“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.” Ezekiel 34:23
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Christ is Risen
Author: Unknown Tune: Take My Life
1. Christ is risen, let us sing, Glory, honor, praises bring; Law and justice magnified By our Lord Who bled and died, By our Lord Who bled and died.
2. Christ is risen, O what grace, To our God alone we trace; Peace with God and blessedness Through imputed righteousness, Through imputed righteousness.
3. Christ is risen, blessed hour, In God's plan, by sovereign power; For His sheep that they might live, Them eternal life He gives, Them eternal life He gives.
4. Christ is risen, O what love; Now He reigns and rules above; Sin and death no victory, Christ alone has set us free, Christ alone has set us free!
----- The Infinite Tenderness of Jesus! “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.” Isaiah 40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd and He will carry the lambs in His arms – He holds them close to His heart! Who is He of whom such gracious words are spoken? He is THE GOOD SHEPHERD. Why does He carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart? Because He has a tender heart, and any weakness in them at once melts His heart. The sighs, the ignorance, the feebleness of the little ones of His flock, draw forth His compassion. It is His office, as a faithful High Priest, to consider the weak. Besides, He purchased them with blood--they are His property. He must and will care for those who cost Him so dear. Then He is responsible for each lamb, bound by covenant engagements not to lose one. Moreover, they are all a part of His glory and reward. But how may we understand the expression, "He will carry them"? Sometimes He carries them by not permitting them to endure much trial. Providence deals tenderly with them. Often they are carried by being filled with an unusual degree of love, so that they bear up and stand fast. Though their knowledge may not be deep, they have great sweetness in what they do know. Frequently He carries them by giving them a very simple faith, which takes the promises just as they stand, and believingly runs with every trouble straight to Jesus! The simplicity of their faith gives them an unusual degree of confidence, which carries them above the world. "...He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom (heart)!" Here is boundless affection. Would He hold them close to His heart, if He did not love them much? Here is tender nearness: so near are they, that they could not possibly be nearer. Here is hallowed familiarity: there are precious love-passages between Christ and His weak ones. Here is perfect safety: in His bosom who can hurt them? They must hurt the Shepherd first. Here is perfect rest and sweetest comfort. Surely we are not sufficiently sensible of the infinite tenderness of Jesus! "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." John 10:11 --C.H. Spurgeon
A weak, defenseless, thoughtless creature — and prone to wander! "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” John 10:11 This great and good Shepherd has a flock, whom He loved from everlasting — and whom having loved, He will love to the end. He... -humbled Himself for their sakes, -submitted to partake of their nature and their sorrows, -took upon Him the form of a servant, -and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He died for His sheep, "the just for the unjust," to redeem them . . . from the curse of the law, from the guilt and dominion of sin, from the power of Satan, and to bring them to God. They, by nature, are all "gone astray, every one to his own way". But having thus bought them with His blood — in His own appointed time He seeks, finds, and restores His sheep. By the power of His Word and Spirit — He makes Himself known to their hearts, causes them to hear and understand His voice, and guides them into His fold. They are under His immediate protection and government. Considered as individuals, they are fitly described by the name of sheep. A sheep is a weak, defenseless, thoughtless creature — and prone to wander! If once gone astray — it is seldom known to return of its own accord. A sheep has neither strength to fight with the wolf, nor speed to escape from him; nor has it the foresight of the ant, to provide its own sustenance. Such is our character, and our situation — unable to take care of ourselves, prone to wander from our resting-place, exposed to enemies which we can neither withstand nor avoid, without resource in ourselves, and taught, by daily experience, the insufficiency of everything around us. Yet, if this Shepherd is our Shepherd, as weak and helpless as we are — we may be of good courage. If we can say with David, "The Lord is my Shepherd" — then we may make the same inferences which he did, "Therefore I shall not want. Therefore I need not fear." “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28 --John Newton
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