Well, we'll discuss. I get an advantage, I'm sure. Could we turn this morning, beloved, to the twenty-third psalm, which he said we'd like to consider a little bit as the Lord gives us time? We won't speak like Paul did till midnight. So take heart. Our brother Wilson will follow me and we'll have a little, I understand, a little break of song in between. Where that song is, probably isn't it? Psalm twenty three. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in need. He makes me to lie down in pastures of tender grass. He guideth me beside the waters of stillness. He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Me, and though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For if we put it more properly, it would be moreover, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod of correction, and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine adversary. Thou anointest my head with wood. My cup runeth over. Only goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now, we want to just give a quick overview. what's before us in the book of Psalms. We have, it's a book of devotion. It's prayed through prayer. And it's divided into five groups. In the first group, through one through forty-one, that's mainly Davidic, written primarily by David, under the Holy Spirit's function. And that would suggest to us Genesis, or it's about man. And the second group is in the forty-second chapter to the seventy-second chapter. And that's again mainly Davidic. And that would speak to us of the Exodus about deliverance. And third group would be the seventy-third chapter to the eighty-ninth chapter. And that's mainly written by Asaph. And that would correspond to Leviticus upon the sanctuary. And the fourth group is the nineties psalm to the hundred and six psalm. And that's mainly anonymous. We don't know who wrote those primarily. And that would correspond to numbers or the wandering cease. And the fifth group is the hundred and seventh psalm to the last psalm, the hundred and fiftieth, partly Davidic, partly anonymous. And that would correspond to Deuteronomy or the word of the Lord. We end up with praise there at Mars. Now here in the song. of the valley we have between the lies between the two. On the one hand we have Mount Calvary, Psalm twenty-two. And on the other hand we have Mount Zion, Psalm twenty-four. And in between we have that lovely Psalm, the twenty-third Psalm. So it would not suggest to us a good beginning and a good ending. Beloved, if we're to begin, we have to begin at Calvary. That's where we have to begin. That's where we approach our gone. That's where we have access to gone. Because he came down and he made access available to us, to our great high priest, our advocate of the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. And so we come to this precious psalm in between. It's a flood tide in between the two points of blessing. It's the bridge between Calvary and the Lord. There was a little girl that was trying to memorize the first sentence of this time, and she couldn't get it quite right, and she would always say, the Lord is my shepherd, and that is all that I want. And isn't that just what we need, all that we want? You know, my life's birth, my desire has been, and is Philippians three and ten, and perhaps you can learn that little course before we are done with our sessions. that I might know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering to remain conformable to his death. And that should be our object and our desire. It's not an easy thing because the Lord has to make us what he wants us to be and he will. For he promises I will perfect or I will complete that which I began. Isn't that wonderful? When the Lord Jesus Christ presents us to God the Father, He's going to present us in absolute perfection, without spot and without wrinkle, what He wants us to be and what He has made us. And in order to come to that, we must go through the twenty-third Son. We must. And it's so full. And it causes us, does it not, to cry out in the words of the little chorus, I have Christ, what want I more. What more can we want What more can we need and what more can we have than the good shepherd, the great shepherd and the chief shepherd. And now we're learning him as the great shepherd. He's proved to us he's a good shepherd, for the good shepherd gave his life to the sheep. Now this time was perhaps the best known portion of God's word. We learned it back in the days when there was some moral fiber to our nation. in school. And then in kindergarten, the first thing you were taught, in the morning you started out, and that was the first thing you learned, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not walk. And it's a wonderful thing to teach children, but it's more wonderful to bring them to the person who is a good shepherd, isn't he? Well, we don't have that in our children. Unfortunately, But we start out at our very youth and we learn that time and we can quote it so quickly and so readily. It's probably the most familiar portion of God's word than it is. When it was written, we're not really sure. However, it does have the freshness of the shepherd boy's heart, doesn't it? It was written by a shepherd. But here he doesn't speak of the shepherd. He speaks of one of the sheep. It's a personal time. For the pronoun me occurs seven times. The number of completeness is the complete need of the sheep and the complete supply of the shepherd, the good shepherd who knows our every need. It's been called by another the fairest flower in the garden of God and the nightingales of the psalms. Now Psalm twenty-three has been used for around three thousand years. But is it not still as fresh today as it was when David wrote of the Spirit of God? Oh, it's just as precious, it's just as real, and it's just as vibrant and vital today to every believer as it was when David penned it under the direction of the Spirit of God. We have a