The benefits of being in Christ's fold (Quality: Good, quiet)

[0:00] Amen. Chapter 10 and verse 16.

[0:35] And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

[0:53] And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

[1:14] You said this was a very wonderful chapter in this gospel. In which the Lord Jesus Christ speaks much of the union between him and his church.

[1:33] And under the description of sheep, and him as their shepherd. As we read it this morning, there were some very sweet things.

[1:49] Should the Lord so apply them to his dear people that encourages and strengthens and comforts. And we said that the text, in effect, is a word in prophecy as much as a word of promise.

[2:10] For the speaker being Christ, had, as we might put, a view of the complete church.

[2:22] And we said that the church, in effect, is a church that is made up of Jew and Gentile. And one feels that that simple description that other sheep, and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, would include the Gentile church.

[2:46] And we said that, in a sense, it is such a simple word. And yet it's, in the reading of it, in the meditation upon it, it is a profound word.

[3:02] Because it simplifies the truth, and yet the truth is so deep. I said this morning that, despite all the various denominational names that are throughout the Western world, or throughout the whole of the world, you have to come to this conclusion, because it is the voice of Christ, that there is one fold, and there is one shepherd.

[3:35] And people may say this and that about their denomination, about their doctrines, about their rules, and so on.

[3:47] But when you come down to bedrock truth, there is one church, and there is one shepherd. There is one people of God, and there is one Christ.

[3:58] And there is one eternal God. And that really is a very solemn consideration. Now, in view of the prophecy that is in the text, these other sheep, and we were reminded, I tried to remind you this morning, in the Acts of the Apostles, that the dear Apostle Paul was, he was always known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

[4:33] There was to be a commencement of the Gospel in Jerusalem. When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended back to glory, he gave instructions to his Apostles, and followers, that they should wait at Jerusalem, for the power of the Holy Ghost to come upon them.

[4:54] Not for their salvation, because they were already under divine grace, but for the anointing of the Spirit, and for the ministry that they shall undertake.

[5:06] And you'll remember that they, they were given the ability to speak. Not the gift of tongues, which some people, and some peculiar denominations, refer to as a language in itself.

[5:25] The gift of tongues, or the ability to speak, that was given to these Apostles, was that they might speak in a language, that these various nations might understand.

[5:38] Now, the Apostles from then the resurrection, or rather from the ascension of Jesus Christ, went forth and preached.

[5:49] And of course they preached to Gentiles. Now, amongst the Gentile nations, were a people that Christ shall call his sheep.

[6:02] Because they were purchased by him, as he laid his life down for them. Because they were given to him, as all the Church of Christ is.

[6:16] They become his by gift, and his by purchase. He paid a very dear price for his sheep. And not one of them shall fall.

[6:26] We read this morning that, they shall be in possession of life eternal. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

[6:37] And they'll never perish, because they have this life. Now that life is hid in Christ. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.

[6:52] And I was meditating, as I hope I was led of the Spirit, so to do, to consider the Church of Christ as a whole.

[7:04] And then the various places where these sheep of God are found. We might so term a house of prayer as one of those places where these sheep gather, the people of God gather to worship.

[7:26] Now, we seek, as we said this morning, prosperity in Zion. The prosperity in Zion will be when these sheep, these souls, these blessed characters whom belong to Jesus Christ, shall be revealed.

[7:48] That is the prosperity, my friends. Some consider prosperity in numbers. Well, if we should have a chapel full of people, and there was not one of them was Christ, I would not deem that as prosperity.

[8:04] I could not see that as prosperity. My friends, prosperity for a cause is those that are found there whom Christ has loved.

[8:16] They may come, indeed, they may well come, as those who are still dead in trespasses and sins. But the blessing, I hope, for a cause, is that the work of the Spirit of God might be seen in them.

[8:33] And then they shall be seen as those who are amongst the sheep of Christ. Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Now, there is an authority in this word, and that is the authority of Jesus Christ.

[8:52] They are his. Other sheep I have. They don't belong to anybody else. They, like the rest of the Church of Christ, are born in sin and shapen in iniquity, but they still belong to him.

[9:06] We sang that hymn on effectual call in this morning, number 76. And that verse remains with me. Glory to God, they ne'er shall roam beyond the limits of his love.

[9:19] Fence by Jehovah's shells and wills, firm as the everlasting hills. Now, these sheep belong to Jesus Christ. And they are preserved, though in their unregenerate state.

[9:34] They are kept. And I said this morning, God puts a restriction on his people. They are unawares of that restriction, whilst they are dead in trespasses and sins.

