Would you join us tonight in
the book of Zechariah? The book of Zechariah. And we're
going to again be in the 11th chapter of the book of Zechariah.
The 11th chapter of the book of Zechariah. And in this chapter
we have had some comments about shepherds. And if we look in
most commentaries we'll find out that most of this chapter
has been put off into the future But if we look at Christ, we
find that it is a message of Christ. It's a message that was
fulfilled by him. I just imagine as he was sharing
with his disciples on the road to Emmaus, after his conversation,
he began to reveal unto them all of himself in the Old Testament
that he spent some time here in the book of Zechariah going
over what had happened was purpose to happen. In this particular
chapter, being sold for 30 pieces of silver was purposed to happen
that way. So the Lord was not surprised. I'm sure that there were some
disciples that were a little bit surprised about the events
until they understood them, but the Lord is not surprised about
anything. He has purposed it to happen,
and here we have that mentioned. In this chapter, we have the
shepherd, and we have some other shepherds. Some are wicked shepherds
and he said that he would destroy them. Three shepherds that the
kings that were to rule in righteousness and did not. the prophets who
were to declare the salvation through Christ and Christ alone,
and the priests who were to offer offerings that represented the
Lord himself, the Lord of glory, and his without spot and without
blemish, and they failed to do that, these three shepherds would
soon be cut off. They would no longer be a part
of the service. And it may take a few years for
that to happen from the point in Zechariah, but it was going
to happen. And in AD 70, all the temple
worship was over with, all the sacrifices were over with, even
though it was against many of those who were around their belief. They just could not understand
that God would permit that. Well, he's already promised that
that was going to take place. We find in this with regard to
the shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, that he's brought out
in the New Testament with such kind words, terms of endearment
as the good shepherd. The good shepherd does something
very, very special for the sheep. Now, the shepherd received the
sheep from his father. That's what we find in the 17th
chapter of the Book of John. They were the father's, the father
gave them to the son. They were the father's before
the foundation of the world. And the father gave them to the
son before the foundation of the world. And in that great
high priestly prayer, he presents that very thing. Thine they were, thou gavest
them to me. that I might lay down my life
for them. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Now there's
only one reason that he was going to give his life for the sheep.
They must be redeemed. They're all fallen creatures
of Adam and they must be redeemed and only one thing could redeem
them. That was his blood and righteousness. We have that take place. He shed
his blood on the behalf of his people. Now, as a result of that,
the Good Shepherd gives eternal life to every one of them. We
had a Zoom meeting earlier in the book of Romans. We're looking at the book of
Romans and, you know, there's a lot said there about honoring
the authorities and things like that. You know, the only thing
one of God's sheep cannot do is be lost. That's it. You study the lives of the Old
Testament prophets that believed God, we find error among them
all in their life. David, the king, we find among
the prophets, the priests, and the kings that even served him,
there was sin. We find that throughout them.
The only thing they could not do was ultimately fall away. The security that Christ has
for all of his sheep is eternal forever, and it fadeth not away. So that's the only thing that
a believer may not be able to do. He gives them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them
out of my Father's hand. So we have that wonderful promise.
Jesus knows all the sheep and calls them all by name. Now he
has a name for every one of his sheep. And it's not disparaging
names. As he gave to Jacob, supplanter,
he gave him the name of Israel. It was a wonderful statement
about the change that God would make in him preparing him for
eternity. That was, save him by his grace. So the names that the Lord gives
us are honorable names, they're glorious names. In fact, the
book of Jeremiah shares us the name that he knows us by, and
that is the Lord our righteousness. So we have that wonderful statement
made. Now, we also find that that shepherd
that is mentioned here is the great shepherd. He's the great
shepherd of his sheep. He's not just a good shepherd,
but he's a great shepherd, and he continues to be a great shepherd
of the sheep. And then we also find he's the
chief shepherd. He is the only shepherd. Now,
he may have under-shepherds, and he does that. He's had that
from the very beginning. He's had under-shepherds that
have honored him with the word of God. But he is the chief shepherd. He is ultimately the one that
John wanted people to look to. Behold the Lamb of God. Now in
this chapter we find, I want to read verses 12 and 13. We're going to look at shepherd
a little more deeply in this, and then we hope to come back
and look at what happened here in this passage of scripture.
