I'm glad to be here with you,
really am. And I honestly would rather be
sitting listening to your pastor. I really would. But I'm so happy
to be able to help him out and let him sit and relax. And I'm going to bring, Lord
willing, a message I brought at home this morning. And if
someone, some of our people are listening and watching this right
now, I'll say with Paul that to preach the same things to
me is not grievous at all. And for you, it's safe. This
was a blessing to me this morning, and it seemed to be to some others,
and I hope it'll be a blessing to you tonight. Go back to John
21 that Brother Gabe read for us, John 21. Brother Gabe told
me that he just finished in the Gospel of John a little over
a year or so ago. That's long enough for everyone
to forget most everything. And we just preach in part, don't
we? We know in part. Paul said that. If he said that,
where does that leave us? But John 21, it says in verse
1, after these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias, that's the Sea of Galilee. He showed
himself again. He showed himself, the first
time they met him truly was there. That's where he found them. That's
where he called them and he showed himself to them then. and he showed himself after he
arose three times again and again and again he kept showing or
revealing himself to them. John said we know that the Son
of God has come and given us an understanding that we might
know him that is true. He showed himself to his disciples
that's who he shows himself to. Look back at chapter 20 Verse
30 says, many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of
his disciples. He showed himself to his disciples.
That's who he revealed himself to. That's who he still reveals
himself to. He reveals himself to his people. He was on the earth after he
arose from the grave 40 days. And it says in 1 Corinthians
15, I believe it is, that he showed himself, he was seen of
over 500 brethren. Brethren. That's who he showed
himself to. That's who he kept revealing
himself to. Salvation is a revelation. A
revelation of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the heavens
declare His glory, the firmament showeth His handiwork, day unto
day others speak. Men and women are without excuse,
aren't they? But the fact of the matter is,
He has not revealed Himself to them. And how blessed we are
if He has chosen us, if we're one of His elect, and He's chosen
to reveal His Son, not just to us, but in us. And again and
again and again he keeps showing himself to his disciples. You've
seen these things before. You have seen these very passages
before. But if we see something new of
the Lord Jesus Christ, it's marvelous. He shows himself again to his
disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And on this wise he showed himself. there were together Simon, Peter,
Thomas, called Didymus, Nathanael, Canaan, sons of Zebedeeus, James
and John, two other disciples unmentioned. But they were together. Brother Gabe and I were talking
about that before the service. That's where the Lord, that's
who the Lord meets with. Those that were two or three
are gathered together in His name. He is promised to be there. The Church of God. God is in
the midst of her. In the very present help and
time of trouble, he's in the midst of her. Wherever God's
people are met together, that's where the Lord Jesus Christ has
promised to be. And so that's why Paul said,
don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the
manner of some is. But exhort one another and so
much more as you see the day approaching. You do see the day
approaching. His coming draweth nigh. The signs clearly show
it. These are the very last day.
And our Lord meets with those who are gathered together. And
here we are. It was Simon Peter and Thomas. Now right before this, the Lord
the first time met with them, revealed himself to them after
he was crucified. But Thomas wasn't there. And
he didn't believe. And Brother Gabe and I were talking
about this, how you can tell somebody about a message you've
heard, you can tell them what a blessing it was, but if you
weren't there, you can't enter into it. You've got to hear His
voice for yourself, don't you? You've got to see His glory for
yourself in the Word. And Thomas, he wasn't there.
