The Lambs And Their Shepherd

The Lambs And Their Shepherd
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 15, 1863, BY THE REV. C.
H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom.'"
Isaiah 40:11.
THE people of God are most fitly compared to sheep. The excellencies of
their moral and spiritual character furnish one side of the picture,
for like sheep they are gentle in their lives and are well accepted,
whether living or dying, as a sacrifice unto God. Their frailties and
weaknesses complete the likeness, for they are prone to wander–full of
wants, powerless in self-defense, and not able to escape from their
enemies by rapid flight. No creature has less power to take care of
itself than sheep. Even the tiny ant with its foresight can provide for
the evil day, but this poor creature must be tended by man or else
perish. Such are the people of God–timid, weak, defenseless–unable to
provide for themselves and compelled to depend for everything upon Him
whose name is, "That great Shepherd of the sheep."
As the people of God individually are comparable to sheep, so the
Church as a whole finds a very fit representative in a flock. A flock
is a multitude. Diversities of character, of state, of age, of
condition are always to be found in a flock. Yet, while a multitude, it
is but one. One in association–they journey or lie down together–in
the same pasture they rest. They are led beside the same still waters.
They are one in nature–they are equally sheep and, however much they
may differ, their diversity is not half so great as their agreement.
Two Believers may greatly differ. But only let me be assured that they
are both sheep of the Lord's pasture, and I will find ten points of
likeness for one of difference.
They are one, moreover, in property–they are the property of one
Owner, being bought with one price in one great transaction, when their
one great Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. The saints are
intimately and truly united. Even now they are secretly one in their
absent Head but they shall soon be visibly one in their glorious Lord
when He comes in the glory of His Father and all His holy angels with
Him. Then He shall place the sheep at His right hand forever. In all
flocks, unless they are cursed by barrenness, there will be lambs and
these will make up a very important part of the community.
In all healthy Churches, those Believers who are comparable to lambs
make up the major part. And though in our own we have many strong ones
who are fit to lead the way and not a few competent to bear the burden
well, yet the majority, I suppose, are the little ones of the flock.
Mr. Ready-to-Halt, on his crutches, is the commander of quite a
regiment, distinguished as Mr. Fearing, Mr. Little-Faith, Mr.
Feeble-Mind, Miss Much-Afraid and the like, who are slender in
knowledge, shallow in experience, and weak in faith. It is, therefore,
with great delight we find our gracious Lord executing the office of
Shepherd in a peculiarly tender manner towards the lambs.
Special need has here its own appropriate promise–great weakness is
met by great consolation. The best place is found for those in the
worst circumstances, and the most loving care bestowed on those most
exposed to danger. "He shall gather the lambs with His arms and carry
them in His bosom."
First, let us describe the lambs. Secondly, let us express our fears
about them. Thirdly, let us rejoice in the tenderness of the great
Shepherd over them. And, fourthly, let us hear that great Shepherd's
voice.
I. First LET ME ENDEAVOR TO DESCRIBE THE LAMBS. Our first word
concerning them is that they are truly sheep. They are not sheep in
maturity, but they are sheep to a certainty. Leave them to their good
Shepherd's care. Let them continue to lie down in the green pastures
and feed beside the still waters, and they will become as fully
developed as yonder ewes of the flock. It is true that not a bone in
them is of full size, nor a muscle of full strength. Still, who shall
dare to exclude them from the fold?
The newborn convert is possessed of the true nature and life of faith,
even as the life of a babe is the same life as that which is found in
perfection in the full grown man. Every member is there, but it is in
miniature. The vital processes are the same, although upon a smaller
scale. Indeed, the whole man is in the child and so the whole life of
God is in the fee- blest Believer. If you will mark the signs of a
sheep, you shall see them more or less distinctly in every one of the
lambs. The sheep of God are harmless, "Holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners." They can bear, but they cannot revenge. They
have neither power nor will to hurt others.
