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[00:00:24] Speaker B: Thank you for being here. Last week we kicked off this series 23 andme and it is a verse by verse look, probably the greatest psalm that David has ever written. As I told you last week, this psalm has been quoted more at services at times of distress in people's life because this psalm provides so much comfort. In this psalm, there are so many beautiful promises that God has made. As David, who was a young shepherd boy, so much of his life began to see God as he grew older, as the good shepherd, God who watches over and cares for his sheep. And last week, we explored the first verse and we talked about the first verse really indicating how God, as a shepherd, provides for us. Remember, we said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And when God is your shepherd, you have no need of anything. God can provide everything you need. Whatever you need, you can find in him. And so we explored that a little bit. And this week I want to talk to you along this line. As we look at verse two, we want to talk a little bit about the shepherd as our peace.
Not only does he provide, but the shepherd offers peace. I read a survey that was interesting. People were asked, what are the three things that you want most in life? And the people who conducted the survey were surprised because they thought that the responses would be more materialistic. You know, like, I want a bigger house with a nicer car, better job. They thought those would be the responses, but. And those were some of the responses, but the preponderance of the responses to people when asked, what are the three things you want most in life? Number one was love.
I like to feel loved. I'd like to be able to experience that and to know that I'm loved unconditionally by someone to be loved. The second most popular response was happiness. I would love to just have happiness in my life. I wish I could experience that consistently. And the third response was peace. I want some peace in my life. I just want a little tranquility. I just want a little surrender. I just want peace in my life. And it was interesting to know that peace was the number three thing that people said that they desire above anything else in life. And I don't think there's anybody in the room this morning, or certainly no one watching online who would argue the fact that peace is something we all would love to experience consistently, continuously, to really have peace, peace within yourself, to know there's peace with you and your God, to know there's peace in your family and peace with your fellow man. I think every one of us desires peace. But what is the path to peace? How do you obtain peace? How can you acquire this level of peace? Well, for some, the root cause is physiological. Sometimes people don't experience peace because there's something going on physiological with them. Maybe it's an emotional issue, maybe it's a physical issue. Sometimes people just need to go and make sure that their body chemistry is right, that they aren't lacking in some area of their life. And sometimes the best thing you could do for you is go to your doctor and get a checkup, get some blood work, and find out, are there some imbalances somewhere in your body that a physician could help you try to level those and fix those? For some, it is physiological, and you need to take care of yourself. The Bible says in one corinthians three that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, that God spirit dwells within our body. So it is important that we learn how to take care of our bodies. So for some, it's physiological, for some, it's psychological. Some people, as I said a moment ago, struggle with some emotional issues in life, and they need help navigating through that. Maybe some abuse, maybe some issues in your life that have hit you hard and you've never really navigated through that. You haven't gotten tools to help you deal with that with. And so you're carrying some emotional baggage that's affecting your peace of mind. So sometimes it's physiological, sometimes it's psychological. But I contend that in most cases, it's spiritual. There's something missing foundationally in a person's life that's keeping them from experiencing peace. When the Bible speaks of the coming of Jesus, in Isaiah nine six, that prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus, the Bible describes him, you remember, we talk about this at Christmas as the prince of peace. Well, if Jesus is the prince of peace and we're not experiencing that level of peace in our life, could it be that it isn't physiological, that it isn't really psychological? Maybe it's spiritual. Maybe there's some distance now between us and our savior, between us and our shepherd, that we need to address. And that's why we're here. That's where I step in to try to help us all a little bit, how to navigate that level of peace with your creator and to know that you can have peace with God, as we're going to talk about a little bit this morning. And so everyone, I believe, desires peace. Well, in the Bible, Shalom was a common greeting among jewish people. And when someone said Shalom, they're simply saying a blessing. They're saying, I hope you have peace in your life. I hope this is a peaceful day for you. And when you read in the Bible, David, I'm sorry, Paul, who wrote over half of the New Testament, a lot of the letters he opened, he said, grace and peace be unto you. You see that repeated time and time again in Paul's writings. And it's interesting that you look at the order of those words. Grace always precedes peace, meaning that the relationship with God is integral. It is necessary to have experienced the grace of God before you experience the peace of God. So I kind of go back to what I said a minute ago. I think for many, it is fundamentally spiritual. And once we have experienced the grace of God, then we can know about the peace of God. And so my job again this morning is to help you consider your spiritual life as it pertains to the peace that you're experiencing in your life. So let's look at psalm 23 this morning. Remember, I challenged you last week through the course of this series to memorize that psalm. And I hope that you've had an opportunity to think about it and maybe read it this week. And so let's go back to chapter 23 or not chapters, actually. Hey, that's a good thing to explain. There aren't chapters in psalms, by the way. I just swerved into that one.
