Follow the voice of the Shepherd

By WAYNE STEWART

July 24, 2011

Here’s a question worth pondering, when the Master calls do you know who it is; or how about this, do you mistake the someone else’s call for the Master’s?

Let’s take a look at John 10 and see what Jesus has to say.

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd for the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice…

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” — John 10:2-5, 11-16

This passage of scripture is full of symbolism all people must take to heart and understand. This is not some allegorical story Jesus is telling, but he is instructing people on how Jesus deals with those who are called by his name, and he also warns those who are called by his name not to listen to another voice, and Jesus also warns those who would seek to take his sheep.

First, let’s go over what Jesus told the people. Jesus said he enters by the door. There is nothing nefarious with Christ, nothing sneaky, Jesus only comes where he is welcome. The doorkeeper, the Holy Spirit, then opens the door and Jesus calls for those who believe to come to him. The Greek word for called in this instance is “kaleo,” which means to invite, which is what Jesus does. All are invited, but only a few heed the call; there is a secondary meaning to “kaleo,” as it also means to receive the name of something. So, Jesus comes into the sheep pen and invites people to take the name of Jesus upon them.

Jesus then calls his sheep by his name and they follow and notice what the scripture says, Jesus leads them out. Dealing with livestock can be a frustrating experience. Around here people like to drive cattle, usually, but sheep and goats are a different story.

Sheep and goats tend to develop a relationship with the shepherd and it is against their instinct to run away and be in fear of their Master. Instead, they will follow the shepherd anywhere. The shepherd leads the way, the shepherd keeps away the predators that would ravage the flock. The shepherd knows the way home.

This is exactly how Jesus deals with believers. Jesus will never push, you choose to follow or get left behind. We know from Paul there are all kinds of spiritual battles being fought around us, but there is comfort in knowing that Jesus already has defeated the enemy. Jesus defeated Satan and fulfilled the penalty of sin when he voluntarily gave his life up on the cross. Jesus defeated death when he walked out of the tomb three days later.

Being called by the name of Jesus allows us, his sheep, to share in his victories sealed by his name.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” — Ephesians 1:13

That is our brand and for the true believer it means nothing Satan or the world throws at us will ever separate us from our faithful shepherd.

Then, beginning in verse 11, Jesus gives instructions about the role pastors should have. Pastor David Guzik wrote, “The bad shepherd thinks the flock exists for his benefit, but the good shepherd lives (and dies) for the good of the sheep.

“… The faithful pastor will, as an under-shepherd, display the same characteristics as the Good Shepherd. He will sacrifice for the sheep, know the sheep, and be known by them. He will be a shepherd and not a hireling who does not care about the sheep.”

 Last week the power of the “Word” was the topic. It is important all believers immerse themselves in the word of God. One of the problems these days is reading the Bible is an afterthought to most people. The good shepherd speaks to his sheep through the word. And, if the sheep do not know the words from the Shepherd, how can they discern when a thief is calling?

So, beware brothers and sisters, be sure it only is the Shepherd’s voice you hear.

Now, before wrapping this up, we will come to the end. In John 10:17-18 Jesus said he voluntarily gives his life for the sheep, and he, by his own power, takes his life back up again. Through this power Jesus offers life to the believer. Through God’s infinite mercy, this salvation is offered to all, Jew and Gentile alike. All are welcome to come to Christ. There are no prerequisites to pass, but it can only be through Christ, as Jesus is the only shepherd that can lead the flock to the Father.

Don't give in to man's praise

 By WAYNE STEWART

August 7, 2011

Classrooms are filled with students who know the answer, but refuse to answer when the teacher asks the question.

Nobody wants to be wrong. Nobody wants to go against the grain. They would rather be considered dumb and popular than a smart loner. The times never change.

Jesus performed miracles for everybody to see. Even the Pharisees marveled at what Jesus could do, but they could not shake themselves from their own little clique and flee the safety of the group for the life being offered through Jesus Christ.

“Yet at the same time, man even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.” — John 12:42-43

How true those words ring true today. Too many people seek what the world has to offer. Too many people desire acceptance from the world. Too many people look for love and significance from that which only seeks to devour them.

The human spirit has desires only Jesus Christ can fulfill; yet most people will look to anything but the cross. Anything but the cross.

“Today the revelation of God is treated with indifference, or talked of as if it deserved no reverence or credit,” Charles Spurgeon said in a sermon delivered in 1885. “Unbelief has sapped the foundations of the social fabric.”

