1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture. 10The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. 17Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”
22It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. 23It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
31Therefore the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”
33The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
34Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’ 35If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken), 36do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’ 37If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. 38But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
39They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand. 40He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and he stayed there. 41Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.” 42Many believed in him there.
The Making of Cults
Jonestown Documentary Cover
We, humans, have built within us a need for worship. We want to find something smarter, wiser, and stronger than ourselves upon which we can depend. People find this when they come to Jesus and receive Him as their Savior. All that we need can be found in Him. We then depend on good, solid teachers to rightly divide the word for us and to help make the Bible relevant in our lives. We can appreciate sound teachers that we might love to hear, but be careful about becoming a "follower" of any of them. If one is not careful, it is easy to displace Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit with a friend, a pastor, or a teacher. As Paul shared the gospel, the people who had converted to Christianity began to brag about the teacher who had brought them to Christ. It is essential that we don't place too much importance on any one Bible teacher.
When I was a child, I attended a church with a dynamic Bible-teaching pastor. People came to church with tape recorders to record every teaching that this man gave. Over time, as people moved to another city or state, they would take their recordings with them. I spoke with some of them, and when I asked them where they were going to church, they would answer, "We've just not been able to find anyone who teaches the Word like _____________________ (name purposely deleted)." They never found a group with whom they could break bread, enjoy fellowship, sing songs, or enjoy fresh looks at the 'Apostles' teachings'" (See Acts 2:42). Unintentionally, they had become a 'cult' fixated on one man and his teaching. Years later I heard a well-known theologian refer to my old church as "the most orthodox cult in the United States." Cults are dangerous for many reasons. But most of all, they are dangerous because they are not biblical.
In 1978, during my second year of graduate school, the news reported that a young, charismatic preacher named Jim Jones, pastor of the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana, had led approximately 900 of his followers to establish a commune in Guyana, South America. He filled their minds with fear and inculcated an "us against them" mentality in the commune. His gospel message became filled with Marxist and socialist ideology. He replaced scripture teaching with doctrines of social reform and racial equality. The atmosphere became so fearful and anxiety-filled that he arranged one day for the entire group to get together for a special meeting. He convinced them that the only “way out” was for them to all drink Flavor-aid mixed with cyanide poison. When the "service" was over, 900 people had taken their lives in one of the largest mass suicides in human history. Thus, the term "drinking the Kool-Aid" became used in English to refer to a person being duped by a charlatan leader into doing something against their own interests. Remember that thing that Jesus said, "The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but I come so that you will have life and life abundant. (John 10:10) THERE ARE MANY WONDERFUL BIBLE TEACHERS. DON'T FIXATE ON ONE. DON'T FOLLOW A PERSON. FOLLOW JESUS. DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-AID. Don't "follow Paul, Apollos, or Cephas". Follow Jesus and Him alone.