Thanks again, Colin, and lovely to be back with you for the next couple of Sundays today and next week, and we're going to look at this great chapter of Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34, let's read the first 11 verses, but of course we'll comment from the chapter I thought I would have got it all done today, but we'll look at this chapter over two weeks. Ezekiel chapter 34, we'll read the first 11 verses. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool. Ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered because there is no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high 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, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field. Because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock. But the shepherds fed themselves and fed not my flock. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. So this is a great chapter. Please take time and read it between now and next week. And as chapter 33 which outlined the duties of the watchman. So I feel that this chapter would be suitable for the likes of a pastor's induction because he has been introduced to a congregation. He has been introduced to a flock as their under-shepherd. So there's quite a number of points here that we're going to just go down this chapter. And you can see, first of all, that we have selfish shepherds. These shepherds were the kings and the priests and the prophets of the people. They were civil and religious leaders There was church and state, if you like. There was the secular, and there was the religious. And God put all these positions in place to look after each other. As one has said, God has established different spheres in creation, the family, the church, and the state, each having its own authority, structure, and responsibilities. You can see that in the likes of Romans chapter 13, verses 1 to 5, verses we know well, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are the powers. The powers that be, we would talk about the powers that be, are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake." And such a person who's doing their job properly is a shepherd, looking after the people of the land. And these really, the first three verses, are self-explanatory. They're those who are greedy for gain. And we know that even today, this goes on in different countries of the world. There are those who look after themselves in their positions of power, but neglect the people. Over 30 years ago, look at the country of Romania, for example, when communism fell on that land. Mr. and Mrs. Ceaușescu, who were then executed. Was it around Boxing Day 1990, 1991? But look at the wealth that they had. And yet the people were suffering in the land. And to this day, after 30 years, the floodgates of Romania just opened for people to pour in their ministries and their aid. And I've known several who have been to Romania and who have been out many times because the need is that great. That's just one example. Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed their flocks. And of course, these shepherds were mostly the kings. of Israel. Douglas Stewart points out of the 39 kings that made up Israel and Judah, 42, if you count Saul and David, Solomon. But from Rehoboam, The kings that were in power from 933 to 586 BC. Of all those kings, only David, Hezekiah, and Josiah were solidly, consistently loyal to God and their leadership of the nation and looked after the people. Eight or nine of the other ones did some good. Well, he says, while the majority were rascals. They fed themselves. They looked after themselves and their own families. So we see selfish shepherds. And that results in verses 3 and 4 with starved sheep. You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost, but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. You cannot help but see the church here, churches. They were starved sheep. They were starved of sustenance, of good food. You do not feed the flock. That was the charge that was brought against them. You do not feed the flock. And there's churches today who are meeting in this hour that we are meeting in, and they're not giving out the Word of God the way they should. There's a hunger. I'm sad to say there are those who don't even know they're hungry. They're going in, they're going through some kind of a service, and they're coming out, and that's them set up for the week. An unfed sheep will lead to weakness, will lead to ill health, even to death. But not only were they starved of sustenance, they were starved of pastoral care. In verse four, the weak you've not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken. nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost." And there seems to be five charges here. Now, of course, we're talking about people. We're not talking about literal sheep. We're talking about people. There's weak people here. There's hurting people. Congregations are full of people like this, weak people, hurting people. scarred people, nor bound up the broken, straying people what was driven away, lost people nor sought what was lost. And churches are full of people like this. And as the Word of God is proclaimed, it's meant to help people like this. The shepherd should be aware that there's such people in the congregation, such a mixture of people. Weak people, hurting people, scarred people, strained people, lost people. After the Lord Jesus rose again from the dead, he met his disciples on the shores of Galilee, he recovered Peter after Peter had denied him. It's interesting, these lovely verses in John chapter 21, that Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times, and yet Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me, Peter? John 21 and 15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus had made them breakfast. Jesus had cooked fish on the beach. Jesus had made them breakfast. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? There's been some speculation to what these were. Do you love me more than these other disciples? Do you love me more than these fish? This was your occupation before I called you. This was your livelihood. This was your life. This is what you would be doing the rest of your life that you thought, just being a fisherman on Galilee. Do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. So Jesus made a distinction between lambs and sheep. Sheep that were more mature than the lambs. The lambs who were maybe young, of course in a congregation you'll have those who are mature in the faith, mature for many years, and other just recent converts who need to be fed the basics. who need to be given the milk of the word before progressing on to more solid food. J.C. Ryle says, when our Lord said, I believe he meant that Peter was to feed souls with the precious food of God's word, to supply them with that bread of life which a man must eat or die, and to watch carefully and diligently over their spiritual interests like a good shepherd watching his flock. Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. And we have to shepherd the church of God in God's way. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock. The shepherd has to look after himself as well. The shepherd has to feed his own soul. The shepherd has to take in in order to give out. And Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 1, 2, 4, the elders which are among you exhort, I who am a fellow elder. How could Peter have been the first pope? The Pope puts himself above people, doesn't he? And Peter is humble here. He says, you know, I'm just an elder the way you are. The elders who are among you, I exhort, I, who am a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. So when Jesus comes again, one of the ways in which we shall see him will be as a chief shepherd, as a shepherd coming to gather his flock from north, south, east, and west. So I'm sure that from those scriptures that Jesus, Paul, and Peter had this portion of Ezekiel in mind. So we see selfish shepherds, we see starved sheep, but we see also in verse 4 severe shepherds, but with force and cruelty. You have ruled them. And maybe you know these things, but I know that you receive evangelical times. I get it as well every month. And also evangelicals now, I get them both. And the cases over this past couple of years of shepherds guilty of abuse, spiritual abuse, physical abuse, and other forms of abuse. And here it says here, but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. People are left scarred for life at the way they've been treated by shepherds. You see, sheep are not led, or sheep are not driven. They're led. You drive cattle, but you lead sheep. And you lead them gently, And we know and we've heard the pastors slash elders slash shepherds under shepherds guilty of coercive control, mental abuse, spiritual abuse, maybe worse. Some years ago, there was a movement coined the shepherding movement. And I had family who were in fellowships, who were in this movement and the shepherds were telling them how much money to tithe and what to do with their money. Just controlling their lives seven days a week. Thank God they got out from underneath that. So we have this today even. There are shepherds with force and cruelty ruling the flocks. So selfish shepherds, starved sheep, severe shepherds, But with force and cruelty you have ruled them, and what is the result of that but scattered sheep? Verses five and six. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yes, my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. And you can see how vulnerable the sheep would have been in such a hostile environment, on the mountains, on every high hill, scattered over the face of the whole earth. The sheep were in danger. and no one was seeking or searching for them. Again, you can't help but think that Jesus had in mind this scripture when Matthew 9 and 35 says, Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Can you see him doing what the shepherds did not do? Do you see Jesus strengthening the weak, healing those who were sick, binding up the broken, bringing back that which is driven away and seeking for that which is lost? Can you see him doing that? But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. To send out shepherds. To send out shepherds. Jesus did what these leaders didn't. As C.H. Spurgeon says, on fed, on folded, on guarded, what will become of them? He is moved with compassion if we are not. The synagogues became his seminaries. Threefold was his ministry, expounding the old, proclaiming the new, healing the diseased. His was a medical mission as well as an evangelistic tour. Happy people who have Jesus among them. So we see selfish shepherds in this chapter and starved sheep, severe shepherds, scattered sheep, But we see in verses 11 and 12, the supreme shepherd, God himself. For thus says the Lord God, indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. He's the supreme shepherd. You may be under other shepherds, you may be being fed from this pulpit by different shepherds, but ultimately God is your shepherd. He will look after you. He will look after you. He ultimately gathers and cares for his flock. Indeed I myself, he says, I myself, and someone has said that this focused a brilliant spotlight on the Lord, and the false shepherds utterly faded from view. When these other shepherds were an utter failure, God himself is a great success. He will seek. He will deliver. And I've read that the Hebrew means that once he brings his sheep, that he checks them over, he examines them for injury and so on. You know the parable of the sower? The parable of the sower, the parable, or not the sower, the parable of the lost sheep. In Luke chapter 15 verse 4, the shepherd went looking in the wilderness for the one that was lost. But Matthew 18 verse 12 says that he went into the mountains. 