Hearing God's voice and discerning the voice of "a thief and a robber

Believer (all who have Christ as our utter Source of Righteousness and Strength,) we don’t need anyone to teach us how to hear and follow God’s voice any more than we need to teach an infant how to hear and follow her mother’s voice amid a crowd of strange women. Christ says to us in John 10–

“1 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the DOOR, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the DOOR is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the DOORKEEPER opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 

I put some words in caps for emphasis. A quick background: In Bible times, the sheep pen was a rock wall enclosure of loosely stacked stones. It provided protection against predators as well as "thieves and robbers." The interesting thing about the sheep pen was the door. It was not a physical door but an opening in the rock enclosure for the sheep to come in and go out. It was at this opening that the Shepherd would lie- like the shepherd in the photo below --

(image from gospelstudy.us.) The Shepherd Himself is the Door. In essence:

God is the Doorkeeper. Christ is both the Door and the Shepherd of the sheep (believers.) Here's one way to tell who is a thief and a robber which all believers (established in righteousness by God Himself) already know intuitively: 

God’s word tells us that ALL THINGS that God gives to all who enter by Jesus Christ the Door are FREELY-given:

“He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32.

Every blessing that we have through the Door (Jesus Christ) is freely-given to us by the Doorkeeper; a GIFT and not a reward for the good things we have done. E.g. everlasting righteousness in God's sight is the gift of God through Christ Jesus the Door, and we who believe have it not because we obeyed the law but through Christ's blood:

'And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9

What about freedom from those sins that false preachers hang over your head as a barrier to receiving God's blessings? Beloved, freedom from sin and the ability to produce good deeds is a gift of Grace who is Christ Himself. Titus 2:11 says of Him: "God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone." Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 tell us His work in our lives: 

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Even eternal life is the Gift of God through Christ the Door: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Beloved of God, Salvation from this "death" that is the wages of sin is God's GIFT to us: Christ died that death which many "pastors" still use to threaten their congregation into submission and He died it ONCE. See Hebrews 9:27-28:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die ONCE, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."

No matter how many times you sin, you can only die once. Christ died that death so receive the benefits by Grace. The benefits include salvation from acts of sins and addictions. Understand that this death that is the wages of sin is not just physical death. It is the same death that Adam died after eating of the tree. It is a PROCESS. Recall God said to Adam in Genesis-

"for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die." 

Psalms 90:4 says of God: "A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by,"; Moses wrote this concerning God's view of the life of man (v.3.) 

Adam did not give up the ghost immediately after his death sentence came into effect; he lived for almost 1,000 years aka one day gone by in the sight of God. But not the kind of life he lived in Eden. Fear, anxiety, stress, worry, silly mistakes, working so hard only to lose it all, sickness, lack, poverty, bad parenting, depression, laziness, impatience, having suicidal thoughts, fast-tracked ageing and all earthly ills are "death begun." A death that Christ died for all! 

Beloved, Christ has paid the wages of sin for you. God gave Him up for you and I FREELY. Don't let anyone bully you into bypassing Christ the Door and attempt to go directly to God bearing useless works in order to get Him to bless. Without going through Christ, sin remains and death must follow. For the believer in Christ, sin is no longer an issue. If there are sins in your life, Christ is there for you to save you from them all:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.

Recall Christ says: "...he who does not enter the sheepfold by the DOOR, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."

We know that Satan is the thief, and the thief came to steal, to kill and to destroy. Before Satan can kill and destroy, he first has to steal the WORD, which proclaims to us that with Christ, God FREELY gives ALL THINGS, including righteousness, wholeness, wellness, peace, sound mind, prosperity, all things. Through his agents masquerading as "pastor," Satan presents God's freely-given goodness, even salvation from sickness and lack, as something that one has to fast, grovel, beg and keep the law in order to earn or deserve.

Beloved, don't let Satan's pastors deceive you into trying to "pay God" for the same abundant life that He sacrificed His own Son for you to FREELY have, much less with useless seeds, fasts and silly attempts at being godly by keeping the law. See how God sees those (self-)righteous works that many offer to Him in order to get Him to bless in Isaiah 64:6-

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Beloved, all that the Doorkeeper (God) gives to the sheep of Christ the Door are freely-given, including salvation from generational and other curses. And He is calling on you to freely receive what He has freely given today. 

