Barnyard Basics 5 - Under-shepherds

John 10:14-16 “ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

Jesus is the Shepherd of the church. When we follow Him and submit to His voice, then Psalm 23 applies to us. If we want our life to be centered in His will (with all the benefits that come with His will), we must learn to hear and follow His voice.

Here’s where so many miss out: Jesus, according to 1 Peter 5:4, is the Chief Shepherd. There are other shepherds under His supervision. He has delegated the care and the direction of the flock to “under-shepherds.” These are men that are called to lead the flock as they follow Jesus. Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be a follower of me as I am a follower of Christ.”

There are many believers in the church who claim to follow the Chief Shepherd but have no relationship with the shepherds that He delegates. How can you follow Him and refuse to follow the one He put in front of you? How we submit to the under-shepherd who God set in front of us displays how we submit to the Chief Shepherd. Do you realize this? Do you understand that God has made another person accountable for you?

Hebrews 13:7 says exactly that: “ Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” Evidently, while we follow the Good Shepherd - He’s going to give us an under-shepherd to follow.

In Peter’s first letter, he wrote to the people who were called to this position. His instruction can be found in 1 Peter 5:2-3, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” God gave some people the responsibility to oversee His flock. Their responsibility is to set an example for the sheep to follow. Going back to Hebrews 13:7, we recognize that their example should be in faith.

Now we have a complication. These leaders are given the responsibility and accountability of leading the flock -  but they are never told to dominate their sheep. In other words, they’re called to set the example and preach right and wrong, but it’s up to the sheep to submit themselves to their leadership. That’s why, after writing to the shepherds, Peter immediately says “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.” The responsibility to lead rests on the shepherds - the responsibility to follow rests on the sheep. God will hold both of them accountable for what He’s called them to do.

That’s why Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” This isn’t about someone forcing their way on your life, it’s about submitting yourself to their doctrine and their example. In fact, the Greek word for “obey” (peitho) literally means to be convinced and to trust. So God’s command is for His sheep to actually trust their shepherds!

We can also see the reward of following an under-shepherd in Hebrews 13:17. It will be profitable on the day of accounting. I absolutely believe that God will bring to account how we treat the men and women He set in authority. The flipside is that it won’t be profitable for you to wander off or rebel. Can you see the encouragement together with the warning in this verse?

This isn’t a light matter. The people that are called to shepherd God’s flock have an enormous responsibility on their shoulder. Listen to this admonishment to them out of Acts 20:28-30: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

These are sheep that Jesus died for! He loves every one of those precious people. And it’s important to realise that He’s entrusted them to the care of these under-shepherds...so can you see how important their job is? Do you see that it’s the shepherd’s responsibility to drive away wolfish people? Can you imagine that these under-shepherds would ever have problems with goats and pigs mingling with and upsetting the sheep? These people have an incredibly tough assignment and have to rely completely on the grace of God...why would any sheep want to make their job harder?

Barnyard Basics 4 - Soulish Swine

By now we’ve learned that Jesus used five natural animals to describe five different types of people. We’ve already discussed four of these animals and the people they symbolize:
Sheep - symbolic of obedient followers of Jesus
Goats - symbolic of believers that know God’s will, but rebel against it
Wolves - symbolic of unbelievers who directly oppose or subtly infiltrate God’s flock
Dogs - symbolic of most non believers (even those who are religious); those who try their best to suppress their wolf nature, but have never been born again

Today we’re going to discuss the fifth type of animal Jesus used as a teaching tool - pigs.

Matthew 7:6 says “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”

Naturally, pigs are distant relatives of sheep. Like sheep, pigs have split hooves (they’re artiodactyls for those of you who know what that means). Unlike sheep, they’re not ruminants; that is, they don’t chew the cud. Although pigs can be intelligent and are very social, they are not nearly as docile as sheep. Often pigs can be very aggressive, even toward their own farmers. There are many, many cases of pigs attacking and even killing the very farmer that cares for them.

If you remember learning about sheep and goats, you’ll remember that a split hoof is symbolic of a separated walk - salvation. This means that, whatever else this type of people may be, they have had a genuine salvation experience. You’ll also remember that chewing the cud is a symbol of habitually studying God’s Word. So by using pigs as an illustration, Jesus has already taught us that these are Christians that have no connection to the Word of God. They are carnal Christians; having no desire to follow their Lord into deeper spiritual things. They are believers that are controlled by their soul.

Jesus told His disciples (and every one of His ministers by extension) not to throw their pearls before this type of Christian.

Pearls are only used symbolically in one other passage. Matthew 13:45-46 says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” I believe that this parable is describing a man who seeks through the scriptures for revelation. He gives up everything to search for the truths in God’s Word which only come to the surface through intense study. That revelation knowledge, given to him by the Holy Spirit, is worth more to that man than anything else he has. That revelation is the symbolic pearl.