Well, he's there now. He's not going to miss this,
is he? He's not going to miss it. Didymus. Have you ever wondered
what Didymus meant? It means twin. It means a twin. He had a twin brother. No, a
sister. Where were they? No mention ever made of that
twin brother or sister. Did the Lord save them? Maybe
not. You see, he's like Cain and Abel, isn't he? Jacob and
Esau. Thomas. He had a twin just like
him. Born in the same house, but God
chose him. Wasn't he grateful to be one
of God's chosen? Wasn't he grateful to be one
of these that were called? Thomas. They were all together
and verse 3, so they were all together and Simon Peter, Simon Peter said unto them, now
the Lord had told them to go to Galilee and he would meet
with them, didn't he? He told them He had already appeared
to them. And He told them to go to Galilee and He would meet
with them there. He already told them that, I
am sending you as the Father sent me, so sent are you. Go
into all the world and preach the gospel. He had already told
that. And they're there waiting on Him. And He's been on the
earth for 40 days, or 30 days, however many times. And they
don't know where He is. They don't know when He's coming
back to see Him, talk to Him again. And so Peter gets impatient,
waiting on the Lord. And he's not leaving the ministry. He's not departing from the living
God. No, no, no, no. What he's saying is, I'm going
fishing. I think he might have thought,
I'm going to earn a little money. The wife needs some money. I'm
going to go fishing. Well, the other disciples said,
we'll go with you. James and John, especially. Peter loved
to see. He loved boats. He loved fishing. That was his life before the
Lord called him. A little while later, the Lord
is going to ask him, Simon, son of Jonas, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than this? Well, he did it before the Lord
saved him. And now he's waiting on the Lord,
but he's impatient. And I love Simon Peter. I really
do. Aren't you glad? You know, it takes all kinds.
Takes all kinds. Don't you love Simon Peter? He
was impatient. He was impulsive. He was outspoken. He'd rush headlong into everything
without thinking. Takes all kinds, doesn't it?
All kinds. He was the first to speak out.
He spoke when he shouldn't, but he spoke when he should have.
He spoke when nobody else would speak. He spoke before the enemies
of the Lord after the Lord went back to glory. He spoke before
those Pharisees and said, should we obey men or God? Nobody else,
but he spoke out. At Pentecost, he's the one the
Lord used to speak out, the one the Lord used to save 3,000 people
through his preaching. I love Simon Peter. But he said,
I'm going fishing. Did he seek the Lord's will in
doing that? No. Did the other disciples? Did
they say, let's all ask the Lord, let's call on the Lord and see
what we should do while we're waiting on him. Let's ask. No,
none of them did that. I'm going fishing. Well, what's
going to happen? Read on with me. They said, we'll
go with you. And they went forth, entered
into a ship immediately without thinking, without praying, without
calling on the Lord. And that night, so they toiled
all night long. What'd they get? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. They didn't call on the Lord.
They didn't seek the Lord. They did what they wanted to
do, going where they wanted to go, without seeking the Lord.
And so the Lord commanded those fish, don't get in those nets. Don't get on that left side of
that boat, whatever you do. Don't let them catch one of you.
They're going to toil all night and they're not going to catch
nothing. Well, the sun began to come up. Verse 4, when the
sun in the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. I believe
he was standing on the eastern shore. That's where the sun rises.
I believe he was standing over there. Sun began to come up and
Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it
was him. They were waiting on him to come. He was already there. Now, you know, just like Mary
in the garden, remember? She was looking for the Lord
and said, where have they laid him? They haven't done anything
with your Lord. And she turned around, he was
there all along. And she didn't know it. And she didn't know
him. But they didn't know it was the Lord. Knew not that it
was him. And our Lord said unto them,
verse five, now they're a hundred yards offshore within, shouting
distance or ear shot. And the Lord said unto them,
children, have you any meat? Have you any meat? If I had a
text, this would be it. If I had a subject, this would
be it. If there's been a substance of this message, this would be
it. Have you any meat? After all your toils, and after
all your labor, and after all your rushing headlong to do,
have you found any substance? Now meat, the Lord uses the word,
the term meat for something that fulfills. Meat is fulfilling
in it. I tried to be a vegetarian years
ago, and you know what it left me? Hungry all the time. Hungry. It doesn't fill you up.
But meat will, won't it? This is what the Lord's saying.
Have you found any meat? Anything fulfilling? Children?
He called them children. Does that offend you? Our Lord
said, except you become as little children, you'll not see the
kingdom of God. Except you repent and may be converted and become
as little children and not enter the kingdom of God. Not even
see it and won't enter it. Must be little children. Little
children that are completely dependent. Little children that
are simple and ignorant and need to be taught and easily misled
and need somebody to provide for them. Little children. The
Lord always called them little children then. My little children.
They should have recognized that voice immediately. Children,
have you any meat? The Lord in one line can say
so much, can't he? With one question, Adam, where art thou? One line. Have you any meat after
all this time? After all this labor? Turn with
me to, you turn to Ecclesiastes, the book of Ecclesiastes. You
know this whole book is about the vanity of this life, isn't
it? The preacher. We think it's Solomon,
the son of David. But he said, he said in verse,
chapter 1, verse 2, Vanity of vanities saith the preacher,
vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath the man of all
his labor which he taketh under the sun? In chapter 2, he said,
I hated life because the work under the sun is grievous and
it's all vanity. He said, I hated all my labor
I'd taken under the sun because I want to leave it to somebody
else after me. And in the very last chapter,
he ends this, the book of Ecclesiastes he was saying, vanity of vanities.
Chapter 12, verse 8, vanity of vanities. But look at chapter
7. Look at chapter 7, verse You have it? Ecclesiastes 7,
14. It says, in the day of prosperity,
be joyful. And this whole book, and I say
this to young people, newly married, and you know, want children and
a house, and there's nothing wrong with that. And this book
deals with that. In depth, there's nothing wrong with it. Just remember
who gave it to you. Enjoy it, but don't sit, if riches increase,
set not your heart on them. And remember, the Lord gave,
and the Lord will take it away. Ask Job. And he said, in the day of prosperity
be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider, remember
this, that God has set the one over against the other to this
end, to this purpose, that a man should find nothing after him,
nothing here. This is not our portion. This
is not our lot in life. Oh, the lions have fallen unto
us in pleasant places. We have a portion, but it's not
here. This is not our continuing city.
We look for one whose builder and maker is God. The Lord is
our portion. He is our portion. And the Lord
had the disciples go through all this labor and this toil
all night long to show us that we labor in darkness, We labor
in this world of darkness for these things, and after it's
all over, Job said to him, he said, naked I came, naked I shall
return. We came into this world with
nothing, it's certain we'll go out with nothing. Peter in this
story was naked. How significant is that? He started
out as a naked fisherman, and now here in the end, he ends
up a naked fisherman. And he toils all night and he
catches nothing. We need to consider, our Lord said, that we're not
going to find anything here. The Lord, in mercy, in grace,
in great love, and as our Heavenly Father, He shows us that this
is not our portion. The Lord is our portion. Enjoy
it for what it is, but remember, it's vanity and it's temporary. The things that are sane are
temporal, but the things that are not sane are eternal. So
provide for yourselves bags that wax not old. Nothing and no one
can take away from you. There's wisdom. There's wisdom.
Have you any meat? Do you find any fulfillment?
Now there's nobody that enjoys their children and their wife
and things more than I do. But really, Whatever it is, whoever it is,
you're going to be disappointed. Your heart's going to be broken.
It's going to happen, and you're going to lose it. Whatever it
is and whoever it is, you're going to lose it. Now, have you
any meat after all these years? No. Can you hear their answer?
Anybody that's a fisherman in here, and you've fished all day
or all night, someone said if you have to ask a fisherman if
he caught anything, don't. Don't. You won't have to ask
him. He'll be texting you while he's
in the boat, showing you pictures. And can you hear their voice?
They've been out all night fishing. And here's somebody on the shore.
They don't know who it is. Children, have you had any meat?
