I can't tell you how much we
have enjoyed being here today. We stand up here and say things
like that. It's just what we do. But I mean
it. I really mean it. We have enjoyed
being here. We have enjoyed seeing you. And we're so grateful to
Mark and Regina for all their hospitality. We have been treated
like kings and priests since we got here. We just love you and we're glad
to see you and spend time with you and we look forward to spending
unending time with you here in the next few decades around our
Lord. Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 10. I want to have one more word of
prayer before we begin. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we
come before you one more time. Lord, we cannot approach you
enough before we do this impossible task. Lord, would you please
help us and bless us tonight? We beg again, we beg always,
we beg each time, but Lord, would you please meet with us? And
may this not be habit, And may this not be familiar. May this
be something in the heart. And Lord, would you please come
into this place and help us. Help us to worship, Lord. We
ask these things for Christ's sake. Amen. In Psalm 23, David said... Everybody knows what David said.
Probably all of our favorite song. He said, the Lord is my
shepherd. I've always loved that. Always
loved that. What is a shepherd? A shepherd is the one who tends
to the flock. That's who he is. He's the one that takes care
of the flock, right? He pastures the flock and He
feeds the flock and He leads the flock and He defends and
He protects the flock. But listen to this glorious fact.
This is wonderful. The word shepherd means, along
with all those other things, the word shepherd means to associate
with as a friend. And David said, the Lord is the
one who will associate with this sinner as a friend. That's amazing grace, isn't it?
That's amazing. The Lord is my shepherd. The shepherd is the true friend
of the sheep. That's who he is. And then our
Lord said in John 15, He said, Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. I love being God's elect. I really
do. But it is an amazing thought
to think that He would call us His friend. He said, Abraham
is my friend. And he said, I'm going to be
the friend to Abraham C. And that's Christ and that's
everybody in Christ. Well, he says right here in John
10 verse 11, he said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. A man came to our Lord one time
and he said, good master, And the Lord said, why do you call
me good? There is none good but God. And right here He says, I am
the Good Shepherd. I am the God Shepherd. I am the
Chief Shepherd. Verse 10 says, The thief cometh
not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Had Christ
not come to this world, there would be no life, would there?
None at all. Had He not come, there would
be no life. I am come, He said, for one reason
only, so that my sheep, my friends, might have life. I came to give
them life. That's the reason I came, to
give them life. Spurgeon said, don't look to yourself for this
life. How often have we done that?
We get so disappointed, don't we? We get so down. I'm just
not saying it in there. Well, he said, don't look to
yourself for this life. John Newton wrote, When I turn
my eyes within, all is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief
and sin." Can I deem myself a child? You turn and start looking in
here and it's not too good. And it's discouraging. So Spurgeon
said, don't look to yourself for this life. He said, don't
look to the pasture for this life. Little sheep, don't look
to the pasture. Eternal life is not in the things
of this world. It's not in living right. It's
not in doing right. It's not in being here, being
there, doing this, doing that. It's not in anything that our
hands can touch in this world. Nothing. So he said, don't look
to yourself for this life and don't look to the pasture for
this life. Look to the Good Shepherd. Look
to the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd said, I am
come that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. More abundantly. I cannot enter
into what that means, but I'd love to. I think about a little
child inside its mother for nine months. Is there any doubt that
child is alive? That child is alive. But one
of these days, that child is going to come forth and he's
going to start living more abundantly. He's going to start running and
laughing and jumping and tasting and smelling Life more abundant. We do have life. Right now, we
do. Those who are in Christ, right
now, He has made us alive. We see, don't we? We see. The
Lord has revealed some things to us. Thankfully, we're not
blind. He has opened up this Word and
we do see. But the Scripture says, it's
through a glass darkly. And I believe that. I believe
that. I believe one day, Psalm 23,
the Lord is my shepherd. We were down in Mexico one time
and I picked up Brother Cody's Bible and that in Spanish says,
Jehovah es mi pastor. God's my pastor. And I can't
help but think one of these days my pastor is going to ascend
his pulpit and he's going to say, turn to Genesis 1.1. I'm
about to tell you about the beginning. We're going to hear things that
we're going to say, oh, those preachers tried so hard. And
that we say we haven't heard the half of it. Oh, we haven't
even scratched it. We see, but it's through a glass
so darkly, sometimes we wonder if we see it all, don't we? One
of these days, it's going to be face to face. We do have faith. We do. But the Scripture says, it says,
the grain of a mustard seed. And I'm so thankful for that
mustard seed, but I know that's about all I have. One of these
days, I'm going to believe God. I am going to rest in Christ. One of these days. We do know. We know some things,
but the Scripture says it's in part. is in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." We
do have life. We do. But our Good Shepherd
said, I'm going to give it to all of my sheep more abundantly. They're going to have life, life,
eternal life. And I can't even describe it. I can't even imagine it. I'm
going to give them more life than they could ever need, than
they could ever imagine. My cup is running over with life. No man has the ability to keep
and protect and feed God's sheep. You know that? No man has it. Turn with me, if you would, over
to Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel 34. I hope our Lord will let us enter
into what our God is telling us right here. This is just wonderful. Ezekiel 34 verse 12 says, 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 from
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.
