now as you know the title of the message is lines to Lambs in the kingdom of God and I finished yesterday with some questions why does the Bible talk about God's people being sheep are sheep sheep are seen as stupid is the kingdom about stupid followers of God do we leave our brains at the door to come into the kingdom nature magazine is a prestigious publication this is topshelf science back in 20 2001 they reported on Research that showed that sheep could remember faces that they are not stupi
d after all now what was this experiment they had photographs of sheep on doors now behind one door was food and behind the other door there wasn't food they were trying to find out whether the Sheep would recognize or would learn which ST which picture led to food and which didn't from this experiment they discovered that sheep could actually work it out and would remember which St to go through and they can remember up to 50 faces even in profile when most humans would struggle to tell them ap
art and they can remember a familiar human face and what did the scientists conclude from all this research the scientists said that this was a sure sign of intelligence sheep have sophisticated memory that sheep have similar abilities in many ways to humans sheep thinking like humans think about that concept now Cambridge University also conducted more research on sheep intelligence in 2010 and they discovered that sheep can map their surroundings and may even be able to plan ahead now what was
the experiments that they conducted to find this out one of the things they did they gave the Sheep food in different colored buckets and they discovered that sheep were able to identify patterns in colors but then they did something else they used different shaped buckets and sheep were once again able to figure it out which buckets which shape of bucket had the food so what is the conclusion from all this sheep are anything but stupid they can pass high level psychological tests that even mon
keys struggle with let me come to Australia the Australian CSI o organization Dr Lee a research scientist at the CSO says that sheep are smarter than people think there is a myth that sheep are stupid they have high level learning abilities now how does she know what does she do let me show you the Sheep experiment they did a small group of sheep were pinned at one end of the maze a single sheep was released at the other end sheep have a natural flocking instinct whereby an isolated sheep will a
ttempt to join its flock despite seeing the flock this sheep cannot directly reach them if sheep were truly silly this particular sheep would would attempt to reach the other Sheep by mindlessly pushing up against the gate Instead This sheep figures its way through the maze within 3 days each sheep improved its speed through the maze decreasing in time from an average of 2 minutes to 30 seconds that's significant too the fact that they got better as it went along in other words they were learnin
g and remembering how to get through the Maze and they found after a whole year they could put them back in the Maze and they could still remember how to go through it but let's talk about Cambridge University again because 2017 Cambridge University here in England did some more experiments on sheep let me show you this experiment 2017 Cambridge University reported on more research involving sheep face recognition in this case they use photos of human faces the Sheep were able to correctly ident
ify the faces 80% of the time the study's lead researcher concluded that sheep are capable of sophisticated decision making one of the scientists running the experiments said that sheep are intelligent so hopefully I have dispelled the myth that sheep are stupid but why do you think they have this bad image why do you think the world sees sheep like this why is it such an insult to call someone a sheep why do sheep have this bad image who is respected in this world people with high intelligence
not always sometimes Scholars with high intelligence are not respected people who can manipulate their way to the top are often considered to be skillful the sharp StreetWise ones often get ahead temperament and intelligence have different attributes sheep are docile and gentle but this does not mean they are lacking in intelligence it is possible to confuse temperament with intelligence the same principle applies to human beings a gentle person does not necessarily possess low intelligence who
rules this world first John 5 provides the answer the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one Satan the devil thankfully The Book of Revelation reveals there is a future time when Christ will return and cast out Satan who deceives the whole [Music] world is this world run by Satan going to think highly of sheep which the Bible uses as an analogy for God's people a lamb which represents Christ does mankind think like God first Corinthians states that God's thoughts are foolish to man Th
e Natural Man without God's spirit considers God's ways as foolish what does Satan regard as clever what is Satan's influence regarding intelligence in this world how does the bible describe Satan the devil in Genesis Satan was introduced as a cunning servant the New Testament also refers to Satan's craftiness Satan portrays a gentle loving nature as weak and silly his goal is for humans to perceive and attain Success Through cunning manipulative means in the future Kingdom of Heaven all this wo
rld's cunning and manipulative Behavior will be changed into sheep [Music] Behavior so my thoughts are sheep behavior is called stupid to the world that is in Satan's wavelength that's why it is because Satan is a cunning crafty being and sheep are innocent and gentle creatures so if God calls his people sheep could there be aspects of sheep behavior that in fact describe how we should behave could sheep Behavior be Godly Behavior if sheep Behavior replaces lime behavior in the Kingdom could she