The world derides believers as being stupid, backwards and bigoted. These barbs are flung from the medial and the so-called learned of modern society. Too many people are immersed in this heretical world and are too afraid of loosing its bonds and coming into the light of the truth.

The “enlightened ones” have so undermined the Christ-based foundation of our society that true believers are now pariahs. Still, Christ urges those who are called by his name to stand firm, and Jesus, still in John 12:44-46 gives us this encouragement.

“Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

Truly, the world is a dark place. Over the past few years it seems the world has been brought to its knees. Drought grips the area, while torrential rains flood lands to our north. The financial world has been brought to its knees, yet people still hide from the truth.

Many people hear the truth of Christ, and believe the words are good and powerful and hold them warmly in their hearts, but they fail to confess Jesus as Lord of all — that is a faith lacking.

“What they feared: being put out of the synagogue, which they thought would be a disgrace and damage to them; as if it would do them any harm to be expelled from a synagogue that had made itself a synagogue of Satan, and from which God was departing,” Matthew Henry astutely noted of the Jewish leaders who had inclinations toward Christ. “What was at the bottom of this fear: They loved the praise of men, chose it as a more valuable good, and pursued it as a more desirable end, than the praise of God; which was an implicit idolatry, like that of ‘worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator.’ They set these two in the scale one against the other, and, having weighed them, they proceeded accordingly.”

In these scales, do you, or do you see people weighing what the world has to offer against life. Yes, that is what is at stake, a couple minutes of pleasure versus eternity with the risen Savior.

This is what it boils down to — illusion versus reality. For those who don’t believe, at least do this — listen to the message of Christ with an open heart. If after hearing it, the Holy Spirit still doesn’t stir you then walk away.

If you read John 12:20-41, you will see God will eventually harden the hearts of those who continually reject the offers made by Jesus. This truth is inevitable, but that should not deter believers, in fact it should make us redouble our efforts to reach a people thirsting for the gospel.

Most will walk away, but what about the one who is willing to reject the world and come to Christ — that soul should be worth all of our effort.

Don’t fall into the trap of sin

 By WAYNE STEWART

 August 19, 2011

Mention the word sin and people will bristle.

In many churches sin is never mentioned, out in the world the word is equated with religious zealots. The oft-quoted mantra of, “You can’t judge me!” is trotted out and believers cower in fear. No one, believer or not, enjoys the light of truth shined upon them.

So, the subject of sin gets pushed under the rug. Believers say, “I’ve been redeemed. I am free.” That’s true, as the apostle Paul confirmed, but he also warned against such libertinism.

Sin is a subject that shouldn’t be glossed over. Sin causes separation. Sin keeps the lost away from God and sin also interferes with a believer’s relationship with Jesus Christ. Sin is the proverbial elephant that’s been in the room since the Garden of Eden.

Out of sin come two incontrovertible facts: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; and there is not a sin Christ’s blood cannot cover.

Following will be a few passages of scripture that will deal with sin:

“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you so angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” — Genesis 4:6-7

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

“At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

“No one sir,’ she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go and sin no more.’” — John 8:3-11

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” — 2 Corinthians 5:21

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:7-9

There is a requirement to be saved. The would-be believer must place their faith in Jesus Christ, believing on his death on the cross and his resurrection; it also requires repentance.

To place our faith, means we put our very lives into the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. Repentance means to change our minds. When we repent we actually change our minds toward sin. What at one time held allure and intrigue is to become abhorrent to a believer. While the believer is freed from the Law, a new creation is begun with the Holy Spirit within us as we begin our transformation into what Christ will have us to be, which will be realized at the resurrection of believers. So while we have been redeemed there is a war raging inside of us with our sinful nature, as Paul tells us in Romans. Through a love of Christ, we strive to live a life free from sin. There are times, many times in my case, when I falter, but a believer in Christ should always be in a state of repentance and as John noted in his first epistle, if the believer repents, then Christ will forgive us.

Remember what repent means, it means to change ones mind toward something. Notice what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, go and sin no more. In other words, Jesus told her to repent, change your mind toward sin.

As a believer we should desire not to sin, not consider our redemption as a license to live a life of debauchery. What kind of witness is that to a lost and dying world?

Many people like to bring up the sin of homosexuality. Some will say Jesus sacrifice on the cross paid for that sin and they continue in that destructive lifestyle. It is true Christ’s blood paid for that sin, but let’s look at this example.

Imagine you are a bank robber. After you become saved you realize your sins and turn away from your desire to rob banks. Yes, if you robbed another bank Christ’s blood would redeem that sin, but you are aware that is a part of the life put to death when you accepted what Jesus did for you and you flee from it.

The same is true of homosexuality, or adultery or the sin of sex outside of marriage. Yes, Christ’s blood paid for those sins, but Christ asks us to “Go and sin no more.” Jesus asks us to change our mind toward those sins and to flee from them.

That should be our desire, to live a perfect life devoted to Christ. It is not required, but living that kind of life shows our fruit and it shows to whom we belong.

Even for the believer, sin is crouching at our door, just as God told Cain, but through the blood of Jesus Christ, who became sin for us, we are given the keys to conquer it and he has cloaked us with his righteousness.

Now we must take the charge of Jesus to go and sin no more.

Relying on a house of cards

By WAYNE STEWART

There is endless talk these days of the government stepping up to fix the nation’s debt problem.

The people of this nation are looking for a man-made solution. If everybody would take a step back for a minute, they may find all the problems arose because of man-made solutions — garbage in, garbage out.

None of the problems are new, sure, they may be peculiar to a specific culture or society, but they all boil down to the same problem — man’s reliance upon man.

“Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the city gates The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons of the Palace of the Forest. You saw that the walls of the City of David were broken through in many places; you stored up water in the Lower Pool. You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall. You build a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.” — Isaiah 22:7-11

Let’s have a little history lesson; the time of Isaiah 22 is after the fall of the Northern Kingdom to the Assyrians. Scripture tells of a time when Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem, yet God confounded and routed the Assyrian army with a plague and the siege was lifted. Isaiah is looking past that to when Babylon would overrun Jerusalem, destroy the Temple and send many of the inhabitants into exile.

See, God had shown himself powerful to the people, he could and would fight Judah’s battles if only the people would turn to him. As J.A. Motyer noted, the people of Judah, “did not, of course, abandon faith per se. Everybody lives by faith. It is part of the human condition. Financiers trust market forces, militarists trust bombs, scientists leaders trust nature’s regularities. Jerusalem’s leaders trusted Egypt.”

This is a common failing of all men as we tend to trust what is believed to be tangible, but what they fail to realize is God is more real than the paper on which this is printed. God is powerful, faithful and He will do what He says; and God, through Jesus Christ asks us to give up self and abandon everything for him.

That’s a lot to ask of somebody, but it’s exactly what God has always desired from us — a simple walk based upon faith. In the Garden, God told Adam everything is his and he can have it all; just don’t eat of that tree. They didn’t trust God and looked where that got us, now we have to buy and work for our food and daily sustenance all while living with the burden of sin.

Several generations later God had brought a nation out of the mightiest country in the world at the time. Through mighty works God drowned much of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, yet the people still did not believe God could care for them. After defeating the Egyptians the people called Israel didn’t believe God could drive the Canaanites out of the land He had promised Abraham all those years ago, so for the next 40 years they were destined to wander the desert until that generation was gone.

The truth of the matter is God doesn’t need anything from us. He is God, after all, but He does desire something from us, and in his loving mercy he has given us the choice of choosing Him or ignoring Him.

Looking back at Isaiah 22:11, the people are indicted for ignoring God, the one who brought them up out of Egypt, and trusting in their own strength and ingenuity. In verse 10 of that same chapter a census was taken so the people would know their own strength, but what is the strength of man compared to God? No, we can’t do it on our own.

Let’s look at this nation’s recent history. The United States has the most powerful military machine the world has ever seen. It overthrew the Iraqi army in a matter of days; and it drove out the Taliban with just a handful of troops, but since that time it has been stuck in a quagmire. What has all that might done for the country as it continues to lose lives in those far-off places.

This nation has trusted in its strength, and its economic prowess. Uber-patriots talk often about “American Exceptionalism,” but what is that but God’s favor. This country has abandoned God, much the way the people of Judah. Instead of God, we look to our own mind for solutions. Instead of falling on our knees we write our Congressman. When will God say, “Enough!”

