Monday 22 February 2010

A Bible study on John 10

The shepherd operates through invitation followed by process (v3), but so does thieves and robbers. . They can appear like shepherds. They look spiritual, get into the church in some way, say things that are nice to hear, and invite you to meetings but their fruit is the sheep no longer belong to the flock, and eventually the spiritual life of the sheep is affected to the point that eventually it is destroyed.

Jesus said you cannot tell the difference by what they say or by how they act. You can only tell by the direction from which they come “ The shepherd enters by the gate (v2), the man who does not enter by the gate, but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber” (v1).

So what does that look like for us
beware of someone with an agenda to prosper his own “calling”
beware of someone who invites you to a group meeting which is away from the shepherd’s oversight, even if the teaching sounds great or the worship is stunning.
beware of someone who says he is the shepherd’s representative, but does things which oppose the direction the shepherd is leading the rest of the flock
beware of someone who invites you to a meeting which means you cannot belong to the flock either because of timing or ethos.
Beware of someone who in their attitude try to separate you from the shepherd. They might say things of concern about the church or the leaders, or might have so called spiritual dreams which cause them to sow seeds of doubt about your belonging to the church.

When you see this, you recognise the voice of a stranger rather than a shepherd and the power of the deception is broken (v5).

The true shepherd is Jesus (yes indeed!!!) but He is also the gate. No self styled shepherd gets through the gate; only those who are responding to the call of God and this shows outwardly on the earth in ordination/ appointment. The shepherd then has a responsibility to enter into the inheritance brought about by that recognition/ordination and so God’s purposes then become manifest and the sheep are blessed.


Jonathan

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