It's Good To Be HIs - Pastor J. D. Howell 3-1-2026

Would you turn with me to the Book of Hebrews.

May I direct your attention to the thirteenth chapter and

the twentieth verse. Brother Jesse one Peter, chapter number five

and verse number four. And beloved Bethel, will you turn

with me to the Book of John. May I direct

your attention to the tenth chapter. We will be reading

verses number eleven through fifteen. Our golden text will be John,

chapter number ten and verse number eleven. Brother Nathaniel, Hebrews

thirteen and verse twenty. Now, the God of Peace that

brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great

shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant.

Notice the description of.

Our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, Brother

Jesse one Peter, chapter number five and verse number four,

My brother, And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye

shall receive a crown of glory that fateth not away.

Notice the description there of our Lord Jesus, the what

brother Jesse, chief shepherd, the chief Shepherd. Let's look at

our golden text here tonight. May you stand for the

reading of God's word John chapter number ten, Verses number

eleven through fifteen, the Bible says, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But

he that is in Hireling, and not the shepherd, who's

only the sheepherd not see it. The wolf coming and

leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them

and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is

in Hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am

the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known

of mine as the Father knoweth me. Even so know

I the Father, and I laid down my life for

the sheep. Our Golden texts, verse number eleven, read it

with me. I am the good shepherd, The good shepherd

giveth his life for the sheep. Oh, thank the Lord

for that. May we pray, Heavenly Father, we love and

we praise you. We thank you for each one that

is in the House of the Lord tonight. We pray

that you would anoint their ears to hear what it

is the Spirit of God would say unto them during

this part of the service. Already, Lord, you have spoken

to them through song and through exhortation and testimony, and

we have heard what the Spirit of God has said

unto the church, and we're thankful for every spoken and

sung word. We pray that you would anoint this thy servant.

As Brother Stah said tonight, we are nothing more than

a speck of dust. I pray that you would anoint me.

That's how they will receive the annoying his present. I

desperately need that annoint him. I pray that a guard

at my mouth and help me to say the things

you would have me to say, nothing more or less.

And may these sayings go below the shoulders. May they

enter the heart and saturate the soul and the spirit.

And may we be hearers and doers of the word

of God. We give you the praise and honor, the

glory and Jesus's name. And the Church said amen, and

may we depart this place joyfully and not sorrowfully.

Again.

Looking at our golden text John, chapter number ten and

verse number eleven, I am the good Shepherd. The good

Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Our text is

found in a New Testament book of the Holy Bible.

The Book of John is not a synoptic gospel. Today,

Brother Jesse explained to us that the books of the Bible,

namely Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The first three of four

gospels are known as synoptic gospels, and the reason they're

known as synoptic gospels is because of their style and

their structure. Evidently, these men had spent some time with

the Lord. But when it comes to the writing of John,

that fourth of four gospels, this precious person had.

A very unique style.

And when they observed the structure and the style of

this gospel, they said, this gospel has to be set

apart from the other gospels because it is what it is.

It's different in nature, and that is because the beloved Jod,

the apostle that the Lord loved, and that one who

loved the Lord is the one that put pen to

parchment and gave us this fourth Gospel. This apostle was

one who was not ashamed of his Lord. The apostle

Paul later would say, I am not ashamed of the Lord,

nor am I ashamed of his gospel. We can say

that John was not ashamed to follow the Lord. I've

noticed that these three beautiful daughters of brother Nathaniel are

not ashamed at all to follow their daddy. Wheresoever, he goes,

you can tell they are little lambs in that household.

One of the elder brothers of this church told me

todays that it is a beautiful sight to see the

family of brother Nathaniel Howell. And if you would, you

could say that this man is the shepherd over that

flock that God has given him. And I feel like

Sister Rachel, those three girls and that little baby boy,

if they could testify tonight, they would all say, without

a doubt, we're in the very best of hands. Sister

Rachel could say, I am not ashamed to be called

my husband's wife. I'm not ashamed to be called the

bride of that man because.

Of who he is.