ep indicate how the Millennium and the kingdom of God will operate so what are some of the distinguishing features of sheep is there something we can learn from sheep one of the things about sheep is they live in flocks they are English breeds by the way because of this flocking Instinct it is one of the reasons why people often think they are brainless because they see the Sheep as just all flocking together so if you humans see sheep as stupid because they flock together what do humans do huma
ns flock together in cities what's so different humans follow fashion trends yet we think sheep are stupid because they live in flocks what does God say about flocking behavior in John 1722 Jesus says that he and the father are one he prays for his followers that they may also be one one of the characteristics of God is Oneness the father and Christ are as one in complete Unity Unity is a distinguishing feature of God and here Christ is plain his desire is for he's called out ones also to be one
flocking behavior of sheep is actually what God desires of us the fact that he had to pray for this tells us that Unity is not natural it is not natural to be of one flock otherwise why pray for it in fact Unity is a sign it says that they may be perfect in one that the world may know in John 1723 flocking Behavior Unity is a sign of Christians so if the world labels us as sheep because we are living together in a harmonious flock we must be setting the right example it also tells us that Unity
is not common in this world a group that really is genuinely unified stands out in a world of disunity I put it to you Unity will be one of the distinguishing features of the kingdom of God now Paul links Unity to another aspect of sheep Behavior Paul talks about in Ephesians 4 loneliness and gentleness surely that would be a description of sheep gentle they are gentle animals but how does it come about in humans it comes about through long suffering bearing with one another in love once again
it is not natural we have to bear and that word bear in Greek means to be patient to endure a difficulty in other words we are not naturally unified we aren't naturally gentle we have to bear with one another we have to endure with one another so it is staying together as a flock when it is hard to do so we humans have to work on it it's not a natural instinct but how can we be sure there will be unity in the kingdom of God what makes the kingdom different notice what Paul says in Ephesians 4:3
Unity of the spirit the source of true Unity is God's spirit if we go back to John 17:23 it starts off saying I in them you in me it is God in us through the holy spirit that brings about Unity you see for sheep Unity is a natural instinct Ive Behavior that's the way they are designed it is in their DNA that's the way they are made see God wants Unity to be natural for us through the intelligent use of his holy spirit God wants us to act as a flock through utilizing his holy spirit no wonder how
our world led by Satan wants to discredit sheep behav like John back in Ephesians Paul talks about Oneness acting as one flock now in Ephesians 4 4-6 he talks about one body one Spirit one hope one Lord one baptism one God this Oneness this Unity One throughout then it says father of all in you all once again that reference to God living in us through the indwelling of the holy spirit this Unity comes from utilizing the holy spirit so then I'll ask a question will there be conformity in the kin
gdom of God is Unity the same as Conformity if we were in Nazi Germany would we be conforming or unified there is a difference if you look at this world's governments it's all about Conformity Conformity involves evolves Force it's not a voluntary thing everyone does it because they have to they just keep their heads down and conform many people conform to fashion trends but is that Unity Unity however is where you decide voluntarily to agree to a common goal common purpose there is a difference
can there be diversity in unity will there be diversity in the kingdom of God or will we be all the same we'll probably all have different tastes in food in music we all have different skills but we can all come together to use those skills and utilize those skills for a common cause for a common good allow me to introduce some of our sheep Goldie when Goldy was only a few days old we found her snuggled with her mother who had unexpected ly died we took her home and introduced her to drinking m
ilk out of a bottle she immediately accepted the bottle usually Lambs take a few days to adjust to drinking milk from a bottle Goldie is very easygoing Goldie is not easily upset Goldie loves climbing and playing King of the castle this is grownup Goldie making friends with Juke the ram here are I introducing little HTI heti could not be more different to Goldie HTI is sensitive and nervous she requires careful handling this is heti as an adult her ears often twitch always alert thirdly Nana is
a real sweetie she is very vocal she makes direct eye contact and likes to ask for food here is Nan as a mother with Lambs these sheep live within one harmonious flock yet each sheep possesses her own individual unique personality one does not lose one's individuality by belonging to a United flock so I put it to you in the Kingdom we are not going to be cardboard cutouts we are not going to dress the same and look the same the part of the universe that we are looking after might be totally diff
erent to some other part we won't be robots in Ephesians 4:16 it talks about this one body that has all these different joints and parts that all come together to make the body work see our individuality will be harnessed for the good of one body and one flock so we don't leave our brains at the door when we get into the kingdom we are going to need our brains but we are going to use our brains for common goal gos and common purposes for the common good of all here is another question for you wi