[9:47] But they are not permitted to sin beyond the limits of his love. Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring.

[10:00] And it is comforting, I believe, as well as assuring. And it is only perhaps as God's children are able to view in retrospect, in other words, in looking back, that they behold some of these truths, rather than at the time when the Lord is working for them and in them.

[10:29] Them also I must bring. God, the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit makes a way and directs his people and moves their footsteps, directs their places, he opens doors and shuts doors, he controls their providences and ultimately, and in his appointed time and way, they are brought under the sound of the truth.

[10:56] They are brought under the work of the Holy Ghost. Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And you will see again, as I said this morning, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ are, he emphasizes the certainty.

[11:14] because the church would not be complete without them, I must bring. You know, when Paul, when Saul of Tarsus, rather, inquired of the Lord what he was to do, the Lord Jesus said to him, arise, go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

[11:40] None of the things of, not one of the things of the people of God in the ways of salvation are in any way could be construed to be haphazard.

[11:53] God's appointments shall be kept. Them also I must bring. And so their lives are controlled and overruled.

[12:05] So their circumstances are controlled and overruled. their providential pathways are under divine direction and they may well be totally unawares of that truth.

[12:18] But it is to lead their feet and to guide their ways so that they shall ultimately come under the sound of the truth. Now, there is of course some remarkable occasions in the word of God and some such remarkable occasion, some, one such remarkable occasion of course is the dying thief.

[12:44] Now, he was a sinner all his life and his, the judgment that was made concerning him that he should die by crucifixion.

[12:54] crucifixion. You may well say, well now, God is not the author of sin. My friends, he is certainly not the author of sin. But that man could never pass into eternity but that he had the knowledge that he was amongst God's children.

[13:17] It's one of the remarkable cases in the word of God. it is written in the word of God that none shall presume but it is written in the word of God also that none should despair.

[13:36] Those characters who like the dying thief are brought to the knowledge of redemption and pardon and forgiveness and heaven on the, as it were, the last hour of their life.

[13:51] it is a most unusual case. But does it not display the divine sovereignty of God? But does it not also, does it not also provide us with this view, my friends, the eternal safety of his people?

[14:11] You know, if they are in him by covenant engagement, they can never go to hell. and no matter, I was going to say what life they led, prior to be called by divine grace, none of that life will prevent them from going into eternal woe.

[14:30] other sheep I have, very extreme cases, very solemn cases, my friends. Great warnings are to be sounded from these cases to us, and solemn warnings they are, my friends, but you must, and you will agree most certainly with these things that they must bring, them also I must bring.

[15:01] And you may trace, I hope there is those among us who, and may it please the Lord that it may be all of us, that can trace the leadings of the Lord, and also the preventive ways of which the Lord uses so that his people are kept, kept from the unpardonable sin, but, preserved and kept in this that the day shall dawn when they shall begin to be dealt with by the Holy Spirit, and in time shall be seen to be amongst God's dear people.

[15:43] Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. Now, it may please the Lord to replenish a house of prayer in this way.

[15:59] It may well do so. We must be very careful, you know, because we might be putting our wishes and our desires before the will of the Lord.

[16:11] But this text has been with me, I suppose. If I was to say to you, it's been with me for many, many years as we pray for Zion, and we pray for the respective houses of prayer in which we worship.

[16:29] And we seek for the prosperity of the cause of truth, wherever you worship. If it lays with weight and burden upon one's spirit, then it will cause you many anxious times at the throne of grace that the Lord will revive.

[16:47] But it is a word that has remained with me for a long, long time, or many years, I would suppose easily 20 years or so.

[17:02] Because when you look at the house of God, and when you look at places of worship and the declension and low numbers and little evidences within the cause of continuing increases, my friends, where are we to turn to?

[17:20] We can only turn to the great head of the church. We can only turn to Jesus Christ the righteous in our supplications and prayers to see to know his will.

[17:33] Now, this word has often encouraged one to believe that he will hear those prayers and in his way and time revive. Now, if he doesn't revive, my friends, from within, he'll revive from without.

[17:51] And so, it is my exercise, as well I hope, as my supplications before the Lord as we pray for this means of grace, that it may please to bring these things to pass.

[18:04] What the Lord Jesus Christ has said here will come to pass. We're not to steal the promise or to try to use the prophecy in this text unadvisably.

[18:21] But I do pray, my friends, as you seek, and you may pray for the means of grace, that it may please the Lord to do what he said here. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.

[18:38] my friends, there is nothing more humbling, and there is nothing more sweet and precious when you can trace the Lord's bringing, or the Lord's leading, as we may have put it another way.

[18:57] What he said in the beginning was, when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Now, my friends, when you can trace the Lord's leadings, respecting your soul, as well as your providential pathway, the effect of that should be humbling.

[19:19] It really should. And I would say this too, my friends, if you can trace the cause and the purpose why you and I are found in the house of God tonight, if we can trace it back to the leadings of the Lord, then with humble hope, I hope you can say as with these words, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold, then also I must bring.

[19:46] My friends, if the Lord will be pleased to build and strengthen a cause, he will do it according to his will, to his own honor and glory, but he will do it by direction, and he will do it by leading.

[20:01] I painfully know what it is to attend a house of God, which I have to say I should have never been there. Now it seems strange language, but my friends I wasn't led there, it was for my convenience that I went there, it suited my providential pathway to be found there, but it wasn't of the Lord, and I painfully proved it because it proved to be a barren place to my soul.

[20:34] Now I have to be truthful so the Lord only knows what that means to others. My friends know what it meant to me, and there had to be a retracing of our footsteps till we came to the place where we came from, and I had to acknowledge that truth, and one said to me when I told them that I had returned, they said well now you've come home, and I proved it was so because the Lord blessed us there.

[21:06] Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. My friends, there is a Holy Ghost leading here, and that leading takes in providence and grace, and it will be for the benefit and blessing of those souls, and it will be of course for the strength and in other course.

[21:29] Them also I must bring. And there is something else that he will do, you know. I've often quoted this word, but I feel it is applicable in this case.

[21:41] It's at the 110th Psalm where we read those words, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Now, I'm sure of this, that there are many times in our experiences when we are most unwilling to do these things, most unwilling to follow in a way which would seem to be contrary to what we want.

[22:07] But the Lord knows how to make you and I willing, and how he does it by one way or another. I used to say, and I still would stand by what I say, but my friends, the Lord makes his people willing by his love.

[22:26] But he also uses other means, and that is the means of chastening. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.

[22:38] But I do believe this also, if I know anything of these lead-ins, that when there is a God-given exercise in the soul, my friends, you will be listening for and watching for those lead-ins.

[22:52] And what is it that will lead a person? Well, the Lord uses all sorts of ways and circumstances, but I would want to keep to one thing, and that is his holy word.

[23:06] You know what David said in the 37th Psalm, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.

[23:18] God and the very evidence of an exercise, my friends, is found in the soul as a living proof that that soul will watch the hand of the Lord.

[23:33] You'll watch it closely. Not only will you watch it, you will listen. As you attend the means of grace, you will listen for the leading of the Lord through his holy word and through the ministry.

[23:48] Them also I must bring. He'll direct them by his word. He'll move their footsteps in providence, but he'll bring them to the place where he'll have them bring to be brought.

[24:02] My friends, there is a place where his children shall be found, and that is the place where he shall bless them. Now he'll bring them to that place.

[24:14] They may be so unwilling to go, but my friends, the Lord, as I said, has ways of bringing them, and he uses those means, sometimes by love, sometimes by chastening, sometimes by shutting doors.

[24:30] When he shuts the door, my friends, there is no going back. There must always be a going forward. I don't know if it was here, but recently it was on my mind to that occasion when Israel had come to Jordan.

[24:54] They had come to the close of their 40 years. Now the Lord was with them in that 40 years. Oh, he chastened them, he troubled them, they sinned and so he rebuked them, and many whose carcasses fell in the wilderness and so on.

[25:12] But as a people, God was with them. And he was with them and they knew he was with them by the ark of the covenant because it was in the midst. But when it came to Jordan, my friends, it didn't stay in the midst, it went before them.

[25:29] It went before them into the river. And that ark of the covenant, born by the priests, stayed in the midst. passed over as on dry ground.

[25:44] A child of God will want that truth, you know, shown to them. A child of God, and this may sound strange language, but one who fears the Lord, will not want to be anywhere where Christ is not.

[26:00] And will not want to walk a pathway which, where Christ has not approved or is in it. And my friends, as those Israelites of old knew the way, you read the, is it the third chapter of Joshua, where the Lord speaks to Joshua about the ark, and it goes before his people.

[26:22] They were to walk at a distance from the ark, and they shall know, what will they know, the way by which they shall go, for you have not passed this way heretofore.

[26:33] Perhaps we should look at the words, and then we shall get it correct. And they commanded the people, saying, when you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bear it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it.

