Jesus and the Lambs
A Sermon
(No. 794)
Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, February 9, 1868, by
C. H. SPURGEON
at the [7]Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
"He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His
bosom.'" Isaiah 40:11.
IN the chapter before us our Savior is described as Jehovah God. He is
spoken of as clothed with irresistible power: "He shall come with
strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him," but, as if to soften a
glory far too bright for the weak eyes of the trembling, the Prophet
introduces the delightful words of the text: "He shall feed His flock
like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them
in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Here is
Divinity! Not Jehovah, the Man of War, but Jehovah the Shepherd of
Israel! Here is the fire of Deity, but its gentle, warming influence is
felt and the consuming force is veiled. Greatness in league with
gentleness, and power linked with affection now pass before us.
Loving-kindness and tender mercy are drawn in their golden chariot by
the noble steeds of Omnipotence and Wisdom. Heroes who have been most
distinguished for fury in the fight have been tender of heart as little
children– sharp were their swords to the foe–but gentle their hands
towards the weak. It is the index of a noble nature that it can be
majestic as a lion in the midst of the fray and roar like a young lion
on the scene of conflict–and yet have a dove's eye and a maiden's
heart. Such is our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the conquering Captain of
salvation but He is meek and lowly of heart.
This morning, in considering the text, we have a special eye to these
who are the weaklings among us. Our desire is, as an under-shepherd, to
administer consolation to those who are distressed in spirit and feeble
in mind, hoping that while we speak, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
may speak effectually to them.
I. Our first consideration, this morning, will be the enquiry, WHO ARE
THE LAMBS WHICH OUR BLESSED LORD IS SAID TO GATHER AND TO CARRY IN HIS
BOSOM? In a certain sense we may affirm that all His people are lambs.
In so far as they exhibit the Christian spirit, they are lamb-like.
Jesus sends them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. They are a
little flock, a guileless people. Just as the lamb was clean and
acceptable to God, so is every Christian. As the lamb might be
presented in sacrifice, so does every Believer present his body as a
living sacrifice unto God. As the lamb was the symbol of innocence, so
should the Believer be holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from
sinners.
And as the lamb fights not, and has no weapon of offense, so the
Believer is no brawler, striker, or man of strife. Wars and fighting he
hates, and follows peace with all men. When he is fully conformed to
his Master's will he resists not evil, but is patient, turning the
other cheek when he is struck. He knows that vengeance is God's
prerogative and therefore is slow to retort upon a railing adversary,
remembering that Michael the archangel only replied to the adversary,
"The Lord rebuke you."
A lamb is so guileless and unsuspicious that it licks the butcher's
hand and those who seek to destroy it find it easy work. So have the
saints been killed all the daylong–they are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter, and the accusation of James is true–"You have condemned and
killed the just, and he does not resist you." Those who are of a meek
and lamb-like spirit are precisely such as become lovers of the gentle
Prophet of Nazareth. Like attracts its like. He is meek and lowly in
heart and therefore those who are like He is, come to Him. The power of
His Gospel, wherever it is exerted, produces men of such character.
Those who came to Christ when He was upon earth may have been
boisterous enough in their natural dispositions, but after they had
received the baptism of His Spirit, they were an inoffensive race.
They proclaimed the Gospel with boldness and for their Master they were
very valiant, but they rose not in arms against Caesar. They headed no
rebellions. They were not competitors in the race for power. They shed
no blood even to win their liberties. They were examples of suffering,
affliction and of patience–they were ready to live or to die for the
truth, but that truth was love to God and man. Self pride, greed, wrath
as works of the old nature they sought to mortify, and it was their
daily desire to do good unto all men as they had opportunity. Jesus
will always gather such lambs. The world hates them and scatters them!
The world ridicules and despises them but Jesus makes them His bosom
friends.
