Feed My
Flock
Take your Bible
and go to the gospel of John chapter 21.
There are a number of post resurrections appearances of the Lord Jesus
Christ and I’d like to share this one with you tonight from the 21st chapter of
John.
After
these things Jesus shewed himself again to the
disciples at the
After
these things Jesus shewed himself again to the
disciples at the
It’s an
interesting thing in God’s Word that we read into the latter part of this verse
to other of his apostles. It doesn’t say
apostles, it says what? Disciples. Right. Every apostle
was a what? But not every disciple was a
what? Apostle. Therefore these disciples could have been
apostles. On the other hand they need not be disciples. I’ll buy the second one, at least for the
moment. From a working point of view,
that will come up later in this chapter.
It’s an interesting observation, at least. You’ll see, if you
turn to Matthew chapter 4, and in verse 18 of chapter 4.
When Jesus Christ
began his public ministry, he was walking by the sea
of Galilee and he saw 2 brothers. Simon
called Peter and Andrew’s his brother casting a net into the sea for they were
fishers.
And
Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethen,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. – Matthew 4: 18
I want you to
notice that it was a singular net. I
want you to notice it was Simon Peter and Andrew his brother and he [Jesus] saith unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers of
what? Men.
And
he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men. – Matthew 4: 19
We have an
organization today in the
And
he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men. -- Matthew 4:
19
In verse 20,
straightway, And they straightway left their nets, and
followed him.
And
they straightway left their nets,
and followed him. -- Matthew
4: 20
In the gospel of
Mark in chapter one in verse 16 it says now as Jesus walked by the sea of
Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they
were what? Fishers.
Now
as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and
Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea:
for they were fishers.
-- Mark
And
Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make to become fishers of
men. -- Mark
And straightway
they forsook their nets, they’d only cast one in, they had others in the ship,
and they followed him.
And
straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. -- Mark
And when he had
gone a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee
and John his brother who also were in the ship mending their nets.
And
when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee
and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. -- Mark
And
straightway he called them: and they
left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired
servants, and went after
[Jesus] him. -- Mark
In the 21st
chapter of John it said:
There
were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus
and Nathanael of Cana in
Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of
his disciples. -- John 21: 2
Simon
Peter saith unto them, I go a
fishing. [See, even Peter liked to go fishing.] [But
Jesus Christ had called them to be fishers of men. And after the crucifixion which was rather a
disconcerting event and
other matters that occurred.
Even though in spite of the resurrection and everything else , they just did not know exactly what to do. So Peter
and those went back.
Simon
Peter saith unto them I go a
fishing. They say unto him, We also go
with thee. They went forth, and entered a ship
immediately; and that night and that night they caught nothing -- John
21: 3
In
the gospel of Luke, in chapter 5. Luke chapter 5, these verses
from Luke 5. Jesus Christ was preaching and verse 4:
Now
when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep and let
down your nets (nets) for a draught. -- Luke 5: 4
The Word of God is
the Will of God and it means what it says and it says what it means. And Jesus Christ said let out everything
you’ve got in the ship, throw it all out.
Let out all of your nets. He
said, launch out into the deep.
And Simon
answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, we know the fishing
business master. You maybe know how to
raise the dead and do a few other things, but
master we’re professionals at this business of fishing. And he had said unto all them, cast out all
your nets, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. And Peter said, O Lord, look, we are masters
at this thing, we’ve toiled all night and we’ve taken absolutely nothing and
then he finally said, but nevertheless since you are our master, I’ll tell you
what we will do. I’ll let out the net.
(Singular - that’s Peter)
And
Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have
taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. -- John 5: 5
Back in John 21,
still old Peter. He wants to go right
back fishing. And you see Peter was
quite a twig leader because Nathanael and the sons of
Zebedee and Thomas said unto him and those disciples,
we’ll go with you. And they went forth
into a ship and immediately and that night, they caught nothing.
There
were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus
and Nathanael
of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of
Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. -- John 21: 2
Simon
Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We
also go with thee. They went forth, and
entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. -- John 21: 3
But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that is was Jesus. -- John 21: 4
Then
Jesus saith unto them, Children have ye any
meat? They answered him No – John 21: 5
And He
said unto them Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not
able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
21: 6
It must have been
interesting. Because on a previous
occasion, this fellow had said Masters, we’re specialists in this field. But since you’re our master, we’ll throw out
one net. Now they’ve toiled all night, I
can just see old Peter’s mind working. His
Therefore, verse 7,
that disciple, doesn’t say apostles, says what?
