for His grace. If you take your Bibles now and
turn with me to Psalm 23. Psalm 23. I've entitled this message, Nine
Provisions of the Good Shepherd. Nine provisions of the good shepherd. David writes, the Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. And then in verses 2 through
verse 6 he gives us these provisions. The provisions in which he will
never lack because the Lord is David's shepherd. I will never
want for these things, and he lists these provisions, he maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the steel
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. Thou art with me. Thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell. in the house of the Lord forever. This psalm, no doubt, is one
of the most familiar passages of scripture to everyone, and
I'm sure in this country. It's written on greeting cards.
It's written on sympathy cards. People in churches recite this
psalm as though it is a prayer. Let us pray together, and they
began to recite, The Lord is my shepherd. Yet few people understand,
and even fewer people understand or know this, that this psalm
is not written or intended for everyone. It's not intended for everyone.
This psalm was written by David when he was king of Israel. Yet
before he became king, Man, David was a shepherd. He was a shepherd
of his father's sheep. And to be a shepherd is not an
easy trade. It was one that required constant,
continual care for the sheep. See, he was not a shepherd of
every animal, was he? He was a shepherd of sheep. And
this psalm is written by a sheep giving thanks to his shepherd. Now, a cattleman, he may have
to tend and feed his cattle, but surely he doesn't have to
tend to them all the time. Pig farmers, they feed them and
pretty much leave them to themselves. They don't need constant care,
constant attention. But sheep are not so. They are
by nature stupid. Ignorant animals. Now listen,
I've seen some animals do amazing things. I've seen a chicken, you know,
he'll ring a bell for some food. He'll peck at a bell if you give
him some food. He's smart enough to understand.
Hit the bell, get food. I've seen animals jump through
hoops and jump through rings of fire. I've never seen a sheep
do any of that. Have you? They're stupid animals. They're weak and defenseless
animals. You know what the defense mechanism
is for a sheep? To roll over. When he's attacked,
all he'll do is roll over. is defenseless against predators. They have to be led to different
pastures. If they were to remain in the
same pasture, they would starve to death. They would not go out
and find food for themselves. They must be led. They're fearful
creatures. They won't even drink from a
running stream. So fearful. Therefore, the shepherd
must always be there. rain or shine, he must endure
all the elements, constantly watch for predators and continually
lead them and feed them. David understood the importance
of a shepherd, the labor of a shepherd as well as the stupidity of sheep. So David in this psalm is not
intending it to be a prayer, asking God for something. It
is not intended Like most people say as a prayer, he says this,
I shall not want. What are you doing when you're
praying? You want something. Unintended as a prayer for what
you want, but as rather a psalm of thanksgiving of what you already
have. Listen, the Lord is my shepherd. He's not asking the Lord to be
his shepherd. He's not saying, Lord, will you
be my shepherd? No, he is stating a fact. The
Lord is my shepherd. And because of this, I shall
not want, I will not lack anything because you are my shepherd. David, by his own experience
as a shepherd, sees this clearly, but this is a spiritual psalm. This is not physical. He intended
it as a spiritual psalm. He said the Lord is my shepherd. Now, before we get into the benefits,
of this. The benefits of God's sheep,
we must first be established in who the shepherd is and who
are the sheep. Who is the shepherd? And who
are the sheep? I want to say this at the very
beginning, Jesus Christ is intended here. He is the good shepherd
of his sheep. Now, David didn't come up with
this analogy on his own. This was already established
many hundreds of years before David came into this world. In Genesis chapter 49, when Jacob
was giving the blessings upon his children, he comes to Joseph,
and this is what he said, Joseph, Genesis 49, 22, Joseph is a fruitful
son. Who's he really talking about?
Christ. Jesus Christ is a fruitful son. Even a fruitful bow by a whale. The whale here is intended of
salvation. And he says whose branches, that
word branches means daughters. What do you think he's talking
about? He's talking about his church. The branches of Christ
are his daughters, his church. that run over the wall. The archers
have sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him. Is that
not true of Christ? Evil men hated him without a
cause. But his bow abode in strength. His arms, the arms of his hands
were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. This
is speaking of his resurrection, though they wounded him, though
they crucified him, yet by the mighty hand of God, his bow is
strong. He is raised from the dead, even
the mighty God of Jacob. Listen, from thence is the shepherd. He's prophesying that from Jacob
shall come this mighty arm. From Jacob shall come this fruitful
bow. From Jacob shall come, listen,
the shepherd. See this was prophesied that
Christ should be termed as a shepherd. As a shepherd. So David knew
what he was writing about. He was writing about the Lord
Jesus Christ who was to come. If you go to Isaiah chapter 40,
go to Isaiah chapter 40. In this passage, Isaiah describes
the Lord Jehovah as one who sits upon the circle of the earth.