They would sooner be cheated a thousand times than wrong their fellow
men. They may sometimes be "wise as ser-pents"–they are commanded to
be so. But then they blend with this the obedience to the precept, "Be
you harmless as doves." If I see any man injuring his fellows–tearing,
rending, fighting, quarrelling–if I see him blustering and proud,
1 discern at once that he is no sheep of God. For this is the mark of
the Lord's people–that they, when reviled, revile not again–but have
put on as the elect of God, a heart of compassion, kindness and
long-suffering. You will find this holy non-resistance of evil even
more in the lambs than in some of the sheep, for worldly influences
frequently wear off this beautiful bloom from older professors.
The sheep goes further than the non-inflicting of evil, it bears evil
without complaint. They are led to the slaughter and they are silent.
They are thrown down by the shearer, but they are dumb. There is
nothing revolting in the sight of the slaughter of a lamb even by our
ordinary butchery, for the gentle creature is so passive and silent
that with scarcely a struggle its life oozes forth from it. Long before
the knife is at their throats, the swine awaken all the neighborhood,
fitly teaching us how rebellious are the wicked under their trials and
how horribly they are afraid of death.
But in the case of the lamb there is so little to shock or disgust,
that the most delicate might have stood in the tabernacle of old and
seen the multitudes of lambs slaughtered without feeling any other
emotion than a hallowed awe at the sinfulness of sin and the value of
the Atonement by which it is put away. The extraordinary patience of
the sheep is seen in God's people when they joyously endure a weight of
affliction and pass through the valley of death with composure. Whether
it is to the knife of death or to the shears of his persecutors, the
faithful is alike patient and the lambs of the flock partake of the
same endurance.
Sheep, again, are clean creatures–clean in their feeding–carrion
never tempts them–clean in their habits. The sow may revel in her
wallowing in the mire, but sheep love the green pastures. And if it
dirties itself it is not easy till it has cleaned itself as best it
may. So God's people are holy. Be specially mindful of holiness, my
beloved Friends, for when men begin to despise holiness, they lose one
of the most prominent marks of a child of God. Now the lambs may not
have all the excellencies of the sheep, but they quite as earnestly
pant after holiness. Their daily prayer is–
"Teach me to run in Your commands, It is a delightful road. Nor let my
head, nor heart, nor hands, Offend against my God."
They pant to be perfect in their obedience to God, and sigh and cry
when they find, by daily experience, that the flesh lusts for evil and
that the tendency of the heart is to go astray. Furthermore the sheep
is guileless. You see the lion creeping through the thicket full of
cunning. But sheep have none. "Poor, simple sheep," we say. And God's
people are a simple people. Like Nathaniel of old, we may say of them,
"Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile." Those who are
crafty and cunning betray but very little of the spirit of Jesus. Jesus
was no dupe for knaves, but at the same time, a fool was safe in His
hands.
And so with the Christian, he is not to be so foolish as to be the prey
of every deceiver, but he is to be so generous that the most foolish
shall never be wronged, or have advantage taken of them by him. The
lambs bear this character as well as the sheep–they, too, know no
guile. Again, sheep are tractable. When a man tames a lion so that he
may sport with it, he gets the name of lion-tamer. Nobody is renowned
for taming a sheep, for it has a tractable disposition. And so all the
elect of God, when they have been renewed by Divine Grace, have an
obedient and yielding spirit. They are willing to follow their great
Protector at His will. "Not my will, but Yours be done," is the
constant bleat of every sheep and every lamb of the flock when it is in
a right state of heart. The lambs, then, are truly sheep in all the
essential points.
Do not forget, dear Friends, that the lambs are truly CHRIST'S sheep.
They are as dearly bought with His blood. They are as surely objects of
His care. They are as manifestly illustrations of His power. They shall
as certainly be proofs of His faithfulness, as the strongest of the
flock. When you look upon a child of God who has only known his Lord
for the last few days, you must not despise him, for he is as dear to
the Savior's heart as the most advanced Believer. He was as much loved
in all eternity as you were, and will be as much loved in the eternity
to come as you can be.
