Now this text is from a point
when they're consecrating Aaron and the Levitites. In Exodus
chapter 29 verse 20 is where we're going to look at. Thou
shalt kill the ram and take of his blood and put it upon the
tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tip of the right
ear of his sons and upon the thumb of their right hand. and
upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood
upon the altar round about. First of all, they put the blood on his right
ear, on his right ear, and then on his right thumb, and then on the big toe of his
right foot, they put the blood. And we may look at that and wonder,
why? Well, number one, God's told
them to do this, so they're going to be obedient. They're going
to do what God has told them to do. But think of this. It
shows us how from the top of our head to the bottom of our
feet, we're sinning. We sin. We must be totally cleansed. We must be totally purified. It's a picture of how the blood
of Christ cleanses us from all sin, all sin. As one older grace preacher put
it, we are branded and marked as the Lord's sheep. Branded and marked as the Lord's
sheep. Now the garments that the high
priest would wear during this were brand new, brand new garments. And they too, they were to be
sprinkled with blood and oil. Again, some would wonder why. Why do this after the high priest
had put on these beautiful garments? And now they're sprinkled with
blood. Well, think on what the Holy
Spirit is teaching us here again. That each time the high priest
put on these garments, that he would be reminded of his unworthiness. He would be reminded of his unworthiness
to approach God in his own righteousness. He would be reminded of the abundant
grace supplied in the substitute. What is it for us when we think
about the blood of Christ and what Christ's blood has done
for us? We think of his abundant mercy towards us, undeserving
sinners, but yet he has mercy upon us. What a picture we have here before
us of we who need cleansing from head to toe. What a picture of
the grace of God in Christ. And the Old Testament is full
of these pictures. Absolutely full of them. The hands, think of this. Blood
will be put on the hand. It's an instrument of action. The feet and the toes of walking. and the head, the ear of thoughts
and imaginations of our minds. We need to be cleansed from all
our sin. There's an imperfection in all
our actions, isn't there? Everything we do as the saints
of God, our walk and our conversation is not without sin. We're here
and we have sin in our lives. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the
spotless, perfect Lamb of God. A lot of folks look and focus
upon the death of Christ, which is true. He died for our sins,
but what about his life? He lived the perfect life. He
lived a substitutionary life as well as died a substitutionary
death. Why? Because he had to weave
the perfect code of righteousness for us. The perfect righteousness which
we would be clothed in. to stand before God perfect,
perfect. So thus we see the need for us
to be sprinkled with the blood of Christ and have our garments
washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. And of course, the Lord Jesus
Christ needed no such preparation as Aaron had, did he? Because he's perfect. He is the
high priest. He is perfect, without sin. Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews chapter 7. He was holy, harmless, separate
from sinners. God incarnated in the flesh.
Fully man, yet fully God. Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 26
says, For such a high priest became us, who was holy, harmless,
Undefiled. Undefiled. No sin. Perfect. 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. Remember,
every high priest in the Old Testament had to offer sacrifices
for his own sins. But Christ didn't have to do
that at all. He's sinless. He's perfect. And then for the peoples, for
this he did once, when he offered up himself. Oh, it's glorious. For the law maketh man high priest,
which have infirmity, but the word of the oath, which was since
the law maketh the son, who is consecrated forevermore. He's
king. He's the great high priest. Remember,
he holds three offices, right? Prophet, priest, and king. He's
the believer's priest. He's our high priest. But he
didn't need to have what Aaron had done to him because he was
perfect. And he was spotless. So let's see how God's sheep
are marked. First, the Lord marks the ear. He marks the ear. And the sheep hear his voice. I hear his voice, never heard
it before. Brother Mack, there was a time when you never heard
the shepherd's voice, not at all. But one day he called you,
called you by name. Same with you, Brother Chet.
For years we wandered without hearing the shepherd's voice
at all. And then he opened our ears.
He opened our ears. God's sheep are given ears to
hear the shepherd's call. Ears to hear the shepherd's call.
And like I said, there was a time when, turn with me if you would
to John 10, 27. There was a time when we did
not hear the shepherd's voice. And think of this too with God's
sheep. They're not following another. A stranger will come
up and call them and they won't follow. They won't follow the
stranger's voice. They're marked. They follow the shepherd's voice.
John chapter 10, verse 27 and 28. Look at this. My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them. Beloved, he knows his sheep personally.
