‘I know my sheep and am known by my own’

Published in Pasugo, Oct 2001



UNLIKE TODAY WHEN there are many controversial religious issues, there was one major issue during the first century and that was believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, this is no longer the issue. In fact, so many people today claim to be Christians, expressing their belief in Christ and claiming that they belong to Him. The question, however, is whether those who claim to know and believe in Christ are also recognized by Him or not.

The Lord Jesus Christ described those who believe in Him as known to Him and called by His name:

“I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and my sheep know me –

“The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Jn. 10:14, 3, New International Version)

Hence, it is not enough for people to know and believe in Christ. More importantly, they must also be recognized by Christ as His own sheep and must be called by the name given to Him by God:

“I pray for them, I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you.

“And now I am coming to you; I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me.” (Jn. 17:9, 11, Today’s English Version)

The name that is above every name is the name given by God to Jesus. That name is “Christ” who was made Lord by God, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God (Philip. 2:9-11); Acts 2:36, New King James Version). Thus, Christ’s sheep are called by the name “Church of Christ”:

“Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.” (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation)

Those who truly know Christ and at the same time are recognized by Him as His own are the members of the Church of Christ.

A Catholic authority, Francis B. Cassily, agrees to the fact that the true Church is called “Church of Christ”:

“5. Did Jesus establish a Church?

“Yes, from all history, both secular and profane, as well as from the Bible considered as a human document, we learn that Jesus Christ established a Church, which from the earliest times has been called after Him the Christian Church or the Church of Christ.

“This Church, founded and organized by Christ and preached by the apostles, is the Church of Christ. …It is the only true Church, and the one which God orders all men to join.” (Religion: Doctrine and Practice, p. 330)

Even Bible scholars conform to the truth that the Church, which is Christ’s body (Col. 1:18), is called after His name. A professor of Ozack Bible College says:

“The church is the body of Jesus Christ. Eph. 1:22, 23. The idea of ownership is absolute here. As a man’s body is his own and not another’s, so the church is the church of Christ and not of another.

“Nothing could emphasize more strongly than these statements the right of Christ to call the Church His own, and to give the church His own name.” (The Church in the Bible, p. 349)

Since Christ considers His Church as His body (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:23), His ownership of this Church is absolute and unquestionable. The name “Church of Christ,” therefore, is perfectly right.

The Church of Christ is also the sheepfold, the flock, and those who enter in it shall be saved (Jn. 10:7, 9). Hence, those who truly believe in Christ and are recognized by Him as His sheep are the members of the Church of Christ. Salvation is through Christ and this Church.

The other sheep of Christ

The name “Church of Christ” is not the only identifying mark of those who belong to Christ. Those who belong to Him are chosen and appointed (Jn. 15:16, NKJV). They are sure of their calling and election (II Pt. 1:10, Ibid.), because their election is founded or anchored on the prophetic word of God (II Pt. 1:19, Ibid.)

On the strength of which prophecy does the Church of Christ that emerged in the Philippines in these last days base its claim on God’s election? This Church was prophesied as Christ’s “other sheep”:

“I have other sheep too. They are not of this flock here. I must lead them also. They will listen to my voice. In the future there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (Jn. 10:16, Easy-to-Read New Testament)

The “other sheep” also belong to Christ and are recognized by Him. They would also be gathered into one flock. They are called the “other sheep,” because they don’t belong to the first-century Church of Christ, but were to be called in the future as one flock. As stated earlier, the flock is the Church of Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation). These other sheep of Christ would hear Christ’s voice, although He is already in heaven, through the preaching function of the prophesied messenger. To hear the messenger sent by Christ is to hear Him (Lk. 10:16; Jn. 13:20, NKJV). Therefore, those who listen to Christ’s voice through the preaching of His messenger would be gathered as one flock, in the Church of Christ.

The first-century Church of Christ ceased to exist because it veered away from God’s unadulterated teachings (I Tim. 4:1, 3). From the ruins of the first-century Church of Christ emerged the Catholic Church whose doctrines are contrary to God’s truth. But the true Church would reemerge through God’s appointed messenger. The uniqueness of the preaching function of God’s messenger is that the believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit:

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Eph. 1:13, NIV)

We sincerely believe that Brother Felix Y. Manalo, who registered the Iglesia ni Cristo with the Philippine government on July 27, 1914, is the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning God’s messenger in these last days. What is the proof that he was instrumental in sealing God’s servants in these last days? He is the fulfillment of the angel from the east who had the seal of the living God:

“Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,

“Saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” (Rev. 7:2-3, NKJV)

The word “angel” denotes the office and not the nature of the one sent by God:

“A minister or pastor of a church” is called an angel (Cruden’s Complete Concordance, p. 16). Thus, the preacher sent by God is called an “angel.” The angel from the east having the seal of God is a preacher of the gospel because he bears the seal of God.

This is why the members of the Church of Christ are confident that they are among those whom God and Christ recognize as their servants. As servants of God and of Christ, they are blessed and their deeds will follow them (Rev. 14:12-13, NIV). Christ Himself assures them salvation.