Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. In Psalm 23, maybe the most well-known
passage of scripture in all the Word of God, David says, the
Lord is my shepherd. I have entitled this message,
Is the Lord My Shepherd? Now, the reason I ask that question
is because while David said, the Lord is my shepherd, not
everyone can truthfully say that. Can I truthfully say the Lord
is my shepherd? When he says the Lord is my shepherd,
he says, Jehovah is my shepherd. Jehovah means the self existing
one. He has no needs. He is utterly independent. There's nothing you have that
he needs. He's not worshipped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. If I was hungry, I wouldn't tell
you, he says. He's utterly independent. Now, there's so many implications
behind that. You and I are so dependent in
every respect, but he is utterly independent. What a one to have
as your shepherd. Jehovah is my shepherd. And did you know in the scriptures
there are eight different names, Jehovah, in eight different ways,
and they're all found in this 23rd Psalm. This 23rd Psalm actually
is a psalm with regard to the character of God. Jehovah is
my shepherd is one of them. Jehovah Raha, the Lord is my
shepherd. And then Jehovah Shalom, the
Lord is my peace. Well, he makes me lie down in
green pastures and he leads me beside still waters, waters of
peace and quietness. The Lord is my peace. Jehovah Ratha, I am the Lord
that healeth thee. David says, he restores my soul. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. David said in this psalm, thou
preparest for me a table in the presence of my enemies. Jehovah Shammah, The Lord is
present. David says, Thou art with me.
Oh, His presence. Jehovah Mikadeshem. I am the Lord that sanctifyeth
thee." And every believer is in the house of the Lord. That's
our sanctification in His house. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Jehovah Tkenu, the Lord our righteousness. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his namesake. Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our banner. And here's our message, thy rod
and thy staff comfort me. The rod is his scepter of absolute
sovereignty. He's God, Staff is who we lean
on. We lean on Him. We lean on His
righteousness. We lean on His grace. We lean
on His person. That is the message of the gospel.
And that is all contained in this glorious 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. Now, in Hebrews 13, verse 20,
he's called that great shepherd of the sheep. When David says,
the Lord is my shepherd, he's talking about the great shepherd
of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called in 1 Peter
5, verse 4, the chief shepherd. And then in John 10, he calls
himself the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Now, do you know
that not everybody is a sheep? That's scriptural. There are
sheep and there are goats. Not everybody is a sheep. Let
me show you this from the Lord's words in John 10, verse 24. We read, Then came the Jews round
about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to
doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered
them, I told you. And you believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name bear witness of me. I control
the weather. I raise the dead. I give sight
to the blind. I create food. I bring matter
into the universe that was not there before. I heal the sick. I suspend the law of gravity
and walk on the water. I do that which only God can
do, and there's no excuse for your unbelief. But, he says in
verse 26, you believe not because you're not of my sheep. The reason you don't believe
is because you're not a sheep. Now let me repeat, not everybody
is a sheep. There are sheep and there are
goats. Let me read a passage of scripture
from Matthew chapter 25, verse 31, when the Son of Man shall
come in His glory. and all the holy angels with him, then shall
he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be
gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand. but the goats on his left. Now, there's only two kinds of
people in this world, sheep and goats. He is the shepherd of
the sheep. Now, the Lord tells us, as he
said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep, as I
said unto you, my sheep. There's a people that Christ
calls my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Now, this I know. If the Lord's
my shepherd, I have to be sheep. one of those people that he calls
my sheep. And he gives the marks of his
sheep. He says, they hear my voice. Now, does that mean I've heard
his voice audibly? I've even heard preachers say,
the Lord called them by name. Here's what you need to do. Here's
what you need to know. That's phony. They never heard
His voice. To hear His voice is to hear
the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit so that you know
this is God's word. This is not man's word. This
is not man's opinion. This is not the preacher's opinion.
This is not the dominational distinctive. This is the voice
of God Himself. This is the truth. You've heard
from Him when you know this is the truth of God. That's how
you hear the gospel. Next he says, I know them to be known of Him. Now the Lord
says to one group on judgment day, depart from me ye that work
iniquity. I never knew you. Now, he knew
who they were. He knew what they had done, but
he says, I've never known you in the sense of I've never loved
you. I didn't foreknow you. I've never known you to be one
of mine. I've never known you to look only to me. I never knew
you. But he says, with regard to his
sheep, I know them. And here's the third mark. They
hear his voice, he knows them, and they follow him. Sheep follow. Now, generally
when people think of following, they think of imitating. Well,
sheep don't imitate the shepherd. Now, I want to imitate Christ.
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to diminish this.
