Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-28
many sparrows =, sThe very hsirs Of your
head are all numbered" II am the Good
Shepherd and know Ny sheep"

many sparrowA,' "The very hsirs Of YOU
head are all numbered. II am the Good
Shepherd and know My sheep"
Tho shepherd and ths Hirelins.
And this individual knowledge of God
means love also. The Good Shepherd csres
for the sheep. s"He that is hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are
not, seeth the wolf coming and leayeth the
sheep and feeth. The hireling feeth
| because he is hireling and careth not for the
eheep. ! am the Good Shepherd and know
my sheep" So much does the Good Shep-
herd love us that he is willing even to lay
down His life for the sheep.
The message which Christ brings IL the
blessed truth that God cares, that he knows
everyone BY name, aud cares for every one
OF us. God loves US. In times of desola-
tion, when we seem to be forsaken by the
Father in heaven, when all goes wrong, and
sin gets into our lite, or sorrow gets into
our heart, or the light goes out and we are
in the dark, what comfort to be able to
trust this word of Christ, and thus to know
that, In spite OF all, God knows us, and cares
for US, and loves us That is the only abid-
ing co ISOLATION. the only real strength, the
only real hope.
The Good Shepherd knows His sheep,
and His sheep know Him. How do they
know Him?
The Voice That Thrills.
Tho focks lie scattered over the pastures,
and the time comes to lead them into
herd calls, and after each shepherd follows
certain sheep. His own sheep follow Him
for they know His voice. How do they
know His voice?
The air is full of calling voices, and
among them there is voice that is call.
ing US. The voice Is the summons of our
own aspiration, OF our own vocation. And
we turn our faces, some in this way, some in
that, following different shepherds along
different paths, and so men become lawyers,
physicians, chemists, inventors, artists,
writers, musicians, preachers. How do we
know the voice? How, for example, does
the chemist know that he is not called to be
an artist? Because there is a response in
his heart to the voice Of chemistry and none
to the voice of art. How does man know
that his vocation is law and not music? Be
cause he knows the calling voice. The
voice is recognized because there is an in
stinctive answer to it in our hearts
Thus do we recognize the voice of Christ,
and know Christ. The sheep know the
shepherd, and we know Christ in the same
way.
Argument and tho Higher Truths
There is not much use in trying to arguel
people into belief in Christ. There is little
play for argument in any OF the higher
truths of lite. Love does not come BY pre-
mise and conclusion. Patriotism is not
stirred by logic. Recognition OF beauty in
art, in literature, or in music is not gained
BY application of rules. There Is no posi-
bility of compulsion in the domain of higher
truth, no way of convincing those who are
not convinced themselves Arithmetical
truth can be proved. SO that there il no way
OF evading it. But try to prove musical
truth. Try by argument to convince man
who has no music in his soul of the beauty
OF Beethoven's Mass in G. 1t is impossible.
Recognition of beauty in music depends
upon the response OF the heart. The lover
of music knows the voice.
Thus it is that we know Christ The theo-
logians, all OF them together, cannot make Q
man recognize Christ who does not already
Him. Metaphysics, criticism, ar
gument have no place in the recognition of
Christ We know Him because when We
hear His voice there is an instant and ami
instructive response in our hearts to it,
So Christ said about the receiving and |
of all divine truth. that it de- |
pended upon the life. If we desire to be- |
lieve like q Christian, we must live like q
Christian. We must keep our hearts open
and receptive to spiritual influences, we
must keep out Of our lives aud out of our
thoughts all that will dull our sense of |
spiritual hearing; then will Christ call and |
we will answer. And we will know the Good |
Shepherd, even as the Good Shepherd, in |
His divine love, knows us
GEORGE HODGES,