The blessings of being amongst Christ's sheep (Quality: Average)

[0:00] of the lord i ask your attention to the gospel as recorded by john the 10th chapter and the 16th verse the gospel as recorded by john chapter 10 verse 16 another sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd 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 he spoke i felt very poorly really this morning regarding this word concerning the promise that the lord jesus christ here gives concerning his one church in the earth he calls it there shall be one fold and himself one shepherd and he speaks in that blessed way of prophecy both in this that the church the living in jerusalem the spiritual people of god shall be of one they shall be of one because it shall be of jew and gentile when i went home i thought my friends these solemn thoughts here we are gentiles none of us are jews not by birth all of us are gentiles are we in this church are we found in this fold it will be a mercy of mercies if we are be all of his grace if we are because then it will be the fulfilling of the promise will it not another sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and that in the fullness of time the lord jesus christ here was around 33 years of age as we would judge age and here we are in the year 2000 all those years that have gone by all those centuries of time may it be said can it be said as it was by the lord jesus christ in the gospel of luke this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears my friends this heaven is the blessing and the benefit that is laid out for these sheep oh how solemn it would be to be a gentile and die out of christ but how blessed would it be if you and i could then for a few moments in our meditation trace back and see that this blessed promise has been fulfilled not in others so much as we desire it to be fulfilled in others but that we might trace it in our own soul and that we stand here this night and attend the means of grace here this day and be able to humbly say by divine blessing and mercy that we're found amongst this other sheep what good will it do us today if we talk about all the others that will come or have come or maybe will come my friends if we are not amongst them what good will it do it will be no more than the letter will let it search us out and the holy spirit so do in our souls that we might inquire concerning this most important matter the promises of jesus christ are we within the promises or are we on the outside of the promises another sheep i have which are not of this fold they're there them also i must bring and that we might see too by the glorious work of the holy ghost that we have part and lot in this text this day but then my friends what mercies it will be and we said them also they must bring i must bring we felt a little of the need to speak of the power of this promise and the authority of this promise we said this morning that nothing can overcome this promise nothing can bring it to naught nothing whatever power it is the power of the flesh the power of the tempter the mighty power of satan and it surely is a mighty power but none of that can prevent this word coming to pass other sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice we said again i try not to repeat myself but one of the clearest evidence is my friends are being amongst his sheep is that they hear his voice you would read these words that we read together this morning again you will see what sweet promises and blessings are for these sheep my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me and i give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand we spoke of a few characters in the word of god who were shape of christ's fold we said that the lord jesus christ calls his church that gathering of people that number that no man could number he says that they are a little flock but what blessings lie to this people for this people for this people these other shape that jew and gentile redeemed by jesus blood redeemed they shall be found in one fold now i want to speak as the lord will help us then this evening of what shall be their blessings and mercies of being amongst this sheep what is it my friends that distinguishes them from any other you know how solemn it is when you read in the word of god of those illustrations in the parables concerning that which is real and that which is counterfeit when you think about the wheat and the tears for instance the lord jesus christ reminds us and i don't know anything about these things naturally we we read also about the foolish and the wise virgins these are contrasts my friends but they are solemn contrasts the truth is that there's obviously some uh apparent uh view with each those descriptions that they may look well like each other my friends how it must be surely true when it comes to religion when it comes to profession when it comes to preachers how surely it must be true my friends that there are amongst them those who are god's eternal choice and those who are among them and those who never were but these are christ's that we have in the text these are those whom christ will bring and other sheep i have they he possesses them they belong to him he redeemed them by his shed blood he suffered in their place room and stayed zion will not be complete without them other sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice they may well be outside of the fold and there again they might be amongst that company of prodigals they might be amongst that people i looked i don't know if i can find it quickly but in luke's gospel uh in that chapter which i will come to in a moment that it speaks of the prodigal uh and uh it speaks also uh of those that company uh of the people of god in the 15th chapter of the gospel of luke we find this what man of you having an hundred sheep if he will lose if he lose one of them does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it and when he hath found it he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he cometh home he calleth together his friends and neighbors saying unto them rejoice with me for i have found my shape which was lost dear friends that was the condition of us all in nature we were totally lost totally ruined in the adam fall we went forth from the womb speaking lies other shape my friends every one of them is eternally safe and every one of them shall be called every one of them shall indeed be preserved and kept whilst in that lost and ruined condition they shall stray as far from god as sheep can row for they shall not stray beyond the limits of his love them also i must bring then i felt my friends we might just clear a point here regarding the fold no the church of christ is not a building not as we may describe it a house of god is a building a church is a gathering of people and then what is the fold my friends in the fold literally if a sheep if if there are sheep in a fold it is a means of protection it is a means of comfort and it is a means of preservation now what then is the fold my friends we might rightly view that the fold is the church of christ and the people of god are entirely and completely secure in that blessing number that covenant number but my friends i felt as i was considering these words during the early part of the afternoon that this fold is christ my friends that is the only protection that is the only safety and that is the security of the people of god what it is to be in christ that we may be found in christ my friends you'll be found in the company of the people of god but to be found in christ my friends there is security we read again just now or reminded you just now neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father which gave to me is greater than all and no man can pluck them out of my father's hand what a blessed security there is in christ to the church then once in him in him forever thus the eternal counsels run none can pluck thee from the strength of his trial's hand my friends if your religion is real you are in christ if you're if that work of divine grace is going on in your soul my friends you are in christ oh there will be storms there will be seasons there will be trials there will be troubles everything of the pit will may come against your grace the grace of god in your soul my friends which you're in christ you will be in glory with him at last i thought what a wonderful thing it would be and again i've said it i know but when we read of the israel of god as they went through the wilderness when they left goshen under the shed blood we read not a hoof shall be left behind my friends may that be true concerners here not a hoof shall be left behind it's not what church you're in and i believe this my friends if you are a living soul you'll want living food it's not any denomination it's not any building it's not any set of rules my friends you will need that which will sustain you but it's this this is the all important my friends that you and i shall be found in christ and how safe that will be he is the fold he is the blessed shepherd of the sheep he is the one who sustains and maintains spiritual life we read of what the shepherds should do in that 34th chapter of of ezekiel and he will do this in his people's pathway and in their condition and place and i felt it was very blessed to read it he said what the shepherds didn't do but he said what he will do i will save my flock and they shall no more be a prey i will judge between cattle and cattle and whereas if we say i will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away and will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick and will destroy the fat and the strong i will feed them in judgment i will feed them in a good pasture and upon high mountains of israel shall their fold be there shall they lie in a good fold in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the found upon the mountain upon the mountains of israel my friends this is the lot of the sheep of christ's pasture and this is what the good shepherd of the sheep has promised his blessed people another shape i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice the word of the sheep now concerning then what the lord has provided for his flock that they are living souls who would not be sheep they would not be his people that wherever they strayed and whatever they've done and how broad or pathway they have walked and what sins and iniquities lie upon them my friends do not prevent the mercy of god to his people he will chase them because he loves them but he will call them because he has chosen them 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 what then has he provided for them when he putteth forth his own sheep he he goeth before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out what name did he call you sinner that's the name he'll call you that's the name you know what he says in the 43rd of isaiah that blessed promise i have called my my friends when he calls it is heard in the soul and he calls his people by their name they are sinners but what has he provided for them in that 34th of his equal he talks about rich pastures he talks about the provisions that he's made for them how that they shall lie down in in these pastures they shall be at peace in these pastures they shall grow according to the provision that he has made for them he will maintain their life and in this fold they shall be secure and safe my friends the mercies that are found for this sheep and the blessings that they shall have and possess and enjoy and indeed glorify him for shall come from him you know if your religion is right my friends you will live on the provision that he makes and what provisions you say does he make before the spiritual life of his people himself that's where you'll feed that's where you'll get your blessings from you know my friends do you ever and i suppose we might look just for a moment at a natural illustration when you bow your head at the tea table or lunch at lunch time or at breakfast time you bow your head you thank god for his provision and you ask him at least i do i say to the lord every meal time bless it to the good of my body my friends what poor example therefore that is in comparison to the spiritual life and the strength and the mercy that is needed as we go along the trials and troubles of the way and in this pathway of which the sheep of christ's fold walk my friends they are ever under the watchful care of the shepherd of the sheep oh the