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am the good Shepherd."-JOHN x. 11. `* THESE words, in common with most of our Lord's sayings, are pregnant words. They are, like their Author, “full of truth;" ay, and "of grace" too. They are at once transparently clear, and unfathomably deep. There is much important truth on the surface-there is more, much more, beneath it. Much meaning meets the ear; but more meets the mind. The words express much-they suggest more. They are replete with emphasis, and rich in reference. My ultimate object in these remarks is, to illustrate and apply them; and, as preliminary to this, to ascertain their true meaning, and, as far as possible, to apprehend their whole meaning.

They are equivalent to "I am a Shepherd-I am a good Shepherd-I am the Shepherd-I am the good Shepherd." "I am a SHEPHERD. "I stand in a peculiar relation to a peculiar people, who, in conformity to the figurative representation employed, are termed my sheep, and I am appointed and engaged to perform towards them certain important and beneficial offices. "I am a GOOD Shepherd."-I deserve the name, for I possess the appropriate qualifications-I perform the appropriate duties of the character I sustain. "I am THE Shepherd"-the Shepherd of the flock-the one Shepherd of the one flock; not like the shepherd mentioned in the 2d verse of this chapter, who is a shepherd-one of the shepherds of the sheep; but THE GREAT Shepherd, THE CHIEF Shepherd, the PROPRIETOR Shepherd, "whose own the sheep are"-the Shepherd of the shepherds as well as of the sheep. "I am the Good Shepherd."-I possess all the qualifications, in the most perfect degree, that are requisite to the discharge of the numerous, and varied, and difficult duties of this most exalted office; and I actually do perform all these duties in the most perfect manner. Such is the emphasis of the words; now for their reference.

I am THAT good Shepherd.-To understand fully the meaning of the statements of our Lord and his apostles, we must never forget that their minds were completely filled with the contents of that Scripture that has been "given by inspiration of God;" and that they spoke to people whose almost only book was the Book of God, and who were, many of them, very familiar with its contents. The extent of tacit reference to the Old Testament in the New, and the importance of noticing it, to bring out the exact form and impress of the inspired man's thought and feeling, are well known to every No. 25.

intelligent student of the Holy Scriptures. "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy;" and we find him often appealing to it; sometimes directly and openly-at other times indirectly and tacitly. The latter sort of appeals are not the least striking to a refleeting mind. He seldom, in so many words, claimed Messiahship. There were good and obvious reasons why he should not. So far as I recollect, a distinct recognition of his own claims was made by him only to the woman of Samaria-to the man blind from his birth, when excommunicated by the Sanhedrim--to the disciples as a body, after Peter's answer to the question, "Whom do ye say that I am?"-before Pontius Pilate, in reply to the question, " Art thou a king, then?"

and before the Sanhedrim, when adjured by the high priest to say whether he was the Son of God. He often referred to the Old Testament Scriptures; leaving his hearers to draw the inference. While he was with his disciples, “he spake to them, saying, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning him." He often used appellations such as "the Son of God," and "the Son of man"-appellations given in the Prophetical Oracles to the Messiah-in a way which showed that he applied them to himself. He commenced his ministry by reading a very remarkable prediction respecting the Messiah, recorded in the 61st chapter of the Prophecy of Isaiah; and then declaring, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." When he proclaimed, "I am the light of the world," he obviously referred to that ancient oracle which declares that Messiah should be "a light to lighten the Gentiles." When he said, "I came not in my own name," he probably referred to that other ancient oracle: "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And there can be no reasonable doubt that, in the words which form the subject of discourse, he referred, in his own mind, and he meant to turn the minds of his hearers to those passages in the inspired prediction in which the great Deliverer promised to God's peculiar people is represented as their shepherd-their proprietor shepherd-their good shepherd. It is just as if (as in the synagogue at Nazareth) he had, in the hearing of those whom he now addressed, opened the book of the Prophets and read: "Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that publishest good news to Zion; raise powerfully thy voice, thou that publishest good news to Jerusalem. Raise it, be not afraid; say to the August 15, 1845.

cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold, the Lord Jehovah shall come with might, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom: he shall gently lead the milkgiving ewes"-those who are with the young. Thus saith the Lord God, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them; even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it:" and on completing the reading, had closed the book, and proclaimed: "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears"-"I am the good Shepherd"-I am the divinely qualified, the divinely commissioned, the divinely accredited, the divine Saviour promised to the fathers. Such is an attempt to get at the import of these simple but sublime and striking words, "I am the good Shepherd.”

