The 23rd Psalm. This is perhaps the most well-known
of all the Psalms. And for that reason, I tell you
the following story. It is said that an old missionary
came home from many years on the missionary field and he was
to speak to a large gathering of people. And before he brought his message,
he stood and quoted Psalm 23. 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 will 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. And after he quoted that 23rd
Psalm, the crowd was greatly moved. There were tears in the
eyes of many people. And a man sitting beside a noted
thespian remarked to him, I've heard you read that Psalm with
great feeling and talent, but it's never had the effect upon
me or upon an audience like it had just now when that old man
quoted it. Can you explain that to me? And the actor said to the man
who asked him that, oh, it's quite simple. It's quite simple. I know that song, but he knows
the shepherd. That makes all the difference
in the world. Did you know that? Do you know
the Shepherd? I don't mean do you know about
him. The Apostle Paul said, Oh, that
I may know him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Our Lord said this is eternal
life, that they might know thee. Not just about God. but knowing,
knowing the living God, the true and living God. David said, as
the thirsty deer panteth for the water brooks, nothing is
on that deer's mind but a drink of that cool, clear, refreshing
water. And as he thirsteth for the water
brooks, so thirsteth my soul for the living God. This psalm
is of very little help. little comfort if one does not
know the shepherd. If I cannot appropriate it, and
I don't know whether I'm preaching this for you tonight or for myself, I feel more and more about this
business of the ministry, like Paul, who is sufficient for these
things? Who is sufficient? Jim, that's
what you're talking about. Who's sufficient for these things?
When I was twenty, twenty-one, twenty-five, when they called
me as pastor of this church, I was twenty-five years old.
Had the world by the tail on a downhill pull on the shady
side, mind you. I knew all the answers. I'm not
sure I know the questions now. I'm serious. And the thing that troubles me The religious world in which
I'm living and with which I'm surrounded, they've got all the
answers. They've got these telephones to heaven, you know, direct line.
God said do this. One preacher recently stopped
in his message and looked up and said, all right, Lord, I'll
tell them that. I got a letter this week from
Brother Bill Clark, veteran missionary, 20 some odd years in France and
England and Philippines and Greece and Africa and all over the world. And he sent me an itinerary. He said, I want you to come over
to England again. I want you to speak in some churches
here. And then he said, I want you
to go to Africa with me, to the Ivory Coast. I have, I believe
it's about nine churches, nine churches. Starting on December
2nd, and every day in a different village, different city, to preach
the gospel, talk to these pastors. And I'm praying about it, I'm
seeking the Lord's will. Jim, I don't have that telephone
to pick up and say, go or not go. I just don't have it. I don't
feel capable or sufficient or qualified. for things of this
nature. I don't, seriously, I mean it. But those who feel qualified
aren't, I know that. Those who think they can do it
can't, I know that. But I know, Dick, the source
of strength and power and wisdom and grace, it's Him. It's not in me or in you, it's
in Him. The Lord is my shepherd. The
Lord is my shepherd. Now, many people have tried to
determine when David wrote this psalm. I don't know when he wrote
it. Some say, well, he wrote this psalm when he was in the
forest, in the cave, fleeing from Saul. Maybe that's a good
time to remember that he's my shepherd when I'm in fear, in
trouble, and in great need. Some say that it was written
after the battle was over, after the victories were won, after
he was crowned king, after the trumpet of war had given way
to the quiet, soft music of peace and pasture. Maybe. That's a
good time to remember He's Your Shepherd, too. Well, some say that this psalm
was written in the sunset years, the years that some of us are
in. as David contemplated death,
contemplated dwelling in the house of the Lord. But I do not
know, I really don't know, John, when it was written. But I do
know this, and one thing is worthy of note. The 23rd Psalm follows
the 22nd Psalm. Well, you say, that's a brilliant And pastor, in case you're too
senile to know it, it comes before the 24th Psalm. Now, you don't
know what I'm saying. The 22nd Psalm is the Psalm of
the cross. You look back there, Psalm 22.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me and from the words of my Lord? My God,
I cry in the daytime. Thou hearest not in the night
season, and am not silent? The hours of light on that cross,
and the hours of darkness, were thou not holy? For what was Christ
then, made sin for us? Verse 7, All they that see me
laugh me to scorn. They shoot out their lips, and
they shake their head, and they say, He trusted on the Lord that
he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
delighteth in him. Verse 16, "...dogs have compassed
me about, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they
have pierced my hands and my feet." Any doubt now about what
Psalm 22 is? It's a cross. "...I may tell all my bones,
stretched, pulled on that tree." They look and stare at me, and
they part my garments among them. It just sounds like we're reading
what happened at Calvary. We are. On my vesture they did
cast lots. My friends, it's only after we
learn the meaning of the cross that we can say, the Lord is
my shepherd. Only after we learn the meaning
of the cross. That's the reason I say, I don't know when David
wrote the 23rd Psalm, but I do know it follows Psalm 22, the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, because he bought me.
