25-0824a Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(0:57) I have spoken of having Bible studies while in the job force. One individual (1:06) I had talked more than anyone else. I discussed some things with him.

(1:15) He believed in tongue speaking. On one occasion I asked if any of the tongues he allegedly spoke (1:29) could be taken to any part of the world and teach people the word of God. He replied, no.

(1:48) Then I asked, what good is it? Tongues are simply languages of the peoples of the world. (2:04) And if he had in his hand or had a copy of the King James Version of the Bible, (2:15) and he turned in the front part of the Bible that identifies it as being the King James Version, (2:35) it says that it is translated out of the tongues. That is, it was translated (2:51) out of the languages that it was originally written, which would be the Hebrew and the Greek (3:01) languages.

So tongues are simply languages. And if you read the second chapter of Acts, (3:16) the people were amazed at how the men who were speaking were Galileans, and they were speaking (3:30) in languages from which they came. Now the apostles may not have known the languages, (3:43) but the people heard them speaking in these languages and understood them to speak in their (3:51) own language, and they were praising God.

Now as we were finishing this conversation, (4:09) he must have sensed that I was making headway with my reasoning, for he said, (4:29) don’t steal my sheep. Now I would have liked to know who his sheep were if he had any. (4:46) My attempt at these biblical studies was to make the young men interested in becoming God’s sheep.

(4:57) And I will turn to Ezekiel 34 to begin the lesson. I’m going to read the first four verses. (5:17) And the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, (5:27) prophesy and say to them, I says the Lord God to the shepherds, (5:37) woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves.

Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? (5:47) You eat the fat, clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed (6:01) the flock. The wheat you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, (6:11) nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost.

(6:23) But with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, (6:37) and they became food for all the beasts of the field, and they were scattered. (6:50) This is a sad picture.

We have these leaders, these shepherds, those that (6:59) God calls shepherds, that are supposed to lead the people, (7:06) lead the people through the word of God. But these shepherds did not care for Israel. (7:22) God said that they were selfish, they only fed themselves, they clothed themselves, (7:32) did not offer medical aid, and the sheep were scattered.

(7:38) So God had a lot of things to say about them and concerning them. But before we go any farther, (7:56) let us fast forward to Acts 20 and verse 28 beginning. (8:11) This is the verse that was read in your hearing.

Now to give you a background of that verse, (8:31) Paul called for the elders of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, and he meets the elders. (8:53) Now those who will call a preacher pastor, but elder, pastor, shepherds, these are the same men, (9:20) and they are a plurality of shepherds in each congregation that has elders. (9:33) Now he called for these Ephesian elders, and he’s exhorting them, and he tells them in verse 28, (9:51) Therefore take heed to yourselves.

You see, if those shepherds in Israel, (10:04) physical Israel, did not care for the people, for Israel, then elders can become (10:24) not caring for the church, which is God’s spiritual Israel, (10:31) and also his sheep. The church is supposed to be the flock of God, the God’s sheep. (10:50) The shepherds, those men that are among the sheep, are supposed to do just what (11:00) the elders in Israel failed to do.

So he is admonishing these elders to take heed to yourselves (11:11) and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd (11:21) the church of God. Now the King James Version, in place of shepherds, will have feed the church (11:32) of God. Now, yes, elders need to feed the church, especially the Lord God.

They need to take (11:48) care of them and be concerned, but there is physical ailments. They need to pray for them and (11:56) be concerned. They need to be concerned with making sure that they have their physical needs (12:10) taken care of, but they also need their spiritual needs taken care of.

Now, (12:23) it says that the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Now, there are those who, (12:34) in the past, that I have read, that there are those that object to the elders having authority, (12:47) and they blame, for instance, the King James Version and other versions that (12:57) are alongside the King James. They say that these translations give the elders authority, (13:09) authoritative powers, but this says, Paul says, the Holy Spirit made you overseers.

(13:22) He wanted them to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. (13:33) This is calling Jesus God, because Jesus shed his blood, and Jesus is the Son of God, (13:46) and this is the reason that he is telling them this. In verse 29, he says, For I know this, (13:59) that after my departure, savage wolves will rise up, or savage wolves will come in among you, (14:12) not sparing the flock.