ll there be one large group of bonss of spirit beings in the Kingdom or will we have smaller more intimate groups within that big group what do you think I think we'll all be together because we are all individuals and we have different talents and so forth there might be subgroups within that perhaps the Bible doesn't say I'm just seeing seeing what you think so either answer can be right well think about what sheep are like sheep also form special friendships within their flocks this results i
n flocks within flocks these two little lambs are an example the black and white Lamb's mother had difficulty feeding her the ginger lamb was an orphan they were separated from the flock while we attended to their needs the two Lambs became friends once a new mother had adopted Ginger R released the pair back into the flock later the black and white lamb and her mother were ready to return to the flock these two Lambs had developed a close relationship which persisted after their return to the [
Music] flock [Music] I love that video the little girl has to bite him on the tail to get his attention it's a typical boy so remember at the start I referred to Lions becoming sheep like in their nature like sheep Lions also live in a flock it's called a pride in the case of lions notice how a lion pride Works compared to a flock of sheep a lion Pride's gentle for example is that a word we would use to describe Lions notice what happens when female Cubs get to a certain age some of them are for
ced out the word forced there forced to wander around as nomads they are forced out to live on their own they can no longer be part of the pride no longer part of the flock but what about the male Cubs once again male Cubs are expelled at about 3 years of age and what do they do when they wander around they try and take over take over another pride and they do that by force is Warfare out there right it's constant Warfare and if they they succeed in taking over another Lion's Pride look what hap
pens they go and kill all the young babies that the previous lion had fathered ethnic cleansing if you like hardly gentle and one of the things that kills lions is other lines one of the three things that kills lines is other lines killing them I put it to you that lion behavior is so much like this world's human behavior tribe against tribe and Nation against Nation Union versus boss company against company political maneuvering to gain Advantage lions kill their competitors humans put others d
own to gain personal position constant fighting one another dog eat dog constant competition for position is what this world is about and that's what a lion is about competition between male lions is fierce all these changes in this analogy in Aire 11 all these changes from all this competition and doggy dog and so forth all this violence changes to Gentle sheep Behavior there is a transition in nature the Nations will no longer fight each other like lions do so what's it like living in a sheep
flock one of the things about a sheep flock is that they have a irachi they have a structure and the scientists found with these experiments that the Sheep would form oddly coups to get their food little Tilly and ginger remain friend sheep have order in their ranks their flocks are not halfhazard they have structure a well-known scripture in 1 Corinthians 14:33 God is not the author of confusion but of Peace just like a sheep flock let's look at the idea that sheep are easily LED we saw that in
the dictionaries that sheep are easily LED they just follow anything is that true notice this photograph taken at the Jerusalem Gates it's a very old photograph taken before 1900 but notice the Sheep there there's a Shepherd leading them there is no fence around them there is no dog there are other people in the background but the Sheep are focused on their Shepherd and they're following their Shepherd even though if they wanted to they could run off there now we know Christ just as the Sheep s
heep know their Shepherd but I'm putting it to you sheep don't follow anybody they follow the Shepherd that they know John 10:14 I am the Good Shepherd I know my sheep and my sheep know me so the dictionaries are wrong it's not that they're easily LED it's the exact opposite they're led by someone they know the Greek word know means to have a personal relationship it's not just knowing someone superficially it means having a relationship Christ has a relationship with his flock Just Like a Sheph
erd has a relationship with his sheep and those sheep know their Shepherd they follow a Shepherd that they know and trust the Shepherd that they have a relationship with in the kingdom of God all the sheep will know the true Shepherd but how can they be sure who the true Shepherd is sheep can recognize different voices sheep only follow a familiar voice not a stranger's voice here I am in a fog calling our sheep the Sheep cannot see me nor can I see them the Sheep respond only to my voice come o
n come on come on come on come on come on come on come on come [Laughter] [Music] on come [Music] on this pet sheep responds to her name Hy Hy except for their Shepherd whom they know sheep are not easily led the voice of God the Bible is the true voice to follow so our following of our calling is not blind following we're not we're not stupid people who are just blindly following a minister for example we've got the Bible we know know the voice of God we check things out it involves intelligenc
