Zachariah chapter 11. The name
of the message is Beauty and Bands of the Gospel. Beauty and
Bands of the Gospel. Zachariah chapter 11. In this
chapter, the Lord gives us a contrast between the idle, foolish, and
false shepherds, which we see in verses 15 and 17, and the
great, good, and chief shepherd of the flock. which is the Lord
Jesus Christ. We see in verses 12 and 13 that
30 pieces of silver is mentioned in this chapter as the price
given for the Almighty Speaker in this chapter. It says in verses
12 and 13, and I said unto them, if you think good, give me my
price, and if not forbear, so they weighed for my price 30
pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast
it unto the potter a good price that I was praised of them. And I took the 30 pieces of silver
and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Now this
is the key to all this portion of scripture. The key to explain
this chapter is the good shepherd and who he is. This speaks of
the Lord Jesus Christ. In my prayers, the Holy Spirit
would illuminate the scriptures tonight and teach us the things
of Christ. As we see the contrast between
the false shepherds fought forth in this chapter and the one true
shepherd of God. the one true shepherd of God's
people, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verses one to three.
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Howl, fir tree, for the cedars
fallen, because the mighty are spoiled. Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan,
for the forest of the vintages come down. There's a voice of
the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled. The
voice of the roaring of young lions for the pride of Jordan
is spoiled. Now opening the doors of Lebanon
there has reference to the church, to the church. We also see that
the hand of the Lord was in judgment against Jerusalem. The gates
of our hearts, beloved, were shut in our natural state. We know that. We know in Scripture,
from studying the Scripture, that it's the Lord who opened
up Lydia's heart, right? It's the Lord who opened up Lydia's
heart. So in our natural state, our hearts are closed to God
and the things of God. He must give us a new heart and
open our hearts to Him. So the gates of our hearts were
shut against receiving the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
now they're opened by the Lord, aren't they? Opened by the Lord
and by his almighty power. And he reveals himself to his
people. We know that through studying
the scriptures. He does that. And it's the Holy
Spirit of God that reveals Christ to us. And the heart of every
believer is opened by the grace of God. By the grace of God. And broken by judgment, too.
Our hearts are opened by the grace of God and we're broken
by judgment. Because what do we see when the
Lord opens our hearts to the things of Christ? We see ourselves
guilty, don't we? We see ourselves guilty before
the Lord. We see ourselves hopeless. We
see ourselves as helpless sinners. And it's the Lord who's the one
who uses, what does He do? He uses His word to melt our
hearts, doesn't He? He uses His word to melt our
hearts. He melts the hard heart of sinners of His choosing. That's
what He does. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 4. Isaiah chapter 4. Listen to these words in Isaiah
chapter 4. Verses 4 to 6. Look at this. And look who's doing the work
here. Can we make ourselves clean?
No. There's not one human being on
this earth who can make themselves clean before God. Not one. I can't make you clean, and you
can't make yourself clean, and neither can I. But who can make
us clean? The Great Redeemer. the Lord
Jesus Christ. He can make us clean, He can
clothe us in His perfect spotless righteousness, can't He? Look
what it says here in Isaiah 4-6, when the Lord shall have washed
away the filth of the daughters of Zion. It's the Lord who's
done this. This is the work of God. How has He washed the filth
of us away from ourselves? By the precious blood of Christ,
beloved. And shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the
midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of
burning. A Holy Spirit conviction in the believer's heart. And
the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion
and upon her assemblies a cloud and a smoke by day. He's ever
watching over us. And the shining of a flaming
fire by night. For upon all the glory shall be a new fence. And
there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime. from
the heat, and a place of refuge, and a covert from the storm,
from the rain. He's our refuge, beloved. He's the one who cleanses
us. We can't clean ourselves from
our sin. Not one of us. Let's go back
to our text in Zechariah here. So when the Lord has drawn one
of his lost sheep, sometimes distress and anguish fills our
souls. And those things will attend the divine operation of
God. Because when He reveals our natural state to ourselves,
oh my. All we can do is cry out to Him. But what happens when the Lord
shows one of His people, when they're born again by the Spirit,
and He shows them their utter need, right? The balm of Gilead
is applied. The balm of Gilead, the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we rejoice, don't we?
