How to Get Right with God and Stay Right with God

Adriam Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you'll hear that in today's message.

Now, let's join Adriam Rogers. Take your Bibles today and turn with me, please, to Psalm 23. And today, we're going to be looking primarily at verse three. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.

For his name's sake.

Now, while you have it open, look up here, and I want to ask you a question: What do the following men have in common? Jacob, David, Samson, Simon Peter, John Mark, and Adrian Rogers.

Well, I tell you what they all have in common: They're all men of God. Who love God, who have gotten out of fellowship with God, who've been brought back into fellowship with God, and you could add your name to that list too. It is the nature of a sheep to wander and to stray. It is the nature of a sheep sometimes to get away from the shepherd, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

But is the nature of the shepherd to restore his sheep? No wonder David exalted that David who got so far away from God. No wonder he gloried to write Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He restoreth my soul. I want to talk to you today about how to get right with God and how to stay right with God.

How to get right with God? If you're not right with God, how to get right with God? And if you are right with God, and when you do get right with God, how to stay right with God?

Now, if we're not right, we need to get right, and if we are right, we need to stay right, and that's what David is talking about in Psalm twenty-three and verse three. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Now, many of us become what the Bible calls backsliders.

Now, backslider is not lost. A backslider is a saved person who's out of fellowship with God. He's somebody who's already been saved. You have to go somewhere before you can slide back. But he's not lost.

The Bible says God speaks of Himself as being married to the backslider. There is a bond there that cannot be broken. But while that relationship with God cannot be broken, that fellowship with God can be broken, and the joy can be lost. And therefore, David prayed in Psalm fifty one, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He didn't say, "Lord, restore thy salvation." He never lost his salvation.

He lost the joy of his salvation, and he wanted to be restored. And God did restore him, and David could say, "He restoreth my soul." Now. I want to tell you how the Lord restores us. I want to give you three wonderful truths. I've thought about these things.

I have studied about them, and I can tell you that the three truths that I want to give you today, from Psalm 23, verse three, are three tremendous truths that will get you right. And keep you right. All right. The very first one I want to mention is what I'm going to call the ministry of the shepherd. The ministry of the shepherd.

Now, David thought of himself as a sheep. And the Lord as His good Shepherd. You know Jesus is the good Shepherd.

Now let me mention three things the Lord Jesus does when His sheep stray. And incidentally, there are three kinds of sheep that need to be restored. First of all, there's what we call the stubborn sheep. You know any stubborn sheep? You might go home and look in the mirror, and you may see one.

Stubborn sheep.

Now, what are stubborn sheep? Stubborn sheep are sheep that just want their own way.

Now, we think of sheep as being gentle and docile and and easily led. Not necessarily so.

Sometimes sheep can be very stubborn. Sheep can be moolish. They want to go their own way. Isn't that what the Bible says in Isaiah? All we like sheep have gone astray.

We've turned every one to his own way. We want our way. We get very stubborn, and sometimes stubborn sheep need to be restored. There's another kind of sheep that needs to be restored—not only stubborn sheep, but straying sheep.

Now these are sheep that don't just wilfully go away. They just weakly go away. They just carelessly go away, and many times they fall into pits and they fall into crevices and they get entangled in the thorns and they get away from the shepherd. They get in precarious places and they need to be restored and they need to be brought back to the fold. Then there's a third kind of sheep that needs to be restored, and that's not the the stubborn sheep and not the strange sheep, but the sick sheep.

Sheep can get sick. There are many enemies out there, and many diseases, and many things that might poison, or ensnare, or wound the sheep. And sick sheep need to be restored.

Now it is the ministry of the shepherd that restores these kind of sheep. And I want you to see how he does it. For example, how does the Lord, how does the good shepherd restore stubborn sheep? If you're a stubborn sheep, how will he restore you?

Well, he has three instruments, and I want to mention these three. First of all, he has a rod. Then he has a staff, and then he has a bottle of oil. And he uses these to restore the sheep.

Now he restores the stubborn sheep with the rod.

Now, what was the shepherd's rod? The shepherd would go out, and he would find a little sapling, and he would dig that sapling up by the root. There would be the roots all sticking out from a knob, and the shepherd would cut the sapling off about that long, and then he would take his sharp knife and begin to cut away the roots from that knob, and finally he would have a knob left on the end of that staff, a little bigger than his fist. And he would work it until it was smooth and just right. And he would smooth that staff down, and then he would take that knob on the end, and he would begin to drive nails into it or bits of metal until it was heavy and weighted.