He sits. And he measures the waters with
the palms of his hands. How great is our God. He says
in verse 10, Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand
and his arm shall rule for him. Who is that? Who is his arm?
It's Christ. Christ is the arm of God. Christ
is the salvation of God. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. What was his work? His work was
salvation. The work of Christ was salvation.
What was his reward? His reward was his people. His exaltation, all power being
given to Him. And listen, when this happens,
He shall feed His flock like a what? Shepherd. You see, this is one of those
pictures of Christ when He was to come into the world. He was
to be the shepherd. He was to be the shepherd. And
he is the shepherd. He's going to feed his flock,
and he will gather his lambs with his arm and carry them in
his bosom and gently lead those that are with young. This speaks
of Christ coming and accomplishing his salvation. And when he did
that, he said this, Father, I finished the work you gave
me. Give me the glory that I had
with you. And all power should be given unto me in heaven and
earth for this reason, that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given me. So as the shepherd, he comes
and he feeds his flock. You who have been gathered, is
that not your testimony that he has fed you? Is it not your testimony that
your shepherd has kept you? And not only will he keep and
comfort those that he's already gathered, he says this, I will
gather them. There's others yet to be gathered.
I will gather them and I will carry them. Isn't this an amazing
picture? Carrying us. You know, I make
it, when I make it to heaven, that little silly poem about
two footprints. There's only going to be one
set. I made it because he carried
me. The difference between a false
god and a true god is a false god needs to be carried. A true god carries me. My shepherd
carries me in his bosom and he leads us all the way to glory. And this is exactly what Jesus
said of himself. Now go to John chapter 10. Again,
the important point is this, that the picture of the shepherd
was a testimony of Christ in the Old Testament. When He spoke
of the shepherd, now Jesus Christ, He comes now. The shepherd has
come and He is declaring Himself. When He says this, listen, He
says, I am the good shepherd. He is saying this, I am the Christ. That's exactly what He was saying.
I am the Christ. I am the good shepherd. And what is the character and work of
the shepherd? I am the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. That is the characteristic
of a good shepherd. You just pay a man to watch your
sheep, and when the wolf comes, he'll run. That's what he says.
In those next few verses, he said, the hiring fleeth because
he's an hireling. and not the shepherd. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd,
I know my sheep and am known of mine. Behold then the goodness
of Christ as the shepherd, that he giveth his life for the sheep.
Now why must the good shepherd give his life for the sheep?
Simply because his sheep have gone astray. Isaiah says this,
that we have turned everyone to his own way. I suppose you've passed many
church signs on the way here. Why are there many churches?
Because people believe there are many different ways. They
believe there are many different paths to God. And so what we do, we turn to
our own way. Well, I like this way. Well,
no, I like this way. What does this prove? It proves
this. We have all sinned. We have all
turned from God to our own way. We have sinned. We were born
incorruptible in nature. We were born in rebellion. We
were born by nature. We would not and could not restore
ourselves to God. So far had our sins Driven us
from God. Our sins have removed us from
any hope. That no amount of religious exercise
or no amount of religious experience could ever bring us to God. I'll
tell you this, I bear them record. Religion has a zeal. Don't they? They're zealous people, man.
They give, they give tons of money. They give tons of their
time and energy to performing rituals and ceremonies and buildings
that are just enormous and beautiful. I bear them record. They have
a zeal. I can't remember what it was.
There was there was a. When they do communion in the
Catholic Church, when they they come up and take the sacraments,
you realize how many rituals they have to go through. hundreds
and they've got them listed step by step that they have to follow
that at the kneel and that to make the sign of the cross and
have to say this prayer and have to do this and I think there's
over 20 times or so that they have to make the sign of the
cross before they can say that that's the body of Christ a whole
bunch of things they have to do and they have a zeal friends
and I wouldn't even dare I'd get bored after about the first
10 seconds of it They have a zeal but not according to knowledge.
