The Good Shepherd and His Promises

Jesus Christ came to give us a rich, satisfying life! Speaking about His sheep in John 10:10, He said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” In our walk, it may seem like the life we’re building in Christ is constantly crumbling or being torn down even though we are faithfully serving Him as part of a church body, diligently praying, and studying His word. We have received the Lord Jesus into our hearts and are born again, confessing and believing in Him according to Romans 10:9-13; however, our lives are not full nor satisfying as He promised.

The abundant life the Lord Jesus promised us in John 10:10 may not be realized due to the influences of an unhealthy sheepfold. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says, “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.” Because of negative influences, our lives may not be positioned in obedience to qualify for the blessings prepared for us. Therefore, an unhealthy sheepfold must be identified, and its influences dealt with and negated.

The Picture of an Unhealthy Sheepfold

The first step in our journey is to get to the root cause of unhealthy sheepfolds. To do this, we have to look at the church in Pergamum (or Pergamos in some translations) found in Revelation 2:12-17.

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’

The Lord Jesus said the church in Pergamum held fast to His name and refused to deny His faith even during very difficult circumstances, but He still had a few things against them. He said there was unchecked compromise in this church because they openly accepted and practiced doctrine that He hated. The church in Pergamum compromised when it came to the word of God, and allowed the doctrine of the Nicolaitans to go unchecked.

The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines compromise as “the acceptance of standards that are lower than is desirable,” and unchecked means “not controlled or restrained.” Since the Lord Jesus hated the teaching and doctrine of the Nicolaitans, idolatry and immorality were undoubtedly at the foundation, and this is the very picture of an unhealthy sheepfold.

The Origin of an Unhealthy Sheepfold

Why and how did the church in Pergamum become an unhealthy sheepfold? How did a faithful church reach the point where idolatry and immorality were tolerated in the body? To fully explain this, we have to go back to the origin of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and its originator, Nicholas.

We first see Nicolas in the book of Acts. Nicolas was one of the seven men chosen by the twelve apostles to serve the church. He was appointed because he had a good reputation and was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Nicolas was chosen and equipped to do what the Lord Jesus called him to do.

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:1-7)

Somewhere in his walk, Nicholas began to degrade the words of the Lord Jesus. Although he was an appointed leader in the church at Jerusalem, he began to teach a doctrine that was contrary to the word of God. Nicholas added his own doctrine to what the Lord Jesus had taught. Nicholas distorted the Shepherd’s voice by not being steadfast in what was committed to him as a leader appointed by the twelve apostles. He no longer followed the voice of the Good Shepherd and created his own beliefs, giving birth to the Nicolaitans.

The Motive of an Unhealthy Sheepfold

The motive behind the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is clear, and it is present in the church today. In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Nicolaitans (g3531) means “destruction of people” and Nicolas (g3532) means “victorious over the people.” Simply put, the Nicolaitans wanted to dominate the people, in the name of Jesus. The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines dominate as “to have a commanding influence on; exercise control over.” Nicholas, the originator of this doctrine, who started out as an equipped leader in the church, brought a strange voice into the sheepfold to destroy the people and to be victorious over them. The aim was to take God’s place in the lives of people. In essence, to be their idol. The Nicolaitans speaking in the name of Jesus misled the church in Pergamum. They led them right into the very thing the Lord Jesus hates.

This is similar to some pastoral leadership in the body of Christ today, who start off as qualified, appointed, chosen shepherds, but along the way, begin to degrade the word of God by injecting their own beliefs and personalities into the word of truth. A shepherd becomes unqualified when serving turns to domination, admonishing turns to commanding, and shepherding turns to exercising lordship. Shepherds who dominate the flock entrusted to them, not only believe, but teach that which is contrary to the voice of the Good Shepherd. The apostle Peter said this in 1 Peter 5:1-4 –

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Shepherds who make themselves masters of the sheep, rather than stewards of God (Titus 1:7), will ultimately disqualify themselves from their appointed positions and mislead, misuse, and abuse the sheep entrusted to them. This consequently causes the sheepfold to be unhealthy and out of position for the abundant life the Good Shepherd promised them. The sheep are unable to be wholehearted in their walk with the Chief Shepherd because of fear, condemnation, intimidation, and mistrust (rather than faith) instilled in them by the shepherd.

Unchecked Compromise Today

Let’s make this practical for us today. The church at Pergamum was clearly dominated by the strange voices of the Nicolaitans. They knew the Shepherd’s voice and what doctrine to follow; however, they had those who willingly held to, obeyed, and complied with false doctrine. By openly compromising, they were condemned to destruction by their own choosing. While the Lord Jesus came to give the church abundant life, the Nicolaitans were working against Him by teaching doctrine He hated, with practices and beliefs rooted in idolatry and immorality. He said He would come and fight against them with the sword of His mouth if they did not repent.

For us today, while desiring to hold fast to the Lord Jesus and submit to His will for our lives under pastoral leadership that started off good like Nicolas, we may ignore, dismiss, underestimate, trivialize, or even be oblivious to overt or obvious signs that a strange voice is now leading us into false doctrine in the name of Jesus. As a result, we are misled and disqualify ourselves from our inheritance by this unchecked compromise.

We have to ask ourselves if we’ve allowed someone else to dominate our lives and take the place of God in our hearts? We have to examine if we’ve followed a strange voice, even though we knew it did not sound like the Good Shepherd? We have to honestly reflect on if we’ve overlooked any teachings that were out of character of the Good Shepherd?

The Journey to Identification and Restoration

So, after examining the root cause of an unhealthy sheepfold, what must we as believers do to begin our journey to identification and restoration? The Lord Jesus told the church in Pergamum to repent or turn away from the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. He commanded them to repent or else He would come to them quickly and fight against them with the sword of His mouth. Therefore, a sheep who has compromised and heeded a voice other than the Good Shepherd’s must first repent. Repent, and then note and avoid any sheepfold where His word is degraded by the pastoral leadership. The Nicolaitans tried to infiltrate the church at Ephesus as well with this idolatrous domination, but it was hated and rejected there (Revelation 2:6). We too can make the decision to reject false doctrine and no longer follow a strange voice. The Lord Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” We can make the decision to only listen to someone speaking spirit and life. This is why it is vitally important to Know the Shepherd’s Voice.

In conclusion, the apostle John said it clearly –
Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols–[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart]. 1 John 5:21 (AMP)

In our next post, we will explore how to recognize distorted voices speaking in the name of Jesus and how the Lord Jesus dealt with voices contrary to the word and will of God during His time on earth.

Disclaimer: Before making decisions or changes that affect your spiritual life and well-being, always personally seek God for His perfect will for your life and always follow peace.

Scripture quotation taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. lockman.org

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible is public domain.