Isaiah 40:11 (KJV) {The Lord} shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Audio of Sermon 8:30 am 

Full Service 11 am 

Shepherds – those who care for sheep – have an important place in the Word of God.

• Abel was a keeper of sheep (Genesis 4:2). The Bible tells us:

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV) BY FAITH Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Cain sacrificed a lamb without spot or blemish, trusting in God his Savior, believing that what God decreed was truth, and honoring his Heavenly Father. The sacrifice of the WICKED is an abomination unto the Lord … but God loves the one who follows Him in righteousness (Proverbs 15:8-9). Abel the Shepherd offered a faithful gift to his Creator, and he himself lost his life when wicked Cain killed him (1 John 3:12).

• When God called to Moses from the burning bush he was a keep of the sheep, guarding the flocks of his father in law Jethro (Exodus 3:1). It was in the solitude and dedication of the shepherd that God called out to Moses:

Exodus 3:10 (NKJV) Come now {Moses}, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

God had Moses trade Jethro’s sheep for HIS sheep. Psalm 95:7 (NKJV) He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.

God loves His people!

• One of the most known shepherds in the Bible is the one who would be King of Israel, David. Like Moses God would lead David out of the sheep’s flock and would have him oversee HIS sheep, HIS Beloved Israel.

The Greatest Shepherd Of All Is God The Son

Isaiah 40:11 (KJV) {The Lord} shall feed his flock like a shepherd …

The greatest event in human history was when God became man and dwelt among us:

John 1:14 (NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ was born of Mary, the Son of God, the Holy Child brought forth of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). It was to shepherds watching their flocks by night that God first announced the first Coming of Christ (Luke 2:8). This is only fitting as God is the Shepherd of His people, and Jesus Christ is that manifest Shepherd.

The Shepherd must lower himself to feed his flock, and God lowered Himself to be our Shepherd. The Shepherd must smell like sheep. He must be in the field with His flock. He must watch over the sheep in His care. God loves His people, and lowered Himself from Heaven to earth to save us. We are of the dust, but God is of light and truth. We are mortal, but He is immortal, eternal, higher than the Heavens. Jesus is:

Hebrews 7:26 (NKJV) holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens …

For our sakes God the Son became the son of man. He did this because:

Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

We have all been born into this life wandering from God. But God became man so that He could bring us back to Him. Jesus said:

Luke 19:10 (NKJV) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

How did this Great Shepherd God save us?

• God the Son became the DOOR of the Sheep. In ancient times the shepherd would lead his flock to a secluded and safe pasture. Once he had the sheep in that place the shepherd would block the access to the field with his own body. He would literally become a DOOR. Jesus Christ said:

John 10:2-5, 7-9 (NKJV) But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. … 7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

Jesus Christ is the door of the sheep. He is God the Savior of His people. All others are robbers and thieves. Who are these others? Joseph Smith. Taz Russel. Mohammed. Buddha. The Hindu gods. These and all other false gods who are not Christ are but shams that rob you of eternal life.

Isaiah 40:11 (KJV) {The Lord} shall feed his flock like a shepherd …

Only God the Son shall feed His flock like a Shepherd. Jesus said “If ANYONE enters by ME, he WILL BE SAVED, and will go out and FIND PASTURE”. Christ is the door. He stands between us and life eternal, between us and Heaven. When Jesus Christ first came He came to save the weak, the fallen, the broken, the sinners aware that they were sinners. Pastor Jonathan Parnell wrote:

“Christianity is summed up in these words: Jesus came to seek and save the lost. If we were asked to describe in a sentence the heart of the gospel, there it is. There is no other news like this. Every other religion says it backwards. Every other religion tells us to seek. We are advised to climb trees like Zacchaeus, to depend upon our own exertion for any hope of ascending to the divine. We are told to bridge the gulf by our effort. If you want salvation, they say, then seek it. In a sense, that is the world — we live in a planet full of seekers. We are, in one way or another, tree-climbers, maneuvering ourselves to gain some advantage, to achieve some perspective, to find personal peace. And then Jesus comes. We are lost in our own seeking until Jesus comes and says to us, “Hurry and come down” (Luke 19:5). Stop your searching. Stop trying to save yourself. I have come to seek and save the lost.”

Luke 5:31-32 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

Jesus stands alone as the Door of the Sheep. There is no other Door to salvation. Good intentions will not save. Good works will not save. But Christ will save. When we come to Him and Him alone Christ declares:

John 6:37 … him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.

None will be cast out. God is a Shepherd to His people – and any who come by faith can be His people. God is not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Whosoever will believe on Jesus shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

• God The Son laid His life down for His Sheep.

Jesus said in:

John 10:11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Jesus gave His life for His sheep. He laid His life down on Calvary for us. The Scripture tells us that …

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV) Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

The Good Shepherd took our sins on Himself. We not only wandered from God, but by our sins we brought eternal offense to our Creator. The wages of sin is always death (Romans 6:23), and we all merit death and eternal separation from God.

We deserve, dear ones, to go to hell.
We deserve, each of us, the eternal flame of separation.

Yet God the Son was not satisfied with our damnation. Like a Good Shepherd He came and put Himself in harm’s way for us. The sins that we should have paid for were poured out on Him and judged.

Isaiah 53:7-8 (NKJV) He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; FOR THE TRANSGRESSIONS OF MY PEOPLE HE WAS STRICKEN.

