<TITLE>13. Par 38-40</TITLE>L-38 And then after he gets them all numbered and they're all bedded down, the shepherd goes down by this hole where the sheep come in at, and lays himself down across the hole. Then no wolf can come in, no thief can come in, no harm can come in, 'less it comes over the shepherd first.
What a picture of Christ laying Hisself down for us, that nothing can harm us unless it comes over Him. So if you're sick and you say, "Brother Branham, sickness crossed over Him." But it was for the glory of God. That's right. He wants to maybe give you a testimony. As the fellow said one time, he seen a shepherd with its a--packing a sheep. And he said, "Well..." The... Had his leg all bandaged up, and he said, "Well, what did you... What's the matter, did it fall off a cliff?"
Said, "No," said, "I broke its leg."
"Oh," he said, "you must be a cruel shepherd to break your own sheep's leg."
Said, "No, the sheep wouldn't mind me, so I had to break her leg in order to hold her, pet her, and love her, and give her a little special food, so that she would love me and follow me."
And so sometime God has to do that to us. Let the doctor say, "Oh, it's all over; nothing could be done."
And then God takes you up in His arms and pats you a little bit, says, "Child of Mine, don't you know I love you? Don't you know I'm the Lord that healeth all of thy diseases?"
"But Lord, I was taught that the days of mir..."
"I know you was, but I just had to let this happen so I could just show you a little special favor. Now, don't you love Me just a little more now I'm going to let you get well."
Did you ever have that just come to you? I have many times. Let something happen, just to check me down a little, to let Him express His love...

L-39 Now, another thing you notice about sheep and the shepherd. You know it's a disgrace for the shepherd to lose one sheep. Did you know that? It's a reproach on the shepherd. Now, I'm going... Now, hold wide now. Oh, my, yes, sir. If the shepherd loses one sheep it is a disgrace on him. "All the Father has given Me will come, and none's lost." See, that's... "All that comes to Me..."
All right, the shepherd can't afford to lose the sheep. That's the reason, you backslider tonight, He's still honking--haunt--hanging around your heart, trying to draw you back to the fold, because He once kissed you, and you kissed Him and told Him that you loved Him and raised your hands and praised Him, and you backslid and went out there, and got all butchered up and wounded up in your spirit. But He still holds around you all the time, "Come on back, wandering sheep. I just can't afford to let you be lost." Maybe the little sheep that He had to go way out on the mountain to find, all through the place, maybe you're that sheep tonight, laying out there wounded somewhere. But the shepherd can't afford to lose one sheep.

L-40 You know how the shepherd knows his sheep from other sheep? The shepherd knows it, if you'll notice, that all the sheep are branded. Aren't you glad you're branded? You know out into the west we used to brand the sheep all the time. And that brand... You know, sometimes when you brand a sheep or a cow, it's not very pleasant while you're branding, but he's sure branded after he gets through.
We used to... I would work on a cattle ranch; we'd--we'd rope these cattle, and then, what we call bulldog them a lot of times, or throw them. And as soon as you throwed them... My job was to pack the iron. I was too little to throw the steers, so I--I'd had to pack the iron, keep it hot and run over there. And they'd take this iron and slap it down on top of that cow or sheep that they were branding. And, oh, my, you talk about burning. But, brother, he was marked for the rest of his time.
So sometime when the Gospel is preached, harsh, hard, It burns, and stings to the core. You have to leave a lot of things that you once held onto, but you're marked, brother. Don't worry.


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