Lekki Soul Centre (2nd June, 2021)
Topic: The Leading of the Spirit into Pastures of God
Ministering: Rev. Kayode Oyegoke
Tongues and Interpretation (1)
"My name. My name. My name, Michael. My name. Michael. Michael. My name. My name. My ministry. My ministry. Even the ministry of my name. You are in those times wherein I will bear that name, even that name fully towards you; even for you to come into the exactitude of God, even for you to come into the exact things of God, the exact things of God. You are in the season of the exact things of God, the very very things of God. Therefore I bear my name, even the name of my ministry, even towards you as a people. I am here to serve. I'm serving, even in that name that I bear, in that name of God that I bear. I'm here bearing even that name in full. I begin to bear it even in full capacity towards you because you must come even into the full capacity of the things of God. The things of God will not be held back in the season you are entering into."
Tongues and Interpretation (2)
"Show you the things that are in this scriptures. I show you the things that are in these scriptures, even the things of the exactitude of God. I begin to show you the things that are in these scriptures. I come, even bearing knowledge, even the knowledge of God. I come, even to open seals, even to loosen seals, even to cause eyes to be open, that you might begin to see the exactitude of the knowledge of God. Exact knowledge. God's knowledge. Knowledge of God. Knowledge of God. I bring eyes and I bear upon scripture, that you might see even things of the exactitude, of the exactness, even times of exactness, even times of great accuracy, that you might come into that exact knowledge of God. Knowledge of God. Knowledge of God. I'm a Prince of God, bearing the knowledge of God. Knowledge of God. Knowledge of God."
(Message begins)
The head of the Church wants to feed His people. One of the things that He will be doing is impressing His signet on the people He is feeding. There is a whole lot in the Bible that we need the help of God to uncover. God will have to open scriptures to us, so that we can stop seeing the Bible as an ordinary book. God will take us to a place where we will completely inherit scriptural eyes, even the eyes required to see the secret or hidden writings of scriptures. As a man develops in the spirit, the spirit of judgement will take him over. This spirit of judgement will begin to excavate and interpret how scriptures are written to him (Matt. 22:29). The scriptures are prophetic writings and one can be instructed in it. Whosoever is teaching the scriptures with insight is interpreting prophecy.
The scripture is the holy writing for prophetic sight. It will take a prophetic age to truly understand or to see scriptures. The scriptures are prophetically weaved; they were hidden with prophetic power. This is why God uses the mouths of prophets to uncover them because it took a prophetic power to say them (Luke 24:27). The Old Testament prophets are the ones who diligently enquired and searched for the true interpretation of the things that were spoken by their own mouths; it means that it was yet hidden from them. A man cannot see or understand scriptures without the prophetic eyeball. The Bible is written only for some specific eyes to see (1 John 1:1). Just like in programming, one can encrypt a code such that it can only be read by the intended receiver who can read it.
The prophetic script passed through the mouths of prophets, who did not understand it themselves. But God did that because the material itself is of prophetic content, coming from a prophetic work or prophetic wisdom. There is the secret of the prophet. The prophet that I am talking about here is the mannerism (Heb. 1:1). What informs different prophetic outward manifestation or demonstration is a secret thing, it is a spiritual seed; it is an attitude hidden in the being called "prophet". There is the prophet in the spirit that is the seed of the Spirit, that had all manners for doing things, hiding things, keeping things, seeing things, at its own timing. God gave it to prophets to say it through the prophetic power.
As a man comes into the age of prophecy and grows in it, he will begin to understand and have impressions concerning the holy scriptures. The prophets who were sent to establish the Church in Antioch were not foretellers but people who were built with scriptures (Acts 13:1-3). They were possibly all prophets and teachers. A Church that has such manpower will be stabilised; the brethren will go far in the knowledge of scriptures.