Why? They go about to establish their
own righteousness. Why do men do that? Because they're
dead. They have no understanding. They go about to serve God in
their own way. Therefore, Paul says this even
by the deeds of the law. Is there anything holier or better
than the law? There's nothing better than the
law. The law is good. The law is right. But yet we
are so full of sin that by the deeds of the law shall no flesh
be justified in the sight of God. That's how far we have gone
astray. Therefore God sending his son
in the flesh, in the very nature of man, and yet this shepherd came into
the world without sin. How did he miss it? We all were
born sons of Adam, weren't we? This transgression of Adam passed
in the blood. We are the seed of Adam, therefore
we are sinners by nature. Christ came into the world, not
the seed of Adam, but the seed of the woman. Therefore, he had
no sin. And Jesus, knowing the ruined
condition of his sheep, what did he have to do? He had to
offer himself a sacrifice for their sins. He offered a sacrifice. He entered into the holy place
once. I like that in Hebrew. I think it's not Hebrew. He entered
into the holy place once. Not with the blood of others,
but with his own blood. Having obtained eternal redemption. He got it. He, by his one offering,
he sacrificed for sins. The great shepherd of the sheep
laid down his life for the sheep. And the father loveth him because
he laid down his life. You know what that means? I mean,
the father always loved Christ. But what is this special love
in that he was successful? The father loved him. Consider
that he was made sin for us who knew no sin. Yet so successful
was his offering. that the father loved it, the
father accepted it. And to testify of that success,
what's the testimony of his success? God raised him from the dead. And like a good shepherd, he
swears this in verse 15, look at verse 15 of chapter 10 of
John. He says, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Other sheep I
have which are not of this fold. See, that Jewish fold, it was
a fold of the Jews and most of the people before Christ, listen,
that were saved, most of them were Jews of that fold, that
old dispensation fold. He said, Other sheep I have which
are not of this fold. I like to understand this and
he was thinking about me when he said that. Think about you, who are his
sheep? Other sheep I have in this fold. Them I also must pray. Now when God says he must do
something, he's obligated himself to it. I must bring them and
they shall hear my voice. You got that? That sound finicky? Well, they might hear my voice.
I'm doing this just as a chance. I'm throwing it up in the air
and hoping that it comes down right. You know, I know you've been,
God's blessed you to not hear some of the garbage that's out
there, maybe. One prominent preacher in Houston said this, there were
two games being played at the cross. The Roman soldiers were gambling
for the garments, and Christ was gambling for the souls of
his people. No. There was no chance he would
lose. He said, they shall hear my voice. And there shall be one fold.
And, listen, one shepherd. Seeing that the shepherd has
accomplished salvation of his sheep, he says, I must bring
them in the fold. They shall hear my voice and
understand all his sheep by nature then are spiritually dead. They
cannot come to him. They will not come because they
have no life. They will not come because they We'll not come to him because
they are a servant of sin. But in the day his sheep hear
his voice, something happens. This is why he's the good shepherd. Because he actually accomplishes
what he says he's going to do. None of us can do that. You can't
do that in anything you want to do. We determine to do things
and sometimes it works out, right? Most of the time it don't. But
this man, the good shepherd, does what he says he'll do. And that day he calls them, his
sheep will hear his voice. voice. He told that woman as
well. He said, Barely I say and barely bit I saying to you, he
that hears my word and believes on him that sent me half everlasting
life. You got that? He already had
it. Here's my word and believes on him that sent me. Guess what?
He already has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from what death to life. The only difference
between you who are believers, you who are living, and those
who are dead is the voice of the Son of God. Truly, truly, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Have you heard the voice of the
Son of God? That's the only thing that makes
any difference. I don't care what you've done religiously. I don't
care who your parents are or your family is. Have you heard
his voice? Whichever hears his voice, no
matter how vile they are. You got that? You know some vile
people. You're looking at one. No matter how vile they are,
they hear his voice, they'll live. It doesn't matter what
you've done. It doesn't matter how much you've
blasphemed. You hear his voice and you'll
live. No matter how steeped in false
religion you When he speaks to a man's heart, that man lives. And listen, when that man lives,
he will forsake everything he thought he knew and follow Christ. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they what? They
follow me. They follow me. They believe
on him. And the son of God, the shepherd,
shall call his sheep, he calls them by name, they will live,
they will forsake their sins, their religion, and believe on
him. These are the sheep of God, of Christ. Those who hear his
voice and those who follow him. Continue in John chapter 10 and
look at verse 24. Now there's a lot of, when Jesus
said, I'm the shepherd, they didn't understand. They didn't know what he meant. And so they come to him, they
sit around about him, they said, How dost thou, long dost thou
make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. What did he say? I told you. When I said, I am the good shepherd,
what did he say? I am the Christ. I am the Christ. I told you plainly. And you believe not. Not only
did I tell you, but the works that I do in my father's name,
they bear witness of me. He raised the dead. He healed
the blind. He healed the lame. He healed
the sick. He changed the water into wine.