promises of the lord in the word of god concerning his pathway and the fear not that are written for them but this is the blessing my friends which the sheep shall enjoy the lord is with them whithersoever thou goest you read in joshua whithersoever this is the sheep of his pasture this is the people of god this is the poor uh contrite sinner this is the poor and needy one this is those who have suffered under uh the uh taunts and temptations of satan these are those who are broken and distressed and wounded and cast down and walk in darkness and have no light my friends whatever condition the sheep are in are still his shape are still his shape they are his he will recover them from their affliction he will restore them from their pain he will bless them again with himself my friends they're his sheep and are safe and secure what pasture he's provided pasture for them what then my friends is the pasture oh it surely must be the preaching of christ it surely must be the gospel of the lord and savior jesus christ but in other things too his own precious word is their strength and comfort and comfort and what they shall be fed upon is food convenient you know the complaint of the prodigal was that he couldn't feed off the husks and my friends sheep won't feed off rubbish goats will eat rubbish you know but sheep won't sheep will look for grass it will go around you find a field where there's sheep my friends if you find rubbish in that field like nettles or docks or docks or things like that they'll go around them and i'll eat the grass and leave the nettles and so it my friends will be spiritually and he'll provide food convenient pasture he will be the pasture but then he said then his own precious word and truly my friends if you're a living soul if you're one of christ shape you'll hunger for the things of god you'll long for those spiritual food which will be for the sustenance and strength and growth of your spiritual body you'll find those things which are needful for them needful for you you'll find it in the house of god and you'll find it in the word of god and you'll find it in the blessed spirit's work when he is pleased to take of his word and apply them and apply it to your soul's condition you know one of the things which makes a very solemn and yet a blessed difference between professors and possessors my friends is the condition of the soul and what it pleases the lord to bring them to and what it pleases the lord to bring them down and puts them in low places spiritually so that they need sustenance and help you know in the psalm 107 my friends it's there's a word there for the afflicted of the people of god and i mean spiritual affliction not the afflictions of the body although the lord is able and does deal with these things but what does it say in psalm 107 and he sent his word and healed them has he not done so can you not to the to the praise and the glory of his name look back now some of you those times when the word came and it was like ointment portals the very word of god was sweetly applied to your soul or your took it or your condition this is the pasture that god provides this is the food which is good for the soul this is for the growth and prosperity of the soul when he sent his word you know my friend there's nothing more blessed when you hear the word of god and i mean the word from god whether there is a growing in grace is where the lord speaks into the soul when the word comes and not only in the house of god the means of grace the lord provides for his people it's a gathering of the church of christ and it might be two or three for that's the promise but on the other hand my friends it's what god has provided the gospel and the preaching of the gospel for the sustaining and strengthening and increase of his people but not only there but my friends at other times when he lays you low in affliction when he lays burdens upon your spirit when he leads you into hard pathways when he brings trials and troubles upon you my friends is there a voice in these things do you long to hear a voice have you that desire in your soul that the lord in all these adversities might speak and that you might hear the voice of your beloved speak within these matters in these ways you don't find these blessings my friends from men you won't find it from the best of men in fact the sooner you are able to lay that trust and faith upon jesus christ the shepherd of the sheep you will find you will sustain and support well no he does it by his word also what precious times are when there's a revival what sweet seasons are there in the lot of the people of god when broken down by adversity or cast down by reason of the hardness of the way when you come into the house of god you drag yourself into the sanctuary as it were and hope once more the lord might appear and speak to you and through his holy word he's pleased to come and speak a gracious word a promise into the heart or some indication or evidence that he is an unchangeable god to you and the conditions that you come into you know there's a condition with the people of god which is described in maybe in luke's gospel that parable i suppose it could be called but nevertheless it's experienced to the people of god day by day and that's that man who went from jerusalem to jericho and fell among thieves and what was the result they stripped him is all that he had took his raiment took his possessions and left him half dead do you know what it is i've often used to say when i was working it's just like that when you go back to work on a monday if you've had a good day in the lord's house or even if you felt the peace and the sanctity of the sabbath and of the lord's house and the mercy of his gospel and then you return to your to the daily concerns on a monday it's like coming out of jerusalem and going to jericho and falling among thieves it's not very long before those things have robbed you and spoiled you and left you half dead what then my friends is the blessing where is the recovery found well leaving aside those characters who jesus speaks of that we would speak of one and this is where the mercy is you know he came where he was that's the place where he was not like these people who try to improve your situation