2010-05-28
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today we look at the question: Do false teachers [prophets] take care of the sheep? Let’s look at what the real Lord of all does from JN 10: 14-15, “I am the Good Shepherd. As the Father knows Me and I know the Father, in the same way I know My sheep and they know Me. And I am willing to die for them.” Now see Him shine through MT 7: 25-26, “This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds flying around: they do not plant seeds gather the harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds?”
Now, let’s look at the care or lack thereof offered by false teachers. EZK 34: 1-6, “The Lord spoke to me [Ezekiel], ‘Mortal man,’ He said, ‘denounce the rulers of Israel. Prophesy to them, and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to them: You are doomed, you shepherds of Israel! You take care of yourselves, but never tend the sheep. You drink the milk, wear clothes made from wool, and kill and eat the finest sheep. But you never tend the sheep. You have not taken care of the weak ones, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly. Because the sheep had no shepherd, they were scattered, and wild animals killed and ate them. So my sheep wandered over the high hills and the mountains. They were scattered over the face of the earth, and no one looked for them or tried to find them.” More of what these poor and heartless shepherds do is spoken of in EZK 34: 21-24, “’You pushed the sick ones aside and butted them away from the flock. But I will rescue My sheep and not let them be mistreated any more. I will judge each of my sheep and separate the good from the bad. I will give them a King like my servant David to be their One Shepherd, and He will take care of them [2 SAM 7: 13]. I, the Lord, will be their God, and a King like my servant David will be their Ruler. I have spoken.’” Our God had given people as long ago as those in exile in the Chabar river area of Babylon a clear picture of what even we can expect in our future!
The picture of what God will do for us after the separation of the sheep and goats [MT 25: 32], in EZK 34: 24-26, “I will let them graze in safety in the mountain meadows and the valleys and in all the green pastures of the land of Israel. I myself will be the Shepherd of My sheep, and I will find them a place to rest. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken. I will look for those that are lost, bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick; but those that are fat and strong, I will destroy, because I am a Shepherd who does what is right.” (The fat and strong ones got that way at the expense of the others, which is why God says they will be destroyed). Care, safety, righteous decision-making, provision, protection, direction, guidance, and all of God’s attributes and actions can be seen here. It is clear the good sheep will have to endure a period of struggle and danger, but they will emerge victorious over the forces of evil in the end. Is that what the book of Revelation is all about? Yet this message was given between 593-560 BC [the period in which Ezekiel was written].
Now, let’s look quickly at 1 PET 5: 1-4. “I, who am an elder myself, appeal to the church elders among you. I am a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and I will share in the glory that will be revealed. I appeal to you to be shepherds of the flock that God gave you and to take care of it willingly, as God wants you to, and not unwillingly. Do your work, not for mere pay but from a real desire to serve. Do not try to rule over those who have been put in your care, but be examples to the flock. And when the Christ Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown which will never lose it’s brightness.” I know so many people in my own congregation who have taken on large responsibilities and small ones, never asking for pay and always striving to carry out those duties with righteousness and diligence. They are wonderful examples for me, as I came from a different culture-one in which a person’s real worth was measured by how much money he makes. How very sad and misguided those people are, as they do this even today. As Christ so aptly said, in MT 6: 24, “No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” 1 PET 5: 7 touches my heart deeply and it may do the same for yours. “Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you.” We don’t have to be “sheep gone astray, each one his own way” [IS 53: 6] any more. We have a Shepherd Who knows us, loves us, and cares for us. Our Lord Jesus took the punishment for us all, that which we deserved due to our sin. And not long ago, we had the honor of celebrating Easter, the festival of His resurrection as “the first among many brothers” [RO 8: 29]. Hallelujah!
PRAYER: O Lord, every time we examine the stark contrast between being one of Your sheep and being in the flock of a false teacher, we are reminded of Your magnificent generosity and love for us. We are such a blessed people. My own experience before I came to faith in You has taught me what it is like to be left alone to suffer without rescue for a portion of my life and my own need to be faithfully obedient to You. Only Your agenda for us is righteous and good. Without You, there is no rescue, no relief from pain and suffering. PS 40: 1-2, “I waited patiently for the Lord’s help; then He listened to Me and heard my cry. He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a Rock and made me secure.” That Rock is the Lord Jesus, the One Who chooses to live in us through the Holy Spirit, the One Who guides us through the traps that are set by the devil for us. PS 31: 3-5, “You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” Before we come to faith, we feel abandoned, as all the evil forces that beleaguered us left us abandoned; there was no goodness in them. PS 16: 1-2, “Protect me, O God; I trust in You for safety. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; all the good things I have come from You.’” PS 9: 9-10, “The Lord is a Refuge for the oppressed, a Place of Safety in times of trouble. Those who know You, Lord, will trust You; You do not abandon anyone who comes to You.” Lying and working with a hidden evil agenda is not the Your way. You are open and tell us everything the Father has told You [JN 15: 15]. You have chosen us first, and You give us a way to walk “through the narrow gate leading to a hard path” [MT 7: 12-14] that will take us to eternal life. For all Your love, goodness, rescue, and guidance, we thank and praise You forever and ever, in the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week: We will begin an examination of our own faith upon learning what we have from the Sermon on the Mount. This examination is a worthwhile pursuit that will take us just a few weeks, and then we will have finished the True Faith series. I am preparing a new series, one based on covenant theology that I’m praying you will find as intriguing as I have in preparing it. Why examine our own faith? The Lord asks us to do this on a regular basis. His reasons are not to build guilt, but instead, to expose our areas of weakness-so we can work on them. The path to eternal life isn’t easy or without pain and sorrow at times. But it is the right path, the one that will “keep our lives hidden with Christ in God” [COL 3: 3]. And what better place can we be? I was raised to adulthood without any knowledge of God or what blessings He had prepared for my life. I felt abandoned, angry, and ready to believe almost anything that would dull the pain I was in. Then, the Lord Jesus came into both my life [where I now know He had always been] and performed my rescue. He allowed me to think I was without Him and the Father long enough for me to appreciate the difference. Did he do that for you? He was preparing me to work for the rest of my earthly life trying to influence people to appreciate our Judeo-Christian faith and learn to love Him as He deserves to be loved-with a full and obedient faith. I leave you this week with COL 3: 9-10, real food for thought. “Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in His own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15