I Was a Wandering Sheep (song)

I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shepherd’s voice,
I would not be controlled.
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home;
I did not love my Father’s voice,
I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child;
They followed me o’er vale and hill,
O’er deserts waste and wild;
They found me nigh to death,
Famished and faint and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wand’ring one.

They spoke in tender love,
They raised my drooping head,
They gently closed my bleeding wounds,
My fainting soul they fed;
They washed my filth away,
They made me clean and fair;
They brought me to my home in peace,
The long sought wanderer.

Jesus my Shepherd is:
’Twas He that loved my soul;
’Twas He that washed me in His blood,
’Twas He that made me whole.
’Twas He that sought the lost,
That found the wand’ring sheep,
’Twas He that brought me to the fold,
’Tis He that still doth keep.

No more a wandering sheep,
I love to be controlled;
I love my tender Shepherd’s voice,
I love the peaceful fold.
No more a wayward child,
I seek no more to roam;
I love my heavenly Father’s voice,
I love, I love His home!

A Call to Separation

A.W. Pink

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14-18)

This passage gives utterance to a Divine exhortation for those belonging to Christ to hold aloof from all intimate associations with the Ungodly. It expressly forbids them entering into alliances with the unconverted. It definitely prohibits the children of God walking arm-in-arm with worldlings. It is an admonition applying to every phase and department of our lives—religious, domestic social, commercial. And never, perhaps, was there a time when it more needed pressing on Christians than now. The days in which we are living are marked by the spirit of compromise. On every side we behold unholy mixtures, ungodly alliances, unequal yokes. Many professing Christians appear to be trying how near to the world they may walk and yet go to Heaven.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together.” This is a call to godly separation. In each dispensation this Divine demand has been made. To Abraham Jehovah’s peremptory word was, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” To Israel He said, “After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.” (Lev. 18:3) And again, “Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before you.” (Lev. 20:23) It was for their disregard of these very prohibitions that Israel brought down upon themselves such severe chastisements.

At the beginning of the New Testament we are shown the forerunner of Christ standing outside the organized Judaism of his day, calling on men to flee from the wrath to come. The Savior announced that, “He calleth His
own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” (John 10:3) On the day of Pentecost the word to believers was, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” (Acts 2:40) Later, to the Christian Hebrews Paul wrote, “Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp.” (13:13) God’s call to His people in Babylon is, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4) “Be ye not unequally yoked together.” This is God’s word unto His people today. Nor does it stand alone. In Rom. 16:17 it is said, “Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them.” In 2 Tim 2:20 we read, “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of  silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use.” 2 Tim. 3:5 speaks of those “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” then it is added, “from such turn away.” What a word is that in 2 Thess. 3:14, “If any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him.” How radical is the admonition of 1 Cor. 5:11, “Now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such an one no, not to eat.”

“Be ye not unequally yoked together.” We are fully persuaded that it is disregard of this commandment, for command it is, which is largely responsible for the low state which now obtains so generally among Christians,
both individually and corporately. No wonder the spiritual pulse of many churches beats so feebly. No wonder their prayer-meetings are so thinly attended; Christians who are unequally yoked have no heart for prayer.  Disobedience at this point is a certain preventative to real and whole-hearted devotion to Christ. No one can be an unshackled follower of the Lord Jesus who is, in any way, “yoked” to His enemies. He may be a truly saved person, but the testimony of his life, the witness of his walk, will not honor and glorify Christ.

Read more -->HERE.

Baptism the Heaven Drawn Picture

Dr. Peter Masters 

Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, England 

“Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”—Matthew 28:19

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you!” —Acts 2:38

AGAIN and again we find in the New Testament this inseparable link between conversion and baptism. In character, the two are poles apart. Conversion is spiritual, whereas baptism is merely physical. Conversion is a new birth imparted from above; while baptism is administered by the hand of a man. Conversion through faith in the blood is a powerful, soul-renewing work. Baptism is an outward picture only, devoid of soul-saving efficacy. Conversion saves the soul; baptism cannot save anyone.

Nevertheless, in the New Testament, true repentance and conversion are inseparable from baptism. Conversion is the real thing—baptism is a picture of it. But in the plan and purpose of Christ, wherever there is conversion, the picture must accompany it.

Verse 22 of Hebrews 10 is just another example of this. Access to God by the blood of Christ is spoken of. Baptism just cannot be omitted from the passage. And if Christ the Lord joins baptism with conversion, in His Word, we must not pass over this subject lightly. Let us then look more closely at the subject of New Testament Baptism.

We begin with the Great Commission of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In these words, the Head of the Church gave His binding commission for all time to His blood-bought people. “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in [into] the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mat 28:19).

We often hear it said that there are two kinds of doctrine; essential and non-essential. (Sometimes these “categories” are called primary and secondary doctrine). What is meant is this: that certain beliefs are essential for a man to be saved. Other doctrines, though very valuable, are not essential for a man to be saved. An example is the way in which Christ shall come again. Some believe that there will be a millennium. Others say there will be no millennium—Christ will just come and usher in the eternal, heavenly kingdom. Whichever a man believes, it will not stop him being converted. So this is “nonessential” to conversion.

Now baptism is not essential to salvation. Many a man is truly born again, but very muddled and wrong in his attitude to baptism. So we agree that, in a sense, baptism is also a non-essential or secondary matter.

Some have therefore concluded that in the interests of evangelical unity we should stop emphasizing baptism. In many churches this is done, and it is a matter of relative indifference whether a believer is baptized or not. There is one vital point which is overlooked by our friends who regard baptism as unimportant. While it is true that it is not essential to conversion, it happens to be commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ. One could re-word a commonly expressed sentiment thus: “We should not make an issue over baptism, as it is not a doctrine essential to salvation, even though we are expressly commanded to give it a paramount place by our Lord Himself.” Does anyone wish to say that? Of course not.

Read more -->HERE.