Thieves and Robbers

“’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.

“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. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:1-15 ESV)

Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – came to the earth, and was born as a baby to a human mother, but conceived of the Holy Spirit. So when he walked this earth he was fully God and fully human (God incarnate). During his life of ministry on the earth he healed the sick and afflicted, raised the dead, delivered people from demons, and performed many miracles, including feeding the multitudes with very little food.

But he also taught the people the message of the gospel of our salvation that to come after him we must deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. And he taught that not everyone who gives lip service to him will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father. And he taught that to love him is to obey him, to do what he says we are to do as his followers. For he died that we would die to sin and now live to him and to his righteousness.

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:27-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 John 3:4-10]  

Now Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd and he is the door to the sheep pen, i.e. he is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. And this isn’t just through a profession of faith in Jesus or a mere acknowledgment that he died and rose from the dead. We must deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord for our faith to be biblical faith authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, persuaded of God, and gifted to us by God, and not of our own doing – not of our own flesh.

But we have many of these “thieves and robbers” and “strangers” and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us today, within the gatherings of “the church,” and in the media, and in our governments who are lying to the people. For they are using mind control tactics to convince them that the lies are the truth and that the truth is the lie. And they will convince you that the truth is a “conspiracy theory” or that it is “legalism” or “works salvation,” for they want you to reject the truth and to believe the lies, for this of Satan.

And they are being largely successful in their campaign to convince the people of the world to reject the truth and to believe the lies. And so many professing Christians are rejecting the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, because they are believing the lies, and they are not testing what they are hearing against the Scriptures taught in context. And many citizens of nations (at least in the USA) are buying into what their government says is the truth while they reject the truth as “conspiracy.”

So, the Lord is calling out to the people who profess his name to open their eyes and ears to hearing from him with regard to what he says are the lies and the truth, according to the Scriptures taught in context, and in accord with the prophecies of the Scriptures regarding what we should expect to happen and how we should respond to what is going on in the world around us, especially as it concerns what we are being told in the media and by our government heads. We were warned much of deceiving spirits!

And so it is critical that we are people of God who are testing the spirits to see whether or not they are of God. On a spiritual level, we are to test everything and everyone against the teachings of the Scriptures taught in their proper context. On a more national and political level, we should read the Scriptures that tell us what to expect in these last days, and then we should pray for spiritual discernment to know who is lying to us and who is telling us the truth, and we should read from more than one source.

For if we blindly follow certain people because of who we think they are, or because of a title of “pastor” before their names, or because they are famous, or because they are politically right or left, or because we believe the lies they are feeding us daily via the media and within the gatherings of “the church,” we are in much danger of following pied pipers to our deaths. So be in the practice of testing everything and everyone prayerfully, in the study of the Scriptures, and in asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment.

Thieves and Robbers

Video Talk

December 1, 2024

https://vimeo.com/1034900731

In Truth 

An Original Work / January 10, 2012

Fellowshipping with my Lord, Savior, King.

He is Lord of all; Lord of ev’rything.

He is with me through ev’ry hour of day,

List’ning to me speak, as I humbly pray.

He cares for my needs, 

and He intercedes for me,

‘cause He loves me in ev’ry way.

Obey His commands, and do all He says.

Sitting at His feet, daily in His word,

Let His word speak to me in ev’ry way,

Giving comfort and healing through each day.

Oh, how Jesus loves,

And He cares for you,

Which is why He died for our sins, in truth.

Love our Lord God, Savior, and King of kings.

Worship Him in truth, for He reigns supreme.

He created us with a plan in mind

For us to be His servants, and Him mind.

Follow Him in truth;

Go where’er He leads.

Share His love with others, and their needs meet.

Others: their needs meet. 

https://vimeo.com/125738283