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I'd like to just read a brief note.
We're grateful for many that have come great distances.
In response to an invitation that went out last September.
That time we wrote.
Our Lord Jesus was quite emphatic, even insistent, that his sheep should be fed.
Peter was instructed to do it in John 21 verses 1516 and 17. Feed my sheep, feed my lambs.
And Peter later wrote, feed the flock of God, which is among you.
Being in samples to the flock, first Peter VS two and three, then Paul instructed the Ephesian elders.
Take heed to feed.
The Church of God, Acts 20, verse 28.
Next paragraph The world around us is vigorously offering to young.
And old alike food which is but ashes, and the emptiness of wind.
We do have something better to feed on.
Jeremiah put it this way.
Thy words were found.
And I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.
Jeremiah 15 verse 16 then Psalm 37 three says trust in the Lord and.
Verily thou shalt be fed.
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We are painfully aware of our weakness, yet cannot turn our backs on the OFT repeated desire of our Lord's heart that we should be fed.
Just note that if we had an electronic apparatus to tally up numbers and what hunting, you might find that the number of young folks here that just draw an arbitrary date folks under 21.
Maybe a third of us or more.
So this is a plea.
For simplicity.
John, Chapter 10.
Delightful.
Chapter 10.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber.
But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the Porter openness, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, and they know his voice.
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were, which he spake unto them.
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.
The thief tell us not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have the life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
But he that is in hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flee us, and the wolf catcheth them, and scatters the sheep.
The higher length fleeth because he is in higher length and careth not for the sheep.
I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, Even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No, ma'am, taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father.
There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath the devil, and is mad, Why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath the devil a devil open the eyes of the blind. And it was a Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him.
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How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believe not The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. They give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my father are one.
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them. Many good works have I showed you from my Father. For which of those works do ye stone me?
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou being a man, makest thyself God.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law? I said, Ye are gods, if he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken. Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world?
Thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God.
If I do not, the works of my father believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works that you may know, and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Therefore they sought again to take him, and he escaped out of their hand.
And went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John at the first baptized, And there he abode.
And many resorted unto him, and said John did no miracle, but all, all things that John spake of this man were true, and many believed on him there.
I believe it is helpful to see.
That what happened in Chapter 9.
With the man that was born blind, and to treatment that he received of those who were in a position outwardly of shepherds in Israel who cast him out.
They were not good shepherds, were they? And that prompts the Lord Jesus to present himself.
As the Good Shepherd.
What a wonderful thing that we know Him who have come to know Him as Savior.
But what is especially?
Important is to see.
That is, hearing His voice and listening for His voice is what first of all brings us to Him and also should characterize us after we belong to Him. And I trust that in these meetings we will hear the Shepherd's voice, because that makes all the difference, does it not?
He is not personally here, but He is nevertheless in the midst, and the things that might be expounded and brought before us might be indeed as led by Him through the Spirit, so that we can hear the Shepherd's voice.
Might be well also to just at first verse.
Would remind us as young people that anyone who comes the.
Other way is a thief and a robber.
They would do no good.
They come up some other way.
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It's helpful to see too, that you have in this chapter the sheepfold in verse one.
And later on in verse 16 he says other sheep I have which are not of this fold.
That's the sheepfold again, that's the Jewish enclosure. They were a separated people. They had a God-given fence build around them. That was of God in the Old Testament times. But here in verse 16 to go on, it says them also, I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one.
Flock is really the word there. It's not fold and one shepherd.
So that the Lord Jesus is, especially in John's Gospel.
Brother AC Brown used to say we have the buddings of Christianity and so here's something that is characteristic of Christianity.
Not a fold, not an enclosure, but a family, a center to which we are attracted. That's the sense of the word flock. And so in connection with the blind man who received his sight in Chapter 9, he got thrown out of the sheepfold, that Jewish enclosure, but he was attracted to the Lord Jesus.
And that is the principle of what we have in Christianity, the flock. And like you say, it's so important to have an ear tuned to the voice of the shepherd, the Lord Jesus. When he came, He came to that sheepfold, to that Jewish enclosure, and that's what it refers to in the first verses here. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but cometh up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber.
But he that entereth in by the doors, the shepherd of the sheep, he came in by the door.
He came in by the way that scriptures had designated that he would come. That's coming in by the door, isn't it? There were false messiahs in Israel's history. They didn't come in by the door.
For us today in applying this.
Whether Bill mentioned.
The thief and the robber. It is striking, isn't it, that this sublime passage, which brings before us the character of the Lord Jesus as the Great Shepherd, the loving Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep, starts with a warning.
About thieves and robbers, that's the first thing we read. There's the warning and then there's in verse 2, the shepherd. And I think we want to.
Remind all of our hearts that when it talks about the.
A thief and a robber when it talks about them.
Climbing or mounting up some other way than by the door.
Let's remember, beloved brethren, that that which would.
Come in to wreak havoc among the people of God, the sheep of Christ.
To steal our hearts away from that Good Shepherd who only and ever would do us good, will go to.
No small amount of energy to gain entrance somehow, either through subtlety or through open violence. The thief and the robber. And I'd like to turn just for a moment, just to see the character of that a well known.
Passage, but one which is very, very solemn to ones heart whenever.
This is pondered, turn back with me, please. The second Samuel. We're going to see a character that I think we see today that would seek to come in and take us away from the shepherd, whether for the young people it might be in one form, for those who are older in another.
But no amount of effort, and if I can say it this way, no, its expense will be too small to expend today in seeking to get us somehow away from our blessed shepherd. And that's in Second Samuel 15. And not to read very many verses. We know the story well about Absalom. What strikes me about Absalom was he answers to the thief and the robber morally.
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But it's very important to recognize he was beautiful.
He didn't look frightening. He didn't look obnoxious, He didn't look repulsive, nor did he act that way. And what he was about was to steal the hearts of the children of Israel away from the true shepherd, David. And he did that. And I just want to read those verses to remind us how he worked.
He comes up first of all, there's quite a display of His glory and His beauty in verse one. And then in verse two he pretends to be interested in the individuals that came up to Jerusalem. So he says in the end of verse 2, of what city art thou? This is Absalom, and he's calling out to the children of Israel as they come. What city are you from? I'm interested in you.
And then he goes on and he says something else that we are constantly hearing.
That is so effective in taking our hearts away from the shepherd, he says. Your matters are good and right. It doesn't matter what you're concerned about. It doesn't matter what your circumstances are. It's good. It's right.
No conscience, no effort to in any way in faithfulness, say to any of these, you know you're not on a very good path. Whatever path those people were on, it was just fine with Absalom. And he told them.
Everything you're doing is just fine. And then he says there's no one interested in you. Verse three, no one is deputed of the king to hear thee. You know, David isn't really got time for you. He's not really interested in you.
That's another thing that the thief and the robber does, tries to get us to see, get our eyes away from the person of Christ and to perhaps start looking at brethren and say, see, they're not really very interested in you. They're not interested in your circumstances. And then he goes on and he says, now if I were in charge, verse 4I the last few words, I would do him justice. I'll give you what you want, I'll take care of you. Your causes are right.
And justice, let me come in, let me take over, and I'll do what's right. And then he says it says.
He kissed him affection, pretended to love, and the result is Absalom steals the hearts in verse six of the men of Israel. Well, brethren, we need to have our eyes focused afresh on the Lord Jesus because without that there is, it's been mentioned, a world out there full of every kind of trick and every kind of effort by one who doesn't come as a roaring lion.
But he comes as an Angel of light. He looks so good. What he offers seems so right.
He makes us feel so good about ourselves and the whole effort is that as a thief and a robber, he might steal us away from the only one who will ever do us good now and for all eternity. And beloved young people, beloved brethren, I need and you need to have our hearts freshly stirred and our eyes freshly focused on our blessed Lord Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Otherwise.
There is going to be that which would seek in character to steal our hearts.
Before we leave that portion, let's go back to the 14th chapter. And it gives a very striking in the 25th verse, a very striking contrast to the Lord. So this is Second Samuel 1425. But in all Israel it was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty.
Now notice the opposite direction from the.
Glories of the Lord in the Song of Solomon, from the soul of his foot, even to the crown of his head.
There was number blemish in him and then we turned to the Song of Solomon, which we won't take time for.
But it starts at his head and goes down.
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Because the man of this world, of which Absalom is certainly a type, where is he centered? He's centered on this earth, on his feet, and it's not on solid ground. But the Blessed Lord, when he's eulogized, it starts with a head and goes down.
But a duck what you were saying?
You certainly imply that that is a danger that exists among us, the gathered Saints.
Anytime when anybody is willing to justify and ignore the sin that is manifested or the sinful relationships amongst the Saints. He's an Absalom and that has happened.
And we are in danger of that, especially in the loudy sea and state in which we live that manifests itself even amongst the gathered Saints, because the emphasis is unmanned and not on the glory of Christ. But it is wonderful, as already indicated by our brother Barr, that the Lord Jesus came fulfilling all those.
Scriptures.
That prophesied His coming, but then we find true that the doorkeeper.
Opens the door. Now who is that doorkeeper? Recently somebody ministered among us and said that that was the law. That was not the law. That is the spirit of God that opened the door to the sheepfold. I know that Bruce some time ago gave us these various.
Types or how the Spirit of God is referred to.
In John's Gospel and he mentioned that this is one of them, right, Brother Bruce, can you give us the seven?
You mentioned seven ways in which the Spirit of God is referred to in John.
I'm not sure if I can remember them now, but the dove in chapter one we have the.
The wind in chapter 3.
Of the fountain in chapter 4. The river in chapter seven, quarter in chapter 10.
And help me now, is it Chapter 14 where we get in 1516 where he's the the guide period of truth, spirit of truth has the guidance.
Well, the point is that it is not only for the Lord Jesus that the Spirit of Lord opens the door to the sheep. I think that is even the case today. Anyone that he raises up.
To have a genuine concern for the sheep and to serve them, the Spirit of God will open the door so that he can get an entrance.
And so that he can be a source of blessing. But then we find that the Lord Jesus enters, as it already was pointed out, the bold. And then he leads them out of the fold, never to return.
And not only does He lead them out, we have a stronger term in verse four when He put us forth his own sheep.
You know, sometimes the sheep might not be as willing as willingly and not as ready to listen to the shepherd leading them out of the fold. Maybe he has to use a little more force putting them out and hopefully we allow him to do that. You know, many Christians who love the Lord sincerely have really been.
Forced into a legal enclosure, A fold.
And the Spirit of God would seek to leave them out of such a legal exposure enclosure, and maybe the Lord sometimes has to use more of a force to push them out. There was a man in Germany who was in a system of men, and he learned a lot about the truth that is many, many years ago.
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And he thought he would share that with these fellow believers in the systems where he was. Finally somebody told him, you belong among the brethren. He had to tell him, what are you doing here? You don't belong here. You belong with those that where you gather what you're trying to bring before us. So the Lord used that man, you might say, to push him out, you know, and hopefully.
We will be kept from forming a pole. There are tendencies, beloved Saints. We have to be faithful to point not only out what is in the system. There is a tendency among us to set up legal rules and regulations. You cannot have an unbeliever at a wedding of believers. You cannot have them at a funeral of believers. Those are legal things that people try to subject the Saints to.
Let's not succumb to that, oppose it, object to it. That's not the moving of the Spirit of God. That might be the only time that an unbeliever hears the gospel at a funeral of Christians. So just I'm just saying that because these things occur among those gathered through the name of the Lord Jesus. Now there's the danger and the one extreme to be come a legal system.
And then there is of course, the other extreme to go to the other extreme and to be too liberal. But we don't want either of these extremes because if we stay close to the shepherd, listen to His voice and bow to his word, and do not read something into his word that isn't there.
We will be preserved in the path of truth.
I think we need to establish at the beginning of the our readings on this chapter that the subject before us is the Lord's leading his people out of Judaism and into Christianity. And the two figures that have been brought before us, the fold and the flock, depict these two principles of gathering. The fold really brings before us a Jewish principle of gathering. As has been said, the law and all of its principles were keeping the.
Nation of Israel together and they were fenced off and separated from all the other nations and kept together by that legal way. But now we find that the Lord is introducing something new and that is the flock, which depicts Christian principle of gathering where there is no need for a fence around anymore because there's a Workman done in the heart of his people that are attracted to.
The Lord who is in the midst and they want to be together. There is no need for force. And so the subject here is to lead them out of the fold and into the flock. The Lord did not do that in His lifetime in His ministry. His ministry was primarily to the circumcision, as we learned from Romans chapter 15. What He's Speaking of here is really what He would do by the Spirit of God after He.
Rose and went back to heaven and would lead his people out, and we see that in the book of the Acts.
And emphasized also, of course, in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Actually, they were permitted for 35 years to continue.
With the temple and with the Jewish order of things, the liberty that was established in Acts chapter 15 was established for the Gentile believers. But we find in the very next chapter that Paul circumcised Timothy, you know, But then by the Spirit of God, Paul was used to write Hebrews for this purpose, to deliver them from the Jewish system. And when he has showed them.
