THE GA TES OF PEARL. 



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the Good Shepherd finds every lost sheep straying 

 in the wilderness and brings it back to the fold. He 

 accepts in every nation those who live up to the light 

 that is given them, not for their own sakes, but through 

 Jesus Christ our Lord. The folds are many, the flock 

 is but one. There are many mansions, but one home. 

 The gates of the city are numerous, but the mode of 

 entrance is the same for all ; and the keys of death 

 and of the eternal world hang at the girdle of Him 

 who for Jew and Gentile, bond and free, for those who 

 are afar off as well as for those who are near, is the 

 Way, the Truth, and the Life. 



We are told that the gates are not shut day or night. 

 They are not needed for defence or security like those 

 of the earthly city, for the inhabitants dwell in a peace- 

 able habitation, and in a sure dwelling and in a quiet 

 resting-place. I remember seeing an ancient pre- 

 historic tomb opened, in which a bronze sword broken 

 in two lay beside the mouldering skeleton. That 

 broken sword told an eloquent story of the wonderful 

 change that had come over the faith of men. In 

 former ages the dead were buried with their armour 

 and swords ready for action ; for they fell asleep in the 

 belief that in the next world they would rise up to 

 renew the battles of this, and find their chief happiness 

 in celebrating their victories over their foes. But when 

 men broke the sword which they laid in the tomb by 

 the side of its owner, it showed that they had begun 

 to realize the blessed truth that in the future life there 

 would be no need for the sword, for all the weary 



