Emmaus Road Ministries

Sheep Without A Shepherd

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world though Him might be saved."

God SO LOVED the world.  That's the WHOLE world.  That means saved AND unsaved.  This may seem like stating the obvious but, until Jesus shed his blood, nobody could be saved.
His invitation was and is to THE WORLD.

If God SO loved the world-saved and unsaved-and is not condemning them......yet........and is not pointing fingers of judgment at anyone, WE NEED NOT POINT FINGERS AT PEOPLE, EITHER.
Correct me if I'm wrong but those of us who believe are not given the ministry of condemnation--of judgment--but that of RECONCILLIATION.

con·dem·na·tion
ˌkändemˈnāSHən,-dəm-/
noun
noun: condemnation; plural noun: condemnations
1.  the expression of very strong disapproval; censure.
"there was strong international condemnation of the attack"
synonyms: censure, criticism, strictures, denunciation, vilification; More
2.  the action of condemning someone to a punishment; sentencing.

The only "testing" we are to do is found two places in scripture:
In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 it tells is to "Test all THINGS; hold fast what is good;"
AND...
1 John 4:1
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but TEST THE SPIRITS, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

There are "spiritual forces of wickedness in high places that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God."  IT DOES NOT SAY TO TEST PEOPLE.  People are not the problem, though they may be unwitting pawns.  After all, OUTSIDE OF CHRIST, SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD.
It is the spirits BEHIND the scenes that are the real culprits.  THOSE ARE WHAT WE MUST TEST.

Jesus never had harsh words for the sinners in His day.  He saw the lost as "SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD."  The harsh words were reserved for the religious set; the Pharisees, Saducees and Scribes."
HARDHEARTEDNESS ANGERS JESUS: not sin or sinners.

Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost.  He did a complete work of removing ALL sin.  Even those who have not yet received His free gift have their sins cleansed.  All that remains for them to do is understand that fact, ask Jesus to be their Savior and receive the gift of righteousness because IT IS NOT AUTOMATIC.  But someone has to tell them that.
Where the church has failed is in not communicating that truth.  We make them feel like there is a bunch of laws and rules they need to follow in order to be pleasing to God instead of a Savior Who loves them and gave His life for them.

SIN IS NOT A THREAT TO GOD.
Sin is not a barrier to fellowship with Him, either, contrary to what modern-day Pharisees may have told you from the pulpit.

We have been reconciled to God because we have received the gift of righteousness.
Our job is not to judge people based on their lifestyle or specific sins.  Our job is to preach the gospel to those who are lost.

We must see the unsaved as Jesus does:
SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD.

Blessings
Susan Deschaine
New Hartford, Connecticut
jlnministries
Prayer Requests
JLNministries@gmail.com