Nevertheless he is greatly concerned about the loss even of one amongst them. Though he has myriads that are now safely lodged in his hands, he cannot rest satisfied about those that are yet in danger. By the prophets he expressed his deep regret for those that were in a perishing condition6: in the days of his flesh he wept over the most abandoned of the human race f : and to this hour he is grieved at the thought of any dying in their sinsg.]
Nor is his concern for them expressed only by in- active wishes :
II. There are no exertions, however great, which he will not use for their recovery —
The woman is represented as doing every thing which could be devised for the recovery of her lost piece of silver —
[She instantly lighted a candle, that she might search in every dark corner of her house. She moreover swept her house, that, if it were hid under any dirt or rubbish, she might find it : nor did she relax her endeavours till they were crowned with success. What more could she have done if the lost money had been of the greatest value ?]
Thus our Lord uses all possible means for the re- covery of lost souls —
[Were we lying in utter darkness ? he has brought the light of his Gospel : this light he has sent into all the darkest corners of the earth h. In the days of his flesh he used all diligence himself: since that time he has commissioned his ser- vants to go into all the world. He has enjoined them to " be instant in their work, in season and out of season : " he has even threatened that, if one perish through their negligence, he will " require his blood at their hands :" he has moreover sent his Spirit to aid them in their endeavours, and to search the very inmost recesses of our benighted souls. However fruitless their exertions may have been, they are never to give up any for lost, as long as there is a possibility of their being found. May he not well say, " What could I have done more for them than I have done1?" If he appeals to us about the conduct of a woman who had lost her money, how much more may he appeal to us respecting his own conduct ?]
When his labours are successful, then his kindness appears in its brightest colours —
e Jer. xiii. 27. Hos. xi. 8. f Luke xix. 41. s 2 Pet. iii. 9. 11 Isai. ix. 2. s Isai. v. 4.