The world of old hounded them to death–made them pine in the damps of
the catacombs of Rome, or perish among the snows of the Alps–but their
glorified Lord gathered them by tens of thousands from the prison, the
amphitheater, the stake, the bloody scaffold–and in His blessed bosom
they rest in congenial company forever! As the Lord's lambs they are
glorified with the Lamb of God.
Still, this is not the precise meaning of the text. The word "lamb"
frequently signifies the young, and our Lord Jesus Christ graciously
receives many young persons into His bosom. The ancient teachers of the
Jewish Law invited no children to gather around them. I suppose there
was not a Rabbi in all Jerusalem who would have desired a child to
listen to him, and if it had been said of anyone of the Sanhedrim,
"that man teaches so as to be understood by a child," he would have
thought himself insulted by such a description. But not so our Master!
He always had children among His audience–they are often mentioned. In
the enumeration of those whom He miraculously fed, we read, "beside
women and children."
His triumphant entry into Jerusalem included among the most conspicuous
of the jubilant throng those children who were heard crying, "Hosanna,"
in the temple. When Jesus took a little child and set him in the midst,
He had not to go far for the living illustration, for the little
children were always near "the holy Child Jesus," the great Child-Man.
Our Lord Jesus was so guileless, so gentle, He wore His heart so
manifestly upon His sleeve, that though a man in all things masculine
and dignified, the childlike nature was eminently conspicuous in Him
and attracted the little ones to itself. We shall never forget the
voice of the blessed Savior, the Lord of angels, as He cries, "Suffer
the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of Heaven."
Some in our day mistrust youthful piety, but our Savior lends no
countenance to such suspicions. Some cautiously whisper, "Let the pious
youth be tried awhile before we believe in his religion. Let him be
tempted–let him bear the frosts of the world–perhaps the blossoms
will drop away and disappoint us." Such was not my Master's way.
Cautious, no doubt He was prudent beyond all human wisdom, but yet ever
full of love and generousness, and therefore we find Him receiving
children, as He has received us, into His kingdom–into the best place
in His kingdom–into His loving bosom.
Ah, dear Children, since you are not too young to die and to be judged
for your idle words and disobedient actions, it is a delightful thing
for you that you are not too young to believe in Jesus, nor too young
to be saved by His Grace! Dear Children, I would have you completely
saved today, for your tender age is no hindrance to you being forgiven
and justified. If you have trusted the great Savior, I tenderly invite
you to declare your faith in the Lord Jesus, and to come forward and be
joined to the Church of Jesus. If, indeed, you are converted, we dare
not refuse you! I hope the Church of Jesus will no more think of
refusing you than would our Lord Himself.
Were Jesus here this morning, He would say, "Suffer the little ones to
come unto Me," and I hope you will be led by the Holy Spirit to come at
His call. Only let your youthful hearts be given to Jesus, let your
confidence be fixed alone upon what He suffered for sinners upon the
Cross of Calvary, and you need not be afraid. There is the same Christ
for you as for the gray heads. The promises are as much yours as your
fathers' and the comforts of the Holy Spirit shall flow as sweetly into
the little vessels of your hearts as into the hearts of those who have
known the Savior these 50 years. Hear the words of the Good Shepherd,
"I love them that love Me, and they that seek Me early shall find Me."
But, again, by lambs we may quite as properly understand young
converts–those who begin to have religious impressions–those who but
of late have repented of sin and been driven from all confidence in
their own good works. They are not yet established in the faith. They
only know, perhaps, one or two great doctrines. They are very far from
being able to teach others. They need to sit at the feet of Jesus
rather than to serve Him in activities requiring talent and knowledge.
Their faith is very apt to waver. Poor things, if they are assailed by
arguments they are soon perplexed, and though they cling to the Truth
of God, yet it is a hard struggle for them.
