I'm going to be in 1 Peter chapter
two, if you'd like to follow along. I just wanna read the
last verse of chapter two. For ye, talking to believers
here, for ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned. unto the shepherd and bishop
of your souls. Now that's my title, Paul, the
shepherd and bishop. Although in the sermon I'm gonna
use a different word. Let me read you something I read
from Charles Spurgeon. I like this one. Never was man
blamed in heaven for preaching Christ too much. I like that. And I also like the fact that
never has a man been blamed here for preaching Christ too much,
folks. That's very nice. Because I can tell you that if
he hadn't put that in heaven in that statement, he'd be wrong. The thing is, If you're capable
of thinking Christ being preached too much, you don't know Christ. Because there's no way a man
could preach too much of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not possible.
We're lucky if we get half. And I don't think we do. Anyhow,
I saw that and I like this. 1 Peter 2 and verse 25, for ye
were as sheep going astray. Now, folks, this was, emphasis
on the was, our state. This is the state of everyone
who has not been born from above. This is the state of the natural
man. Deb and I were mentioning this
the other day. I said, well, you know, The natural
man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God. He is unable
to understand the things. So there's nowhere to go but
astray. But we were like sheep. As what? Going astray. Now here's the
nice thing about this. It says were. Folks, believers are not as sheep
going astray. Believers are not. And here it
says, he goes on, but are now returned. Are now returned. Now, don't get too excited by
this statement. This is a phrase of you turning
to God. That's true. But it's not you
that did it. It's never you that's done it.
And it never will be you that have done this. Now, the statement actually reads
this way, if you want the definition of it. But are now, I like this,
turned back. You know why it says you're turned
back? Because you didn't do the turning. Turn me, oh Lord, and
what'll happen? I shall be turned. That's the
only way you're gonna be turned unto God. Turned back, I like
that. You were going astray, were,
but are now turned back. You understand? Present tense.
Now you were turned back in the past, but that's not the point.
You are turned back now. This is the reality of the believer. You were going astray and are
now turned back. And folks, here's the thing.
We need to be turned back every day. We need to be turned back
every day. Oh my. And here's the nice thing. You are turned back by the shepherd
unto the shepherd and bishop of our souls. I like that because
this is a statement of Jesus Christ. Now that you were going
astray, that's us. That's on us. But you are now
turned back. That's his work. That's his work. We'll get to that here just now
as a matter of fact. We return back, I'm not gonna
keep you too long this morning, unto the shepherd and bishop
of your souls. So, let's not beat around the
bush. Christ Jesus is our shepherd
and bishop of our souls. Christ spoke of this, and if
you wanna look at it, it's in Luke chapter 15. Verses three
to seven. And he spake this parable unto
them, saying, what man of you, having a hundred sheep, and if
he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in
the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, wait a minute,
folk, until he find it? And when, not if, when he find
it, because I'm gonna tell you something, this shepherd never
lost a sheep that he hadn't found. Oh my. And when he had found
it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors saying
unto them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was
lost. And here's the glorious thing
about this whole little part of this parable. I say unto you
that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,
more than over 99 just persons that needeth no repentance. Oh
my, oh my. Listen folks, the first job of
the shepherd is to find his sheep. And when he finds it, he's gonna
find it. That's the first job. The second
job of the shepherd is to gather that sheep to himself. Oh, you understand. He's not
gathering sheep for anybody else. He's gathering sheep for himself.