Well, but if they are truly sheep and truly Christ's sheep, why are
they lambs? And in what way are they distinguished? Some of them are
lambs for age, though not all. For there are some young Christians who
are full grown, and there are others very aged who remain to be lambs,
still. Growth in Divine Grace does not coincide with progress in human
stature. Many men are seventy years old and are, nevertheless, little
children in Grace. And, on the other hand, there are a few who at
twenty are as solid and profound and spiritual as veterans of eighty.
It is not a man's age alone, yet for the most part the young in years
are also children in the Divine family.
The distinguishing mark lies rather in spiritual deficiencies–they are
but children in knowledge. Many in the Church do not as yet understand
the loftier doctrines of Revelation. They know Christ. They know
themselves, somewhat, but they cannot "comprehend with all saints, what
are the lengths and breadths." As yet they have not taken a high degree
in Christ's school. They sit at His feet with Mary, but they have not
come to lean their heads upon His bosom with John. Some doctrines
greatly puzzle them. They are the subjects of many doubts and fears
under which they would not suffer if they knew more. They are easily
put out by those who oppose themselves against the Word of God because
they are not established in what they know. They have not yet come to
know the arguments which prove a doctrine. They believe, but scarcely
know why they believe–and in this respect they are but lambs of the
flock.
They are immature also in experience. They know that they have an evil
heart, but they have not felt all its evil yet– they know not the
plague within as they will when God permits the fountains of the great
deep to be broken up. Their heavy trials are yet to come. They have not
yet felt the foot of Satan upon their necks in the valley of
humiliation, nor trod the dark places of the Valley of Death. They have
not tried and proved this wicked world–they are consequently too
trustful of men. They have not yet proved the promises of God and their
veracity. They have not as yet passed through the deep waters supported
by an Almighty arm.
They have not forded the floods of flame, protected by Omnipotent love.
They are shallow in the inner life, their experience is only up to
their ankles. They have not learned to swim in the stream. Their little
boats keep near the shore. They have not passed the great and deep sea.
They are raw recruits in the army and have not yet seen the garments
rolled in blood. So are they lambs in tenderness of feeling. They are
too susceptible, and therefore acutely feel the unkindness of the
world. If anyone speaks evil of them, they fret over it. If their
conduct is misconstrued by the wicked, they are greatly troubled.
They have sleepless nights as the results of a slander which stronger
saints would smile at. They have not as yet acquired that hardness to
which the Christian soldier attains by enduring hardness. Young
Believers cry out where advanced Believers would hardly wince. An ounce
is more to them than a pound to the strong man. They cannot bear the
brunt of the battle or the storm–they need seasoning for the strife.
They are lambs for tenderness.
Then, again, they are timid and trembling, and dare not courageously
proclaim themselves at all times on the Lord's side. To give a reason
of the hope that is in them with meekness and fear is a great trial to
them. Coming before the Church was a very blessed lesson to them–it
braced their nerves and exercised their courage. They need a few more
such exercises, for they are still very retiring and love most the rear
of the army. They can hardly pray in public. If they were asked to say
a few words even to five or six children in a Sunday school class, they
would quake for fear. It will be some time before they can be compared
to lions for boldness. They have need of more Divine Grace lest they
fail to avow their Lord in the hour ofpersecution. They are poor timid
lambs still.
Perhaps, too, they are subject to melancholy, to doubts and fears and
distresses of mind. They cannot mount up as on the wings of eagles, but
their wings are so broken that they lie on the ground and flutter. They
are the subjects of very great questioning. They sing that hymn which
just expresses the groanings of doubting babes–
"It is a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought Do I love
the Lord, or no? Am I His, or am I not?"
When any trial assails them, how difficult it is for them! When a
temptation assaults them, they do not yield to it, but it gives them
very grievous pain and costs them many struggles. They cannot even
think of meeting Apollyon without feeling the blood fly from their
cheeks for very fright.
I might continue thus to describe the various weaknesses and
infirmities of the lambs, but I must stop. Suffice it to say that
everything which is wanted to make them perfect Christians they already
have. But they have it as yet in an im- mature and undeveloped state.
Everything is there. But it is feeble. Their faith is yet a sapling and
not a tree. Their love is a spark, not a fire. Their hope is a
fledgling and not a full grown bird. In all respects they are
immature–weak eyes, hands hanging down, feeble knees and stammering
tongue–all show their need of more Grace.
I will give you a picture of some of them, to bring them more before
your mind. There is one dear lamb–a boy of thirteen or fourteen. A
pious mother has made that child the object of her constant prayers. He
comes to a Sunday school class. He sits in the Tabernacle–it always
gives me great joy to see so many lads and children come here–and I
frequently notice that many of them are as attentive during the
preaching of the Word as any of the elder folks. Well, the Lord blesses
the Word to that child while but thirteen or fourteen. You know we have
had the happiness of receiving several such into our Church.
Now, as you look upon that curly-headed young soldier, you cannot but
think of all the trouble which may befall him and temptations that may
assail him. I am sure there are neither mothers nor fathers in the
whole Tabernacle who do not feel the tears welling up into their eyes.
We begin to pray, "Lord, keep that lamb. Preserve it safely." We
think–I am afraid there is a little self-conceit about it–that a
child is more in danger than we are. And our heart is moved to anxious
prayer for it. What more melting sight than a child baptized into Jesus
upon profession of its faith? May many such lambs be found among us!
Picture another. There are many such here, and thank God there is a
dear mother in connection with this Church who nurses and nourishes
them. I refer to the case of a young woman–father and mother are
ungodly. She is out in a situation. She works and honorably toils. The
Grace of God has entered her heart and there is something inexpressibly
beautiful about her young piety–for she has had to forsake fond
associations for Christ's sake. In the workroom they point at her as a
religious girl–they give her a name of scorn. She bears it–she bears
it cheerfully. But when we think of how she has to suffer every day, we
may well be anxious. Perhaps there is poverty mingled with her other
trials. And poverty has its temptations and some of these are of the
severest character.
When we see these young women, and young men, too, thus exposed to
perilous persecutions and cruel mockings, we number them with the lambs
and our heart is very anxious for them. We are glad to see them brought
into the fold, but we rejoice with trembling. These are our jewels.
These are the sheaves that we reap in our Master's fields. But when we
recollect the temptations to which they are exposed, we look with pity
upon these poor tempted ones and thank our loving Jesus that there is a
promise on purpose for them.
I might single out too, as another specimen, yonder aged woman. She has
lived for seventy years without God and without Christ, knowing nothing
beyond a formal religion–bearing "a name to live"–but being truly
"dead." And now, at last, in her old age, when the body is tottering
and the faculties feeble, she has found Christ and she has come forward
to be baptized. It has been our joy to receive some into Church
fellowship who have passed the threescore years and ten allotted to
human life and have gone trembling down into the baptismal pool in
obedience to their Lord.
Seeing their infirmities and the fact that much of the intellect is
weakened–the eyes have become dim so that they cannot read, and the
memory has become frail so that sermons do not profit them as they do
younger persons–we look upon these as lambs, needing as they do so
much of the gathering arm and the nourishing bosom of the great Bishop
and Shepherd of souls.
Shall I pause to describe one other? You know her well. She is a member
of the Church, but she thinks she ought not to be in her fit of grief.
She even writes to the pastor to tell him that she wishes he would put
her out, for she is not a Christian. And yet, in a few days, she
retracts the note and begs him to forget it. She very seldom can read
her title clear–in fact, she never did but once or twice–and that was
on very bright sunshiny days when her soul was exceedingly glad. She is
like Mrs. Much-Afraid in the castle–Giant Despair has shut her up in
one of his dark dungeons and frequently uses the crab-tree cudgel upon
her until she has grown a sorrowful creature, indeed. We have a few
Brothers and Sisters of the same spirit. They go limping and halting.