It has been a subject of discussion among interpreters whether the leading idea suggested by the term Shepherd be that of a ruler or of an instructor. The controversy is not an important one; for though it does seem plain that, both in sacred and profane ancient writers, authority rather than instruction is the leading attribute of the figurative shepherd, yet in the case before us-the Messiah-the rule referred to is a moral rule, the empire of truth and love over the minds and hearts, exercised by the agency of his Spirit, and the instrumentality of his Word. Indeed, all the figurative representations of the Messiah as a prophet, a priest, a king, a physician, a husband, a surety, a shepherd, the light of the world, the bread of life, are intended to bring before our minds some of the numerous phases of the all-comprehensive character of the Saviour-Deliverer from evil in all its forms and in all its degrees; and the only question of importance, in reference to these figurative representations, is just, What is the truth respecting Christ's saving character and work, which is designed to be presented to our intelligent faith and affectionate contemplation? This, then, is the question in reference to the figurative representation of

our Lord in our text as the good Shepherd-to an attempt to answer which, the remaining part of these observations are to be devoted.

That question might be answered, by show. ing, first, that our Lord Jesus Christ does indeed possess all those qualifications which enable him to perform towards his peculiar people all those kind offices which are naturally emble matized by the conduct of a good shepherd to his flock. He has all the knowledge, all the wisdom, all the power, all the authority, all the kindness, all the faithfulness, all the peculiar interest, which are required for this purpose; and then, that our Lord Jesus actually does manifest these qualifications in a performance of all these offices-rescuing them from the power of the great thief and robber, and bring ing them into his flock-providing them with nourishment, refreshment, and repose-guarding them from danger, guiding them in perplexity, healing their diseases, reclaiming them from their wanderings (for the sheep sometimes forsake the shepherd, though the shepherd never forsakes the sheep); and at last, at the close of the great day of time, safely housing them in his heavenly fold. This would open up a very delightful field in which the Christian's devout mind would not soon weary in expatiating; but to traverse it at all in a satisfactory way, would require more time than we can at present devote to it.

I prefer another, and what I cannot help thinking a better, way of answering the ques tion. I shall endeavour to bring out, in strong relief, our Lord's own illustrations of his own declaration: "I am the good Shepherd." He is the good Shepherd; for he secures for his peculiar people all the blessings they stand in need of. While the thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, he cometh tha: his sheep may have and retain life; and that, so far from being deprived of anything, they may have abundance of everything necessary for their welfare. "I give unto my sheepeternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." He is the good Shepherd; for he secures these adva tages to them at the greatest conceivable expense to himself-he secures them by "giving himself for the sheep." He is the good Shep herd; for there subsists the most intimate and endearing mutual acquaintance and intercourse between him and his people. "He knows his sheep, and he is known of his sheep-even as the Father knoweth him, and he knows the Father." He is the good Shepherd; for he cares for the happiness, he secures the salvation, of all his people. "Other sheep have I, that are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold (rather one flock) and one Shepherd." To these four confirmatory illustrations of our Lord of his assertion, "I am the good Shepherd," let us, then, apply our awakened minds; and oh! may all of us, while thus employed, be en

abled to sing to him in our hearts, making melody in his ears, ever open to such music: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," &c. -a psalm some of us have said before being laid to sleep in our cradle-a psalm which we would wish to say again, when about to lay ourselves to sleep in our graves.

I. Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd; for he secures for his peculiar people all the blessings they stand in need of.

