It’s interesting to know God’s voice will never go against His written Word. And if we feel we have something greater, we should rather turn to and follow the example of the Great Apostle to the Gentiles. Many times over he sounded the alarm, “Don’t become disconnected from the Body.” We need to have the proper balance of the “whole body.” This Church which is His Body.
By John D. Mean
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John 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
The scriptures attest to a very special relationship that exists between Christ and His Church, or, as John put it in chapter 10, The Good Shepherd and His sheep.
The human tendency seems to be more directed towards what Jesus our Lord can do rather than what He is. They were always desiring to see a miracle; from Herod and on down to the least.
John 2:24-25 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
They sought a miracle although our Lord did not commit Himself to this frame of mind. He needed not that any should testify of man for He knew what was in man. When the multitudes began leaving Him during a doctrinal confrontation, our Lord turned to His disciples and asked, “Are you going to leave me as well?”
“To whom shall we go?” answered Peter. “Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Son of God.”
In the sphere of politics, there is what we might call three main fields or levels of activity.
1.The Right
2.The Moderate
3.The Left
The worldly mindset has it’s way of creeping into the Church. I’ve lived long enough to observe this. Furthermore, I’ve traveled to different countries and found that all styles in the world were not all totally influenced by Hollywood, Paris and New York. I’ve also observed a beautiful and godly modesty among the different cultures that might not be accepted by the whole Body.
The right, the left and the moderate are in the church, which would seem is a very healthy combination. The Early Church had this very particular situation.
It was my lot in childhood to be reared under the umbrella of the extreme right. We had greater insight, according to our reasoning, in the gifts of the Spirit than the rest of the Body. Being rather difficult to function with the rest of the Body, because of these opposing views, we did what men do today. We separated. Sad!
With neither left nor even the moderates to give the proper balance, the right got more right and took on the image of cultic practice. Even the Pastor had no one to pull him back and take him aside for counsel. The Shepherd’s voice was heard no more through the Body. Hey! Determined, the sinister one is following close on your heels to push you over the precipice. You might ask, “What do you mean by the far right?” Well, it’s sort of a Pastoral mind—control. Sort of like walking clumsily over the Apostle Peter’s admonition to the elders, “Not lords over God’s heritage, but ensamples to the flock.” It was directing all aspects of their members’ lives with very strong authority. “And if you don’t…” who knows what the sentence will be?
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In Israel, however, where grass has difficulty growing in the arid soil, sheep must know their shepherd, following him obediently from pasture to pasture. There, shepherding is a much more active task.