with him; as it is written, "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth," Heb. xii. vi. This was clearly exhibited to you by the poor sheep receiving a stroke just as it entered the fold.

'The rod prefigured all sorts of afflictions, which the sheep of Christ are appointed to; Thou hast ordained them for correction, Hab. i. 12. However, all that pass under the rod are the Lord's: "And, concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it," Leviticus xxvii. 32, 33. Ezekiel's comment on these words runs thus, "And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me."

‹ The red mark, that was left on the forehead of the sheep, was intended to discover the atonement of Christ in its application. And the command given, not to come nigh any man on whom was the mark, was a most glorious discovery of the safety, and sure protection, of all those who take shelter beneath the atoning blood of the Saviour. This was prefigured by Moses, when he put the blood of the lamb on the door posts of all the Israelites' habitations in the land of Goshen. "Through faith he kept the passover and the sprinkling of

blood, lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them," Heb. xi. 28.

"The forehead of the sheep prefigured the mind and conscience of a sinner, on which grace is impressed, and to which pardon and peace are applied. This is called a mark in the forehead, Ezek. ix. 4: and, when God's laws are written on the heart and conscience of a sinner, agreeably to the promise, Jer. xxxi. 33, and the heart circumcised to love God, Deut. xxx. 6, it is called writing the name of God on the forehead, Rev. xiv. 1. I believe the name written to be Love; and this love, being shed abroad in the soul, makes the saint bold for God; yea, such an one can face death with courage; for love casteth out fear, and is strong as death, Song viii. 6. Hence it is said, " And they loved not their lives unto the death."

But I asked my kind friend the reason of so few going into the fold. He said, there were as many as could be expected; for the Lord hath said that he would take them one of a city, and two of a family, or tribe, and bring them to Zion, Jer. iii. 14. But I had got one out of ten, which shewed a larger number being brought into the fold in gospel times. There going so many from the fold, and but the tenth going in, is agreeable to the word of the Lord: "And there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land: But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: As a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them

when they cast their leaves; so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof," Isaiah vi. 12, 13.

He told me moreover to expect trouble in the work, as many would stray from me; but to be sure to take care of the spotted and speckled cattle; for they, and they only, would be for mine hire. I blessed my kind instructor, and found that none of his words fell to the ground. I had brighter notions of the fold than ever I had entertained before; and saw a great difference between an external union and the bonds of an everlasting covenant; and I began also to have a better opinion of many weak and untoward sheep than I had before; for I saw some went back that I had been very fond of, and others went in that I had lightly esteemed. In short, my flock was so diminished that there appeared but the tithes indeed: nevertheless, I was encouraged to hope for an increase; and this falling away gave me a greater insight into my business, and made me look more to their spots, and the mark on the forehead, than to their number. While I was grieving about the smallness of the flock there came a voice unto ine, saying, Feed the flock of God, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseer; taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, 1 Pet. v. 2. This voice stirred me up to diligence and watchfulness, though it seemed strange, because I thought I had been as assiduous as possible in the work; I therefore was inclined to think it rather

a caution against future danger or neglect; and indeed so it proved, as shall shortly be related. For the present I gave all possible attention, and trained the flock up so exactly to my hand that they knew my voice. I likewise made a whistle of a reed, which they soon understood and obeyed; and, if I saw any of them nigh to another enclosure, Ruth ii. 22, or attempting to creep through a hedge, Eccles. x. 8, if I did but blow the whistle they took the alarm, though at the greatest distance, and immediately turned from it. This command over the flock, and their tractableness, rather lifted me up in my office; however, it was soon balanced by missing several of my sheep, which I went far and near in search of, but all in vain. This led me to observe the last voice as a caution against this time of trouble, which was a time of sore trouble to me; nor could I find them, nor hear the least tidings of them. But in about the space of ten weeks one of them came limping home; and every now and then it took to running round, holding up its head in the air. This seemed a strange phenomenon to me; but I recollected that sheep are subject to this disorder; especially in the weald of Kent; where it generally gets among them in wheat times, and is called the pauther. It consists of a bladder of water in the brain, and I suppose is similar to some children's disorder, who are said to have watery heads. Whoever had been the cause of its straying away, took care to leave it out in the wheat; they had not done as we are

commanded to do, namely, to take them into a hiding place from the storm, and a covert from the tempest, Isaiah xxxii. 2. If it had been kept under the immutable protection of the great Shep herd, it would not have been exposed to the storms of Sinai.

In a few days after another of the strayed sheep came home, with what is called by some shepherds the foot-rot; this poor thing had scarcely any legs to go upon, there was no manner of judgment in its goings. And another came home with its ears sadly torn. The mouth of the lion had left these two poor things nothing but two legs and a piece of an ear, Amos iii. 12. However I was not sorry for that, as I thought it would teach them to beware of lions and dogs, Phil. iii. 2. Another came home with its wool all tattered and torn, as if it had been caught in the bushes; and another came that had been taught to run at people; and indeed it run at me, and butted me with his horns, and stamped his foot by way of challenge, as if his horns were made of iron and his hoofs brass, Mic. iv. 13, only against the shepherd instead of an enemy. As these daily returned, so others were missing; and these lame and pautherish ones disturbed others; so that some were straying abroad, and others disturbed at home, till I found the business of a shepherd to be a very distressing, as well as a very important work. Some, when they heard my voice, or the sound of the whistle, would immediately run at me, and butt me, until I grew