The Master's Voice

John 10:4-5

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Today, I will be explaining about the topic through a story, a fictional or a real one, that's upto you to decide... Well for starters, its not my story, but its a story of every human being, its a story about a voice that is always calling us... So read the story and find out.... It is a story that I found on the net and am using it to explain myself to you...

***

Dad loved to fly fish, and it wasn't necessary for him to have a friend along. He thrived on the solitude, the quietness, the beauty, the "swish" of the line from his reel, seeing how close he could put his fly to "that dark shadow under the tree across the river -- they'll be hiding in the shade by that stump." They? The bluegill. The goggle-eyed perch. The smaller fish, but real fighters. You knew when one was on your line!

He had gone to Blackfork and was heading home . . . alone. The roads were made for four-wheel drive vehicles and would have been an exciting challenge, but four-wheelers weren't around when Dad was here, so he drove the old black Pontiac slowly, carefully, lingering, still enjoying his own private forest.

It was then that he spotted the deserted campsite. There was a cleared place where the tent had been staked, a deep hole that had been used for ice, and a burned-out campfire. And there was something else -- a little black-and-brown dog sitting forlornly and expectantly by the pile of rocks that had bordered the fire.

Dad got out and made friends with the dog, sizing up the situation pretty quickly. The dog had no doubt been exploring and wasn't around when time came to break camp and head home. (I can imagine how they had waited and hoped and whistled and called and finally left . . . without him.) It seemed like the dog knew that Dad was his last chance, so he hopped into the car and they headed for Poteau together.

We were "dogless" at the time (a rarity), so seeing the lost dog in Daddy's arms was a real thrill for us. He was a small terrier with wiry black hair and tan feet. His tail hadn't been bobbed and the tip was tan like his feet. With his ears up, he was not over a foot tall. He let us hold him and love him, sensing perhaps that this was going to be his new home. We tried every name that we could think of, but we just couldn't excite him. He answered best to a two-syllable name, so we finally called him Sonny.

Dad put an ad in the LeFlore County Sun: "Dog found at campsite on south end of Blackfork River. Call 410 to identify." When a call would come, he would always ask the caller to describe his or her dog, but Sonny never fit the bill. We were so glad, because he had won our hearts. His master had obviously spent time playing with him and training him; one of his favorite pastimes was knocking a pop bottle around with his nose and playing with it like a ball. Sonny had accepted us and we had accepted Sonny. He was part of the Hoyle family.

Then one day Dad called to say, "Honey, we've got a young man here who thinks the little dog is his. I'm sending him out to let him see Sonny."

I was at home by myself and didn't know quite how I could face someone coming and claiming Sonny, taking him away. I put him on the back porch and closed the kitchen door.

Our front door opened into a hallway. The first door on the right was to our guest bedroom, the immediate left to the living room. The living room and dining room were one large, long room, with a door at the end of the dining area that opened into the kitchen; the door to the back porch was in line with that door. The divan had been placed as a divider between the two areas. Sonny could go around the divan or crawl under it, but it was too high for him to go over.

A knock on the front door. I didn't want to go. I dreaded it, but knew I had to. The young man at the door stood on crutches -- you could tell they had been his lifelong companions. He introduced himself and I ushered him into the living room -- right at the front end by the piano. We talked a moment, then I suggested that he call the dog when I opened the door to the back porch so we could see what kind of response he would get. He agreed. When I opened the door, Sonny was playing with a pop bottle.

Suddenly there was a short, clear whistle and a call: "Patrick!"

Sonny froze and tilted his head to one side, the abandoned pop bottle rolling toward the wall. Then again, the whistle and that name, "Patrick!"

Patrick scratched at the linoleum floor with his little short legs, trying to get traction, and then he started running -- through the dining table legs, over the top of the divan and, with one wild leap, into the outstretched arms of his master, who was ready . . . balanced . . . watching anxiously with tears on his cheeks. He grabbed that little dog and held him so close and tight! Patrick knew his master's voice.

* * *

I hope I did justice to that story. It's one of my favorites. Why did I tell it? Because I want to talk about who we are and who God is. We are Patrick, and we have a Master who loves us more than we can possibly comprehend. Oh, Patrick was surviving with us, but his heart was still with the person who loved him, played with him, trained him, and drove 160 miles over a crooked, narrow road to claim him and identify him as his own.

Do you know who you are? Do you know that those arms are outstretched, that He is standing and waiting, with a tear-streaked face, for you to run and with "one, wild leap" jump into His arms? Do you know that you are totally and completely loved? Oh, you may be surviving in your present surroundings, entertaining yourself with your "toys," but are you separated from the One who loves you so much that He gave His life for you?

Knowing who you are brings a confidence into your life that cannot be taken away. Jesus got down on His knees, on the floor, and washed the feet of the disciples. How could He humble Himself to that degree? Well, John 13:3 tells us: "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God. . . ." Jesus knew two things:

1) who He was; and

2) that He was passionately loved by His Father.

