Bible Verses for Reference:

“Thus said the Lord Jehovah; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them” (Eze 34:10).

“For thus said the Lord Jehovah; Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day” (Eze 34:11–12).

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (Jhn 10:16).

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jhn 10:27).

Relevant Words of God:

We have preached the gospel over and over to many leaders within religious circles, but no matter how we fellowship on the truth with them, they do not accept it. Why is this? It is because their arrogance has become second nature, and God no longer has a place in their hearts! Some people might say, “People under the leadership of certain pastors in the religious world really have a lot of drive; it is as though they have God in their midst!” Do you take having enthusiasm for having drive? No matter how lofty those pastors’ sermons might sound, do they know God? If they truly revered God deep down, would they make people follow them and exalt them? Would they monopolize others? Would they dare to prevent others from seeking the truth and investigating the true way? If they believe that God’s sheep are actually theirs, and that they should all listen to them, then is it not the case that they regard themselves as God? Such people are even worse than the Pharisees. Are they not antichrists? Thus, this arrogant nature of theirs can control them into doing things that betray God.

—“An Arrogant Nature Is the Root of Man’s Resistance to God” in Records of Christ’s Talks

The Man’s Fellowship for Reference:

All those who believe in the Lord know that believers belong to God; they absolutely do not belong to any denomination, nor to the leaders, pastors, or elders of any denomination. No matter which church they might attend for gatherings or activities, and no matter which pastors and elders might lead them, people who believe in God are all His sheep—and God’s sheep heed God’s voice. It is exactly as the Lord Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine” (Jhn 10:14). Many pastors and elders tend to refer to the people in their church as their sheep, but this is a grave error. How could God’s believers belong to those people? If someone dares claim ownership of a flock, is such a person not just trying to vie with God for that flock and for God’s chosen people? What is the difference between such a person and the wicked tenants of which the Lord Jesus spoke in the Bible? In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus spread the way of repentance to the Jewish people, who then believed in God. He also sent disciples and apostles across the land of Judea to share the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and to save the humans who were living under the law from the strictures and the shackles of rules and regulations. This was God’s love and salvation for man. However, the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees of Judaism denounced and resisted the Lord Jesus, and hindered others from accepting Him, ultimately suffering God’s condemnation and punishment. Now the Lord Jesus has returned: He is Almighty God. God’s sheep hear His voice. If the pastors and elders not only fail to hand over the Lord’s flocks, but actually go so far as to appropriate them, then they are but wicked servants. They will suffer God’s condemnation and punishment just as the Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees did.

Today, Almighty God’s appearance and work have fulfilled a biblical prophecy: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). Many sisters and brothers from various denominations who love the truth and long for God’s appearance have heard His voice and accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, returning before His throne one after another. This is God’s sheep heeding His voice. When the Lord Jesus returned, He first appeared to those who had been waiting for Him, and sent people into religious circles to spread God’s work of the last days so that those longing for His return would hear His voice and return to Him. Was that not a matter of course? However, not only have some pastors and elders in the religious world not handed God’s sheep back to Him, but they have counterattacked with unfounded accusations and sealed up their churches under the guise of protecting their flocks. They do not allow believers to seek or investigate the true way, but instead continually condemn The Church of Almighty God and accuse it of stealing their sheep. They brazenly claim God’s sheep as their own, and this completely exposes their ambition and desire to cage and control people. They keep tight control over believers and lay claim to God’s sheep with the goal of making those believers continue to follow and worship them. Are such leaders not exactly those wicked servants who seize the flock of whom the Lord Jesus spoke? Are they not antichrists who resist God and vie for His position? This calls to mind the Lord Jesus’ arrival to do work: Seeing that many of the Jewish people were following Him, the Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees felt jealousy and fear, afraid that if all believers followed the Lord Jesus, then they would not be able to maintain their positions and livelihoods. They then condemned the Lord Jesus in exactly the same way to prevent people from accepting His work. It was exactly as is written in the Bible: “Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. … Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death” (Jhn 11:47–48, 53). The Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees saw the Jewish people as their own personal property, and kept a tight grasp over God’s sheep. When God came to work and recover those sheep, the leaders struggled against Him for control over them. These chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees did not turn toward God, nor did they allow the Jewish people to follow Him. The Lord Jesus rebuked them, saying, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in” (Mat 23:13). God’s righteous disposition will not tolerate people’s offenses! While the Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were vying with God for His chosen people, resisting and condemning God, this angered God’s disposition, and they suffered His curses and punishment. The nation of Israel was wiped out for nearly two thousand years, many Jewish people were slaughtered, and they were driven in droves to disparate corners of the earth. If today’s pastors and elders of the religious world continue to lay claim over God’s sheep and prevent them from turning toward God, then all that lies ahead for those leaders is God’s righteous punishment!