John 10:27-4227My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30I and my Father are one. 31Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, 40And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. 41And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. 42And many believed on him there. (John 10:27‑42)JOH 10:27-4227My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30I and my Father are one. 31Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, 40And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. 41And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. 42And many believed on him there. (John 10:27‑42)
An outstanding characteristic of sheep is that they hear the voice of the shepherd. The true sheep hear the voice of the true Shepherd. Why do they hear? The true Shepherd answers. "I know them." It is a higher thing for Jesus to know them than for them to know Him. Their response is to follow Him. This is the real attitude of the sheep of the pasture, of the sheep upon earth; nothing can be more blessed, more distinct, more concise, or more separate. It is entirely outside of all organizations, confederations, or ideas and thoughts of men.
The company of sheep is separated to Him by faith. Faith is the link. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word. Following of the Shepherd results from hearing the voice of the Shepherd. There is nothing so blessed as the sensitiveness of the ear that hears the voice and follows Him. The important thing is not only to hear the voice, but to act on it and follow.
Security
In 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) it says. "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish. There is the security of the path and it takes in every sheep. However, many do not enjoy this security because they have not acted in faith to follow Him. The sense of the gift is lost sight of, nevertheless, there is security, perfect security. When the voice is not continuously heard, they lose sight of the gift. Therefore we find uncertainty in people so prevalent among Christians; they do not know the voice because they have not acted on it by following.
“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." You see the security, notwithstanding the adverse circumstances and opposing forces. Following Him is opposed because it takes you out of human organizations. The Shepherd is not in the organizations and the order of the world. The people who hear are entirely outside too. The old religion is displaced and that raises opposition, urged on by the enemy.
Those to whom the Word of God came and those who were administrators of the Word, were called "gods" (verse 35), how much more Him whom "the Father hath sanctified," and Him they called a blasphemer and sought to stone!
Over the River
Then we come to another order of things: He leaves that part and goes over the river Jordan "where John at first baptized; and there He abode." Now we move into another place. We find a gathering-place entirely outside of what we had before. The Gatherer is removed; the Gatherer is not where He was. We have to lay hold of that, and what is so marked is that He went beyond Jordan, that is, the other side of the river of death.
We shall not find ourselves truly gathered except on the other side of the river. Crossing over the river represents the believer's dying with Christ and being raised with Him. If we have not applied this truth to ourselves, we shall find the outward gathering-place is rather a source of stumbling to our souls, and nowhere will you find such discomfort. We are not gathered here rightly on earth, if our souls have not, in spirit, gone through the river of death.
In Rev. 5, all have crossed the river then. The Lord Himself has crossed the river. He has passed through death; He is alive there, and there is no living Christ except across the river. This is a powerful truth. As for us, we shall not carry the grave clothes of this world on the other side of the river; we shall all be clothed with incorruptibility.
Justifying of God
When the pressure came upon the Lord Jesus, He quietly retired to the only place on earth He could retire to—across the river. There He abode, and many resorted unto Him there. This brings before the soul the justifying of God. The justifying in that day was the baptism of John. The baptism of John made an end of all distinctions, all the pride of the Pharisee, the Sadducee, the lawyers and the scribes. Baptism was the mark that justified God; it was this outward show of repentance that gave them a standpoint. The thing that gave the ground was not being scribe or Pharisee, lawyer or Sadducee or being this, that, or the other. What mattered here was that they came to be baptized of John, confessing their sins which justified God. That is the real thing, to justify God, and that is what God puts His seal to.
There are different ways of justifying God. I do not justify God now by baptism, but I do by confessing myself a lost sinner. In their case it was coming to John, and the result was that God was justified.
The Shepherd leaves the existing circle, being pressed out of it, and goes over the river to gather there and abides there. It is for us to abide where He abides and that is the secret for our souls, waiting the next step. In the meantime we praise His name for His goodness in gathering us over the river. That is having the sentence of death in ourselves. W. B.