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I Have Set Thee A Watchman
By John Thiel
Audio:I Have Set Thee a Watchman JWT.mp3
Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.95:7 For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture,and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, [and] as [in]the day of temptation in the wilderness:
These are a strange combination of words. It is God that made us, not weourselves. Bow down and kneel for he is our God. Do you like that? Do youlike this humbling principle portrayed here? Is it not like the thought that they are sheep? Dumb sheep? Followers?There are some people would rather be a goat. They are far more intelligent.Goats have character a frisky fun loving character. They are very self reliantand people like that thought. God knows the dependant condition of hiscreated beings and especially sinful as they are.Therefore today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Consider you area sheep and that we are as sheep of his pasture. Don’t harden your heart. Why 
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SABBATH SERMONS AUSTRALIA
Read online - http://sabbathsermons.com Word Format - http://scribd.com/sabbathsermonsAudio – http://harvestgleaner.com/audio/ 
Australasia is a divinely appointed center, from which the light of present truth is to radiate to many lands.{AU Gleaner, June 17, 1903 par. 8}
 
does he say that? The very reason that humanity does not like to be sheepthat’s why. Do you like the idea of being a sheep? A sheep can’t think properly for itself. It’s so demoralising to the human spirit. Harden not your heart as you hear God speaking that we are sheep.
Let all study the character which God accepts, as represented in thetwenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. If this representation does noteducate men and women, what can do the work which must bedone for the soul? Mark the division made between thoserepresented by the sheep and the goats, and mark the words whichdecide forever the destiny of the two classes. Listen, you who haveears to hear and intellect to comprehend. Listen to the words of theMaster: [Matt. 25:31-40, quoted].--Manuscript 131, 1899.Matthew 25 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and allthe holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of hisglory:25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shallseparate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his]sheep from the goats:25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats onthe left.25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for youfrom the foundation of the world:
 Who are they? The sheep.
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for thedevil and his angels:
 We don’t want to be a goat do we? The sheep are a representation of thecharacter that God accepts. A character of someone who knows his vulnerability and places himself under the direct leadership of the shepherd.That is a sheep. A goat has a mind of its own. I know goats very well. As a youth I looked after a herd. I even slew them. One thing I learnt was that thosegoats were so self willed. They were extremely hard to bring into submission.It is a humbling aspect. We cannot look after ourselves, we need a shepherdover us. That is humiliating. This shepherd is the man Christ Jesus.
 Jesus the Shepherd
The relation of Christ to His people is compared to a shepherd. Hesaw, after the Fall, His sheep in a pitiable condition exposed to suredestruction. He left the honours and glory of His Father's house to become a shepherd, to save the wandering sheep who were ready to perish. His winning voice was heard calling them to His fold, a
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SABBATH SERMONS AUSTRALIA
Read online - http://sabbathsermons.com Word Format - http://scribd.com/sabbathsermonsAudio – http://harvestgleaner.com/audio/ 
Australasia is a divinely appointed center, from which the light of present truth is to radiate to many lands.{AU Gleaner, June 17, 1903 par. 8}
 
safe and sure retreat from the hand of robbers; also a shelter fromthe scorching heat, and a protection from the chilling blasts. Hiscare was continually exercised for the good of His sheep. Hestrengthened the weak, nourished the suffering, and gathered thelambs of the flock in His arms, and carried them in His bosom. Hissheep love Him. He goeth before His sheep, and they hear His voiceand follow Him. And a stranger will they not follow, but will fleefrom him: for they know not the voice of strangers. Christ says, Iam the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for thesheep. . . . {LHU 196.4}
In the mountains you see wild goats. They can look after themselves very well but sheep need supplies given to them.
Christ is the chief shepherd. He has intrusted the care of His flock to under shepherds. He requires these shepherds to have the sameinterest for His sheep which He has ever manifested, and to everfeel the responsibility of the charge He has intrusted to them. . . . If they imitate His self-denying example, the flock will prosper undertheir care. . . . They will be constantly labouring for the welfare of the flock (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 122-124).
Open your hearts wide to this detailed manifestation of the caring shepherd who is over us. He is somebody who is personally wrapped up in our interestsand is leading and nurturing us and gathering the flock in his arms. Thisendearing representation is very comforting. To the human nature the naturalman receives not the things of the kingdom of heaven. The natural man is agoat. Consider the atoning experience of Jesus Christ. He needs to be my shepherd because look at what he suffered with me. To this shepherd peopleget a soft response when they look at Jesus.
The Elders among You
 Another focus that is hard to accept continues to unfold in the representationsof Jesus;
1 Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am alsoan elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also apartaker of the glory that shall be revealed:5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight[thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, butof a ready mind;5:3 Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but beingensamples to the flock.5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive acrown of glory that fadeth not away.
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SABBATH SERMONS AUSTRALIA
Read online - http://sabbathsermons.com Word Format - http://scribd.com/sabbathsermonsAudio – http://harvestgleaner.com/audio/ 
Australasia is a divinely appointed center, from which the light of present truth is to radiate to many lands.{AU Gleaner, June 17, 1903 par. 8}
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