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:12-14). It is not everyone that the Spirit of God leads. The Holy Ghost will not lead just any man. A whole lot of believers are not being led. The scriptures above did not say “as many as are born again, they are being led by the Spirit of God”. There is a difference between being born as a babe in Christ and being a son of God (1 Cor. 3:1). The life of a son of God is such that is characterised by the leading of the Spirit. Leading is the stature of a son of God. Any believer who has never been led by the Spirit of God can never be His son. It is not every believer that is being led by the Spirit yet. The intention of God’s leading through the Spirit is not to give money to a believer. A ministry or believer whose leading of the Spirit ends in getting more money has not been led yet.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:2-4). There are not many believers who have been led beside the still waters. This description of leading by the shepherd for the flock has nothing to do with the acquisition of earthly materials, but for the restoration of the soul. Any leading of the Spirit that is not in the hope of Eternal Life is not a true leading yet. People can gather, do many mighty works and would later be visited for the purpose of being led unto the pastures of God.
God only leads for one purpose – to defeat death in a person. It will take the leading of the Spirit to stop a previous leading of Satan. This is because all men have been previously led by Satan. Satan did not lead us with the milk of his own pasture; he killed us straight away. Satan does not joke with time. However, God endures when He is leading a man. The enemy leads to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). Satan steals from a man by leading him. Satan was once a shepherd in the angelic realm. He was pastoring in the second heaven, and he murdered angels by leading them against God (Ezek. 28:14, Jn. 8:44).
The angelic life was stronger than the Adamic life. Angels are not robots, they are beings like us; but they have a higher quality of life than men. Angels are children of God the same way Adam was His child. They are living beings more superior in make than a man. Jesus (at birth) was even made a little lower than them (Heb. 2:7). However, Satan killed many angels. Satan perfected his killing weapon, and then left it with us. This is why we often resist God when He wants to take out this weapon from us.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14). This leading is such that will make a believer to find life. A man can never attain unto or receive life without the promises of the Spirit (Gal. 3:14). All the promises of God are constituted in different measures of life. The least of the promises of God is the least life called Christ. Each of these promises or life is by a law.
It is not easy to locate these things we are hearing in this meeting. The reason why we are hearing them is because we are fortunate to find ministers who have been led by God. When a man has been led by the Spirit of God, he cannot be ordinary. There is an insignia and an experience that becomes his nature. When a man is led, there is the handwriting of God on his soul. God chooses His own by leading. It is possible to cast out demons, heal the sick and still not be led by the Spirit of God. Judas Iscariot could cast out demons, but he hated that led-life that Jesus exemplified. Jesus was powerful for Him to have endured Judas to the end (Jn. 13:1). Judas became a son of perdition because he resisted being led by Jesus. This is why a man should marry a woman who can be led.
There is no man on earth who is innocent outside the leading of the Spirit. No matter how gentle or nice a person is, if he is not being led by God, he is definitely being led by Satan. There are some people whom God has been leading partially, because they have not really found the pastures of God. The leading of the Spirit is supposed to culminate in finding pastures because it is in the path or pastures that the food is stored.
“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.” (Psalm 25:9-10). Truth and mercy speak of God's pastures or words. Psalm 25 is majorly talking about finding the pastures of God. It is not an ordinary Psalm but a mystery of God's pasture. God kept His pastures in His path. Some people firstly receive a pre-path training which is only a preparation for the path. God tells them to do difficult things and the Holy Ghost might not tell them the reason for that. However, it is for an appointed time in the future when God will begin to lead them.
The choice of marriage (via disobedience) can lead someone away from the path of life. The Holy Spirit can start leading a man but to make the leading solid, the man has to be brought under our Lord Jesus who is the Shepherd. The Shepherd of the Church has given the Holyghost an instruction to train His children until an appointed time when they will meet with Him. The pre-leading is so that they would have learnt well enough from the leading of the Holyghost. The Holyghost is not the shepherd; our Lord Jesus is the shepherd (John 10:11). The Holyghost is a God but yet He is under ethics. He will lead a man until He presents the man to the Shepherd. The Shepherd is also a quickening spirit (1 Cor. 14:5). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to make us spiritual because He who is our Shepherd is a quickening Spirit. The owner of the flock is a quickening Spirit, and He gives life.
