The sheep here spoken of are the true children of God.
They constitute that blessed community of which it is written--"Christ
loved _the Church_, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself _a glorious Church_, not having _spot or wrinkle or any
such thing_, but that it should be holy and _without blemish_." [636:2]

The society thus described is, in the highest sense, "the holy Catholic
Church." Its members are to be found wherever genuine piety exists, and
they are all united to Christ by the bond of the Holy Spirit. Their
Divine Overseer has promised to be with them "alway unto the end of the
world," [636:3] to keep them "through faith unto salvation," [636:4] and
to sustain them even against the violence of "the gates of hell."
[636:5] Though they are scattered throughout different countries, and
separated by various barriers of ecclesiastical division, they have the
elements of concord. Could they be brought together, and divested of
their prejudices, and made fully acquainted with each other's
sentiments, they would speedily incorporate; for they possess "the unity
of the Spirit," [637:1] "the unity of the faith," [637:2] and "the unity
of the knowledge of the Son of God." [637:3] But these heirs of promise
cannot be distinguished by the eye of sense; their true character can be
known infallibly only to the Great Searcher of hearts; and for this,
among other reasons, the spiritual commonwealth to which they belong is
usually designated "_the Church invisible_." [637:4]

The _visible Church_ is composed, to a considerable extent, of very
different materials. It embraces the whole mixed multitude of nominal
Christians, including not a few who exhibit no evidence whatever of
vital godliness. Our Lord describes it in one of His parables when He
says--"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net which was cast into the
sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to
shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the
bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them
into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
[637:5]

In the first century the profession of Christianity was perilous as well
as unpopular, so that the number of spurious disciples was comparatively
small; a