Luke 22, 35, and he said unto
them, when I sent you without purse and script and shoes, lacked
ye anything? And they said, nothing. The question our Lord asks forces
the apostles to think back on the time when he first called
them and sent them sent them out two by two to preach his
gospel. He specifically then instructed
them not to take what most people consider to be necessities, to not take those things with
them as they went. In Matthew 10, five, if you'd
like to turn over there, this is where he's referring to, the
time he's referring to in Matthew 10, five, These 12, Jesus sent forth and
commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles
and into any city of the Samaritans, enter you not, but go rather
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach. That's what he told us toward
the end of his time here on this earth. Then he'd go and preach. Saying the kingdom of heaven
is at hand Heal the sick cleanse the lepers Raise the dead cast
out devils freely you have received freely give Provide neither gold
nor silver nor brass in your purses nor script for your journey
Neither two coats neither shoes nor yet stays for the workman
nor is worthy of his meat. Clarity of that word, meat, includes
a lot. It talks about the necessities,
the things that you're going to need. Don't take them. You'll
be taken care of. That word script, I believe,
is primarily like a, it's like a lunch box. It was a bag that
they carried food in. He said, don't take these things. And he said, don't take any shoes.
And we know that he's not talking about going barefoot because
of Mark's account. In Mark 6, 7, it says, he called
unto him the 12 and began to send them forth two by two and
gave them power over unclean spirits and commanded them that
they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only,
no script, no bread, no money in their purse, but be shod with
sandals and not put on two coats. Don't take anything extra. Don't
take what you might think of. If you're going on a trip, you
think, well, I need this and I need to take this with me.
Don't take those things. There's a lot of truth taught
in the simple language of our text. The foremost lesson, I
suppose, is simply that the Lord provides for those that he sends.
He said, I send you. That's key now, I send you. When
I sent you, did you lack anything? And they said, nothing. The Lord
has to provide everything for everybody. Let's be honest, we
know that, don't we? If you're gonna have it, you're
gonna get it from him. What do you have you didn't receive from
him? But David wrote, listen, Listen
to what David wrote, this is generally speaking. I love this
verse, you know I do, I've said it to you many times. Psalm 145, 16, speaking of God
Almighty, thou openest thine hand and satisfies the desire
of every living thing. But there are purses and scripts
for a reason. There's nothing sinful about
purses or scripts. The Lord does not forbid everyone
from having those things. He doesn't condemn those things
in and of themselves. The way that the Lord provides
for most people, in fact, includes extra, putting something back. It's a smart thing to do. They
put away a little money, they plan for the future. They have
an extra pair of shoes in case you have a blowout, you know. But then an extra coat, you might
need that one day. But he denies the apostles these
things. Why do you think that is? When
you go, don't take these things with you, simply because his
provision for them would be by the giving of others. It would be unnecessary for them
to wear two coats, because if you need another coat, you're
going to have it. Well, I've found that to be true.
Not just for preachers, but for anybody in the Lord's house isn't
that right you need something. I've got it you got it I've never
seen that fail It just won't be necessary you're
not gonna need it. It'll be provided for you The workman is worthy
of it, and he'll have it Now this would require faith would
it not I? People find security in accumulation. Can anybody relate to that? People
find security in an abundance of things, like the rich young ruler. Listen
to what he said in Luke 12, 16. The Lord spake a parable unto
those there, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought
forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine
ease. You don't have to worry about
tomorrow because you've got everything you need for many years to come.
