PT-4 Jesus is the True Shepherd of the Sheep (John 10:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2016 6:52 AM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  PT-4 Jesus is the True Shepherd of the Sheep

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 10:1-6

            Message of the verses:  “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

            We change course as we look at verse five stating that the sheep will not follow a stranger, and MacArthur adds “True believers, will not abandon Christ, the Good Shepherd, to follow false shepherds.  True believers recognize the truth revealed by God (8:31-32, 47, 51-52) and reject error.  John expressed that truth in his first epistle:  ‘1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.’”

            I think that a good example of this is the story of Job, for Job was a true believer in God and even though he went through some horrible things in his life, not really knowing why he went through them, he never failed God for he was a true believer.  Matthew 24:24 states “"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”  Notice that Christ says “if possible, even the elect” stating that that was not possible.  MacArthur adds “Those who abandon their profession of faith in the truth prove that neither their faith nor their salvation was ever genuine.  ‘They went out for us,’ John wrote, ‘they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they are not of us’ (1 John 2:19).  John, then, contrasts such departure from the truth, the voice of the Shepherd, with faithfulness to His voice.  He writes of the true sheep, ‘20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.’ Those who are Christ’s do not leave Him to follow those who deny the truth.”

            Now we conclude with verse six that tells us “This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”  Now we want to get into the Greek word (paroimia) which is translated “figure of speech” in verse six.  MacArthur says that this word “describes the veiled, enigmatic language that conceals a symbolic meaning.  Though the ‘figure of speech’ was presented plainly enough to the religious leaders, they failed to grasp its significance.  So ingrained with their belief that as Abraham’s descendants they were part of God’s flock that they completely missed Jesus’ indictment of them when He stated that He was the true Shepherd and they were false shepherds to whom the sheep would not listen.  Like His parables (Matt. 13:10-16), this ‘figure of speech’ served a twofold purpose:  It revealed spiritual truth to His followers, and concealed it from those who rejected Him.”

            This concludes this rather long section covering these first six verses in John chapter ten, and I have to say that the next section is much shorter.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray that as others read these truth that the Spirit of God will draw them to the Savior.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “To throw them to the ground” (2 Kings 13:14-18).

Today’s Bible question:  “What stone became the head of the corner?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/31/2016 7:19 AM

Conclusion of Zechariah chapter Eight (Zech. 8:18-23)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2016 10:23 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  Conclusion of Zech. 8

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zechariah 8:18-23           Message of the verses:  “1  Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’ 20 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 ’The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, "Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go." 22 ’So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.’ 23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."’"”

            We will be looking at three elements that come out of these verses as we close this 8^th chapter of Zechariah, and the first comes from verse 19, and it is pleasure.  As we look at this verse we can see that God is telling them that He will turn their fasting into feasting, and this was the question that was brought up in chapter seven, “shall we fast in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months.”

            MacArthur writes “You see the fast of the fourth month was the fast that remembered the taking of Jerusalem and the flight of the royal seed. The fast of the fifth month was the fast that remembered the destruction of the temple. The fast of the seventh month was the one that remembered the murder of Gedaliah who was the governor. And the fast of the tenth month was the one that remembered the mourning for the day that the seeds began. And they had all these fasts and all this weeping and all this mourning. And God says, some day I'm going to take the whole bunch of them and I'm going to turn them into joy and gladness and a feast. No more fasts, no more fasts.  And so He says, that's my promise. And so there will be in the kingdom pleasure.”

            Prayer is our next element we will look at from verse twenty and twenty-one.  What we see here is people want to go to see Jesus who is at this time on the throne in the Millennial Kingdom, ruling and reigning over the whole world, and people will get excited to take people to see Him.  MacArthur adds “The world is going to take one look at the Jews and say they are the people. Let's grab their coattails and get in on this deal. They'll get the special favor. And the ten again represents all. The whole world is going to grab the Jews who are going to be God's emissaries and God's ambassadors. Isn't that exciting? Wow. This is what it's going to be beloved in the day when the Lord fulfills His covenant. You say, hey John, I don't know how to tell you this, but you left out two verses. I knew you'd say that. Verses 16 and 17, right? Well, I want to come back to them and close with it.”