the shepherd must purchase the sheep. I get concerned today
about the preachers who are always talking about Christ the King,
setting up the kingdom, and the second coming of the King, and
the establishment of an earthly millennium, and all of this sort of thing,
and they're not talking enough about Christ the You see, our Lord has a threefold
office. He is that prophet. Moses said,
The Lord will raise up from among you a prophet like unto me. Whom should you hear? Christ
is that prophet. He came to reveal the Lord God. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal it. The disciple said,
Well, show us the Father. He said, If you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. Christ is that prophet. He was made flesh and
dwelt among us and spoke our language, spoke our tongue, revealed
unto us the holiness of God, the justice of God, the righteousness
of God, the love and mercy and grace of God. And Christ is King. He's not going to be King. He
is King. It's said in our Sunday school
lesson this morning, they would make him King. God beat them
to it. He's king by decree, design,
and by death. He died that he may be Lord.
Thou hast given him power over all flesh, he said. He is king. But between that office of prophet
and king, there's the office of priest. Our Lord is that priest
forever, after the order of Melchizedek. He didn't come through the tribe
of Levi, he came through the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe.
special priest, priest forever, having no mother, father, pedigree
or beginning or ending of days, but a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. He is our priest. Not only the
priest, but he's the altar. He's the mercy seat. He's not
only the mercy seat, he's the atonement. He's the sacrifice. He's the blood. He's our righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. He's all things. He's our justification. And he himself is the one to
whom the Lamb was offered. He's Alpha and Omega and all
in between. He's everything. Christ died
for my sins. He represented me as an eternal
surety in ages past. When the angels fell, God reserved
them in everlasting chains of darkness. Immediately when Satan
fell, Christ said, I saw him fall as lightning from heaven. And he was chained, in a sense,
and reserved with his followers in everlasting darkness. No use
preaching the gospel there. Why? Christ took not on him the
nature of angels. There is no gospel to preach
to him. Adam died spiritually, Adam began
to die physically, and all creation was affected by his fall, subject
to vanity. Death everywhere, sin everywhere,
darkness everywhere, the ravages and results of sin everywhere.
But Adam's still standing there. He's not in hell. He's not in
hell. He's not reserved in chains of
darkness. He's standing right there. Not the genius that he was, but
the fool hiding from God. Not the man of love and compassion
that he was because he's blaming his wife. Not the man of holiness that
he was because he's trying to hide his sin and nakedness. But he's still there. And he's still a man who has
in his loins a whole race of people, yet to be born. Like him, unfortunately. Because
by one man's sin, by one man's sin entered the world, and death
by sin, so death passed by imputation and impartation from that man
to every son of Adam, daughter of Adam. But he's still standing
there. How come? The angels are reserved in everlasting
chains of darkness unto the day of judgment, no hope. Christ
took not on himself the nature of angel, but, go out there, that's a big word,
but, but, took on himself the seed of Abraham. And that's the
very reason Adam's standing right there. is as a lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. There is a seed in his loins
that belongs to Christ. There is a people in his loins
that belongs to Christ. This first Adam, this first man,
this man of the red earth, this representative, this federal
head, he sinned, and all in him died. and sin and death and judgment
and hell passed upon all. But in his loins, too, is a people,
a people out of every tribe, kindred, nation and tongue unto
heaven, chosen by God, chosen in Christ before the world began
and given to his divine, beloved Son of his love. And they are
going to be born. And God has designed this whole
world and this whole creation And the whole design of this
whole thing that's taken place is for Christ and his people.
In the first Adam we died, in the second Adam we are laid alive. By one man sent into the world,
and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, by this man Jesus
Christ, obedience, righteousness, and death, life. The first Man is of the earth,
earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven. And so when
I talk about the Lord my shepherd, I start with the Lamb slain before
the world began. I start with the cross, who came
in time, who came in the fullness of time, was made in the likeness
of flesh, and a representative, sufficiently obeyed the perfect
love caught in every jot and in order that I might have a
righteousness, and died on that cross a sufficient effectual
substitute." God said, and I see the blood
I'll pass over you. And I say, whose blood? Christ's
blood. Well, how can one man at one time, in one experience,
redeem so many because of who he is? It's not how much blood
he shed, it's whose blood was You know how long he suffered?
Who suffered? Paul said, Who can condemn me? It's Christ that died. You know
who that is? That's Christ that died, the
infinite Son of God. That's what makes his blood of
infinite value. I'll tell you who he is. The Lord must purchase the sheep,
and he purchased them. He said, I'm the good shepherd,
I lay down my life for the sheep. for the sheep. And of the sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.
All the benefits which the sheep enjoyed, and have enjoyed and
will enjoy, every blessing, every benefit, is directly related
to the redictive work of the shepherd. Let's look at it briefly. The Lord is my shepherd. I must
avoid the temptation. I could camp right here on two
words, on two words for the rest of the week. The Lord is my shepherd. Every promise and blessing and
benefit depends not on who I am or what I've done. Every promise
and blessing and benefit depends upon him who is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Who
is this Lord? He's the Lord by creation. Listen
to what Paul said over here in Colossians 1, talking about our
Lord Jesus Christ. He says in Colossians 1, beginning
with verse 16, he says, For by him were all things created that
are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by him and for him. By him and for him. Who's that talking about? God?
Yes, God. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, but
in particular, the Son. In particular, he who is the
image of the invisible God. And he's before all things, and
by him all things consist. He's the Lord by creation. He's
the King. My shepherd owns everything. We buy a farm and we put a fence
around it where you stay They got fences around that farm.
That's a big farm. They got fences around it. They
better put fences around it. But my Lord doesn't put a fence
around anything, because he owns it all. There's no end to his
property. No end to his property. He's
Lord. He owns it all. We got a head or two of cattle,
we'll put a brand on them. We'll put a brand on the cattle,
you know, the Bar H Ranch or something. Let people know they're
ours, so folks won't rustle them or steal them. But the Lord never
puts a brand on the cattle, because he said the cattle on a thousand
hills are mine, are mine. And we write songs and copyright
them. We'll send away a song and we'll
copyright it so nobody else can sing it without our permission,
or print it without our permission. But you listen to the birds sing.
That's God's music, no copyright. Let them all sing. Listen to
a baby laugh. These parrots get so excited,
that little baby starts laughing. Isn't that beautiful? Listen
to the wind blow through the trees. Listen to a stream as
it flows over the rocks. Listen to the rain fall and the
surf at the sea. This is God's A man holds a deed to a piece
of property, and he said, I own this property. I own the mineral
rights, the oil, the gold, and the silver. You don't own anything.
God said, the world is mine and all they that dwell therein.
The gold and the silver is mine. That's my shepherd. A man puts
up a sign in his yard, no trespassing. God doesn't need your permission
to go anywhere. He'll even invade your heart
if it pleases him. He said the word of God can pierce
even to the dividing asunder of bone and marrow. It goes where
he pleases. A man needs a building permit
to build a chicken coop, not my Lord. He'll destroy this old
world and build a new heaven and new earth without anybody's
permission. He's king, you know, absolute king. He's king, you
know. We have a question about a man's
death. A man died, and they buried him,
and they got a question about his death, and the family says,
I want an autopsy. You think you can open that grave?
Not without a court order. I tell you who's going to open
some graves without a court order some day. Oh, I tell you, who are you talking
about? I'm talking about the one who said, Can I not do with
my own what I will? None can stay his hand saying
to him, What doest thou? And as Pastor James said a while
ago, when old Nebuchadnezzar got his good sense back, he said,
I found out that the Lord God reigns in the armies of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of earth, he'll give it to whom
he pleases. He'll share it with whom he pleases. My Lord, he's Lord by creation,
he made it. He's Lord by sovereign decree. Peter said on Pentecost, God
hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified to be both Lord
and Christ. I hear preachers say, won't you
make Jesus your Lord? Oh no, you can't do that. You
might bow to him as Lord and recognize him as Lord, and someday
you will. But God made him your Lord. God
made him. He's every man's Lord, dead and
alive. He's Lord by purchase. He died
that he might be Lord. He's Lord by proclamation. Someday,
let me tell you something, one of these days, I'm living for
that day. What a joy, what a day of rejoicing. every knee in heaven, earth,
and under the earth. Every knee. There won't be a
one lest every knee is going to bow. Every knee! Angels and seraphims and cheraphims
and men and men on earth and men in hell, every knee is going
to bow. And every tongue that can make
an audible sound. Every tongue across the skies
and across the earth and under the earth and in the seas and
all deep places, every tongue with one accord in honesty is
going to say, He is Lord. I want to hear that because I'm
going to be saying it. I say it right now to you. The Lord is my shepherd. Not
some little peanut God, not some little frustrated, disappointed,
defeated, reformer, pitiful, apparently leaning over the banisters,
wishing somebody would let him have his way. No, it's the law. The Lord who kills and makes
alive, the Lord who makes poor and makes rich, the Lord who
closes the womb or opens it, the Lord who reigns in heaven
and earth, the Lord who saves, the Lord is my shepherd. That's
who He is. I told you I could stay right
there all day. All day tomorrow, all day next day, because that's
where it all is, Bob. You've got no more leadership
than the power of your Lord. You've got no more security than
the power of your Lord. You've got no more hope than
the strength of your Lord. That's exactly right, I'm telling
you. No wonder folks in religion have no peace. I wouldn't have
any peace either if I depended on that vacillating God they're
depending on. One freewill Baptist fellow said,
well, I'm saved today and I'm happy, but I don't know about
tomorrow. How come you're happy today? Man, if I didn't know
about tomorrow, I wouldn't be happy today, but I know who holds
tomorrow. And I mean he holds it. I don't
mean he lets it do what folks will let it do. He holds it.
He's already got every second plan. Not only for tomorrow,
but he declares the end from the beginning. I'm talking about
that sovereign, immutable, infinite, almighty, eternal God of heaven
and earth. And that's the only God that
a man will worship. You say, where's the worship
of this day? They ain't got nobody to worship. You say, there's
no fear of God before their eyes. I wouldn't fear the God that's
being preached today either. He can't do anything. May she
let him. You've got a wonderful plan for
your life, you'll just let him do it. That's no God. That's no more than an idol.
But the Lord by creation, the Lord by sovereign decree, the
Lord by purchase, the Lord by design, the Lord by proclamation,
the Lord by rights, is my shepherd. He is my shepherd. Himself, he
hasn't delegated that authority. He himself is my shepherd. He
hasn't delegated that job to anybody else. He personally is
my shepherd. You say, that's astounding. It
sure is. It's more than that. It's amazing. And he is my shepherd. He is. There's no if, maybe,
or perhaps about. He is my shepherd. I want no
other. I'll have no other. I recognize
him as my shepherd, and he's mine. I can't speak for anybody
else. If he's shepherd to no one else,
he's my shepherd, and he's my shepherd, my great shepherd,
my good shepherd, my chief shepherd. And you know something? Both
the office and the sheep, the Father gave him. The Father gave
him the sheep, and the Father made him the shepherd. David
said, He, the Lord, is my shepherd, I shall not want. I have not wanted, I do not want,
I shall not want. I have no need that he doesn't
supply. Oh, I've got some wants that he's not pleased to supply,
and that's for my good, too. See, he knows my good, what's
good for me. He knows my past, present and
future. He knows what I need, and when I need it, and why I
need it. I may be the weakest sheep, but
I'll not walk. I may be the dumbest sheep. A
lot of times I think I am, but I'll not walk. I may wander and stray, but I'll
not walk. I may grow old in people, but
I'll not walk. I may get sick and die, but I'll
not walk. I may stand before the throne,
but if he's my shepherd, I shall not walk. I shall not walk for anything
spiritually, because in him, you see, of God, he of God is
maiden to me, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
That's all I need. I'm totally confident and persuaded
of this, that positionally, legally, lawfully, before the throne of
God in Jesus Christ, I have a perfect holiness. Absolutely, without
spot or stain or question of perfect holiness, I am sanctified
in Christ Jesus. And I have a perfect justification,
there is no sin. no sin, because he paid all my
sin debt, with his spotless garments on, and as holy as God's Son. And I must be, for they that
walk the celestial streets of glory will be as holy as God,
or they won't get there." That's what Christ did. That's the reason
I believe and preach an effectual, particular redemption, because
if a man is redeemed, he's redeemed. If the debt is paid, it's paid.
If sin is put away, it's put away. It either is or it isn't.
If Christ did it, he did it all. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe, all the debt! But I know there is a growth
in grace. I know there's a progress made in grace. I know there's
a growth in the fruit of the Spirit and love and joy and peace
and meekness and temperance and faith and humility and all these
things. God's people are infants and
then they're young men and then they're elders in Christ and
they grow in grace and they grow in the knowledge of Christ and
they seek to adorn the doctrines and they walk in righteousness
and honesty and integrity. But I don't care how much you
walk, there's no holiness in you that
God can accept, none at all. The best deed you've ever done
is filthy rags in God's sight. Now, you put that down. Don't
you get cocky. God will knock your feet out
from under you. He'll show you what you still are. We may make
some progress in spiritual things and our new nature. By the power
and grace of God may grow and mature, but your old rotten human
nature is the same it was twenty years ago. You better remember
that. That's right, it's the same old
nature. And there's enough kindling wood
in you to light another hell's fire if God put a match to it.
Don't forget it. Don't forget it. You by nature
are no better than you ever were. It's the, don't mistake restraining
grace for personal holiness. There's restraining grace and
constraining grace and geographical grace. God has kept the gasoline from
the fire, that's what makes you so good. But don't you forget,
you have the potential. But I'm saying this, in Christ
I do not walk for anything. Acceptance with God is in Christ.
I do not want for anything spiritually. I don't want for anything materially.
Now, let's face it. I've been sitting in that office
there 30 years. And every day or two, almost,
I guess if I encouraged it, there'd be about two or three a day,
but people come by, begging, wanting help. We give them all
we can. We work for the social services. We have food orders
at the store. I give money to buy gas. You'd
be amazed at the tales I hear. It's amazing, unbelievable. But people in want, people in
need, people who need groceries, people carrying little children
who are hungry. Now, let me tell you something. In 30 years, sitting right there
in that office, I've never met a woman, not a woman, that had
any even conception of what the gospel is, any understanding
of what the gospel or any affiliation at all with anybody in the gospel. Isn't that right? Not a word! And I'm telling you this, David
said it and I'll repeat it. I'm old, I've been young, I've
never seen God's seed begging bread. Never! He's my shepherd. He put that down. One man came in at one time and
he said, He wanted some help. He wanted me to lend him some
money. I said, where are you from? He told me, Colorado somewhere.
I said, what do you do? He said, I'm a fix-it man. I
run a fix-it shop. I said, what do you fix? He said,
lawn mowers and tractors and just about anything. I got a
fix-it shop. I said, well, I guess we could give you some money,
loan you some money, get back home. I said, give me a reference
out there in your hometown. How long you been there? He said,
oh, 25, 30 years. I said, give me a reference. He said, I kind
of stated myself. I don't know many people. I said, well, what bank you do
business with? I just keep it in a shoebox. I said, well, do
you know the school principal or superintendent or a teacher
or the chief of police or just the man you buy from the grocery
store? He's like he says. I said, I don't know many people.
Just kind of live to myself. I said, Ben, I can't lend you
any money. I can't lend you any money on
that. Oh, he got mad. He said, Rasley, you touch his
eye. I said, now, where do you tend
church? He said, I don't go. Well, I said, if everybody was
like you, there wouldn't be any churches for you to curse out,
would there? He just got so mad he stomped out. Well, I'll not walk, and physically
that's so, too. But he maketh me to lie down
in green pastures. Now Jesse, when I was preparing
this message, I said, what are green pastures to a sheep? Food. Food. I tell you, an old darn
sheep, he's got practically almost exclusively one appetite, and
that's something to eat. And the shepherd picks out a
nice plush bottomland with clover and tall green grass and a slight
breeze blowing across it, and that green grass waving in the
breeze, and those sheep go in there and they stay for hours,
don't even look up. Man, I tell you, what a treat! What a treat! Food, his cheap
need, desired want, the green pastures. What are the green
pastures to his sheep? Here's the green pasture, here's
the food. You know something? His word
to the sheep is like tall green grass, always fresh, always rich,
never exhausted. You can find in here, John, all
you need. All you need. The answer to every
need. God feeding his sheep. That's
what he said to Peter, you love me? You know, you look on the
barren soil of philosophy, boy, that's dry eating, isn't it?
What about religious literature? Boy, that's barren soil. You
look around, you'll eat more rocks than you will grass. Somebody
says, well, that's a good book, but you have to go through so
many briars to get a little hay, you know. Or the magazines and
newspapers. foolishness, but all his inexhaustible,
infallible, eternal, unbroken, sufficient words." I wish preachers
would preach the Word. I wish they'd preach the Word.
I know the people do. Wish they'd preach the Word.
That's the green pasture. Look here, he leads me beside
the still waters. That's got to be Christ. It's
got to be. I looked at that, it's got to
be. You see, you take a sheep to a rushing river, and it scares
him. He backs away. Take a sheep,
Doris and I have been down to Florida, and the waves come rolling
in on that shore. That kind of scares me sometimes.
But they can't drink. But our Lord leads his sheep
beside still waters, quiet waters. And they find not only that which
quenches their thirst, but gives them peace. There's no fear.
They're not frightened. They're not scared. They rest.
Christ is the living water. He's the water of life. Be still,
my soul. Be still now. The Lord is on
thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain. Leave to thy God to order and
provide in every charge he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul,
be still. Thy God doth undertake to guide
the future as he has the past. Your hope and your confidence
let nothing shake. All that is now mysterious will
be clear at last. He leads me. has calmed down. I know there's enough to ruffle
your feathers and trouble your soul and excite you, but he leads
his people into these green pastures and then down beside the still
waters. with his peace. And then here
is the center point, he restoreth my soul. I was lost, but Jesus
found me. He found the sheep that went
astray. He came down to me. I met a man up in West Virginia,
Bingus, West Virginia, Thursday night. He'd been here one time,
and he's the same age I am, and he'd been listening to my tapes.
And he said to me, he said, You know, you brought out a point
in a message the other night I was listening to that really
opened this thing of sovereign grace to me. It really opened
up this matter of God, salvations of the Lord. I said, what was
that? He said, well, you said that you'd heard preachers say,
now sinner, you take the first step, and God will meet you. And he said, I've always said
that. But he said, then you said, if that sinner can take the first
step, he doesn't need God. If Lazarus could take the first
step, what's he need Christ for? If a dead man can take the first
step, he can take the second one. Why can't he? And the third
one, and the fourth one. What's to prevent him? He took
the first one. They said to cut old St. Dennis'
head off, and it rolled on the ground. He reached down and picked
it up and put it in his arm and walked a thousand miles. And Brother
Barnard said, that's no problem. Well, I can see how a man can
walk a thousand miles with his head in his arms if you tell
me I took the first step. How did he? Oh, he said, I called
my wife and I said, honey, come in here, I want to tell you something.
And he started explaining it to her. She said, I don't know
what you're talking about. I know what I'm talking about.
And he knew what I was talking about. God will give light to
whom he will. He restored my soul. I didn't
do it, and the pastor didn't do it, and the evangelist didn't
do it. God did it. That old lady came out to Brother
the Baptist preacher and said, You Baptist believe in election,
don't you? He said, Yes, ma'am. She said, Explain it to me. He
said, I'll try. He said, Are you saved? She said,
Yes, sir. He said, Who saved you? She said, God did. He said,
Was it an accident or did he do it on purpose? Well, she said
he did it on purpose. He said, That's election. Everything
God does, he does on purpose. There are no accidents with God.
Who saved you? You say, God did. Did he do it
on purpose? Why, certainly he did. He restores
my soul. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He leads me in piles of righteousness
for his name's sake. He leads me in that path of righteousness. I don't even know where it is.
It's not my nature to find the path of righteousness. By nature,
I call bitter sweet and sweet bitter, don't you? Good, evil,
and evil, good. Darkness, light, and light, darkness.
But he knows the path of righteousness, and he leads me there. I don't
have the ability to recognize it or to walk in it, but he leads
me there. And this path of righteousness
is his righteousness, his own righteousness, in which I'm found,
in which I'm clothed, in which I'm accepted. But he also leads
me in a walk of faith, walking in the Spirit, in a path of righteousness
and obedience. For he has led me to love what
I once hated, and to hate what I once loved.
He has led me to love what he loves. And he leads me by enabling grace,
by sufficient grace, and by constraining grace, and by restraining grace. He leads me, and he'll never
let me go, Savior like a shepherd leader. Never let me go. If he does, I'm gone. Just like that. Yea, though I walk, yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. They read
this at every funeral, I guess. Many say this is the day of death.
Maybe it is, but I think this whole earthly walk is a shadow,
a valley of death. I see death all about me. I'm
a dying man preaching to dying men. This is a valley of death. But
I'm walking, I'm walking, and walk indicates it's a long journey. I've been walking 59 years now. Maybe I'll walk a few more, but
it's a long way through this valley. But I'm going through. I like that word. Yea, though
I walk through, I'm not here to stay. This ain't my home.
I've got better prospects. I'm walking, but I'm walking
through. And you know something here, there's a word Spurgeon
said, it's the shadow of death. For us, death in its substance
is gone. Death in its power is gone. The
shadow of a gun will scare you, but it won't hurt you. Remember? The shadow of a knife will scare
you and startle you, but it can't hurt you. And all these shadows
about us, they're just shadows. I was a kid, used to walk home
from the picture show on Saturday night, got a dime allowance and
went to see Hopalong Cassidy. See it two or three times till
it got dark, you know, and then have to walk home. And boy, I'm
telling you, they have a shadow. They weren't anything going to
hurt me. I didn't have nothing to steal, you know. But I tell
you, I'd hear a noise, and I'd jump, and I'd see a shadow, and
I'd stop. But that's the way I'm walking
right now. I've got those same troubles over all the shadows.
I see so many shadows, don't you? But when I get there, there's
nothing there but a shadow. I'll fear no evil. Now, he didn't
say there'd be no evil. We live in the midst of evil,
but he said, I'm not going to fear it. That help, I'm not going
to finish. Why? Thou art with me. Who's with me? Well, I'll tell
you who's with me, the conquering, almighty, eternal, sovereign
Lord, who controls everything from the flight of a sparrow
to the falling of a drop of rain. And nothing and no one can touch
me or harm me without his permission. That's your God? The Lord is
my shepherd. Your rod and staff comfort me.
Some say this is a correcting rod, chastisement. Some say it's
a numbering rod by which the sheep are counted. Some say it's
a symbol of his sovereignty and protection. But whatever! It's
all the same. Whether my Lord is correcting
me, it's for my good. Or whether my Lord is numbering
me, I'm glad to be in the number. But whether my Lord is standing
with that staff of sovereignty in that scepter of the kingdom,
or protecting me from the lion and the wolf, his rod and staff
are a great comfort. I'm just glad that I've been
afflicted. If you'd be without chastisement, you're not sons.
I put past the table before me in the very presence of my enemies.