That all of that which they at one time so valued were nothing but types and shadows. They had their fulfillment in Christ. Why even continue to cling to them? So at the end of Hebrews he says, Go unto him outside the camp. The Lord Jesus isn't in that place any longer. He was rejected. He's outside. Go unto Him outside bearing his reproach.
So the Spirit of God leads Paul to write that epistle for the distinct purpose of leading him out. And from history we know that they did leave that system, not only the system, they left Jerusalem and they weren't there, the Christians when Titus destroyed it. 78 D. So the Lord was patient with them, and we can certainly be patient with people that come from a legal system.
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And attend meetings that might take some time for them to get delivered from some of their legal ideas. But.
That is nevertheless God's purpose. We have to go unto Him. He is not involved in any of these legal systems that men have set up, even under the name of Christianity. He's outside of it, and we go unto Him, bearing His reproach.
I'd like to point out, just as a means of emphasis, I think some might be happy to see it that is, and it's already been referred to a voice, verse 16.
Where the Lord says And other sheep I have which are not of this fold Judaism.
Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one, and that should be flocked, according to Mr. Darby.
One fold, but one flop, which reinforces everything that's been said. And I think that's lovely. And you'll notice one shepherd, well, that's Christ, the head of the church. So that's just a simple observation, but it's right here. And that's Mr. Darby makes that change and it bears out exactly what we've been hearing.
I think it's good to recognize, brethren, that a natural tendency of our hearts is to return to the Jewish system of things, to return to the idea of a fold of.
An enclosure and that's why we have the book of Hebrews. That's you find the tendency in the also in Galatians.
It's, it's, it's a natural tendency of our hearts to do that. And I, I think it's because we see that.
Souls start wandering from Christ and then immediately we want to put up a barrier. What is the answer to that, brethren? It is the presentation of the glory of the person of the Lord Jesus and if He is presented properly.
Souls that are real will have their hearts drawn to Him. That is the power of Christianity. And there will be no looseness as you say.
Brother Heinz, if souls are truly.
Attracted to the person of the Lord Jesus? There can't be.
It's going to be the remedy and I think that is a real challenge for us in our days, brethren.
Is Christ magnified in our midst? Do people see us who gather in a certain place, or do they see Christ Himself? Oh, that it would be so, brethren, that.
We could say when we go away from a meeting, as the disciples said to Thomas, we have seen the Lord and if we've seen the Lord presented.
Then our hearts are going to be drawn after him. That is the power of gathering brother attraction to his glorious person. Could we add to that brother Bob that say that it would be good, and I hardly agree. That's wonderful that we could each of us from our hearts say we have seen Jesus in Acts chapter 4.
We might add this they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.
If we're going to.
Encourage the flock, beginning with ourselves, not to stray away. It's going to be by my looking at you and you looking at me and seeing Christ, seeing him as the object and delight, something that is exciting and precious and wonderful to me. And if you see that and I see that in you, I'm not going to want to go away and look for something else.
The world, with all of its thieves and robbers, I say again in moral application, has all sorts of things that look very exciting and sparkling and bright and inviting.
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But brethren, what a challenge to our hearts to so personally be found.
In the enjoyment of my precious Savior, your precious Savior, that that just is there and someone looks at you or looks at me and sees and takes knowledge that they've been with Jesus and I want to be there too.
Might be well to remind us that.
We have an enclosure.
And then we have a center.
Been stated before that enclosure has a wall around it, a fence around it, and a walk has a center.
But then once we find in the New Testament that there is a flock with a center, there is also an enclosure.
There are some that are within it, some that are not, called discipline.
And if we walk?
Close to the center, the shepherd, we don't encounter the wall, we don't encounter the enclosure, but if we don't, we get out to where God has provided for us. Shall we say a little wake up call. He he would, he would remind us there is that which would turn us back to the separate the center as discipline and there are many believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who are not within that.
Enclosure, and that's for us, is a warning for us too. Grace has brought us here. We're sitting here by Grace may keep us there.
But a Bill, would you perhaps allow to speak of that more as being in fellowship when the Scripture speaks of being within, not so much an enclosure, but being inside of those that are in fellowship? You would allow that, would you? Yes. That is the inclusion. That is the, that is the difference between we'll say us and them.
But we we say it in in pride.
What have we said? That we are better?
But he was here as the grace of God that finds us here. What there is a difference between?
Those gathered and those not gathered is called being in fellowship.
