1 Pet. ii. 25. Ye were as sheep going astray ; but are noio returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
NOTHING so reconciles the Christian to suffer- ings, or so quickens him to exertions, as a recollec- tion of the mercies he has experienced at the Lord's hands. The Apostle is speaking here to servants, who were likely to meet with cruel and oppressive usage from their masters on account of their holy profession. To encourage them to a meek submis- sion to their trials, he reminds them of the example which the Lord Jesus Christ had set them, when, for the redemption of their souls, he had endured all the agonies of crucifixion ; and of the exceedingly rich mercy which they had experienced, in having been brought to the knowledge of Christ, and to the enjoyment of his salvation, f* They were healed :" they were healed " through the stripes inflicted on their Divine Master ;" who was now " the Shepherd and Overseer," as he had been the Redeemer and Saviour, of their souls. Enjoying then such benefits through the superabounding grace of Christ, they ought willingly and cheerfully to endure for him whatever, in his providence, he might permit to be inflicted on them.
This appears to be the scope of the passage before us : in discoursing upon which, I shall have occasion to consider, I. Our state by nature —
All of us in our unconverted state have been et as sheep going astray." The Prophet Isaiah, whose words the Apostle cites, declares this to have been the condition of all without exception : " All we like sheep have gone astray a." In respect of folly, we have resembled the silly sheep ; which wanders it
a Isai. liii. 6.