being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. What
peace! What peace! God's at peace with
me. I'm at peace with God. Look what He's done for me. And
I have peace regarding every circumstance because the Bible
says that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. So no matter
how difficult the situation is, and there are plenty of troubles
and trials and difficult situations that every believer passes through,
but no matter how difficult they are, we have this beloved promise.
It's working together for our good, given by our Great Shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not lack peace. And then he says in verse 3,
He restoreth my soul. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
I'm not going to lack restoration. Now that word restore is the
word that's usually translated turned. My shepherd turns my
soul. And isn't that what a shepherd
does with the sheep? The sheep are always straying,
and he turns them back into the flock. Thank the Lord for this
shepherd that continually turns. Every believer knows he's a dumb
sheep and he knows how easily he can go astray. We sing that
song, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the
God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it. Seal it from thy courts above.
Now, every believer knows that he's prone to turn. He's got
such a sinful nature that he's always aware of it. And he cries
out with David, and Saul made him, Turn us again, O Lord God
of hosts, and cause thy face to shine, and we'll be saved.
Jeremiah said, Turn me, and I'll be turned. The sheep need to
be turned. And David says, He turns my soul. He restores my soul. Every time
I stray, He brings me back. He's always turning the lost
sheep. Now, where would I be without
Him restoring or turning my soul? But thank God He always does
it. The Lord is my shepherd. He restoreth
my soul. And then He says in this third
verse, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. because the Lord is my shepherd,
I will not lack righteousness. Now, hear me carefully, if you
would. There is only one righteousness,
the righteousness of God, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. David said, I've made mention
of thy righteousness, even thine only. The Lord said in Psalm
40, I preached righteousness in the great congregation. I've
made mention of thy righteousness. The only righteousness there
is, is the righteousness of God. Every believer knows that their
righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags. The righteousness
of God. Now the righteousness of God,
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that perfect righteousness
that He worked out, is imputed to the believer and imparted
to the believer. What do I mean by that? imputed
to the believers where justification comes. God takes the righteousness
of Christ and it becomes the believers, and they become perfectly
righteous. He imparts it to the believer
in regeneration, in the new birth where a believer is given a new
heart that he didn't have before, a pure heart, a holy heart that
believes the gospel. Now, because my shepherd is the
Lord, in no way will I lack righteousness. To this extent, 2 Corinthians
5, 21 says, 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. If I have the righteousness of
God, and I do, I certainly will not lack righteousness. The Lord
is my shepherd, and because my shepherd is the Lord, I will
not lack righteousness. And I have a good reason for
having it. He said, He leads me in paths
of righteousness for His namesake. He doesn't do that because of
any good in me, but for His namesake, for Christ's sake. Nevertheless,
He saved them for His namesake, that He might make His mighty
power known. And then David says, Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear
no evil. for thou art with me." Now, walking
through the valley of the shadow of death is not that time when
you're dying. Walking through this life is walking through
the valley of the shadow of death. It's this life. It's from the
time you're born to the time you die, you're walking through
the valley of the shadow of death. But you know what David said?
I won't fear any evil because thou art with me. Every believer
has the continual presence of God. He has said, I'll never
leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. Now, while I'm walking through
the valley of the shadow of death, I know I'm going to have troubles.
I know I'm going to have trials. I know I'm going to have disappointments.
But he's with me. And he has promised to never
leave me or forsake me. And that's enough. I don't need
anything else. If I have his presence, what
more could I want? What is heaven but being in his
presence? He said, Father, I will that
they which you have given me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory. Heaven is going to be always
conscious of his presence. But right now, every believer
has his presence, has his blessing, whether they're aware of it or
not. While I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
because my shepherd is the Lord, I will fear no evil. And then he says, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. Rod to protect the sheep, the
staff was a walking staff to support and sustain. Every believer
has the protection of the great shepherd. You remember how David
killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands as a shepherd
boy. Well, the Lord, that's just a,
teach us of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he is able to take care of
his sheep. He never loses one of them and
he supports and sustains them and how that comforts our soul. And then he says, thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Now I have enemies,
people who do not love me and who wish ill of me. But you know,
they're not really my enemies. The Lord sent them for my good.
He's in control of everybody and everything. And really, no
man is my enemy, even if a man hates me. Still, he's under God's
thumb, in God's control, doing God's will for my good and His
glory. My enemies are my sins. They're my enemies. David said,
Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight. He said, My sins are ever before
me. And the Bible says he prepares
a table for me, a table of grace, a table of acceptance in the
very presence of my enemies because my sins are my enemies. Read
Paul in Romans chapter 7 and look and you can see how sin
is the enemy of the believer. Read what he says. He said, it
was the sin that dwelleth in me that did that. That's my deadly
enemy. And He prepares a table of grace
for me in the very presence of my enemies. Thank God for grace. Oh, I look forward to that time
when I can be without sin, perfectly conformed to the image of His
Son. But He prepares this table, and
I sit at the table of the King, like Mephibosheth, still lame
in my feet. But one of these days I won't
be. David says next, Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth
over. That is, you make me fat. This
is talking about the prosperity of every believer. With my shepherd
being the Lord, how prosperous I am. I'm a joiner with Christ. He takes care of me. He's in
control of everything. What a prosperous thing. What
a safe and secure thing to be a believer. And then he says
in verse 6, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life. Now, these are God's two sheepdogs,
goodness and mercy. And goodness and mercy have my
back. They're following me. They always
have my back. God's goodness is God's capacity
to save by his grace. His mercy is his saving mercy. They're always behind me. They're
God's sheepdogs watching over me. His goodness and his mercy
that won't let me go And finally, David says, and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
I have an eternal dwelling place. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. Now, the house of the Lord is
Christ. house of the Lord. He's the house
I want to live in. He's the house that I find safety
and security in. Abiding in Him and being in Him
is the way every believer will spend eternity. Because my Shepherd
is the Lord, I have an eternal house, eternal security, and
I will be in His presence beholding His glory forever. Truly, if
the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want anything. And if the
Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want anything at all. Thank God for this glorious shepherd. Now, we have this message on
CD and DVD. If you call the church, write
or e-mail, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Knifer praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known. Amen. To request a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send your request to messages
at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen. 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 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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. I'd like to read the 23rd Psalm. The 23rd Psalm is probably the
most well-known passage from the Old Testament Scriptures.
Let's read it together. This is David writing, and he
says, the Lord is my shepherd. 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 namesake. 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 mine 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. 23rd Psalm, written by David. And as I said, probably the most
well-known passage of the Scripture, passage found in Scripture. How
many funerals has this Psalm been read in? The 23rd Psalm. Now, David begins with this statement,
the Lord is my You know not everyone can say that. The Lord's not
a shepherd to everybody. He's a shepherd to the sheep.
He's not the shepherd of an unbeliever. He's not the shepherd of a goat. He's the shepherd of the sheep.
As a matter of fact, in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 20, He's called
that great shepherd of the sheep. Now, there are two kinds of people
in this world. And you and I are in one of these
groups. There are sheep and there are
goats. The Lord lets us know this in
Matthew chapter 25 when he depicts Judgment Day. And this is a majestic
passage of Scripture. It's also a very sobering passage
of Scripture. We read in Matthew chapter 25
verse 31, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory. Beloved, he is coming 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. You and I will be in this group
on judgment day. And he shall separate them one
from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
his left. The sheep are those who are saved. The goats are those who are not
saved. Do you know a sheep can never
become a goat? And a goat can never become a
sheep. Not everyone is a sheep. Let
me read a passage from John chapter 10 when the Lord talks about
himself being the good shepherd of the sheep. In verse 24, the
Pharisees said to him, then came the Jews ran 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 believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not, because
you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. Notice he didn't say,
you're not my sheep because you do not believe. You do not believe
because you're not my sheep. You see, sheep believe, and you
don't believe, which demonstrates that you are not a sheep. Never have been one, never will
be one. Now, he lets these men know that
they are not sheep. That tells us that not everyone
is a sheep. Now, for me to say, the Lord
is my shepherd, I'm going to have to be a sheep. Who are the
sheep? Well, he said in verse 15 of
this same chapter, "...as the Father knoweth me, even so know
I the Father, and I lay down my life for thee, sheep." The
sheep are those for whom Christ laid down His life for, those
for whom Christ died. Somebody says, are you implying
that He didn't die for all men with that exception? No, I'm
not implying it, I'm saying it. It's the teaching of the scripture.
