and ver. 9. I am the Door, by me if any man enter in, he fhall be faved: But if he mifs this door, he shall miss falvation too. Te are returned, fays the Apoftle, unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your fouls. There be three things neceffary to restore us to our happiness, whence we have departed in our wanderings 1. To take away the guiltiness of those former wanderings. 2. To reduce us into the way again. 3. To keep and lead us in it. Now, all these are performable by this great Shepherd, and by him only. 1. He did fatisfy for the offence of our wanderings, and fo remove our guiltinefs; he himself, the Shepherd, became a facrifice for his flock, a fheep or fpotlefs lamb, as Ifa. liii. 6. We like sheep have gone aftray, and immediately after our straying is mentioned, it is added, The Lord laid, or made meet on him, the iniquity of us all, of all our ftrayings; and ver. 7. he that is our Shepherd, the fame is the Lamb for facrifice: So our Apoftle, chap. i. We are redeemed not by filver and gold, &c. but by the precious blood of Chrift; as of a lamb without blemish, and without fpot; so John x. He is the good Shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep. Men think not on this; many of them that have fome thoughts of returning and amendment, think not that there is a fatisfaction due for paft wanderings; and therefore they pass by Chrift, and confider not the neceffity of returning to him, and by him to the Father. 2. He brings them back into the way of life, re are returned: But think not it is by their own knowledge and skill that they difcover their error, and find out the right path, and by their own ftrength that they return into it. No, if we would conteft grammaticisms, the word here is paffive, ye are returned, reduced, or caused to return: But this truth hangs not on fo weak notions as are often ufed, either for or against it. In that prophecy, Ezek. xxxiv. 16. I will feek, and bring again, &c.; and Pfal. xxiii. 3. He reftoreth or returneth my foul. And that this is the work work of this Shepherd, the Lord Jefus, God-man, is clearly and frequently taught in the golpel. He came for this very end; it was his errand and bufinefs in the world, to feek and to fave that which was loft. And thus it is reprefented in the parable, he goes after that which is loft until he find it, and then having found it, doth not only fhow it the way, and fay to it, return, and fo leave it to come after, but he lays it on his boulder, and brings it home; and notwithstanding all his pains, inftead of complaining against it for wandering, he rejoices in that he hath found and recovered it; he lays it on his fhoulder rejoicing, Luke xv. 4, 5. And in this there is as much of the refemblance as in any other thing. Loft man can no more return unfought, than a fheep that wandereth, which is obferved of all creatures to have leaft of that fkill. Men may have fome confused thoughts of returning; but they cannot know the way and come home, unless they be fought out. This therefore is David's fuit, Pfal. cxix. ult. though acquainted with the fold, I have gone aftray like a loft fheep; Lord feek thy fervant. This did our great and good Shepherd, through those difficult ways he was to pafs, for finding us; wherein he not only hazarded, but really laid down his life; and thofe fhoulders that did bear the iniquity of our wandering by expiation, upon the fame doth he bear, and bring us back from it by effectual converfion. 3. He keeps and leads us on in that way, into which he hath reduced us; he leaves us not again to try our own skill, if we can walk to heaven alone, being fet into the path of it; but he ftill conducts us in it by his own hand, and that is the cause of our perfifting in it, and attaining the bleffed end of it. He returneth my foul, fays the Pfalmift, and that is not all, he adds, be leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for bis name's fake; by thofe paths are the green paflures meant, and the ftill waters that he fpeaks of, Pfal. xxiii. 2, 3. And thus we may judge, whether we are of his flock. flock. Are we led in the paths of righteousness? Do we delight ourselves in him, and his ways? Are they the proper refreshment of our fouls? Do we find bis word fweet unto our taste? Are we taken with the green pastures in it, and the cryftal ftreams of confolations that glide through it? Can we difcern his voice, and does it draw our hearts, fo that we follow it? John x. 27. The Shepherd and Bishop.] It was the ftyle of kings to be called fhepherds; and it is the dignity of the minifters of the gofpel, to have both these names: But this great Shepherd and Bishop is peculiarly worthy of these names, as fupreme; he alone is the univerfal Shepherd and Bishop; and none but an antichrift, that makes himself as Chrift, that kills and