Biblical Concept of Faith (15) (issac 5)

Church fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God will desire the godly families. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. (Singing): Unto Thee, unto the Lord, we are gathering together unto Thee. Unto the Lord, unto the Lord, shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto Thee. [Speaker 1] Everlasting Father, we are grateful unto You. We thank You for Your love and for Your mercies. We give You praise, we give You glory, we give You honor, we give You adoration. We appreciate You for all who You are. We thank You for all that You are. Lord, we are really, really, very, very grateful. Thank You, oh Lord, today, as we celebrate the reason for the season: the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord, we are very, very grateful. We thank You for Your death, we thank You for Your resurrection. That's the only reason for the hope that is in us. For the scripture says, "If Christ is not risen, then the Gospel is in vain." For everything about the Gospel is built on the death and then the resurrection of the Lord. Lord, we are really, really, very grateful for what manner of love is this, that we should be called sons and daughters of God. Lord, we commit ourselves to Your hand again this evening as we gather together—our brethren joining us on Telegram, our brethren joining us on Mixlr, our brethren who are here physically. Lord, as we all connect together this evening, Lord, we say speak to our heart. Thank You, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. We are indeed very, very grateful to God that we are here again this evening. We want to appreciate God for His mercies and for His love. We have been on this series, "Biblical Concept of Faith," and we are still moving on in this same series. In the midst of what we will do today, we will try and give attention to a question that came up towards the close of our meeting last week. Somebody sent in a question, but the question came in after we had closed the meeting. So, I couldn't respond to the question. Please, in case while we are having a class, if a question is coming up in your heart, please, we beg you, place the question either on our WhatsApp page or you place it on the Telegram page. Definitely, we would see the question and then we'll be able to respond to the questions. Brethren who are here physically, when they have questions, they raise up their hand, so we are able to respond to their questions. But brethren who are online, we may not know except you send in your question. The question here that the person sent against last week's discussion was, "Thank God for this time, sir. I have a question, sir. John 1:13." The question reads—I think the person was quoting that scripture—"John 1:13, 'which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.'" This passage that was quoted, is it talking of their natural birth or of their spiritual birth only? That's the question that came last week. And I believe when I was making reference to that text, I was trying to establish something from what our Lord Jesus said in John 10, where He said, "My sheep hear My voice. I know them and of course, I am known of them." That "I know my sheep and my sheep also knows me. My sheep, they know me." So, the matter of knowing came so seriously last week that the knowing is not just the head-knowing, that the knowing is a very, very deep knowing. It's something that has serious spiritual significance. It talks about the intimacy between the Spirit of God and the spirit of man, where it brings about what Apostle John said in 1 John 3, that he that is born of God can never continue in sin. He says the person cannot because he is born of God. And we were looking at knowing in relation to our foundation. That anybody who is truly born of God, there is a foundation about their life: they depart from iniquity. If anybody continues in iniquity, then the person is not born of God. And that is why—that is when I made reference to that text. So, please, let's go to the text that this our brother quoted: John chapter 1. It was a discussion between Nicodemus and our Lord Jesus Christ. No, that is John 3. This is John 1, where the scripture was making reference to "as many as believed in Him, He gave them power to become sons of God." So, sorry, not the discussion between Nicodemus and Jesus, which is in chapter 3. This is John 1. The matter actually started from John 1:10. The Bible says He—that is Jesus—was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. He gave them right to become children of God. Now, then in the verse 13, He said, "who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This same thing that He said here is what was repeated in a way in John 3 that I was making reference to. Let's see John 3, where Jesus was having a conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Now, you will notice that Jesus was saying something here in His discussion with Nicodemus. When Nicodemus was asking that would they have to enter into their mother's womb again and be born? And Jesus said that that is not what I am saying. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Now, that is exactly what the scripture was making reference to in John 1:12-13. In that John 1, He had said something in the verse 12, that He came to His own, His own received Him not, but as many as received Him, He gave them power to become children of God. These are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So, it's the same thing, similar to what was going on with that of discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus. What the Bible is making reference to in John 1:12-13 is that those who received Him and became—and receive power to become children of God, they are actually those who are born of the Spirit. It's not making reference to their natural birth. No, it's making reference to the washing that comes by the Holy Spirit, the regeneration that comes by the washing of the Spirit. That regeneration that come by the Spirit. That's what it's referring to. So, it's referring to the fact that anybody who received Jesus and therefore become a child of God, the birth is something that happens supernaturally. It's something you cannot explain. It's something that it's solely of God. It's something done just the way the Holy Spirit conceived of Jesus in Mary. That same way the Holy Spirit regenerates us and we become new people. "If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature." So, the reference there is not to their natural birth. The reference there is to their being born of the Spirit, they are being born again, the way Jesus was having a conversation with Nicodemus. I believe I've responded to that question. And so the point I was making about that verse in relation to "I know my sheep and my sheep, they know me," is that anybody who is truly born of the Spirit, if anybody is truly born of God, then the person cannot continue in sin. If anybody continue in sin, he's not born of God. He's not a sheep. That person is not a sheep of the Lord. That's the reality. The person is not a sheep of the Lord. There is no meeting point between that person and the Lord. That's the analogy that I was making last week, and that's the reality of our Christian life. Praise the Lord. So, we need to check our foundation very well. We need to check our foundation correctly. We need to look at whether when the Bible says "examine to see whether you are in the faith." Let us examine ourselves whether we are in the faith. That's the faith we are talking about. If you are in the faith, you cannot continue in sin. You cannot make a practice of sin. It's not a possibility. If anybody is doing that, the Lord don't know him. That's the reality. And that was why we concluded last week. We want to move on today, this shepherding of the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. That thing we saw in Isaiah and we have been building upon. And I really want us to conclude the matter from what the Lord Jesus was saying in the book of John 10. John 10. Let's look at that John 10. Let's move on from where we stopped last week. Let's move on from there. Now, in John 10, we have been able to come to—we concluded the matter. Let me quickly open to the verse where we stopped. The hireling run away, then then we got to, "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and am known by my own." I want you to get something that I did not emphasize in that verse last week. That's where I want to pick it from today. Now, you will notice something. The Lord said, "I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and am known by my own." Do you get something there? I'm trying to call your attention to something. Look at it in NLT: "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me." "I know my own sheep, and they know me." I'm bringing the word "own." NIV: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me." Now, what I'm trying to call your attention to is this word "my own." "My own." It is a very, very important matter. It's a very, very serious issue in our walk with God. Because when you notice something about the Lord and Judas, even though Judas was so much with Him, by the finishing line, the Lord said, "Of all that You have given Me, I have lost none. I have lost none, none. Except the son of perdition so that the scripture might be fulfilled." Now, the point I'm trying to make you see: that all through, even though Judas was among the twelve, he wasn't Jesus's own. It's a very serious matter to consider. I'm talking about the biblical concept of our faith. There is something about our faith. You will notice that Peter was saying "your faith being genuine," when it pass through trial, will be made pure by fire. You will notice that Jesus Christ said that the sower went to sow his seed. Some fell by the wayside. Some fell on the rock—they first sprang up, when persecution came they went off. Some fell among thorns—these ones, they were doing well, but the riches and the cares of life took them away. Then some fell on the good soil. Now, what I'm trying to make you see is different types of people inside the kingdom. And it's important to make you see to see that there are different classes of people inside this kingdom that we are talking about. By the wayside, on the thorns, among thorns, on rocky ground, on good soil. All of them, they are all partakers of the kingdom. But you discover that it is the good soil that become the matter that matters, by the conclusion of that parable. Because I am saying this today because there is so much confusion in the Christian faith. There is so much, I don't know, and you begin to wonder: are we dealing with Christians? In fact, we are confused about who is a Christian, who is not a Christian. That is why it's becoming very, very important to clarify this matter of the Christian faith. To make you see that we don't necessarily need to be confused but to understand that there are different classes of people in this faith that we are practicing. The Christian faith make us to understand there are different—the seemingly diversity, the seemingly complexity ought not to be complex if you properly understand the Christian faith. Now, look at John 17. I just want to make reference to something there quickly and then we will come back to where we are reading. This was the last hour of Jesus Christ. He would soon be betrayed and of course, go through the cross, of course, crucified and died. This was His last hour with the disciples, and He was offering up a prayer. He was talking to the Lord, He was talking to the Father. I want you to look at the context of this last prayer. Jesus spoke these words—I'm reading from verse 1, I'll be skipping some verses that are not relevant to what I want to point your attention to, that are not connected with what I want to point your attention to. "Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to the heavens and said, 'Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You. As You have given Him power over all flesh, that He may should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.'" Then He define what eternal life is. "I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me. And now, oh Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory with which I shared with You before the world began." Now, verse 6. Note what Jesus said. "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They are Yours." Are you seeing possession? These men are not just men. Yes, they believed, but the reality is that it was actually God who gave them to Jesus Christ as a gift. I want to make you understand something about your faith. I want to make you get something very clear about your faith. This your faith. Because our life is a life of faith. The just shall live by his faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. This faith that we are talking about, the way of faith, a walk by faith, we live by faith. And I'm trying to show you something very, very fundamental about it. What I'm calling your attention to is that I want you to see the conversation between Jesus and the Father. Jesus said, "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They are Yours. You gave them to Me and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things You have given Me are from You. For I have given them the words which You have given Me, and they have received them." He went on still praying. "I pray for them." When he got to verse 9 again, he said, "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours." I want you to notice how many times Jesus repeated this statement. Now, I want you to know that God is not a vain talker. When a matter is repeated over and over, it's talking about affirmation and establishment. You will see that in Genesis, where Joseph was telling Pharaoh that, "Pharaoh, because God repeated the matter twice, it is because God have established it and He will quickly bring it to come to pass." God don't repeat words over and over because He has nothing better to say. But He kept repeating this statement: "they are Yours, You gave Me. They are Yours, You gave Me." In every conversation, as if God don't know that He did that. As if the two of them talking don't know that that is what it is. But these things they are written so that we can understand the fundamentals about our faith. Yes, we believe, we came believing. For as many as believe, He gave power to become children of God. But I'm also showing a very fundamental thing: that as far as the Father and the Son, as far as they are concerned, the people who belong to Jesus are those ones that the Father gave Him. They also belong to the Father. The Father gave them to Him. Now, He says, "which You have given Me." I read on. Leaving the verse 9, He came again to verse 10. "All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them." So, all that belongs to the Father are His, all His belongs to the Father, talking about these people that were given to Him. He said, "Now, I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father. Keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one." Note the word again: "keep through Your name those whom You have given Me." Keep them. "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those—" verse 12 again, "those whom You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition so that the scripture might be fulfilled." So, the one that was lost is not among them that were given Him. I'm there to make something very clear to you: those who are given Him, they are kept. All of them are together. See, what is it that you saw in the son of perdition? Was iniquity. A man who can practice sin. The foundation of God's kingdom standeth sure. The Lord knows those who are His. Let those who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Whosoever is born of God cannot continue in sin. Cannot make a practice of sin. The seed of God is in him. You are seeing something here. "I have lost none which You have given Me." When you go on and on and on in this scripture, you will see that till Jesus ended the prayer, it was a matter of "those You gave Me, those You gave Me, those You gave Me" until He ended that prayer. The reason why I'm calling your attention to this is that the Lord knows His own. That word of "His own, my own, my own." It is always good to examine ourselves. It's always good to check ourselves. It's always good to see through our—the Bible say, "examine yourself." A lot of things are happening today. A lot of things are going on. We that by the mercy of God happen to be in marriage counseling room, we hear a lot of things. And then you'll be wondering, these people that they call they did their wedding in church and they did their wedding as Christians, are these people are they really Christians? Are we not the one calling them Christians? Because there are certain things about those who are born of God. There are some fundamental things about them. Certain things describe them. When we begin to see some kind of manifestation, we need to ask questions. When we begin to see some kind of manifestation in those we call brothers, in those we call sisters, in those we call pastors, in those we call disciples, in those we call disciples, in those we call GOs—I don't know whichever name, I don't know different systems use different names, that's why I'm using different things to mention it. We need to cross-check. We need to look inward. A lot are happening today and I'm begging you, don't be discouraged. Don't be discouraged as a believer when you see several things happening around you. When you see those you think—but this brother, this sister, this pastor, why? But I thought—look, you need to get some understanding. You need to understand that the Lord knows His own. You need to know that there are some thing about those that are His own. And as the day of the Lord draws nearer and nearer and nearer, certain manifestations will be coming out. Don't forget that the Lord Himself said something: while men slept, the enemy sow tares. The servants of the Master said, "Do we go and remove the tares?" What did the Master say? He said, "No, leave them. Let them prosper together. Let them grow together." So, the wheat and the tares, they will prosper together. They will move on together. You get point I'm making? They will prosper together. They will move on together. They may move on together, they may thrive together, they may preach together, they may groan together, they may minister together, they may establish ministry together, but they may not end together. The point I am making is that they will prosper together. You get point I'm making? They will prosper together. They will prosper together but they may not end together. They may not end together. It is very, very important for you to note to know that. So, when we begin to see contradiction, please, don't let your heart be discouraged. Don't let your heart be discouraged. The Lord knows His own. The foundation of God standeth sure. The Lord know those who are His. And let those who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. When iniquity thrives, those people they may be naming the name of the Lord with us, but not out of a pure heart. As we all prosper together, for some of them, their sin will go before them—that is, we will get to know them. Their life will show forth as a matter of time. For some, we might not even know in time; it is in eternity that say, "Ah! So this brother or this sister will not even end with us." May that not be our portion. But the point I'm talking about the biblical faith is that we need—we need to examine ourselves. And the place I am going to today is that we need to be confident. See, this scripture can never get out of my heart. Being confident of this very thing, that He who began the good work in me—the person who gave me to Jesus Christ is able to keep me to the end. He who began the good work in me is able to finish it. He who began the good work in you is able to finish it. Don't let trials, tribulation, lack, needs, not having some material prosperity make you begin to think that God will not complete His work in you. Paul said, "I am persuaded that nothing can separate me from God. Nothing can separate me from the love of God." Is it poverty? Things may be so—I don't know what—things may be happening around you. But I'm trying to show you something. And I'm going somewhere in this shepherding of the Lord today. And I'm going to make sure I get—I want to get there today. That's why I'm first trying to establish something about this our faith. The shepherding of the Lord is not a shepherding that have to do with men of iniquity. That's what I've been trying to establish since last week. Iniquity is something—iniquity is something that they depart from. It's something they are not inside. It's something they cannot continue with. Now, let's go back to that John 10 where we have been reading. John 10. Let's go back to that chapter. Let's go back there quickly. Let's see what the Bible say. Let's see what the Bible say. John 10:15—we have been able to explore verse 14. Let's go to verse 15. Verse 14 is where I say "I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and am known by my own." Verse 15: "As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." I want you to get something. The matter about the sheep is a matter that is between the Father and the Son. The sheep are actually given to the Son as a result of His obedience to the Father. Just the way God decided to work with the seed of Abraham, the covenant is not with the children of Israel. The covenant is with their father Abraham. I'm trying to make you see the shadows in the Old Testament. The covenant of God was not with the Israelites. The covenant is with their father Abraham. So, you will notice that sometimes, even when Israel, they are doing certain things, the Bible say, "and God remember His covenant with their fathers," that He had promised them that He will not cast their generation away. So, He's dealing with them based on the—the work, the relationship that existed between Him and their father. Now, it is that same thing that is bearing in our relationship, in our walk with God. The matter of our life is a matter that is bearing on the relationship that is between the Son and the Father. The reason why somebody authored our faith—somebody began a good work in us is because a Son had obeyed the Father. And the Father decided to give a gift to the Son. And that gift that He gave to the Son are those who believed in the Son. So, the point I'm making is that from your our own end, we believed in the Father. We believed in the Son. From the Father and the Son end, the reality of our faith, what made Jesus our shepherd was that the Father gave Him sheep to take care of. Oh, are you understanding me? Are you understanding me? What I am trying to make you understand, brethren, is that God has more stake over your life than you have a stake over your life. That stake that God has over your life, God in His wisdom decided