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This passage in the gospel of John proclaims to ALL humanity that there is a "door" to the presence of God, both now and in eternity and in fact, only ONE door. In contrast to the false shepherds, the true shepherd was Himself at the same time the DOOR for the sheep; the sheepfold was the Abrahamic Covenant which in effect, includes both Jew and Gentile. Christ Alone is the Door and all other false ways as well as all other false shepherds are but thieves and robbers. Some may proclaim "Mary," or "Buddha," or "Mohammed," or "Joseph Smith," are the way but these are fake luminaries whose end is in eternal torment as will be the end result of all who follow them and seek to come to God through any other door but the Cross of Christ and through the shed blood of Christ and Him Crucified!
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: John 10:1-2 - Verily, Verily, I Say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
John 10:11 - I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
As we write this week's journal I want to make a few statements concerning several current events taking place in our nation at the moment. Over just the past two weeks we have witnessed two separate school shootings, two major earthquakes, a series of devastating tornado events that have destroyed lives and caused billions in property damage, flooding in parts of the Northeast, and drought in the southwest. At the same time the nation seems to be screaming for political change embracing a candidate that uses "change" as his motto yet with very little substance as to how he will bring about that change. Neighbor, let me tell you this. NO MAN can affect the type of change America needs. No political party can bring about the radical change this nation must experience if we are not to face judgement in the sorest of terms and instead reap revival, blessing and restoration. The change America needs can only be brought about by a Holy Ghost revival that wakes up a sleeping church and brings the church back to the Cross of Christ! It's at the CROSS where men's hearts are changed and in affect society.
I don't mean this to be disrespectful but if Mr. Obama thinks he can do this with his empty rhetoric and dialogue then he has deluded himself as well as the American people who follow him. In many ways he embodies the spirit of Antichrist who will spring forth very soon upon the world stage offering the same type empty promises of change, peace, prosperity and the like if the world but bow down and worship him as God. Billions will do so thinking this demonic creature is the Christ when in fact he will be the Antichrist, the son of perdition, the devil incarnate. He will plunge the world into Great Tribulation waging war against Israel and all those who are left behind yet who get saved after the rapture and name the name of Jesus. It will be Israel's final holocaust and as she faces certain destruction at His hands, God Himself will come down and rescue her at the great Battle of Armageddon.
The spirit of Antichrist
is at work today in both the world and the church offering humanity
another "door" to God and eternity in heaven outside the path of the
Cross! One of Mr. Obama's biggest supporters in this current
Presidential race is none other than TV Mogul and host Oprah Winfrey
who has just began a year-long course on the New Age teachings of "A
Course in Miracles." Within this course, lesson #29 asks the
reader to go through their day affirming that “God is in everything
I see.” Lesson #61 tells each person to repeat the affirmation
“I am the light of the world," and lesson #70 teaches the student to
say and believe “My salvation comes from me.”
Along side this same
heresy is a global peace plan being promoted at the present time by
the author of the Purpose Driven Life book that sounds eerily
similar to this same course in miracles. The ideology of both are
the same. According to the founders and writers of a Course in
Miracles, this program/course is allegedly “new revelation” from
“Jesus” to help humanity work through these troubled times. This
“Jesus”—who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible’s Jesus
Christ—began delivering his channeled teachings in 1965 to a
Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology by the name of
Helen Schucman. One day Schucman heard an “inner voice”
stating, “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.” For
seven years she diligently took spiritual dictation from this inner
voice that described himself as “Jesus.” A Course in Miracles was
quietly published in 1975 by the Foundation for Inner Peace. For
many years “the Course” was an underground cult classic for New Age
seekers who studied “the Course” individually, with friends, or in
small study groups.
These words are not coming from some bearded guru in the Arabian desert with a few hundred followers; these words are coming from a book/course promoted by one of America's leading talk show hosts whose influence is go great some who claim their born again, especially women, worship her as a source of truth and godliness. SHE IS NOT!
Let this writer scream this to the top of his lungs today through the words of this journal: Jesus Christ's death DID have a meaning and that meaning is that mankind was bound by sin's grip; the powers of darkness so controlled man that because of the fall man would never be right and man is STILL not right even today. Man's problems are not tied to man's lack of self-esteem or lack of education. Man is a SINNER and man needs a Redeemer! Sin's grip is so powerful that millions are caught in its grasp, not knowing where to turn or where to go for help. When this imbecilic individual who wrote this course says "the name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol," they are so deluded and in such desperate need of saving faith words beggar description.
Jesus Christ’s atoning
death on the cross of Calvary was hardly a “useless journey but it
was where He triumphed over the the powers of darkness, broke
Satan's chains and the shackles of sin; He TRIUMPHED over sin's
peanlty which was death then and is still death today - the WAGES OF
SIN IS DEATH, but the GIFT of God through Christ Jesus is eternal
life! His triumph on the Cross and HIS TRIUMPH ALONE provides
man's ONLY salvation to all those who confess their sin, accept Him
and follow Him as their Lord and SAVIOUR. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO
VICTORY, HEALING AND SALVATION. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO DELIVERANCE
and there is NOT ANOTHER way into the presence of God except one
come by faith through His precarious death, burial and resurrection.
