The Good Shepherd - Part 1

Dr. Charles Stanley: There's only one group of people who can say, the Lord is my shepherd. Only those who have accepted the good shepherd as their savior can say the Lord is my shepherd. Because Jesus Christ is the good shepherd, he said, I am the good shepherd. My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me, none shall be able to pluck them out of my hand. The Father which gave them to me is greater than all. I and the Father are one.
Guest (Male): One of the most familiar and best-loved illustrations in all the Bible is the description of the Lord as our shepherd, found in Psalm 23. Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, will see that Jesus perfectly fulfills that role. He provides full comfort, protection, and provision as every believer's good shepherd.
Dr. Charles Stanley: Why do you suppose it's so difficult for us to believe with all of our heart that God loves us and that he cares for us as individuals? Well, there are probably several reasons, and one of them is that we can't quite picture the fact that God and all of his glory and majesty and power could be interested in little simple things in life that concern us. I think another reason is we can't even imagine that God, who is this awesome God, who's governing the entire universe, could even think about being concerned about something as insignificant as my personal individual need. Or it just may be that we feel so guilty about our own past sins and so forth. How could God be so caring and tender and loving toward us when we don't deserve it? And then I think sometimes people have the idea, well, God's just too busy. I hear people say, well, God's too busy to be thinking about something as insignificant as my own personal need. Well, the only problem with that kind of thinking is this, and that is that we will go through life missing the joy of an intimate relationship with a God who loves us and desires to walk with us. We likewise will miss the sense of security and confidence that we have with him moment by moment and day by day. We end up being a loser, no matter how you look at it when we do not understand who he is. Because you see, most people go all the way through their life, never realizing that there was someone who desired to walk with them every step of the way. Through the difficulties, through the hardships, through the times of joy. And it's that person I want to talk about in this message, and I want you to turn, if you will, to the 23rd Psalm because the person who desires to walk with us every single day of our life is called the good shepherd. And the 23rd Psalm, if you'll turn there for a moment, let's read these six verses together. Probably the most quoted passage of scripture in all the Bible, probably the one that's the most familiar to everybody, who saints and sinners alike know something about the 23rd Psalm. Only 55 Hebrew words in it, 115 English words. 3,000 years ago, the psalmist David wrote this. It's just as applicable today as it was then. Why? Because it applies to how we live and where we live every single day of our life, and nothing is missing. And one of the interesting things about this Psalm is this. In every single verse, here's what you find. God is doing something for us. He is our good shepherd. Listen to what he says. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet or still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me or leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I 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 overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness or mercy, will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Well, what I'd like to do is I'd like for us to look at this passage of scripture in the light of that whole idea, that God is a caring God, that he cares for us, and he cares for every single detail of our life. There's not anything about you that is not important in the eyes of God. There's nothing about you that he will neglect, nothing he's going to overlook. He is indeed a caring shepherd. Now, let's begin in this first verse when he says, the Lord is my shepherd. What I'd like for you to do is to look at it in this light. What kind of shepherd is he? This is the kind he is. He is a personal shepherd. Look at this. The Lord is my shepherd. He didn't say he was a shepherd. He is one of many shepherds, he's my shepherd. That's what David the psalmist said, and you see, when he says, the Lord is my shepherd, who is he referring to? Well, of course, David did not understand about Jesus as you and I. The word Lord, if you'll notice here, is in all capitals, which means he is referring to Jehovah, Jehovah God. That word is found some 7,000 times in the Old Testament, referring to God. Now, I want you to turn, if you will, to John, the 10th chapter. Because in John the 10th chapter, you and I will see very clearly who the good shepherd is. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Who is the good shepherd? Look at this, if you will. The 10th chapter of John, as Jesus is is talking and sharing this particular discourse about his love for his children, those of us who are his followers, here's what he said. He said in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And then if you'll notice again in verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me. Who is the good shepherd? The good shepherd is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, what does it mean? It simply means that you and I have relationship with him. If he is my shepherd, I have a personal relationship with him. And so when you think in terms of the good shepherd, you may have the idea, well, how could God be so interested in those minor details? Why do you think he puts things like that in the scripture? In order to unveil to us the tender, caring love and concern that he has for us. And so he says, the Lord is my shepherd, not a shepherd. Now, when he says that we will follow him, I will never forget this. I remember exactly when it was, July 1963. And I was in Jerash, over in the Holy Land, and it was setting in the evening, the sun was setting, and I saw these two shepherds come with their flock to a well. And we were sitting there in a restaurant and just having a little bite. And I thought, now, this is really going to be interesting because all of a sudden, these two shepherds met, began talking. All their sheep began to mingle. I mean, they just, they were just all around the place. I thought, now, I'm going to find out if this is really true or not. I don't know how long they were there, probably 20 minutes or so, not too long, and next thing I know, one of those shepherds turned around, said something, and start walking away. Those sheep separated. That shepherd's sheep knew the shepherd's voice. And next thing you know, his sheep had wandered out among all the rest of them, and he's on his way up the hillside, and there goes his flock. He didn't have to go say, you come with me, you come with me, you come with me. They just knew exactly what to do. They knew the shepherd's voice. Now, let me ask you a question, do you know the shepherd's voice? When God speaks to you, can you identify that it's the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to you, or you have to say, I wonder if this is just what I'm imagining. I wonder if this is just something, is this my imagination, is this something that I want? Am I just thinking this up? He said, my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. You see, the truth is, Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. And if I know him, and I love him, I'm going to follow him. Now, who can say the Lord is my shepherd? Just because somebody says, well, I believe in God? No. The Lord is my shepherd, that is a personal relationship. How do you have a personal relationship with the great shepherd? You have a personal relationship by coming to the realization that you're sinful, acknowledging his death on the cross, and receiving him by faith as your personal savior. How can, listen, how can the one who's the savior of the world be your good shepherd and you reject the savior? You can't reject the savior and have the shepherd. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Trinity that makes up the triune God, the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. And when you think in terms of the creation, who's there creating the world? Jesus Christ. He is the good shepherd. You cannot pray this, and oftentimes this is a prayer. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's the way people oftentimes, especially when they're in trouble. They will pray this as if it's a prayer. It's not a prayer. He's simply expressing his relationship to the Father. So what I want to ask you is this, two things, can you honestly say the Lord is my shepherd? Who are we referring to? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who went to the cross and died for your sins and mine. That's who he is. Can you say, yes, I know his voice and I follow him? That is the will and purpose and plan of God for all of us. So first of all, he says he is a personal shepherd. Secondly, he is a providing shepherd. Look at this. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Why? Because he's my shepherd. What's he doing? He's carrying out his responsibility. His responsibility is to see to that we have our needs met. And so he says, he leads the sheep, as David would certainly, leads his sheep to the green pastures, those that are ripe for food. Leads them to green pastures. Notice what he says. And he says, he leads them beside quiet waters, still waters. And so when the sheep are being led by their shepherd, and they are being led into green pastures where they can feed, and beside quiet waters, not rushing waters, quiet waters. That's the best they can have it. There's the shepherd in sight for their protection. Here green pastures and here are still waters. What was David saying to us? Simply this, that the good shepherd has committed himself to supplying our material and physical needs, and he has also committed himself to supplying our emotional and spiritual needs, quiet waters, still waters, peace. Not only those physical and material things that we need, but peace for our life. And so as you think in terms of what your needs are, what your wants are. You see, the truth is if I have a want in my life or some need in my life, and that need's not being met, then what do I have to say? I have to say, well, Lord, could you, I mean, is this just a psalm? Are you really committing yourself to meeting all of my needs? That's what he says. He