We number these, too, among the lambs of the flock.
I have given a too lengthy description, but you will not fail, from
this time on, very readily to recognize the lambs. You will see that in
all Christian Churches they make up a large proportion.
II. Let us come then, in the second place, to EXPRESS OUR FEARS
CONCERNING THESE LAMBS OF THE FLOCK. We are afraid for them, because of
the howling wolves there are about. Some of us can bear to be laughed
at. We have grown so used to it that it has become the atmosphere which
we breathe. But we do pity these new beginners. We know the cruel
mockings, which if they break not the bones, yet often break the
heart–and we are afraid lest these lambs should turn back, lest they
should say, "I cannot endure this," and so seek the warm side of the
hedge and forsake their Lord and Master.
Yet more, we are afraid of another order of wolves–the wolves in
sheep's clothing–those hypocrites, who by their bad living cause the
poor lambs to stumble and make them think that surely, religion must be
a deception and a lie. And those other wolves–doctrinal wolves–full
of all manner of error. We have them always prowling round our
Churches. There is the Antinomian, too glad to get hold of any young
lamb he can seduce with his fawning pretences to love a Free Grace
Gospel and the freewill wolf, which drags some away from the Truth of
God. And wolves of all sorts that are continually trying to deceive, if
it were possible, the very elect.
We are afraid for these young ones, knowing how easily they are carried
about by every wind of doctrine. We are equally alarmed, too, because
of their association with the goats. There is another flock in the
world–the devil's flock. It is not easy for a Christian man to
associate with the world without feeling the influence of it. We are
afraid for some of the young ones, when they have to mingle in their
work and in their family associations with the baser sort. The worst
form of ill association is an ungodly marriage. I do not know anything
that gives me more satisfaction than to see our Brothers and Sisters,
who have walked in the faith of God, united in marriage–the husband
and the wife both fearing and loving God.
It is a delightful spectacle and is the best means of building up the
Church with a generation which shall fear the Lord. But a very fruitful
source of ruin to Church members is that of a young man or a young
woman choosing an ungodly partner in life. They never can expect God's
blessing upon it. They tell you, sometimes, they hope to be the means
of their friend's conversion. They have no right to hope such a thing.
It so seldom occurs. The much more likely thing is that the ungodly one
will drag the other down to his level than that the godly one shall
pull the other up.
We are fearful, I say, for the lambs–for we have marked some of them
that were as earnest as they well could be and apparently as loving to
their Lord and Master–but another love came across their path and
where are they now? Perhaps the House of God sees them no longer and
the theater or the ball room is now their delight. When we think of
some cases of this kind that have occurred we do tremble for the lambs.
And we lift up our hearts in prayer to God for them, that they may be
kept, as kept they will be, if they are truly the Lord's.
Then we are jealous over the lambs, because of the old lion. We have
some of us had to meet him face to face, and I do assure you I had
sooner suffer any temptation that the world or the flesh can bring than
to be tempted of the devil. For when Apollyon meets Christian in the
valley, it is no child's play. A man needs to be the master of every
heavenly weapon to get the victory there. Better to go twenty miles
round, over hedge and ditch, than to have one conflict with Satan.
There is nothing gained by it. Even should we overcome, we shall be
wounded and to our dying day will bear the scars of the terrible
conflict.
I can now remember one or two instances in which I have had to stand
foot to foot with that arch-Fiend. And though my soul has held her own
through Divine Grace, I look back upon those days of trial with sorrow
still, for there were blasphemous thoughts injected which I never can
forget. They were fiery darts thrown at me, and though the barbed
shafts have been drawn out, the wounds are still there. Would God it
had been possible to have gone that road without contending with the
Fiend! We are afraid for you, young Lambs, when we think of the lion.