An official person deserves the epithet good just in the degree in which he answers the purpose for which the office is designed. He is a good king who secures order, peace, and prosperity to his subjects. He is a good physician who preserves health and cures disease. He is a good shepherd who protects his sheep from danger, and obtains for them abundant wholesome nourishment-refreshing drink-seasonable repose. He is a good saviour who delivers from all evil, and who obtains for those whom he saves, every kind, and a high degree of every kind, of enjoyment. Now this is the truth in regard to Jesus, our Saviour. He saves his people from their sins-he "redeems Israel from all his iniquities"-he delivers them from all their enemies-he delivers them from "the power of darkness"-he delivers them from "the present evil world"-he delivers them from "the wrath to come," and he gives them the "redemption that is in him, through his blood-the forgiveness of sins." He gives them the Holy Spirit, and "the new heart," and "the right mind," which are the result of his operation; he gives them peace with God, and good hope, and solid joy, and abundant consolation-eternal lifeeven the salvation that is in him, with eternal glory-deliverance from evil in all its forms and degrees for ever and ever, and enjoyments suited to all our varied capacities of enjoyment; and filling every one of them to an overflow, during the whole eternity of our being.

The fact that Jesus Christ does thus secure for his peculiar people all the blessings they stand in need of, is brought before the mind in a very interesting way in the passage before us. Our Lord contrasts the tendency and the effects of his coming as the good Shepherd, with the tendency and effects of the coming of one whom he calls "The thief." "The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly"- -or rather, for you will notice that it, being printed in italics, is a supplement that they may have in abundance." Many good interpreters suppose that our Lord contrasts himself with the carnal rulers and teachers of the Jews, whose object was selfish, and whose teaching and guidance was mischievous and destructive; but I cannot help thinking that this is a mistake. In the former part of the chapter, a thief is contrasted with A shepherd; here it is THE thief and THE shepherd. The thief either signifies some one individual, called, by way of eminence, "The thief;"

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or it is used as equivalent to "thieves," to mark what is common to the class.

In the first case there can be no doubt whom the thief would denote the murderous felon whom could it denote, but him who stole into Eden, stealthily bereaved man of his best property, and proved himself a murderer as well as a thief-the liar and manslayer from the beginning? On this supposition the contrast would be very striking. The wicked one came originally, and still comes, to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. He who comes to destroy the works of this wicked one, "comes not to kill," but that life might be retained; nor to steal," to take away what is valuable, but greatly to increase the property of those to whom he comes. The great objection to this interpretation is, that you cannot carry its principle throughout; for if the thief be the devil, then who is the hireling? The second mode of interpreting the term "The thief," as equivalent to "thieves," seems the just one. In this case, then, as well as in the case of the hireling, we have the usual Hebraistic, emphatic mode of stating a truth, by stating it first negatively and then positively. 'I am not like the thief who, when he comes to the sheep fold, comes to plunder and to kill; I am like the shepherd, the good shepherd, who, when he comes to his flock, comes to protect their life, and to increase their comforts." "Life and abundance" are a comprehensive summary of all happiness-the capacity of enjoyment, and everything that is necessary to fill that capacity. He secures for his people, not only life, but a royal life-" they reign in life;" not only grace and the gift of righteousness," but "abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness." He "blesses them with all heavenly and spiritual blessings." He "supplies their need, according to his glorious riches." He "makes all grace to abound to them"-"forgiving all their iniquities-healing all their diseases-crowning them with loving-kindness and tender mercies." And the blessings he bestows are as permanent as they are numerous, and abundant, and valuable: "I give unto my sheep eternal life (everduring happiness); and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them me is greater than all; and none can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are ONE." Yes; "the counsel of peace is between them both."

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II. Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd; for he secures those advantages to his people at the greatest conceivable expense to himself.

