Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.56 → restored 4.82
Use the player's Original switch to compare.How Diffio restores old speech recordings
Um, if you would turn back in your, in your Bibles to, um, First Peter. First Peter chapter five is where we were this morning. Welcome, um, all the Sunday school teachers that weren't able to be with us today. Welcome back. We'll, uh, we'll do a bit of review for you. I don't want to leave you too far behind. Um, but glad to, glad to have everyone, uh, out this evening. And before we, uh, look at this portion again, let's just commit our time to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much for the very copy of scripture that we can have of our own. We thank you for the Holy Spirit that indwells us.
Father, we thank you for the, the teaching and instruction and admonition that we're given in the, in the scripture to, to draw near to you, and you would draw near to us. And Father, these, these words of life, the very fact that, that your son, uh, the Lord Jesus is, is spoken of as the, the very word of life, and here we have, uh, God breathe the word, the, the holy word, the written word. And so, Father, we pray as we study it tonight, make it a profitable time for us. We pray that we would, uh, be able to discern the teaching that you have here for us, and we commit this time to you, and we give you thanks for this morning and the thoughts that were communicated and the, the message that went forth.
So we bring, bring these things, these requests right now to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. Well, this morning we, um, well, as I wrapped up the message, we, we said that we were, um, wanted to learn our ABCs so well that we could say them backwards and, and say our, our, um, our CBAs, right? And, um, so even tonight, I'm gonna, um, I hope I don't get a reputation for being backwards, but, um, we're, we're, we've, we've started on the last part of the chapter this morning, and so we are gonna go backward a little bit and, and go up to the first part of the chapter. But let's keep in mind the things that we discussed this morning, and, and just a bit of review on on the passage.
Uh, Peter chapter five and verse six. We we read these things and considered this. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober, the three B's we talked about, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, established, strengthened, settle you.
To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. And we said that, uh, that little phrase, humble yourself, that it is, that you would go and and look at other places in scripture, and the admonition is to humble yourself, not to to be humbled, um, uh, you know, or put you in, put you in a self where God has to humble you. Uh, Herb and I were talking at lunchtime, and, you know, maybe you've heard the story about that guy that that that prayed, Lord, humble me. Oh, be careful, you don't know what you're asking for, you know? And, um, but we're to humble ourselves. And, and so, uh, we're, we're told what to do and where to do it, to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. And we, we took a minute to explore and, and understand and appreciate who God really is.
No better place to humble ourselves. And that we would, um, we know that God would lift us up, would exalt us in due time. Then we're told to cast all of our care, turn it all over to him. There's another, uh, verse I didn't have a chance to read this morning, but it's in Psalm, uh, fifty five and verse twenty two, and it says, cast your burden upon the Lord. And, um, and so here, this, this teaching tells us to cast all of our care, not only the burden or the problem, but all the anxiety and worry that goes with it. Cast it all on the Lord, turn it over to him because he cares for us. And then we saw these, uh, these words, these reminders. Uh, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil. There's a, there's someone that's like a roaring lion, a fero- a ferocious beast, one that you wouldn't want to be near, wouldn't want to touch, wouldn't want to be chased by.
He's, he's after you, and, but the Lord has said to beware of him. Not only just to beware of him, but be watchful. The word sober means to be watchful. The word vigilant means to, to keep watching. Let's see, um, Anna, um, Hartley, is she here tonight? Oh yeah, there you are. Okay. She was telling me last night she works at a rest home as a waiter, uh, or a waitress, excuse me. And, um, so, but she said, I wish I had the security, uh, man's job because they get to watch the, they get to watch the, um, the basketball game, you know, and, um, they they're continually watching, you see? And, um, and and so evidently she's a basketball fan and wanted to be watching the game.
But we're told here to be sober, be vigilant, and it means to be watching, watching continually, watching out for the adversary. He's going to try to trip you up. Not only trip you up, he's going to try to wipe you out, devour you. Don't put yourself in a place where you can be affected by him. And we'll talk a little bit more, perhaps, about that this evening. But we, we recognize him as a, as a, as an adversary, as an enemy in opposition to, but he's a defeated foe, isn't he? God and, and Satan. Well, Satan's no match for God. We need to beware, but God has already taken care of Satan, the devil. Whom resist. We want to resist him, sta- stand fast, resist steadfast in our faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in our brethren that are in the world.
And we took a, a sense of comfort in that, uh, not that we would, um, be happy that others are suffering, but we can sympathize and empathize with our other brethren. We can pray for them. We can know and experience what they're going through, and in that way we find strength and, and, and take comfort in that. But the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory, our sufferings are just for a time, but God is eternal, and that the Lord Christ Jesus is mentioned in that verse, after you have su- suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. And so that's just a bit of review as we ended the, the little fr- ended that little portion of scripture there, as it says, to him, to God, be the glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.
Once again, showing the eternality or the, the, um, the fact that, that God is eternal. Now, with those things in mind, um, let's go back to the beginning of the chapter and, and, and look a little bit about, uh, how Peter, uh, under the, the guide of the Holy Spirit would start his writing. And, and we'll, we'll read up until, uh, verse six there and make a few more connections as we look at the whole text together. First Peter chapter five and verse one. The elders which are among you I exhort, whom am also an elder. Uh, just saying that who am al- Peter saying, I'm also an elder.
I exhort you elders that are among you, and I myself am an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that is, that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for fil- filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage or God's flock, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, that's none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. And then we pick up with where we read earlier. Tonight I'd like to, um, draw a little bit of a, a comparison, uh, between this portion of scripture and, and one found in the Old Testament. It's actually an Old Testament prophecy all the way back in the book of Ezekiel. And, um, perhaps you've, um, looked at this. It's been a, been a while since I've come across this portion of scripture, and, um, I'm not sure how it worked out this way, but, uh, in my, in my scripture reading, trying to read all the way through the Bi- Bible, I'm ending up with Ezekiel.
So it's, um, i- i- in Ezekiel chapter thirty four is what I'd like you to turn to. Ezekiel chapter thirty four. and hold your finger there in First Peter. We, we may be going back and forth as, uh, I trust you'll be able to see some of the similarities and connections that we have in the teaching, uh, both that Peter gives to the church and that the Lord would give through Ezekiel to his chosen people, Israel, which is a, a somewhat of a type of, of what the New Testament church would be, um, as, as it would be conceived as, as, um, the way of redemption would be brought forth. Well, um, Ezekiel chapter thirty four, and, um, let's, let's read also a few verses here to see what Ezekiel has to tell us.
Ezekiel chapter thirty four and verse one, And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, and this is referring that it came into Ezekiel. The word of the Lord came into Ezekiel. And let's just be careful to remember what's being said there. This is the word of the Lord. And it's interesting, as you read through a lot of these Old Testament books, you hear that, thus saith the Lord, the Lord God hath said, or the, the word of the Lord came unto me, and this is what he said. I mean, wow, this is like direct, right from the Lord. And so here we see Ezekiel saying this. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Uh, prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that, that, that do feed themselves.
Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye have eat, ye eat the fat, ye clothe you with wool, ye kill them that are fed, but you feed not the flock. The disease ye have not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them. They, and they are scattered because there is no shepherd, and they became meat unto all the beasts of the field, or became prey, became meat to the beasts of the field when they were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains and, and upon every hill. Yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, saith the Lord God. And we'll just pause right there. Now, maybe I should put a little bit of a, a disclaimer. Um... Uh, this is not a message, you know, uh, against the, the shepherds, uh, and, and trying to bring a judgment on, on the shepherds or the elders, and um, and so I know you wouldn't take it that way, but as far as, uh, we, we actually find what we'll see tonight, uh, we did see in Peter, uh, an instruction to the um, to the elders to, to take heed and to feed the flock of God.
And here in Ezekiel, as we're reading this, we want to see the context of the chapter, and it is given instructions to the shepherds. But as we look at it more closely, you know what? There's instruction for the shepherds, and there's instruction for the sheep. And, and so we want to learn, um, if you're, if you're in that category of the shepherd, well, then maybe you take the learning and, and apply the word to be a better shepherd. And if you're in that category of being a sheep, then, well, you take the word and you apply that to be a better sheep, right? And then, but we know that we are all the flock because, uh, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the chief shepherd, and then even if under in, in this, um, particular setting in the local church, if either we are shepherd or sheep, we're all part of God's flock.
