Sunday, July 2, 2017, 3:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Sheep.” Speak, Lord, your words to
my heart. I read John 10 (Select vv.
ESV).
They Will Flee
(vv. 1-6)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the
sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a
robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To
him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep
by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes
before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger
they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the
voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but
they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Jesus Christ is the door (The
Way, The Truth and The Life) to God the Father in heaven, to salvation from
sin, and to eternal life with God. He is the ONLY door to heaven. There is no
other way. The sheepfold is the church, his body, the saints of God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, God’s Holy City. Yet, there are many false shepherds of the
people who have infiltrated the gatherings of the church (of the sheep). These
false shepherds have entered by another way, i.e. by a door of deception, wickedness,
lies, and the manipulation of naïve minds. For, they do not truly know Jesus
Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives, but they are “false apostles,
deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder,
for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if
his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (See: 2
Co. 11:12-15).
Jesus Christ is also the True
Shepherd who enters the sheepfold by the door, i.e. by way of his death and
resurrection in putting our sins to death on a cross so that we might walk with
him in righteousness. When we enter by the door, it is by God’s grace, through
God-given faith in Jesus Christ, in which we are crucified with Christ in death
to sin, and we are resurrected with him to newness of life, created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness (See: Ro. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24). The
true sheep hear the voice of the True Shepherd, they listen to him, and they
follow (obey) him. But, they will not follow a stranger, i.e. one who enters by
way of deception. In fact, they will flee from him, because the voice
(teaching) of a stranger they do not know (intimately), in the sense of hearing,
believing, accepting and following the stranger. The Holy Spirit will give them
discernment to reject the stranger’s voice, and to only follow the voice of the
True Shepherd.
To Kill and Destroy (vv. 7-13)
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say
to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out
and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He
who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees
the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them
and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep.
It is essential that we
understand the difference between truth and lies, so that we do not follow the
lies and reject the truth. Many false shepherds, who have infiltrated the
church, are telling the people lies, and they themselves are rejecting the
truth, as well as they are leading others to reject the truth and to accept the
lies (See: 2 Thess. 2:1-12). Thus, they are thieves and robbers, because they
are stealing the truth from people’s hearts in order to fill their minds with
the lies of Satan, whose goal it is to deceive them and to turn them away from
God and genuine faith in Jesus Christ. These false shepherds, who have
infiltrated our ranks, are not there to lead us to Christ, but they are there
to destroy and to kill all that is holy and is of God, for they are Satan’s
messengers, and his goal is to destroy the church, Jesus Christ, his
messengers, and the gospel of our salvation.
Since these false shepherds
disguise themselves as apostles of Christ and as servants of righteousness, their
messages will be a mixed bag of truth and lies so that it will appear as though
what they are teaching is truth. But, the lies will be subtle, and will be
cleverly inserted into the truth, so that naïve minds will easily accept them
and not discern the error. Since this is the goal, these clever enchanters have
devised a plan to discredit the gospel and its messengers by calling it “works-based
salvation,” and to discourage all who would listen to the true gospel message
from accepting it as valid. And, they cloak these lies in fine-sounding
arguments, intended to sound as though they are somehow delivering the people
out of the clutches of what is false, and that they are somehow leading them to
true freedom in Christ, but nothing could be further from the truth.
What these false shepherds
are telling the people is that they can have eternal life with God, salvation
from sin, and the hope of heaven when they leave this earth merely by
acknowledging Jesus’ existence, or what he did for us in taking our place on a
cross to free us from the punishment of sin, and by accepting his forgiveness
for their sins. And, they call this the gospel of grace. Yet, they also tell
them that God requires nothing of them at all, other than to “believe,” i.e. to
acknowledge Jesus’ existence, and to accept his forgiveness of their sins. They
tell them that they don’t have to repent of (turn away from) their sins, and they
don’t have to obey Jesus Christ or his commandments (his instructions to us), or
submit to his Lordship, and that God is pleased with them no matter what they do.
So, they give free license to continue in sin without guilt and without
remorse.
Yet, the truth of the gospel
of our salvation is that Jesus Christ died on that cross, not merely to free us
from eternal damnation and to promise us heaven when we die. He died that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness; that we might no longer live for
ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us on that cross. He died that
the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk, not
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. If we walk (in how we
conduct our lives) according to our sinful flesh (in darkness), we will die in
our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh,
we will live with Christ for eternity. God’s grace is not a free license to
continue in sin, but it instructs (commands) us to say “No” to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we
await Christ’s return.
[See: Luke 9:23-25; John 6:35-66;
Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6:1-23; 8:1-14; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; Gal. 2:20; Gal. 5:19-21: Eph.
4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:24.]
My Sheep / An Original Work / June 24,
2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be
saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the
sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
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