Who is that? What's it there? Can you hear
it? Gerald? No. No. irritable, upset, tired. It's a good thing, though. It's
a good thing. To labor in darkness, to labor
all night, long night. Brother Crabtree, I heard him
preach this three times. It's such a blessing to me. If
you don't like this, go hear his message. But he said, he
made a, really made a point with us preachers. He said, how often
do you labor a long time, maybe even all night, in prayer, in
study, seeking a message from the Lord, and it seems like it's
for nothing. You don't catch a thing. How
often does that happen? Too often. And you get so discouraged. Your wife asks you, how's it
going? It's a good thing. It's a good
thing. It's a good thing. I can't help but
think, look at verse 6. The Lord said unto them, cast
the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find. You know this happened before,
don't you? When they first met the Lord. This is how Peter first
knew it was the Lord. You remember, the Lord came and
was at the sea of Tiberias, Galilee, and he saw a ship, and Simon
Peter and Andrew and James and John were washing their nets,
and there was a boat, and the Lord got in that ship. He didn't
ask them. He didn't ask them permission.
He got in their ship, their boat, and said to Simon Peter, gave
a command, said, cast off. We're going out here for a draft. I asked a brother one time, Greg
Elmquist, we were washing our nets after fishing all day. I think we caught something.
But anyway, I said, what would you do if a man came up to you
and he just got in your boat and said, come on, we're going
out fishing? He said, it'd have to be the
Lord. Well, it was. You see, the Lord
gives a command. He doesn't ask for a request.
He gives a command. So they cast off and they went
out and he said, cast your net on it. Master, teacher, rabbi,
we've been doing this all our lives. Well, what'd you catch last night?
Uh, nothing, but, but nevertheless, that's your word. And they cast
that net. and got all those ships and they
filled up both boats and they were about to sink. Simon Peter
knew for the first time who this rabbi was, who this man was.
This is no mere man. This is the master of the sea.
This is the Lord of the universe. This is the Lord over the sea,
over the creatures in the sea, over men, over devils. And he
knew the one who knows every fish in that water knows my thoughts. And Simon Peter hit his knees
and began to repent and began and asked the Lord for mercy.
He said, depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man. Depart from
you, Simon? No, I came for you. You're the
one I came for. I'm the great fisher of men,
and I came to catch you. And he caught him. And that's
how he revealed himself to Simon in the beginning. And here in
the end, he reveals himself the same way, the Lord. And I can't help but think the
Lord is saying here in saying, cast your net on the right side
of the ship and you shall find. I can't help but believe he's
saying there's a right way and a wrong way. There's a right
path and there's a wrong path. Who's on the Lord's side? That's
what Moses said, didn't he? Huh? In Proverbs chapter 1, the
Lord tells us through the preacher, through Solomon, he says that
wicked, the sinful will say Cast in your lot with us. Come thou
with us. We'll find all precious substance.
We'll have a good time. We'll just fill ourselves up
with all this. Cast your lot in with us. And the wise man
said, don't cast your lot with them. Don't cast your line with
them. Don't go with them. Don't walk with them. Walk in
the paths of righteousness. Walk for his name's sake. Walk
with the Lord like Enoch. Don't go with them. There's a right way and a wrong
way, and there's a right side and a wrong side. What side's
the right side? The Lord's side. It's not a good
way. It's the only way. He said, I
am the way. People seek a line of work, cast
their line. They're looking for a line of
work. Where? You don't go where the gospel's not. The Lord's
not in there. You know what you'll find if
you cast your lot in a place where the gospel's not? You'll
find nothing. Young people that date unbelievers
and leave the gospel or even go off to school where there
was no gospel. That's not of the Lord. You know
what you'll find? Nothing. I'm going to say this. I wrote
a letter to two young girls and both of them were dating unbelievers.