They cannot give a reason for the hope that is in them, though they are
not deficient in meekness and fear. Our Lord Jesus Christ never
discarded a single follower on account of his being juvenile in the
faith. Far from it! He has been pleased, in His infinite tenderness, to
look especially after these. A young man came to Him who was not then
converted–probably never was–and yet though the good work in him was
so immature that it may have been compared to the morning cloud and the
morning dew which pass away, yet our Savior, looking upon him, loved
him! For He delights to see the hopeful token, however slender. He
quenches not the smoking flax, and breaks not the bruised reed. He did
not repulse the self-righteous youth. He was ignorant of the very first
principle of the Gospel, namely, justification by faith and not by
works, yet, since he desired to do right and was evidently sincere, our
Lord Jesus Christ further instructed Him.
I earnestly pray Christians to imitate my Master in this. Where you see
anything of Christ, encourage it. You may observe much that you lament,
but, I pray you, do not kill the child because its face is black. Do
not cut down the trees because in spring they have no fruit upon them.
Be thankful that they make a show of buds which may come to fruit
by-and-by. It is not policy in the Christian Church to be severe upon
those who are in any measure inclined towards Christ! It is inhumanity,
it is worse cruelty than the sea monsters, for even they draw out the
breasts to their young–but some men seem determined to crush all the
hopes of the babes in Divine Grace. Because they grow not at once to
the full stature of men, therefore they say, "Away with them! They are
not fit to be received into the Church of Christ."
My dear Friends, if there are any of you weak and doubtful, just
struggling into life, who have only for the last few days known
anything at all concerning the love of Christ. If there are in you any
good thing towards the Lord God of Israel–a desire, an earnest
longing, or a little faith–my Master will not be unkind to you, for
"He gathers the lambs in His arm, and carries them in His bosom."
Furthermore, we feel sure that we shall not strain the text if we say
that the lambs in the flock are those who are naturally of a weak,
timid and trembling disposition. There are many persons who, if they
were kept constantly in the hothouse of Christian encouragement, would
still feel themselves frostbitten, for their minds are naturally heavy
and forlorn. If they make music at all, they dwell evermore upon the
bass and keep not their harps long from the willows. When the promise
comes with power to their souls and they enjoy a few bright sunshiny
days, they are very happy in their own quiet way, like the man in the
valley of humiliation, singing, "He that is down need fear no fall."
But they never climb the mountains of joy, or lift up their voice with
exultation! They have a humble hope and a gracious reliance and they
are often, in practical Christianity, among the best in the Church. And
yet, alas for them, their days of mirth are few! Like the elder brother
in the parable, their father has never given them a kid that they may
make merry with their friends.
Now such persons make but poor company, and yet every Christian ought
to seek their society, for there is something to be learned from them.
And, moreover, their needs demand our sympathetic attention. Do not
think that Jesus seeks out the strong saints to be His companions to
the neglect of the little ones. Ah, no! "He shall gather the lambs in
His arm, and carry them in His bosom."
Once more, the lambs are those who know but little of the things of
God. This class is not so much desponding as ignorant–ignorant after a
world of teaching! When we meet with persons who do not understand the
Doctrines of Grace, after we have done our best to instruct them, we
must not feel vexed with them. Reflect that our Master said to Philip,
"Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me,
Philip?" He was a much better teacher than we shall ever be, and
therefore if He was gentle with His dull scholars, we must not be
harsh. Some Believers, after years of scriptural teaching, get nothing
into their heads except a mass of confusion. They are in a fog, poor
souls–they mean right enough–but they do not know how to put their
meaning in order.
Oftentimes you will find our friends confounding things that differ,
mingling justification with sanctification, or the fruits of the Spirit
with the foundation of their confidence. This is the result of an
uneducated understanding. Such persons are to be pitied because they
become very readily the victims of designing men who lead them into
error. But they are not to be shunned! They are not to be scolded! They
are not to be denounced! Proud men may do so, for they are
short-tempered, but the large-hearted Son of God declares that to them
He will act as a shepherd and will gather them in His arms.