That's why I prefer that to put it that way, because it might lead sold to things that there is now a new fold. But how wonderful that in order to hear the Shepherd's voice, we have to be close to the Shepherd.
You know, we cannot hear His voice if we don't stay close to him. That requires communion and fellowship with him. But there is even a closer position indicated than being close enough to hear His voice, and that's in Psalm 32.
That he was guide us with his eyes. You know, we have to be even closer then, because all we have to do is look into his eyes and we know exactly whether he's approving or disapproving of what we might.
To intending to do or are involved in so closeness to Christ.
Is the basis for security for the believer. While we are here in this scene, of course, we also have.
A fellowship with those who are part of the flock. While he is the Good Shepherd, there are under shepherds. You know the verse was referred to.
Feed the flock of God that is. Among those are the under shepherds that are.
Thus admonished, so the Lord, even in his goodness, gives us those that he has raised up among God's people that can be shepherds. And we would all, I'm sure, readily agree that that service, the service of the shepherd, is needed more than any other service. Not that we want to belittle teaching and other aspects of the service, evangelism, and so on, but.
The shepherd is especially that which we probably feel the greatest need of amongst the gathered Saints. They are under shepherds. They are those who take the lead, and hopefully they will lead well. That's what Paul says to Timothy. Those who lead well, the elders should be counted worthy of double honor. Yes, there are those under shepherds, but the flock does not belong to them.
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It's his flock, and they better do remember that, that the Saints are not their flock, as even in the systems of men they refer to the people that they head up as my flock, My people. They are his flock, and they ought to be guided by the chief shepherd in their service in shepherding the sheep.
First Peter chapter 5, verse two, feed the flock of God.
Which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint, but willingly, Not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.
Wasn't Peter's flock, it was the flock of God. Just thinking about this brethren, The man in the previous chapter who was in an enclosure.
In that system of Judaism.
Had no liberty until, although he had a blessing because he was healed.
Marvelous blessing. But one of the greater blessings, perhaps, was that he was.
Excommunicated.
He was cast out of that enclosure.
Verse 34 of Chapter 9.
And then what does it say? In 35 Jesus heard that he had been cast out, and he found him.
And he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And he answered and said, Who is he Lord?
That I might believe on him.
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord.
I believe and he worshipped not in a system or an enclosure.
But he worshipped him.
A great day for him when he was cast out, excommunicated. The happiest thing that ever happened in his life.
Chapter 8 does give us the thought of the Word being rejected. Chapter 9 is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shepherd being rejected. Chapter 10 that we're in and joined together thus far, is the Shepherd himself rejected.
But if we go to Chapter 11, it is the believer rejected, as our brother Heinz mentioned, going forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, there will be a reproach connected with being identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst. We don't suffer much, do we, brethren? But if we were faithful, there would be that sense of being rejected as a believer identified with the person in the midst.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
And we learned from verse four that the Lord was behind it. In our chapter it says when he putteth forth his sheep. Now that word putteth is exactly the same word that's translated in the 9th chapter cast.
So the Lord was behind it, and we learn here from the latter part of verse three and the first part of verse four that He has two ways in which He is leading and putting His people out of the Jewish fold that He might lead them to the flock. The standard way, shall we say, would be that there is an attraction.
In the soul of the believer, the sheep. And so he goes before and they follow him out. But because he knew his people would be attracted to, at least entrenched in the Jewish ways, their hearts wrapped up in it, it would be very difficult for them to leave it. He uses pressure as well, and that's what verse four is Speaking of. He putteth forth his own sheep. And so by them enjoying Christ and Speaking of Christ, they get themselves cast out, but behind it.
The Lord is working because he's seeking to leave them out of the fold and to the flock.
I'd like to give a very brief outline. There are two mentions of the Father's house in the Gospel of John the Second. The first one is in the second chapter, and very clearly it's Herod's Temple, but the Lord calls it my Father's house.
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From that point.
Until we get to the 10th chapter that the Lord is dealing with a people which according to the fifth chapter rejected the testimony that he gave in connection with the impotent man. And so we get to the 7th chapter, they reject his words, the 8th chapter they reject his person, and the 9th chapter they reject his words. And so now we have the 10th chapter.
And as it develops further in the 11Th chapter, we find not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. So we haven't a strengthening of the flock and mentioned in the 10th chapter. Then over in the 12Th chapter we find, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abideth alone, but if it died bringeth forth much fruit.
And so then in the next chapter, the Lord is in the upper room washing his disciples feet and we have then the whole sphere that I like to think of it as a golden staircase from the 2nd chapter to the 10th, the 11Th, the 12Th. And then by the time the Lord is at the 13th chapter for getting Judas for the moment, we find that the Lord is entirely with his own apart from all of the the words and and.
Bickering and complaining and and judgment that they wanted to bring against the Lord. Now the 14th chapter, my father's house, it's a heavenly thing. So from the 2nd chapter, which the Lord to repeat it very clearly with Herod's temple. But the Lord says my father's house. But from then on we can see a pathway that he's seeking to lead his own. And in the 10th chapter we find it and we have it strengthened in the 11Th, the 12Th, we get to the 14th.
And we can find in my father's house or many mansions, and that's the position of Christianity that we're brought into, separated entirely from the father's house. And the 2nd chapter never were as Gentiles. But now as we get into the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th, it's just an outpouring of the green pastures for the sheep that he's LED out in the 10th chapter.
We have different doors in this chapter. First door is the door that he enters into the fold. Then he himself is the door out of the fold, but then he also is the door into Christian blessing. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved.
And then we find he shall go in and out and find pasture. He is not the door into a legal fold. There is liberty. They go in, but they also can go out. And and it begins with going in in to enjoy him and then to go out in blessing for others. That's Christianity. How wonderful to see these different doors.
He is the door out of that fold, never to lead them back in. But then He is the door into Christian blessings, and by having Him we're introduced into these blessings. We don't go to a literal door.
But by having him, he's the door into Christian blessing.
We should remember.
Knowing the book of Acts in chapter 2.
The Saints ascended in chapter one, the steps there to the Upper Room as a group.
But they came back down a body.
And that should be a reminder for us that.
Come to be gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sit before Him.
Members of one body.
If I want to be a member of a group, I've got to go find a sect for that.
But for to be members of one body sitting before him, at his feet, to hear what he has to say, that brings us to the center of his fold, that position that belongs to Christianity. It belongs to every believer.
00:55:08
That position.
There's a lot said in this chapter about hearing His voice and not hearing the voice of strangers. And I think it's something to think about, brethren, to hear His voice. We need to cultivate that in our daily lives, not merely in assembly meetings when we come together, but in our individual lives.
To cultivate a hearing voice, You know, so often the Lord speaks and we do not have ears to hear, and that's why the challenge goes out so often in the Gospels and also in the seven churches. He that hath an ear, let him hear.
I am challenged when I think brethren of the Lord.
Speaking to the disciples so often during his life down here, telling them that he was going to go to Jerusalem and be rejected of the chief priests and scribes and be crucified and rise again the third day.
And the 12 didn't get it. They had so fixed in their mind the idea that he had come to set up his Kingdom that even though he said it plainly again and again, they didn't get it. And so often we have our preconceived ideas, and to come to the Word of God with an open heart is so important, brethren.
Open to listen to his voice. In fact, it seems, brethren, that there was one person that seemed to get the message.
And it was, you remember, Mary of Bethany.
Who sat at his feet and heard His word? You don't hear a lot about what she said, what she did, some serious listening. And you don't find Mary at the cross, not Mary at Bethany, nor at the tomb, because it seems the Lord gives her credit at least for having anointed his body beforehand for the burial, so that she's not there at the tomb because she realized.
He was going to rise again. Brethren, do we listen? I have to challenge my heart. It's so easy. And I have to say that oftentimes in my own personal readings at home, I get the Bible out in the morning. I read my chapter. But so often after I've read through a whole chapter, I stop and say, no, What did I read? My mind was.
Off in 10 different things that I had to do that day.
And I wasn't listening.
To go back then over the chapter again.
Until his voice comes through clear, brethren, it's vital. It's important to listen to him, says in First Corinthians 14. There are so many voices in this world. There are a lot of voices, and we're always listening to one thing and another. I'm amazed how people seem to be able to listen to two or three things at the same time.
You can't listen very well that way.
You need undivided attention when it is God who is speaking. And let's encourage our young people and let's encourage those of us who are older to take time.
Premium Time Quiet time in the presence of the Lord Jesus.
In our daily lives to listen to his voice.
The other day I asked a young man if he was reading the Scriptures. Nice young brother, nice testimony. Not in this country. But he says I don't have any time to read the Bible.
He said, But he says I pray so he said to him.
If you pray but you don't read the word, it's like sin to the Lord.