And so here we have this instruction that's given, um, and, and what Ezekiel is told to do by the Lord is to point out some things that the sheep are not, or the shepherds are not doing. And, and he says, you know, prophesy and, and say this is what's going on. We'd like to, to, to maybe just look at even, uh, here. Notice back in Ezekiel when, um, he says thus, this is in verse two in the middle portion, it says, thus saith the Lord unto the shepherds, woe unto to be unto the shepherds that do feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Well, let's contrast that with, with, uh, what we saw in First Peter chapter five and verse two. What does it say? Feed the flock of God, which is among you. And so there we see where the shepherds were falling short in, in the Old Testament. They were not feeding, they were not feeding the flock. Here in the New Testament, they're, they're instructed to feed the flock of God. We, the shepherds were feeding themselves and, and even in excess, but they were not feeding the flocks. The flocks were, um, neglected. Verse three says that ye eat the fat. And you know, when I look at that, I would draw a comparison even to the fact in, in first Peter, where it says not for filthy lucre or for gain, you see?
But here, these folks, these shepherds in the Old Testament, they were eating the fat. What was that? Not only eating in excess, but eating for gain. They were taking the best of it. And you clothe yourself with wool. They were shearing the sheep, taking the, taking the, the product of the sheep, and, and kill them that are fed, but you feed not the flock. What's the instruction? Feed the flock, but you, they're, they're coming short in that. And so, then at verse four, at the very end of that, um, with the, all these descriptions of, of what the problems are in the herd, but with force and with cruelty ye have ruled them. And then in the New Testament, we're told to, to feed the flock, uh, to feed the flock of God, and which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, not with cruelty, but of a willing mind, and, and neither being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.
And so you see those comparisons that are there, um, one a good example, the other a bad example. Um, the one tells us what not to do, and, and we want to learn from those kind of things, don't we? We want to learn from other people's mistakes or other people's reproof and and be able to implement that in our own life. But the thing that, um, comes to to mind for me is the very fact as you as you read on here, who's ultimately in control of the whole situation? Even though these guys in in Israel were given us a a a poor example of shepherds. They were given a a poor example, and God was calling them on it. They were pointing it out, pointing out the error and pointing out the deficiencies.
But God was in control to where he would say that he would raise up, and see in, in verse eight, even though these problems are going on, as I live, saith the Lord God. And so we, we see that, uh, that as I live, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat unto every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my sh- uh, shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and fed not the flock. So it says, as I live, I'm going to take care of things. And we see that happen in verse eleven. Let's read that. We see, for thus saith the Lord God, behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out.
Don't we have a wonderful shepherd? A- as we, we look here and, and we see these thoughts that, um, well, the New Testament is trying to, to, to instruct the, the ones that, that the Holy Spirit would gift and raise up as, as, um, as overseers of God's flock. But then it also points us to the chief shepherd, and and we know that, well, we could see in in in the New Testament, in John, we're told that Jesus himself would say, I am the good shepherd. And then he would say, I am the great shepherd. You see? And and so we're told, the Lord is my shepherd, the psalmist would write. And here we see that I, even I, will search out my sheep.
I will seek them out. And we start to see some of the beauties of Christ as the shepherd. I will seek them out as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep and that they are, that are scattered. So will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of the places where they have been scattered in a cloudy day, in a dark day. And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and upon the high mountain of Israel shall be their fold. There sh- there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
Verse fifteen, I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord. I will seek that which was lost, I will bring again that which was driven away, I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong, I will feed them with judgment. You see, tonight, as as we look at this portion in Ezekiel, I don't want to draw your attention to the shepherds. I don't want to draw your attention to the sheep. It's it's not one of those two that we're looking at, but draw your attention to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as he says, I, as I live, I will. And we see these I will statements as, as we, as we just read through that, uh, portion there briefly.
We see that in verse, that in verse 12, he says, um, I will seek out my sheep. In verse thirteen, he says, I will bring them out. And in verse fourteen, he says, I will feed them in a good pasture. In verse fifteen, he says, I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down. And then he says in verse sixteen, I will seek them, I will bring them in again, I will bind them, I will strengthen them. Now, do you start to see that, um, once again, the parallel of some of the things that we talked about this morning. As we talked about the end of that chapter, where it said that we should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, the, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and that we would, we would cast all of our care upon him because he cares for us.
