FARMER H―lived at a rustic farmhouse near the far-famed Bolton Abbey, in Yorkshire.
In his kindness Mr. H― opened his kitchen for gospel preachings once a month. On one of these occasions I went over a little earlier than usual to see my family, who were lodging there. Wishing to have a word with Mr. H―, I visited the farmyard, where he was superintending his men engaged in marking his newly-shorn sheep. As the animals passed under the marking-iron, and each received a black “H” of hot tar on its side, Mr. H― evidently enjoyed watching them run off to the meadow, bearing the initial of his name. While he was thus occupied I asked him the question, “Why do you mark your sheep?”
“Oh,” he said, “that I may know they are mine, to be sure; and that nobody may run off with them.”
“Yes, that’s a very good reason, Mr. H―, and may I also ask, Do you know how many marks the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, puts upon all His sheep?”
“No,” he replied, “I don’t think I do.”
“Well, Mr. H―, He puts at least three marks upon all who hear His voice, and believe on Him to the saving of their souls.”
“Does He?” said Farmer H― “Yes, He does, indeed,” I said; “and I will tell you what sort of marks they are. The first is: ‘I give unto THEM eternal life.’ The second is: ‘THEY shall never perish.’ The third is: ‘Neither shall any pluck THEM out of my hand’” (John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28)). “Now, Mr. H―, do you possess these three marks?”
“I am afraid not, sir,” was his reply.
“Oh, do let me press upon you, Mr. H―, the absolute necessity of not resting satisfied till you know you are a sheep of that Shepherd, who, in such love and compassion, came such a distance to seek and to save lost ones, wandering on the dark mountains of sin, where all are by nature, for all have sinned, and have come short of the glory of God; and there is none righteous, no, not one.’ Do not, Mr. H―, I beseech you, for one single moment stop short of trusting the precious blood of Christ, the great Shepherd, that alone cleanses from all sin, shelters from all judgment, and brings the soul nigh to God; and may you, without delay, find grace to help you to receive the three marks from the loving Shepherd, who so freely gives, and who is now so graciously waiting to bless.”
Farmer H― was taken ill, and on his death-bed he wished to see me.
In that interview he gave evidences of having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and of possessing His three divine marks. He reached the advanced age of eighty-four, which was a long time to stay away from Jesus, the Shepherd of His sheep, and was it not running the fearful risk of forever losing his never-dying soul in that awful place where the Great Shepherd never goes to seek and to save! Ah, friend, there is no grace there! No salvation there! No Good Shepherd’s marks there! All damnation there! All who are there bear Satan’s marks, which are these: “To steal,” “to kill,” and “to destroy!” (John 10:1010The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10).)
Dear reader, do not think me advancing a step too far when I ask (and I ask it solemnly), Will you in reality say what marks you now bear? Have you, as a lost sheep, been found by the Good Shepherd, accepted Him, and been marked by Him? Whether or not, He is yet seeking, and saving the lost, and His word still is, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mark 11:2828And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? (Mark 11:28)).
The marks on Farmer H―’s sheep (like all human marks of good works for salvation) would have, at the latest, to come off when shearing time arrived, but the divine marks of a believer in the Lord Jesus abide forever.
As I said to Farmer H—, his sheep might have died, got strangled amongst thorns and briers, been drowned in the ditch, killed by dogs, stolen from his fields, and the marks cut out by the thief, or the like, but the divine marks of the sheep of Christ, on the authority of His own word, are “ETERNAL LIFE:” “SHALL NEVER PERISH:” “NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND.”
Farmer H― said he paid about three sovereigns for each of his sheep, but the “Great Shepherd” (blessed be His name forever!) gave His LIFE for His sheep, and you may depend upon it He values and cares for them accordingly; and is it likely He will ever give them up or let them go? No, never! We have cost Him too much for that! Dear soul, whoever you are, you either have eternal life or are on your way to eternal judgment, with its stamp already upon you. Either you are found, rescued, and marked for the bright fields of glory, or you are still lost and undone. You are under the power of Satan the wolf, or safe in the hands of the heavenly Shepherd. You are on your way to the lake of fire, where you will be in eternal misery with that deceiving wolf, and bearing his foul marks, or you are at this moment on your road to glory, where you will be eternally happy with the Chief Shepherd, who has glorified a holy God, and met all His righteous and just claims as to sin; and “who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” and is so soon coming to take all His own to be forever with Himself in the “sweet fields of glory.”
Jesus said, “I am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)); and all His sheep can say with the Psalmist, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psa. 23:1,21<<A Psalm of David.>> The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (Psalm 23:1‑2)); and they can say with the poet―
“We’ll sing of the Shepherd that died,
That died for the sake of the flock;
His love to the utmost was tried,
But firmly endured as a rock.”
Jesus is seeking lost ones; He always finds, saves, and satisfies them forever; this He only can do. I ask, dear soul, is He YOUR all-satisfying portion? If not, why, oh, why not? Delay not, but enter while there’s room, for soon the door of heaven will be shut forever. If you bear your own marks of doing your best, striving, giving, improving, turning over a new leaf, and so forth, give them up, I beseech you, for, if you leave this world with them upon you, they will be substituted by Satan’s eternal marks. Then, do be warned. Do be encouraged to accept the Lord’s own marks, which will neither be exchanged nor altered throughout all eternity. How blessed are you, if you can say: ―
“The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child;
He followed me o’er vale and hill,
O’er desert waste and wild.
He found me nigh to death,
Famished, and faint, and lone;
He bound me with the chains of love,
He saved the wandering one.
No more a wandering sheep,
I love to be controlled;
I love my tender Shepherd’s voice,
I love the peaceful fold.
No more a wayward child,
I seek no more to roam;
I love my heavenly Father’s voice,
I love, I love His home.”
J. N.