Psalm 23; John 10:9 - 11; Hebrews 13:20, 21; 1 Peter 2:25

The Great Shepherd is our theme at this time. The God of peace has brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. He has laid down His life for the sheep, He has met the foe; and on that account He has become the Door. By Him we can enter, and be saved, and go in and out and find pasture. The God of peace has brought Him again from the dead in the power of the blood of the everlasting covenant. Think of the power of the blood as the righteous basis on which all the purposes of God will be carried through. Human failure does not turn God aside. Everything is failure on the side of man's responsibility, but let us never forget that everything is victorious on God's side. He is not even halted by human failure; He does not deviate; He is going on. May He help us to see how He is moving and to move with Him! It says, "When thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness", Psalm 68:7. Nothing can stay His way. In Psalm 177:20, it says, "Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron". He has appointed the Great Shepherd of the sheep who leads His people like a flock, tenderly, leading them by the hand. Jesus is our Moses and Aaron. Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession is the Great Shepherd of the sheep.

Both John's gospel and the epistle to the Hebrews

show how great the Shepherd is! In Ezekiel chapter 34, God speaks of the way the shepherds would fail, but He would come in Himself to shepherd His people. The One who was in the beginning with God, and was God, has come as the Shepherd. He is the One by whom God made the worlds, the One who is upholding all things by the word of His power, the One who by Himself has made purification for sins; and can He not take care of the flock? Never, while we are down here, do we get to a point where we do not need the Shepherd. If we let that basic relationship of sheep and Shepherd lapse we shall fail. No one can see us through except the Shepherd. The Apostle has brought out the knowledge of God. He is indeed Himself the effulgence of God's glory. The High Priest goes in to God and sustains the service of God. But that very One is the Shepherd. His shepherd activities are needed to bring us into the gain of all that He is as Apostle and High Priest. So He leads His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me", Psalm 23:4. Moses had the rod and Aaron the staff. We need them both. We need the Shepherd, not only in the wilderness but also in the land, in the highest levels of the truth, for it says, "He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever. And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: from following the suckling ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands", Psalm 78:69 - 72. We need to see to it, therefore, that on our side, the relationship between sheep and Shepherd never

lapses. It will not lapse on His side. Psalm 23 gives the language of one who has come into the gain of it. A great word for us at the present moment is, "Ye were going astray as sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls", 1 Peter 2:25. We do not need a pope or an archbishop. Bishops have their so-called shepherd staff; but we need no officials like that. The great thing is the personal link between each sheep and the Great Shepherd. We must bypass men and their systems whoever and whatever they may be; and get back to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. You may say, 'Surely there are those under-shepherds who shepherd the flock!' Well, if we each maintain our personal relation as a sheep with the Shepherd, we shall become serviceable to Him in shepherding one another; but the moment we allow our personal link to lapse, we are of no use in shepherding. Therefore the Lord's final word in John, addressed to Peter, who had just been commissioned to shepherd and feed His sheep, is, "Follow thou me", John 21:22. At all costs therefore maintain your personal link with Christ. It is a very intimate thing. "I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father", John 10:14 - 15. If you are in the gain of that, your link with Christ will be much closer than the closest natural tie. Unless your link with Christ is stronger than any other, you are in danger. The great thing is to see that not a shadow comes between your soul and Christ.

I suppose we all have been in one man-made system or another. Let us reject all things that are merely from man and return to the Shepherd and

Bishop of our souls. Let there be no intermediary between us and Christ. We may help one another as under-shepherds, but that is not an official position as men would make it. A true shepherd must be a true sheep himself, in touch with the Great Shepherd; and he would never put himself between you and the Shepherd. His object in shepherding would ever be to put you yourself in direct touch with the Great Shepherd. Anyone who comes between your soul and the Shepherd, you must dismiss; he is not a shepherd according to God. A true shepherd, I say again, would use his whole activity and skill to put your soul in touch with the Chief Shepherd. And we also help one another, if we ourselves are simply following without knowing we are helping one another. Peter looked round and saw John following. It is a great thing when you look round and see a brother following. Seeing John following ought to have been enough for Peter, but even then he said, "What of this man?". Still Peter learnt the lesson and so we find in the Acts, Peter and John following together -- two men who would never have moved together on natural lines -- so unlike in upbringing and temperament. But, as giving heed to the Lord's word "Follow thou me", they were moving together and were a beautiful sight at the Beautiful gate of the temple -- Acts 3. Peter could rightly say, "Look on us".

