Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mt. Olive, Illinois April 26, 2026
Summary: The Bible portrays believers as sheep who are preyed upon by forces of evil. The predators come "over the wall," dishonestly disguising their goal of separating us from God and destroying us. Jesus comes through "the door," honestly and justly to save us from our sin. I contrast five examples of predatorily lies with Biblical truth.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/GPuQ6S-zI3s
Introduction
I saw an internet post recently in which a horse owner was appealing to motorists to slow down when passing a horse and rider. She pointed out that in nature horses are that they "prey, not predators," and their natural instinct is to flee when trouble is near. That is why a strange sound or rocks kicked up by a passing car and send a horse into a frenzy. Predators are naturally stealthy, and they do all they can to separate their prey from the protection of the herd. The prey are naturally cautious, and will quickly flee from danger.
This compares well to the spiritual side of life. There are predators of our souls, and we need to know when to flee from them and seek a protector. This is why the Bible so often compares believers to sheep. They are the spiritul "prey" of evil. It is important to know who and what is trying to destroy our souls and who and what is trying to save our souls. In John chapter ten, notice how the verses go back and forth between the Evil One and his servants and the Lord and His servants. Jesus teaches us the their approach, their voice, and the results of their efforts so that we are not drawn off and away from God and destroyed. This does not mean that predators are the only thing Christians should avoid. They also must face their inward sinful self. But I have and will also address that in other sermons. This passage and this sermon will focus on these spiritual predators.
Approach of Spiritual Predators and Spiritul Protectors
“He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way is a thief and a robber. He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (10.1-2).
God wants our souls and so does Satan. Both sides use human beings to gather us into their respective kingdoms of either evil or good. Jesus calls the servants of evil “thieves and robbers.” He calls the servants of God “shepherds.” These thieves and robbers and shepherds work within different realms such as family, friendships, religion, education, entertainment, and government. Some families are blessed to have parents and siblings who are shepherds. Some families are full of spiritual thieves. Some friends are shepherds and some are robbers. Some pastors and churches are shepherds and others are thieves. Some teachers are shepherds and others just want to rob your souls of faith and life. I think you see the pattern here as it extends to elected leaders, singers, writers, podcasters, and so on. They all fall into one of these two camps: Either they are leading toward God or away from God.
Jesus begins to show us the difference between the two when we consider the approaches they use. The shepherds who want to lead us toward God come through the door. That is to say, they come openly and honestly. They tell you up front: “I care about your soul. I want you to know, believe and live in the good grace of God.” Spiritual thieves and robbers climb into our lives “by another way.” They avoid talking about the soul, matters of faith, and of God. They assure you that that is your own private matter and that they are not really interested in that. They claim that their schools are not religious, their songs and books are not religious, and that their ideas are not religious. But this is a completely false and dishonest “over the wall,” if you will, claim on their part. Everything in this world is religious whether you want to admit to it or not. Those who say they are not religious are actually hiding their religion. All people have a religion of some kind. They all worship a god of some kind. That God may be the God of the Bible, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or it may be a god of their own imagination. All people have a moral compass. It may be that of God’s word or it may be the rules of life that they have chosen themselves. All people have a savior or some kind. It may be Jesus, or it may be something or someone else. The first difference between spiritual thieves and robbers and good spiritual shepherds is their approach – whether it is open and honest coming through the door of “this is what I believe and this is the God that I follow,” or, “I don’t really talk about things like religion. That’s your own private matter.”
Voice of Spiritual Predators and Spiritual Protectors
Next, Jesus says, “The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (10.3-5).
Last week I was working with the computer application called Google Earth. This app lets you zoom in on almost any part of the world using the technology of satellite images. Just for the fun of it and for memory’s sake I zoomed in on the city of San Diego, to the airport, and to the Marine base that is next to it. I saw something that had made a big impact on my life when I was younger. There is a huge rectangle of asphalt that you can see in the satellite image. It is affectionately known as the “Grinder.” On this Grinder on any given day many platoons of Marines are drilled for hours – marching in formation – “Left , Right, Left, Right…” “Column Right…” “Column Left…” “Left Oblique… “ “Right Oblique…” “To the Rear March…” and so on. On many occasions the drill instructors deliberately march their platoons right next to each other to see if the Marines will follow their orders and not those of another instructor. At first I thought this was a big waste of time. But eventually I saw that they were simply inculcating an instinct – the instinct to follow the correct orders from the correct leaders. Every battlefield is full of confusion. Only the good orders from the good leaders can save.