prophet, priest, and king presented, all, and they all sung it alike. It's been sung in the castle, it's been sung in the palace, because that's what it is. It's been sung in the little humble cabin, and it's in use time and time again. Is it not the time of the sick moon? How many times when we go to see one of God's dear beloved people laying on their back, that we take that blessed precious portion and seek to bring it home to bear in their knees, and know that the Lord is, present tense, my shepherd. Oh, that brings such peace and calm and repose. And probably no portion of Scripture is derived more tears in the twenty-third Psalm. Now Psalm twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-four link together as we said so nicely. We see the Lord Jesus in his different characters, a different aspect of his characters. and we start out at Calvary, the beginning, and we end up in glory with the chief shepherd. As we mentioned, he's pictured as a good shepherd in Psalm twenty-two, the great shepherd in Psalm twenty-three, and the chief shepherd in Psalm twenty-four. Some of the other examples of this that we find in the twenty-second psalm are as far as Christ. In Psalm twenty-two we have Christ dying that we might live. Christ dying that we might live. Who is Christ? He's the sent one of God. He anointed us God. And he was sent to die. We need to realize that God. Or he said, is a servant any better than a man? And the Lord Jesus Christ, though he thought it not robbery could be equal with God, it's not something to be grasped at. He made himself of no reputation. He took upon himself upon every servant. And beyond that he went that other step. He died. And he went a step beyond that. He became sin. He who knew no sin. You know, I go into the jails. And it's repulsive to see sin in the lives of men. We're not allowed into the women's hearts. We see them in groups of hearts. But the women visit them. But to see the effect of sin in lives. And the need to cage men like animals because of sin. And when I go in there and I hear those big steel doors plank behind me, it gives me a chill. I never get used to it. But the scripture says he was right in prison and judgment. And falsely judged. And then crucified. For the criminal? Yeah. But for me. Just as much for me as for that worst of any. He was made it for me. He wasn't for me. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful shepherd we have. Christ dying that I might live. That you might live. Not to live to self. Not to live in the flesh. But to live. in the power of God in an eternal life, unto eternal life. And then we go to the twenty-third psalm and we find Christ living that we might live. You remember he said, because I live, ye shall live also. You see, our life is hidden in Christ in God. Then our life is so dependent upon his living. If we didn't have a living shepherd, We couldn't live. We couldn't have eternal life. But because he lived, we lived too. Not only so, but because he's entered in. We enter in also. Oh, we have a living Savior. We have a man in the glory. And he bears a prince in his hands and his feet and his side. Oh, thank God for the man in the glory. We have a living shepherd. And the twenty-fourth Tom, we find Christ coming for us that we might live together. We've just been enjoying having the tremendous fellowship together as a family of God. And there's nothing like it, is there? There is nothing like it. The world can look on, and they can mimic it, but they can't experience it. Why? Because they don't have a living Savior who lives in us by the mighty Spirit of God. Oh, what a blessing we have. But that's only the beginning. He's come back, beloved. He's coming back. And we're going to live with him. Our living exalted Savior and more. And we're going to live with him for all eternity. What is it going to be to see him? Faith. Faith. Those two on a man's road just got a glimpse. And even while they were talking, and while he was talking to them and expounding from the Scriptures and from the Psalms, the things concerning himself, what happened? The heart burned within him. What is it going to be? So look face to face at our own Jesus Christ. Oh, what is that going to be? That's why Paul said, never answered from the prize, O high calling of God, of Christ Jesus. We look unto Jesus, the author, and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him and heard the cross, despising the shame. And he sat down with the right hand and said, Amen. Amen. Amen. Because we have a living Christ that we might live, not in that day, but that we might live now. Right now. We have Eternal life now. We have everlasting life now. It's not something we're going to possess. We are possessors. We're in the heavenly in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to live that way. Father God, we need to live that way. And if we live that way, what's going to be the result? By this Shalom, men know that you love me. That you love the brethren. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Oh, he says, love the brethren. And because you love the brethren, You'll love me. And the people will see this love. And they'll love you. It's pretty easy to love some brethren. And then as brethren like myself, you have an awful time. You have to really work at it. But just think of it. When you love me, that really proves you love the Lord. So, we have the joy of loving one another. And if we could just learn that. To love one another. And to remember. that when we find that which is difficult and hard to accept in another, when we accept it, it's the God's glory. When we disparage it, who will we disparage it? Who will we disparage? Not ourselves. We're disparaging the blessed Lord Jesus Christ who lives within us. And so, We live because we have Christ living in us. And we're going to live together now and with Him for all eternity. And then again in the twenty-second psalm we have Christ appearing