EVEN MORE ABOUT THE GREAT SHEPHERD
Monday – August 20, 2018, Elul 9, 5778
Greetings and welcome back to this wonderful study from the Bible Book of Hebrews. As you know we are having a continuing conversation about our great Shepherd. The featured picture today is of me taken just outside of a wonderful restaurant in Rockland Maine called Archer’s on The Pier. Now let’s return our attention to this wonderful faith building teaching and our primary text.
Hebrews 13:20-22 (KJV)
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.
As you will recall I have been focusing upon the phrase “great shepherd” and exploring it as Holy Spirit leads me. On Friday I gave three passages of Scripture which demonstrated that our great Shepherd wants us to have great abundance. The lack of abundance keeps us from fulfilling our mission in the earth and doing all that the Lord would have us to do to further His (and our) Kingdom in the earth. Our mission in part is to enlarge Heaven and limit Hell. Let’s review those Scriptures and then move forward into the tenth chapter of John.
Deuteronomy 8:18 (KJV)
18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Our God, our great Shepherd considers wealth, not in the bye and bye, but now, to be a Covenant right. Of course, to have Covenant wealth one must faithfully discharge Covenant responsibilities. Rather than develop false doctrines that teach that not everyone is to be wealthy, why don’t we judge ourselves and see why we are not wealthy before the Lord.
Isaiah 48:17 (KJV)
17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
It is the Lord our God, the great Shepherd, who has teaches us how to profit in the earth which also stores abundance for later. There are no poor people in the earth who are rich in Heaven. If you were poor in the earth you will be poor in Heaven compared with those saints who were rich in the earth as a result of working the Covenant.
Haggai 2:8-9 (KJV)
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
The LORD speaking through the Prophet Haggai makes it clear that the precious things of the earth are His. We saw in Hebrews that Jesus as inherited all thing. And we saw that we are in Him and we are joint-heirs with Him so the silver and the gold is ours as well. You and I are a part of the latter house referred to above and that house is greater than the former or Old Covenant house. There will be people in the body of Christ before the end that are far richer (in earthly possessions) than Job, Abraham, and Isaac. With great piety Churches across the land sing a song that goes something like this: “I would rather have Jesus than great riches, silver or gold”. Our Heavenly Father fully intended us to have both, Jesus died for both, Holy Spirit empowers for both. As we approach the end there will be many excelling at least ten times better than the best the world has to offer like Daniel and the three Hebrew children. The word “glory” refers to the goodness of God and most frequently is talking about wealth in the earth in the possession of a saint. Notice the phrase in the Scripture above “in this place will I give peace”. Remember that the peace of God includes wealth, His wealth, it is nothing broken and nothing missing in our lives. Now let’s turn our attention to the Words of Jesus concerning shepherding.
John 10:27-30 (KJV)
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
This whole tenth chapter of John is wonderful and exciting and I would strongly encourage you to read it all slowly and meditatively. Many, many people in the body of Christ do not know that they hear the voice of the Shepherd, the very voice of God. For one to say that they do not hear God is to call Jesus, God, a liar. Jesus says plainly in the 27th verse above that His sheep (you and I) hear His voice. Could it be that you don’t recognize His voice because you don’t practice hearing the voice of God? Another huge issue is that if you don’t spend time in the Word of God you will not be able to learn the voice of God. He will never vary from the Word of God. Talk to God, He will always answer, without fail. Just be prepared to hear things that may be at variance with what you want to hear. The answer was delayed to Daniel for 21 days but it will not be delayed from you for even 21 seconds. The Holy Spirit has the answer and He is in you, Daniel did not have that privilege. Jesus knows us all by name. Jesus goes on to say that not only do we hear Him, but that we follow Him.
Remember, in the Kingdom of God there is equal opportunity but not equal results. Some sheep are very close to the Master (Shepherd) other further back, some going in and out, still others wandering off and getting lost and the Shepherd has to hunt them down. The ones closest walk in the fullness and the others in various gradations of the Blessing. This explains the gradient seen in the Church with regard to the physical manifestations of the glory of God in individual lives. As we conclude for today remember that no devil and no person other than ourselves can remove us from the Hand of God. Lord willing, tomorrow I will pick up with the blood.
Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Ephesians 3:14-17 (KJV)
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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