Brought into one fold by one shepherd (Quality: Average)

[0:00] For his help, I desire attention to the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John, verse 16.

[0:15] The Gospel is recorded by John, chapter 10, and verse 16. 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.

[0:38] Now the 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] What is a mystery to me is, as far as I know, this is the third time, at least the third time, that these words have rested upon my spirit.

[1:12] And if your memory is good enough, the first Sunday in May of this year was the last time. And I believe I'm right in saying in 1998 I also spoke from these words.

[1:30] Now, as I said, it is a mystery to me why it should be so. And I have to beg of the Lord that he might show it to me why it is so.

[1:42] What is it that this word has to gain to be brought? And for what purpose has it to be brought also? And I believe in May, if I remember right, it was a mixture of concern and exercise, not only concern in the Church of Christ, but this means of grace also.

[2:07] For if the Lord is to do as he says. We may dismiss it if we are, but let a man say, well, all you're doing really is reminding us of what the Apostle Paul, I believe it's the Apostle Paul, in the 13th chapter of the Acts speaks.

[2:30] And there he brings a very solemn word to bear. We read, and then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, Well, in the letter of the truth, this other sheep that are mentioned here are the Gentile Church.

[3:04] And that, and believing Jews together make up the Church of the Living God. In that there is a number that no man can number.

[3:18] And it is a number that no man can add to. Not one man can add another name to it. And blessed be God, there's not a devil in hell that can take one name from it either.

[3:32] So it is with mixed feelings and dependency upon a gracious God that we might venture again to speak from these words. Because the ultimate, and indeed the everlasting blessing, that is found in these words, is what the Lord Jesus Christ says, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

[3:57] And it doesn't matter what men will tell you, it doesn't matter how many denominations you find in our day, and there is numerous. My friends, at the end of the day, at the end of that day, there shall be this, but one fold and one shepherd.

[4:16] So there will be one people. And there shall be one God. And there shall be one Saviour. There shall be one blessed Spirit.

[4:27] So that is the determination and purpose of the Trinity of Persons. That it shall come to this conclusion, at the end of time, there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

[4:45] But these are the sheep. These who are his. Because that is whom he speaks of. If we use the example of the Scriptures.

[4:58] My friends, he speaks of his when he speaks of sheep. There are sheep and there are goats, if we might use the term. And there's no one else.

[5:10] There is the lost and the saved, and there's no one else. There is the righteous and the wicked, and there is no one else. There is no one else. There is no one else. Used in these terminologies that the Lord Jesus Christ does here.

[5:25] My friends, it is other sheep. The Jewish church shall be, as it were, gathered in. But the Gentile church shall equally be gathered in.

[5:38] They who, in their ignorance and in their spiritual poverty, still dead in trespasses and sins, if they are found amongst this other sheep, shall be gathered in.

[5:57] You will see, and we felt it was necessary to remind you in that verse, Glory to God, they ne'er shall rove, beyond the limits of his love.

[6:08] Fence with Jehovah's shells and wheels, firm as the everlasting heels. Well, my friends, we have a word then once more. And as I've said, it is in absolute dependency on the help of God that we don't repeat ourselves of previous times, but to try to speak as we may be directed of these other sheep.

[6:37] And indeed the promise, because here we have a most sweet and precious promise. The 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.

[6:58] What wonders there is in that promise. And indeed what mercies there are if you can trace them. Because what the Lord Jesus Christ has said will come indeed to fruition.

[7:13] These other sheep shall be gathered. Where are they now, you say? Where they are by nature, the Lord only knows.

[7:27] But where are they by this word and promise? They are preserved. And they are a people that are kept. And what lengths of sin they might as yet be in.

[7:42] And what broad waves of destruction they might be travelling in. As they are called other sheep. My friends, they are preserved from going down into the pit.

[7:57] They are preserved also from committing a sin which is unpardonable. They are as eternally safe as any vessel of mercy is.

[8:09] Other sheep. Other sheep I have. My friends, he knows them all by name. And he knows where they are. He knows the depths of sin and the lengths of iniquity that they might be found in.

[8:27] He knows this whether they are religious or profane. Whether they are fed on the husks that the swine eat. Or whether they are destitute of life in the world and amongst the world.

