Monday, November 27, 2017

WHOSE SHEEP ARE YOU?

Praise the Lord everybody, let everything that has breath praise His holy name! The Lord is truly moving in my life right now, showing me what's inside of me. God has put things in me, some things I did not even know were there, things needed for such a time as this.

These are perilous times for the body of Christ. God is preparing the Church for His son's coming, and He is preparing me so that I can do my part in the preparation.

Lately, God has been showing me that what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, that there is "nothing new under the sun", is still true today. Today we have our own version of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and we also have another issue that Paul talks about in 1st Corinthians 1:10-13, and that is the confusion of men following other men or Pastors instead of Christ. Verses 10- 13 state 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now, this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

There are many so-called pastors and Church leaders out there preaching and teaching all kinds of doctrine and versions of the Gospel, one more charismatic and mesmerizing than the next. Saints are going around saying "I'm into Olstien", "I'm a Jakes man" or "I'm into Prince or Bernard" and so on. We have become consumers of style and soothing doctrine, instead of consumers of the Gospel of Christ. Paul said "follow me as I follow Christ"(1st Cor. 11:1) But we have become so attached to men that we have been remiss in our duty to make sure our leaders, our Pastors are doing just that, following Christ.

Jesus states in John 10:1-5   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.

 Our ears are becoming more and more out of tune with the voice of the "Good Shephard" because we have become distracted by the many voices of the world and our desires to keep the status quo, to not rock the boat or be seen as a "troublemaker" instead of taking measures to "right the ship" and get things back on the right path, using the guidelines given to us by God.  The Bible tells us in 2nd Timothy chapter about men "5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:" it tells us as a last resort "from such turn away." 2Peter 2:1 states 2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

The Bible is full of scripture on false prophets and teachers, I'm sure they all started out on the right path but for whatever reason, they lost their way, whether it be from slackness in study or secret sin in their lives, we can not continue to follow them blindly into the abyss, that leads to our and their destruction just because we like their style, or because we've followed them for  years. Jesus tells us that HIS sheep know his voice and another they will not follow. It also tells us in 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
We cannot allow ourselves to be led away by undershepherds who have forgotten their resting place, causing us to forget ours.

We have to ask ourselves "WHOSE SHEEP AM I?" If you are the sheep of God's pasture, then follow His voice and His word. If your Leader sounds like someone other than Christ and he refuses to get back in tune with Christ, do whatever you have to do to hear God again. Remember, HIS sheep will not follow another's voice.
       
                  God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall






No comments: