"Whose Goodness Never Fails"
(No. 2919)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 1905.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 1, 1876.
"I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd gives His life for the
sheep." John 10:11.
THESE words were spoken when our Lord was among His own people. Perhaps
as you hear them there comes a whisper in your soul, "I wonder whether
that is true now? If the Lord Jesus in His flesh were here at this
moment, in the midst of us, and if He said, 'I am the Good Shepherd,'
we might find it easy to believe it. But He has gone. What assurance
have we that it is the same now, when He is no longer among us?" I
answer, "Dear Brothers and Sisters, we know it is true because Jesus
Christ is 'the same yesterday, today and forever.' That in itself were
enough, but we have the added assurance that in this place He meant to
say it was so, for, if you notice, He was evidently looking to the
future when He said, 'I am,' seeing that He added, 'The Good Shepherd
gives His life for the sheep,' when as yet He had not done it. There
was an interval between the time when He said these words and the
laying down of His life upon the Cross. As He went on further in His
discourse and said, 'Other sheep I have which are not of this fold:
them also, I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall
be one flock and one shepherd,'
He was looking to the future you see. He spoke of Himself–I was almost
going to say in momentary unconsciousness of His Deity without meaning,
perhaps, to speak as God. He says, 'IAm,'using the very name of Jehovah
and speaking of the future as though it were present. It was as if He
had said, 'I am the Good Shepherd and I am going to gather in the
wandering people that, as yet, are not of My flock.' So that, the
meaning and force of the 'I am,' evidently runs right on till He has
gathered in all the other sheep that were not, when He spoke the words,
included in His fold. Yes, He means you to understand that He is
speaking the same words as much to you, Brothers and Sisters, as to
Peter and James and John. To you He is saying, 'I am the Good Shepherd:
the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.'"
First, let us look at our great Master's claim, "I am the Good
Shepherd." Then we shall observe the proof of it. That, though it had
not been completed when He uttered these words at the first, is now
complete–"He gives His life for the sheep." When we have talked
rapidly on these two points, let us try and chew the cud and see if
there is not something to be found here of very practical use to us. On
these Communion nights the time is very short–therefore I must try to
speak without many words upon any one point.
I. First, then, I say, let us look at CHRIST'S CLAIM, "I am the Good
Shepherd." He means us to understand three things. It is as if He said,
"I am a Shepherd," and then, "I am a Good Shepherd," and, last of all,
"I am the Good Shepherd"–that Good Shepherd who is spoken of in the
Old Testament.
"I am a Shepherd," He says first. That is to say, He stands in the same
relationship to His people as a shepherd does to his flock. He owns His
people–every one of them belong to Him. He prizes them because they
are His–sets a value upon each of them. He takes care of them,
remembering them both night and day. His heart is never off them and
because of His inward love there is an outward goodness which He
constantly extends to them. He protects them from the wolf. He guards
them from a thousand dangers. He sees to the supply of all their needs.
He guides them in the right way. He brings them back when they wander.
He strengthens them when they are weak. He carries them when they are
too feeble to go. He sees that they are a weak flock, a silly flock and
a wandering flock–therefore is He their strength, their wisdom, their
righteousness, their all. No creature, perhaps, has more diseases than
a sheep–except a man. No creature is more dependent upon another and
higher creature than a sheep is, for it seems only half itself till it
is under the care of
man. And none of us, Brothers and Sisters, can be said to be less
dependent than the sheep are, for we are not true men till we get near
to Christ. We are without life and without strength till we find life
and strength in Him. As a sheep would be sure to wander and, wandering,
would be very likely to wander into a desert–would be sure not to
better itself–would be certain in the end to come to nothing–so is it
with us. Without Him who is our Shepherd we would wander farther and
farther into misery and sin–and our ruin would be certain. We are more
dependent upon Christ than sheep are upon the shepherd. You see, then,
why Christ says, "I am a Shepherd." Towards His own people whom He has
redeemed with precious blood He stands in the position of a Proprietor,
a Leader and Guide, a Father, a King–all of which may be condensed
into this one word–a Shepherd.