This freely-receiving from God through Christ is what makes the difference between Christ's-pastors and antichrist-pastors. 

The spirit of the antichrist is not necessarily anti-God. It is antichrist. Like the "holy holy" Pharisees, its carriers are all about you becoming godly....like God. These false pastors seem to be very religious/godly, preach strongly against sin and are always shouting the need for churchgoers to be godly and curse-free from the rooftops; but their own means for you to attain godliness (be like God) is by what YOU must do by your own effort and not what CHRIST has done, e.g. Galatians 3:13 says:

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law..." 

Not so for antichrist pastors. These ones tell you to "come fasting" for their various deliverance and curse-breaking services. It is sad that most churchgoers first hear of "their" generational or other curse from church pastors who should be preaching the Good News of man's redemption from every curse through the Door- our Saviour Jesus Christ. But these ones do not come through the Door and so cannot preach the Truth that makes free. The Doorkeeper did not open the Door for them.

You see those “pastors” who tell you to go and sow seed, be godly by yourself or do ANYTHING at all in order to enter/remain in Christ’s sheepfold and be fed, cared for and protected by Christ, those ones have bypassed Christ the Door through whom God gives us all things FREELY. Their own blessings always comes with terms and conditions for man to fulfill before God can save from curse, unemployment and earthly ills in general. God the Doorkeeper did not open the Door for them or any who follows them hence their "trade by barter" beliefs when it comes to feeding the flock and receiving from God who gives us all things freely with Christ, including salvation from generational and other curses. Beware of ANY "pastor" that is telling you who believe Jesus to come and fast or do deliverance in order to break curses that Christ has redeemed us from (See Galatians 3:13.) They are thieves and robbers. They are strangers. Believer, by Grace, we flee from such. 

Only through Christ the Shepherd and the Door do we enter into God’s presence. His blood cleanses us of all sin and unrighteousness for which the law demands the punishment of death. Trying to enter God’s presence or get Him to bless based on man’s obedience, works done or anything at all apart from Christ the Door alone is to attempt to enter with the stain of sin. Such who try have rejected the eternal payment for sins through the blood of Jesus Christ who absorbed ALL of God’s fiery judgment for our sins at the cross- so they are liable to face God’s wrath/anger which no man can survive:

“No wonder You are greatly feared! You are the awe-inspiring God! For who could ever stand before Your face when Your fierce anger burns and live to tell about it.” Psalms‬ ‭76:7‬ ‭

Beloved of God, by Grace, flee from those who “bypass” the Door and preach that useless works of the law can grant one God’s freely-given blessings in Christ the Door; take shelter, find peace and receive salvation from wrath/judgment in the Refuge that God Himself has provided for you and I through His sacrifice of His own Son—

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9

Some of us are aware that some of these false "pastors" teach death but we still go to their churches because we do not want to forsake the assembly of the brethren. Believer, that is akin to eating good rice from Monday to Saturday and eating rice cooked with pure Sniper on Sunday! That Sunday sniper rice is all it takes to cause death- akin to how you read many positive comments about yourself but it is that one negative comment from someone you respect that you can’t stop thinking about. Remember death is a process and “worry” is a part of the process. Not every assembly is "the assembly of our brethren" so ask and trust the Lord our Shepherd to make you lie down in green pastures where we feed on His Word that brings life.

Those same "trade by barter" strangers, thieves and robbers masquerading as pastors are the same ones who tell you to be "careful about Grace" and associate Him with license to sin. But how can one be careful about Christ Himself who “gave His life to free us from every kind of sin”? How can the Medicine for your disease make you sick?

Beloved, all of these things that we who are still imperfect in our earthly walk have FREELY from God the Doorkeeper through Christ the Door are not given so that we should go on sinning sprees as antichrist pastors love to imply. In God's Wisdom, He freely gives to us His abundance of Grace (unmerited favour) and His gift of righteousness in Christ so that we should live in triumph over sin and death-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

If you believe this, you already know and are hearing God's voice. It is a knowing that surpasses human understanding. Rest in Christ is not inactivity. Rest in Christ is Holy Spirit-directed activity. In Christ, the thoughts of the Holy Spirit in us become our action. We get to effortlessly do more, give more, love to spend time in the Word more and live a “much-fruit” bearing life of godliness, yet not us but Christ in us.

Right believing always produces right living