Psalms, Chapter 23. Reading just
part of the first verse. I want to be looking at other
passages, but Psalms, Chapter 23, verse 1 says, The Lord is
mine. Who's the shepherd? The Lord is my shepherd. All through the Scriptures we
see this relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Before there was ever a sheep,
there was a shepherd. And if there had not been a shepherd,
and there had been all sheep, all the sheep would have perished.
But there is this union between the sheep and the shepherd. In the physical realm, a shepherd,
it was a very lowly life, and it was a very lonely life. A
lot of times, the shepherd would be gone for months at a time,
and it was a life of loneliness. It was a life spent with the
sheep, and he would have to get up early in the morning and lead
the sheep before daylight and bring them in before it was dark.
have to deal with all the weather and the danger and all those
things. You didn't get paid a whole lot. It was a job nobody wanted. You'll notice David, he was the
eighth son of Jesse. And it's like if I was the shepherd
in my family, when the next son come along, he got to be the
shepherd. Then it went on to the youngest son, because as
soon as he got where he didn't have to be the shepherd, he didn't
want to be anymore. If he didn't have a son, you know who got
to be the shepherd? The girls did. Rachel was a shepherd. When Moses came to Jethro and
his daughters, what were they doing? They were shepherds. It
was a job that was despised. Nobody wanted it. Nobody wanted
anything to do with it. But I'm the one that did. It
was a lowly life, born in a manger. It was a lowly life. He dreaded
to ride and press alone. This is what he did. This is
a picture of all these things in nature, just a picture of
something spiritual. Then we have the characteristics
of the sheep. What are their characteristics?
Well, the very first one, they're just plain ignorant. That just
describes us in Isaiah 53, 6. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way. Have you ever seen a
sheep in a circus? I can't teach them anything.
That describes us. That describes us by nature. What I understand, I just know
by what I've read, they said they have no sense of direction.
You know, you can take a dog off maybe two or three blocks
and it'll find its way back home, but not a sheep. It'll just begin
to wander and take one step after another before long. It's just
plumb separated from the flock. They're hard of hearing, can't
see well, can't resist or fight. They just run and they just lay
down. They're easily disturbed. That's why some 23, it says they
like still water. That's sheep. That's us. That's who we are. And tonight
with the Lord's Temple, I want to look at the shepherd and his
sheep. He has some sheep. He has some
sheep. And he'll save those sheep. In
the Scripture, he's looked at in three different ways, and
I want to look at those three things. He's called the Good
Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and he's called the Chief Shepherd. In Psalms 22, you know Psalms
22, and it's amazing that Psalm 23 comes after Psalms 22. It's the psalm of the cross.
In verse 6, he said, I'm a worm and no man, a reproach and despise
of the people. All that see me laugh me to scorn,
they shoot out the lip. They shake the hand, saying he
trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver
him, seeing he delighted in him. Verse 11, Be not far from me,
for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Verse 14, I
am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joints.
My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. Verse
16, For dogs have compassion. me about the assembly of the
wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet." Who's this talking about? This is the Good Shepherd. The
Good Shepherd. Turn with me to John chapter
10. John chapter 10. We have this parable of the Good
Shepherd. This parable came right after
our Lord had healed the man that had been born blind from the
birth. And how these Pharisees, they
accused Him of being an impostor. No, He didn't really heal this
man. He really didn't heal this man, give him sight. And our
Lord said in verse 1 of John 10, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that entereth not in by the door into the sheepfold,
but climmeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."
The sheepfold was separate from the world. The sheepfold was
the place where the sheep were kept. And he said, if a man comes
any other way, but by the door, but climmeth up some other way,
he's a thief and he's a robber. You know what he's talking about?
He's talking about the Pharisees. He's talking about those religious
leaders who claimed to be the shepherds of the sheep, who were
the ones who claimed to take care of the sheep, but didn't.
Verse 2. He that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, He calls his own sheep by name and
leadeth them out. The porter, God the Father, opened
the door to this shepherd. He opened the door to this one. Nobody else was a fit shepherd.
Nobody else fit the qualifications. Nobody else was predestined to
be the shepherd of the sheep. But he said to this one, the
porter openeth, and the sheep here His voice. And He calls
His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He put us
forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow
Him. Why do they follow Him? They
know His voice. They know His voice. Who does? The sheep do. They
know His voice. They know His voice. Verse 5,
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from them,
for they know not the voice of strangers. They don't know his
voice. As I thought about this, you think a man, he could put
on the shepherd's coat. He could dress up exactly like
the shepherd. And they say he can go down to
the river and be a hundred or two hundred sheep there, and
begin to call them, and they're going to run from him. You know
why? They don't know his voice. He may look like the shepherd,
he may act like the shepherd, he may try to talk like the shepherd,
but he's not the shepherd. He's not the shepherd. Listen,
they may talk about Christ, they may talk from the Scriptures,
they may talk about Jesus and faith and salvation, but listen
to me, if they talk about Christ and try to mingle works in, They're
talking about another Jesus. You know what they are? They're
a thief and a robber. You know what a thief does? He
tries to take what is not rightfully his. You know what he tries to
rob? He tries to rob God of his glory.