Psalms are named individually. Have you noticed that? It's not psalm, chapter 23, it's psalm 23. It's the songbook of the Bible. So each psalm stands on its own. Isn't that interesting? Oh, that's free like the rest.
Psalm 23, verse one. Remember we said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want this week. Look at chapter 20. I'm sorry, I did it again. Psalm 23. Look at verse two. Now, verse two.
Say this with me. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. And I put that in the King James version because I like the phrasing. Make ETH me, leadeth me. You say, well, what's the distinction? Well, the distinction in the old English was simply this, it is a continuation.
Make uth. Means to continue to do something. Leadeth me. Means to continue to lead. This is not a one and done thing. I don't think anybody can experience peace at one time in your life and expect that you're going to have peace for the rest of your life. Your peace can be disturbed, your peace can be taken away, your peace can be destroyed. And so we are in constant need of our good shepherd, of our great shepherd, to give us peace. So part of the role of the shepherd in our life is to continually, continuously to give us peace. I was researching a little bit about sheep this last week since we're studying this 23rd psalm. And what was interesting about sheep, when he says, he maketh me lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside seal waters. Did you know? Sheep will not lie down unless they are free of anxiety. Sheep will not lie down if they're full of fear. Sheep will not lie down unless they are in a serene setting. And so this has great relevance because the Bible is saying that for his children to be led as sheep and for him to be our shepherd, he has to bring us to a place where we don't have anxiety. He has to bring us to a place where we're not filled with worry. Because when your heart and mind is filled with anxiety and worry, it cancels out peace. When you're not in a serene setting, when you're in an ancient, I'm sorry, an anxious environment, it affects your ability to find peace. So when you press into the shepherd, you find he will make you, he will make you lie down, he will relieve the anxiety and fear. And so you are made to lie down in these green pastures, in these wonderful settings, because the good shepherd is interested in his sheep finding peace. Sheep don't produce if they don't rest. I read also where for a third of a sheep's life, they spend ruminating, processing the food that they've eaten. And if they're not healthy, they don't produce wool, which means they don't fulfill the function that they're here to fulfill. And I would tell you this morning, God made everything he created to produce. Everything God created, he created to produce in the garden, when he created all things, you remember, it says the seed was in itself, meaning that he put the seed of the apple within the apple. If the seed wasn't in the apple, so that the apple could produce more apples, then every time we ran out of apples, God would have to come back to Earth and say, let there be apples. So he's placed the seed within the apple so the seed can produce itself. Well, we are all developed and we are made and we are created to produce. And I'm saying sheep don't produce if they're full of anxiety. Sheep don't produce if they're full of worry. Sheep don't produce if they're full of fear. So one of the things that will rob us of our peace and affect our productivity will be when we are full of these things. So the good shepherd, the role of the shepherd in our life is to help relieve us of those things physiologically. Sometimes you need a doctor's care, you need some medication. Sometimes it's psychological. You need some tools and you need some paths in your thinking to help you get healthy. But sometimes it's just spiritual. Sometimes we need to press into the shepherd so that the shepherd can help alleviate us of our worry and fear. You say, how do you do that? Philippians four, be worrisome for nothing. But in everything, through prayer and thanksgiving, make your request be made known to God. Here's what I've learned. You can't worry about the thing you're praying about at the same time. You can't. You either worry or you pray, but you can't do both. And so what I tried to do, this discipline I've tried to follow based on that Philippians four narrative, is every time I'm worried about something or anxious about something, whether it's resources, whether it's a decision I need to make, whether it's a confrontation I need to have, I will pray about it. And I found the more I pray about it, the less I worry about it, because you can't pray and worry at the same time. The promise of Philippians four is you pray about the things you worry about. And then if you drop down to about verse six and verse eight, he says, and when you do that, the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your mind and heart in Christ Jesus. So I'm anxious. I'm not going to rest. I'm not going to lie down in a green pasture. As long as I'm anxious, I'm full of fear. How do I do that? Well, I pray about that. And when I press into the shepherd, what I find in talking to the shepherd, he alleviates my fear. I give him my problem. The Bible says, our God neither sleeps or slumbers. You can go to sleep at night knowing your shepherd's got the problem that was keeping you awake and worrying about it. I would tell you, by the way, don't try counting sheep. Instead, just talk to the shepherd.