Christ laid down His life for the sheep. He said in verse 29
of this same chapter concerning the sheep, My Father which gave
them Me is greater than all. The sheep are the elect of God,
the ones the Father gave to His Son to represent. Verse 3 says,
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out And when
he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep
follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they
not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice
of strangers." This is who the sheep are. They hear the shepherd's
voice. They hear the voice of God in
the gospel. He said in verse 27 of this same chapter, my sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Now that's what he says about
his sheep. Now it's a sheep who can say
the Lord is my shepherd. sheep. I am thankful for this
description of believers. They're sheep. They're not cats
or dogs. You can throw a cat or a dog
20 miles from your home, let him out in the car and he'll
find his way back home. They're amazing how they can
do that. But a sheep, if it strays off,
it can never find its way back. They're dumb. They're dirty. They're defenseless. They can't
protect themselves. And they easily go astray. And once they go astray, they
can't get back. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
shepherd of the sheep. And every believer can feel in
himself this thing of being a sheep, a dumb, defenseless, helpless,
dirty sheep who so desperately needs the shepherd. David knew
a lot about sheep. He was a shepherd. And he said,
the Lord is my shepherd. Jehovah, the God of glory, is
my shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty
One, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the express image
of the Father, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth, the God-man, the second person of the blessed Trinity,
the Lord Jesus Christ is my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, David said, I shall not want, I shall not lack, I shall
not be in need. I'm not going to come up short.
I'm not going to come up lacking. I will not want anything. because my shepherd is the Lord. I love that scripture, Colossians
2, verses 9 and 10. It says, In him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead in a body, and you are complete,
lacking nothing, wanting nothing in him. Now the reason David
can say with such confidence, the Lord is my shepherd, the
23rd psalm, is because of the 22nd psalm. That can be called
the psalm of the cross and these are the words of the Lord Jesus
as he was hanging from Calvary's tree. The whole psalm is directly
his words and it begins My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? And why are you so far from helping
me? And with the words of my roaring. Now the Lord Jesus said that
from the cross. He was forsaken by God. Now why
was he forsaken by God? because the sins of God's elect
became his sins. God placed them in him who his
own body bear our sins, who his own self in his own body bear
our sins in his own body on the tree, Peter said. My sin became
his sin and God who is holy spared not his own son. He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him freely give us all things? Because Christ was
forsaken, the Lord is my Shepherd, and I shall not want anything,
because Christ died for me. And if God has given His Son
to die for me, He's not going to withhold anything from me.
The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. Look what he says next in verse
2. He maketh me. I want to be made to do what
he would have me do, don't you? I don't want to be left to myself.
I want the Lord to make me do what I should do. And this scripture
says, He maketh me. Sheep are dumb. They need the
shepherd to make them do what they're supposed to do. He maketh
me to lie down. in green pastures. And that word, lie down, is rest. He maketh me to rest in the green
pastures of his word. Because the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want rest. there remaineth a rest for the
people of God. For he that's entered into his
rest hath ceased from his own works as God did from his. Now what a joy it is to simply
rest in Christ. There's no works for me to do.
He's done them all. I'm not going to come up short
because He's completed my salvation. All there is for me to do is
rest in Him. You rest because there's no work
to do. You're not on a break and getting
up and have to work again. No, we've ceased from our own
works. We realize that he did it all.
Now, let me read here in Genesis chapter 1. This is at the end
of creation. And God saw everything that he'd
made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the
morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day
God ended his work which he had made. And he rested on the seventh
day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested
from all the work which God created and made. Now, this rest is a
response to a finished, ended work. Christ is the end of the
law. and we simply rest in him. Now, because my shepherd is the
Lord, I will not want rest. He leadeth me beside the still
waters, peaceable waters, waters of quietness. The Lord is my
shepherd. And I will not lack peace. Now, the peace that the believer
possesses is the peace of justification. Now, that's such an important
word. You can't understand the gospel
without understanding what the gospel teaches about justification. Let me briefly explain. Justification
is God being absolutely just and because God is God, he can
do whatever he wants to, he lifted the sins off of his elect and
placed them on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why Christ
died. He died because he was guilty.
The sins of his people became his sins. That's why God forsook
him. And that perfect righteousness
that he worked out where he never sinned in himself, he obeyed
God's law perfectly. And that perfect righteousness
that he worked out just as truly as the sins of God's people became
his sins, his righteousness becomes their righteousness so that they
are justified. Justified means you're not guilty.
It doesn't mean God will treat you as if you're not guilty,
even though you really are. No, if you're justified, you're
not guilty. You stand perfectly righteous
before God. Romans 5.1 says, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God is at peace with me because
I'm justified. He doesn't have any sin to punish.
It's already been punished. It's been put away. He's at peace
with me. He doesn't have anything to be
mad at because I'm justified before Him. I'm not guilty. I'm
without blame before Him. And what peace I derive from
that. Everything God requires of me,
He looks to Christ for. He doesn't look for anything
out of me. He looks to His Son for everything. And that's the only thing that
gives me peace. Salvation by grace.