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6-9-2019 Weekly Messages

The contemplation of the week: Psalm 23: 1-6

Text: John 10: 1-19

The title of the book: Jesus Christ  said figuratively about the rapture and what will happen in the millennial kingdom

        The “sheep” or “flock” in the Bible speaks primarily of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel prophesied that the nation of Israel was a flock of God:

” For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. “(Ezek. 34: 11-12).

         However, in the New Testament, after the Calvary cross, “sheep” or “flock of sheep” or “flock” is spiritually applied to refer to the children of God who have been saved and born again by believing in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

        Everyone who goes into the other way without going into the door, is a thief and a robber. These are the words referring to religious leaders like the Pharisees at the time and the Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, who insisted that they deny Jesus the Good Shepherd and lead them in the way of salvation. But they are people who steal, kill, and destroy souls. Apostle Paul also sent a warning message of them:

” Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Col. 2: 8)

         All the education of the present world as well as the time of Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ have been teaching childish principle to steal the souls of those who should follow Christ, and  led them to destruction by promising a better world.

       The Lord says that He is the Shepherd of the sheep. But the Lord is not only the shepherd who takes care of the flock, but also tells us that he is the door to the sheep and the way. To Philip asking the Lord to know where He is going, the Lord said, ”  I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14: 6).

        Now the Lord is speaking unto Pharisees, the thief and the robbers  in parables.

The “door of the sheep”, which the Lord speaks, is the door to the kingdom in heaven. It is said that no one can be saved without going through the door to the kingdom of heaven. In other words, without believing in the Lord, the Good Shepherd, when the Lord appears in the air,  cannot be raptured into the heaven through the sheep’s door. Jesus said, there shall be one fold(also means church), and one shepherd. Of course, only Jesus Christ is the only one Shepherd. Bur he also meant one church, and one shepherd.

         The Lord will open the doors of heaven and appear in the air, calling  the names of his sheep, and bringing them out of the earth, and lifting them up through the heavenly door (v.3). Apostle John is a blessed person in the Holy Spirit who anticipates what will happen to him on this day:

” After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.“. (Rev. 4: 1-3)

            When Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Church saints, he also testified that they would hear the trump heard by John when they were raptured:

” For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. “(I Thessalonians 4: 16-18)

         That’s right! The saved saints are to hear the voice of the Lord and follow Him. They are not going to follow any strangers at all. This is the unique character of sheep  that follows only the shepherd. Jesus Christ is the shepherd’s chief, and the shepherds who are called by him and caring  his sheep are to feed his sheep and bring their sheep to heaven. Therefore, the sheep of the Lord do not listen to the voice of false shepherds who do not feed the word of the good Shepherd.

          The Lord said, “by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. ” (v. 9). This will cause the Lord to open the door to heaven and let his sheep go through the door of heaven to be saved. Also, once again at the end of the tribulation, he will judge the world, and when he establishes the kingdom, He will be coming, and at this time the Lord will lead them into the pasture.

          Apostle John testified when the Lord Jesus come down from heaven with the sheep seeing the door of heaven opened.  At this time the Lord’s sheep will become the armies of heaven,

” And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. “(Revelation 19: 11-14).

           King David, confessing the Lord God as his shepherd, testified that when he comes down with him to the earth, the Lord would lead him to a green pasture:

”  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.“( Psalm 23: 1, 2, 5, 6)

           The prophet Ezekiel prophesied that David would once again be anointed in the Lord’s millennial kingdom:

” And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them,even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

24And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. “(Ezek. 34: 23-24)

         The Lord also warned us about false shepherds in the church of God until the Lord come. He said that they are hirelings. Therefore, the sheep of the Lord must discern whether their shepherds are hirelings or not:

” But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

13The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.“

The hireling flees because he is a hired servant, There is no interest in the sheep “(vv. 12-13).

          The Lord said that there are other sheep that have not come into this sheep, and that they should be brought in, and that they too will hear the voice of the Lord in the future. When the Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, he said, ” For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. “(Ezekiel 34:11).

       They are originally the sheep of God, but they are speaking of the people of Israel who have been scattered . But the prophet Hosea prophesied that they would seek the Lord in the midst of affliction dddduring the Great Tribulation:

” I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.“ (Hos 5:15)

          However, at this time, the Roman Catholic, the  church of Harlot  claimed that they are the sheep of God and that the churches that left them through the Reformation of Martin Luther were other sheep that did not belong to the sheep, So far, they are finally doing religious ecumenical  through the WCC. What a comedy, it is! The sheep of the Lord Jesus know who they are. But those who are not the sheep of the Lord are deceived by their words. We are to realize the word of the Lord and not be deceived by the group of  robbers. Amen! Hallelujah!