THE SHEPHERD IS THE LORD

 [¶ A Psalm of David.] ¶ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.
¶ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
¶ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23:1-6

Of all the 150 Psalms, Psalm 23 is probably the most loved. As we read it we can easily imagine its author, the young shepherd-boy David, making the trek through a ravine where bandits, bears, and predators lurked as he led his small flock of sheep through to fresh water and green pastures. As he reflected on how he led and cared for his flock he must have pondered of how the LORD was like a shepherd to him. As easy as it is for us to imagine teenage David composing this beautiful Psalm, it is also easy to imagine how the God he describes as his shepherd in this Psalm is also a shepherd to us. God, as a shepherd, provides what we need (vs 1), restores our soul (vs 3), when we are unsure He leads on the right path (vs 3), He protects us from evil (vs 4), comforts us in times of distress (vs 4), strengthens us in our moments of weakness (vs 5), He gives us honour when our opponents attempt to bring us shame (vs 5), and He provides a place of belonging for us (vs 6). This is what a shepherd does, David tells us, and it is ultimately only found in the True Shepherd, the Lord Immanuel.

 

DAVID’S EXPERIENCE AS A SHEPHERD

But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father.
And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth.
And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
Your servant has struck down both lions and bears,
and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them,
for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
First Samuel 17:34-36

David understood how important his role as a shepherd to his sheep was. He brought this understanding with him when he took on the Philistine giant and when he became king of Israel. He knew that a sheep – and especially a lamb – was doomed without the protective gaze of a shepherd. He also knew that people in his care were also doomed unless he acted like a shepherd to them (Acts 20:29).

He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob His people,
Israel His inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skilful hand.
Psalm 78:70-72

WHEN SHEEP ARE LEFT DEFENCELESS

Sheep without a shepherd are defenceless against predators – especially wolves (Jn. 10:12). This is something the Jesus stessed in John 10. Without the provision and leading of a shepherd they could also starve or die of thirst. When David became king of Israel, he understood his role as their king was just as critical as his role as a shepherd to his childhood flock of sheep and lambs.

THE SPIRITUAL PARALLELS OF SHEEP AND SHEPHERD

But we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
will give thanks to You forever;
from generation to generation we will recount Your praise.
Psalm 79:13

People are like sheep, the prophet tells us (Isa 53:6). who are easily led astray. Kim and I live next door to sheep, literally. In our morning walk Kim would often go up to the sheep and invite them to come over for a hello pat. It would usually only take one sheep to come over and then the others in the paddock would then join in. Similarly we would observe that if one sheep walked off in a direction the others were certain to follow. People are like sheep and the rise of social media, if there is such a thing, has arguably contributed to very ultra-sheepish behaviour which sociologists have referred to as social contagion. This social contagion has led to people, especially young people and particularly young girls, acting very irrationally en-masse. As Christians though we understand that this is not merely people acting like sheep, or the rise of social contagions, but an indication that we live in a world that is comprised of much more than just atoms.

We are all like sheep living in a spiritually dangerous world where there are predators who despise the Shepherd and would do anything to harm His sheep. In this world of wolves and predators the Shepherd offers protection within the fold. The fold is where the sheep are safe. The fold is where the sheep are fed. The fold is where the sheep are tended to by the Shepherd who binds up their wounds, removes the thorns and thistles that cling to fleece. We are all like sheep looking for a Shepherd and a fold where we can belong. The immaterial spiritual beings opposed to the Shepherd manipulate their minions to scoff at those who think that the Shepherd can protect them in such a pathetic fold as a “church”. What these manipulated minions do not know, but their dark evil overlords do know, is that the Shepherd’s fold, the Church, is not just a place comprised of a spiritual collection of sticks and bushes coupled together to form a makeshift flimsy fence! No. The church is a fully-armed, military unit equipped by the Shepherd with officers who regularly conduct rescue missions into enemy territory and bring lost sheep out of darkness into the light, shelter, and supplies of the Shepherd’s fold. It is a place, a relationship, where the gathered rescued sheep can say, The LORD is my Shepherd, I have all my wants taken care of by Him.

This is why we need realise that when David described himself as a sheep under that care of God as His Shepherd, he presenting a picture of a militant Shepherd! This is the kind of shepherd who used weapons against the foes of his sheep and would risk his own life in the face of such deadly threats. This is the kind of shepherd who would “kill lions and bears and wolves”! Shepherding is a military exercise! Consider the implications of this benediction in the Epistle to the Hebrews:

¶ Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the Great Shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,
equip you with everything good that you may do His will,
working in us that which is pleasing in His sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20

The spiritual reality of the Great Shepherd’s relationship with His sheep is that He equips sheep to become shepherds!  And He does this because He is not just the Shepherd — He does this because He is the LORD!