I want to walk as he walked. But I know in my own sinful self,
if I look at my walk, it's no good. What does it mean to follow
Christ? It means to look to Him only.
You don't look down at your feet at your walk to see how you're
doing. You'll lose Him. It doesn't mean you look to the
side at somebody else and compare yourself with them. You'll lose
Him. It doesn't mean you look behind you to see if your life
has changed enough and you give enough evidences to prove to
yourself that you're a Christian and that He's done something
for you. No, not at all. You look to Him only. That's
what sheep do. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. Looking unto Jesus. Now, sheep. David said, the Lord is my shepherd.
In order to be, the Lord to be your shepherd, you have to be
a sheep. Let's think about sheep for a moment. Sheep, the Lord doesn't use bears
or lions. or eagles, or horses, majestic
beings that we think of, but he uses sheep. This is the animal
that the Lord compares his people to, sheep. Sheep are dumb. Now that's just true. Sheep are
dumb. Sheep are dirty. They're dirty
animals. They can become so heavy with
filth on their wool that they can be tipped over and they can't
be brought back up unless the shepherd raises them back up
and puts them on their feet. They are helpless in that sense. They're dirty. They can become
dirty because of sin. Sheep easily go astray. They're dependent upon the shepherd
to keep them because they so easily go astray. And when they
go astray, they can't find their way back. They're completely
dependent upon the shepherd to come back after them. And sheep
can't defend themselves. They don't have claws. They don't
have fangs to defend themselves. They're completely dependent
upon the shepherd to take care of them. Now that's a sheep.
Are you a sheep? David said, the Lord is my shepherd. What confidence he expresses,
the Lord. is my shepherd." Well, he's your
shepherd. If you are a sheep, and how do
I determine whether or not I'm a sheep? Before I go on, I want
to ask that question. How can I determine whether or
not I'm a sheep? Sheep believe. He said, you believe
not because you're not of my sheep. What do sheep do? They
believe the gospel. Now don't try to figure out whether
or not you're one of God's elect. Don't try to figure out whether
or not you're somebody that Christ died for. Don't try to figure
out whether or not you've been born of the Spirit. Believe the
gospel. That's the evidence that you
are all those things. Simply believing that Jesus Christ
is everything in salvation and your only hope is in who he is
and what he accomplished. You're resting in him only and
not looking to your works. That's what sheep do. Sheep believe. David says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not lack. Now what does that mean? Let
me give you the New Testament commentary on this. In Colossians
chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, Paul speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
our shepherd, he says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. All that God is, is in the body
of the man Christ Jesus. The one who said, a body has
thou prepared for me. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in him. And that's what David meant when
he said, I shall not want, I shall not lack anything because I am
complete in him. I can't get any more saved. I
can't get any more holy. I can't get any more just. I
can't get any more loved. I can't get any more accepted
because I am complete in him. That's what David meant when
he said, the Lord is my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want, I shall not lack, I shall not be in need. Now first, I shall not lack rest. He says in verse two, he maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. I shall not lack Rest. Now what is this thing of resting? You know physically we have to
have rest, but this is talking about the rest that's in Christ.
They which have believed do enter into rest, for he that has entered
into his rest has ceased from his own works. as God did from
His. Do you know when you rest? When
you don't look for a thing out of yourself, you only rest in
what He did. You cease from your own works
to Him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth
the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. You rest when you cease from
your own works and rest in his works as all that's needed to
make you perfect in God's sight. Now, because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not lack rest. Secondly, he says, I shall not
lack peace. He leadeth me beside the still
waters, the waters of quietness, the waters of peace. You know
when you're gonna have peace? You know when I'm gonna have
peace? When I see that I have no sin. That's the only thing
that brings peace. The sin question has been dealt
with. Christ put it away. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the only
time a sinner truly has peace is when he sees his sin is altogether
put away by what Christ did. And here's peace. He's presented
us, but having made peace through the blood of his cross, because
of what he's done, he presents us before his father, holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight. That's Colossians 1, 23, 22.
Now that is peace. Question is God satisfied with
what Christ did? Is he looking for anything else?
Is there something you must add? No, he's completely satisfied
with what his son did. If that's the truth, I have peace
and it is the truth. So I have this peace. He makes
me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside waters of
quietness. Third, I'm not going to lack
restoration because it says he restores my soul. Now that word
restores is generally translated turns or turns back. He turns back my soul. David said, I've gone astray
like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. And this is
what the Lord does as a shepherd. He turns back my soul because
of my still present sinfulness, I have a tendency As the songwriter
said, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the
God I love. Every believer knows exactly
what that means, but he turns us back as the great shepherd
of the sheep. Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
or Lord of hosts, cause thy face to shine and we'll be saved.