You know why? Which of you having 100 sheep? Whose sheep are these? They're
his. They're his. They're his when
they're astray and they're his when he finds them and they're
his when he takes them home. Oh, I like that, I do. That's good stuff. The second
job of the shepherd is to gather that sheep to himself and picks
it up and puts it on his shoulders. Why? Because of the third job
of the shepherd is to bring that sheep home. You understand, the
beautiful thing about this, when you look at this, and when he
hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. You understand, that sheep's
on his shoulders. He ain't got it home yet, but
it's going home. And he's rejoicing, why? Because he found his sheep that
was lost. Oh my. And that third job is
to bring that sheep home. Not, and I'm saying it again,
not if, when. When. Oh my. And when he cometh home, he calleth
his friends together. So what is it? And when he hath
found it, and when he cometh home. Guess what's gonna happen
with that sheep? That sheep's coming home. With
his shepherd. Oh. Good news, folks, the gospel
is good news. Jesus Christ is the good shepherd,
I'll get to that in a minute, but he's out there finding his
sheep. And he finds them exactly when
he wants to, exactly where they are, and he brings every one
of them home. Rejoicing, rejoicing, happy,
oh my. I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, happy is the sheep that's been found by the shepherd. Because I'm going to tell you
something. I don't know much about sheep. I know what Earl
told us. I take his word for it. But here's
the thing. We as people are so dumb, we
don't even know we're lost. Understand? We're fat, dumb,
and happy where we're standing most of the time. Or we're fat,
dumb, and miserable, one or the other. But what it is, you don't
know because the natural man cannot understand the things
of the Spirit of God. You understand? The sheep doesn't
know the shepherd until the shepherd finds him and picks him up and
carries him home rejoicing. Rejoicing. Oh my. That's the fourth job. I didn't
skip that part. Fourth job is rejoice. Rejoice. What's it say? is joy in heaven. I say unto
you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over, what? One sinner
that repenteth. One sinner. Oh, you don't have
to have the big number church with people coming in thronging
and wanting to join, because usually that's pretty much a
false profession. and they go their way after a
few months or a couple of weeks. It doesn't matter. But I'm gonna
tell you something, over one sinner that truly repents, there's
joy in heaven, you know. There's joy in heaven. There's
rejoicing in heaven. Oh my. Understand this. This is the great thing about
this also. The sheep is happy. The shepherd is happy. And it
says heaven is happy. What? God is happy when a sinner
repents. What's that? Well, I actually
read it already. Ye were a sheep going astray,
but now are turned back. Turned back. Oh my. Are turned
back. Not were turned back. Are turned
back. Oh my. When does a sinner repent? Only after he is found by the
shepherd. You understand, repentance is
not of man. True repentance, I listened to
that message by Henry Mahan, Walter, that was excellent. Deb
and I were listening to it and she got to saying something and
I can't remember. She said, but I still have problems. And I
told her, I said, yeah, I do too. I said, but repentance never
ends. You are turned back. You are
turning back. And the reason repentance never
ends is this. We always have something to repent. In my flesh, right now, dwells
no good thing. In my flesh, I cannot please
God. And you know what? I have that, you have that, every
day. Every day. All day. All day. Oh my. You know what? When a sinner repents, there's
joy in heaven. Sheep's happy. The shepherd's
happy and God's happy. Oh, I like that. I'm gonna tell
you something. Oh. Repentance never ends. Just say it. Flat out. Luckily also, the joy never ends. Understand, even when you're
miserable in yourself, you can have joy in Christ. Because I don't, and this is
the thing, I do bad things, I have bad thoughts. I don't like them. I got them, but I don't like
them. And I'm thinking y'all are the
same way. I would be like Christ, but not
in this flesh. I can't be. And so, repent. That's us. Repentance never ends,
but thank God the joy never ends. And the next thing I want to
say about the shepherd is the shepherd feeds his sheep. Okay? He goes out and finds them, he
picks them up, carries them back, and they rejoice. The sheep and
the shepherd can rejoice together. Oh my. But here the shepherd
feeds the sheep. What's it say? You can go in
and you can go out and find pasture. Now you're not going outside
to shepherd. You're not going without the shepherd. You know
why? He leadeth me. What? To green
pastures. Good pastures. Oh my. The shepherd makes sure there's
food for his sheep. For his sheep. all the time. We're even doing it technology,
technological ways nowadays. I don't understand. I mean Walter
when we started this, how in the world we thought we'd have
been on television, how in the world we thought we'd have been
on the internet live. If this thing is working though
it's flashing. It's okay, it happens. Hopefully it's being
recorded. But anyway, it's there, this
is us, live on TV, by tape or whatever, by digital recording
now, not tape. Never would have thought this
30, 40 years ago. Here we are, folks. And you know
what? the world still will not hear
the words of the shepherd. Oh yeah, they hate it. But the
sheep can go in and go out and find pasture. Because he's leading
them. They're led by the still water. I'm gonna tell you something,
that shepherd provides everything a sheep needs. The sheep are
given rest. What's it say? The shepherd restores
my soul. That's in Psalms 23, I'm not
turning there. The sixth job, the shepherd keeps
his sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold. Them also I must bring. That's what he said. I must bring. and they shall hear my voice. And there shall be, there shall
be one fold and one shepherd. Oh, I like that. He keeps his
sheep. You understand, folks? He said
this around 2,000 years ago. I'm gonna tell you something
that's still true today. There is one fold and there is
one shepherd. There's one Lord, one faith,
one baptism. But there's one Lord, the Good
Shepherd. Oh my. My sheep hear my voice,
I know them. And what? They follow me. No cause for doubt, no cause
for distress. They follow. The Good Shepherd
said so. They follow. And Not only do they follow,
he says, and I give them eternal life. The good shepherd keeps his sheep.