[8:42] But they come under this blessed description. They belong to Christ. And Christ will never lose them. They are safe in that covenant of divine grace.

[8:56] But they are not as yet in the fold. They are not as yet brought amongst, into the truth or under the truth. It may be so. Other sheep.

[9:09] My friends, the church is made up of every nation, kindred and tongue. It is made up of Jew and Gentile. But they are all Christ's.

[9:23] They belong to him. And he died for them in their room and place instead. And they shall never rove beyond the limits of his love.

[9:34] You notice in the hymn we sang as we started the service. And it's a very personal word there. I looked at it just now when we were singing this second hymn.

[9:47] But in that first hymn it says this. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, he to save my soul from danger, interposed his precious blood.

[10:04] And what he does, my friends, to his people, what he does for his people is they are found now under the sound of the truth. He did it for those other sheep who are not as yet revealed, who are not as yet come to the knowledge of the truth, whether it's the truth concerning themselves or whether it's the truth concerning the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

[10:33] And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring. I looked at a word in that familiar 40th chapter of Isaiah.

[10:50] That chapter which concludes with but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And in that blessed 40th chapter he mentions this people.

[11:04] If I can just put my eyes on it. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young.

[11:25] Now my friends, this wonder, wonder of wonders, this work of regeneration and this work of bringing and drawing these characters who they might be these other sheep unto himself.

[11:46] Other sheep I have which are not of this fold. I believe this used to be the exercise and when I say used to be it still is the exercise of the early prayer meetings that we used to attend in this sanctuary when we first came.

[12:06] It was the desire of the soul that though we were as a people but few in number that it might, that the day might dawn and the time might come when we shall see this gathering in.

[12:21] Because that is what it truly is. And whether it is in the singular, as far as a house of God's concern, or whether it's the church of Christ in general, my friends, they shall be gathered in.

[12:37] And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. What fold are they then? Where are they now, what is this fold?

[12:48] You know, my friends, when the Moabitess damsel came to glean in the field of Boaz, she came from another field. She lived in Moab, an idolatrous nation.

[13:03] She was brought up to worship idols. She was separate bodily and spiritually from the people of God. She gleaned in a field of which there was no profit for her soul.

[13:20] But when under the guidance and direction and drawing power of God and the love that she felt to the people of God, she was found in Boaz's field, she gleaned there.

[13:32] And oh, what benefits were gained from that gleaning. What blessings there were laid up in the divine providence of God for that dear woman.

[13:47] My friends, where are they then? They're not of this fold. Jesus said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Where would they be then? If there's only one fold and there's one shepherd, what fold are they in now?

[14:02] Well, they may be still dead in trespasses and sins. They may still be in the kingdom of darkness. They may still be under and indeed content with the days and the concerns and cares of the world itself and satisfied with it.

[14:23] My friend, that's a fold that the Lord will deliver his people from. Remembering, as we spoke a few weeks ago concerning the parable of the prodigal son, he left his father's house.

[14:39] He left the fold. He left where there was plenty, where there was love and he was found spending his substance in riotous living.

[14:51] That's a fold, my friends. That's a fold. But there came a time where that fold didn't satisfy him. And as we tried to speak the words, from the words, and he began to be in want.

[15:05] my friends, and this is where these souls that are Christ shall be brought to. They shall begin to be in want. We read, when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants that my father have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger.

[15:26] You know, there's something about a sheep and I'm talking now of the spiritual, not the natural. I don't know anything about those. but I do know, my friends, when a soul is called by invincible grace, amongst the first evidences of that spiritual grace you know will be a need.

[15:48] There will be a hunger, there will be a thirst, not now for the things of time and sense, not now for the pathways of darkness, not now to serve Satan well.

[16:01] This other fold will not satisfy a living soul. My friends, it will be, it will give them that exercise, it will give them that desire that they have a soul now that lives and that soul must indeed be satisfied and God shall satisfy that soul.

[16:21] Other sheep I have which are not of this fold. But then again, they might be in the force religion. They might find, my friends, in some place of worship that they have attended for some long time that they now become a little dissatisfied.

[16:43] And the reason is that there is husks rather than wheat and there is but letter rather than truth. And by the divine guiding hand of God and by the work of the blessed spirit within there shall be a dissatisfaction.

[17:01] I often tell you of those and describe those that came to David in the cave of Dullum. What characters they were but what spiritual counterparts is found in that description.

[17:14] They were in debt, in distress and discontent. My friends, I wish in all my heart that we might have those in the Lord's house that have been brought from the letter truth and from the ways of man in religion that has no benefit and blessing to their soul.

[17:38] These are the characters who seek the truth. These are the characters who long for the truth. These are the dear ones who live to know him who rules and reigns in the glories of heaven and they long for him.

[17:52] Are they sheep I have which are not of this fold? You may be sure of this also my friends and this is a consolation. He doesn't lose sight of any of his sheep wherever they might be.

[18:07] Wherever they might be. Whether it's in the world and amongst the world or whether it's in some attractive religion that only suits the flesh and bolsters the flesh but leaves the soul destitute.

[18:22] Are the sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring. Now we might also look for a moment or two how it is that they shall come.

[18:37] To him that says Jesus draws the chosen race by his sweet resistless grace. He will also move by providence.

[18:53] He will also move by providence. they shall be directed and guided if they fear the Lord and such that are blessed with invincible grace are those that fear the Lord they shall seek to know the way.

[19:12] They shall seek to hear from the Lord they shall seek to know the divine direction of the Lord where it shall be that they shall be found. The footsteps of the flock my friends you remember and these things just drop into my mind and I hope on my spirit as an illustration of the truth that we are attempting to put before you again.

[19:39] But you remember the bride in the song of Solomon. What was she but she was black? What was she but comely according to what is recorded of her?

[19:56] But she was also in earnest and she said this tell me O thou whom my soul lovest where thou feedest and where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

[20:19] Oh my friends if there are souls divine blessings in their souls they shall hunger and thirst for the things of God they shall not be satisfied with any falseness in religion or any likeness in religion either they shall not be satisfied with the letter of the truth they shall not be satisfied with a mere framework of worship they shall want something which is for their souls profit and good and that will be their cry tell me oh thou whom my soul loveth where thou feedest and then the answer was from the bridegroom to the bride if thou know not oh thou fairest among women go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock and feed thy kids beside the shepherd's head my friends that is how they will come back or rather that is how they will come to the place where it is a blessing and of comfort now the sheep I have which are not of this fold them also

[21:27] I must bring you think of the wonderful way in which the Lord deals with sinners those of his people wonderful ways you know does it lay them in the grave does it lay them down under despair either doesn't bring them to judgment or destruction chastens them because they are his but places his love upon them in that chastening brings them into this pathway he loads their shoulders well with woe and thus obtains his end other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring how will they come well we said they will be drawn none come except the father draws none my friends if it's real it's

[22:29] God's work if it's real it will be opposed if it is real it will never be overcome if it's real it will bring these other sheep under the sound of the truth and indeed under the gracious influence of the Holy Ghost we ought to say this my friends here first and foremost we must not we must not in any way lessen the power of God in any way we mustn't stipulate that a means of grace is the only place of blessing we must never say that this is the way the Lord will work and this way only we may look upon the means of grace as our spiritual home and I trust in his soul my friends but the Lord is able to bless and deliver his people wherever he sees fit but a soul that is under grace will desire to be fed it shall hunger for the things of God it shall long for the things of Jesus

[23:39] Christ it shall not be satisfied with being taught erroneous things which bring no life nor comfort nor blessing with it my friends even in situations and circumstances where the means of grace are not within their ability to get or it may be of course where affliction lies upon them or it might be in circumstances which are so opposite to going and coming the house of God my friends it is that they shall learn Christ and they shall learn him by the gracious spirit's revelation and the sheep I have which are not of this fold you know in the glories of heaven my friends there will not be one absent person not one absent person there will not be a vacant seat in heaven you know it is a work that shall be and is determined by the eternal counsels of God and as far as they go in the falseness and darkness of this world as far as they go in religion and under the under a false religion my friends it will be a power that shall overcome all such things and the church of Christ shall be complete them also

[25:14] I must bring heaven will not be complete without them the number who no man can number will never be complete without that these other sheep shall be found but to try to draw some divine teaching here of the spirit my friends we must have a place and they shall have a place and a spot of ground and it may be an experience too that they shall be fed and blessed with spiritual food them also I must bring oh hell has been struggles you know with the powers of hell hell has been struggles with indeed natural opposition hell has been many struggles between the soul and oppression or temptation my friends it will be a way which the

[26:17] Lord will bring his people though it be an adverse pathway of the sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring blessed be God my friends he will do as he says whether it is in a house of God whether it is in Zion in the church of the living God there shall be those who are his brought now we quote don't we determine to save he watched all my path when Satan's blind slave I sported with death now that's a wonderful thing to although we quote it often and I suppose it is a remarkable word in itself but in the ways that he did and can he have taught me to trust in his name and thus far have brought me to put me to shame the work of bringing them also

[27:24] I must bring my friends is a sovereign work but it is also an essential work and blessed be God it is a certain work because there's nothing that can overthrow that determination them also I must bring some of us were brought up under the sound of the truth and some of us weren't but equally my friends the power is needed and the authority is needed to come to any saving knowledge of Jesus Christ it is equally my friends is important to know the means that the Lord uses my thoughts just a moment ago went to in a way we might call dramatic ways I don't want to use anything that rises up within us naturally to call these holy things dramatic but they are dramatic and they are remarkable and they are mercy my friends to a soul how the dear apostle for instance that remarkable way that dramatic way was stopped how he was brought to be a believer and a follower of

[28:48] Jesus Christ in a moment how he was brought down from his proud arrogant persecuted spirit of the people of God to be a hearer and a believer and a follower of the despised Jesus Christ them also I must bring which brings us to say this that though the work is great and though the work is mighty and though the opposition also is great and mighty because the powers of hell must be defeated and shall be defeated my friends in the bringing out of these other sheep and the bringing in of those other sheep it is the work of God and of God alone then also I must bring and what lengths and depths and heights and breaths of force religion or of iniquity and of the world and of the flesh they may well be in it cannot overthrow this work you think of that mad gadarin he wasn't tormented by a devil he had a legion of them can't understand that word neither can you understand the power of that word a legion of devils no man could tame him they tried to do so and failed a legion of devils but the person of

[30:22] Christ the glorious son of the highest and in that wonderful act of mercy and that revelation of deity the word went forth and he was delivered one of these other sheep where was he found my friends sitting at the feet of Jesus and clothed and in his right mind and what was his desire he prayed Jesus that he might be with him these are the blessings and the mercies of these other sheep extreme cases you say you might say well you're justified in using the word dramatic my friends the same remarkable work is to be known it must be known in us each if we are found in this fold in this one fold and under one shepherd then also

[31:26] I must bring then again the Lord will lay upon you if you fear the Lord the condition of these other sheep you cannot my friends let them go into the world you cannot let them as it were fade out of the memory because they are amongst the world remember the word that is in the first book of Samuel and the first chapter of Samuel in a most different condition and place of course but there was one dear woman who longed for a child longed for a child a man child and the Lord granted her that man child and she said to Eli for this child have I prayed my friends if that is the Lord lays upon you some of these characters these other sheep you will find this that it will be a most heavy burden but it will be also a time that shall come which shall be a time of blessing then also

[32:35] I must bring you know what the hymn says they shall ne'er shall rove beyond the limits of his love you might find my friends that they rove beyond the limits of your patience or they might rove beyond the limits of your prayers or they might rove beyond the limits of your faith but if their names are recorded in that book of life if they're included in these other sheep my friends they won't rove beyond the limits of his love other sheep I have which are not of this whole them also I must bring wonderful word you know it is as it were the determination of God and it surely is but what mercies lie in this 16th verse what great mercies now those who have in times past have rejected the gospel turned from it desired only worldly things sought only for those things which please the flesh my friends and yet in these characters that this word is performed and it's performed by God and it is determined in councils of eternity who these sheep are but it is also determined who these sheep belong to we read as we went down the very difference he speaks of himself as the shepherd of the sheep he speaks of himself as the door of the sheep and he speaks too of the sheep a living soul in

