“THE THIEF!”

 John 10:1-10                            (ESV)

“1 "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.

2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and HE CALLS HIS OWN SHEEP BY NAME and LEADS THEM OUT.

4 When he has brought out all his own, HE GOES BEFORE THEM, and THE SHEEP FOLLOW HIM, FOR THEY KNOW HIS VOICE.

5 A STRANGER THEY WILL NOT FOLLOW, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

6 This figure of speech JESUS used with them, BUT THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND what HE was saying to them.

7 So JESUS again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All who came before ME are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by ME, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 “THE THIEF” comes ONLY to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Identifying “the enemy” is one of the most important things that we can do.  Knowing that “good people” are sometimes driven by the devil to perform acts that are NOT SPIRIT LED is something of which we have to be aware!  In Mark 8:33 JESUS tells Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of GOD, but on the things of man." Obviously, even THE CHOSEN are susceptible to getting OFF-TRACK and not following THE SPIRIT OF GOD???

“THE THIEF” JESUS was commenting about in John 10 was the ruling class Jews and the Pharisees, people who thought themselves to be more than what they were.  It is written in John 14:6 that JESUS IS THE TRUTH, and if we get direction from any other source, we are in jeopardy of being IN ERROR, believing a LIE!  Some social media sites are using “Fact checkers” in an attempt to identify TRUTH.  But they only are giving an opinion, their view of what is true, and a little LIE is still a LIE!  The ONLY TRUTH is JESUS CHRIST, and having our EYES OPENED to that TRUTH is where we need to stay!!!  

“”THE THIEF” comes ONLY to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY”!  JESUS “came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  It is imperative that we remain in THE WORD OF GOD to prevent ourselves from being blinded like Peter in the book of Mark.  “THE THIEF” is only interested in injecting a little bit of heresy into THE TRUTH!  Galatians 5:7-9 says “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?  This persuasion is NOT FROM HIM WHO CALLS YOU.  A LITTLE LEAVEN LEAVENS THE WHOLE LUMP.” 

Sin is like a rapidly advancing cancer!  Often the patient doesn’t even know they are sick until they are near death!  This is the “modus operandi” of “THE THIEF”, he causes us to think we are “not that bad”, while all the time we are allowing the cancer to overtake us!  

Spending copious amounts of time in THE WORD OF GOD is the best way to make “THE THIEF” flee from you.  James 4:7 says “Submit yourselves therefore to GOD.  Resist the devil, and he will FLEE from you”!  Spending your “free time” in anything but THE WORD OF GOD is inviting “THE THIEF” to wreak havoc in your life!  The choice is ours.....JESUS, or “THE THIEF”???