement thus held out to the returning sinner. Look at all the three

parables! Is there one word of discouragement? Does not each of them say, Come! Is

God not bidding you welcome, stretching out his arms? What joy it would give God

to pardon and to bless you! What a song would be sung in heaven over your

repentance and return! Shrink not back; turn not away; do not be afraid, the gate is

OPE�, and your God stands beckoning you in.

What a comment is this verse on Christ's tears over Jerusalem! His sorrow was

sincere and true; so is his joy in the day of the sinner's return. His tears were real

and genuine; so are his songs. All is real, both the sorrow and the joy.

What a force does this passage throw into such words as these: You will not come to

me; him who comes to me I will never cast out; if any man thirsts, let him come unto

me and drink; we beg you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God.

What a great thing must salvation be! And what an important and precious object

must a sinner be! So much love, so much sorrow, so much seeking, so much joy in

CO��ECTIO� with him!

EDWARD PAYSO�, " "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one

sinner that repenteth." Luke 15:10

Though eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have E�TERED into the heart

of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet, for our

encouragement and consolation, he has revealed theta to us by his Spirit in his

word. He there sets open before us the door of heaven, and invites faith to enter in,

survey her future inheritance, and contemplate the joys and employments of those

happy beings, to a participation of whose felicity she is conducting us. Let us, my

hearers, comply with this invitation. Let us look in at the open door, which the

condescending goodness of our God has set before us; feast our eyes with a view of

untreated glories, and refresh our ears with the hallelujahs of the heavenly host. If

we have that faith which is the evidence of things not seen, and which enables its

possessors to endure as seeing Him who is invisible, we shall see the eternal King

bending forward on his awful throne, and contemplating some object in this lower

world with looks of ineffable complacency and delight. We shall see the Son of God,

standing with open arms and a countenance full of invitation, compassion and love;

--we shall see all heaven in a transport of joy, and hear its high courts resounding

with the songs and praises of its blessed inhabitants. Is it asked, what occasions their

joy? A sinner, perhaps some sinner in this assembly, has just repented. This is the

object which God contemplates with complacency and delight; for to this man, says

he, will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth

at my word. This is he, whom the Son of God opens his arms to receive; for,

whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. This is what fills heaven with

new joy, and calls forth from angelic lips their loudest songs of praise; for he who

came down from heaven has assured us that there is joy in the presence of the angels

of God over one sinner that repenteth. This declaration of our Saviour, naturally

leads us to inquire who rejoice, and why they rejoice on such an occasion.

I. Who rejoice?

In answer to this inquiry, I observe,

1. That God the Father rejoices over every sinner that repenteth.

That the infinite and ever blessed Jehovah, before whom all nations are as

nothing and vanity, should rejoice in the repentance of a sinful worm of the dust,

appears at first view, strange, and almost incredible. But however strange or

incredible it may appear, it is evident, both from his declarations and his conduct,

that such is the fact.

It is evident from his declarations. His word informs us, that when he saw that

the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every imagination of the

thoughts of his heart was evil CO�TI�UALLY, it repented him that he had made

man, and it grieved him at the heart. But if he was grieved at man's apostasy, he

cannot but rejoice when any of our apostate race repent, and return to him and

happiness. Agreeably, we find him most solemnly declaring, that he has no pleasure

in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live.

After foretelling, by the mouth of his prophets, the repentance and return of his

ancient people, who had forsaken him to worship idols, he says, --Then shalt thou be

a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy

God; for the Lord delighteth in thee and thy land shall be married; and as the

bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. For behold I

create Jerusalem a rejoicing and my people a joy, and I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and joy in my people. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice

with all thine heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, for the Lord thy God in the midst of

thee is mighty; he will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love;

he will joy over thee with singing. These striking declarations, addressed by Jehovah

to his ancient people, are equally applicable to penitent sinners in every age, and

undeniably prove that he rejoices in their conversion.