 

 

THE SHEPHERD WHO BECAME A LAMB TRANSFORMS HIS SHEEP INTO SHEPHERDS

¶ “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a Ruler
who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
Matthew 2:6

The LORD transforms His people from being defenceless sheep into being warriors of the Lamb! He, the Great Shepherd, The Commander of the Hosts of Heaven, The Almighty LORD of Heaven and Earth, became Lamb. In the closing book of the Bible, the Great Shepherd is described as “a Lion” and, in the same passage, as “a Lamb”.

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
¶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  And He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.  And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:5-8

Depending on your perspective, the apostle John reveals in his vision of heaven, Jesus was either a ferocious Lion or an apparently defenceless Lamb! As the revelation of who Jesus throughout the Book of Revelation becomes clearer we see that what initially appeared as a little Lamb was actually the military Rider of a white horse riding into battle against the Lord’s foes. The God who came as the babe of Bethlehem entered our world like a defenceless lamb. But in reality, He was the Great Shepherd, the Commander of the LORD’s Hosts, the One who could summon twelve legions of angels to do His bidding! What an amazing transformation! He, the LORD, became an arnion a defenceless little Lamb. And today, because the Lamb has conquered, He continues to transform His previously defenceless sheep into full equiped shepherds of His great flock. This is His mission for you child of God – to walk through the valley of the shadow of death with a rod and staff in your hand to bring healing and comfort to the lost and scattered defenceless sheep of this world. Our Shepherd is the LORD. 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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DO NOT FEAR THE WOLF'S whisper

 

 Is it really a fair fight? I mean, seriously? Jesus described our spiritual foe as a ravenous wolf, and His followers as a flock of sheep! Seriously, is it really a fair fight for the unwitting, unrelenting, ravenous, blood-thirsty, devious wolf who has already been defeated by ‘the Lamb of God’? Is it really a fair fight for the spiritual demonic wolves who now know they have been de-fanged and de-clawed by the Lamb who has now given His authority and power to His flock so that “these signs will accompany those who believe: in My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18)? No. It is not a fair fight for the wolf, and the fight is only going to get worse for it. And this is why all members of the flock of Christ should never fear the wolf that Jesus warned us about or the wolf’s whisper!

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd,
who does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees,
and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
John 10:12

THE WOLF’S DEVIOUS MISSION

The wolf’s mission is to undermine God’s will and plan by “snatching” and “scattering” Christ’s flock (Jn. 10:12). The wolf only has one strategy: deception. It uses this strategy in various forms, such as lying, stealing, killing, and destroying – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (Jn. 10:10a) which all begins with a whisper into the minds of people.

The picture of a wolf was only one of the descriptions that Christ and His apostles used to describe the forces of evil. The members of this defeated force of evil are also described as beasts, bulls, serpents, and their defeated enraged former prince was referred to as “a great red dragon” (Rev. 12:3, 9). We should be under no illusion that while Christ has defeated the enemies of our souls, we are still engaged in a dangerous post-war series of battles where our enemy seeks to plant deceptive thoughts into the minds of people – even believers. This is why the New Testament presents the battle-plan for every believer:

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,
and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Second Corinthians 10:3-5

The wolves who seek to “snatch” sheep from Christ’s flock – the believer’s local church – also seek to “scatter” the flock of Christ through whispers of deception. We are in a cosmic battle that Christ expects we can win in His Name and strength because He has now sent His Spirit to aid us to to withstand these devious whispers of the evil ones!

What the closing book of the Bible reveals about this cosmic battle between the Champion of Good (depicted in Revelation as the ‘Arnion’ – translated into English as the [little] Lamb) and the villainous dragon, is that appearances can be misleading. (This was surely one of the main purposes of Christ giving this revelation to John to deliver to the beleaguered members of the seven churches of Asia Minor as they attempted to withstand the onslaught of Satan’s-puppet-Rome’s three-and-a-half-years of bloody persecution of Christians from AD64.) Despite appearances, the little Lamb who was brutalised then crucified on the cross of shame, would be ultimately be revealed as the all-conquering Victor over all evil, sin, death, wickedness, and especially the fallen-prince-turned-evil-dragon!

Saying with a loud voice,“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea,
and all that is in them, saying,“To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:12-13

 

OUR UNSEEN ENEMIES DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW 

The truth is, our unseen enemies have now been defeated and have only one weapon at their disposal: lies. And they do not want you to know this!

