John chapter 10. John chapter
10. And we'll be looking at several
verses in this chapter, but the title of the message this evening
is, The Shepherd and the Sheep. We're dealing with the parable
of the shepherd, the good shepherd. and the sheep." Our Lord begins
this parable and He says, "...verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto
you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. But when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. But a stranger they will not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which He
spake to them." A parable. A parable. Our Lord spake many
times in parables. What is a parable? A parable
is a story of an earthly thing, a very common thing. Many of
these people were agricultural in their background, and sheep
herding was very common to them. And so they understood the story. It's an earthly story, but yet
it has a greater meaning than just an earthly story. He's not
telling people how to be a shepherd. That's not what he's doing. He's
teaching a spiritual message, a spiritual truth in these parables. And now in this parable, in this
story that he gives, there are five characters in this story,
five things that have meaning in this story. One is thieves
and robbers. He said that, I say unto you,
he that entereth in not by the door of the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, is a thief and a robber. Here's the first
one we're going to look at. Who are thieves and robbers?
What is this? Listen to the picture. There
is a sheepfold. Now a sheepfold is nothing more
than a fenced-in area. They fenced it in. And the shepherd
puts his sheep inside this fenced area. Now then, in this fenced
area there's only one door. One way in, one way out. And
this door is meant only for the shepherd to come in. No one else
was allowed into this. Only the shepherd was allowed
into his sheep. And so he put this man, a porter,
there, and it was a guard. He was to guard that door. And
only the shepherd was allowed in. And then you see these men
now, they're trying to climb in over the top, around the fence. They're trying to dig in. These
are thieves and robbers. That's the first one. The second
one is the door. The door. There's that one door
in this sheepfold. There's not many doors. There's
one door into this sheepfold. One way in, one way out. Only
one. The third thing in the parable
is there is only one shepherd in this parable. Only one shepherd. The fourth one is the porter.
The guy that guards the door. The guy that only allows the
shepherd in to the sheepfold. And then the last thing is the
sheep. Now then, what does all this mean? Well, I'm going to
tell you, one preacher used to say it this way, when you preach,
tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then
tell them what you told them. So that's what I plan on doing
this evening. I want to tell you what I'm going to tell you.
First of all, the thieves and robbers, who are they? They are
the Pharisees. They are those who are self-righteous,
those who try to get into the fold by works. That's who they
are. Anyone who tries to get into
the church by works is a thief and a robber. The second thing,
the door. Jesus is going to tell us plainly,
I am the door. I am the only way into the sheepfold. I am the only way to be accepted
of God, is by the door, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is also
the third one, the shepherd. He is the shepherd. Not only
is He a shepherd, He is a good shepherd. He is a good shepherd
because He is God. He is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because
He is the only one who gives His life for the sheep. Jesus
Christ is the Good Shepherd because He is the only one who calls
the sheep. And listen, He's the only one
the sheep hear. The sheep doesn't hear anybody
else. They only hear the Shepherd's voice and they only follow the
Shepherd, Jesus Christ. So then who are the sheep? The
sheep are the church. The sheep are the elect of God.
The sheep are those who believe on Jesus Christ. They are His
sheep. And we're going to see what makes
them His sheep. And then at the end of this,
I want you to know, Are you one of these sheep? That's
altogether important. Because remember, there are only
two types of people in this parable. Thieves and robbers, and sheep.
Which one are you? That's a vitally important question.
Since we're all going to meet God, we're all going to stand
before God, we're all going to be judged of God. If you are
not one of His sheep, you will be judged as a thief and a robber. But if you are one of His, you
are His forever. Forever. You are led by the Shepherd,
loved by the Shepherd. So, now that I've told you what
I'm going to tell you, now let's tell you. Now I'm going to tell
you. Okay? The first thing in this parable
are thieves and robbers. These are described in verse
1. Listen. He said, "...he that entereth
in, not by the door." but climbeth up some other way is a thief
and a robber." Verse 8, Jesus explains more detailed. He said,
all that came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did
not hear them. Verse 10, He describes them again.
He said, the thief cometh not but to steal and to kill and
destroy. And in verse 12, He says this,
but in hireling and not the shepherd. whose own the sheep are not.