Some pastors are not really shepherds because they do not have respect for the word of God. It is good to have regard for the word of God. A good shepherd is known by His commitment to the pasture, which is the food of the sheep.
Tongue and Interpretation (3)
"Another man. Another husband. Another shepherd. Another man, even laying the bride. Another man, even committing his own words, his own wisdom, his own ways, his own path, even to the church. Whereas another man, even Satan, in many many. He's leading many pastors. He's leading many many works. He's feeding many, even by people. He's raising many even by shepherds. But saith the Lord, I will bring a cleansing. I will bring a purging. I will bring a raising. I will bring taking away, even by the opening of the eyes. I will open the eyes of the church. I will cause the church to see, and they will see me truly for what I am. For I have been lied concerning. For the adversary has told a lie about me and impersonates me, even leading the church in the path of destruction. But I will bring restoration. I'll bring restoration. For that which I'm doing even in places like this is a restoration. For light will pick up here and pick up there, until there be many many light centres, even deliverance centres, even eyesalves centres, wherewith My church will begin to see and know to reject even the wrong man, even the wrong pastor, even the wrong shepherd, and refuse the wrong pasture and go even in the right way, even the way of the Lord. I am doing it already. I will do it. Saith the Lord Jesus."
Tongues and Interpretation (4)
"I will bring mourning even upon the churches. I'll bring mourning even upon the churches. I'll bring a shaking. I'll bring a shaking. I'll bring even a moving away of things that the churches have been used to; for you see the churches will not turn except by a strong arm, even a strong arm, even the arm that is outstretched. Even the arm that I am beginning to stretch out even in the seasons of the last time, even the seasons of the last time. For you are coming even into that season, you are bringing even that season. You are causing even the season of the end of all things even to come upon the earth, even come upon the churches and this season will bring a shaking. For I will begin to shake. I will shake by words, I will shake by light, I will shake by sight, I will shake by revelation and My people will begin to turn away from that which is wrong and turn even to that which is light, even Christ."
(Message continues…)
“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.” (Ezekiel 34:1-3). The wool comes from the shearing of the sheep. Sheep's clothing refers to the wool of the sheep. The shearers are those who dust the sheep with a clipper blade in order to take out wool from the sheep. Therefore, the place where this is done is called the place of the shearers. Jesus was sheared as a Lamb; His covering was removed by those who killed Him. This covering does not just refer to His physical clothes but his glory as well. It was Satan who did this.
“And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered." (Ezekiel 34:5). This speaks of the souls of the Church that have become meat to the beast of the field. The beast of the field wouldn't have preyed on them if they had been fed by the shepherd. So evil spirits possess the shepherd to make the sheep vulnerable. The beasts of the field and the fowls of the air are not ordinary spirits; they are spiritual wickedness in high places and rulers of the darkness of this world. These spirits possess the shepherd so that they can prey on the sheep. This is why shepherds will love themselves and not take care of the sheep. Sheep will suffer under any man of God who loves himself.
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ; As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ; Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. (Ezekiel 34:5-10). A man should not enter ministry with the aim of making a name for himself or having a means of livelihood from it. Nowadays, people see ministry as an enterprising venture and ministers plan greatly for it. People are supposed to enter into ministry without planning.
A true shepherd will always hide. A lot of boys are on the internet for the publication of themselves so that other ministries will invite them. They know nothing about the commitment to the flock. When a minister of the gospel is invited to feed the flock of God, it should not be seen as a platform or means of coming to the spotlight. Any minister of God who has the heart to be showcased when invited to minister to the flock of God is not a shepherd. The "success mind thing" that is prevalent in the western world is evil. It is a mindset that does not genuinely care about the flock but for the wool of the sheep to put on. Ministers of the gospel with such mindset use the sheep to wear all manner of clothes. Rather, a shepherd should firstly die in order to lead the flock.