Beyond his musical talents and his numerous mechanical abilities and

skill sets, I'm just glad to belong to Nathaniel. I

remember in high school talking to some friends of mine

that were ashamed of the person that they were in

an intimate relationship with. You could tell that there were

certain girls in our class, on our grade level that

were proud about who they were dating, and they were

proud about whom they were dating because of the way

they were treated. We can tell right here that John

had no qualms with Jesus, He had no complaints. He

checked every box that was to be checked, and said,

I am willing to follow this man seemingly off the

face of the earth, and that very thing he did.

He followed him all the way to that celestial city.

And I want to ask you here tonight, are you

ashamed to be known as his? Are you ashamed to

follow the Lord? The apostle John? Because of his endearment

to the Lord and his love that was so.

Great for the Lord, he outlived the.

Other eleven chosen disciples of the Lord. Children the Bible said,

you should obey your parents that your days may be

long on the earth. Well, what about the apostle John?

God?

Apparently he was very obedient to his heavenly father. The

end result is this man had the most intimate relationship

with the Lord that any person that ever lived while

the Lord lived had. He ended up writing several books

of this Bible, of sixty six books, and they can

be found in that King James Translation Bible that you

are holding in those two hands of yours. It sounds

to me like he was not ashamed to be called

one of them, a disciple of the Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. In that read back hymn, No, there's a

song and the lyrics go something like this. I'm glad

that I can say I.

Am one of them.

A lot of times I daydream, And when I daydream,

it's not about future events on this earth, and it's

not about business opportunities, although I am a visionary somewhat.

But when I daydream, I think about what it would

have been like to have traveled with the Lord, to

slide those sandals on as he slid his own, and

to follow the good Shepherd wheresoever he.

Would lead us.

The Bible readers and students present tonight know something about

John that the world does not know about. They know

that he would do whatever possible in order to get

closer to the Lord.

And there's people in this building tonight I can.

Tell it doesn't matter how many services we have, how

many scheduled or spontaneous revivals we have, you can tell

that Nathaniel and Irah are going.

To get closer to the Lord.

And that's how John, the Beloved who was And if

disciples are to be referred to as a sheep, then

this man of God was not a sheep to stray

away from the good shepherd or the Master. It appears

this man lived on earth until he was in his

mid or upper nineties, and some people say he died

at the age of ninety four, while other scholars begged

the difference and say that he died at the age

of ninety eight. I want you to know this man,

according to historians, and was boiled in a part of all.

They attempted to burn him at the stake, and early

church leaders that knew him personally said, because of his

relationship with the Lord, the earthly people that persecuted him

could not prevail those that tried to knock out his candle,

they could not snuff it out because of his relationship

with the Lord. You all will remember when this prophecy

came into fruition. It was when Jesus told Peter, whatever

I choose to do with you, what is that to you?

And whatever I choose to do to this beloved John,

what is that to you?

The Lord is going.

To do whateversoever the Lord wants to do. And so

this man was one to be held captive by his captor.

He was a love slave to Jesus, and his heart

was held captive by the Good Shepherd, and he spent

the rest of his life after turning in his resignation

to his father, And he spent the rest of his

life following Jesus trying to get closer to the one

that he so dearly loved. I am married to Sister Howell,

and I've got to say there is a man in

her life that she likes to get closer to besides me.

Come on, His name is a Jesus.

I watched tonight as she walked up on this platform

and stood there near brother Jesse and told us to

turn to a certain page in that red back hymn law.

And as she began to sing, she spoke his.

Name, and immediately he was able to do for her

so much more than I can do. I remember, she said,

sometimes I just need to speak his name. That woman

will tell you, as far as men are concerned on

this earth, there is no other one in her life.

She would tell you I would never call on another man,

never speak the name of another man to come to

my rescue. She would tell you. If she was in

Iceeu and the death Angel was to come by, she

would call on that specialist down the hall sitting at

a desk, she would call on the name of her husband, Jeremy.