We rejoice. We rejoice. The balm of Gilead,
the Christ, is applied to the believer's heart. We see the
false shepherds in verse three, they're howling. Look at this. There's a voice of the howling
of the shepherds for their glory is spoiled. The voice of the
roaring of young lions for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. False
shepherds are howling, which may be understood as either civil
rulers among the Jews or ecclesiastical rulers and elders of the people,
the scribes and the Pharisees during Christ's time, who at
the coming of Christ, what did they feel? They felt threatened,
didn't they? They felt threatened that they'd lose, now they're
going to lose their honor and their power and their riches. Note their howling as their glory
is spoiled. Spoiled. Their power and authority,
their riches and their wealth, their places of honor and profit,
their offices, posts, and employments, whether in civil or religious
matters, are taken from them. Are taken from them. And they're
deprived of them. And we certainly know this is
true at their death, isn't it? Think of how it was for one of
them Pharisees. They thought they were doing
the Lord's work. They thought they were doing... And then to... Oh, my. Judgment falls right upon them.
The instant they breathe their last breath. Oh, my. Look at verses 4 and 5. Thus
saith the Lord my God, feed the flock and the slaughter. whose
possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty, and they
that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, and
their own shepherds pity them not. Note in verse 5, their own
shepherds pity them not. Now in Zacharias time, this speaks
of course of the rulers and nobles and governors who were oppressive
to the people during that time. In the time of our Lord Jesus
Christ, this has reference to the chief priests The elders
who were possessors of the flock by their traditions and the commandments
of man, they imposed bondage upon the people. Utter bondage
upon the consciences of the people and upon them themselves. And
they became nothing but tyrants. They became nothing but tyrants
who devoured the houses of Israel and enlarged their wealth. They
were fleecing the flock instead of feeding the flock. And this
still goes on even today. False shepherds do this all the
time. They fleece the flock and do not feed it. They don't preach
Christ. How is the sheep of God fed?
By the preaching of Christ. By the preaching of Christ. So
these false preachers are, these false shepherds are nothing but
wolves. Listen to what Matthew Henry
brings forth. He says, the Sadducees were deists. They corrupted their
judgments. The Pharisees were bigots for
superstition, corrupted their morals by making void the commandments
of God. Thus they slew the sheep of the
flock. Thus they sold them. They cared
not what became of them. It sounds like modern preachers
who are preaching, these health, wealth, prosperity guys, they
don't care about the people. All they want is the money. That's
all they want. They cared not what became of
them, so they could but gain their own ends and serve their
own interests. So the false shepherds of those
days and today, they lay heavy burdens upon the people. Loads
and burdens, too heavy to be borne, even by the people they're
loading on. And they never bear them themselves. They always put them on everybody
else. Don't even fall, that's what
they say. Turn, if you would, to Matthew.
Matthew, chapter 23. Let's look. And these are the
words of the master. These are the words of the master,
Matthew chapter 23. Look what he says. Look what
he says to these men. Matthew chapter 23. Our Lord loved holiness and loved
righteousness. He despised these false shepherds. Look what he says here in Matthew,
starting in verse 13 of Matthew 23. Look at this. But woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering in to go. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows' houses,
and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore ye shall receive
the greater damnation." Look at there, they spoil, they devour
widows' houses. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For ye can pass sea and land,
and make run prostilate. And when he is made, you make
him twofold more the child of hell than yourself. Woe unto you, blind guides, which
say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing. But whosoever shall swear by
the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. You fools and blind! For whether is greater the gold
or the temple that sanctifieth the gold. Now notice how our
Lord's not pulling any punches, is he? And whosoever shall swear by
the altar, it's nothing, but whosoever sweareth by the gift
that is upon it, he is guilty, he fools, and blind, for whither
is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifyeth the gift? Whoso
therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by
all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the
temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And
he that shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God,
and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites. Boy, he's just, he's putting
it right out there, isn't he? For you pay tithe of mint and
incense, and have omitted the weightier matters of law, judgment,
mercy, and faith. These things, or these ought
ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides. See, this is what these false
shepherds are. They're blind guides. Ye blind guides, which
strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Straining at this little
wee thing. Oh, making such a small thing
gigantic. Straining at a gnat and swallow
a camel. Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of
the platter, but wherein they are full of extortion and excess. See, this is, and I can testify
of this because I was in religion. I can testify of this. Oh, you
have a good show with everybody? You know, they'll think, oh,
look, that man's a spiritual man. And inside, you're full
of judgment and condemnation for people, what they're doing,
what they're not doing. Oh, that person's, how can they
do that and be a Christian? Oh, to my shame, that's how I
used to think. Now I just, now I'm amazed that
the Lord saved me. A sinner like me and I see myself
worse than everyone else. Is it so for you? That's how
it is, isn't it? It changes everything. Grace
changes everything, beloved. It changes everything. Everything. And now the love of Christ constrains
us from sin. We love our Savior, don't we?
