what the piece of silver was, so are we all by nature and practice-lost.

Man comes into the world a child of wrath, lying under the curse and condemnation of Almighty God; and the longer he lives, the more guilt lies upon his soul. So that in his natural state, he is lost as to the enjoyment of God's blessing here below, and as to any hope or prospect of enjoying His glory hereafter.

This lost condition of man is implied in the short account of the gospel, which the apostle has given us, 1 Tim. i. 15. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; and is expressed in what our Lord himself tells us, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Here, then, is the natural condition of all mankind. This is the condition in which we were all born; and this is the condition in which, unless it has pleased God to seek us and to save us by His grace, we now are-lost.

This is the first doctrine.

The second is this:

That it is altogether contrary to the will of God that man should be thus lost. It was quite contrary to the will and pleasure of the woman in the parable, that any one of her pieces of silver should be lost. On the contrary, I doubt not but that she was very sorry when she discovered the fact. Neither was she willing that it should continue lost. She did all she could to find it again. She took the utmost pains-lighted the candleswept the house, and searched diligently till she found it.

Nor does it give the Almighty any pleasure to look down upon this our world, and to see it as it is, a world of lost sinners, instead of being a world

of holy and sinless creatures, as heaven, the world above, was and is.

Neither is He willing and desirous that sinners should continue lost and undone. He is not willing that any should perish. He desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live. Consider the proofs and evidences He has given of this His gracious will and pleasure.

Consider the gift of His Son. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." "God commendeth," saith the apostle, "His love towards us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us." Surely if God had desired the death of sinners, He would not have sent His Son, our Lord, for their redemption.

Consider, moreover, the present means which He makes use of for the conversion and salvation of sinners. He gives them various opportunities and means of grace. He speaks to our dull ears and to our hard hearts, by the voice of His word, and His Providence, and His Spirit. Would He, if He desired our death, point out to us, as He does in the Bible, the way of life? Would He send us to the Saviour, if He did not wish us to be saved? No. When the gardener digs about and applies manure to the root of some barren fruit tree, you would not say that it was a proof that he desired that the tree should continue barren, and be cut down and burnt as fire wood at last. But rather, that it was proof that he was very anxious that the tree should bear fruit and live. So in spiritual things. When God gives us the means of grace, and tells us what we must do to be saved, and supplies us with things for our souls' good, it is a

proof that He does not desire our death, but rather that we should be converted and live.

Consider once more, the patience and long-suffering He exercises towards sinners. People very often go on year after year, as foolish, careless, vain, and sinful as ever; yet God spares themgives them more space for repentance-adds year after year to their lives-visits them with fresh mercies, both of providence and grace, if all they had experienced before have failed to make them serious, and to bring them to Himself. Now if He desired the death of a sinner, nothing of all this would take place. No day of grace, no space for repentance would be allowed to any of us. This, then, is the second doctrine. There is a

third:

That it is God that findeth the sinner, and not the sinner that findeth God. It was the woman in the parable that went in search of the lost piece of silver, and not the lost piece that went in search of her. And well for us that it is so; for otherwise who could be saved? Well for us, that Christ has undertaken to be our Saviour, and we are not left to save ourselves. For consider,

Who could make satisfaction to Almighty God for his sins? They are countless in number, and aggravated in degree. How can any one of us make atonement for them? Thanks be to God, atonement has been made. Christ by His offering of Himself upon the cross, has made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. "He hath put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Again, consider,

Who can change his own heart?

Who can

bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one but Almighty God. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" And yet it would be far easier for a negro to turn the colour of his skin from black to white, than for man, unassisted by God's grace, to create within himself a new heart and a right spirit. Consider once more, if no one can make himself a christian,

Can any one keep himself a christian? The corruptions of the flesh-the sinful and wicked inclinations of our depraved heartswho can struggle with and keep under these, without God's grace to help him? The temptations of the world -all the allurements and enticements to sin, which are offered to our ears, and our eyes, and our other senses-who can resist and overcome, and keep himself unspotted from these, unless God giveth him the victory, through Jesus Christ our Lord? No. The work of a sinner's salvation is all of God. From first to last, it is all from God, and by Him. "By grace are ye saved, through faith, (says the apostle,) and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God." These are the principal doctrines involved in the parable before us. Let us go on to consider, as we proposed,

III. THE PRACTICAL LESSONS IT TEACH US. It may teach us

MAY

poor

To value our souls. What a value did this woman set upon her piece of silver; and why did she value it?

Because it was silver. If it had been a piece of lead or tin she had lost, she would have taken no pains to recover it.

Now what this piece of silver was to this woman, our souls ought to be to us-valuable and

precious-more precious than silver and gold— more valuable than any other possession we may have. And after all, this piece, over which the woman was so careful, was but a piece of silver ; it was not gold, the most valuable and precious of metals; and it was but one piece she had lost; and if she never found it again, she had still nine pieces left. But what is there so precious as a man's soul? Hear what our Lord says about its value: "What is a man profited, though he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" We may learn also from this parable,

To be very diligent in the use of all the means of grace for the welfare of our souls. We find the woman in the text lighting a candle, sweeping the house, and seeking very diligently her lost piece; which was yet of no great value, which would only buy her a few meals of bodily sustenance, and thus support her for a day or two here on earth. Oh! that we would take the same pains for the welfare of our souls, which this woman took to recover her lost piece of silver!

She lighted a candle in order to seek it. How many will not sit down to read a chapter in their Bibles, by day light or candle light; neither morning nor evening finds them upon their knees before God.

She swept her house in searching for this one lost treasure. Many, so far from asking God to make clean their hearts, will not even order their houses and their families according to godliness. Many neglect family prayer; many allow worldly practices and wicked words in their houses and families. Be it remembered, that, generally at