None of us here is God. So, why not ask Him.

Are you a believer?

Haha .. I guess you didn't read the first thread

Please treat this as just my opinion.

I think this should not be a yes or no question. Yes, God did command man to be fruitful and multiply. Every couple have this innate desire to have descendants (or fruit). Spiritually, is the same, Christians should bear fruits spiritually. Otherwise, they will feel meaningless. So, it is a normal thing as a human, even more, the spiritual principle.

Yet, one have to realize why man needs to be fruitful and multiply? For what? For himself? We need to realize that God wants to gain an enlarged corporate expression of Himself on this earth. We raise children for God's purpose and expression. The children is just under our care and NEVER ours. They are the Lord's. We are just their caretaker. Our vision is that there will be continuation of His testimony on this earth.

Yet, we don't spiritualize this to hammer that we should have children.

We should go through the matter with the Lord as the Head firstly and foremost. Also, we need to consider humanly and practically whether to have children. Financially, heath, etc etc. It is not a small thing.

Lastly, I feel that whether children will eventually received Christ in the future depends on us as parent to be pattern. There is no excuse in that we can waive our responsibility out of this. Yes, there is the side of God's choosing. But, there is also the side of human responsibility. Whether or not, they received Christ in the future, the other half of the responsibility lies with us raising them. Our pattern, at least, the first 21 years of their life, will
determine their future.

JOHN 8TH CASE cont...

When the Lord Jesus saw this blind man, He said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (9:5). The Lord is the light of life (8:12). Blindness comes from the shortage of the light of life. Every dead person is a blind man. Undoubtedly, the dead cannot see anything. Therefore, blindness indicates the lack of life. If you have life, then you have sight, for light opens your eyes. So, first of all, the Lord pointed out that the blind man needed the light of life.

By the Anointing of the Word of Life Mingled with Humanity

Verse 6 is very interesting. “When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed his eyes with the clay.” When I was a young Christian, I laughed at what the Lord did. What He did was very strange. No one likes to touch a person’s spittle. But the Lord Jesus mixed His spittle with the ground and made clay. Then He used the clay to anoint the man’s eyes. The Gospel of John is a book of pictures, and this incident is a picture. We should not understand it merely according to the black and white letters.

The word mingling is used in Leviticus 2:5. “And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.” This is a type. The fine flour typifies the humanity of the Lord Jesus, and the oil typifies the Holy Spirit, the divinity of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, in the Person of the Lord Jesus there is the mingling of divinity with humanity.

Now we may return to John 9 and apply to it this concept of the mingling of divinity with humanity. The clay in 9:6, as in Romans 9:21, signifies humanity. Man is clay. We all are clay. What is the spittle? Spittle here, as something “that proceeds out of the mouth” (Matt. 4:4) of the Lord, signifies His “words which...are spirit and life” (John 6:63). Figuratively speaking, the spittle is the Word, which is spirit and life, that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. The Word that proceeds out of the mouth of Christ is spirit. Thus, to mingle spittle with the clay signifies the mingling of humanity with the Lord’s living Word. The word “anointed” proves this, because the Lord’s Spirit is the anointing Spirit (Luke 4:18; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 1 John 2:27).

The spittle, then, signifies the Word, the outflow of the very element or essence of the Lord Himself. The clay was mingled with the spittle. This signifies that the Lord mingles His essence with us by and even with His Word. We are clay by nature, and the very essence of the Lord in the Word is the spittle. Formerly, when we were sinners, we were dead. When we heard the Word of the Lord, His Word came into us as those made of clay. When we heard and received the gospel, it was actually the spittle of the Lord that came into us, men of clay. In other words, the clay received something that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord and was mingled with it.

The mingling of divinity with humanity is the most prevailing ointment on the whole earth. No other ointment can surpass it. The Lord anointed the man’s blind eyes with the clay that was mingled with spittle. This signifies the anointing of the Spirit of life. The anointing of the Spirit of life follows the mingling of the Lord in His Word with the clay. Immediately after you receive the Lord through His Word, there is the anointing of the Spirit of life. The Lord’s anointing the blind eyes with the clay made of His spittle signifies that by the anointing of the mingling of the Lord’s Word, which is His Spirit, with our humanity, our eyes, which were blinded by Satan, may have sight.

If you are open to some word of righteousness (versus honey-coated truths) ... in a strict sense, you should be encouraged that because of Christ's redemption, our old life is already crucified in Him. Hence, God is not concerned with our fallen human life in the old creation. In experience, we just have to apply His precious blood to cleanse us of our failures and weaknesses in our daily Christian life.

Yet, there is a big BUT. Like you mentioned, at the judgment seat of Christ, the believers will be examined by the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 4:4b, Paul says, “He who examines me is the Lord.” Then in verse 5 he goes on to say, “Therefore do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who shall both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each one from God.”

In 1 Corinthians 9:17 Paul speaking of preaching the gospel says, “If I do this voluntarily, I have a reward.” The book of 1 Corinthians was written not to help lost sinners to be saved, but to help saved believers to grow (3:6-7), to build with precious materials (Triune God - 3:10, 12-14), to care for the Lord’s members (8:9-13), and to run the race (9:24). Hence, reward is mentioned repeatedly as an incentive to the believers’ progress (3:14; 9:18, 24-25).

In Matthew 16:27 the Lord Jesus says, “The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each man according to his doings.” The context indicates that the Lord’s rewarding of His followers at His coming back in this verse will be according to whether they lose or save their soul, as mentioned in verses 25 and 26. This means that the reward will be given according to how we have borne the cross. It will depend on whether or not we keep ourselves under the killing of the cross, on whether we save our soul life in this age or lose it. If we bear the cross to follow the Lord by losing the enjoyment of our soul in this age, He will reward us with the enjoyment of the soul in the kingdom.

In 16:27 the Lord says that He will reward “each man according to his doings,” that is, according to whether or not we lose our soul life’s enjoyment in this age. This will have nothing to do with our eternal salvation; however, it will have very much to do with the Lord’s dispensational reward to us. The Lord’s reward will be the entering into the kingdom, which will be at the manifestation of the kingdom. The manifestation of the kingdom in the millennium will be the reward to the followers who remain under the killing of the cross. All the believers who follow Christ in this way will be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom.

Ah .... one post just can't do it .....

In principle, we will be judged in two areas: maturity in life and faithfulness in service (Matt. 25:1-30). To be mature in life means that the Christ who came into us has fully grown up till every part of our soul is filled with Him. That means our thoughts, our love, and our choices are filled with Christ.

Faithfulness in service denotes that as we love the Lord, we serve Him as a slave. That we have been given at least one talent to function, to serve the saints, care for new ones, shepherd, preach the gospel etc. The Lord has entrusted the truth, church, gospel etc by measuring a portion to us. If we are not faithful to multiply His possessions, we will need to give an account to Him.

John 8th CASE cont


By the Obedience to Life’s Word and the Washing Away of the Old Humanity

After the blind man’s eyes had been anointed with the clay, he was more blind than before. Now a thick layer of clay covered his eyes. The Lord told him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (9:7). The man went, washed, and came seeing. To wash here is to cleanse away the clay. This signifies the washing away of our old humanity, as we have in baptism (Rom. 6:3-4, 6). That the blind man went and washed means he obeyed the life-giving Word of the Lord. So he received sight. If he had not gone to wash off the clay after being anointed with it, it would have blinded him even more. Thus, our obedience to the anointing brings us sight.

The word Siloam means sent. This is very meaningful. The anointing of the Spirit of life means that you are always in the position of being sent. The anointing puts us on the ground of being sent. Therefore, we must obey. The Lord Himself always stood on the ground of being sent by the Father and He was always obedient. Now the Lord puts us in the same position as His sent ones. After we receive the Lord in His Word and have His anointing, He puts us in the position of being sent. We must now be obedient to His sending. After you receive the Lord in His Word, what is the first step that you should take in order to be obedient? Once you have believed in the Lord and received Him in the Word, the Lord will ask you to go to a “pool.” The first step is that the Lord will send you to a “pool.” He will send you to wash and be baptized. From then on, you must daily and throughout the day apply this washing. Day by day, you must realize that you are being washed during the whole day. Even today, I have been washed several times. An order from the Lord always follows the anointing of the Spirit of life within you: “Go and wash.”

This chapter portrays the blind man, the Lord making the clay, the eyes of the blind man being anointed with the clay, and the Lord telling him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Once the blind man washed his eyes, the clay was gone. What is the clay? It signifies the natural life or the human self. When you went to be baptized, the old man, the old clay, was washed away. After the washing, it was buried in and under the water. Your old man was buried in the water after you were baptized. However, do you also realize that you must apply the washing of the baptism day by day? In every day of your Christian life you have to apply the washing of baptism by putting the self and the nature of the old man under the water of death.

You must remember that the anointing within always demands that you apply the washing of baptism to yourself. If you do not apply this, you can never be obedient in following the anointing. The anointing within always demands that you go to Siloam and put yourself to death. You must bury yourself as the clay under the water of death. Perhaps you received an anointing this morning. If you neglect to apply the washing of baptism to yourself, you cannot obey that anointing. The command to put yourself under the water of death immediately follows the anointing. The anointing demands that you eliminate the old clay. When you do this, you will receive sight and light. According to our experience, after we follow the demand of the anointing to put ourselves into the water of death, we are very much in the light with the sight. Everything is clear to us because now we have both the sight and the light. The sunshine is actually within us. Our eyes are opened and we can see very clearly because we have received sight and are now in the light.