to give you, not to an hireling. God did not give you because God knows that when the hireling, when he sees the—the wolf, when he sees devil coming, when he sees the gate of hell coming, he will run away. What God did, so that He can be sure that you will come back to Him, so that He can be sure that you will not be lost, God gave His sheep to a shepherd that He is sure will bring the sheep back home safely. So, He gave the sheep to a good shepherd. That shepherd that He gave it to is nobody else but the Bishop of their soul. The very one who laid down His life. He also has a stake. Oh, brethren, I'm trying to make you understand the faith that is in you. The faith that is in you. I'm trying to make you understand why we should not live in fear. I'm trying to make you understand why we should not be panicking. I'm trying to make you understand why we should not be shaking, why we should not think that the gate of hell can prevail. I'm trying to make you understand why you will know that see, no matter how it turns, the gates of hell will not prevail over you. The gates of hell, the gates of hell, the gates of hell, the gates of hell, they will not, they cannot because the shepherd of your life is not an hireling. The shepherd of your life—He's the good shepherd. He's the very one who laid down His life for the sheep. And that sheep, they're not just sheep, they actually belong to the Father. The Father wanting to secure them properly, He now gave them not to an hireling, He gave them to a good shepherd, the one who will lay down His life for them. Jesus will not see the wolf coming and run away. He will not. Jesus, that is why Paul said, "our life is hidden in Christ in God." The thing that will kill me, the thing that will cancel the purpose and the plan of God for my life must—must first come to and defeat God, cancel and defeat Jesus, and then the thing will be able to get me. Your life is hidden in Christ in God. By two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, God made a promise. He has sealed it with an oath that His counsel for your life can never be altered. Brethren, brethren, brethren, as we march through this year, I want you to understand that we are not to live in fear. Don't let us live in fear. A lot of things are happening. A lot of things are going on. A lot of things are imagined. A lot of things are coming up. But we have a good shepherd. Some things might be harassing our life now. Some things might be intimidating our life. It might look like, "Ah! Will this my life be sorted? Will things ever go well? Will I ever be glorified?" By the time I'm coming towards the conclusion, by the time we come to Hebrews 11 on this matter of faith that we are discussing, I'm going to make you see something. You will come to see that what is troubling us today are actually false teaching and false teachers. Who are—who are turning the—the grace of God into a means to gain. Who are—who are making our eternal hope look like an earthly hope. And they are making—they are making us to think that a man's life consist in the abundance of what he possesses. And so when material possession, when earthly possession, when earthly riches are not in abundance all around our life, it looks like we don't really, really belong to God. And it looks like when those things don't become our end, then we did not end well. Brethren, we are coming—we are coming to the matter. We are coming to the matter. We are coming to look at this matter very, very clearly. You will see what the Bible call—actually by the time when I come to defining faith, Hebrews 11, and I'm still trying to go round, go round the matter. Go round the matter. We will now come to—we will now come to sit on the book of Hebrews. Because that is the book of faith. But I'm first trying to establish some things about this our faith. I have a good shepherd. I have a good shepherd. Wherever you are, can you tell that to yourself: my life can never waste. My life can never waste. My life can never waste. I have a good shepherd. I have a good shepherd. The shepherd over my life is not an hireling. The shepherd of my soul is not an hireling. I have a good shepherd. The one who laid down His life for the sheep. I have a good shepherd. My life can never be wasted. My life can never be wasted. And I prophesy the word of God to you: your life will never be wasted. You will never perish. It is the word of the Lord. He said neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hands. The gates of hell cannot prevail against you. The deception going on in the world today cannot prevail against you. All the machinery of the devil, all the arsenal of the devil, all of them put together cannot prevail against you. Jesus said, "neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand." Nobody can snatch them out of the hand of the good shepherd. David said, "When I keep my father's sheep and a lion come against them, I go out against the lion and I will catch that lion by the beard, even a bear, and I will struck him and kill him and I will deliver the sheep out of his power, out of the finger, out of the hand of that animal, the hand of that predator." I am telling you, everything that have arisen against your life, you have a shepherd against them. For everything rising against your life, for everything rising against your life, all the lions, all the bears, everything that want to snatch you, the Lord will struck them. The Lord will struck them. The Lord will struck them. The Lord will catch them and struck them down in the name of Jesus! None, none can snatch them out of His hand. None, none. Look at the verse 18, verse 19, around where we will be closing the meeting today. Look at what it says: "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down, I lay it