He seeth the wolf coming, and he fleeth." So these are not
only thieves and robbers, there's cowards. There's people that
don't own the sheep, they don't love the sheep, they just pretend
to. Thieves and robbers. Now, I know
this, the previous chapter, the Lord was dealing with these Pharisees. And He said this, He said, for
judgment I am coming to the world that they which see not might
see. Remember, He just healed that blind man, the man that
was born blind. And these Pharisees, when they
heard that, when they heard that, they were offended. They were
offended. They said, are we blind? Are
you telling me we're blind? And Jesus said, look, if you
were blind, then you should see. But because you say, we see. Because you say you're righteous.
Because you say your works are going to get you into heaven.
Because you say your obedience to the law is going to make you
acceptable to God, which it's not. Therefore your sin remaineth. And then he begins his parable,
and the parable is talking about the Pharisees. The Pharisees. The Lord is talking about these
men who sought to be accepted by their obedience. Paul describes these people in
Romans 10, verse 3. He said he had a harsh desire
for his brethren in the flesh, the Pharisees, the Israelites,
to be saved. But he said this, that they were
ignorant of the righteousness of God. Ignorant. Strong language. How do you know if someone's
ignorant of the righteousness of God? Paul tells us, they go
about to establish their own righteousness. These thieves
and robbers are not just Pharisees, but they're anyone who tries
to go to glory based on their works. Based on their own goodness,
based on their own merits, Jesus said, if you don't come in by
the door, if you don't come in by Me, Jesus Christ, by faith
in Me, He said, you are nothing but a thief and a robber. You
are ignorant of the righteousness of God. The picture in the parable, you
see a man, a shepherd who owns his sheep and he's fenced them
in, and there's one door in and out, and then you look yonder,
look over there at the fence, see the man trying to climb over.
Watch him, he's working. He's working to get over that
fence. You see the man with the shovel, he's trying to dig and
get under the fence. Sweating, he's working hard.
To do what? to get into the sheepfold. How many people are trying to
get into the church, get into heaven by working? Our Lord is very clear. You will
never merit God's righteousness by your own works. Let's just
suppose that today, and this is never going to happen, suppose
today God will allow you to obey the law perfectly. Today, from
this point forward, you were perfect in every way. Do you
suppose that that would be enough? No, because you've already failed.
You've already disobeyed the law of God. You've already broken
the law. You cannot merit God's favor. The Scriptures are very
clear. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
It's pretty evident that no one is going to be justified by their
obedience. No man's going to be justified.
Jesus calls them very strongly thieves and robbers. So in a spiritual sense of the parable,
all who are like the Pharisees trying to merit their salvation
are thieves and robbers. Friends, listen to me. There
is only one way to God, and it's not by your works. As there is only one door, there
is only one Savior. And listen, it's not you. It's not me. I'm no Savior. I can't save myself, and I definitely
can't save you. And the same is true about you.
You cannot save yourself, and I cannot save you. There's only
one door, one shepherd, and it's Christ the Lord. It is not ourselves. It is not ourselves. And listen. All those who believe in works
religion, all those who have faith in works religion by the
deeds of the Law, these are thieves and robbers.
And all who preach such messages, listen, they don't care about
you. Anyone who preaches a works religion message who pretends
to care about you really doesn't. Jesus said, these are hirelings. They only care about themselves. The modern church that preaches
free will works religion as salvation. The only thing they care about
is numbers. The only thing they care about
is boasting of their wealth or boasting in their church. They
say, look at my church, look how big it is. I don't care. I don't have any regard for numbers
because that means nothing to me. If I preach to one or a thousand,
it doesn't matter. I'm not trying to boast in myself
or my abilities or anything I have. These hirelings are. Listen to
what Peter said. He said of false preachers, he
said, "...through covetousness shall they with faint words make
merchandise of you." False religion desires to make merchandise of
you. They're only in it for money.
They're only in it for fame. They're not in it for the cause
of Christ. Who? Those who are like the Pharisees,
preaching works religion, works salvation. But here's the good news. Here's
the good news about this. No sheep of God will follow them. Isn't that what our Lord said
in the parable? He said, they are thieves and robbers, but
the sheep do not hear them. They don't follow them. You know
that's one thing about sheep is they only hear the shepherd's
voice. They only follow one voice. The shepherd's voice. One thing
about God's people is they may not know everything, but when
they hear works religion, something in their mind goes off. There's an alert. There's something
wrong with this. If a man is preaching works,
God's people understand that's not the shepherd's voice. And
we don't follow them. We don't follow them. So the
first one is thieves and robbers. They are those who try to enter
heaven by their works and preach that gospel. Secondly, the door.
The door. Look at verse 7. Jesus tells
them plainly. He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, I am the door. I am the door. Without question,
there's only one door, and it is Jesus Christ. Now let's get
this, because the Lord's using simple language so we can understand.
Everybody know what a door is? Everybody know what a door's
for? In and out. Shut people in, shut people out. Isn't that what a door does when
it's closed? Now when a door opens, what does it do? It lets
people out, lets people in. Simple. I love the Lord's language. He doesn't have to be highfalutin
language for us to understand what a door is. What it's for.
A door keeps in, it keeps out, it opens up, it reveals, right?
Somebody knocks on your door, you open it up, what happens?
It reveals who's there when the door's open. And so let's see the spiritual
aspect of this door. First of all, the door is not
open. In this parable, it's shut. It's shut to do what? Keep the
sheep in. Isn't that right? It's shut to
seal them into the fold. And it's shut to keep the robbers
out. Now, before the fall of man, there was no revelation given
to anyone concerning the salvation of sinners. You know that? Before Adam fell, there was no
gospel message preached. Remember when the angels fell?
What happened? Was there any gospel message
for them? No. No, those angels that fell, there's
no hope for them. When they fell, it was over,
completely over, forever. No gospel for the angels. But
now then you've got man, and all he knows is obedience by
works. Adam, don't eat this. If you
don't eat this, you live. Eat this, and you what? Die. You die. Works. That's all man
knew. And as long as he obeyed, guess
what? He was okay. But what happened
when he didn't? He died. He died not physically,
he died spiritually. In his heart, he died. And listen, he didn't have any
promise of a gospel. There was no gospel preached
to him at that time. The door was shut. The door was
shut. The salvation of sinners by Jesus
Christ, you listen to this, was never God's plan B. I know that's
how most religions think, that God, when Adam sinned, He didn't
know what to do. That's what people think about
God. They say, well, what am I going to do now? Adam sinned.
No. It was always salvation by Jesus
Christ was always plan A. It was always God's plan to save
by Jesus Christ. You see, though it was hidden,
Yet God from eternity purposed to save His elect people by the
blood and righteousness of His Son. This was always God's way. Even before sin came into the
world, God purposed that this door should be the only way of
salvation. This is it. There's only one
Savior. Now Paul said this, we speak
wisdom to them that are perfect. In other words, those who know
the Gospel, it's simple. Christ is all. Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life. You know the Gospel. It's simple
to you. But listen, it's not simple to
everyone. Not everyone understands this. Paul said we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery. Listen, even the hidden wisdom
of God which God ordained before the world, for our glory." You
see, the gospel was hid in God before the world began. That
door was shut. Nobody knew except God how He
would save sinners. And so in our parable, see the
door is shut. See that all the sheep, which
are the church of God, they were shut in They were kept in Christ
before the foundation of the world. God chose His people and
shut them in to Christ even before there was ever sin, even before
there was ever a revelation of the Savior. God had already purposed
to save a people. The Scripture says that no flesh
should glory in His presence, but of Him are you in Christ,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. The illustration of this is very
clear in Jacob and Esau. Remember those two twins that
were born? Same father, same mother. And
listen to what God said. Before the children were born,
not having done good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. It is said to her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." Now when did God love Jacob? He loved Jacob before he was
born. You see, Jacob was one of those
sheep. He was shut in to Christ. He
was in union with Christ before the foundation of the world.
He was chosen, a chosen vessel of mercy. And listen, you that
are in Christ, you are a chosen vessel, shut in from eternity. Shut in from eternity. Get that. You who believe in
Christ, you were always God's sheep. You were always His sheep. He chose you. He purposed to
save you. And that's the picture of the
door being shut. But what happened after sin came?
After sin came, the door was opened. God revealed salvation
to Adam. He began to show us that Christ
is the only way to God, the only way to heaven. This is the hidden wisdom of
God that was hid from eternity, but now is made revealed to man. It is in the garden that God
began to point sinners to His Son. But this salvation, though
promised and by faith believed, was not yet accomplished or fulfilled
till Christ came. See, salvation was always purposed
of God from eternity, but it wasn't done until Christ came.
Jesus came to fulfill and accomplish the salvation of His sheep. And therefore now God has sent
forth His preachers to declare this." Listen, the door is open.
This is what His preachers declare. The door is open. There's only
one door. There's only one way to God.
It is by Jesus Christ. And we say to everyone, come. I say come in today, right now,
every one of you, come in. Come to Christ. Our Lord said this in our text. He said, I am the door. Any man
enter in, he shall be saved. That's a good message, isn't
it? If any man... You know why we say any man?
Because I don't know who the sheep of God are. I have no idea
who the elect of God are. You know that? And neither do
you. So that's why we preach to all men. Now, I know God hasn't
elected people. I just don't know who they are.
So I say to everyone, come in. Come in. Come to the door. and
anyone that enters in shall be saved." Listen, friends, there have never
been many ways to God. There's only one way, one door.
Jesus said this, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to God but by me. Now notice he didn't say, but
by me and you. It's not a cooperative effort.
You and him are not the door. Matter of fact, we didn't even
open the door, did we? God opened the door. It's not a cooperative effort.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by Me. You see, the Pharisees would
not come in by this door. They wouldn't come in. They sought
to come in another way. They sought to rob God of His
glory. But listen, this gospel that
we preach, The Pharisees were offended when He said, you're
blind. Now, when I call you a sinner, unrighteous, wicked, vile sinner,
is that offensive or just the truth? I confess, it's a truth concerning
me. I am a sinner. The Pharisees
were offended by it. They said, how dare you call
me a sinner? You know why? Because they didn't want to go
in the door. In order to go into the door, you have to qualify.
Are you a sinner? Because that's what the door
is for. The door is for people that are hopeless. People that
are helpless. People that cannot save themselves.
Those are the ones we call. We call the helpless. If you
can help yourself, you're climbing over the wall. I can't help myself. I'm helpless. Then the door's
for you. Come in. Come in. I know this. A lot of people like to examine
the door. They like to look at the door, but they don't enter
the door. These are theologians. They spend
all their time studying the door, and themselves, they never enter
in. You know, God would have never
used this illustration if He didn't intend for you to enter
in. It's not presumption to enter in, is it? If the doors open,
why would you not enter? The only reason you would not
enter is rebellion. That's it. Because you despise
the door. Don't just look at the door.
Don't just admire the door. Enter the door. Come in to Christ.
Believe on Christ. And listen, you shall be saved. And you know what's good? That's
good for people who need to be saved. Only sinners need to be
saved. Only the dead need life. Only
the blind need sight. If you're one of those, come
on. Come in. Welcome. The door is
for you. Come in. And all who come in
by the door are accepted, received of God. Now to come in, I like
this, to come in by the door is to receive Christ. In modern day, people want to
say the word accept. You need to accept Jesus. Nope. Nowhere in Scripture you need
to accept Jesus. You know what receive has the idea of? Consider
this man who's starving to death, in need of bread. He's poor. He can't afford bread. And someone
who is rich comes along and gives him bread. What does that starving
man do? Do you suppose that he would...
except the bread, well, I guess I will accept it. No, he's starving
to death. He has to have it. He receives
it with grace. He receives it with humility. He receives it with thanksgiving.
That's what it is to receive Christ, as a beggar, as a beggar. That's how we receive Christ. Most men want to receive Christ
as an equal. When you accept something, you
accept it as equals. No, we don't accept Christ. We
receive Him because we are beggars. That's what it is to enter the
door. Have you entered the door? Have you come in by this way?
Oh, man, you are blessed if you come in this way. You're blessed. The third thing is the shepherd.