It's a more effective way. Simply just press into him and say, this is what I'm worried about. By the way, they said they tried this idea of cloning sheep. Did you hear about that? Scientists were trying to clone sheep, but every time they counted them, they kept falling asleep. So they never. Anyway, the first part was true. I don't know about the second part.
But the point I'm making this morning is as you press into the shepherd, you find this peace, this peace that he has promised. And the thing that will kill the peace is anxiety, is fear, is worry. Listen to psalm four eight. In peace, in peace, I will lie down and sleep for you, o Lord, alone will keep me safe. So sometimes you need to write those verses down to help you sleep at night and say, lord, I'm going to lie down now in peace. Because you've promised. You will keep me safe. You've promised to secure my family and I. And so I trust you to give me rest tonight. Because the one watching over you, as I said a moment ago, he neither slumbers nor he sleeps. Let me give you the second verse to consider this morning. John ten. It's that beautiful verse where Jesus declared, remember last week? I am the good shepherd. Look at verse seven of that same chapter. He said, not only the good shepherd, I am the door of the sheep. The door of the sheep. It is an anthropomorphic term, door. He's not a physical door. You know, like bread when we receive communion. He's not literal bread. It's an anthropomorphic term. It is a way whereby God is describing something very common. So that you and I can wrap our minds around who he is and what he's like. He's like bread. He's like water. He refreshes. He's like a door. You go in and out of a door. It is the one access you have from one room to another. The door gives you access into a new dimension. You're tired of the old life. You need a doorway to step into the new life. He brings you into a new dimension, into a new experience, into a new opportunity. He is the door. So he's saying, concerning this role as a shepherd, I'm the door of the sheep. Verse eight. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not hear them. He said, there are a lot of phonies out there. Who are claiming to have the way and claiming to be prophets and preachers. But they're thieves and robbers, and the sheep eventually will not hear them again. Verse nine. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture. So the first thing I would point out as we think about our shepherd as he provides us peace, is concerning this narrative. It is, number one, the salvation that he offers. He said, I am the door. It reminds me a little bit, maybe. Does it remind you of what he will say later in John 14 when he's meeting with his apostles in the upper room? And he says to them, I am the way, the truth, the life? And then he said, no one comes to the father except by me. So he was very specific. He was very clear that the only way to heaven is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. There's not a catholic way or a baptist way or a muslim way. There's only one way to reach heaven, and that's through Jesus Christ. He is the only way. If he's not the only way, then he's lied when he's told us that he is. He said, I am the door. He's not a door. One of many doors. He is the only door. And so I'm suggesting that the way to salvation, the way to have your sins forgiven, to know that heaven is your home, is to experience Jesus Christ as your savior. And one of the benefits of that peace that God provides when you're in a relationship with your savior is he alleviates a lot of the negative emotions that always accompanies our former life. For example, when sin entered the picture in Genesis three, when the train jumped the track and Adam and Eve went down that road of sin, there were three very negative emotions that were introduced that you read about in the garden. Number one, there was condemnation. Condemnation. They never felt that before because they knew the love and favor of God. They had never been condemned and felt that. But you remember when the angel stood before the gate and he told them, you have to leave the garden? They felt, for the first time in their life, they felt condemned before God. They felt unworthy. They didn't feel like they could be a child of God. And one of the negative opinion emotions that you experience