But we're looking at the shepherd, the Lord. He is the shepherd. And it tells us here that he
is asking, he is asking, share what you think I am worth for
my wages. Share what you think my wages
should be. Now, very seldom we want to do
that. But he's asking the people. He's
asking Israel. He's asking the people, would
you share with me what you think my value is? Now, to the church,
he is altogether lovely. Altogether. But as we follow
this out, it said here, as I said unto them, if you think good,
give me my price or give me my wages. And if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price
30 pieces of silver. Now, you know, we might think
that that's quite a bit. But when we look in the Old Testament,
that is exactly what a person who owned a slave was to be paid
if a bull gored them. just the price of a slave the
price of a servant so in reality is not much and that is a statement
Judas personified this but natural man honors it that is how much
Judas believed that this man was worth this is the wages that
he should get for his ministry what did Judas think of the Lord
Jesus Christ nothing He is nothing more than a servant or a slave
that got gored. So we find that that is the natural
inclination towards the Lord of glory is to have not very
much value. He goes on to tell us there,
and the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter a goodly price
that I was prized out of them. And I took 30 pieces of silver
and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Well,
you know what happened over there that he brought it back because
he, sorry, he got caught. He threw it on the floor and
they bought a potter's field to bury indigents in. Well, this
is a prophetic statement about the Lord, but it is also a declarative
statement about all natural man on their value of a good shepherd,
the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd. This is the value for
a shepherd, the Shepherd of Israel. This is the value for a shepherd
that God gave to Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, I would
like to spend just a little time looking over the Old Testament
at some verses about shepherds because we find almost in the
beginning of the Old Testament, the book of Genesis, there is
a reason that there was very little value placed on the Good
Shepherd the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd, and it's
found in the book of Genesis. If you turn there with me, you'll
know this passage of scripture. It's just after the children
of Israel have come into Egypt. And they are given some property
because they are shepherds for one reason. In the book of Genesis
chapter 46, Genesis chapter 46, There's a comment made here,
and this comment, when we truly look at Egypt as the world, and
it could be looked at that as a type and a shadow and a picture
of the world. Here in the book of Genesis chapter
46 and verse 34. It says this, for they shall
say, thy servant's trade hath been about cattle from our youth,
even until now, both we and also our fathers, that ye may dwell
in the land of Goshen. Now notice this comment about
shepherds. Now this is shepherds in the
eyes of the Egyptians. And this is truly the shepherd
in the eyes of natural man. For every shepherd is an abomination
unto the Egyptians. Now that comment is carried out
so dramatically throughout the Old Testament as well as the
New Testament when we get to looking at the person, work,
and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ because it is never valued. It is never honored. It is only
honored by those who are brought into the fold. They've already
been sheep given by the Father to the Son with the promise of
Him dying for them, and He did die for them to pay their sin
debt. Those alone understand the value of this Savior. Now,
by nature, we don't. By nature, we're just like anybody
else. It isn't until the Lord saves
us that we realize that he had a purpose and a plan carried
out from eternity on our behalf. So every shepherd is an abomination
to the Egyptians. And that could be easily said,
this shepherd is an abomination and I don't want to hear him.
I don't want to be around him. And if you're going to give him
his wages, it's just going to be a paltry sum that would be
given to an owner if someone was gored by their bull. 30 pieces
of silver. That's what's to be counted out.
Now, the scriptures tell us some other things about the Lord.
The world looks at him as an abomination. This shepherd is
an abomination. His word is an abomination. His
manner is an abomination. His purpose is an abomination.
But when the church looks at him, they find out that he is
much different than that. He reveals himself just as he
did to Peter when Peter responded, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. What is Peter saying? You're
the good shepherd. You're the chief shepherd. You're the great
shepherd. You are the heavenly sent one
from God. Not many people understood that,
but Peter was reminded too. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
this unto you. How do we know a good shepherd from a bad shepherd?
It must be revealed to us. He has the word of life. He has
the word of life. So if you would jump over with
me to the Psalms. This Psalm is so often read at
funerals, but it is our Psalm. The Lord, what does it say here?
Psalm 23. Psalm 23. Psalm 23 and verse 1. So to the
Egyptians, he's an abomination. To natural man, he's an abomination.
And until we hear the gospel and the gospel is revealed to
us, the Lord Jesus is revealed to us as he was to Peter, he's
an abomination. He doesn't fit our standard.
He doesn't fit our purpose. He doesn't fit our plan. And
we may use the name, but there are many Jesuses and there are
many gods. But when he reveals himself as
the Lord of glory, we understand this is our shepherd. This is
the one that has given himself a ransom for us. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. Now we may not understand that
when we're saved, but someone's going to come along and preach
that and we're going to say, hallelujah. I knew that all along. Well here
in the book of Psalms, Psalm 23 verse 1, a Psalm of David,
the Lord, now that is Jehovah. Jehovah is my shepherd. Now what does that mean to us?
We are his sheep. That's very highly valuable to
the believer that he is our shepherd but we are his sheep. And when
we study about the sheep of the Lord we find out he's done great
things for them. He has given up the glory that
he had with the father before the world was for them. He came
to this sin-cursed earth for them. He was born of a virgin
for them. He went through that confinement
You know, the Lord of Glory did that. The Lord is my shepherd. I am his sheep. And all that
he ever did on the behalf of the sheep, he did for me. Well, he goes on to say there,
I shall not want. When it comes to spiritual things,
he's all our bread. He's all our water, he's everything.
I shall not, I'm not looking for something else now. That
is one thing about this shepherd, when he calls us out of darkness
to his marvelous light, he settles us on him as being our sustainer. He's the one that gives us the
bread of life. He's the one that gives us the
water of life. He's the one that gives us the word of life. He
is our sustainer. He sustains us. And we're not
even thinking about going somewhere else for our bread and for our
water. He maketh me to lie down. You
know, the natural inclination of us, even after we're saved,
is to continue standing. But I'm thankful the Lord, the
Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd, has the
ability of having us bend our knees to him. He maketh us to
lie down. In green pastures, he doesn't
take us to Lodibar. Now we might be living in Lodibar,
but he doesn't take us to Lodibar. Wherever we are, wherever he
finds us and saves us, now he may take us somewhere else, but
if he saves us there, he's going to feed us there, and he's going
to feed us all the same thing, and that is what we find here
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside
the still waters. He leads me to the waters of
salvation. He leads me continuously back
to the same waters. He told the woman, if thou knewest,
the woman at the well, if thou knewest who was speaking to you.
And so, when he reveals that, we're taken to the purest water
available, and that is the water of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, he maketh me, he restoreth
my soul, and on and on this psalm goes, but let's look at another
passage of scripture here in the psalms that speak to us about
the shepherd. This shepherd. Now, the world
looks at this shepherd, and shepherds under shepherds, that follow
Him, that serve Him, they are an abomination. They are an abomination. One of the reasons that they're
an abomination is that goats just cannot follow. And we act
like goats. Now He never saves a goat. He
doesn't change us. But from the outward appearance,
there's no difference between us and anybody else in this world
until he brings us the gospel and gives us a new birth. And
we realize what this shepherd has done for us from eternity.
And then we find out, you know. I am not a servant in the sense,
I am a son, I am a daughter. I've always been that, but I
didn't know it till now. He reveals that to us. Well,
here in Psalm 80, would you turn with me to Psalm 80? We have
something else here about the shepherd. And this shepherd came
to the people and says, what would you give me for my wages?