The true meaning of shepherd is a minister who has died and has been raised by God. A shepherd who leads the flock is one that has lost his own life, so that the flock can live. Ministry is not a place of “making it big”. A minister of the gospel should never think like that or nurse the idea. Ministry is like a cross that should crucify everyone who has been called to it. This is not to say that ministers of the gospel should live in poverty or dress haggardly. However, a minister of the gospel can be rich and dresses well, but he has no life in him to offer to the flock.
Our Lord Jesus was not putting a rag on. His clothes were so beautiful. The soldiers did some crazy things about his clothes. They tore one into pieces because they wanted to have a piece of it. The other which was woven was not torn, instead they casted lots on it. The soldiers’ lives could not have remained the same because one cannot commit such thing and remain okay. However, Jesus still laid down His life. Laying down one’s life is not an outward thing. God is not religious; God does not please the circumcision nor does he please the uncircumcision. God has His own standard. Both the former and the latter will be cut by God's law.
Tongues and Interpretation (5)
"For there is a wisdom I want to show you, saith the Spirit of God. There is a sense, there is a sense, there is a sense. There is a sense even of Me being a shepherd that I want to cause you to understand, I want you to inherit even in your judgement, even in your judgement. I will teach you this sense and I will give you this wisdom. I will open your eyes even to see as I see. I'm adopting you even into a realm of reasoning, even reasoning of the great Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the great Shepherd. Come feel My pulse, come think My thought, even the high thoughts of the great Shepherd. I'd show you, and I'd open you and I'll turn you in another direction, even the direction of My reasoning, reasoning from the point view of Me being your Shepherd, you should be even the sheep of My pasture, high pasture"
Tongues and Interpretation (6)
"Heaven is open, heaven is open, heaven is open, heaven is open, heaven is open, heaven is open. Open, open, open, open, open, open, open, open, open you even to the heavens, open you even to the heavens. I open you even to the heavens, I open you even to the heavens, heavenly realms of heavenly thoughts of heavenly things of the Shepherd, Shepherd, Shepherd, Shepherd. A shepherd is here, a shepherd is here, a sheperd is here, a shepherd is here. A shepherd is here to help, a shepherd is here to help, a shepherd is here to help, a shepherd even from Jesus , a shepherd who himself also is a sheep even a sheep of God, even a sheep of God but yet a shepherd with a shepherdic sense is here to help you, even to have shepherdic wisdom even from the scriptures of that shepherd, even Ezekiel and other shepherds who have that same shepherdic counsel and judgement. I want to make you sheep of his pasture that you might inherit even his DNA, even the DNA of the shepherd. A shepherd from heaven is here"
(Message continues…)
The Lord is tired, and He is not happy because the Churches are not moving forward spiritually. God wants the body of Christians in the world (especially Nigeria) to move forward. We will pray; it will happen.
It is low and unethical for someone to pastor people outside the wisdom of God. Some ministers of the gospel that are pastoring flocks do not really have shepherdic stature. Shepherding has nothing to do with academic light. A whole lot of ministers are using their professional training to pastor Church. They rely on the professional or educational training they learnt from school to pastor flock. The outlook of many pastors when it comes to pastoring flock is purely natural administration that has nothing to do with flock. Such things are too low to be given to the flock of God. God’s flocks are committed to the throne of God. God’s throne should determine their order and how they are governed. A minister of the gospel who lacks these things has not been raised. Shepherds should be raised to bless the flock and take them to the destination, the place where their Head is (John 17:24).
The end or destination of every sheep is the place where the Shepherd (the Lord Jesus) is. Every genuine under-shepherd is raised so that they can bring the sheep to see and become like the Shepherd. A shepherd is he whom heaven has empowered to commit life to the sheep. The origin of the Christian faith is raising one shepherd first of all (Our Lord Jesus). The investment of heaven was concentrated on raising Him. God understands the matrix called one. Nobody understands it like God. God can raise one and that one will multiply. So God put everything about Himself in one man (our Lord Jesus). God succeeded in raising a Shepherd for the sheep.
