Zechariah 13:7 - Jehovah's Shepherd

I want to read in the book of Zechariah chapter 13. And we'll read from verse 1. In that day there shall be a fountain opened in the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered.

And also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. Now that's one section. And that would take us into the millennium from the end of the great tribulation at the end period.

Now verse 3. And it shall come to pass that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, thou shalt not live, but thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord. And his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied.

Neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive. But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a husbandman, for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

That's another section. And that's a searching out of the false prophets at the end of the tribulation. Now verse 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.

Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. That's another section. And that deals with the Lord Jesus' death on the cross, the scattering of his own and his love and care for them after.

Verse 8. And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried, and they shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God.

Now we trust God will bless to us the reading of his precious word. Two weeks ago we were at Blue River, and we looked at some thoughts in Zechariah 10 verse 4 of the one who came out of Judah. Zechariah is a most interesting study, and point out again that of all the prophets apart from Isaiah, the most messianic prophecies are found in the book of Zechariah.

Isaiah, of course, has the most messianic prophecies. There are also a number of pictures or studies of the Lord Jesus as we look through the book of Zechariah. We find him, start off in chapter 1 as the rider on the horse.

We find him as the angel of Jehovah. We find him as the branch. We find him as the servant.

We find him in chapter 6 as the king priest, and the one who's actually going to build again the temple. We find that the most of the messianic prophecies go from chapter 9 through to chapter 14, and we find some lovely ones there. And we learn, of course, in chapter 9 that he's a sovereign.

He's the king. He's riding into the city, and of course, prophetically, I believe that takes us on to the Revelation 19, Isaiah 63, when the Lord's work, his battle is over, and he's coming back into the city. And then we've got the lovely thoughts in chapter 10 of the Lord Jesus as the corner, the cornerstone, Psalm 118.

We've got the Lord Jesus there as the nail, beautiful picture of the glory of the Lord Jesus. We have the picture of the Lord Jesus as the battle bow, and then we've got that strange statement at the end, and out of him every oppressor together, or every exacter together, and there's some lovely thoughts can be taken there. As we go on through the book, we're going to find lovely pictures of him.

We'll see that the Lord Jesus is not only the servant, he's the man. We're going to find him as the shepherd. We're going to find him in chapter 14.

He's the king, and he's going to be the Lord of all, the supreme ruler. These foes will be defeated, and we're going to find that the nations are going to bring their worship into the city. Zechariah is a beautiful book to study.

If you're interested in it, you'll find that it's one of the books that, you know, as I look at the dates in my Bible, we've been doing first and second Samuel, and so-called authorities differ by 50 and 60 years as to when the actual date was of the events, and they're all over the place, but when I come to Zechariah, I find that in chapter one, I'm given a very clear date, and it's linked with King Darius. When I come to chapter seven, I find it's just two years on, and I've got, again, the same authority for the date, so we would gather that Zechariah was chapter one would be BC 520, and chapter seven would commence at BC 518. The first eight chapters, they're lovely.

You've got your visions in the first six chapters. You've got four fasts in chapter seven and eight. You've got ten oracles in chapter eight, and they're all worth looking at, and to look at the prophecies contained therein.

Chapter nine through chapter fourteen is undated, and there's many arguments as to what the dates are. Even some argue if it was Zechariah that wrote it. I believe he did, and he's taking a different line.

In the first eight chapters, he's dealing with Israel and things within Israel and their spiritual welfare and so on, but in chapter nine through fourteen, he's not only dealing with spiritual things, but he's dealing with the nations around and how things are going to be affecting them, and so it's more God and the nations in the last six chapters than in the first. The messianic prophecies, there's a few in the first eight chapters, but the majority of them are in the last six chapters in lovely messianic prophecies, and so I better not spend too long just going over Zechariah. One thing I want to point out about the prophet, and this is an important thing.

If you, in your leisure, turn your Bible to Ezra chapter five, and you'll find that Ezra's speaking there, and if I recall, Zerubbabel, and they are involved in the building of the temple. They are involved in the construction. He's not just given a ministry and writing things out, but he's actually involved in the work, so he wasn't standing back looking on and delivering a message, but he was actively involved with the people that would give him the heart of the people, and so in this chapter, we're dealing very specifically with future days.

