144 TRUE GROUNDS OF CHRISTIAN REJOICING.

Your children and your children's children will grow up in the nurture of wisdom and virtue, to be ornaments to society and to religion, and to fill the places you now occupy with credit to themselves and benefit to their race; and when the time of your departure from earth draweth nigh, you will each be able to say, with divine satisfaction, "I have fought a GOOD fight; I have FINISHED my course; I have KEPT the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.”

SERMON VIII.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

BY REV. JOHN M. AUSTIN.

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."—JOHN x. 11.

THIS was the declaration of Jesus, the Savior of the world. The peculiar figure under which he here represents himself, was drawn from a wellknown occupation among the Jews. Inhabiting, as they did, a very mountainous country, much of the soil of which was unproductive, the Israelites were, from necessity as well as from habit, a pastoral people. A great proportion of their wealth consisted in flocks and herds. Their sheep, especially, were very numerous. Some conception of their number may be formed from a circumstance related by the sacred historian, that during a season of great rejoicing, in the reign of King Hezekiah, there were seventeen thousand sheep slaughtered at Jerusalem, in a single week. In such a country, the occupation of a shepherd must have been very common.

It was a well-known characteristic of the Redeemer, to avail himself of surrounding objects to illustrate and enforce his instructions. Thus when "he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees, to eat bread on the sabbath day," he spake the parable of the supper-when he was in a ship on

(1) Luke xiv. 1.

the sea of Galilee,' he uttered the parable of the net. Many other instances illustrative of this practice of the Savior, could be cited. It is supposed by Benson and others, that when Jesus spoke the words of the text, he was standing near the sheepmarket in Jerusalem, where large numbers of sheep were collected, not only for the consumption of the inhabitants, but also to be used for sacrifices in the temple. Seeing the sheep constantly arriving, under the guidance and protection of their shepherds, he appropriately took the opportunity to represent himself as the shepherd of men.

His auditors, among whom we may suppose, from his location, were many actual shepherds, well understood him in this figure. They were familiar with the office and duties of a shepherd, and comprehended the bearing of his allusions with great readiness. And, moreover, they were familiar with figures of this description, as they abound in the writings of the prophets. The Creator is described in the most beautiful language, as a great and good shepherd-"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters."2.

In the New Testament, Christ not only denominates himself a shepherd, but he is alluded to under the same title in the epistles, He is called the "great shepherd of the sheep"-the "chief shepherd"4" the shepherd and bishop of your souls."5 But who are the sheep?-who compose the flock over which Jesus has been placed as shepherd? The latter clause of the text will enable us to answer this inquiry: "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." For whomsoever Jesus gave his

(1) Matt. xiii. 2. (3) Heb. xiii. 20.

(2) Psa. xxiii. 1, 2. See also Isa. xl. 11. (4) 1 Pet. v. 4. (5) 1 Pet. ii. 25.

man'

life, the same are his sheep, according to his own language. St. Paul will instruct us as to the number who thus belong to the flock of Christ-" that he by the grace of God should taste death for every "-"He gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."2 We learn from this testimony that all mankind are the sheep of Christ. Dr. Adam Clarke, in his rėmarks on the text, assents to this position. He says, "The whole flock of mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, belongs unto this divine shepherd."

The

This vast flock, in their ignorance and blindness, had gone astray-they had wandered away from the sheepfold of God, the divine owner of all. Says Isaiah All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way."3 Creator in describing, through the prophet, the condition of his earthly creatures, thus exclaims: "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill. Yea, my floek was, scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them."4 In this condition of thingshis flock thus scattered and lost-the beneficent Owner, moved by the deepest compassion, resolved to send to the earth, a Shepherd, to seek out his bewildered and straying sheep, and bring them back to luxuriate in the green pastures of Mount Zion. And the goodness and faithfulness of this shepherd, were thus foretold by the prophet: "He shall feed his flocks like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and he shall gently lead those that are with young.'

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In our text, Jesus Christ declares that he is the shepherd thus sent to take in charge the fold of God: (1) Heb. ii. 9. (3) Isa, liii. 6. (4) Ezek. xxxiv. 6.

(2) 1 Tim. ii. 6.
(5) Isa. xl. 11

"I am the good shepherd." It was not sufficient that he declared himself to be the shepherd of the world; but, to give assurance to the fearful and doubting, he is careful to inform us what description of shepherd he is: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." A good shepherd is one so devoted to the welfare of his flock, that, if necessary, he will even sacrifice his life in their behalf. The Savior assumes to himself all the characteristics of a good shepherd, and in this light should he ever be viewed. And every possible test which can be applied to his character, will prove that he has not assumed a name to which he is not entitled. To manifest more clearly his claim to the title he has applied to himself, let us notice a few traits of character which belong to a good shepherd.

1. A good shepherd is always careful to lead his flock into fertile pastures, where they can obtain a full supply of rich and nutritious food. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside still waters," exclaims the Psalmist. If Christ is indeed a good shepherd, he always leads his flock into spiritual pastures of this description. And in what light is he placed by this test? Look at his gospel-examine his teachings scrutinize the entire system of his religion-and see if it does not afford the most rich and delicious spiritual food, upon which the soul can feast with satisfaction and delight. He never revealed a principle, moral or religious, which does not commend itself to the good sense of every enlightened and well-balanced mind, and, in the contemplation of which, such a mind does not find great enjoyment. He never proclaimed a doctrine, either in regard to the character, purposes, and dealings of God with his creatures,