But if I was unavailable, she would call on the

good Shepherd. And I'm asking you here tonight. Is he

dearly loved by you? And we know that the Lord

was dearly loved by this young man?

What made him so special to the Lord? Sister? How well?

I would say in my studies.

Identified that he had a hunger, And the Bible said

they that seek the Lord first, and everything else will

be added unto them, They that hunger and thirsty after

righteousness shall be filled with what first righteousness? And he's

talking about if you have an appetite for the right

things of God, if you have an appetite to be

a sheep in his food, if you have an appetite

to hear the voice of the Shepherd.

Oh, I'm asking you here the night. Do you not

care that the right path is just before you, just

on the other side of the door, you know, along

the way.

Jesus described himself in many different ways, one description being

the way, another description being the door, another description being

the life. What another description being the truth? But here

in these red words he said, I hemn the Good

Shepherd and I want you to know David in the

twenty third Psalm, he spoke from expiritual being a shepherd,

but he spoke of another shepherd that wanted to lead

him in the passer her righteousness. Why for his namesake?

And that's what I want you to know tonight. Sean knew.

The reason why I'm no longer of fishing commercially, the

reason why I quit everything, Locke, stocking, barrel, the reason

why forsook all is because it's for his namesake. I

want you to know here tonight, we've got to say,

Thy Kingdom comer, thou will be done. Lord, have your

way in this hurt has it? Is it heaven?

What a man, What a man, What a talented man

to recognize the shepherd as he walked on the seashore.

What a talented man to recognize that is the one.

Whenever I was just a young man inquiring as to

what was going on in the wilderness, when I heard

a man named John the Baptist who claimed to be

the first cousin of Jesus, or a cousin of Jesus.

I heard a voice in the wilderness saying, prepare you

the way of the Lord.

Make his paths straight. Are y'all listening here tonight?

And John the brother of James, and Andrew the brother

of Peter, that go out there and they listen to

John preach, that old locust chomping, honeting, dipping preacher. Come on,

that is century man of God that's supposed to be

her paring a synagogue or a temple. He's of the

lineage of the priest, but he's a prophet in the wilderness,

and he's proclaiming the coming of the Lord.

And James and Andrew and.

Who with John they're after listening to John preaching, and

John and Andrew they become the disciples of John, and listen,

I want you to know him. They had heard through

them inquiring minds, and them open the ears. John tell

him about a special somebody that was coming there.

And when he came, John.

Said, behold that when I've been preaching about there, he

is the lamb of God that takes away.

To see it of the earth. You know what John

and Andrew did.

They left John and they got him a new shepherd.

I said, they left.

John and they got them a new shepherd.

Jesus came and stole another man's sheep. That's what they

say about your pastor. But you know what, I ain't

stole anybody's sheep. But whenever they're jumping over the fence

and say call me yours, hey, what can you do?

When they refused to leave, and they'd rather lay outside

the gate and die than to go back from whence

they came, I tell you that was the spirit that

was on John.

He said, Jesus, whatsoever you go, I'm gonna go.

I'll tell us some of you in this house tonight.

You're following the good shepherd. The good shepherd, give it

his life full of sheep.

Amen. Amen. He had a hunger.

Sister Brute and I talked this morning about them Hebrews

who had been exiled in Babylon. And this afternoon Sister

Howell said, you brought that to our attentionen so well,

how millions were ready to leave Egypt, but only a

remnant or a handful was willing to leave Babylon in

that first wave.

What in the world were them people thinking? Well, I'm

glad that some of us realized there was a shepherd

sleeping on the job. I'm glad some of us realize

we were now nurished.

I'm glad. Twenty years ago I realize.

I better get my family down here in Le Belle,

Florida and find a.

Place where we could put them in a star and

watch him become fighter and fighter and fatter after Lord,

That's what God.

Did with Jesus.

Jesus is the fat of calf, I said Jesus, he

is the fat of calf, that special one that specially

selected and chosen one that fatted calf.

Praise the Lord. That prodigal son came home. He was hungry.

