And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh.
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March 20, 2008:Traditions | Just a few more weary days and then... I'll fly away... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. |
| December 29, 2007:New Year's 2008 | ||
| November 3, 2007:How To Be Successful in Christian Ministry | ||
| October 23, 2007:Salmon |
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| The Good Shepherd William H. Haller |
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This week's lesson takes us to the 10th chapter of John, where Christ is trying to make a point to the Pharisees about what it is to be a good shepherd. Rather than stopping at verse 18, as in the quarterly, I'd like to go ahead and read the whole chapter. There are some other useful bits to be found later on.
Both quarterlies give a good description of the nature of the sheepfold in the times of Christ. It was a place of shelter for the flocks of sheep at night. There, they would be safe from most natural predators. Dake points out Sheepfolds were low buildings opening into a court, surrounded by a stone wall or fence with a layer of thorns on top for protection. A doorway carefully guarded the entrance. He goes on to describe this guard or doorkeeper of the fold as one who opens the door to the shepherds to get their flocks in the morning and who receives them at night.
He later notes that Eastern shepherds give names to their sheep, as we do to dogs and horses. Every sheep recognizes his own name and comes when called. Even when flocks are mingled they speedily separate at the command of the shepherd.
In the first six verses, Christ tells them the parable of the good shepherd. He then goes on to explain the parable in clearer words so they would not be able to misunderstand His meaning. Let's look at some of the imagery He used. In this parable, it is useful to look at us taking the place of the sheep, the church taking the place of the sheepfold, and the world taking the place of the pasture.
The sheepfold was a place of protection for the sheep. They went to that place at night after grazing in the pasture all day long. They would be safe from natural predators there. The better the sheepfold was constructed, the more likely they were to be safe from human predators as well.
The church serves (or should serve) that purpose today as well. The church should be a place of refuge that all who are hurting can come to and receive protection. The spiritual walls of the church should be strong to hold out the natural forces of the world that would destroy the flock being sheltered inside. There should be a strong hedge around the top to ensure that no thief or robber can sneak in through an unknown quarter to destroy the flock.
This walls of the sheepfold and the hedge of thorns around the top could well be thought of as the Bible. Build your church on the soliid rock of Christ, using the Bible for the walls and they will be strong. Set your church on that foundation and instruct the flock in what it says and there will be no way through its thorny crown where a thief can gain a purchase to tear down and destroy the members. Plant your church on anything else, and Satan will find a way in to destroy the flock.
The Bible is black and white, not shades of grey. It's the trying to introduce shades of grey into what the Bible says that gets people into trouble. That's like painting a big red target on the outside of the sheepfold where the supports are furthest apart and leaving Satan a battering ram on the outside of the sheepfold to play with. Don't water down the Bible. It says just what God wanted it to say. If you try to twist what He said to suit your modern day attitudes toward inclusiveness, you'll end up with a sheepfold that the wolf can come to and huff and puff at and blow down.
The analogy can be taken further. The church is a place of refuge when there is darkness about. The shepherd doesn't put the sheep in the fold when there is light. He takes them there when it is dark. The fact that it is light out doesn't make the sheepfold any less secure. The sheep would be just as safe there during the day as during the night. The thing is, a sheepfold should not be considered the natural place for sheep to reside. If they were to live solely in the sheepfold, the shepherd would have to continually bring them food and water. Sound like most Christians you know today?
Far too many people are content to stay in the sheepfold of the church and never venture out to do any work, content to make the shepherd bring them food and water. That wears the shepherd out. Is your pastor tired and overworked? Well, quit making him do all the feeding and watering. Get out there and get some grass on your own! In spiritual terms, you don't build up your treasures in heaven by living in the sheepfold. I will grant that there are many jobs that need done on any farm, and I assume the same was true back in the days of the sheepfold. There are many jobs that need done in the church, above and beyond the watchman of the gate, that may get you long term blessings in heaven. But for the vast bulk of us, the long term blessings in heaven, stored up where worm and moth can't corrupt, come from getting out into the world and finding more sheep. The grass we should be filling ourselves with is spreading Christ's message to the world. That won't happen when we are hunkered down in the sheepfold.
To look at it another way, there isn't any food naturally in a church. The only food that exists is what people bring into the storehouse with them. The bread of life, the Word, that we are to sustain ourselves with is our Bibles, and we should be feeding on that Word on a daily basis, again, outside of the walls of the church.
Back to the light and dark analogy. When you consider the history of the church around the world, the church in many countries has undergone periods of light and darkness. There are parts of the world today where the church is made up of people hidden away in home churches, with a secure watchman, who can rarely venture out and have no real freedom to share their beliefs without having an ever present wolf ready to eat them when they do. They are in darkness, and trying to survive in the bounds of their sheepfold. The Good Shepherd isn't leading them out to spread the word freely, because they can't and He knows that. In other parts of the world, the light is shining and there is freedom. The Shepherd has called His sheep out by name and told them to go and feed. The harvest is ripe and ready to be picked. Why are we still in the sheepfold? We must sow when it is time to sow, and reap when it is time to reap, for the darkness is coming when no man can work! Even in America today, you can see the darkness looming. Don't wait! Follow the Shepherd as He calls you out. Have confidence that He will lead you back to the sheepfold when it is time, but don't linger in the sheepfold when it is light and the Shepherd is calling. You won't be making any true "mileage" points that remain if you just eat the leftovers that in the sheepfold. Get out and get some fresh grass.
The robber and the thief are of course the forces of Satan, whether spiritual or in the form of people who are trying to destroy the sheep. They're out there, and they are trying to get into the church and destroy the church from within. If they can make churches of no repute and make people believe that there is no power, protection, or sustenance there, they have won half the battle. Get the power back in the churches and give yourselves something to fight with. Don't just stand by idly when freedoms are being destroyed. This country was founded with great principles by people who cherished many things, among which was freedom to worship. Don't take it for granted.
The porter or watcher of the gate is symbolic of the pastor. He is responsible for knowing the Shepherd and securing the sheep the Shepherd brings him and, equally important, allowing the sheep to follow the Shepherd's voice out of his sheepfold and into the world or possibly another sheepfold.
The Shepherd, is Jesus, of course. The primary points of this story related to the sheepfold is that He brings the sheep there for safety and he leads them out to pasture where they can feed. He leads the sheep. He doesn't tell the sheep to go to such and such a place on their own. He leads them. During the Civil War, Joseph Gilmore penned this hymn...
He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with heav'nly comfort fraught! Whate'er I do, where'er I be Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. Refrain He leadeth me, He leadeth me, By His own hand He leadeth me; His faithful follower I would be, For by His hand He leadeth me. Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, By waters still, over troubled sea, Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me. Refrain Lord, I would place my hand in Thine, Nor ever murmur nor repine; Content, whatever lot I see, Since 'tis my God that leadeth me. Refrain And when my task on earth is done, When by Thy grace the vict'ry's won, E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me. Refrain
Christ is truly doing the leading... but are we following? William Ogden penned a hymn on that topic at about the same time...
Sweet are the promises, kind is the word, Dearer far than any message man ever heard; Pure was the mind of Christ, sinless I see; He the great example is, and pattern for me. Refrain Where He leads I'll follow, Follow all the way. Where He leads I'll follow, Follow Jesus ev'ry day. Sweet is the tender love Jesus hath shown, Sweeter far than any love that mortals have known; Kind to the erring one, faithful is He; He the great example is, and pattern for me. Refrain List to His loving words, 'Come unto Me'; Weary, heavy laden, there is sweet rest for thee; Trust in His promises, faithful and sure; Lean upon the Savior, and thy soul is secure. Refrain
He knows all our names. We are His sheep. Do we come when he calls us? Do we go where He directs? If we've been lax on that perhaps we should try a little harder. Unlike the sheep, we are frequently led astray by the voice of others. Measure everything you hear and everything you read against the Bible. It is your one standard that you can judge by and not have to worry that you are listening to the wrong voice. When we hear a shepherd that is saying things in the wrong voice (that go against what the Bible declares to be truth and a correct way of living), we need to not follow and go back to truth.