It is a proof of kindness to confer benefits; but the proof becomes greatly stronger when the conferring of the benefit necessarily implies much exertion, sacrifice, and suffering, on the part of the benefactor. We have this additional proof, in the case of the good Shepherd in the highest conceivable form. These blessings could not have been secured for them, but by the sacrifice of his life; and that sacrifice was cheerfully made. "The good shepherd

giveth his life for the sheep; but he who is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Here we have, as in the former case, an emphatic double statement: 'I am not like a hireling shepherd. He may, for his own advantage, take care of the sheep, when the care of them exposes him to no hazard; but let dangers arise, let wild beasts attack the flock-resisting whom might endanger his life -he betakes himself to flight, and leaves the sheep to their fate. I am like the proprietor shepherd, who has a peculiar interest in the flock; and so deep is that interest in my case, that I not only expose my life to danger, but I lay it down for the sheep.' The thought naturally rises: But if he lay down his life for the sheep, how can he subsequently take care of them? It is to meet this thought that he says: "I lay down my life that may take it again." I lay down my life to secure these blessings; I take my life again, that I may bestow them. Because I die, they are saved from death by my dying; because I live, they live also by my life. Let us endeavour to bring out a little more distinctly this figurative illustration of the close connection subsisting between the death of Christ and the salvation of his people. For this purpose a clear apprehension of the figure is necessary. It may be this: The flock have been carried off by the thief and robber, and he is determined to resist all attempts to wrest from him his ill-earned booty. The shepherd must engage in conflict with him. The proud defiance of the lawless one, supported by his legions, is: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty; shall the captives of the terrible one be delivered?" The shepherd enters on a combat more apparently unequal than that of David with Goliath. Alone he attacks his numerous assailants; and falls under their foul and murderous blows. A shout of triumph rises from the felon crew. But the triumph is short-the joy is but for a moment. The smitten shepherd, having touched the earth, rises from the bed of death, and, armed with preternatural strength, overwhelms with shame and discomfiture the armies of robbers, and takes possession of his flock, now doubly his own. The application of the figure, in this view of it, to the victory of Christ over Satan, and the emancipation of his people, who were enthralled by him, is obvious and easy.

Or this may be the figure: The flock are attacked by a herd of ferocious wild beasts; the shepherd rushes in between them, diverts their attention from the sheep, and becomes himself a prey to their ravenous appetites. But scarcely has he fallen, when he again arises, and completely destroys the whole herd of wolves and lions-setting his sheep entirely free from all danger from their craft and cruelty. In this

view of the figure, we see death, and the other penal evils to which the whole race to which our Lord's flock belongs had exposed themselves, laying hold on the Redeemer; and as he submits to them, we hear him saying: "I will be thy plague; I will be thy destruction." We see him, by dying, destroying death; we see him, by becoming a curse, redeeming from the curse; we see him bearing, and by bearing, bearing away the sins of men.

In either view of the figure, it strikingly brings out the connection there is between the death of Christ and the salvation of his people. The last view strikes us as most probably the true one. It brings more fully before our mind the great truth respecting the nature of this connection, so often indicated by the death of Christ being represented as an expiatory sacrifice; that what he suffered, was suffered not only for the benefit, but in the room of his people; that he suffered what they were liable to; and that it was by his having suffered it that they are freed from suffering it. It is the same truth that is so beautifully taught-taught as some excellent expositors suppose, under the same set of figurative representations in the 53d chapter of Isaiah's Prophecy: “ All we like sheep had gone astray; we had turned every one to his own way; and the Lord made the iniquities of us all "the ill deserts the penal evils due to our sins-like so many beasts of prey ready to devour us-" to fall upon him," our surety-shepherd. "And he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed." In the first view of the figure, we see him "spoiling principalities and powers, and triumphing over them on his cross." In the other, we see him making provision for our being made the righteousness of God in him, by becoming sin for us.