Eat, drink, and be merry without a word of thanksgiving to God,
without a thought for maybe helping somebody that didn't have as
much as he did. but god said unto him thou fool
this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall
those things be which thou hast provided you think the lord is ever sarcastic
mark it down the reason he said it that way thou hast provided
where are those things going to be that you provided he never
said anything about look what god has done for me look what God has done so is he that layeth up treasure
for himself and is not rich toward God and he said unto his disciples
therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life what
you shall eat neither for the body what you shall put on The
life is more than meat. You know that's why people think
that's all they think about. What I'm going to eat, what I'm
going to wear, what I'm going to drive, where I'm going to
live, all of these things. That's all they think about because
that's life to them. The Lord said don't be thinking
that way because that's not life. People just think it is. The
life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment. The Lord doesn't ever forbid
anywhere in the scripture laying up treasure. The problem is laying up treasure
for himself. Nothing wrong with being rich
as long as you're rich for God, not for yourself. That's the
problem. The apostles were to daily be
reminded of their utter dependence upon God Their security with
regard to all things would be Christ alone That's how he sent
them He said when I Sent you Simply because it's him we lack
nothing David wrote in Psalm 23, one, the Lord is my shepherd. And that's the only reason he
gives for the next statement. I shall not want. That's all you need to know about
me to know this. I'm going to always have everything
that I need and everything I want. The Lord is my, he is my everything. That word want, I shall not want,
is the same word lack in a different language. It's in Greek in our
text. Lacked ye anything? Same word,
lack. I shall not lack. Lacked ye anything? Nothing. You know, if we can possibly
find something to complain about, we will, won't we? I've joked about this, about
people before, that if you, and I can
name you names, if you gave them a million dollars, they'd say,
boy, the taxes on that are gonna be ridiculous. Wouldn't they? You'd probably say that. I've said this to you before
and I keep saying it because I don't want to be it. I don't
want to be this. I've heard people 70 years old
that have never in their life ever lacked anything say, boy,
I just don't know what I'm going to do. The cost of my medication
has gone up so much. I just don't know what I'm going
to do. You've lived 70 years on this earth and you've never,
ever lacked a single thing. And you still don't know what
you're going to do? By God's grace, I know what I want to
do. I want to do what Abraham said. I lift up my hands. Living God Everything that I
need It's gonna have to come from him in it and when it does
may I by God's grace Thank him for it praise him for it Worship
him for it Both physical and spiritual Why don't you lack anything?
Because the Lord is your shepherd. What do you mean you didn't lack
anything, David? What do you mean you shall not
lack? Well, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Not only does he make me lie
down, he makes me rest, because if he doesn't, you know what
I'm gonna do? I'm going to struggle and strive
and labor for nothing and die and go to hell. But he's going
to make me lie down. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. I lie down in a place where all
I can see everywhere I look is plenty. I'm resting in a place where
I know that I will never go hungry. As far as I can see, it's green. If you know anything about sheep,
I know about goats especially, but sheep are pretty similar
to goats in their nature now. The difference between a spiritual
sheep and a spiritual goat is just that the sheep are his. If you know anything about sheep,
all they think about is eating. Green grass everywhere, that's
a goat, that's a happy sheep right there. That's a happy sheet. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Not just provision, but peace. This means tranquil waters. It means quiet and restful waters. And notice something very important. in those words there. Let's turn
over to Psalm 23. I want to spend quite a bit of
time because I believe that Psalm 23 is the exposition of our text. When I sent you, because you're
mine and you're doing what I said do, and I am the one that told
you where to go and what to do, did you lack anything? And they
said, nothing. That's what David said too. Belong
to him and so I'm never gonna lack anything and then he tells
what he means by that In this whole chapter of Psalm 23 He
tells what he means by that Notice that the Lord doesn't just provide
these things. He doesn't provide me something
to eat And he doesn't just provide me something to drink. He sees
to it that I have them and Enjoy them. He makes me lie down. He leads me to the still waters
and You know why? Because we're self-destructive.
We're sheep, and we'd wander off into the mountains where
there ain't no grass, and there ain't no water. But he maketh,
he leadeth. That's his grace, his irresistible,
marvelous, infinite grace. A sheep might stray out on its
own, but we're not on our own. If you leave a sheep on its own,
it's gonna stray, isn't it? But we're not on our own, we're
never on our own. We're made, we're led. I shall
not want because it's not up to me. The disciples lacked nothing
because it wasn't up to them. This is true physically and spiritually. Look at the next phrase there
in Psalm 23. I need to turn over there. My soul. He restores my soul. He doesn't just provide. for
my body, and we're not talking about just physical grass, although
we got plenty of that too. Oh my, you talk about green pastures. We eat good, don't we? We eat real good. But it's not
just physical things. He restores my soul too, and
that's way more important. Way more important. He is meat and drink indeed for
my soul He refreshes that's what that word means there it means
to bring back And we understand that in the sense of refreshing
to bring back to restore Christ said my flesh is meat indeed
and my blood is drink indeed and we know what he's saying
there It's not some bizarre weird You don't have to make something
up in order to understand what that means, like the Catholics
do. It's just simply his body and his blood. Who he is, what
he did. Christ, crucified. His person,
his work. That's what we feed on spiritually,
by faith. By faith. That's not convocated,
is it? He is the green passenger. And you eat lying down in that
pasture, don't you? You eat laying down. And he is
the still waters. And for my soul, the word restore,
as I said, means to bring back or refresh some things, you know,
that are done or done. You just you don't do it one
time and you and it's it. That's it. But eating and drinking
is never done. And never done. When the Lord
said to the woman at the well, you'll never thirst again. He
didn't say you'll never drink again. He just said you'll never
go thirsty because as he said in another place, Christ in your
soul is like a well of water springing up. You're gonna drink
and drink and drink, but you never go thirst. Not in the sense
that you don't have what you need. springing up into everlasting
life. It springs up because we need
to be brought back, don't we? We need to be refreshed. We need
to hear of him again. We need to be encouraged. We
need to be enlivened again. We need to be sustained. We must ever drink of him. Paul said, to whom coming as
unto a living stone. He sees to it also that I do
not stray from the paths of righteousness. He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for his namesake. Now that doesn't mean we never
stray in an earthly sense, in the sense that we sin all the
time. We stray from the path in a temporal sense. But think about what this really
means. If he is your righteousness, how are you going to mess that
up? How are you going to get out of that? He's my righteousness. It doesn't
depend on what I do or don't do. My standing before God has
nothing to do with what I do and don't do. It's Christ. You can't stray from that. You
can't mess that up. It's that simple. He's our righteousness,
and we can't mess that up. And it's that way because of
his leading, his doing, his power. And he does it for his name's
sake. It's not all about me. He does
it all for me. But he does it for him too. You
know what we're saved from? It's important that we understand
that salvation and worship is not about us, because you know
what we're saved from? Me. We're safe from me. It's not about me now, and I
like it that way. It's for his namesake, and that's
one of the blessings to me. It's not only his glory, that
makes me happy too. Not unto us. Not unto us, O Lord, but unto
thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake.
For his name's sake he does what he does for us. And notice next that it's all
this way in spite of everything to the contrary. Look at it. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, does that mean
sometimes you're laying down in the green passage and sometimes
you're in the shadow of death? No. What it simply means is that
even when it don't look like it, even when it don't feel like
it, even when nobody thinks it, I'm in his hand. And I shall
never lack. I think I'm gonna. I see the
shadows of death and I think I'm gonna hurt and I'm gonna
suffer and I'm gonna lack, but I'm not going to. Though my surroundings
are dark. You know, I found again that
what best sheds light on scripture is scripture. Turn to Psalm 91. This I believe will be a blessing
to your heart this morning. Psalm 91.1, thinking about this. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art
with me. Psalm 91.1, he that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. I may be walking through the
valley of the shadow of death, but I'm under his shadow. I will say of the Lord, he is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
Are you afraid of anything? Do your enemies lay traps for
you? He shall cover thee with his
feathers. and under his wings shalt thou
trust his truth shall be thy shield
and buckler thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night
boy it seems like everything is worse at night doesn't it? nor for the arrow that flyeth
by day nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor
for the destruction that wasteth at noonday, a thousand shall
fall at thy side and 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall
not come near you. This is spiritual language. Now
it doesn't mean you're not gonna get sick and die. We're all gonna die of something,
aren't we? Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. "'because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, "'even the most high thy habitation. "'There shall no evil befall
thee. "'Neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling, "'for he shall give his angels charge over thee
"'to keep thee in all thy ways. "'They shall bear thee up in
their hands, "'lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.'" And
most of you thought, wait a minute, that sounds familiar. That's the scripture that Satan
quoted. Satan quotes a lot of scripture,
did you know that? He's doing it this morning in
a lot of places around this world. He quotes a lot of scripture.
Satan quoted that very scripture to the Lord Jesus in Matthew
chapter four. John chapter four, I believe
it is. And said, just jump off of this building. He's not gonna
let you get hurt. and he quoted that scripture
to him. So this of course refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, but
also as he is, so are we in this world. If you're in him, you
can't be harmed any more than he can. He said in Luke 21, 17,
you shall be hated of all men for my sake, for my name's sake,
but there shall not one hair of your head perish. Well, we're going to die someday,
aren't we? That's not what he's talking about. Not one hair of
your head will ever perish. He redeemed all of them, didn't
he? Along with your soul. He redeemed us in every way. Because Christ lived and died
for us, because he bore our sins in his own body on the tree and
suffered God's wrath in our place, we shall not want, much less
perish. but have everlasting life. And then, of course, David said
that there's one reason I don't fear. He's with me. Thou art with me. He is with
me because he's for me. And if he's for me, who can be
against me? Not only will I not be harmed,
but I won't even be afraid of being harmed. You know why? I will not fear thy rod and thy
staff. They comfort me. They comfort
me. The Lord comforts me. I will
both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest
me to dwell in safety. Psalm 4, 8. Not even going to be afraid of
it now. How does he comfort his sheep? The rod and the staff. Think about this with me. What
is that? What does that mean? Well, you
know what a shepherd does with that. He tends his sheep. He leads
them along. He guides them. He uses that
crook in the shepherd's staff to pull them over to where they
need to be, to keep them in line, to bring them where he wants
them. He prods them at times with that
staff. He controls them with it. He
may afflict them at times with it. Called in Lamentations 3
1 the rod is associated with affliction. They're the rod of
affliction When the Lord would teach us in Proverbs 3 24 of
disciplining our children He says that they are to be chastened
with the rod in plain terms What is that in spiritual terms? Second Timothy 3 16 Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine
for reproof for correction For instruction in righteousness,
that's the rod in the step correction reproof I'll get to thinking sometimes
that something depends on me. You know correct me I I'll get
to thinking, well, that looks like a good way to go over there.
