BEFORE going on with our present subject, I think it likely to be of service to impress he subject of our last Lecture on the minds of our readers if I give a few quotations to show what is the precise meaning of the figures used when the bride says― “As the tents of Kedar; as the curtains of Solomon” (ver. 5).
“The form of this strongly-marked contrast,” says the “Illustrated Commentary,” “would lead us to conclude that a magnificent state-tent belonging to Solomon is here intended by the word rendered ‘curtains,’ and opposed to the black goats’ hair tents of the Kedarene Arabs. The oriental kings usually possess one or more rich tents to be used when occasion required. In the Arabian book of ‘Antar’ there is a description of one which the hero received from the King of Persia, and which he caused to be pitched on the occasion of his marriage with Ibla. When spread out it occupied half the land of Shurebah, for it was the load of forty camels; and there was an awning at the door of the pavilion under which four thousand of the Arabian horse could skirmish. It was embroidered with burnished gold, studded with precious stones and diamonds; interspersed with rubies and emeralds, set with rows of pearls; and there was painting thereon―a specimen of every created thing,―birds, and trees and towns, and seas and continents, and beasts and reptiles; and whoever looked at it was confounded by the variety of representations, and by the brilliancy of the silver and gold; and so magnificent was the whole that when the pavilion was pitched the land of Shurebah and Mount Saadi were illuminated by its splendor.”
This is, of course, an exaggerated poetical description, particularly as to the size of the pavilion; but yet the exaggeration is not so great as might be imagined. Marco Polo describes Kublai Kahn’s tent as being so large that ten thousand soldiers might be drawn up under it without incommoding the nobles at the audience.
At the famous marriage feast held by Timor Beg (Tamerlane) at Canighul, the royal tents were gilt and adorned with precious stones. Each tent had twelve columns of silver inlaid with gold; the outside was scarlet and seven other colors, and the inside was lined with satin of all colors. Their curtains were of velvet and their ropes of silk. At the encampment of the same conqueror, in, the plains of Ourtoupa, the pavilions were richly ornamented and hung with curtains of brocade covered with golden flowers. At other times we read of tents “covered with cloth of gold and tartaries full nobly;” and at the grand encampment at Menecgheul, the tent of Timor was under a canopy supported by forty pillars, and was spacious as a palace; in the middle of it was a throne so ornamented with precious stones that it resembled a sun. More recently Nadir Shah, the conqueror of India, had a superb tent covered on the outside with scarlet cloth, and lined within with violet-colored satin, ornamented with various figures of animals, flowers, etc., formed entirely of pearls and precious stones. The contrast between such tents and those of the Arabian shepherds is great indeed. “I am black as the tents of Kedar, comely as the curtains of Solomon.”
Kedar’s tents were those of the poor Bedawins, which are always exposed to the rays of the sun, and must, by constant handling as well as exposure, appear blacker and less attractive than those of Solomon, who, being a splendor-loving king, may be assumed to have adopted the custom of oriental monarchs of living in tents once in the year in some charming district, and in the utmost elegance and splendor. The scene was likely that of Solomon’s pleasure-grounds, which stretched away along the Wady Urtas, south of Jerusalem for several leagues; and in these beautiful gardens the royal tent, adorned with the regal magnificence of the richest sovereign of the world, would appear in beauty and comeliness a thorough contrast to the tents of Kedar, away in the far wilderness, dotting the desert with dark spots. This is the forceful illustration of the blackness of the bride as seen in the wilderness, and her beauty as seen in the gardens of her royal bridegroom.
“Woe’s me, that I in Meshech am a sojourner so long,
That I in tabernacles dwell, to Kedar that belong.”
We now come to our present subject, as we have it in verses 7th and 8th: “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon; for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of Thy companions?” etc. This is the bride’s request, as if addressing her Beloved.
1. “O THOU WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH.” ―This is decided change for the better, for she is now happily occupied with her Beloved Himself, and she leaves off talking to “the daughters of Jerusalem,” regarding either her own blackness or comeliness. Self is out of the scene. It is a sad, but sometimes a necessary, occupation to try to clear one’s character in the eyes of others, and especially of carnal professors. The apostle Paul had to do this, as in the case of the Corinthians (2 Cor. 5-8) but he felt it to be a heavy infliction, a waste of time, and, in comparison with being engaged with Christ Himself, a sort of folly. “I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me” (2 Cor. 12:1111I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. (2 Corinthians 12:11)).
