The Family Altar Audio Devotional - Day 161

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. (John 21:15-16) 80 Well, that is merely this. See, Christ is the Shepherd. He was going away, and He was leaving the commission of His Sheep, which any shepherd feeds, which is His Flock, His Church…See? He was leading—or leaving the commission with these disciples to continue to feed the flock, the—to be a shepherd, feed the sheep. 81 In other words like this, if—if you look out here…Here this morning, that’s what I’m doing. Now, sheep will only grow as you give them sheep food. Now, if you’d fry up a big hamburger and give it to a sheep, he couldn’t grow on that, ’cause, see, he don’t—that’s not sheep food. See? And—and if I would fry up or be a—have a nice T-bone steak fixed up, and give it over to a sheep, it—it’s not sheep food. He just couldn’t eat it, that’s all, because he’s a sheep. But sheep like sheep food. Well then, when you’re to feed the Flock of God, don’t feed them on some man-made theology; feed them on the Word; that’s where the sheep grow from. Feed the Word! 82 Be a shepherd, a true shepherd. “Feed My sheep.” Lamb’s is the little ones, of course, and sheep is the adult. So both young and old, feed the flock of God! See? And feed them with the Word! The Word (you see?) is the Truth! Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Is that right? So then, if man is to live and they are the flock of God, this—the church, then they are to thrive upon the Word and Manna of God. This is His Manna! 83 In the—the Bible, we just come through it over there in the—in the—in the Church Ages. Jesus is the hidden Manna; Christ is the church’s Manna. What is manna? Manna in the Old Testament was that what come down from Heaven fresh every night to sustain the church in its journey. Is that right? Now, in the New Testament what is the hidden Manna? “A little while and the world seeth Me no more (hidden); yet ye shall see Me, for I’ll be with you, even in you to the end of the world.” And Christ is that hidden Manna that comes from God out of Heaven afresh every day—every day. 84 We can’t say, “Well, two weeks ago I had a great experience of God.” What about right now? See? Every day, fresh, a new blessing, a new something coming from God, the hidden Manna coming down from God out of Heaven, Christ. And we feast upon this Manna which is Christ, and He sustains us through the journey till we reach the—the land on the other side. 85 Now, that’s what He meant by, “Feed My sheep.” We’d get on that, we’d never get to the rest of the questions, ’cause that’s a good one for me. I like that, when I talk of Christ being the Manna and the Food for the sheep. 86 Feed them Christ from His Word. See? Take the Word of Christ just exactly the way it’s wrote here and give it out to the sheep. No matter what anybody else says, “Oh, they need a hamburger!” Don’t you believe it. Here’s what they need, right here! This is It. See? Give them This! This is sheep Food. That’s what makes them grow. The Holy Spirit, this is His Word, His commission. The Word is a Seed. The seed brings forth a plant; the plant we eat. Now, this is what brings forth the plant that the Holy Spirit thrives upon, is the Church. 61-1015M - "Questions And Answers" Rev. William Marrion Branham ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Order your own copy of the Family Altar at http://store.bibleway.org