Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. 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 Nyberg. I'm going to read what may be
the most familiar passage of scripture in all the Word of
God, the 23rd Psalm. This is the Psalm of David. He
says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me. to lie down in
green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art
with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. my cup runneth over. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Now, as I
said, I believe that to be the most well-known passage of Scripture
in the Bible. How many times has this been
read to those who are afflicted and to those who are dying? How
many millions of funerals has this passage of scripture been
read in? Now, what I've entitled this
message is, is the Lord my shepherd. David doesn't say the Lord is
everybody's shepherd. He says the Lord is my shepherd. And my question is, is the Lord
my shepherd? And the reason I ask that question
is he cannot be said to be the shepherd of all men. Now let
me repeat that. The Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep, cannot be said to be the shepherd of
all men. He does not have this disposition
toward everybody. There are multitudes who could
not truthfully say, the Lord is my shepherd. When he says
to those on judgment day, depart from me, ye that work iniquity,
I never knew you, He obviously was not shepherd to those people. David says, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, the Lord is called in the
scripture, the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the
sheep. He is called that great shepherd
of the sheep in Hebrews chapter 13. Peter exhorts the elders
to feed or shepherd the flock of God which is among them, and
when the chief shepherd shall appear." Now, in all of these
statements regarding him being a shepherd, it's always in connection
with the sheep. Now, I can answer the question,
is the Lord my shepherd? by answering this question, am
I a sheep? Now there are goats and there
are sheep. That's brought out very clearly
in Matthew chapter 25 when the Lord Jesus from the throne of
his glory as the king separates the masses the sheep on his right
hand and the goats on his left. There are sheep and there are
goats. The Lord said to a group of people
in John chapter 10, you believe not because you are not of my
sheep. As I said to you, you see a sheep
can't turn into a goat and a goat can't turn into a sheep. He said,
you believe not because you're not of my sheep. He did not say,
you're not my sheep because you don't believe. He said, you believe
not because you are not of my sheep. He's the shepherd of the
sheep. Am I a sheep? If I'm a sheep, then the Lord
is my shepherd. And I shall not want. Now, I
think it's so interesting that when the Lord uses an animal
to describe the believer, he doesn't use a lion or an eagle
or a bear, some strong animal, some high flying animal. He speaks of a sheep. That is
the animal he selects to describe his people. Sheep are dirty. They're dirty
animals, filthy animals. Are you a sheep? Defiled and
dirty because of your sin? Sheep so easily go astray. David, the man after God's own
heart, said, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. A sheep has no sense of direction. Once they stray away, they can't
find the way back. It's up to the shepherd to bring
them back. Are you a sheep? A sheep is a defenseless animal.
It doesn't have claws. It doesn't have fangs to protect
itself. It's easy game for anybody. A sheep is a defenseless animal. I love the hymn, Jesus, Lover
of My Soul. And I love the line where he
says, cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wings. A sheep is completely dependent
upon the shepherd to protect it. A sheep can't get up when
it falls over. It's like a turtle or a beetle
when it's got the heavy wool. It falls over, its legs are up,
and it can't become turned over unless the shepherd turns it
over. A sheep cannot care for itself
when it's wounded. It's not like other animals who
lick their wounds and there's a healing quality in that. A
sheep can't do anything to care for itself. A sheep cannot bear
burdens. They must cast all their burden
upon the Lord. But let me tell you this about
a sheep. Everything I've said is pretty negative. But this
can be said of all his sheep. He said, my sheep, hear my voice. They know not the voice of strangers. They know the voice of the gospel. A stranger they will not follow. The Lord said in John chapter
10, verse 27, my sheep, hear my voice. And I know them. He'll never say to any of his
sheep, depart from me, I never knew you. He says, I know them
and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life, not temporary
life, eternal life. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. my father which
gave them me. You see, the sheep are the elect
of God. They were given to him of his
father before the foundation of the world. My father which
gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck
them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. He said,
you believe not because you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, now let me
tell you something about all sheep. They believe. They believe the gospel. They believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. They believe He is the Christ. They believe He is God's prophet.
They believe he is God's priest. They believe he is God's king
whose will is always done. They rely upon him. Like the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy
1.12, I know whom I have believed. Now if you know him, everything
else falls in line. Most folks, who they know is
not the one of the scripture, but if you know the Christ of
scripture, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day." What have you committed to him, Paul? The entire salvation
of my soul. He must do it all. You see, the
sheep understand that the only hope they have is that the shepherd
laid down his life for them and put away their sins. That's the
only hope I have, is that Christ died for me and put away my sins
so I don't have any sins before the Father. And that's why I
become... for lack of a better word, annoyed.