That's what they try to do. This is what he's saying. But
they won't follow a stranger. Why won't they follow a stranger?
They're sheep. That's pretty simple. That's
pretty plain. They will not follow one. I hear all these people,
and it gets on my nerves so bad, I can't hardly stand it. They
say, oh, they go down there to this church. I say, well, does
he preach the gospel? He talks about Jesus. They say,
well, he preaches it on Wednesday night, but he don't preach it
too hard on Sunday morning. Sheep don't want to hear that.
Sheep want to hear the shepherd. You say, how do you know the
shepherd's voice? If you're a sheep, you'll know
his voice. That's all the way I know to describe it. You know his voice. If you've
ever heard his voice, you'll know it. That's exactly right. I don't know any other way to
explain it. If you've ever heard him, say, boy, I heard him again. I heard him. The sheep, a stranger
they will not follow. If it was not for grace, we'd
all follow a stranger. He said if it were possible,
they would deceive the very elect of God. That's pretty serious. But they
won't deceive your life. You know why? They're the sheep. He says they'll flee from him.
He won't tell you they'll run from him. You know why? He's
dangerous. He's not interested in the sheep,
he's interested in himself. For they know not the voice of
strangers. This terrible speak Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. So he's going to explain it.
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep. How are they going to get into
the sheepfold? You've got to go through the
door. Who's the door? He's the door. There's only one
way in. There's only one way. There's
not many ways. There's only one way. And it's
Christ Jesus the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. My shepherd. Not some little weak Jesus. Not
somebody that's trying to save people and can't because they
won't let Him. The Lord is my shepherd. Now I'm the door. Verse 8. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. All through the ages, the sheep
did not hear them. They've always been false prophets.
Always been. Elijah stood against 850 at one
time. There was only one prophet at
that time. There were probably many others,
but Elijah stood against those false prophets. I said, all that ever came before
me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. I am the door. He said, if you
didn't understand, here's what I'm saying. I'm the door. I'm
the way into the sheepfold. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, He shall be saved. Not that he shall get saved.
He shall be saved. The Scriptures talk about being
saved. It's a state of being. The sheep
were saved before the foundation of the world. They were saved
when Christ died for them. They're saved when He comes back
in glory. And I'm being saved right now. I've got to be saved
today. Being saved. How do I get into the sheepfold
through the door? How am I to find out where the door is? Only
He's the only one who can lead me. only way. He can only show me. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find
pasture. You know what sheep want? They want pasture. They want
to eat. Feed. Verse ten. The thief cometh not,
this is his purpose, this is his reason, before to steal and
to kill and to destroy. That's his purpose. He comes
in white sheep's clothing, The Scriptures are full of admonitions,
beware of wolves, beware of false prophets, beware of those who
come saying, Jesus, Jesus. They'll say, here is Christ.
He said, don't go after it. Don't go after him. To thieves
cometh not before to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am
come that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. Here it is, verse 11. I am the good shepherd. I
am the good shepherd. I'm not like all those other
shepherds that can't save anybody. I came for a reason. Why did
I come? I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He loves something more than
himself. He loves the sheep. The good shepherd. Look in verse
10. But he that is on hireling, you
know what hireling is? This is somebody that's paid
to watch the sheep. He's hired. He says, imagine
him being out there, and he's out here watching these sheep.
A man's paying him a little bit of money, and he needs the money,
so he's out there watching the sheep. Here, he sees the wolf
coming. You know what he'll do? He'll
run. He said, I ain't risking my life for that bunch of sheep.
He doesn't care for the sheep. He doesn't love the sheep. He
loves his own belly. But he that isn't hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, he seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. He just defines it to hireling,
hire and fleeth, because he isn't hireling. He careth not for the
sheep. And here he says it again, I
am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and they are known
of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Lay
down. That bunch of ignorant, dumb,
wandering sheep. I lay down my life for them,
because I'm the Good Shepherd. Greater love hath no man than
this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 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,
therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, 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." Look at verse 25. These people were murmuring
at what he said. And Jesus answered them, I told
you and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, there is
a thing called goats. God doesn't convert goats into
sheep. Goats will always be goats, and they'll never do nothing
but bud everything they get around. They don't care what they eat.
