8 Either 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 ? 9 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.

QUESTIONS :

(THINK !)

1 What is the problem of the woman ?

2 What did the woman lose ?

3 Where did the woman lose the silver piece ?

4 What was the condition of the house ?

5 What did the woman do to find the silver piece ?

6 Did the woman find the silver piece easily ?

7 What did the woman do after she found the silver piece ?

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8 Who does the woman represent ?

9 What does the silver represent ?

10 What do the 10 pieces of silver represent ?

11 What does the 1 piece of silver represent ?

12 What does the candle represent ?

13 What does it mean to “light a candle” ?

14 What does light represent ?

15 What does darkness represent ?

16 What does the house represent ?

17 What is the significance of sweeping the house ?

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THE WOMAN WHO FOUND THE MISSING PIECE OF SILVER

LUKE 15

QUESTIONS :

(THINK ! First about the Physical).

1 What is the problem of the woman ?

(The woman has lost something of value to her).

2 What did the woman lose ?

(The woman lost 1 piece of silver).

3 Where did the woman lose the silver piece ?

(The woman lost the 1 piece of silver in the house).

4 What was the condition of the house ?

(The house was dark and dirty)

5 What did the woman do to find the silver piece ?

(The woman “lit a candle” to produce light in the house and then swept the house to remove the dirt hiding the silver).

6 Did the woman find the silver piece easily ?

(The woman had to seek and search diligently to find the 1 piece of missing silver).

7 What did the woman do after she found the silver piece ?

(The woman rejoiced and called her friends and neighbors to share the good news of finding the 1 piece of missing silver).

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(THINK ! About THE SPIRITUAL)

8 Who does the woman represent ?

THE “WOMAN” REPRESENTS THE “CHURCH”

9 What does the silver represent ?

THE “SILVER” REPRESENTS THE “WORDS” OF GOD

(THE BIBLE AND 10 COMMANDMENTS

10 What do the 10 pieces of silver represent ?

T DrawObject1 he 10 pieces of “silver” represent

Gods’words in 10 parts or

God’s 10 COMMANDMENT LAW

1 DrawObject2 1 What does the 1 piece of silver represent ?

The 1 piece of missing “Silver” represents

1 piece missing from Gods’Words

1 Commandment missing from the 10 Commandments

1 part of GODS’LAW missing.

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12 What does the “candle” represent ?

THE “CANDLE” represents THE “BIBLE” (God’s Word)

13 What does it mean to “light” a candle ?

TO “STUDY” THE “BIBLE” (TO UNDERSTAND TRUTH)

14 What does “light” represent ?

“LIGHT” represents “TRUTH”

15 What does “darkness” represent ?

“DARKNESS” REPRESENTS “ERROR”

(Lack of Understanding)

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16 What does the “house” represent ?

THE “HOUSE” represents THE “CHURCH”

17 What is the significance of “sweeping” the house ?

ISAIAH 28

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummer : and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

The Bible uses the word “sweep” in the context of removing evil or removing something that is false (lies).

If the woman had to “sweep” the house in order to find the piece of silver, then there must have been dust or dirt or sand which was hiding the piece of silver and had to be “swept away” before the silver piece could be seen.

Similarly the church (woman) must have had to remove (sweep away) the “dust” or “sand” of man’s words, before God’s Words (SILVER PIECE) could he seen !

JOSHUA 11

4 And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people even as the sand upon the seashore…

GENESIS 2

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,

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THE WOMAN WHO FOUND THE MISSING PIECE OF SILVER

LUKE 15

8 Either 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 ?

9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me ; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

Q UESTIONS :

THINK ! FIRST ABOUT THE PHYSICAL

AND THEN ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL

1 What is the problem of the woman ?

(PHYSICAL) The woman has lost something of value

(SPIRITUAL) The church has lost something of spiritual value

2 What did the woman lose ?

(PHYSICAL) The woman lost 1 piece of 10 pieces of silver

(SPIRITUAL) The church lost 1 PART of 10 PARTS of GOD’S LAW

3 Where did the woman lose 1 piece of silver ?

(PHYSICAL) The woman lost 1 piece of silver in the house

(SPIRITUAL) The church is responsbile for causing 1 of the 10 Commandments of God to be LOST !!

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4 What was the condition of the house ?

( PHYSICAL) The house was dark and dirty

(SPIRITUAL) The church was lacking in understanding (dark) and relying on man’s word (dirt, dust, sand).

5 What did the woman do to find the 1 piece of silver ?

( DrawObject5 PHYSICAL) The woman “lit a candle” to produce light in the house so she could see and then swept the house to remove the dust and dirt that was hiding the 1 piece of silver.

(SPIRITUAL) The church began to “study the Bible” (GOD’S WORD) to see truth and the church began to understand and it began to remove the lies and the false teaching of man that was hiding the 1 Commandment of GOD that was LOST !

