Turn with me back to John 21.
I am going to try to be very brief. I've been talking to you already
for 30 minutes. And I know it's difficult to
listen, especially at the end of a day. And I'm going to try
to Try to bring you a devotional. That's not what's in my notes.
I'm just going to try. Maybe not a 10 minute devotional,
but. I'm going to try to be as brief as I want to get to the
point. I want to tell you something. And. Pray the Lord will. Feed us with
it. Here in John 21, this is after
our Lord's resurrection. And as we all know, Peter denied
the Lord three times before he was crucified. And I cannot imagine
the guilt that Peter must have felt because of that. And I just
can't imagine what he must, you know, when he quit, he quit the
ministry and we were all hard on him. But I can't imagine the
guilt and depression he must have been in because of that. So our Lord appeared to his disciples,
this is now the third time that he appeared to them, and he made
dinner for them, bread and fish. And after dinner was over, verse
15 says, 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. 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. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because
he 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.
Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. He said, Peter, if you
love me, feed my sheep. If you love me, feed my sheep. Now there are two types of people
on this earth. According to the scripture, there
are two types of people in this world, sheep and goats. I think about this ministry,
we were just talking about another ministry. in another place and
everywhere we go, we're gonna run into this. Sheep and goats,
it doesn't matter if we're Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian,
bond or free, there's just two types of people on this earth,
sheep and goats. Sheep are those who have been
given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Goats are those who have not
been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sheep are those who believe
on Christ and believe the word of Christ. Goats are those who
do not believe on Christ and do not believe the word of Christ.
And as the word of Christ is declared, it doesn't matter if
it's coming from a preacher or the witness of any of God's people. As the word of Christ in truth
is declared, as that declaration goes out, goats, but against
it, but against it, they oppose it. They bring accusations and persecutions
and they are relentless about it. And it's frustrating. I'll just be honest with you.
It's frustrating. Goats can be very frustrating. I pray that in time, God will
reveal goats to be sheep. But that constant budding from
every side is very tiring. Very tiring. And it's very aggravating. And it tends to get those who
declare God's truth fired up from time to time. It
just does. Any believer who stands for the
truth, I'm not just talking about preachers, I'm talking about
any believer who stands for the truth, And it makes us want to
do two things. Number one, it makes us want
to get into this word to see if these things that we are contending
for are so. When that happens, when a goat
butts something and, brings opposition and brings persecution and brings
all of these things. Number one, we want to know,
did God really say what we are declaring that he said? Is our declaration really his
word? And if it is, when we see that
again and it's confirmed to us again, number two, it makes us
want to stand and contend for that truth that much harder. That much firmer. It makes us
want to be that much bolder and makes us want to be that much
louder. And that's a good thing. I believe God uses opposition. Opposition to his own truth to
confirm us in it. to confirm us that much more.
I believe when he causes us to declare something and it brings
opposition, he uses that to confirm us in it that much more. And
that's a good thing. It gives God's people boldness
and just, that's a good thing. But, all right, there's a but
here. This thought constantly goes
through my mind. And it was going through my mind
this week and that's what made me want to look at this passage
tonight. Although those of us who preach and those of us who
witness are constantly provoked to get up in this pulpit and
plow the goat field. And I'm just, I'm having a moment
of honesty with everybody. It comes and it comes. If you
preach the truth long enough, opposition is going to come and
it will stir you up. I try to be as calm, cool, and
collected for everybody as I can be, but it will stir you up. And although we are provoked
to get up here, and I wrote in my notes, plow the goat field. Although that's the case, this
is what goes through my mind constantly. I'm not standing
in front of a goat field. Okay? Sometimes I'm just, something
will come from who knows who, who knows where, on the other
side of who knows what. And I'm so just fired up about
it, I'm ready to just get up in here I'm not standing in front
of a goat field. I'm standing before God's sheep. I'm not standing before people
who hate the true and living God. And hate his right to be God. I'm not standing in front of
people who hate his right to be God. and hate his sovereignty and
his election and hate his particular redemption and hate his irresistible
grace. I'm not standing before people
who deny his glory and reject the word of his mercy
and grace and oppose the fact that salvation is of the Lord.
I'm standing before people who love it. I believe in my heart, I am standing
before people who love God, not that made up God of man's imagination. I believe I'm standing before
people who love God and love His sovereignty and love His
finished salvation. And I believe it's critical that
I realize And I believe it's critical that all who are called
to preach realize, I believe we would all be wise to realize
that our God has not called us to whip goats. He has called us to feed sheep. I do believe that the Lord uses
opposition of goats to confirm the message in us. I'm convinced
of that. I become more and more convinced
of things after opposition to it has come. But with that confirmation,
our Lord did not say, Peter, if you love me, you get up into
a pulpit and start whipping goats. That's just not what he said.
