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Christ’s Object Lessons
doubt whether his repentance is genuine, or will whisper, “He has no
stability; I do not believe that he will hold out.” These persons are
doing not the work of God but the work of Satan, who is the accuser
of the brethren. Through their criticisms the wicked one hopes to
discourage that soul, and to drive him still farther from hope and from
God. Let the repenting sinner contemplate the rejoicing in heaven over
the return of the one that was lost. Let him rest in the love of God and
in no case be disheartened by the scorn and suspicion of the Pharisees.
The rabbis understood Christ’s parable as applying to the publicans
and sinners; but it has also a wider meaning. By the lost sheep Christ
represents not only the individual sinner but the one world that has
apostatized and has been ruined by sin. This world is but an atom
in the vast dominions over which God presides, yet this little fallen
world—the one lost sheep—is more precious in His sight than are the
ninety and nine that went not astray from the fold. Christ, the loved
Commander in the heavenly courts, stooped from His high estate, laid
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aside the glory that He had with the Father, in order to save the one
lost world. For this He left the sinless worlds on high, the ninety and
nine that loved Him, and came to this earth, to be “wounded for our
transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities.” (
Isaiah 53:5
.) God
gave Himself in His Son that He might have the joy of receiving back
the sheep that was lost.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God.”
1 John 3:1
. And Christ
says, “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent
them into the world” (
John 17:18
)—to “fill up that which is behind of
the afflictions of Christ, ... for His body’s sake, which is the church.”
Colossians 1:24
. Every soul whom Christ has rescued is called to work
in His name for the saving of the lost. This work had been neglected
in Israel. Is it not neglected today by those who profess to be Christ’s
followers?
How many of the wandering ones have you, reader, sought for
and brought back to the fold? When you turn from those who seem
unpromising and unattractive, do you realize that you are neglecting
the souls for whom Christ is seeking? At the very time when you turn
from them, they may be in the greatest need of your compassion. In
every assembly for worship, there are souls longing for rest and peace.
They may appear to be living careless lives, but they are not insensible