[Mr. Richard Kennebeck] You know, my wife and I spent or went to the Feast of Tabernacles in Panama City Beach several years ago. And we decided to go down with part of my family caravan style. And it reminded me of the old days where back in the '60s, in the '50s, and even in the early '70s, a lot of families did that. They would go down three or four or five cars together, families, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, families would go down and traveled often thousands of miles to get to the Feast. And my grandfather and grandmother, I remember going with them once, one year to the Feast in Big Sandy, Texas, from Kellogg, Minnesota. Had uncles and aunts cars filled full of stuff and a tent, and a trailer, and pots and pans, and stoves, and gas that you needed for these stoves, and the clothes that you were going to wear, all inside of that one trailer.

And it was fun, it was great excitement for us because many of us hadn't even gone out of the local county, much less the state. And here we were traveling 2,000 miles together four, five cars. You know, that was a great time of spiritual excitement because we often didn't have local churches at the time. It was years before we were able to go to a local church. We got together maybe one or two holy days. So the Feast of Tabernacles was a real highlight. But, you know, it was a time of adventure too because as we were going down caravan style, going along...well, it wasn't freeways, they were back roads. And on these back roads, often there were these little exhibitions, zoos, fun places that they’d have and I remember stopping at several of those as a kid. Well, this year, when we traveled to Panama City Beach, we stopped at one of those places that reminded me of a place along like old Route 66, Kentucky Down Under. I don't know if you've ever been there. But it's a really interesting place.

It's kind of like Australia in the middle of Kentucky. But we went there, and we learned some really interesting lessons by going there. Because they had an exhibition of sheepherding. And that one exhibition left us with several really good lessons that we actually spoke about afterwards, and have spoken from time to time since then, some really good spiritual lessons. And what I'd like to do is kind of take you along with us on that adventure, and kind of go through some of these lessons that we learned as we went and saw that exhibit. You know, we started out, there was a crowd at one end of a field. And there was a shepherd there. And there were two sheep dogs. And often the distance, there were about 20 sheep. And a shepherd all of a sudden called out to the sheep and then he set the dogs on them.

So the sheepdog ran down with eager to bring up those sheep to the shepherd. And these sheepdogs, they were Australian cattle dogs. They ran down there, and you could see the excitement in them as they did this. This was their job. This was their task. And they ran back and forth and back and forth as they herded these sheep up towards the shepherd. And finally, they brought the sheep all the way up to the shepherd. And then as they got close to the shepherd, and the sheep were around the shepherd, the dog ran around and around just keeping them all together by the shepherd. And then finally, after the dog had circled a couple of times, the shepherd told the dog that was enough. So the dog quietly went over to just beyond the sheep and sat there. But you could see he was eager. She really wanted to be circling those sheep. But the dog just sat there. You know, and then the shepherd began giving us details of shepherding of sheep and sheep herding, and sheepdogs. And you can't watch an activity like this without thinking of the imagery of Jesus Christ, our shepherd, and we, His sheep, His flock.

You know, you find throughout the Bible that Jesus is our shepherd, and He watches over us, He guides us. He's our Lord and Master. And you can't escape thinking about that He also became the lamb for us, and died for us. He was both the shepherd and the lamb. And the Bible is full of lessons that originate from the idea of sheep and shepherds. So that's what I'd like to bring you into today is these lessons that we learned as we watched that demonstration, that exhibit, and we were taught about shepherding, and we watched the shepherding. Because afterwards, as we walked back from that, and we sat at a little diner, Amish diner in a little Deli, we sat and we talked about what we had learned from that.

You know, the first lesson we gleaned from that experience is that sheep wanted to be as close to the shepherd as they could get. They wanted to be as close to the shepherd as they could get. You know, when a sheep came up to that Shepherd as they were being rounded up by those dogs or by that dog, it's amazing how close those 20 sheep got to that shepherd.

In fact, they pushed and they jostled to get as close as they could to that shepherd. They just wanted to be right there by him. And when they got close, they were happy and content. They were fine with that. They enjoyed it. And they were all looking at the shepherd. That's one thing we noticed. They weren't looking around at other things. They weren't, you know, in different formats and directions. They actually all pointed at the shepherd. And they were all looking at the shepherd's face. They were looking at that master. There was no sheep that looked away from the shepherd. And they were packed around that Shepherd so tightly that in order for that shepherd to get out of the middle of that group of sheep, he actually had to push the sheep away, and finally, had to actually jump over several to be able to get out of that ring of sheep. That's how tightly packed they were, how much they wanted to be around the shepherd.