Lord, I want you to listen to what I have to say, but I really don't have any time to listen to what you have to say to me.
Is that right?
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He said wow, I guess that isn't right and we really need to take time to listen, brethren.
I say premium time, quiet time. After all, who is he?
Who's speaking to us in His word? Who is that? Is it just some friend that we listen to once in a while? Might take his advice or not? This is the Lord of glory. This is extremely important to get the message clear. And it's interesting. Sheep, you know, are pretty stupid animals.
Generally speaking, kind of humiliating for the human race that we're compared to sheep, isn't it?
But that's what Scripture does, and I think it is interesting.
That even though sheep don't know a lot, they do know one thing.
They know the Shepherd's voice, and if we trained our ears to listen better, brethren, to the voice of the Shepherd, other voices really wouldn't distract us too much.
The Lord help us to cultivate a listening ear, a ear tuned to His voice. Brother Bob, my wife and I have developed 2 little simple principles at home to be able to hear one another. The first one is that we have to see one another. She thinks that maybe I'm there and I've gone down the stairs to the computer room. The first one is to be able to see and the other is that if I'm in the bathroom and the water is running.
I can't hear her. So that if you're at the source of noise, you can't hear the person talking into it because there's a question of energy against energy. So the first criteria is make sure we see one another, and then the second is make sure that you're not making some noise. And it's a very practical example of being able to hear the Lord, that if we can see him and if we're not occupied with noise of mind or spirit.
Were much better in a condition to be able to hear his voice.
But above, how old do kids have to be before they read the Bible for themselves?
1520 years old.
No early will I seek thee, the scripture says and.
It's a pleasure to see young people, children, reading the Bible for themselves, I asked one of my granddaughters on the phone. Are you still reading the Bible for yourself? Yes, she said. Where are you reading? In the Book of Revelation? Oh, I said. That's not an easy book.
Yeah, she said. It is, but the first chapters are not that bad.
Well, you know when a brother was sitting reading the Bible and was told and then.
Somebody came by that was at work. We saw him read. What are you reading? Oh, I'm reading the Bible. Where in the Bible are you reading? I'm reading in the Book of Revelation. Or do you understand that? Older brother said I there's a lot of things I don't understand, but I see that the Lord Jesus is going to win.
Yes, so the blessing in reading the scriptures for ourselves, you will have questions, no doubt as children and hopefully the parents can answer these questions or if they can, some brother in the meeting can. But even reading the Bible as families, you know that the father and the mother bring the scriptures before the children. It's one thing we have to stress in Malawi because.
The culture is not lending itself to that kind of thing, sitting down as families having meals and reading the Bible and praying. We stress that very much, and hopefully there's nobody that negligent in this part of the world to sit down, read the Scriptures with the children and pray with them.
And there's also the story told us to knowing the Shepherd's voice.
A simple sister.
Who was visited by some of those peddlers of error. They came to the door and she listened for a while and she said, would you please leave? Because what you're saying is not the voice of the Shepherd. She couldn't refute them, but she recognized that was not the voice of the shepherd. Well, don't listen to people that want to tell you things that will tend to confuse you.
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And.
There is such a wonderful lesson even for us in the book of Ruth.
When she gathered in the field of Boaz. Boaz is a picture of the Lord Jesus.
And what this bore us tell her, first of all, he told the servants not to harm her. That's good for us who are servants who remember that the Lord instructs us not to harm God's people. But also he told her not to gather in another field.
Now what do we gather from that together in the field where His authority is owned? I believe that is the lesson. Many times even those amongst the gathered Saints get into confusion because they listen to all kinds of television programs and radio programs. There might be a lot of good things on there, but you might also pick up some error. We have good written ministry, written by men that God has raised up.
To recover the truth, make use of them and do not glean in another field. I think that's a helpful.
Advice.
Gather where His authorities on When is it that the Lord recovered so much of the truth? When was it?
When Christians simply came together in the name of the Lord Jesus, recognizing His authority, looking to Him as head, and giving Him that place of headship, these are things that hopefully you will consider and that you will benefit from it. I'm not saying that there is nothing good presented by those not gathered to the name of the Lord, but be careful. You might also pick up things that will lead you into confusion and might even.
Lead you to doubt the position that the Lord has given us.
As being gathered on the ground of the one body.
Gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. Before we get too far from verse one, I would like to share with you what the Lord gave me yesterday morning on the way from Saint Louis to Dallas.
We had made arrangements reservations for flying on Wednesday.