6 Did the woman find the 1 piece of silver easily ?

( DrawObject6 PHYSICAL) The woman had to seek and search diligently.

(SPIRITUAL) The church had to spiritually search the scriptures diligently, comparing them, to find the missing Commandment of God that was LOST.

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7 What did the woman do after she found the 1 piece of silver that was missing ?

( DrawObject7 PHYSICAL) The woman rejoiced and called her friends and neighbors to share the good news of finding the 1 piece of silver that had been lost.

(SPIRITUAL) The church rejoiced and began to share the “Good News” of finding the 1 Commandment of God that had been lost by the church !

SPIRITUAL

PHYSICAL

Woman = CHURCH

Silver = GOD’S WORDS

10 pieces silver = GOD’S WORDS in 10 Parts (10 commandments)

Candle = The Bible

Light a candle = Study the Bible to understand it

Light = Truth

Darkness = Error and false teaching

House = Church

Sweep the house = Remove false teaching of men

Dust + Dirt = Teaching of men

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COMMENTS :

1 The Church (woman) is responsible for 1 Commandment of God (1 piece of SILVER) being lost !

2 The 1 law of God (1 piece of SILVER) was lost in the church (house).

3 The church (house) was full of Error and False Teaching (darkness).

4 In order to find the LOST Commandment (1 piece of SILVER), the church (woman) had to Study the Bible (light a candle).

5 The truth (light) of the Bible (candle) removed the error and false teaching (darkness) and helped the church (woman) to find the LOST commandment (lost piece of silver).

6 The LOST commandment (lost piece of SILVER) was hidden because of the teaching of men (silver piece covered with dust + dirt).

7 The church (woman) had to remove (sweep away) the words of men (dust + dirt) and then she could clearly see the LOST Words of God, and she found the missing Commandment (1 piece of silver).

8 The church (woman) searched diligently in order to find the LOST Commandment (LOST piece of silver) and when she had found it she shared the Good News with her friends and neighbors !

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LUKE 15

8 Either 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 ?

9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me ; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

BIBLE VERSE : Luke 15 : 8,9

(church) (10 Commandments) (church)

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose

(1 Commandment) (study the Bible to find truth)

one piece, doth not light a candle and

(clean up) (church) (church)

sweep the house and seek diligently till she

(missing Commandment)

find it ?

(church) (missing Commandment) (church)

And when she hath found it she

calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice

(missing Commandment)

with me ; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

PARAPHRASE :

(woman) (10 pieces of silver) (she)

The Church had the Ten Commandments but the Church lost

(one piece)

One Commandment.

(light a candle)

Then, Gods people began to study the Bible to find truth and

(sweep) (house)

to clean up the Church and to search diligently until they had

(it) (she)

found the lost Commandment. And when the Church had

(it)

found the lost Commandment she called her friends and

(piece)

neighbors together, saying, I have found the Commandment

which I had lost.

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What 1 commandment (1 piece of SILVER) of God’s Law has been removed” (lost) from the 10 commandments (10 pieces of SILVER) ?

The Ten Commandments(Exodus 20 : 3-17)

(1) 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me 1  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

(2) 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 2  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

image, or any likeness of anything that is in

heaven above or that is in the earth beneath,

or that is in the water under the earth.

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them or

serve them : for I the Lord thy God am a

jealous God…

(3) 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 3  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

God in vain for the Lord will not hold him

guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

(4) 8 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy 4 x MOST MINISTERS

9 Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work DO NOT ACCEPT THE

10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the 7^TH DAY SABBATH

Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any

work. Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,

nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,

nor thy cattle, that is within thy gates.

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and

earth, the sea and all that in them is, and

rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord

blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

(5) 12 Honor thy father and thy mother : that thy 5  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

days may be long upon the land which the

Lord thy God giveth thee.

(6) 13 Thou shalt not kill 6  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

(7) 14 Thou shalt not commit adultry 7  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

(8) 15 Thou shalt not steal 8  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

(9) 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness 9  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

against thy neighbor

(10) 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s 10  ALL MINISTERS ACCEPT

house, thou shalt not covet thy

neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant

nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor

his ass, nor anything that is thy

neighbor’s

DrawObject8

THE 7^tH day SABBATH (4^th Commandment)

has been LOST or “removed” from the LAW

by the Ministers !

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NOTE : This letter is an example of how the Ministers and teachers are causing the “one piece” of GOD’S LAW (4^th Commandment) 7^th day SABBATH to be LOST !

POPULAR TEACHING (CHURCH OF CHRIST)

Dear Diane, May 31, 2000

Thanks for your continued and excellent work in your Bible Correspondence Courses. This letter is in response to your observation about the ten commandments. The following is sent for your consideration with hope it will be helpful.

The ten commandments are a part of the law of Moses which was God’s law for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament days. We find the ten commandments listed both in Exodus chapter 20 and in Deuteronomy chapter 5. A close reading of these passages will show that this law was between God and Israel. This is the law which Christ fulfilled (Matthew 5 : 17). He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross (Colossians 2 : 14-17).

It is often said that Jesus took only the ceremonial law away but left the moral part of the law. Of course, the Bible teaches just the contrary. He took all of the law out of the way and we are no longer under the law of Moses. In Romans chapter seven, Paul is discussing the fact that under Christ, we “become dead to the law by the body Christ” (Romans 7 : 3). In verse six he says “we are delivered from the law”. In verse seven he is very specific and identifies the law by one of its precepts namely “Thou shalt not covet”. Obviously, the ten commandments, of which “Thou shalt not covet” is one, are a part of that which we have been delivered from.

Well, does this mean that we can have other gods, or build idols, or take God’s name in vain, etc. Of course not. But the reason why is because the law of Christ, under which all people now live… forbids these things. In fact, some of the ten commandments are listed in Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 13 : 9). This makes them a part of the law of Christ. Some of the ten commandments have been made even stronger. For example, under the ten commandments, murder was condemned ; under the law of Christ, becoming angry which leads to murder is condemned (Matthew 5 : 21-22). Under the law of Christ adultery may be committed even in the heart (Matthew 5 : 27-28).

The one law of the ten commandments which is not part of the law of Christ is the Sabbath observance. Even those today who claim we ought to keep the Old Testament ten commandments do not keep the seventh day ; and those who do profess to keep the seventh day do not do so as the Old Testament teaches ; they have made new rules, which, of course, God prohibits.

I hope this will be of some assistance. I realize it sounds strange to many to say, we are not to keep the ten commandments today. However, once we see the true Bible teaching on the subject, we realize that we live under even a better law. The great principles which were so important to the nation of Israel have been made even greater for us under the law of Christ.

Thanks for studying. Please write again if further clarification is desired.

Sincerely, Jim Lewis CHURCH OF CHRIST CORRESPONDANCE COURSE

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THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC QUARTERLY REVIEW

Volume VIII

FROM JANUARY to OCTOBER, 1883

THE OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY AND CIVIL LAWS

FOR ITS ENFORCEMENT. 139

The Sunday, as a day of the week set apart for the obligatory public worship of Almighty God ; to be sanctified by a suspension of all servile labor, trade, and worldly avocations and by exercises of devotion, is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.

The Sunday laws are in their origin a part of the Catholic system enforced by the state when Europe was Catholic. The day and the regulations have no logical basis except the authority of the Catholic Church.

In the primitive days of fervor and piety all days were so consecrated by exercises of devotion that no special command for the sanctification of the first day is traced.

This became gradually obligatory, although the command was not at first peremptory. The Council of Laodicea, in 364 A.D, defines : “That Christians must not Judaize and refrain from manual labor on Saturday, but work on that day ; and that, preferring the Lord’s day, they must then rest, if this can be done, as becomes Christians”.

The Church thus began by calling her children to sanctify the first day of the week, that on which God the Son rose from the dead, that, on which God the Father began the creation of the world, and God the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles. She commanded a laying aside of business, a refraining from servile work, as a means to the end she had in view, the sanctification of the day.

Constantine lent the power of the state to enforce the regulations of the Church, and the civil law began to enforce the spiritual decrees. He commanded the Lord’s day to be observed by all as a festival and day of rest.

Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the Church, has no good reason for its Sunday theory, and ought, logically, to keep Saturday as the Sabbath, with the Jews and Seventh-Day Baptists.

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COMMENTS

Thus, the Catholic Church is clearly responsible for accomplishing the change of the days of worship !

Men and women did not willingly change from the 7^thday to 1^st day.

They were forced by civil laws of the government, enforcing the decrees of the Catholic Church, to make the change or suffer the penalty of the law !

According to the Catholic Church, “nothing in Scripture requires the change or justifies it”.

Most of the Protestant world has accepted the change of worship days from the 7^th to the 1^st day without having a Biblical or Scriptural basis for the change.

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FINAL CONCLUSIONS

You have just seen how God predicted in His Word that the Church would “lose” one of His Commandments.

You have also seen how the Church used the Civil power to force men to worship on the 1^st day instead the 7^th day.

You have also seen a typical letter from a “teacher” telling a student that of all the Commandments, only the 4^thCommandment (7^th Day Sabbath) should not be kept.

Now you will have to decide whether you will accept man’s word or whether you will accept God’s Word !

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PIECE OF SILVER

By William T. Barrett

The Ten Commandments(Exodus 20 : 3-17)

FINAL CONCLUSIONS