The shepherd keeps his sheep. Oh listen folks, ain't nobody
plucking them out of the shepherd's hand. Nobody's plucking them
out of the father's hand either. Oh my. And because Jesus Christ
has said of himself, I am the good shepherd. Folks, he's the
shepherd and bishop of our souls. Of our souls. The good shepherd. You understand? There's one thing
the good shepherd has to have. Sheep. You understand? We were as sheep gone astray. There are sheep around without
a shepherd. that they don't know of a shepherd,
put it that way. But you can't be a shepherd without
sheep. Somebody said one time, all you are is a guy with a stick
and maybe a dog. Shepherd's got to have his sheep.
Oh my. Understand, at one time, we did
not know the good shepherd. But the good shepherd knew us.
the good shepherd knew us. I already read that. That's what it means to be without
Christ, without hope, and in the world. It means you don't
know the shepherd. But I'm gonna tell you something.
Not only does the good shepherd have his sheep, the good shepherd
gave his life for the Shia. And I'm saying that in the past
tense. When Christ said it, he said the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep, because he hadn't done it yet. It was
as good as done, but it wasn't done. Now it has been done, and
we rejoice in that. The good shepherd gave his life
for the sheep. No man took it from him, he laid
it down of himself. And not only that, he took it
back up. He laid it down, he took it back
up. You know why? Because he can. He could and he did. Oh my. I am the good shepherd and know
my sheep and am known of mine. When that shepherd goes out and
finds his sheep that was lost, that was astray, He finds that
sheep, gathers it up and puts it on his shoulder and that sheep
knows that shepherd. Oh my. And that sheep looks to
the shepherd, here it is folks, for everything. For everything. And the sheep are safe in his
fold. John Newton wrote this and I
really like this. Such is our great shepherd. And he is eminently the good
shepherd also. For he laid down his life for
the sheep and hath redeemed them to God by his own blood. This
great and good shepherd has a flock whom he loved from everlasting. And whom having loved, he will
love to the end. That's good news, folks. Oh my. The 23rd Psalm put it this way.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I shall not lack. I don't lack a thing. You know
why? Everything is in the shepherd
and he's given it to us. He's given it to us. The Lord is our shepherd, but
here it says, you are now returned, turned back unto the shepherd
and bishop of your souls. Now, y'all know my history. I used to be Catholic. So I have
a bit of a problem with the word bishop, because man has ruined
it, okay? There are bishops everywhere.
And it's a good scripture word. It is, because it's right here
in the scripture. But I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. This is not the denominational rank of bishop. We not return
back to the shepherd and the Catholic bishop, or the Episcopal
bishop, or the Lutheran bishop, or anybody else who has bishops.