[34:27] Zion my friends it speaks of one called by grace it speaks of the falseness of any other way and in any other person but oh it speaks too of the safety and the preservation and the mercy and the goodness that the lord puts around these sheep of his and it also is very solemn because those who were of the unbelieving jews who questioned his words and who were unbelievers in the true sense of the word how they would as it were cost him for what he said but what a solemn thing to say ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep there's the evidence of not being one ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep but on the other hand to the safety of the church and of these characters yet to be called yet to be brought under the truth yet to be the subjects of mercy and love my friends he also says of them wherever they are and whoever they are and in what disposition or place or situation or circumstance they are them also

[35:54] I must bring there you see my friends the sovereign act as well as the sovereign mercy of God and the sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice now there's a mark of grace you know by nature we are deaf to spiritual things by nature we are blind to spiritual things you know when the dear man John the Baptist was in prison and he questioned the Lord Jesus Christ art thou he that should come and the Lord Jesus sent those disciples back to John and said that they should go and show John again these things how the blind receive their sight and how the deaf hear and as the poor they have the gospel preached unto them you and I when we were born were born spiritually blind and spiritually deaf no amount of warnings that we heard from a pulpit touched our soul we were indifferent we were in opposition to such warnings it was a language that we didn't want to hear as soon as it was over we went to our own company what does that hymn say that we sung when wisdom calls they stop their ear and headlong urge the mad career judgments nor mercies ne'er can sway their roving feet to wisdom's ways

[37:45] I look back on my younger days I can remember my father praying in my hearing that what happened to me might be for my soul's good but it wasn't so at that time my friends but they shall come here and they shall hear my voice what has taken place what change has been made and therefore who made the change my friends only the Lord when he unstopped your ears by putting life into your soul when you became aware that there was a voice that spoke and that voice that spoke brought indeed knowledge and understanding both of your own sinful self and also of the holiness and justice and yet the mercy of God what a blessed thing it is my friends when you hear for your soul may you do so every time you come in this sanctuary not here for an acceptable thing to do on the Lord's day or

[38:56] Wednesday nights but the Lord grant that you may hear for your soul and if your soul is in health you'll come to hear and you'll want to hear to see what justice or mercy there is on your side I remember hearing a minister say this many many years ago in the persecutions of the believers in Scotland in the days of the covenators if they found somebody on the way to a service because they held services not in buildings but in fields or in woods as they could without being detected but they came across a young girl going to a service they asked her where she was going and she said I'm going to hear my father's will read I go to hear my father's will read my friends they must bring them also

[39:59] I must bring and they shall hear my voice what a sign of life spiritual life what an evidence of desire is found there what a longing my friends believers in Jesus long to hear his voice that's the crucial and eternal difference between a professor and a possessor is that they shall hear my voice not the voice of Moses not the voice of God at Sinai they shall hear that you know what Jesus said in the 17th chapter of this book and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent my friends when you hear his voice this is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ this is the voice you read the song of Solomon the voice of my beloved and they shall long to hear it if you know yourself under a ruined state as a sinner before God my friends your prayer and supplication will be that the

[41:10] Lord Jesus Christ will speak to you and that he may speak for you they shall hear my voice but we must leave it this morning and other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice and they shall and there shall be one fold and one shepherd amen the notices for the week are as follows God willing there's a prayer meeting Wednesday next Lord's day there's a reading service in the morning and I hope to be here in the evening the closing hymn 139 my shepherd will supply my need

[42:25] Jehovah is his name in pastures fresh he makes me feed beside the living stream he brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake his ways and leads me for his mercy's sake in paths of truth and grace hymn 139 God I shall dwell on my name sin croya o Han Oh, my God.

[43:50] Oh, my God.

[44:20] Oh, my God.

[44:50] Oh, my God.

[45:20] Oh, my God.

[45:50] Oh, my God.

[46:20] Oh, my God.

[46:50] Oh, my God.

[47:20] Oh, my God.

[47:50] Oh, my God.

[48:20] Oh, my God.

[48:50] Oh, my God.

[49:20] Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[49:52] Oh, my God.