But He is not only a Shepherd, He is a Good Shepherd, for what He does
He does well Never does He neglect His flock. Not one ever perished
because He forgot it. Since He never forgets, not one ever perished at
all. He is a Good Shepherd because all that ought to be done–all that
can be done–all that may be wished to be done towards His sheep–He
does. Never shepherd so intensely threw His heart into His calling as
Christ throws His heart and soul into the sacred calling of the
Shepherd of Israel. He gives for His people all that He has, yes, He
gives Himself! His power is their defense. He lifts up His hand and
says, "I give to My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." His Wisdom is their
guidance. His Love is their perpetual shield. His Infinity is their
storehouse. His Omniscience is their protection. Human and Divine are
You, O Christ, in Your Person, but the Human and the Divine are both
alike for Your people. You have a thousand of offices, and You exercise
them all on the behalf of Your own flock. Oh, Christ is a Good
Shepherd, indeed! He is skilled as well as zealous in the art of
shepherdry. He knows all the diseases of the flock, for He, Himself,
has felt all their griefs and woes. He has studied human nature oh, how
long! He knows it by a personal experience and therefore knows it in
such a way as it can be known only by Himself. He is a Good Shepherd.
Was there ever imagined one that could be compared to Him?
But then He says, "I am the Good Shepherd." Emphasis is to be laid upon
the fact that He is supreme and sufficient for all the needs of His
people. There have been other shepherds appointed by Him that have, in
their measure, been good, but He is the Shepherd–the Great Shepherd of
the sheep. He it is of whom we read that when the Chief Shepherd shall
appear, then shall we also appear with Him in Glory. None of us are the
shepherd. We have to take our little share of the work beneath His eyes
and do it for His sake, though never to our own satisfaction. It will
be a joy to us, indeed, if He shall be satisfied with us and say, "Well
done." But all the under shepherds in the world put together are poor
things compared with the Head Shepherd of the sheep! He is the Good
Shepherd of the sheep–preeminently good–good beyond all that are
good! The Shepherd of the shepherds, as well as the Shepherd of the
sheep. Good because the whole company of the faithful, if they have any
good in themselves, received it from Him. "I am the Good Shepherd."
Now that being the meaning of the words, let us see Christ's claim in
this chapter. Observe how He works it out. He says, if you notice the
verse that comes before the text, "The thief comes not but to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly." See, then, He is our Good
Shepherd because He gives life to His sheep. No shepherd can say about
his flock what Christ says about His. "I have given all these sheep of
Mine the life that they have." What a Good Shepherd must He be!" They
were dead–dead as the dry bones of Ezekiel's vision," He says, "but I
have given them life." Listen to this, you that are the sheep of His
pasture–you have spiritual life, but He gave it to you! Lift up your
eyes and bless Him that your heart ever came to know what repentance
is, what faith is, what prayer is and what praise is, for now that you
live unto God, you see that it was He that quickened you. To your
Shepherd you owe everything! We are His people and the sheep of His
pasture. It is He that made us, He that new-made us–not we ourselves.
Do you notice how He adds, "I am come that they might have life and
that they might have it more abundantly"? So, Beloved, if you now feel
cold and dead, I ask you not to look to yourself, or to the pasture in
which you are at the moment, or to the under shepherd who seeks to care
for you, but to Him, the Chief and Choice Shepherd! He gave you life at
first and He will give you more of it, that you may have it abundantly.
If there is any one of you whose heart is leaping for joy because the
love of God is shed abroad within you by the Holy Spirit–Brother,
Sister, you have got all that from Him! Bless Him for it! If, on the
other hand, another one is mourning because he feels the life within
him to be so feeble–dear Friend, you may have it strengthened by Him
who gave it at the first! All the praise and glory must be to
your Good Shepherd who is, indeed, good because the very life of His
flock is His gift–and their increase in life is worked by His
Sovereign Power. Oh, how good You are, dear Lord, Author and Source of
our very being!