Now, it's such an example of how we should be. How we should look to and bond to the Shepherd, Jesus Christ, our Master Shepherd. We should be wanting to be close to Him. Come with me to Hebrews 12. As we can see, these sheep are a model for our relationship with Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12, beginning verse 1. We'll see this example explained by the author of Hebrews. Hebrews 12 is right after Hebrews 11, that faith chapter, that faith chapter of so many sheep of the Old Testament, so many people of the Old Testament, who kept their eye and their vision on that city, whose builder and maker was God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." How are we supposed to run that race? Verse 2. "Looking unto Jesus, keeping our eyes focused on Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

So we see that as we run this race, we're supposed to keep our eyes looking to Jesus and His example. He's the one who should lead us to finish the race. And when you look at this word that's translated, “looking unto”, and some other translations translate that similar to fixing our eyes upon, I believe that's how the old King James uses. That Greek word comes from or means to look away from something else, to something, or to see distinctly. It's not a passive verb. It takes effort, and it takes choice. It's active. That word "looking onto" implies that we turn our mind, our face, our heads, our eyes, away from something, away from something with a purpose of looking toward something. Something specific, and that's Jesus Christ and His way of life, and His example, to turn our eyes away from the worldly way of this world and onto Jesus Christ.

And this word in the Greek means more than just a casual observation or a casual looking. It isn't just looking at something and having your mind wander. It actually implies that you expend energy and focus on it. So what happens when we lose focus? We're not looking and fixing our eyes as we should. We won't turn there but let's just rethink about the example of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:25-31. You don't have to turn there. But Jesus had just fed the 5,000, and He had sent His disciples ahead to go across the Sea of Galilee to the other side. And the disciples were rowing their boat. It was getting dark, it was getting late. And the winds picking up a little bit, and they look out, and they see this figure walking on water, and they think it's a ghost. They think it's a spirit. And they get worried. They get scared. In fact, Matthew says they were terrified, thinking it was a bad spirit. But then Jesus lets them know that it's Him. It's He who's out there. And then, you know, Peter, if you remember the story, ask Christ to say, "Let me walk on water. Call me to you, beckon me to you," which Jesus does. And then Peter begins to walk on water towards Jesus.

We're not told how far he walks but we know he walked at least far enough to get close to where Jesus was because later on in his story, we see that Jesus picked him up out of the water. But here, Peter is in the midst of a miracle, he's walking on water. He's walking on water against all odds. But then what happens? He begins to sink. He begins to sink and why? If you read the story, it says, he saw the wind and saw the waves. He took his eyes off the Lord, being fixed on the Lord, and began looking at those things that were happening around him and he began to sink. When he stopped focusing on Jesus, when he stopped looking unto Jesus, he began to sink. And Jesus had to pick him up out of the water. And that can happen to us. As we take our eyes off Jesus, and off the truth, and off of the way of life, we can begin sinking in our daily lives, in the lives we live from day to day as this world encroaches upon our lives. So we need to keep looking at Christ, so we don't sink daily.

And Jesus is that example of faith, an example of what we should look at. In Ephesians 5, we see that He is the example that we should look to, that we should fix our eyes on, Ephesians 5 beginning in verse 1.

Ephesians 5:1-2 It says, "Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children." As dear children. We're supposed to imitate God as dear children. And we know, when we were little children, or if we have little children, we know how they want to look at us and want to become like us. They wear our shoes. They try to wear our clothes. They try to talk like us. They act like us. They want to become like us. They want to imitate us. They look to us as an example of who they want to be. And verse 2 says, "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us in offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." So we need to stop imitating the world and start imitating Jesus Christ in His way. We need to imitate Him. And even Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 that we need to imitate him as He imitated Christ, or follow him as he followed Christ.

And how do we learn to imitate someone? Well, we have to watch what they're doing. We watch what they're doing, we fix their eyes on them. We look at them. We try to get close to them. If you have a mentor, you try to be with them so they can mentor you. We want to be doing the very same thing. You know, in John 5, we see that even Jesus Christ fixed His eyes on someone, and followed, and imitated someone, even Jesus Christ.