to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The wonder of that, do we realize that? Do we realize, you know we've been hearing a little bit of the trials and the testings and the difficulties that our brother Wilson and many other older missionary space when they went out to the field. And it stirs your heart. It can't help but do that. It shows the love of God in action, doesn't it? Think of the love of God. He didn't leave the United States. He didn't leave Britain. He left heaven's glory. Now, he didn't leave his glory. Let's make that clear. He veiled it from view. But he always had that glory. It was his and his by right. He is glory. But he left it. And he came into this scene. For you. For me. And that's what we have. In the twenty second song. A cry of the Savior's heart. To his God. His Father. My God. My God. Why hath not forsaken me? Why not so far from the words of my roaring? I cry in the day season, and now here is me, why? Oh, beloved, what was it for the Christ of God to cry those words, and thou hearest me, why? In those dark hours, And God dealt with sin in his beloved Son. In my place condemned Jesus. I must. But we thank the Lord that we have that word of God. He heard him from the horns of the unicorn. And he answered. And he shall see the travail of his soul. And he shall be satisfied. Thank him. the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He looks at his church in all its disarray, and he sees what it is in him, and his soul is satisfied. Yea, glorify. Oh, what great. What a wonderful, wonderful Lord we have. And if we can keep that in mind, we'll run the race. And that's the object of our gathering, isn't it? To remind ourselves of a race that's got to be done? and it's got to be done and it's got to be finished. And then we find again in the twenty-third time Christ appearing in the presence of God for us. Oh, thank God for our actions. Thank God for our high grace. After the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is not seen as seated. Melchizedek is standing. Melchizedek is still The aspect of His work is not on our behalf. And how wonderful to know. What peace it brings to our hearts to know that He's working on our behalf, even this very moment. How good is the Gone the Adorn? And then again in the twenty-fourth Psalm, Christ appearing the second time without sin. unto salvation. And now I'd like to turn over, if you would, to Hebrews chapter nine, just to refresh our memories. Hebrews chapter nine and verse twenty-four. In Hebrews chapter four and nine and verse twenty four we read this, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the corresponding figures of the truth, but into heaven itself, now to be manifested in the presence of God for us. Not nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters into the holy place yearly with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of his world. But now, once in the end of the age, hath he appeared to put away sin through the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men, and we might just stop and mention there, it is appointed, beloved. There's an appointed time for you and I to leave this scene. Maybe if I scoot over here I can get away from the sun. There's an appointed time for everything in our life. And remember we have the man in the glory who is controlling our lives as we yield to him. And nothing is going to come in that is not by his permissive will. or his appointed self. And it's wonderful to know that we're not going to go until he calls us, unless we just take our life. Isn't that wonderful? He's given us a lot of time. It is appointed unto man once to die. And at this point, I would like to say again, if there is one single individual here, and in your heart of heart, You either have never made a profession of faith and trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, or you're unsure. You're a churchgoer. You even read your Bible. You even pray. But you're not sure. Positively, without doubt, that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Please stop and consider that now. He was wounded for your transgression. He was bruised for your iniquity. And the chastisement of your peace is upon him. And with his strife, you are healed. Just put your name in there. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's son, who is life, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me, has given his life, that you might have life and have it more abundantly. But you are only going to have it When you realize that you're a dead person, dead in trespasses and sin, that you're a sinner, and the wages of sin is death. Can you deny that? You've got cemeteries all over the place, haven't you? It's evidence that the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is, present sense, is eternal life. Him that cometh unto me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And oh, dearly, beloved, he said, come unto me all, you know, labor. And that applies to us too. And the heavy laden, and I may give you rest? No. Or in the future I'll give you rest? No. I will. I will give you rest. Present tense. I will give you rest. the peace of God, the passage of understanding. And so we find that we have a great high priest. And so he was, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. The first time he came, he became sin. The next time he comes, we're going to come with him, brother. And he's going to come in all his glory and power and might and dominion. And he comes here that way. Isn't that amazing? He lives for us now. And he's coming for us that we might live with him. Now, we go on. And we find that the psalm before us encourages us. With the final words I shall dwell in, the house of the Lord, all the days in my life. What a promise, huh? You know, it doesn't matter how nice a home we have here in this scene. You wouldn't want to dwell in it the rest of your life, which forever and ever and ever, I wouldn't. Man, we've got aches and pains and groans and moans and all the rest of it. In whom the world wants to remain in that? And we reminded by our brother Wilson last night at the table, I have not seen nor heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for those that love him. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? He's gone to a fair place. Now we come right down to the psalm itself. The Lord is my shepherd. The very first word is the Lord. But who is the Lord? What is this character? Does he have adequate credentials to be my shepherd? My manager? My owner? Does he? Have you ever considered that? Does he really have adequate credentials to be yours. Well, we'll look into that. And if he does, how do I come under his control? In what way do I become the object of his concern and diligence here? Now David, a shepherd himself, is the very one who calls the shepherd He was a shepherd king, and he's the very one that stated, very emphatically, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, he is my shepherd. Who did he refer to when he said that? Who did David refer to? He was before the cross. He was under different circumstances. prayed, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. We don't have to pray that prayer today. He referred to Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel. Who is Jehovah? Well, Lord, we hope to look into that maybe in a later session. We can recall very vividly the words in John chapter ten. He says, I am the good shepherd. The Lord Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his light for the sheep. My sheep know me. They know my voice and they follow me. So he declared emphatically himself that he was the good shepherd. And he proved he was the good shepherd. And he proved he's the great shepherd. He's proving it daily in our lives, isn't he? Now, let's look a little bit and get a clearer picture of the particular part played by God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You see, the whole Godhead is involved in this when you say Jehovah. He that was, He that is, He that is to come. He's the eternal one who had no beginning and no end. He is the grace, I... I am. I am that I am. He's the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. That's our good shepherd. Now God the Father is the author. He's in his mind that all this took place. For God so loved the world that he gave. God the Father planned it. Those of us that are parents, those of us that are fathers, those of us that are mothers, we can enter into that a little bit, can't we? Just think sitting down and planning the only means, because it had to be the only means, because that was what was used, and God the Father would have used something else if there was some other means. But there was no other means. Without the shedding of blood, there was no remission of sin. And the only blood that was sufficient was he spotless blood. and God the Father in deliberation. Plan. Calvary. He planned Calvary. I got to watch my timing. What am I supposed to be doing here? He carried away. When did I get up here? Does anybody know? John, what time did I get up here? What time did I get up here? You know what time it was? You don't? Oh boy, this is good, brother. They're not watching the time. We got it made all day long. Did you notice what time it was when I got up here? I didn't either. Don taught me sort of unexpected things, so I didn't look. We'll have to hurry. Well, God the Father is the author. And we could dwell on that for a good deal. But suffice to say, that God's love was so great knowing, beloved, not only that we were sinners of the deep that died lost and separated from God, not of the commonwealth of Israel, but he knew when he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins, he knew when we came through the Lord Jesus Christ what we were going to be. That's amazing. And he still, when he knew what an unfaithful servant I would be, he still sent his beloved son to die for me. Because he looked beyond what I am, and he looked to what he was going to make me for his glory. And make you for his glory. That's a wonderful author, isn't it? The author of eternal life. So God the Father was the author. God the Son, our Savior, is the artesian, if you will. He's the artist. He's the creator. long thing exists. He spoke and it was God in the being. And he keeps everything in control in the heavens today. And we know he's the artist. We look out there as the leaves change their color and no artist can capture the beauty of just that one thing. Oh, he's the artist of all existence, the creator of all existence, including you and I. Now God the Holy Spirit is the agent who presents all these facts to both my mind and my spiritual understanding. I'm sure you have and I have sat under the sound of the voice of highly educated the men that profess to be theologians of the first water. And as you listen to them, it doesn't take long to perceive that they know all about the Bible. They know all about the author, but they miss one thing. They don't know the author. And therefore they can't speak and expound the living word of God because they don't know the author. And the author is not in the well. It takes the Holy Spirit of God. I think of reading the biography of Spurgeon. And if you remember, Spurgeon was out on the town one night, a young college law, a theology student. And he knew more about the Lord Jesus Christ than the man in the gutter. He had already had a few drinks and he was to meet his friends, his college friends, and they were going to have a whooping time over in the pub. there in Britain. And it was pouring out and his plane didn't make it. And he was running down the street and his cloak soaking wet. And he saw a little door open and he bolted in the door. And the preacher that night didn't show up. It was a little storefront gathering of God's people. And so the brethren said to a brother You're the most capable, preach