I'm still on that point, hungering and thirsting after righteousness,

Brother Aaron Wood. A lot of evangelists that do not

study their Bible pass through this church and I hear

them talking about the Bible said you hunger and your thirst,

you shall be filled. But they always overlook the specifics

there after righteousness, just simply put the right paths of God,

simply put living in come on that, living in a

life with the Word of God.

While got a little bit scared right there, I want

to ed said it. No, Brother ro Kappa.

People nowadays don't feel like people have to live in

alignment with what thus says the Word of God. The

pass of righteousness or the old passer. They are the

good way, and they are that way wherewith fined who

rests for our soul.

It is the highway of holding us.

And John Saul an Angelic asphalt pavement company, come down

in Galilee, and he.

Took the path of righteousness. And I'm telling you he's

paving a path of righteousness for you. That's your good Shepherd.

When he leads you, he will not lead you through

a canyon where the jackals or the hyaenas live. When

he leads you, he will.

Not lead you treacherous territory of old.

He will go with you. Not only will he go

with you, he will go before you. Not only will

he go before.

And with you, he will circle back and follow you

from behind. I'm telling you, I'm glad that we serve

the good Shepherd. I said, I am glad that we

serve the good Shepherd. And I'm asking you here tonight.

Can you see him as Chard saw him? Can you

behold him as shown beheld him.

That preaching brother Nathaniel. Behold he comes, Behold he comes,

and there he is.

And they're so hungry. John, I hate to turn in

my resignation.

John.

I hate to be waiting out there in the Jordan

for the last time with you baptizing and John's baptism.

But you've been telling me you need to decrease, and

that he needs to increase. And you know what, we're

fixing the increase, Jesus. And that's what John did. He

increased the Lord everywhere he went. He was not ashamed

to be close to the Lord. Hey, if Jesus was

holding somebody's little child, John would be right there.

Hey, I see the same thing in that little boy.

You see in him Jesus. And Jesus said, you can

act like a child and be blessed. Accept these little children.

You act like children. You shall not enter the Kingdom

of Heaven except you become like little children, except you

become humble, except you become meek. And here's my second point,

unless you become totally depend that I want you to know.

John made himself available, and John also exposed himself to

vulnerability because he did not know what tomorrow hell. When

he turned in his resignation and he no longer had

an eighty an hour week fishing job, he was totally

dependent on the one that was provide for him. I

want to know right here tonight, why do you look

for another shepherd?

Why do you look for another? Well? Why do you

look for another path? Why do you look for another? Oh?

Thank God Jesus told John, why would you look for another?

I have here total dependency. That's how Sister Howell is.

She has never felt like she needed to carry the

weight of the home because I gladly shoulder that responsibility

the same way Jean Whooton did for Iris.

And I tell you, at times it's very hard.

There's been times, brother Jesse, I went from taking giant

leaps to taking small baby steps. There's been times as

a father to a family of eight, as a priest

over my own little household, even as a pastor of

a church. Sister Howell, I've seen strong bulls of Besham

beset us round about, and I've seen.

The buildows over us roll. I've seen the currants come

our way. Sister, you know what I'm talking about. I've

seen torrential storms ripped through where we were acting.

But we sense that he was with us. And that's

what the soist David said. I will fear no evil,

for thou art with me and that's what somebody in

this building here tonight.

You need to put your trust in the Lord, and.

You will find a peace that pass us all understanding.

When you behold him as Jehochirad, when you see him

as your provider, when you see him as Jehovah Shalom,

as the one that can provide a peace that pastors

all understanding. Can I tell you to the unngenerated, there

will never be peacing.

To the unregenerated, there will.

Never be peacing the one that God said, there is

no peace, sayth my God, to the wicked.

You will never have.

Peace, little Lamb, until you learn how to lay down

in his pasture, Sir, I said, you'll never know peace

and the joy that were here until.

You learn how to lay down it his pasture. He

leads me. Beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.

David speaks from experience as a shepherd, you know, watching

a small flock of his father's on a rolling on

the backside of Bethlehem somewhere. But Brother Nathaniel, it wasn't

an easy undertaken as a junior shepherd or as an

itinerant shepherd, because I don't think any words of instruction

would have prepared him for the adversary. There was no

book for dummies for shepherding that could have been handed

to him.