            MacArthur calls the last element “prominence” and it comes from verse twenty-three as he explains “And then number ten, the sum of it all the thing which Israel had always known God had promised I call it prominence; prominence. Three elements pleasure, prayer, prayers of the nations for conversion and prominence. Verse 23, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts," the tenth time it's said, "in those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of Him that is a Jew saying we will go with you but we have heard that God is with you." Isn't that terrific?”

            So the Jewish people will receive their promised kingdom and they will be the talk of the whole world, especially their King, who should be the talk of the whole world now since we look at what kind of shape it is in, but then it will all be about Jesus and the Jewish people.

            We will go back to looking at Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary as we move into the very difficult 9^th chapter of the book of Zechariah in our next SD on Zechariah.

7/30/2016 10:41 PM

 

PT-3 Jesus is the true Shepherd from John 10:1-6

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2016 6:51 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus: PT-3 Jesus is the true Shepherd of the Sheep

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  John 10:1-6

            Message of the verses:  “1  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

            As we continue looking at the “figure of speech” in John 10:3 we see that His sheep hear His voice when He calls them out, and in this verse He is talking about calling them out of Israel into His messianic fold.  Now in our past Spiritual Diaries we have talked about an effectual, divine call to salvation, and this is what is pictured here.  This effectual, divine call to salvation is given by the Holy Spirit to unbelievers that God chose in eternity past, something that at best is difficult to understand, but true.  Earlier in our study of John I quoted a rather long section from one of John MacArthur’s sermons entitled “Twin Truths,” and in that sermon he talked about the twin truths of one coming to know the Lord as Savior and Lord.  God’s call to salvation and also the responsibility of the repentant sinner to respond to that call, and I also mentioned in earlier SD’s what a Sunday school teacher taught me many years ago about this effectual call when he said that “The Holy Spirit is like the God-Father, He gives you an offer you cannot refuse.”  Now as we go on in this verse we can determine that Jesus calls His own sheep by name, because they are His, as their names were “written from the foundation of the world in the book of life,” as seen in Philippians 4:3.  John 6:37 tells us “"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

            Next in verse three we see that after He calls His sheep that He ‘leads them out.”  And in verse four we read that “He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him.”  When I was much younger I remember going to a friend’s farm who had sheep and their sheep just were placed in a pasture, but that is not the case in the Middle East as the sheep there are lead by a shepherd as he goes before them to make sure it is safe to travel on, for there is danger lurking as there are holes they can fall into and there are cliffs they can fall off, and remember sheep are not too smart.  I read a story or hear a sermon about how sheep go to slaughter in a meat packing plant.  What they do is get a male sheep to lead them into the place where they will slaughter them, and all the sheep follow them right into where they will be killed with this led sheep getting out of the way right before the others go into the slaughter house.  They have a name for that sheep, it is called the “Judas” sheep, a name we can understand why it is called that.  Now Jesus is the true Shepherd and we have mentioned the 23^rd Psalm as a picture of how He leads, and cares for us. 

            Why do the sheep follow the Shepherd?  It is because they hear His voice.  John MacArthur quotes from Philip Keller’s book “A Shepherd Looks at the God Shepherd and His Sheep,” an author we mentioned earlier.  “The relationship which rapidly develops between a shepherd and the sheep under his care is to a definite degree dependent upon the use of the shepherd’s voice.  Sheep quickly become accustomed to their owner’s particular voice.  They are acquainted with its unique tone.  They know its peculiar sounds and inflections.  They can distinguish it from that of any other person.

            “If a stranger should come among them, they would not recognize nor respond to his voice in the same way they would to that of the shepherd.  Even if the visitor should use the same words and phrases as that of their rightful owner they would not react in the same way.  It is a case of becoming actually conditioned to the familiar nuances and personal accent of their shepherd’s call.”