the word. He was a cobbler by his own profession, couldn't even handle the King's English. Now, I am not expounding that we should have people on the platform that cannot speak reasonably well. But God used us only well. And that night, with that dear brother of God, a shoemaker, And it may be the only soul he ever went for Christ. He won Charles Hayden's Purgans of all Jesus Christ. And look what has transpired down through the years. Why? How could he do that? He couldn't do it because of eloquence. He couldn't do it because of profound surroundings. It was done by the Holy Spirit of God using the vessel. Not the vessel. But because the Spirit of God used the vessel. And beloved, it doesn't matter how eloquent we are. It doesn't matter how capable we are. It doesn't matter how knowledgeable we are. If the Holy Spirit of God is not in it, it'll fall on the floor. Yes. But the Holy Spirit of God is the all-powerful, mighty God. And He works now in life, in salvation, in propounding the Word of God. And I might say along this, we do thank God for such capable men as those that know the foreign, the original languages, and those that can bring out and expound the deep truth of the Word of God. I have to depend on them. I'm not a Hebrew scholar. I must depend on those men and thank God for them. Make use of them a lot of times. The Spirit of God then is the one that presents not just facts, but He presents the truth of those facts to the mind. Let this mind be you which was also in Christ Jesus. And as we had read to us last night in Romans twelve, one and two, to present your bodies a living sacrifice holy, acceptable unto God, which is your intelligence, your reasonable service. But how are you to do that? Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by what? The renewing of your mind. God's given us a mind that you might know what is that good and acceptable and perfect will. But we've got to present our mind to It says the Holy Spirit will call all things to remember. But how is he to recall something to remember that's never been put in? You have to put it in. And then the Holy Spirit of God in this marvelous grace will come out. And he will apply it. And that's the only way we're going to run the race. That's the only way we're going to accomplish that which the Lord has sent us forth to come. Whether it be a housemaker, a homemaker, in the office, on the platform, on the street corner. And let's mention there, those things are not the street corner, as our brother said last night. That's where I got my beginning to. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, down at the foot of the stairs, we gathered up in an upper room there, a lantern room, and downstairs by the door was an alehouse. But you know there were men and women saved in front of that ale. as week after week, the gospel is preached. Is it a favorite place to be? No. It's hard to get that street corner now. We can't get it in Miami. It won't get it here. The Lord's calling me. But oh, to preach the unsexual riches of Christ. And we're better than the street of dying and dead in sin. What a privilege. And when we do it, it's not the surroundings. But it's the mighty Word of God, propelled by the mighty Spirit of God, into the prepared heart by the Spirit of God, that brings you results for the glory of God. For now, in eternity. But, beloved, we are only going to know, as we yield ourselves, in what? My sheep hear my voice, and they know my voice. And they followed him. How did he speak to us? Through his word. Through his word. Do we hear his voice? Do we know the shepherd? Or all he had to say was, Mary. Mary! She didn't get along for a while. He looked at her. He said, Mary. And she knew the shepherd's voice. Master. Do we have to master? There's the Lord. the shepherd. The shepherd needs the sheep. The sheep follow the shepherd. Very quickly and I've got to get done here. Two or three minutes. Now David here speaks, as he said, as the sheep, not the shepherd. The shepherd can't. He puts himself in the place of the sheep. Now the portion of the life of a sheep depends totally on the And we'll try to get into that in a future session. You know, there are millions and millions of stars, and we're all aware of that. And we have radio telescopes today that can see little teeny dots on Mars. But you know, if, and out beyond that, a star is so much bigger than the stars and our little teeny stars. But if we took, they tell us if we took the best radio telescope we got, and we put it on the nearest star out there, we couldn't even see our little earth. And yet God saw in the world that He might be Sheppard. Sheppard loves Sheppard. Does it not awaken our hearts and our appreciation of the absolute grace of God, not only to cause, to be brought by the Father, given to the Son. And the Son says, I'll present it to the Father, complete me myself. But he says, I send you forth this sheep among the world. He says, go into all the world and gossip the gospel. What a commission. Talk of our commission. Admiral? Who's an Admiral? Pfeisar General? Who's a Pfeisar General? President? Who's a President? Beloved, we're the call of God. We're the call of God to go out and expound the glory and the grace and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, our Lord is my shepherd. He goes before us. He doesn't send us out. by ourselves. He goes before us all the way. Just recently down in Miami, one of the professors over at the School of Marine Biology at the University of Miami discovered that in a spoonful of sand on the beaches of Florida, there are thousands and thousands of little amoebasical, in one spoonful of sand. They're amazing. Now, if I was God, he's so concerned about this little globe of iron that he put these little animals, these little insects or whatever, I've got to be careful. I'm going to mention all of them right now. But they're living things. In a spoonful of sand. on the ocean shoreline.