The True Shepherd

“I will make  them and the places all around My hill a blessing: and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing…Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they , the house of Israel are my people, says the Lord GOD. You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.” –Ezekiel 35:26, 30-31

Israel had some good shepherds and some bad shepherds. They had King David, who “shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.” (Psalm 78:72). King David was a good shepherd. He shepherded by godliness and giftedness. But Israel also had some pretty bad shepherds. They had evil kings who made deals with the wicked, Gentile nations. These kings cared only for themselves. They failed to feed God’s flock and they effectively scattered God’s people among the nations.

After pronouncing judgment upon these wicked shepherds, God describes how He would be the True Shepherd for the people.  He would gather them from the nations to which they were scattered. He would feed them. He would care for them. He would rain showers of blessing upon them, and upon all the places around them. Then the people would know that God is with them.

The Lord Jesus is the True Shepherd described in Ezekiel 35. He tells us in John 10 that He is the good shepherd and “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” This claim that Jesus makes attests to His deity. Only God could be described as the Good Shepherd. 

The True Shepherd takes good care of His sheep. He provides their needs, feeds them when they are hungry, protects them when they are in danger, and blesses them beyond measure with His presence. Jesus is always with His sheep. He dwells in us as individuals, and among us as His flock. We are truly blessed with showers of blessing by the True Shepherd.

Are you one of Jesus’ sheep? Do you hear His voice? Does He know you? Do you follow the True Shepherd? 

A Healthy Christian's Relationship to the World

            1.   Do Not Love the World

I John 2:15 – “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.”

‘Do not love’ is in the present tense. This denotes on-going action. In other words, John is warning against loving the world as the pattern of your life. Love for the world shows that God’s love is not in you. It may take time to prove itself, but it will happen. Take Demas, for example. In Philemon v.24  he is called one of Paul’s “fellow laborers.” But look what happened to Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10 – “for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world,” The pattern of Demas’ life was love for the world. Even though he could hide it for a while, the truth about his life came out eventually.

Loving the world is a serious offense to God. James even goes so far as to call it adultery. James 4:4 – “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity (feeling or condition of hostility, hatred) with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” God considers those who love the world to have committed spiritual adultery.

2.   Do Not Be Conformed to the World

Romans 12:2 – “and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Do not be conformed to this world – literally means STOP being pressed into the world’s mold. ‘conformed’ is a word that denotes something visible is happening. Others can see when you are being conformed to the world. It is something that we allow to happen in our lives. ‘world’ – could be better translated ‘age’ and speaks of the system of beliefs and values of the world.

But be transformed – metamorpho – complete change. Just as a caterpillar completely changes into a butterfly, so the Christian must completely change from the pattern of the world. There needs to be a visible difference. Christians need to show daily that God has saved them from the power of sin

.

The renewing of your mind – “The renewed mind is one saturated with and controlled by the Word of God.” – John MacArthur

Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brethren, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.”

3.   ‘They are not of the world’

John 17:14 – “I have given them your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

The person who is living the Christian life effectively is one who does not love the world or the things in the world, and is not being conformed to the world. The result of such a life is that the world around you will hate you. This will manifest in different ways. In many Muslim countries, if you are a believer, you could be killed for your faith. Here in America, where people are supposed to be tolerant, it isn’t quite as extreme. Instead, you will probably be made fun of and may even lose some friends.

“The world hates God’s Word because it uncovers who they are as sinners.” – The same is true if you are living a godly life. Take comfort in the fact that the hate the world shows to you is really hate for God. When others look at your life and see you living as Christ, they are hating the image of Christ. Look at the following verse:

2 Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

So what about you? do you have a healthy Christian's relationship with the World? Do not love the world, do not let the world press you into its mold, and realize that you are not of this world.

The Religion of Looking Good and Feeling Good

There is a religion that is creeping into churches around the world. It may even be at your church. It is a religion that only has one premise—a religion that we can all fall into at times. No one is exempt from it. This religion is called: The Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good.

The Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good believes one thing:

When you look good, you feel good.

Let me give you an example. In the Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good, one would not wear just any old clothes to church, but would make sure that their clothes are pressed and it is the absolute best clothes that they own. Not only that, they would be clothes from the most popular brands. Besides, we all know that if you look good…you feel good.

In the Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good, one would need to give money in the offering plate at church. However, this person would not just give a twenty dollar bill, or a fifty. They wouldn't even give a one hundred dollar bill. They would go to the bank and cash all their bills for pennies so that everyone would hear the clink and clatter of the pennies in the offering. Why? Because we all know, when you look good, you feel good. And besides the looking good and feeling good, giving $1 in pennies sounds so much more spiritual than dropping a $20 in the plate.

Those who adhere to this religion are very good at telling jokes. But these jokes wouldn’t be aimed at themselves. The joke would put someone else down, and seemingly exalt the joke teller. We all know that when you look good, you feel good.

Let’s look at today’s worship services for another example. In the Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good, one would stand in the front row, and raise their hands, and close their eyes, and really, really ‘worship’. Everyone can see them, and everyone may think that they are more spiritual than everyone else because they raised their hands.

These are extreme examples, but you get the point. This religion is not just a modern problem. Christ addressed the very thing in Matthew 6.

In this chapter Jesus teaches his disciples about three areas that have one over-arching principle to them. These three areas are that of giving, praying, and fasting. The over-arching principle is this: Do what you do in secret, not in front of people so that you receive their praise. You could sum it up this way: don’t draw attention to yourself.

Jesus first addresses giving. In the Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good, as we have already said, one would give lots of pennies in the offering plate, so that many people would hear and see ‘how much’ they were giving. Jesus says that this is hypocrisy. Jesus taught his disciples not to announce what they were giving. He taught them to give quietly. He says not even to let your right hand know what your left hand is giving. Keep it a secret! Christ said that there is open reward for those who give in secret.

Prayer is the next thing that Christ addresses. In the Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good, one who prays would pray in front of a lot of people and use extravagant language just so that they would look better, or more spiritual than every one else. Why do they do this? You can already tell me the answer. When you look good...you feel good. Christ taught his disciples to pray in the secret. He told them not to use vain repetitions and empty flowery language. In fact, Jesus gave the disciples a model to follow when they pray.

Fasting is the third thing that Christ addresses in this passage. In the Religion of Looking-Good-and-Feeling-Good, what would someone do when they are fasting? This person would make sure that you understand how hungry they are, how long it has been since they've eaten, or how much of a sacrifice it is for them to be fasting. They make it look as if they are in pain over the whole thing. Basically they are working to get attention from other people, because when you look good…you feel good. Again, Christ taught to fast secretly. True fasting is before the Lord and no one else.

Let's use a label for this religion that Christ himself used. He described these people as 'Pharisees'. The Pharisees were the perfect example of this 'feel good' attitude. Everything that they did was to look and seem more spiritual than the next guy. They would wear fancy clothes, pray in the streets, let you know how much they gave and how little you gave. They would fast in public. They could 'do' all the right 'spiritual' things outwardly, but inside it was all for personal gain and not for the Lord. Are you caught in this? Do you find yourself looking for the praise of man?

There is a solution to this attitude: do what you do unto the Lord. When you focus on giving unto the Lord, you won’t want to draw attention to yourself, you will want to draw attention to the Lord. When you pray to the Lord, you will want to draw attention to Him. When you fast, you won’t go flaunting it around as an “I'm-more-spiritual-than-you” kind of thing. Jesus put it this way: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, not here on earth. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” This whole attitude depends on where you are trying to store up treasure. If you are trying to get man’s approval, your heart will be here on this earth. If you are doing everything as unto the Lord, then your heart will be in heaven. Where is your heart today?