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44

 These devilish wolves who whisper into our unseen ears with their subtle yet hideous lies, such as “God doesn’t really love you!” “You’re not really a Christian! If you were really a Christian you wouldn’t sin, or doubt, or worry!” “You can’t belong to church – church is only for true Christians who live holy lives – and you certainly don’t!” (Can you see through these lies? Can see that these invisible wolves are simply doing what Christ warned us they would try to do – snatch sheep from the fold, and, scatter the flock by isolating the sheep from each other through deceptions?)

Wolves love to hunt at night. Their howls are exaggerated by the darkness. The darkness also deceives their intended prey into thoughts of intimidation and unnecessary anxiety. Spiritual wolves are no different. Note how John’s Gospel often uses the word “night” to highlight deceptiveness of the evil ones (Jn. 9:4; 11:10:10; 13:30).

At the root of our worst fears is our greatest fear – the fear of the unknown. (I suspect that the popular support for the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill unfairly took advantage of this crippling fear!) The aged Dr. F.W. Boreham would write in his autobiography –

Like the medieval saint, we can testify that
we have had many and great troubles in our time,
but most of them never happened!
Dr. F. W. Boreham, “My Pilgrimage”, p.221

In support of this discovery about how we fear, we might paraphrase something that Mark Twain wrote as – 

“Our worst fears are the ones which never eventuate!”

 

“YOU SHEEP BEAR A STRANGE FAMILY RESEMBLANCE
TO THE AGNUS DEI!” When you gave your life to Christ, the Lamb of God, the apostle John tells us in his epistle that the Father did something profound to your soul. Not only was a dead soul made alive, not only were your blind eyes opened, not only was your indifferent and calloused heart taken out and a new healthy heart transplanted into you, but God placed the spiritually-genetic code with the likeness of His Son into your sou! Whether you realise or not, if you are a follower of Christ you are more than a follower of Christ! In the unseen realm you now have a striking resemblance to Christ!

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning,
for God’s seed [Greek word: ‘sperma’] abides in him;
and he cannot keep on sinning,
because he has been born of God.
First John 3:9

Thus, as the devilish wolves bear a resemblance to their defeated, evil, fallen, and former prince, we, the sheep of God’s pasture, bear an even more striking resemblance to the Lamb of God (in Latin: the Agnus dei). No wonder the forces of evil want to destroy you. You, we, because of our redeemed new natures, now bear a striking resemblance in the spiritual realm to the Lamb of God who defeated the dragon and his hordes of imbecilic and doomed beings! But what many redeemed sons and daughters of God may not be aware of is that we have all been gifted with armour and weaponry which makes us invincible to to schemes of the unseen wolf pack. Thus the apostle Paul could write:

If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him—
for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything)
I did so for you in the presence of Christ,
so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).
Second Corinthians 2:10-11

 

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE WHISPERS OF WOLVES

 Let us never underestimate the ferocity of the unseen battle that we are in. Our invisible wolfish enemies are relentless in their efforts to deceive God’s people. The truth is that we far outnumber them. This is why they particularly target those they can manipulate to perpetuate their deceit. We have seen that it was the devil himself who continually encircled the original twelve disciples of Christ seeking the most the influential among them to do its bidding. We get a shocking picture of this revealed in Matthew 16 just after Jesus had asked His disciples who others said He was:

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 16:15-17

But within seconds it became apparent that Simon Peter had an unseen enemy whisper something false but appealing into his mind:

¶ From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed,
and on the third day be raised.  And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him,
saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me.
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Matthew 16:21-23

Jesus later revealed to Peter, after He had dismissed Judas and Satan (Jn. 13:27) from the upper room where Jesus was delivering His Farewell Discourse, that Satan had actually wanted Simon Peter as his agent of betrayal of Christ: 

¶ “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,
strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:31-32

It is difficult to miss then how susceptible we all are to the wicked scheming of the enemy—if even the leader of the apostles could have an undetected devilish whisper pass from his mind to his lips, then perhaps we could too. This is why Christ said that the devil would also seek to use Church leaders to also serve as his wolves (Matt. 7:15). However, Christ has ensured that we have an advantage that Simon Peter did not have at that time. After Christ ascended he not only led some of the most threatening fallen heavenly beings into permanent captivity (Eph. 4:8), He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world to abide in each believer through the available baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 38-39). Thus, each believer, each sheep of the flock of God now has the authority and power to withstand the whispers of the devilish wolves! 

 

THWARTING THE WHISPERS OF WOLVES

The spiritually on-guard sheep within Christ’s fold know that these wolves which Christ described in John 10:12 scheme against Christ’s flock by attempting to whisper into the minds of vulnerable believers thoughts that would isolate them from the flock, and even seek to scatter their flock from their fold. Knowing all this, here are five ways that any believer can thwart the whispers of the devil’s unseen wolves, by fighting in the following ways:

1. Stay in the fold – resist the wolf’s whisper to separate from the fold (your local church).

2. Stay connected to your food source – resist the wolf’s whisper to neglect your daily feeding from your reading of God’s Word.

