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the unlearned and unstable fall into the snare. They lean to their own understandings, have a high opinion of their own judgment, do not seek the help of the Holy Spirit, to enable them to comprehend what is written; and it is no wonder if they stumble, and fall into grievous and fatal mistakes-believe truth to be falsehood, and falsehood to be truth.

Take heed, therefore, how ye read, as well as what ye read. The Bible may be read, and so read, as to tend to destruction; and there are many books, which purport to teach people the true meaning of the Bible, and to assist them in the search after truth, which will serve only to bring error into their heads, and ruin upon their souls, if read and followed. Many false prophets, as our Lord foretold, are gone out into the world; and their words will eat, as doth a canker. False doctrine is as pernicious to a man's soul as immoral practice; and those who hold not the truth of God, will come to the same awful end as those who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Let us beware then,

Lest any one deceive us. Let us study the Scriptures for ourselves, and try every doctrine by them; like the Bereans, who searched them daily, to see whether the things which Paul said were so. And let us beware also,

Lest we deceive ourselves. Let not our corrupt hearts and vain imaginations lead us astray. Let not our question be, what is the way by which I should prefer to go to heaven? but, what is the way by which God tells me it is possible for me to get there? And may the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth, and lead us into and keep us in the safe and the right way.

SERMON II.

LUKE XV. 8, 9, 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."

WHEN the Scribes and Pharisees saw the great crowds of publicans and sinners, which followed our Lord Jesus Christ, witnessing his miracles and listening to his discourses, they were displeased, and said, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them;" implying that a person, who kept such company, could not be what he professed to be, the Christ that should come into the world.

This called forth from our Lord the two parables contained in the first part of this chapter; viz. that of the lost sheep, and that of the lost piece of silver.

These Pharisees, although in many respects they bore a resemblance to persons who may be found in our own days, in other respects totally

differed from them. And one remarkable difference is this: the Pharisees thought that the gate of the kingdom of heaven was open to very few. People in the present day seem to imagine that all, or nearly all, will enter therein. Now which of the two sentiments is right? Neither.

The Pharisees were wrong, for the gate of glory is open not to Jews only, but to sinners of all nations, who will embrace the Gospel, and turn unto God. "Come unto me," said our Lord Jesus Christ, "all."

The latter are also wrong, because though the gate is open to all comers, all will not come to the gate. There are few that find the strait gate and walk in the narrow way of life. There is room enough in heaven for all, crowns enough for all heads, harps enough for all hands; but alas! all do not seem disposed to have them.

The parable before us is calculated to make us humble, by pointing out to us our state by nature and practice; and to make us thankful, by pointing out to us the exceeding love which God bears towards us, and the means which He uses for our eternal good. May these good effects be produced upon our hearts, by our present meditations! We shall consider,

I. THE PARABLE.

II. THE DOCTRINES IT INVOLVES.

III. THE PRACTICAL LESSONS IT CONVEYS. I. THE PARABLE. Here is represented to us, a person, who possesses ten pieces of silver. She is perhaps a widow woman; not rich, though she has something; she has no gold, and all the silver she has, amounts to but ten pieces.

We find that this person meets with a loss-a

very serious loss for her. She loses one out of the ten pieces of silver, the only wealth she possessed in the world. How she lost it, is not said. But so it was; it was gone; only nine pieces were left in her purse, and what had become of the other no one could tell.

We find this prudent part in

person acting a very wise and her circumstances. The piece of silver was lost; the question was, could it ever be found again? She wisely thought that it was worth a trial; that her labour in looking for it would be amply repaid, if she was successful in recovering it. So, though there was not much prospect of finding a small bit of silver, which had been lost in a large house, she determined to make the experiment and to try. Accordingly, we find her lighting a candle, sweeping the house, room after room, leaving no corner unexplored, and seeking very diligently the lost piece of silver.

We find further that this person's diligent search was crowned with success. Perhaps she laboured long, and took much pains, and all apparently without effect; and often she was tempted to lay aside the candle and the brush, and to give up the attempt altogether. She was perhaps tempted to say, 'After all, it is not worth my while to take so much pains. It is but one piece I have lost; and if I never recover it, I have still nine left.' But she persevered, and at last found the object of her search.

We learn likewise the pleasure which she felt in her mind, when she had recovered her lost treasure. She called her friends and neighbours together, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost."

This is the parable; and our Lord's improvement of it to the Pharisees, who had been murmuring at Him for His merciful condescension to the publicans and sinners, is this: "Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” The sense of which is simply this,

As the recovering of a piece of silver was a matter of rejoicing to the woman, so is the conversion of a sinner-a poor, guilty, worthless sinner, a matter for joy in heaven. And if angels rejoice. to see bad and wicked people brought back to God, and put in the way of salvation, why should you find fault? And

As the recovery of one lost piece caused great joy to the woman, so the conversion of but one individual is known and noticed, and causes rejoicing above. How then ought you to feel, seeing, as you now do, multitudes of lost sinners anxious about their souls, and eagerly inquiring the way of everlasting life?

This was the use which our Lord made of this parable, to the proud and cavilling Pharisees; hereby shewing them, that whatever they thought of the value of a sinner's soul, it was precious in the sight of the angels of God; and that though they did not approve of his preaching to such persons, and conversing with them for their good, there were others above, whose approbation was better worth having, who did. Having thus noticed the parable, we consider,

II. THE DOCTRINES INVOLVED IN IT. And the first and foremost is,

The lost condition of man by nature. The piece of silver represents the whole human race.

Now

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