That he does so is farther evident from his actions. To glorify his grace in the

salvation of sinners, has apparently been the great object of all his dispensations,

from the fall of man till the present day. It would be easy to show, that for this

purpose the world has been preserved, and the race of men CO�TI�UED. For this

purpose the various revolutions, wars and commotions which stain the page of

history have been overruled. But these are trifles. For this purpose God gave up his

only begotten Son, and sent down the Holy Spirit from heaven; and for the same

purpose he is still sending forth his ambassadors to beseech sinners in Christ's stead

to be reconciled to himself. That he rejoices when they comply with the terms of

reconciliation, is evident from the manner in which he receives them, as represented

to us in the parable of the prodigal son. �o sooner does he perceive them returning

from the service and ways of sin, than he hastens to meet and welcome them;

CLOTHES them with the robe of his Son's righteousness; puts upon them the ring

of his everlasting covenant; causes their feet to be shod with the preparation of the

gospel of peace; fasts them with the bread and water of life, and calls upon all the

inhabitants of heaven to rejoice with him, because his lost children are found.

2. The Son of God rejoices over every sinner that repenteth.

Were it necessary to prove the truth of this assertion, we might remind you, that

whatsoever things the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. We might

remind you, that in the history of our Saviour we read of his rejoicing but once; and

his joy was then excited by reflections on the sovereign grace of his Father in

bringing sinners to repentance, and in hiding the great truths of the gospel from the

wise and prudent, while he revealed them to babes. But it is not necessary to prove

the truth of this assertion. It is not necessary to prove, that the friend of man, the

compassionate Jesus, rejoices when sinners repent. His whole life was one continued

proof of this. Is it possible that he who toiled, prayed, suffered and died for sinful

men, should not rejoice in their conversion? Must not he who, once and again, wept

at the sight of their miseries, and cheerfully poured out his blood for their salvation,

even while they were his enemies, be almost ready to shed tears of joy over them,

when by repentance they become his friends? Yes, he must rejoice, and he does

rejoice over them with joy unspeakable; a joy which he only can feel, and of which

he alone can conceive. This was a principal part of the joy set before him, for the

sake of which he endured the cross and despised the shame; and it probably

constitutes no inconsiderable part of the happiness which he now enjoys in heaven.

Though there is no reason to doubt that the Holy Spirit participates in the joy of the

Father and the Son, yet as the Scriptures are silent respecting it we shall only add,

3. That the blessed angels rejoice over every sinner that repenteth.

That these benevolent spirits take an interest in our affairs, and feel tenderly

concerned for our welfare, is evident from various parts of revelation. When they

came to bring the glad tidings of our Saviour's birth, they joyfully ascribed glory to

God in the highest, that there was peace on earth and good will to men. They are

also represented as styling themselves our brethren and fellow servants; as having a

charge over God's people to keep them in all their ways, and as going forth to

minister unto the heirs of salvation. From these and other passages we might have

justly inferred, even if our Saviour had not assured us of the fact, that these happy

beings rejoice over every sinner who repenteth.

II. Why do the inhabitants of heaven rejoice over repenting sinners?

So far as this inquiry respects the motives of Jehovah's conduct, it becomes us to

answer it with reverence and humility, lest we should darken counsel by words

without knowledge. It is however certain, that God does not rejoice in the

repentance of sinners, because it can add any thing to his essential happiness or

glory; for he is already infinitely glorious and, happy, and so would CO�TI�UE

though all the men on earth, and all the angels in heaven should madly rush into

hell. Is it any profit to the Almighty that thou art righteous, or is it any gain to him

that thou makest thy ways perfect? �o, our goodness extendeth not to him, and

when we have done all, we are but unprofitable servants. Why then does God

rejoice when we repent? He rejoices,

1. Because his eternal purposes of grace, and his engagements to his Son, are

then fulfilled. We learn from the Scriptures, that all who repent, were chosen by

him in Christ Jesus before the world began, and given to him as his people in the

covenant of redemption. We also learn, that he has said to his Son, Thy people shall

be willing in the day of thy power. He therefore rejoices to see them repent, as we

rejoice when our promises are fulfilled, and our favorite purposes accomplished.

2. God rejoices when sinners repent, because bringing them to repentance is his

own work. It is a consequence of the gift of his Son, and is effected by the power of

his Spirit. The Scriptures inform us, that he rejoices in all his works, and with

reason does he rejoice in them; for they are all very good. But if he rejoices in his

other works, much more may he rejoice in this, since it is of all his works the

greatest, the most glorious, and the most worthy of himself. In this work THE

IMAGE of Satan is effaced, and the image of God restored to an immortal soul. In

this work, a child of wrath is transformed into an heir of glory. In this work, a

smoking brand is plucked from eternal fires, and planted among the stars in the

firmament of heaven, there to shine with increasing lustre forever and ever. And is

not this a work worthy of God, a work in which God may with propriety rejoice?

3. God rejoices in the repentance of sinners, because it affords him an

opportunity to exercise mercy and show his love to Christ, by pardoning them for

his sake. Christ is his beloved Son in whom he is ever well pleased. He loves him as

he loves himself, with an infinite love; a love which is as inconceivable by us, as his

creative power and eternal duration. He loves him not only on ACCOU�T of the

near relation and inseparable union which subsists between them, but for the

perfect holiness and excellence of his character, and especially for the infinite

benevolence which he displayed in undertaking and accomplishing the great work

of man's redemption. As it is the nature of love to manifest itself in acts of kindness

toward the beloved object, God cannot but wish to display his love for Christ, and to

show all intelligent beings how perfectly he is pleased with his character and

conduct, as Mediator. The inexhaustible fountain of love to Christ, which fills his

heart, is constantly seeking new channels in which it may flow out and display itself

to creatures. As David asked, Is there yet alive any of the house of Saul to whom I

may show kindness for Jonathan's sake? so we may conceive of God as asking, Is

there yet any penitent sinner, to whom I may show kindness for the sake of Christ?

And when such a sinner is found, God cannot but be pleased, because it affords him

an opportunity to display his love for Christ, by bestowing pardon from respect to

his atonement and intercession. The Scriptures also inform us, that the Lord

delighteth in mercy. He must therefore be gratified when he has an opportunity to

exercise it. But such an opportunity none but penitent sinners afford him; for those

who continue impenitent, will not ask for mercy; they will not even accept it when

offered; they almost consider the offer itself as an insult. When told that God is

willing to forgive them for the sake of Christ, they practically reply, what have we

done that needs forgiving? We have injured no one. We are not like others,

extortioners, adulterers or unjust. We can be saved without forgiveness through

Christ. Insult us not then with offers of pardon, as if we were criminals, but carry

them to sinners, to profligates, who have need of mercy. It is needless to remark,

that God cannot consistently forgive sinners while they possess this self-justifying

temper. But when they exchange this temper for a contrite heart, and begin to cry;

God be merciful to us sinners, he can with propriety gratify himself, and manifest

his love to Christ, by exercising toward them that mercy which he delights to

display.

4. God rejoices when sinners repent; because it gratifies hint to see them escape

from the tyranny, and from the consequences of sin. God is light; perfect holiness.

God is love; pure benevolence. His holiness and his benevolence both prompt him to

rejoice, when sinners escape from sin. Sin is that abominable thing which he hates.

He hates it as an evil or malignant, and as a bitter, or destructive thing. It is

I�DEED both. It is the plague, the leprosy, the death of intelligent creatures. It

infects and poisons all their faculties; plunges them into the lowest depths of guilt

and wretchedness, and pollutes them with a stain, which all the waters of the ocean

cannot wash away, which all the fires of hell cannot remove; from which nothing

can cleanse them, but the blood of Christ. Such is the malignity of its nature, that

could it gain admittance into the celestial regions, it would instantly transform

angels to devils, and turn heaven into hell. That this is no exaggerated

representation, sin melancholy experience but too clearly evinces. Already has sin

transformed angels to devils; already has it converted this world from a paradise to

a prison; from a habitation of immortals, to an Aceldama and a Golgotha, a place of

skulls and a field of blood. Already has it poisoned not only our bodies, but our

souls; it has brought death into the world and all our woe, and,

"in one hour,

Spoil'd six days' labor of a God:"

Even now it stalks through our subjugated world with gigantic strides,

spreading ruin and wretchedness around in ten thousand forms. Strife and discord,

war and bloodshed, famine and pestilence, pain and sickness follow in its train;

while death mounted on his pale horse, with the grave and hell follow in the rear.

