The
Scriptures use a variety of images and symbols to speak forth truth and to bring
understanding to the people of God. Indeed, the entire creation was designed to
show forth parables. As we observe events and images in the natural, we are able
to perceive things in the spiritual realms.
Two of the most prevalent
images that confront people as they read the Bible are that of shepherds with a
flock, and husbandmen tending a field or vineyard. The Scriptures declare that
the people of God are both Yahweh’s flock and His field. If the people of God
are His field, what type of crop is He desiring to bring forth from this field?
It can be clearly stated that God is very definite in that which He is seeking
to bring forth from His people.
Galatians 4:19
My little children, of
whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in
you...
The gospel of Christ is unique among all messages
proclaimed by the religions of the world. There are many faiths that are focused
upon a moral code of conduct. There are numerous ways presented to attain to a
happy afterlife. But there is only found in the gospel the message that a man
must be born again as a spiritual creature.
John 3:3-7
Yahshua
answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born
when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be
born, can he?" Yahshua answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do
not be amazed that I said to you, "You must be born again.’”
There is no
other religion on earth that declares to mankind that they are incomplete and
unable to attain to the desire of God apart from experiencing a spiritual birth.
This spiritual birth is critical. Apart from being born again a man can neither
see, nor enter into, the kingdom of God.
In other religions anybody may
join and begin to practice the teachings of its prophets and leaders. In
Christianity, however, there is but one entrance, and one path to admission. All
must enter in through Christ. All must begin by being born again spiritually of
the
seed of
Christ.
I Peter 1:23
For you have been
born again not of
seed which is perishable
but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
I
John 3:9
No one who is born of God practices sin, because
His seed abides in him; and
he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Spiritual life begins at
conception even as does physical life. Apart from receiving spiritual life into
their being, mankind cannot live as Christ lived. All attempts to imitate the
life of Christ are vanity and striving after the wind. The life of Christ cannot
be imitated. It can only be replicated. The seed of Christ’s life must take root
in the heart of a man and begin to grow. It must continue to grow until the full
image of Christ comes forth.
Ephesians 4:11-13
And He gave some as
apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a mature man, to the measure of
the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.The church
today has lost the understanding of the purpose of ministers. Ministers are not
given to the church to direct the saints into good works, nor to keep them busy
with the activities and programs of the church. Christ gave ministers to equip
the body of Christ with the knowledge of the Son of God who resides in them, and
to urge them on to a life of faith where they reckon that Christ is in them,
that all things have changed and become new. These ministers are given to bring
the members of Christ’s body to the same fulness of stature that belongs to the
Son of God. They are to direct the body of Christ to labor to see Christ fully
formed in them.
Such growth into a mature image of Christ is a natural
spiritual progression. Once the seed of Christ is received in the soil of man
its regular course is to grow and mature. Yet like a seed of corn planted in the
ground there are many things that can affect the maturing of this seed. Crops
can wither from drought, disease, and pestilence. Crops can fail to mature due
to poor soil conditions, by being choked out by weeds, or by having the seed
snatched away by predators.
God’s ministers are called to serve as
husbandmen. They are to tend the soil in which the seed has been planted,
laboring to see that it comes to maturity. The apostle Paul spoke the following
words to the young minister Timothy.
II Timothy 2:6-7
The hard-working
farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I
say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
No farmer
would be so careless as to go and cast seed out over the field only to return at
the end of the growing season expecting to reap a great harvest. Much work has
to go into preparing the soil. The ground has to be watered, and weeds and pests
must be removed throughout the growing season. The ministers of God are to work
together to bring forth a mature crop from the seed of Christ that has been
planted in the lives of men.
I Corinthians 3:6-9
I planted, Apollos
watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor
the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants
and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his
own labor.
For we are God's
fellow workers; you are God's field...A great many ministers
today do not know what it is that the seed of Christ must grow into. They do not
know whether they have planted watermelons, or rice, or peas in the field. Their
labor is therefore haphazard. Many seeing an image of Christ appearing among the
people of God, pull it up and cast it away as an unwanted weed, not discerning
that this is what they are to be bringing forth for the glory of God.
How
can a minister labor to bring forth from the seed of Christ planted in God’s
field an hundred fold increase of the image of Christ if they do not know that
this is the object of their labor? The call of God’s minister is to see Christ
fully formed in the people of God. Such mature spiritual men will be able to
then hear God for themselves. They will walk with God even as did Christ. They
will go where the Father directs, and do the works the Father reveals that they
are to do.
Many ministers do not desire to see people come forth who are
a mature reflection of Christ. The ministers want to direct the people, telling
them what works to do, and keeping them forever attending their teaching,
putting money in the coffers of their church, and keeping the programs the
minister oversees running smoothly. Such usurpers will see all who are coming to
maturity as a threat, and they will seek to rein them in, controlling their
lives. In doing so they repeat the grave error of the Jewish
leaders.
Matthew 21:33-43
"Listen to another parable. There was a
landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press
in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a
journey. And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the
vine-growers to receive his produce. And the vine-growers took his slaves and
beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of
slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward
he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.' But when the
vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come,
let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.' And they took him, and threw him
out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard
comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?" They said to Him, "He will bring
those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other
vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons...” “Therefore
I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a
nation producing the fruit of it.”
How have the ministers of the church
today NOT done the same things of which Christ accused the Jewish religious
leaders? The ministers of the church today have refused to bring forth a mature
crop to present to God the Father, the owner of the field. They have taken the
proceeds from the field and gathered it into their own barns, enriching
themselves. They have been evil in their labors, intentionally sowing weeds and
loosing pests among the standing grain. They have spread the disease of material
prosperity, carnal desires, and false doctrine as if it was fertilizer to enrich
the soil, but they have merely managed to choke out that which was growing. And
should they see any coming to maturity despite all of these disadvantages, they
will uproot them and cast them away, seeing them as a threat to their
dominion.