says the Lord is my shepherd, and because he's my shepherd, and he carries out his responsibility, he says, I will not be in want. Now, I may want some things that I should not have. And if I want some things I should not have, I have to remember that the good shepherd, he's a good shepherd. And the good shepherd does what? He does what is best for the sheep. He leads them into good pastures, and he leads them beside pure waters or still water, certainly not waters that are poison. And so therefore when he says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. So, we said first of all, he's the personal shepherd, he's mine. That is when I've received him as my personal savior, first of all. Secondly, that he's a providing shepherd. Whatever my needs are, he has assumed responsibility to guide me in such a way that if I, listen, that if I follow his will, if I, listen, if I listen to his voice, and if I follow him, every single need is going to be met, or the good shepherd will have failed. And the good shepherd, who is absolutely omniscient, and listen, who knows all about our needs even before we know about them, listen, he's not going to be surprised by anything. He always has perfect provision. And if you'll notice what Paul said, he said that our God will supply all of our needs according to his riches, his wealth, his abundance in glory in Christ Jesus, which means as we follow Christ, who is the good shepherd, he assumes responsibility and he will see to it that every need is met. If I have a need that is unmet, I need to look at the Master, the good shepherd, and ask him, why? What's going on in my life that somehow this need is not being met? So first of all, he's a personal shepherd, then he's a providing shepherd. Third thing I want you to notice is this, and that is he is a pardoning shepherd. He says, he is my shepherd, I shall not want, makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. I think there are two things here when we think in terms of having our soul restored. Well, let's think in terms of what happens to sheep. What do they do? They wander. They can be behind the shepherd, around the shepherd, and following the shepherd, keeping their eyes on the shepherd. He's always a symbol of protection for them. But sheep do what? They by nature just wander. You know how we get out of God's will? We get out of God's will by taking our eyes off the good shepherd and looking at something that looks like it's greener and fresher and more inviting and better than God has provided at the present moment. That is, if we see something that looks better, what we're saying is, Lord, good shepherd, thank you very much for leading me here, but I think I'm attracted to that over there because that looks greener and looks more refreshing and more satisfying and I think I'll have more contentment, so I'm going over there and feed. What I'm saying is to the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus, I think I know better about what I need than you do. And so what happens? That's what gets us in trouble. We wander away from our Lord because we think we know better than he does. And at the moment something appears better, and we're attracted by something that appears better, and the next thing we know, we are out of the will of God and wandering why we are in want because we've taken our eyes off the shepherd. He says, he restores our soul. So what happens? When the sheep wander away, the Bible says the good shepherd goes after them. And what does he do? Here's what he does not do. He does not walk up to the sheep and take his rod and go whack. You know better than that. He knows that sheep are dumb. So what does he do? Yeah. And God knows how dumb we act sometimes, doesn't he? So what does he do? He picks the sheep up, puts it in his arms, carries it back to the fold or to the rest of the sheep, puts it down, moves on. No scolding, no beating because the sheep wandered away. Here's what he was saying. I love people no matter what. The good shepherd loves all kinds of sheep. And sometimes all of us flounder and wander and think we know better than God does. What does he do? He's always there to forgive us. God's never there with his rod to beat us. He does not condemn us. You know why? Listen, God, listen, God is a very intelligent being. He knows that we in our frailties, in our weaknesses, and in our naturalness, that we are naturally going to at times, we're going to flounder and we're going to wander and we're going to think it's greener there than it is here. And what happens? We get out of God's will. Does God get upset? Does he get angry? No, he doesn't. What what does he do? He chastens us in order to teach us what? That if you go over there, you're going to get in trouble. You're going to end up in want. That's not what you want. You think that's what you want, but I do know better where the green pastures and the cool waters are. How many times have I ever gotten lost by putting my compass in my pocket and think, I'll figure this one out. And finally get out there somewhere and think, Lord, I think I'm lost. You know why? Because I thought I was a whole lot smarter than I was and I thought I don't need a compass. If you're not watching the good shepherd, you're going to get yourself in trouble. He says, he's there to restore us, to bring us back. And that is exactly what he does because he loves us. He says, if we confess our sins, now watch this. This way we read it. We read it, but this is what we think. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and then whip us good. No, that's not what he says. He is a tender, loving shepherd. Now, it's difficult for us to visualize an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all-knowing holy God acting like a shepherd. But you know what? We act like sheep. Does he not say, all we like sheep have gone astray? We have. And so what happens? He says, and the Father has placed upon him the iniquity of us, who has suffered for our sin? Jesus. In order that we may be forgiven and taken into his arms and brought back into the fold and restored. But I think there's something else involved in this restoration when he says, he restores our soul. All of us, for example, have our lifestyle. All of us are probably busy to some degree and you have responsibilities in your home, in your family, in your business and all the rest. And so all of us at times get tired, and we get weary, and we get a little fainthearted. And what happens? We get sort of worn out. And when he says, he restores our soul, what is he talking about? Not only is he restoring me when I sin against him and disobey him, but he restores these souls and refreshes our weariness and our tiredness. He knows that we face situations and circumstances that are emotionally tiring and emotionally draining. And knowing that, what does he do? He desires to restore our soul. How does he do that? It is in fellowship with him. And you see, if I'm wise enough to understand that spending time with him alone is the greatest soul refresher there is. Your spirit restored. Now, the body often times may need restoration and rest from your daily duties and so forth. But when it comes to restoring my soul, how's it restored? Intimacy. Intimacy with the good shepherd with Jesus. Intimacy with him, listening to him and letting him put his arms around you and hold you tight and remind you that he loves you with all of his infinite, divine love he pours out upon us. What is the good shepherd doing? He genuinely loves every single one of his sheep. He is there to do what? To restore that soul, to lift that soul, to cheer them up and to encourage them. And not some platitudes, but when he says, he restores our soul, he has the capacity to enable me to step above the circumstance, no matter what it is, and keep going regardless of what's happening around me. He restores our soul. You know what? There's not anybody else in the world who can. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Makes me to lie down in green pastures, leads me beside quiet, still waters. He says, he does what? He restores our soul.
Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Are you tired and weary? Is your strength failing? Jesus can restore your soul. When you come to the Lord for help, you'll find strength and encouragement to continue your journey. If you need to become more familiar with what the Bible says and how it can impact your life, visit intouch.org. To listen to this message again, be sure to look for the link to Today on Radio. And if you go to the store page, you can order a copy of today's complete message, The Good Shepherd. Again, that's intouch.org. To call or text, it's 1-800-IN-TOUCH. You can write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia, 30357. Again, call or text to 1-800-IN-TOUCH. We'll hear more about our good shepherd who walks with us through our valleys in today's Moment with Charles Stanley. It's coming up.
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Dr. Charles Stanley: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. I think about your life and mine. Is it not true that when you and I get up every day, we walk through a valley of the shadow of death? What are we talking about? For example, when I think about the loneliness, the insecurity, the rejection that people feel. When I think about all of the disappointments and the poor self-esteem that people have to live with when they walk day by day, it's like walking through a valley and the shadow that's there is a shadow that's it's reminding them of things that they have to deal with every day. We're not talking about just when you die, every day you and I walk through valleys. Every day we face difficulties and hardships. What is he saying? All the things that we walk through. He says, I will fear no evil. I'm not going to fear anything on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This week, next week, next month, next year, next next decade, no matter what. Why? Because the good shepherd is with me. But you see, the only people who can say that are those who have trusted the good shepherd, who is the savior Jesus, as their personal savior, then you can say what Jesus said. What did he say? He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you.
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Guest (Male): Upcoming on In Touch, continue looking at Psalm 23 to be further encouraged that God can sustain any believer even through the valley of the shadow of death. I hope you'll join us again for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.
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