John 5:18-19 It says, "Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him because He not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father making Himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do, for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.'"

So Jesus imitates what the Father does. he knows the Father. He kept in contact with the Father while he was here on the earth. He prayed to Him. He stayed close to Him. And this word sees in verse 19 is again an active verb. It isn't just seeing something physically but it can be translated as looked at, perceived, or discerned. Again, it's an active thing. It's just not physically seeing something happen. It's actually looking at something, to see how it works, to discern it. Before we leave the topic of the shepherd, let's take a look at some of the possible reasons why sheep want to be close. Why do they want to be close to the shepherd? You know, what does the shepherd do that makes the sheep want to be close, want to be around him? You know, a good shepherd will be a shepherd that endears himself to the sheep, and the flock will want to be close to. A good shepherd has three important roles that brings sheep to him, three important roles. They are herding, tending, and protecting. Herding, tending and protecting.

And I don't know how much sheep understand these roles of the shepherd but over time, when a shepherd does these three things, the sheep begin to draw closer to the shepherd and want to be part of that shepherd's flock. So the Good Shepherd herds their flock. He herds the flock by gathering them together, and leading them from place to place, and taking care of them for their well-being. The shepherd loves his sheep, wants them to prosper. So he'll take them to good pastures. You know, Psalms 23 tells us that our Lord and Shepherd leads us. It says, "He leads or herds me beside still waters and He leads or herds me besides or in the paths of righteousness." These are things that Jesus Christ does for us, who follow Him. Secondly, the shepherds also tend to flock by making sure that they're healthy, fed, and watered. The author of Hebrews calls Jesus the Great Shepherd. Let's take a look at something in Hebrews 13, beginning in verse 20 through 21. And we'll read a little bit more about this great shepherd and how he tends to us as His flock.

Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, forever and ever. Amen." You know, Jesus tends to our needs. He wants to allow us and help us to complete what He's got for us, the plan He has for us. He wants to help us and help us complete in every good work. He doesn't want us alone. He wants to protect us. He doesn't want us out in the midst of wolves. He wants to lead us in peace, in prosperity, and in the right way to mature and enter into His kingdom as part of the flock. Turn with me back to Isaiah 40, where we see a future time of shepherding. Isaiah 40 beginning in verse 10.

Isaiah 40:10 I'm going to read this actually out of the NIV. It says, "See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power. And he rules when the mighty arm." This is talking about a future time. "See His reward is with Him and His recompense accompanies Him." Now, when you look at this, it looks like, boy, this is a God of power, and of anger, and a mighty arm. But let's see what it says next. Let's see what it says next.

Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those that have young." You know, that's the kind of shepherd I want. I want a shepherd of power, can protect me from the wolves and the lions. But I want a shepherd of love, who'll carry me up against His chest, and hold me, and take care of me. You know, that's Jesus Christ and how much He loves His flock.

The third thing and role of a shepherd is that they are to protect their flock from enemies, protect their flock from enemies. Shepherds protect their flocks and keep them safe. They keep them from harm's way, from predators, from anything that wants to destroy and kill them. In fact, a good shepherd will even give up his own life for the sheep.

You know, that reminds us of John 10, beginning in verse 11, because we read about a good shepherd, good shepherd that loves us, cares for us, will give his life for us.

John 10:11-15 says, "I am the good shepherd." This is Jesus Christ. "The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep, but a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves and flees. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them." You know, one of the interesting parts of the Scripture that I really like is Christ is equating Himself to a shepherd that owns His sheep. Jesus Christ owns us, and wants to be part of His flock. He is our shepherd. He's not a hireling. Verse 13, "The hireling flees because he is a hireling, and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My sheep and I'm known by My own." Verse 15, "As a father knows Me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep."

A good shepherd lays down their life, is willing to lay down their life for their sheep. And that's exactly what Jesus Christ did for us. He paid our penalty for sin by laying down His life for us. And these are attributes of a good shepherd that endear the sheep to the shepherd and make those sheep want to stay close to the shepherd, want to stay in contact with him. So that was the first lesson we learned is that the sheep really wanted to be close to the shepherd. They desired to be close to the shepherd. They wanted to be there and be part of His flock.