A Christian, when engaged in vindicating himself for the Lord’s sake, is on a hazardous mission, and may be in danger of shipwreck on the rock of self; and while occupied with setting one’s self right, or setting doctrines or brethren right, one never can get to the same elevation as when Christ Himself is before the eye, and filling the soul’s vision, and positive truth about Him is before us. Even Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11, does not appear to the same advantage as in Philippians 3, where he is on the stretch to know Christ. When we are occupied with evil, we cannot get, in communion, beyond the truth that meets it, and that keeps us in a lower place of communion that if Christ and good were before us. Paul when dealing with saints at Corinth or Galatia is in different condition from that in which we find him when writing to saints at Ephesus or Colosse. There are persons who shut you up so that you cannot let out even the amount of truth there within you; and there are others so magnetic that they draw you out even beyond what you knee you possessed. But when in presence of Chris we are drawn out perfectly by Him in desire and love, and we delight in intimate and endearing fellowship. “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” His mission, as His nature, is love. When the Holy: Ghost is shedding abroad the love of God in the heart, and drawing out our souls to an exclusive occupation with Him, it must be that our hearts are going forth to Him in such longings as must intimate that there is a peculiar and mighty attraction in Him; and yet few of us attain to the constant enjoyment of such a bright flame of love as would warrant us in addressing Him in this endearing language― “O Thou whom my soul loveth.” “My soul loveth” is the word. We would all readily join in if it had been, My soul ought to love, for we acknowledge the obligation; but it is surely a poor sort of love that flows only because it ought. True love pours itself forth in full flood because it has no choice but do it—it flows out naturally towards the loved object.
It is to be feared that we do not rise up very often above the region of appreciation, and we would feel in all honesty obliged to satisfy conscience on this score by saying, as another has done, “The word appreciation seems more fitly to express the little I know of this blessed matter than the idea of an earnest, ardent affection. What is there in existence, I inquire that I care for more than my Saviour—that I would prefer to Him? What is this? Is it love? Who else, what else, is loved more? But, oh! the day draws near when these eyes shall see the King in His glory. Then shall this cold dull heart be ravished with His beauty, and burn for ever with a pure flame of perfect love for Him alone.”
“Soon shall my eyes behold Thee,
With rapture, face to face;
The half hath but been told me
Of all Thy power and grace.
Thy beauty, Lord, and glory,
The wonders of Thy love,
Shall be the endless story
Of all Thy saints above.”
2. “WHERE THOU FEEDEST.” ―The Beloved is here represented as a Shepherd feeding His flock The longing bride, who had formerly been subjected to the anger and degradation of her mother’s children, seeks after the loved one of her soul, the one who having been exposed to the ill treatment of those who ought to have acted otherwise, one finding little sympathy, rather stupid staring, al her profession of love, among the “daughters of Jerusalem,” is shut up to search out the loved Shepherd, and learn from His own lips where He is now feeding His flock.
It seems that “in carrying out the design of the allegory the regal encampment is here represented as moving from place to place in search of green pastures, cooling shades, and still waters, under the guidance of their shepherd King.” And the bride seems to wish to proceed in the immediate society of the royal Bridegroom; for she can only feel happy, even amid the new and splendid objects which surround her, when He for whom she had forsaken all, and to whom her heart is wholly given, is just close beside her.
The Lord is represented both in the Old and New Testaments under the figure of a Shepherd. He came unto His own, and He entered by the door; and by the works He wrought He showed He was the sanctioned Shepherd, who was in the confidence of the owner of the flock. Israel of old was Jehovah’s flock. “Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Ps. 77:20); and when He had established them in the land of Canaan we read, “He chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.... He brought him to feed Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance; so he fed them according to the integrity of his heart and according to the skilfulness of his hands” (Ps. 78:70-72); and after they had gone into captivity, He shows by His prophet that it will not be forever. How gracious and beautiful are His words regarding the gathering of His now scattered sheep of the house pf Israel. “For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, 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; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been mattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 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 will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God” (Ezek. 34:11-1511For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I 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. 15I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:11‑15)).
When the Lord Jesus was upon earth He spoke of Himself as the Shepherd, “the Good Shepherd,” who giveth His life for the sheep. The ministry of John the Baptist had gone before to prepare a flock who should really receive Him, being morally prepared to do so. All Israel ought to have owned Him as “the Shepherd of Israel,” for they were His flock by right, and Jesus proved that He had entered in with the full sanction of God, as the Shepherd, by the door; but He came in vain for the bulk of the nation, for they proved to be “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” They refused to own or follow Him.
