Evening star., 1917-04-14
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

the same way. it is believed by many
observers that the nations difficulty
with Germany is due to the military
party. which is preventing the masses
of that nation from expressing their
Will to live in peace with all men. Je-
sus labeled all men who have secured
their deSpotic power py illegitimate
means. as had the pharisees. to be
thieves and robbers. The professed
guides who seek to influence the people
to their hurt lack the motive of self
sacrifice that the true shepherd eXer-
cises in his care for his flock They
are like thieves in their deceit and like
robbers in their violence and selfish
ness.
Jesus claimed for Himself that He
possesSed all the marks of the Good
shepherd. He had come as the Shep-
herd in accordance with the prophecies
of both jeremiah and Ezekiel. who de-
lighted to call the One who was to ap-
pear and be the true representative of
the righteous Father to His obedient
people the Shepherd" Jesus was the
true Shepherd who had been introduced
to the people and vouched for by John
the Baptist He had come to call men
back to God and to help them make the
most of life. The early disciples were
called saints, showing that they had
heen dedicated to Gods service. Christ
knows His followers as individuals and
calls them by their own names. They
follow Him because He alone can sup
ply the deepest needs of the human
soul salvation from sin. abundant
spiritual life and constant fellow
snip with God come to all men who
obey the voice of the true Shepherd
AS 1t was not clear to the pharisees
that Jesus had reference to Himself as
the true shepherd and to them as the
false leaders of men. Christ introduces
A new and strange contrast, in which
Jesus appears the door and the
pEarlsees a S robbers.
Because they did not grasp its mean
ing the Lord explained its significance
by translating the natural into the
spiritual, first of all announcing as a
truth of solemn import that He is the
door of the sheep tnot of the fold),
thereby setting aside the authority of
the Pharisees and other self-constituted
guardians of the flock. who refused to
accept His mediation"
Or. Henry H Jessup, whose heroic
endeavors in the mission field, prove
that all the heroes are not found on
the battlefield tells of seeing in Syria
sheepfold without a door AS rule
these folds are built of stone. taken
from the ruins of ancient buildings, or
are made by "A dense hedge. as high as
a man. The tops are made of thorns all
around to prevent robbers or wild
beasts from getting at the sheep, which
enter through an opening that is closed
at night by door, which only the por-
ter or watchman within can open. No
uclnS ltS absence the missionary asked,
Where is your door," The shepherd
placed himself in the opening and an
swered. Il am the door"
Christ is the living door and only
means of access to God. Christianity
rests it's claims for hearing upon
Christs claims to be the only way for
the salvation of men because by His
own blood RE entered al once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal re-
demption" for those that enter by faith
in Him as their Savior. Possibly the
Master may have been limiting at the
sublime truth, which in few moments
He enunciated-that the kingdom of
which He was the door and the en-
trance was not circumscribed by the
narrow wall of Jewish theocracy or
hemmed in by the barriers of national
exclusiveness. IF any man enters in"