Now, in Psalm 23 you have the language of one who has returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of his soul. I am applying it that way because it fits in with present exercises. Let us test ourselves by this Psalm as to whether we have so returned. David says, "Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want". Have we proved that? Have we proved His all-sufficiency?

"He that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believes on me shall never thirst at any time", John 6:35. You come to the Door, you can go in and out and find pasture. There is liberty and yet restfulness. "Come to me", He says, "and I will give you rest", Matthew 11:29. How we tend to move outside this vital link with the Shepherd and so become feverishly active, even in the Lord's work! But a proof that we have returned to Him is that we are in liberty, freed from every yoke of bondage and we are restful; "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul". We find liberty, rest, food, refreshment and restoration of soul.

Many here have been through very trying times, times of fiery trial, and they are not over yet; but this is what we prove as we return to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Our souls are restored. It is a great thing for the soul to be restored, because we are no help to ourselves or to other people, or in the service of God, if our souls are flagging. "Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God; for I shall praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God", Psalm 42:11 and 43: 5; and in Psalm 43:4 he speaks of soul revival. "Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto the God of the gladness of my joy" -- his soul set free.

Then it says, "He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake", Psalm 23:3. This is a great need at the moment. We find liberty, rest, food and life. "I am come", the Shepherd says, "that they might have life, and might have it abundantly", John 10:10; and it is in the power of life that we

can fulfil righteousness. It cannot be fulfilled in our own strength. The Shepherd has come that we might have life as a free gift, and have it abundantly; and it is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that sets us free from the law of sin and death. As walking in the Spirit We are able to fulfil the righteous requirement of the law.

We shall never be kept together unless we are in paths of righteousness. The moment we depart from them the enemy can scatter, and damage is brought on the Lord's name. It is a question of "His name's sake", which should touch us all. Do we not desire to honour the Shepherd who has laid down His life for us and is caring for us every moment? What would we not do for His name's sake? Let us surrender to Him and let Him lead us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Righteousness is a very wide term. It involves the carrying out of our obligations as men, women and children down here; husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, but it also involves carrying out our obligations as members of the body of Christ and as forming part of the house of God. We will not be ready to carry out the latter without the former. God has made me a member of the body of Christ. I cannot belong to any sect therefore; that would be unrighteous. Membership of the body of Christ is an honour conferred by God. As a member of the body of Christ, I have an obligation to every other member to do what I can for them and, if following the Shepherd in paths of righteousness, I shall be available to fill out my place in the body and thus help to edify the body. But I shall reject sectarian paths.

I also belong to the house of God and it is a question of what is due to God in His house. The house of God is not a sect. It is the habitation of God in the Spirit. Everyone who is indwelt by the Spirit is part of the house. In view of my part in the house of God I cannot be sectarian. I must have an outlook on the whole house of God, on every believer indwelt by the Spirit. But then, there are obligations connected with the house of God. God is holy. The Lord Jesus is the Holy and the True. It is a matter of righteousness that I should move here in consistency with the house of God, glorifying God in everything that I do and in the way I walk. "This is the law of the house", it says, "upon the top of the mountain all its border round about is most holy", Ezekiel 43:12. Everything about us is to be in keeping with the house of God. You may say, others are not concerned, but that is not the point. Your link with the Shepherd cannot lapse on His side; see to it that it does not lapse on yours. He would lead you in paths of righteousness -- righteous in your home, in your business, but also righteous as a member of the body of Christ and as a living stone in the house of God.

Inside the tabernacle, the boards, representative of the saints, stood on bases of silver. The silver bases mean that the ground of our standing before God is the righteousness of God. We stand before God as justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The priests could take account of the boards thus when they went into the sanctuary of God. But the court round the tabernacle represents the public position which any man can see. There, the pillars were standing on bases of copper. What does that mean? Practical righteousness. The altar was made