If Thomas will not learn by any other means, Jesus will condescend to
his childish foibles and let him put his finger into the print of the
nails, and thrust his hand into the wounded side. As a nurse is tender
with her children, and as a good schoolmaster will teach his child the
same thing 20 times if he has not learnt it at the 19th lesson, so
Jesus will do! Jesus will add precept upon precept–here a little and
there a little–that we may be nurtured and nourished in the faith once
delivered to the saints. To whichever class any of you may belong, let
my text be sweet to your taste and may the Holy Spirit cheer you by it.
II. But we must now pass on. How DOES JESUS SHOW THIS SPECIAL CARE FOR
THE WEAK ONES? He does this, according to the text, in two ways. First,
by gathering them. At the season of the year when the little lambs are
born it is interesting to observe the shepherd's careful watch. When he
finds the little ones in the cold frost, almost ready to die, how
tender he is! Why, the shepherd's kitchen fireside is, for a time, the
lamb's own nursery! Wife and children are put aside for awhile, and the
warm place is all given up to the little lambs! There they lie in the
warmth till they have strength enough to return to their mothers!
So when a man is spiritually born unto God–he is frequently so
desponding, his faith is so weak, and he is altogether so ready to
die–that he needs the tender mercy from on high to visit him. There
may be one here who has been converted to God during the last week but
no kind Christian knows of it. Nobody has spoken to him to gather him
up. Lonely one, be not dismayed, Jesus will come to you! He will be a
present help in this, your hour of trouble. Now that you are like a new
lit candle which is easily blown out, He will shield you from the
breath of evil. When the flock is on the march, it will happen, unless
the shepherd is very watchful, that the lambs will lag behind. Those
great Syrian flocks which feed in the plains of Palestine have to be
driven many miles because the grass is scant, and the flocks are
numerous. And in long journeys the lambs drop one by one for weariness,
and then the shepherds carry them.
So it is in the progress of the great Christian Church. Persecuted
often, always more or less molested by the outside world, there are
some who lag–they cannot keep up the pace–the spiritual warfare is
too severe for them. They love their Lord. They would, if they could,
be among the foremost. But, through the cares of this world, through
weakness of mind, through a lack of spiritual vigor they become lame
and are ready to perish. Such faint hearts are the peculiar care of
their tender Lord.
At other times the lambs do worse than this. They are of a skittish
nature, and feeling the natural vigor of new-born life they are not
content to keep within bounds as the older sheep do. They betake
themselves to wandering so that at the close of the day the lambs cost
the shepherd much trouble. "Where are those lambs?" he says. "Where are
they? The sheep are right enough, but where are the lambs?" What will
the good man do? Leave them, and say, "They have worn out my patience"?
No–he will gather them. So are there many immature Christians whose
minds are hung loosely, and are unstable as water. What a trouble some
of you are to those who love you! When you rise to a little faith, you
sink into unbelief before the next day! You shift your opinions as
often as the moon changes, and are of one mind never longer than a
week. You follow everybody who chooses to put up his finger to beckon
you away. You leave the good old paths to seek other pastures.
Sometimes you are with the so-called Brethren. The next day the Church
of England. Next, the Dissenters, and, perhaps, if the Roman Catholics
were to try you, you would be ready to go with them in the hope of
finding comfort. It is the nature of the lambs that they should do so.
But will the Good Shepherd be angry with you and cast you off? Not at
all, for Jesus gathers the lambs, and when He puts His great loving arm
over them, they cannot wander any more! When His love constrains them
and they come to the full enjoyment of His Gospel Truth, then they are
content to remain near His blessed Person.
When the text says, "He gathers the lambs," does it mean that Jesus
gathers poor tremblers to His precious blood, and washes them and gives
them peace? Does it mean that He gathers them to His precious Truth and
illuminates their minds, and instructs their understanding? Is it not
meant He gathers them to Himself and unites them to His glorious
Person, making them members of His body, of His flesh, and of His
bones? Oh, this is a delightful gathering! His Word cannot do it alone.
His ministers cannot do it, but His arm can! The power and energy of
the Holy Spirit, which is like the right arm of the Good Shepherd,
gathers together these weakest and most wandering ones and puts them
safe into the blessed pavilion of His bosom!
But the text says after He gathers them, He carries them in His bosom.
That is, first of all, the safest place, for the wolf cannot get them
there. Furious and impertinent as Hell always is, yet who can hope to
take His bosom treasure away from Jesus? You weak ones, how secure you
are in Him, though so exposed to danger in yourselves! The bosom–why
that is the most tender place–where we should put a poor creature that
had a broken bone and could not bear to be roughly touched. The bosom,
that is the easiest place. It makes one wish to always be a lamb, if
one could always ride in
that chariot! Delightful is the weakness which casts us upon such
gracious strength. "He carries the lambs in His bosom." Why, that is
the most honorable place. We would not put into our bosom that which
was despised! We should not think of carrying there anything which was
not choice and dear and exceedingly precious.
So, you weak ones, though you think yourself to be less than nothing,
and are nothing in yourself, yet you shall have all the security which
the heart of Deity can give you! You shall have all the comfort that
the love of Christ can pour upon you! All the honor and dignity which
nearness, and fellowship, and dearness of love can bestow upon a poor
mortal, you shall have! Rejoice, you lambs, that you have such a
Shepherd to carry you near His heart!
To enlarge upon this, let me observe that our Lord shows His care for
the lambs in His teachings which are very simple, mostly in parables,
full of winning illustrations, but always plain.
The Gospel is a poor man's Gospel. You need not be a Plato, or a
Socrates to understand it. The peasant is as readily saved as the
philosopher. He that has but a small amount of brains may understand
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that whoever
believes in Him is not condemned. If Christ had not cared for the weak
ones, He would not have come with so plain a message, for He
comprehends all mysteries and knows the deep things of God. Moreover,
He is pleased to reveal His teachings gradually. He did not tell His
disciples all the Truths of God at once because they were not able to
bear it. He led them from one Truth to another.
He brings forth milk before He offers strong meat. Some of you weak
ones are very stupid. You want to begin with the hard Truths first. You
long to comprehend election before you understand that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. But you should not do so, for our
Lord would have you begin with these lessons, "I am a sinner. Christ
stood in the sinner's place. I trust Him, I am saved." After you have
learned this first alphabet of the Gospel you shall learn the rest. It
is a token of the Lord's love to the weak that He does not hang our
salvation upon our understanding mysteries!
He does not rest our ground of confidence upon our orthodoxy, or our
knowledge of the more sublime Truths of God, but if we know the power
of His precious blood–whether we understand His electing love or
not–we are saved! It is well to learn all that we can, but here is a
fair display of Christ's love–that if we do but trust in Him, although
we may be much in the dark–we are nevertheless secure. The Lord's
gentleness to the lambs is shown in this, that His experimental
teachings are all by degrees, too. He does not teach the young beginner
all the depravity of his heart which he will have to feel in after
life. He does not allow the young convert to be molested by Satanic
insinuations as he may be when he becomes stronger. Nor does He usually
suffer temporal trouble to befall so heavily on those who are but
fledglings in the nest.
He always suits the trial to the strength, and the burden to the back.
I am quite certain if my Master had allotted me some of my present
trials 15 years ago, I should have been ready to despair, and yet at
the present I am supplied with strength enough to bear them, though I
have none to spare. Blessed be the Lord Jesus for His kind
consideration of our many infirmities. He never overdrives His lambs.
Though a certain form of experience is very useful, yet He does not
send it to us while by reason of backwardness in Grace we are unable to
bear it. The Divine gentleness of our Master has been shown in the
solemn curses with which He effectually guarded the little ones.
Observe how sharp they are! "But whoso shall offend one of those little
ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the
sea."