I will feed them in a good pasture And upon the high mountains of
Israel shall their fold 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. Is that not wonderful?
Look at verse 25. It says, And I will make with
them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beast to
cease out of the land. And they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make with them
and the places round about my hill a blessing. And I will cause
the shower to come down in his season. There shall be showers
of blessing. 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 served themselves upon them."
I'm going to bring them to a pasture like they've never seen. And
I'm going to feed them, and I'm going to cause them to lie down,
And I'm going to remind them of this covenant, and they're
going to be safe. Don't you love feeling safe?
They're going to be safe. Totally safe. No death. There's no death. Look at verse
30. 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 you, my flock,
The flock of my pasture are men, and I'm your God, saith the Lord
God. What a good shepherd. What a
good shepherd. I want to be in that flock. That's where I want to be. I
pray the Lord is our shepherd. Go with me back to John 10. John 10 verse 10 says, The thief
cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. 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
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Now most
of the commentators wanted to talk about the difference between
a true preacher and a false preacher. And that's fine, there's a big
difference. There's a huge, huge difference. But the context of
this passage is talking about Jesus Christ Himself. He is the
good shepherd. And God-sent preachers are called
under-shepherds. They are not the shepherd. They're
not the shepherd. No man has the ability to keep
and protect and feed God's sheep but Christ Himself, the God-man.
He's the only one. Christ is the one leading His
congregation. Aren't you glad for that? This
collective church that He has, Christ is the one feeding His
congregation. I'm not feeding us. If God does
not meet with us and send His Spirit and bless His Word, none
of us are going to be fed. We're going to walk out of here
hungry. And so we call on our Good Shepherd. Christ is the
one leading us, feeding us, taking care of us. I'm so thankful that
it's not me. I was called to do this, I believe. And I have so much peace and
comfort in knowing that I am not the shepherd. I can't tell
you how glad I am for that. I'm not the shepherd. They asked
John, are you that prophet? He said, I wouldn't even tie
his shoes. I wouldn't even defile him by
reaching down to behold the Lamb. Well, behold the good shepherd. Without Christ, we're all nothing.
Without Christ, I am nothing but a hireling. That's what I
am. Without Christ, I'm just a hireling.
No one belongs to me. I didn't die for anybody. I didn't fight for anybody. Jesus
Christ, the Great Shepherd, did. He did it for you. He did it
for me. He did it for every sheep that His Father gave to Him.
I thank God for that. Verse 14, he says again, I am
the good shepherd. One of the meanings of this word
good is beautiful. I'm the beautiful shepherd. I
know that when our Lord walked this earth, He veiled His beauty.
You know that? He veiled His beauty. He was
common. Isaiah said, He hath no form
nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, as He was on this earth,
as God's servant on this earth, there's no beauty that we should
desire Him. But that work is finished. That
work is over. And David said, One thing have
I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to just
sit there and behold the beauty of the Lord. I just want to look
at Him. That's all I want to do. And inquire in his temple. I
cannot wait for these eyes to see the Lord. Job said, I know
with these eyes I'm going to see my Lord. I can't wait. I just can't wait. I can't wait
to see what color his eyes are. I can't wait to see what color
his hair is. I can't wait to hear what the
tone of his voice sounds like. I believe it sounds like many
waters, but I don't know what that sounds like. But one of
these days we're going to hear and we're going to know. I mean,
I'm going to be me and you're going to be you. And it's going
to be Him. There He is. I heard Brother
Don talk about Him for years and there He is. And that's His
voice. I think I could listen to that
forever. Well, I think I will. There He is. Verse 14 says, I
am the good shepherd and know my sheep. He does not just know
them. He knows each one of them. You
know, we say, I'm going to Danville, Grace Baptist Church. Well, tell
the brethren at Danville we said hello. Okay? Who are they? Well, I know most of their names
and some of their names. I remember their faces. He knows
each one of them. I mean, He knows each one of
His sheep. He knows their frame. Now you picture a shepherd in
a pen with sheep all day long, every day. Do you think He knows
those sheep? He has them named. We name our
dogs and our cats, don't we? Hannah will tell me there's something
wrong with one of the cats. I didn't know. I've been gone
all day. I just bring my paycheck home. I'm a hireling. But she'll say, I know something's
wrong. You're just not acting right. Something's not right.
