Go with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 23. Isn't it so nice to hear that
chapter announced? You never know when you're going
to need the comfort of the Scripture. You just never know. You never
know what a day holds. You just never know. You never
know, you know, life goes. And then all of a sudden you
need the comfort of the scripture. Something happens and you just
need it. And every time a child of God
needs it, there it is waiting for us. Isn't it right there?
You open up that word and there it is. We have Sunday morning, Sunday
night, and Wednesday night services here. And I've made the statement
before, you've heard me say many times, we'll show up to our midweek
service and I'll say, I have a Sunday morning message on Wednesday
night. And you know what I mean by that. I have a Wednesday night message
on Sunday morning. That's what I have. And I pray
the Lord will bless it to our hearts. This message is for anybody
who needs to be taken care of. That's who this message is for. This message is for anybody who
needs a place in the hands of somebody who can care for them. I mean really take care of them.
This message is for those who cannot help themselves. You know how men will stand up
and say, the Lord helps those who help themselves. This message
is for those who can't help themselves. So many times men will say, God
took that first step, it's up to you to take the second. This
message, today's message, is for those who can't take the
second step. This message is for those who
see themselves to be true sheep, true sheep. Now, here's the question
of the morning, okay? Are you a sheep? Are you a sheep? Do you know what sheep are? You know what sheep are? Filthy. Filthy. I'm no farmer. You can look at
me and tell that. But I've been around some sheep
a few times. They have them up at Orebank,
up at the exchange place. And I've seen them a few times.
I've been up close to them and they stink. They're filthy. It's true. They're just filthy. You know what sheep truly are?
You know what they are? Dumb. They're ignorant. Bless their
hearts. It's true. I hate it for them. But it's true. You know what
sheep are? Absolutely defenseless. I mean absolutely defenseless. Do you know what sheep are good
for? What sheep are truly good for? The slaughter. That's what they're
good for. The slaughter. I read a while
back, and I told you about this before, but I read where when
it's time for the slaughter, all they have to do is coax one
sheep. That's it. Just pull one sheep. All the other sheep will fall
in line. They'll walk straight into the
slaughter. Straight on in. They said in
this article that I read, if one sheep slips and falls, or
if he jumps off of a cliff, every other sheep will follow him.
They'll all go down to their death. It actually said in the
article, it's not something they think about. Don't even think
about it. Don't even think about it. Well, you know, Gabe, you're
kind of Not being very nice to the sheep, are you? I'm not actually talking about
sheep. All those things are true, but I'm not really talking about
sheep. I'm referring to myself. I'm referring to myself. This
is the truthful way that we are. Isaiah said, all we like sheep
have gone astray. Isn't that what he said? Isn't
that what he said? All we like sheep have gone astray. Do you know what our Lord called
us while he was here on this earth? He walked this earth for
thirty three and a half years. And do you know what he referred
to us as? Lost sheep. How did they get
lost? Went astray. Right. Lost sheep. That's all we are. That's all I am. I'm not going
to speak on your behalf. I'll start with myself. The word
can speak on your behalf. In my flesh, underneath this
suit, I'm nothing but filthy, dumb, lost, good for the slaughter, defenseless. That's all I am. That's all we
are. That's all we are. Shape. We're shape. And once we finally
realize this, it's crushing. Ignorant. Wait a minute. I'm
sorry. Did you just call me ignorant? Did I hear you right? You said
I'm dumb. You said I stink. You said I'm
filthy. You said I'm defenseless. and
just destined for the slaughter. I'm heading down the path of
life. Going down the path of life, following all the other
sheep. All the other sheep are heading
down this path. It's the same path. It's called in the scripture
Broadway. We've got to get the money. We've got to get the stuff. We've
got to find this. We've got to find that. And they're
all falling off the end of the path. Going to meet God, and
you know what all the other sheep are doing? Following right down
the path. It's not something we think about. Once God's sheep finally realize
what they are, it is crushing. And I tell you what it is, is
it's scary. Defenseless, destined for the slaughter. You mean if
something attacks me, I'm defenseless? If that great adversary starts
shooting fiery darts at me, I'm defenseless. It's scary. So God's sheep after that go
searching for some comfort. Once they see the truth, there's
nothing they can do about it. So they go for some comfort and
they open up God's word to Psalm 23, verse one, and this is what
they read. The Lord is my shepherd. Now, I am what I am. I can't change it. I'm filthy.
I'm ignorant. I'm sinful. In my rebellion,
I've gone astray. I'm destined for the slaughter,
but there is hope for me to be made clean. He just might share. There is hope for me to be taught
of God, I'm so ignorant, so dumb, but there is hope for me to be
taught of God. There is hope for me to be brought
back into the fold, I'm out there somewhere. But there's hope for
me. There is hope for me to be delivered
from the slaughter. And the reason is because the
Lord is my shepherd. That's the reason. Isn't that
so comforting? Isn't that so comforting? Now,
let me ask you this question. Ask this in your own heart. Answer
this in your own heart. The question is, are you a sheep? Now that we've described what
a sheep is, In all of its non glory. Are you a sheep? Are you a sheep? Most people see themselves to
be lions, tigers and bears. Oh my. Not God's people. God's people
see themselves to be worms. And sheep. Isn't that right? David penned this psalm. The Lord used, these are the
words of God himself, but he used David to pen this psalm.
And David was an actual shepherd. That's what he did. David is
a type of Jesus Christ. He is a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ, our shepherd. And let me show you what he did
in 1st Samuel 17, alright? Turn with me over to 1st Samuel
17. It's after Judges and Ruth. 1st Samuel 17, as a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you what the good
shepherd here did for his sheep. 1 Samuel 17. No man was willing to go fight
this giant named Goliath. No man out of the army. So David
said, I'll go fight him. I'll go fight with him. 1 Samuel
17 verse 32 says, And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail
because of him. thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou
art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him,
for thou art but a youth and he a man of war from his youth. And David said to Saul, thy servant
kept his father's sheep And there came a lion and a bear and took
a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him and
smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew
him. Thy servant slew both the lion
and the bear And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David
said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of
the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me
out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with you. It sounds like you're pretty
confident in your God. You go. That's what's going to
happen to all lions and bears. Our great adversary comes and
snatches God's people captive. And those people need a deliverer.
And anyone who is captive to him and wants to be a lion and
a bear, that's what's going to happen to him. And I don't want to be that. I don't want to be that. I want to be a sheep. I want
to be a sheep. The reason is because if I'm
a sheep, if I'm his sheep, then the Lord will be my shepherd.
If I'm his sheep, if I bow to the fact that I'm his sheep,
the Lord will be my shepherd. And when the time of any need
comes, I shall not want. I'm not going to lack. Now let
me ask us all this question again. Are we sheep? Are you a sheep? Are you a filthy,
ignorant, defenseless, lost, destined for the slaughter sheep?
If you are, if you are, then go with me to John 10. Let me
show you something in John 10. John 10 verse 11 says, our Lord
said, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. If the Lord is your shepherd,
you have the only shepherd that has ever given his life for his
sheep. The only one. Only one shepherd
has ever given his life for his sheep. I did an internet search. I googled this. I wanted to see
if there were ever any shepherds, actual shepherds, that literally
died for their actual sheep. If any shepherds truly gave their
life for their actual sheep. The only thing that I found was
a man in Switzerland. One of his sheep went astray,
just like sheep do. So all they do is go astray.
He went up into the mountains of Switzerland and this man set
out to go get his sheep and bring that sheep back. And along the
way, on a narrow trail on the side of a mountain, he slipped
and fell and died. That is not giving your life
for the sheep. When that man set out that morning,
he did not intend on dying. He did not set out to give his
life for that sheep. What that poor man did, bless
his heart, is he failed. He didn't deliver the sheep or himself,
neither one. He failed. But this shepherd
right here, this one shepherd, verse 14 says, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep and have known of mine. As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Isn't that wonderful? One foal and one shepherd. What
does that mean? He laid down his life for his
sheep. What does that mean? What did he do? Look with me
at Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. Philip here is telling
an Ethiopian eunuch about Christ our shepherd. Acts chapter 8
verse 32 says, The place of the scripture which
he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter. He didn't die on the trail. He allowed himself to be led
as a sheep to the slaughter. His sheep were destined for the
slaughter. We can't undo that. I was destined for the slaughter,
you were destined for the slaughter. And he fulfilled the destiny
of his sheep, that's what he did. He delivered them from going
down to the slaughter by delivering himself to the slaughter. He
went into the slaughter. The shepherd did that. Can you
picture a shepherd with sheep saying, wait a minute? Straight into the slaughter. The shepherd did that. The Lord
laid on him the filthiness of all of his sheep. That rebellious
sinfulness of his astray sheep, that defenselessness. The destiny
of his sheep. And verse 32 says he was led
as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb done before his shearer,
so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his
life is taken from the earth. What a shepherd. What a shepherd. Now, let me ask you this. Are
you a sheep? Are you a sheep? Are you his
sheep? Did he not just die for sinners? Did he die for you? Were you in line heading to the
slaughter? Can you say I'm the filth and
I'm the rebellion that sent him to his grave? I'm the reason
he died. That was my slaughter. That's
the slaughter I deserved. But he took it for me. If you
can say that, go with me over to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verse 20 says, Now
the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do His will working in you that which is well pleasing
in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. You know what that means? That means he is risen. That's
what it means. He is risen. That great shepherd
of the sheep has risen from the slaughter. He pulled us from
the line. stepped into our place, endured
the slaughter, and he is risen. God, his father, has raised him
up and seated him on his throne." And now he's going to do exactly
what he said he would do. He said, there are other sheep that
I must bring into my fold. That's us. That's us. If we're sheep, if we're dumb,
And if we're filthy and if we're defenseless and if we're just
if we're sheep. That's you and me. And Peter
said, when the chief shepherd shall appear. All of his sheep
are going to receive the crown of the glory of Christ himself.
The inheritance of the shepherd himself, and it's never going
to fade away, never. Now, are you a sheep? Are you
a sheep? Can you say the Lord is my shepherd? If you can, we'll close with
these words of comfort. Go back to Psalm 23. Psalm 23. If the Lord is our
shepherd, verse four says we are never going to lack. I shall
not want." Now, if the Lord is our shepherd, if that slaughter's
over, if we've been made clean because of Him, we're never going
to lack. Never. From time to eternity,
our shepherd is going to provide all our need. Can we as sheep
not say that? Can we not agree with that? He
will provide. We are in His fold. The shepherd
is with us. We will not lack. We're not going
to. If Jehovah, the Lord, the Lord,
if Jehovah is our shepherd, then Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. If the Lord is our shepherd,
verse two says he is going to give us quiet, peace and rest. And I can tell you this, it will
not be outside of the fold. It will not be outside of the
fold of this heart. But inside that fold and inside
that heart, he is going to give the peace and rest and comfort
of the shepherd. Verse two says he's going to
make me lie down in green pastures. He's going to allow us to lie
down in the lush green pastures of his word. We're going to enjoy
it. We're going to rest in His Word.
There's so much rest in here. And I'll tell you this, as sheep,
you will get yourself into a place where you will need it. You'll
need it. And it's in here. There's so
much rest and peace in here. Verse two says, he leadeth me
beside the still waters. If the Lord is our shepherd,
he's going to let our soul drink the living waters of his spirit.
He will comfort our hearts. He will. And we're going to be
satisfied. Verse three says, if the Lord
is our shepherd, he's going to strengthen our heart. He restoreth
my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. He restores us to God. He restores
our soul. When that moment comes where
everything falls out from under us, because the Lord is our shepherd,
we have the promise of His Word. He will restore our soul. He'll strengthen us. If the Lord
is our shepherd, verse 4 says, He's going to protect us. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff comfort
me." Death is all around us. It's all around us. But he said, thou art with me.
You're with me. Your rod and your staff, they
comfort my heart. If the Lord is our shepherd,
verse 5 said, He's going to feed us. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil
and we're all going to say, my cup is running over. It's just
running over. If the Lord is our shepherd,
if he's my shepherd and your shepherd, verse six says, surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I can't imagine
greater comfort. I just cannot imagine greater
comfort. I've told you this before. This is. I believe my favorite
illustration of verse 6, I believe this is so true based on the
promise of this word. One man described goodness and
mercy as being the servants of God that follow every single
sheep all the days of their life. And you're going to find yourself
in worry, you're going to find yourself in worry But this word
comes to us and reminds us that God has stationed goodness and
mercy with us. And goodness is the servant that
is one step ahead of us, laying out every single thing that we
need before we get to it. We haven't taken the step yet.
We don't know it's there, but it's there. Everything we need. Mercy is
one step behind us coming in with the blood of Christ, blotting
out all of our sin. Keeping the slate clean. And
he said, surely, and this is the truth, if we are God's sheep,
if the Lord is our shepherd, surely you can count on it. Goodness
and mercy. Shall follow us all the days
of our life. And we'll dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. We'll be there forever. We can rest in
the Lord our shepherd. We can. Let's all stand together. Turn with me, if you would, to
127.