Christ is the Mystery no 135
Christian Life no 16
The Role of a Shepherd pt 1
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This morning we are going
to go back and review something we missed in our study of Christ is the Mystery
and read from paragraph 43 where brother Branham said, "Love
one another above everything. Love one another.
Don't... No matter what the devil tries to say... Now, you're all one great,
big, sweet group now, but remember my warning. See? Satan won't let that
stay that way. No, sir. He'll shoot everything,
if he has to bring somebody in to make his target. He'll bring some critic or
unbeliever in, set him down, and cause him to fellowship with you under the
quietness and things. Then he will shoot that guy with
some kind of poison stuff, and he'll start through the church with it. Don't
you take sides with it. Don't you have nothing to do with anything else. You stay right loving and
sweet and kind to one another. Pray for that man that he'll be saved too, or
that woman, ever who it is. Just pray for them and stick one with another and stay
with your pastor. See? He's the shepherd and you give him respects.
He'll lead you through, cause, he's ordained of God to do so.
44 Now, do you
remember that? The enemy will come. And when he does, just
cling that much closer together. And the one that the Devil is
using for an enemy will either get out or come in and be one of you. That's
all. Don't never clan among one another or talk,
make yourself clannish; we are one. I couldn't say, "Left hand,
I'm mad at you; I'm going to take you away 'cause you're not a right
hand." He's my left hand. I want him to stay there. Even the little
tip of my finger, I want it to stay right there, every little part of my
body stay right there. And God wants us as a Body of believers to stay right
exactly with one another, right it with one another.
Oh, those words are so prophetic,
and so beautiful to hear this morning.
and being that he is speaking of the pastor as a shepherd, I thought this morning we should look
at the role of what a Good Shepherd really is, because I think some might have
a misunderstanding concerning what a true Shepherd has been defined and how he
is to act according to the role that God calls him to do. And I hope by the end
of this sermon, we all might realign our own expectations with the expectations
that God set forth when he assigned the role model for what a True shepherd should be. So His Son Jesus
gave us that example to follow. And He is the Great shepherd of our souls.
As a shepherd we need to look
only to Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd for our role model. We need to see
the pattern in Jesus for what a Good Shepherd is.
So for our first reading from
God's Word let's turn to John
That
means his life is not his own. He sacrifices his own welfare and the welfare of
his family to lovingly care for the flock that God has placed him over. As our
Good Shepherd Jesus said in John
And
we see where brother Branham explained this as a laying aside of things in his
own life that he would have loved to do for himself, so that he could care for
the needs of those He was mentoring.
Brother
Branham told us that this meant that Jesus wanted a family but laid it aside
for the sake of the twelve to spend all his available time to teach and instruct
them. He wanted children, he wanted a wife, he wanted
all that life afforded but laid it aside for the sake of the brethren. That is
our role model for a Good shepherd.
God's wrapped gift 60-1225 P:55 56 I think one of the most
pathetic Words that Jesus ever said, was when He said, "Father, I sanctify Myself, that they might
be sanctified." In other words, He had a right;
He was a man. He had a right to a home; He had a right to a family.
He was man, as much man as you are or I am, as much human in His manhood as we
were. He had a right to it. But He was training twelve men that was going to
take the Gospel to all the world, so He sanctified Himself for their
sake. "I sanctify Myself for their sake": a Gift of God, keeping
Himself sanctified. Oh, gifts of God, you people who claim that you've
received His Spirit, keep yourself sanctified (Yes, sir.); keep away
from the things of the world; be sanctified.
Isn't
that beautiful? Jesus as the great Shepherd led the example for all shepherds
that we might also sanctify ourselves for the benefit of the sheepfold.
That
is what I chose to do 32 years ago when I came to
And
over the years, I've turned down many 6 figure income opportunities to remain here
with you as your shepherd. I've also made a commitment to God for the past 32
years to be alone with Him from
I haven't failed God in this commitment, and even if
my family has to travel home from a fellowship of great distance away, I study
in the car while my wife drives. Like last week, where we did not get home
until
As Jesus said to the Pharisees who denied His role of
Messiah, "where have I failed to do one thing
that God spoke of me to do? So too, I
ask as your shepherd, Where have I failed in
sanctifying my life for your sake? Where have I not set my life aside for you?
In studying further our great role model Jesus as the
Great Shepherd, we can turn to John 21.
John 21:15-17 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes,
Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed
my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly
love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to
him, "Simon son of John, do you really love me?" Peter was hurt
because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said,
"Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed
my sheep".