You know, it reminds me a little bit of what Jacob said to his
father-in-law. You've changed my wages ten times. I've served you all of these
years, and you've changed my wages ten times. You know, in
every generation, we find people have different views of value
about the Savior, but when it comes down to it, without the
knowledge through the power of the Spirit, we all say you're
worth about the value of a gourd slave. You have no value because
the value is in us. We're the valuable one. You just
are kind of helping out. Well, we find out he is of all
value. He is most good, most gracious,
most glorious. He's altogether lovely. He's
tall, dark, and handsome. And all the things that that
bride said there in the book of the Song of Solomon, even
though the world looks at him, We did too, by nature. We looked
at him and saw no value. There's nothing about him that
we should desire him. Psalm 80, I'll get there. Psalm
80 verses one, two, and three. To the chief musician upon, you
pronounce that, a Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel. Now he's speaking here about
him being a shepherd of the church. He, from a human standpoint, shepherded
national Israel. And then we've just found out
in our last study, he said this is going to be over with. You
broke the covenant. I regard you not. But it doesn't
mean that he doesn't have anything to do with the church. It means
I'm going to show you what I really mean as being a shepherd. I am
the shepherd of the church. I am the shepherd of true Israel. I am the shepherd of true Israel. And he goes on to say here, give
ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.
The Lord is our shepherd and he guides his flock. You know
what He said He would do? He will guide them into all truth. That's what He will do. He will
guide us into all truth. And the truth that He gives to
us is not contrary to His Word. It is His Word to us. The truth of His Word. He shall
guide, he lead us, Joseph, like a flock, thou that dwellest between
the cherubim, shine forth. Well, where is that? That's on
the mercy seat. The cherubims overlooked the
mercy seat. And I'm reminded of a man so
many years ago that Jesus said went down to his house justified,
and that was a publican, And the only confession he was make,
and he only knew this by revelation, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He was there for us to hear him
say that. And then the Lord complimented,
he said, he went down to his house justified. All sin was
forgiven, all sin was put away, all sin was covered by the blood
of the Lamb. Then in verse two back here in
Psalm 80, before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up
thy strength and come and save us. Turn us again. That shepherd
has the ability of turning us. Turn me and I shall be turned,
He says. And even when we go off this way or that way, He
will turn us back to Him. I like to think of it, He has
flesh hooks in our jaw. He's not going to leave us. He's
not going to leave us behind. He's not going to leave us. He
is going to reveal to us all truth. Turn us, O God, and cause
Thy face to shine and we shall be safe. What is this? The shepherd.
This is the shepherd's business about the sheep. In Isaiah chapter 40 and verse
11, would you turn there with me? Isaiah 40 and verse 11. In Isaiah 40 and verse 11, there's
a wonderful statement made here about what the Lord does on the
behalf of his flock, on behalf of his sheep. Isaiah 40 verse
11. This wonderful passage of scripture, he shall feed his
flock. The best alfalfa hay possible. By that I mean the best. He will
feed, and what do we feed on? We look for Christ, we are fed
on. Christ is our food. All that
he went through, all the indignities he went through, he went on behalf
of the sheep. And to find out the Lord is my
shepherd. That means I am his sheep and
find that he done all of this for them. He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. What a promise he has here. When
we're first born, He carries us. When we're mature, He carries
us. He leads us. When we're of old
age, He carries us. He leads us. He doesn't give
up. He doesn't say, well, you've
got so much education now, I'm going to turn you over and see
how well you do. He never leaves us or forsakes
us. He doesn't leave us to ourself and to our own thoughts. He settles
that. Follow Him. Follow Him. Continue
to go with Him. But the Lord and his great work
of being a shepherd. And you know, we find in the
scriptures that there was a man mentioned many years before he
was born. His name was Cyrus. And the Lord
said, he is my shepherd. Now, God uses The strangest of
things. That was the shepherd God used
to release the children of Israel from 70 years of bondage under
Babylon. That, what a glorious statement.
