As we are getting/hearing messages, each day, it is very refreshing, it gives us hope and builds up our faith in Lord Jesus. This faith should be a reality in our Christian lives. The way we are growing in Christ and contributing to the body of Christ, in terms of this – ‘ In my younger days of school, all the girls used to sit around the table, open their tiffin box and used to share and each one is contributing and each one of them is taking from each other tiffin and each one is having a complete meal. There is a caring and sharing here.’ Dear brothers and sisters, it should be like this in our Church. I bring my spiritual food before you and after this, all my brothers and sisters will be sharing and they will be contributing and I believe, this will be a blessing to others and in the end, our Elder brother will make it complete. In this way, dear brothers and sisters we grow in the Word, each one contributing, as far as possible. This was in my heart, that everyone should contribute, not just sit back, taking blessings but we need to contribute to the body of Christ. Because, we each one has a need, to be blessed by the Holy Spirit and blessed by the Word. Dear brothers and sisters, each one will be contributing, coming with the food, they are sharing the word and the brothers and sisters are blessed by that and that makes a complete Word. We have a complete message in the end. It is like a surgeon, doing an operation on the patient and he opens up the patient and do the repairs, whatever is required and after that, he is closing and this is how the Word is working out. There is a rebuke, there are strong Words, there is a consolation, and there is a stitching up . We need to make our hearts ready, to receive the Word. This was the burden in my heart for quite some time that we need to allow the Word to germinate in us so that the real fruit can come. I thank God for the blessings, each day we are getting and the messages that are shared.
We see God is a good Shepherd and we are His sheep. John 10:27,28 ‘27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.’ Dear brothers and sisters, it says here, ‘My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me.’ Are we able to hear that voice? Whatever the Word is, maybe it is a word of consolation or a word of rebuke. God doesn’t give always consolation. He is rebuking us. Are we hearing the rebukes also?. If we are having a quiet time, with the Lord, dear brothers and sisters, we can experience His love. The love which God has, shepherding us, every day in our life. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; Dear brothers and sisters, God is knowing you because He is speaking to you, today also, to each one of us. Do we have a heart to hear Him? God says, ‘they follow Me’. An obedient heart. Sheep is an obedient animal. Only if we obey what God is saying to you, whether it is a word of consolation or a rebuke, if you obey it, we will be able to follow Jesus Christ in His footsteps and in His life. Bible says, ‘the life which we are living right now is in the faith of our Living God, His son Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up’ dear brothers and sisters. ‘and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.’ This is the life which God is imparting. This is the life which God wants to give it to you, if you are obedient to the Word. If you hear His Word today, a Word of obedience, don’t harden your hearts. Every day when we cry out to Him, God will hear our cry. Thank God for the Word.
We see in verse 26, 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. Dear brothers and sisters, we see, ‘22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. 24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.’ If you are not believing, it says here, ‘you are not my sheep’. There will be no guidance from God. God wants you to repent, have a hearing ear and respond to it. We see, sheep is closely following the Shepherd. it is looking at their shepherd, wherever He goes, He is leading them and it is out of sheer love, dear brothers and sisters, the sheep is following the Shepherd. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. God is entering, it says, God is a Shepherd. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus is our Shepherd. The sheep, those who belong to Him, hear Him because they have a repentant heart, they hear Him. He calls His own sheep by the name and this where, dear brothers and sisters, He is calling us also. By the name,’ He is calling each one of us and He leads them out. ‘ – If we meditate on these words, God is leading us day by day and we see that the sheep are protected by the boundary. This is how God is protecting us, as a Church, in a fold, keeping us. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.’ He comes himself, inside and drives them outside’. Dear brothers and sisters, He is leading us into the fold. He is giving us His instruction and righteous Word, every day. He is right in front of us. There is guidance every day. His sheep follow Him, and they know His voice. If we don’t know His voice, we won’t be able to follow Him. We know very well now, from our experience that when we hear His voice, it is up to us to hear it, respond to it or reject it. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Sheep will not follow strangers because they do not know the voice of strangers. 7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.’ The entrance is through Jesus Christ, dear brothers and sisters. We need to humble ourselves to accept to it when He talks to us, in a very gentle and soft voice.‘, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.’ This is the divine leading of God. We are coming into His presence and we are going out in the world and finding the pastures. 11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Sheep very well know, ‘I have a divine protection with my Father, with my God, with my Shepherd because He is ready to give His life for me’. This is where, we need to have faith in the leading of Jesus Christ, who laid His life for us, so that we can be saved and we can be in His fold. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; We see here, that there is a two-way communication is going on. It says, ‘I know my own’. God is knowing you, my dear brothers and sisters. If you hear His voice today also, if you respond to the Word, and the word which is shared today is, “Because, you are not believing in me, you are not able to follow.” Dear brothers and sisters, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will find out the pastures.
Psalms 23, if we make this verse personally to us, we can see that God is talking to us in a very special way.