[26:58] Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure, come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for he has not passed this way heretofore.

[27:14] Now, that is what the Lord will do as he leads his people. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.

[27:25] as he will lead them by his word, and he will lead them by his spirit, and he will direct them through the word of his truth.

[27:38] You know, there comes a time, my friends, when in great need of direction, you will have to wait on the Lord and wait for him. We could quote, and the scriptures are full of illustrations, and they're the only ones that truly matter, are more important than even personal ones, when the word of God illustrates the truth by which the Lord will move.

[28:04] My friends, when you come to a halt, and you must wait on the Lord and wait for him, then he'll show you in due course the way, and give you grace to walk in that way.

[28:16] Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. I'll give you one example. of which remains with me to this very day.

[28:32] In the last chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to Simon Peter in three times, and asked the question three times.

[28:52] And this is one of the ways in which the Lord will separate his people, even from one another, and cause them to walk in the ways of his command, whether it is in providence or in grace.

[29:08] Now the 15th verse of the 21st of John, so when they had died, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?

[29:25] More than these. That, my friends, comes very close. But it is an essential question when the Lord is leading his people, other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, because there must be a separation.

[29:45] There must be a distance between the way, the place where you should be, and the place where you used to be. Now, my friends, that's a very searching question.

[29:59] You know, there's lots of hankering off to the past, and there's lots of looking back over your shoulder, as it were, at the way that you have come.

[30:12] My friends, the Lord doesn't say that. Well, he didn't to me. He didn't to me. That made my mind up. In a matter, lovest thou me more than these?

[30:25] My friends, that is a truth that you will lay alongside your pathway, and you may have to lay that alongside your pathway. Them also I must bring, and they will come.

[30:38] My friends, I've always felt, and though I've said that sometimes the Lord chastens, in this respect he reproves the unbelieving nature that we have.

[30:53] He corrects us in love. My friends, it's a great mercy that the Lord doesn't drive his people to do what he wants them to do. He draws them, encourages them, leads them, teaches them, and brings them into complete agreement to his will and purpose.

[31:16] And he breaks down all that barrier of rebellion, and oh how sweetly that does sometimes come. My friends, when there's a taking up of the cross, there is a walking in the path, and there's a looking alone, and this we must always, always remember, my friends, if you're in this place, then also I must bring, you will be wholly dependent on Christ.

[31:44] It isn't a pathway, and it never will be a pathway of independence, but if the Lord has a way for you to walk, an appointment for you to keep, a place wherein you must worship, a spot of ground that the Lord has appointed and chosen for you to do, it will be a place of absolute dependence, absolute dependence.

[32:09] That'll cross your old nature, that'll put turmoil in your old natural heart, my friends, but it will do your soul good. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice.

[32:29] I said this morning as we read down the chapter, or we came to that place, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

[32:41] It is one of those blessed evidences of being amongst his people, that we hear his voice, and they shall hear my voice.

[32:54] voice. It is also perhaps, we must say to be very careful, my friends, what to say, what the Lord will say to his people.

[33:07] And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. And I said this morning, I believe it is right, a child of God lives to hear the voice of Jesus Christ.

[33:25] It is the only approbation that he needs. It is his only source of comfort that he can obtain sometimes, the Lord's voice, the Lord Jesus' voice, the voice of love and mercy.

[33:41] Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. And respecting the means of grace, the house of prayer, your spiritual home, the place where the spiritual food, my friends, is that not a place where you would hear his voice?

[34:01] Is that not a place where you come with spiritual hearing? I want to be very careful and also very loving, you know, but there's no death in the church of Christ, no spiritual deafness.

[34:18] Hardness of heart belongs to old nature. Oh, reluctance to walk in the ways of God belongs to old nature. A fearfulness within, it comes from old nature.

[34:33] My friends, but a child of God longs for this blessing, and they shall hear my voice. There's many ways which we could indeed speak of that, but I believe a child of God knows what he wants to hear.

[34:51] I believe this, my friends, if you should speak to a child of God in private rather than in public, and you would say, now, what is it that you would love to hear?

[35:03] Well, the poet says, assure my conscience of its part in the Redeemer's blood. And such words as that, my friends, we spoke just now of the dying thief.

[35:15] What are these sheep? What did he want to hear? Well, he was on the borders of the grave. Eternity stretched before him in all its solemnity.

[35:27] What did he want to hear? My friends, he wanted to hear something that was his eternal comfort. The question came from his new nature, not from his old.

