Turn, if you will, to Ezekiel
chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34. In verses 13 through 16. I want to try to continue the
message that I began last Sunday from Genesis chapter 2 verses
1 through 3 concerning the Lord our Sabbath. And this passage
of Scripture, here in Ezekiel 34, verses 13 through 16, speaks
of the believer's rest. The believer's rest in Christ.
And if you'll notice, not only in this passage of Scripture,
but as you study your Bibles, if you'll notice where God says,
I will. It's thousands of times in the
Scriptures, and all of these are promises, promises that God
makes, covenant to make. When God says, I will, He will. When we say, I will, we mean
I hope I can. Isn't that right? Sure it is. We really intend
to, but sometimes we don't when we say we will. But God always,
He never intends to do anything. He never makes an effort to do
anything. He always does what He says He will do. Look with me in Ezekiel 34 verses
13 through 16, if you will please. And I will bring them out from
among the people. Already we have one, I will.
I will bring them. 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, in all the inhabited
places of the country. Now I know that when you read
this, you're thinking of the nation of Israel as a leader
of people and what God is going to do with them. And that is
true. That's what he's speaking here,
what he's saying. But that the spiritual application
or interpretation of this is the spiritual Israel. and Him
bringing them to rest and to peace in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and providing for them everything that He has promised to provide
for them in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is really the heart of what
He's saying here. This is Christ in the Scriptures.
He said, I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the
high mountains of Israel shall their foal 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. I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord. 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. Here we have a completeness. The Lord God in His sovereign
will and purpose has brought all of Israel to this place of
rest, this place of comfort, this place where He feeds them
and cares for them and He makes one fold of them. You see that
picture here. This is the church. This is the
church in Christ and God providing for them in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now on down in verse 23, Ezekiel
34, 23, I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed
them, even my servant David. This is, David here is Christ. David is a type of Christ, and
this is who he's speaking of. He shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. He shall be their shepherd. Now,
our message, we titled the message last Sunday, Christ our Sabbath. And what I was trying to do was
to show you that the true Sabbath, the real Sabbath, the rest for
the people of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a day,
it's not in ordinances, it's not in ceremonies, it's not in
rituals, it's not in anything we do, but our rest is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our rest is in Him. Now he said,
I'll set up a shepherd over them. And He shall feed them and give
them rest and provide for them. And He said, I will do this.
That's a promise. That's a covenant promise. And
if you look back in Psalms chapter 23, look with me in Psalms chapter
23. Very familiar Psalm. You all
can quote that, I'm sure. Now this is not some time in
the far distant future. This is the eternal present for
those that know Christ. We rest in Him now. We rest in
Him now. I feel and I know I've been there. I feel that so many things that
we could enjoy now, we think they're somewhere out there somewhere
else. But they're right here and they're
right now. We enjoy Christ not Only when we get to heaven, we
enjoy Him here on earth. We enjoy God. We enjoy the gospel,
the spiritual things here. This is our life. This is a believer's
life. This is why we live, why He's
given us life, spiritual life, to know Him and to enjoy Him,
enjoy the things of God. Look here in Psalms 23. The Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd, my only shepherd. I shall not want. What's that
saying? I'll have everything that I need. I shall not want for anything.
There'll not be anything lacking because my shepherd will provide
for me everything, spiritually and otherwise. He maketh me. He maketh me. Isn't that amazing?
Study this chapter sometime. I know you've heard it preached
on many, many times, and you've read it, and you've studied it,
and you've memorized it. But He maketh me to lie down. If
He didn't make us lie down, we wouldn't lie down. He makes us. We're creatures that don't want
to lay down before Him. The splash doesn't. But He maketh
me to lie down. in green pastures. He lovingly,
tenderly, gently, however He's pleased to do, makes me lie down
in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. It seems here that He has His
hands upon me, that if He takes His hand off me, that I wouldn't
have any rest, I wouldn't have any pasture, I wouldn't have
any comfort. But he leadeth me beside the
still waters. He restoreth my soul." That's
saying that our soul sometimes is not restored. Sometimes our
souls are troubled. Christ told His disciples, He
said, don't let your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe in Me. He said, don't let your heart
be troubled. Don't let it be afraid. We can rest in Christ. Believers,
rest. Rest. Rest. Be still, he said, and know that
I am God. Rest. When the nation of Israel
come down to the river, Pharaoh was behind them. There was a river before them.