99 sheep, one was lost. Now the shepherd could have said, look, I've got 99, it's only one. No, that shepherd made sure the 99 were safe and secure until he came back, and he wasn't coming back until he found that sheep that had strayed. It could have been far, far away. In the wilderness, the shepherd could have been away for days and nights. In the mountains, He wasn't coming home until he had found that lost sheep. And when he would have found that sheep, he would have examined that sheep to make sure it was all right, it didn't have any broken legs or any wounds of any kind. He would have carefully examined that sheep. put it on his shoulders and then brought it home and called all the people, rejoice with me for I have found that sheep that was lost. And that's what God does. He looks out for his sheep. He examines us when that sheep is restored. And you know something, it's not the first time where people have left the church because they were deeply hurt. And they don't go back to church again. Because they don't want to be hurt again. They don't want to experience the same thing, maybe worse. And it happens. And that's when the Lord looks after the sheep. And if there's any wounds and if there's any scars, The Lord can look after all that. And look what it says here too, on a cloudy and dark day. And that would have been Jerusalem's judgment day, on a cloudy and dark day. And you can picture such a day. There's no sunshine on a cloudy and dark day. The sun isn't shining. And maybe that's how you feel at times, living through a dark, living through a cloudy and dark day. But he's the supreme shepherd, and because he is, In verses 13 to 15, we stopped at verse 11, but in verses 13 to 15, you've satisfied sheep. and I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God." You know, you can see Psalm 23 here. And Ezekiel would have been aware of the Psalms. because David lived about 400 years before him. So I wonder how Ezekiel, the likes of Psalm 23 in mind, when he talks about good pasture and lying down and so on. Good pasture, lie down. Rich pasture, I will make them lie down. Psalm 23 and 2 says, He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Verse 16 says, I will seek what was lost. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick. but I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away. Jesus said in Luke 19 and 10, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Hungry sheep will be fed. Lost sheep will be found. Wounded sheep would be fixed. He will bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick. So, are you keeping up with me now? We have selfish shepherds starved sheep, severe shepherds, scattered sheep, the supreme shepherd, satisfied sheep. But you know, we have stubborn sheep. Verse 17 says, and as for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God, behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep. between rams and goats. I know the authorized version says cattle and cattle there. But I looked up the Reformation Heritage Study Bible. edited by Joel Beakey, and he says the Hebrew word refers to sheep or goats, and of course in this context it is sheep. So I will judge between sheep and sheep. Look at verses 20 to 22. Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, behold, I myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep, because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns and scattered them abroad. Therefore, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep. Now again, this is people. Stubborn sheep. And this is what can go on. I'm in a church. And maybe you've experienced this in the past. Certainly I have. But you know that there are shepherds that bully sheep. And sure we know that. That goes on. But there are sheep who can bully sheep. They're those in a congregation that's stronger than others who want their own way. I think we have an example of that in 3 John. We have Diotrephes. 3 John verses 9 and 10, I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds, which he does, preading against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to putting them out of the church. He was a bully. He bullied the sheep. He wasn't like the godly Gaius. the elder to the beloved, Gaius, whom I love in truth. And what reputation did he have, verse 3, for I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. Look at the testimony that Demetrius had in verse 12. Demetrius has a good testimony from all and from the truth itself. These were two godly men in the church, but also in the church, there was this character, Diotrephes, who was the complete opposite of them. What's new? What's new in churches today? Stubborn sheep. Shepherds can bully sheep. Sheep can bully sheep. But a bit closer to home, sheep can bully shepherds. Sheep can bully shepherds. And sometimes you wonder if they are sheep. They might be goats in sheep's clothing. but the Lord is going to sort it all out someday. As he says in verse 17, and as for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God, behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats, and we just have to leave it all with him. Now, I'm not gonna go any further because next week, God willing, we look at two more points We look at the Savior Shepherd. Verse 23 says, I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, my servant David. Of course, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Shepherd, and we look at the special season. Verse 26, I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will cause showers to come down in their season. There shall be showers of blessing. Times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, but we'll carry on with that next week. So this is a very challenging chapter. And those who are shepherds, those whom the Lord has set aside to be shepherds, what a responsibility it is to be a shepherd. What an accountability it is to be a shepherd. How closely we have to follow these things and to feed souls. with the precious Word of God. May the Lord bless His Word richly to our hearts this morning. The Psalms have been very appropriate. I'm sure, God willing, next week they'll be the same. So Psalm 80, verses 1 to 3 to the tune Morven, Number 212. Verses 1 to 3 and 17 to 19. Here am Israel's shepherd. Like a flock, thou that dost Joseph guide. Shine forth, O thou that dost between the cherubims abide. Verses 1 to 3 and 17 to 19 to the tune Marvin.