It's interesting as we go back through these six chapters. In chapter nine, you're going to see the king coming into the city. Behold, I, King Cometh, running upon a colt, the foal of an ass.

In chapter 10, as we pointed out in verse four, you've got that fourfold picture of the Lord Jesus out of Judah. In chapter 11, you've got the 30 pieces of silver that he was sold for. In chapter 12, they're going to look upon him whom they have pierced, and in chapter 14, we've got the Lord coming, and the mountain is opened up, and we finally get this expression in chapter 14.

I think I've got that. I'm open to it here. This is a nice Bible.

It's got two chapters and one page, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day, shall there be one Lord and his name one, and so Zechariah almost sums it all up. You're going to find the nations are coming in, and they're bringing their worship, and that takes me over to Revelation chapter 21, when the kings of the earth are going to bring their glory unto the city, and the peoples, they're all going to come and bring their worship unto him, so a beautiful end to the prophecy. So let's move on.

We start off with the sword, but maybe I should start off with verse 1 and 2 first before I go to verse 7. So keen to get there because that's really what's on my mind. Verse 1 and 2 caused a little bit of a difficulty in my mind because it would appear we're at the end of the great tribulation. Now just to put things how I'm thinking in your mind, because obviously my thoughts on the tribulation, Mr. Valvoor, I think it was, he said there's over 60 different interpretations on the book of Revelation, so it would be very strange if everyone here agreed with what I think on the book of Revelation, so I could only tell you what I see, how I see it, and I was speaking to Brother Scott last night, and strange enough, we disagree on some things, but we agree on what I'm going to say to you.

It's wonderful. He's well taught. He's a lovely brother.

We enjoy Scott. My mind is, if you take the sixth seal, and the seventh trumpet, and the seventh vial, and you'll notice that the key things in each one of them is cataclysmic events on earth. There's going to be earthquakes and all kinds of things happening, and it just seems as you come from the seals to the trumpets to the vials that the intensity increases.

Now, as I said, the teaching is all over the place, the interpretation of it. My mind is that the seal judgments will continue from the beginning of the tribulation right throughout the seven-year period. The trumpet judgments, I can't see them beginning before the middle of the week.

Daniel 9, they're going to break the covenant. The man of sin is going to break the covenant made with Israel. He's going to deny the sacrifices.

They're going to set up the idol, and I think from that period on, we see the trumpet judgments. But the vial judgments are awful in their intensity, and the time has got to be shortened, and there it is. There's going to be probably months, maybe not years, maybe months at the end of the great tribulation, and we'll see that period, the vials.

But the Lord's going to come, and he's going to come as a victor, and he's going to destroy his enemies, and that's what we've got in chapter 14. So how do I fit in what I read in verse 2? As I read in verse 2, I will cut off the idols out of the land, and they'll be no more remembered, and I'll cause the prophets and unclean spirits to pass out of the land. When's that going to happen? And the only way I can see it, and again, I'm open for correction, but in Daniel chapter 12, we read about 1290 days.

Now, in Daniel 7, you read about time, times, and a half a time. In the Revelation, you've got the same thing. In the book of Revelation, around chapters 11 through 13, you're going to read of times, time, times, and half a time.

You're going to read of 42 months. You're going to read of 1260 days. But now in Daniel chapter 12, we've got 1290 days.

That's 30 days over. And then he goes on to say that there's a period of time, it's 1325 days. That is 75 days over from the 1260.

Now, I can't find any other scripture to clarify it other than what I have here in chapter 13 of the book of Zechariah. I want to suggest that what we have is a period of cleansing. There'll be a cleansing of the land.

They'll be putting to order the awful breakdown in the structure of society that has taken place. Two-thirds have been destroyed. The destruction that's been wrought upon the earth is absolutely cataclysmic.

It's awful. The deaths that have occurred. And so they will be putting to right all of those things.

Now, let me be clear on this. I believe that going into the millennium, it will only be those who are saved, those who are born again. Now, I know that in the millennium, there's going to be sinners and people are going to die.

A child will die being 100 years old. And at the end of the millennium, they're going to rise up together against the Lord and His anointed. But during a millennial scene, that's where verse 1 is going to come in and the blessed benefit of it.

But in verse 3, 4, 5 and 6, they're searching for prophets. Prophets who are denying that they're prophets. In verse 2, they're searching for those who are connected with idolatry.

And they're saying that they're going to cut off the names of the idols out of the land. There'll be no more be remembered. And so there's an activity going on at the end of the tribulation before we really go in to a millennial scene.

And so in verse 1, we've got this fountain that's open. It's a fountain of water. It's not a fountain of blood.

And I want to suggest that if in the tabernacle, we have the laver and the laver is there as a place of cleansing. It's interesting that in Psalm 1, we've got a river. In Ezekiel 47, we have another river.

We have a river coming out of the temple and it's coming on the south side of the altar. And you read about that river. It's a place of freshness, of growth, of plenty.

It's a place where there can be cleansing. And this fountain is going to be in the land. It's going to be through the millennium.

And it's linked with the death of Christ. It can only be linked with the death of Christ. But because of that, there's sanctification for the people as they go through the land.

There's a fountain for sin and uncleanness. And that is a wonderful statement. I don't want to spend too long on it.

And it's for Israel. Open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So there we have that period of time.

The land's going to be cleansed. Provision is made for the cleansing of the people of God, Israel, as they go through this scene of the millennium. That thousand years when the Lord Jesus Christ shall reign.

Remember Isaiah says in chapter 32, a king shall reign in righteousness. When we come to the eternal state, Peter tells us it will be righteousness dwelling. But in the millennium, it's righteousness reigning.

You know, there's a lot of verse in Zephaniah. And I have my mind sort of made up a long time ago what it really means. The just Lord is in the midst thereof.

I think it's about chapter two. He shall not do iniquity. Every morning or morning by morning, doth he bring his judgments to light.

He faileth not. In my little mind, I have the idea that as sin raises its ugly head in the millennium, it will be dealt with. Now Paul tells Timothy, some men's sins are open beforehand going to judgment and others follow after.

But I think in a millennial scene, sin upon its occurrence will be dealt with. It will not be allowed to fester and linger and corrupt, but it will be dealt with immediately by the king who is going to reign in righteousness. And then of course, verses eight and nine take us on to the end of the great tribulation and with the awful things that go on and the events that carry on.

So that's enough of the, of the context or my time will be gone. I just want to look at verse seven. That's really what I saw in my mind.

But you have to know the background to see that. Now we speak, speaking about a sword, a Waco sword against my shepherd. Here we have a slumbering sword.

It's a sword of Jehovah. And he says this against the man that is my fellow, a Waco sword against my shepherd. We've a willing sacrifice.

We have the shepherd. Now I want to clarify something. Please understand in the death of the Lord Jesus, there was the suffering that he endured at the hands of men.

You understand that? And that was intense. That was intense. There was a suffering.

He endured that the hands of Jehovah, his father, his God. My Bible tells me in Isaiah 53, God made to meet up on him, the iniquities of us all. And so when we read about him being bruised and smitten, that's from the hand of God.

Now I know that some teachers, some well-known teachers among us teach that the atonement started in the house of Caiaphas and goes on towards the end of the cross. I'm sorry. I have difficulty with that.

I have difficulty to think that the smiting in Caiaphas' house was part of the atonement. I have difficulty understanding that the smiting in the Roman soldier's hall was part of the atonement. I can only see that the shedding of the precious blood to make atonement for sin took place upon the cross.

Peter says, he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. I'm a child of God. Never forget that on that cross, it was all our iniquity.

It was all our sins. Listen to what John says. He made propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the whole world.

Now listen, understand this, because some in the world don't seem to. Every sin that could ever be committed upon this earth was dealt with upon the cross. Every sin.

There wasn't one omitted. You know, over in Africa, there are people who teach that salvation is gained by confessing your sins. How would you like to do that, brother Murray? Could you remember them all? We don't even know them all.

There's sins of commission, sins of omission, and sins that we don't even know we've done. Sins of ignorance. How could we do that? Ah, listen.

In the death of Christ, God is absolutely satisfied. You know what the Lord Jesus says through the prophet? He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied. God is satisfied on the question of sin.

Christ is satisfied on the question of his own. And in Hebrews chapter 12, we read, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. We were doing John 16 in Ankeny there.