Such are the miseries which sin has introduced into this once happy world; such the

evils which attend its progress here, notwithstanding the various restraints which

are employed to check its career. Would we see these evils consummated; and learn

the full extent of that wretchedness which sin lands to produce, we must follow it

into the eternal world, descend into those regions where peace, where hope never

comes; and there by the light of revelation behold sin tyrannizing over its wretched

victims with uncontrollable fury; fanning the inextinguishable fire, and sharpening

the tooth of the immortal worm. See angels and archangels, thrones and dominions,

principalities and powers, stripped of all their primeval glory and beauty, bound in

eternal chains and burning with rage and malice against that Being; in whose

presence they once rejoiced. and whose praises they once sung. See multitudes of the

human race in unutterable agonies of anguish and despair cursing the gift, the giver

and prolonger of their existence, and vainly wishing for annihilation to put a period

to their miseries. Follow them through the long, long ages of eternity, and see them

sinking deeper and deeper in the bottomless abyss of ruin; perpetually blaspheming

God because of their plagues, and receiving the punishment of these blasphemies in

CO�TI�UAL additions to their wretchedness. Such are the wages of sin such the

inevitable doom of the finally impenitent. From these depths of anguish and despair,

look up to the mansions of the blessed, and see to what a height of glory and felicity

the grace of God will raise every sinner that repenteth. See those who are thus

favored in unutterable ecstasies of joy, love and praise, contemplating God face to

face, reflecting his perfect image, shining with a splendor like that of their glorious

Redeemer, filled with all the fullness of Deity, and bathing in those rivers of

pleasure which flow forever at God's right hand. Follow them in their endless flight

toward perfection. See them rapidly mounting from height to height, and darting

onward with increasing swiftness and unwearied wing, toward that infinity which

they will never reach. View this, and their say, whether infinite holiness and

benevolence may not with propriety rejoice over every sinner that by repentance

escapes the miseries and secures the felicity here so imperfectly described.

Why does the Son of God rejoice over every sinner that repenteth? I answer,

1. Why does a mother rejoice over her infant offspring? Is it not because she has

given them existence and support? Why does a father rejoice over and press to his

heart with new fondness the child, whom he has just rescued from the flames which

consumed his habitation? Is it not because he has saved the object of his affections

at the peril of his own life? So if it be asked, why Christ rejoices over repenting

sinners, we reply, because he has given them spiritual life and nourishment; because

he has redeemed them with his own precious blood from eternal wretchedness and

despair. In the joy arising from other sources he participates with his Father and

the Holy Spirit; but this is a cause of joy almost peculiar to himself. It was long since

predicted respecting him, that he should see of the travail of his soul and be

satisfied; in other words, that he should see the effects of his sufferings in the

repentance and salvation of sinners; and consider this as a sufficient recompense for

all the toils and sorrows through which he was called to pass. This prediction is

daily fulfilling. Our Immanuel sees the fruit of the travail of his soul in every sinner

that repenteth, and rejoices that his agonies were not endured in vain. There are, we

trust, not a few in this assembly, over whom he has thus rejoiced. And O! with what

affectionate emotions must he regard them. You can in some degree conceive, my

friends, what your feelings would be toward a trembling dove, that should fly into

your bosom for protection from the talons of a vulture. You can form some

conception of the feelings with which David contemplated the helpless lamb, which

he had rescued at the peril of his own life from the paw of the lion and the jaws of

the bear. But who can conceive of the emotions, with which the Son of David must

contemplate an immortal soul, drawn to his feet by the cords of love, whom he has

rescued from the roaring lion at such an infinite expense? If we love, and prize and

rejoice in any object in proportion to the labor, pain and expense which it has cost

us to obtain it, hour greatly must Christ love and prize and rejoice in every penitent

sinner! His love and joy must he unutterable, inconceivable, infinite. Compared

with his, even a mother's love must be cold. My friends, for once I rejoice that our

Saviour's toils and sufferings were so great, since the greater they were, the greater

must be his love for us and his joy in our conversion. And permit me to add, if he

thus rejoices over one sinner that repenteth, what must be his joy, when all his

people are collected out of every tongue and kindred and nation and people, and

presented spotless before his Father's throne! What a full tide of felicity will pour in

upon him, and how will his benevolent heart expand with unutterable delight, and

swell almost to bursting, when contemplating the countless myriads of the

redeemed, he says, Were it not for my sufferings, all these immortal beings would

have been throughout eternity as miserable--and now they will be as happy; as God

can make them. It is enough. I see of the travail of my soul and am satisfied. My

friends, how great must that joy, that happiness be, which satisfies the benevolence

of Christ.

2. The Son of God, with his Father and the Holy Spirit, rejoices when sinners

repent, because they then begin to return his love, and acknowledge, with admiring

gratitude, the wisdom of his dispensations. You need not be told, that it is the very

nature of love to wish for a return of affection. You can easily conceive why a fond

mother rejoices when her infant child becomes capable of perceiving and returning

her love. You can conceive why her joy increases, when the same child arrives at an

age sufficient to see and acknowledge her wisdom and love, even in those

corrections, which it once perhaps considered as indicating a want of affection.