He knows each one. He knows their frame. He knows
that one slipped, sprained her leg, and we're being real Careful
with her right now. He knows this one over here got
caught up in some thorns and he's real tender. Be easy with
this one. He knows this one's going through
cancer right now. He knows. This one's been a little
sad. This one is depressed for some
reason. Come here. He knows. A shepherd would know every bit
of that about his sheep, and he is the good shepherd. Whatever
it is that you are going through, and I can say this with confidence
because every single person in here is going through something.
We're always going through something. This is a difficult life. So whatever it is you're going
through, he knows. I promise he knows. I promise
you. He said, I know my sheep. Look at verse 3. John 10 verse
3 says, To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice,
and he calleth his own sheep by name. He calls them by name,
for they know his voice. They know his voice. Verse 14,
he said, I'm the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known
of mine. The sheep don't just know who
their shepherd is. I know who my president is. But
I don't really know the man. Right? They don't just know who
their shepherd is. Do you know who Jesus is? Yeah.
Yeah, isn't He the Son of God? Didn't He come 2,000 years ago?
He died on the cross, and yeah, He arose. They don't just know
who He is. They know Him. I mean, they know
Him. They follow their Shepherd because
they love Him. They follow their Shepherd because
they love what they know. You know why we come here? It's
because we love Jesus Christ. We're here to hear about Him. They don't just know who He is,
they love who He is. That's the difference, isn't
it? They love who He is. When they have a good and kind
and tender and loving Shepherd, they're happy sheep. If they
can be with Him, they're happy sheep. Happy is He that hath
the God of Jacob for His help. They know that their Shepherd
loves them, They know that they love their shepherd. They know
that. Paul said, I know and am persuaded,
didn't he? Loved by their shepherd. Verse
15 says, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. Have you ever heard of
any shepherd doing that? You think about this earth and
you think, well, that would be ridiculous. No sheep is worth
a shepherd giving his own life for one of the sheep in the fold.
No sheep is worth that. That's true, isn't it? What a shepherd. This is the
great shepherd. Verse 16 says, 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." Our good shepherd is not partial. He is good to
all His sheep. Every one of them. There are
no favorites in His fold. He is just as loving to the last
one that came in as He is to the first one that came in. Spurgeon
said this, He said, while his eye was on the Jews, his heart
was on the Gentiles too. And I love the thought. Back then, these scriptures were
written, and through his travels, those quiet times when he was
alone, in prayer to his father, he was thinking about us. Is
there any doubt in your mind that He loves His sheep, every
one of His sheep? He was thinking about every single
God-given sheep throughout all time and eternity. David said,
I know your thoughts towards me. They are more than the sands
of the seashore. Well, He said, other sheep I
have and I must bring them. Who was he talking about? I hope
he was talking about us. I pray he was talking about us.
I hope that our Lord brings in many more sheep. It's not about
numbers. It's about mercy and goodness
and kindness towards sinful souls. And I believe that there are
many more sheep in Danville, Kentucky. And I hope and pray
and believe there are many more sheep in Kingsport, Tennessee.
And I pray the Good Shepherd will call them in. I really do.
I pray He'll bring us all. Not
one was going to be lost. I know that. Well, the sheep
of the Good Shepherd, they love Him. They need Him. They follow
Him. They want to be near Him. That's
all they want. They just want to be near Him. I've seen pictures
of this and I can tell you this is every believer. As a sheep,
He wants to sit right next to His Shepherd. and have His Shepherd's
arm around that woolly coat, that's all He wants. Draw me
nearer. Is there anything that you want
more than to be pulled near to your Shepherd? Safe under His
wing. Good Shepherd, good Lord, good
Master, don't leave us. Don't leave us. The Good Shepherd comforts His
sheep right here in verse 17. He says, Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. This is why my Father loves me.
It's because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Verse
18, He said, 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." The sweet words of sovereignty. You know, sovereignty
is so comforting. I'm going to lay my life down
and I hope I get it back. No, he said, I'm going to take
it again. The comfort of God's authority and His power. What
He's saying is, no man can take me from you. Nobody can. Nobody can take me from you.
Fear not, little flock. I'll never leave thee. I'll never
forsake thee. Never. You know what the sheep
say whenever they hear the Lord say that? Good shepherd, would
you tell me that again? That's what I say every time.
Every time I hear, and it's really honestly by God's Spirit impressed
in my heart, I am His. He is mine. He'll never leave
me. He'll never forsake me. I think,
Holy Spirit, would you bring that to me again? Here we were
this morning, and here we are tonight. Lord, would you bring
it to me again? Would you impress it in me again? Tell me again.
Tell my soul, not my mind. Tell my heart one more time,
I'll never leave you. I will never leave you. Run to Him, little sheep. Run
to Him. He will in no wise cast you out. This is what He said, Come unto
Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, And I will give
you rest. So let's all go to the Good Shepherd.
Let's run to the Good Shepherd. Rest in His pasture. Alright,
Brother Lindsey.