The training Jesus went through was much. Our Lord Jesus first dropped into flesh and then made Himself of no reputation (Phil. 2:5-8). This is all because He would also have to lead men into God.
Angels are sheep who did not grow into pasture. They were made and directly brought to their pasture. The angels were on their promises when they were made. They didn't have to grow to be in their promises, and this is why they are heavenly beings. Many Christians have gone to heaven, but they are not heavenly bodies. They do not have the inheritance of heaven. They are not true occupants or inhabitants of heaven, even though they can stay in heaven. A man can stay in heaven, but it does not mean he is an occupant or have an inheritance there. Angels were made for heaven; it is the realm or place of their pasture. They have the stature to stay there. No angel grew up into heaven. Heaven and the angels were made together. However, God gave man the honour of growing into and above the heavens.
In the Old Testament, the manna was pasture (food) that fell from heaven into the wilderness. The manna were not human food. God was leading Israel as a flock and He feeding them with manna.
“Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. [50] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die”. (John 6:49-50). Jesus was not referring to bread that will make the natural body stay alive. He taught manna as a food/meal/word that should link a man to God. When Jesus described Himself as the bread that came down from heaven, He was not referring to bread that will fill the stomach but rather bread for the soul.
Angels do not need to grow but man has been given the honour of growing up. This is why man was made the least in creation of beings, so that we can start our journey out of earth. So, man has no limit. Man is meant to become higher than the heavens like our Lord Jesus did (Heb. 7:26). So, every man is a sheep and any sheep that will not grow out of earth will remain earthly. In the same way, if a man eats and grows into the heaven but decide not to go above the heavens, he will remain there. However, if the man is ready to grow above the angels, there is all possibility.
Jesus is higher than all of the heavens. While Jesus was on earth, God measured out the training, and He obeyed them all.
The main course in God’s curriculum of leading starts with the leadership of the Spirit that has the pasture of God’s promises in it. Any leading that is not having the promise of God attached to it is not a leading of the Spirit that can connect a man directly to the Shepherd. Actual pastures start from meat of the word. They are solubles, or solid food. Pasture is not something that can be gotten directly from the body of the parent, a pasture is found on the land. Pasture is not an help food neither is it a processed food for a child to eat. This is why an able-bodied man does not depend on milk. Even though he can use it, he cannot live on it. A sheep that will go out on a journey with the shepherd must have developed the stamina to travel. Such a sheep must be ready for journey.
A shepherd is he who has been trained ahead of the sheep. He knows the road to the pastures. The word “pastor” comes from the word “pasture". A minister of the gospel is not yet a full Pastor if he cannot lead the flock to pastures. A full pastor is one who can lead the flock to graze and eat by themselves and not depend on breast. That is why baby lambs cannot travel or make the journey of their parents.
We often see pictures of Jesus carrying a small lamb and the parents are following Him. This shows that some lambs don't walk because they have not developed legs for journey. This is why the shepherd often hold the baby lambs either on the shoulder or on the breast. A skillful shepherd cares for the lambs; they are his. The vision of every true shepherd is that the little lamb will one day become a sheep.
Baby Christians are not yet God's sheep. This is because they don't have the leading to locate pasture and they do not also have the power to be led. They can only be carried and as long as people are being carried, they will depend on their mothers’ breasts. Milk comes from breast. For a sheepfold, milk comes from their mothers who had already grazed, chewed the cord and the food has digested and moved into her body. Then she provides milk for her baby. The Lord is still carrying the Church. A lot of legs in the body of Christ are not yet strong for to be led. They cannot journey far. Anyone who will eat pastures must walk.
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2). No believer can be free from the law of sin and death except he walks in the Spirit. The Lord will not have to raise shepherds for the Church if we are already perfect or completely free. A lamb is not yet free from the law of sin and death. A man’s freedom from sin is dependent on what he feeds on. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is a meal that must be discovered by every believer. Life is an embodiment of the law of the Spirit of life embodied. What sheep eat as pastures are laws. So Pastors are law finders: they seek the law of God for the sheep.