His victory on the cross rings throughout the New Testament and has
been gloriously sung about in beloved hymns through the ages and is
at the heart of our Christian testimony. It's AT THE CROSS where man
FIRST saw the light and the BURDEN of my heart ROLLED AWAY; it was
there by FAITH, I received my sight and NOW, and NOW, and NOW, and
NOW, I am happy all the day! Glory of God.
John 10:1
John 10:7 This passage in John introduces Jesus as the "door" of the Sheep; He uses the allegories of sheep, sheepfold and shepherd to introduce Himself and a peculiar position not given to any other human being. HE and HE alone is the DOOR by which entrance is gained to heaven. Jesus begins the parable with the solemn “verily, verily" meaning what He had to say was of critical importance. There is a sheepfold, a place where all the sheep are kept. The sheepfold pictures the place of acceptance by God, or the place of safety and security in God’s presence. It is in realty the position of true salvation, of spiritual sight that comes by believing Jesus to be Son of God, something Jesus had discussed in detail with the Pharisees moments before after they had kicked out the man born blind who had proclaimed Jesus had healed him.
John 9:36-38 Jesus said something powerful to the Pharisees that I believe He is speaking to us today and really must be understood FIRST before one can grasp the powerful importance of this passage in John:
This judgement was simply stated but it has eternal ramifications for BILLIONS today. This that I spoke of in the beginning of this journal is not some isolated case where only a few folks are affected; this blindness of the New Age has affected untold numbers of preachers, teachers, lawyers, media moguls, and even the higher ups in Washington. Jesus said, "they which see may not "see" and those who see not, may "see." Those who see not are CONSCIOUS of their blindness and it is for these who admit they are blind that Jesus Christ, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD, came that such might receive sight! There was the blind man; he knew he was blind; and he had received his sight; That was a physical fact, and our Lord here employed the phsycial to illustrate the spiritual.
The blind man had more wrong with him than just the physical blindness; he had been spiritually blind as well, as is the case of millions today. Through this miracle, he not had his physical eyes opened, but his spiritual eyes as well. At the beginning he had said, "He is a prophet;" later, he had declared that Jesus must be "a man from God;" and finally he worshipped Him. The man born blind was conscious of his blindness, and had received his sight. On the other hand, those who saw this with their natural eyes and refused to believe, these who claimed to see at least, claimed to know, these critics round about the Lord Jesus, were unconscious of their blindness; and Christ said His coming, in their case, did but seal their blindness and in reality their eternal doom because in this state "their sin remained."
The words of Jesus went further; "if you were blind, y would have no sin." He virtually charged them with willful rejection, a state where there is sacrifice for sin! If you were really blind, if you really had not apprehended the things I have been saying, and the teaching I have been giving, you would have no sin." but NOW because you say " we see," your sin remains."
One cannot read these words and not understand with great sadness that the Pharisees, along with those today who are religious, like this involved in the New Age perhaps, truly HAD seen the significance of the Lord's teachings, understood clearly who He was and still rejected Him. If "you were blind," you would have no sin." but because you have apprehended, and are STILL rejecting the thing you have seen," YOUR SIN REMAINS.
And then He says, "VERILY VERILY," meaning that He was about to give an application and interpretation of what He had just said concerning the healing of the man born blind.
The sheepfold of John 10 represents the system of the Kingdom the shepherd reigned; the flock referred to all those over WHOM He reigned. The shepherd in Eastern thought always represented kingship, full and final authority. Homer the poet wrote, "all kings are shepherds of the people." The shepherd is the KING, the king is the shepherd. and His authority is based upon the care of His sheep.
The DOOR is the way by which the sheep enter the fold. Israel's religious had cast that man out of one fold; Jesus took him into another. The door stands for the way of entrance, and the shepherd represents the authority over which ALL who enter by the door. By their human authority they had excluded a man; by authority, CHRIST received him and set him free!
It is this same position of being accepted by God because a man approaches God “in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.”
The sheepfold symbolizes
the place where the sheep (believers) are kept. The sheep are
kept...
· in the church Thus, we have in this passage a contrast between the TRUE shepherd, who is Christ, and the False shepherds of this age who oppose Christ as the REAL DOOR. These false ways and false leaders are the world’s religionists—the false teachers—who so blindly stand against His claim to be "the Light of the world" The New Age offers light but in reality it is DARKNESS! There is NOT LIGHT in the NEW AGE. There is no path to God outside the DOOR to the SHEEP, the LORD JESUS CHRIST! There is no way into the presence of God outside the ONE WHO IS THE KEEPER of the Door and that is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.
John 10:1
If any MAN, if ANY man, enter by this way, and come to CHRIST, he WILL find eternal life and happiness forever more. Yet if man seeks to enter in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber and will suffer the eternal consequences of separation from God in a devil's hell.