And it became a very powerful club, a weapon in his hand. He would be out there on the hillsides for many, many weeks with nothing to do except watch the sheep and practice throwing that rod. He would throw it, and throw it. It became a deadly missile. He also knew how to wield it, how to use it as a club.

And it was used to protect himself from the robbers. It was used to protect the sheep from the lions and the wolves and the wild dogs and the scavengers that would be there on the hillside. But sometimes he had to use the rod on the sheep himself, and the rod itself would become a form of correction to the sheep.

Sometimes, if there would be a sheep. A very stubborn sheep. The shepherd would do something very drastic, very severe. He would take that rod and he would break one of the legs of that sheep. Just break the leg of the sheep.

And after he had done that, then he would immediately bind it, put it in a splint. He would wrap up the leg of that sheep. And try to heal the sheep, and he would carry the sheep often on his shoulders until the leg was mended. He would carry that sheep with a broken leg that he'd wounded around on his shoulders and nurture it, and pour in the oil into the wound. And then finally, when that leg was healed again, he would restore the sheep to its feet.

And an interesting thing, an interesting thing, that sheep. That had been broken and healed would stay very close to the shepherd. In the materials that I've studied, I found out that that kind of a sheep would just stay right there by the shepherd's leg and just keep nuzzling the shepherd. Everywhere the shepherd went, that sheep would just want to be very close. He would be the file leader who would lead the other sheep, the one who had been broken, and then the one who had been restored.

Hosea chapter six and verse one: Come and let us return unto the Lord.

Now he's speaking here of those who've been away from God. Come, let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. The same God that breaks us is the God that binds us, in order that we might return to Him. That's exactly what David, who wrote this, meant when he said, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray." And then he said, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." Then I was thinking of that scripture over there in Hebrews, where old Jacob, the patriarch, who was a shepherd himself, who got away from God.

You remember how Jacob got away from God? He met God and had a wonderful experience with God, and then he got away from God. The Bible says that he wrestled with the Lord. Do you know what the Lord did? The Bible says the Lord put Jacob's thigh out of joint.

You remember that? He was crippled. The Lord Himself wounded this man of God, and He broke this man of God, and all of the rest of his life, Jacob would walk leaning on a staff. And the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11, when Jacob came to the end of his life, the Bible says by faith Jacob worshipped. I think it's about verse 21, Hebrews 11, in verse 21, when he was dying.

Jacob worshipped, leaning on his staff. Why did the Bible put that in there to teach us a lesson, dear friend?

Sometimes we have to learn to lean. And all of his life, he was crippled that he might be blessed.

Now, what God does sometimes, dear friend, is to chastise the sheep, not because he doesn't love the sheep, but because he does love the sheep. Incidentally, let's turn to the New Testament passage on that. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 5. And have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.

For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. A scourge was a rod. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all that is all true sons are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.

Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be made partakers of His holiness.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised. Thereby, now certainly it wasn't joyful when a sheep got its leg broken, but yet it brought peace and fruitfulness. What was the fruit? Look, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.

Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of what? Of what? Righteousness. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.

Now. When this kind of chastisement comes to you, if you've been a stubborn sheep, and this kind of chastisement comes to you, there are three things you can do. Hebrews tells us about them. Number one, you can resent it. Look, if you will, in verse five, my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord.

You may just despise it. You may resent it.

Now it'd be very foolish for you to despise it. It'd be very foolish for you to resent the chastening of the Lord. I'll tell you why. For three reasons. Number one, that kind of chastening reveals that you are a son of God.

It reveals your sonship. Look in verse six. The Bible says here, "For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." It's not that God doesn't love you. It wasn't that the shepherd did not love that sheep when he applied the rod. It was that he did love the sheep.

Now this is a very severe case. And the word that is used here in Hebrews of scourging, it's not talking about a spanking. It's something very, very severe.

Sometimes it takes that. And dear friend, it only reveals that you are a child of God, that He loves you. You say, "Well, I dabble in sin, I run with the world, I go my own way, and God doesn't chastise me." Well, down in verse eight, he says, "If you were my child, I would have chastised you. You're not even my child. You're illegitimate.

You're claiming to be a Christian, and you're not a Christian. If you're without chastisement, then you're illegitimate. You're not truly mine." God says, "If you were mine, I would chastise you." For whom the Lord loves, He chastens. It reveals your sonship. I'll tell you something else.

It does, dear friend. It renews your worship. Look, if you will, in verse nine.

Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh. Which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Do you ever notice that? My old man, boy, he used to lay it on me. I kind of swell up with pride about that.