when you're not close to your creator and when you've never experienced the grace of your shepherd is condemnation. Condemnation. The second negative emotion that was introduced in the garden as a result of sin was guilt. Guilt. You remember what they did once they recognized they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, when God would walk with them in the evening. I'm sorry. In the cool of the day and the morning hours, they hid from him. Remember? They hid, and they go and hide. Well, why did they hide? For the first time, they felt guilt. They knew they had done the thing God said not do. They knew they had done the one thing you can have. Everything you can eat. Of all the trees, just this one. Don't pretend. And they did the one thing he told them not to do. Sheep. Right. Dumb. And they did it. And so, for the first time in all the human experience, they're feeling not only condemned, but they're feeling guilt. And they're hiding from God. You remember God calls out in the garden, Adam, where are you? And of course, I've often thought that was funny. It's funny because God is sovereign. And I've thought about it. Do you think for a skinny minute he didn't know where Adam was? He knew right where he was. When our kids were little, it was so funny. When Shannon was just a little bitty kid, we were on a trip somewhere. And so Cindy's getting ready, and we're getting ready for bed, and we're staying in this hotel room. And so Shannon's over in the corner of the room, just a little bitty girl, and she's got her eyes covered like this, and she thinks she's hiding. And so I said, oh, where'd shannon go? She was just here a minute ago. I'm looking around for shannon. I don't see shannon. She's got her eyes covered, and she's right behind a chair. And so I went in. I got Cindy. I said, cindy, you need to come in here. Sannon's gone. Of course. I have to know that.
I ought to know that. You need to let her know this is a joke. Before you say that, that was one of the first times I nearly was killed by my wife. There were many, many, many, many times later that she should have and didn't, thank God.
But I said, emma's gone.
No.
You know. And so we played along. Oh, where is she? We're looking under the pillows, and we're looking under the things, and she's in the corner, and all of a sudden she's laughing. She thought it was funny. Oh, there she is. We found it, right? That's what I feel like Adam was doing. Adam's, like, standing over there in the corner, like God doesn't seem. And God's playing along. Adam, where are you? And he's over there like this, just butt naked, you know, just standing over. He really was. Look at it it's in the Bible.
Maybe not phrased quite that way, but I'm giving you a contemporized version of that this morning. And so he's got his hand. And so what was interesting about that is you say, well, why would God play along? Why did he do that? Well, he wasn't doing it for his information, right? God wasn't asking the question so that he would know where Adam was. He knew where Adam was. He was asking the question, ready? So Adam would know where Adam was.
He said, dude, you're hiding from me. You've never done that before.
Our relationship is broken. It's never been that way before. You've never felt guilt. You've never felt that. What happened? What changed? He was wanting him to know that when he did the one thing God said not to do, there was a consequence for his actions. Love and logic. There's a consequence for this action that you've done this, and now you're feeling condemned. You've done this, and now you're feeling guilt. And the third negative emotion was separation. When God drives them from the garden, they're separated, separated from God. And the beautiful thing about the gospel of Jesus is, you see it illustrated with Adam and Eve. God instituted the sacrificial system that you would offer the first of your flocks a ram lamb. You would offer something as a sacrifice for sin, representing Jesus one day who would come. And Adam and Eve offered sacrifices, and we know that because they taught it to their sons. When those boys came along, Cain and Abel, remember, they knew about the sacrificial system because Abel offered unto God a blood sacrifice, and cain brought to God a sacrifice of the fruit of the ground, which was not what God had required. God said, it requires a blood sacrifice, meaning that it has to typify the coming of the son of God, who one day would shed his blood on the cross. So it had to be a blood sacrifice. So God accepts the offering of Abel because it's a blood sacrifice. He rejects the offering of Cain because it was a sacrifice of the fruit of the ground. And we all know you can't get blood out of a turnip. So he rejects one and receives the other. And so Cain is envious of his brother Abel. And you have the first murder in the Bible. Have you thought about this? The first murder in the Bible was over religious differences.