God said, don't you do anything. Just stand still. I'll do it. That's where all of our worry,
all of our anxiety, all of our stress. Stress is probably one
of the number one causes of sickness. in our day. That's where all
this comes from. God said, Be still. We're God's
people. We're His. Christ is our rest. Be still.
Be still, my soul. Oh, my soul, why art thou this
quieted in me? Hope thou in God. Christ said,
Don't let your heart be troubled. He said, Come unto me, all you
that labor heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. I mean, everywhere
you turn, everywhere you look in the Scriptures, He's right
there. He's saying, look to Me. Don't
worry. Don't fear. Don't doubt. Trust
Me. Rest. Rest. Be still. The Lord is my shepherd. He restores my soul. He leads
me in the path of righteousness for His namesake. Yea, Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear
no evil. I used to think that valley of
the shadow of death is when I was lying on my death bed, ready
to die. But you know where the valley
of the shadow of death is? Right here, right now. This whole world lies in darkness
and death and wickedness. We still got this, we got fighting
within. Fears within. Fears without.
Wars. Troubles. Misunderstandings. Sin. Evil. This whole world is
in darkness and death. Religious world. Political world.
The economical world. Everything is under a curse. Darkness and death. And this
body is dying. We're walking through the valley
of the shadow of death. I'll fear no evil. Just rest. These are Sabbaths. There in
that garden, there's a place, a garden, it's called Eden. And in that garden, there's a
tree of life and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There
we find our reconciliation with God. that God's strict justice
is reconciled by the death of His Son, by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And there, God said in that garden on the seventh day, I rested. That's a rest to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, for they are with me.
I'll fear no evil. Why won't you fear evil? Look
at all those horrible things. Why won't you fear evil? Because
you're with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. The Word of God and the strength
and the power of God. The Word of God comforts me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Whatever I need when I face my
foe and my enemy, you'll provide for me. You'll provide that table. Whatever it is. You anoint my
head with oil, my cup runneth over. I can rejoice in your presence. I can rejoice in your providence. I can rejoice in your care. I
can rejoice in your provision. And that makes me happy. My cup
runs over, whether it's heaven or hell, life or death, sickness, poverty, Whatever it is, my cup runs over. Surely, absolutely,
without a doubt, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life. If you could see behind me right
now, you'd see sure goodness and mercy. Because it's following
me. It's following you if you're
one of His. Goodness and mercy. You see, these things are soul
and they're real. But what I want to see and understand
is to comprehend it, to understand it, to find some rest and comfort
and hope. I honestly believe this. I believe
there are some folks that know Christ that it takes longer to
find assurance and find rest. You know, I wouldn't give you...
If you say you were saved 15 years ago And you're still, you're still back there. God has not settled you down
and give you some, through the experiences, through the gospel,
by His Spirit and grace all these years, not give you some comfort
and some hope. I tell you, I'd be sick in His
face. Because He said, I will. He said, I will. And I consider
myself a fairly young believer. I don't know how you consider
yourself. I consider myself a young preacher. But I tell you what,
the longer I'm on this road, the more calm it is, the more
peaceful. The older I get, the longer I'm
here, the better the hope is. And I believe that's the way
it should be. You know, this thing flares up
fast and cools off. I don't know about that. That
thing starts out, oh, am I with the Lord or am I not? Often it
causes anxious thought. But then He keeps reinforcing
that. Just keeps giving you assurance and hope as you hear the gospel
over and over. And you can't live without it.
You can't live without it. God, I have it. That's how we rest, and how we're
comforted, and how we're fed. Surely, goodness and mercy is
going to follow me all the days of my life. And I'll dwell in
the house of the Lord forever. There's one thing I read this
morning, one thing that I will seek after. The writer said,
and that's to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And here
he says, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now
ain't that something? To dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. Our rest is not in what we do. You know, that seemed like a
contradiction, but lots of folks do rest in what they do. They
find comfort and assurance and hope in what they do and what
they don't do. Because I go to church and because I pray and
because I preach and because I give and because I do that,
then I've got pretty good hope because I do all these things.
And I must be the Lord or He wouldn't cause me to do this.
You know, that's a conception of some folks. But you know,
we don't rest in our faith. We can't rest in our faith. We
can't rest in what we do. We can't rest in what we don't
do. We can't rest in who we are. We can't rest in any place or
anything and it be real and lasting except the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must rest in Him. And that's what this is teaching
us. In Revelation 7, 17, for the
lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them. The
lamb shall feed them. This is the lamb's responsibility.