And that's something. We give them reverence because we know that they had a standard, and we know that they loved them. I pity children who live in homes where the parents don't love them enough to correct them. I pity children like this.

Now, what does it do? It reveals our sonship. It renews our worship.

Now, we gave our earthly fathers reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily, for a few days, chastened us after their own pleasure. It doesn't mean they got fun out of it. It means by their own decision.

But He, for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

Now, underscore that. Listen to me, dear friend. God is not in business primarily to make you healthy or happy, but to make you holy. And God didn't even save you to take you to heaven. That's just a fringe benefit.

God saves you to make you holy like Him, and so what does this chastening do? When He restores the sheep, it reveals our sonship, it renews our worship, and I'll tell you what else it does, dear friend. It restores our fellowship. Look, if you will, in verse eleven.

Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Has God ever laid the rod on you?

Well, let me ask you a question. When you were a child and your dad had to punish you and spank you, did you say, "Oh, this is so wonderful! I'm glad this is happening to me. Praise the Lord, Dad! You're a wonderful Dad.

Thank you, Dad. You're so wise and kind." No, we didn't do that. No, no chastening for the present time seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. But afterward. Afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.

Before I was afflicted, David said, "I went astray." Oh, Jacob, worshipped, leaning on his staff, and that sheep that had that broken leg never wanted to stray away from the shepherd again, because he had broken, but he had healed, and he had wounded and torn, but he had bound up that wound. Thank God that the the Shepherd knows exactly what he is doing when it comes. That's the first thing you can do. You can despise it. I'll tell you what else you might do when it comes.

You can faint under it. Look again in Hebrews chapter twelve and verse five, and the Bible says, "And have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. Don't despise it and don't faint under it." You ever seen people faint when chastisement comes? I have.

They're stubborn and mulish. They get away from God. God brings chastisement, and they just drop out. They just throw up their hands. They just quit.

They become spiritual dropouts. That's a terrible thing. God is not doing that to draw you away from Him, but to draw you back to Him.

Now, don't despise it and don't faint under it, but be exercised by it. Notice verse eleven. The Bible says we are exercised thereby. God has a purpose.

Now, how does the shepherd deal with the stubborn sheep? With the rod of chastisement. With the rod of chastisement. Now, what about the straying sheep? How does the shepherd deal with the straying sheep?

Well, not only did the shepherd have a rod; verse four speaks of the shepherd's rod, but verse four also speaks of the shepherd's staff.

Now, the shepherd would get another long sapling, and he would cut this one off above the root, and it would be long and willowy. And he would take that staff, that piece of sapling, and he would soak it in water while it was green and pliable.

Sometimes he would put it in boiling water till he could bend it, and he would put a bend in the end of it and tie it. And let it dry and season. And at the end, he had it shaped just right. There was a crook. We call it the shepherd's crook.

That's what you often see about the shepherd. He's holding a crook like that, called the shepherd's crook. It was just big enough to go around the chest of a little lamb, and just big enough to go around the neck of a sheep. And with that staff, he would guide the sheep. It became an instrument in his hand, and he would guide the sheep and retrieve the sheep.

He knew how to use this. He would walk along and just touch the sheep with it. He put it around the neck of a sheep and pull the sheep in that's straying. When the sheep is walking along a narrow path that might fall off, he would take that staff and he would lay it on the sheep's shoulder and just guide the sheep. When the sheep would get down in the briars, have you ever been in the briars?

I have. He would put that that staff in there and pull that. Sheep out of the briars. When the sheep would get down in the mud, he would put that staff down there and lift that sheep, that lamb out of the mud. Do you remember what David said in Psalm forty?

He hath lifted me up from the miry clay; he hath set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Leads me in the paths of righteousness. He's talking about the same thing. He would take that staff and he would guide and guard and lift and retrieve that sheep to him.

Sometimes a mother sheep, a ewe, would neglect her lamb.

Sometimes she would get so concerned with the things that she wanted to do.

Sometimes she wanted to feast here.

Sometimes she wanted to nibble here.

Sometimes she wanted to browse here, and she would forget her lamb. And the shepherd saw that, and he would take his shepherd's crook, and he would draw the lamb and draw the mother sheep. Back together because the shepherd knew that if that mother neglected that lamb for too long a time, after a while she would forget about it all together, and that little lamb would miss what it needed most.

Next to the shepherd's tender care, is the care of that old ewe. And I thought, oh my God, how the shepherd needs to do that today. To draw these mamas and these babies back together, and this day when the devil is doing all that he can do to break up homes, the shepherd there is guiding with his staff. And and when we fall, when we're weak, oh, we get away from God and we get in sin, we get in the briars, we get in the mud, we get into difficulty. And thank God, He has that staff, that love, that grace that draws us back to Him.