            We will continue this discussion in our next SD as we will conclude this section by looking at verses five and six.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that the Spirit of God gave me a call that I could not say no to.  I also am thankful for the leading of the Lord in my life, as it is my desire to hear His voice as He leads me, and I believe that from the reading and studying of His Word, along with the preaching of His Word is where He speaks to my heart.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to be like Elijah when he heard the “still small voice” of the Lord, and followed it.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:4-5) “4.  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  5.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Exodus.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Elisha tell Joash, king of Israel, to do with his arrows?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/30/2016 7:34 AM

Divine Presence (Zech. 8:14-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/29/2016 9:44 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:    Divine Presence

Bible Reading & Meditation                                          Reference:  Zechariah 8:14-18

            Message of the verses:  “14  "For thus says the LORD of hosts, ’Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ’and I have not relented, 15  so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear! 16 ’These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. 17 ’Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.’”

            God says in verse fourteen that He promised to do harm to their fathers, the ones who provoked Him, and He did just that, and He did not change His mind about punishing them either.  So when we look at verse fifteen we see that God says that He will prosper them, to do good to them, and then He tells them not to fear.  Now as we begin to look at verse sixteen we see that the Lord tells His people the things that they should be doing, and as we look at this list we will find that these are things that we too should be doing.  We are to speak the truth to one another, in other words, we are not to lie, for once we tell a lie we have to cover it up with another lie, and then this starts a process where in the end we will not know the truth from the lies we have been telling and actually begin to believe the lies as if they are the truth.  Next I believe He is talking about the officials for that is who meets at the gate to discuss the business of the city, who judges cases as we saw when we studied the book of Ruth a long time ago.  Next as we move into verse seventeen we see we are not to bring about evil plans in our minds that we would carry them out against who we are planning to do evil to.  Next God says that we are not to love perjury, and then says that He hates all of these offences.  I have to wonder how the Lord feels about the things that are going on in our world today as all of these offenses are going on along with many murders and other unspeakable things.

            We still have a few more verses to go in this chapter and we will try and finish it up in our next SD.  Another thing we should learn from this section, or perhaps a couple of things is that God always keeps His Word, and also we worship a good God.  Jesus Christ, who came as God in human flesh went around doing good as seen in Acts 10:38.

7/29/2016 10:10 PM

PT-2 Jesus is the True Shepherd of the Sheep (John 10:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/29/2016 7:39 AM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  PT-2 Jesus is the True Shepherd of the Sheep

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 10:1-6

            Message of the verses:  “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

            We can see from the highlighted portion of verse six that what we are looking at here is a metaphor that the Lord is using to teach those who are listening to Him, and each of those elements common to everyday life has a symbolic meaning to His metaphor.  Now we have to answer the question “what is the sheepfold?”  There are some who would say that this is the church or that this is heaven, but let’s look at verse sixteen “16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”  I believe that the sheepfold in these first six verses is speaking of the people of Israel, and then in verse sixteen as far as those who are not of “his fold” are Gentiles.  MacArthur commenting why it is not the church writes “it is hard to see how thieves could break into either the church or heaven and steal sheep (cf. vv. 27-29).  The ‘door’ is Jesus Himself (vv. 7, 9), who alone has the authority to lead out of Israel’s fold His own elect sheep.  The thieves and robbers represent the self-appointed (cf. Matt. 23:2) Jewish religious leaders, who, doing the work of the devil, not God, climbed the walls of the sheepfold to spiritually fleece and slaughter the people.

            The leaders that Jesus was talking to came from a long line of leaders who had been fleecing and slaughtering the sheep in the history of the nation of Israel.  The good thing as Jeremiah 23:1-2 is that they would not escape God’s judgment “1 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: "You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares the LORD.”

            Perhaps Ezekiel 34:2-10 was on the heart of the Lord as He taught and told this metaphor:  “2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ’Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. 4 "Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. 5 “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. 6 “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them."’"  7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8  "As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; 9  therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10  ’Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them."’"”

            Things have not changed when we come to the Church age as the fleecing of the flock of God is still going on today, pretty much for the same reasons and that is power and financial gain.   Jesus warned that this would happen:   “"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15).  Paul writes similar words in Acts 20:29 “"I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”  By the way Paul was speaking to the elders at Ephesus, and his prophecy came true as there are only stones left there today as they had left their first love as Jesus pointed out in Revelation chapter two and things went downhill from there.