Apparently, pigs don’t appreciate pearls. It doesn’t matter how long a preacher studies to discover the truth in his message. It doesn’t matter what he’s given up to devote himself to the Word of God. If he throws that revelation before carnal, soulish Christians, it’s not going to mean anything to them. In fact, those carnal believers may even turn and attack that minister for his effort! You can hear the spiritual grunts and squeals around the dinner tables on Sunday afternoon. Comments made by soulish Christians (those who are saved but never study the Bible for themselves) include: “Why does he always preach so long?” “He was too harsh today!” “I wonder why he always teaches about that one subject!” “I wish he’d give more time to the praise and worship!”

The life of a spiritual pig - a soulish Christian - is dangerous.

Do you remember when Jesus delivered the demoniac of Gadara? Every other time Jesus drove out demons, He wouldn’t let them talk - so why was that time different? He even let the demons make the request to enter the herd of pigs! Why would He do that? I believe Jesus was illustrating another fact about spiritual pigs: They have no defense against the demonic realm. Demons are spiritual, but carnal believers (those who spend no time in the Bible) live only in their natural world. So when the spiritual attack comes (in the form of fear, sickness, depression, and many others), they don’t know how to fight back! Sadly, there are a lot of spiritual pigs in the church who are being tormented by these things and don’t know how to stop it.

The answer for carnal believers is to get their noses inside God’s Word! John 6:63 says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh (the carnal nature) profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." I can’t stress this enough; the Bible will pull you out of carnality. It will draw you into the deeper things that God has for you. Most importantly, it will deliver you from your own soul!

Barnyard Basics 3 - Dogs

Revelation 22:15 “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

For those of you who believe that your dog went to heaven when it died...relax! This verse isn’t referring to natural dogs, it’s talking about a specific group of people. The New Testament refers to “dogs” nine different times, and only once is it actually talking about four-legged creatures. Every other time it’s using a well-known natural thing to illustrate a spiritual concept.

Naturally speaking, dogs are domestic wolves.

Wolves and dogs are both classified as Canis lupus - the scientific name for the wolf. Dogs come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are huge and some of them are tiny. Some of them have long fur and some of them are naked. Some of them are very useful and some of them are nothing more than lap warmers. But the one thing every dog has in common is their wolfish nature. Thousands of years of domestication has managed to suppress their wild side, but it’s still there! Many times stray dogs begin to group together and form packs. When this happens, their behavior and hierarchy becomes identical to wolves.

Dogs can be friendly, playful and even lovable - but when they’re backed into a corner, it doesn’t take long for that wolf to come to the surface. It’s estimated that there are around 30 million dog attacks every year in the United States, with 850,000 of them seeking medical attention and about 30 of them fatal. Clearly, some dogs are as vicious as others are useful and friendly.

Spiritually speaking, the Bible calls unbelievers dogs.

Can they be friendly? Absolutely. Can they be lovable? Sure! Can they help the church? Many times. They come in all different shapes, sizes, and behaviors. Most of them are actually good people. Society’s laws and rules have suppressed the wickedness of humanity. But only salvation can change their nature.

Until a person is born again, their wolf nature will always be there. Watch what happens when the rule of law is taken away - people become savage. When people form groups, otherwise harmless individuals become vicious.

Sometimes people in the world try to improve themselves. They try to attend church, try to increase their knowledge, try to become good - but they can never get rid of their internal wickedness. All their efforts are like a dog trying to suppress its inner wolf. No matter how they try, they can’t change who they are. Only Jesus can do that.

Pastors can tell when they have a dog in the church by watching their attitude toward holy things. Matthew 7:6 says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs.” Why? Because dogs don’t understand or appreciate holy things.

That’s why worldly churches are trying push the Holy Spirit out the back door. Unbelievers (even religious unbelievers) don’t understand the holy things He does. When the Holy Spirit takes control of a church service, the dogs are the first to be offended. I believe this: as God continues pours His Spirit on the true church, the dogs are going to find other places to attend. Worldly churches may be growing in number - but I’m curious whether their congregations are made up of true sheep or dogs.

In Biblical times, dogs were always outside. They weren’t clean animals, so the Jews would never let them into the cities. That’s the same picture used in Revelation 22:15 - “But outside are dogs”. Dogs aren’t able to enter God’s Kingdom. Until they change, until they have a genuine salvation encounter with God, they will always be on the outside looking in. Sadly, if they refuse to change in this life, their eternal fate can never change. Spiritual dogs and spiritual wolves share the same destiny.

No matter how religious the person may be, this truth remains the same - you were born with a wolf nature, so you must be born again!