God will bring those wretches to a wretched end. He will then
place the field in the hands of faithful servants who will bring forth the
increase that He has long desired. This activity is at hand. We will soon see
this judgment and transfer occur.
Zechariah 11:4-5, 13:8-9
Thus says
Yahweh my God, "Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slay
them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be
Yahweh, for I have become rich!' And their own shepherds have no pity on
them...”
“It will come about in all the land," declares Yahweh, “That two
parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I
will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined,
and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer
them; I will say, ‘They are My people,' And they will say, ‘Yahweh is my
God.’”
In this hour the judgment of God will come to the shepherds of
God’s people. Many will be consumed, and God will raise up godly shepherds who
will pasture His flock in good grass and beside clean waters. No longer will
they be fed that which is sick and diseased, nor led beside polluted streams to
drink. The words of Ezekiel will be fulfilled:
Ezekiel 34:2-10
"Son of
man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those
shepherds, "Thus says Yahweh God, ‘Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been
feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and
clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the
flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not
healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought
back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you
have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became
food for every beast of the field and were scattered. My flock wandered through
all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the
surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for
them.’”
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: "As I live,"
declares Yaweh God, "surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has
even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My
shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves
and did not feed My flock; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:
‘Thus says Yahweh God, "Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My
sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will
not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so
that they will not be food for them."'"
God will call forth a remnant of
His people and place over them true shepherds, and faithful husbandmen, who will
do all His good pleasure. These will labor faithfully to see Christ formed in
every man. They will strive to bring forth an abundant increase for the glory of
God the Father. A vision will be upon the eyes of God’s servants. They will
perceive the seed of Christ growing in the soil of God’s field, and they will
labor to see it come to maturity until Christ is clearly visible in every
direction, and on every hand.
These shepherds and husbandmen will receive
wages according to their labor. The Father will reward them for bringing forth
that which is the desire of His heart, even many sons in the image of His
firstborn. These shepherds and husbandmen will not fatten themselves on the
field and flock of God. They will not pollute the land, nor foul the waters.
These will cleanse the way before them, removing stumblingblocks and stones from
the fields.
Jeremiah 23:2-4
Therefore thus says Yahweh God of Israel
concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: "You have scattered My flock
and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to
attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares Yahweh. "Then I Myself will
gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them
and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. I
will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will
not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing," declares
Yahweh.
People of God, listen to what the Spirit is speaking. Yahweh must
raise up true shepherds for His people at the end of this age in which we now
live. He will have a purified people, and a bride prepared for the return of His
Son. Though it be a remnant who are saved, and the people of God appear as a
much smaller flock than the hundreds of millions who now profess to be His
people, He will have a victorious, overcoming body of believers who will
manifest fully the life of His Son in them.
These ministers have been
walking with God, coming to understand His ways. They know what is necessary to
bring forth the image of Christ among His people. These will not drown the
growing grain with too much water, nor cause it to perish with too much drought.
They understand that even as Christ was perfected by the things He suffered, so
too must those be who would attain to His image. There is a need for the early
and latter rains, as well as for the hot dry weariness of summer.
Apart
from the working of the cross there can be no conformity to the image of Christ.
Most ministers today are enemies of the cross. Their god is their belly, and
they glory in their shame. They therefore lead others to do the same. They want
to consume and experience endless pleasure, but this has caused the image of
Christ to be absent among the people of God. True ministers with hearts after
God’s own will seek that which is the Father’s desire. They will not serve as
hirelings and men-pleasers. Their vision will be to bring forth that which will
satisfy the One who chose them to tend field and flock.
The one thing
that will satisfy God will be to have many sons in His image. The path must
involve suffering, but the end is glory.
Hebrews 2:10
For it was fitting for Him,
for whom are all things, and through whom are all things,
in bringing many sons to glory, to
perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.God will
only be satisfied when He observes among mankind many sons conformed to the
image of His firstborn.
Romans 8:29
For those whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would
be the firstborn among many brethren...Christ must be fully
formed in His people. This is God’s desire for you and for me. He will
accomplish His desire. Though it be at the end of the age that the church
finally brings forth sons after the image of Christ, she will bring them forth.
Like Sarah who gave birth to Isaac in her old age, the church must bring forth
sons. Like Rachel who gave birth to Jacob’s last two sons, Joseph and Benjamin,
even as her own life was fading, so too must the church bring forth sons to
share the birthright and to receive power at the end of this
age.
Although the earth and the people of God must endure great
tribulation such as has never been experienced before, this time will be as a
woman in her birth pangs. She will have sorrow in the process, but afterward she
will forget her pain for the joy that a man has been born into the
world.
It has ever been the plan of God for His Son to see His seed, His
offspring, fully bearing His image. The plan of God has not been thwarted, or
even hindered. There is an appointed time for all things.
Isaiah
53:10
Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief: when You
shall make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see his seed, He
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in His
hand.
It was for this purpose that Christ came and laid down His life. He
was promised that if He laid down His life He would see His seed, many sons in
His image.
John 12:24
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it
produces much fruit.
Christ laid down His life to bring forth Christ in
others. All those who have received His seed are to be growing up into His image
and likeness. We are his field. All things produce after their kind. It is the
will of the Father that Christ be fully formed in you.
Heart4God Website:
http://www.heart4god.wsParables Blog:
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.comMailing
Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 5546
Macon, GA 31208