How does he care for us? Like a shepherd. He cares for us like a shepherd, and, and when, when we are, well, when we're lost, he's seeking us out. When we're driven away or discouraged, he's going to bring us back in. When we're sick, he's going to strengthen us. We read in that verse, and we even called attention to it, that after ye have suffered a while, he will make you perfect, establish, strengthen you, settle you, settle you, settle you even so that you might wanna lie down. You know, we're told that, um, with examining sheep, is anybody a, a sheep herder here? Huh?
I know Herb used to be a cattle farmer and, and raised cattle, and, um, but sheep, you know, a, a sheep will, um, will not lay down unless they feel totally protected and totally satisfied. Otherwise, they're up and, and, and around, and or they're up eating if they're, they're looking for food, they're wandering around looking for food, looking for greener pasture. But if they are satisfied and feel safe, they'll lie down. And, and so here, uh, under the, under the, uh, the protection and the guise, after we are fed, in, in that verse fifteen in Ezekiel, it says, I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie. Now, here's a picture I want you to see, is that, um, the, the teaching that we had, uh, this morning about the very fact that we as sheep of his pasture, a- as we follow the teaching about humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God and casting all our care upon him, and as we, we are watchful, you see, as we're watchful of our adversary, um, the one who wants to devour us.
But there, there are times where God takes us, and, and the Lord Jesus Christ as the shepherd. And if you even want to have a visual there in your mind of, of the, of the Lord Jesus himself standing there with his shep- with his staff, and he's protecting the flock, isn't he? What's one of the jobs of the shepherd? To protect the flock. Oh yeah, we're to watch. We're to watch because the devil is out there as a roaring lion. But remember David in the Old Testament? What did he do to the lion as a shepherd boy? You know, swung that sling and, and killed the lion. Well, our shepherd does the same for us. Well, i- i- in fact, if you study the, the, the passages about, uh, eldership, you know, a lot of people say, well, the elders should do this, they should do this, but you look at almost all those passages, one thing you'll see a common thread through is they are to protect the flock.
And so, i- even if, you know, we're thankful, you guys, even among this, this body here, what do you have, Six elders? six elders in the, in the group that are raised up, and, and that's, you ought to count your blessings if you got six elders among, among a body of fellowship, that you do have six shepherds among us. And, you know, the shepherds always get blamed for, if anything goes wrong, we'll blame it on the shepherd, you know? Bring it on the, it's the same with the president, you know? Country taxes went up, bring it on, uh, blame it on Bush, you know? If you failed, uh, you got a bad grade on your report card, blame it on the teacher. You know, it just, it's one of those things that comes with the territory of, of taking leadership. But, um, you know, if, um, if it's raining at camp, blame it on Andy, you know?
So... but it never rains at mountaintop. Just during swim time. No, but so we would, we would, um, be, be thinking about the, the very fact of, of the Lord Jesus Christ as a shepherd, and he is protecting us, and, and there's, it's so much so he's protecting us so much so that even though there's an adversary out there who's roaming about, seeking whom he may devour, that we could lay at his feet. But you see, we got to be in the right place, don't we? Oh, you can't lay down out there in the local pub, you know? You can't lo- lay down a- out away from Christ, wherever that may be.
But if you are at his feet, taking in what, where, if you're where you should be at Christ's feet, you can lay down. You'll be fed. He will feed you. After all, I am the bread of life, he says. He's not only the good shepherd, but he's the, he's the bread. And, and he would feed us, and then he would, then he would protect us, and then all these things that we, that we talked about this morning, that knowing that others would suffer the same afflictions in, in, in our brethren, but we would be able to focus the fact that we, after we have suffered a while, that he would make us perfect, would establish, would strengthen us, and would settle us. When I think about that word settle, you have to think about lying down, and that the Lord would just allow us to, to lie down and rest.
Take my yoke upon you, my burden is light, and I will give you rest, you know, he says in, in Matthew. And so here we see a bit of these comparisons and contrasts between the, the shepherd who, who is, um, well, the shepherds are being instructed in the New Testament, the shepherds that were, were being corrected in the Old Testament, but then a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the good shepherd, the great shepherd, as our shepherd to the sheep. Well, that little verse back in Ezekiel, the verse fifteen, says, I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down.