And I was just telling some of the brothers, and I just loved it. I'm a careless reader. I must be, because it never really stood out before.

But you know, the Lord, you know the verses. The Lord says a little while and you shall not see me and a little while you shall see me. What does he mean? I don't know what he means.

And of course, I teach on that verse that the little while you shall see me is the 40 days. It's not the rapture. And there's others disagree, but that's perfectly okay.

But then in verse 22, the Lord Jesus says, in a little while, I shall see you. And that just stopped me in my tracks. There isn't Christ.

He's a real person. He's a real man. And he says, I'll see you.

I'll look upon you. Now, if you're interested, you can take a little picture for your Bible at the looks of the Lord. Jesus has some lovely teaching.

Not going to take time to do that. He's a real man and he's met the claims of God is satisfied. So we have a shepherd who was sacrificed.

You know, the shepherd teaching in the Bible is lovely. We start away at Joseph and Genesis 49. He's the stone, the shepherd of Israel.

And that speaks of the Lord Jesus. And he's the one who is our shepherd. We're all well aware.

We've heard it so many times of Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. In this book, he's going to speak of the shepherd.

He spends much time speaking of the idol shepherd of those who are bad is going to speak of the, of the one who is the real shepherd. Who's going to look after a people that have been slaughtered, a flock of slaughtered Israel's called, and he's going to get them and he's going to preserve them and keep them. The Lord is the good shepherd.

He is my shepherd. We'll speak a little bit more about the shepherd as we go on, but then we'll learn about two things. The man that is my fellow.

Now that word fellow carries the idea of the companion, the word for a man. Here we go again. I, I don't like to do this too much, but excuse me.

If you have a Mr. Newberry Bible, you heard that mentioned today, Scott, you must use Newberry. Mr. Newberry at the beginning of his Bible, he'll give you a list of Hebrew terms for a man and you'll get Adam red and you'll get Geber. G E B E R. I can't speak Hebrew.

I don't, I tried to learn it once for two weeks and I read, I read, I reckoned I was wasting my time, but the time I learned that my hair would be the color it is now and I wouldn't know too much. And it's all written down for me to use. So I gave it up.

Then there's another word it's ish and, and that's the thought of a man of high degree and that's used of Moses and numbers. Moses was the meekest man of all the men of the earth and of all the men of high degree, he was the meekest, but here it's the thought of a strong man. So when you're studying your Bible, don't be afraid to look up words for man and see what word is used.

You may get some encouragement from it. The Lord Jesus is the one who never failed. The one who was never weak, the one who never fulfilled that which his father gave him to do.

He was indeed the strong man, accomplishing all of the will of his God. He's a man, but what is he? He's God's companion. And that speaks of the deity of the Lord Jesus.

Now turn your Bible to the first epistle of John, first John chapter two. I want to point out, and I'm going to read them because I don't trust my memory. It doesn't, it doesn't work that good sometimes.

First John chapter two and verse 22. Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is antichrist that denieth the father and the son.

Whosoever denieth the son, the same hath not the father. Now the next bit's in italics, but he that acknowledgeth the son hath the father also. Now look over at chapter four, verse two.

Howbeit know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.

And this is that spirit of antichrist. And so there we learn of the deity of the Lord Jesus and the humanity of the Lord Jesus. And they're both placed as major necessary doctrines of the New Testament.

If you do not believe that Jesus is a son of God, let me tell you you're not of God. No, I didn't say that. John said that.

And if you do not believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God came in the flesh, you don't know God. You're of antichrist because that's what he wants the world to believe. And in John's day, there was those who went around and what they were doing is they were teaching that the Lord Jesus wasn't really the son of God.

Now we had a teaching in the assemblies back in Scotland that denied the eternal sonship of the Lord Jesus, teaching that he became son at his birth, not denying he was a person of the Godhead, but that he wasn't the son based on Psalm 2 and Acts and Hebrews and so on. And there's many, many teachers differ on those verses. But listen to this.

The father sent the son. Isaiah 11. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.

And there are many scriptures. We're not going to take time to do it. There is no doubt as you go through your Bible that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God.

I gave them a little diddy at Blue River when we were looking at John 14. And if I could remember it, I'll mention it too. I don't have it written down.