But there were some like the disciples and the restored blind man in John 9 (who was cast out by the Pharisees and who was received by the Son of God), who became “the sheep of His pasture.” Of the man referred to Jesus may have thought when He spoke the parable of John 10, “He called His own sheep by name, and leadeth, them out and when He putteth forth His own sheep He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him.” He was gone forth, himself, first by the rejection of the religious leaders, and the man they cast out was Grist across the path of the Good Shepherd; and to such He said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)).
The necessary action of the Lord’s ministry in grace, because of the rejection of the mass of the nation, was to attach to Him and lead out the believing remnant in Israel who received Him into a place outside of the old Jewish fold formed by ordinances of which Jerusalem was the center, and to separate them from every ground of connection with Israel’s God, except that which was found in Christ himself. The language of His ministry to rejecting Israel was, “Then I will not feed you;” but “I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock.” “And how blessed to be under the care of such a Shepherd, though it be outside all man’s religion, and apart from the whole array of Israel’s divinely-appointed ordinances. For it was in the maintenance of these in opposition to a living faith as the ground of connection with God that the claims of this blessed Shepherd, were disallowed.”
When the Lord Jesus looked upon the multitudes, He had compassion upon them, because they were as sheep without a shepherd; and He then called and ordained twelve apostles, and sent them out to preach and heal in His name, and enjoined them to confine their efforts meantime to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But His claims were disallowed, “He is despised and rejected of men;” and, in resurrection, He again sent them in rich grace to Israel first, and if they had repented, the once-smitten Shepherd would have returned, and the future blessedness described in that thirty-fourth of Ezekiel would have been theirs, after He had set aside the claims of every false shepherd that may have neglected or preyed upon the flock. But they refused him as the Shepherd-King, and now they are scattered throughout all lands. It will be in Israel in the day of glory, and among an earthly people, that His proper Shepherd-character will be displayed according to Isaiah 40:10, 1110Behold, 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. 11He 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 40:10‑11), “Behold, the Lord will come with strong hand, and His arm shalt rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd.”
But His work is now going on outside this earthly fold: He is gathering out saints, uniting them in one flock― “the flock of God” ―and He is giving them all the means of feeding which Hi wisdom and love can suggest (Eph. 4.) There are three Psalms, the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, which I would set before you in connection with Christ crucified as “the Good Shepherd;” Christ raised from the dead as “the Great Shepherd,” and as coming in His glory as “the Chief Shepherd.” As “the Good Shepherd,” He has given His life for the sheep, and He can now take a new position as dead and risen, and say, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved; and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)). He now presents Himself not as the door of a fold but of salvation. The Jew who would now be secure and fed, must abandon the fold which Levitical ordinances threw around him, and find the Shepherd outside of all ordinances by faith―as a sinner finds a Saviour; and not only are the outcasts of Israel gathered now in this way, but any man may enter by this door of grace. Christ has taken an entirely new position: instead of being set down, as He must yet be, on the throne of His father David, He has been set down upon the throne of His Father, God, in heaven, as the salvation of God to the ends of the earth, and the Church is now being called by grace, washed, justified, sanctified, and united to Him there; and is being taught, guided, filled, and fed by means of the Holy Ghost present on the earth in her midst; and security, liberty, and pasturage are found by His flock in following Him outside everything of the form of a Jewish fold. It is thus Christ is with us and in us.
This time and the work of Christ in it, as “that Great Shepherd of the sheep,” may be represented by the 23rd Psalm, with which we are so familiar. It is a psalm of confidence in our Great Shepherd’s grace and care. We are set in the wilderness between the cross on the one hand, and the glory on the other; and the precious psalm indicates the saints’ trust and hope. “Tell me where thou feedest,” is the inquiry; and when the heavenly Shepherd, our loving risen Lord, is revealed to us in the fullness of His grace, we go in and out and find pasture, as the answer is found in “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want; He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters, He restoreth my soul,” etc.
In the midst of so much confusion in the pro. fessing Church, one crying one thing and another crying another, and the more part knowing not wherefore they are come together―like the mot at Ephesus― virgin souls are greatly tried, and sometimes not a little perplexed, regarding their position, and are tossed to and fro by conflicting opinions of men “who seem to be pillars,” and they are never safe as long as they feel in bondage to any man, opinion, or thing: and, feeling that increasingly as they grow in the knowledge of “the mystery of God,” they go direct to Christ Himself sad inquire where He is feeding His sheep now. He fed them once on the mountains of Israel―after that, as we have seen, He called them out of the nation around Himself, as the Good Shepherd on earth―then, after He ascended, He formed them into a new flock, and fed them on Himself, as “the Bread of God” and “Water of Life;” and they were all together, one unsceptered, beautiful flock―the flock of God which He had purchased with His own blood. But now that that flock is ruthlessly scattered and torn by grievous wolves, “tell me where Thou feedest.”