People are still killing each other today over religious differences.
And I'm just suggesting to your heart that the gospel was taught even in the garden. In fact, when God said Eve through you, will be the Messiah one day. She believed in that promise so strongly, so strongly that when her firstborn son came along, Cain. You know what the name Cain means? Acquisition. He is here. Meaning that she thought she's way off, but she thought Cain could be the messiah. Well, of course, she was the first murderer of the Bible, so she's off. But the point is, it shows you the faith of Eve and the promise of the coming of Messiah. She believed so strongly in that that she named her firstborn son. He's here. Acquisition. The Messiah has come. What's my point? My point is, when sin entered the picture with condemnation, guilt and separation, God provided a way. He provided grace to help them navigate through that. And you see the fruition of that in acts chapter eight, where Paul is talking about someone who steps through the door of salvation and receives Jesus as savior. Chapter eight opens with these words. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation, none. John 317. Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He came into the world as a door. He came into the world as the way, the truth, and the life. And I'm saying, when you by faith, step through that door and you receive Jesus and accept him as your shepherd, he deals with the condemnation. There's therefore now no condemnation. You've moved out from under the condemnation of God. Not only that, in acts chapter eight, he says, who will charge anything to my elect, to my kids? Who's going to lay any charge at your feet? Meaning that all the sins you and I have ever committed once we received Jesus, have been placed at the cross.
Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. So you don't have to go around with guilt. God, through the cross and through Jesus has done away with the guilt. Listen, I would tell you this morning, if God has forgiven you, forgive yourself.
So many people go through life without peace, and it's a spiritual issue because they've never come to terms with the fact you are forgiven. You have received God's forgiveness. Let it go.
Forgive yourself. You're dragging around something God doesn't even see. The Bible says he puts our sins as far as the east is from the west. They're behind his back. And no matter how fast you are at turning around, you'll never see your back, so he'll never see our sin, so let it go. God has forgiven you. Forgive yourself. So he deals with condemnation. Remember, he deals with guilt. And the third one in acts. I'm sorry. In John, Romans eight, he says, who shall separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus? Shall height or depth or angels or principalities or things to come or things present. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. No separation. No separation. So you don't have to have separation and anxiety. Remember how your kids, when you drop them off and they freak. Cause they think you're gone? You'll never come back. You're just gone for a little while. You'll be fine. Separation anxiety.
People go through life feeling that way. I don't know. Did God hear me? Has he forgiven me? I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't think you can ever know. I think I'll wind up in heaven one day and I'll just be shocked when he says, come on in. I don't know. No, you can know. You can know for certain. You know what happens when you doubt.
You're not doubting what you did. Most of the time when you doubt whether or not you've received Christ. And I could ask you, well, tell me about the moment that you made a decision to trust Christ. You could say, I remember. I may not remember the specific day or the place. But I can tell you there was a moment in time when I invited Jesus into my life. I know that happened. I know that happened. And some of you may say I've done that several times just to be sure that that happened. Well, let me tell you what happens when you doubt. You're not doubting what you did. Cause you know what you did, right? You're doubting what he did.
Did God really hear me? Did he really save me? Did you really forget God? Really? So you're really doubting him. And can I help you with that? He can't lie. He cannot lie. It's not possible for God to lie. He says, concerning that whosoever will let them come, Jesus said, those who come to me, hear this. I will in no wise cast out. So quit doubting your doubts.