The Good Shepherd gave His life for us. Oh happy day when Christ came, and by His Blood carried my sins far away! Oh great provision of God, the Shepherd became Lamb of God. Eternal God became sinless Man. Shepherd to Lamb, God to Man, the Scripture declares:

Hebrews 10:12, 14 But this {perfect and sinless} Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, … 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

The ONE OFFERING of Christ on Calvary paid for our sins. It was not the prayers of Mary that saves us, nor the efforts imposed by man made priests from a confessional, but what Jesus did. His act was singularly the salvation of whosoever believes in Him. Blessed be the Name of God.

Christ died on Calvary, but death did not defeat Him. He died, but raised from the grave. He said:

John 10:17-18 (NKJV) Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I HAVE POWER TO LAY IT DOWN, AND I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT AGAIN. This command I have received from My Father.

The Good Shepherd Provides For HIS Sheep

Isaiah 40:11 (KJV) {The Lord} shall feed his flock like a shepherd …

God the Son provides for His people. The text does not say “He shall feed the goats”, or “He shall feed the wolves”, not even “He shall feed the sheep”. There are sheep who follow after others. There are sheep who chase after Mammon, after Pleasure, after Narcissism, after the things of this world. But what does the text say? The Lord shall feed HIS FLOCK – those whom HE HAS POSSESSED – like a Shepherd.

God the Son provides for His own because He is able. God the Father said to God the Son:

Hebrews 1:8 (NKJV) .. to the Son {the Father} says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

God is our Shepherd. There is nothing that God cannot do. Our text tells us:

Isaiah 40:10 (KJV)  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Adonai Yahweh – the Eternal God – WILL COME with a STRONG HAND and HIS ARM shall rule for Him. There is nothing that God cannot do – and God our Shepherd will provide our needs. If we are born of His Blood, redeemed by Calvary, saved by Grace and faith in Him, He will not fail us. He our Savior is the God Who:

Isaiah 40:12 (KJV)  Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

“Measured the waters in the hollow of His hand”. No one on the face of this earth knows exactly how much water is on this earth – but GOD KNOWS. He measured ALL THE WATERS in the PALM OF HIS HAND. If He can measure and did measure all the water in the palm of but ONE HAND, do you not think that God can provide for YOU?

“He meted our Heaven with a span”. God said “Let there be light” and there was light. He spoke the worlds into existence:

Psalm 33:6-7 (NKJV) By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses.

This is the Lord Who saved us. He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd. God sustains us, providing for our physical needs. King David wrote:

Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Many find themselves in tough times, struggling, barely making ends meet. I ask you – WHAT is YOUR FOCUS? Are your eyes on the Good Shepherd? Are you following Him not just now in this Church building, but when you leave this place? The Lord is our Shepherd, and if He is our Shepherd then He cares for us. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalms 23:1-2 … The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. {2} He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

If you are a believer and are hungry, then it’s because you have turned away from His pastures. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures” but we need to be following Him if we want provision. Like the Prodigal son we can wander far from God by sin. We can leave the Christ and His provision and find ourselves in want. Jesus told us:

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Luke 12:32 (NKJV) Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

As we follow Him He provides our needs. Our Lord loves to care for His own. We are told:

Isaiah 40:11 …. He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, .…

There are times that we are saved, in fellowship with Him, but forget that He is our Daily Savior. Sometimes we wander away from Him not by sin but by self sufficiency, thinking that “I am able to handle this”. Oh Beloved, this is not where our strength lies. Our strength lies in our weakness. “He shall gather THE LAMBS with His arm”. One of the greatest Apostles of the Church Age was the Apostle Paul. It is said that:

Acts 19:12 (ESV) … even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Then one day sickness came to Paul. We do not know what this sickness was, but we do know that:

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 … Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When God gathers the lambs in His arm He does so because they are not struggling AGAINST Him, but instead are leaning INTO Him. God provides for His sheep, His little lambs, those who will rest in Him, in His arms. The safest place to be is nestled in the arms of the Good Shepherd, resting in His provision, trusting in His Presence. We listen to His Word knowing that:

Matthew 4:4 … Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

God the Son purchased us at a great price. He will not abandon the ones He loves. He will come to us to provide for us. I have but one question to ask before I close.

Will You Be Of His Flock?

Isaiah 40:11 (KJV) {The Lord} SHALL FEED his flock like a shepherd: he SHALL GATHER the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and SHALL GENTLY LEAD those that are with young.

The Lord has promised to FEED His flock.

He SHALL FEED His flock.

The Lord has promised to EMBRACE His lambs.

He SHALL GATHER the lambs.

The Lord has promised to GENTLY LEAD us.

He shall GENTLY LEAD those with young.

If you are of His flock you will come to Him. You will hear His voice:

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

You do not need to clean yourself up to come to the Shepherd, but you do need to walk away from where you are spiritually to where He is. Turn away from this present evil world and run into His arms. WHEN we come to Jesus in faith, believing Him to be both Lord and Savior, THEN He gives us rest. Come weak, come thirsty, come wanting and come needing. But COME to Jesus! Come and be a part of His flock.

Come thirsty.

John 7:37-38 …. If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. {38} He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Here is your responsibility. Do you thirst? Recognize it, and come to Jesus. Drink of His love and of His willing sacrifice. Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Come to the Good Shepherd, the Door of the sheep. Do not take the broad paths of the world, but the narrow road to Him Who loves you (Matthew 7:13-16).

He is the Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20)

And He calls to you today. Come! Come! Come! Rest in His arms. Know He is present with you. Does He know you as His? Do you know Him as yours?

2 Timothy 2:19 … The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

May Christ lead you to His side this very day! Blessed be His Name!