Should any of you be called to attend, for a series of years, some dear friend under

mental derangement; and with unwearied love should spend many wearisome days

and sleepless nights in promoting his comfort, and preserving him from self-

destruction, while he regarded you as an enemy, considered your presence as

irksome, and all your labors and precautions as needless and cruel, would you not

rejoice, to see his reason returning; to see his eye once more sparkle with

intelligence, and beam with affection; to hear him gratefully acknowledging and

extolling your friendship, and to perceive in all his looks and actions that he

returned it? And why may we not suppose that our compassionate Redeemer, and

even our heavenly Father is capable of being affected in a similar way? They have

loved all who repent with an everlasting love, a love stronger than death. But this

love is never perceived or returned by the objects of it, while they continue

impenitent! On the contrary, they are then enemies to God. and often consider his

laws, his dispensations, and even the very means which he employs to bring them to

himself, as destructive of their happiness. Similar feelings they exercise toward

Christ. They see in him no form or comeliness, and when he comes to bless and save

them, they are ready to say, like the man among the tombs, let us alone, what have

we to do with thee? But when they repent, the scene is changed. They then come to

themselves, and sit at the feet of Jesus in their right mind. The love of God is shed

abroad in their hearts. the spirit of adoption is given them, they cry, Abba Father.

The law and character of God appear to them perfectly excellent and lovely. The

love of Christ constrains them to live not to themselves, but to him who died for

them and rose again; while the genuine language of their hearts is, Whom have we

in heaven but thee? and there is none in the earth we desire besides thee. Bless the

Lord, O our souls, and all that is within us, bless his holy name; who forgiveth all

our iniquities, who healeth all our diseases.

Why do the angels rejoice over every sinner that repenteth? They rejoice,

1. Because God rejoices. It is said respecting David, that whatsoever the king did

pleased all the people. So whatever God does, pleases all the angelic hosts. His Spirit

is the soul which guides and animates them all; their wills are swallowed up in his;

and his interest, glory and happiness, are dearer to them than their own, or rather

are considered by them as their own. Hence his feelings govern theirs. Is he

displeased? they burn with holy zeal to execute his vengeance. Does he rejoice? they

cannot but participate and echo back his joy. Like the servants in the parable, they

rejoice with our heavenly Father when his lost children are found, and stand ready

to assist in affording them a welcome reception. They rejoice,

2. Because it is their disposition to rejoice in the happiness of others. They

literally love others as they do themselves; and since they know by experience the

felicity which results from enjoying the favor of God, they cannot but wish that

other creatures should possess it. They see in the fate of the fallen angels, the

dreadful consequences of God's displeasure. They cannot therefore but wish that

others should escape it. And since they know that repentance is the only way in

which sinners of the human race can escape God's anger and secure his favor, they

cannot but rejoice when any of them repent.

3. They rejoice when sinners repent, because God is glorified and his perfections

are displayed in giving them repentance and remission of sins. The perfections of

God are to be seen only in his works. His moral perfections are to be seen only, or at

least principally, in his works of grace. There is more of God, more of his essential

glory displayed in bringing one sinner to repentance, and forgiving his sins for the

sake of Christ, than in all the wonders of creation. Agreeably, the psalmist informs

us, that when the Lord shall build up Zion, that is, when he shall enlarge his church,

the spiritual Zion, by bringing sinners into it, he shall appear in his glory; in other

words, shall appear peculiarly glorious! He does so. In this work creatures may see,

if I may so express it, the very heart of God. From this work angels themselves have

probably learned more of God's moral character, than they had ever been able to

learn before. They knew before that God was wise and powerful, for they had seen

him create a world. They knew that he was good, for he had made them perfectly

holy and happy. They knew that he was just, for they had seen him cast down their

own rebellious brethren from heaven to hell for their sins. But until they saw him

give repentance and remission of sins through Christ, they did not know that he was

merciful, and they did not know that he could pardon a sinner. And O! what an

hour was that in heaven, when this great truth was first made known; when the first

penitent was pardoned! Then anew song was put into the mouths of angels, and

while with unutterable emotions of wonder, love and praise, they began to sing it;

their voices swelled to a higher pitch, and they experienced joys unfelt before. O

how did the joyful sounds, his mercy endureth for ever, spread from choir to choir,

echo through the high arches of heaven, and thrill through every enraptured angelic

breast; and how did they cry with one voice, Glory to God in the highest; on earth

peace and good will to man.