In dying, and in thus dying, Jesus Christ manifested in a remarkable manner his love of those whom he terms his sheep: "Greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends." And then such a life as was laid down!-a life more valuable than all the lives of men or of angels-the life of an absolutely innocent, an absolutely perfect man-a man i possessed of all possible wisdom, and holiness, and benignity-a man infinitely dignified by personal union to divinity! The blood shed for us, and by which we are redeemed, is infinitely more valuable, and therefore the shedding of it infinitely more expressive of love, than the sacrifice of the whole created universe. And then, still further, the life was laid down in the room of the guilty-it was the death of a victim. Ah! it is a very different thing to die on the field of battle in a glorious cause, than to die on a cross like a felonious slave. Yes, the death of our Lord, for the salvation of his people, is an overwhelming proof that he is the good Shepherd!

To be continued.

THE CHILDREN'S CHOICE.

(From The Pearl-an American Annual for 1833.)

JOHN.

I MEAN to be a soldier,

With uniform quite new;

I wish they'd let me have a drum,
And be a captain, too;

I would go amid the battle,
With my broadsword in my hand,
And hear the cannon rattle,

And the music all so grand.

MOTHER.

My son! my son! what if that sword
Should strike a noble heart,

And bid some loving father

From his little ones depart!

What comfort would your waving plumes And brilliant dress bestow,

When you thought upon his widow's tears, And her orphans' cry of wo?

WILLIAM.

I mean to be a president,

And rule each rising state, And hold my levees once a-week For all the gay and great. I'll be a king-except a crown, For that they won't allow; And I'll find out what the tariff is, That puzzles me so now.

MOTHER.

My son my son! the cares of state
Are thorns upon the breast,

That ever pierce the good man's heart,
And rob him of his rest.

The great and gay to him appear
As trifling as the dust;

For he knows how little they are worth-
How faithless is their trust.

LOUISA.

I mean to be a cottage girl,

And sit behind a rill,

And morn and eve my pitcher there
With purest water fill;
And I'll train a lovely woodbine
Around my cottage door,
And welcome to my winter hearth
The wandering and the poor.

MOTHER.

Louisa, dear, a humble mind
'Tis beautiful to see;
And you shall never hear a word

To check that mind from me;
But, ah! remember, Pride may dwell
Beneath the woodbine shade;
And Discontent, a sullen guest,
The cottage heart invade.

CAROLINE.

I will be gay and courtly,

And dance away the hours; Music, and sport, and joy, shall dwell Beneath my fairy bowers;

No heart shall ache with sadness

Within my laughing hall,

But the note of love and gladness
Re-echo to my call.

MOTHER.

O, children! sad it makes my soul,
To hear your playful strain-

I cannot bear to chill your youth
With images of pain;

Yet humbly take what God bestows,
And, like his own fair flowers,
Look up in sunshine with a smile,
And gently bend in showers.

JOHN CZERSKI.

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THE name of John Ronge is already over the world, in connection with the wonderful movement now taking place on the Continent. His first colleague in the work, John Czerski, is not so well known; and yet, perhaps, he is even more entitled to the sympathies and interest of the Christian world. With less fire and energy than Ronge, he appears to be much better acquainted with the truth, and more imbued with its spirit; and by the earnest and unwearied preaching of a full and free Gospel, is doing much to fix an evangelical impress on the great movement. Czerski was for sometime vicar in the Romish Cathedral of Posen; but, by the reading of the Word of God and the teaching of his Spirit, having been brought to see how completely opposed, in all its leading features, Popery was to the Gospel of Christ, he resolved on abjuring its communion. About the same time, Ronge having published his famous letter to Bishop Arnoldi, Czerski, following out his previ ously formed convictions, entered into communication with him, and the two raised the standard of the German Catholic Church. Czerski soon marked his complete separation from the Romish Church, and declared his release from its antiscriptural and antisocial bondage, by entering into the marriage state-the ceremony being performed by the Protestant clergyman of the place. He was afterwards excommunicated by the Popish authorities, and handed over to the devil. His "Justification of Secession from the Romish Church" is a most interesting production; and concludes with the following powerful passage :—

"I shall be vilified and traduced; anathemas will be hurled against me; my enemies will seek to terrify me, and to execute the threatenings that will be pronounced against me-I know that no means will be left untried to punish me, and to scare me from the course which I have taken. But who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any