There was no online tutorial.

There was no old shepherd counsel that could have schooled

him and told him exactly what was lurking out there

in the thickets and in the brush and in the canyon,

come on and in the mountains.

Better, Philip.

But there was a bear, and there was a lion

that was watching the little flock of Jesse. And it

might be true that David had no personal investment in

the flock of Jesse, but he did have a person

involvement in the flock of Jesse. And that's what I

want every person in this building to know. Our sheep,

we are all invested, and our sheep, we are all involved.

In fact, John was invested, and John was involved in

the ministry of Jesus.

He threw it all in. If Jesus fails and I fail.

But I want you to know, little Lamb, your shepherd

will never.

Fail because Jesus, I said, Jesus never fails.

Amen.

The lion's coming, the bear's coming. What are you gonna use?

David described it as this. I use my own two hands,

my bear hands. That's how I broke the jaw of

the bear. That's how I broke the jaw of the lion.

With these hens, with these two hens. Oh come on now,

I'm telling you, we're working on a building around here.

We are working on a building. We've been working on

another revival. We've been working on a move of God.

We've been working on a spiritual sanctual. He's been working

on us. The Good Shepherd knows the way that we take.

The good Shepherd knows what is man and man. The

good Shepherd knows our frame that we are but dust.

He knows we're vulnerable. He knows the Knight that you

got saved and you surrendered your heart to him. You

had a target on your bika, and your adversary has

been in hot pursuit ever since you be come his us.

But I want to tell you, little Lamb, it's great

to be his.

I'm preaching the Night of Hermon the Holy ghirlst title

that it is great to be his. It's better than

a boy prince pulling a girlfriend. It's better than a

wasp pull in a husband. It is great to to

the good of the Great Shepherd, Amen.

I love it. When I read verse number three, it

blessed me.

I love this. The Bible said, he knows their names,

brother in what? And I feel like I know some

of them that used to be his sheep, you know,

those that used to be the sheep of his pasture,

those that used to enter his courts with thanksgiving, those

that used to enter his courts with praise, those that

used to be thankful and bless his name. I wonder

what happened to Orpha. I wonder what happened to Demus.

I wonder what happened to all the other defectors, those

disciples that deserted Jesus.

Just to how I wonder what happened?

Are y'all with me? I remember years ago reading the book.

I think it was titled snow White. Do y'all remember that?

Am I telling this right? She had seven or twelve?

Was at seven jors? I don't even remember their names.

Let's try it.

Dope, happy, grumpy, sleepy, snoozy, snoopy, keep giving it to me,

brother road Cap. What a sleepy, happy, grumpy, come on, dope, sleazy,

bashful and doc hey.

I'm glad, brother road Cap. Knows the names of some

of them sheep that have strayed. They were bashful, and

they were dopey, they were sleepy. They just did not

want to give with a program. They did not want

to do what the good shepherd said to do. But

I don't know about you. But I feel like Brother

road CAP's name his tambourine. I feel like Brother Nataniel's

name it's chuppy. I feel like brother Jesse's name is leapy.

I feel like brother Brother Phillip's name his trummer. I

feel like brother Caleb's name his singer.

What is your name?

He knows the name of a sheep, I said, he

knows the name of a sheep?

What is her name? What is your name? Amen? Whoa?

He knows my name. Every step that I take, every move.

That I make, I know I'll be just fine because

he knows my name, and because the steps of a

good sheep.

He's ordered by the Lord.

He directs our pass. When we need still water, he

leads me by the still water. You know what, I

like it better this way. I lock just following him.

That's where you want me to go, Lord Great. I

love not having to think. I do enough of that

on a daily basis.

In the field that I work in and engineering and drafting,

I do enough thinking on a daily basis. You know what,

even as a pastor, I do enough thinking on a

daily basis. But I love the Holy Ghost being the

great shepherd of the bett of holiness. Shirt come on now,

and I thank God. I can just coast in the

drafter of his wings, I said, I can just coast.

