So we're in Psalm 100, and we'll read the psalm together. It's a psalm of praise, and so let's hear God's word. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people. and the sheep of his pasture enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and bless his name for the lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations amen we conclude our reading at the end of the verse number five There are some series of messages that have commenced and admittedly not completed as the minister of this congregation. The prayers of the Apostle Paul are one such example. Now, I think I looked at quite a number of them, but I didn't complete that series of messages. And then over the last year, over a 24-week period, we considered Together in our family worship services, some of the names and the titles ascribe to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God. That series of messages I don't intend to return to because if I did we would be there for a number of years. I worked out that we have dealt with just 10% of the names that are ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ in the whole of scripture. I say that because I purchased a book about the wonderful names of Jesus Christ, and there was a name every day, 365 days. It was a little devotional book. Now, we only did 24, and I'm not going to continue in that particular I'm aware that our ponderings in the book of Psalms, we've only reached Psalm number 37, and that series I do plan to return to. But I believe that the Lord would have me to continue just for a number of more weeks, few more weeks on our Bible studies here on Christian identity. Now if you haven't been with us at our Wednesday night prayer meetings, in this series of messages we've been considering together how we are deemed or how we are looked upon by God in the Holy Scriptures. We began with the foundational truth that we are those who are united to Jesus Christ. And then from that, our Bible studies, they brought us to other ways in which the believer is designated by God. That we are justified, that we're a child of God, that we are a chosen, a royal, a holy, a peculiar people, that we're pilgrims and strangers in the world. that we are a laborer and that we are a new creature. Well, this evening we want to consider ourselves under the designation of sheep, under the designation of sheep. Now, there are many passages of Scripture that we could turn to, and this is one such passage. In this Psalm of praise, Psalm 100, we read there in the verse number three, Know ye that the Lord, he is God, and is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep. of his pasture. In John 10 verse 27, the Lord Jesus Christ says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 1 Peter chapter 2, 25, For ye were a sheep going astray, but now are returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. And so God's people are designated by God as being his sheep. That's who we are. This is how we are described in Holy Scripture. And there are a few things, a few notable things that we want to think about. A few notable things about sheep as animals that I believe are instructive to us as we consider ourselves as the sheep of God's pasture. Can I say, first of all, that sheep are communal animals. They are communal animals unlike bears and tigers and snakes and red pandas and owls and foxes animals that for the most part like to live and also hunt alone sheep are communal animals unless it is strayed off from on its own for the most part you'll find sheep along with other sheep they make up a flock you don't find really individual sheep grazing in the field alone unless they have broken into that field and got through a fence or a hole in the hedge. You'll often find sheep and you on most occasions you find sheep along with other sheep and many times in scripture we find that God's people are described like a flock. Those words that Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders that they were to watch and oversee the flock of God over which Christ had made them the overseers. Acts chapter 20 verse 28. We think of the words of Christ there in Luke 12 verse 32. Fear not, little flock, for it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And then in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 2 and 3, Peter again exhorting the elders with regard to their responsibilities over the flock Now while there are times in our lives when we have to walk a lonely pathway, there are times when we have to leave fellow Christians behind, whether that's when we go into our place of education or into our place of employment, God has provided for us His flock to help us and to support us in our Christian lives, to isolate ourselves from other members of the flock. was never God's intention for us as the family of God. We are not designed to be isolationists, but rather we are created to be communal beings, living and worshipping and serving together within the flock of God. You see sheep have this tendency to congregate close to other members of the flock. In fact what happens whenever they don't do that is that a sheep will often become stressed. when it's separated from the other flock members. And really the reason for this congregating together is often for the purpose of protection. Sheep realize that there is safety in numbers. There's safety in numbers. If one becomes isolated from another, Well then that particular sheep becomes more vulnerable to predators. And thus sheep they flock together depending on each other for protection. And that is the case whenever we think about the family of God or the flock of God. God intended His people to congregate and to come together. In Acts chapter 2. The verses number 42 down to the verse 46, we see the new converts on the day of Pentecost. We don't find them as they did that, we don't find these Christians, these new Christians living in solitary confinement. But rather we see them flocking together, gathering together, congregating together for the purpose of helping and encouraging each other. In verse