Then there's a third thing. Not only were there those stubborn sheep, and not only were there those straying sheep, but there were the sick sheep. You see, each night the shepherd would bring the sheep into the sheepfold. Inside that enclosure, the sheep were safe. But at the door was the shepherd himself, who would position his body across that opening, and no one could come in or out without his permission.

He said, "I am the door of the sheep. I'm the one that lets them in. I'm the one that lets them out. No one can get in except by my permission." And as they would come in each night, here's what the shepherd would do. Each night he would count them, and he would call them by name.

And not only would he call them by name, but he would caress them. He would fondle them. He would put his hands all over the sheep, and rub his fingers down into the wool. And he would be looking for a scar. He'd be looking for a bruise.

He'd be looking for scab. He'd be looking for a wounded place. He'd be looking for a laceration. And when the shepherd would find that kind of a place, he had not only a rod and not only a staff, but he had a bottle of oil. And he would see a bruise on that sheep's head, or a cut place, a place there in the nostril, and he would pour on the healing oil.

He would anoint the head of that sheep with oil, and that oil was there to soothe, and to medicate, and to heal, and to lubricate, and to give comfort to a suffering sheep. That oil would be mixed also with sulfur and tar. And it was used to repel insects. Sheep have a pest that bothers them called nose flies that get up into wounds and places in the nose, and this oil would be smeared there on the sheep's nose to give comfort and protection from those pests. Thank God for the oil of the Holy Spirit that protects us from the devil's flies.

Thank God for that comfort when we've been bruised and hurt, and when we're wounded and when we're limping. That the Shepherd He knows, He cares, He feels. He calls those sheep by name. He knows them one by one, and He restores them, and heals them, and binds them, and brings them back to Himself. I think David had all of those things in mind when he said, "He restoreth my soul." I think David had been stubborn and been broken.

I think David had strayed and been retrieved. I think David had been hurt and wounded and had been healed by the Lord. Thank God for the ministry of chastisement. Thank God for the ministry of correction. Thank God for the ministry of comfort.

And I thought about it in my own life, and I know that I know I'm here because the Good Shepherd has kept me with His rod, with His staff, and with His bottle. Can't you say the same thing? Can't you say Amen? Can't you remember the times when He put on the rod? I can.

Can't you remember the times when He took that staff and lifted you and forgave you? Hallelujah for that! And can't you think of those times when the tender Shepherd poured in the oil and just caressed you and told you He loved you and healed that broken heart? Thank God for such a wonderful Shepherd. He restores my soul.

And the thing that got David right is what I want to. First of all, the ministry of the shepherd. The ministry of the shepherd.

Ah, but there was something else—not only the ministry of the shepherd, but also the mastery of the shepherd.

Now listen. Not only does He restore our souls, He leads us in the paths of righteousness. He restored us that He might master us, that He might lead us, that He might guide us. And the problem with many of us is this: that all we're interested in is getting restored.

Well, my dear friend, if you don't go from restoration to righteousness, you're going to be right back in the same old problem. You see, so many of us just simply want to get back right, but we don't get on the track of following God, and that's the reason that we get back where we were. And a restored sheep ought to follow closer than ever. He that's been forgiven much ought to love much, and we ought to be like that sheep with a broken leg that just nuzzles the shepherd and stays close to the shepherd, that he might master us, that he might lead us, that he might guide us, that we'll never go astray again. When are we going to learn?

How many times are we going to fall and slip before we learn to stay close to the shepherd? Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." In order to follow the shepherd, three things are necessary. Number one, you've got to be obsessed with the shepherd. You've got to love the shepherd. Number two, you have to observe the shepherd.

Sheep don't have good eyesight. You have to stay close to the shepherd. And number three, you have to obey the shepherd. My sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice.

Now you can't obey anybody whose voice you don't hear. And how are you going to hear your shepherd's voice? How are you going to see your shepherd? You're going to have to have that quiet time in the green pastures, chewing upon his word, meditating upon the word of God. That's the way the shepherd, my dear friend.

He's going to lead you, and he's going to guide you. You are going to hear his voice in the word. Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." And he said, "I've come that you might have life, and have it abundantly." He will lead you in the paths of righteousness. That's the mastery of the shepherd. You know what's wrong with so many of us?