In the drafta of his wings.

If he puts the staff up against me, I know

he's doing one or two things. He's chasing me, he's

correcting me because he loves that little lamb, or he's

pulling me out of harm's way. The Simers said, my

feet had niceliped. I just had a vision of a shepherd.

You gotta be careful, little lamb that sounds like Jeremy

how trying to navigate this life. I had fainted, lest

oh God, I had fainted. But I saw the goodness

the Lord in the lamb ho the living. And you

know what I love about the Lord who goes looking

for that one little lost lamb. And I guarantee you

that little lamb that decided it would shray, that little

lamb that would rather struggle. Some of them make it

and some of them don't. But if there is a

little piece of an ear or a piece of a

leg left, the prophet said, that is enough for the

good shepherd to work with.

I'm telling you here.

The night of I'm glad that I can say I

want to hear us. I'm glad to night that I

can say I'm one of them.

Oh, thank God, What a blessing it is to be

a child of God. Amen.

I've never seen sister irish Wootin being dopey when it

comes to worshiping the Lord. I've never seen Sister irish

Wootin being sleepy when it comes to a service. You

know what, Isaiah forty three and one says, I have

called thee by my name, thou art mine.

I have called thee by my name, thou art mine.

This lets me know when I get in trouble, when

the adversary honds in on me and they're about to

pull the trigger, the Lord says, no, I don't think so,

they are mine. One of these people here in this

build got pulled two weeks ago, and while they were

sitting in the parking lot of a local establishment, they

were talking to the deputy sister, and the deputy said,

are you Pastor Howell's son? And he said, I am

here guilty as charge. He said, okay, great. No need

of a driver's license, no need of a registration, no

need of anything. That's how it is with the Lord.

Are y'all listening. That's how it is with the Lord.

When I hear the roar of the lion, when I

sense the presence of the devour, when I since the

falcon of my soul swooping in, I can just cow

down and say Jesus, the same way Sister Howell talked

about the what she loves today, I'm telling you Jesus,

in the name of the Lord, there is safety. He's

your seald, he's a butler, he's your safety.

He's a glory under his wings. We've come to trust.

If you could get the imagery with me, Peter would

be that lamb over there palling the ground and saying,

let's go out there and head butt some goats.

Huh.

If you could get the imagery up until a certain point,

Old Dalton Thomas would be I think he is. I

think he's not. I think he is, I think he's not.

I know he is, well, maybe he's not.

Are y'all with me?

And then the old money man, y'all know who I'm

talking about? Was it Andrew? He said two hundred pennies

worth is not enough? And I could see old Andrew

over there running the numbers and crushing the numbers and saying, yep,

that's about right, that's about enough.

Feed.

But every one of them that's in the fold, Sister Wooten,

they are trusting him. But I'm not asking you to

be a Thomas. I'm not asking you to be a Peter.

I'm not asking you to be a Bartholomele. I'm not

asking you to be anything else. I'm telling you here,

let's all be a John if we could. Let's be

that little lamb that is literally trying to snuggle up

against the bosom of Jesus. Are yall with what I'm saying?

There is no reason at all for there to be

any distance between us and the Lord. It is okay

to be totally dependent upon the Lord. Widows. He's got

you disabled, he's got you newly married couples. He's got

you the mortgage has increased. He's got you. But my God,

my good shepherd, shall supply all your needs according to

His riches hen glory. And you wonder sometimes if there's

gonna be enough. I know he's been just giving you

a little handful of purpose, like bo Ass's crew did

the gleaners, just giving you a handful of purpose.

But I want you to know. And Ruth went from

gleaning in the field to be in the queen of

the estate.

And I know that you don't understand this, sir, But

one day all the little lambs.

Of Christianity, all the little lambs of christ are one

day gonna be little lions. I said, We're gonna be

little lions. If our lamb became the lion, so will

his lambs become the lions.