[35:40] The question rose out of his spiritual heart and his spiritual understanding. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

[35:51] What did he want to hear, my friends? He wanted to hear some sweet assurance, and he heard that word, and he died in that assurance. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise, and they shall.

[36:05] it is one evidence, you know, of being in the right place. It is one true evidence of being where the Lord will have you be if you hear his voice.

[36:22] You know, I do believe this, and we can look to examples, but in the end of the 14th of John, you find these words, which are very solemn.

[36:33] Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. I proved that you do not prosper or profit where you shouldn't be.

[36:54] You might look at that case when after the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and on the resurrection day, we find that the, that Peter and the disciples went fishing, and that night we read they caught nothing.

[37:10] Well, we might have to say concerning them, they caught nothing because they shouldn't have been there. They were going back. They were retracing their steps to what Jesus Christ had called them from.

[37:23] They shall hear my voice. my friends, what a mercy is if you do hear his voice. It's the sweeter evidence, it's his approbation upon your pathway.

[37:39] But then, another sheep I have, which are not of this fold, the more so I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, but they shall hear it in various other ways.

[37:51] You know, I think I said last Sunday, but I can't walk with people who are always here profitably in the Lord's house.

[38:01] There must be some times when the Lord sends them home empty. There must be times when they go home and wonder and come back, and the Lord might be pleased then to speak to them.

[38:15] But I'm sure of this, that the Lord not only speaks words of love and mercy, and words of consolation, but sometimes he speaks in words of correction.

[38:26] Sometimes he speaks in circumstances in their lives. They shall hear my voice. They won't, my friends, mistake his voice. And I believe I said too that there are many times with a child of God when they puzzle over whose voice has spoken.

[38:46] But Satan's never yet benefited spiritually touched the soul of the Lord's people and brought love out of it.

[39:00] Satan has never yet, though he tries to deceive the people of God, has never ultimately deceived them. They have been preserved from his deceiving ways.

[39:12] But the voice of my beloved, as it speaks in the Song of Solomon, said, oh, how important was that to the bride. And how important is the voice of Christ to a sinner.

[39:25] As you attend the Lord's house, as you seek him at the throne of unchanging grace, do you not want to hear his voice? In your trials and your troubles in the way which are common to all men, but particularly to the child of God, do you not want to hear his voice in the trouble?

[39:47] Do you not want him to speak words of comfort or promise, some sweet promise to bless your soul, some word of direction for you to continue in?

[39:58] Do you not want a fear not spoken to you? My friends, I'm sure if you are a living soul, you live upon his voice. You certainly do.

[40:11] My friends, you'll be found waiting for those sweet tokens of his love and his mercy, those tokens which he will speak into the soul.

[40:30] My friends, they're all important to God's people. And then he speaks through the trials of the way. And as you and I often are reminded at the end of the journey, or speak concerning that, oh, how the solemn things that happen in Zion are a voice to us.

[40:51] My friends, there is none spiritually deaf that do not hear his voice. And other sheep I have, which in order this fold them also I must bring.

[41:04] And they shall hear my voice. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now as we said, as we commenced, the church of Christ is one fold.

[41:19] And it has one shepherd. There's only one church. There's only one people going to glory. There is only one Christ. There's only one God.

[41:30] There shall be one fold. My friends, that's, that takes in the whole election of grace. That takes in the whole number, that number that no man can number.

[41:45] What a blessed description of the church of Christ. One fold and one shepherd. A shepherd who loves them. What do we read?

[41:57] We read as we came down the chapter this morning. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling are not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not.

[42:12] Seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catches them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep.

[42:25] Or who can describe the beauty, the mercy, the comfort, the consolation there is in those last words.

[42:36] There shall be one fold and one shepherd. The fold is eternally safe because the shepherd gave his life for them. Rather than lose them, he shed his own, his own heart's blood.

[42:52] One shepherd. They will know one shepherd. They'll hear his voice. They'll follow one shepherd. A stranger will they not follow.

[43:03] What does it say in the beginning? And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers.

[43:17] There shall be one fold, one shepherd. The Gentile and the Jewish church united in Christ Jesus.

[43:30] Bound together in that union which is indesolvable and bound in union with Christ which is also indesolvable.

[43:40] You know there is a union between the people of God which in a certain sense is indesolvable. In a certain sense.

[43:52] There is of course a union that is dissolvable and death will dissolve it. But there is a spiritual union which is indesolvable.

[44:03] But between Christ and his church, between the fold, the place, the church of Christ, the gatherings of his people and Christ himself, there is no change nor alteration.

