s accordingly what track it will take.
He conjectures beforehand, with a considerable measure of accuracy, the
pit in which it will be found lying, or the thicket in which it will be
seen struggling. He follows and finds the fugitive. Wearied by its
journey, and perhaps wounded by its falls, the sheep, when discovered,
cannot return to the fold even under the shepherd's guidance; he takes
it on his shoulders and bears the burden home. He does not upbraid it
for its straying; he does not complain of its weight. He is glad that he
has gotten his own again, after it was "ready to perish." Happy while he
bears it homeward, and happy when he has gotten it home, he invites all
his neighbours to share in his joy.

Such is the simple and transparent outline of this ancient eastern
pastoral scene; let us now endeavour to see in the symbol those lessons
which it at once veils and reveals.

The parable is spoken expressly for the purpose of determining and
manifesting the character and work of the Son in the salvation of sinful
men; it declares the design, the method, and the terms of the incarnate
Redeemer in his intercourse with the creatures whom he came to save. But
in the fact of accomplishing this its immediate object, it strikes also
a chord which runs through the centre--constitutes, as it were, the
medulla of the divine government in all places and all times. The
parable spoken in order to afford a glance into the heart of Jesus,
incidentally at the same time sketches the outline of God's universal
rule; as in drawing the figure of a branch you necessarily exhibit, in
its main features and proportions, an image of the tree. This wider
subject, certainly and accurately outlined, although incidentally
introduced, demands some notice at our hand.

* * * * *

Ever since scientific observation discovered the true system of the
material universe, and so, as it were, changed those twinkling sparks of
light into central suns, the rulers of tributary worlds, philosophy
apart from faith has been, more or less articulately, scattering the
question, at once a fruit and a seed of unbelief, How could the Creator
of so vast a universe bestow so much of his care on one small spot? Some
have been disposed to say, and perhaps more have been disposed to think,
with fear or joy according to their predilection, that modern discovery
is gradually putting the Bible out of date. A feeling, if not a
judgment, ha