And I cared deeply about it. So I wrote them. And I warned
them, and I used scripture after scripture after scripture, what
the Lord says about seeking a mate that knows the Lord. Don't go
after those that don't know the Lord. They'll steal your hearts
away. The Lord said they'll steal your hearts away. Well, one of
them ignored completely what I said. I said to her, I said
to her, both of them, same thing. I said, you can either take the
Lord at His word, or you can take your chances. cast your net on the right side and you'll find, you'll be blessed. Your cup will run over, your
net will be full. One of the girls listened to
me, to the Lord, the word, and she's so glad. Well, they cast therefore at
his word, verse 6, and now they were not able to draw it for
the multitude of are not able to draw for the multitude of
fish. Now I am sure, and you know this,
your pastors preach from it, that this is certainly a picture,
a prophetic picture of how the Lord will draw. The Lord will
draw. These disciples didn't catch
these fish. The Lord gave the command. And this is a picture,
a prophetic picture of the great multitude of people whom the
Lord has chosen. All of them shall be gathered
one way. You know that? One way. Notice what they used
to catch these fish. A net. They didn't use a hook,
line, or sinker. They didn't use artificial bait.
They didn't use lures, man-made lures, to try to entice, to try
to deceive the fish into coming, into biting it, did they? That's
not how the Lord catches sinners. That's not how the Lord saves
people, through deception. God's not a beggar. God doesn't
ask. God doesn't trick people into
coming to His house to worship Him. And people that do that
are not God's preacher. That's not God's church. And
you know how it is. It happens all over the place.
They've used tricks and schemes and methods to bring people in,
to entice them in. And they're ashamed of it. They
don't know the Gospel, number one. They're ashamed of it. And
they're going to sneak it in on people. That's evil, isn't
it? It's not of the Lord. It ain't
nothing to do with that. The Lord uses a net. The Gospel
is called a net. A net encloses the fish. A net
surrounds the fish. A net apprehends the fish. And
that's our gospel. Like Saul of Tarsus. He was surrounded
by that light. He couldn't get away. That was
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I was apprehended. And
that's how God brings his people. Through the preaching of the
gospel, a gospel preacher stands up and preaches Christ. And the
net, the gospel net, apprehends those whom the Lord has chosen.
They're coming. And it's a great multitude. And
it says, look, read on down. The other disciples, well, down
in verse 11, it says there are 153 feet. 153 feet. An exact
number. Why is there an exact number?
Why did he give an exact number? Because The Lord has them numbered. It's a people that no man can
number, but the Lord knows them. The foundation of the Lord standeth
sure, having this seen. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. He chose them. If the hairs of your head are
numbered, what about all the heads? That's easy. He has His
people numbered. Why are they an odd number? Because
that's us. We're an odd lot of them. 153. Verse seven though, but Peter,
the disciple whom the Lord loves said to Peter, it's the Lord. It is the Lord. They finally recognized that
for him without seeing his face yet. And that's how it is. We first hear his word and then
we see his glory. But he said, it is the Lord.
Now, Simon Peter, when he heard that, that it was the Lord. He was naked, so he girt his
fisher coat unto him, and did cast himself into the sea." Now
Simon Peter, oh Simon Peter, before this, he had just denied
the Lord, hadn't he? He had just denied his Lord.
He had just reverted back to that old cussing sailor he used
to be. And in spite of his sin, in spite
of his shame, in spite of his denial of the Lord, he couldn't
get to the Lord fast enough. And he dove before he's casting
his nets into the sea. Now he's casting himself into
the sea. And you know what he's saying? Sink or swim, I've got
to go to him. I've got to get to him. In spite
of my sin, because of my sin, that's why I'm going to him.
And he cast himself into the sea. And what he's saying also
is you fellas can stay here. I've got to get to him. I've
got to get to the Lord. I've got to see his face. I've
got to hear his voice. I've got to get to him. Reckon
he'll receive you, Simon? Yeah. I denied him, but he can't
deny himself. So he cast himself upon the mercy
of the Lord. Cast your cares upon the Lord.
He cares for you. He came for you. He came for
his own. And he cast himself into that sea and came to our
Lord. The other disciples, they were
dragging the net with the fishes. And soon as they came to land,
verse 9, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid there on
bread. Now, if any of you have ever
been camping or had a fire in your pit in the backyard, how
long does it take to get a good bed of coals? Huh? You stoke the fire for the first
hour or so, and it goes out, and you put more kindling on,
and it goes out, and you keep stoking until finally it starts
burning. And then after several hours,
it burns down, and you've got this hot bed of coal. How long
had the Lord been there? all night long. What was he doing? Watching them. He said, I'll
never leave you, didn't he? They couldn't see him. He was
there. He was watching. In the night
season and all the day long, he leads his dear children along.