I borrowed a little book just before the meeting, and, um, it's a, a book by J. H. um, Joel. Maybe some of you, uh, are familiar with his writings, but what are the chances that, um, that there would be a little, uh, um, a little writing on, on, uh, first on Ezekiel chapter thirty four? As I, um, looked at this, and I want to read this to you, okay, about some of the things that we've been talking about, see how well they, they do apply. This is, um, he, he writes and says that, um, speaking of Ezekiel chapter thirty four and verse fifteen, I will feed my sheep.
We need to be fed. Even when we are born again, we are only bathed in Christ. We have got quality of life, but we lack quantity. The forceful, irresistible, abundant life which filled to the full of the channels of, of the Christ. We are going to gain the abundance. It is largely a matter of diet. I will feed my flocks, the Lord says. We are to be fed into maturity by the bread of life. But how various are the forms of bread which the gracious provider employs? He suits the bread to the precise condition of the need.
Thou givest them their meat in due season. Yes, in due season, at the right time, the right kind of bread the Lord would have for us. The Lord's feeding of his children is tenderly discriminating and is to bring us to maturity, and he uses a, a varied variety of breads. Let us glance at two or three types of breads which are mentioned in the sacred word, one of which we would, would find just in the chapter earlier, where he says that I will, um, I will feed thee in a good pasture, saith the Lord. Yes, sometimes in that, in a seasonable feeding place for our soul, he makes me to lie down in green pastures, and there should, and there I would always like to remain.
There are those times that are sweet and beautiful seasons when life ceases to be noisy and, and it settles down to the still waters, where we are blessed with quiet visions which come as heaven's bread. With the good, the good Lord permits us at times just to lie down and dream. Young men may see their visions, and the old men will dream dreams. Beautiful are these seasons of holy communion, which life becomes a river of stillness, and we contemplate the things which are divine. The Lord is feeding us in a fat pasture, giving us meat in due season. So that's the first type of bread that he mentions, the, the bread of plenty, the bread of bounty, the one that satisfies, the bread of fat, and, and that we would even be satisfied to lay down.
Well, then here he, he mentions another type. I will feed thee with the bread of tears. This is another means by which I am, uh, passed out of babyhood into manhood, out of the initial strains into a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Tears as bread. I do not think that it means that the tears, uh, we shed because of our own griefs, but the tears shed because of the grief of others. These tears constitute bread and enlarge our soul. Sympathy is feeding. It sometimes happens that the whole family has been fed by the presence of an invalid child. Tender tones have stolen into the voice.
A strange gentleness has come into the hand. A loud, thoughtless tramp has gone out of the footfall. Jaggling has been placed to the subdued harmony, which has been like snatches from the songs above. The affections have have been made more and more sens- sensitive, responsive and vibrant to another's grief. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. Our Savior was being fed with the bread of tears. And so we, we would link that to the, uh, well, the feeding that we're to, to fi- to be fed on the Lord himself, but then the, the tears of, of, uh, or the bread of tears, that we would know that our brethren are the same afflictions are being accomplished in, in the brethren that are in the world.
And, and so we would, we would be able to sympathize and empathize with our brothers and sisters in, in, in Christ. The third type that he mentioned, well, it's the type that's not, that we probably wouldn't look forward to. I will feed thee with the bread of adversity. Not only with sympathy, sympathy for the grief of others, but with personal grief of their own. And the verse that we read this morning, it said, after ye have suffered a while. It's personal grief, personal, uh, trial that you're going through, the bread of adversity. Um, this is the bread of hardness. Do we not all know the experience in common, or do we not all know the experience in common life?
How often we say the one to another in describing some personal experience, yes, I felt it very hard. We were eating the bread of hardness. We were expecting something soft and good, and lo, it came to our mouths as gravel. Tomorrow, we will say, we will sit down to a feast, but when tomorrow came, the table was spread with the bread of adversity. We have toiled all night and have taken nothing, the bread of hardness. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Endure hardness and so become better still soldiers of Christ. Jesus said, I will feed my flock. The good Lord has many breads.