I know them. And look, it doesn't say, and
they might follow me. No. They follow me. They hear the
shepherd's voice and they follow him. And then look at the marvelous
verse in 28. And I, God, right, this is Christ's
own words, and I give unto them, I give it unto them eternal life. And they shall
never perish. Why? Why shall they never perish? Because the one who gives it
is God. The one who keeps them is the Great Shepherd. Folks in religion think you can
get salvation and lose it, right? God's sheep are held by the Great
Shepherd. He says, that's my sheep. And
this is our prayer, that as the messages go forth, oh, that God
would draw His sheep to Himself. Oh, that He'd move in your hearts
if you don't know Him. Oh. And God's sheep are given
discernment, too. They won't follow anyone. And
how do God's sheep hear, how do God's sheep hear the voice
of the shepherd? Reading his word? The preaching of the gospel? You know when a man's lying to
you. If you're his sheep, you know.
Does he glorify God in his message? Does he lift up Christ? Is he the main theme of the message? God's sheep yearn to hear that.
Whenever I listen to messages, I yearn to hear about my Savior.
Now, I often hear how much of a sinner I am, and that's just
to constantly remind me that I need Christ desperately. Oh, when the preacher hits about
Christ, when he hits about the shepherd, the sheep just want,
they want to hear that. That's what we want to hear.
That's why we come. Because we want to hear about
the shepherd. And they will not settle just for any kind of preaching.
I remember a grace preacher telling me, once you hear sovereign grace
preached, it ruins you for everything else. And it's true, because
you don't want to hear any other message but Christ. That's the
only message we want to hear. We want to hear the shepherd's
voice through the preaching of the word. We want to hear the
shepherd's voice as we read the scriptures. And God's sheep will listen to
the words when a man is preaching. He wants to feed on the clover
of the Word. You know, Psalm 23 says, He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures, right? That's the green pastures
of His Word. Comfort we get when we hear the
Word of God preached. Comfort we receive. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. The Word is our guide. Oh, the comforting words of God's
grace to his sheep when the gospel's preached. Doesn't that bring
you great comfort? It builds us up, doesn't it?
And it exalts Christ. It puts us in our place where
we are to be. We're to make our headquarters
in the dust. And it exalts and magnifies the
Lord Jesus Christ. As I said, in God's sheep, they
can discern the truth when it's being preached. God's sheep know when a man's
preaching truth. They know. And God's sheep will
settle for nothing else. So our ears must be consecrated
right with blood. To give us hearing ears. And then he marks them on the
hand. God's sheep are generous. God's
sheep are forgiving. And why are we forgiving? Why,
when we hear something that may have been said about us or done,
why are we so forgiving? Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians. Chapter four, I believe this is a verse that puts it
all in perspective for us. Why God's sheep are so forgiving? Why don't we lash out? Now we
can in our flesh and we do sometimes, right? We're human, we do, but
we shouldn't lash out at folks, but sometimes we do. But why are we usually quick
to forgive? Well, I think the answer's in
Ephesians chapter four, starting in verse 31. Look at this, let
all bitterness, and we can get bitter, can't we? And wrath,
and anger, and we can get angry, and clamor, and evil speaking.
You know, this is natural for us to do. And we have three enemies, right?
The world, the flesh, and the devil. And I think the worst
one sometimes is my flesh. Look at this, in evil speak and
be put away from you with all malice, and be you kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Why should we forgive
one another? Even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you. Oh, we need to be forgiving.
We need to let things go. Why? When something comes up,
just think of how much God has forgiven you. And it'll be quick and easy.
Not always easy, but it'll be easier to forgive people when
they rail or when they say things. Because, oh my, I know what I
was. And I know how I was. And I'm
the last person I would have thought that would be a gospel
preacher or would be even talking about Christ. But here I am,
by the grace of God. and only by His grace. And when
I think how much God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven me, oh, it
makes me want to forgive others and just let things go. Remember this too, if folks come
on and say things, and I think it was Jim who I heard tell me
this, it takes two to continue something. The person who comes
at you, and yourself to continue it. Just let things go. God's sheep are kind. And we
reach out to others, right? We desire others to come to Christ. Let's focus on Christ. Let's
focus on what he's done for us. And we'll be quick to forgive
folks. And think of all the actions and things that we have done
in our mind and with our hands and as our feet taking us places.
But scripture says that God has forgiven us for all those sins. For Christ's sake. And I remember in the world,
that was a curse. We used to use that as a blasphemy.
But here it says that God, for Christ's sake, I've forgiven
you, I've forgiven me. Forgiven. Sinners. This is why we say,
flee to Christ. See, God will forgive you for
your sins in Christ, but nowhere else. Not in your doing, but
only in Christ and him alone. So God's sheep are kind and they
reach out to one another. Be ye kind one to another. We
need to cultivate that, right? And that's something that I found
when I come here. What I was told about you guys
is true. You love one another. You have unity. And that's what
we want. It's wonderful. I've spoken to
many grace preachers, and that's something they've said about
all of you here. So God's sheep are marked and
branded on their ear and in the things they hear and in the things
they do and how they act with other people. And then the Lord marks their
feet. He marks their feet. Why does he mark our feet? Well,
God's sheep, they walk in his word. Before you were saved, did you
desire to read the Bible? Not at all. I didn't. Now I love it. And I'm, you know, there's no
pressure on how much, don't ever put so much pressure on, oh,
I gotta read, oh, I've gotta read 10 chapters a day. I remember
being, 10 chapters a day. If you read five sentences and
get a blessing from that, praise be to God, okay? Walk in his
word, walk in his ways. This is what we do as believers. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. Our feet must be consecrated
because we follow Christ. Otherwise, where would we go?
All over the place. Whatever we want to do. Oh, but the Lord, he consecrates
us. And the scripture says, they follow me. They hear his voice
through the preaching of the word, or through the reading
of his word, and they follow him. The very ones who never
wanted to follow him are made to follow him. And it's
not, like I said before, it's not a slavish way, right? We're
not robots. We're made willing. And we love the Savior. And these are marks of God's
sheep. These are very marks of God's
sheep. John 10.27, My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Turn if you would
to John chapter 10, verses 14 to 16. Now the word know there
is, in the Greek, it's an intimate knowledge. Christ knows his sheep,
and he knows you by name. Remember Zacchaeus? He'd never met Zacchaeus as far
as we know, right? Zacchaeus is up a tree. Zacchaeus,
come on down. Like Brother Jean-Claude said,
the very name of his sheep are engraved in the palms of his
hands. He knows every one of them, every single one of them,
a number that no man can number, but he knows everyone by name,
intimately. Look at this in John 10, 14 to
16. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, I know them,
and am knowin' of mine. Well, there was a time when we
didn't know him, but now we know him. Those of us who've had him,
he's revealed himself to us, right? We know him now. And knowin' of mine, As the Father
knoweth me, same Greek word, even so I know, same Greek word,
the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And now the sheep I have, oh,
he has more sheep. This is why we preach and proclaim
the gospel, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. There's the Gentiles, and they
shall hear my voice. Don't you love those small words,
they shall? It's not a maybe. There's no
doubt. They shall hear my voice, and
there shall be one fold in one shepherd. Did you know that if
you put, three different shepherds put their sheep in a pen at night,
that the next day, The first shepherd comes out and calls
his sheep and they only follow him. And the other ones will
stay in the pen. And then the second shepherd comes out and
calls his sheep and they all come out. And not one of the
other sheep will follow his voice. My sheep hear my voice. And they
know me. He knows us. And I know them
and they follow me. He knows his sheep. It's an intimate
knowledge, beloved. How well does he know his sheep? Well, the very hairs of their
head are numbered. The very hairs of their head
are numbered. He knows them intimately. When we talk about God's sheep,
we're not talking about religious folks, are we? We're not talking
about people who make a profession, put their name on a church roll,
and say, well, see you later. I'm gone. I'm good now. I punched
my card. There's many people who feel
that way. But they're lost. They'd be given
a false sense of security. Because God's sheep, they will
desire the preaching of the word. Their desire to feast on the
clover of his word. And today we're talking about
the sheep of the shepherd. Think of this, the shepherd's
sheep are consecrated. The shepherd's sheep are dedicated. They're dedicated to the Lord's
work and to him. They follow no one else. The shepherd's sheep are ordained.
They're chosen of God. He chose every one of them. They're
anointed. The shepherd sheep are called. My sheep hear my voice. Every
sheep is individually called. Remember Lazarus? Lazarus come
forth. He came forth. He couldn't resist. He came forth. The shepherd sheep
are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. They're purchased. They're redeemed. The shepherd sheep will be glorified.
We trudge around in this world right now, don't we? But one
day, we'll be without sin. It'll be marvelous. It'll be
marvelous. And they are the shepherd sheep.
They're His. And the shepherd is the Lord
Jesus Christ. My sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. And what does he give them? Remember
we saw eternal life. And they shall never perish.
John 10, 28, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall
never perish. Never. That's eternal security. That's eternal security. They
don't earn the eternal life, do they? They don't merit the
eternal life. They don't deserve the eternal
life. But it's given to them. Why do we say that? Praise his
mighty name. He gets all the glory, doesn't
he? He gets all the honor. And oh, that one of his lost
sheep today would hear his voice, that he would call their name,
if it's his will. This is our hope, isn't it? Whether
it be here, or on the internet, or out. Oh, that he would draw
his people, call his sheep's names. And this is why, grace
preachers, this is why we say, we're on the trail of God's sheep. We're on the trail of God's sheep.