number 42 of Acts chapter 2 we read, And all that believed were together. and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking of bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." And so we have a pattern set out a principle set out here in scripture, the gathering of the people of God together. Because in that they find protection from spiritual coldness, from spiritual backsliding, from spiritual indifference and spiritual carelessness. How glad I am whenever in my own Christian experience, whenever I find myself growing cold, that there was some brother or some sister who came along and encouraged me in the Lord, helped me along my Christian life, drew alongside, maybe came with counsel, maybe at times it would have been cutting, but thank God for such people. When we are aware of the cohesion that is to exist within the flock of God, then I believe that that will enable us and that will help us and that will affect how we treat and how we speak and how we interact with others who belong to the flock and to the body of Christ. We must be careful that we do not inflict injury on another member of Christ's flock. For such injury will only have a detrimental impact upon the overall testimony and well-being of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so sheep are communal animals, and we are to be communal animals. We are to come together, we are to worship together, we are to serve together, we are to pray together. This is what the flock of God does. Secondly, sheep are clean animals. Unlike a pig who wallows in the mire and dirt and is quite happy to do so, a sheep will very quickly do all that it can in order to remove itself from that which would soil it, that which would stain it, and that which would mar its The sheep will try to evade and to avoid all that would cause it to become soiled and marred and stained. And as saints of God, as Christ's sheep, we should have no desire to wallow in the dirt and the muck of sin. That's not to say that the Christian will not fall and stumble in their Christian lives. That's not to say that there are not times that we do things that are displeasing and even dishonoring to the Lord. But it does mean that Christ's sheep will not remain in their sin. but rather they will seek to be extracted from their sin. They will seek to be cleansed from their sin, and they will seek to experience the soul-restoring ministry of the great, of the good, and of the chief shepherd. You see, sheep were ceremonial clean animals. clean animals. Leviticus 11 verses 1 through to 8 speaks about those particular animals that were ceremonially clean. And this means that these animals were accepted by God. When they were offered to God, God accepted them as a worthy sacrifice, as an acceptable sacrifice, for they were ceremonially clean. Now no human being in their sin is found in such an acceptable state before God, and yet the believer, the Christian is. And that's really down to the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to us. We are described as those who are accepted in the beloved and that's all due to what Christ has done for us in the gospel and so those of us who become partakers of the divine nature those of us who have been given a new nature we are to avoid all things that would defile us how we need to take to heart How we need to be reminded at times of the words of 2 Timothy 2 verse 19. Christ's sheep ought to keep themselves as far from that which would defile them. And I believe that whenever we keep that in our minds, that will govern what we view, what we listen to, where we go, what we partake in, and who we associate with. God's sheep are to be claimed. Something else about God's sheep, God's sheep or the sheep are calm. They are calm animals. I read this comment from J.C. Ryle. He said this, God's children, his believing people, are compared to sheep because they are gentle, quiet, harmless, and inoffensive. Because they are useful and do good to all around them. Because they love to be together and dislike separation. And because they are very helpless and wandering and liable. They are a calm animal. I wonder, do these things mark our lives? Are we gentle? Are we quiet? Are we harmless? Are we inoffensive Christians? Do we conduct ourselves within the flock of God, within the family of God, in such a way giving no offence to others? Or are we those who love rancour? And do we like to create havoc? Are we calm? Sheep are calm animals. But there's something else about sheep. Sheep are careless animals. And how true that is. What a picture that is of us. At times, we can become very careless. In their foolishness and in, I suppose, even their stupidity, a sheep will wander away from the flock. But more importantly, not only wander away from the flock, but more importantly, wander away from the shepherd. And what we find is that sheep, when they do that, seldom can ever find their way back of their own accord. Such is presented to us in the parable of shepherd or the lost sheep there in Luke chapter 15. It was a shepherd who sought after the lost sheep and not the other way around. And such is our character and such is our situation at times. We're prone, we're prone to stray, we're prone to wander from our What sheep need is a shepherd. And such a shepherd is found, thankfully, in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Son of God, He spoke about His role as a shepherd in john's gospel in the chapter number 10 and in that chapter we find that we find that god marks puts two marks upon his sheep and all of his sheep are marked in the same way now i have some sheep farmers in front of me so i'll stand corrected at the door and i'll not worry about that i'll be more than happy to be corrected but i believe that A shepherd will mark his sheep in two ways. They're called smit and log marks. Smit and log marks. And they help to identify the sheep off the earthly shepherd. The smit mark is really a daub of paint that's put on the hunch or on the shoulder of the sheep to mark it out from others. And then the log mark, well, that's