Our Lord shows us His Good Shepherdry further on when He says, "He that
is a hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees
the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flock; and the wolf catches
them and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees because he is a
hireling, and cares not for the sheep." So see, secondly, the Good
Shepherd is good because He cares for the life which He has, Himself,
bestowed. First He gives it and then He protects it. The wolf is always
around about the fold. When we do not hear him howling, yet we know
that he is seeking to find an entrance somewhere. When he gets in, it
is said that he comes to kill and to destroy–and what can poor sheep
do against a wolf if the shepherd is away? And what would you and I do
against Satan in the world and in the temptations of the flesh if
Christ were away? We would soon fall a prey to the wicked adversary.
But our good Master cares for us.
You know that precious promise, "I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water
it every moment. Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day"?
Though the simile is changed, the meaning is the same. Our Savior–our
blessed Shepherd–by night, though the frost is upon Him, watches His
flock. And by day, though the sun lights on Him with its fervent heat,
He still watches. His very life seems to be nothing to Him in
comparison with the protection of His people. Oh, Brothers and Sisters,
what battles our Shepherd has had with the wolf for us! I need not go
into the story of our glorious David's prowess, even for the little
lambs of His flock. But He may say truly to His Father, "Your servant
slew both the lion and the bear" because they came and "took the lamb
out of the flock." Jesus takes even the feeblest from between the teeth
of the foe and will not suffer one to perish because He cares for us!
You know the meaning of caring for us, do you not? Well, I do not think
that I can explain it except by asking you to think of what it is to
care for your children. That is how the Lord Jesus cares for you. As
for the children, poor little dears, they cannot take care of
themselves–nor can you, though you try hard to do it. And as your
little children leave their cares with you and you care for them, you
may leave your cares with your Shepherd. It is a very comprehensive
thought. Your care springs out of your love and that love makes you
think of the welfare of your family. But your care is not all
thinking–you are actively engaged for them, too, and before they even
know their needs, you supply them. In fact, they hardly know they have
any needs because you never leave them unsupplied long enough to let
them discover that they need anything. You meet all their needs by
caring for them. Even so does Jesus, the Good Shepherd, care for His
people. He gives them life, increases that life, cares for that life
and protects it from all harm!
But just read on and you will see still further what a Good Shepherd He
is. "I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep and am known of Mine. As
the Father knows Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life
for the sheep." That is to say, "As much as I and My Father know each
other, so do I and My people know each other." He is the Good Shepherd
because He lives among His sheep, He treats them as His children and so
cares for them that He actually has communion with them. Sheep
understand a good deal of what the shepherd says. There is a shepherd's
language which you and I do not understand, but the sheep do. They know
his whistle. They know his frown. They know the motion of his hands. He
has a language which he speaks to them. When Jesus Christ says, "I know
My sheep," it means not only that He knows who are His and who are not,
but that He knows all about each one. He knows your trouble at this
instant, dear Friend–your infirmity, your sin, your sorrow. He knows
you a great deal better than you know yourself and He sums you up and
understands you much better than the dearest friend you have. He never
misunderstands you–He knows you so thoroughly. Oh, it is a wonderful
word, that–one of those great deeps into which I drop my plumb line
but cannot find the bottom–"I know My sheep." It means that He owns
them. He knows them so that in the Presence of God and of the holy
angels, He will say, "Yes, those are My sheep." What? That one with the
torn wool? That one with the lame foot? That one with a split ear?
There is not much beauty in any of them. Yet the Shepherd will not be
ashamed of even the least. "It is Mine," He says, "and though it is not
beautiful to any besides, it is beautiful to Me, for I bought it with
My blood and I have fought the lion on its behalf and, therefore, it is
very dear to My soul." He knows His sheep. A man can scarcely enter
into the feeling of a sheep, can he? And yet Jesus Christ, though He is
God, makes a stoop of condescension and enters into the feeling of the
poorest and the most ignorant–yes, and the most sinful of all His
children! Bone of their bone does He become, so intimate is His union
with them.
But then He says, "I am known of Mine." Now we might think that a sheep
cannot know much about the shepherd, but they do. They get to love him.
