Sovereign Grace Chapel, located at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. 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 had to 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. First Peter two 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. 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 were turned 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, folks, until he find it? And when, not if, when he find it, because I'm gonna tell you something, this shepherd's never lost a sheep that he hadn't found.

Oh my. And when he hath 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. It's to bring that sheep home. You understand the beautiful thing about this when you look at this. And when he has 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.

What? 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 gonna 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. You 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 haven't skipped that part. Fourth job is rejoice. Rejoice. What's it say? There 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. There's joy in heaven. There's rejoicing in heaven. Oh my. Understand this. This is a 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.

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. I mean, 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 the 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 technological ways nowadays. I don't understand.

I mean, Walter, when we started this, How in the world would we have thought we'd have been on television? How in the world would we have thought we'd have been on the internet live if this thing is working? No, it's flashing, Paul. It's OK. 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. Another 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? 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, 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 sheep. 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 imminently 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. Now, 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've not returned 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 gonna tell you something, the shepherd's gotta 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 has 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, What 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.