Notice there were two major focuses Jesus gives Peter
in this example of what a shepherd should do.
First Jesus says first "feed my lambs." and lambs need to eat the right food in
the right kind of field, and the food must be fresh, and healthy. Old grass can
turn sour in their stomachs, so they need to be led to where the food grows
fresh and clean, and where they can eat in safety. Because you all know when
you eat on a nervous stomach the food even though good can make you sick to
your stomach. They need Spiritual food in due season if they are to fully
mature from lambs to sheep. "And man does not
live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God."
And so we read in 2 Timothy
You know
when we look at what vitamins, herbs and minerals do for you,
usually there is a compliment of things that each nutrient produces for the
body. And we see that the Scripture will
produce, (1) Doctrine, (2) Reproof, (3) Correction, (4) Instruction in right
wise-ness, and right living, that we may become mature and thoroughly equipped
and ready to do the works of Christ. Good works.
The next
thing Jesus told Peter that he must do as a good shepherd is to "take care of my sheep". That means the
Shepherd is to do everything he can think of to make sure the sheep are healthy
and safe. As the Scripture tells us in
Ephesians 4:
In Ephesians 4:11 Paul
lays out for us the duties of the five fold ministry where he says, "And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For
the perfecting of the saints, that means for the equipping and
maturing of the saints, which are the sanctified ones. And also "for the work of the ministry, That is the same word work that is used of John
What it takes to overcome all unbelief
60-0729 P:15 First is apostles, prophets,
teachers, evangelists, pastors, those five God-given gifts in the church. So
each of you people, who has a godly pastor, has a gift
from God in your church, a shepherd. "Pastor" means "a shepherd,"
to watch over the flock, to teach them the Word of God. Then these other
nine different spiritual gifts should be operating in the church to keep the
church clean. Like the Ananias and Sapphiras and so forth, the Spirit of God rise up and call
somebody out and tell them they're living wrong, and rebuke that sin openly,
and that's what the Holy Spirit is in the church for, to keep the church
clean and ready for the coming of the Lord. We believe that.
Now, remember, brother Branham taught us in his sermon, Greater than Solomon is here 62-0628 P:24 Sin is unbelief. They do these things. They commit adultery;
they tell lies, and they do these things. It's the attributes of unbelief.
If they were believers, they wouldn't do those things. That's... They're
unbelievers. That's the reason they do it. It's just the attributes proving
that they are unbelievers. For Jesus... The Scripture
plainly teaches us that "He that believeth not is condemned already."
See? You can't even get started. So the most horrible thing there is, is
unbelief.
Therefore when Paul commanded the elders in 1 Timothy
And
So the Five fold ministry is for one purpose as Paul says in Ephesians
Look at the beautiful poetic
words Paul uses here. every wind of doctrine, like
a reed being shaken in the wind. And Jesus told us, The wind blows and no one knows where it comes from or where it's
going. So the use of wind here in winds of doctrine suggests an
invisible force moving objects around at its will. Almost like demonic or
spirit possession. You can't see when a person has been possessed by a spirit,
buy Jesus also told us by their fruits you can know them.
After Paul uses that
illustration of the people being driven like the wind by false doctrine, he
becomes more descriptive and says, by the sleight of
men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive;
And
notice he tells us how these winds of doctrines come in. They don't come in
like a bull dozer, they come in by "The sleight of men". Now, we use this word "sleight" when we use the phrase "sleight of hand", which speaks of a person
that is so crafty and deceitful in the way they deal out cards. Now, brother John Shaw used to do a bit of magic before he got
born again, and before he understood the source of it, so he knows what I'm
talking about. There are very deceptive maneuvers with the hand that can deal
you out exactly what card they want you to have. And so Paul is using this beautiful
poetic language here to paint a picture for us of how sly these men are who
bring in these winds of doctrine that are meant to deceive. Notice, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
So
deception is not a mistake, its a willful thing. Their
deceptive doctrine are not an accidental thing. They
are willful and malicious for the purpose of deception. They are not to draw
you to Christ, they are designed to draw you away from
Christ and to them.
The
seducer doesn't need to use force to seduce, they use
cunning and pleasant words to lure with. They buy gifts and use flirtatious
words to lure young girls. But Paul tells us here that the role of the five
fold ministry is to bring the people to a condition of maturity in the Word so that
no slicker could come in and take them off the word.
