"And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:5-11).

"If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21).

God's love is a finished work. While 'Our love'... still has to be tested and tried.

When John the Baptist came on the scene, "He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah," (John 1:23).

John's ministry was to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. Of all the people's and nations of the world, God chose the Jews to be His Chosen People. He sent them prophets and leaders down through the centuries. He raised up Moses to lead them out of exile in Egypt, performing great and mighty signs and wonders on their behalf. It was to the Jews that He gave the Law through Moses, by which they were to live and worship HIM. Yet the Jews were a stiffnecked people. By the time God raised John to prepare the way of the LORD, they were a proud people, living under Roman occupation. They had established a very structured, impressive religious hierarchy by which they ruled and controlled the people. They were well aware of the prophesied coming of a Messiah to deliver them. They also had very set, preconceived ideas of what this Messiah would be like, and what they expected Him to do when He arrived.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts,"(Isaiah 55:8-9).

GOD never does anything the way that men expect!

The believers in the Early Church held no illusions regarding what it took to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Christ's message was clear and straightforward. It required absolute commitment. Today, we are faced with the same opportunity as well as the same challenges and requirements. The religious leaders no doubt spoke often of the soon coming Messiah, yet when HE came, they utterly rejected Him... because He did not match up to their expectations. They wanted a rescuer... someone who would back them up... give them even more pre-eminence over the people... deliver them from the Roman occupation and establish a Kingdom in which they could rule as Kings and Priests. They wanted more power than they already possessed.

Small wonder that they hated Him from the beginning, for He exposed them for what they really were. "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Mat 3:7).

"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Mat 12:34).

"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." (Mat 23:13).

This was not the kind of Messiah they were looking for. They were so secure in their own self-righteousness, that they were totally blind to their true condition. They knew how to work the system. They had all the right connections, knew all the right people, worked the religious and the political systems of their world to their greatest advantage.

Then this Man had the audacity to claim He was the "Son of God,' and worse still, He found fault with them. He called them "white washed sepulchers full of dead men's bones." And they hated Him for it. They equally hated... all who followed after this 'Jesus.' So I ask you, 'Where was their love of God?' and 'How are the religious leaders today any different than the Scribes and Pharisees that crucified the LORD?'

Are you beginning to notice something here?... That it is not God's love for man that is in question... but man's love for God, wherein the problem lies?

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun," (Ecc 1:9).

Religious leaders today are just as self-absorbed, using the ways and means of the world to build and control their religious empires, just as the Pharisees of old. We have different titles, ideologies and tools employed, but the basic principles are the same... power and control of the people. Nothing really ever changes when it comes to the nature of man.

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is," (Eph 5:15-17).

Look further here at Paul's admonition:

"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." (Eph 5:6-10).

Believers today are literally under attack! The concordance renders 'vain words' as meaning 'empty reasoning.' Logical conclusions are the result of carnal thinking. There is no place for carnal reasoning in a spirit-led life... for the ways of God are beyond the comprehension of the carnal mind. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom 8:8). These things, 'empty reasoning'... bring the wrath of God upon all of those who walk in 'unbelief'... which is what the 'children of disobedience' means. God forbid, that we should be partakers with them in their error! We once were in spiritual darkness, but now that we have received the light of the Lord, we must walk in the light, shunning the false and proving all things. We must come to the knowledge of Christ... we must come into absolute agreement with HIM in all things.

Know that everything you believe in is going to be tried by the coming fire. This fire is the righteous indignation of a Holy God, against all unrighteousness.

Believers' today are unprepared for the things that are coming upon the world. The Early Church believers would be unable to even recognize the messages being preached from pulpits across the land. The basic, fundamental teachings of Christ have come under attack in the past 50+ years, rendering them vain (useless). The Gospel of Christ has been diluted, dissected, and dismembered, until a majority of believers have no idea what the Teachings of Christ Jesus even are. Yet in His Grace and Mercy, God has given warnings to His Body in the earth today, to prepare our hearts to receive Him. It makes an enormous difference in our lives, what we believe and what are expectations are. If they are not in alignment with the Word of God, then we are in error and will be greatly disappointed. If we are not in agreement with what is acceptable to the Lord, then we are not going to be prepared to stand up to the wrath of His indignation.

Faith is not... solely for the preservation of our flesh, but for the transformation of our spirit... that we may be transformed into the image (be a reflection) of Christ.

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). Our faith should always be directed toward believing GOD, and His faithfulness. It is not, as the present day 'faith movement' would have us to believe, a way of coercing God into giving us everything we want in this world. When you read the 11th Chapter of Hebrews, commonly referred to as the faith chapter, you will not find one example of anyone obtaining material wealth by exercising their faith.

"By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Heb 11:29-40)

The stage is already set today for the persecution of the saints in this end-time. And it is going to be the religious establishment who will spearhead this persecution of all who refuse to compromise and come under their control.

We are going to learn what David meant when he said in Psa 56:11 "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me." Now is the hour in which we need to "redeem the time for the days are evil." "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Eph 5:11).

Multitudes today are making great claims as they promote doctrines of devils, attempting to bring about prophetic fulfillments in their own strength. In many circles the Holy Scriptures are deemed no longer relevant, and have been demoted beneath the latest prophetic word flowing forth from the mouths of the plethora of false prophets. Is it any wonder that the Church is Apostate in this hour... she has compromised herself into spiritual darkness, "calling light darkness and darkness light"... fulfilling the very scriptures she has so lightly discarded as being no longer relevant.