We are even more concerned when we think of the bear. A flattering
world hugs tightly. The lion tears and rends and rages–but the
world–when it takes to loving, speaks, oh, so gently! And puts the
thing so nicely! It loves the Chris-tian–so it says. It is fashionable
to be religious. It is a creditable thing to be a professor and then
the world says, "Come to my arms. I love you. Come and be one with me
and be a Christian, too! Be not so Puritanical as to thrust me away."
We are more afraid of the hugs of the bear than of the teeth of the
lion.
When we put all these dangers together, we add to them the fact that
lambs are subject to the same diseases which are incident to all sheep.
They, too, get the foot-rot of weariness in the ways of God. They begin
to be slothful and sluggish in the cause of God. They, too, suffer from
coldness of heart, have a tendency to wander and catch the stiff neck
of pride. Dear Lambs of the flock! Those who have to see after you and
are God's under-shepherds may well offer no apology when they say they
tremble for you and put up earnest prayers on your behalf!
III. In the third place, let us REJOICE IN THE GOOD SHEPHERD. "He shall
gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom." Who is He
of whom such gracious words are spoken? Who is He that cares so
tenderly for lambs? Listen! These are the words of Isaiah–"Behold, the
Lord God will come with strong hands and His arms shall rule for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him and His work before Him. He shall feed
His flock like a shepherd." So, then, it is the Lord Jehovah who comes
forth to bless His people in this fashion!
What condescension is here! The Lord God, the Eternal and Infinite,
acts the part of a Shepherd. But let us read on. The words which follow
the text may well astound you, when you see how our great God stoops
from His loftiness to carry lambs in His bosom. "Who has measured the
waters in the hollow of His hand and meted out Heaven with the span and
comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the
mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the
Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor has taught him?…Behold,
the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust
of the balance. Behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing."
And yet this same God who does all these things gathers lambs in His
arms and carries them in His bosom! I am sure we are not sufficiently
sensible of the infinite love of God in stooping to consider us. Alas,
that such condescension should be so unregarded! Remember, I pray you,
that infinite power engages to protect you, that inimitable affection
sets itself on you, that wisdom which cannot err watches for your good,
and that which never can be turned aside pledges itself to bless you.
Why, that God should provide for such creatures as we are is some
condescension! That He should think of them with a Father's heart is
marvelous.
"What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You
visit him?" That He should carry man, no, the weakest of such men, the
lambs among this flock–that He should carry them in His arms! What
shall I say to this? I will be silent on a theme which needs a more
eloquent tongue than mine. Blessed be the name of such a gracious God.
Brethren, rejoice in this tender Shepherd. Be confident, be grateful,
be joyful, be thankful, be of good cheer evermore, for He it is that
carries you is Jesus Christ!
But why? Why does He carry lambs in His bosom? First, because He has a
tender heart and any weakness at once melts Him. If He sees a lamb He
stops as you would do if you are gentle of spirit. If He hears your
sigh, your groan, or marks your ignorance or your feebleness–the very
tenderness of His mind, even if there were nothing else–would
constrain Him to look upon you. But more, it is His office to consider
the weak. For this it is that He was made a faithful High Priest–that
He might have compassion on the ignorant. For this it is that He became
the Mediator. He were nothing if He had not this–I mean to say that
His office would be a mere sinecure, but a nominal thing, if there were
no weak and feeble ones for Him to care for.
Remember, too, that He was a Lamb Himself once. What a mysterious fact!
If a man could have been a lamb and known a lamb's weakness, how would
he sympathize with it! Our Jesus was and is the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. He knows what strong temptations mean for He
has felt the same. Do you enquire for more reasons why He carries them
in His bosom? He purchased them with blood. He sees the marks of His
passion upon each of them, and therefore He prizes them and will not
suffer them to perish. They are His property. He is their Proprietor.
Another man's lamb He might not so carefully carry. But His own lamb,
the gift of His Father, the purchase of His blood, the heritage of His
reward–He must and will care for that.
Moreover, remember, He is responsible for that lamb. At Jacob's hand
Laban required all the sheep. And at Jesus' hand every elect one will
be required at the last. He is the Surety of the Everlasting Covenant,
and He is bound by Covenant engagements to bring the many sons home to
Glory and not to suffer one whom His Father has given Him to perish by
the way. Nor will He fail in His Covenant, my Beloved. He will be true
to His pledge and say at the last, "Here am I, and the flock committed
to My care."
Moreover, they are all a part of His Glory. This flock will be as the
jewels of His crown. If He lost one of them He would lose a part of His
fullness, a part of His reward of His soul's travail. Therefore will He
never turn away His eyes from them, or His hands from doing them good,
but He will preserve them to the end.
But what does He say He will do? He says, "He will carry them." How
does He do that–how does Jesus carry weak saints? Sometimes He carries
them by not permitting them to endure much trouble. "He tempers the
wind to the shorn lamb." He takes them up in the arms of Providence and
carries them where there is no trouble. At other times they are carried
in His arms by having some tender, loving person to take care of them.
He carries them instrumentally. As Christians and the other women had
Mr. Great-Heart to kill the giants for them, so many saints are carried
in the bosom of Christ Jesus by the loving care of some godly relative,
or friend, or pastor.
At other times, such lambs are carried by having an unusual degree of
love given them, and consequently a large amount of joy, so that they
bear up and stand fast. Though their knowledge may not be deep, they
have great sweetness in what they do know. They may have but little to
feed on, but that little is great from its nutritive power, and they
have strong digestive powers given them by which they may even suck
honey out of a rock, and oil out of a flinty rock. The little becomes
much. The barley loaves and few small fishes are sufficient for the
thousands of their necessities.
Sometimes He carries them by giving them a very simple faith. Their
faith may not be very strong, but it is very simple. And after all, I
do not know whether I would not almost as soon have a simple faith as a
strong faith, if the two could be divided. That simple faith which
takes the promise just as it stands–may not comprehend its meaning
fully–yet it believes it and runs straight to Jesus with every
trouble. That is very beautiful in a child. The child has no great
extent of knowledge and is not strong enough to defend itself, but what
does it say when mistreated in the street? "I will tell Father." And so
simple souls will go and tell their Father. They run to their big
Brother, the great Savior. And so the simplicity of their faith gives
them an unusual degree of confidence and they are carried in Jesus'
bosom.
But to close this point. How does He carry them? He carries them in His
bosom–not on His back. That is how He carries stray sheep–He flings
them over His shoulders rejoicing, but they do not rejoice, mind you.
They will not rejoice, for they have wandered. They must be made to
feel the weight of the crook and they must pray, "Make the bones which
you have broken to rejoice." But, "He carries the lambs in His bosom."
Here is put forth, Brothers and Sisters, boundless affection. Could He
put them in His bosom if He did not love them much? Where does the
Father place the Son? He is in the bosom of the Father. Where did
Abraham carry Lazarus? In his bosom. Where did Naomi bear her young
grandson Obed? He was in her bosom. Where did the man in the parable
put his little ewe lamb? In his bosom. Christ is boundless in His
affection.
Then there is tender nearness. How near to a man is that which is in
His bosom! Here you see the Lord Jesus Christ does not put His people
at a distance from Himself so that He has to stretch out His hands for
them, but He keeps them near. He needs not stretch out His hands at
all. So near are they that they could not possibly be nearer. Then it
is a hallowed familiarity. Lambs, when put into the bosom, having no
intellect, cannot therefore learn anything. But the lambs of Christ's
flock, whenever they ride in Christ's bosom, talk with Him. They tell
Him all their secrets and He tells them His. "The secret of the Lord is
with them that fear Him. And He will show them His Covenant."
