Children, Come, Give Ear To Me

Beloved children,

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. His arm was stretched out on the cross, and His bosom was pierced with the spear. That arm is able to gather you, and that bosom is open to receive you. I pray for you every day that you may be saved by Christ. He said to me, “Feed My lambs,” and I daily return the words to Him, “Lord, feed my lambs.”

I believe Christ has gathered some of you. But are no more to be gathered? Are no more green brands to be plucked from the burning? Will no more of you hide beneath the white robe of Jesus? Oh, come! for “yet there is room.” Lift up your hearts to God while I tell you something more of the Good Shepherd.

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd” (Is. 40:11). Every shepherd must have a flock, and so has Christ. I once saw a flock in a valley near Jerusalem; and the shepherd went before them and called the sheep, and they knew his voice and followed him. I said, “This is the way Jesus leads His sheep. Oh, that I may be one of them!”

1) Christ’s flock is a little flock. Hear what Jesus says: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Pray to be among the little flock. Look at the world — women, and children, of different countries, color, and language, all journeying to the judgment-seat! Is this Christ’s flock? No! Most never heard the sweet name of Jesus, and of the rest the most see no beauty in the Rose of Sharon. Christ’s is a little flock.

It is to be feared that most are not the brothers and sisters of Christ; they do not bear His likeness; they do not follow the Lamb now, and will not follow Him in eternity.

Beloved children, pray that you may be like the one lily among many thorns—that you may be the few lambs in the midst of a world of wolves.

2) Christ’s sheep are marked sheep. In almost every flock the sheep are all marked in order that the shepherd may know them. The mark is often made with tar on the woolly back of the sheep. Sometimes it is the first letter of the owner’s name. The use of the mark is, that they may not be lost when they wander among other sheep.

So it is with the flock of Jesus. Every sheep of His has two marks. One mark is made with the blood of Jesus. Every sheep and lamb in Christ’s flock was once guilty and defiled with sin, altogether become filthy. But every one of them has been drawn to the blood of Jesus and washed there. They are all like sheep “come up from the washing.” They can all say, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). Have you this mark? Look and see. You can never be in heaven unless you have it. Every one there has washed his robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14).

Another mark is made by the Holy Spirit. This is not a mark which you can see outside, like the mark on the white wool of the sheep. It is deep, deep in the bosom, where the eye of man cannot look. It is a new heart. “A new heart also will I give you” (Ezek. 36:26). With infinite power He puts forth His unseen hand, and silently changes the heart of all that are truly Christ’s. Have you got the new heart? You never will go to heaven without it. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”

Beloved children, pray for these two marks of the sheep of Jesus—forgiveness through blood and a new heart. Oh, be in earnest to get them, and to get them now. Soon the Chief Shepherd will come, and set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left. Where will you be in that day?

Pray for these two marks of the sheep of Jesus—forgiveness through blood and a new heart.

3) Christ’s sheep all flock together. Sheep love to go together. A sheep never goes with a wolf or with a dog, but always with the flock. Especially when a storm is coming, they keep near one another. When the sky turns dark with clouds, and the first drops of a thunder-shower are falling, the shepherds say that you will see the sheep flocking down from the hills, and all meeting together in some sheltered valley. They love to keep together.

So it is with the flock of Jesus. They do not love to go with the world, but always one with another. Christian loves Christian. They have the same peace, the same Spirit, the same Shepherd, the same fold on the hills of immortality. Especially in the dark and cloudy day, such as our day is likely to be, the sheep of Christ are driven together, to weep together. They love to pray together, to sing praise together, to hide in Christ together.

Rev. Robert Murray M’Cheyne (1813–1843) was a Scottish divine whose labors were much blessed of God. He was translated to glory at the young age of 29, but his writings remain a priceless heritage.

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