In verse 30, Also from among yourselves men will rise up, (14:21) speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples to themselves. (14:37) Now, Paul says that he knows that that is going to happen, and it did happen. (14:47) But after saying a few more things to them, he says in verse 32, (14:58) So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up (15:09) and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

(15:18) This is where we need to go. I commend you to God and the word of his grace. (15:28) Notice that he, in verse 28, says, Therefore take heed unto yourselves.

Do you know that even those (15:45) that are not elders, they ought to take heed unto themselves. They need to examine themselves, (15:54) and then as these elders are commended to God and his word of grace, that’s where we ought to go. (16:14) And just as it could build up these elders and keep them right, (16:23) and so that they can have an inheritance among all those who are sanctified, (16:32) that we can have this inheritance.

But let’s notice back in Ezekiel 34. (16:54) And we’re going to look, we’re going to go to verse 6, Ezekiel 34, and then we’re going to look at verse 6. (17:19) God is still talking. And in verse 6, he says, My sheep, this is God’s sheep.

Israel is God’s sheep. (17:35) My sheep wandered through all of the mountains and on every high hill. (17:42) Yet my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking (17:54) or searching for them.

And he has some choice things that he is saying to these shepherds. (18:09) In verse 11, Therefore, thus says the Lord God, Indeed, I myself will search for my sheep (18:26) and seek them out, as a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep. (18:37) So I will seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered (18:46) on a cloudy and dark day.

And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them (19:04) from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of (19:14) Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good (19:25) pastures, and their food will be on the high mountains of Israel.

There they shall lie down (19:37) in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock. (19:51) Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.

(20:02) Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture that you must tread down with your feet (20:11) the residue of your pasture, and to have drunk the clear waters that you must bow the residue (20:26) with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, (20:36) and they drink what you have fouled with your feet. (20:43) So since there was no one to search after Israel, the sheep of God, God said, (20:56) I will search them out. Let’s fast forward then to Luke 19, 10, which Roger read in your hearing.

(21:11) It says, The Son, or the Son of Man, has come to see and save that which was lost. (21:24) Jesus, being the only begotten Son of God, came, and he came not to condemn the world, (21:38) but to save it. He said that he came to seek and save the lost.

As God promised Israel then, (21:56) I will search out my sheep as a shepherd seeketh out his flock. I will feed them, (22:08) strengthen and feed them with judgment. And God was going to take care of them.

(22:15) He was going to bring judgment upon the shepherds that lacked concern for the people, (22:28) did not teach them the way of God. The shepherds just did what they wanted to do, (22:38) thinking only of themselves. So God was going to bring judgment upon these shepherds.

(22:55) Now, but the sheep, his sheep, God’s sheep, you know, if this young man (23:08) had sheep following him, if they were following him, they would not be following God. If I had (23:20) sheep, man would follow me, they would not be following God. They would be following me.

(23:36) Now, I’m going to stop right here. I’ve got part two of this lesson tonight. (23:47) I would urge you to make every effort to be back to hear part two of this lesson, (24:00) because we’re going to discuss some things that apply to us today, showing that we can be God’s (24:13) sheep.

We can be his sheep. He sent his son to seek us out, and we ought to be glad of that. (24:30) We ought to be glad that he’s looking out for us.

If we had the elders as we formerly had, (24:46) they should look to God and his word and follow him as sheep follows the shepherd. (25:03) Do you not want to be one of God’s sheep? Do you not want to be among the flock of God? (25:15) Yes, there’s one thing that these shepherds, these sheep that they were shepherding, (25:29) were not God’s sheep. They were God’s sheep that ought to seek in to men that (25:45) are elders of whatever congregation they are leading, that ought to seek in that (25:56) they are shepherding sheep, that they are part of that flock even.

(26:07) They got a responsibility to lead the sheep in the right way. (26:13) But if they failed to do that, then the sheep were scattered, just as the Israelites were scattered. (26:28) So if you have not become a part of God’s flock, why not do so by listening to what Jesus says.

(26:44) Listen to his voice and follow him. You will be his sheep and not man’s. (27:03) Why not become a part by believing that Jesus is God’s son, that he can, through his blood, (27:16) wash away your sins, that heaven did come down, and that we can be part of God’s sheep.

(27:32) Why not listen to him? If you have been led astray, as sheep do go astray, (27:42) why not come back and let the church pray for you. May God take you back. He will (27:52) pray that you be back in God’s goodness and mercy.

Why not do so while we stand and while we sing?