Remind yourself of what you've done. And trust the mercy of God to save you and to keep you saved. The same God that saved you can keep you saved. He will. The perseverance of the saints. He will absolutely seal you and keep you there. So once you've stepped through the door, it is a beautiful thing that happens. He does away with condemnation, with guilt and with the fear of separation. So he is the salvation that he offers. Number two, you get peace with the security that he affords. You see, there were two types of sheep. Folds for sheep at night. Folds, the places where they would be kept. There was what was called a communal fold. You'd find a communal fold in villages. It would be a structure like it could be a fence, it might be a rock structure, but it was real organized, and it was built for that purpose. So shepherds could come in and bring their flocks into the village, and they could take their flocks down to the sheep fold, the communal fold, and put all their sheep in that fold. And there was one door, one entrance. And the shepherd are shepherds, because many of them would bring their flocks in at night. They would stand guard at that gate.
Cause they knew no one could steal their sheep. It was well fortified. No one could take their sheep unless they go through the door. And before they could get to the sheep, they gotta go through the shepherd. So there was a communal. A communal fold. There was, secondly, a countryside fold. And oftentimes these would be places that were just out. Maybe a cave that had some rocks that the shepherds before this one, might have constructed and created a little shape so that the enclosure, so that the sheep could kind of go in and get out of the weather. And the shepherd would then sleep in front of the doorway or the opening of that little countryside fold. Sometimes it was just sticks. It was like creating a little fence, a little fortification for the sheep. And they'd create these sticks and. And branches, and they would make this fortification so the sheep could go in there. And then the shepherd, as I said, would lay across the opening of that fold. Because, again, the only way to get to the sheep, he would have to go through the shepherd. And it's a beautiful thought when you think about the security we have in Jesus. Do you know when Jesus said, all that the father has given me are in my hand, and no man can pluck them from my hand? Think about, again, another anthropomorphic term, his hand. But think about the fact that we are in his hand. If something is in your hand, the only way anything can get to it is it has to go through you.
The only way anything could get to the sheep is it had to go through the shepherd. Now, this is encouraging, and it's sometimes perplexing. It's encouraging to know that nothing can hit your life or mine without having God's permission.
He either causes it to happen or he allows it to happen.
But the only reason he allows it to happen or causes it to happen is it's for the betterment of the sheep. You have to trust shepherd. Now, it's encouraging to know that. And sometimes it's perplexing, especially when you go through a hard time.
You go through a difficult circumstance.
After our men's breakfast this morning, and Matt Bird did an amazing job and all the guys, we just had a wonderful time over in the CRC, and I had two of our guys come up and one of them said, bill, I just, I relate so much to your story and all that you've shared about Cindy. He said, my wife is battling cancer right now. And he had tears in his eyes and he just said, you know, we're just praying for the right outcome, but I don't know.
And so I just prayed over him and prayed for his wife. I had another man said, bill, I've been coming to church for a while. And he said, but we lost a nine year old boy.
And he said, it happened early on in our life and had issues with his heart. And we prayed so hard that God would spare our child, and he didn't see to it to do that.
My child went to heaven, he said, and then not too long ago, he said, I lost my wife for 47 years. And he said, when you get up and you tell people that, you don't always get what you pray for the way you pray for it. He said, I just want you to know that encourages me because God didn't answer my prayer the way I prayed that he would. And I've learned to trust him more and just believe that he has a reason. And so I just have to trust that those are those experiences that you go through where God allows it or causes it, where it doesn't make sense.
And in that case, all you can do is trust the shepherd, that he knows what's best. He doesn't make mistakes. As the apostle says when they watched him, he does all things well.
And I'll be honest with you, sometimes, man, you have to get a ladder to get up far enough to see the bottom of that promise, because it is actually hard to comprehend how the God of heaven could allow some of the things that he allows into your life and mine.
