for about a week. I hope I wear
it out before it wears me out. And then Sandy got it. Sandy's
my wife. You know what she told me the
other day? She said, you make me sick. And I did. And I did. Boy, and it's been good
to be here. Milton, I like what you said.
We're always talking about something in the future. This is what we
have right now. We don't have the promise of
tomorrow. You know, the last one of his sheep could be right
here tonight. And I tell you, when he's brought the last sheep
in, we're going home. We're going home. That's the
only reason we're still here. That's the only reason this world's
still here. He has the people he's going to save. And he's
going to save every single last one. And I'm glad he is. Open your Bible to Isaiah chapter
40. Isaiah chapter 40. We'll read verses 9 through 11.
O Zion that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain.
O Jerusalem that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength, lift it up, be not afraid. Say unto the cities of
Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord will come with
strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward
is with him and his work before him. And verse 11 will be our
text. He, our great God, his strong hand, 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. To me, one of the dearest characteristics
that we see in the scriptures that God has used to describe
our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a shepherd. He's pictured all
through the scriptures as a shepherd in relation to his sheep. He
set forth in many ways, but primarily three. In John 10, he's spoken
of as the good shepherd. He said, I am the good shepherd,
and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. There we have his redemption.
And in Hebrews 13, verse 20, 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, there we have his resurrection. He was delivered for our offenses.
Whose offenses? The sheep's. And he was raised
again for their justification. Now, it's not it. That's not
the end. There's something more. First
Peter 5.4, he speaks as the chief shepherd. And when the chief
shepherd shall appear, that's what we're looking for. You shall
receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. The chief shepherd
is coming back one day, and he's going to gather together all
his lambs in his fold. He's not losing a single one
of them, not a one. A shepherd must have sheep, and
sheep must have a shepherd. Without a shepherd, all the sheep
would perish. Before one sheep ever went astray
in the garden, God had already provided a shepherd before the
foundation of the world. There are two types of people
in this world. This is how our God describes
them. He says one day all mankind will stand before him and the
sheep will be on the right hand and the goats on the left. We
don't know who they are. I can tell you this, all sheep. Every one of us, we acted just
like goats. We weren't goats, we were sheep.
We acted like goats. We can't tell the difference.
He told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. And as we preach the gospel, God's going to gather
his sheep. He's going to call them, and he's going to bring
every one of them. We don't know the difference. I've seen a lot,
I thought were sheep, and they wound up as goats. Now they left,
and you can't find them. And I've seen a lot I thought
were goats and then God saved them and opened their eyes. That's
when you tell the difference. Turn with me to John chapter
10. John chapter 10. Beginning in verse 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door of the sheep, 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 he leadeth them out. And when he put forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. The first thing there in verse
11 in Isaiah 40, it says, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd.
What's he doing here? He's leading his flock. And that
word feed, as I first read it, I thought, well, feed, that just
talks about him feeding. Now, that word feed means a whole
lot more than just feeding. That means he tends to them.
You think about what he has to do to get them to the place where
they're going to eat. He may have to walk a long ways to get
them there. And when he gets them there,
he won't just let them eat anything. He prepared the place for them
to eat. He protected them. He watched over them. He led
them. That's what he's saying here. Verse four, and when he
put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow
him. And they know his voice. You
said, how do they know? I don't know, they just know.
It's like you said, you'll know. You said, what does it sound
like? I can just tell you, when you hear his voice, you'll know.
And you know how I know that you'll know? You'll follow him.
You'll follow him. You follow his voice. And a stranger
will they not follow? But they will flee from him,
for they know not the voice of a stranger. Look in verse 11,
I mean verse 10. The thief cometh not, but for
to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. And I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and
a hireling is somebody that's paid to watch the sheep. He's
hired. Now, if you was hired to watch
somebody's sheep and you were standing out there in the field
and you looked across the field and you seen a bear running across
the field, what do you think you would do? You say, they don't
pay me enough to risk my life for them sheep. That's right. He flees because he's a hireland.
They're not his sheep. He's just paid to watch them.
That's what he's saying. But he that is an hireling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, he seeth the wolf
coming, and he leaveth the sheep, and he fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is a hireling, and he cares not for the sheep. But I'm the
good shepherd. And I know my sheep, and I'm
known on mine. As the father knoweth me, even
so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep."
He don't run. I love that story about David.
When he came, and before he gets ready to go fight King Saul,
I mean, fight Goliath, King Saul said, you're not able to fight
that giant. You're just a strapling. You're just a young man. He said,
one day, I was watching my daddy's lambs. And he said, they was
a bear king. And he said, I took that lamb
from that bear. The other day, there was a wolf
came. You know what I did? I took that
lamb from that wolf. You know why? That is with my
father's sheep. And you know what he did? He killed the bear, and he killed
the wolf. Verse 16, and other sheep I have, which are in all
this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice.
There shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father
love me, because I lay down my life as the good shepherd, that
I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. He will feed his flock like a
shepherd. Psalms 23 said he makes me lay
down in green pastures. You know why sheep lie down?