Among the eastern flocks there are often sheep that are peculiarly
attached to the shepherd. They always follow at his heels–they never
seem to care so much for the pasture as they do for him. They are
always first and, I may add, generally fattest, for they that keep
nearest to him are pretty sure to get the sweetest bits of grass. And
so, in the Church of God there are some that keep near the Shepherd and
that know Him well. And all His people know something of Him. What a
condescension this is–that the Good Shepherd so comes and lives among
His people that He not merely knows them, but teaches them to know Him.
Blessed be His name for this! Try whether you cannot drink in the
glorious meaning of this deep mystery!
But yet farther–and to close this point–our Lord is a Good Shepherd
because He gathers all His sheep. Read the 16th verse. "And other sheep
I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they
shall hear My voice: and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
While His eyes were on the Jews, His heart was on the Gentiles, too. He
is a Shepherd who is not content with the ninety-nine, but when He
counts the flock over and knows there ought to be a hundred, His heart
begins to care for the lost one–and He folds the 99 and lets them
rest. But, as for Himself, He gets away upon the mountain's bleak side
so that He may find the lost one. Ah, my Lord, You are a Good Shepherd,
indeed–a much better Shepherd than any among Your Church–Your
workers–are! We often forget the wandering one. We get a church
together. Perhaps the building is full and we have too little
missionary enterprise to look after the masses that are in ignorance.
We see England bathed in the Light of the Gospel, but feel little zeal
for sending the Word to the distant heathen lands. It ought not to be!
It is not so with Christ, for if He has an elect one, be he where he
may, He knows him and His eyes are on him–and He must bring him in!
I wonder whether there is someone here tonight that He must bring in?
You did not think when you came in to the Tabernacle that Christ was
seeking you, but, perhaps My Lord Jesus has bought you with His
precious blood and His Father gave you to Him from before the
foundations of the world! And perhaps He brought you here that you may
know this and come to Him tonight. Thus says the Lord, "I have loved
you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I
drawn you." Come, poor Wanderer–come to the Good Shepherd's feet and
lay yourself down all helpless and forlorn! He will put you on His
shoulders and carry you back rejoicing! Is He not a Good Shepherd,
giving life, sustaining life, defending life, knowing life, teaching
life to know Him and going after poor wanderers to bring them to
Himself? That is Christ's claim.
II. Now I can say but very little, in the second place, about CHRIST'S
PROOF OF HIS CLAIM, for I have already proved it. "I am the Good
Shepherd," He says. "The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep."
Christ has given His life for us many times over. If I read the text
without referring it to the one act of His death, it seems to me to be
very full of meaning. In Heaven He gave His life for them. He had a
life in Heaven, such as we may guess at from a distance, but can never
fully understand. He dwelt as God inhabiting the praises of eternity
but you know He gave up that life for us. He laid aside–
"That most Divine array,
And wrapped His godhead in a veil
Of our inferior clay."
To leave the harps and hymns of Heaven for the sorrows and sins of
earth was giving up His life for His sheep.
When He was here, you know while He lived on earth He gave His life for
the sheep, for every moment of that life was spent for them. There was
a connection between His private life in the carpenter's shop and their
salvation–an intimate connection. In His public life what did He
strain all His powers for, but this–that He might seek and save that
which was lost! For His people were those prayers on the cold mountain
side at night! For His people those earnest pleas in the midst of the
crowd by day! For them the weary journeys! For them the hunger and the
thirst! For them the homelessness which forbade Him to have a place
where to lay His head! He gave His life up to them as long as He was
here.
Then one dark night did He give His life for His sheep in the sense, I
doubt not, intended here. On that dread night–you know it–that night
to be remembered, for it was the night of God's Passover, the Shepherd
went round His flock and the sheep were sleeping, but there came the
wolf and the Shepherd knew his snarl. The sheep, all startled at the
howls, were scattered–they forsook the Shepherd and fled. That night
He had enough to do to meet the wolf. But He stood at the fold to watch
the sheep and let them all go in safety. And then He confronted the
grim monster who
leaped into the fold thirsty for the blood of the sheep, but the
Shepherd caught him and then came a desperate struggle between the two.