The Lamb of God, He shall feed them. Now this is something,
isn't it? The shepherd, we read, here shall
feed them. He's a shepherd. The Lord is
my shepherd. In Ezekiel, the shepherd shall feed them. I'll
raise up one shepherd and he will lead them and guide them
and feed them. Psalms 23, he shall feed them the shepherd.
And here we see the lamb that's in the midst of the throne. The
lamb is our very food. The lamb which is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them. The Lord Jesus Christ, as we
repose in Him, we feast upon Him. Because He's our bread. He's that living bread. He's
that which is necessary for spiritual life. You see, except you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no
life in you. That means you have to be a partaker
of the Lord Jesus Christ in His life, in His death, in His resurrection,
and by faith. That's how we feed upon Him.
We feed upon Him by consuming His Word. He's the living Word. We have the written Word before
us which declares Him. This is how we're fed spiritually. And He shall lead them into living
fountains of water. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. Now, I'm convinced of this. I
don't know if you've given this any thought. You probably have.
You're probably way ahead of me on this. But I don't believe
there's going to be any tears in heaven. I don't believe there's
going to be a crying in heaven. Do you? So when's he going to wipe away
these tears? Right now. Right now. When's the lamb in the midst
of the throne going to feed them? When's he going to feed us? When is He going to lead us into
fountains of living waters? Right now. When is He going to
bind that broken hearted and heal that lame? When is He going to take us in
His arms and carry us? When? Right now. That's when we need it. The Lord
is my shepherd. He maketh me to lie down. He
feeds me. He leads me. He guides me. He
provides for me. He feeds me. I rest in Him. I rest in Christ. Believer, rest.
Rest. Don't worry about that. I don't
say be presumptuous. I don't say not be concerned. I'm not saying be careless. I'm
saying trust in Him. What's wrong with that? He's
God. He's big. He can take care of it. He said rest. We rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. We rest in His love. Didn't I
say it last week? We rest because He loved us.
We rest in His Word. We rest in His incarnation. His
person and His Word. This is why I can rest and be
confident that everything's going to be okay. I rest in Him who
came and did for me what I could not do. I rest in Him who came and did
for me what I could not do. He worked out a righteousness
for me and imputed it to me. Therefore, I don't have to work
out a righteousness. That is good news. That's about
the best news that I've ever heard. Because I don't have to
work for my salvation. I don't have to please God in
order for Him to save me. I don't have to do anything for
Him in order for Him to save me. Because Christ did it all. He worked out a righteousness
for me and imputed it to me. Secondly, He put away all of
my sin. I'll be honest with you. My sins
plague me. I'm very conscious. Maybe not
as conscious as I should be, and I know I'm not aware of all
my sins. But if you think you know that I'm a sinner, you don't
know the life of it. That's so. But you know what? Even in spite of that and the
knowledge and comprehension of it, I can rest. Why? Because scriptures tell
me that He died for my sin, that He put it away. That He bore
my sin in His own body on the tree. When He cried out, it's
finished. All my sins were washed away
by His blood. He put my sin away. He worked
out a righteousness for me. He is all my righteousness. Remember
that course we sang? He is all my righteousness. I
stand in Him complete and worship Him complete in Him. I stand before God in Him complete. He is all my righteousness. I
rest there. I rest my soul, my eternal destiny. Everything that I am, by His
grace, on His blood and righteousness. Don't you? I surely hope you
do. And if you do, it's only by His
grace. Even though I know my sin, I know Him who put away
my sin. Then I have three questions to
you and to myself. And you answer these questions
to yourself. If this is so, what is the law
of God going to do with me if He's put away all my sin? You
know, I can't rest as long as I know the judgment's against
me, the condemnation's before me, that the sentence of death
is there, and I must face God in my own righteousness. I can't
rest. But now that I know that He's my righteousness and He
put away my sin. What's the law of God, perfect,
strict justice, going to do with me? Nothing. It did it with Him. Isn't that something? Secondly, like the woman that was taken
in adultery, the Lord said, where are thine accusers? And she said,
Lord, I have none. I have this question. What are
you going to do with me? What are my enemies going to
do with me? What are those that accuse me? What are they going
to do with me? If the Lord Jesus Christ is all
my righteousness, and I stand in Him complete, what could anyone
do with me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Third, what can I do with me? I have doubts. I have fears. I'm fallible. I'm just a man. I'm just dust. What am I going
to do with me? Nothing. Who can separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing is a sweet word
used in the right context, isn't it? Romans 8.31, what shall we say
then to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, all you that know Him, all you
that believe. How shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again. Who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Christ, God chose us. Christ died for us. He now sendeth
the glory and maketh intercession for us. He put away our sin and
gives us His righteousness. Rest. That's completeness, isn't it?
Rest. The work's done. The work's done. It's over. He says it's finished. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Y'all ever
had any tribulation since you believed? Had any rough times? Are you a believer today? What about those tribulations
of yesterday? They're gone, aren't they? And you're here, aren't you?
Oh, I didn't think I was going to make it. Boy, that was rough.
You didn't make it. Let me tell you believers, he
did. It's those that don't believe that won't make it. Our distress, our persecution,
our famine, our nakedness, our peril, our sword, As it is written, for thy sakes
are we killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded." Are you
persuaded? If you are, you're going to have
some measure of rest. You might have struggled for
years. You might be tired and weary,
but he said, come unto me, all you that labor and have you laid,
and I'll give you rest. You may have struggled for years, but
now, maybe by God's grace, you can say to your soul, soul, be
still. Be quiet. I'm going to enjoy
this rest. I see it now. I'm going to enjoy
it. I believe. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded
now. I'm persuaded I'm out now more
than I was last week. Life's getting gooder and gooder,
Louie. I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, boy that's two
strong things, ain't it? Life and death. We say this is
a life and death situation. Life and death, to live or to
die. I'm persuaded that not even death or life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, or any other creature, shall
be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus, my Lord. So lay down. Rest. I rest in His righteousness,
not mine. I have none. He has the best
and only righteousness that God will accept. Paul said when he wrote to the
church at Philippi, he said, I want to be found in Him. That's
where I want God to find me, and it's you and Him. It's Christ.
Not having my own righteousness, as Paul says, God forbid. which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ.
Not my faith, but like I tried to tell you a few weeks ago,
this is the faith of Christ. The faith that I have is the
faith of Christ, that He has as a man. He gave it to me. That's
how I can believe in God and enjoy this rest, as which through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. But there are some warnings in
the Scriptures. Colossians 2 and 8, it says,
Beware. Now, this rest can be interrupted
in our mind and our thoughts and our hearts. It can be, and
you know that. It is, mine is, and I'm sure yours is. It says,
Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world,
not after Christ. He said, Beware. But he said you are completing
him, which is the head of all principality and power. Don't
listen to nobody else except God. Don't believe anything else
except what God says. Don't trust anyone except Christ
and anything else except what Christ does. Don't look anywhere
else, don't go anywhere else, don't believe anything else,
don't consider anything else except Christ. Beware. Beware. So if there's a doubt,
don't go there. Folks say, well, they're saying
some good things, and you know they're doing some good things,
and all this mess. But I'll tell you what, if you've
got a doubt that Christ is not glorified and enthroned, and
He's preeminent, and He's all, don't go there. because it's deceitful and deadly.
It'll destroy that rest and that peace. Beware. I rest in Him because He put
away my sin. We rest in His sacrifice, His
forgiveness. I can now rest because I'm forgiven. I'm forgiven. God has forgiven me. And this
is not a one-time thing. God has forever forgiven me because
the sacrifice of Christ is eternal. It's effectual. He was a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, and He's a lamb in
the midst of the throne. In time, He put away my sin.
I'm forgiven. The flow of animal blood is stopped.
That's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came, our
own works for acceptance has stopped forever. Now I can rest. Colossians 2.13, and you being
dead in your sins and the circumcision of your flesh, as He quickened
together with Him, have been forgiven you all trespasses. All trespasses. Does that mean
anything to you? All trespasses. I can rest. You know, somehow
we feel like that we need to do something to get God to forgive
us. We need to make some kind of
retribution. This natural man feels like that.
I know. I've been there. And you've been
there too. Maybe you're there now. I don't
know. I hope not. But you feel like you've got to do something
to cause God to do something for you. No. No, it's done. Rest. The work's done. The great transaction's done.
He's forgiven you of all trespasses if you're His. He's forgiven
you. Hebrews 10, 12 through 17. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, after He had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, and the unbeliever, those that
cannot rest, They offer sacrifices daily, daily, daily to try to
appease God and get God's favor. But the believer, he rests in
Christ because Christ offered one sacrifice for sin forever.