Who is the good shepherd? I'm sorry, the porter. Let's
look at the porter. It says in verse 2, "...but he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth." Now what's a porter? He's the guard.
He's the guy that guards the door. This porter is a representation
of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This porter only allows the shepherd
to enter in this door. Only allows the shepherd to enter
in. The Holy Spirit being the author of Scripture, being the
author of this book, All of it only pictures one man. Represents one man, Jesus Christ.
Jesus said this to his disciples. He said, beginning in Moses and
all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
concerning what? Himself. Himself. This word is
about Jesus Christ. Now if you're looking for something
else, how to get a good diet, or how to live your life, or
anything like that, that's not what this book's for. This book
has one purpose, to reveal the shepherd. Who's the shepherd? Who's the Savior? The book reveals
Him. The book reveals Him. The Holy
Spirit has written the book to give us a picture of who He is. Listen, He's the seed of the
woman. Isn't that right? The virgin-born son. Who is that? Only Jesus Christ is that, isn't
He? He's the only one that was born the virgin. He is God and
man. The only one who is God and man
is Jesus Christ. He's the only one. Unto us a
child is born. Unto us a son is given. His humanity
and His deity both are there represented. Upon His shoulder,
the government shall be upon His shoulder. In other words,
the responsibility, the salvation of all His kingdom is upon His
shoulder. He's going to fulfill the law
of God. He's going to satisfy the justice
of God. This is what the Scripture pictures
all throughout the Old Testament. He's the porter and the only
one who opens the door is the Spirit of God, testifying of
Jesus Christ. And what has He come to do? The
Scripture says He came to satisfy the justice of God for our sins. We all, the Scripture said, like
sheep, have gone astray, turned everyone to his own way. Listen,
"...but the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. You see, the shepherd had come
to save his sheep. And what did the Father say when
He came into the world? He said this, this is My beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. In whom I am well pleased. You
know that He didn't say with whom I am well pleased? although
He was pleased with him. But I know this, this is a testimony,
that He is only pleased with those who are in His Son. If
you are in His Son, God is pleased with you. But if you're outside
of His Son, God is not pleased with you. God is only pleased
with His Son and He is only pleased with those who are in His Son.
And how do we know he was pleased? Because after he died, listen,
God raised him from the dead. What was he doing? He was testifying
of his son. The porter was saying, this is
the shepherd. This is the shepherd. Look at
the shepherd. He was the one that I told you
would come. He is the one that should save
Israel. He is the one that I chose and
anointed. That's what God was saying. You
see, Jesus Christ, I like this, His offering for sin was thorough. You know what that word means?
Thorough means complete. with regard to every detail,
not superficial or partial." Jesus Christ's death was perfect. Perfect. When Jesus Christ, who is the
Shepherd, He said, I am the Good Shepherd. How do you know He's
the Good Shepherd? Because the Good Shepherd giveth
His life for the sheep. Giveth His life for the sheep.
And God testified that He is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd. In this title, Good Shepherd,
what is He saying? Well, first of all, I want you
to understand He is talking about His deity. You know that Jesus
said in another place, He said, why callest thou me good? That
lawyer came and said, you're a good master. And He said, look,
you don't know why you're calling me good. There's only one good,
and that is God. So when Jesus was saying, I am
the Good Shepherd, He was saying, I am God. I am God. And He's the Shepherd because
He was God in the flesh. God manifests in the flesh. How
good is that? How good is that, that God Himself
would condescend to take upon Himself this nature of ours,
this flesh that is so weak. He would humble Himself and not
only become a man, but also to die. and not just die a physical
death. Everybody here, we're going to
die a physical death. Jesus died more than a physical
death. He died a spiritual death. When
God took our sins and God imputed our sins to Christ, He died under
the justice of God. Scripture says, "...He hath made
Him to be sin, who knew no sin." For what purpose? That the sheep
should be made the righteousness of God. I'll tell you what, if
you're a sheep, that's good news. Is there anyone in need of righteousness? Does anyone need pardon and redemption? then I'm telling you only the
shepherd, the good shepherd, did this. Only Christ did this. But I want you to see this last
part, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. For who? The sheep. Who? Sheep. There is a misconception and
a lie that has been told in this nation especially, that Christ
died for everyone. Jesus did not say He died for
everyone. He said, I am the Good Shepherd,
and the Good Shepherd giveth His life not for everyone, but
rather for the sheep. The sheep. Christ came to die for those
sheep. Now, isn't it then incumbent
upon us to ask the question, am I a sheep? Or am I a thief? Because you're only one of two. There's no middle ground. You're
either one or the other. Well, let me give you some things
about the sheep so you can compare this to yourself. You should take this seriously.