It's not a good way to go. His way is the right way to go.
How does he correct that? The gospel. That's the right
of the staff. That's just plain, isn't it?
I'll get to thinking too highly of myself, but my comfort is
in seeing who truly is high and lifted up. And that not only do I utterly
depend upon him, Think about this, this is my
comfort. Not only that I utterly depend upon him, but that I can
utterly depend upon him. And sometimes it's by painful
experience that we learn that, but the bones that he has broken,
David said, will rejoice. Psalm 51 8 when are that when's
that gonna happen David when it when are the broken bones
gonna rejoice when I hear of him That's what he said there
I'll get discouraged because of my sinfulness, but he reproves
me even of that by refreshing me he brings me back to the knowledge
of Christ and him crucified in them of the putting away of my
sin by his precious blood his rod and his staff they comfort
me and I need to be corrected. I need to be prodded. I need
to be kept. I need to be restrained. And look at this now, his gospel
is a rod, but also it's a table. His rod and his staff, they comfort,
what comforts you as a believer, honestly? It's hearing of him,
isn't it? It's the gospel. There's nothing
else that could be, nothing else. but also he prepares a table
before me in the presence, what is that? That's the gospel too,
is it not? How do you feed on him? By hearing
of him. By rejoicing in him, by worshiping
him. And it's a table prepared. Oh, it's laid out, isn't it?
It's laid out. This is why we don't need a purse
or a lunchbox, because there's a table prepared. It's true in
earthly things, but, boy, in spiritual things. You know, the
consequence of sending them out to preach and teach, they were
probably thinking, oh, boy, what are we going to eat? Where are
we going to stay? What about that? But you know what they
really should have been thinking about? I wonder if the Lord will save
people by me preaching the gospel. What are going to be the spiritual
consequences of this? Not the earthly, temporal consequences. That's what they should have
been thinking about. The Lord prepares a table in the presence
of his enemies and in the presence of his people. All is accomplished, provided,
and arranged by him for us. His sending them without provision
of their own in earthly things is a constant reminder that he
is their portion, spiritually. Is it not? And it should be for
us. As he went to the cross, what
did he say? I go to prepare a place for you. thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of my enemies how did he do that
he went to calvary he did everything that needed
to be done so that we would have everything we need both now and
forever that's what this is about nothing what do you lack nothing
i go to prepare a place for you in the face of in spite of all
of our enemies and for them to see You're familiar with the word
vindication? There's a little bit of that
here and there. You prepare a table for me in the very presence of
my enemies. Vindication, that for us is Christ. We can't vindicate ourselves.
We are mocked for trusting him. We're called religious maniacs
or, you know, Cult you know you that y'all are a cult you know
because you don't believe what everybody else believes God's
people don't believe what everybody else believes We're discouraged from trusting
him That's the definition of an enemy
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemy You
know what the definition of an enemy is anybody that will stand
between you and Christ. That's what an enemy is in any capacity. Satan does that
by perverting his word. And by accusing the brethren,
perverting the word as he did in the garden. And by appealing
to my pride. Isn't that what he did to them?
He appeals to our pride and our self-righteousness as he did
in the garden. And he's got a lot of helpers
in it, doesn't he? Now he's called the accuser of the brethren.
