o.nd (2) it is often found to be reduced to so low e. eta.te that it ca.n put forth no effort of its own, o.nd ca.n only be carried in the strong arms of love. III. Tmi: LOVE OF THE DIVINE SHEPHERD. 'fhe strong and keen interest ta.ken by the human shepherd in e. lost sheep is indicative of the tender interest which the Fa.thor of our spirits takes in e. lost human soul. The former is more occupied in his thought o.nd ea.re with the one that is lost than he is, for the time, with the others that are safe; the latter is really and deeply concerned for the restoration of his lost child. And o.e the shepherd's sorrow leads him to go forth and search, so does the Father's tender care lead him to seek for his absent son. Christ's love for us is not general, it is particular; it reaches every one of us. He cares rnnch that each one of the souls for whom he suffered should enjoy his true heritage, and when that is being lost he desires and be "seeks" to restore it. IV. Bxs PERSISTENOY IN SEEKING. "Until he find it." The shepherd, in pursuit of the lost sheep, is not detained by difficulty or danger ; nor does be allow distance to stop his search; he goes on seeking until he finds. With such gracious persistency does the Saviour follow the wandering soul; year after year, period after period in his life, through several spiritual stage~, the good Shepherd pursues the erring soul with patient love, until he finds it, V. Bxs JOY IN FINDING IT. The-shepherd's joy in finding a.nd in recovering, shown by calling his friends o.nd neighbours together, saying, "Rejoice with me," etc., is pictorial of the Saviour's joy when a soul is redeemed from sin and enters into the life which is eternal. He rejoices not only, not chiefly, because therein does he" see of the travail of his soul," but because he knows well from what depth of evil that soul has been rescued, and to what height of blessedness it has been restored; he knows also how great is the influence, through all ages, which one loyal and loving human spirit will exert on other souls.-C. Ver. 10.-The joy of the angels, Our first thought may be-What do the angels know about us? But our second thought should b&--How likely it is that the angels would be deeply interested in us I For, granted that there are "heavenly hosts" who o.re in supreme sympathy with God, and who are therefore careful to watch the work- ings 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 CON15EQUENCES OF BIN. 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 a.II; 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," becaUBe 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 mllllt acquire a hatred of sin and a pity for sinners which 1 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 spiritnal bondage, the birth of a spirit into the life eternal I II. THEY KNOW, BETTEH THAN WE, THE BLESSED FRlJITS 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 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [err. xv. 1-32.
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 Goo and they know, better than we, how limitl_ess is the influence one soul may exe:·cise. I. 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 be done to further his cause and exalt his Name.-C.