The shepherd did bleed and sweat, did bleed and sweat and bleed again.
Great drops of blood fell to the ground, but He held the monster fast
and firm. Our Great Shepherd was wounded on His head, on His shoulders,
on His hands and feet–and one awful fang tore open His side, but He
held the wolf–held Him till He had slain him! Then, dashing down his
body to the ground and putting His foot upon him, He shouted, "It is
finished!" But in the same moment, the Great Shepherd fell. In slaying
our foe He had, Himself, been slain! But scarcely had the Shepherd
touched the earth than, as if reanimated, up He sprang again and said,
"I lay down My life that I might take it again; therefore does My
Father love Me because I lay down My life for the sheep." You know that
story and need not that I tell it again at any length. But, oh, love
Him! Love Him! Kiss His wounds! Worship this blessed Shepherd who has
conquered your foe and delivered you from the jaw of the lion and from
the paw of the bear–and set you forever safely in His fold! "The Good
Shepherd gives His life for the sheep."
He is still giving His life. The life that is in the Man, Christ Jesus,
He is always giving for us. It is for us He lives and because He lives,
we also live. He lives to plead for us. He lives to represent us in
Heaven. He lives to rule Providence for us. He lives to prepare our
mansions for us, where we are going. He lives that He may come again
and receive us to Himself, that where He is, there we may also be.
Truly the Good Shepherd has proved His claim–"He gives His life for
the sheep."
III. Now let us finish by trying to GET SOME JUICE OUT OF THESE THINGS,
as I hope that we have done as we have gone along.
First, dear Friends, if the Good Shepherd gives life, let us try and
get life abundantly. Sometimes I wish I could leave off preaching any
sermons and do as I have seen the sergeant do when he is drilling a lot
of men. He only says a word, "First position," and they take up the
position! "Second position," and they take up that position. He has not
a lot of eloquent talk, but he just tells them what to do. Now then,
try if you can, to take up your position. More life is to be had.
Breathe the prayer, "Good Shepherd, You have given me life–give it to
me more abundantly! May I know You more, love You more, trust You more,
serve You more and be more like You. Quicken me, O Lord, according to
Your word."
That will do. Go on. Take another position. If He is the Good Shepherd,
let us feel like sheep who have a Good Shepherd. How do they feel? I do
not think I know a sight that is more peaceable and happy than that of
flocks at eventide when they have been gathered into a good pasture, or
are folded among some prolific root crop. They have eaten as much as
they can and they lie down on the grass to rest. No care enters their
woolly heads. They have nothing to fret about. They might have if they
could worry about the future as some of us do. Will there be turnips
enough tomorrow? When there is dry weather, will there be grass enough?
There is that butcher–when will he come? If they could understand me,
I could suggest no end of cares and doubts and fears to sheep! But it
does not enter into their constitution. I wish it did not enter into
yours and mine! The shepherd cares for the sheep.
Dear Brother, dear Sister, will Jesus Christ care for you? I have heard
of men that have kept sheep and cattle who have let them starve. You do
not often hear of such things, for self-interest leads men to cherish
their sheep. But I never heard of Christ neglecting any part of His
flock. Come, then, let us feel quite quiet in His care. May the Lord
help us to be so! Away with your doubts and fears and cares. There,
begone, begone, all of it! What is the use of it? It never gave me any
pasture. O care and anxiety and fretfulness, you did never feed me, nor
strengthen me, nor help me! You have worried me and weakened me, but
you have done nothing else. Begone! As for us, Brothers and Sisters, if
Christ is our Shepherd, let us begin to say, "I shall not want. He
makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still
water. He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. Yes, though I walk through the Valley of the
Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me: Your rod and
Your staff, they comfort me." That is a happy religion, is it not? And
it is a very important thing that all Christians should be happy. The
enjoyments of Believers lie very near their holiness. The joy of the
Lord is your strength. Now, Brothers and Sisters, do not begin behaving
like dogs, but try and be such sheep as you ought to be with such a
Shepherd!