simply a little tag, microchip tag. 14 digits, I believe, the farmstead's official number placed onto that tag and then put into the sheep's ear. And so an earthly shepherd has a way to mark his sheep, and our heavenly shepherd has a way in which he marks his sheep, because every one of Christ's sheep is marked in their ear. They're marked in their ears. John chapter 10, if you want to turn there, we'll be here. A few minutes, John chapter 10, a few verses to give you, to show you that's how we are marked in the year. John chapter 10 verse 3, we're speaking of the shepherd. John writes, to him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name. and leadeth them out. Verse number four, when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Verse five, and the stranger will they not follow, but flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. Verse number 16, and other sheep have I, which are not of this fold, them also I Christ's sheep hear Christ's voice. What really is meant by listening to God's voice is simply that we humbly listen to His teaching. We take His Word as our guide and rule in life. You know, there are many people who hear God's voice, but they really fail to follow through on what they hear. Mr. Spurgeon, he made this observation as a preacher. He says, O children of God, some of you do not always listen to Christ's voice in the preaching. While we comment on the word, you make your comments on us. Our style, or our tone, or even our gesture is enough to absorb, I might rather say, to distract your thoughts. Why look ye so earnestly on us? I beseech you, give less heed to the livery or to the dress of the servant, and give more care to the message of the master. The church, I suppose, looked down into his congregation and saw people who weren't listening to him preaching, and so he called them out for it, and he called them out even from the pulpit. I wonder, do you hear God's voice? Whenever you came to this meeting tonight, did you ask the Lord to minister to your heart? that He would speak to you as one of His sheep? And is your ear open to His voice? Or is it the case that, well, you either go off to sleep, or you flick through your Bible, or you don't even open the Word of God as the Word of God is being preached? You see, this is the mark, this is the peculiar mark of those who are Christ's peculiar people. They hear his voice. All to be like young Samuel. In all of his infancy, in all of his youth, Samuel, when he came to the house of God, the lad said, Speak, for thy servant heareth. May God bring us to the place where our ears are in tune, to the shepherd's voice. May God speak to you every day in your own quiet time, and may he speak to you as you come to hear God's word. Brethren, sisters, I try my best to feed the flock of God. I do it to the best of the ability that God has given me, and I try to feed you, and I trust that you hear his voice. in his word. I trust that you're fed. I trust that you do not go home hungry. I try to the best of my ability, but I desire that you would only hear his voice, the shepherd's voice, no voice like his, his tender voice, his loving voice. Ah, yes, at times a voice that carries its rebuke, carries its chastening, but always spoken in love, from a heart of love. And so the sheep, they're marked in their ear, but they're also marked in their feet. They've been marked in their feet. John 10 verse 27, Notice that Christ's sheep, they're not driven from behind by Christ the shepherd, but rather they follow after him as he goes before them. Christ's sheep, They walk a narrow path. It's rough at times. Many times the path is uphill. But the wonderful thing is that the shepherd is going before. The shepherd goes before. We tread the road that he himself has already trodden. And so Christ follow after him as their example as they follow in his footsteps. I wonder do our feet, do they stand in the footprints of the one whose feet were kneeled through and pierced through with nails? Do we walk the road that he walked in this world? We cannot claim to be Christ's sheep if we're not following after him. Well let us search our hearts then and ask ourselves the question, Do I have the earmark? Do I hear His voice? And have I the footmark? Am I following after the Savior? Do I hear the shepherd's voice? Am I closely following after Him? You know, as sheep we belong to the shepherd. We are his possession. John chapter 10 verses 14, 26, and 27, in each of those verses Christ refers to My sheep. They're My sheep. They're His. And how are they His? They are His by promise, or we could say they are His by covenant. And they are also His by purchase. Or we could say they're His by blood. His by promise and purchase. His by covenant and by blood. We are His. You are one of Christ's sheep. You may say, well, I'm weak. I'm always struggling in my Christian life. You may say I stumble and I fall on a regular basis. But can I say that you are one of his sheep, and your shepherd loves you deeply. He gave his life for his sheep, and that means he gave his life for you. He gave his life for you on the cross, and he shed his blood in order that he might purchase you and make you a member of his flock. And so we are his sheep. But on the other side, the flip side, thank God we can say, He's my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. We have come to place our faith in the one, the shepherd who laid down his life for us on the cross. And what can we say about this shepherd? Well, we need not say anything about the shepherd. than what the Bible, the word of God has said about the shepherd, because there are three designations given to the shepherd, our shepherd. Three unique designations, titles that are given to the Lord Jesus Christ as the shepherd of his people, and with these we finish. He has spoken of, first of all, as the good shepherd. And as a good shepherd, we're told that he died for the sheep. John 10 verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now in the Old Testament economy, the sheep died for the shepherd. You