Life is full of confusion. Satan loves this confusion and often exploits it when people don’t have the instinct to follow the voice of Jesus. Sometimes he even tries to imitate the voice of Jesus. For example, can you tell which of these statements come from Jesus and which do not: “Go make disciples of all nations…” Or “Different faiths, like different paths lead to the same place." How about these two: “The Bible was written by men." Or, “God’s word cannot be broken.” Another pair that people often get wrong: “You can do nothing without Me.” Or, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” How about this pair: "Follow the truth in your own heart.” Or, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
The voice of Jesus is the voice of truth. It is the voice that calls us to repentance and the voice that calls us to forgiveness for the sake of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. The voice of Jesus does not tell us that we can do whatever we feel or may want to do. The voice of Jesus challenges us to engage in the battle between the sinful flesh and the spirit of faith. The voice of Jesus calls out our pride, lust, deceit, manipulation, jealousy, greed, and indulgence. When we do these things, we remember the voice of Jesus and like the Apostle Peter we weep bitterly. The voice of Jesus also inspires us to faith, hope and love, to humility, kindness, and self-sacrifice. The voice of Jesus bids us to follow in His footsteps as He leads us to the green pastures and cool waters of His word which nourish and satisfy our souls. Our “grinder” is our church, our worship, our Bible study, our family and personal devotions. All these things inculcate the instinct to hear and follow the voice of Jesus.
Results
After explaining the different approaches of the thieves and the shepherds and their voices, Jesus explains the results of following either one. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (10.10).
This is the key difference between the spiritual predators and the spiritual protectors. Jesus taught that the devil is a "murderer" (John 8.44). On the other hand, John said in chapter one, verse four, "In Him (Jesus) was life." When we dig a little deeper into the character of each ,we see why one is the murderer and the other is the life-giver. The murderer is also the father of, and constant promoter of sin. The life-giver is the Savior from sin and the constant promoter of forgiveness, faith, and new obedience. One leads to death and the other leads to life. We can use this distinction to avoid the spiritual predators of the world and seek the spiritual protectors.
Peter said that the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5.8). Paul said that Satan "transforms himself into an angel of light." And then he goes on to say: "Therefore it is no great thing if his (Satan's) ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 12.14-15). This is what Jesus means by the thieves and robbers. How are the ministers of Satan, as Paul calls them, transforming themselves into "ministers of righteousness"?
We see this in those who say:
* A child conceived in love is a child, but what is conceived by accident is not a child and can be discarded. The Bible says that God forms us in the womb. (Jeremiah 1.5) No conception is an accident.
* You are guaranteed health and wealth if you have enough faith. Paul, Christ's apostle, said "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6.10).
* Homosexual behavior and same-sex marriage is okay because Jesus never addressed it. Jesus said "He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.'" (Matthew 19.4-5). God created marriage for a life-long union of one man and one woman.
* All religions are willed by God and can lead their followers to salvation. Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14.6), and "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved" (John 10.9). While any religion may have some truth in it, only Jesus gives us the truth of forgiveness and salvation, therefore only Jesus saves.
* The Bible teaches there should be economic equality for all. The Bible actually teaches "You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor" (Leviticus 19.15). The Bible teaches just economic opportunity not unjust economic equality.
These are just a few examples of the way that "thieves and robbers" attempt to draw people away from the God of truth and mercy to the gods of lust, self-righteousness, and materialism. They all lead to death and destruction.
Let’s think a little more about this “life” that Jesus gives “abundantly.” The word for “abundant” is simply the word “more.” Jesus promises to give life and more and more of it. It doesn’t degrade, deteriorate or diminish over time. Rather, it increases and improves. It literally overflows. How can He say this when it is obvious that our physical lives are always declining from the time we are born? Jesus, the Good Shepherd, promises an abundant life because He alone came to take away the malady of sin that undermines and destroys all life. When you look at the list of false teachings that I just gave you, you will notice that they all focus on the abundance of the flesh, not the abundance of faith, hope, and love. Our physical lives are important because God created them. But if you really want to improve your physical life, you have to begin with the improvement of the spiritual life - and that means addressing sin through repentance, forgiveness, and striving for new obedience to God's will. We don't improve our physical lives, contrary to the false teachers, by denying sin, avoiding repentance, and not following God's will. I love this promise from 2 Corinthians 4.16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” In Christ we are never just dying. We are always dying and rising just like Him. We have an “inward man.” We have a soul. And God wants that soul to live by faith in Him more and more and forever and ever.
Conclusion
One of the greatest lies of spiritual predators use to capture their prey is the promise of freedom. "Come over the wall with me," they say. "Don't follow God's commandments or trust in His only way of salvation. You will have a better life." But the Bible and life experience tell of a much different outcome. Freedom from God is not freedom at all. It is slavery and destruction. On the other hand, the sheepfold, the Shepherd, and the pasture promise us protection and life. Amen.
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