You say, you've got enemies? You wouldn't be like your Lord
if you didn't have enemies, would you? He said, Brethren, the world
hated me before it met you. The world and the flesh and the
devil are my enemies. I've got enemies without and
enemies within, and enemies without and enemies out yonder. But our
Lord sets a table, no hurry, no confusion. Right in the midst
of this world of enemies within and without, no confusion, he
sets a table. And we sit down and feed and
feast in peace and joy and assurance, right in the midst of all this
turmoil and confusion, let them drop the bomb. I know who controls those things.
Perhaps he's talking here about the table of the Lord, prepares
a table, because that's the place where we feed with the greatest
joy. table of the Lord, his broken body and shed blood, right in
the midst of my enemies, right in the presence of my enemies,
right yonder, God's enemies being held back by the sovereign hand
of God. And he prepares a table and sets
it all out there before me. And we sit down in blessed fellowship
and eat. We're not in a hurry. Okay? That's peace. I'm scared, Well,
don't be. Thou knowest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Count my blessings, sins forgiven,
Christ intercedes, fellowship with God, a hope of eternal heaven,
my cup. Now let me tell you something.
Isn't it right? Our cup runneth over. I'm so glad that God didn't leave
me in religious form and ceremony and ritualism. Jim, I know what
you're talking about. I came up, I tell you, I came
here in 1947. That's been 38 years ago, 21
years old. Went over there and assisted
the pastor at the Apollo Baptist Church, and we counted on Sunday,
we were trying to have a certain amount in Sunday school, we even
counted the dogs that ran through the churchyard. Come to the pastor on Sunday
after the service and he says, well, how did we reach our goal? 543. I don't know, but I think
we had 541. Well, surely we can count somebody.
You count them all. How about the babies? Go back
to the nursery. Are you sure you had 20? Are
you sure you didn't have 22? Got to reach that number. What
for? To brag. We'd have every evangelist known
to man, from E.J. Daniels, Hyman Affleman, the
Angel Brothers, Angel Martinez and Homer, and we had one in
1950, we had Jerry Claiborne and Cliff Hagen down here, trying
to render somebody to the Lord. A football player and a famous
basketball player. Some of you remember that? You're
blushing, too, aren't you? One preacher we had Before the
service, he got some people together and said, Now, when we stand
tonight and give the invitation, you all sit in different places.
When I give the invitation, you all step out and come down the
aisle. What for? To get people started. That's dishonest. I wonder if God hadn't killed
everybody and sent them to hell with their shoes on, me included. I was right in the middle of
it. Oh, my soul! God didn't leave
me in that mess. No wonder preachers hang themselves
and blow their brains out. No wonder they lose their minds
and have nervous breakdowns and wind up on tranquilizers. They're
trying to do the work of the Holy Ghost. They've forsaken
the gospel of God's grace and got a gospel of works, and they're
pastoring a bunch of unregenerate, unsaved, God-hating people. Isn't
that right? Their churches are full of people.
They have to beg them to tithe. Beg them to attend, and beg them
to witness, and beg them not to hate each other, and beg them
to do this, that, and the other. Let them go. If God Almighty doesn't burden your
heart to worship Him, you stay home, that's what I say. You'll
just cause us problems. If God doesn't lay it on your
heart to give, don't you give. You go buy your new car and ride
wide open down the highway. Go on a vacation. But don't give
unless you are led of God's Spirit to give. Isn't that right? You men know that, and you believe
that. If God doesn't save you, don't come down here and shake
my hand. I can't save you. I believe if God saves you, it'll
leak out on you. I believe you'll tell somebody.
I really do. I believe salvation is a miracle,
a miracle. And I'll tell you, I'm so glad
that I'm not in jail and all that stuff, my cup runneth over. I've found peace and joy and
happiness, preached the gospel, and God Almighty accomplishes
the result. We plant and plow and water. Man's responsible. Election's
not salvation, it's unto salvation. If a man doesn't hear the gospel
and believe the gospel, he'll perish. That's right. I'm no
hardshell. She doesn't have no shell at
all, I reckon, but it's not a hard shell. I know that faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Hearing, and believing,
and perseverance. You don't keep on repenting,
you'll perish. You don't keep on believing, you'll perish.
That's the gospel, isn't that right?