If men must be led to find freedom from the law of sin and death, then it means that men were led into the law of sin and death. An evil shepherd (Satan) did it. However, he doesn't show himself as a shepherd to men. Oftentimes, he shows himself as a popstar who just gives freedom to everybody. This is a lie because his actual job is that he leads men away from God. He is binding men with his laws. It is the law of sin and death at work in a worldly man that makes him talk worldly. The law of sin and death is another life that Satan has offered to men, and this life has been the battle. It has been a stake and it is not easy to get it out of a man. It is not easy to make Christians comply and tell them to release the death that they have defined as their life.
The law of sin and death makes us babies in the sight of God but determines our maturity in the Kingdom of Satan. Men are very swift, smart and intact with the law of sin and death. Some Christians don't even have the law of the Spirit of life yet, and so God cannot lead them. They still have big legs for the walk in the Kingdom of Satan. It is high time for them to be led by the Spirit of God, so that their walk in the course of this world can be hindered or crippled.
Walk in biblical wisdom is a law functional tool. It means whosoever is walking has power to locate a law and to do it. A partaker of a law is a walker. God the Father has given the sovereignty to men to sign law and to make covenant. Covenant is made when law is engaged. So the law of sin and death is not an ordinary law; it is a covenant of sin and death because the law has been signed into operation. It is a law that man has agreed with. However, Jesus wants to make us break covenant by His shepherdic role.
A child cannot break covenant; it will take an adult to do so. It is erroneous for us to say that all Christians are walking in the spirit. This is because all Christians are not being led by the Spirit. Some believers claim they are being led to do things. However, the real leading of the Spirit is to be led to do life. God's primary work is the installation of life in our soul. God can do many things like miracles, healing of our bodies but much more He wants to do a work in us. As a shepherd God gives Eternal Life to His sheep.
"Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:7-10). Pasture speaks of a law of life. There is no pasture without shepherdic input. The leading around pasture is the leading of the Holy Spirit that is not exclusive of the Head of the Church. The Shepherd is the direction for the Holy Ghost. The Shepherd tells the Holy Ghost how, what and where to lead you to. There is a time Holy Ghost just leads you but there is a time the Shepherd and the Holy Ghost meet to begin to lead you. Holy Ghost and the Shepherd click together this time around.
Tongues and Interpretation (7)
"Yes, for there's a meeting point, even a meeting point of the Lord, the Lord Jesus and the Spirit even in the work of saving even a sheep. That meeting point is the point of pasture, even the point of pasture, even the point of pasture. For Jesus gives direction for pasture and the Spirit of God even at the instance of the leading of Jesus opens pasture even season after season, season after season depending on the burden in the heart of Jesus. Depending on that which Jesus knows the sheep needs to hear even per time. For He leads you even by the Spirit even in pasture that you might eat that which He is committing per time. And that you might follow Him even into houses in the spirit until you arrive even at the presence of God."
"All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them." (John 10:8). The sheep here speaks of the children of Israel. The thieves and robbers that came before Jesus refer to Theudas and Judas and Galilee whom Gamaliel spoke about (Acts 5:36-37). So many others came before Christ to say that they were the Messiah.
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:9-10). The thief comes to steal the sheep. He wants to kill them.
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." (John 10:11-13). An hireling is someone hired to help oversee the sheep. An hireling is one who has never committed his life to the sheep; he is just taking care of the sheep. An hireling will flee if anything happens to the sheep when the owner is not around.
No one can get to any life in God without movement or walking in the spirit. The life of God is accessed through the leading of the Spirit of God. The Lord, by the hand of Moses, took the children of Israel out of Egypt to bring them into another experience. For three days, the children of Israel did not eat or find water in the wilderness because the Lord was taking them through an experience (Exo. 15:22). This experience was to give them a different mentality from that which they have been used to in Egypt. There is a way they have been used to a kind of food in Egypt and there is a way they used to get the food. God wanted to take that law away from them to give them another law. What was thirsty was the law that was in them; but God did not respond to their thirst immediately. It was the same with food - God gave them another food (Manna) for forty years to deal with the law they came out of Egypt with.
