Tom's hands and face were generally very dirty; his hair matted; his clothes were in rags, and his feet were without shoes. He often had nothing to eat, and no fire to warm him, however cold the day. Many were the blows and kicks the poor boy received from the rude men and lads who lived in the court. It was well for him that a Ragged School was established in the neighbourhood, and he was invited to go. He then learned that he had three enemies of which he had not hitherto thought much. These were dirt, ignorance, and sin. He speedily vanquished the first at a pump. The second he overcame by patient effort at the school. Then Tom became a respectable, happy, and useful young man. Best of all, he sought mercy and help from God, and lived to prove that he had God's smile and blessing. OUR BIBLE CLASS. THE GOOD SHEPHERD GATHERING HIS SHEEP. (JOHN x. 16.) In the city of Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles, a few months before His death, Jesus set forth this beautiful parable of the Good Shepherd. He had given sight to a man who from his birth had been blind. The Pharisees, as usual, had shown their hatred of Him, and He then described Himself as the true Leader, beloved and honoured of all believing, obedient souls, declaring that His enemies did not believe Him, because they were not His sheep. "My sheep hear My voice; I know them, they follow Me, and I lay down My life for them." "And other sheep I have that are not of _this_ [Israelite or Jewish] fold; them also I must bring; and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd" (John x. 16). The Jews who listened to those gracious words were much divided in their opinions about them, some declaring that Jesus was mad; others, appealing to the great miracle He had wrought in opening the eyes of the blind; and three months later, at another feast (see ver. 22), their controversy was renewed, and Jesus concluded His striking allegory by saying, "I and My Father are One, and no power shall ever be able to snatch My people from My hand or from His" (ver. 29, 30). Returning to our text, we find Jesus declaring that all His people are His before they know or love Him. Up to that time the Jewish Church had been the only earthly fold of believers in the living God, and all the Gentiles who were taught by the Holy Spirit were led to unite with the house of Israel or the people of Judah. God was Israel's Shepherd (Psa. lxxx. 1). He led His people "like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psa. lxxvii. 20). They were regarded as "the sheep of His pasture" (Psa. c.), and the world around them were strangers and foreigners, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise."