DO NOT FOLLOW A STRANGER
Monday – May 20, 2019, Iyar 15, 5779
Greetings precious and loved saints, loved by this Ministry and loved in an unfathomable way by our Lord and Savior and His Father. Welcome back to these teachings of The Truth from the Bible Book of John. If you are reading this on Facebook, I encourage you to take a moment and share this teaching with your friends, and give me a heart or a thumbs up. Come on, you can do it. The featured pictures this week will be of various outdoor scenes here in Maine. Now, let’s turn our attention to our primary Bible text and read it aloud.
John 10:2-6 (KJV)
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.
A parable is an allegory. A parable or an allegory contains important symbolism, is a metaphor (imagery, comparison, representation, simile, or figure of speech). In the Ministry of Jesus and in our own speech these things whether we call them a parable or not represent realities of the Kingdom and seek to convey that reality in perhaps easier to understand or more common speech. More common speech could be the use of natural things to illustrate supernatural realities.
Romans 1:20 (AMP)
20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],
Over the years the preceding verse has been extremely helpful in thinking about this natural or physical creation as a reflection of the spiritual. Never ever fall into the trap that somehow this creation, this physical reality is somehow more real or stable than the spiritual. That is a lie, a deception. We are supernatural persons (those who are born again) in the earth (in this physical creation) with dominion over the earth and the power of God (the Blessing) to change whatever is of the curse in the earth. As of this day, we have ultimate authority (dominion) in the earth as led of our Father (by the Holy Spirit), and at His leadership the Power of God will flow on our demand to subdue the curse whether it be a storm or an illness or anything else under the curse. We have been given the authority (delegated to us of God) and Power (Gods’) to subdue the curse and leave every person, every place, or both way better than we found them. We need to build our faith concerning all of this and get about the Father’s business and quit playing Church and the victim card. Now back to our text from John chapter ten.
As you will recall this tenth chapter starts with Jesus speaking to the assembled Jews, the religious ruling class, the pharisees. Jesus tells them that anyone who enters the sheepfold other than by the door is a thief and a robber. Jesus is telling them, the religious ruling class, that they were not the ordained of God shepherds of the people but are thieves and robbers. As we see later in verse six, none of them had a clue what He was talking about. It takes a spiritual person to discern the things of the spirit and there was not one among them. Those appointed of God are the true shepherds. The thing that may seem a little tricky for us is that there are those who are ordained of man as leaders who were never ordained by God and visa versa. We have to rely upon the discernment given of the Holy Spirit to tell the difference, to embrace the one and shun the other. Jesus tells these false shepherds that the Father (porter) is the one who chooses the real shepherds.
As we come to the close for today, I want to point out a couple of things that are vital for our understanding. One is that this passage of Scripture applies not just to then but to now and it applies to the Chief Shepherd (Jesus – Head of the Church) and to those appointed by God as under-shepherds. Our text tells us that the sheep do in fact hear the voice of the real shepherd. For those reading this that say you have never heard His voice, be careful for you are calling Jesus a liar, and the Father a liar. You and I have heard His voice. Perhaps we let it be drowned out by other voices but we heard. Perhaps we just plain did not want to do it, as we were focused on other gods. Lord willing, I will pick up right here tomorrow.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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