Evening star., 1917-04-15
WHEN FOLKS ARE LIKE SHEEP.
Discussion of the International Sunday School Lesson
Today, the Topic of Which, Jesus the Good
Shepherd-John. lO1-18

and his flock \ glimpse OF the qualities
OF the Savior-Shepherd. who called HIM
self the Good Shepherd" may be OBJ
tanned through it.
The Good Shepherd knows his sheep.
Thero is not Il weakness nor a perTersity
in any one OF them that He does not
wholly understand. He makes allowances.
To Him sheep are not mere sheep. as they
are to the abattoir; they are His own
flock, each named and loved for itself.
The stupendousness OF this truth that
God is not too great to condescenG to the
slightest need of the Iowliest life, needs
the simple faith Of childhood to grasp it
In weak times leaders 90 not lead :
they follow the crowd. But the Good
Shepherd always goes before His flock.
His leadership is real and active and con-
tnuous. difficulties do not daunt Him
problems do not perplex Him. There IS
no standing still for the flock OF Christ.
They are not Gagged creatures in park
They go in and out and find pasture.
when they follow Him Life is large and
enlarging. varied and abundant, when the
shepherdship of Jesus IS accepted. In the
grayeSt and greatest times, such As we
are now witnessing the leadership of the
Good Shepherd is adequate; He viii lead
His flock into new, sweet pastures
through all the SCARED and bloody paths
of war.
one other truth about the Good Shep-
herd is that he lays down his life for
the sheep. That is the supreme test
Of love and loyalty. Let us tarry for
have been gioriously meeting il in the
past three years. Men Of most of the
nations Of the earth have given this
last full measure Of devotion-they
have laid down their lives for the
cause and country they loved.
When I travelled through India my
servant would every night curl up at
the door of my room and sleep. No
body could enter or leave except by
stepping over him. The fact iilumi-
that He Himself is the door of the
sheep. Shepherds sometimes close the
entrance to the Sheepfold in this same
fashion. The imagery is perfectly clear
to an oriental; there is no entrance
into the fold of Christ except by Christ
Himself. That is the cardinal truth
stressed by the reformation, the tooth
anniversary of which is being kept this
year. No church. no creed, no minis
ter and no council can save a soul; the
only door into life is by Christ Him
self.
In the face of Jew ish eccIesiasticism
Jesus uttered this. The leaders of the
Jews had communicated the blind
man whom the Master had healed.
The comfort Christ gave him was:
What matter: They really have no
authority. 1 alone am the door. There
is no entrance except by me-
Men love thee, serve thee. praise thee not.
The Master praises-what are men?
Life for the Christian is wholly :.
matter of loyalty TO Christ. The great
truth of spiritual independence under
lies the figure of the Good shepherd.
By Him. and Him alone, we find life.
\ ChriStless creed leads only TO barren
pastures. But all who hear His voice
and He says His sheep can recognize
His tones, even when they are heard
in the guise of strange providence
find the green pastures of succulence
and safety and satisfaction.