October 5, 2014
Scripture:
Hymn 330 - A message came from Heaven
Prayer
Last time, we talked about sheepfolds. A sheepfold was a place to keep the sheep at night. It kept predators from getting to the sheep, and also kept the sheep from wandering away.
In John 10, Jesus is telling a parable. The shepherd is a type of Jesus and the sheep are a type of the Jews. The fold is the boundaries or laws the Jews had to keep them from the Gentiles.
This chapter is usually called “The Good Shepherd,” but today I’m going to call it “The Three Doors.” The first door in our chapter was the door of the sheepfold.
John 10:1 - 7
Last time we read about some who went into the fold but didn’t go in by the door. He was a thief or robber. The one that enters by the door is the shepherd. Jesus “came unto his own.” He was born as was prophesied; God became a man. He came “to seek and save that which was lost.” He entered the fold: Israel. We can see by reading the gospels that through His work in Israel, things were changing. He was leading them out of the fold of the Jews into the flock of the Christians. This is the picture we see when the shepherd entered the open door and called each sheep by name, and then lead them out. He went before them and the sheep followed. When I worked on a farm, I had to get the cows from the pasture. I didn’t go out and call the cows by name, because they wouldn’t follow me. I had to get behind them and herd the cows to the barn. That’s not necessary with sheep. They know the right voice and they don’t follow any other.
The people listening to Jesus asked Him what He was talking about. Jesus explained that he was the door of the sheep. Here we have our second door: the door of the sheep. After the shepherd calls the sheep and leads them out of the fold, the door of the sheepfold becomes the door of the sheep.
The sheep did two important things. They heard and followed the shepherd. He is in the midst of us, so it is not hard to hear and follow Him. We hear Him by reading His Word, and follow by doing what He asks of us through His Word.
Next time we will see the last door, the door of salvation.
Acts 18
It was interesting to see Paul deal with the intellectuals of Athens, but he left the intellectual center of the region and went to Corinth: the center of business. Intellectualism can lead you astray, and so can business. Corinth had luxuries, and they can lead to sin and immorality. It was a different situation entirely.
In Corinth, Paul met Aquila and Priscilla; a couple who had come from Italy because of a law commanding all Jews to leave Rome. Like Paul, they were tentmakers. This couple is mentioned 6 times in the Bible; three times as “Aquila and Priscilla”, and three times as “Priscilla and Aquila”. Three of those six mentions are in this chapter. Some think that Aqulia and Priscilla were saved through Paul, while others think that they were saved before they met. Paul lodged with them, and they must have learned a lot from him as they sewed together.
Peter was casting a fishing net when the Lord called him, John was mending a net, and Paul was a tentmaker. Paul brought the church the truth of the one body, sewing things all together. We often see Peter casting his gospel net, bringing the unsaved—Jew and Gentile—into the fold. John was one of the later writers, and wrote at a time when things had gone to pieces. He tried to bring things back together. We each have unique skills and crafts that we can use for the Lord. Mr.Darby was a lawyer; who better to search the Scriptures and bring forth their meaning? Brother McIntyre was a professor at MIT, and was one of the best Bible expounders in recent memory. Different ones of us can do different things well, and the Lord uses what we can do.
Paul spoke in the Corinthian synagogue, convincing both the Jews and Greeks. These Greeks weren’t born Jewish, but had converted and therefore were in the synagogue. Paul was pressed—exercised—in spirit and testified that Jesus was Christ. Who better to testify than the one who could tell how he had seen the Lord in glory while on the Damascus road?
The Jews not only rejected the truth, they made fun of it. Paul would have no part in it, and told them the sobering fact that they were responsible for their own eternal damnation. Their blood was on their own heads. Paul had made the gospel clear, but they had rejected it, so his hands were clean. He would now go to the Gentiles.
At this point, Paul moved his center of operations to the house of Justus, a man who lived right beside the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, listened to and believed the gospel with all his house. It precious to see how the Lord worked with families; it’s an example that we claim.
Three things characterized the Corinthians: they heard, believed, and were baptized. Romans 10 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. These people believed, and did the right thing by getting baptized.
The Lord came to Paul in a vision and told him four things: “be brave”; “speak, and don’t stop”; “I am with you, so no one will hurt you”; and “I have many people in this city.” Paul later told the Corinthians that he was among them with weakness, fear, and much trembling; so it must have been a great blessing to him to have the Lord’s encouragement.
Hymn 350 – I will make you fishers of men
Prayer