say, well, where do you get that? Well, all shepherds were sinners. And you remember that in the Old Testament economy, the way by which approach to God was made was by sacrifice. And often that sacrifice would be through a lamb or through the sheep. And so the sheep died for the shepherd. As lambs they were brought to the temple as sin offerings and burnt offerings to God for the one who had transgressed God's law. But in the New Testament economy, rather than the sheep dying for the shepherd, the shepherd died for the sheep. By his death he purchased us to be his people and to be His sheep. You know, the price of our purchase ought to be something that we meditate upon every day. We should consider it on a regular basis. And as we meditate upon the price paid for our redemption, it should be the motivation for all that we say and do in our Christian life. High was the cost of our redemption and we should never forget that. The Good Shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He's also spoken of in Hebrews chapter 13 as the great shepherd. Hebrews 13, 20 and 21. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do as well working in you that which is well pleasing in the sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory Forever and ever, amen. Now as the good shepherd, Christ died for his sheep to purchase them, as the great shepherd, Christ lives for his sheep to perfect them. That statement in Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13, make you perfect. That word in verse 21, make you perfect, it's one single word in the Greek. And that word would have been very familiar to the Greek speakers of the day. To the soldiers who heard that statement or that word, make you perfect, that word meant to equip an army for battle. To a sailor sitting in the congregation, that same word would have meant to fit out a ship for voyage. And to the doctor who was in the congregation, that same Greek word would have meant to set a broken bone. or to adjust a limb. And then to those fishermen who would have been sitting in the congregation who heard this word, make you perfect, it would have meant to them to mend their nets. And these various meanings, they help us to understand what the great shepherd wants to do in the lives of his people as he perfects us. What does he want to do? He wants us to equip us, he wants to equip us for life's battles. And He wants to prepare us for life's stormy seas. Not only that, but He wants to restore us into a state of usefulness in the work of God whenever we stumble and we fall by healing us and repairing us when we find ourselves in a backslidden state. You know, child of God, the wonderful thing about the Great Shepherd is this. He doesn't call. his erring sheep, but rather he cares for his erring sheep, and he seeks to restore them, and he seeks to recommission them. He restoreth my soul. He doesn't call his sheep, but rather he seeks their repentance. and he seeks to care for them. And so he is the good shepherd. Yes, the good shepherd. And he is the great shepherd. And then he has spoken off as the chief shepherd. The good shepherd, he dies for his sheep to purchase them. The great shepherd lives for his sheep to perfect them. The chief shepherd is going to return for his sheep to promote them. 1 Peter 5, verse 4, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, You shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. You know, it's very interesting to note that our promotion to glory will not see to any change in our relationship to the shepherd. We'll always be his sheep. I say that because in Revelation 7 verse 17 we read, Now this is speaking of the saints in glory. And is that not the case? Whenever we think of this one acting as a shepherd, our Savior in glory, the glorified Christ, that He's going to shepherd them because He's going to lead them onto fountains of living waters. Because Psalm 23 says, He leadeth me beside the still waters. And so Christ will continue to shepherd His sheep even whenever we're gathered into heaven's safe and everlasting throne. He'll always be our shepherd. and we will always be his sheep. As Christ's sheep, then let us follow after our good and our great and the chief shepherd until we find ourselves shut in to heaven's eternal fold. And let us feed in the pastures to which he leads us, and let us lie down beside the still waters to which he conveys us. You know, all of Christ's sheep are able to say this about their shepherd and about the care of their shepherd, I shall not want. There is no want for Christ's sheep. He is our shepherd. Yes, at times he must reprove us, he must chasten us. There are other times that he will lift us on his shoulders. We find ourselves so exhausted in our Christian experience that he comes and he lifts us and places us on his shoulders. But may we follow after the lamb, may we follow after our shepherd, and may our feet find ourselves or find themselves being placed in the footprints of the foot that was nailed to the old rugged cross. The Lord is my shepherd. We are His people, and we are the sheep of His pasture. May God bless this flock, and may God bless you as one of His sheep, and may we represent our shepherd well wherever we go, and we will then be identified by the world. They are one of Christ's. They are one of His sheep, marked in ear and in foot. hearing the shepherd's voice, walking after the great chief and good shepherd. May the Lord bless this consideration and this thought to our hearts even tonight. For Christ's sake, amen. Let's just briefly pray. Father in heaven, we thank thee, O God, that thou art the shepherd of thy people. Lord, shepherd us, we pray. Lord, keep us from strain. Keep us from wandering from thy fold. Keep us under thy watchful eye. Guard and keep us, Lord. Protect us from the enemy, the lion and the bear. We rejoice, dear God, that we have one who defends thy sheep, the one who defends thy people. Help us, Lord, we pray, and bless us as we consider thy word. As we get to prayer, we pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.