Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-09-17
THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
LESSON XII, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, SEPT. 20.

NNSAAARAA'A
permission OF H. g. Hoffman, publisher, Phil
adelphial
L Verify, verify, | say unto you"
These great and most emphatic word
occur so often (sOme twenty-five times il
this gospel that the careless reader is ap,
TO slight them instead of attaching Il
them the Importance which they deserve
Verify" Is "Amen," and carries us bach
TO lisa. Ky, 10, where we read of "the Goo
OF Truth" or 1.-THE God Amen" Or. ", mar
GIN. II say unto you" Is equal to thu
Thus saith the Lord" OF the prophets.
He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other
way, the same Is thief and robber."
2. But he that entereth In by the door
Is the shepherd of the sheep"
T. ITO him the porter openeth, and the
sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own
sheep by name and leadeth them out"
The porter Is the Lord the Spirit, the
third person Of the Blessed Trinity who
opens the heart to the Lord Jesus and Hi
message as He opened the heart of Lydia
(Acts xvi, l4) and who also opens doors fol
the followers Of Jesus (Acts xiv, 81; Cor
XVI, o; ii Cor. Ii, 49, His own sheep who
hear His voice are those that are truly His
not having merely name to live, bat hav
ing life indeed, having sincerely received
Himself as their life. AS to calling His
own sheep by name, see FIX. xxxiii, II, H.
and Isa- xiii, l.; and remember how He
spoke to Simon and Nathaniel and l.azn
rus and Mary, calling each by name John
1. AZ, AZ; XII, 43; Xxx, lG).
And when He putteth forth His own
sheep, lie goeth before them, and the sheep
follow Him, for they know His voice"
He does not drive them out, but He lead
eth them out. He does not ask His sheep
to go where He has not gone Himself, MOI
to do what He Himself has not done.
g. "And stranger will they not follow
but will flee from him; for they know not
the voice of strangers"
The stranger is the thief and robber OF
verse l, the shepherds that feed themselves
Of Eek. xxxiv, 2. or the idol shepherds Of
Zach. XII, H.
9. "This parable spake Jesus unto them
but they understood not what things they
were which lie spake unto them"
Even the disciples understood not many
of His sayings John xii, 16; Luke xviii "a
Mark TX, 32), so that He had to say to them
"Are ye also yet without Understandings
~. The secret of understanding Is simply
hearing and believing (Math. XIV, 10; Heb
XII, % without reasoning questioning
Z. "Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verify, verify, say unto you, | nm the door
of the sheep"
He is the door by which the sheep enter
the fold, for no one can come to the Father
but by Him, and there is none other name
ertx, al 4.
we must be saved John xiv, g. Acts iv, l2)
g. "All that ever came before me are
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not
hear them"
lie could not possibly refer to such ns
Moses and the prophets who were before
Him In the sense of Gntccedent to Him
for they were sent by linn and were His
faithful witnesses, but the word before
sometimes signifies "instcad or or "in
preference to-" IA when God said, "Thou
shalt have no other gods before me" (lGx
Xxx, 81.
8. II am the door; by mo if any man en-
ter in he shall be st.ved, and shall 20 in and
out, and find pasture"
He Is not only the entrance to Life and
to the Kingdom, but He is the only ell
trance, and He Is an entrance wide open,
Any one, whatsoever will, may enter with
the assurance of being made welcome
John vi, 81; Rev. xxi, ~.
10. 1.-THE thief comcth not, but for to
steal, and to kill, and to destroy; am come
that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly."
The thief or stranger or false prophet is
we'll described in Ezek. xXXiv, and else
l., .,t,, l.
selfish; he speaks to please the king and
the people, that he may have their favor
and receive their wealth, or he Expresses
that he may enrich himself.
H. II am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd givcth Ills life for the sheep"
He is also called the Great Shepherd and
the Chief Shepherd (IIeb. xiii, 20, Pet, ii,
2S). Instead of killing aud destroying for
His own benefit, like the thief lie suffers
Himself to be killed for others.
IL But he that is an hrelng, and not
the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming and caveth the
sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them and scattcrcth the sheep"
Hireling and wolf are all one with thief
and robbcr-that is, they are all on the side
of the enemy, and against the sheep and the
NOOu oucllieIus lIt blllO - lloI w IN me
Is against me, and he that gathereth not
with me scattereth abroad (Math xii, 80)
19 THE hireling fceth, because he il an
hireling, and careth not for the sheep"
He cares only for his hire IA if minis
ter should think moro of his salary than
of the souls committed to his care.
II 81 am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep and am known Of mine"
utt.I 1, a., i,I OF q
discourse. The under shepherds may re
ceive into the church many who are not
His, and may fail to gather in many who
are His Nevertheless the foundation of
God standeth sure. having this seal The
Lord knoweth them that are His"
Is. "As the Father kuowcth me, even so
know the Father. And ! lay down my
life for the sheep"
At another time He said, mo man know
eth the Son but the Father, neither know.
eth any man the Father save the Son, and
he to whomsoevcr the Son will reveal
Him" (Math. XII, go, He dwells much upon
the oneness Of the Father and Himself
and also upon tho oneness of believers
with the Father and Himself If we but
grasped this great truth more fully we
would be more ready to lay down our lives
LHt DTtAiltll, ~ w 10 Nttb Nv III JbtlI
III. TO- See how He repeats again aud
again the fact of His laying down His life
for the sheep; and in chapter XIV, 10, lie
tells us that this Is the greatest possible
love of man to man. But in Rom. V, s, the
Spirit by Paul calls our attention to the
fact that Gods love is SO far beyond ours
that He died for sinners.
10. "And other sheep | have which are
~ al. ! hYit
md they shall hear my voice; and there
III a., ono fold md ppa standard