Pastures are kept secret. What the sheep should be fed with is not open to the general public. “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” (Isa. 8:16). Only the disciples can know where and when God seals the law. It means that the pasture is for the disciples. Christ is the first pasture, which is the first meat. The freedom of a man comes with the discovery of secret things. It is not only Christ that is kept secret; the Father and God are also kept secret (Col. 2:2). If a man can attain all the understanding of all these secrets (mysteries), he will have full assurance. There is none of these mysteries that can be opened without the leading of the Spirit. These mysteries are the three major meals for the flock. There are a lot of meals that men can find before these three meals. However, a man will not find his destiny in God without these three meals.
The Lord begins to feed flock through the leading of the Spirit, when the first meal is being given to the Church. The meal for the flock is aligned under the three commandments that God gave to Peter in John 21:15-17 -- “Feed my lambs, “Feed my sheep”, and “Feed my sheep”. These are the three levels of feeding. “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15). Anyone who will please the Shepherd must love and feed the lambs. Jesus knew that Peter was still in love with his fishing business. The law of a shepherd is “to lay down his life for the sheep”. For any ministry to prosper, the minister must be dead to himself. Every level of feeding is a level of death.
We change laws in the place of leading. Every flock will have opportunity to see the Shepherd through the mystery of Christ. The intention of the Shepherd is that the flocks should see Him. Flock lives by seeing the Shepherd. The Outer Court is the first arrival of every sheep. The arrangement of the tabernacle is an arrangement of sheepfold. Making a lamb into a sheep takes some time. It is not every lamb that is yet a sheep. One ability the sheep has is the ability to hear the voice of the Shepherd (John 10:3-5).
The first fold in the Kingdom is the Outer Court but that is not the end of the feeding for the sheep. The flock needs to be taken further into the Kingdom to be fed. When eyes of faith are not installed in the soul of a flock, he cannot see the Shepherd. Faith is an important ingredient to the flock. It is the first eyes that will be given to the flock to be able to sight the Shepherd (Eph. 1:17-18). Seeing Jesus physically does not involve the engagement of a man’s understanding. The flock only changes where there is an engagement of the understanding of scriptures. There needs to be an installation of eyes for the sheep to be able to see the Shepherd. When a man is living, he is finding understanding by the inner eyes.
A preacher -- under the Shepherd -- must be able to labour until sight is restored to the flock. Jesus was with the disciples for some years but their eyes were only opened a little. Yet, Paul never saw him physically, but his eyes of understanding were opened through scriptures.
Faith is important because it is needed to break the law of sin and death. Sin cannot thrive when the eyes of your understanding are operational. The next meal after Christ is the Father. A soul needs to have lived the life of Christ well to access the meal of the Father. Life of Christ extends to the end of the Holy Place with Charity (1 Tim. 1:5). It is after this that a man is now ready for everlasting life, which is the meal of the Father. There can never be the allocation of the Father without meeting with the Lord in the spirit. This is because this next meal is born out of an experience with Him.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). The commandments here are Faith, Hope and Charity. The Father must love a man before He appears to such a man. Jesus will only be committed to a man who the Father is committed to. The love in this scripture is to commit oneself to another. This manifestation of the Son speaks of the revelation of everlasting life. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23). The coming of the Son with the Father is Eternal Life.
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things…” (Romans 8:32). The Son will be given first and then the second giving of (all things) the Son is with the Father. There are two levels of all things: all things that pertain to everlasting life and all things that pertain to Eternal Life. All things of the Son of God is everlasting life; while all things of Eternal Life is the Son and the Father coming to a man. “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world’s…” (Heb. 1:2). The “all things” here is Eternal life.
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