Do you want to know who hears and acts upon Christ’s voice more quickly than Christ’s “sheep?” Christ’s under-shepherds, those chosen and anointed by Him to teach and instruct and guide the sheep. Since they are the ones Christ will use to instruct His sheep in the truths of God’s Word, they must come to know and understand that Word rather quickly. Those “pastors” who have little or no true comprehension of God’s Word have merely chosen for themselves what they see as an honorable profession or a career or job that will provide them with much security and a rather easy life. And they do immeasurable harm to the body of Christ, His church. And they will answer to Him someday for their insensitivity and careless actions.
What kind of Good Shepherd would Christ be if He ordained men (and women?) to guide and instruct and care for His sheep who differed with one another dramatically in what they believed and taught? One teaching this doctrine and another teaching the exact opposite doctrine! This thought alone ought to be convincing evidence that many pastors, preachers, reverends are merely self-appointed representatives of Jesus Christ.
But the sheep also have their responsibility to “prove” all things of a spiritual nature, to come to know God’s Word on their own intimately well, to live submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to strive diligently to please the Lord in every area of their lives. Deceived believers bear great responsibility in having been so deceived. God have mercy on the careless believer who fails to submit themselves to total, continual obedience to Jesus Christ and God’s Word. They may find themselves quaking in their shoes at the judgment of believers.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley