All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 27. Proverbs
27. I'd like to try to finish this
27th chapter and look at verses 23 through 27. Let's just read the scripture,
then we'll consider it. Proverbs 27, 23, be thou diligent, to know the state of thy flocks,
and look well to thy herds, for riches are not forever, and doth
the crown endure to every generation. The hay appeareth, and the tender
grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of
the field. And thou shalt have goat's milk
enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for
the maintenance for thy maidens. Now, knowing that all scripture
speaks of and glorifies the Lord Jesus, and that every line is
concerning His honor, His glory, and His praise, we would do well
to immediately fly to Him concerning this passage of Scripture. If
we don't, we err, don't we? The Spirit of God moved upon
Solomon to speak of the responsibility of being diligent to know. That is, to know by seeing, to
care, to perceive, or consider. Be diligent to know the state,
that is, the face of thy flocks, and look well, or set your heart
to thy herds. To understand what's being said
here, we've got to look these words up. The word phlox, be thou diligent
to know the state of thy phlox. It's from a root word that means
to migrate. That is, one who moves from one
region to another according to the scriptures. That's what the
word phlox means, from a root that means to migrate, and herds,
is from a root word that means to muster, arrange, or, you know,
if you've been in the military, you know what it means to muster.
You're gonna come together. We're gonna have an arrangement.
That's what it means. Well, knowing the calling and
the responsibility of such a shepherd, we run to the one who alone is
willing and able to care for his flocks and his herds, that
is, those assemblies found throughout this world who have everlastingly
been his. We've got flocks and herds. There's one church, but right
here, now this is Katie Baptist Church. And we're a member of
every other, tied together in Christ, of every other assembly,
every other flock that's been raised up by the Spirit of God. Now, the Father chose these that
are members of these blocks, these herds, and though they
were all born in Adam and they fell in Adam's transgression,
the Lord's going to fetch them. He's going to fetch them like
Mephibosheth was fetched out of Lodibar. He's going to fetch
them through the power of preaching of the gospel of God's grace.
They're going to hear with new ears and they're going to be
made willing in the day of God's power to come. Now, here's what's
being said. Be thou diligent to know the
state of thy flocks, those that are migrating, and look well,
excuse me, to thy herds, those that have been mustered, brought
together, arranged. They're going to hear the gospel.
They're going to hear it. Turn, hold your place, turn to
Romans 10, Romans 10. Romans chapter 10, verse 13 to
50. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. That word call right there, there's
another one. We just looked at the word come.
What does it mean to come to Christ? To believe him, cast
yourself upon him, trust him. That's to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Whosoever shall call, what does
that mean, call? To worship, to adore. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, the character of the Lord shall be saved. How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? Put their confidence in. Trust
Him. How are they going to call? How are they going to adore and
worship somebody that they've never heard of? How shall they
believe in Him whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without
a preacher? God has ordained that It sends
preachers that have a responsibility to comfort the people of God.
And how do you comfort the people of God? Get into this book and
ask the Lord to give you a message, give understanding. God's got
a people and they're His flocks and they're His herds. They're
migrating. They're gonna be assembled. God's
gonna meet their needs. They're born in this world, rebels
against God. But my God, Apostle Paul said
in Philippians 4, 19, my God shall supply, shall level up,
furnish, accomplish all your need, all your requirement, all
your necessity according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. All the spiritual blessings that
are Necessary. I must have been chosen in Christ
by the Father. I must have. I must, I must have
been redeemed by the blood of Christ. I must have, Kevin. I
must have. I must be regenerated by the
Spirit of God. I must. I must be adopted. I must be led, directed, guided. My God shall supply. all your
need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. So the Lord has a people and
they're born into this world migrating. Now that's what it
said. Be thou diligent to know the
state of thy flocks. Those that migrate. Turn to Ephesians
1. Ephesians chapter, I'm sorry,
Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, verses 1 through
3. Now this is how God's people
are born. They're born just like everybody else. Ephesians 2,
1 to 3, and you hath he quickened, who were dead, spiritually dead
in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked, According
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. How were we born? Well, we were
born dead, trespasses and sins, walking, according to the course
of this world, just migrating around, just meandering. I think about just that spirit
of just whatever, wherever, whenever, whatever, just migrating. Before
we knew him, Here we were migrating lost sheep in this world. But the Lord, by his Holy Spirit,
which bloweth like the wind. We don't know where it comes
from. We don't know where it's going.
He calls there to be a mustering. You hath he quickened. You were
walking in this world, dead, trespassing, sin, just meandering
around. Doing whatever, we're gonna buy
and sell here, next year we're gonna do this. You don't know
what, we don't know what's gonna happen. We were just led by our
own evil desires. We were just nothing more than
just a migrating herd, but we were his migrating herd. We were
lost sheep, but we were his sheep. Aliens, the scripture says, from
the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers to the covenant of
promise. Oh, but now being found in Christ,
we who were afar off have been made nigh by the blood of Christ. What he's doing, he's just gathering
his people. mustering them, arranging them. And he finds them out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, rescued from the bondage of sin. And now, we're still strangers,
but not to him. Not to him, not strangers to
him. We're strangers and pilgrims in an unfriendly world. We're
still being led by the Spirit, Now, instead of walking through
this world with no love for Him, we walk through this world led,
guided by Him with a different attitude, an attitude toward
the things of this world. We worship a different God than
the God of this world. We worship the true and living
God, the God of our imagination, We're weak in ourselves, but
we're strong in him who diligently has everlastingly loved us and
stood as our surety to answer for our every need. Be thou diligent
to know, know. Oh, I'm telling you, I'm so glad
he knew me before I knew him. He knew my need. He knew my need. And what'd he do? He came into
this world, made flesh, lived for me, died for me, sends his
spirit, regenerates me. He knew me. He knew I couldn't
help myself, so he did. Came into this world, obeyed
God, earned righteousness that robed me and everyone else that's
ever been his in electing grace. And this He does because there
is no help. Apart from Him, there's no help. For riches, verse 24, riches
are not forever. Oh, you come into this world
and be diligent, earn a lot of money, and buy up a bunch of
land, and have companies, and have this, that, and the other.
I had somebody send me a little He texted me something the other
day, and here it was, just a, had a picture of a little old
shack. I mean, a run-down shack, and it had a grave dug out in
front of it. It had another picture right
beside it, and it had a mansion. I mean, this thing was beautiful,
just huge mansion. Had a grave sitting out in front
of it, both of them. He said, this is the end of both
of them. This is what's gonna happen. We're gonna die, we're
gonna perish. It's pointed under man wants
to die. Be thou diligent, and he is, he is, to know the state
of thy flocks. And look well, set your heart
to thy herds, because riches are not forever, and doth the
crown endure to every generation, All the prestige and the consecration
and separation speaks of that which is fleeting. Does it last? No. Do earthly
riches endure forever? No. What's going to happen? We
came into this world and you can be sure we're going to leave
just to us. Everything else is here. Like
the richest man in this world. Richest man. You've heard this
before. How much did he leave? He's going
to leave all of it. Every bit of it. Proverbs 23
verse 5 says this, Will thou set thine eyes upon that which
is not? For riches certainly make themselves
wings. They fly away as an eagle toward
heaven. But while all things are fading
away, our Lord provides for his own. He's diligent, diligent to know. Diligent to know us before we
knew him, diligent right now, and in the day of our separation
from this world. He'll know. The hay appeareth, and the tender
grass showeth itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered. Now, here's an amazing thing. The Lord, we started off by saying,
be thou diligent to know. He knows. He knows our spiritual
need. He knows our physical need. He
knows, he's diligent to know. He knows because he knows riches
are not forever. The crown doesn't endure to every
generation. This world is fleeting. But here's
an amazing thing, that verse 25 is talking about his diligence
to know the need of his people. Now, I'm telling you, watch,
I'm gonna prove this in just a minute. That verse 25 is talking
about how nature itself, how God's providential dealing with
all of these things that's going on in the world. how God supplies
for his own. Now here's what it says. You
can turn to Psalm 104, 14. That's where I'm gonna turn just
a minute. Psalm 104, verse 14. Here's what
I'm saying. I'm sorry, I was getting ready
to read 104. The hay appeareth, the tender
grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
What is that saying? God takes care of his people
through nature. Let me show you this. 104 verse
14. He causeth the grass to grow
for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may
bring forth food out of the earth. All this stuff that's growing,
what's God doing? He's diligent to take care of
his flocks. and his herds. He gonna take
care of them. Why is all this stuff? Why is all this stuff?
Why all these trees? Why is all this stuff? These trees are providing
oxygen. Take it. Grass, what's that? Cattle go out there and eat it.
And what do we do? We got something to eat. Gotta
get us a steak, you know. The Lord provides for his people.
The hay appeareth. The tender grass showeth itself,
the herbs of the mountains are gathered. All of these things,
we're all perishing creatures. Psalm 49 10, he sees the wise
men die, likewise the fool, the brutish person perish, leave
their wealth to others. Men are dying creatures and things
of this world are passing away, but the diligent great shepherd
of the sheep. He knows the need of his people,
of his flocks, of his herd. He's given them all the spiritual
blessings and all the physical blessings. Then he says in verse
26, 27, the lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the
price of the field. And thou shalt have goat's milk
enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for
the maintenance of thy maidens. Now, we're gonna continue from
what I just started reading in verse 25, talking about the natural
thing. God's all this, you just, it
grows. Watch him pile you up a big pile
of dirt. Just leave it there. and just
tell me what happens when all the grass starts growing in it.
God's providing for his people. It just grows. You don't have
to go out there and sow it. God provides it. But these lambs,
now this is amazing two passages. And here again, we've got to
look at these words to understand what's being said. And we behold
the Lord's provision for his own, continuing on through the
means of this world, how God's providence, the lambs, The lambs
are for thy clothing. Now those words right there,
the lambs, it means to dominate a ram just old enough to butt. That's what it means. And the
goats, the lambs are for thy clothing and the goats are the
price of the field. Now that word goats right there,
it means prepared Mr. John Gill, I believe, is one
that said this. He says, figuratively, it means leaders of the people,
leaders of the people. They are the price of the field,
or they will furnish the price of the field. Now, what does
that mean? God's people are going to be
taken care of through all of the fleeting successes that you
see going on around us. All these, the government, all
the stuff, rich people, I mean just big corporations and stuff
like that. God's people are gonna have goats'
milk enough for thy food and food of thy household for the
maintenance of thy maidens. Goats, I found out in verse 26,
speaks of male goats, Male goats. Goats, the word goats in verse
27 speaks of female goats. What does that mean? All kinds,
all kinds. Male, female, you know. By these symbolic means, the
Lord supplies the need of his people through all the ways that
he chooses in this world. He raises up men, he raises up
countries that prosper in this world totally for the maintenance
of the sheep. Maintenance of the sheep. He's
taking care of his people. We look around. I can tell you my
estimation of what I see going on in the government and everything.
I think this is a mess. That's what I think. Well, that
just shows you what I know. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. You mean to tell me that all
of this stuff that we see, turn with me and I'm gonna close,
Ezekiel 27. You mean to tell me that everything
that's going on, this mess that we see going on, right, all over,
all over, it's just everywhere you turn. Nothing has any consistency
to it as far as the way I see it. You mean to tell me that
all of this stuff is for the good of God's people? That's
exactly what I mean. I want to read Ezekiel 27, I
want to read Verses 1 to 17, Tyre and Sidon,
that was the one where the Lord over Matthew said, if the mighty
works of Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
it would have remained. Let me read you a little bit
about Tyre and Sidon. Ezekiel 27, the word of the Lord
came again unto me, saying, Now thou son of man, take up a lamentation
for Tyrus, Tyre, and say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate,
at the entrance of the sea, which are a merchant of the people
for many isles. Thus saith the Lord God, O Tyrus,
thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty." That's what they said
about themselves. Thy borders are in the midst
of the seas. Thy builders have perfected thy
beauty. They've made all thy shipboards
of fir trees, of cedar. They've taken cedars from Lebanon
to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they
made thine oars. The company of the Asherites
have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. Fine linen with broadered work
from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail,
blue and purple from the isles of Elisha, that was which covered
thee the inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad, were thy mariners,
thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The
ancients of Jebal and wise men thereof were in thee thy caulkers. And all the ships of the sea
with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. They of Persia and of Lod, of
Phut, were in thine army, the men of war. They hanged their
shield and helmet in thee. They set forth thy comeliness.
The men of Arvad with thine army were upon the walls round about.
Gamadins were in thy towers, they hanged their shields upon
thy walls round about, they made thy beauty perfect. Tarshish
was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of
riches of silver, iron, tin, lead, they traded in thy fares.
Javan, Tubal, Meshach, they were thy merchants. They traded the
persons of men, vessels of brass, in thy market. They of the house
of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and
mules. The men of Dedan were thy merchants. Many isles were
the merchandise of thine hand. They bought thee for a present
horns of ivory and Ebony, Syria was thy merchant by reason of
the multitude of thy wares of thy making. They occupied in
thy fares with emeralds, and purple, and brooded work, and
fine linen, and coral, and agate. Judah, and the land of Israel,
they were thy merchants. They traded in thy market wheat
of minneth, pinag, honey, oil, balm. I'm going to stop right
there. was a prosperous city. I mean,
buddy, they had it all. They were just absolutely affluent. Unbelievable. All the cities,
the ships, all the stuff, and you know what God did? He provided
for all of those things, those people, when we came down to
Israel. Israel was taken care of. That's
my point. That's my point right there.
Psalm 75.5 says, God is the judge. He put it down one, he set it
up another. Why? For his flocks, for his
herds. My God shall supply all your
need. Daniel 2.21 says this in closing. He changes the times and the
seasons. He removeth kings, setteth up
kings. He give wisdom to the wise, knowledge
to them that know understanding. Almighty God has got a people,
and he's gonna prove them. He's gonna show them, gonna test
them. He's gonna prove that they're his. Gonna give them faith to
believe, and they're gonna walk after him. He knows well the
state of his flocks. and his herds. He knows well. He's going to provide for them
in nature. He's going to provide for them throughout all the peoples
of this world. If he raises up a country and
blesses that country, and it's a strong country, this country
right here we live in, I love this country. I thank God for
this country. hurt when I see some of the things
that are going on, but I'm telling you, God has prospered this place
for the good of His sheep, keep His people. I pray the Lord teach
us that and we remember, remember Romans 8 28, for His glory and
our good.