Leading or misleading? John 10

Who is leading your inner life?

Our inner man has a problem Our inner man has a problem! We have broken hearts, desperate, misled, restless, godless, confused,…

Here we talk about the soul!!! We need a leadership in our life... Our souls are not made to function without God!!! We need leadership in our souls just like an engine needs fuel and a sheep needs a shepherd!

Isa. 53:6 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Helfried

Problem: Who needs a man like him?

Shepherd = like a Mountain guide: 1) Precedes (=leading), 2) Protects 3) Provides

1) Precedes (=in front; leading),

The break /shelter the summit

Out of the sheep pen: A SIGN!!!

1) Jews: The sheep pen represents the old religious way of living=Law 2) Gentiles: our old life! Our life in Adam Jesus Christ is calling us out, before He can lead us in. John 5:24, Acts 26:18, Col.1:13,

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my Word and believes him who sent me has Eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (= new sheep pen)

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (=new sheep pen)

Col.1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,(=new sheep pen)

Eph.2:5-6 God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

But the Jewish leaders were ... Not protecting, but destroying Ad 2. He PROTECTS But the Jewish leaders were ... Not protecting, but destroying Not giving a safe feeling, but threatened! Didn’t care, but were careless! Not comforting, but confronting!

Ezek. 34:6 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no-one searched or looked for them. 7 "‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

But what is our PROBLEM? Why do we run away from HIM? - false teaching ( through home, church, books, songs…etc) 1Tim.4:1 - false personal picture or impression - based on certain experiences

We have formed the wrong picture! We have a problem to trust Him. We are afraid that: - He will bring us to places where we do not want to be; - He doesn’t know what he is doing! - He is asking things from us what we do not want to do or I can’t do!

Listen to the word: Protection 1 John 5:18 the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. John 17:15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 2 Thess. 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Thieves, robbers and killers: - The Law and legalism: 2.Cor.3:6 - False Teachers take away life : 1 Tim.4:1 + 1 Tim.6:3-5 - Love for money and goods: 1 Tim.6:5; Luke 8:12+14 Luke 12:21 - The devil: John 8 + 2.Cor.4:4-5 & 2.Cor.11:3 - Sorrow and fear: Matth.13:21-23 - Tradition Marc 7:13 - not forgiving, bitterness and hate

Protection: - Gen.2:8 a garden (an enclosure, a fenced in piece of ground) - Job 1: 8-10 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? Ps 5:12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield. Ps 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Shepherd = like a Mountain guide: 1) Precedes (=in front,leading 2) Protects 3) Provides

Psalm 23 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

PROVIDING – John 10:10 Our modern word ‘PSYCHIATRY’ comes from two Greek words: Psyche = person, breath, soul, mind, reason Iatreia = treatment, healing, restoring.

So put the words together and we have ‘the healing, restoring the soul’. Healing means bringing the person into a right relationship with the physical, mental and spiritual laws of God. 3 John1

“I have sought here to explain the great principles that God has ordained to govern the life of man, believing as I do, that if man lives according to these principles, his life will be whole and healthy. If he violates them, he will be sick. As someone has put it: „He who formed our frame made man a perfect whole; And made the body’ s health depends upon the soul.“

“ The 23 Psalm is a pattern of thinking, and when a mind becomes saturated with it, a new way of thinking and a new life are the result. It contains only 118 words. One could memorize it in a short time.

But its power is not in memorizing the words, but rather in thinking the thoughts. The power of this Psalm lies in the fact that it represents a positive, hopeful, faith approach to life.” (Charles L. Allen in “God’s Psychiatry” )

2.Cor.4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes NOT on what is seen, but on what is UNSEEN. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

We are called to… - believe the unseen - follow the unseen, - talk to the unseen, - listen to the unseen!

We are in God’s hand John 10:28 and... ‘in Christ’ 1 Cor.1:30 Col.3:3