            Peter cautions about this in 2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”  The letters of 2 Peter and also Jude have much to say about false teachers, or false shepherds, and Jude was not even going to write about them, but felt it necessary to do so.

            We are also studying the book of Zechariah and although we have not gotten there yet, in the 11^th chapter of that book Zechariah speaks of the ultimate false shepherd who we call the Antichrist, he writes “16 “For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs. 17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered And his right eye will be blind.’”  You can also read much about him in Daniel 11:36-45; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10; and Revelation 13:3-10.”  All of these verses are dealt with on my blog as I have already studied all of these books.

            We will stop here and in our next SD we will try and begin with verse two of John 10.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the world around me and how it is being torn apart I am thankful that what we read in the Scriptures that Jesus will judge the false shepherds both in Israel and in the Church age, and am looking forward to when the Lord comes in the air to receive His church, and take us to heaven.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be wise and not be fooled by false teachers.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:4-5) “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  5. For is we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Haman” (Ester 7:10).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book introduces the first great leader of Israel?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/29/2016 8:24 AM        

Divine Prosperity (Zech. 8:9-13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2016 10:14 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Divine Prosperity

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Zechariah 8:9-13

            Message of the verses:  “9 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built. 10 ’For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another. 11 ’But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts.  12 ’For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 13  ’It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’”

            Zechariah is talking about what happened to those Jews who came back from Babylon, those that built the foundation of the temple, and then remember when we studied the book of Haggai we saw that the building stopped.  It is also seen in the book of Nehemiah, in the historical portion of the Word of God.  The worked stopped and the people decided to build their own homes and it is believed that they used the wood that was supposed to be used for the building of the temple.  There were other problems that stopped the work as the Samaritans also tried to stop the work and even got the Persian government involved in it, but they found the letter that the former king of Persia wrote and they began to build again.

            Zechariah tells the remnant that there will be a time when the Lord will be blessing Israel with many blessings unlike what had happened with the remnant who came back from Babylon.  I believe that this encouraged the people and they began to get the job done that them came back to Jerusalem to do.

            Next in on our list of things to look at that is divine preference beginning with verse fourteen.  We will look at that in our next SD.

7/28/2016 10:29 PM

 

Jesus the True Shepherd of the Sheep PT-1 (John 10:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2016 8:56 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Jesus the True Shepherd of the Sheep PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 10:1-6

            Message of the verses:  “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

            In John MacArthur’s commentary, which we are following he begins this section after looking at what he entitles “A Ministry Marked by Contrast to False Shepherds,” and I want to look briefly at that section before we begin this very long section that covers the first six verses of John chapter ten, a section that will take a number of days to cover.

            As we look back to the days when Jesus Christ was on the earth, and even before, and for that matter today in many parts of the Middle East we see shepherding.  Sheep were used for their wool and also for their meat and still are today.  Sheep are the most helpless, defenseless, straying, and also a very dirty animal, yet as mentioned before humans have a great deal in common with them.  As we look back in Bible history we will see that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were shepherds.  Moses was a shepherd between the ages of 40 and 80, and this was very good preparation for him as he lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.  David was a shepherd and once again this helped him in the skills he needed to lead Israel as their king.  Old Testament writers frequently used shepherding imagery, to depict Israel as the flock of God and the same can be true for New Testament writes using it to depict the leading of the Church.

            MacArthur concludes “But while the metaphor of a shepherd suggests tender care, it can also depict harsh, abusive, autocratic rule.  As will be seen in the discussion of verse 1 below, the Bible refers to false spiritual leaders, as well as true ones, as shepherds.  In verses 1-10 Jesus contrasted Himself with Israel’s false shepherds by using tow images:  He is the true Shepherd of the sheep, and He is the only door to the sheepfold.”  As mentioned we will begin this first section today and continue it for, perhaps a few days before we conclude it.

            We notice that the first two words seen in verse one are “Truly, truly,” and we have spoken about them before as meaning “amen, amen,” which introduces a statement that Jesus wants us to realize is of notable importance.  Once again I remind you that what we are looking at here is a continuation of what we have just finished in chapter nine, as the people and place are the same.  Remember how we learned that the leaders that we saw in chapter nine, basically the Pharisees were false leaders or could be called false shepherds, and Jesus is contrasting Himself as the true Shepherd with those false shepherds in this section. 