This is still talking about Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's the
one whom we've turned back to, understand, He is both shepherd
and bishop at the same time. Now, it's in
this distinct order that Peter wrote it. Because I'm going to
tell you something, the shepherd's got to find you before you understand
who the bishop is. Now, let me get away from that
word because I don't like it. It's not anything against it. You're right ahead. But you want
the real deep meaning of the word bishop? I'll tell you this,
the theological meaning of the word bishop is boss. He's boss. Better word is this, sovereign. He's sovereign. He's the shepherd
and the sovereign of our souls. Understand, he's the one who
has the duty to make sure everything is done right. And to do everything that is
right. Now that's I like. The shepherd
and sovereign, what? Of your souls, folks. Of your
souls. Oh my. I'm gonna tell you something. If he's not your Lord, he's not
your shepherd. Because it's the Lord Jesus Christ
who saves. That's very clear by the scripture.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ. Another word for that is superintendent. But I like sovereign better.
I like sovereign better, I do. Oh my. Here's the thing, folks. Jesus
Christ is always Lord. He's always Lord. He is always
sovereign and he is always the ruler of heaven and earth. And he's the shepherd and sovereign
of your souls, of our souls. Oh, oh, I like that. I'm gonna tell you something.
The duty of the sovereign is to see to it that all things
are done well. And I'm gonna tell you something,
Jesus Christ has done all things well. The shepherd and sovereign
of your souls has done all things well. You were astray and you
are turned back. Why? Because of the shepherd
and sovereign of your soul. Oh, oh. Nobody else. Now, he
had done all things well. Now let's back up just for a
second and read what led up to this in verse 21. For even here
unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. Here
it is. Who did no sin, Neither was guile
found in his mouth. Who's that? That's the shepherd
and sovereign of your soul. What? Who? Verse 23. When he
was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. That's the shepherd and sovereign
of your souls. Who? Who? Oh my. His own self bear our
sins in his own body on the tree. That we being dead to sins should
live unto righteousness. Who's that? That's the shepherd
and sovereign of your souls. And what? And by whose stripes? You were healed. You were healed. Oh my. Believers were called why we're
called when we were astray You understand the Shepherd found
us when we were astray And when we were astray scripture tells
us Christ died for the ungodly The Good Shepherd gave his life
for the sheep Before we were ever born the Good Shepherd gave
his life for the sheep Oh my, and this is the description of
him, who did no sin, who was reviled and suffered, and who
his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. And
by whose stripes we are healed. We are healed. The shepherd and sovereign of
your souls right now is calling his sheep to himself. He's finding his sheep where
they are. Where they are. Oh my. Turning them back to himself. Finding and gathering them in
his one flock. His only one flock. So the conclusion
is this. Look to Christ. Look to Christ, ye who know him.
Look to Christ, ye who don't know him, who haven't called
on him. And if you have called on him,
look to Christ. Look to Christ. Oh, I like that. There is no other shepherd. There
is no other sovereign of your souls. Christ is the way. not a way, the way, and not only
that, he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes
unto the Father but by him. Who? The shepherd and sovereign
of your souls. Oh my. You understand, we might be a
small church, but we don't have a small God. Oh Lord, well better
said, It's a big God that's got a hold of us. Oh my. What is it? For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus, oh my. Paul Gerhart
wrote this. This is another song he wrote.
I got a verse here. And I like this. We comprehend
him Not. Yet, earth and heaven tell, God
sits as sovereign on the throne and ruleth all things well. I like that. I like that. You
understand? I need a shepherd and sovereign
of my soul who does all things well. Because I can't help. You can't help. In your flesh
dwells no good thing. In my flesh dwells no good thing. That's why we do have to repent
every day. Oh my. But the sovereign who
is on the throne is both shepherd and sovereign of your souls,
of your souls. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place. Thank you for all the blessings
you've given us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Lord, you bought us,
then you found us, and you've brought us to yourself, and you're
keeping us in your flock. So much more than we deserve.
So much more than we could ever merit. for we have no merit. We know as Paul cried out and
wrote down, oh, wretched man that I am. But oh, there's deliverance
in the sovereign, the shepherd and the sovereign of our souls.
Thank you, Lord. Be with Paul and Walter as they
come to preach your word. Be with all your ministers wherever
they might be. holding forth your gospel, preaching
Christ to your people. In his name we ask, amen.