He said, Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep. Feed my lambs, feed my precious
people. That is our calling. The Lord
will take care of the goats. The Lord will take care of the
goats. Just feed the sheep. Just feed the sheep. Now, I have preached messages
to you on this subject before. I've preached many times before,
but I'm gonna do it again because this is what the Lord has laid
on my heart for us to look at tonight. Our calling is to feed
God's sheep. I don't want to ever lose sight
of that. I don't want to ever lose sight of that. I pray that
tonight and for the rest of my time in the ministry, God might
allow me to feed the sheep. Therefore, every time I think
about this, every time I think about this calling, this is the
question that comes to my mind. And this is what I want us to
look at for just a second, and then I'll be done. What do God's
sheep eat? What do God's sheep feed on? What is our food? What is our
nourishment? What do we live on? What do we
live by? The first answer is sufficient
to be the only answer. The first answer is enough to
be the only answer. But I wrote down five or six
answers, and I pray in hearing these, thinking on these, acknowledging
these, the Lord will feed us with them, okay? I pray the Lord
will feed us with this right here. What do God's sheep feed
on? Number one, first answer. One
word starts with a big capital C. Christ. Christ. God's sheep feed on Christ. You know, when opposition comes,
you know what we ought to do? We ought to preach Christ. When whatever comes, we ought
to preach Christ. When problems arise, preach Christ. Preach the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's sheep feed on the person. the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's
sheep want to hear about him. I have learned that there is
no difference in American sheep and African sheep. I've learned
that. I think maybe I thought there
was some, some amount of difference, but there is not. They feed on
the exact same thing. They want to feed on the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's sheep want to hear about
Him. They want to think about Him. They want to dwell on Him.
They want to know Him. They want to be with Him, the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's sheep say, that is the
sweetest name I know. Do you know of a sweeter name
than Jesus Christ? sweetest name I know, fills my
every longing, keeps me singing as I go. Turn with me over to
Philippians 1. Philippians 1 verse 21, Paul
said, for to me, to live is Christ. Paul said, he is what I live
on. He is what sustains me. He is
what feeds my soul. He went on to say, and to die
is gain. Why would you say that Paul?
It's because life here is not my life. He's my life. David said in Psalm
27 verse 4, one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek
after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in
his temple. That's it. Look at Philippians
3 verse 8. It says, Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which
is of God by faith, that I may know him. and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death. If by any means I might attain
into the resurrection of the dead, that's it. He's it. He's the answer. He is the answer. Turn two more
pages over to Colossians three, the end of verse 11 says, Colossians 3, the end of verse
11, Christ is all and in all. He is what God's sheep feed on. He is what God's sheep live on. Verse 3 right there says, you're
dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who
is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him
in glory. Now, all the other answers that I wrote down They
don't stray too far from that first answer. Turn over to John
1. Now just think about this and
tell me if this feeds your soul. John 1 verse 14, it says, and
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the father, full of grace and truth. What do God's sheep
feed on? We feed on his glory. The glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His glory, His honor, His praise
feeds our souls. Really? Really? Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, unto thy name give all the glory that feeds our
souls. When the Lord waited in John
11 before going to Lazarus, they said, he whom thou lovest is
sick. And the Lord waited four days. And that and Lazarus died because
of it. When he did that, the Lord said
to his disciples, we're going to write, we're going to wait
right here. That the son of God might be glorified in this. When our Lord is glorified, God's
people are fed no matter what he sends them through. If the
end of the passage, if the end result is his glory, God's people
are fed. God's people are blessed. God's
people say, amen, that he might be glorified. Amen. If he's glorified, my soul is
fed. Turn to John six. Verse 48, our Lord said, I am that bread
of life. Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The
Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
hath sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. What do God's sheep feed on?
They feed on the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They feed on the mercy and the
grace of His cross. His cross is mercy and grace,
and it feeds our souls. Our souls are fed in His sacrifice
and death on the cross. When our Lord instituted the
ordinance of His supper, showing His death, He said in this, you
show my death till He returns. Showing His death on the cross
for the sin of His people. Picturing his own body and his
own blood, he said, you take this and you eat it. Feed on this, live on this reminder
until the day I return for you to take you home. Feed on it. God's sheep feed on the person
of Christ. They feed on the glory of Christ.
They feed on the sacrifice of Christ, his broken body, his
shed blood. And because of that, God's sheep
feed on the righteous redemption and liberty that is in Christ.
You can call those three or one. It doesn't matter to me. I'm
going to lump them all in one. Go to Romans eight with me. In Matthew 5 verse 6, our Lord
said, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness
for they shall be filled. We feed on his righteousness. We feed on his righteousness,
the righteousness that we have been made to be in him. In Romans 3 and in Hebrews 9,
it says that all of God's sheep have now been justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It says
in the one sacrifice and offering of His blood, He obtained eternal
redemption for us. We feed on His redemption. being justified and redeemed
in Him, in that righteous, justified redemption. Now look at Romans
8 verse 1. Just tell me if your soul doesn't
feed on this. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit, no condemnation in him. God's sheep feed on the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Set us free, no
condemnation, none. We feed on Christ. We feed on
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We feed on the broken body and
the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We feed on the righteous
redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we feed on the free
liberty that we have in him. Free liberty in Christ. I pray
that God will take those things and feed us with it. And I pray
he'll cause us to love it and receive it with gladness. I pray
he will. For his sake, for his glory,
for our good. Amen. All right.