John 10:
1 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.
2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he
calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them,
and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for
they know not the voice of strangers.
In the above quoted passage, we find the parable
of the Good Shepherd and the hirelings, (see verses 12-13), whom Jesus
calls thieves and robbers. Jesus says they have climbed up some other way
than God's way, which according to Matthew 9:36-38, and Matthew 20:1-16,
is to be called and sent by the Lord of the harvest. They are a picture
of the preachers, and are in the ministry for selfish reasons
and will not endure hardships. Even worse, they will allow the sheep
to be scattered and slaughtered by the wolf (Satan).
There is much to be said on this subject, but we also see another truth
revealed in the parable that can be rightly divided without doing damage
to the scriptures, and which I feel led to address in this newsletter.
It is absolutely certain that the hirelings, or
false shepherds, are thieves and robbers from the explanation of the parables
given in verses 7-18. But if we look at verse 9, in connection with verse
1, we can see that this truth also applies to a sheep who enters
the sheepfold, which is a type of the church, in any way
other than through Christ. He is also a thief and a robber! That this is
so, and that it applies to salvation, is obvious from the terms, 'any
man,' 'he shall be saved,' and 'find pasture.' The phrase
find
pasture does not mean 'to locate pasture,' as in the case of
a shepherd locating pasture for the sheep, but rather means 'to be nourished,'
as the sheep who graze there would be. That this truth applies to salvation
is also shown in verses 22-30, when the Jews, who are a picture
of the church members, question Jesus, and he tells them in verse
26, "Ye are not of my SHEEP," and He is still dealing with the shepherd/sheep
relationship. One might ask, "What does this have to do with possessing
stolen goods," which is the subject of this piece? The answer should
become clear as we continue.
The Pharisees were the thieves and robbers that
Jesus was referring to in the parable, and we know that they were in possession
of the things of God. They conducted the religious worship, they handled
the holy vessels, they observed the feasts and rituals, they taught and
judged the people, &c. Yet, they had entered the sheepfold in a
deceitful
manner, and had thus presumptuously appropriated the things
of God, and for selfish motives. In their own minds they were justified,
however, because they were convinced that possession of these things
showed they were right. They saw possession, rather than title,
as proof of ownership, and of legal acquisition. They became infuriated
when Jesus accused them of this, and of wrongfully continuing in this way.
This attitude and false belief is what Peter is
dealing with in II Peter 2:10, when he speaks of 'presumptuous individuals.'
The word presump-tuous means 'boldness carried to the extreme,'
and it is a boldness which is self-motivated, and self-initiated.
It has no concern for the interests, rights, or welfare of
others. It causes on to disregard the orders of a higher authority,
and even to deny the authority's right to govern their actions.
This was the attitude of the Pharisees toward Jesus, and it is the same
attitude Moses had to deal with in the children of Israel. Moses speaks
of their presumptuous attitude in Deuteronomy 1:43, after they tried to
go up and possess the land after God told them not to [see Numbers 14:40-45].
Here, the word 'presumtuously' means 'to be insolent, arrogant,
proud, &c.' They disregarded the command of God and said by their
actions, "We'll do what we please." David prayed to be kept from
these type sins in Psalm 19:13.
There are two groups I wish to look at, and show
the spiritual relationship to the earthly characters. They correspond to
the thieves and robbers that Jesus spoke of. That they are
distinct,
though similar, is evident from Jesus' use of two words.
The first group is comprised of those who, by
force, steal things. They are robbers, and are aware
of their wrong actions, yet do not care to cease from them.
They are driven by their selfish desires, and consumed
with a hunger to have it at any cost. They may fear
being apprehended, but not as much as they desire to have.
They take inordinate risks and employ any means to obtain
their desires. They may even take the lives of those who resist,
confront, or hinder them in some way! These are the ones who
pose the greatest threat to the church, though the robbery is not
of material things, and the taking of lives is not physical
life. These have no compassion or concern for others. These will lie,
cheat, and deceive on one hand, or flatter, praise, and
appear
to agree on the other, as they feel is necessary to achieve their desired
end. Yet this end is purely selfish. They will even make 'professions
of faith' to obtain what they want. They may fear detection, but will
continue anyhow. Indeed, if they are discovered, they will simply move
to another fold and take up there, often with a good recommendation
from the fold they left! Examples of these type folks are those who make
a profession to marry one they know will not marry them otherwise, or ones
who join to merely to profit financially, then move on when all have bought
from them, or sales fall off. These, of course, are only representative
of the many motives of robbers in our midst. There are multitudes
of these individuals in our churches today, and there is less hope of converting
them than those in the second group.