He sat down on the right hand of God for by one offering He
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And He said,
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. We remember
them. We can remember other folks'
sins a lot better than we can our own. You know, I know a person that's
real near and dear to me. If you'd done something to him
fifty years ago, he'd remember it. He thought about it. Never held a grudge. He couldn't
ever get over it. That's not a believer. That's
not a child of God. Daily pray, Lord help me put
it behind my back, forget it, go on. But the unbeliever, he offers
daily sacrifices, yet he's never forgiven. But the Lord Jesus
Christ offered one sacrifice forever. And he said there are sins and
iniquities, will I remember no more. You remember Hebrews 9.12, neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. He obtained it. He obtained it. In Isaiah 45.17, Israel shall
be saved in the Lord. With an everlasting salvation.
With an everlasting salvation. Saved in the Lord. You shall not be ashamed or confounded,
world without end. What that's saying, that's saying
we can rest there. See, it's all through the Scriptures.
It's just everywhere. In the Old Testament Scriptures
and the New Testament Scriptures, Christ is our rest. 1 Peter 2.24,
see if you can find some rest here. I've given you a lot of
scriptures, but scriptures are better than my words. See if
you can rest here. See if you can get a hold of
this by God's grace. Who is own self, bear our sin in his own
body on the tree. Here is personal. He said, Who
is own self, bear our sins, your sins and mine, his people's sins,
in his own body on the tree. that we, being dead to sin, should
live unto righteousness. But who strifeth your heel? For
you were a sheep going astray, but now are returned to the bishop
and shepherd of your souls." So he said, I bore your sin,
your sin, in my own body on the cross. Can you rest there? See, that's our Sabbath, to rest. Revelation 1 and 5, and Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the
dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. I wish I could believe that like
I want to believe it. Embrace that like I know that
I should. He washed me from my sin in His
own blood. If that is so, if God's telling the truth, there
ain't nothing wrong. Everything is perfect. couldn't be any better, if that's so. I believe it is. And I can find some rest right
there. And we rest in Him through grace,
by grace through faith. And I want to stress this and
quote it, that our rest in Christ is 100%,
absolutely, positively, by grace. And what I mean by that, and
maybe this will make it clear, I don't know how to go about
this, but what I'm saying is that you did not have one little thing to do with it. If you did, then it's a false
rest. And your bed will be turned over.
The cover will be jerked off of you. And you'll be lying naked
before a thrice holy God. But if it's all of grace, it's
all His work, then it's a good rest, perfect
rest. We rest in Him by grace through
faith. It's a work, our rest is a work of sovereign almighty
grace that God gives us in the Lord
Jesus Christ and we lay hold upon this rest and partake of
this rest in regeneration by the impartation of spiritual
life. It's the only way that we will rest our souls in Christ. We can call this rest the experience
of grace. Think about it. If somebody asks
you what the experience of grace is, you tell them it's my rest
in Christ. That's what we experience in
Christ, is rest. This is the work of grace. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it's a gift of God. I want to give you about three
scriptures in closing. You don't have to turn there,
I'm just going to give them to you for your later reference. We rest in Him by grace through
faith by His Word. Number one, by His Word. John
17, 17 and Psalms 119, 140. In those passages you'll find
references to many, many others. We rest in Him by His Word, by
grace through faith, by His Word. His Word declares that rest. Secondly, we rest in Him by grace
through faith, by the preaching of the Gospel. by the preaching of the gospel,
by the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, over and over and
over and over and over again. Is my soul troubled? Do doubts and fears come upon
me? What do I need? I need to hear
the gospel. I need to hear the Word of God.
That's how it comes to me. And thirdly, by His Spirit, O
blessed Spirit, Spirit of God, sweep over my soul. Reveal Christ
to me again. Break my heart again. Call me to love you, believe
you, trust you, to rest. But the preaching of the gospel
in Romans 6.25 and 1 Corinthians 1.18, two scriptures for each
one, and by His Spirit, Luke 10.21 and 1 Corinthians 2.10,
will not turn to those. May you rest in Christ. I want
you to. I want to. There's enough. Labor and trouble
and worry. This world will go around, isn't
there? Why not rest? If you can, do
it. Somebody said, how do I do this?
I don't know. I really don't. But if you can,
do it. Let's bow our heads.