�or is the mercy of God the only perfection displayed in this work. There is

more power and wisdom displayed in bringing a sinner to repentance, than in

creating a world; and therefore as the sons of God sang together and shouted for

joy, when God laid the foundations of the earth, so with still greater reason do they

rejoice at beholding the wonders of the new creation in the souls of men. They

delight to watch the beginnings of spiritual life in those who had long been dead in

sin; to see light and order breaking in upon the natural darkness and confusion of

the mind; to see the image of Satan disappearing and to trace the first lineaments of

the image of God in the soul. With inexpressible satisfaction do they see the heart of

stone transformed to flesh, notice the first penitential tears which flow from the

sinner's eyes, and listen to the imperfectly formed petitions, the infant cries of the

young child of grace. With the utmost readiness do they descend from their blissful

abode to minister to the new-born heir of salvation, and surround him in joyful

throngs, celebrating his birthday with songs of praise. Behold, they cry, another

trophy of sovereign, all-conquering grace. Behold another captive delivered by the

Son of David, from the bondage of sin, another lamb of his flock rescued from paw

of the lion and the jaws of the bear. See the principalities and powers of darkness

foiled; see the strong man armed cast out; see the kingdom of Jesus extending, see

the image of our God multiplied, see another voice tuned to join in the hallelujahs of

the heavenly choirs. This, O our Creator, is thy work. Glory to God in the highest.

This, O adorable Immanuel, is the effect of thy sufferings. Hosanna to the Son of

David. Blessing and honor and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne and to

the Lamb forever.

I�FERE�CES

From this subject we infer,

1. The incalculable worth of the human soul. To say that there is joy in heaven

over one sinner that repenteth, is to say all that can be said or imagined on this

subject. Our Saviour himself, who spoke as never man spake, could say nothing

more expressive of the worth of the soul than this; for in heaven the real value of

this immortal spark of intelligence is known; and were it not a jewel of inestimable

worth, never would its loss have grieved God at the heart; never would he have

given his only Son to redeem it; never would he rejoice, and call on all the heavenly

hosts to rejoice with him on its recovery. It can surely be no trifle which excites so

deep an interest in the hearts of celestial beings. It can be no trifle, the acquisition of

which increases the already ineffable joys of heaven. Yet such is the wretched

infatuation of mankind, that they almost universally neglect this precious jewel, and

barter it for bubbles, vanities and dreams, though a thousand worlds so bought,

were bought too dear.

2. From this subject we infer, that the consequences of dying in an impenitent

state will be unspeakably dreadful. You cannot but be sensible, my friends, that the

inhabitants of heaven knew perfectly well, what these consequences will be; and did

they not know them to be dreadful, unspeakably dreadful, would they thus rejoice

over every sinner, who escapes them by repentance? If no punishment awaits

impenitent sinners in a future state, or if their punishment be short in duration, or

trifling in degree; would celestial beings thus rejoice to see sinners repent? When

you see a mother transported with joy at the recovery of a sick child, do you not

infer, that she considered the disease as very dangerous? So when we see the

inhabitants of heaven rejoicing with new joys over a penitent sinner, must we not

infer that they consider the punishment from which he has escaped as inconceivably

dreadful?

3. From this subject we infer, that all who repent will certainly persevere and be

saved. Suppose; for one moment, that such may fall and perish? Would God, would

Christ, would angels then rejoice to see sinners repent? To see them placed in a

situation where they had nothing to support them, but their own faithfulness to

grace received? Would they rejoice to see penitent sinners in a situation from which

perfect Adam fell, and which holy angels failed to keep? �o, they would rather weep

to see a weak, frail creature placed in a situation from which he would immediately

fall, fall into a state if possible, more helpless than that from which Sovereign grace

had raised hint.

4. What an astonishing view does this subject give us of the benevolence of

angels. Though they are perfectly happy, and though our character and conduct

must, to them appear inconceivably hateful, yet they forget themselves to think of

us; they forget their own happiness to rejoice in ours. That we may more fully

conceive of their benevolence, it is necessary to recollect, that they have the strongest

possible temptations to envy us; and this they would do, did they in the smallest

degree resemble mankind; for God passed by their fallen brethren, and provided no

Saviour for them. Christ took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him

the seed of Abraham; and now they see us sinful worms of the dust, through

Sovereign grace, not only plucked as brands from the fires, in which their fallen

brethren are consumed, but even exalted above themselves in glory and felicity,

being made the children of God, while they arc only his servants. Yet instead of

envying its on this account, or murmuring at God's distinguishing grace, they

rejoice in our happiness. Yes, let us hear, and be confounded and hide our faces

with shame in the dust; these benevolent beings rejoice to see sinful creatures of an

inferior order exalted above themselves. �ay more, they cheerfully condescend to be

our servants, even while we are clothed in sinful flesh; and to minister to its as heirs

of salvation. This is the charity which seeketh not her own. This is to love one's

neighbor as one's self, this is indeed the temper of the Son of God. My friends, are

you not certain, that we naturally know nothing of such a temper? Are you not

sensible, that such creatures as we are by nature, must be created anew, before we

can imitate these benevolent beings? Are you not convinced that if this be the of

heaven, we must all be born again before we can see the kingdom of God?

5. From this subject we may learn whether we are prepared for heaven. We

presume none will deny that preparation for heaven implies something of a heavenly

temper. If then, we are thus prepared we have something of such a temper. Like the

angels, we are pleased with God's sovereignty, and rejoice when sinners repent. We

desire and pray that the kingdom of God may come and his will be done on earth as

it is in heaven. We are willing to do and suffer much to promote the salvation of

sinners; and we are willing that others should do and suffer more, so as to outshine

and eclipse ourselves. If this be our temper, we need no angel to come from heaven

and tell us that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life. There has already

been joy over us in heaven as penitent sinners, and ere many years have elapsed,

there will be fresh joy over us on our arrival there. But if we know nothing of this

temper, if we are dissatisfied with the sovereign, distinguishing grace of God, if it

gives us no pleasure, to hear of the effusions of the divine Spirit, to see sinners

repenting and flocking to Christ; if like the proud elder brother, we feel envious

when we behold penitent prodigals rejoicing in the truth; or like the Pharisees, are

displeased to hear new-born souls crying, Hosannas to the Son of David; or if we are

unwilling to spend and be spent in promoting the spread of the gospel, and the

salvation of sinners--it is certain that we in no respect resemble the angels of God;

we cannot share in their joys, or join in their songs; and unless our hearts should be

renovated by divine grace, we shall never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Once more. Do the inhabitants of heaven rejoice when sinners repent? Then they

rejoice in all the means which are employed to bring sinners to repentance. If this be

the case, with what joyful emotions must they contemplate the prospect, which our

world begins to present to their view. In this fallen, ruined world, once sunk in

ignorance and wickedness, where Satan reigned with almost unlimited sway, they

now see many societies formed, and a variety of means employed to diffuse the

knowledge of Christ and reconcile men to God. The sound of the everlasting gospel

has gone out into all the earth. The Scriptures of truth are flying, as it were, on an

angel's wing throughout the world; and soon, we trust, will every nation, and

kindred, and people hear them speaking to them in their own tongue, and declaring

the wonderful works of God. Already from the farthest parts of the earth have we

heard songs, even glory to the righteous. These songs have also been heard in

heaven, and have there doubtless called forth new songs of praise to him, who is

wise in counsel and wonderful in working, the real author of everything amiable or

excellent both in heaven and on earth. Over every institution for the spread of the

gospel, which he has prompted his creatures to form, there has, we doubt not, been

joy in heaven. Comparatively feeble as are the means, and circumscribed as are the

operations of this Missionary Society, we doubt not that angels rejoiced in its

formation. We doubt not that they are now looking down with mingled emotions of

wonder, thankfulness, and love, to see those who are by nature children of wrath,

enemies to God, and entirely destitute of concern for his glory or for the happiness

of his creatures, engaged in devising means to bring their perishing fellow sinners to

repentance. We are certain that every sinner who has been brought to repentance

by the exertions of this Society, has occasioned joy in heaven, joy to God, to his Son,

to his Spirit, and to angels. My fathers and brethren, what an encouraging thought

is this? How should it animate us to reflect, that our feeble exertions produce joy in

heaven; that heaven from which all our present blessings come, and in which all our

future happiness is to be enjoyed. What more noble, or more glorious motive of

action can we have in view, than to glorify God, produce joy in heaven, and rescue

sinners front hell. Had we been made instrumental in doing this once only; had only

one sinner been brought to repentance in consequence of the exertions of this

Society, it would have been a rich, and abundant reward for all that has been done.