Who are the sheep? Who are they? Let's look at our
text. And the Lord begins to describe
these sheep. First of all, I want you to see
they were given to Him. They were those given to Him
of the Father. He said this, My Father, He said,
listen, I give eternal life to them, the sheep. And they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
Listen. My Father which gave them me. Who gave the sheep to Christ?
The Father did. The Father. This is divine election. This
is sovereign election. That the Father loved the people
and gave them to Christ. And Jesus said, I came to die
for the sheep. I came to die for the sheep. In another place, our Lord said,
in that last day they'll be divided into two different categories
of all men, goats and sheep. And he said to the sheep, blessed,
you're blessed of my Father, come inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from before the foundation of the world. The sheep have
a kingdom, they have an inheritance. They were given to Christ and
the sheep Christ died for. And none of them shall ever perish. He says, I give to them eternal
life. Have you ever thought of when
eternal life begins? Eternal life is eternal, isn't
it? It doesn't have a beginning. He said, I give them eternal
life. When did this eternal life begin? My life began in eternity. And Jesus said, that's the life
I give you. Eternal life. He gives it to the sheep. So
who are the sheep? Listen. Jesus tells us plainly,
My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me. Now if you want to
know if you're a sheep, listen, have you ever heard His voice?
I'm not talking about an audible voice. I'm talking about the
still small voice in the heart. That voice that raises the dead
to life. That voice that gives the unbelieving
faith. That voice that gives the blind
sight. One lady told me her analogy
of faith I thought was just wonderful. She said, I was a rebel, I was
a hater of God, I despised the gospel, and I heard the gospel
being preached, and before I knew what happened, I believed. Well,
what happened? She heard the voice of the Son
of God. That's what happened. Have you heard the voice of the
Son of God? I'll ask it another way. Have
you believed on Jesus Christ? Because that's the same. Faith
in Christ is not a mere decision. Faith in Christ is a work of
God. And if you believe on Christ,
that's a work of God. It's a miracle that you believe
it all. It's a miracle of grace. This
is the work of the Father which has sent me, that you believe.
This is the work of the Father. This is the work of the Father,
that you believe. Oh, you believe? That's the work
of the Father. That's the work of the Father. And listen, His sheep not only
believe on Him, they follow Him. What does this mean? They obey
Him. How many people today want Jesus
to be their Savior, but do not desire Him to be their Lord?
They say, oh, I want Jesus to save my soul, but I want to do
what I want to do. Nope, not going to happen. Not
going to happen. Won't work. Try it. Won't work.
If He's your Savior, listen, He is your Lord. And this is not grievous to me.
Is it to you? Not grievous. His commandments
are not grievous to me. What is His commandments? Not
the ten commandments, that's grievous. What is His commandments?
Believe on Me. Is that grievous? Is that hard? No, that's the voice of a good
shepherd. His commandment is this, love Me and love My brethren. Is that hard? No. I love you. I love you because He first loved
Me. I believe on Him because He gave
me faith and life. And I still believe today because
He still gives me faith and life today. This is a good shepherd. This is my shepherd. The Lord
is my shepherd. And you know what I don't want
for anything? He's provided everything. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. I rod and thy staff comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Mine enemies are all around me,
but who cares? My shepherd is here. He guards
me and keeps me. and he defies them to try to
harm my soul. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the
house of God forever. Why? He's my shepherd. I'm his
sheep. Listen, if you're a thief and
a robber, quit. Quit trying. You ever heard that,
somebody trying to be a Christian? Quit trying. You're not going
to do it. Come in the door. And believe. And you shall be saved. Not a
question. Not a question. He's the Lord
your Shepherd. I pray He is.