Give us our daily bread. And so here, this writer, uh, points out three types of bread, that the Lord Jesus Christ is even the bread himself, but he would point out, uh, a bread of, of, of nourishment and a, and of, of, uh, of fatness, a bread of tears, of sympathy for others, and a bread of hardness, or, or that of grief that we would come upon our own selves. All of this to bring us up, well, that we might be perfect, established, strengthened, and settled in the faith. Well, as we, um, want to look once again there in, in Ezekiel chapter thirty four, and we'll kind of finish up with the thoughts here of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ne- you, do you notice that, well, if we put our confidence in man, what often happens? Man fails us, don't they? Mankind will fail us every time. And, and here the e- every failure, every place that the shepherds fell short, well, the Lord came along and took care. He will take care of his sheep, and there, there will be none lacking. Um, in, in Ezekiel chapter thirty four, um, let's just re- refresh ourselves with the, with the, the things that they failed on. Verse four, the disease have, ye have not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost.
Not only that, but they dealt with them in cruelty. But look over in verse sixteen. we see this. Every place that the shepherds were deficient, the Lord comes along and makes up for the deficiency. I will seek that which was lost. I will bring again that which was driven away. I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was sick. You see, and then he brings forth judgment for the ones that have done cruelly and done wrong. You know, I said before that we find some practical instruction about the, the shepherds and the sheep, and it's a good reminder, isn't it? Sometimes I, I hear about, um, some people that they, they maybe they're in fellowship at a meeting, and they go one or two Sundays, and, and they're for some reason not there, and some of the men might call on and say, hey, we'd like to visit you, you know?
And, and the, then those people get offended. What are they doing, wanting to see me for? Well, what is that? That's the shepherd doing his job, isn't it? And, and so we shouldn't get mad if the shepherd goes out to, to seek his sheep. Well, that's what they've been instructed to do, to do. It says I will, I will, um, the Lord, given the, given the instruction here, says that I will seek that which was lost. Here that we can think about that word lost in a couple different ways, um, but then even the one that has been driven away, maybe that better describes, you know, somebody did something and made you mad, and you were driven away, and there's someone coming to try to, try to draw you back, try to come out and meet you where you are and see what's going on.
Well, don't get mad at that person. They're just, they're, they're doing what they, what they need to do, that they would, um, bring in again that which was driven away. How about, how appreciative are you when you receive a visit when you're broken, when you're sick, you know? And that's what the, the ones that are gifted in that way, and it can be, uh, that of the shepherds that are recognized among the flock. It could be those other ones that have a gift and a, and a, a desire to, to, to, um, visit the sick when they're, when they're down on their debt, on their, um, when they're ill or down, sick, hospital, whatever the case may be, that you go out to bind up the broken.
And then, um, well, you know, you shouldn't get mad at them either, you know, if they're, they're coming to visit you while you're sick. And, and then, that I would, um, I would seek the lost, would bring again that which was driven away, bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that which was sick. And so those two kind of go together, that binding up and, and the strengthening. What, what an encouragement it can be as we work together in the body. So we see both the, once again, um, not by accident, the Old Testament and the New Testament kind of interweave together, and, and, uh, being able to, to complement and, and give us greater understanding of some of these things.
Well, I trust the Lord would encourage you about some of these thoughts of, of, of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as, and the instruction, uh, for, for ourselves in these different areas of life. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks for the, the word and instruction that we've, that we've been given. We thank you, Father, that, um, that you are the one who's provided himself not only a lamb, but you provided yourself a shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd. And Father, we're so thankful that, that even though we can look at good examples and bad examples of shepherds here on this earth, both in the, in the real world of shepherding and also in the, in the, the real world of the church.
But Father, we are so thankful that, that the Lord Jesus Christ is never one who doesn't seek out that which was lost. He's never one that doesn't bind up that which was broken. He, he's one that will strengthen those that are sick and bring in again those which have been driven away. We're thankful for this picture of our Lord Jesus Christ and, and how it does encourage our hearts. Father, may we be found lying at his feet, where we would be, feeding on him, feeding on his word. And so we pray these things now. Make them real in our hearts as we depart from this place. We pray this in Jesus Christ's name.
Amen.