The gate is self described to be Christ. He declares that all the others who came before Him claiming the be the Messiah were false, just as all who came after Him claiming to be the Messiah were false. When He comes in the air to rapture the church, there will be no doubt that He has returned. Satan will indeed try to cast doubts and misdirect the people from the truth of that event, and will raise up his own messiah like people to try to deceive the very elect. When He comes back at the second advent to rule during the millennium, there will be no doubt, and Satan won't be in a position to raise up any false Messiah's.
The gate was where the doorkeeper was stationed. That part of the sheepfold was secure. Christ would not allow any sheep to pass to or from the sheepfold through any other means than Him. Just as the parable says, there is only one way to security and that is Christ Jesus. There is no other.
As strong as the gate may be, however, it is of no use if the doorkeeper (or pastor) opens it to the enemy. If the doorkeeper opens the gate when the Shepherd isn't around, the sheep could wander away into the snare of the enemy. We need to pray for every evangelistic effort that our church may attempt to do. If Christ goes before us in our walk and prepares the way and leads us to where the grass is green, we will be successful. If the pastor starts an evangelistic effort that isn't of Christ, the sheep are at risk. It is as simple as that. If we are in tune with Christ and listening to His voice, we will recognize that the Shepherd isn't there. If we haven't yet learned to hear His voice and are just blindly following a man, then we are at risk if the pastor goes off in a direction that Christ isn't leading.
If the sheep inside hear Christ's voice calling to them to come to the pasture and the watchman won't open the gate, you end up with a bunch of frustrated sheep. If they don't hear the voice of Christ calling them out and the watchman opens the gate, you have a bunch of confused sheep milling about smartly.
We need to pray for our pastors and other Christian leaders at all times. If you think that you have prayed enough for your own pastor fo the day, but still want to do some more praying, then ask God who to pray for next. He'll lay someone on your heart. If you can't think of anyone else, pray for me. I could always use some prayer support.
Nevertheless, as verse 9 says, and to reiterate a point made above: We aren't to stay in the sheepfold. We are to come in and go out and find pasture. We are to get spiritually fat with actions that provide long term spiritual rewards.
The final portion of this scripture contrasts the Shepherd with the hireling. The hireling will do the exact same job as the Shepherd, until adversity comes his way. Then he will abandon the sheep to save himself. He is there for the money, but he has no interest in the sheep other than as a job. He has no ownership interest. He leads the sheep out into the world where there are dangers galore, and all is well until trouble comes up. When that occurs, he runs.
In contrast, and in a foreshadowing of His laying down His life on the cross, Christ declares that He is the Good Shepherd and will give up His life so that His sheep might live. He goes on to declare that in addition to the Jews that He was speaking to, there were other sheep that were also to be of His flock that He had to bring back to the sheepfold. Praise the Lord for this. As we look back on history, it is clear He was speaking of the Gentiles, but this would have not made much sense to the people who heard Him speaking that day.
The conclusion to this parable teaching to the Pharisees comes in verse 25 and following, which was not included in the quarterly reading. In these verses, he harks back to the miracle of healing the blind man that started the controversy at the start of John chapter 9. The Pharisees ask Him to tell them point blank if He is the Messiah. Christ declares that He has both told them and done works in His Father's name that bore witness that God was with Him, and they didn't believe Him. He says plainly that they do not believe Him because they are not His sheep. The sheep that heard His voice and followed Him would be given eternal life. He declares that no man will be able to take them from His hand. He declares that God is greater than all and that no man can take them from His Father's hand. Then He declares that He and the Father are one.
At this they try to stone Him again, but He leaves. The chapter ends with the declaration that John hadn't done any miracles, but that everything that John had said about Christ was true. Many believed on Him then and there. Today is the day that you should too.
