Beware Thieves and Robbers

[Christsfreeservant]

“’Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep’.” (John 10:1-7 NASB1995)​

Who are these thieves, robbers, and strangers of whom Jesus spoke? They are liars, manipulators, deceivers, “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, charlatans, false prophets, false teachers, and chameleons who change natures and character depending upon whom they are with. They will be one way to your face, but the opposite behind your back when you are not looking. For they are users and abusers who play tricks on their prey in hopes to instill fear in their targets in order to control them and to manipulate them.

We are warned in the Scriptures against such people as these, to watch out for them so that we do not fall prey to their tricks and their traps. For they secretly bring in destructive heresies, they exploit you with false words, they revel in their deceptions, and they have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice by sensual passions of the flesh unsteady souls, leading them into sin. Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. Many people follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth is falsified.

They are those who slip into the gatherings of the church by false professions of faith in the Lord Jesus for the purpose to deceive. For they come in by “another way,” which is the way of these false gospels being taught which only ask their adherents to make professions of faith in Jesus, but without any requirements for them to die with Christ to sin and to walk with him in obedience to his commands, in surrender to his will, in holy living. So, they are robbers, because they rob people of the truth of God.

Now, in order for them to have influence and power over the people, they serve as bishops, pastors, elders, deacons, and Bible teachers within these congregations of the church. And they alter and they dilute the message of the gospel to make it more agreeable to human flesh and to the ungodly of the world. For they are those who are marketing “the church” to the people of the world, and so they alter the character of God/Christ, of his church, and of his gospel in order to not offend the people of the world.

False Prophets and Teachers and Testing the Spirits

[Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-24; Luke 6:26; John 10:1-15; Romans 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 11:3,13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

But, as those who are Christ’s followers, we are to be testing everyone we hear to make certain that what they are teaching is of God, that it is consistent with the context of the passages of Scripture, and that it agrees with what Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught as the gospel, as taught in the full and appropriate context. So we need to pay close attention to the wording that they use, for they are very skillful at twisting words to their advantage to make them sound like truth, when they are lies.

And just know that their lies are not usually fully obvious to the unsuspecting. What they do is called “deception” for good reason. Another name for this is “misimpression,” which is a mixture of truth and lies skillfully blended together so that what you read or hear has the impression of truth, but it is a twisted truth. They are subtle lies which may not be obvious on a very surface read. Usually they have a very specific impression they want you to have for the full purpose to deceive you.

So, in order to not be fooled by these clever liars, we need to be people of God who are sold out to following our Lord in all ways in which he leads us, committed to obeying him and his commandments, and being and doing who he designed for us to be and do. He needs to truly be the shepherd whom we, his sheep, follow and obey. And so we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their appropriate context so that we don’t end up believing the lies being taught by these thieves and robbers.

And Jesus taught that the only true way into his sheepfold (the church, the body of Christ) is that we must deny self, put sin to death daily by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to his commands in holy living. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, by the Spirit, in the power of God, then we have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. So test the spirits. Make sure you are believing truth.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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Beware Thieves and Robbers
An Original Work / April 21, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love