            The towns in Israel in Jesus’ day each had a sheepfold where sheep were kept for the night.  Many different owners of sheep would keep their sheep in these folds to keep them safe and to also ensure that they could get a good night sleep.  Now as the shepherd would begin to put his sheep into the fold he would stand with his staff across the entrance and check each sheep over to make sure there was nothing wrong with them before they were allowed to enter the fold.  Now once they were in the fold they were in the hands of the doorkeeper who was a hired undershepherd as seen in verse 12, and this man would watch them throughout the night.  Now we can understand what Jesus says when He says “he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”  Thieves and robbers would go over the top of the sheepfold to kill and/or steel the sheep, as they would not go through the doorway. There was only one who entered by the door who was the shepherd of the sheep.  We will stop here and continue to look at this section in our next SD.

            Message of the verses:  It is not glorious to be compared as a sheep, but when I look at who my Shepherd is, then I can handle it.  I think of Him looking after me, checking me over each day as the shepherd of the sheep did, and that makes me thankful to be a part of His flock, getting such wonderful care.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to get me through today as I continue to have some problems with my insides.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:4-5) “4. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  5. For is we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Lystra” (Acts 14:8-12).

 Today’s Bible question:  “Who was hanged on the gallows he built for someone else?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/28/2016 9:40 AM

 

Divine Populating (Zech. 8:7-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2016 7:44 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Divine Populating

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zech. 8:7

            Message of the verse:  “7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’”

            The first thing that I have to say is that in reality we went over this section in our last SD when I gave a very large quote from John MacArthur’s sermon at the end of the SD.  I think what we will do is go over this once more and then we will look at the next element in our next SD which will be “Divine Prosperity,” which comes from verse nine and following.

            I suppose that there are some who state that what is being talked about here is the Jews going back to Jerusalem from Babylon, but that is not the case, as we have been talking about things that will happen in the kingdom for a while and so this continues to talk about the kingdom.  I am not sure how many Jews there are in the world, but a website I looked at states that there are now 16 million Jewish people scattered around the world.  According to that website there are 6.1 Jewish people living in Israel, and 5.7 living in the United States so that makes 11.8 million and so the other 4.2 million are living in other parts of the world.  It is interesting to me how people can count how many Jews are living around the world, just think of that fact for a moment as there is no other people group in the world quite like the Jews.  Did you ever wonder what that is true?  Well the Bible tells us that this is what is going to happen and the reason is that they are God’s special people and He has a future for them, not so with any other people group.  Now you may wonder why I don’t use the term “race” and that is because there is only one race on this planet and that is the human race.  There are different people groups, but only one race, and God is telling us that in the Millennial Kingdom the Jewish population is going to grow, and grow as the fulfillments of the kingdom promises will be fulfilled during that time period.

            Ok I think that I will stop at this point and if you want more info on this subject look at the SD from yesterday as it will give you some more.

7/27/2016 8:09 PM

2nd Intro to John 10:1-10

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2016 9:18 AM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  2^nd Intro to John 10:1-10

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 10:1-10

            Message of the verses:  “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

            We want to talk about Christ in the NT also being called a Shepherd.  First we will actually look at an OT prophecy that is quoted in the NT that pertains to the birth of Jesus Christ.  “"‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel’ (Matthew 2:6 NIV).”  Another from Matthew 26:31 “Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ’I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’” 1 Peter 2:25 “For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”  1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Hebrews 13:20-21 “20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”  One more from Revelation 7:17 “for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.’”

            Of course the passage that we are looking at from the 10^th chapter of John clearly portrays Jesus Christ as the Shepherd of His people, as we will see that He presents Himself as the Good Shepherd.  We have mentioned that this passage flows directly from the events of chapter nine as seen in verse 21 “Others were saying, "These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?’” 

            John MacArthur tells us how we will be breaking down this section:  “This opening section of chapter 10 presents four distinctive of the Good Shepherd’s pastoral work.  It is a shepherding ministry marked by contrast to false shepherds, by concern for the flock, by compliance to the Father, and by controversy in a fallen world.” 