[44:20] And my friends, what benefits and what blessings flowed from Christ to his church. As we said as we began, he bought them with a price.

[44:33] He laid his life down for them. He suffered in their place, room and stead. He led them about. He taught them. But he brought them and he will bring them into that eternal habitation at last.

[44:48] One shepherd. One fold. One church. My friends, what a blessing. What a blessing. Oh, the countless deceivers there is in the world.

[44:58] Let's say this and say that of the church of Christ. One of my dear old friends of many years ago now, I've often spoken of him, often comes back to mind something he said.

[45:14] Dear old saint of God, he's enjoying glory now. But he said he was, one of his pastorates, he come across the vicar one day in his walk and the vicar said to him, you know, we go different ways, he said, but we shall all end up in heaven.

[45:36] So this old saint of God in his simplicity said, since when there was two ways to glory? There cannot be. There cannot be.

[45:48] There's only one way to glory and that's following this shepherd. He can't be in heaven, as the poet says, and leave you behind if you're a sheep.

[46:00] He can't be. One fold and one shepherd. They'll all get safely to that blessed place. It'd be through much tribulation and as close as they walk to this shepherd, so their tribulation will increase.

[46:14] And as close as they walk to his pathway, my friends, they'll know some of the distresses that he knew. Oh, but they're still safe.

[46:25] Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, then also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice. And they shall be one fold and one shepherd.

[46:38] You think, well you cannot think, because you've not got there, but contemplate or meditate on that voice that will sound in glory.

[46:51] You've heard his voice here, and it's a lovely voice. The voice of Christ is lovely. It's not to the wicked. It will never be to the unrighteous.

[47:02] It will never be to the Pharisee lovely, but it will be to the child of grace, the most beautiful voice. Because it's the voice of Christ. But you consider what he says, not what we think.

[47:17] There are some strange views of glory that are only emanating from the mind of a human being. But stick to the scriptures and lay hold of what the Lord Jesus says about glory.

[47:32] And his voice will be heard in glory. And what will he say? Well, he'll say this to his sheep.

[47:44] Come. Come, thou blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.

[47:56] I heard somebody say, the more I think about it, the deeper the truth is. You know, that a sinner should have any invitation from Christ.

[48:09] My friends, it's beyond description, isn't it? What should Christ say to a sinner out of the covenant, but depart? But what should he say to one in the covenant?

[48:22] Come. My friends, there's a union that is then indissolvable. Come, thou blessed of my Father. Those whom are his, those for whom he laid his life down, those for whom he displayed his love to.

[48:41] Who loved me and gave himself for me, said Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. My friends, that's what he will say to his people in glory.

[48:54] That's what that judgment day will not be a fear to the church of Christ in glory. Oh, there'll be a multitude of people that will tremble in the judgment day. They've never trembled on earth.

[49:06] And they'll tremble at the judgment day. And they'll look for the mountains and hills to cover them. And they'll wait their sentence. And their sentence will be depart. But there is a people, my friends, that will heal, hear that blessed voice.

[49:22] And he'll speak words of comfort, words of consolation. Come, thou blessed of my Father. Them also I must bring.

[49:33] And he'll bring them all home to glory. Take every one of them to glory. He will bear them in his arms. He'll take them to glory.

[49:45] They'll be eternally safe there. This sheep, these sheep on earth will have many enemies that will seek to destroy them. But they can't be destroyed because they're not, because they belong to Christ.

[50:00] We must bring this rambling discourse to an end. And oh, might it be the Lord's will. That is the exercise, at least of my soul, that we might see the working out of this word in this house of God.

[50:20] And that we may rejoin, rejoice together in the working out of it, in the coming to pass of it. Prophecies and promises are encouragements. But, my friends, the day that dawns, when they come to pass, what joy and rejoicing does it touch our hearts.

[50:39] And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

[50:54] There is a prayer meeting, God willing, on Wednesday, and I hope to be here next Lord's Day.

[51:07] Let's sing a part of hymn 405. Let's sing a part of hymn 405.

[51:44] Life. Let's sing a part of hymn 41. This subsists a bond of sovereign grace, that hell, will it see, infernal train, shall ne'er dissolve, nor rend entwine.

[51:57] This sacred bond shall never break, though earth should to her centre shake. Rest, doubt, insight. Assured of this, for God has pledged his holiness.

[52:13] Verse 4, 405. Verse 4, 405.

[53:10] Verse 4, 405.

[53:40] Verse 4, 405. Verse 4, 405.

[54:16]