Is there any more proof that you need? But you believe not. How many people say that, looking
for a sign? Yeah, who's looking for a sign?
Well, if you know what, if you just heal me, then I'd believe.
No, you wouldn't. No, you wouldn't. Remember that
rich man in hell? He looked up his eyes and said,
Father Abraham, you know, send Lazarus back, so my brothers may believe. You know what he said? He said
they have Moses in the prophets. They have the word of God. They
will not believe even though one be raised from the dead. They would not believe. He said
you believe not. Now why did they not believe?
Plenty works. Christ testified plainly who
He is. Every week I testify to you that Jesus is the Christ. Every week I tell of His success,
of His victory, of His salvation, of His blood, of His righteousness. I tell you of your sin, of your
need of Him. I tell you come to Him and He'll
give you life. And yet many do not believe.
Why do they not believe? Because. Look at verse 26. Because you are not of my sheep. He didn't say you're not my sheep
because you don't believe. That's religion. Today's religion
is that. Well, if you want to be a sheep,
all you gotta do is believe. No, you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. All those who continue in unbelief,
who never hear the voice of Christ, they believe not because they
are not of the sheep of Christ. They are not his sheep. They
will never become his sheep. I spoke with a pastor, a friend
of mine, and he was conveying this when the Lord revealed this
to him. He was in a group of pastors.
He was actually preaching at the time. One of the pastors
asked him a question. He says, Can a sheep, can a goat become
a sheep? Can a goat become a sheep? Have
you ever seen that in nature at all? No. Goat's a goat. It's always going to be a goat.
He's never going to change. So it is with these that are
not the sheep of Christ. They will never change. They're
going to always be their nature. Listen, you were a sheep because
you were chosen. You that are sheep, you were
a sheep from eternity. You were his sheep. He was always
your shepherd. Yes, you were lost. But the good shepherd always
intended to find you. And he found you. And you heard his voice. You did what any sheep would.
You followed Him. You followed Him. Now listen, anybody that does
not believe on Christ and dies in their sins, I want you to
understand this. It's your fault. It is the responsibility of every
man to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility, yet
lack of ability does not negate the responsibility. Man has no
ability to come, but that does not negate his responsibility.
You're still responsible. But all who do come, we recognize
this, that we were chosen of the Father and given to Christ.
He is my shepherd. And he swears as a good shepherd
to gather all his sheep by his sovereign effectual power and
call. And listen, they will hear him. You know, I want all men to hear
him, but it's not my ability. I have no ability to make you
hear his voice. But I'm comforted in this that
his sheep cannot hide. from him. There is no place that
they can go. He won't find it. You always get that silly. Well,
what about those people in way out that never heard the gospel?
Listen, God got a sheep out there, they'll hear it. I have no qualms
about that. Remember that Ethiopian unit?
We're filled to find him. He just came from Jerusalem.
He just, he just offered those sacrifices and yet he went away
empty. When God sent Philip, meet him
in the middle of the desert. Wherever God's people are, he'll meet
them, he'll find them. And if they're not God's people, listen,
they believe not because they're not of his sheep. I know this,
wherever they are, he'll find them. He'll preach the gospel
to them and they'll believe on him. Is the Lord your shepherd? Is
the Lord your shepherd? David said, The Lord is my shepherd. He was confident of
that. Are you? Well, you are if you
heard his voice. You are if you follow Him. What
is it to follow Him? Now, there's a lot of people
say, well, you know, I follow Him, you got to do this and stop doing
this and start doing this. What is it to follow Him? It
is simply this, it is to believe on Him. It is to love Him. And as you believe on Him and
you love Him, you love His people. You love His word. You love His
message. You follow him. Follow him. I like this song. We sing this
often. I think this is a good testimony of one sheep. He said,
I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the fold. I did not love my shepherd's
voice. I would not be controlled. I was a wavered child. I did not love my home. I did
not love my father's voice. I loved afar to Rome. Oh, the shepherd sought his sheep.