You may label yourself an engineer, a librarian, a business mogul, a student, an accomplished vocalist, a devoted mother, a retired banker, an executive secretary, or a wife above reproach. Any of those things could be gone in the twinkling of an eye. Now, who are you? There is only one identity that is unshakable; one identity that is for eternity; one identity that will never fail you. That is your identity in Christ.

Patrick's story has limits, I know. It's a sweet little dog story, more for children than for mature adults. But are you sure you know what the story is saying? Perhaps you need to become "like a little child." And don't look at the obvious limits; look at the incredible possibilities. Patrick knew his master. Patrick knew who he was. That filled his heart with joy, his life with purpose.

Whatever you have in your hands, let it go. Then kind of tilt your head and listen. Did you hear that whistle? Sharp. Clear. And you recognize the voice, don't you? Okay. Start scrambling. Run. Faster. Go under and over the obstacles, no matter how tall they seem to be. Then jump! He's watching . . . He's able to catch you . . . and His arms will gather you close and hold you, and you'll be back where you belong.

The Self-centered Person's Attitude to God - 1

LEGALISM

The attitude of the self-centered life to God and to His service is characterized  by a spirit of legalism. Self can try to serve God. It can be very active in such services too - but it is always legalistic service. It seeks a reward for the service it offers to God. "I have served you all these years," the elder son tells the father, "but you never gave me a kid." He had served his father for reward all along, but it had not been evident until now. This moment of pressure brought out the truth.

That is how self serves God - not freely, joyfully and spontaneously, but hoping for a return. The return expected may even be some spiritual blessing from God. But service done with such a motive is legalistic and unacceptable to God.

The elder son considered his father hard and cruel for not having rewarded his service during all those years. He was like the man who was given one talent, who came up to his master at reckoning time and said, "I've kept your talent safe (without trading it for profit), because I was afraid (you would demand my profits) for you are a hard man to deal with"(Luke 19:21). Self considers God to be so difficult to please, and so strives to do God's service and still condemns itself for not having satisfied the requirements of such a "demanding" God!

That is not the type of service that God expects from any of us. The Bible says, "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). In the matter of service too God delights in one who serves cheerfully, neither grudgingly nor of necessity. He would rather have no service at all, than reluctant service. When one serves for reward, it is but a short while before he is complaining to God that he is not being blessed sufficiently. The matter becomes worse when someone else is more blessed than him.

Do we ever compare our work and blessing we receive with that of others? This can only be the result of legalistic service. Jesus once told a parable about some labourers who were employed at different hours of the day by a certain man. At the end of the day the master gave them each a denarius. Those who worked longest cam up to the master and complained saying, "How can you give us the same wages as these other people? We deserve more". These people had served for wages - and when they got what they had agreed for, they complained that others should not be given as much as they (Matt.20:1-16).

This is exactly what we see in the elder son. He says to his father, "How can you give all this to my younger brother. I am the one who has served you faithfully, not he".

When the Israelites served God grudgingly, He sent them into captivity as He had told them He would: "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart... therefore you will serve your enemies" (Deut.28:47). God has no pleasure in legalistic service.

Self-centered Christians often serve God in order to keep up an impression of spirituality in the eyes of others. It is not pure and fervent love for Christ that keeps them active in Christian work, but the fear that others will consider them unspiritual if they do nothing. And when these people choose an easy path for themselves and one that bring them financial gain, they try so hard to convince everybody that God has led them that way! Wherein is the need for such self-justification, unless there be the secret fear that others may now think less of their spirituality! What strain and bondage there is in serving God like that.

What joy and liberty there is in service that springs out of love fro Christ! Love is the oil that lubricates the machinery of our lives so that it doesn't creak or groan! Jacob labored for seven years in order to obtain Rachel. And the Bible says that those seven years "seemed to him just as a few days, because of his love for her" (Gen.29:20). So will it be with us, when our service for God springs out of love. There will be no strain and no drudgery.

The above lesson has been taken from the book "Beauty from Ashes" by Zac Poonen.

Please keep yourself updated for the next part of "The Self-centered Person's Attitude to God"

The Corruption of the Self-Life 2

Recognizing the evil within

God often allows times of pressure to come into our lives to bring up from within us our corrupt self-life, so that we begin to see ourselves as we really are. It is fairly easy for us to consider ourselves spiritual when our circumstances are easy. When we have no problems to tackle, when no body is irritating us, when things are going smoothly and our co-workers are congenial, we can deceive ourselves concerning the real state of our hearts. But wait till we get a co-worker who irritates us, or a neighbor who annoys us all the time, and the veneer of spirituality disappears. Our self-life will then manifest itself in all its ugliness.

This was what happened to the elder son. When his younger brother was honored, he got upset. No one would ever have thought that this elder son could have behaved so peevishly. He had appeared such a nice person all along. But he hadn't faced pressure like this before. Now, his real nature was manifested. It was not the provocation at that moment that made him evil, no, the provocation merely brought up to the surface what was within all the time.