3. Stay in communication with the Lamb of God – withstand the wolf’s whisper to give up praying to God.

4. Stay behind the shield of God’s truth – detect and reject the lies of the wolf’s whispers compared to the truth of God’s Word.

5. Stay focused on the Lamb on the Throne – the wolf’s whispers seek to distract/divert/disillusion you from the One they hate, but the One you adore – who also adores you.  

For these reasons, you actually have no need to fear the whispers from a devilish wolf. But it is a constant, unrelenting battle that every believer is engaged in, which requires these five pieces of armour and weaponry. Our unseen enemies are more afraid of you when you in the fold of Christ, than you could ever be of them. This is why every time we baptise another redeemed soul we are taking “territory” from our invisible enemy. And this is why we need every battle-hardened senior follower of Christ to learn from what Jesus told Simon Peter who had also been targeted by the enemy, “Satan demanded to have you…but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32a). That is, we need to pray for each other also that our faith in Christ may not fail. And I pray that your faith may not fail either!

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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"Like a lamb"

 

The surprising conclusion to the story of God’s plan of redemption and the climax of each of the four Gospels, is that “the Lamb has conquered” (Rev. 17:14) — not by military might — but being killed and then conquering death itself! The introduction of Christ to the world in John’s Gospel was delivered by John the Baptiser when he declared- 

¶ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me,
because He was before me.’
John 1:29-30

In each of the Passover meals that are recorded in the Gospels (where the central elements were the pascal lamb, the unleavened bread, and the unfermented wine) not once is there any reference to the lamb. Even the bread and wine are given new and richer significance by the Very Lamb of God when He announced, “Take eat, this is My body”, and of the wine “This is My blood which is shed for you.” It was the presence of the True Lamb that made any reference to the shadowy sacrificed lamb  absolutely redundant. In each of the three Passovers that Jesus celebrated with His disciples, it was only the last one, on the night He was betrayed, that they celebrated it a day early. This significance of this is often overlooked by many who have not paused to consider just how odd yet profound this apparent wrong-datedness was. On the day that the Passover (“Pascal”) lamb was being roasted, Jerusalem and the houses that surrounded the holy city would have had the smell of thousands of households exuding its smoke from their roasting ovens giving the precinct a cloud with the distinct aroma of barbecued roast lamb. The night before this, Christ met with His disciples and instituted the New Covenant ordinance of the Lord’s Supper (1Cor. 11:20). Thus, the following day, just when each household fired up their roasting ovens, Christ was charged, tried, convicted, condemned, and crucified — as the True Passover Lamb. When Christ was beaten and bloodied and bruised and stripped naked and nailed to a Roman cross and left hanging while pinned with three nine-inch iron spikes to that tree, Jerusalem was progressively being filled with the aroma of thousands of emblematic lambs all pointing to the One True Lamb just outside the city walls (significantly) to the west of the once holy city.

In the eyes of the Jewish and Roman authorities, the “Jesus problem” was now dealt with. With Christ dead the Jewish leaders had dealt with the problem of the One who threatened their power over the people. With Christ dead the Roman authorities had dealt with the problem of the One that tens of thousands of Jews believed was the Messiah-Deliverer. How infinitely wrong they both were!

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
First Corinthians 5:7

The death of the Eternal Lamb of God which led to His victory over death and the powers of evil itself resulted in the greatest and most decisive military victory in the history of our cosmos! In the closing book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, the One whom John the Baptiser had previously described as the amnos of God (John 1:29), is referred to twenty-eight times in its twenty-two chapters as the arnion (‘little lamb’).

¶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb [arnion] standing,
as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes,
which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Revelation 5:6

The closing book of the Bible delivers a literary twist that not even the most creative writer could hav ever dreamt of. The mightiest military and combined religious forces of the then known world with all its might, power, and glory, was no match for a little lamb!!!!

They will make war on the Lamb,
and the Lamb will conquer them,
for He is Lord of lords and King of kings,
and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Revelation 17:14

The Almighty Eternal Omnipotent God and Creator of the Universe entered into space and time and became like a lamb and demonstrated that true power, true greatness, and true might, are not measured by the things that the rebellious world considers necessary! The first Easter established once and for all who was the True Lord, the One True God, and His claim to summon peoples from all lands and languages to lay their lives down in surrendered worship of Him. And this is what we do in constant memory and celebration of the One who is worthy of our adoration, devotion, and worship each Sunday and especially during Easter!

¶ And I saw no temple in the city,
for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb…
But nothing unclean will ever enter it,
nor anyone who does what is detestable or false,
but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 21:22-23, 27

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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