Now,
keep in mind we are speaking of the role of a Shepherd, of which the five fold
ministry are shepherds. Then Paul says, 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into
him in all things, (notice we are
to grow up into him.) which is the head, even Christ:
Have
you ever seen a body where the head didn't fit the body? Well, Paul is telling
us we have to grow up in order for the head which is Christ is to fit perfectly
with His body.
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted
(which means driven together) by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love.
This is so beautiful here. He
speaks of the whole body joined together, driven together, not split apart and
every joint doing its own thing. But with one purpose, one
goal, working together for the benefit of the body. Not each member walking
after their own desires, and doing what each individual member thinks is best
for itself, but he's talking about the body working in unison with one purpose
and one motion, and one effort.
Finally He said, "feed my sheep". Remember, these are the
sheep of the Lord, not the sheep of any minister. We are caretakers of
sheep that belong to the Master. The point is that we are to move beyond
feeding the lambs milk to feeding the sheep solid
food. He says, according to the effectual working.
According to the desired result, in the measure of every part, not just
the pastor, but every part working together for the body. And then in
doing this it will "make increase of the body unto the edifying
of itself in love". In other words
it's all about building up the Body to work together.
In foot ball, the running back
doesn't stand a chance if he has no one blocking for him. And the quarter back
can not drop back to pass the ball to a receiver unless he has men blocking for
him. And the problem is that you have nothing but chaos when everyone wants to
strip the ball away from the pastor and run with it when they were not called
to run with it. The quarterback chooses before the play begins who will do the running
and who will run the pass plays. And he alone has that option. And yet why do the church not understand that the body of Christ must
function as a body functions where all direction comes from the head, the
quarterback of the team.
Now,
isn't that the way it is meant to be? It takes the entire body of Christ
working together to bring the reflection of Jesus Christ to the world.
I would like to read to you now, from 1 Thessalonians chapter One for a few minutes to show you the beautiful wording that the
apostle Paul uses to express how he so longed to see the Life of Christ
manifesting itself in the body of Christ.
Notice how Paul begins in verse 1. Paul, Silvanus,[a] and Timothy
to the church gathering in Thessalonica, those living in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus the Anointed.
Isn't that beautiful. Not I Paul, but the three
of us who are working together in the working of the ministry, to you who are
living in God the Father and who are reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ's Anointing.
So Who is the anointed? You are the anointed ones living in the
Anointed One.
He
says, "May grace and peace be yours
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Anointed."
You
see where Paul is coming from. It wasn't about Him. It wasn't about what He was
doing for God. It wasn't about His ministry. It was about them. It's not about
me, it's about you. A shepherd is not about him, it's all about his love for
the sheep. He feeds them because he cares for them. he
cares for them because he loves them. Eternal life is living for others. It's
the expression of God-Life. It's the Expression of God-Love.
Then
after Paul's intro from his missionary team, he says, 2 We (not
I, but we, this is a shared thanksgiving here. We always thank God for all of you in our
prayers.
Notice
here, we always thank God for you. Not
just when you scratch my back and I scratch yours. But this is a constant. Always. Not just when the preacher is patting you on the
back, but when he's tearing off your hide as well. We always thank God for you
in our prayers.
Hmmm, in our prayers...plural. You know that is something
the early church did that is almost unseen in our homes any more, and yet we
are at the cross roads where time is blending into eternity. And how much more
we should be in constant prayer even as we see the end approaching.
Now,
I would like to read verse 3 from the Wuest translation. Here Paul says, Remember unceasingly, your works which are produced and characterized
by the faith which is yours, And your toils which have been motivated and
characterized by your Divine and self sacrificial Love, and your patient
endurance under trials which finds its source in your hope which rests in our
Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of God, even our Father. Since we know
brethren that you have always been loved by God and at the present time are the
objects of His Affection, and are the subjects of His Divine Selection in which
God in Sovereign Grace selected you out for Salvation.
In
other words, he is saying, Your Faith, Your
Revelation shapes the character of work you do, and your expression of faith
comes forth from you as a mature fully decveloped
Self Sacrificial Love which is Divinely inspired.
Your
actions on behalf of the true faith, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, and your
tireless toil of love, and your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our
Lord Jesus the Anointed in the presence of God our Father have put you
consistently at the forefront of our thoughts.
Look
at how Paul is extolling this group of believers for what they are doing. It
seems in this hour, everyone wants to lay their religion on the lap of the
Apostle or pastor or evangelist or teacher. Let him do our religion for us. Let
him listen tot he tapes for us, let him search the word for us,
let him do the praying for us, But not this little group that Paul is
addressing. He says, (1)Your actions, (2)
your tireless toil of love, and (3) your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our Lord Jesus
the Anointed before God our Father (those works of Christ living and
expressing itself out from you) have put you
consistently at the forefront of our thoughts.
