The Thief Jn 10:10 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

We can contrast the thief in Jn 10 with the shepherd. Today, we will study the thief and in the following broadcast, we will study the shepherd.  The thief represents the devil and his followers [Jn 10:8] who work for him [see 2 Cor 11:13-15].  You can spot the thief because he does not come in by the door [Jn 10:2, 7 – Jesus is the door; the thief “gets in” by another way].  Some of these other ways include Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roman Catholicism, Islam, science, philosophy, etc. He’ll use any way other than simple faith in Jesus Christ, the door.

The thief stole the kingdom of heaven from Adam and attempted to steal it and the kingdom of God from Jesus when he tempted him in the wilderness [Lk 4:5-8; 2 Cor 4:4; Rev 11:15].  He will steal the throne in the Tribulation in order to get the world to worship him [2 Thes 2:3-4].  Also, he was implicated in the death of Jesus Christ [Heb 2:14] and he will kill Tribulation martyrs by the thousands [Rev 2:10].  Then he will attempt to destroy Jerusalem and Israel [Rev 12].  Thankfully, he will fail and he will spend 1,000 years in the bottomless pit [Rev 20].  At the end of Christ’s millennial reign, he will make one more attempt to destroy Israel, at which time he will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity [Rev 20:7-10].

Knowing that he attacks the Lord and Israel relentlessly, don’t think he won’t come after you as a child of God.

Notice what he comes to do:

The thief comes to steal. He will steal your faith, your fear of the Lord, your money, and your children. The devil will also steal your joy, your fellowship, and your mind.

The thief comes to kill. Since he is a robber he will use violence if he has to.  Remember what he did to Job.  He uses the threat of death to advance his religion.  In history, he has used the inquisition, the crusades, and Islam.

The thief comes to destroy. His ultimate objective is to get you to spend an eternity in hell so that he can destroy your soul.

Conclusion: Just remember that our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has already triumphed over the thief [Col 2:14-15] and will ultimately destroy him.  So, don’t mess with him.  Trust Jesus Christ and then let him fend the devil off for you as you abide in the whole armor of God [Eph 6:10-18]!!