The second lesson we learned was that we notice during the exhibit that not all sheepdogs are the same. Not all sheepdogs are the same. Some are profitable, and some are not. You know, sheepdogs, apparently, were used back in ancient times in the Middle East. If you read Job 30:1 in the New Living Translation, it says, "But now, I'm mocked by the people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run my sheepdogs." What He was saying in the midst of this trial He was going through is that people were mocking Him and putting Him down, people that He wouldn't have even allowed to take care of his sheepdog.

So we know that Job had large flocks, and his shepherds apparently use sheepdogs. And many shepherds use sheepdogs to help with the flock. When they're trained well, they're of great value, great value. They herd, they can help herd the flocks. They can gather them together. They can protect the sheep. When the flock moves, often the shepherd goes in front and the sheepdog follows behind. Make sure none of them get lost and left behind. Make sure they all stay together. Make sure there aren't stragglers, sheepdogs that guard these flocks and will bark furiously if an enemy comes in, if a wolf or a predator comes in. But not all sheepdogs are alike. When it comes to taking responsibility, some dogs are hard workers and some aren't. Some fulfill their responsibilities, and some don't. Some fulfill their calling, and some don't, or only fulfill them half-heartedly.

You know, in Kentucky Down Under, we actually saw both types. They have two dogs that look virtually identical. They're Australian cattle dogs, also known as blue healers. And there's one that's fairly old that's been a sheepdog for many, many years, and is almost too old to be a sheepdog. It's in the last years of working with the sheep. And then there was a younger dog that was young and robust and had all these capabilities of the older dog but it wasn't fulfilling what it was supposed to. You know, this older sheepdog, who I'll call the worker, was fulfilling her calling. She was trained to herd sheep, and that's what she did. She took that responsibility on and she helped the shepherd. Even in her old age, she was helping the shepherd. She eagerly followed every single command with excitement. And then we also saw what was called the looker. The one that they actually called pretty girl, pretty girl, because that's her job now. She sits and looks pretty. She looks pretty to the crowd. She stands by the crowds and just looks pretty. She was trained to be a sheepdog, to replace this older sheepdog that was getting too old for this but she never was willing to do it. She never fulfilled that calling. She never really had the courage, the character, and the desire to fulfill her calling. You know, she would pretty much do as I said, she'd sit along the sidelines and look pretty. She looks like a sheepdog. The color is right. The hair is right. Her speed is fantastic. Strength is great. And she's pretty. But she doesn't herd sheep. And that's her calling in life. She doesn't have the heart and commitment to it.

In fact, when they first called to the sheepdogs to go out and gather up the sheep, pretty girl ran down with the older dog. And then before long started wandering around the back of the field, while the older one, the worker, brought up the sheep, and no longer even listened to the commands because as the older one was bringing the sheep up, the shepherd was calling out commands. And pretty girl just did whatever she wanted. She just ignored the commands. You know, and just as these dogs, these two dogs, treated their shepherding or sheepdog calling differently, you know, we need to make sure that we're handling our calling correctly, and rightly, and wholeheartedly.

Let's take a quick look at the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. I know most of us are quite familiar with this. But this does talk about how we handle our calling. Mark 4, and we'll begin in verse 3. Because this talks about how different people, types of people, hear the voice of the shepherd, and how they respond to it.

Mark 4:3-8 "Listen, behold, a sower went out to sow and it happened as he saw that some seed fell by the wayside and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of Earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded the crop that sprang up, and creased, and produced some 30 fold, some 60, and some 100."

Now, if we dropped down to verse 14, we see the explanation of the parable.

Mark 4:14-20 "The sower sows the Word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the Word is sown. When they hear Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These, likewise, are the ones sown on stony ground who when they hear the Word immediately receive it with gladness, and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. And afterwards, when tribulation, or persecution arises for the Word sake, immediately they stumble." Verse 18, "Now, these are the ones sown among thorns. They are the ones who hear the Word, and the cares of this world and his sinfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word and it becomes unfruitful." Verse 20, "But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the Word accept it, and bear fruit, some 30 fold, some 60, and some 100."

You know this is talking about different sheepdogs that learned and took their responsibility in life differently. Some took their calling and did nothing with it. Others took their calling, worked at it, and gained. We want to be that type sheepdog. We want to be that type person, that is a worker that not just looks good, but actually does good, is profitable. So we need to strive to be that sheepdog, that person that is profitable.