But through divine grace we have reason to hope, that there has been not only one,

but many. Let us then, bless God and take courage, remembering that he who

converts a sinner from the ERROR of his way, shall save a soul from death and hide

a multitude of sins.

In view of these truths, my hearers, it surely cannot be necessary to solicit your

assistance in carrying into effect the objects of this society. We do not solicit it. We

will not ask you to bestow favors on Christ; but we tell you that Christ is ready to

bestow a favor on you. The rightful possessor and proprietor of heaven and earth;

he, who though he was rich, for your sakes became poor, that you through his

poverty might be rich, condescends to accept of your assistance to do that, which he

could with infinite ease accomplish without it. He condescends to accept as a gift, a

small portion of his own bounty, when he might justly demand the whole as a debt;

and if a poor subject would consider it as a favor for his sovereign to accept some

worthless gift at his hand, and reward him for it a thousand fold, how thankful

should we be, that the King of kings, condescends to accept and reward our sinful

services; and how joyfully should we seize every OPPORTU�ITY that is offered us

of doing or suffering any thing for the sake of Christ.

But let us never forget, that if we would have out services acceptable, our hearts

must go with them. Like the Macedonian Christians, we must first give our own

selves to the Lord, presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to

God, which is our reasonable service. My friends, are there any of us who have

neglected to do this? any over whom the inhabitants of heaven have never rejoiced?

If so; it becomes us to repent without delay. To the immediate performance of this

duty, my impenitent hearers, you are urged by every motive which is calculated to

influence rational beings. You are urged to it by the plain, positive command of

Jehovah. God now commandeth all men every where to repent. We lay this

command across your path. You cannot proceed one step farther in a sinful course,

without treading it under foot. You are urged to it by a regard to your own interest;

for except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. You are urged to it by all the

blessed angels, who are waiting with desire to rejoice in your conversion. Above all,

you are most powerfully urged to it by the blessed Redeemer, whom you are under

the strongest possible obligations to love and obey. He has done and suffered much

for you. For you he has tasted death. For you, he cheerfully endured the scoffs and

cruelties of men; the rage and malice of devils; and the overwhelming weight of his

Father's wrath. In return for all this, he requests of you one small favor. He merely

requests you to repent and be happy. If you comply with this request, he will see of

the travail of his soul and be satisfied. He will consider the joy resulting from your

repentance, as a sufficient recompense for all that he has done and suffered in your

behalf. O then, be persuaded, my friends, to comply with this request. Be persuaded

to give joy to God, to his Son, and to the blessed angels, to make this day a festival in

heaven by repenting. Even now your heavenly Father is waiting for your return,

and the Redeemer stands ready with expanded arms to receive you. Even now the

white robes and the ring are provided, and the fatted calf is made ready to feast

returning prodigals. Even now angels and archangels are ready to pour forth their

most joyful songs to celebrate your return. And will you then, by persisting in your

impenitence, seal up their lips? Will you render all this preparation in vain; and

slight the raiment and the banquet which God has provided? Will you go away

impenitent, and thus practically say, there shall be no joy in heaven this day on our

ACCOU�T. God shall not be glorified, Christ shall not be gratified, angels shall not

rejoice if we can prevent it? If there be any present, of whose feelings and conduct

this is the language, we solemnly but reluctantly declare unto you, in the name of

Jehovah, that God and his Son shall be glorified, and there shall be joy over you in

heaven, notwithstanding all your endeavors to prevent it. �ever shall any of his

creatures rob God of his glory; and if you will not consent that his grace shall be

glorified in your salvation, he will be compelled to glorify his justice in your

everlasting destruction. If you will not allow the inhabitants of heaven to rejoice in

your repentance, their love of justice, truth and holiness, will constrain them to

rejoice in your condemnation, and to sing alleluia, while the smoke of your torment

ascendeth up forever and ever. Hear then, ye immortal spirits, ye probationers for

eternity, ye heirs of heaven or hell, hear and obey, before it is too late, the warning,

inviting voice which calls you to repent.