Oh,
my wouldn't you love to see this little church here in this Omega time, reflect
the glory that the little group that Paul is speaking of here in Thessalonica
in the Alpha?
Listen
to verse 4 O brothers and sisters, loved by God, we know He has
chosen you. 5 And here is why:
what you experienced in the good news we brought you, was more than
words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused
message that offers complete hope and assurance!
Oh,
my, how I long to see this in all of you here in this little church. Notice the
words he uses here. He says this Word I brought to you,
it didn't run off your back like water off a duck. You didn't come to church
and go home empty. You came expecting, and you were injected with Life, and that
life empowers you to reflect the very Holy Spirit Life that lays
within this Message.
Isn't
that what we've been talking about. Didn't we read
where brother Branham talked about this in Christ is the Mystery of God where
he said,
Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:226 His Presence in the individual (that's each one of you) with
a personal a-vindication of Himself expressing Himself--the living
Word that's promised for the day, expressing Itself through you,
a vindication of the great revelation of God... Look, only in an individual, never
in a group: an individual, not in a group, His identification is with an
individual. You get that? Not with the Methodists, not with the Baptists,
not the Presbyterian, not the Lutheran, not the Pentecostal, but as an
individual. "I'll take one and leave one. I'll separate them."
That's right. "There'll be two in the
field; I'll take one and leave one. There'll be two in bed, and I'll take one and leave one." It's not a group. It is a personal vindication
of a pregnated child of God filled with the Holy
Ghost, so surrendered to God that he don't care about anything else,
and the Holy Spirit living Its Life, (not your life, you are dead and your life is hid with God in Christ. But
it's His life he is speaking of) pulsating
through him, showing the personal--personal
vindication of the Word Itself expressing Itself to
the people and to the world.
Notice
he says there will be two in the bed and God will separate them and take one
and leave the other. Two in the field and God will take one and separate away the
other. We're don't have a promise that you will come
to church and go home empty? Oh, my how can we come to church and go home
empty. This is not mechanics, brothers and sisters, the mechanics is the
doctrine. This is the life in the seed. The seed can't do you any good until
the Life in it is released. The grain must be ate to
do you any good. You've got to take it inside in order for it to grow inside of
you. Jesus promised us, "he that hungers and thirst for righteousness shall be filled."
Not might be, not if you go to church on Sunday and the sermon is up to your
standard. He said you get what you come for. So if you are not getting filled, "you are not hungering and thirsting for righteousness".
And righteousness is right-wise-ness.
Sheep
can not blame the Shepherd if they go away empty, sheep can only blame yourself. There are brothers in here and all over the world
who are feasting on what spiritual food we have here in due season. So my
advice to you is to listen to brother Branham's tapes day and night, and you
will get energized to this word, and you will come here to service and you will
hear a confirmation of what you have been listening to all week.
Now,
I believeAll things work together for the good of
them that Love God and are Thee called according to His purpose. I will take
one and leave one. That's not our doing that is God's doing. The fan is in his
hand and He's threshing out the wheat.
Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:204 And see, God Himself making Hisself known and pulsating Himself (look at brother Branham's words here.) pulsating Himself
through the Life (whose Life, God Himself pulsating His Life
through your Life) that you're a prisoner to Him
now. You are His love prisoner. The world can laugh, make fun them,
say, "Come on out." You could go, but you're a prisoner. The other
women can act
Oh,
brother a Love prisoner because it is His life pulsating out through your life
and expression of God Life so the world can see Jesus. The
appearing before the coming. he appeared so we
can appear. Hallelujah.
Now,
in getting back to 1 Thessalonians 1:5 We lived transparently before you so that you would know what
sort of people we truly are. we lived transparently before you he says. We have phanerood ourselves before you. We
manifested ourselves in our true identity in your presence for only one purpose, that you might know with a truth what sort of
people we are.
And
didn't Jesus tell us that is one attribute of a Shepherd? To
live transparently before the people. Look, what you see in me is what
you get. I do not do things in secret that I would not do in your presence.
That would be hypocritical. When I do in secret I am fully aware that God sees
me openly.
And
if the Judge is here, the Bible says, "The
love of God contraineth us." Some
people think this is preaching works or legalism. But this is preaching Love. The
Love of God constrains us from living for self. The Love of God constrains us
from the filthy habits of the world. The love of God constrains us from lying,
and stealing, and cheating in business, and living a lie. This Love of God is the
dynamics of God that is living Its life, His Life
through you.