And.
Wednesday my wife had 24 hour flu. She couldn't possibly do it, but we had a rather heavy snow, three or four inches I guess on Tuesday and the flight was cancelled.
I speak of this because there are those who are thieves and robbers.
When we got on the plane yesterday morning.
My wife was next to the window, I was in the middle and there was a gentleman on my left. And after we got started, I got acquainted with him, found out he was a college graduate, but he had gotten his education from a Catholic college. So I thought what shall I share with him? So I asked him, Micah, what?
Can you explain to me what the sin of presumption is?
And he says, well, I'm not just sure. Well, I to make a Long story short, if I can, he, I said, generally speaking, those people who say I know my sins are forgiven, I know that heaven is my home. I know that I can never, never go to hell.
I cannot be punished after I die for my sins. Well, this is something new.
To him, but he did not reject it, and I gave him scripture after Scripture, Romans 81 and John 316 and other other scriptures, and he embraced everything that I said and there was no question about it.
01:10:06
Then.
He said I had told him how that we were supposed to be there the day before and.
The Lord worked it. Otherwise, he says. Let me show you something. He pulled out his wallet.
He says this is a Christmas present from my brother and in it was this note.
There are.
There's no cash gift for your Christmas as such, but he said here's a ticket to the ball game that you would like to go to for yourself and your two boys in San Diego. I don't know exactly what it was, some professional or college deciding game and.
Here are the tickets for you and here is a plane fare. The plane tickets for you and the three two boys and says room and board is free because we'll be at mom's house.
He said.
I would not have been here.
To hear what you have to say.
If God had not worked for my blessing for eternity.
He says.
What you have said, I've never heard in my life.
It's true, I believe it. He was delighted with all that I had to say. So there are those.
Who are?
Thieves and robbers. He recognized that all he had heard in his life through his childhood, through college, was falsehood. But now he said, he said, I cannot go to hell. There is no purgatory. He says, I said, why is that? He says my sins were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he died the wages of sin for my eternal welfare. Well.
It was such a pleasure to be with him and he said the same thing.
So he heard the Shepherd's voice through you, Dave.
Precious Word of God.
And we need to cultivate listening, don't we? I think God uses instruments to speak to us that we least expect. Sometimes He isn't limited. When it came to rebuking Balaam, He could use the mouth of a donkey to rebuke the madness of the prophet.
So God uses instruments and we need to have a voice ear ready to listen.
Remember as a younger believer.
Saying to an older brother who was kind of a spiritual father to me, I said to him.
And that particular brother speaks. I can't hardly listen because of his testimony.
And their brother said to me.
Despise not prophesying, he says. You may not appreciate that brother, but listen. God may be saying something to you through that brother. And that was a good rebuke for me, brethren, to listen.
Abusers, people, instruments. Human instruments. Sometimes the least expected instrument we need to have.
Ears open to hear, even in the assembly meetings.
Doesn't mean that we might not say something wrong. Sometimes things are said that are wrong, but that's why it says in First Corinthians 14. Let the prophets speak two or three and let the others judge. You've got the standard in your hands, brethren. You're listening to what is being said this morning. Measure it. Just because it's being said by some brother doesn't mean necessarily that it's completely true.
Maybe it's unbalanced, and that's why in an assembly meeting we have the privilege of speaking. And when there is something that is not balanced, something that is not right, there is opportunity in the leading of the Holy Spirit to correct. So it says, let the others judge, and that means to measure it by the word of God that we have in our hands. This is the standard, not what we say about it.
01:15:27
Impressed me the other day, somebody said it seems like we put a lot of emphasis on what we say about Scripture. Maybe we should put more emphasis on what Scripture itself says. It's helpful to have reading meetings like this, brethren, but remember what we say about Scripture.
The value of it is so that Scripture itself may be clear to our understandings, and then Scripture is what guides us, not what brethren say about it. May the Lord help us.
To listen in a right way. Good to be Bereans, is it not?
They didn't even accept what the Apostle Paul said per SE without searching the Scriptures to see if it was so.
Show all things hold fast that which is good.
Sing hymn number 84.
We hear the words of love, we gaze upon the blood, we see the mighty sacrifice, and we have peace with God.
Verse stanza 6 And Yonder is our peace, the grave of all our woes. Now these closing verses. We know the Son of God has come. We know he died and rose we know.
He liveth now at God's right hand. Above we know the throne on which he sits.
No, His Truth and love 84 Let's stand.