The Lord is my shepherd,I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. Dear brothers and sisters, if you hear His voice, this is what God is going to do to us. Says here, ‘I shall not want’. There will be desires in our heart and there will be needs in our heart, but He is going to take care of your needs. He is giving us green pastures. He is going to lead you in quiet waters. Over the period of time, when you hear, His leading will be there. There is a provision, dear brothers and sisters. This is only for His sheep, His divine provision. There is a green pasture where I can lie down and drink from there, day and night. ‘He leads me beside quiet waters. ‘
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. There is a restoration. He restores us every day. He is nourishing our soul.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. We see, there is a divine protection, dear brothers and sisters. The sheep very well know that, ‘I have a shepherd, who is going to protect me, from wolves, lion and the leopards’. Dear brothers and sisters, if you hear His voice daily and if you obey His Word, there is a protection for you also, from Satan. He will protect you, till the end. Even though, you go through the difficult conditions, in your life, whatever the situation is, you know yours, I know my situations, I am going through, where the fear is gripping me, slowly, slowly, we can see that, we are walking through the valley. We see here, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.’ There is a protection. His rod and His staff, they comfort us. Jesus is tending us every day like sheep. This is the comfort which we are getting from Him, every day in our life. Thank you, Jesus, for this.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You have anointed my head with oil;My cup overflows. We see, there is a presence of God, every time you look into Jesus. When you are led by God, when He is the Shepherd in your heart and there is an overflowing experience, a spirit filled life, dear brothers and sisters. Oil is life here. There will be a 24/7 divine presence of God. We are anointed with oil on my head and my cup overflows. Hebrews 1 we see, ‘we are anointed by oil of gladness. Every time when we respond to Him, when we humble ourselves, dear brothers and sisters, we are led day by day. He is knowing us every day. He is leading us to eternal life. He is giving us His life, every day in our life. Thank God for this.
6 Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is one of the promises we see here. There will be a dwelling place, where I will be able to dwell, with my Lord. There will be goodness and loving kindness. It is coming from us. There will be goodness and love in us, dear brothers and sisters. Are we able to follow this Lord? With an obedient heart with love? Not just following Him, but with sheer love, as sheep follows the Shepherd every day, wherever He is leading and tending us every day.
Matthew 17:5, ‘5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”’ On the mount of transfiguration, Jesus was transfigured and Peter, John and James were there and we see, Peter saying, 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. The disciples saw Jesus. Every day of our lives, are we able to see this? God himself is saying here that, ‘listen to Him’. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the Word, today also. Are we able to listen to Him?
Matthew 25:1 – 12, ‘“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.’ We see God is saying to the foolish virgins, ‘I do not know you’. Ten virgins, they are pure from outside. They kept themselves pure. But we see 5 of them were prudent. They had something in their vessels. They had an eagerness in their heart. There was love, in their heart, dear brothers and sisters. And that love is poured out by the Holy Spirit into their hearts. They were eagerly waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ. And when finally, He came, they had enough oil. There was oil in their lamps still. We see the foolish ones, they have purity outside but in their heart, there is no love. There should be a genuine love in us, so we can follow Him. When He calls us, we will be able to respond, dear brothers and sisters, we need to respond. We see in the above verse, ‘and the door was shut’, ‘I do not know you’. Every day, we need to be on alert, we do not know, which hour He is coming.
Regarding the talents, we see, 14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
Talents were given according to their abilities, dear brothers and sisters. We can see they traded and both of them got same number of talents. God has given us talents, dear brothers and sisters. In the end we see, He is waiting for us to see how much we are contributing and it says here that, one who received five talents contributed five, one with two talents, contributed two. It is the same number. But the one who got one talent, all to his ability, he did not work onto it. 29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. This is a very pathetic condition, dear brothers and sisters.
Coming to the judgement of the nation, it says that, 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. It is very clear that there will be a separation, dear brothers and sisters. We see in Hebrews 9:27, 28, ‘27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,’ 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. Dear brothers and sisters, we are going to be judged, according to what we have done. At the end, we should not shrink back, in fear, we need to be bold enough in the presence of God. We see, He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Father is blessing them, to inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Dear brothers and sisters, do you want to be in this, where you are considered to be righteous by God.
35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ – In the body of Christ also, we have a responsibility to take care of others who are in need, where we join together and we share the food together and we have a complete meal. Brothers and sisters, who have come here with a heavy heart, we need to care for them. We see in Mark 9:41, ‘ 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.’ As a body of Christ in Doha, are we able to respond to the needs, dear brothers and sisters? Thank God for this body of Christ, which is nourishing me with food, which is the Word, every day the encouragements I get by my brothers and sisters, I praise God for all of them. 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.
Revelation 14:1 -5, ‘Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.’
There is a remnant dear brothers and sisters. These are the ones who have not defiled themselves. We see Jesus Christ is being picturized with a lamb and they are following Him. There is no lie. They were blameless. If you are going to hear His voice, He will lead you. There will be a divine provision for you, a divine protection for you, He will lead you till the end of your life and there is a promise that there will be goodness and righteousness all your lives and you will be able to dwell in the house of the Lord. Forever.
Thank God for His Word.
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [e]take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