Next, let us be His own. Jesus Christ says of the hireling, "whose own
the sheep are not, for he leaves the sheep," and in that He implies
that when He tends the sheep, they are His own. Come, then, let us be
His own! Brother, Sister, have you ever given yourself up wholly to
Christ–altogether to Christ? I am afraid we sing a great many things
that are not true. I have heard you say–
"Yet if I might make some reserve, And duty did not call, I love My God
with zeal so great, That I would give Him all."
I leave it to your own conscience whether you get anywhere near
that–anywhere near it at all. We say that we belong to Christ and we
are not our own, but bought with a price. Do we live as if it were
true? Come, let us take up the position of being altogether Christ's
own sheep. If the sheep could speak it would say, "There is not a
fragment of wool on my back that belongs to me: there is no part of me
that is my own. I belong to my shepherd, and I am glad to have it so."
You belong to Christ as absolutely as that.
The next thought to take up is, let us try to know more of Him. He
says, "I know My sheep and am known of Mine." Let us then know Him
better. You know how you come to know a man by getting into his
company, by hearing his words, by marking his actions, by telling him
your secrets and letting him tell you his secrets. Come and know Christ
in this fashion. Let your head be on His bosom and your whole self come
into communion with His blessed Self. Ask for that Grace tonight while
you are around the table. Say, "Good Master, You know me. Let me know
You. Oh, let my communion with You be as nearly as possible equal to
that which You have with Your Father and Your Father with You, that we
may be one together."
The next and last is, let us love Him more. Did you notice how He says
in the 17th verse, "Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay
down My life that I might take it again." Let us make another verse and
say, "Therefore do My people love Me because I lay down My life." Jesus
did not say that, but let us make it true. Oh, how we ought to love our
dear and ever-blessed Lord! Do you feel love stirring in your bosom?
Perhaps you say, "I wish I did feel it more." I am glad you say that. I
think that is often as far as we can get. I do not, I cannot love You,
O Lord, as I ought–
"Yet I love You and adore– Oh for Grace to love You more.1" I am
persuaded that the man who loves Christ best is just the man who is
most discontented with his own love. When a man lives wholly for
Christ, he is the very man who still looks for something yet beyond and
desires to serve Christ still more. Now, indulge your love tonight! Sit
still and meditate on His love–enjoy His love! Say to yourself–
"I am so glad that Jesus loves me! Even me!"
And then add, "I am so glad that I can say that I love Him. He knows
all things and He knows that I love Him." Just let those two seas meet.
"Seas," did I say? I must not say that. Let the little brook of your
love to Him flow into the mighty ocean of His love to you–and so let
them blend and join! I have seen the Thames flowing on in its majestic
course toward the sea and every here and there a little hill drops into
view for a while, but the meadows stretch between. The mighty river and
the brook go side by side, but as they flow on, at last they melt into
one. So let my poor soul's love tonight flow in the same course with
the great love of Jesus till at last it melts into His and life
becomes, "Not I," but "Christ in me" and my soul be forever content!
Now I have done, but I hope the Lord Jesus has not done. We are going
to hold the Communion service and there are many of you that are going
away, and going away rightly, too, because you could not come to the
Table of the Lord without being hypocrites. You know that you do not
love Jesus and have not trusted in Him. As you go away I pray the Good
Shepherd to go after you–and before you reach your houses tonight I
pray that He may get such a grip of you with those strong but tender
hands of His, that He may never let you go till He brings you, also,
into His fold! If not here, yet somewhere else, for I am sure that in
this house He has other sheep which are not yet of His fold, whom He
must bring that there may be one flock and one Shepherd! May He bring
you in tonight, for His mercy's sake. Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM23; ISAIAH40:9-11; EZEKIEL 34:11-25.
We shall view Christ in the office of a Shepherd and the first passage
we read sets before us faith proving Christ in that office–accepting
Him, trusting Him, following Him.
Psalm 23:1-2. Thee LORD is my shepherd; Ishall not want He makes me to
lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. Can
you say that for yourself, dear Friend? There is the sweetness of it.
The words in themselves are noble, but it is the experimental
acquaintance with their meaning which is the real honey of life. If you
can use these words and lay the emphasis upon the personal pronoun, you
are one of the happiest out of Heaven!