Ah! are there not many sheep scattered hither and thither in this cloudy and dark day, who are famishing, weary, and worn, and sick of human pretension of giving them food, while all the time their souls are empty and their hearts sore, who are ready to take up the cry, “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest” thy flock, and who on going to Him, ever find that they “shall not want”? A general direction may be safely given with regard to this: Where there is most of Christ’s feeding given, and the sheep are happy, healthy, and holy, so filled with His good things, that they are worshipping in the Spirit and working actively for their Lord, that is the place where you ought to be, for the full truth of Christ is never entrusted to teachers who are dishonoring Christ by being in a wrong position.
Again, here is another thought. Christ Himself should be everything to Christians, and the Bible is full of Him, and the Holy Ghost has come down to guide His people into all truth, therefore both teachers and taught ought to avoid having pet portions of Scripture or favorite themes, lest they cease to find pasture there; for their gracious Shepherd may have gone from them in the meantime, and He may be waiting till their longing souls make them follow Him into “green pastures,” where the sole of their foot has never yet trod. What fields of freshest pasture He would feed us in if we would only cease to regulate ourselves and allow Him to lead us forth by His Spirit, Word, and servants! How sad that the dear saints of God are living so far beneath their privileges, especially that they know so little of Him who is the sun and center of grace and glory! That blissful theme―that wonder of love and grace that fills heaven with delight― “Christ and the Church” ―the subject nearest the heart of Christ―is not known to one Christian in a thousand; and the great future of Christ, as laid down with all plainness in the prophetic Word, is a green pasture where Christ is specially feeding His own just now; and if we will not long and cry for it to Him, who alone can feed us, we are not likely to get much other pasture or Go grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Our great Shepherd fed the multitude at the period of the Reformation, more than three hundred years ago, with the great truths of justification by Faith and sanctification by the Spirit, as well as the sacrificial death of Christ; lout the saints stopping short with those blessed doctrines, and not going on to perfection, their grandchildren in all lands went straight into rationalism! And now, while we tenaciously hold these precious truths, the special feeding of souls―the peculiar feeding of our gracious Shepherd for our day that will prevent the issue of the awakening of this century being infidelity (if the Lord should tarry), must be effected by means of “the present truth” which He has raised up men to bring out regarding CHRIST, the Church of God, the presence of the Holy Ghost on earth, and all the doctrine that arises out of our heavenly calling and the daily waiting for His Son from heaven. He is feeding His waiting, loving, longing saints at present very specially on the heavenly, because the judgment of the earthly is so near, and He would have us gathered out of the doomed world around Himself, the despised and rejected of men, and the beloved and accepted Son of God; for as is the heavenly, such are they also who are heavenly. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. For their sakes sanctify I myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. Mere Reformation truth, though precious to rest on for one’s soul’s salvation and the pardon of sins, has failed to bring saints out of the world;―on the contrary, we find them settling down comfortably with orthodox Protestantism, like good Jews on the earth. Peculiar, Pauline truth― “the great mystery, Christ and the Church” ―is that which Christ is now using with rapid and mighty effect in hastening saints, who have the love of the bride of the Lamb, out of the doomed place, and giving them power to witness in the place of scorn and rejection for their absent Lord, and warn this Sodom-like scene that the vengeance-cloud is hanging over it, and that “when they shall say, Peace and safety, sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.”
