The Shepherd and the Thieves

How can we tell whether a minister is a true shepherd or merely 'a thief and a robber?' How can we tell if someone is truly one of Christ's Sheep?

In John 10 Jesus gives the answer to both these important questions using a powerful illustration drawn from the agrarian life of ancient Palestine.

John Bunyan also illustrated this phenomenon in his immortal classic 'The Pilgrim's Progress' using the figures of 'Formalist' and 'Hypocrisy' who didn't come in to the narrow way through the door (Jesus Christ) but rather 'tumbled over the wall' and thus proved themselves to be the all-too-common 'thieves and robbers' who are in the church but not truly sheep.