They're resting in green pastures. He will feed his flock. How does
he feed his people? He says in Jeremiah 3.15, listen,
and I will give you pastures according to mine own heart.
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And you know
what sheep feed on? They feed on the sacrifice. They
feed upon him. Our Lord has under shepherds.
His pastors are sent forth to preach his gospel. They are a
gift to his church. I'm glad God sent a pastor across
my way. I'm glad one day, I don't know
when it was, it doesn't matter, that God opened up my eyes to
the truth. He sends pastors. I thought when
God's getting ready to send Paul to Corinth, and Paul's kind of
afraid, and I'd be afraid to go to that wicked place. And
he said, Paul, don't you be afraid. Why, Paul, why not be afraid?
The Lord said, Paul, I've got much people in this place. I've
got sheep here. You know what God did? God saved
them and raised up a church. That's how he works. Listen,
this is how the shepherd feeds his flock. Turn back to Isaiah
chapter 40. Look in verse 1. He shall feed
his flock. He feeds them. Now I know he
raises up other shepherds, but if all the voice you ever hear
is a man's voice, you'll perish. You've got to hear his voice.
Isaiah 40 verse 1, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
speak ye comfortably to the sheep, and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, her sins been put
away. For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all
of her sin. When I read that years ago, I
thought, what does that mean? I'm going to receive double for
my sin? That doesn't hardly seem fair, does it? What this is saying,
he not only paid my debt, he paid my debt. Now, I could owe
a great debt and somebody pay the debt and I'm still poor.
He not only just paid the debt, He made me rich. He made me rich,
unsearchable riches. He rewarded me double for my
sin. That's what sheep feed upon. Tell me, tell me again what he
did. Tell me one more time. Sheep follow the shepherd to
the food. Sheep want to be with the precious food of the gospels. The gospel that glorifies the
shepherd, not the sheep. They won't eat food that glorifies
them. Now goats will, but sheep won't. Second thing in Isaiah 40 verse
11. He will feed his flock like a
shepherd and he will gather the lambs with his arm. All his church, they're like
little lambs, they're the weak ones. Now listen, it doesn't
matter how long that you've known the Lord and God has been pleased
to reveal himself to you, if you would admit, would you not
still admit that you're still a weak lamb? Weak. Prone to wonder, Lord,
we feel it. Prone to leave the God we love.
He said he will gather the lambs with his arms. It says in Matthew
18 verse 24, two or three are gathered together in my name,
there in my in the midst. Can I tell you a little secret?
It's no accident we're here tonight. God Almighty gathered us with
his arm. He brought some of y'all from
a long ways. He gathered us, he gathered us. He said, as a
hen doth gather her biddies under his wings, he gathered us, gathered
us. He gathers together his people,
his weak lambs that are scattered abroad. Here's what it said in
1 Peter 1, verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, who are those? Those are his sheep. elect according
to the foreknowledge of God their father. They're scattered everywhere.
And he's gathering them. He gathers them. How does he gather his flock?
It says with his arm. You know what it said when it spoke
of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt? It says in Deuteronomy
26.8, that was his sheep in Egypt. Those were his first born. That's
the apple of his eye. How's he going to bring them
out? It says in Deuteronomy 26.8, and the Lord brought us forth
out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm
and with great terribleness and with signs and with wonders.
You know what he did? What do you do when you stretch
your arm out? You just stretch it out. They've been there for
400 years, but God said, this is the time. This day, I'm bringing
you out. How's he going to bring them
out? He's going to do it with his strong arm, his sovereign,
gracious arm. It brought them out. Pharaoh
said, you're not taking them. Oh, just wait and see. How are
they going to be brought out? He'll do it with his arm. His
arm's not shortened that he can't save. Isaiah 52 10, the Lord hath made
bare his holy arm. You say, well, it was hid. Yeah,
he may keep it hid for a while, but you let him reveal it. You
let him expose it. He made bare his holy arm in
the eyes of all nations. When the children of Israel came
into the land of Canaan, when they came to Jericho, you know
what Rahab said? We've heard about your God. We
heard what he did to Pharaoh. This is 40 years ago. They're
still talking about it. Why? God brought them out with
an outstretched arm. Isaiah 53.1, who believed our
report? Who believes this gospel? Who
will believe this gospel? He answers the question. To whom
the arm of the Lord's revealed. When will you believe? I know
exactly when you believe. When God is pleased to make himself
known to you. And until then, you're going
to keep trying to save yourself. You'll keep trying to pull yourself
up by your own bootstraps. But I can tell you this, if he
ever reveals his arm, you'll bow before his scepter. you'll
bow and he'll bring you. Christ is the arm of the Lord
by which he reached down to us. When you said when he reached
way down, how did he reach down? Christ came down. God among us
brought us out. The third thing, he will gather
them with his arm, those little lambs, and then he will carry
them. in his bosom. Those that are
fed and those that are gathered with his mighty arm, that same
arm that feeds them, that same arm that gathers them, will lift
them up and put them near his bosom. A couple weeks ago, I
saw Elizabeth and David Wright. They've just got a little baby,
and I think that baby was about six weeks old. was over at Jeff
Vandals and Elizabeth had that little baby in her arms, you
know, just pulled right up tight. And she was talking to me and
the whole time she was talking to me that baby was looking right
up into the eyes of its mama. That's what he does for us. He
carries those weak lambs in his bosom. The bosom is near the
heart. To carry something in the bosom
denotes the most intimate communion, being privy to his secrets. Remember a lot of times our Lord
would speak in parables and people wouldn't understand and even
the disciples didn't understand. You know what? He would take
them to the side and he'd say, this is what that means. You are privy tonight to secrets
the world has no clue about. Hold the secrets. You think about
John laying on his bosom. To carry something in the bosom
implies enjoyment of rest, safety. Who can hurt or disturb a little
sheep when it's near its bosom? I would have liked to have seen
you went up and took that baby out of Elizabeth's hands. I'd like to see you try it. I'd
like to see you touch one of his little sheep. I'd like to
see you try it. That song by John Wesley. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly, while the near waters roll, while the tempest
still is nigh. Hide me, O my Savior, hide till
the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven, God, O receive
my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Leave, O leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed,
all my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wing. We sang this other song. It's
page 56 in your song book. We hadn't sung it. I remember
if I'd ever sung it, I didn't remember it a while back. We
sang it and it is, I am his and he is mine. And listen to this.
