Living Out of Your Sheep Nature, Part 1

In John 10, Jesus declares Himself to be the Good Shepherd. He goes on to state that if we are His sheep, we will not follow another. Are you concerned about being deceived by the enemy? The key to avoiding deception is to live out of your sheep nature and always approaching God through the Door, who is Christ and not any other thing, person, or religious revelation or understanding.

[Jhn 10:1-9 KJV] 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. 6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

In verse 1 of chapter 10, Jesus speaks of Himself as the door of the sheepfold. The point that He is making is if we are to come into a caretaker relationship with the Father, we must enter by the Door, who is Christ. We cannot access the kingdom or enter into the kingdom of God any other way. He goes on to say that any who climb up any other way, (ostensibly to a place in the kingdom, or a vantage point in life to take advantage of the benefits of the kingdom) is a thief and a robber. Notice that He doesn’t say one cannot access the attributes of the kingdom in any other way, but through Him, He simply says that if this is done, that person is a thief and a robber. The point is that there are many things that are spiritual that are not necessarily godly.

There are many leaders who come to the body of Christ and bring spiritual truth, but they are not centered upon Christ. This is spiritual thievery and robbery. We enter the kingdom (v. 2) by the Door, who is Christ. As a believer, you will be exposed in your life to many teachers and teachings, but are they entering by the door, which is Christ? Are they preaching Christ, or are they teaching spiritual principles and protocols without mentioning Jesus one single time? If you are sitting under a ministry or in a church and the name of Christ is seldom mentioned, or the scriptures are only quoted in an ornamental way, that is a problem, or at least it should be. When I listen to a teacher or preacher, I wait for the name of Jesus to come forth. It is more often than not that the name of Christ or even a substantive mention of the scriptures are never brought up. That unfortunate reality tells us that this is spiritual thievery and robbery. Paul said that he preached Christ and Christ crucified. Our theories or concepts of spiritual understanding are all in vain if they do not lift up Christ.

In verses 3-5, Jesus speaks of the quality of hearing His voice and not following the voice of another. Preachers and teachers often try to frighten people with the fear of getting deceived in order to keep the people dependent upon them as leaders rather than developing their own walk with God and their own hearing ear. It is a sad fact that leaders find believers who cannot hear the voice of God much more manageable than those who do. If you are pastoring a congregation full of people who hear the voice of God, let me tell you, that is a lot more work than leading a group of people who do not. Notice what Jesus says about deception. He says in v. 3 that if you are His sheep, you will hear His voice. Not that you potentially CAN hear His voice but that you WILL hear His voice. If you are His sheep (v. 4), you will follow Him because you know His voice, and you will not follow another because you will not know or be familiar with the voice of a stranger.

People who follow after man rather than establishing their own walk with God are living out of their goat nature following after leaders who live out of their goat nature. If, however you live out of your sheep nature, Jesus gives the assurance that you WILL NOT follow another. There is your insurance policy against deception. Live out of your sheep nature. How can you tell the difference? If you have ever lived around goats, you know that goats “but” everything. Goats will eat anything. You cannot turn your back on a goat without paying the price. Let us live out of our sheep nature because then we have the assurance of hearing Jesus’ voice and not being led off into some spiritual dead end that will only bring frustration and heartbreak.

In verse 9, Jesus says, “I am the door.” If we come into spiritual things or access the attributes of the kingdom of God in the earth we must come through Jesus. If we come through the door that He is we shall be saved. What does it mean to be saved? That word is “sozo,” and it means to be “delivered, made safe, healed, made whole, be preserved, be made well, kept from destruction, and rescued…” It is much more than going through life in misery and waking up in heaven after we die. The salvation that comes through Christ has as much implication for THIS LIFE we now live as it does for the life to come.

To Be Continued Next Week