* W. L. Walkmson.
ST. LUKE XVII. 20, 21 381
swift steamer or lightning express at his disposal would he not be bound to come more quickly than he could ? And so, with the power of Christ as our resource, and His riches in glory as our endowment, we are called upon to undertake what of ourselves we have neither the strength nor the funds to accomplish.^
^ A. J. Gordon : A Biography, 252,
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383
Literature.
Alexander (W,), Leading Ideals of the Gospels, 83.
Austin (G. B.), The Beauty of Goodness, 138.
Benson (R. M.), The Final Passover, i. 79.
Boyd (A. K. H.), Counsel and Comfort Spoken from a City Pulpit, 180.
Brandt (J. L.), Soul Saving, 139.
Burrell (D. J.), Christ and Men, 138.
Calthrop (G.), The Lost Sheep Found, 3
Chafer (L. S.), True Evangelism, 13.
Coyle (R. F.), The Church and the Times, 33.
Davidson (R. T.), The Christian Opportunity, 115.
Ellison (H. J.), Sermons and Addresses on Church Temperance Subjects, 36.
Hall (J. v.), The Sinner's Friend, 21.
Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, New Ser., v. 106.
Little (W. J. K.), The Hopes and Decisions of tlie Passion^ 1.
M'Clelland (T. C.), The Mind of Christ, 85, 99.
Macleod (A.), Talking to the Children, 119.
Moody (A.), « Buy the Truth/" 117.
Morgan (G. C.), Christian Principles, 69.
Morris (A. J.), The Open Secret, 142.
Morrison (G. H.), The Footsteps of the Flock, 197.
Neville (W. G.), Sermons, 264.
Nicoll (W. R.), Sunday Evening, 29.
Parker (J.), The City Temple, i. 74.
Pulsford (J.), Loyalty to Christ, ii. 321.
Robertson (A. T.), The Teaching of Jesus, 100.
Thompson (J. R.), Burden Bearing, 121.
Thome (H.), Notable Sayings of the Great Teacher, 54.
Whitefield (G.), Sermons, 401.
Christian World Pulpit, xxxiii. 36 (E. Johnson) ; xxxvi. 33 (G.
MacDonald) ; lii. 120 (R. Thomas) ; Iviii. 322 (S. Chisholm) ; Ixvi.
124 (W. J. K. Little) ; Ixviii. 385 (R. Gregory). Churchman's Pulpit : Christmas Day, ii. 258 (R. Gregory) ; Sermons to
the Young, xvi. 519 (J. S. Maver). Conversations with Christ, 203. Homiletic Review, xlviii. 371 (R. T. Davidson). Preacher's Magazine, vi. 125 (A. E. Gregory) ; xi. 496 (M. G, Pearse).
Cur Deus Homo.
For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke xix. lo.
The Lost.
1. We find in our text Christ's estimate of the condition of humanity. It is something that is lost. No doubt our spiritual condition may be put in various ways. We are guilty creatures : we are depraved creatures : we are condemned creatures : in all these fashions, and more, it may be possible truly and justly to describe our spiritual state, and express those things about us which make us so greatly in need of a part in Christ's great salvation. But probably there is no single word which could be employed that would give so complete and comprehensive a description of man as he is by nature, as to say that he is lost. All error from the right way, all distance from our Heavenly Father's house, all destitution, and danger, and impossibility of return, and imminence of final ruin, are conveyed in that one word, lost ! Trace that word's meaning out into its various shades and ramifications, and you will find that it implies, as no other can, all that we are, all that makes our need of the Saviour — His sacrifice, His Spirit, His intercession.
2. We are lost, as the wayfarer is lost, because we have gone away from our Father's house, and we are wandering in the wilderness — in a wilderness where there is no supply for our soul's greatest needs, where we are surrounded by perils, and whence we can of ourselves find no way to return. We are lost, as the great ship is lost, for we have made shipwreck of our best
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386 CUR DEUS HOMO
interests, and we drive, without a helm, over the trackless sea of life ; and, away from Jesus, we know no haven for which to steer. We are lost like the guilty child that by reckless sin has broken his father's heart ; for, evil by nature, and worse by daily temptation and transgression, we are, left to ourselves, lost to holiness, to happiness, to heaven, to God. We have lost our birthright, lost our Father, lost our home, lost our way, lost our hope, our time, our souls. And what loss there is in our unimproved and unsanctified powers and faculties! How these souls are lost, in the sense that so little is made of what was meant for so much ; lost as the untilled field is lost ; as the flower which no man sees is lost ; as the house built and then left empty is lost ; as the ship which rots in harbour is lost. Are not these souls made for God's glory : ought not every power about them to conduce to that ? What glory ought we to have rendered to God ; what good to man : what knowledge and happiness to ourselves ? And, if a soul's whole powers and energies are given to the mere supply of wants that end upon a present life and world, — to the mere earning of the daily bread, — is not that soul a noble thing lost, a noble machinery whose power is wasted and flung away ? In all these senses and more, the Saviour's description of us is a sound and just one.