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&In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths&

"Please, Don't Shear The Goats"

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"So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?  He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee.  He saith unto him, Feed my lambs."  John 21:15.  Let me begin by saying that there has been more prayer put into the writing of this little article than any other article the Lord has ever given me, and I am not the only one who has prayed about it.

This past Sunday, I noticed the headlines in the newspaper about a Valu-jet that crashed in the swamps in Florida which killed the 109 people on board.  Truly, this was a real tragedy.  And indeed we hear of many tragedies equal to or worse than this one, but there is a tragedy that happens over and over that we so often either don't hear about, or it goes un-noticed.  I wrote an article some time ago concerning abortion, which is mass murder and nothing less than a holocaust, but even this is not nearly as tragic as what the Lord has placed upon my heart to write about.  This tragedy that I speak of happens on a regular basis in churches and it is brought on by men claiming to be men of God. 

Now, I have heard many horror stories in my life and I am sure you have too, but I heard of a real horror story just last week that just tears my heart apart.  This horror story and the countless others like it tears at the heart of God too and I believe that this is why He has so burdened my heart to write about it.  The reason it has taken me so long to write about this terrible horror story and those like it is because of all the prayer concerning it.  The horror story which I mentioned concerns a preacher whose name I will not mention.  A man who says that he is a man of God.  A man who says that he has been called of God to preach the Word of God.  Please let me take the very important time right now to make it clear just what the Word of God is.  The Word of God is found in the Book called the Holy Bible.  In this great Book we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God."  John 1:1-2.  Now friends, this is a very powerful statement and one that many have either lost sight of or they have never really received it at all.  The Word of God was and is and always will be Jesus Christ Himself, Who is God Himself.  If a man says that he is called of God to preach the Word of God, first he better find out just Who the Word of God is.  Now, back to the horror story which is the root of this little article.  This preacher was said to have stood up in the pulpit and said, "God's Word says to feed My sheep, but it appears that some of the sheep have gotten too fat, so I am here to shear them."  The Word of God that this man referred to was indeed Jesus Christ whose Words I used in the beginning of this little article.  Jesus Christ, Who is the Word of God asked His disciple, Simon Peter if he loved Him and then told him to feed His lambs.  Not only did the Word of God pose this question and reply to Simon Peter, but He posed it to him three (3) times, with the same response each time, only the last two (2) times He said sheep instead of lambs.

Before I go any further in this little article, I feel led to address the one who is the very reason this little article became necessary.  He is known as Satan and the devil, the deceiver, the accuser of the brethren, the father of all lies and much more.  Now I realize that he, in person, will most likely not be reading this little article, but he is sure to be in some who may be reading it.  Let it be known from this time forward that I do hate Satan for many reasons and he is indeed my enemy, but he is not the greatest enemy.  True, he is the deceiver and he is the accuser of the brethren and he is the father of all lies, but a man's greatest enemy is himself.  I remember very well the night Satan had to move out of my heart and life.  I'm sure he wasn't very pleased to say the least, and since that time he has not failed to try and deceive me and to accuse me and to lie to me, but he no longer controls me.  Sure, he may offer me to eat of the fruit in the midst of the garden, but my battle is not with him, for from that time on it is me who decides whether or not to partake of his offer.  No, my battle is with myself.  Satan, you have already been defeated and it was the Word of God who defeated you.

Now back to the horror story.  The Word of God, who is Jesus Christ Himself, said, "Feed my lambs." and "Feed my sheep."  It is of utmost importance to notice that nowhere, nowhere does it say that if they get too fat to shear them.  The Word of God does however say in no uncertain terms, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this Book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book:"  Revelation 22:18.  Please listen and be assured that the Word of God, which is Jesus Christ Himself is very serious as to the charge of those who are called to proclaim His Word.  Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God, Paul writes, "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock."  1 Peter 5:1-3.  God, my friend, in His every form, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, was and is very serious about feeding His sheep.  God did not die and leave me or you or anyone else in charge.  He makes it very clear that we, none of us are to be or consider ourselves to be, "lords over God's heritage."  1 Peter 5:3.

Now when a man says that he has been called to preach the Word of God, he better make sure, very sure that he himself knows the Word of God.  By that I do not mean that he has been to seminary and he has a great knowledge of the Word of God.  Satan himself, who I have already addressed and who has already been defeated has a great knowledge of the Word of God.  A great knowledge.  But he does not, nor can he know the Word of God.  Ask any bank personnel who has been trained in identifying counterfeit and they will tell you that they don't study fake money.  They study the real thing to be able to recognize counterfeit.  The reason for this is because the craftiness of the counterfeiter keeps him or her making changes in order to deceive those who are examining their work.  There's that word, "deceive" again and I have already made it clear where that comes from.  No, the money examiners always study the real thing in order to identify a phony.  The reason for this is because the real thing never changes.  The first one is just like the last one.  Look at the first one and you have seen the last one.  The same principle applies to a real child of God, which is one who knows the Word of God.  God's Word says, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee."  Psalms 119:11.  There, my friend, is the key.  In mine heart.  Let me say that one more time for those who didn't quite grasp it.  In mine heart.  What, have I hid in mine heart?  Thy Word.  Who is Thy Word?  Jesus Christ.  True, there are those who will say that when king David wrote this and all the other Psalms, Jesus Christ had not yet come to earth.  This is true, but He was, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  John 1:1.  In the beginning He was and though king David still had to offer up sacrifices for his many sins, the Word was and king David had faith in God and in God's Word.  Did king David go to seminary?  No, but he knew the Word of God because he hid it not in his feeble mind, but in his heart.  Did king David sin?  You bet, but that was because of his greatest enemy which was himself.  Did it really and truly bother king David when he sinned?  Again, you bet, and that was because God's Word was in his heart.  Not in his mind, but in his heart.  No, king David was not a Christian, but he was indeed a true child of God and he was indeed the real thing.  To know the Word of God is to have Him in ones heart and when one has Him in his or her heart they will not want to sin against Him.

Now this very same preacher of the Word of God who I have already spoken of who took it upon himself to be lord over God's heritage, by shearing the sheep who he thought to be too fat, also went to the bedside of a person who had tried to commit suicide and told that person that they needed to get right with God.  Now, that may or may not have been the truth, that is not for me to judge, but there was definitely something missing in this man's assessment of the situation.  That something that was missing was compassion.  The Word of God says, "Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.  My friend, whosoever you may be, when God's sheep, of which I am one, needs shearing, God Himself will do it.  And should you decide to take it upon yourself to do His work, listen to what the real Word of God has to say especially for you, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."  Matthew 18:6.

Now, what's all this got to do with shearing the goats, as is the title of this little article?  A lot.  God's Word shows that there are many people who claim to be Christians, 3/4ths to be exact, are lost.  These who claim to be sheep are actually goats.  Whatever a person may be attempting when he takes it upon himself to shear the sheep, he may cause those sheep to stumble or even fall, but he cannot cause the real sheep to lose their soul.  But my friend, those many goats that are in the midst of the congregation will be driven away and could spend eternity in hell.  Tragedy of all tragedies.  Guess whose hands their blood will be upon?  Think about it!  Sure, Jesus Christ, Who is the Word of God, called the scribes and Pharisees vipers and the like, but He knew their hearts.  My friend, I don't care how much wisdom you may have attained, you cannot know a man's heart and you cannot determine if that person will receive Jesus Christ into their heart and life.  You could however, become a stumblingblock to that person.  So, I beg of you, please don't shear the goats!