3-6. He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for
His name's sake. Yes, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of
Death I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and Your
staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence
of my enemies: You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: andl will
dwellin the house of the LORD forever. There is the Believer realizing
Christ in that gracious office as the Shepherd of His people. Now let
us see how our glorious Shepherd is set forth in prophecy.
Isaiah 40:9-11. OZion that brings good tidings, get you up into the
high mountain; O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up your
voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of
Judah, Behold your God! Behold the Lord God will come with a strong
hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold His reward is with Him,
and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He
shall gather the lamb with His arms, and carry them in His bosom, and
shall gently lead those that are with young. This office of Christ
makes glad the hearts of those who have to preach it! To lift up our
voice and to proclaim to others the good tidings is grateful service.
It is the joy of the Church that Jesus, the Lord God Almighty, is
strong for the defense of His people and, at the same time, tender
towards their infirmities. Let us rejoice and be glad in Him!
Now let us hear what our Shepherd says by the mouth of the Prophet
Ezekiel. After He has been complaining of the hireling shepherds–the
false ones who sought the fleece and not the flock, who did not feed
the sheep nor care for them, nor had any tenderness toward them, He
goes on to show what He will do for His own.
Ezekiel 34:11,12. For thus says the Lord God, BeholdI, even I, wiil
both search My sheep, andseek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so,
will Iseek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where
they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. What a glorious
promise! Christ's elect run here and there in the darkness of their
ignorance, into sin of every kind but He will find every one of them!
There is no jungle so thick but Christ will track His own through it.
There are no bogs of sin so dangerous but Christ will traverse them and
find every lamb of His flock! And if through your backslidings, O
people of God, you have wandered far from Him, yet He perceives you
with those eyes which sees in the dark as well us in the light–and He
will follow after you and bring you back. Blessed be His name!
13, 15. AndI will bring them out from the people, andgather them from
the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them
upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the
inhabitedplaces of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and
upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there they shall
lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the
mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie
down, says the Lord God. A beautiful image of that peace of mind, that
complete repose that perfect contentment, that sweet satisfaction, that
Divine fullness which is the work of the Spirit of God in the hearts of
Believers when they are gathered to Christ!
16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was
driven away and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen
that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will
feed them with judgment It is a sweet thing, then, to be one of the
needy ones of the flock because you see all the promises run that way.
But, if we feel ourselves to be very strong and great, we are in a
dangerous state, for then there is no promise for us. The only word
concerning us is–"I will destroy the fat and the strong."
17, 18. And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God; Behold, I
judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
Seems it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the goodpasture, but
you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? And to
have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your
feet? Truly there are some vain-glorious Christians who not only will
not receive the Gospel, themselves, but actually find fault with it,
insinuate doubts into the minds of others and prevent the simple-minded
people of God feeding on the pasture which the Lord provides for them!
See one of the evils of being great and strong in your own esteem–you
are pretty sure to despise the very pasture which was quite good enough
for you when you were weaker and feebler. That very Truth of Jesus
Christ which was marrow and fatness to you when you were hungry, comes
to be despised as the manna was by the children of Israel when they
called it "light bread." There is no savor in it that you should desire
it. Blessed, blessed hunger that makes the Word of God to be always
sweet!
19-25. Andas forMy flock, they eat that which you have trodden with
yourfeet and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.
Therefore thus says the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will
judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because you
have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased
with your horns till you have scattered them abroad; Therefore wiil I
save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey, and I will judge
between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them,
and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and
he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and My
servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I
will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts
to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the
wilderness, and sleep in the woods. What perfect assurance for Christ's
flock when, in the very place where the wolf once ranged, they shall be
able to lie down and sleep in perfect safety! Happy people, with all
their weaknesses, who have Divine Strength to be their protection! O my
Soul, seek no other strength than this, but learn the Apostle's logic
and his true Christian philosophy so that, like he, trusting in the
Mighty Shepherd, you will be able to say "When I am weak, then am I
strong."