But you have to come to the place in life, listen, where you choose to trust him.
It's not some meteor streaking across the sky, no cacophony of angels that sing to you in the night. It's just a matter of you make a conscious decision to, to say, God, I choose to trust you. I choose to trust you.
It either works out, or we're gonna end up in hell anyway.
It either works out, or there's no hope for any of us anyway. So I'm just saying I come to a place in my faith where I say it doesn't make sense. It's not fair. I don't even agree with it. But I know you know. And, God, I trust you. And our shepherd that provides for salvation will also provide the security. But I have to trust him. You know what happens when I don't trust him? It affects my peace.
My peace.
It affects how I sleep at night. It affects how I treat people, because I'm full of anxiety.
So in order for me to have peace, I have to trust my shepherd. Okay? The salvation he offers, the security he affords. Here's the last one. And we'll go. The serenity he shares. The peace he shares. Listen to this. John 14 seven, peace I leave with you, my peace. Jesus said, I give to you, not as the world gives. So don't let your hearts be troubled, and neither let your heart be afraid.
And kind of a complimentary verse there in John 14 is what he said earlier in the chapter. Remember when he said, as he opened the chapter, let not your hearts be troubled. I've told you this before, but it bears repeating as I close the message this morning. It is possible. It is possible to have a very troubled life, but not have a troubled heart.
You can have a lot of bad things going on in your life right now, things that aren't fair, things that make no sense, all that can be happening in your life, but it not affects your heart.
And when jesus gave these promises, he didn't say, let not your life be troubled, because that would be inconsistent with life as we know it, and that be inconsistent with what he said. In this world, you're gonna have tribulation, meaning your heart. Your life's gonna get trouble. Sometimes it's because we do crazy things, and sometimes crazy things happen, but stuff happens, so your life's gonna be trouble. But he didn't say, let not your life be troubled. He said, let not your heart be troubled. Why? Because if you have a troubled heart, it affects your peace of mind.
How do you not have a troubled heart? Well, you pray. You press into the shepherd. You choose to trust him. You say, God, it doesn't make sense, and it isn't fair, and I don't like it. And he says, okay, I can live with that. One day you'll understand.
And finally, you take that load that you're carrying from your shoulders, and you put it over on his, and all of a sudden he gives you peace.
Peace that Paul would describe. It passes all understanding. It will keep. Listen your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That's the peace he offers. That's the serenity that he gives. That's why I would say this morning, if you don't know the shepherd, if you never received him, I highly recommend him.
I'm telling you, I believe you're here this morning because your shepherd wants a relationship with you. He desires to know you. He desires to give you peace. Let's pray together.
Father, thank you for your word. You've said in Isaiah, my word will not return void. Your word always accomplishes purpose. It always hits the target. It never misses the mark.
And I ask, Lord, as James implored us, to be a doer of the word and not a hearer, help us to assess.
Is my peace tied to something physiological? Maybe. Maybe I just need to go to the doctor and make sure I'm balanced well, chemically, that my blood is right. I'm not going through something that's making me anxious because it's a physical thing.
Maybe it's psychological. Maybe I've not dealt with the tools. I don't have the tools necessary to deal with some of the things that have affected me and man, I need to get help with that.
Or maybe it's spiritual.
Maybe I don't really have a relationship with the shepherd. Or if I do have a relationship with the shepherd, maybe I'm out of fellowship with the shepherd. I haven't trusted him.
I haven't realized that this great God of heaven loves me more than I love me. I might not die for me, but he did.
In the Old Testament, sheep had to die for their shepherd. But when you get to the New Testament, the shepherd died for his sheep.
And so, Father, we trust you this morning.
And I pray if there's one in the room or one watching now who's never trusted you, this might be the moment when they just simply humble their heart and say, Lord Jesus, with everything I know about me, I trust all that I know about you come into my heart.
Forgive my sin.
Be a reality in my life. I trust you today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.