One of these days we're gonna put the enemy under

our feet. Should I keep preaching? Or shall we go

to the chicken house? I have called thee by my name.

It's Iris, it's Nathaniel, it's Charity, it's Jesse, it's Aaron,

it's Richard, it's Michael, it's Sam.

It's Denise. Oh, come on, this girl. It's it's a Philip.

It's Elizabeth, it's Rachel. It's Leah, it's Megan, it's Crystal,

it's e j it's Teresa, it's Serena.

Are y'all with me here? Christian, it's Lorden. But I

want to tell the Lord just forget that and just

call me by your name. I want to identify as yours,

call me yours. I am yours and you are mine.

What is yours is mine, what is mine is yours.

And that's what the Bible said. When he become your

good shepherd, you become a joint owners of all of

heaven with Jesus. You own equal shares of all of

glory with Jesus. We're about to have a Pentecostal breakout

right here. I'm not ashamed to be called one of them.

I'm not ashamed to be his. During the days of John,

it would have been a strange thing to have been

called a disciple of the water baptizer out there, the

old muddy Jordan. During the days of Jesus, it would

have been considered a shame to be a foller of

such a man. But tonight, I'm not ashamed. Those men

weren't ashamed. I'm not ashamed. Sheep depend on the Shepherd,

and I want to ask you again. The second point

is there a total dependency. Sister how oftentimes has told me.

She said, I appreciate so much what you do for me.

Now listen, do you appreciate so much what He's done

for you. David spoke of the Lord being his shepherd.

David knew what it was like to tend to a flock,

and Jesus cares so much for us that he did

a better job than David did. In fact, they're in

the land of Bethlehem. David would have been like any

other sheep herder of Bethlehem. They would have been raising

the flocks for the sacrificial sacrifice. A lot of people

don't realize that the shepherds, or the sheepherders of Bufthalhem,

a lot of them were raising the ceremonial sacrifice. And

in the days of David and the Old Testament prophets

brother Philip, the sheep died for the people. The sheep

died for the king, the sheep died for the priest.

But this the situation is different. Jesus lets us know.

I'm the good shepherd, I'm the great shepherd, I'm the

chief shepherd, and I die for the sheep. Some of

you got it, and went over some of you had.

You'll catch it next week. In the Old Testament, the

sheep died for the Master, but Jesus said, I am

the Master. I am he, and I'm gonna die for

the sheep. I'm gonna die for the sheep, past, present,

and future. I don't know about y'all, but it makes

me so happy that I belong to him.

I am so thankful that I belong to him.

Look at your neighbor and say, hey, neighbor, I'm glad

I'm part of the family of God.

Amen.

He leads us in the pass of righteousness for his namesake.

Do y'all know what's in those paths? Protection and provision.

In the fourth verse of the twenty fifth Psalm, David

begged the good Shepherd to teach him his past. He

said these words, he said, Lord, would you lead me

in thy truth? But you know the these psalms are

not in chronological order, meaning they're not necessarily placed in

the position in alignment with the year or the time

that period that they were written in. But in the

twenty third Psalm we find the psalmist that asked for

the Lord to lead him in the path. In the

twenty fifth Salm and the twenty third Psalm. The Psalmist

is saying, I'm there. I remember a day and ever

when I prayed for what we got now. I remember

a hour when I was saying, God, please lead me

to the past of righteousness, and sister wooting, that is.

A past prayer. It makes me want to sing.

I have found a way. I have found the way

God had led David into the past of truth and righteousness,

and he was walking there in hallelujah. Do you feel

like you found the right path? Do you feel like

while you're walking in the right path, you got the

right attitude? Little lamb, the peace I feel right now

and the joy I feel right now is available in

the time of calamity and disasters and trouble. You know,

I feel the happiness of the Lord of my soul

right now. And you know why I feel all of that, Brother,

it's for his namesake. He leadeth me in the path

of righteousness. For his name's sake. Could we stand tonight?

So the Psalmist said, YEA, though I walk through the

valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Why huh does anybody know? For thou art with me.