He's watching. He's watching. Maybe one of them
said, who's that over on that shore? I don't know. He saw And he had waiting for
them fish and bread. And he said in verse 10, bring
the fish which you have caught. They didn't catch any fish. They
didn't catch a thing. Didn't they? The net did. The
Lord gave the command. Simon Peter knew it. He didn't
catch one of those fish. There's no room for boasting.
Preachers don't save anybody. Messengers don't save anybody.
The Lord saves people. It's not our outline. It's not
our comments on it. It's his word. And that's our
encouragement in Brother Gabe. We have the same net. Keep casting
it. Noah fished 120 years. He had
eight people he was glad of. Cast the net. They knew they
hadn't caught one fish. The Lord did. He gave the command.
The net did. They didn't catch these fish.
But Simon Peter went up and he drew the net to land full of
great fish. Before, they could not draw the
net. It was full of fish. They couldn't
draw it. You know, except God draw us, we won't be drawn with
them. Yes, he gives the command. He said, bring them. Our Lord
said, I'll bring them. I'll bring them from the north,
from the south, from the east, from the west. I'll use the preacher
of the gospel too. I'll bring them. And it'll be
a great number of great fishes. Verse 11 says that it was full
of great fishes, great fishes, big fish. Now, really now, let
me ask you, is there anything great about a fish? Is there anything great about
a fish? A fish is a fish, isn't it? If it's a big fish. If it's a
little fish. It's a fish, isn't it? And all
fish have one thing in common. What is it? They stink. Huh? Tell me. They're out of
the water any time at all. They stink! That's what fish
have in common. They all stink. You can't mistake
a fish. People talk about fresh fish.
This is fresh fish. It's dead fish. It can't be fresh. It's dead. It's stinking. That
which is flesh is flesh. The scriptures say we all have
this in common. Why aren't we? Stinking sinners. Great sinners. Nothing great about us. It's
so great a God, so great a salvation, a great work of redemption it
took to save us. We're all a bunch of great sinners.
David was not a great man. He was a shepherd whom the Lord
found following sheep, but he made him a great man. And David
said, pardon my iniquity for it is great. I'm just a great
sinner. Paul, Saul of Tarsus, he said,
I'm the chief of sinners. What's great about me is I'm
the chiefest of sinners. That's who the Lord saved. That's
who the net catches. Chief of sinners. Great sinner. And look at this. There were
so many. 153. There were so many. Yet the net wasn't broken. The
net wasn't broken. In other words, no matter how
great a fish it was, no matter how big a fish it was, he couldn't
get out of that net. Are you with me? No matter how
great that fish was, it could not get out of the net. The net
was holding them. The net was keeping them. You
say, I'm the chief of sinners. No way I'll last. If you're kept
by the power of God, you will. And the Gospel's the power of
God. This Gospel's the power of God. You must be under the
sound of the Gospel. It's what keeps us. And you know
what? If you are, if you're under the
sound of the Gospel, if you keep yourselves in the love of God,
Paul said, that means under the sound of the Gospel. You will
not escape. You will not leave. No man will
pluck you out of this net. You have God's word on it. The
net did not break. No great fish could get out of
that net. Those whom thou hast given me I have kept. None is
lost. Brethren, stay right here. Stay in the boat. Stay in the
ship. This is where the gospels preach. This is safety. where
the Lord keeps his people together, seeking his face. And the Lord
said in verse 12, come and dine. And the Lord had already prepared
for them fish and bread. Fish and bread. Does that sound
familiar? That's the first thing he fed the masses on the mountain,
the first thing, fish and bread. And now here in the inn, they're
eating the same thing. You reckon that when they ate those fish
loaves and fish in the very beginning, they thought, this is so good. This is so good. Have you ever
tasted fish like that? Have you ever tasted bread like
that? And in the gospel like that, when you first hear it,
when you first hear this gospel, don't you think, this is the
best thing I've ever tasted? The sovereign grace of God, the
mercy of God in Christ. Isn't this the most wonderful
thing? This bread of life, this water of life, I can't get enough
of. Isn't this wonderful? Can I have another helping? Sure
you can. Have all you want. We've got 12 baskets full. Eat. Open your mouth wide and I'll
fill it, the Lord said. Well, here in the end, three
and a half years later, he's feeding them the same thing.