And
Paul said the reason we live transparently in your presence and not in your
presence is not for our sakes so you can say we are fine Christians, in order
for you to lift us up and make a little kingdom for ourselves. Anyone who has
kingdom building on their minds in this hour has a spirit not from God. He
lives only for self. But we live for Christ and for your sake. Jesus said, I sanctify myself for their sake. Br. Branham said, I live
so much like Jesus Christ that the ones having trouble believing me, might see
enough of Christ in me that they will want what I've have. And isn't that your
motive to sanctify yourselves as well.
We
do not live like Christ and talk like Christ and act like Christ and do the
works of Christ out of fear that if we don't we are not going to make it. We do
and act and speak because we love our Father so much that all we want to do is
please him.
Notice
Paul's words. "We did it for your sake," And because of this, what result did Paul
see? What reward did Paul receive for his efforts? He tells us in verse 6 and you
have modeled your lives after ours just as we are modeling ours after
the Lord.
Oh,
how I want to just weep when I think of seeing Christ living so much in me that
you see only Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and because of my life, it so
affects your life that when people see you, they will only see Jesus Christ, the same yesterday today and forever living
in you as Paul saw Christ living in that the little group and reflecting Christ
to the world.
Notice
he said, "and you have modeled your lives after ours just as we
are modeling ours after the Lord."
You
know, brother Branham said people are not won to Christ by you preaching them a
sermon, they are won to Christ by you living a sermon.
Hidden life with Christ 56-0213 P:52 You know the best thing is to live a sermon
instead of preach one, you know that. You're written epistles. And you can't
do it in yourself; you can impersonate it for a little while, but your
sins will find you out. You better just consecrate yourself to God and
get on the inside, shut the doors behind you and burn every barrier there is
behind you, and every bridge, and launch out. Amen. I know it's the truth;
I know it'll work. If it hadn't been for that, I don't know what would become
of me. That's right. But it ain't the people you are
looking at then,
it's Christ.
Brother,
that's not mechanics, that's dynamics! The very Life of Christ in you
reflecting himself out from you. That's the spark that ignites the fuel any day
of the week.
Then Paul says in verse 6. You
took to heart the word we taught with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,
even in the face of trouble.
He says, you took it to
heart. You mediated upon what was being said. It wasn't just a sounding brass
and tingling symbols. You came expecting and you went home filled. And you get
what you come looking for. And if you are not getting fed, it is because of one
of two things. Either it is not for you, or you let other things get in the way
of your hearing.
Like brother Branham said, Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:233 Notice, All right. But all this mystery is revealed only as He
promised to His Bride. Hell is against this truth of the revelation of this
mystery. But the Bride is standing on it. That's Her
stand. Why do you hunger, Church? Why do you thirst? It's the Father
trying to reveal this hidden secret to you, but you let so many things get
it out of you. You let your job, you let your wife, you let your
husband, you let your children, you let the cares of the world, you let
the--some pastor, you let somebody else get that out of you, when you know
that way down in your heart you're a-thirsting, hungry. It's God trying to
reveal it to you (See?), the revelation. The last day is here.
If
you are not getting fed, please don't blame the shepherd, he's brought you to
the right field to eat. So don't let anything get between you and eating little
sheep.
Now,
remember, Paul was talking about how the people from their hearts longed to
hear what Paul brought them, and as a result they saw Christ in Him so much
they wanted what he had and they got what he had, because you get what you come
for. If you come to be fed you will be fed. If you come to
scrutinize God will give you plenty of that.
Now,
notice the next verse what Paul says to them.
7 As a result, (as a result of what? As a
result of your longing, your hungering, your
thirsting, your expecting and your seeing Christ. As a result of your taking
your eyes off the vessel and focusing on the God who
is using the vessel,) you have turned into a
model of faith yourselves for
all the believers in
Oh,
how tears ran down my eyes uncontrollably when I read this passage here. That
is all I want for this little group here and those whom I've drawn my strength
from around the world. Those of like precious faith in
9 You see, they go on and on telling us the
story of how you welcomed us when we were introduced to you; how you turned
toward God and realigned your life to serve the one true living
God—leaving your idols to crumble in the dust— 10 and
how you now await the return from heaven of His Son, whom He raised from the
dead—namely, Jesus—our rescuer from the wrath to come.
When I think these thoughts, my heart wants to weep
for joy to see Christ forming in you.
May God bless you as we bow our heads in prayer.