e and of course the Holy Spirit we've got a voice to follow it's not blind following as the publicity would suggest sheep know the true voice from a stranger and the voice of God the Bible is the true voice our following is willingness based on knowledge and trust it is not blind following anybody sheep also follow each other one sheep begins to run soon all the Sheep follow are sheep stupid when they follow a running sheep so what sheep have worked out is that 50 pairs of eyes are better than o
ne so if one sheep sees danger it runs the other sheep see this and they also run they also do the same coming for food this way they all help one another they warn each other of danger and they trust each other to do this they work together in Romans 15:14 it talks about filled with goodness filled with knowledge able to admonish one another and that word admonish means a warning based on instruction so it's a warning given to People based on instruction sheep warn each other of danger so shoul
d we warning of danger is sheep like Behavior but how do sheep follow their Shepherd and other sheep sheep fan out over fields when they graze but when they move to another field or water what do they do they follow one another in single fall along tracks or pars sheep pars are relatively straight they are not not in circles sheep PS wind around obstacles their tracks are safe and reliable leading to specific places I can remember as a teenager riding my push bike on our farm seat tracks as long
as you stayed on the shave tracks you could go flat out on the bike you'd be right the moment you got off the track you could hit a log or a rock you never knew stick to the tracks and it was fine in the context of returning Christ notice what Luke says here quoting Isaiah 40 Luke says he talking about John the Baptist went into the region of Jordan preaching about baptism and he then quoted the book of Isaiah crying in the wilderness prepare for the Lord make his paths straight now not only is
John here proclaiming the first coming of Christ but it is obvious when he goes on this is past this is the second coming because he then says every Valley shall be filled Every Mountain and Hill shall be brought low the Crooked places shall be made straight just like those sheep PS and the rough smooth all will be saved see this is talking about Gathering the scattered flock from the Wilderness of the world from the destruction of the tribulation sheep tracks are straight and reliable so too i
s the track that leads to the kingdom God's path are straight and they lead from the Wilderness of this world into the kingdom we are all following the same road map the Bible we are heading on the same track we are all heading on the same destination the kingdom of God but what's going to greet the Sheep as their paths reach the of the Kingdom what's going to greet let me tell you about some more Cambridge research and in this research once again there were two doors and once again there were f
aces on the doors they had faces of sheep and they had faces of humans one of the faces there looks a bit upset and the other one looks happy and they also had contented sheep faces and stress sheep faces on the doors but this time there was the same food behind those doors there was no difference question for you was there no difference in which face the Sheep preferred did they go for one over the other was there no difference what do you think their answer is the Sheep preferred The Smiling r
elaxed human face or the happy animal face over the stressed animal face what does Jesus call himself he said I am the door of the sheep in John 10:7 what do you think is going to be on the door to the kingdom in an analogy sense what sort of face is God going to have what will God's face be like I'm going to put it to you God would reflect his Spirit he would reflect his loving spirit and what is his Spirit Galatians 5:22 a well-known scripture it talks about love joy peace kindness goodness ge
ntleness I put it to you that the joyful smiling face of God not the angry vengeful face of Satan will greet at the door in the Millennium Jesus joyful loving kind smiling face will provide confidence for the flock to take the right door and where does that door lead that door leads to pasture good pasture pasture that is so nutritious it will produce eternal life in the kingdom of God let us go back to Ezekiel 34 it says I'm going to make a covenant of Peace the wild beasts will cease from the
land they won't be around anymore and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods it's a description of absolute peace no stress and in verse 28 of Ezekiel 34 it says they shall no longer be prey for the Nations God's people will be safe the lion like Behavior the Predator like behavior of the Nations will be changed the Predators will lie down with their prey and everyone will be safe there will be no more Warfare the feast pictures the Millennium when Jesus returns to rescu
e the Sheep the Sheep will dwell safely in peace in the Millennium they will no longer be prey for this world Satan L Nations no longer prey no lion no wolves to attack Satan who influences human nature that drives these nations will be removed the Gentile Nations that plundered Israel will be at peace no longer devouring like wild animals we are called to behave like sheep like a sheep flock in the Kingdom I put it to you that we will be like sheep working as one Unified family one flock no lon
ger in a world of lions constantly fighting jocking for position being a sheep however is not a passive stupid animal that just blindly follows along just blindly follows being a sheep involves intelligence and discernment and knowing the word of God and that will equip us to know the truth Shepherd so let us look forward to the time when we will be sheep married to the Lamb of God when Christ the shepherd leads us along a straight path and ultimately all repentant mankind ultimately to good [Mu
sic] pasture [Music] come on little [Music] donkey [Music]
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