There was no evil presence that could intimidate him or

strike fear in his heart because he was in the

company of the Lord.

Now, how does it feel to be one of his? Right? Now?

Have you grown and matured? Are you adult in the way?

Have you grown like John did? There's no longer any

cares or no worries whatsoever. They can just dip you

in all and you know you're in good hands. They

can tie you to a burning steak, they can pierce

you through with a sword. And the early church leaders

that learned under John, if you would John's disciples, they said,

you can find these records in the Fox's Book of Martyrs.

You can find Polycarps record, you can find Iranius's record,

you can find all them early church leaders records and recordings.

And they all concurred that that old preacher, man John,

the beloved that knew Jesus like nobody else knew him.

Said they just couldn't kill him because his shepherd said,

if I will he live until I come back? Jesus

was basically saying, dare me, and you'll find two thousand

years later a two thousand year old man. But the

Lord knew it's very important that I let him escape

the chains and the fetters of life and let him

enjoy being in my presence. It's important that before he

reaches a hundred, I let him escape these old bars

of clay and fly home to his long sought home,

My long sought home, my happy home. Sometime I get

lonesome for thee. Soon I shall go, shall go gladly go,

and with my loved ones be If the sheep of

Bethlehem could speak to one another by congregations or by flocks,

imagine with me, brother Caleb, with your pastor's wild imagination,

what would the sheep of David say to the neighbor's sheep.

I'm glad I'm one of his and not one of

your masters.

Huh, some of you are getting it. It breaks my

heart when I see them spiritually malnourished. It breaks my

heart when I see their tongue hanging out of their mouth.

It breaks my heart when I see the dead, dry eyes.

It breaks my heart when I see the rib cage

showing through their flesh.

They're so sinsick.

On the toxic feed, Brother sterre It, And I just

remembered what you told me yesterday. Thank you, Holy ghosts.

Brother Sterrett told me yesterday, I just remembered. The Holy

Ghost just brought this to my remembrance. He said, him

and Sister Grace are nurturing.

Is this right?

Sister Grace a sheep that somehow mistakenly ingested toxic matter

while ingesting food. And he said that sheep has been

so sick and said, as often as Sister Grace in

them can they're going out there. I paraphrase here, Brother

Thomas is Saint the King Thomas version, because I know

what Grace would say if she could say it, don't

die on me, little lamb. If Grace could speak, what's

really in her heart while she's holding that little and

begging it, eat something healthy, Eat something that's not contaminated.

Eat something that's wholesome, Eat something that's pure. And Brother

star It said, we've been trying to get the good

in so it'll flush out the toxic. Is it alive, Grace?

Did it make it? It's still alive? How long has

it been a couple of days? She's crying now. Brother

Nathaniels cried through this whole message. Brother Aaron Woods cried

through most of this message. I know that the Holy

ghost spoke to me, and I know the Holy It's

just brought this example to me. Right now, Right now,

the stair household is dealing with a sick sheep. And

it's not because Sister Grace isn't a wonderful caretaker. It's

because the sheep got into something that shouldn't be in.

I feel it too, Sister VICKI I feel it to

Brother Nathaniel. And there's seventy to eighty people in this

building every service, and sometimes sister woot and we look

and there's two or three and we wonder, what have

you been eating on? Because the Good Shepherd ain't feeding

you that diet. These altars are open. I feel like

there's two young women you need to pray. You're not

a sinner, but there's better feed for you than what

the world is tossing your way. Maybe there's a full

of men that need to pray. Right here. There's better

feed for you. The Good Shepherd, you can trust him.

There's better feed for you. How about it, As this

elder brother has knelt, feed me bread of heaven until

I want no more. You don't have to starve to death.

There's a couple of younger sisters, maybe even elder sisters.

I don't know about y'all, but I'll take you anything

he'll give me, like Sister Wood and said, if I

need more spiritual bread and spiritual manner tonight.

You know what you do when you go out in

that world.

If you're not careful, the toxicity of that sinful world

will rub off on you, and some people are poisoned

simply through exposure to the skin