He's my shepherd. I have a shepherd. His name is
Cyrus. And one other, let's look over here
in the book of Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34. There's so much said in the Old
as well as the New Testament about a shepherd. It's something
that the people could understand from a physical standpoint. But
without a revelation, they just saw it from a physical standpoint. The Lord is our shepherd from
a spiritual standpoint, but He is also right in the middle of
our physical life. He's the one that brings us to
places, He brings us to the Word, He brings us to someone. that
cares, he brings us to the word of God. He cares about our physical
existence, but he is overwhelmed with our spiritual existence.
I shall lose none. None shall take them out of my
hand or my father's hand. I give unto them eternal life.
And the church just stands in amazement because we know what
we are by nature. And we didn't get one cell of
our flesh changed in regeneration. Not one. We still have that. But we have God's gracious restraining
hand. And you know what? I'm thankful
for that every day. His restraining hand. Alright. The book of Ezekiel 34. Book
of Ezekiel 34. Verse 12. And we find this in
the book of Zechariah. This is going on there. as a
shepherd. Ezekiel 34 verse 12. We have
that shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd, the chief
shepherd. This shepherd of the sheep, this one, and he's to
the Egyptians, to the world, he's an abomination. A preacher
standing in the pulpit says, oh just a minute Lord, I'll be
right with you. He, that's, he's an abomination. But that's just a tiny little
bit of what we do by nature. I can handle my salvation by
myself. It is up to my faith. It is my
free will. I had quite a discussion with
a young man today whether the will of man fell in Adam or not. Because religion doesn't believe
that. That the will is separate. And
to make a statement that people that never hear the gospel are
better off than those that hear it and reject it. And I said,
so God has three places? Heaven, hell, and some other
place that's a little better off? Show me in the scriptures. The Bible tells me there's two
lines at that day. Right hand, left hand. Right
hand, welcome. Left hand, depart. And then I
said, Why in the world do you ever preach at your church? Well,
I says, all you're doing is making things worse. You're making things worse. If
they never heard, they're better off. That's just what you said.
Well, we know that that is just human philosophy. Trying to interpret
God's word away. but we'll never grasp it until
he reveals it to us. Well, Ezekiel chapter 34 verse
12, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he
is among his sheep that are scattered. That sentence goes on and on.
It says, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that
he is among his sheep that are scattered. His sheep are all
over. They're not up to a drinking fountain waiting for him to arrive. Because naturally speaking, sheep
will drink swill left to themselves. And we did. But we didn't know
any different. We just didn't know any different.
It was palatable at the time. It was logical at the time. And
then when the Lord saved us, just, oh my goodness, oh my goodness. How could it? Well, it's the
natural thing to do until he reveals himself. So will I seek
out my sheep and will deliver them out of all places where
they have been scattered in a cloudy and dark day. When were they
scattered? In a cloudy and dark day. There
was not much darker day than that day when Adam took that
fruit and ate of it. That was a cloudy and dark day. Darkness fell upon Adam. Darkness fell upon Eve. They
hid themselves. God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all. But these guys wanted to hide
themselves in the shadows of the trees of the garden. They
were not looking for God. Thank God he went after them.
And they did not resist being clothed with the skins of animals.
He clothed them with those animals. As a shepherd divideth his sheep,
from the goats is what we find in the book of Matthew. And then
we find that the Lord himself is called the shepherd and bishop. Shepherd and bishop of our souls. So someone far above us, someone
far above a pastor is taking care of our souls. He's the shepherd
and bishop of our souls. Now let's go back over here to
the book of Zechariah and look at that verse just a little bit
in closing. 12 and 13 says, share the value. Share the value. Give me the
value of my wages. Tell me what you think my wages
should be. Well, that's what he's truly
asking. And here we have, well, 30 pieces of silver. Well,
as we've just mentioned, over there we find in the book of
Exodus that if a bull gores a servant or a slave, male or female, 30
pieces of silver is to be given to their owners. And that's it. And the bull is to be dispatched.