JOHN 8TH CASE cont

What would have happened if the blind man had refused to obey the Lord’s command to go and wash? Although his eyes had been anointed with the clay, his refusal to obey would have made him even more blind. What the Lord had done thus far would have been a veil or a covering instead of an unveiling. Likewise, if we do not obey the anointing of the Spirit of life, the anointing will become a veil that covers our eyes instead of opening them. However, if we obey the anointing of the Spirit of life and put ourselves into death, our eyes will be opened. In short, we will have sight and will be in the light. Otherwise, our disobedience will cause the anointing of the Spirit of life to become a veil covering our eyes. Then we will become more blind and will be brought into deeper darkness.

When I first received this interpretation, it was a strange one. However, as I prayed and checked with my experiences, I came to believe it. If you do the same, you will see that this is the correct interpretation. Many times you have received sight by the Divine Spirit being mingled with your humanity. For a short while, your eyes were covered and, temporarily, you were more blinded than ever. Eventually, after obeying the life-giving Word, your old nature was washed away. Then you had a clear sky. Please check with your experience. This was the procedure every time you received light.

Do not consider that this story of healing the blind man is so simple.

Simply reading or studying the Bible is inadequate. Without the mingling of the divine life with your humanity, you can never see the light of the Word. You may read it, but you cannot see it. Perhaps you have read a certain sentence in the Bible many times. But you just could not see the light in it. One day, you begin to see. Immediately your eyes are covered and temporarily you are even more blinded. However, if you obey the living Word and say, “Amen, Lord Jesus,” you immediately have the sensation that something has fallen off your eyes and you have light. Your old humanity has fallen away and you can see into the heavens. This is the way to receive light.

There are three steps which we must follow in order to receive sight for our eyes. First of all, the clay must both receive and be mingled with the spittle. In other words, you, the old man, the clay, must receive the Lord’s Word as the spittle and be mingled with the Lord in His Word. Then the second step will follow—that is, after you have received the Lord in His Word, you will have the anointing. Finally, the third step follows the anointing: the demand to put the old self to death. The old clay must be put into the water of death. By these three steps your eyes will be opened. You will then have the sight and will always be in the light.

JOHN 8TH CASE cont

Persecuted by Religion

It is a good thing to receive sight. However, be prepared to suffer persecution at the hands of blind religion. The blind man who received his sight was cast out (9:34), meaning that he was excommunicated, ostracized, from the Jewish synagogue. This means that he was put out of the sheepfold, as spoken by the Lord in 10:3-4. Although he was excommunicated from Judaism, he was received by the Lord Jesus.

Believing in the Son of God

The blind man came to believe in Jesus as the Son of God (9:35-38). The blind man received his sight by a kind of obscure believing. He believed, but he was not clear. He was simply innocent. He believed without really knowing who Jesus was. He believed in an innocent way. Although he did not know adequately who Jesus was, he did believe that Jesus was someone special and he argued about this with the Pharisees. Eventually, the Pharisees cast him out. Then, the Lord Jesus found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” (9:35). The blind man replied, “And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” (9:36). He believed, yet he did not know the Lord Jesus. Then the Lord said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the One who is speaking with you” (9:37). Then the blind man declared, “Lord I believe. And he worshipped Him” (9:38). He believed that the man Jesus is the Son of God. Thus, the blind man not only received his sight, but he himself was received by the Lord Jesus.

This means that the Lord, as the shepherd, entered the sheepfold, saw a little, blind sheep, opened his eyes, and then led that sheep out of the sheepfold. In one sense, the sheep was cast out; in another sense, the Lord led him out. The Pharisees cast him out, but the Lord Jesus carried him out. The Lord did not carry him out of hell but out of the sheepfold. As we shall see more, the sheepfold was Judaism, the law-keeping religion. The blind man, like the blind and lame people on the porches in chapter five, was kept on the law-keeping porch. Then the Lord Jesus came, not only as life, but also as the shepherd, to lead him out of the fold.

The Lord is sovereign. Many of us were in the fold of religion. Perhaps you were there as one who was lame. We all were on that porch. Thank the Lord Jesus for His sovereignty. He came as life to heal our blind eyes and as the shepherd to lead us out of the fold.

JOHN - 8th CASE - Chapter 10

Now we come to John 10. This is a very interesting chapter, but it is also a misunderstood chapter. This chapter is actually a continuation of chapter nine. Verse 21 helps us to realize this, for the question is asked, “Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” Both chapters center around the record of the case of the man born blind. The thought in this chapter is deep. On the surface, it seems easy to understand, but actually it is not easy to understand this parable or allegory. The Lord brought out this allegory about the sheepfold immediately after He cured the blind man who was cast out of the synagogue by the Jews. This incident, therefore, became the setting for the parable of the sheepfold.

We must now consider the significance of the sheepfold in this parable. It is not easy to define the sheepfold. But we need to ask this question: what do you realize about the sheepfold? What have you been taught about this matter? The key to unlocking the secret of this parable depends very much upon the meaning of the sheepfold.