We hate our sin. I wish I never sinned. One day
I won't sin anymore. Praise be to God. But I know
right now I'm a saved sinner, just like you, who are saved
by the Lord. And we're all sinners on this
earth. But they make clean the outside. They make clean the
outside. But full of extortion and excess,
thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the
cup. What did our Lord tell Nicodemus? You must be born again. You must
be born again. That the outside of them may be clean
also. We don't do the things that we
used to do because we love the Savior. Now we still struggle
with sin, don't get me wrong, because every one of us struggle.
But we don't do the things we used to do. We don't desire to
do the things we used to do. Because we're new creatures in
Christ now. Again, we still struggle with sin. I'm not going to ever
say that, because we do. Any man says that we don't sin
or don't struggle with sin, they're lying to you. And in religion,
man, you thought the preacher was some kind of guy that lived
on a whole other plane. He's just a sinner like all of
us. No better than anyone else. Remember
the ground at the foot of the cross is level? Always remember
that. It's level. We're all on the
same ground. We're all guilty before God.
And see, these Pharisees and scribes, they vaulted themselves
up. They looked down on the other. We common folks, they look down
on us. They think, oh. They're just... And so they loved the high places.
They loved the praise of man. That's what they loved. And see,
our Lord is just saying, He's just giving it right between
the eyes to them, isn't He? And remember who's speaking here.
This is God incarnated in the flesh. "...Woe unto you, scribes and
pharisees and hypocrites! For ye are like the whitest sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but they are within
full of dead man's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men. Again, people look and say, surely
that man's a righteous man. I love what we grace preachers
talk about. People don't even know we're
preachers when we're out and about. Unless they know us, or
unless it comes up in a conversation, they can't tell us from anyone
else. But have you seen these folks
with these fancy little collars on them? These fancy little,
identifying themselves as more holy than everybody else? They're
no holier than anyone else. They're all a bunch of sinners.
See, they had an outward appearance. They wore, they'd walk down the
street and somebody said, there's a Pharisee. There's a Sadducee. Just by their appearance. And they loved it. They loved
it. They loved the praise of man. My. So they outwardly appeared
righteous unto man, but within they're full of hypocrisy and
iniquity, the scripture says here. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets
and garnish the sepulcher of the righteous, and say, if we
had been in the days of our Father, we would not have been partakers
with them in the blood of the prophets. Whereof ye be witnesses
unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed
the prophets. Fill ye up, then, in the measure
of your fathers. Look at this, ye serpents, ye
generation of vipers, And how shall ye escape the damnation
of hell? Now there's a question. How shall
you escape the damnation of hell? There's only one way. In and
through Christ and Christ alone. Only one way. Where behold I send unto you
prophets and wise men and scribes and some of them ye shall kill
and crucify. And they did that to our Lord.
And some of them, ye shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute
them from city to city, that upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto
the blood of Zacharias, son of Barchestas, whom you slew between
the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these
things shall come upon this generation. So here, there's a picture of
the false shepherds that he's speaking to right there. And
we know judgment fell upon them, didn't it? Not long after that, after our
Lord rose from the grave, Jerusalem was sacked. Let's go back to our text in
Zechariah chapter 11. Let's read verses six and seven. It says in Zechariah 11, verses
six and seven, for I will no more, for I will no more pity
the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord, but lo, I will
deliver the man, every one into his neighbor's hand, and into
the hand of the king, and they shall smite the land out of their
hand. I will not deliver them. And
verse seven, oh my, and I will feed the flock of the slaughter.
Even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves,
the one I called beauty, and the other I called bands, and
I fed the flock. Now we know that false teachers
and preachers in the scripture are bought forth as foolish and
false shepherds. This is bought forth at the latter
part of this chapter. Let's read verses 15 to 17. And the Lord said unto me, Take
unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For lo,
I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit
those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor
heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still. But he shall eat the flesh of
the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idle shepherd! that leaveth the flock, the sword
shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye, his arm shall
be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
So we know that false shepherds are false teachers
and preachers, false religious leaders. But we also know from the scriptures,
beloved, that our Lord Jesus Christ is proclaimed to be the
great, good, and chief shepherd. The great, good, and chief shepherd. In Hebrews chapter 13, the scriptures
proclaim this. If you wanna turn there, you
can. Hebrews chapter 13, verses 20 to 21, I'm gonna read it.