            Dr. Warren Wiersbe begins his tenth chapter of his commentary on the gospel of John, which is entitled “The Good Shepherd and His Sheep,” with a humorous story:  “Perhaps you remember the ‘Candid Camera’ TV program that took place at an exclusive prep school where all the students were well above average.  The ‘Candid Camera’ people posed as career consultants who were going to advise these brilliant young men concerning the careers that would be best suited to them, on the basis of ‘tests’ and ‘interviews’ that seemed (to the students) quite authentic.

            “On young man eagerly awaited the ‘counselor’s’ verdict.  Surely the adviser would tell the boy to be a college president or a band president, or perhaps a research scientist.  But, no, the ‘counselor’ had other ideas.  You should have seen the look on the boy’s face when the ‘counselor’ said:  ‘Son, after evaluating your tests and interview, I’ve decided that the best job for you is—a shepherd.’

            The student did not know whether to laugh or cry.  After all, who in his right mind would want to be a shepherd?  Why devote your life to ‘stupid sheep’ who do not seem to have sense enough to find their way home?”  

            Well we mentioned in an earlier SD that people are like sheep for Isaiah wrote All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”  Think about that statement from Isaiah 53:6 as it says that mankind is like sheep, dumb stupid sheep, and yet this verse tells us that there is coming a Man (Shepherd) into the world who will lay down His life for those sheep that have gone astray.  Yes we are like sheep for sheep without the proper leading will get into trouble in a moment without the leading of our Great Shepherd, and that is why He leads us and does not drive us like we are cattle, He leads us beside still waters so we won’t be afraid to get a drink, He leads us into green pastures which to me is the Word of God so that we can understand what He is teaching us.  Yes John 10 is a chapter about sheep, but most of all about the Good Shepherd and we will continue to study it in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is hard at times to think that I act like a sheep, but the more that I have learned about sheep, the more I know that from the beginning I have gone astray and it is wonderful to realize that my Shepherd took my place on the cross for me, as He the Passover Lamb died for me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to follow the leading of my Shepherd.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:4-5) “4.  Therefore we have been baptized with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  5. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (Luke 4:8).  (KJV)

Today’s Bible question:  “Where were Paul and Barnabas called Mercury and Jupiter?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/27/2016 10:19 AM

Divine Power (Zechariah 8:6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2016 6:30 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Divine Power

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zechariah 8:6

            Message of the verses:  “6 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the LORD of hosts.”  MacArthur writes this verse in the proper Hebrew “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, if it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also be marvelous in my eyes says the Lord of Hosts.”

            The term “those days” refers to the time of the kingdom, which is what we have been looking at.  MacArthur also adds “This is just…you can see where God…where somebody can kind of get God’s goat in a way.  That’s a funny phrase to use, but God gets upset at one particular thing.  And that is when people don’t believe that He can really do something, see?”  As we continue to study the attributes of God in our Sunday school class we have learned that God is all powerful, God is eternal, God cannot change His mind, and God is all knowing, and that is just four of His attributes for things that help us understand who God is and when you look at just those for you can understand why God is upset when people don’t believe that he can really do something.

            MacArthur states that the word “marvelous” in the Hebrew really means difficult or impossible and it is translated “difficult” in the NASB95 version. MacArthur gives the answer to the question that is in this verse, and that answer is no as we all probably have figured out.  Is anything to hard for God?  “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You (Jeremiah 32:17).”  MacArthur goes on “And what's the answer? No. What a truth. Have you learned that lesson? Divine power. He says look, this whole thing is easy for me and because it may be incredible to the remnant in that day, can you imagine what the Jew is going to think of in the midst of the tribulation? He's going to say oh, will it ever change? God will never get us out of this mess. Here we are running through the desert, heading for Edom, the anti-Christ's army chasing us. How are we going to be delivered? The battle of Armageddon, blood deep as the horses' bridles for 200 miles and it's impossible to get us out of this and they'll say that. And the Lord says just because say that is it? No.