He who always was became what he never was. And he who always was is what he ever was and what he became. Child of God, there's a man in heaven.

In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. I believe it.

That's there's a man in heaven. Heaven is prepared because the man, the son of God is entered in in all his perfect humanity. You know, there are many try to usurp and set aside the deity of the Lord Jesus.

They deny his sinlessness. They'll deny his power and authority. They'll deny his equality with divine persons.

And then they'll deny his humanity. I could take time and we could speak of the tears of the Lord Jesus. Do you remember in John chapter 11, standing outside the village? He wasn't at the grave yet.

The Bible says, Jesus shed tears. Do you like that? You know, there's been a few funerals around here and we've had a few of ourselves. The less we say, the better.

I've lost mom and dad. I've lost my sister and brother. So you'll grant me, I know what I'm talking about.

An arm around my shoulder and a tear on your cheek. Far more to me than a dozen verses from the scripture. Could you understand that? At a time of sorrow and bereavement, it's a fellowship and it's a oneness.

And Jesus, he didn't say a word. He said it after, he shed tears. But when it comes to the garden scene, which I think that what we have in Luke 22 comes from Hebrews chapter five with loud groanings and tears.

There's the Lord Jesus in anguish as he sweat as it were drops of blood falling to the ground. Someone has written garden of tears that never mortal could ever weep. Not of the common river drawn from a deeper, deep drawn from a depth and sounded coursing toward the sod, telling of love unbounded sourced in the heart of God.

We see the Lord Jesus again in Luke 19, I think it is. And he's weeping over the city. And I think again, it's loud crying, sweeping for his own people.

And to whom he came, he was denied by them. He became for them a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. They had no time for him.

Think of the tears of the Lord Jesus. We can think of, of his weariness. John four, being weary with the journey, he sat on the well.

We can think of Luke chapter eight, he's sleeping in the boat in the midst of the storm. A storm I believe was satanically inspired, seeking to take the life of the Lord Jesus. The disciples had never seen anything like it before.

They were afraid men of the sea, men of the lake. They'd never seen the likes before satanically inspired. And you can do as well as I can in your thoughts.

I'm not going to take the time. We have the data and humanity of the Lord Jesus and that inseparable link. And that's, that's what we have in Hebrews chapter one and three, the link of the Lord Jesus.

He's the brightness of God's glory. He's the express image of his substance. Now, if you look at Mr. Vine on that word, that Greek word, Mr. Vine puts it, says it's one on top of the other.

And I like to use it this very simple way is to put my hands together. The fingers are out of shape now, but anyway, they're just about. And one on top of the other, identical.

What does the Lord Jesus say in John 10? I and my father are one. And he's the one who always moved in harmony with his father's will. If you had known me, you would have known my father also.

We'll move on. We've got the companion. Now we've got the smitten shepherd, smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.

Now. You might ask me, why have you not mentioned that in verse six? You'll notice I didn't. What are those wounds in nine hands? Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Now, if I read a lot of commentaries and I don't read too much, I, my eyes went bad on me. So I had to give up reading for a long time. The context, here's what I was taught as a boy.

When you're interpreting the scriptures, let the context be your guide. Now the context can be who the writer is, who his readers are, what the subject material is and what the subject is in the area that he's writing in. Then I was also told to look at the tense.

What I was told as a boy again was the sense without the tense might be nonsense. So those are things to keep an eye on. The context of verse three to verse six is the prophet who's denying he was a prophet.

He's saying, I'm not a prophet. Did the Lord Jesus ever deny he was a prophet? Do you remember in John chapter eight, he said before Abraham was, I am. And when people called him a prophet, he never denied it.

And they sought to take up stones and stone him because he made himself equal with God. The Lord never denied who he was. This man does.

And what does he go on to say? He says, uh, let me see. I'll get the verse here. He shall answer those with which I was wounded or for, I've got to get verse five.

I am on husband, man for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. I'm no prophet. I'm on husband, man.

When was the Lord Jesus a husband, man? Do you know? I don't. He was no husband, man. He was not a farmer.

And then the context. And in fact, now I've got to be careful because Mr. Darby makes no change. What are those wounds and nine hands? Now I know of no question asked of the Lord Jesus in the book of revelation or anytime about the wounds in his hands.