You know, there's one more spiritual lesson that caught our attention at the sheep herding demonstration. You know, sheep are often portrayed as being really stupid animals. I mean, most people think that. They're actually smarter than we think. I mean, they're never going to be as smart as a dog or an elephant or a dolphin or anything like that. But they're not as dumb as they're portrayed. You know, most of the habits that sheep have are actually good for them. It's beneficial for them. Sheep are very social animals. They like being around together, and they like being in herds. They enjoy that. And that's actually an important quality that gives them protection. Sheep when they're together in a large group are less likely to be attacked by predators. It's those that stray away from the herd that ignore that desire that the sheep have to be a part of a herd, it's those that typically are taken out by predators, and eaten. It's the isolated ones.

You know, and when you observe sheep in a peaceful situation, they actually exhibit various qualities that you wouldn't expect from them. They can solve certain problems. They can build lasting relationships. They actually defend their friends. And they can show emotions like happiness and sorrow. And they can actually remember and recognize at least 50 other sheep faces, even after two years, very social animals. You know, but when intelligence is mixed with rebellion, that's when sheep have trouble. That's when they have trouble. And that brings me to that last lesson that I'd like to go over today that we learned from that demonstration is that some sheep ignore the shepherd and stray from the flock. Some sheep ignore the shepherd and stray from the flock. You know, while virtually all the sheep that were pressing up against that shepherd, they all wanted to be so close to him, and through the whole demonstration, they all stayed really close to him, except one sheep kept wandering away.

It seemed like it was continually looking for its independence. It refused to conform to the commands of the shepherd and even to the sheepdog. You know, as the Shepherd was explaining the various aspects of shepherding and answering our questions, there's this one sheep that would slowly wander off by 20 feet away and start eating grass about 20 feet away from the flock. And a shepherd would give the command to the worker dog, and she would eagerly run out and heard that sheep back into the flock. And then sit down again. Well, our guide answered more questions, told us more about shepherding. And before long, you notice that same sheep wandering off, 20 feet away, grass...I mean, they were in the middle of a grass field anyway. They had plenty of grass to eat, but she wanders off to a different area. And again, the shepherd says, "Hey, dog, go get him." And the dog went out, brought the sheep in, sat down. Well, this went on four or five times, until finally the shepherd just said, "We'll just leave her alone. That's it. It's not worth the time." And the sheep just continually wandered farther and farther away. This one sheep, all the rest of them stayed with the flock, except that one. You know, and that's when they get into trouble. It's when they wander off on their own.

Philip Keller tells the story of a discontent sheep in his book "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23." Let me just read a bit of it. He writes, "I once owned a ewe whose conduct exactly typified the sort of person, a discontented half-hearted Christian. She was one of the most attractive sheep that ever belonged to me. Her body was beautifully proportioned. She had a strong constitution and an excellent coat of wool. Her head was clean, alert, well-fed, with bright eyes. She bought sturdy lambs that matured rapidly, but she had one pronounced fault, she was restless, a fence crawler. This one ewe produced more problems for me than almost all the rest of the flock combined. No matter what field or pasture the sheep were in, she would search all along the fences for loopholes she could crawl through and feed on the other side. It was a sufficient problem to itself to find her and bring her back. But she taught her lambs the same trick. They simply followed her example, and soon were as skilled at escaping as their mother. And then other sheep began following her example. After putting up with her for a summer, I finally came to the conclusion that to save the rest of the flock from becoming unsettled, she had to go, she had to go. I could not allow one discontent ewe to ruin the whole ranch operation. She was a sheep who in spite of all I had done to give her the very best care, still wanted something else."

Discontentment can cause us to stray if we're not careful. We can be discontent with so many things, maybe our life, our future, you know, in our job, keeping up with the Joneses, various other things. We can become discontent and try to find other ways to be fulfilled, rather than staying within the flock. You know, this one ewe, this sheep thought she always saw greener pastures somewhere else. And the thing is, this shepherd had her in some of the best fields possible. So we have to be careful that we don't get distracted, that we don't lose connection with God, that we don't try to look for greener pastures that really aren't greener. You know, we read earlier in Mark 4 in the Parable of the Sower of the Seed, and there was a group that was described that was distracted by the world.

Mark 4:18-19 It said, "Now, these are the ones sown among thorns. They're the ones who hear the word. And the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word and becomes unfruitful."

These are the people that look for greener pastures that really aren't. They're really not greener pastures. You know, it's so easy to be pulled by the cares of this world. It's so easy. When I was a young father and had three young children, we lived out in a very expensive Southern California area. And I got caught up in distractions and the cares of the world. I was a worrier, a real worrier. And one of my biggest worries was keeping the house for my family. Because we couldn't afford to buy a house at the time, so we rented homes. And the vacancy rate at that time in Southern California was like 3% or 4%. And you always went month to month, so they could actually come to you and say, "In 30 days, you're out of the house."

And I worried about that. And I lost a lot of sleep about that. Now, how would I take care of my family? How would I take care of my wife if this happened to us? And it began to impact my relationship with my shepherd. And I came to realize that I really needed to trust in God. I had to have faith in God, in His promises. And, you know, through all the years of living in Southern California, God always provided over and above what we needed. We always had a place to stay in, and it was always a nice place. And it reinforced in my mind that my shepherd does tend His flock. He does take care of His flock. It reinforced in my mind that God does take care of you if you have faith in Him. And the distractions and cares that a world can take our focus away from God, can take our eyes off being fixed on our shepherd.

You know, once in a while, sheep also can actually follow another shepherd. They can actually stray from their shepherd and think they've got a better shepherd someplace else. And they can lose sight of their real shepherd. I mean, sheep normally don't do that, but occasionally they will. And we're told that we need to be careful about straying from our shepherd. In Matthew 24, 4 and 5, were told to be vigilant and to stay with the true shepherd, especially during these end times.

Matthew 24:4 "And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in My name.” Many will come and say, "I'm the shepherd. Follow me." “Many will come in My name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many.'"

You know, many, in the end time will be deceived and will be brought over to other shepherds, will be deceived into following other shepherds. And we need to make sure that we don't do that.

1 John 4 tells us how to keep from following a false shepherd. 1 John 4 beginning in verse 1. If you hear something that doesn't sound right, if you hear something that seems new, something that you haven't heard before through the years, look into it, don't just believe it.

1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets, many false shepherds have gone out into the world." So we need to test new understanding, we need to test when other understanding is brought to us that's contrary to things that we've known before. We need to research the Bible, and study it, and look through it as the brains did. Get advice from people that have been around for a long time and other people. Pray and fast about it. But always be seeking the shepherd's way, and not our own. You need to test the spirits.

As sheep of the flock, we must be vigilant against Satan's tactics, because we know that Satan is out there as a roaring lion, and he's looking for those lone sheep that have strayed away. And he wants to devour us. You know, when a sheep leaves the flock and the shepherd, he's always open to attack from lions, from wolves. And if we stray, we're open to attack also. But, you know, there's hope. If we do stray, there's hope. Because our great shepherd wants us. He'll even go out looking for us, and He'll restore us to the flock. Because we all go astray from time to time.

Isaiah 53:6 "All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

So even though we go astray, we've got the penalty already paid for us. Jesus Christ came as that sacrificed lamb to forgive our sins, as a payment for our sins. He paid that price, so we can be a part of His sheepfold.

And we know the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Matthew 18, that reminds us, you know, that a man will leave the 99 sheep to go after that one and bring it back to the fold. So if we go astray, we know that Jesus will search for us. As long as we have a desire to be part of that flock, He wants us to be there. So the lessons we learned that day, have stayed with us. As we watched that shepherding demonstration and impacted our feast in our lives, we learned those lessons that we saw that the sheep wanted to be close to the shepherd, as close as they could get. Not all sheepdogs are the same. Some are profitable, and some are not. And some sheep ignore the shepherd and stray from the flock.

You know, there's coming a time when there's going to be a true shepherd that's going to come and rule this earth. You know, at that time, as Isaiah 11 tells us “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and they shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain.” Under the rule of that loving Shepherd, this whole world is going to be changed. Those mild sheep will be able to lay down with a mild Leopard, and the goat with the mild bear.

You know, what's our destiny? What about us? Would we still have a shepherd if we remain true to the shepherd? For our last scripture, let's turn to Revelation 7. Revelation 7, beginning in verse 16, and we'll read through 17.

Revelation 7:16-17 "Our destiny, they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat." Verse 17, "For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." You know, what a wonderful future we have in front of us as part of the flock of Jesus Christ.