Sandy, my wife, her daddy has a few goats and he put him up
a fence and he just turned them loose. This whole hill was just
covered up in briars and within about two months they cleared
her out. They'll eat anything, but not sheep. Not sheep. They don't believe. Why don't
they believe? They're not sheep. We didn't all, we weren't born
believing. But God calls us to believe.
We've just lost sheep. Wandering. Verse 27, he says it again. My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them is
greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." The Good Shepherd gives
his life for the sheep, to purchase the sheep, to redeem the sheep,
to bring them all safe into the fold. You remember when our Lord
was in the Garden of Gethsemane? And they came to him, and he
said, Whom seek ye in? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
And he said, I am him. And they fell backwards. He said,
Whom did you seek? And he said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, If you've come to seek me, you let these go. You take me. It's a miracle that
they didn't kill every one of them on the spot. But they could. Why? The Good Shepherd give us
his life for the sheep. The good shepherd, the good shepherd,
not a thief or a robber, the good shepherd lays down his life
for the sheep. He purchased every one of them.
He'll save every one of them. Everyone will hear his voice
in due time. He'll cross their path with the
gospel. Not some other gospel, but the
gospel. And God will give them ears to
hear, and they'll say, I can't describe it, I can't define it,
but I heard something. You know what it was? I heard
Him. He said He calls them all by
name. As they walk into the sheepfold, he counts every one of them.
They say that door is so narrow, only one sheep goes in at a time.
He said, that is mine. That one's mine. That one's mine. He knows his sheep. Lonesome. So I'm going to be back to Psalms
23. Psalms 22 is talking about the good shepherd. Psalms 23
is talking about the great shepherd. Hebrews chapter 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, that good Shepherd that died,
He didn't stay dead. God Almighty raised Him He was
delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. And when God raised Him from
the dead, He set Him on a throne and made Him Lord. The Lord is
my Shepherd. Can you say that and read that
verse and mean it? The Lord is my Shepherd. It doesn't
do much good if I read it and say, well, He was your Shepherd,
or He was your Shepherd, But is He my shepherd? The Lord. The One that sits at the right
hand of the Father. The Lord. The Sovereign Lord
over all things. God raised Him from the dead
and God made Him Lord. He's Lord. He's Lord. He's Sovereign Lord. That's the
Great Shepherd. Not some little shepherd. Not
some weak shepherd. The Great Shepherd. The Great
Shepherd of the sheep. God brought him again from the
dead, the great shepherd, through the blood of that everlasting
covenant. That great shepherd that rules
and reigns and is now on the trail with his sheep. He's going
to find every one of them. He said he leaves the ninety-nine
in the wilderness, and he goes out looking for that one sheep.
You say, well, it's just one? But do you see it? You know what
he does when he finds it? He doesn't get up. He says, come
on now, get in the boat. He reaches down with hands of
grace and mercy and puts it on his shoulders. He said, I'm going
to take it home. This is my sheep. My sheep. He's the great shepherd. I'm
glad he knows where his sheep are at. He's going to find every
one of them. You may be here tonight and be
a lost sheep. If you're his, he's going to
find you. If you don't find him, he finds you. He picked you out. He singled you out. He knows
your sheep. Well, I can't pick them out.
There's some I thought were sheep turned out to be goats. And I
can't make them sheep. But I know this. All God's preachers
are on the trail of God's sheep. All God's preachers are. It's
just like when he looks at Peter after Peter messed up so bad. Then I didn't even know the Lord
three times. The Lord came to Peter and he
said, Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? He said,
Lord, you know. He said, well, if you love me,
you feed my lambs. You feed my little ones. Them
young converts, them weak little lambs, you feed them. He asked
him again. He said, Peter, do you love me? He said, Lord, I
know it. He said, well, feed my sheep.
He looked at him again. He said, Peter, do you love me?
He said, Lord, you know all things. He said, Lord, you do. Feed my
sheep. You know what God does to the
sheep? He gives them pastors after his own heart that feed
his sheep and love the sheep. You know, why? Because he loves
them. The sheep belong to him. Let me tell you this, the shepherd
is responsible for every sheep. If he loses one, he's a failure. Let me tell you this, if he could
ever lose one, you're looking at one. He's never lost one. He's never
going to lose one. He's going to find every one
of them in due time. They're his responsibility. He doesn't quit until he finds
them. You imagine a shepherd going out at night. It's cold
and it's rainy. They say, where are you going?
He says, I'm going to find the sheep. And when you're coming
back when I find him, if you're his, he'll get you.