The scriptures plainly proclaim that Christ is the great shepherd
of his people. The scriptures declare this.
Now the God of peace that bought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep. That's one of his
titles. He's the great shepherd of the
sheep. Through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you It's God working in us, in you, that which is
well-pleasing in His sight, we're being conformed to the image
of Christ, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. And then our Lord Jesus
Christ himself over in John chapter 10, he declares that he's the
good shepherd. So we've seen there the scriptures
declaring to be the chief shepherd. And then with the Lord's own
words in John 10, 14, he says, I am the good shepherd. So he's
the chief shepherd and he's the good shepherd. He says, I'm the
good shepherd and know my sheep and I'm knowing of mine. Then
over in 1 Peter chapter 5, he's called The Chief Shepherd. The
Chief Shepherd. So He's the... He's the Great
Shepherd. He's the Good Shepherd. And He's
the Chief Shepherd. 1 Peter 5, verses 1 to 4, the
Scriptures declare this. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,
feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy care,
but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, that's our Lord Jesus Christ, ye shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away. So he's the great shepherd, he's
the good shepherd, and he's the chief shepherd. Now, let's go back to our text
in Zechariah chapter 11. Now, when I read verse 4 of this
chapter, I did not make any comments on it because I wanted to comment
on it now, when we are considering Christ who is the Good Shepherd. Christ who is the good shepherd.
Let's read verse 4, where we see a charge given to the true
shepherd of Israel from our great God. Look at this charge. Thus
saith the Lord my God, feed the flock of the slaughter. There's
a charge. Feed the flock of the slaughter.
So here we see The Lord Jesus Christ is our
surety and mediator of the covenant of grace, ready to undertake
and carry out all responsibility given to Him by the Father. And
we see the answer to this charge in our text. He's ready to undertake
and carry out all responsibility given to Him by the Father, to
redeem His elect, to secure their salvation, Because that's the
very reason why he came here, right? To save his people from
their sins. And he will feed the flock of
the slaughter. That's his people. We're the
flock of the slaughter, beloved. We're the flock of the slaughter.
Listen to these words in Hebrews chapter 7. By so much was Jesus
made a surety of a better testament. He's a surety of a better testament.
And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered
to continue by reason of death. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Unchangeable priesthood. Whereof
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to
God by him. He's able to save. Whoever comes
to him, he is able to save. Because he has all power. Remember
that? He has all power. All power. He's able to save
everyone who comes to him. Oh, praise God, he does too,
doesn't he? And he ever lived to make intercession for them,
for such a high priest. He became us who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
Who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice
first for his own sins and then for the people's? For this he
did once when he offered up himself. So he was sinless, so he didn't
have to offer any sacrifice for himself, but he offered himself
a sacrifice for us, for we who are his people. He's perfect. He's sinless. He's spotless.
So on Calvary's cross, And let this let this sink in your soul
on Calvary's cross. Christ is offering himself up.
As a sacrifice to God. For us. He's our he's our he's
our sacrifice, beloved. He's our surety. He's our redeemer. He's he's so much. He's our God. He's our savior. This is who
he is. All these things to God's people. So let's go back to our text
in Zechariah. Let's look at verse 4 there.
Thus saith the Lord my God, feed the flock of the slaughter. Now
here's the answer in verse 7. So there's the charge, right? God says, feed the flock of the
slaughter. And look at verse 7. And I will
feed the flock of the slaughter. Even you. Oh, poor the flock. That's God's people. Poor the
flock. And I took unto me two staves,
the one I called beauty and the other I called bands. And I fed
the flock. So we see in verse 7 that the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, answers the charge of verse 4. With firm resolve, too. Look
at that. With firm resolve, I will feed
the flock of the slaughter. We can't feed ourselves. We'd
starve to death. But he says, I'll feed them.
I'll feed the flock of the slaughter. Again, he's answering the charge
in verse four, because he alone is the good shepherd. He alone
is the chief shepherd. And the people of God rejoice
at this truth. Again, he proclaims, I will feed
the flock of the slaughter. Meaning that He alone, meaning
that Christ alone will care, provide, shelter, lead, instruct
the poor of the flock. And He leads us into green pastures,
doesn't He? In His Word. Pastures of truth
and righteousness. He clothes us. In His perfect
spotless righteousness, He's purchased us with His precious
blood. And He alone is the Savior and
Redeemer of His people. And He says here, I will feed
the flock of the slaughter. I'll do it. I'll do it. And He alone, again, is the Savior
and Redeemer of the people of God. No one else. He's the Good
Shepherd. He's the Cheap Shepherd. He's
the Great Shepherd. Who is our shepherd? Who leads
us into green pastures? Who leads us in the paths of
righteousness? Well, we know only the Lord,
our God, the great, good, and chief shepherd. What did David write of this
good shepherd? What did David write of the one
who says, I'll feed the flock of the slaughter? David said
this, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over. Does not our cup run over, beloved?