And they were hungry and they were toiling all night and they
couldn't provide anything for the Lord had already provided
it for them. And they come in and they feast on this bread
and this fish and they say, this is better now than it was in
the beginning. Is that the way it is with you?
You know the Lord tried the children of Israel by that manner. He
said, I'm going to prove to you by this manner. The Lord gave
them bread from heaven, which is a picture of crime. And he
said, I'm going to prove you by this. You're going to eat
this for 40 years. And if anybody grows tired of
it, God grew tired of them. And some did, didn't they? Joshua
and Caleb didn't. They said, this is just as good
today as it was the day we first ate it. That water out of that
rock is just as sweet as the day we first tasted it. My mother
this morning, my mom heard this message, OK? And she was going
on and on and on, all right? Like she'd never heard it before.
You think she's heard this before? You think she's heard a good
preacher preach this before? Huh? How many times? You say,
that's because she loves the preacher. Yes! She loves the Lord and she loves
the preacher he sent. No matter who it is. Right? Yes. But she loves it just as
much now as she did the day she heard it. It doesn't matter who's
telling it. She loves it. Why? What is it? It's the Lord. This bread, this fish is the
Lord. That fish gave its life to sustain
their life. So did our Lord, Christ crucified.
That bread, like a grain of wheat, a corn of wheat that fell in
the ground and sprang up, was cut down, cast in the oven. That's
Christ crucified. He said, I'm the bread of life.
I'm the water of life. He said, my flesh is meat indeed.
My blood is drink indeed. And those who really feed on
Christ, those who've really tasted the Lord is gracious. Not the
doctrines of Greg, but the Lord is gracious, but they can't get
enough of it. And it's just as sweet and just
as wonderful the day as the day they heard it. And they're thankful
for it. The Lord provided it. He had
already prepared this. And look at verse 13. Then Jesus cometh, and taketh
bread, and giveth them. Now the Lord had already prepared
this before they got there. It was waiting on them. The Lord
had already prepared His people. He had already prepared His sacrifice.
The Lord is a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
He had already prepared all of this before the foundation of
the world. But then He cometh. Then he came. He had to come
in time, didn't he? In the fullness of time, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them there under the
law. And he taketh bread. Who's doing all that? Are they
helping out Cody? No. The Lord did all that. He
had already prepared it. He came for them, waiting on
them to be gracious to feed them. He takes the bread and he does
what? Offers it to them? No. Gives
it to them. You're saved by grace. That means
grace bestowed. That means salvation bestowed,
not offered. And he giveth them, and fish likewise. He said, take,
eat. This is my body broken for you.
This is my blood shed for you. Take this. And they took it.
Now this is the third time. And he showed himself again,
same way, always the same way, same Lord. We have one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one hope of our calling, one spirit, one
father, one message, one net, one hope. Oh, isn't this gospel wonderful?
I never get tired of telling it. Brother William met him at
the door and he said, I'm so glad to be here. Irene said,
you got something good to feed us? Well, I don't know, Irene.
Did you get anything? Good. Then it's the Lord. Because this poor vessel, it's
the Lord. But isn't this gospel wonderful?
And haven't you got a wonderful pasture and a wonderful little
boat? But oh my, all glory belongs
to our Lord. Thank you for having me. Lord
bless you.