uh yourself destitute of health spiritual health dark in your soul distressed under satan's temptations and accusations to look for a word from the lord it is trying to find something in the dark nothing and it seems destitution set upon you insufficient in yourself to extricate yourself from that circumstance or that place but then my friends the word of the lord jesus christ and there came one where he was and he possessed that which was for the healing and the restoring and the reviving of that poor soul he poured in the oil and the wine and then set him on his own beast and took him to an inn and took care of him do you know these things there are spiritual descriptions there of course pouring in oil and wine the sweet gospel of jesus christ and then putting him on his own beast and taking him to an inn and indeed to take care of him my friends as he brought you to his house as he brought you to the means of grace in that condition and you know there is a solemn responsibility in the preaching of the gospel into those whom god has sent out you know that they shall preach to such characters and as the spirit enables them and they draw from the gospel and the word of god and are able to speak that which is for the consolation and the comfort of such souls the application of the word of god you know isn't with the man in the pulpit it's with the blessed holy ghost other sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice there's one thing very certain you know one thing that makes a blessed difference to the people of god and that's the presence of the lord jesus christ one of those sweet seasons and times that we long to hear and we i trust we do here at times to know the lord's presence is with us that we may be a part of his one church in the earth is a mercy of mercies but you know my friends if you have the proof and the evidence in your soul amongst to being found amongst the people of god you possess a blessing that my friends no one else can speak about outside of that fold and that is christ then also i must bring and they shall hear my voice do you long to hear his voice you know the voice of a king there is power the voice of the lord jesus christ is mercy the voice of the lord jesus christ is comfort the voice of the lord jesus christ is confirmation you know my friends you won't go past this truth it's only sheep hear his voice it's only the lord's people hear the voice of their beloved it's not a voice that's heard anywhere else in time it will be a voice that will be heard one day by the whole of humanity but that will be the day of judgment but while the people of god struggle on in their wilderness journey they long to hear his voice they long to know his presence and they go up to the house of god and to the throne of grace and their spiritual life seems to be at a low ebb my friends what is it if you found as it were a person whose natural life was ebbing out because of of starvation well you would try by some means or other to give him something that will sustain him and build him up and strengthen him and so it is in spiritual things this blessed people my friends live on christ and live on what he gives them handfuls of purpose you find written in the book of ruth purposely dropped for ruth that's what it means purposely handfuls of purpose gleaning in those gospel fields looking for that and seeking after that which will be for your soul's good when peter wrote his epistle he speaks of those who shall grow in grace grow in grace my friends and you'll grow in grace through the spiritual blessings of his word and the application of those blessings to your soul and you'll grow in experience also and you'll say well that that sounds more like sanctified or progressive sanctification that's not that at all my friends the more the holy spirit teaches you the poorer you'll feel to be the more the holy spirit will teach you you'll feel your hunger and thirst the more he shows you of yourself the more your want of christ you know and then let me say this it comes to mind what is the pathway that he causes you to walk who will give you strength according to that is it a pathway that you will walk without that spiritual strength you know the apostle writing in his second epistle to the church at corinth speaks of the pathway on one particular occasion and he describes there what he had given him a thorn in the flesh a messenger of satan here was a man who was strong in faith was an able preacher of righteousness could look back uh to some to the mercy of god on a damascus road here he was a man who was persecuted could give you a catalogue of troubles and trials that were his lot but then he comes into this place a thorn in the flesh a messenger of satan and it had an effect upon him it caused him to cry unto the lord and the answer of the lord was this and he said unto me my grace is sufficient you know my friends we often misunderstand the ways of god the lord brings us into things which are averse to grace and to the work of christ within he brings us into pathways which distress us casts us down brings us into pathways which questions brings questions to the mind as whether we're in the way of god or not and so we hasten to the throne of grace and beg the lord to take this and that away so that we might go on without it pray this dear friends for your soul and for its prophet that you might know his grace that grace of submission that blessed grace that will sustain and as the paul that is what the lord of christ that is what the lord of christ is to the lord of christ and he said unto me my grace is sufficient most therefore i glory in my infirmity that the power of christ might rest upon me there is no there is no no evidence that the lord took that thorn in the flesh away from him he lived his days out whatever that was with that thorn in the flesh but he lived it out balanced as we might put it by the grace of god them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice and what blessings are found therefore in that grace what mercies there are found you know i i i wouldn't believe i wouldn't for a moment minimize the trials of the people of god not for a moment whilst his grace is in exercise in thy presence i am happy in thy presence i'm