Weekly Meditations

John 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
John 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

In the consideration of formal and fundamental fallacies of logic one finds this consideration: Just because two things have one or more thing in common does not mean they have everything in common.

Example: It would be a false conclusion and, or assumption to say; my house has doors, and my car has doors too, therefore my house is a car. Both have doors and both have windows but neither have everything in common. Another example: Billy Graham professes Christ and is an evangelist for the Kingdom of God calling the children of God to salvation through trusting in Christ as savior; but then Jim Jones was an evangelist for Christ calling the children of God to salvation through trust in Christ as savior. These two have this in common but they were as far apart as to preaching the truth as one could possibly be. Wherein did the problem lie? Who can really say? In thought one might bring this into consideration. One was and is pointing people to the shepherd, that one being Graham pointing people to Christ; the other was thinking himself as being the shepherd with a messianic complex thinking himself to be a type of Christ. Bold statements? Yes, they are. And impossible to qualify but often that is the case. Examples are difficult to qualify when one is establishing a thesis. So let us go to the scripture; which by some is considered as secondary evidence but is all the evidence a believer needs if for no other reason than it is the most supported text of its age; supported by other evidence then itself. Supported and thought of by many scholars in and outside Christendom as being 99.4 percent accurate as to the New Testament itself, with less than thirty words/lines out of the 20000 words it contains, being in question. (write if anyone wishes to discuss that further).

Back to the point. It is Christ and Christ alone who is the shepherd of his flock. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” It is Christ and Christ which makes his folds become one-fold, Jew and Gentile alike. John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one-fold, and one shepherd. These are the ones who hear the voice of the Only Shepherd.

With this said, I have heard analogy after analogy how this pastor and that considers himself an under Shepherd. Perhaps this, in the broadest sense and stretch of the imagination, is true. There is an exception. Just because you have one thing in common does not mean you have everything in common with the Christ and as such would be nothing more than a gate holder for the True Shepherd. This thought came to mind in hearing an analogy which an individual was using which pointed out that if ten who were Shepherd to ten different flocks, herded their flocks together and if one called, his 100 hundred would follow him and the ones who did not were not of his flock. This is true for sheep and for men who Shepherd sheep. This is not true for Men who pastor the flock of Christ. The flock of Christ only hear the voice of Christ. As long as the pastor is voicing the words of the Savior (words in Their entirety) the sheep hear them. Why? Because they know the voice of the Savior. But when one is not voicing the words of the Savior (in their entirety) these the sheep will not follow because they are not hearing the voice of the Savior but rather the voice of man. One might say, what of all those who followed Jones. What do the “Formal and Fundamental Laws of Logic tell you? Strike that////! What do the words of Christ tell you? Yes, there are times and even periods of hopeful transition that some may listen and even follow, although they know they are being herded by one other than they should be. But the answer still remains in the words of Christ alone.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

To conclude: It is not the “Church”, the “Pastor”, “dogma”, etc., etc. which has the power to save. If you are following any of these, you are heading for a “Guiana tragedy” of eternal proportions in your life. If you are teaching such you are responsible for such a tragedy and should consider your teaching. This is especially true for the teacher since there is a greater account to be given.
James 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters/teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Then again one can, with a turn of a page, give a convincing antithesis to most of these points. Such is possible with eisegesis of text to support a point seeking dominion in argument that especially being true if one is looking for an “out” in the “lesser of two evils’ category.

But here are the facts:
Point one: Just because two things, ideologies, doctrine, dogmas, churches, pastor, teachers and “so on forever” have two or more things in common this does not mean they have everything in common.
Point two: There is only one Shepherd and the true flock only hear his voice. Although the flesh of man is often swayed to hear the lie of those who have a few things in common with the truth. What makes every lie believable is it being salted with a little truth.
Point three: Anyone using the Bible or Christ to manipulate you into doing anything immoral, illegal, unethical, or unscriptural, by not using the entirety of scripture, is a liar and not even to be considered an under Shepherd; and listening to any manipulative instruction from such holds a “Guiana Tragedy” scenario for your future and the future of those are around you.
Point four: The truth is the truth even if no one is believing it and a lie is a lie even if everyone is believing it. DO NOT BE DECEIVED!

1Titus 6:3 If any man Teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness.
1Titus 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and Strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmising.
1Titus 6:5 Perverse disputing’s of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
(Yea, that scripture is out of context but still contextually sound, one the less, as to the point. Depends on who, or what, you are enslaved to and who is your master)

David