To offend is to put a stumbling block in the way. How solemn is that
warning, "Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones!" He
must have loved them or He would not have set such a hedge of fire
around them. How many of the promises are made on purpose for the weak?
I encourage you to make your own study of them, and so I shall not
repeat them this morning. The precious Word of God will show you how
the gracious Word is framed to the peculiar condition of distress and
weakness under which the lambs are suffering. The Holy Spirit, with
Divine art, brings home to the heart promises which had never else
appeared to be so full of Grace. Brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ's
tenderness to His people is further shown in this, that what He
requires of them is easy. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for
My yoke is easy and My burden is light." He does not command the babes
to preach. He does not send the weak Believers to the forefront of the
battle, as David did Uriah, that they may be slain. He gives them no
other burden than this–that they will trust Him and give Him all their
heart. A yoke so easy!
He shows His gentleness, moreover, in that He accepts the least service
that these little ones may offer. A faint prayer, a sigh, a tear–He
will receive all these as much as the most eloquent pleadings of an
Elijah. The broken alabaster box and the ointment poured out shall be
received though they come from one who has no former character with
which to back the gift. And the two mites that make a farthing shall
not be disowned. The best work sincerely done out of love to Jesus–in
dependence upon Him–He accepts most cheerfully, and thus shows to us
His real tenderness for the lambs. He has bid His ministers to be
careful of the little ones. "Feed My lambs," He said to Peter, because
He would have all His ministers do so. Those shall find themselves
winning their Master's frown who despise the weaklings, but those shall
have a smile from His face who, with tender care, shall nurture them.
Jesus, my Lord, speaks to the desponding and timid ones this morning,
and He cries–
"trust Me, and fear not; your life is secure;
My wisdom is perfect, supreme is My power;
In love I correct you, your soul to refine,
To make you at length in My likeness to shine.
The foolish, the fearful, the weak are My care,
The helpless, the homeless, I hear their sad prayer:
From all their afflictions My glory shall spring,
And the deeper their sorrows, the louder they'll sing."
I have thus shown to you, as well as I am able, the tender heart of my
Lord towards the lambs.
III. In the third place, let us answer this question, WHY THIS CARE OF
CHRIST TOWARDS THE LAMBS OF THE FLOCK? They need Him and He loves them
is the answer, and therefore shall they receive according to their
necessities. But why is He so particularly anxious to succor them?
Surely if He lost a lamb or two, it would be no loss among so many! And
if one of the feeble minds should perish it would be no great
consequence when a multitude that no man can number shall be saved! The
answer is plain–the weak are as much redeemed by the blood of Christ
as the strong. When the redemption money was paid by the Jews, it was
said, "The rich shall give no more, and the poor shall give no less
because every man's soul is of equal value before the eternal God."
The meanest child of God has been as truly bought with the blood of
Christ and cost the Lord as much to buy him as the brightest of
Apostles, or the boldest of confessors. A man will not lose a thing
which cost him his blood. The soul of a beggar, if it were put into the
scale, would outweigh ten thousand worlds–and when that beggar's soul
has been redeemed by the wounds of Jesus, depend upon it–Jesus Christ
will not lose it. In the newborn child of God there are peculiar
beauties which are not so apparent in others. It is a matter of taste,
I suppose, which is the more beautiful, the lamb or the sheep. But I
think the most of us would select the lamb. There is a charm in young
creatures, and so there are traits of character in weak and young
Believers which are extremely delightful.
You miss in after-life the first love of the beginner in the heavenly
pilgrimage. True, there are other and more substantial beauties, but
the first blushes and smiles are gone. Have you not, when you have
grown older, wished that you possessed the same tenderness of
conscience which you had at first, that you had felt the same
simplicity of faith? Have you not desired to enjoy that same intense
delight in the service of God's House which you enjoyed during the
first few months after your new birth? You have other Graces now. You
have virtues more useful in the battle of life, but yet there were
beauties, then, which Jesus Christ admired and which He would not
suffer to be soiled.