The THIEF according to
Christ, comes NOT but to STEAL, KILL and to DESTROY, but JESUS said,
"I have come that they may have LIFE and may have it MORE
ABUNDANTLY!" The GOOD Shepherd, the KING of Glory, has come that men
might partake of GOODNESS and not evil! The GOOD shepherd lays his
life down for the sheep; the Good Shepherd does not fleece the sheep
or rule them with cruelty and abuse!
· some other direction · some other way · some other position · some other source · some other road
which is where MOST modern gospel leads people today! It takes them away from the Cross, which is the ONLY DOOR and path to Christ, who in turn is the ONLY Path to God! Neighbor you can't be saved unless you follow the footsteps of the Good Shepherd who laid his life down for the sheep!
It's interesting to note that the terms "thief" (kleptēs) and "robber" (leistes) are the very same words were used to describe Judas (a thief) and Barabbas (a robber). It is an awful thing for a person to be put into the same class as Judas and Barabbas, two who were as opposite from Christ as any men could be. The false shepherd is...
· a thief: a seducer and a deceiver, a crafty and dishonest man, a man who will use any means to get into the sheepfold and steal the sheep. · a robber: a man who will use violence and cruelty and will destroy and devour if necessary to get into the sheepfold.
God has much to say to false shepherds and none of it is good.
Isaiah 56:9-12 - All ye beasts [false shepherds] of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
Jeremiah 23:1-2 - Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD ( See Jeremiah 25:34-38)
Jeremiah 50:6 - My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place.
Ezekiel 34:1-6 - Thus
saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of
Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the
flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill
them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye
not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick,
neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye
brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought
that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled
them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and
they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were
scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon
every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of
the earth, and none did search or seek after them” (also see Ezekiel
34:7-31).
1. The shepherd who enters the appointed door is the true shepherd (Jesus Christ). He knows where the door is and the way into the sheepfold. Therefore, He uses the door. There is no reason for Him not to use it, no reason for Him to climb in any other way.
Therefore, the Shepherd enters the sheepfold by the door. The door was made for Him and the sheep to enter; therefore, He uses it. The true Spephered will proclaim to you there is ONLY ONE DOOR and that DOOR IS CHRIST! 2.The Shepherd is known by the Porter (God or the Holy Spirit). This point is critical. The Holy Spirit (as God) is the One who opens the door into the sheepfold. The One who comes to the door is known by the Porter; He is known to be the Shepherd. The Shepherd therefore... · is not afraid to face the Porter.has been appointed to use the door. · has the authority and the right to enter.John 10:15 3.The Shepherd knows the sheep; He knows each one by name. This is said to have been a fact among shepherds and their sheep in Jesus’ day. Shepherds actually knew each sheep individually, even in large herds. The fact is certainly true with Christ and His sheep. The words "His own" (sidia) mean He calls His own, not as a whole, not as a herd, but as individuals. The Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, knows each of His sheep by name. John 10:14 4.The Shepherd leads and shepherds the sheep. He loves them as His own; therefore He must lead them to the green pastures and still waters. He must see that they are nourished and protected and given the very best care possible. He feeds the sheep even if He has to gather them in His arms and carry them to the feasting pasture. Isaiah 40:11 He guides the sheep to the pasture and away from the rough places and precipices. The true shephered with the heart of Christ leads the sheep to still waters, a type of the Holy Ghost; the true shepherd causes the sheep to lie down in green pastures where they are fed with living bread from above; not the stale rantings of book reports or written rules and legalism birthed in the hearts of men. Psalm 23:1-4 He seeks and saves the sheep who get lost. Matthew 18:11-12 John 10:11 1 Peter 2:25 1 Peter 5:4
Matthew 25:32-33
We've but scratched the surface in this journal this week and I'm not sure we've even done that. Next week we will look at how the DOOR into the presence of God is now opened because of the Shepherd laying his life down for the sheep and what that open door into the throne room of God means for each of us today - those reading this and this writer whose heart is full of love right now for those he writes to. Neighbor, it's getting late, so terribly late. The truth is like a needle in a haystack of lies today. MILLIONS are being deceived into believing there is another door to God outside of Christ. THERE IS NOT. There is only ONE WAY, ONE PATH, ONE FOLD, ONE SAVIOUR, ONE CHRIST - and HE IS THE DOOR WHEREIN THE SHEEP COME to God.
If the Holy Spirit is
dealing with your heart today, I pray you make things right before
it is eternally too late. He loves you today and has sent these
words to your heart to let you know that the barren feeling your
soul feels today can be filled with HIS LOVE and grace in a moment's
time with just the declaration of the blind man, saying "Lord, I am
blind, and I need you to touch my eyes, so I can see the DOOR!" You
must admit you are a sinner; you must admit you need HIS SAVING
Grace to make heaven; you must admit you have no righteousness
outside HIS righteousness that was purchased at the Cross 2,000
years ago. TODAY friend, is the day of salvation. I pray you make
that decision now. In Jesus name, Praise God.
Questions, Comments:
cmc4jesus@aol.com
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