The Sheepfold Signifying the Law, or Judaism, the Religion of the Law

The sheepfold, in its better usage, signifies the law of the Old Testament, but in its common and ordinary usage, it signifies Judaism, the religion of the law. Originally, before the first coming of Christ, God gave His law to the people of Israel. What was God’s purpose in giving them the law? Did He expect them to keep it? No, that was not His purpose. Galatians 3:23-26 reveals God’s purpose in giving the law. “But before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was about to be revealed. So the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But faith having come, we are no longer under a child-conductor; for you are all the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Before faith in Christ came, we were kept under the law. In other words, we were kept like sheep in a fold. The Greek word translated “kept” means confined. Before faith came—that is, before Christ came—the chosen people of God were confined under the law. They were “shut up” under the law. “Shut up” is a special word in Greek, meaning to be kept in custody or under special care in a ward. For instance, if the parents of a family pass away, the children might be put in the custody of their aunt or uncle. In other words, they are put under the care of someone else. This shows how the chosen people of God were placed under the custody of the law before faith in Christ came.

In ancient times, the children of the rich, Jewish families were escorted to their schoolmaster by a trained slave. Likewise, the law served as a slave to bring us to Christ. Before we were brought to Christ, the schoolmaster, we were under the care of a slave, the law. God the Father used the law as a slave to take care of us and to bring us to Christ. Before Christ came, we were put under the hand of the law which was to be our custodian. The law was responsible for the care and protection of God’s chosen people and eventually it brought them to Christ. Once we have been brought to Christ, we are justified by faith. Since faith has come—that is, since Christ has come—we are no longer under the custody of the slave.

What was the question? Can't view youtube from where I am ....

JOHN 8TH CASE - cont

The Sheep Signifying God’s Chosen People

The sheep are God’s chosen people. In eternity past, God with His foresight had chosen His people. In time, before Christ came, God put His chosen people into the custody of the law. After Christ came, He wanted all of His people to come out of the law’s custody. The blind man who was cast out of the Jewish synagogue and who came to the Lord Jesus is one of God’s chosen people. He was under the custody of the law, but he was taken out of it unto the Lord Himself.

The Door Signifying Christ for "Going in" and "Going out"

What does it mean to say that Christ is the door? Most Christians think that the door is for people to enter into heaven. Perhaps some of you reading this message still hold on to this concept. But the door here is not for you to go to heaven, for this door enables people to go in and out. If this door were the door into heaven, how could people go out of it? This door is not the door into heaven.

The Lord is the door to the sheepfold. Originally, the fold was the law, and the Lord was the door into the law. The Lord was not only the door into the law; He is also the door for people to come out of the law. Verse 9 says, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and shall find pasture.” Christ is the door, not only for God’s elect to enter into the custody of the law, as did Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc., in the Old Testament time before Christ came; but also for God’s chosen people, such as Peter, James, John, and Paul, to come out of the fold of the law after Christ came. So the Lord indicates in verse 9 that He is the door not only for God’s chosen people to go in, but also for God’s chosen people to go out. Those who went into the law were people like Moses, the psalmists, and the prophets. Christ was the door for these people to go into the fold of the law. In other words, they went into the fold through Christ and for Christ. If we adopt this point of view when reading the writings of Moses, the psalmists, and the prophets, we will realize that they entered into the law of God through Christ. Christ was their entrance into the law.

At the time the Lord Jesus came, so many people were still in the fold. However, after the coming of Jesus, God no longer intended to keep His chosen people in the fold of the law. God wanted them to come out of the law into Christ. Thus, by that time, Christ no longer was the door for God’s chosen people to enter into the fold; He was the door for those who were already in the fold to come out. The blind man was one who was coming out of the fold. Formerly, all of the servants sent by God went into the law through Christ. But although Christ had come, the fold was still full of sheep who were confined within it. What should they do? They had to come out of the fold through Christ. During the Old Testament age, God sent many of His servants into the fold of the law through Christ. Now during the New Testament age, God intends to bring His people out of the law through Christ as the door. Eventually, the sheepfold was the Old Testament law, utilized by the Jews to form the religion of Judaism. Then Judaism became the fold to confine all of the Lord’s chosen people. But Christ has come and the pasture is ready. Therefore, there is no need for the sheep to be confined any longer in the custody of the Judaistic law. They must be released from the fold of the law that they might enjoy all of the riches of the pasture.

To summarize, Christ as the door is both the entrance and the exit of the sheepfold. Firstly, the Old Testament saints went into the fold, which was the law, through Christ as the door. Now the New Testament believers are to come out of the law through Christ as the same door. Next, the fold of the law was used by God as a slave to keep and take care of His children. It was used then to bring them to Christ Himself who was the schoolmaster. After they had been sent to the schoolmaster, there is no further need to remain under the hands of the slave. The fold of the law, which became Judaism, confined all of His chosen people. But Christ is the door through whom the New Testament believers may come out of Judaism and come into Him as the pasture.

Moreover, the Lord is also the shepherd. He is not only the door of the fold, but also the shepherd. He comes to call His people out of the fold, and His sheep can recognize His voice. He is the first one out of the fold, which is the law. Now He walks before His sheep, who all will eventually follow Him. Peter, James, and John came out of Judaism. Even Paul came out of Judaism. All of the Jews who believed in the Lord Jesus followed Him out of the Judaistic fold.

The blind man was one who came out of Judaism. He was cast out of the synagogue of Judaism. He was cast out of that fold because of the living Jesus. Therefore, the Lord took the opportunity to speak forth this parable. The Lord let the Jews know that their religion was just a fold. He made it known that the pasture is now ready and that it was unnecessary for the sheep to remain in their fold. Now is the time for the sheep to come out of the fold and to enjoy the riches of the pasture. The one the Jewish people cast out of their synagogue became one who enjoyed the Lord as the pasture.

The Lord is first the door, then the shepherd, and finally the pasture. The shepherd takes all of the sheep out of the fold through Himself as the door and brings them to Himself as the pasture. He is the shepherd who brought the sheep out of the fold; He is the door through whom the sheep are brought out; and He is the pasture to whom the sheep are brought. He simply brought the sheep out of Judaism through Himself, unto Himself, and for Himself. He is everything—the exit, the shepherd, and the pasture.

This post has been edited by pehkay: Dec 18 2013, 01:04 PM

JOHN 8 cont


The Pasture Signifying Christ as the Feeding Place for the Sheep

Outside the fold is the green pasture. Pasture here signifies Christ as the feeding place for the sheep. When the pasture is not available in the wintertime or in the night, the sheep must be kept in the fold. When the pasture is ready, there is no further need for the sheep to remain in the fold. To be kept in the fold is transitory and temporary. To be in the pasture to enjoy its riches is final and permanent. Before Christ came, the law was a ward, and to be under the law was transitory. Now, since Christ has come, all God’s chosen people must come out of the law and come to Him to enjoy Him as their pasture (Gal. 3:23-25; 4:3-5). This should be final and permanent. Now is the springtime, the right time for the sheep to come out to the pasture and feed on the green grass. The disciples Peter, James, and John were also ones in the fold, but they came out of it to feed upon Christ as the pasture. When they were in the old religion, they were starved to death in the fold. There was no door, meaning there was no freedom, and there was no pasture, meaning there was no feeding. One day, they met Christ, the living One, the shepherd, and He said, "Come and follow Me." They followed Him out of the fold and into the pasture.

If you follow the Lord as your shepherd, it will stir up a storm that will force you out of the fold. You do not need to strive or to exercise any effort to follow the Lord Jesus out of the fold, for, as long as you follow Him, the old religion will force you to get out. They will cast you out. The more you follow this living Jesus, the more religion will force you out. Religion cannot put up with Jesus, and Jesus will never remain in religion. These two are absolutely different, and there is no possibility of reconciling them. Jesus is life, and religion is something other than life. The living Jesus simply cannot tolerate religion. Praise the Lord that we are all out of religion and are feeding on the green pasture! The pasture certainly is not in the fold; it is outside of the fold. If you are going to enjoy the pasture, you must come out of the fold. Once you come out of the fold, you will find yourself in the pasture. Hallelujah!

We need to say a word about who the doorkeeper and the thieves and robbers are. The doorkeeper is the Holy Spirit, and the thieves and robbers are those who pretended to be prophets. Those who did not enter into the fold by the door but by climbing up another way are the prophets who lived after the Old Testament prophets and before John the Baptist. During this time many came into the law not through Christ but by themselves. They pretended to be the prophets sent by God. But all of the proper Old Testament prophets came through Christ and for Christ. In other words, they came into the law through the door. After these Old Testament prophets, many people came into the law not through and for Christ, but by and for themselves. They were the thieves and robbers who damaged and spoiled God’s people. A period of four hundred years existed between the Old Testament prophets and John the Baptist. For approximately four hundred years those thieves and robbers damaged God’s chosen people. Consequently, the Lord said that the thief came to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but that He came that the sheep might have life and might have it abundantly (10:10). This means that the Lord came to impart Himself as life to His sheep because He is their pasture. As long as the sheep stay in the pasture, they will have the supply of life abundantly. By feeding on the pasture, the sheep will enjoy the pasture as their abundant life supply, for the Lord is their abundant life. They will enjoy the Lord and experience Him as their life more abundantly.

How could the Lord fulfill this matter of being the pasture of life to the sheep? It is by realizing that the grass, in order to be eaten, must pass through the process of death. All of the living grass eaten by the sheep must pass through the process of death. Hence, as we shall see, the Lord said that He had to lay down His life for His sheep. He first had to die that He might minister Himself as life to the sheep.

GOSPEL OF JOHN - 8TH CASE CONT.

In verse 10 the Lord said, "I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly," and in verse 11 He said, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." In these two verses two different Greek words are used for life. In verse 10 the Greek word is zoe, which is the word used in the New Testament for the eternal divine life. In verse 11 the Greek word is psuche, the same word for soul, which means the soulish life, that is, the human life. These two verses indicate that the Lord Jesus has two kinds of lives. As a man the Lord has the psuche life, the human life, and as God He has the zoe life, the divine life. He laid down His soul, His psuche life, His human life, to accomplish redemption for His sheep (10:15, 17-18) that they might share His zoe life, His divine life (10:10), the eternal life (10:28), by which they may be formed into one flock under Himself as the one shepherd. As the good shepherd, He feeds His sheep with the divine life in this way and for this purpose.

The Lord’s divine life could never be slain. What was slain in His crucifixion was His human life. In order to be our Savior, He, as a man, laid down His human life to accomplish redemption for us that we might receive His zoe life. He laid down His human life in order that we, after being redeemed, might receive His zoe life, the eternal life.

To Be Formed into One Flock by Life under One Shepherd

The shepherd, the divine life, and the human life are all for the flock. In verse 16 the Lord said, "And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one shepherd." Who are the sheep that are not of this Jewish fold? They are the Gentiles. And what is this one flock? The one flock signifies the one church, the one Body of Christ (Eph. 2:14-16; 4:6), brought forth by life, which the Lord imparted into His members through His death (John 10:10-18). Before, the fold was Judaism; now, the flock is the church. The sheepfold was, and still is, Judaism, but the flock is the church. The flock is the church which includes two peoples—the believing Jews and Gentiles. The Lord brings both together into one flock and under one shepherd. Now, the one flock and the one shepherd are the one Body and the one Head.

Why are the shepherd, the divine life, and the human life all for the flock? Because the people in the flock are fallen persons in need of redemption. As a man, the shepherd had the human life. He sacrificed His human life in order to accomplish redemption for His flock. In this way His flock was redeemed. Then His flock received His divine life, and by this divine life the sheep live together as the flock. Thus, the flock is formed into one unit, into one entity. This is not accomplished by the human life, but by the divine life.

In the human life we are condemned and divided; in the divine life we are accepted and united. In the divine life we are all one entity, meaning that we are one flock under one shepherd in one life. If we live by our human life and not by the divine life, we will only cause trouble. Furthermore, we would become strangers and stray away from the flock. Whenever you live by your human life, you are no longer a sheep but a stranger. A sheep is a regenerated person with the divine life. We all must live by the divine life and thus become genuine, real, and pure sheep. Then we shall all be in the flock. As long as we live by our human life, we will resemble a wild animal, perhaps a devouring lion or a wild horse. If we do not live by the divine life, there can be no flock. The flock is produced, kept, maintained, and formed by the divine life.

How good it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Psa. 133:1). However, dwelling in unity simply means to dwell in the divine life. Praise the Lord that in the divine life we are truly one and love one another. This is not possible in our human, psuche life, but only in the divine, zoe life. We receive this zoe life through the redemption accomplished by our shepherd who laid down His psuche life. He sacrificed His psuche life to accomplish redemption for us all that we might receive Him as our zoe life. Now we are in the zoe life under one shepherd to be one flock. This is not an organization; it is a flocking together in life. It is wonderful. Hallelujah! The flock is not a matter of religion, but of life.

JOHN - 8TH CASE cont

The Eternal Life, the Son’s Hand, and the Father’s Hand for the Security of the Sheep

In 10:28-29 the Lord says, “And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” The eternal life is for the believers’ living. Both the Son’s hand as the hand of power and the Father’s hand as the hand of love are for the believers’ protection. Eternal life shall never run out, and the hands of the Son and the Father shall never fail. So the believers are eternally secured and shall never perish.

The Persecution of Religion

In verse 30 the Lord said, “I and the Father are one.” Here the Lord asserts His deity, that He is God (10:33; 5:18; 1:1; 20:28; 1 John 5:20; Phil. 2:6). The Jews took up stones in order to stone Him, saying, “We are not stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy; and because you, being a man, are making yourself God” (10:33). The Jews persecuted Christ because of His “blasphemy.” It is the same today. Religion claims that we preach heresy. Religion was trying to protect its “belief.” Actually, they had no belief. They had unbelief and they were protecting vanity. Therefore, they persecuted the Lord Jesus.

JOHN - 8TH CASE - final

In 10:40-42 we see life’s desertion of religion and life’s new standing. Christ deserted Judaism and went to the place where John the Baptist preached the New Testament gospel. This is very meaningful. The Lord deserted Judaism and took a new standing for the New Testament. Today we are here on this new standing. We are following the shepherd, we are on the pasture, and we have a new standing.

The hour finally came that the Lord gave up Judaism. Although the religionists sought to take Him again, He escaped out of their hands (10:39). He went beyond Jordan into the place where John the Baptist earlier had baptized Him. The religious Jews had used the law to form Judaism, which had confined the chosen people of God. However, John the Baptist was absolutely separated out of Judaism because he lived in the wilderness, which was outside of Jerusalem beyond the Jordan. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, always pointing to Christ Himself. John the Baptist pointed to Christ because the age of the sheepfold was over and a new age had begun. All of the chosen people of God had to give up the fold and come to Him. The testimony of John the Baptist was simply that of urging people to come out of the fold and to enter the pasture.

After John the Baptist’s announcement of Christ, the Lord went into the fold in order to bring the sheep out of the fold. Of course, He was not stealing the sheep. He went into Judaism in order that His sheep might hear His voice and come out of the fold. By coming out of the fold and by walking ahead of His sheep, He led His sheep out of the fold. After the Lord came out of Judaism, He went to the very place where John the Baptist had testified of Him. His going to the wilderness beyond Jordan was a sign of His coming out of Judaism and going to a place that was outside of Judaism.

This chapter finally says that many people went to Him and believed in Him (10:41-42). Do you know the significance of this? It simply means that many people followed Him as sheep follow a shepherd. He is the shepherd who went into the sheepfold to lead the sheep out. When He came out of the sheepfold, all of the sheep followed Him to a place where the testimony was that of giving up the Old Testament and realizing the New Testament. The testimony of the Old Testament was the sheepfold, but the testimony of the New Testament is Christ as the pasture. Are you a sheep? Do you prefer to remain in the fold when the pasture is ready? Do you still like to be confined and kept under the custody of the fold? Or will you come out of the fold and go into the pasture to enjoy the riches of Christ? Today, the Lord Jesus is no longer in Judaism. The Good Shepherd is no longer in the fold. He is staying where the testimony of the New Testament is established. He has given up the fold and is staying in the place where He is the pasture. Therefore, you also must give up the fold and come to Him. This means that you must give up “Judaism” and come to take Christ as your everything. He is everything to you. Just look at the sheep. The pasture is everything to them. The sheep enjoy the pasture as the resting place, the food, the water, the life supply, and as everything else. You too must come out of the fold and go into the pasture—that is, you must come out of “Judaism” and go to Christ alone. You have to come out of the “law” and go to the place where Christ is enjoyed. Where is Christ now? Christ is outside of all the Judaistic types of groups and in the place where John the Baptist testified of Him.

Now you know the right meaning of this chapter, which is the conclusion of the case concerning the blind man who was healed. Before Christ came, all of God’s chosen people were in a sheepfold. Now, since Christ has come, the time of the sheepfold is over. You must leave the fold in order to come to Christ. Now is the time for you to take Christ as your pasture and to enjoy Him as your everything. You must live in Him and take Him as your all.

Consider this picture. Look at the sheep and the pasture and see how much the pasture means to the sheep. If you are truly a sheep, you will tell people how you long to be out of the fold, because in it there is too much bondage and confinement. There is simply no freedom because you are kept under the custody of a guardian. Now you know where there is the pasture, the freedom, and the life supply.

Christ is the all-inclusive pasture. The fold is the law and Judaism. Christ, the very exit out of the fold, is the shepherd who leads you out of the fold and brings you to Himself who can be everything to you. He is now your pasture.

This post has been edited by pehkay: Jan 8 2014, 07:45 AM

Personally, it is a myth that Christian go to heaven ... ... though only a small minority of Christians realized this ...

Why sigh? Let me tell you something BETTER THAN heaven. Yes, we will be judged when the Lord comes back. But the final destination is the New Jerusalem.

The work of God throughout the generations is to gain something that is very mystical. It may be described as a group of people, and it may also be described as an abode, a habitation. It is what Revelation 21 calls the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth. According to what the Bible shows us, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate issue of the work of God in all generations. God began to work in Genesis 1, and by the end of Revelation He has built a holy city, the New Jerusalem. In the beginning of the Bible God shows us the garden of Eden. The garden of Eden is a picture, revealing that God’s heart’s desire is to produce the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate issue of the work of God. This issue is a group of people and also an abode. Revelation clearly says that the New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of the Lamb (21:9). It also says that the New Jerusalem is the holy city, God’s habitation (v. 10).

How can the New Jerusalem be a group of people and a habitation at the same time? How can it simultaneously be a holy city and a bride? Many people cannot understand this. They may ask, “If we are going to be that city in the future, that is, the stones of that city, will we still be able to praise as stones? Will we as stones still have mouths?” These questions prove that our natural mind cannot understand this matter. How can the New Jerusalem be both a city and a woman? It is clearly a group of people, but how can it simultaneously be a place?

Revelation 21 tells us that the New Jerusalem is both a city and a bride. This is the clear word in the Bible, and we must believe it no matter what. Actually, the church today is also a mystery. The New Testament clearly states that the church today is constituted with saved people. However, the Bible also says that we are God’s temple, God’s habitation. We do not need to wait until the time of the new heaven and new earth to be God’s habitation, because we are God’s habitation today. First Peter 2 says that we are living stones, being built up as a spiritual house by the Lord. A spiritual house is a habitation. Ephesians 2 also says that the apostles and we are being built together on Christ the cornerstone to become God’s habitation. Therefore, it is not necessary to wait until the new heaven and new earth for the mystery to be revealed, because it is here today. We who are saved are saints, but we are also a habitation. We are clearly people, but God sees us as living stones. Thus, the New Jerusalem truly has a twofold significance. The work of God in all the ages is to gain the New Jerusalem.

