The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 Beloved, as I write I am in the UK, the mission field our Lord has called me thereunto. I am on the front end of a preaching circuit throughout England and Wales. The more our Lord reveals unto to me personally, my thankfulness for Him greatly increases. I was called to preach at the age of 24 and thus surrendered to do so in whatever capacity He chose. Never in a lifetime would I have thought that calling would carry me into the Pastorate, throughout the world and now as a missionary to the United Kingdom.
Outside of last week’s edition on mothers, the two weeks prior we have discussed a great amount about the LORD, as our Shepherd and His attributes concerning the flock of God. This week, I thought it important to spend a little time discussing the sheep of the Great Shepherd. The Psalmist said: 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. (Psalms 100:3). Friend, people are like sheep and the church is likened unto a flock. The Lord has given the local church a pastor as a shepherd, to lead and guide the sheep.
Understand that sheep are Wayward Animals. Have you ever seen a trained sheep or a circus act full of dancing sheep? Peter wrote: For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. (I Peter 2:25). Sheep have a tendency to get lost as they wander around with their head down eating.
As a result of the waywardness of sheep, the Lord (Chief Shepherd) has given us a sheepfold (local church). Iinside the sheepfold we must have a (local) shepherd, the pastor. I feel sorry and pity for poor souls who feel they have no need of a shepherd, much-less a sheepfold. Many will say they love the ‘Chief Shepherd’ but they are in no need of a local shepherd. Wayward souls are they, grazing in fields of the unknown, without protection and guidance. Solomon said: Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14).
Sheep are also Weak, now is not the time to get offended thinking that I am calling you weak as a person, it is the characteristic the Lord attributed to His people. Think about it in theses terms; sheep have no way to protect themselves and the Bible says in Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Now that is a referenced prophecy of Christ, and God used an illustration of sheep to show that Christ defended not Himself, but willing laid down His own life. The reality is we are no match for the world and especially not the god of this world. Why? Because we are weak; Jesus Christ said of his disciples struggling against the flesh: KJV - “...the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak.”(Matthew 26:41). It is not a criticism to referred or likened unto sheep, it is a fact. Yet even though we are no match for the world and it’s god, we know the One that is: Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (I John 4.4).
Even though sheep are wayward and weak there is Worthiness in their existence. Sheep possess wool which provides clothing and material, milk for nourishment, lambs for the field and meat for the body. Despite being weak and wayward God loves them for their worthiness.
Now because we are wayward, weak but also worthy unto God we must be protected. Sheep are protected in a sheepfold, unto us as the LORD’s sheep the church is our sheepfold. The LORD so loves the sheep that He placed them together in a church, a flock purposed to protect and provide for them. As sheep we are given a sheepfold and a shepherd to be together. Sheep were never intended to go out on their own. One simple rule in ministry that successful businesses across the globe employ, is to know ‘none of us are as strong as all of us’.
There is the Chief Shepherd over the flock of God, who is Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5). It is imperative that the flock of God congregate, for not only is there safety in numbers, but security and strength as well.
I know men that have tried it alone, they became an island within a sea of loneliness. It is one thing to stand strong on Biblical convictions, it is another to stand stubbornly in isolation. It is then when thieves come to steal, wolves to slay, and lions devour the flock.
Brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, He did so to reconcile us unto the Father. He referred to Himself as ‘the Truth’, and the local church (sheepfold) is called the ‘pillar and ground of the truth’ (I Timothy 3.15). Enjoy the fold, feed in fold and get full in the fold...for the field is where we as sheep flourish in providing nourishment and clothing to a lost a dying world by simply sharing what great things our Shepherd did for us! The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
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