Jesus has such care for the weak ones, because they will become strong
one day. All great Graces were once little Graces. All great faith must
have once been little faith. It is always first the blade, then the
ear, and then the full corn in the ear. Mountain-moving faith was once
a trembling thing. Kill the lambs? Then where will the sheep be?
Slaughter the innocents? Then where shall Bethlehem find her men?
Destroy the children? Then from where shall the warriors come who march
in ranks to the battle? Jesus sees the weak ones not as they are, but
as they are to be! He discerns the complete man in the babe of Grace.
Moreover, my Brothers and Sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ's suretyship
engagements require that He should preserve the weakest as well as the
strongest. God will require at Christ's hand every one of the elect.
"Yours they were, and You gave them to Me," said our Lord. He is to
present them faultless before His Presence with exceedingly great joy.
Just as Laban required every sheep from Jacob's hand, or else Jacob
must bear the loss forever, so will God require at our Shepherd's hand
every sheep, or He must forever dishonor His suretyship engagement. But
it shall never be! He will be true to His Word, and say, "Of all that
You have given Me have I lost none."
When a secretary delivers up his accounts, he is very pleased if it can
be said by the auditors, "We have found them correct to a single
farthing." But suppose he had said, "Well, there are slight errors, for
I never took notice of the pence, I thought them such trifles that if I
looked to the pounds it was quite enough." What would be thought of
him? Who would trust him? It is the type of an honest man that he is
correct to a farthing. If Jesus should bring to eternal glory all who
are great in Grace, but neglect the weakest it would dishonor His great
name! His honor is pledged to preserve the very weakest of the flock–
"Shepherd of the chosen number, They are safe whom You do keep.
Other shepherds faint and slumber, And forget to watch the sheep.
Watchful Shepherd! You do wake while others sleep."
Besides His suretyship engagements, there are His promises. He has
declared that whoever believes in Him shall never perish but have
everlasting life. That promise is not to the strong only, but to the
weak also. He has said, "None shall pluck them out of My hand." Now, He
does not say, "None shall pluck the great ones, but may pluck the
little ones." No, "None shall pluck them," that is, any of them! They
are all saved, and all equally saved, because their safety does not
depend upon their growth or their vigor–it depends on the strength of
His arm and the infallibility of His purpose. The sick and sorrowful
inhabitants of Jerusalem are secured by the munitions of Divine
strength and the bastions of everlasting love as much shelter the
little child in the streets as the men that go forth to war!
We may be quite sure the tender Savior will take care of the lambs
because compassion argues that if any should be watched it should be
these. Cast away His people because they are timid, and trembling and
fearful? God forbid! Yonder is a mother who has a numerous family of
children. My dear Mother, may I argue with you? If you must neglect one
of your children, shall I tell you which it should be? It should be
that one which is lame in the feet and has always been so sickly. Why,
I think I see the mother looking at me angrily–"Stop," she says, "such
shameful talk! That very one I look after with the most anxiety. If I
did neglect one, it would be the big boy, grown up, and able to take
care of himself, but that poor little dear! I could not forsake him, I
carry him in my bosom from morning to night. If there is one that I am
most tender over, it is just that very one."
The instincts of our nature tell us that. The beatings of Jesus' heart
are towards the trembling ones. When should a man forget or forsake his
spouse? Never under any conceivable circumstances, but certainly not
when she is sick or sorrowful! Shall he sue in the Divorce Court
against her because she is afflicted and full of pains and griefs? Is
she to be cast out of doors because her spirits are broken? Only
villainy, alone, could dictate such an argument, and rest assured,
Beloved, such an argument should have no tolerance with the
Well-Beloved! If you are in Jesus Christ rest assured that His love
will not desert you. It would be a very deplorable thing for every
Believer in the whole world if it were announced that the least
Believer should perish. If it should be proclaimed by sound of trumpet
by some angelic messenger that the Good Shepherd intended to cast off
one of the least of His flock, though it were but one, I do not know
what conclusion you would draw from it, my dear Hearer, but mine would
be this, "Then He will cast off me."