3. “TELL ME WHERE THOU MAKEST THY FLOCK TO REST AT NOON,” etc.―Noon is the time when the Eastern shepherds gather their flocks around the wells, and in shady places, by the streams of water. “They shall feed in the way, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them, for He that hath mercy on them shall lead, even by the springs of water shall He guide them.” A traveler writes, “Looking to the east, flocks and herds were seen spreading through the undulating valleys. In one place we saw many of these gathered together under a shady tree, waiting till the excessive heat of noon should be abated. At other times the shepherds gather the flocks beside a well, as we afterward saw at Lebonah, where many hundreds were lying down around the well’s mouth.” The “rest at noon” is specially needful for “the flock of God.” Noon, with its fierce heat, may be the emblem of trial and persecution. The Lord Jesus so uses it (Matt. 13.) “The day has not more certainly its noon, a time when, in the East, all are glad to seek repose in the shade by springs, to slake their consuming thirst; than has the life of the believer its period of trial or sorrow.” The Lord Jesus is our divine sympathizing High Priest, and He gives al needed succor, and causes us to lie down in the green pastures and beside the still waters, and re stores our soul. Noon was also the time for near fellowship; and it is generally in times of trial that the soul obtains such fellowship as it enjoy; at no other season. The reason by which she enforces her longing search is, “For why should I be as one who turns aside by the flocks of thy companions?” This is taken by some to mean, “Why should I be as one veiled?” as a suspected person (Gen. 38:1515When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. (Genesis 38:15)). This is hard to bear by one who can address the Lord, “O Thou whom my soul loveth.” But sadly true is this word:
“Many who profess to be the shepherds of God’s sheep can but little understand the path of one who is walking with the Lord, outside of all the prescribed rules of man, who desires to please the Lord, if it should offend all else beside. There is such a thing as an energy of love that rises above all mere human arrangements, and holds communion immediately, not mediately, with the Lord—an energy that could not tarry for the routine of forms. Such an one is most likely to be misunderstood and misrepresented, like Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who prayed with an inward spiritual energy, which Eli, the priest of God, did not understand. But the Lord knows the motive of the heart, and the spring of the energy. Just as the loved one was suffering in her soul from the mean suspicions of others, the Beloved appears for her comfort. This is the first time we hear the Bridegroom’s voice. But oh! what grace flows out to her! what words drop from His lips. “O thou fairest among women,” is the first utterance of His heart. Enough, surely, to sweeten the most bitter trial.
The bride, in this divine song, is extremely anxious not to turn aside by the flocks of His companions. She has such love to Him. Such is her esteem of Him, and her delight in His fellowship, that she would feel unhappy if not in His society, seeing His face, hearing His voice, and basking in the noontide effulgence of His light and love.
“Feed My lambs―feed My sheep,” said the risen Lord to the restored under-shepherd, Peter: and this was on the back of the inquiry, “Lovest thou Me?” answered by, “Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” And yet this very Peter had to be withstood to the face, because he was to be blamed for lending his apostolic sanction to reducing Christ’s flock at Antioch to “the flocks of his companions” (Gal. 2.)
And to the elders of highly-favoured Ephesus Paul gave this earnest warning― “Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood; for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-3028Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:28‑30)). And such men did arise; and the Apostle Peter tells how successful they would be in doing mischief― “There shall be false teachers among you.... And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” By means of such “false teachers” the churches of Galatia were alienated from Paul; and at the close of his life, he writes to his “son Timothy,” “This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me.” And in the time of his trial at Rome he writes, “All men forsook me.”
The constant tendency of man is to turn aside from God and Christ, and the prophets, apostles, and true teachers of the faith; and to listen to “the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.” The flock of Christ is “one flock” the “companions” have “no end of flocks;” very man who likes to set up as “companions,” and to have a flock of a particular pattern, may readily have one, for the bulk of Christians know so little of their Bibles that it cannot now be said, “I know... how thou hast tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars” (Rev. 2:22I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: (Revelation 2:2)); but even those who may be Christians, will be found embracing all the isms under the sun, if those who manage such “flocks” are only sufficiently clever, earnest, devoted, and dogmatical. Where is the “Lord’s freeman,” the true-hearted saint, who is so intent on pleasing aim, that he follows Him “whithersoever He goeth”? This seems to be All Fools’ day in Christendom, when nearly all who profess the name of Christ have turned aside by “the flocks of His companions.” And the toleration of fools is astonishing: ritualist, rationalist, legalist, nationalist― “Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!” “For ye suffer fools gladly: if a man brings you into bondage, if a man devours you, if a man takes of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smites you on the face” (2 Cor. 11:19, 2019For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. 20For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. (2 Corinthians 11:19‑20)). But the “man in Christ,” who is “nothing” but an “earthen vessel, full of grace and truth,” and who persists in directing saints and sinners to “THAT GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP, JESUS ONLY,” is thought little of! The evil she dreaded is that which has come or the professing Church. They have turned away from Christ himself and His “one flock” (John 10:1616And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16)), to men, organizations, systems of doctrine forms, rites and ceremonies; and there is a propensity to follow saints instead of the Saviour and only true, loyal hearts, who dread turning aside, are preserved for loving and intimate fellowship with the Master Himself. “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:5-85Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:5‑8)).