Let's turn to the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel. Thirty four, pray for me, if
you would, please. Every time I stand in this place,
I think of the words of that hymn, Brethren, we have met to
worship. There's a line in that that says all is vain unless
the spirit of the Holy One comes down. We will have just wasted
a lot of gas. unless our Lord visits us. Ezekiel
chapter 34. We'll begin reading in verse
11. Ezekiel 34 11. For thus saith the Lord God,
behold, I even I will both search my sheep and seek them out. As
a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his
sheep that are scattered. So will I seek out my sheep and
will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered
in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out of
the people and gather them from the countries and will bring
them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel
by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country.
And I will feed them in a good pasture and upon the high mountains
of Israel shall be their their foe be. There shall they lie
in a good fold and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. And I will seek
that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away,
and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that
which was sick. And I will destroy the fat and
the strong, and I will feed them with judgment. Drop down to verse
23. And I will set up one shepherd
over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David. He shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God, and my servant David a prince among them. I, the Lord, have
spoken it, and I will make with them a covenant of peace, and
will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they
shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I
will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing,
and will cause a shower to come down In his season, there shall
be showers of blessings. And the tree of the field shall
yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. And
they shall be safe in their land and shall know that I am the
Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered
them out of the hand of those that serve themselves of them.
And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall
the beast of the field or the land devour them. But they shall
dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will
raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall no more
be consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame
of the heathen anymore. Thus shall they know that I,
the Lord, their God, am with them, and that they, even the
house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye are
my flock, the flock of my pasture are men, and I am your God, saith
the Lord God. I've titled this message, So
Will I Seek Out My Sheep, from a line in verse 12 of this chapter,
So Will I Seek Out My Sheep. That's good news. Good news indeed. This first, or this verse 11,
begins to tell us who it is that's making this promise. It's the
almighty sovereign ruler of this universe. So when he makes a
promise to do anything, it's as good as done. And he says,
behold, this word is used in the imperative for the express
purpose of calling attention to what was about to be said.
He says, I, even I, the potentate who holds all power and cannot
fail in anything he purposes, I'm about to make a promise that
is sure to come to pass. Not one of God's promises shall
ever fail. Not a one. They are more sure than the earth
in the heavens, which we're told in the scriptures will one day
pass away. Not so with the purpose of our
God. He doesn't even have to say something or give a command
in order for it to happen. But he tells us in Isaiah it
says this the Lord of hosts has sworn saying surely as I have
thought not as I have said as I have thought so shall it come
to pass as I have purposed so shall it stand and here is the
promise. I will both search my sheep and
seek them out. We find that promise in this
verse 11. And in Isaiah 62, our God makes
this promise. He says, behold, the Lord has
proclaimed unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter
of Zion, behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is
with him and his work before him. Salvation, as our pastor
told us so many times, is a person. The verse continues, and they
shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, And
now shall be called sought out a city, not forsaken, not left
to wander into destruction, but sought out. Then our God promises,
I will both search my sheep. Now, as the spirit of God begins
to work in a man or woman, he begins to show them their lost
condition. At the same time showing him
the merits of the God, man, savior. And when he does that, he searches
our hearts and begins to remove our attraction and our affections
to the things of this world, the things that this flesh holds
so dear. And it is like the promise that
King Benadad made to Ahab, the king of Israel, which we find
in First Kings 20, verse 6. He says this, I will send my
servants unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search
thine house and the house of thine servants, and it shall
be that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put
it in their hand and take it away. Now, these servants are
like gospel preachers whom God sends to search out and point
out the wickedness of our carnal hearts. They search out the house
of our soul. And as God the Spirit shows us
the things that used to be pleasant in our eyes, used to be sought
for, by our flesh, those things that, by nature, that we hold
so dear, including our so-called self-righteousness, he shows
us that all those things are completely useless and worthless
when it comes to being justified before a thrice-holy God. And
he takes them away as these servants of Benedad took away the possessions
of King Ahab. It leaves a strip of anything
that we thought had any merit whatsoever before the Holy God.
Then God promises in the last words of this verse 11 concerning
a sheep. I will seek them out. I will
seek them out. God's chosen people are found
in all races and in all places of this world. There is no place
so remote that our God cannot find one of his lost sheep when
he goes seeking him. I think often of Lance's work
in New Guinea, probably, maybe with the exception of a couple
other places on earth, probably one of the most primitive places
still on this earth. But God has elect people there,
and he will get the gospel to them. Now, in our day and time,
sometimes that message is a preacher who is on the Internet. as bad
as some things are on the Internet, our God uses it in the way he
will. The scriptures tell us that faith
cometh by hearing. It doesn't say faith cometh by
seeing, but faith cometh by hearing. And God uses that Internet to
send the gospel to his people, even from this church to the
other side of the world. We have no idea and never will
in this life what a far reaching ministry this church has had
and others as well. There's a verse in first Samuel
23 23 that describes his process. It says see therefore and take
knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself.
And come ye again to me with certainty and I will go with
you and it shall come to pass if he be in the land that I will
search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah. God the
Spirit searches through the masses of humanity and seeks out his
sheep and delivers them from destruction. Verse 12 of our
text goes on to explain how this happens. As a shepherd seeketh
out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are
scattered. So will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them
out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy
in dark day. Now, in the Gospel of John, chapter
10, our Lord describes this. Each shepherd had his own flock,
and at night, many times, they were put into a sheepfold. And while they were in there,
obviously, they were scattered among all the other sheep in
that sheepfold. And starting in verse 2 of John 10, our Lord
says this, But he that entereth in by the door is a shepherd
of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his
voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name and leadeth them out. Now this is what happens when
our great shepherd delivers his sheep. But unlike those shepherds
of old who only had one flock to oversee, our blessed Lord
has thousands of flocks scattered throughout this world. And they will one day be one
fold and one shepherd. It's one day it will be fulfilled
when our God. Gathers all his chosen sheep
round about his throne and they began or become finally one fold. Verse 13 and I will bring them
out from the people and gather them from the countries and I
will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains
of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the
country here again. is our assurance that there is
not one single lost sheep who wanders so far astray that our
great shepherd cannot find him. This verse doesn't say that the
sheep will decide to come out from the people. We're too dumb
for that. That would never happen on our
own. The sheep never. We find no place in scriptures
where the sheep ever find their way back to the shepherd. It's
always the shepherd seeking the sheep. And he seeks them, it
says, until he finds them. Now, our God promises this, I
will bring them out from the people in the same way that he
sent an angel to bring Lot out of Sodom. Our God, by his spirit,
brings those lost sheep out of this world into his fold. And
it says, I will bring them into their own land and feed them
upon the mountains of Israel. This is a picture of a local
gospel church. This is where the sheep are fed
by the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the bread of
life, and are watered by the preaching of the water of life,
the preaching of Christ Jesus and him crucified. Verse 14,
and I will feed them in a good pasture and upon the high mountain
of Israel shall be their fold there. shall they lie in a good
fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. In this verse, he repeats what is said in the previous
ones, but adds that the feeding of the sheep will take place
in a good pasture. This is what David wrote in Psalm
23. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures, not withered, dried up grass, but green pastures,
lush, well-watered pastures where the sheep can be thoroughly nourished
and water. This is what our God does by
the preaching of the gospel where they are fed with the pure word
of God fed on the truth that there is none other name under
heaven given among man whereby we must be saved that name of
Christ our Lord. Verse 15 I will feed my flock
and will cause him to lie down sayeth the Lord God. Now when
someone is lying down it's an indication that they're at rest.
But a sheep can't rest if they're hungry, if they're thirsty, or
if they're aware of a wolf or a danger lurking nearby. But
if they're overseen by a good shepherd, all of their needs
are met and they can rest. This is what our Savior promised
us in Matthew 11 when he said this. Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lonely of heart. And ye shall, no doubt
about it, ye shall find rest unto your souls. Now, when one
of God's chosen ones first begins to be made aware by the spirit
of his lost condition before a holy God, he begins to feel
this burden of sin. We're awakened to the fact that
there is a righteous God, a holy God who we have offended and against whom we have sinned.
And we most assuredly are deserving of the punishment that he promises
for our iniquities. And most times our first reaction
is to look for something that we can do to make up for these
wrongdoings. That's just our natural way of
thinking. We labor under the guilt of sin. And it's made to become a heavy,
heavy burden, too heavy to bear. This is what our Lord meant when
he used the words, ye that are heavy laden, crushed under the
weight of unforgiven sin, feeling as if it will press us down to
hell itself. But when we're given eyes to
see and faith to believe upon the Savior, that crushing weight
is lifted and we're finally, finally able to rest. There's
no more guilt to be carried. There's no more punishment to
fear. The overwhelming guilt that was ours and the punishment
the dread of that punishment had been placed on another. Our
great Passover lamb our scapegoat. He has paid the debt in full
and we're free free to lie down in green pastures and rest is
a word to that old song free from the law. Oh, happy condition. Verse 16. And I will seek that which was
lost. And bring again that which was
driven away. And we'll bind up that which
was broken. And we'll strengthen that which
was sick. What a description of us and I will destroy the
fat and the strong. I will feed them with judgment,
the fat and the strong, those that are perfectly content in
their own righteousness. Now this verse makes God's people
even more promises in addition to all the ones that we found
in the previous verses. Now he reiterates the promise
to seek out his lost sheep and bring them back to himself. And then he promises to bind
up that which was broken. Now this is a picture of one
having a broken bone, and a doctor binds it up, puts a cast on it,
so that it heals correctly. Now this is spoken of in Hosea
6, verse 1. It reads this, Come, let us return
unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath
smitten, and he will bind us up. This is similar to Hannah's
prayer when she prayed, The Lord killeth and maketh alive. And that tremendous verse that
our Lord quoted in the temple, Isaiah 61, the spirit of the
Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. As a doctor would bind
up a broken bone, so our gracious Lord binds up our broken heart
broken over sin. He heals it of all the guilt
that broke it to begin with by actually promising to give us
a new heart, which is found in a couple of chapters over in
Ezekiel when he says, a new heart also will I give you and a new
spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. Then
this verse tells us that our God will strengthen that which
was sick. Micah 6.13 makes us another promise
when it comes to God dealing with the chosen people that he
begins to convince them of their sin. It says this, therefore
also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee
desolate because of thy sins. Now before our God ever heals,
he makes us sick. He drives home to our heart What
our Lord Jesus Christ meant when he said. They that are whole
need not a physician. But they that are sick. And they
that are righteous in their own eyes need not a savior. But those
that are lost. They know their need of a savior,
and when they see him, they cling to him. And he breaks our spirit
and he breaks our heart over sin. David wrote of this in Psalm
51 17. He said the sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh God, thou
will not despise. And let me say this, listen carefully
to what I'm about to say. As this goes out over the internet
and different folks hear it. If you have never experienced
a heart shattered over sin, if God has never broken you down
to the very depths of your soul, you should be very concerned
as to whether or not you even know the Lord. There is no such
thing as a painless experience in coming to Christ. It is one
of the most probably one of the most unpleasant things, at least
mentally, that a person can go through. You are under such an
overwhelming sense of guilt, convinced that you're as sure
of hell as if you're already there. And that is what makes forgiveness so
sweet. Like a man standing on a gallows with the noose around
his neck, the executioner has his hand on the door handle to
drop him, and a stay of execution comes down. That's what it's
like to experience the guilt of sin, knowing that you deserve
the punishment that's about to be meted out. David wrote of this heaviness
of heart that the awakened sinner feels in his soul in Psalm 69,
20. He says, reproach. hath broken my heart, and I am
full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take
pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. Now I know that this verse is
speaking about the suffering and the agony of our Lord Jesus
Christ when he was forsaken by the Father, when he tread the
winepress of God's wrath alone, but it also can be applied to
the condition of a lost awakened sinner. You're looking for something
to ease the burden and you don't find any for a while. You're
looking for comforters, but there's none to be found. There were
times in the years that I was under
heavy conviction of sin and I could find no relief. I looked for
something to give me some assurance. and some relief from the guilt
and sorrow of sin, but I could find none. I talked to Don about
this several times. But he being the wise man that
he was, gave me no assurance to ease my guilt, because he
knew what Ralph Barnard said was true. Don quoted this several
times. This is a true statement. Barnard
said this, the only man who will try to convince a lost man that
he is saved is another lost man. I've had people talk to me and
say, I don't know if I'm saved or not. I just don't have any
assurance. The worst thing you can do in
that situation is say, now, you know, you know you believe the
right stuff. That has nothing to do with it.
You can, the devil, quoted scriptures, it says the demons believe and
tremble. You can believe all the right
stuff and be as lost as you can be. Believing the right stuff
is not salvation. Believing Christ and Him crucified
is what will save a man or woman. Because this time of misery is
required before God will speak forgiveness and peace to the
heart of a lost sinner. But there is hope to be found
in God's promises. It says the Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart and save as such at be of a contrite
spirit. The Lord must kill us before
he makes us alive. The Lord must bring us down to
the grave before he brings us up. Verse 23 of our text in Ezekiel
34. I will set up one shepherd over
them and he shall feed them. Even my servant David. He shall
feed them and he shall be their shepherd. Our God promised to
set up one shepherd over his flock, over his church, and we
know that that one shepherd spoken of here is the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this because of what
we read in Proverbs. Flip over to Proverbs with me.
As Don used to say, I want you to see this. Proverbs chapter
8. It speaks here. It says, I will set up one shepherd
over them. In Proverbs chapter 8, we'll
begin reading in verse 22. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his
works of old. I was set up from everlasting
from the beginning or ever the earth was when there were no
depths. I was brought forth when there
were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were
settled before the hills was I brought forth while as yet
he had not made the earth nor the fields nor the highest part
of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens,
I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the deep, of
the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the fountains of the earth, then I was with him as one brought
up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always
before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth.
And my delight, delights were with the sons of men. Verse 23 uses the same words
that we find in our text here in Isaiah. It tells us that the
Lord Jesus Christ was set up. He was firmly established to
be the head over all things, given all power to guide this
world for the good of his sheep and the glory of his name. David
is used many times in the scriptures as a type of Christ. Christ is
called the son of David. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one
who feeds us with the word of truth. John chapter one makes
it clear that Christ was in the beginning with God. Ephesians
chapter one speaks of the working of God's mighty power, which
he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
set him on his own right hand in heavenly places far above
all principalities and power and might and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come. And here's the good part. And
hath put all things under his feet and given him the head to
be the head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Further, this promise,
or these verses promise that the shepherd will feed his sheep
As David described in the 23rd Psalm, how he maketh them to
lie down in green pastures, these green pastures of mercy, of grace,
of goodness, of redemption, of justification, sanctification. These green pastures that are
his true local churches where the sheep are made to feed on
his word as it's preached. Verse 24. And I the Lord will
be their God and my servant David a prince among them. I the Lord
have spoken it again here Christ is referred to as David. Then
our Lord God sweetens a pot even more by promising the sheep that
I the Lord will be their God. This is the one who both created
all things and rules all things by his sovereign power. He tells
us that he will be the eternal God to his people. This one whose
name is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord, our provider, Jehovah Ra, the
Lord, our shepherd, Jehovah Sekenu, the Lord, our righteousness,
Jehovah Makedesh, the Lord who sanctifies, Jehovah Sabbath,
the Lord of hosts. This one who is called the everlasting
father. Now our God is like no other
God that men have created in their minds. Mark mentioned this
in his prayer back in the office. Our God asked this question in
Isaiah 40 25. He says to whom then will you
liken me? Or shall I be equal? Sayeth the
Holy One. And we know the answer to that
question. Hannah declared it in her prayer in first Samuel
2 2. There is none holy as the Lord, for there are none beside
thee. Neither is there any rock like
our God. Throughout the scriptures, we
find verse after verse after verse declaring the superiority
of our God over men's so-called gods. Let me read just a few. Jeremiah 10 says, For as much
as there is none like unto thee, O God, thou art great. and thy
name is great in might. 1 Chronicles 17, 20, O Lord,
there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee,
according to all that we have heard with our ears. 1 Kings
8, 23, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven
above, on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with
thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart. Psalm
86, 8, among the gods there is none like thee, O Lord, neither
are there any works like unto thy works. In Isaiah 46, verse
9, remember the former things of old. This is God speaking.
Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is
none else. I am God and there is none like
me. And this is why declaring the end From the beginning and
from ancient times of things that are not yet done saying,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. This is the one who promises
to be the God of his flock. That's as good as it gets, folks.
And he also promises that his son, that great shepherd of the
sheep, will be among those sheep. Christ Jesus made this promise.
He said, Lo, I am with you always. even until the end of the world.