They're all coming, every one of them. They will not be the
one for whom Christ died that will perish under the wrath and
judgment of God. And who does the searching? He
does. Himself. He's the one. And he finds them.
So we have the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd. In Psalms
24, we have the Chief Shepherd. Before I read from Psalms 24,
let me read to you from 1 Peter 5, verse 1. To me, it's amazing that the
very one that denied our Lord three times, the very one that
our Lord said, feed my sheep, wrote this epistle, 1 Peter 5. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who also am an elder, and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking their oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of ready mind. These are
as being lords over God's heritages, but being examples to the flock.
And when the chief shepherd shall appear, You shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away." The good shepherd giveth his
life for his sheep. The great shepherd rules and
reigns now over all things, but listen to me. The chief shepherd's
coming back. You say, when's he coming back?
I know exactly when he's coming back. Boy, you were tripped up
then, didn't you? That's exactly right. This world
only exists for one reason. It's for God to save His people.
You know why God had this conference this week? You know why we're
here tonight? God's going to save some sheep. That's exactly right. They may
not be in our generation. I don't have to see it, and you
don't have to see it. It's like Elijah. He says, I'm the only
one left. There ain't nobody left. I'm
the only one. God says, wait a minute. He said,
I've got 7,000, and in the book of Romans it says, he reserved
unto him. You know what it means to reserve? You ever been in a wedding? They
come in the first few pews, they put reserved on it. It's for
the mother of the bride or the father, the mother of the groom. It's reserved. Nobody else sits
there. Why? It's reserved. It's reserved for somebody. He
said, they are reserved. Me and Sandy and Emily have been
trying to grow a little vegetable garden. We went over one day
and we planted four or five rows of corn. We went back two or
three weeks later and there wasn't a single grain come up. You say,
what did you do? Not plant any more? No, I plowed
it up and planted some more. And about two weeks later, I
think every grain come up. Today's going to be a harvest. All the sheep are going to be
gathered in. Every one of them. That's encouragement. That's encouragement. I may just
plant the garden. I may never live to see it harvest.
Somebody else might harvest it. But there'll be a harvest. Hebrews 9.28, So Christ was once
offered the bearer of the sins of many, and to them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. But after all those sins are
gone, he's going to present his sheep
faultless. You may be more ignorant, wondering, can't see good, can't hear well,
can't discern anything, grow weary, get disturbed over the
least thing. That describes us. You mean all of them going together
or every one of them? Every one? Psalm 24, beginning with
verse 7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, you everlasting doors,
everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is
this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts. A great host
of believers. Lift you up, all you who is this
coming in? It's the King of Glory. It's the Chief Shepherd. He shall
appear. And every eye shall see Him. Every knee shall bow. And every
tongue shall confess that He's Lord. be gathered in. Let me give you a few comments about
the sheep. These are the ones that he's
saved and brought in. They're meat, not like goats. They're gentle. They don't like
a lot of noise and confusion. That's all the world knows. It's
like a bunch of ratchet. Bunch of diffusion. Sheep, one
mark of a sheep. They like to be around other
sheep. They're not always shoving to
get their way. They're considerate. Here's a good mark of a sheep.
They love the shepherd. They love to hear his voice.
If you don't love to hear the gospel, one of three things,
you're either a goat, a sick sheep, or a lost sheep. One of
the three. Sheep want to be near the shepherd.
They want to lay on his bosom. I thought about this little illustration.
Sandy, come to me, of the day, and she said, you know what Emily
did? That's our granddaughter. She said, Emily just walked up
to him. She said, Sandy? She said, can I lay my head on
your chest? She said, I just want to cuddle. That's what sheep want to do.
They want to cuddle. Sheep do. Sheep do. And let me tell you this, if
you're a sheep, He will make you want Him more than anything
in this world. Amen. Let me give you another
illustration. Emily just gives me all these illustrations. The
other day I was sitting in the motel room studying a little
and fanding the girls that had gone on down to the pool. I put
a No Disturb sign on the door. When they got back, you know,
do not disturb, Simon's still on the door. And when Emma said
it, she said, that don't mean me. And she was right. It didn't. I wanted everybody
else to stay out. I didn't want to be disturbed.
But I wasn't disturbed by her. He loves his sheep. They never
disturb him. I don't care how many needs you
have. They don't disturb you. Just come out of Him. You don't know what I've done,
but it doesn't matter what you've done. If you're His sheep, He's the
Good Shepherd, He's the Great Shepherd, and He's the Cheap
Shepherd. Thank God one day all this will
be over. We just worship Him now with
dimmed eyes, but what a day that will be. When my Jesus I shall
see, and I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace. Amen.