“Boy I tell you I have no reason not to believe God. So God promises divine punishment, divine peace, divine power, and He even promises another on that begins with P. Divine populating, verse 7. I had to strain a little on that one. Verse 7, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold I will save my people from the east country and from the west country and I'll bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness." You know what's going to happen in the kingdom? He's going to regather the Jews from everywhere.

“And right now there are approximately 14 million of them scattered all over the world and when the Lord comes back and sets up the kingdom, He's just going to pull them all together and bring them into Israel. And I want you to see something interesting, this could not...people say well this is just referring to the gathering from the Babylonian captivity. No way. Because nobody from Babylon was gathered from the west. Right? Babylon was directly east. And I'll show you something interesting. You know what the Hebrew literally says here? It says this, "I will save my people from the land of the rising of the sun and from the land of the going down of the sun." From one end of the globe to the other is what he's saying. I will regather Israel from the world and the same phrase is used in Psalm 50, verse 1, in Psalm 113, verse 3, and in Malachi, Chapter 1 and verse 11. Same thing "from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my name shall be great."

“Now is God's name to be great only in Babylon? No, in the entire earth and He goes in Malachi 1:11 to say among all nations. So it's another way of saying the whole earth and the whole world. And God is saying in the millennium I will regather my people from the face of the earth, everywhere and bring them back and bring them to Jerusalem. And you know how much Jews love Jerusalem. Did you know that many of them in America and other parts of the world that are buried are buried with a little jar of Jerusalem dirt because of the love they have for their land?

“Some day they'll be gathered. In Isaiah 43:5 and the similar prophecy of the kingdom, God says through the prophet, "I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west and I will say to the north give up and to the south keep not back, bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. For everyone who was called by name, for I have created him for my glory." Get them all back where they belong in my place. What a wonderful promise. You know, it's kind of exciting to be alive today and I think we're getting a little kind of a preview on it don't you, as Jews are being regathered into the land.

“In Jeremiah 32, verse 38, I've got to go back there. I've been away too long. Maybe we'll get a group of people and go pretty soon. I'm not Jewish. I just like to go there. But I am going to be there in the kingdom so I'd like to pick out my spot. Jeremiah 32:38, "And they shall be my people and I will be their God and I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and of their children after them and I will make an everlasting covenant with them and I'll not turn away from doing them good. But I'll put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them in doing them good and I'll plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul." Don't you love that?

“God says I just want to do them good. God even says that anger is my strange work, my normal work is to do good to the people who are my people. And I'll do it with my whole heart and my whole soul. And believe me when God does that, He does it well. So a nation to be saved and a nation to be regathered. Verse 8 says "and they shall be my people. I'll be their God in truth and righteousness." He isn't just gathering them politically; He isn't just gathering economically, He's gathering them for conversion. The nation is going to come to Christ as Romans 11 says, "So all Israel shall be saved.  7/26/2016 6:49 PM

 “

 

Intro One to John 10:1-10

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2016 9:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to John 10:1-10

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 10:1-10

            Message of the verses:  “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

            I have to say that after I listened to two sermons on these verses, especially the last on that there is a lot packed into these ten verses, and it is much deeper than one realizes as they just read through them.  In the last sermon that I listened to yesterday morning MacArthur spoke of a book that he was just finishing on the Parables of Jesus, and so I couldn’t help myself as I had to order it this morning.  He talks about how deep the parables actually are, yet how simply how Jesus taught with these stories.  Now saying this there is actually no parables in the gospel of John but in the KJV we do see the word parable is used in verse six “This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.”  We will get into that a bit later so we understand why this is not a parable.

            We have to understand that these verses we are looking at continue right after verse 41 of chapter nine, as Jesus is talking to the same crowd.  The formerly blind beggar is there along with the disciples, and the Pharisees, and probably a number of people just listening to Jesus as we see later on in chapter ten.  I have to say that I believe the reason that this chapter begins here is because Jesus is talking about sheep, and in verse 22 the scene changes to a different time period, but the subject of sheep is still in play.  It has been a fairly long time ago when I read a book by a man that I don’t remember his name, but he knew a lot about sheep.  The book was called “A Shepherd’s Look at the 23^rd Psalm,” and in that book you learn a lot about sheep and you learn that sheep and people have a lot in common.  You also learn, as we will here that God is our Shepherd as seen in 23:1 where we read “The Lord is my Shepherd.”  We will also learn that not only is God the true Shepherd, but that there are many false shepherds in the world today trying to lead people, but they will only lead them astray. 