The second group is comprised of those who steal
in darkness. They are the thieves. This group also includes
those who have received something from another person. These
individuals may not even have knowledge that the object was
wrongfully
obtained. Yet in the eyes of the law, they are also guilty
parties, as they did not take the time or expend the energy
to discover its origins. The Pharisees had received their practices
from those who, for several generations, had been
deceived
and were practicing wrong methods. Thus, many of them knew no
better, and believed they were doing right
because they
were practicing traditions and methods they had been told were correct
and endorsed by God. Yet Jesus gave them no room for making
excuse. We seem to have gotten the idea that all of the Pharisees
were aware of their condition, like the robber, but this is not the case.
Nicodemus is a prime example of those who were not
knowingly wrong in their practices. He came to Jesus to inquire about
the discrepancies in His teachings and those he and the other Pharisees
were teaching and practicing. He was virtually unable to see what
was wrong with his beliefs and practices, though there must have been something
that troubled him inside. Jesus asked him in John 3:10, "Art
thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" Nicodemus presumed
that because he had the stewardship over the things of God, and
because he had received them from the religious leaders who
all did as he did, they had to have been rightly obtained.
He and the other Pharisees also wrongly presumed that their rituals
and traditions were blessed and honored by God because
they had not been judged prior to Jesus' arrival. Thank the Lord, when
Jesus came preaching the truth, Nicodemus heard something that made him
question what he had and diligently seek the truth.
In our churches today, we have many who presume
that because they did what they were told by religious leaders and
professing
Christians, they must be saved. This despite the fact that it does
not measure up to historic practices [this is different than
vain tradition], nor scriptural truth. These assume
that because they have stewardship over the things of God,
they must be in the right: because they have a testimony
of sorts, because they have religious activity, because they enjoy
the things of God, surely they must have obtained them rightly.
The truth is, a large percentage of church members are those who have climbed
up some other way than through repentance toward God, and faith
in the Lord Jesus [Acts 20:21]. They have come through prayers,
plans, programs, and promise claiming, which are all rituals
and vain traditions of men. Baptists have their own version of the
Catholic catechism to get folks into the church.
Resistance to this truth is intense. This is so
for several reasons. First, it forces many to admit that they have been
misled
personally and have not really been saved. They have
the words and appearance of the truth, but it has been presumptuously
taken or wrongly obtained.
Secondly, because men won't believe that God would
allow His house to be that spoiled. Yet the parable makes it clear
that God allowed hirelings among His sheep in the past, and even allowed
them to be abused and slaughtered. It is not cruelty
on His part, but is what the people asked for through their unwillingness
to hear the truth and diligently seek God.
Thirdly, it requires that we accept the fact that
the problem is so huge that many of our friends and loved ones are not
saved either. Yet Jesus said there were few saved at the time He
came to earth due to the practices of the Pharisees. The religion
of the day not only failed to help people get to God, it kept
them from Him! Jesus said in Matthew 23:13, "But woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against
men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer them that are entering
to go in." There were no saved nations besides Israel, and according
to Jesus, few of them were saved. He also said it would be same in the
last days. In Luke 18:8, Jesus asks the question, "Nevertheless when
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" We are told
that the last days would be like the days of Noah, when out of the entire
world population, only eight were saved!! Certainly, the number is not
literally the same today, nor would I imply the percentage is the same,
but it is certainly a remnant as it has always been. Men preach
with enthusiasm all of the signs of the last days as it pertains to the
lost
and their activities, but not as it applies to the deception
of those in the churches. LORD help us!
Finally, to face the truth would force folks to
admit that 'salvation is of the Lord.' He is the Author,
the Initiator, the Worker, the Performer, and the
Finisher
of it. If one has climbed up any other way, they are thieves
and robbers. This is on the authority of the scriptures,
and the words of Jesus, not this author's.
We must begin to examine what we have received,
and how we have received it, in light of the scriptures,
and not presume that we are right with God simply because
we possess the things of God. - J. M. G. ((03/95)
