Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom… I. We have to examine A PORTRAIT OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 1. Men carry in their bosoms their gems, their jewels, and so doth Christ carry the lambs of the flock, regarding them as His peculiar treasure. He puts an estimate upon them according to His own relationship to them. He knows, too, what the child cost Him, for to redeem a little child from going down into the pit He must needs bear the penalty due to justice, and suffer even unto death. Re recollects, moreover, what that child will come to if He do not save it by carrying it in His bosom. A soul is a precious thing to Christ, for He believes in its immortality. And He knows, too, what may come of that little child if He sayeth it, for the possibilities of blessing within one little saved child who shall estimate but the Lord who knoweth all things? Jesus knows that a boy may be the spiritual father of hundreds ere he dies. There may be in the congregation a Chrysostom or an Augustine. Right among us may sit a little Whitefield, or a young Luther. II. We have AN EXAMPLE FOR THE CHURCH. There are two great things which a Church ought always to have, namely, an arm to gather with and a bosom to carry in. III. A practical word or two upon THE MODEL TEACHER. He who gathers the lambs with His arm and carries them in His bosom is the model of a Sunday-school teacher. In what points? 1. There should be about the teacher attractiveness, in order that he may gather. 2. After you have attracted, uplift. He carries the lambs in His bosom, and therefore He must lift them up. Everything about a teacher should tend to raise the children. 3. When He lifted up the lamb, He laid it on His heart. If you are to bless the little ones, they must lie on your heart. You must make them feel the life of your religion. 4. Next, bear them forward. The lamb is put into the shepherd's bosom, not that he may stand still with it all the day long, but because the sheep are going this way and the lambs must go that way too, and therefore he carries it. You must be always going forward yourself if the child is to go forward with you. 5. Guard the children. Christ placed the lambs in His bosom to protect them. 6. The next word is, cheer. 7. Delight in them. That tenth verse has a great charm for me. "The Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." Well, what did He have before Him but the sheep that He went forth to find, and the lambs which He gathered and carried in His bosom? They were His work, but they were also His reward. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. |
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