            The man’s name who wrote the Shepherd book is W. Phillip Keller.  I had to look it up so I would not keep thinking about it.  He is a wonderful author, as his books are easy to read and very meaningful.

            John MacArthur writes that Jesus has many names in the Word of God, “But perhaps His most endearing and intimate title is that of Shepherd.  Centuries before the Messiah came, the Old Testament had predicted that He would shepherd His people.”  Now I want to conclude this first edition of our introduction to these verses by quoting from a passage in the book of Ezekiel which speaks of the coming Messiah as a Shepherd, but also speak of the false shepherds in the nation of Israel.  I have three Spiritual Diaries dated 04/07/2015, 04/08/2015, and 04/09/2015 that talk about Ezekiel chapter 34, this entire chapter is about shepherds.  I want to quote 34:23 here and if you want to look up those SD’s they are on the blog.  “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David [a reference to the Messiah, David’s descendant], and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd” We can also look at verse 24 “"And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.”  Let us also look at Micah 5:4 “And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth.”  Zechariah predicts the death of the Messiah and writes the following in 13:7 “"Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate," Declares the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  1 « A Psalm of David. » The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember that the Lord is my Shepherd, who died for me.

Memory verses for today:  (Romans 6:4-5) “4.  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  5. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection;”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Touch Him” (John 20:17).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’”

Answer in our next SD. 

7/26/2016 10:32 AM

 

Divine Peace (Zech. 8:4-5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2016 10:29 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Divine Peace

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zechariah 8:4 4

Message of the verses:  "4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 5 ’And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’”

What we are looking at in these two verses is millennial peace that will happen during those 1000 years of having Jesus Christ rule the world from the city of Jerusalem.  As we look at all of the problems that are going around in our world today we can be sure that what is described in these two verses are not happening.  The other night in Niece France people were out celebrating and 84 of those celebrating were run down and killed.  In Chicago there have been thousands of people killed in the past few years so not many old folks and young kids will be willing to be out in the streets, especially at night.  When Jesus Christ rules and reigns from Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom there will be divine peace, and another thing we can see from these verses is that people will grow old, really old, for the Word of God says that if a person during the kingdom age dies at 100 years old it will be like a child dying.  Not so today as my wife and I visit her father each Sunday and he is 98 years old and where he lives there are people over 100 years old, but I have to say that though they have lived that long they are not in the kind of shape of people who will live during the Millennial Kingdom.

We have to understand that the Millennial Kingdom will be different from any other time that we have seen on this earth since it was created, with the exception of the earth that God created as seen in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis.  After sin entered in chapter three it was all downhill.  After sin and before the flood there were people who lived a very long time on the earth, some over 900 years, but after the flood when the earth was changed people began to live less and less time on the earth.  Our country had great medicine to help prolong life as in other countries, but because of sin people still die very young at times.  This will not be the case in the Millennial Kingdom for unless a person continually sins they will live throughout the age until the end of that age which will be 1000 years after the return of Christ as seen in the 19^th chapter of the book of Revelation.  It will only be believers who enter the kingdom and they will have children and those who accept the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord will live until the end of the kingdom, however there will be those who reject the Lord and they will not live that long.  At the very end of the kingdom there will be a war as Satan will be left out of his prison and gather many unbelievers to fight against the Lord’s people, but this will not last long as God will destroy them all.  Satan will then be put back into hell and the great white throne judgment will take place.  No believers will be in that judgment as their sins have been paid for by the blood of the Lamb on the cross.  After that the earth and all of the stars and planets will be “un-created” as seen in 2 Peter chapter 3:10 and following.  The eternal kingdom will then begin with no end to that and all believers will be a part of that from the earliest OT believers to those in the Millennial Kingdom.    Next we will look at “Divine Punishment” in our next SD from Zechariah chapter eight.

7/25/2016 10:52 PM