THE NEW JERUSALEM BEING THE ISSUE OF THE UNION OF GOD, HEAVEN, AND MAN

What is the New Jerusalem? The New Jerusalem is a mingling of God and man, something of God mingled with man. Revelation tells us that the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God. This implies that the New Jerusalem is filled with the element of heaven and is absolutely heavenly. On the other hand, the New Jerusalem is God abiding among man. It is a corporate man. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is something of heaven, God, and also man. This is the revelation in the Bible.

There is no question that this holy city, New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven. When the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven to the earth, this union of God, heaven, and man will be on the earth. The ultimate issue of the work of God will be something of God mingled within man and also heaven mingled within man. Heaven, God, and man will be mingled into one as the New Jerusalem. This is the revelation in the Bible. Every saved person will ultimately end up in the heavenly New Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem, according to what Revelation shows us, is God abiding among man and God mingled with man, and it is produced through the transformation of man. When the union of these three is completely manifested, we will be on the new earth. At that time, all of us who are saved will live there with God eternally.

Many Christians are wrongly influenced by Christianity. They think that after a person is saved, he does not need to pay attention to life or to be built up by God but only needs to wait until the day when God will put him into a place called “heaven.” However, the Bible shows us that throughout the ages and generations, God has been managing, building, and working on the place into which the believers will ultimately enter. What God has been managing, building, and working on throughout the ages are the saved ones. The principle of God’s work on those who have been saved is that He works Himself into them and also works heaven into them. Today we who are saved are not only of God but also of heaven. Not only is God in us, but heaven is also in us.

If they use Indo bible or Malay ... why not?

Rare that someone tag me

Well, that will be where YEC Christians have a hard time explaining that. I made a post about this ...

The most scriptural one that I subscribed to is the gap theory between verse 1 and verse 2. This was explained quite well by the Brethren during the 19th century due to the rise of evidence for an much older earth (>2000 years).

Most Christians think that Genesis 1:1 is the subject of the first two chapters of Genesis. They were taught that these two chapters are a record of God's creation, and that chapter 1, verse 1 is the subject. But if verse 1 is the subject, how can verse 2 start with "and"? "And" means that something is going on already, and then something else happens to follow it. "And" is a conjunction which combines two things: the first thing goes and the second thing comes. Even the grammar shows that verse 1 is not the subject, but part of the description. It describes the first event in a series. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and..." This means that after God created, something happened.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth became waste and empty." The Concordant Version of Genesis translates the verse this way: "Yet the earth became a chaos and vacant." The Concordant Version does not say "and"; it says "yet." "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Yet the earth became a chaos and vacant." A chaos is a mess. The earth became a chaos—waste and vacant. Something happened between verse 1 and verse 2 which caused the earth to become waste and empty.

Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 there was a period of time, called the interval. No one can say how long this interval was. At any rate, it must have been a very long period of time. It is probably at that time after the original creation, Satan and his angels rebelled (Ezek. 28:15-18; Isa. 14:13-14). Moreover, we can infer that in this pre-Adamic age there existed on the earth some living beings with spirits and that these beings also joined Satan in his rebellion against God. Thus, Satan, his fallen angels, and these living beings were all judged by God. After they were judged by God, these beings lost their bodies and became disembodied spirits.

The rebellion surely defiled the heavens and the earth as shown when God rebuked Satan, "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries" (Ezek. 28:18). So, the heavens and the earth were also judged by God.

Job 9:5-7 says that God overturned the mountains in His anger, shook the earth out of its place, commanded the sun not to rise, and sealed the stars. When did God do this? We cannot find a record of such an event in human history. It must have happened before the Adamic world, at the time God judged the heavens and the earth due to the rebellion of Satan and his followers. Because of God's judgment, the heavens did not shine. The earth was covered by darkness. The fact that the earth, after being judged by God, was buried under the deep water proves that God must have judged the earth by flooding it with water. So, "the earth became waste and empty," buried under deep water, and covered with darkness (Gen. 1:2).

Isaiah 45:18 tells us, "God created the earth not a waste" (Heb.). Job 38:4-7 shows that God created the earth in good order. It says that when God "laid the foundations of the earth," "laid the measures thereof," and "stretched the line upon it," "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [the angels] shouted for joy." When God laid the foundations of the earth, He laid the measure upon it and stretched the line upon it. This means that He created it in good order. So, when the morning stars saw it, they were excited and sang, and when all the angels saw it, they shouted for joy. When did this happen? It must have happened in Genesis 1:1, not in Genesis 1:2. How could the morning stars sing and the angels shout for joy when the earth became waste and empty?

Hope it helps ....

This post has been edited by pehkay: Jan 29 2014, 03:43 PM