Oh, there are some precious love passages between Christ and His weak
ones when they are snugly housed in His bosom! It is almost profanity
to talk of the union and communion, the fellowship and converse, the
delightful interchange of everything that is sweet and loving between
Christ and His chosen ones in His bosom! And then, dear Friends, you
must not fail to remember that there is perfect safety. The dear ones
in His bosom–what can hurt them? They must hurt the Shepherd first.
How can they get the lamb out of the Shepherd's arms? Must they not cut
off the Shepherd's arms before they can hurt the lamb? Must they not
smite Him through His body before they can kill the creature whom He
embraces?
How safe are you, O weak Believers! You are borne up on eagles' wings.
The shot must pierce the parent bird before it can reach you. The devil
must destroy your Shepherd before he can slay you. Here is comfort! Oh,
what a soft place to ride! How warm! Oh, how the warmth of the
Shepherd's heart cheers His lambs! The warmth of Jesus and the
delightful comfort of His Presence shall be enjoyed by you–the very
weakest of you in answer to the supplications we put up for you–and as
a result of your faith in Jesus.
I do not know what you think after reading this promise, but I think I
should like to be a lamb again. Some of us have outgrown our times of
doubts, and fearfulness, and so on. We have to take the work of a
shepherd. I love to be a shepherd under my Master. But there is many a
time I envy you. I would delight to sit in the pew and hear a sermon
instead of preaching, sometimes–to be fed–instead of feeding you.
Some of you have grown to be strong men and are engaged in looking
after others. You now look back, not with sorrow, exactly, but with
some regret upon the sweetness of your young days–when you were so
little in Israel–but were so daintily fed, so wondrously cared for.
You remember what the shepherds did with Mr. Great-Heart and all the
company when they came to the Delectable Mountains. The shepherds said,
"Come in, Mr. Ready-to-Halt, come in, Mr. Fearing, come in, Mrs.
Much-Afraid." But they never said, "Come in, Mr. Great-Heart." We look
after the feeble. As to you that are strong, we know you will take the
comforts to yourselves. Ah, but the strongest sometimes get very weak.
And those that do exploits for God at times feel as if they could creep
into a mouse-hole and hide their heads anywhere among the very feeblest
of the Lord's people if they could but enjoy the comforts which He is
pleased to give them.
IV. And now, to conclude, LET US HEAR THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE. If you are
the lambs, hear the Shepherd's voice which says, "Follow Me." You that
are weak and feeble and young in the Divine life, keep close to Jesus.
Imitate the example of Caleb, of whom we spoke a Sunday or two ago, and
follow the Lord fully. Be obedient to all His commands and let His
faintest wish be your Law. Keeping close to Jesus, you shall realize
the sweetness of the text.
To you that are not lambs, and as yet are not brought openly into His
fold, hear His words, "Come unto Me." That gentle Shepherd who
condescends to carry the lambs may well entice you to Himself. Come,
guilty Souls, and flee away to Him who will not break the bruised reed
nor quench the smoking flax. Take His yoke upon you and learn of Him,
for He is meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest unto your
souls. No domineering Lord commands you to crouch as a slave at His
feet. The generous Jesus says, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and
are heavy laden and I will give you rest." By His love and by His pity,
by His deep compassion and His infinite love, I beseech you, come to
Him!
Then, too, those of us who are His sheep, let us hear the Shepherd's
voice, saying, "Feed My lambs." If at any time we have offended, and
like Peter, backslidden, let this be the token of our love–this the
seal by which we show to Him how true is our repentance–let us feed
the lambs. O matrons and strong men–mothers in Israel and princes in
our host– look well to your sons and daughters! See well to your
little ones! Train them up for Jesus! Where you see the Divine spark,
blow them with your warm breath. Watch for the feeble.
"Comfort you, comfort you My people, says your God. Speak you
comfortably" unto the tender ones. Lay yourselves out, Beloved, to do
good to these weak ones. Spend and be spent. Bear their burdens, and so
fulfill the Law of Christ. And the Lord accept and bless you all,
whether sheep or lambs, for His dear sake. Amen.