I know of no question, but we get, and we pointed out in chapter 12, they shall look upon him whom they have pierced. That's the day of mourning for Israel. They're going to look on him whom they have pierced.

Can I suggest that verse six? Now I know that better men than me will apply it to the Lord Jesus. I'm not going to get in a big argument with you. In my mind, verse six, the wounding there is probably self-wounded as many of these people tended to do to show that there were a prophet and he's got the marks of the wounds on him.

And yet he's denying he's not wearing the rough garments. He's denying he was a prophet enough, enough about that. We won't go any longer.

So Matthew chapter 26, what did we read? We read this, but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. And we get the same thing in Mark.

They all forsook him and fled. And the Lord Jesus speaking with them in John chapter 16, he says, behold, the hour cometh. He is now come that he shall be scattered.

Every man to his own and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone because the father is with me. What did the disciples do? They forsook him and fled.

Now I have a good friend and he's called Peter. Peter did a bad thing. He denied his association with the Lord, but, you know, he didn't run away.

He followed far off, but he followed. John got him in. Peter didn't run away, but the disciples, they were all scattered.

So if you're going to give Peter a rough time and it needs a little bit telling off, Paul had to give him one, one day. And Peter took it very graciously. And he could speak later on about my beloved brother, Paul.

We kind of don't understand what he's talking about, but he speaks hard things, but he was very gracious to him. And so get onto the other disciples to give them a bit of your telling off. They all ran away, but this not only has, uh, uh, uh, an event at the time of the Lord Jesus.

But if you turned your Bible over to Isaiah chapter 18 and two, you'd learn this. The, I'll just read the verse. Then send us ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters.

Go you swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled. What's that? That's Israel. We don't know where Israel is today.

We know where some of the tribes are. In fact, there's a group of people called British Zionists and the Danciers are off the tribe of Judah. No, I'm joking, but the try to make the British people, uh, part Israel.

I don't know what your brother in Ireland. I, I don't know if they got there. Did they? You might be Joseph.

No, they're not. We don't know, but God knows. God knows every one of them.

And there'll come a day when God's going to gather them all again together. We're going to get that now. He's going to gather them all again together.

And so we've got the scattering of the people. We've got the smitten shepherd, the scattering of the people. And then the last part of the verse, and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

There are some commentators will take that as the government of God upon his people. I really don't think so. Listen to Isaiah chapter 40 verse 11.

There's a beautiful verse there, and I'm going to close with this because time's gone. Listen to what it says. He 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. So beautiful. You don't want to think the Lord is going to do.

He's going to do what he did with Peter. Peter had denied him. Peter caught the eye of the Lord, and Jesus looked on him intently, and Peter went out way back.

The Lord got hold of Peter. If you read Corinthians 15, he appeared to Peter. If you read Luke 24, he appeared to Peter.

The Lord met with Peter before John 21, when there he gave him his commission. And the Lord took Peter, and he restored him again. Now listen, brethren.

I'm speaking to the elders and to others now. If a man be overtaken in a fault, I'm in Galatians now, ye that are spiritual, restore such on one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. And I see here the care of the shepherd.

The shepherd's here today. I've been in the assemblies for over 60 years in fellowship. I've been in a number of assemblies.

I've been in assemblies where we had lovely shepherds, and I've been in assemblies where we had administrators. Look what the shepherd is going to do. Number one, he's going to feed them.

Number two, he's going to gather them. He's going to do it in his arms. He's going to show affection.

He's going to carry them in his bosom. Listen, I'm speaking to the elders now and the order of saints. If you have never shown affection, if you've never took a believer into your arms, don't try and correct them, please.

Don't do that. If you've never wept with them, how are you going to reprove them? And he's going to gently lead those with them. Remember Jacob said that to Esau.

He said, I was behind because we didn't hurry the ewes because they were with young. We didn't push them along. Understand the capacity of the believers in your assembly.

There are those who are gray-headed and are wise in the things of God and they need to be fed. There are those who are middle-aged and they're working on the meat, but they haven't got down to the strongest meat. They need to be fed.

And there are those who are feeding on milk and they need to be fed. You know, the one who does it all is the Lord Jesus. Awake, O sword against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.

Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.