I should feel at once that all the grounds of my security were
gone–that I might be the castaway. Even if but one, why not I? Would
not you feel the same, and where would any of us have any room for
comfort? After the one announcement, so contrary to the promise, we
might expect another, because in weakness, or in ignorance–if anything
in the lamb-like nature is to destroy one of us–then of course, the
next, and the next, and the next, and the next may perish. If a man has
many creditors, and he says, "I will not pay this one," we all think
perhaps he will not pay the next, and the next, and the next. And if
God does not keep His promise to the very least, then not to the one
next above the least, and so on to none at all.
In fact, the whole blood-bought Church of God may go to perdition if
but one goes there! And if the most wandering and backsliding shall be
cast into Hell, then the whole will go. If the ship goes down enough to
drown one man on board, she would drown the whole company. There is no
safety for any of the ship's company unless there is safety for all on
board. So, heir of Heaven, looking at the consequences that would come
from the ruin of the least, believe firmly that the Keeper of Israel
will gather you with His arm and carry you in His bosom.
IV. We shall conclude when we have made a PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. What
then? Why, first of all, let us gather the lambs for Christ. I am
persuaded there are many who are not in Church fellowship who ought to
be, but who, perhaps, will never come forward unless they receive an
encouraging word from some of their Christian friends. It is of the
first importance that they should be gathered to Christ–He has done
that for them. It is in the next degree important that they should be
gathered into His Church. May I, therefore, ask all of you who owe
anything to my Lord to make some kind of acknowledgment of your debt by
looking after those who need a helping hand?
The Lord, speaking of His people says, "I taught Israel to go, taking
him by the arms." You know what that means–you have done that with
your children when you taught them to walk–holding them up by the
arms. Do the same for your Master's little ones! Teach some of these
beginners to go, holding them up by encouragements. Did not someone do
as much for you once? Do you not remember a kind friend who cheered and
instructed you? Return your obligation to the Christian Church by doing
the same. I earnestly pray to see, during the next few months, a very
large ingathering into our Church of such as shall be saved. We do not
want those who are unconverted to be added to the Church–there is a
step before that–they must first give themselves to Christ. And we do
want as many as really belong to our Lord and Master to come into the
fellowship of the faithful and to share in the privileges of the Church
of God.
Next, let us learn from the text to carry in our bosoms those who are
gathered. We have gathered many together into the Church, but that is
not all we must do–that is only the beginning of what riper Christians
should count it to be their office to do towards the young. Every young
Christian is presented to the Christian Church just as Moses was
presented to his mother by Pharaoh's daughter, with this commission,
"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages."
It is not possible that two pastors, or 20 pastors, should be able to
visit and instruct all the members of such a Church as this, and the
lack must be supplied by you, my Brothers, who have known the Lord
these years, and by you, my Sisters, who have become matrons in our
Jerusalem.
May I entreat you, by the love of Him who gave Himself for you, by all
the tenderness of the heart of Christ–if there are any consolations of
the Spirit–seek out your fellow members who may be weak in faith and
downcast in mind, and speak comfortably unto them! Tell them that their
warfare is accomplished, that their sin is pardoned. Point them to the
Lord Jesus! Unveil His beauties to them! Make them, as far as you can,
to comprehend with all the saints what are the heights and depths, that
they may grow in Divine Grace and in the knowledge of your Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
I trust that this sermon may minister comfort to mourners. But as for
those who believe not in Christ at all, I can administer to them no
comfort except by reminding them of this one fact–that it is not too
late for them to trust in Jesus, and if they do so–however long they
may have delayed, the door is not closed. May they enter before the
Master of the House has risen up and shut the door.
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Joshua's Vision
A Sermon