Amy Carmichael has said, "A cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted". If bitter water comes out of our lives and our lips, it is because it has always been there. It is not the provocation or the irritation that makes us bitter or unspiritual. They only bring out of us what is already within. And so it should make us deeply thankful to God that He allows such times to come upon our lives when we see the corruption of our natures. If it were not for such occasions, we might never realize that there is a fountain of corruption within us, and that not one good thing dwells in our flesh.

This also teaches us that suppression is not victory. One person may explode in anger in a trying situation, while another, (with a little more self control), in a similar situation, may only boil inwardly, without any steam escaping through his lips! In mens's eyes, the second person may have a reputation for meekness. But God who sees the hearts knows that both men boiled within and considers both equally bad. The difference in their external conduct was merely a result of different temperaments, which matter nothing to God.

Suppression is not victory. God does not want us merely to appear delivered and spiritual - but to be actually delivered. Paul said, "It is no longer I, but Christ Who lives in me" (Gal.2:20). This is the point to which God wants to bring us.

In the next article, let us look at the characteristics of the self-life in two aspects.

1. Its attitude to God, and

2. Its attitude to its fellowmen

We see both of these illustrated in the story of the elder son.

The above lesson has been taken from the book "Beauty from Ashes" by Zac Poonen.

The Corruption of the Self Life - 1

We can never enjoy deliverance from our self-life before we see something of its total corruption. We all are familiar with the famous parable of the Prodigal Son. We have always learnt what not to do in life to become a prodigal son/ daughter. But we sometimes forget that if our Lord had ever said a parable, He includes a particular person for some purpose and He is teaching us some important lessons through that person. So now let us look at the elder son (in Luke 15), for he illustrates, perhaps better than anyone else in the Bible, the utter rottenness of the self-life.

The younger son in the parable is usually considered the worse of the two boys. But as we look more carefully at the elder brother, we will discover that in God's eyes, he was just as bad, if not worse. True, he did not the same sins as his younger brother. But his heart was crooked and self-centered.

Man's total depravity

The human heart is basically the same in every individual. When the Bible describes the human heart as deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9), it refers to every child of Adam. The refinements of civilization, lack of opportunity to commit sin and a sheltered upbringing may perhaps have kept us from falling into the grosser sins that some others have fallen into. But we cannot, on that count, consider ourselves better than they. For if we had had the same pressures they faced, we would have undoubtedly ended up committing the same sins. This may be a humiliating fact for us to acknowledge, but it is true. The sooner we recognize this fact, the sooner we shall experience deliverance. Paul recognized that no good thing dwelt in his flesh (Rom.7:18). This was his first step to freedom (Rom. 8:2).

We human beings look at the outer appearance of man and call some good and others bad. But God knows all our hearts, He looks at the heart and sees all men in the same condition. The Bible teaches the total depravity of all men. Consider Romans 3:10-12, for example: "There is none righteous, (and just in case we think its an overstatement, it continues to say), no, not one. There is none that understand, there is no one who seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable. There is no-one who does good, no, not one." Romans 3:10-20 is a summing up of the guilt of all humanity - of the irreligious as well as the religious. 

In Romans 1:18-32 we have a description of "the younger son"- the externally immoral and godless man. In Romans 2, we have a portrayal of "the elder son"- the religious man who is just as bad a sinner. After having described these people, the Holy Spirit sums up by saying that both groups are alike guilty. There is no difference between one and another.

Man is indeed totally depraved; and if God does not reach down and do something for him, there is certainly no hope for him.

Self-centeredness

The elder son (Luke 15:25-32) can be taken to symbolize a Christian worker. If the father in the story is a type of God, it would be only fair to consider the son as a type of an active Christian- for we see him in the parable coming home after a day's work in his father's fields. He was no lazy young man, sitting at home and enjoying his father's wealth. He was a person who worked hard for his father, one who apparently loved his father more than his younger brother did- for after all, he did not leave home and waste his father's wealth, like the latter. He was apparently more devoted, but actually, was just as selfish as his younger brother. It is a picture of a believer active in the Lord's work and apparently full of devotion to his Lord but still centered in himself.

God created this world with certain laws built into it. If those laws are violated, there will be some form of loss or injury. In the same way, Adam was created to be centered in God. The day he refused God as his Center and chose to be centered in himself, he died, as God had said he would.

There is a lesson here for us:

In the measure in which our Christian life and service are centered in ourselves, in that measure we shall experience spiritual death- in spite of our being born again and in spite of our fundamentalism. And all unconsciously, we shall be ministering spiritual death to others too. We may have a reputation as keen and zealous workers for the Father (as the elder son perhaps had), but we may still merit the rebuke of the Lord, "I know your reputation as a live and active (Christian), but you are dead" (Rev.3:1). This is a tragic but dangerous possibility in Christian work. Many a Christian worker lives on the reputation he has built up for himself. Looked up to by others, he is often unconscious of the fact, that God sees him in an altogether different light. Never having been delivered from self-centeredness himself, he is unable to deliver others- even if he preaches beautifully!

The above lesson has been taken from the book "Beauty from Ashes" by Zac Poonen.

(Next session: Recognizing the evil within. Please keep yourself updated about the posts being written here)