‘Very truly I tell you, Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for Him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all his own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow him because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.’ “Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.”
(John 10:1-6)
UNPACK
Jesus knows us, and He calls us by name, and we know Him, and we know His voice. He states that we will not follow a stranger’s voice. What Jesus meant is that once we decide to believe and believe in Him, we will never follow another god.
Jesus left us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth and show us the things that are to come. Holy Spirit speaks with Jesus’s voice and in His authority because He is Jesus.
We are bombarded daily with other voices. The nattering nabobs of negativity, flesh-bound pundits, dimwitted entertainers, those who listen to the evil one and the evil one himself, news outlets, the internet in all its forms, all vie for our attention. Because God chose to give us free will, we get to choose who we listen to.
The more we take time to listen in silence to the glorious and beautiful voice of Jesus, the more love, joy, peace, kindness, charity, hope, goodwill, forgiveness, prosperity, power, courage, belief, happiness, and generosity ring in our hearts and ears. Doubt, worry, fear, ignorance, anxiety, depression, sadness, bitterness, anger, meanness, hopelessness, gloom, and despair are replaced with the fruit of the heart of the King of love and peace.
When we need to know what to do, how to handle things, or guidance, we can ask Holy Spirit, who will provide all the answers. We need only to listen intently and not make decisions without His freely given knowledge and wisdom.
The more we immerse ourselves in and meditate on the teachings of Jesus (which is what Jesus meant when He used the word “baptism”), the better we hear His voice.
The Words of Jesus are Spirit and Life, and they are the only Truth. The knowledge we gain by hearing them is of eternal value. Any voice that contradicts them speaks the lies of the evil one.
The One who comes by the gate means the one who entered the world by natural childbirth, which would be Jesus. The one who came through other means, like being thrown from heaven at the speed of light by Jesus, is the evil one who is the father of all lies.
Jesus is on the air constantly. He never sleeps. He is always with us. He will never leave or forsake us. So our challenge is to connect with Him constantly.
In the preceding chapter, John reported about Jesus healing the blind young man. When the religious rulers, the Pharisees, angrily asked him who had healed him, the young man said that he did not know. Here is the inquisition:
“Now give God the glory. This fellow (Jesus), we know, is only a sinner. Then he answered, I do not know whether He is a sinner or not. But one thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” Remember the line in the song, Amazing Grace, that states, “I once was lost, but now I see.”
So they said to him, ‘What did he actually do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered, ‘I already told you, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Can it be that you wish to become His disciples too?’
And they stormed at him and retorted, ‘You are His disciple yourself, but we are disciples of Moses. We know for certain that God spoke with Moses, but as for this Fellow, we know nothing about where He comes from.’
Think about the absurd lie that the Pharisees, the religious rulers, just stated. How could they know for a fact that God spoke to Moses?
The man replied,’ Well, this is astonishing! Here a Man has opened my eyes, and yet you do not know where He comes from.’
The blind man goes on to say that no one has ever opened the eyes of a blind man and that, if Jesus were not from God, He would not be able to do anything like this.
If you consider this situation carefully, you must conclude that while this man was restored to sight, the Pharisees were steeped in blindness.
Jesus restored sight to all who were blind spiritually and physically by healing all diseases and teaching us the Truth. We get to choose if we receive those healings.
(Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:16-17)
So Jesus has opened the ears of the spiritually deaf and the spiritually blind. We can hear and see Him if we open the eyes of our hearts and the ears of our Spirits.
THAT IS IT, FOLKS, END OF TEACHING!
You are our Golden Givers. Your overwhelming generosity has made our work possible for more than twenty-five years now. In that time, thanks to you, we have delivered the love, Hope, and joy of the Gospel of Jesus to many millions of folks all over the world, who now more than ever need to know it!
WE CHERISH AND ARE ETERNALLY THANKFUL TO YOU!
One of our tools for reaching the world, starving for the Love of Jesus, is Podcasting. With your help, we have produced sixty Holy Spirit-inspired podcast messages. By clicking the link below, you will be directed to our Menu from which you may select the teaching of your choosing.
Our most recent postings are a fantastic series of teachings on how to study the Bible, beginning with the Book of John.
https://open.spotify.com/show/
You can help us grow our footprint and expand our reach by liking, sharing, commenting on, and subscribing to them.
Love, Thanks, and Blessings,
Pastor Allen
WonderfulRevallen51@gmail.com
Throne of Grace
2590 Sandy Court
Marietta, Georgia 30066