Jeremiah said, turn me and I'll be turned. He restores our soul. That's what the great shepherd
does. He restores my soul. Verse three,
he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Now, because
my shepherd is the Lord, I'm not gonna lack righteousness.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Now here's
why he gives this righteousness to me for his namesake, for Christ's
sake. But let's think about this thing
of being led in the paths of righteousness. The righteousness
he speaks of is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Paul put it
this way in Philippians chapter 3 verse 9, I know that I may
win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. You see, every believer has the
very righteousness of God as their personal righteousness
before God. That's our standing. For he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him." Now somebody says, how
could that be? Because he was made sin. He bore
our sin in his own body on the tree. That's why God forsook
him. God really forsook him. He didn't
look at him and say, son, I know these sins are not yours. No,
those sins became his sins. He became guilty of the commission
of those sins, though he never did that in himself. He's always
wholly harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners in that
sense, but he was made sin. And God forsook him. He was actually
forsaken by God. He took what I deserved. that
I might be made the very righteousness of God in him, in him I will
not lack righteousness, because the Lord is my shepherd. And then David says in verse
four, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. Now I began this walk
in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, in my experience, September
9th, 1959, when I was born into this world. And I have since
then been walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. There's so many shadows. I can't
see as I would. I don't understand what's going
on, but I know He does. And I fear no evil. While I'm walking through this
valley of the shadow of death, why is it that I don't fear any
evil? He's with me. I don't have to
understand what's going on. I understand that he understands
and he's in control of everything and he is with me. Now that is the personal blessing
of every believer. I have his presence. He said,
I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. He is with me. When I'm aware of it and when
I'm not aware of it, he is with me. You see, he never sleeps.
He never slumbers. He is always with his people. Now, what a shepherd. This shepherd
is always with me. And then he says, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. Now the rod of the shepherd is
his kingship, his scepter, his absolute sovereignty. He's God. My shepherd is God. Oh, I love
saying that. My shepherd is God himself. God
in the person of his son. His staff is that which is leaned
on, that which is relied upon. You know, the Lord warned Israel
of leaning on a broken staff. Looking to Egypt, no, you lean
totally on me. Now that's my comfort that God
is that my shepherd is God in control of everything and I can
lean on him completely for my salvation. That's what gives
me comfort. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and saying to her, her warfare
is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned, for
she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins."
Now, there's the comfort of the gospel. And then he says in verse
5, thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Now, because my shepherd is the Lord, I'm not going to lack provision. He prepares a table for me in
the very presence of my enemies. Now, does that mean I'm getting
to eat and my enemies are having to stand out and watch and I
can say, look, I get something and you don't? Of course not.
My enemies are my sins. And in the very presence of my
sins, He prepares me the banquet of grace. I'm saved by grace
and not by my works. I'm saved by His righteousness
and not my own. And His precious blood puts away
all my sins. He prepares this banquet of grace
for me in the very presence of my enemies. he anoints my head
with oil the oil of his spirit the oil of his grace and my cup
runs over it's full because my shepherd is the lord my cup's
full and running over i am always complete in him that is always
my experience i am complete in him streams of mercy never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise. Then David said, because my shepherd
is the Lord, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, shall
pursue me. Now here are God's sheepdogs. Goodness and mercy. And they
pursue me. They won't let me leave the flock. They follow me all the days of
my life. Not just a few days, but all
the days of my life. That is why I will persevere
into the end. Because his sheepdogs, goodness
and mercy, follow me all the days of my life. And because
my shepherd is the Lord, I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Now what that means is not some
physical building. I am in Christ forever. When God looks at me, he sees
me as one in the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the people in the house
with the blood over the door that God passed by in mercy.
Like those eight souls in the ark that were saved because they
were in the ark. I'm in Christ. I'm in the house
of God. and I will be there eternally."
Now, of Him are you, Paul said to the Corinthians, in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made in us wisdom and righteousness,
sanctification and redemption, that according as it's written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Because the Lord
is my shepherd, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David says, the Lord is my shepherd. Can I truthfully say the Lord
is my shepherd? Well, if I'm a sheep. Well, how
do you know if you're a sheep? You believe the gospel. That's
what sheep do, they believe, they rely upon Jesus Christ only. As their full salvation, their
full acceptance, they look nowhere else but Christ alone. They don't
look to themselves, they don't look to their works, they don't
look to their experience, they look to Christ alone. If you look to Christ only, you
can say, the Lord is my shepherd. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neibert at gmail.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.