Love

It's Going To Take More Than Faith - Love

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2 Peter 1: 5 For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises, make every effort] in [exercising] your faith to, develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge (insight, understanding), 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly affection, and in your brotherly affection, [develop Christian] love [that is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit].

• Developing Christian love is a lifelong journey of growth, grounded in the teachings of the Bible.

• Do you love me?

Jesus Provides

Main Text: John 21:12-17 (AMP)

12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared to ask Him, "Who are You?" They knew [without any doubt] that it was the Lord.

1. You notice that whenever Jesus should up, so did provision

13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples, after He had risen from the dead.

The Love Motivation

15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with total commitment and devotion]?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]." Jesus said to him, "Feed My lambs."

A. This is a interesting portion, Jesus calls him by his full name

B. 1st time-JESUS calls him by His full name and the title he was giving Peter-Rock

John 1:42 (AMP) 42 Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is translated Peter)."

Matthew 16:17 (AMP) 17 Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

A. In the second, "not flesh and blood," but the Father's grace, revealed the mystery of the Divine Sonship to him, and won the name of Peter

B. More than these

C. Feed my lambs

16 Again He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with total commitment and devotion]?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]." Jesus said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."

A. Here our Lord omits, as Peter had done, the "more than these," but he again,

B. The commission that follows is the second stage of pastoral office. He saith to him, Tend ("act the part of shepherd") my sheep.

C. Christ is the "good Shepherd," and, as Peter puts it in 1 Peter 5:4, the "chief Shepherd."

D. He has laid down his life with a view of taking it again, and ever after discharging the functions of the Shepherd.

E. He means to bring all the "sheep" into one flock.

F. They shall all hear his voice, and receive from him everlasting life.

G. Meanwhile the leader of the apostles is made to appreciate that love is the condition of all healthy guidance.

H. The sheep will need this even more than the "lambs;" the old disciples will require, even more than the young converts, both direction and command In this respect the subsequent career of Peter was more conspicuous than that of the rest of the apostles

Acts 20:28 (AMP) 28 Take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd (tend, feed, guide) the church of God which He bought with His own blood.

1 Peter 5:2 (AMP) 2 shepherd and guide and protect the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not [motivated] for shameful gain, but with wholehearted enthusiasm;

17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]?" Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, "Do you [really] love Me [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.

A. The third time, to him who had three times denied! and this time the love which Peter knows has ever filled his soul seems to be doubted.

B. Feed my sheep.--The better reading is, probably, little sheep.

C. The order of the Received text is "lambs" (John 21:15), "sheep" (John 21:16), "sheep" (John 21:17).

D. The Peshito Syriac must have read "lambs," "little sheep," "sheep";

E. Still, it must be admitted that the more probable reading is lambs, little sheep, little sheep, and that the difference of thought is in the difference of the verbs.

F. "Feed My lambs; be a shepherd to the weak ones of the flock; feed these weak ones."

G. He who loved Christ is to be like Christ, a good shepherd, giving his life for the sheep who are Christ's.

H. He who had been loved and forgiven, held up that he might not fall, restored after he had fallen, is to be to others what Christ had been to him--feeding men with spiritual truths as they can bear them, gently guiding and caring for those who are as the weak ones of the flock through ignorance, prejudice, waywardness.

I. The chief work of the chief Apostle, and of every true apostle of Christ, is to win back the erring, helpless, sinful sons of men; and the power which fits them for this work is the burning love which quickens all other gifts and graces, and can appeal to the Great Shepherd Himself, "Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee." As a remarkable instance of how the Great Shepherd's

J. Omniscience is freely conceded to the Lord. All things that Peter did, thought, or felt, all his bewilderment, all his mistakes, all his impulsiveness and mixture of motive, all his self-assertion, all his weakness and disloyalty, are known; but so also all the inner springs and lines of his nobler nature, and that though he played the fool, he was a hypocrite in his denials.

K. The Lord knew that his faith did not really fail, though his courage did; and in virtue of this breadth of the Lord's knowing, he must have come to full cognizance of the entire meaning of Peter's life.

There is distinct progress in the ideas:

(1) "Feed my lambs;"

(2) "Rule (shepherd) my sheep;"

(3) "Feed my little sheep."

A. Note that there is a difference between lambs and sheep, and also between feed and tend. Lambs signify beginners in the faith; sheep, those more mature. Therefore he who loves Christ, and has charge of both lambs and sheep, will feed the lambs, meaning, provide them simple, gentle care suitable for beginners, and will tend the sheep, meaning, apply stricter care for those more mature in faith. But even the more advanced sometimes need gentler care as well, so the Lord instructs His pastors to feed the sheep also.

SOLUTION

John 15:4-17 (MSG) 4 "Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me. 5-8 "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. 9-10 "I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.

11-15 "I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. 16 "You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. 17 "But remember the root command: Love one another.

Discussion Questions

1. According to 2 Peter 1:5-7, why is love described as the culmination of the spiritual growth progression? How does love differ from the other qualities listed before it?
2. What is the significance of Jesus calling Peter by his full name "Simon, son of John" three times in this passage? How does this relate to Peter's three denials of Christ?
3. Jesus asks Peter three different questions using variations of "do you love me?" What is the distinction between the types of love being discussed, and why does this matter for ministry?
4. What does the progression from "feed my lambs" to "shepherd my sheep" to "feed my sheep" reveal about the different needs within the body of Christ?
5. Why do you think Jesus connected love for Him directly with the command to care for His flock? What does this teach us about the motivation for ministry and service?
6. How does Peter's restoration after his denial demonstrate God's grace and the possibility of redemption? What hope does this offer to believers who have failed?
7. In John 15:4-8, Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and branches. How does "abiding" or "making your home" in Christ's love enable us to produce lasting fruit?
8. The notes state that "love is the condition of all healthy guidance." How does love transform the way we lead, teach, and care for others in the church?
9. What is the difference between caring for "lambs" (new believers) and "sheep" (mature believers)? How should our approach to shepherding differ based on spiritual maturity?
10. Jesus says in John 15:12-13, "Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends." What does it practically look like to love others with this level of sacrificial commitment in today's context?

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