We're just always trying to get out of trouble. Rather than to get into righteousness, I mean it's all negative. I think I told you many years ago about a football player friend that I had, whose name was Mike Colon. Mike played football for Auburn and went on to play for the Miami Dolphins as a linebacker. He said when he graduated from Auburn, the coach down there said, "Mike, would you help me to do some recruiting?" He said, "Sure, coach." Said, what kind of player you looking for?

He said, well, Mike, you know. He said, when you're playing football, as a guy, you knock him down and he just stays down. Mike said, we don't want him, do we, Coach? He said, no, we sure don't. But he said, Mike, there's a guy you knock him down and he gets up, and then when you knock him down, he stays down.

Mike said, we don't want him either, do we, Coach? He said, no, I don't. But he said, Mike, there's a guy you knock him down and he gets up, and you knock him down and he gets up, and you knock him down and he gets up, and you knock him down and he gets up. Mike said, "That's the guy we want, isn't it, Coach?" He said, "No, we don't want him either. I want you to find that guy that's knocking everybody down.

That's the guy I want." Now, I am grateful. I am grateful that he restores us. I am grateful that when we're down, he gets us up. But wouldn't you like to get up and stay up? I mean, wouldn't you like to be a force for God rather than just simply being a casualty, always being restored?

You see, the problem with so many of us is that we have a restoration mentality. He restores my soul, but after the ministry of the shepherd, there needs to be the mastery of the shepherd. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. Why don't you today determine that you're going to get right with God and stay right with God? That you're going to hear the voice of your shepherd.

You're going to get in the Word of God and not find yourself back in the briars or down in the pit or down in the mud or down in the crevice again.

Now. There's a third thing that that will keep you, and I can guarantee you these things have kept me. Not only is there what I call the ministry of the shepherd, and not only is there what I call the mastery of the shepherd, but there's also the majesty of the shepherd. The majesty of the shepherd. Listen to it.

He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His names. Sake, his name, his name. What is the name of the shepherd? We already know.

It's in the first verse. What is the name of the shepherd? Jehovah is my shepherd. The King James says "the Lord," but that's in all caps, and it means Jehovah or Yahweh, the most holy name for God in all of the Bible. The Lord Jehovah is my shepherd; He leads me for His namesake, God's name, God's honor, is at stake.

By the way you live, and the way I live. I mean, people get their idea of what kind of a shepherd there is because what kind of sheep there are. The shepherd's reputation is based on the activity and the welfare and the obedience of the sheep. Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." Solomon said in the Song of Solomon, "His name is like ointment poured forth." Jehovah, Jehovah is his name. That was the most sacred, most solemn name for God in all of the Old Testament, and yet it's not found one time in the New Testament.

Not one time in the New Testament will you ever find the name Jehovah. Do you know why? Because Jesus is our Jehovah. Jesus Himself said, "I am the Good Shepherd." In John ten, I am the Good Shepherd. Do you know what the name Jesus means?

It means Jehovah saves. That's exactly what the name Jesus means. Thou shalt call His name Jehovah saves, for He shall save His people from their sins. That's what the angel said. Thou shalt call His name Jesus.

And my dear friend, if I am His sheep and He is my shepherd, I don't want to disgrace that name. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. When I would take my little children to school and let them out in the mornings, each morning before they would go to school, I would say, "Daddy loves you." And remember this: remember who you are, and remember whose you are. Remember who you are, and remember whose you are. I believe our Lord would say that to a sheep.

Remember who you are. You are my sheep. You are the people of my pasture. My name is linked to you. I want to lead you in the paths of righteousness, for my name's sake.

I had rather die than bring disgrace upon my family, my parents, my children, and my wife. A good name is so important. How much more the name of our God? What keeps me straight?

Well, one thing the Lord restores me when I stray. Another thing, the Lord leads me day by day. But another thing, there is in my heart a burning desire to give glory to that name. To give glory to that name. Do you feel that way?

Oh, the name of Jesus!

Somebody said, "The name of Jesus is all of the hallelujas of eternity in five letters." It is. I know a soul that steeped in sin that no man's art can cure, but I know a name, a precious name that can make that soul all pure. I know a life. That's lost to God, bound down by the things of earth. But I know a name, a precious name that can bring that soul new birth.

Jesus, oh, how sweet the name! That ought to keep you straight. The ministry of the shepherd.

The mastery of the shepherd, and the majesty of our great shepherd Jehovah, is my shepherd. Let me give you a verse, and then I'm going to be finished. Second Timothy chapter two, and verse nineteen. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Isn't that a good verse? Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. What a shepherd! Thank God for His ministry, His mastery, and His Majesty.

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