“The weakness of Judah now appeared more than ever,” Matthew Henry wrote concerning Isaiah 22. “Now also they discovered their carnal confidence and their carnal security. They looked to the fortifications. They made sure of water for the city. But they were regardless of God in all these preparations. They did not care for his glory in what they did. They did not depend upon him for a blessing on their endeavours. For every creature is to us what God makes it to be; and we must bless him for it, and use it for him. There was great contempt of God's wrath and justice, in contending with them. God's design was to humble them, and bring them to repentance. They walked contrary to this. Actual disbelief of another life after this, is at the bottom of the carnal security and brutish sensuality, which are the sin, the shame, and ruin of so great a part of mankind. God was displeased at this. It is a sin against the remedy, and it is not likely they should ever repent of it. Whether this unbelief works by presumption or despair, it produces the same contempt of God, and is a token that a man will perish wilfully.”

It is time to stop putting faith in ourselves, our government, our institutions, even our churches. It is time to abandon the old precepts and look again to God. Don’t sign your life over to a dead government, instead give your life to the Living God who allowed himself to be nailed to the cross and placed in a grave to put an end to our sins. Turn that sin over to Christ, and rise with him from the tomb.

With Jesus comes the promise of life, everything else is death.

The world passeth away

By JOSEPH CHAMBERS

Paw Creek Ministries

Not only is the world about to pass away but every person of this world and living by this world’s pleasures and compromises is going to be judged with it. Make yourself a list of everything that is of this world and greatly loved by this world and those are the things that will not be part of God’s coming Eternal Kingdom. When you are finished then separate yourself from all those worldly things and you will be ready for God’s Holy Spirit to possess you and to go in the Rapture. This separation must be the work of Christ’s Grace and the cleansing of His Blood or it is nothing but self-righteousness.

Apostle John echoed this wonderful truth in his First Epistle. He said, by the Holy Ghost, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (I John 2:15-17)

The church world has become so worldly that the world is perfectly ready to be churchy. The mega-religions (churches, ministries, etc.) are a perfect picture of this sad development. Big time religion has replaced old-time religion and even the secular world knows it’s all a sham. The power of the Blood is still mighty to transform. The beauty of this transforming power is that Christ becomes the center focus of those it touches. This is not a redemption that starts without and works inward but it starts within and works outward. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new“. (2 Cor. 5:17)

Romans is the book called “The Romans’ Road,” but those that walk it must receive all of it. The Spirit said, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin“ (Romans. 6:6). This life is absolutely the greatest life of our human existence. Anything less is sub-human and misses the precious glory of our Lord.

The Kingdom God is presently rising in spite of what we see in the natural. In fact it has always been true that the darkest moments are just prior to the dawn. When sin gets so arrogant and haughty, that’s when God the Father says, “That’s enough.” I like what Peter said on the day of Pentecost as he preached his mighty sermon. He made it clear that the entire plan of God was on target. “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool.” (Acts 2:33-35)

When I read that passage this morning as I was before the Lord, my spirit leaped with joy. This world and the worldly crowd does not appreciate the Godly saints that do not want the world and it’s compromise. They do not just reject us, they hate us. We are a sore thumb to them and they want to destroy us. Be sweet while they fester, we will be out of here just before most of them implode. Many will already be judged even before our escape.

Consider everything that has so captured the imagination of our present society. Take every expression of the world and consider how little of it will fit the coming Kingdom of God in the Millennium and in New Jerusalem and the entire Redeemed World. The entertainment world of night life, drinking, dancing, and often immorality will be non-existent shortly. The jewelry and cosmetic industries will be out of business. The immoral dress styles and all their designers and manufacturers will be bankrupt. The tobacco and alcohol crowd will be assigned to the region of the damned.

The producers of smut will be in the Lake of Fire along with every corrupt soul. The Saints will be beautified with the glory of righteousness. There will be no effeminate men and masculine women dressed in the cross-cultural styles of a debauched society. I guarantee that every one of you know this already when you dare to really think biblically. Listen to this breathtaking Word from Jesus Christ. “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)

Everything this world and the worldly crowd love and chase are things the Bible says are an abomination. You can actually judge right and wrong to a great degree by what the world thinks. If they love it you should run from it. Sure we live in this world and we must use certain things for a normal existence. Jesus prayed for us like this. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:15-17)

The Methodists under John Wesley lived this separated life or they were not allowed to be Methodist. Dwight L. Moody would walk to preach on Sunday before he would pay to ride a carriage on the Lord’s Day. On and on we can trace Christianity when it was real and when society was being shaken to the teeth by Holy Ghost conviction. When separation from the world returns to the Saints, the Spirit of conviction will shake our communities. Nothing else will survive the coming upheaval.

Joseph Chambers

jrc@pawcreek.org