down of myself." So while it look as if Judas betrayed Jesus—from our own point, Judas betrayed Jesus. Satan with the Pharisees killed Jesus. I'm showing you from the point of the Father, from the point of the Son. He's the one who laid it down. Perspective to matters. He said, "I lay it down myself, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father." Therefore, there was a division again among the Jews because of these saying. And many of them said, "He has a demon, He is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" Now, it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem. And it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. I want to get to where we close the meeting today. I want to read to that point. Therefore, My Father loves Me because I—I lay down My life that I may take it again. So why did God love Jesus? He laid down His life for the sheep. Do you get it now? He laid down His life. That's why the Father love Him, that He may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down, I lay it down of Myself. So why it look as if Judas betrayed Jesus, from our own point, Judas betrayed Jesus. Satan with the Pharisees killed Jesus. I'm showing you from the point of the Father, from the point of the Son. He's the one who laid it down. Perspective to matters. He said, "I lay it down myself, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." None, none can snatch them out of My hand. None, none. Please let us close for today. Wherever you are, talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. You are not a spiritual bastard. If you have not been hearing God, go back to God now and say, "Baba, I am not a bastard. I am not a spiritual bastard. What You said about those that are sheep is that they will hear Your voice. I don't understand my personal case, why I don't know how You speak to me or when You are leading me, or am I the one that is not opening my ear when You are speaking? Lord, whatever is in my life that is blocking my hearing, remove it from my life now, because it is my portion to hear You." Beloved, it is your portion to hear God. It is your portion. Don't get afraid. "Ah, what if the devil speak to me? What if it is the devil?" Oh, don't get afraid. Continue to hide the word of God in your heart. Continue to hide the word of God in your heart. Continue to fellowship with the Lord. Don't live in fear. Don't live in fear. The God who began the good work in you, He will perfect your hearing Him. He will make you hear distinctively. He will speak to you above the tones of passion, above the murmuring of self-will. He will speak to hasten or to control. He will speak above the voice of the devil. You will hear Him clearly. Don't fear whether the devil will confuse you. "Hey, what of if the enemy, what of—" don't live in fear. Your shepherd is a good shepherd. He will not run away when He sees the hireling. He will not run away when He sees the wolf. He's not an hireling. He's a good shepherd. He will rather lay down His life for the sheep to live. They will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd. One flock, one shepherd. That is why I told you fundamentally that even though some of us are disciplers, yes, some of us, He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets—let me follow the order—some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors, some to be teachers, some to be administrators, some like that, different areas of gifting. The reality of our Christian faith is that we are all flocks. There is just one true shepherd, and that shepherd is Jesus Christ. We are all shepherding under a shepherd. You get the point I'm making? And that is why Paul will say, "follow me as I follow Christ." Follow me as I follow Christ. When you notice the person shepherding you is not following Christ, it might be good to change who is shepherding you. The reality is that it's one flock, one shepherd. The ultimate shepherd of all of us is Christ. But He has set in His body different people for the perfecting of the saints in view of the work of the ministry till we all—all of us together, we are all growing. Even we who you are calling pastors and shepherd, we too we are also growing. So, you are also to minister to us. I have said all of this before. Please go and listen to the earlier version of these—of this series. It is one shepherd, one flock in the actual sense of it. That doesn't throw away the place of pastors, the place of teachers; it doesn't throw it away. But please, what He's saying is that nobody should shepherd anybody in a way that you don't allow them to connect with the Lord. It is charismatic witchcraft. That is the point I am making. You should never shepherd people in a way that they don't personally connect with the Lord. It is one shepherd, one flock. We are all in the body; only Jesus is the Head. Only Jesus is the Head. May the Lord help us all in our various walk in the body of Christ in the name of Jesus Christ. None, none can snatch them out of My hand. None, none. Please let us close for today. We'll meet again next week by the grace and mercy of God. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. I want to beg you, brethren, don't just come alone. Come with someone. Invite someone. If it is online, send the link. Tell someone we are now online. This message must go out. This message must go out. The sheep of the Lord must hear them. They must be comforted. Don't just hear alone. Go out, tell it to somebody. The Lord bless you. We'll meet next week in Jesus' name. This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission heat. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5:00 PM. Adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ije Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.