The father sought his child. They followed me or vale or hill
or desert, waste, and wild. They found me nigh to death,
famished and faint and alone. They bound me with the bands
of loved. They saved the wandering one. Jesus my shepherd is. T'was he
that loved my soul. T'was he that washed me in his
blood. T'was he that made me whole.
"'Twas He that sought the lost, that found the wandering sheep. "'Twas He that brought me to
the fold. "'Tis He that still doth keep.'" Is the Lord your shepherd? Is the Lord your shepherd? If He is your shepherd, listen,
He was always your shepherd. He was always your shepherd. Jesus said in John 10, look at
this and go back to John 10. You believe not because you're
not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear my voice.
I know them and they follow me. Listen, I give unto them eternal life. Now, who gets eternal
life? Them. How do they get it? I give it to them freely. No merit in the dumb animal.
No merit in the dumb sheep. I give it to them. And as a result
of my gift, they shall never perish. When will the sheep of God perish? Never. Give them eternal life, they
shall never perish. And as they exist in this world,
listen, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Romans chapter 8, beautiful passage
of scripture. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Who? Shall tribulation or distress? In tribulation or distress? You
felt tribulation and distress? Sheep often do. Shall tribulation or distress?
What about persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep as for
the slaughter. Isn't that how men see you? Dummy. Why would you, why would
you endure it, leave that place? Why have you not left Christ
concerning all the persecution you faced? No, Paul said. In all things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us, for I am persuaded
that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ. The Lord is my shepherd. He gives unto us eternal life
and no man is able to pluck us out of his hand. My father which
gave them me. There it is again. Why are you
his sheep? You were given to Christ. He
is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of
my hand. I and my father are one. one in will, one in power,
one in deity. No man is able to pluck them
out of my hand. And what then is the result of
this? If Jesus Christ is your shepherd, what did David say? The Lord
is my shepherd because of this, what? I shall not want. What are you missing? The old man of sin in us is still
covetous, isn't he? Still want things. Your kid's Christmas coming,
right? You want anything? Yeah, I got a lot of wants. I
got a lot of wants. What's going to happen after
you get it? Where's it going to go? What about last Christmas
with all this stuff? Where'd it go? Flesh always wants something.
They're not any different than us. Flesh always wants something. But because
Jesus is my shepherd, you listen to this, I will never lack anything
that is good for me. Never. Because Christ is my shepherd
doesn't mean that I escape tribulation. Doesn't mean I escape persecution.
Doesn't mean I escape sickness. Doesn't mean I escape death.
But even in these things, even in these troubles, listen, I
shall lack nothing to make me acceptable before God. Nothing. What does God want from you?
What does God demand from you? Righteousness. Guess what? I am never going to lack righteousness. Jesus is my righteousness. God
demands a sacrifice for your sins. Jesus Christ is my sacrifice
for sins and God has already accepted him. What does he demand
from me? What offering do I need to bring
to him? Nothing but thanksgiving and
praise. If I, again, most people take
this psalm, they try to pray it, and they're praying because
they want something. Is that right? They want something. And
that's the whole point of the psalm. The psalm is, because
the Lord's my shepherd, I will not lack anything. I won't lack
anything that God requires of me. I won't lack leadership.
I won't lack protection. I won't lack spiritual food. There's there's so many things
like I know I didn't get to him, but there's provisions and I
think I'll just go over them next week with you. But this
is the important thing, because these provisions are only for
the sheep. These things, these promises are only for the sheep.
So if you're not his sheep, these are not your promises. You're
always going to be missing these things. But we who are his sheep,
the Lord is my shepherd. I will not lack. Anything God
requires. What about faith? Without faith it's impossible
to please God. Isn't that right? How often do you fear you lack
faith? But have you stopped believing
yet? It may be like Elijah with the widow woman in the cover.
Maybe it's just enough for the day. I don't ever seem like I have an
overabundance of faith, do you? I'll tell you this, I will not
lack faith because He gives it to me daily. I will not lack guidance or care
for His presence. He's always with me. I will not lack courage because
He is my strength and my life. I pray God will help you with
this. I pray God will reveal Himself as He is, the Good Shepherd
that giveth His life for the sheep. That He is the one that
gives us eternal life and we shall never perish because the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not.