Things at once were wild alarms. cannot now disturb my rest, clothed
in everlasting arms, pillowed on his loving breast. Oh, to
lie forever here, doubt and care and self-resign, while he whispers
in my ear, I am his, and he is mine. Hear him whisper, little lamb,
you're mine and I'm yours. He must carry us because we are
so weak. He carries us so we'll trust
him. How long has the shepherd carried the sheep? Turn to Isaiah
46 and I'll show you. Isaiah 46. Verse one, Bale bows down and
Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were upon the beast
and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy laden.
They were a burden to the weary beast, talking about they were
having to carry their false gods. They were a burden to the beast
who had to carry them. You ever notice that? False religions,
you have to carry their gods. God carries us. We don't carry
him. They stoop, they bow down together,
they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are all gone into
captivity. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob
and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by
me from the belly. That's a long time. Which are
carried from the womb. What's that saying, preacher?
It's exactly what it says. How long has he carried you?
If you're a sheep, he's always carried you. When that high priest
went into that holy place one time a year, that breastplate
on his chest had 12 stones, one represented each one of the tribes
of the children of Israel. They were always on his breast. They were always on his bosom.
If you're his, you've always been his. And from the time before
you were born and when you were born, he has always carried you. You just didn't know it. And even to your old age, don't let the gray hair fool
you. I'm not as old as you may think. But even when our hair
gets gray, he keeps on carrying his land. I am he, and even to the whore
hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear,
and I will carry, and I will deliver you. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, he told
Jeremiah, he said, Jeremiah, before I formed you, In the belly,
I knew you. I loved you. And before thou
camest forth out of the womb, I sank to thine. No matter how many times I read
that, that blesses my heart. As I thought about this, him
carrying us even into our old age, remember Luke 16 when the
rich man died and Lazarus died? They both died and the rich man
lifted up his eyes and, hey, what about the beggar, Lazarus? It says it came to pass that
the beggar died. And he was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. He carries us in his bosom. He
has a tender heart. To get to the weak sheep, you
have to go through him. And the last thing, he will gently
lead those that are young. He will gently and carefully
lead those who are nursing their young. Our great shepherd, the
Lord Jesus Christ, does not drive his sheep. He gently He leads
them. He leads them beside the still
water. He restores their soul. You remember when Jacob is having
to come back and he's going to have to face Esau after he's
lived in Laban's house for all these years and God has blessed
him there. And when he comes back to face Esau, Esau wants
to lead. And Esau don't care about those
sheep. Those are Jacob's sheep. Here's what Jacob said, and he
said unto Esau, my Lord knoweth that the children are tender,
and the flocks in the herd are with young, are with young with
me. If men should overdrive them,
what's this, one day all the flock will die, not just one,
not just the weak ones. He said, if you overdrive them,
You can't drive them. They got little ones. You drive
them one day, he said, they'll all die. If one member suffers,
all the members suffer with it. Let me tell you this. Our great
shepherd knows exactly what you can endure. All the flock are affected by
the ones with young. Grown sheep have little lambs.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the great gentle shepherd. He knows
our frame. He remembers that we're just
dust. He does not drive his sheep by the law. He gently leads them. He leads them by his gracious
hand. He leads them, he said, in the
paths of righteousness, now watch this, for his name's sake. These are my sheep. These are
my sheep. He said, a bruised reed will
he not break, and smoking flax he won't quench. I pray the Lord
Jesus Christ that he will gather us to himself. If you are one
of his little ones, I pray he goes and picks you up and fetches
you to himself. I pray he speaks to your heart
and makes himself known and he reveals his mighty arm. His whole
honor is at stake and he will not lose one little lamb. What a shepherd.