It annoys me when I hear a preacher speak of the death of Christ
as if he could die for somebody and pay for their sins, and they
might wind up in hell anyway because they didn't do what they
needed to do to make what he did work for them. That's salvation
by works. That's all that is. If a sheep that Christ died for
could end up perishing, I know I'll end up perishing, and you
will too. But thank God, this is our hope,
that the shepherd laid down his life and nothing else is needed."
What a shepherd! Now, I think it's interesting
in this 23rd Psalm, the Lord has eight names as Jehovah, and
they are either mentioned or implied in this Psalm. For instance, Jehovah-ra-ha,
the Lord is my shepherd. Jehovah-shalom, the Lord is our
peace. He maketh me to lie down in still
waters, waters of quietness. Jehovah-ra-ha, I am the Lord
that healeth thee." He restores my soul. Jehovah Tzedkinu, the
Lord our righteousness. He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. He prepares me a table. in the
very presence of my enemies." Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is
present. David says, Thou art with me.
Jehovah Mekdishkin, I am the Lord that sanctifieth thee. I'll
dwell in his house forever. I'm sanctified in him. Jehovah
Nisi, the Lord our banner, which is thy rod and thy staff. The
rod is the word for scepter. The staff is that which holds
up, that's the person and work of Christ. His absolute sovereignty,
what he did, his work, is what holds me up and makes me acceptable
before God. You see, all of those names are
in this 23rd Psalm. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want. I shall not lack. I am complete
in Him. I'm not going to lack anything.
I'm not going to lack rest. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. I'm not going to lack peace. He leads me beside the still
waters. I'm not going to lack restoration. He restores my soul. I'm not
going to lack righteousness, perfect righteousness before
God. He leads me. in the paths of righteousness
for his namesake. I'm not going to lack his presence. He says, for yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil for
thou art with me. I'm not going to lack comfort,
thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me. I'm not going
to lack provision. Thou preparest a table for me
in the presence of my enemies. I'm not going to lack joy. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. And then he speaks of these two
watchdogs that follow him. Surely, goodness and mercy, God's
sheepdogs, goodness and mercy shall follow, shall pursue me,
is the word, all the days of my life. And I will not lack
a house to dwell in forever. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. Now, the Lord, Jehovah, David
says, is my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want. You see, if you're a believer,
the scripture says you are complete in Christ. You're lacking nothing.
On judgment day, you'll be lacking nothing. Right now, you lack
nothing if your shepherd is the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. First of all, I'm not gonna want
rest because he makes me. to lie down and rest in the green
pastures of his word. Now, what is this thing of rest?
You rest when the work is finished. You don't rest if there's something
left to do, but you rest when the work is finished. When he
said it is finished, there's nothing left to do. but rest,
they which have believed to enter into rest. For he that's entered
his rest has ceased from his own works as God did from his. And I'm not gonna lack peace
because my shepherd is the Lord, because he leads me beside still
waters, the waters of quietness. Now, listen to me real carefully. The only thing that gives a believer,
I mean a real believer, peace, is that everything God requires
of them, they have in Christ. And that gives them peace. Now,
if you tell me of something I need to do, I lose my peace. But if you tell me that I've
been justified by Christ. That means I stand before God
without guilt. That means I stand before God
sinless. That means I stand before God perfectly righteousness.
With perfect righteousness, you know what I have? I have peace.
God's at peace with me. And when I see that God's at
peace with me, I'm at peace with God. I will not lack peace. And then he says in verse three,
he restores my soul. The great shepherd restores my
soul. Now that word restore is generally
translated turn. Turn us again. Oh Lord God of
hosts, cause thy face to shine and we'll be safe. Turn me and
I'll be turned. Now this thing of turning is
what the shepherd does. He sees the sheep wandering off
in the wrong direction and we're all so apt to go astray. We're
so apt to fall and the great shepherd turns us. He restores
our soul. He causes us to continue to follow
him. Now understand this. Perseverance
is not remaining religious. Perseverance is believing at
all times, all the way to the end, that all you have is Christ. And if you persevere in that,
you have persevered all the way to the end. He restores my soul. And then David said, he leads
me because my shepherd is the Lord. I'm not gonna want righteousness
because he leads me. in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. There's one reason He does it.