We have all spiritual blessings in Christ. Our cups run over. We who are the people of God.
And then surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life. And it has for the believer. It has. And I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever when we breathe our last breath. We'll
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Forever. Forever we will behold our king. Let's go back to our text in
Zechariah chapter 11. Look at verse 7 again. And I
will feed the flock of the slaughter, even you, O poor the flock. Oh,
I'm a poor needy sheep, are you? Oh my. And I took unto me two
staffs, the one I called beauty and the other I called bands,
and I fed the flock. Now we see the Lord Jesus Christ describes the two staffs here.
that he employs to feed and redeem the flock. The one is called
beauty and the other is called bands. Beauty and bands. So let's consider these words
here before us in our text. Beauty and bands. Which we will
see speaks of He who is the subject of the Gospel. These words speak
Christ. These words speak Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ is Himself is the very beauty of His people. He's full of splendid delight and grace, isn't He?
And do we not delight in our King? When you think of our Savior,
do you not delight in Him? Is He not full of splendor in
your eyes? When you see his majesty, when
you see his power, when you truly see who he is, is he not altogether
lovely to you? That's what the bride says in
Song of Solomon, isn't it? He's beauty. He's beautiful. He's beautiful. Zechariah 9.17, the Scriptures
declare, this is the couple of chapters over in verse 17, it
says, For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty.
Can you measure the beauty of our Lord? When you contemplate
the fact that He has redeemed us from all our sins, when you
contemplate who He really is, He is beautiful. He is everything
to us. and then contemplate the beautiful
and pleasant and powerful doctrines of the gospel. Doctrines of gospel are beautiful
to God's people. We love them. They're made known to the people
of God, revealed to us, and they're sweet to us, aren't they? They're
like honey in our mouth. And we know it's our God who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness in our hearts.
We know it's Him who's done this. We know it's Him who's given
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And our Savior is beautiful to
His people. Again, altogether lovely. Oh, what a king. He's altogether lovely in our
eyes because it's he who has redeemed us. It's he who has
redeemed our eternal soul. And the gospel is the power of
God and the salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
God revealed from faith to faith as it's written, the just shall
live by faith. So think of our blessed Redeemer.
Think of our blessed Redeemer. You who are the beloved of God.
Think of the blessedness of His person. Think of His holiness. Think of how He is absolutely
holy. Perfect. Think of His sinlessness. Think of His deity, how He was
fully man and fully God. Think of His blessed, redeeming,
and effectual high priestly work, which He did, every believer
can say, for me. And I ask you then, when you
think upon these things, is not our Savior altogether lovely? And then think about this, that
the one we call altogether lovely, the one we call altogether lovely
as God's people gave himself for our sin as our substitute
on Calvary's cross, all according to the will of God. He becomes real lovely to God's
people. Listen to these scriptures. Listen
to these scriptures that speak about the one who to the believer
is altogether lovely. In whom, being Christ, we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. In walking love, as Christ also
had loved us and had given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling sake. But Christ, being common high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place. Heaven obtained eternal
redemption for us. For us. And for by one offering
hath he He has perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is witness to us. And after that, he said
before, this is the covenant that I will make with them. After
these days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts
and in their minds, and I will write them. And their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. All because of he who is loved. all because of our great God.
So I ask you, who are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God? Is
Christ not altogether lovely? Oh, He is. Is Christ not most precious to
you who are the redeemed of the Lord? Oh, He is. Next, we see the second staff
called bands in our text. And I will feed the flock of
the slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto
me two staves, the one I called beauty, and the other I called
bands. And I fed the flock. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is the very bands, the binder, the pledge, the token, and the
uniting force of the gospel of grace. Because it all centers
around him. It is He who has saved us. It's
He who's called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace. It's He who's
done this. And we know that no man or woman
can come to Christ except the Father which has sent Him, being
Christ, draw every one of those, and He draws His people. And everyone he draws will be
taught by God of the things of Christ. And all those who were
redeemed by Christ at Calvary will be born again. Will be. Every single one. There be made
will in the day of Christ's power. in the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and salvation through Him alone, when revealed through
our heart in the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, binds
and unites our souls with affection unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Binds
our hearts and souls in affection to Him. And we who are risen
with Christ are to seek those things which are above Brother
Neil read that tonight. I love that portion of scripture. We are arisen with Christ or
to seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the
right hand of God and we're to set our hearts and our minds
upon Christ and not upon the things of this earth. Because we're dead to the world,
beloved, and the things of the world. Now we live in this world
and we use the things of this world, but they don't have the
hold on us that they once had. And the Lord Jesus Christ affectionately
and irresistibly draws us to Himself, doesn't He? And we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God and our heart is regenerated. We're drawn to Christ,
to His loveliness and His beauty. Was Christ altogether lovely
to you before you were saved? Well, of course the answer is
no. But He's the binding He's the
binding, the one who binds us all together, isn't He? We're banded together in Him,
beloved. And He is the one who's altogether
lovely to our souls. When the Lord Jesus Christ, when
the Holy Spirit regenerates us, we're made to see that our own
righteousness is like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord. We're made to see His glorious
sacrifice. We're made to see His redeeming
work. which he accomplished, which he accomplished on Calvary's
cross. And we're bought to know that
our only justification before God, the only basis that we can
stand before God is in and through Christ, the very one who's beautiful
to his people. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter four. Romans chapter 4, and then we'll
go over to Romans chapter 5, one chapter over after this. Oh,
how blessed God's people are. How blessed we are in Christ. Contemplate that this week. Think
upon it this week, how blessed you who are the people of God
are in Christ. Romans chapter 4, look at this,
verses 6 to 8, even as David also described it, the blessedness
of the man. Blessedness. God's people are
blessed. Even when we don't feel blessed,
we're blessed. We're blessed. Describe the blessings
of man under whom, look at this, under whom God imputed righteousness
without works. Righteousness without works.
The ability to stand before God without works. That means our
own works. Because the righteousness we
have comes about with what Christ has done. Righteousness without
works. Saying, look at this, blessed.
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed are you. Blessed are
you. This is why we say flee to Christ. He's the sinner's only hope.
Look how blessed God's people are in Christ. Iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. The handwriting of ordinances
that was against us is blotted out, beloved, and our sins are
covered by what? The blood of Christ. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin, because all our sins were laid upon the
Savior. And He bore it all. All the punishment
that was due for all his people fell upon him. Now go over to Romans chapter
5. Blessed is a man or woman to whom the Lord will not impute
sin. It's wonderful. Let's close this message and
read in Romans 5, chapter 5, verses 6 to 10. Look at this. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. That's
what the scripture calls us in our natural state, the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. I'll let this sink right in here. But God commanded commandeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, dead in
trespasses and sins, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. He died for his people. God commandeth
his love towards those who are blessed in the other chapter
that we read in chapter four. Do you see why Paul penned those
words? Blessed is the man to whom God
will not impute sin, whose sin is covered, whose iniquity is
forgiven. It's incredible. But God commanded
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now, right now, justified. How? By his blood. Brother John, you're justified
right now by the blood of Christ. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Right now, being justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, because
that wrath that was due us fell upon Christ. Much more than being now justified. Oh, my. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of the Son, Much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Oh, beloved of God. Christ is
beautiful to be respected. He's altogether lovely when we
read these scriptures and see what he's done for us. He's altogether lovely, isn't
he? And he is the binding one that keeps us all together. We
are here for the furtherance of the gospel, aren't we? To
see the gospel go forth. That's why we're here. The gospel
will be preached and proclaimed. And one day, beloved, we will
see he who is proclaimed, each time the gospel is preached,
we will see him face to face. And what a glorious, glorious,
glorious day that'll be. It'll be incredible. And it all
because of the mercy and grace of God, and all by the will of
God. And we will praise his name forever. Forever. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your mercy and goodness and grace. Oh Lord, we thank thee.
You are the good shepherd. And that you guide us and direct
us and keep us. You've clothed us in thy righteousness.
We who are your people. Lord, you stripped us before
you clothed us. The gospel came forth and showed
us our desperate need for thee, O Lord. Oh, we pray that you'd
use this message to show your lost sheep their need, Lord,
that you'd be glorified and magnified, that one would run to thee, O
Lord, being made willing in the day of thy power. Glory to your
name, Lord. Praise your mighty name, you
who are the great, good, and chief shepherd of our souls.
In Jesus' name, amen.