30 pieces of, that's all that the
world values the Lord Jesus Christ. What value does natural man place
upon God? Not much. Because with just a
little bit of help I can get out of the mess I'm in. He's
not much value. Natural man's religion is man-centered
and man-glorifying. I don't need much of God, just
a little. And because natural man would
look at it and say, I have a will and I can choose to do what I
want to do and God can't make me do anything, that is so valueless
for a God. I want a God that can do something.
And once he's done it, keep it. And that's the God of the Bible.
He is a God that overcomes our will. He's a God that had an
interest in us before the foundation of the world. He's a God that
sent prophets, priests, and kings to reveal the truth to the people. And so many of them that came
up didn't know a thing about the Lord, but there were some.
And then those prophets from Isaiah on, the prophets that
preach the gospel. I've said many, many times, if
we lived in those days and in those times, and we heard of
someone by the name of Zachariah over here, and he's talking about
the God of heaven, that's where we'd want to be. Not very popular,
doesn't have a very big group, but he's speaking for God. The word of the Lord is what
he is presenting to the children of Israel. Not much value. There is no value placed upon
God's purpose. Election. None. I cannot remember one reading,
not alone a message, from Ephesians chapter 1 in all my born put-togethers,
never once. And we believe the whole Bible.
But not once. His purpose is valueless. No value placed upon it. And
there is no value placed upon his sovereignty. He must submit
to my will, but he is a sovereign king to the church. He elected
them and chose them before the foundation of the world. And
they say, yay and amen, because they and they alone understand
that without that, we would never have come to him. There's no
value placed upon the love of God. He loves everybody. There's
no value placed upon the blood of Christ. He died for everybody. There is no value placed on anything
that is about God. He wants everybody to be saved. There's no value placed upon
his will, no value placed upon his blood, and no value placed
upon his love. There's no value placed upon
his purpose. There's no value placed upon him as sovereign
king. He is just 30 pieces of silver. The price of a slave. We'll give
him that much credit. Yeah, he did heal some people
over here. And yeah, he did help some people
with their lives. And there were some people that
were a little difficult in the head and he straightened them
out. You remember that guy over there that lived in the tombs?
He went home and he was whole. So yeah, there's a little value
here, but it's just 30 pieces of silver. There's no value placed
upon his word. I can change it whenever I want
to. And given a penknife, I will take care of it permanently.
I won't read it. I will not listen to it being
preached. They raided his wages contemptuously. The price of
a gourd slave. This is what he said they said
I'm worth. The Geneva Bible, which was the
translation just prior to the King James, says this. And I said unto them, if you
think it good, give me my wages. And if no, leave off. So they weighed for my wages
30 pieces of silver for the only true shepherd. 30 pieces of silver. Well, the church knows that he
is without value. Can't put a value on him. He's
altogether lovely. He has the word. He has the purpose. He has the blood. He has his
people. It just goes on and on. He has
everything that I need. And he provides everything I
need so that I can meet God with these words, welcome thou good
and faithful servant to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. And so he's done that very thing. Now that's recorded in the New
Testament. Judas betrayed him. How much
would you give me if I identify him? 30 pieces of silver is what
we would give. Now, how long they thought about
that? But when it came down to it,
that's exactly what they were going to pay because Zechariah
was given these words to declare the payment price. They may have
started at a hundred and someone started at zero. We're not going
to pay anything for him. And they came together at 30
pieces of silver to fulfill the very word of God. And that's what they did. And
Judas sold him. for 30 pieces of silver. Felt
bad that he got caught. Threw him down and we find here
that they're going to be in the book of Zechariah chapter 11
there. Let's just go there for just
a moment before we close. Zechariah chapter 11 verse 12. They gave me my price and then
in verse 13 the Lord said unto me cast it upon the potter a
goodly price, that I was prized of them. And I took thirty pieces
of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
And now we know there's a field going to be purchased to bury
people. I'm glad we have a good shepherd, a great shepherd, a
chief shepherd, and his name is Jesus the Lord.