Feed My sheep
Feed My sheep
(Your first love)
David Wilkerson
When I saw this last night, tears just welled up in my eyes. Go to John 21. I want to share with you something. It just broke my heart. I hope and pray that it will touch you. John 21, you’ve got a verse 15 and just wait for us.
We’re gonna start (at) verse 15. It’s very familiar. I want to show you some. Last night I had just started to get my handkerchief. Oh, God. I have never seen it before.
When they had just finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter
“Simon, Son of John, do you love me more than these? more than the other disciples?”
He said to Him,
“Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
King James had the correct one.
“Feed My lambs.” He said to him again the second time.
“Simon, Son of John, do you love Me?”
He said, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Shepherd (Feed) My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, Son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
He said, “Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
Now, look at me. You know what we thought of.
You know how we dealt with the Scripture.
“Go and evangelize.
Go and teach the people.
Go and preach.”
That’s much more than that.
Isn’t Jesus Christ the bread, the living bread? Doesn’t He feed us? Let me put it in this way. Some of you that I know that come to these meetings and you feed me. You don’t say a word. You never preached to me, and you never witnessed to me, but you feed me.
Something about your countenance… You’ve been shut in with God, and you have a love for the Word in you. You sit and you drank it in. And I see Jesus in you. And, seeing that, you feed me. It feeds something in me. It’s a hope you give me. It’s a joy.
That’s why Paul the apostle when he is writing to the church that are overcoming wrote “You are my joy in the Lord.”
That means “You are my life. You’re feeding me. You feed something in me. I want to see people loving Jesus. You feed that in me. I want to see people in the Word. You feed that in me. That hope, you feed me.”
There are some of you here. You feed me. I love to be around it. Because I’ve been just around, some of you feed me.
You know what He is really saying to Peter.
“Peter, when you denied me, you already took something out of these men, your brothers. You’re a hope. You’re such a zeal. When you failed, it was hope cold and empty as a result of that.
Now, I want you to love me so much that your love for me will be an example and you feed them. You will be feeding their spirits.”
You know that Peter’s feeding me ever since.
When I see Peter standing in front of the same priest that crucified Jesus, the same priest who once made him a coward, He’s standing before Annas and Caisphas.
He’s standing before the same men that crucified Jesus, He ran from them.
Now he’s saying. They are saying don’t you dare preach in His name.
He said, “Who will we listen to men? I will listen to God.”
To the risk of his life. That feeds me. Peter then feed the world ever since.
I had God say to me, “It’s not enough to protect the church from the devil. But, feed the sheep.” Shepherds can get a whole flock of sheep there and be so concerned about the enemy and not feed them. There can be most protected flocks starving to death. No. It’s not just security. It’s feeding.
Jesus, You said, “If you love Me, feed My sheep.” Feed.
I want to feed my brothers and sisters. I want to love you more to the extent.
You are not just the first, but you are everything. Nothing in this world is going to hold me. Not my ministry. Not anything in this world. But, I will be shut in with you growing in the knowledge of your love, that you can so consume my mind and my thoughts. When I am around people, they will see Jesus, and their hungry hearts will be fed.
Lord, it’s not so much what I said this morning.
It is the Spirit of the Lord that makes that real. Holy Spirit, you gave this now.
Bless it. Let it bring forth fruits in our hearts.
Let it bring forth fruits.
Are you anxious to be the one who feed the sheep, as not just preaching in the pulpit? You ought to feed the sheep.