He doesn't lead me in the paths of righteousness because of anything
I do, of anything I've promised and quit doing, of anything I
started doing, any promises I've made. He leads me in the paths
of righteousness, which is the righteousness of Christ. for
his name's sake. Not for my sake, not in response
to something that I've done. He does it for his name's sake. Let me read you some statements
out of the Psalms. David said, pardon mine iniquity
for thy name's sake. He said, lead me and guide me
for thy name's sake. Purge away our sins for Thy name's
sake. Nevertheless, He saved them for
His name's sake. Do thou for me, O God the Lord,
for Thy name's sake. Quicken me, O Lord, for Thy name's
sake. Now when I say for Thy name's sake, I'm saying, Lord,
there's no reason in me as to why you should hear this. I'm
asking that you do this for Christ's sake. Be ye kind, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you, I will not lack righteousness for His name's sake." Now look
in verse 4, "'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, You know when I started walking through this valley?
On September 9th, 1959, the day I was born into this world. Ever
since then, I've been walking through the valley of the shadow
of death. But look at this promise. He
says, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. I have His continual presence. By way of Him being omnipresent,
I can't go anywhere where He's not, but His gracious favor. He is eternally with the believer
when they're aware of it, when they're not aware of it. Now,
if God be for us, who can be against us? I'll fear no evil,
for thou art with me." And then he said, thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me. Now his rod is his kingship,
his scepter. You know, it comforts me to know
that Jesus Christ really is Lord. That He controls everything and
every event and everybody. He's absolutely sovereign. And His staff is what holds me
up. That's what His gospel is what
holds me up. It's what I lean on. That's where
my comfort comes from, the person and the work of Christ. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Verse five, thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of my enemies. Now, when I speak
of my enemies, I don't think of people who I perceive mistreat
me or people who do not like me. Those are not my enemies. They are simply instruments of
God used for my good. I don't have any enemies in that
sense. I may have people who don't like me, but these people
are in God's hand. I think of when David said with
regard to Shemai, when Shemai was cursing him and Abishai wanted
to take his head off, He said, don't do that. The Lord said,
curse David. All men are in his hands. My enemies are my sins. Those are my deadly enemies,
my sins. And he prepares a table for me
in the very presence of my enemies. John said, these things write
unto you that you sin not. It's never okay to sin, but when
you do, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. He prepares a table for me in
the very presence of my enemies, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. He's the one who provides. He
provides for himself, the lamb. He provides The lamb, because
I can't provide one, and he himself is the lamb. When Isaac said,
here's the fire, here's the wood, where's the lamb for the burnt
offering? Abraham replied, the Lord will provide himself a lamb.
There's nothing you can provide. He provides for himself so he
can do something for people like me or you, and he provides himself
as the lamb. Thou preparest a table for me. His glorious provision of grace
in the very presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
the oil of His Spirit. My cup runneth over with joy. I'm always complete in Christ,
and my cup is always running over with joy." You say you're
always happy? No, I'm not. I complain and murmur
and act like a fool like everybody else does, but I always have
joy because I know that He is my joy and He is my righteousness. I'm ashamed of my sin. I can't
feel good about that, but my joy is that He is my righteousness. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness, His righteousness. and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. He says in verse six, surely,
surely, this is for sure. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me, pursue me relentlessly as God's watchdogs over me. Those are his sheepdogs. Goodness,
his loving kindness, His faithful mercy pursue me all the days
of my life. Thank God for that. There's never
a time when I don't have His goodness and His mercy relentlessly
pursuing me and keeping me and preserving me. And David says
finally, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now this is I am the Lord that
sanctify thee. Now, I remember when I was a
boy, when I would think of that, I thought, I wouldn't want to dwell in a
house forever. That'd get boring. It's because I didn't understand
what it meant. The house of the Lord is Christ,
and I am in Him eternally. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. He is my sanctification. He is
my holiness. In Him is no sin. If I'm in Him,
I have no sin. He that abideth in Him sinneth
not. Abiding in Him, I'm holy. I'm without sin, I'm perfect
in God's sight. I have a house to dwell in forever. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
I will not want an eternal home. Is the Lord my shepherd? Well, am I a sheep? That's the way you can answer
that question. Am I sheep? Sheep are completely 100% dependent
upon the shepherd for everything. And sheep believe. Now we have this message on DVD,
CD. If you email the church, write,
get it off the internet, we'll send you a copy. And we'd also
like to invite you to services at Todd's Rope Grace Church.
We begin Bible study at 9.45, morning worship at 10.30, Sunday
evening, six, Wednesday at seven. And we'd love to have you come
out and hear the gospel. This is Todd Nyberg, praying that
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's our prayer.