deftroys the flock, will affume this title, that belongs only to the Lord, the great owner of his flock. He himfelf is their great Shepherd and Bishop: All fhepherds and bishops, that are truly fuch, have their function and place from him, they hold of him, and follow his rules and example, in their inspection of the flock. It were the happiness of kingdoms, if magiftrates and kings would fet Him, his love, meeknefs, and equity, before their eyes in their government. All those that are properly his bifhops, are especially obliged to ftudy this pattern, to warm their affections to the flock, and excite a tender care of their falvation, by looking on this Archbishop and Arch-shepherd, (as our Apoftle calls him), and in their measure, to follow his footsteps, fpending their life and ftrength in seeking the good of his fheep, confidering that they are fubordinately fhepherds of fouls, that is, in difpenfing fpiritual things; fo far the title is communicable. The Lord Jefus is fupremely and fingularly fuch : they under him are fhepherds of fouls, because their diligence concerns the foul, which excludes not the body in fpiritual refpects, as it is capable of things fpiritual and eternal by its union with the foul. But Chrift is fovereign Shepherd of fouls above all, and fingular, fingular, in that he not only teaches them the doctrine of falvation, but purchased falvation for them, and reaches the foul powerfully, which minifters, by their own power, cannot do. He lays hold on it, and reduces, and leads it, and caufes it to walk in his ways. In this fenfe it agrees to him alone, as fupreme, in the incommunicable fenfe. And from his conduct, power, and love, flows all the comfort of his flock, when they confider their own. folly and weakness. This alone gives them confidence, that his hand guides them, and they believe his trength is far furpaffing that of the roaring lion, John x. 28, 29, 30. His wifdom, in knowing their particular flate, and their weaknefs, and his tender love, pitying them, and applying himself to it. Other fhepherds, even faithful ones, may mistake, and not know the way of leading them in fome particulars, and they may be fometimes wanting in that tender affection that they owe, or if they have that, yet are not able to bear them up, and fupport them powerfully But this Shepherd is perfect in all thefe, lfa. xl. 11. The The young and weak Chriftian, or the elder, at weak times, when they are big and heavy with fome inward exercife of mind, which fhall bring forth advantage and peace afterwards to them; them he leads gently, and ufes them with the tendernefs that their weakness requires. And, in the general, he provides for his flock, and heals them when they are any way hurt, and washes and makes them fruitful; fo that they are as that flock, defcribed Cant. iv. 2. they are comely, but their Shepherd much more: He is formofi pecoris cuftos, formofor ipfe. They are given him in the Father's purpofe and choice, and fo they that return, even while they wander, are sheep in fome other fense than the reft that perish. They are, in the fecret love of election, of Chrift's fheepfold, though not as yet actually brought into it: But when his time comes, wherefoever they wander, and how far off foever, even VOL. I. 3 G thofe those that have ftrayed moft, yet he reduces them, and rejoices heaven with their return, and leads them till he bring them to partake of the joy that is there. That is the end of the way wherein he guides them, John x. 27, 28. they hear my voice, and follow me, and they shall never repent of having done fo. To follow him is to follow life; for he is the life, John xiv. 6. And he is in that glory which we defire. And where would we be, if not there where He is, who, at his parting from the world, faid, where I am there they shall be also? To this happy meeting and heavenly abode, may God, of his infinite mercy, bring us, through Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen. CHAP. III. Ver. 1. Likewife ye wives, be in fubjection to your own bufbands: that if any obey not the word, they also, without the word, may be won by the converfation of the wives. THE HE tabernacle of the fun, is fet high in the heavens, but it is, that it may have influence below upon the earth: And the word of God, that is spoke of there immediately after, as being many ways like it, holds refemblance in this particular; it is a fublime heavenly light, and yet defcends, in its ufe, to the lives of men, in the variety of their stations; to warm and to enlighten, to regulate their affections and actions, in whatsoever course of life they are called to. By a perfect revolution or circuit, (as there it is faid of the fun), it vifits all ranks and eftates, Pfal. xix. 6. Its going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat of it. This word difdains |