He has many helpers in that. But Paul said, who shall lay
anything to our charge? Who is he that condemneth? It
is God that justifies. It is Christ that died. He calls
us and makes us sit down at his table of grace right in front
of everybody that would ever charge us of any wrong. He says, they may not be welcome
with you, but they are with me. Not only can the enemies of God
in my soul not keep me from him, neither by accusation nor by
deceit or by any power from the very gates of hell. He said the
gates of hell aren't gonna prevail against you. But he is everything to me and
for me right in their very presence for them to witness and to be
tormented by. Well, the next two phrases go
together, don't they? Look at it. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. They go together because oil,
the anointing with oil indicates luxury. The word oil means fatness
and scripture talks about how those that know the Lord will
delight themselves in fatness. You see how that fits with my
cup runneth over? He is not only all I need, but
he's all I could ever want. He doesn't just fill my, put
enough in my cup, you know, for me to get by on, to keep me alive. My cup is running over, it overflows
with his grace. mercy his goodness That's what
he said next goodness and mercy surely his goodness and mercy
The Lord listen he may be perfectly completely and immutably good
and That not do me any good You ever think about that he
can be perfectly right and good and holy and Gracious and merciful
and that not do me a bit of good he can put me in hell And it
would not diminish any of those attributes of his whatsoever But if he's merciful As well as good then there's
hope for me There's hope his goodness and his mercy I You know, it is the nature of
mercy. In the context of us being sinners, it is the nature of
his mercy that the only way we're gonna have it is if he pursues
us with it. That's what that word there means. His mercy shall follow me. You
look that word up, it means to chase. you know what it really means he can be good now let's talk
about this a little bit more he can be good and merciful and
not have mercy on me he doesn't have to be merciful
to me he's got to be merciful because it's his nature and because
he said he would He said, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. But because he gave me faith
in his son and because all my hope is Christ. Because by his
grace, I know where mercy is found. And I know how God can
be good, holy, just, and justify a wretch like me. By his grace,
I can say Goodness and mercy will never leave me alone It means to pursue ardently and
you know what it can mean to To persecute to harass His goodness and mercy harass
me They won't leave me alone And I shall dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. And that's why, because His goodness
and mercy are going to chase me all the way there. I would
go off one way or the other. I would stop. I would fall. Can't
do it. Can't do it. This is the only thing that David
wanted, the one that wrote this. Can you imagine the smile in
his heart when he wrote that? I shall dwell in the house of
the Lord forever, because he's the one that also wrote this. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, for one reason. to behold the beauty of the Lord. And he gives another reason,
but I really think it's just one, to inquire in his temple. What would we ask God for? That we may see more of his beauty?
I want to find out even more about how beautiful he is. Isn't
that what Paul said? That I may know him. I'm running
after him as fast as I can I want to apprehend the one that apprehended
me why Paul because I want to know him don't you know him?
Yeah, I Just want to know I Believe that's what he's saying there
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire In his temple Lack G anything David wanted that one thing because
he knew that that one thing to dwell in his house, which is
Christ Paul said to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord. How many times have I told
you what that word present means? Home Always remember that when the
scripture comes up. To be absent from this body is
to be present with the Lord. You look that word up sometime. To be whole. David knew that to dwell in his
house included all of these other things. That's why there's a
table prepared before me, because I live in his house. That's why
his goodness and mercy are all over me all the time. It won't
leave me alone. If I make my bed in hell, there
he is. Because I live in his house. Christ is with me. Christ is
for me. And I'll never, ever lack anything. That's where we lack nothing,
in his house. That's why we lack nothing. We're
not just visiting, we live there. We abide there. That I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life. And you know when it boils down
to it, when he says lack ye anything and we say nothing, you know
what another good reason for that is? Just one thing is needful. There's just one thing we need.
If you have the one thing needful, then you don't lack anything,
do you? And that's just the truth. Is the Lord your shepherd? He's
not everybody's shepherd. He told the Pharisees flat out,
you're not my sheep. That's why you don't believe
on me. He wasn't unclear about any of this, was he? He's not
everybody's shepherd. He's not the shepherd of mankind.
That's why that word my is key there in Psalm 23. The Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want. And we need to understand that
Christ is not everyone's shepherd because if he is and many go
to hell, then what in the world good is it to have him as a shepherd? So we need to understand that.
His glory is in that. And our hope is in that. He is
the mighty and good shepherd, and he giveth his life for the
sheep, and they shall never perish, nor shall anyone pluck them out
of his hand. We need to understand that. But
you need to know most importantly, you don't just need to know that
he's not everybody's shepherd, that's important. But you need
to know that he's your shepherd. Just knowing that he's not everyone's
shepherd is good doctrine And good doctrine is vital but
salvation is being able to say by grace through faith the lord
is my shepherd May he give us all faith to lay hold of christ
and find in him our all you know