t will be of no use, unless they get into
contact with the living Christ. Then their spiritual life will not be
a spasmodic thing, but will be perpetual; flowing on and on, and
bringing forth fruit to God.

Then Christ is our Keeper. A great many young disciples are afraid
they will not hold out. "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep." (Psalm cxxi. 4.) It is the work of Christ to keep us; and
if He keeps us there will be no danger of our falling. I suppose if
Queen Victoria had to take care of the Crown of England, some thief
might attempt to get access to it; but it is put away in the Tower of
London, and guarded night and day by soldiers. The whole English army
would, if necessary, be called out to protect it. And we have no
strength in ourselves. We are no match for Satan; he has had six
thousand years' experience. But then we remember that the One who
neither slumbers nor sleeps is our keeper. In Isaiah xli. 10, we
read, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am
thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." In Jude also,
verse 24, we are told that He is "able to keep us from falling." "We
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1
John ii. 1.)

But Christ is something more. He is our Shepherd. It is the work of
the shepherd to care for the sheep, to feed them and protect them. "I
am the Good Shepherd;" "My sheep hear My voice." "I lay down My life
for the sheep." In that wonderful tenth chapter of John, Christ uses
the personal pronoun no less than twenty-eight times, in declaring
what He is and what He will do. In verse 28 He says, "They shall
never perish; neither shall any [_man_] pluck them out of My hand."
But notice the word "man" is in italics. See how the verse really
reads: "Neither shall any pluck them out of My hand"--no devil or man
shall be able to do it. In another place the Scripture declares,
"Your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. iii. 3.) How safe and
how secure!

Christ says, "My sheep hear My voice . . . and they follow Me." (John
x. 27.) A gentleman in the East heard of a shepherd who could call
all his sheep to him by name. He went and asked if this was true. The
shepherd took him to the pasture where they were, and called one of
them by some name. One sheep looked up and answered the call, while
the others went on feeding and paid no attention. In th