secure in thy presence all afflictions i can easily endure they then also i must bring and they shall hear my voice and then again my friends if you are in this wilderness you'll need his voice to be heard and then you'll need your voice to be heard and then you'll need your voice to be heard because like israel of old if the lord took the fiery pillar or the cloud away from them they would mistake the way you know from goshen to the borders of jordan that fiery pillar went before them and that cloud was before them by day and the fiery pillar by night they followed that and in the pathway of the lord's dear people the israel of god these sheep of christ fold my friends is it not as needful then if you know the way you'll only know the way by divine direction and you'll only know by the way because of the promise that we have here when he putteth forth his own sheep he goeth before them there is too another way in which we might just for a moment remind you i am the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture i used to wonder what that meant if this fold was so secure and christ is the door and he twice says he is in this tenth chapter what does it mean to go in and out and find pasture well it's not returning to the world like those unbelieving believers did in the day of resurrection it's not returning to old faults and old ways what does it mean when you go in and out and find pasture what mercy there is in these words i believe my friends it speaks of experience in and out are you constant have you got a spiritual life that's constant are you always in this high spot of blessing do you live always on the mountains of zion do you always feel the comfort of eternal realities in the soul but do you not know sometimes the downs and ups of experience the ins and outs of experience the dark times as well as the night times the times of joy and gladness the times of sadness and distress you know those dear souls in this in this gospel whom the lord jesus christ loved martha and mary and lazarus they were ones whom he loved boy what a blessed people they must have been to be loved of christ but it didn't my friends prevent them from that dark time when lazarus fell sick and died when he didn't either prevent the blessing i know he was restored my friends but christ was to him and to them as the resurrection and the life all the going in and out and finding pasture is experience it's those dark times as well as those glad times it's distress sadness on the one hand and blessing and mercy and favors on the other hands the ups and downs he that is without change fears not god the word tells us that my friends the sheep of christ pasture are changeable creatures and the poet says we're sometimes hot and sometimes cold but jesus is the same but in these going in and out and find pastures the going out is as profitable as the coming in the trials and troubles are as profitable to your soul and there's pasture in them and there's food in it and there's sustaining grace in it there's upholding grace and there's the father's love in it my friends in all those things which you may think against them against you you will find they are for your soul's profit and good as well as those seasons when you sit in the house of god under the sound of the gospel and glean from the gospel field 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 and i know it's lastly but my friends very blessedly one fold and one shepherd do you know that you know that's a lovely hymn isn't it in union with the lamb from condemnation free the saints from everlasting were and shall forever be there's that this is what it means one fold and one shepherd christ is the keeper of his of his saints and there's one church you know whatever denomination you and i hear about today there's still only one church the church of christ call what you like these gatherings of people around god's holy word whatever it's called it's only one church there's one christ and my friends that is how it will be but there is two blessings here my friends that is when you and i are one with jesus christ one with him and then one with the people of god we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren other shape 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 when you go home from chapel my friends think back today think back at other days did you hear his voice did you hear his voice think back my friends to the hearings that you speak of those good seasons in the house of god or at other places in the night seasons as you lay on your bed awake my friends did you hear his voice and then think of the troubles and the trials that you walk through and are in or have been in have you heard his voice in these things my friends it is all important but remember this i what the lord jesus christ says of his shape the world the lord jesus christ says of the world of god jesus christ says of god jesus christ says of god i believe you know whatever comes against god's people that stand supreme the powers of hell upon this rock will i build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it other sheep i have we should not of this fold and also i must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd amen i will end this prayer meeting on wednesday next lord's day there's a reading service in the morning i hope to be here in the evening shall we close with him 354 the morning firm as the earth thy gospel stands my lord my hope my trust if i am found in jesus hands my soul can ne'er be lost his honor is engaged to save the meanest of his sheep all that his heavenly father gave his hands securely keep nor death nor hell shall i remove his favorites from his breast in the dear bosom of his love they must forever rest m354 he remain

[45:02] Thank you.

[45:32] Thank you.

[46:02] Thank you.

[46:32] Thank you.

[47:02] Thank you.

[47:32] Thank you.

[48:02] Thank you. Thank you. And now pardon what has been said wrong this day.

[48:37] Do bless thine own word. Thank you, Lord, for bringing us through. And now take us home in peace. May the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God the Father and the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide with us each, both now and forever.

[49:02] Amen.