of copper and the bases on which the pillars stood were made of copper. They represent the saints as in communion -- or fellowship -- with the altar, true to the death of Christ, refusing anything inconsistent with His death -- see 1 Corinthians 10:18. What is being consistent with His death? Devoting ourselves to God's will as He did. He devoted His body to death for God's will and God's glory, and this involved devoting His body for us that we might be sanctified. We are to devote ourselves to God's will and God's glory, and thus to the saints for service, as those who form His house. That is righteousness. Only thus are we truly 'in the fellowship'. "Copper" is our only public standing in this world if we are going to be faithful to the Lord. We are to be like those pillars, adorning the doctrine of our Saviour God, holding up the curtains of pure fine linen, the practical purity which alone is suitable to God's house. Then there were the connecting rods of silver, representing our links with one another in Christ. The silver is not to be debased by allowing anything social or worldly. We would not have known one another but for the redemptive rights of Christ, the fact that the Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. Are we going to debase these links, formed at such a cost? Far be the thought. That would be unrighteous. Righteousness requires that my walk should be in keeping with the copper, true to the altar and my links with the brethren should be preserved in Christ on the holy level of the silver; not governed by social status, nor by natural or racial proclivities. Men should be able to take account of us thus in the sphere of testimony.

Let us consider for His Name's sake, dear brethren.

Let us not rebel against the Shepherd's leading. We need it now, at this very time, otherwise we may stray away into by-paths. Then it says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me". John 10 is the Good Shepherd; in John 11, the enemy, death, attempts to seize a sheep out of His hand. Lazarus died. You say, 'Can the Lord be a real Shepherd to stay two days away and let Lazarus die?' It was part of His Shepherd care. He was using the rod. Although they all loved Jesus, Lazarus was the centre of the circle, but after that incident Jesus was the Centre, the Son of God, and Lazarus in his right place. The whole orientation of the home is altered, and that is what the Lord would do for us. We need His rod, but when His rod is acting, the staff is there to comfort us, to support us. We think of Moses' rod, the rod of authority, and Aaron's staff. They are both in the hand of the Shepherd. But I understand that the figure used here is that of sheep walking through a ravine with wolves ready to cut off their path. Unless the Shepherd were with them they would never get through. They need His rod and His staff for protection and support as they go through the valley with the wolves ready to harass them on every hand. Jesus says, "The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees"; and also, "Beware of false prophets, which, come to you in sheep's clothing, but within are ravening wolves", Matthew 7:15. Such would tear the flock and scatter it.

Paul speaks of grievous wolves and of men speaking perverted things to draw away the disciples after them -- Acts 20:30. They would draw them away from the Shepherd. Once you are away from the Shepherd you are powerless. What could a sheep do against a wolf unless the shepherd were there with his rod to deal with it? Our business now is to help one another to keep very near to the Shepherd, heeding His voice, and rejecting the voice of strangers -- those who speak perverted things.

The thought of His rod is a comfort to me at the present time. We are all apt to stray, not knowing which way to go. How are we going to be united? We can count on the Shepherd's rod. He can deal with each one of us with the rod of His authority, so that the flock is preserved together. I am thankful for His rod, I am counting on it myself. The Lord alone can subdue each one of us. He is going to shepherd the nations with an iron rod. It does not say He shepherds us with an iron rod. Nevertheless, there is the rod:

"None but Thyself, Lord Jesus,
Conquered this wayward will;
But for Thy love constraining,
I would be wayward still".

We have to remember, therefore, that we are going through, at the present time, the valley of the shadow of death. There are wolves, and we need His rod and His staff. Otherwise, if we get a little bit out of the way, the wolf may fasten upon us.

Then think of the joy as we cleave to the Shepherd and get through this valley! "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over". This is wonderful. God grant that we may

reach it -- the table prepared, the head anointed, the cup running over, and finishing up in the house of God. That is where the paths of righteousness lead. "I will dwell in the house of Jehovah for the length of the days".

Hebrews 13:21 gives another side. On the one hand we are following the Shepherd, listening to His voice, submitting to His rod and getting the gain of His staff. But, on the other hand, God is working in us and that also is a great comfort to my soul. I see the fruit world-wide of God working in the saints. We need to work out our own salvation because it is God who is working in us -- Philippians 2:13. Let us be careful not to obstruct that work. I may allow position and place, claims of relatives and many other things to divert me from God's will. But if we are under the Shepherd the work goes forward, "doing in you what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for the ages of ages. Amen", Hebrews 13:21.

Let us finish on that note as we look up to the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Let us join together in saying, To him be glory for the ages of ages; and also to the God of peace, who brought Him again from among the dead!