Disciples whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter,
It is the Lord, Peter, it’s the Lord. Peter been thinking about it. But the disciples Jesus what? Where is it that verse in the gospel of John
chapter 11, where he says about Mary and Martha, and Lazarus. That he loved them. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and
Lazarus. Later on it appears again in
that chapter. Here it is talking about
the disciple who Jesus loved. It doesn’t
say apostle, it says disciple. Now the
apostle John was perhaps also loved by the Lord, but here it’s not talking
about an apostle, it’s talking about a what?
Disciple.
It could have been Lazarus.
Although all the commentaries say it was John. Maybe that’s why I like Lazarus. Just for the fun of making people sit up and
pay attention to the word disciple, rather than the word apostle. I really do not know. But it was a disciple.
That disciple whom
Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord.
Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, typical Simon, he
grabbed his fishers coat about him for he did not have this on, he was naked
and he jumped right out into the sea.
Therefore
that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It
is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard
that it was the Lord, he girt his fishers coat unto
him, (for he was naked,) and did
cast himself into the sea. --
John 21: 7
And
the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,)
dragging the net with what? Fishes. John
21: 8
And
as soon as that they were come to land, they saw a fire of coal there, and fish
laid thereon, and bread. -- John 21: 9
And they had
neither caught them, they had neither brought them in
and cleaned them. I often wonder how he
got those fish all cleaned and on that fire.
I believe we’re going to have wait till to a
later time to really find this out.
Cause there is no record in God’s Word how this was accomplished, so
when we have the great gathering together, we’ll just let him expound to us the
Scripture and Moses and all the prophets getting on our hearts then burn within
us when we meet him and get all these answers that most people have to
get. I don’t know. It doesn’t say. But I’ll bet you there was a fire there and
I’ll bet you there was fish laid on it and I’ll bet there was bread. Because the Word says there was and that
settles it.
I’m glad to see my
new heart department work in my office while I was gone. I told them at the opening of the Advanced
Class, the father had told me to bring that beautiful plaque in my office and I
argued with Him and I said I don’t want to drag that thing along. When I got there, I saw the great purpose as
to why I should have brought it. It’s a
beautiful piece of work the saints made for me and I get blessed when the
saints do things like you get blessed when the saints do things for you. A beautiful piece, has a beautifully made
dove on it and a nice picture of it, what you call it when you put that stuff
above the top of it - decor and nice
hangers on the top of it. It’s absolutely
an exquisite piece and I loved it very much.
And the wording on it is [God said it] [that’s the first line] [I
believe it] [that’s the 2nd line] [that settles it] [that’s the 3rd
line]. And I said to the advanced
class,’ that is a lie’. That’s a lie. And I said what I am going to when I get
home. I’m to get me some electrical
black tape and I’m going to put it over with that second line use that’s a lie. The first line says “God said it.” The second says “I believe it”. The third line says “That settles it”. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s a lie. The second line is not important at all. The
first line ‘God says it’ and the third ‘God settles it,. Whether I believe it or don’t believe it has
no validity or invalidity, right? Boy,
you bet your life. Whether you believe
God’s Word or don’t believe God’s Word is not a thing to do what it. If God says it, that settles it. Whether you believe it or don’t believe it,
whether I believe it or don’t believe it, has nothing to do with it. If God said it, that what? Settles it. That’s right.
Boy I walk in my
office today and the second line has black tape on it. I think Mrs. Wierwille
has been home this week. Bless her
heart.
Look, that’s why I
know there was a fire there, there were fish on it and they had some very
wonderful French bread. Jesus saith unto
them, bring in the fish you’ve now caught, we’re going to have a real feast. We’ll put some more on.
Jesus
saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now
caught. – John 21: 10
Simon Peter went
up and he drew the net to land full of great fish, 153 and for all that many in
that net, the net was not what? Broke.
Simon
Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and
fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet for not
the net broken. -- John 21: 11
And Jesus said
unto them, come and dine. Then Jesus
said, c’mon, come and dine. And none of
the disciples asked him, who art thou?
Knowing it was what? The Lord.
Jesus
saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst asked him, Who art thou? knowing that it was
the Lord. -- John 21: 12
They didn’t say,
look, what are you doing here this morning?
What are you here for? They
didn’t say anything like that. They knew
it was the Lord.
Jesus then cometh,
he took bread, and the word taketh is lambano, you know what that means? He handed it out – he gave it to them. He lamboned bread and
giveth them. And he lambanoed fish.
Beautiful orientalism. Tremendous. Cause he was the
headmaster and he served the food to them.
Jesus
then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. -- John 21: 13
And this is now
the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the what? Dead.
This
is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he
was risen from the dead. -- John 21: 14
And I’m confident
the reason the word disciples is used because there were apostles present, but
there were also others present who were not listed among the apostles.
So when they had
dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, loveless thou me more
than these? These what? You know the fish or the pigs are material
these things you know, the French bread and so forth, these material things -
the fishing business. Peter said I go a
what? Yeah. Do you remember Mark 14? Maybe Mark 14 doesn’t flip in your mind, but
I bet you’ll remember the Scripture.
Take a look at Mark, I’ll show it to you. Isn’t this beautiful? Verse 27.
And Jesus
saith unto them, All ye
shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the
shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. -- Mark
But
after that I am risen, I will go before you into
That’s where we’re
reading from John tonight
back in
Now
Peter said at that time, Although all shall be offended, yet will
And back here in
John, Peter had just said, well, I went fishing and didn’t catch anything. Jesus came over, had
a little breakfast together, that’s right.
And Jesus said to Peter, Peter you once said everybody else can flip
out, I’ll never leave you. But now, you
know you not only denied me, but you went out fishing again. You are not out there fishing for men, Peter,
do you really love me? Or do you love
that fishing business and all the rest of it more than you love me? And he said yeah Lord thou knowest that I love thee.
And he saith unto him, feed my lambs.
So
when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
Simon son of Jonas lovest
thou me more than these? He saith unto him Yea Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. -- John 21: 15
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? He saith
unto him Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him,
Feed my sheep. -- John 21: 16
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And
Peter was hurt, he was sorry deeply graved because Jesus said unto him the
third time, lovest thou me. And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest
all things. Thou knowest
that I love thee. And Jesus said unto
him, feed my sheep.
The King James
needs a little clarification because in verse 15, the last 3 words, “Feed my
lambs.” Verse 16,” Feed my sheep” and
the last 3 of 17 is “Feed my sheep.” The
original text will read for the first one “Feed my male lambs”, for the second
one “ Feed my female lambs” and for the third ”Feed my sheep”.
He saith unto them the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? Peter was grieved because he
said unto him third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest
that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. -- John 21: 17
Jesus said to him, Peter, do you love me more than these these? Peter said
Lord you know and he said well if you really love me, then you feed my male
lambs. Because the male lambs were
separated out from the rest of the sheep and they were placed at the most
wonderful feeding grounds possible because out of those male lambs of the first
year, they had to select that one lamb that was to be without spot and without
blemish which was to be dedicated and used for the Passover. And so Jesus really said to him, look if you
love me, take care of my little balls, take care of my
male lambs. Take care of those male
lambs that are to be set forth for God’s service and to move the Word of
God. So he looked at him again and he
said Peter, do you love me? And Peter said Yea, I love you,
he said well then I’ll tell you what you do.
Take care of my little girl lambs - the little female lambs. Take care of the girls, the believers, those
wonderful women of God. That are going to make up that beautiful family.
Peter if you really love me, take care of the
female lambs. And then he said to him
the third time, Peter do you really love me?
And Peter was sort of hurt that he’d do it the third time. He was sort of sorry, he felt grieved within
and Jesus said, look Peter if you really love me, take care of the sheep.
After one year, the lamb is no longer a lamb, it’s a sheep. So what Jesus Christ was saying is absolutely
beautiful. And I think he’s speaking in
the spiritual application the same thing to this body of believers and across
the world tonight. We are to take care
of God’s boys, God’s young women and then we are to take care of all the
adults. It’s a ministry all the way from
the children through the adults. It’s God’s Word for the male, the female and the grown ups,
the sheep. That’s what he’s saying. In verse 18………
Verily, verily and these two words are other places translated amen and amen. I say unto thee. When thou wast
young, talking to Peter, when you were young, under 30, you girdest
yourself and you walked whither you wouldest, but
when thou shalt be old, over 30, thou shalt stretch forth
thy hand, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldest not. You
wouldn’t go there when before you’re thirty.
But when you got over 30 then you started walking and listening and then
you were led whither you did not go and would not go on your own before.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself,
and walkest whither thou wouldest:
but when thou shalt
be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and
another shall gird thee, and carry
thee whither thou wouldest not.
-- John 21: 18
This spake he, signifying by what death he
should glorify God. Oh, what a terrible
mistake. Really it sends chills up and
down my spine just to read it in King James.
Because the Word of God says in Hebrews says that death is of whom? The devil. How can God be glorified by the devil
then? Impossible. God doesn’t need the devil to glorify
Him. He needs you, me. The text reads “
This spake he signifying by
what he should glorify God before death.
This spake he signifying how
Peter should glorify God by teaching the little boys, the little girls and
teaching the adults before he would die.
And when he had spoken this, he saith unto
Peter, follow me. – TEXT John 21: 19
He had said that to him in the opening of Christ’s ministry which I
read to you tonight when Jesus walked around the sea of Galilee and he picked
out Peter and Andrew and James and John and sons of Zebedee
and he said follow me and I will make you what?
Fishers of men.
Here, just before the ascension, just some short time before the
ascension in one of the post resurrection appearances, the third one, Jesus
Christ again says to Peter do what?
Follow me. What compassion, what
love, what tenderness. Peter had denied
him. Peter had forsaken him. Peter had gone back to the
old walk, the old way of life.
And yet the love of God in Christ Jesus was there. He gave him something to eat and then he
said, look why don’t you just feed the male lambs and the females and the
sheep? And why don’t you just follow me
Peter? I think he’s saying the same to
all of us tonight here. And all over the country and world again. You know we’ve been like Peter, we got hot
for the Lord and then we started denying him.
Maybe we didn’t follow him here, there, and yonder. Then we split back to the old way of life some
went back to their old drugs, some went back to their old wine, some went back
to their old alcohol, some went back to their card parties. Somebody else went back to something else.
And God is again saying to our people, look there is only one way. There is only one way. Why don’t you just come back and follow
me? That’s where the food is. I prepared it for you. Told you where to go catch
it. Everything
else. I am really your Lord. Why not follow me? I will make you fishers of men.
Then Peter turning about seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved
following; which also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the last supper, and he said
Lord, I am willing to do that, but what about this man? He said Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
Then Peter, turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at
supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth
thee? -- John 21: 20
That did it. You know he’s
calling Peter back and says ok, follow me. And Peter saying okay, I’ll do
it. But what about
this man? What about him? Jesus just as much said, that’s none of your
business. Jesus saith
unto him if I will that
he tarry till I return, till I come what is that to thee?
Peter seeing him saith to
Jesus, Lord and what shall this
man do?
-- John 21: 21
What a message again to us, right?
We can so concerned about everybody else’s
business, except our own. Time and time
again you think, but how’s come I have to do this? What does Herman have to do? If I have to do that, what
about Mary? You know what Jesus
said. Why don’t you just follow me? I’ll take care of Mary and Herman and the
rest. You just follow me? You’ve got enough to do to follow me. Don’t stew about Herman and about Mary. I think most of us have enough to do to walk
in our own shoes without trying to walk in 3 other people at the same time concurrently. Isn’t that right?
Jesus saith unto him, if I will
that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. -- John 21: 22
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that
that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die;
but if I will that he tarry until I come, what is that to thee? -- John 21: 23
This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we
know that his testimony is true.
-- John 21: 24
Not because he gave the testimony, but he wrote, as a holy man of God
who spake as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. He wrote exactly what God wanted written. That’s why his testimony is true. Not because he said it, but because God told
him to say it and he said it in his vocabulary.
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the
which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. -- John 21: 25
Isn’t that beautiful? Here’s our
wonderful Lord and master in the third resurrection appearance taking time out
for breakfast with his disciples and apostles and teaching them one of the
great truths of all life. Don’t go back
to the flesh pots of
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