Without attempting to soften or mitigate this serious statement which touches

us all whether we will or not, we would add to it another of the Lord's

utterances, so that we may not wrongly interpret the first statement in any

sectarian spirit:

'Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name; and we forbad him,

because he followeth not with us.  And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him

not: for he that is not against us is for us' (Luke 9:49,50).

Although this man was not in manifest fellowship with the disciples (they

say, 'He followeth not with us'), the Lord revealed that there was a deeper

unity than this; and we must ever be on our guard lest a mere party spirit

should take the place of loyalty to the Lord and His truth.  The work of the

scatterer is the work of the evil one, and is assisted by the hireling:

'He that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are

not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the

wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep' (John 10:12).

The work of the gatherer, therefore, is the work of the shepherd.  The

figure of a shepherd is used freely in the Scriptures as a symbol of service,

and will be considered in its own place.  We here deal with the general

significance of the gatherer.  It was the desire of the Lord that He might

gather the children of Jerusalem together as a hen gathereth her chickens

under her wings (Matt. 23:37).  And He is yet to send out His angels and

gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven, as men gather in the

sheaves into the barn at harvest home (Matt. 13:30, 39 -43; 24:31).  Let us

take stock of ourselves.  How far can we honestly say that we are gatherers?

Is it our tendency to bring together, or to scatter?  Do we spend our

strength in building up or in pulling down?  Do we manifest the

characteristics of the true shepherd or of the hireling?

The next symbol to be considered in this study is that of the guide.

While a guide does not necessarily gather, he certainly leads on to the

desired haven.  The Jew, because of the special position he occupied in the

plan of redemption, was peculiarly fitted to be a guide:

'Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy

boast of God, and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are

more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that

thou thyself art a guide of the blind' (Rom. 2:17 -19).

The Jew had every qualification for being a guide to the blind except one, he

was blind himself.  Among the reiterated 'woes' of Matthew 23 the Lord refers

to blindness five times:

'Woe unto you, ye blind guides' (Matt. 23:16).

'Ye fools and blind' (23:17,19).

'Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel' (23:24).

'Thou blind Pharisee' (23:26).

Upon examination it will be found that on each occasion when the Lord

called these men 'blind', He referred to ritualism being substituted for

reality.  To follow such leaders must end in destruction.  If a guide

mistakes the mirage for the real, must not all who follow him perish?  If he