I am among you always is what he was saying. Then he cements
these promises with the last words of this verse. I, the Lord,
have spoken it when our God speaks, it cannot be overridden. It cannot
not come to pass. That proper English, I don't
really care if it is or not. It cannot not come to pass. He
tells us surely as I have thought I already quoted this surely
as I have thought so shall it come to pass as I have purposed
so shall it stand it is dead certain verse 25 and I will make
with him a covenant of peace and I will cause the evil beast
to cease out of the land and they shall dwell safely in the
wilderness and sleep in the woods. The making of this covenant is
done by the sovereign will of our God he makes the covenant
of peace with us, not the other way around. Some of us are a
little older. You know, you used to watch cowboy
movies and they'd have some guy sitting on a horse with a rope
around his neck and they'd tell him, better make your peace with
God. That's kind of hard to do when
your hands are tied and the ropes around your neck and you're sitting
on a horse ready to hang. But that's Hollywood for you. Make your peace with God as if
you can. Ah, lost sinners have no way
of making peace with God, but our loving God found a way. In
his infinite wisdom to be both just. And the justifier. Paul wrote of this in Ephesians
2 text that we're thoroughly familiar with, starting in verse
12. That at that time you were without
Christ being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers. from the covenants of promise.
Having no hope. What a sad, sad condition. Having no hope. And without God in the world,
it doesn't get any worse than that on at least this side of
hell. But now, Paul continues, in Christ
Jesus, Ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh, how? By the blood of Christ. Paul
continues, For he, Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made
both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of petition between
us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, to make in himself of twain one new man,
so making peace. This is how this covenant of
peace is established by the blood of Christ himself. Then this
verse says of our God that he will cause evil beasts to cease
out of the land. There will no longer be a threat
to destroy the sheep of his foe. These evil beasts spoken of here
are a type of our sins and iniquities toward our God. And since our
sin, which would have destroyed us eternally, has been thoroughly
and forever eradicated, we can now dwell safely forever, no
longer concerned with condemnation. That verse in Romans 8, 1, there
is therefore now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.
No condemnation. As long as there's any beast
in the field around the sheep, it is not possible for them to
dwell safely in the wilderness or to sleep in the wood. But
once those beasts have been thoroughly eliminated, then no sheep can
dwell safely. So it is with the elimination
of our sin. We are now safe in Christ Jesus. Verse 26, and I will make them
and the places round about my hill a blessing, and I will cause
the showers to come down in its season. There shall be showers
of blessings, and the tree of the field shall yield her fruit,
and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe
in their land and shall know that I am the Lord when I have
broken the bands of their yoke and have delivered them out of
the hands that serve themselves of them. Verse 28, and they shall
no more be a prey of the heathen. Neither shall the beast of the
land devour them, but they shall dwell safely and none shall make
them afraid. Once the spirit of our God speaks
peace to our troubled hearts, there is nothing more that can
make us afraid when it comes to eternal salvation. We may
have woes and troubles and doubts, but there is no longer any fear
of eternal damnation. We now dwell safely in Christ,
verse 29. And I will raise up for them
a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger
in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen anymore.
This plant of renown, of course, is none other than our Lord Jesus
Christ. I love this word renown. It means this, a state of being
widely acclaimed and highly honored. He's widely acclaimed by his
saints throughout this entire world. It doesn't get any more
widely acclaimed than that. And highly honored by both his
saints with their faith in him and by his father who has given
him a place of honor, who has told him to be seated at the
right hand of the majesty on high. Verse 30, thus shall they
know that I, the Lord, am their God with them, and that they,
even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God.
Now, because we've experienced all of the good things that are
listed in all these previous verses, we know that our God
is with us, and we have the promise that he will never leave us or
forsake us. Twelve times in the book of 1
John, John uses the statement, we know. We know and he lists
the things that we know and they're all good. God gives us assurance
that his promises are true and can never fail. We know that
the Lord our God is with us and he shall ever be. And lastly,
verse 31. And ye, my flock, the flock of
my pasture are men. And I am your God. Sayeth the
Lord God. Our God could have been merciful
to those fallen angels, but in his good wisdom and for reasons
known to but himself, he chose rather to be merciful to fallen
men. Perhaps in eternity we'll understand
why. And ye, my flock, are men twelve
times In these last seven verses of this chapter, we read our
God saying, I will and they shall. Promises that cannot fail, because
as we have already seen, there is no God like the God that we
worship and adore, who holds all power over all men, over
all things, and whose purpose is sure to come to pass. This is where we find our comfort,
dear saints, in times of trouble and heartbreak, when we can lie down and rest
in green lush pastures under the sovereign care and in the
finished work of the great shepherd of our souls, the Lord Jesus
Christ, our great, great shepherd. I hope that's been a blessing
to you.