The Shepherd’s Conference

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn back once again, we’re near the end of John’s
Gospel. We are in John Chapter 21. John Chapter 21, where we meet up once again in
a most powerful way. with the Apostle Peter. Coming into this chapter, we
think of Peter and really coming up to the doors, if you will,
of Christ’s passion. Peter was Jesus most courageous
friend his boldest friend Nobody was more confident. Nobody was
more brash in his Testimony on the Lord’s behalf his confidence
and his ability to stand with and stand by the Lord nobody
was more stable more steadfast than the Apostle Peter and And
we might have predicted even now knowing and looking back
at his words, we might have predicted a fall. Pride comes before the fall. And we see much in Peter’s life
now that makes it very clear what was really going on. This
passage that we look to this morning, it almost has to be
held in balance with Peter’s threefold denial. Because in
a providential way, Jesus Christ takes Peter to a threefold restoration
following his threefold denial. He takes Peter to affirm his
faith, his confidence in the Lord Jesus three times. Some commentators have suggested
here that Jesus had already restored Peter to ministry. And they point
to an unrecorded meeting. And we know that there was at
least one of these unrecorded scenes. It was alluded to in
scripture, but there are no details at all about these meetings.
Luke, remember the two that were on the road to Emmaus, they came
back bursting in among the apostles and they outed Peter. Remember
that scene? The Lord has really risen and
he’s appeared to Simon. Now we don’t know any details
about any additional appearance to Peter. 1 Corinthians 15 seems
to indicate when Paul says that he appeared to Cephas and then
to the 12, that he appeared separately to Peter. But Scripture gives
us virtually nothing about such a meeting, about this private
restoration to ministry. What we have is this passage,
a very direct semi-public meeting between Peter and Jesus with
others looking on. And so as we saw last Lord’s
Day, Jesus himself has seen to it that the scene is perfect. It’s on the same lake where so
much has already happened. So many memories that Peter would
have from which to draw. That memory of the absence of
a catch which was followed then by a
great catch, a blessing from the Lord, recorded in Luke’s
Gospel we looked at last week, where at the end of it, Jesus
first commissioned Peter on that same body of water. Peter had
walked toward, anyway, toward his Savior, who had come to them
in the night, walking miraculously on the water. On that same lake,
Jesus had provided a meal of fish and bread just like that
which He was serving for breakfast that morning. In that first case,
it was a miraculous provision, feeding 5,000 people with a few
fish and a few loaves. And then we noticed that there
was this heartbreaking coal fire that Peter couldn’t have helped
But notice, the last time that he drew near to a coal fire was
when he denied his Lord three times. Perhaps Peter saw this
whole scene coming. And maybe that’s why he even
tried to beat his fellow disciples, jumping out of the boat as he
did and wading to shore. Maybe he wanted to get this very
uncomfortable moment with Christ out of the way, behind him. It’s very likely that Peter was
not viewed in the same light as he was previously by his fellow
disciples. It’s quite likely that they were
suspicious of him, even dubious of him. Certainly dubious of
his testimony of faith, if not his leadership skills. And so
this whole thing seems to be set up, orchestrated perfectly
by the Savior in order to restore Peter, to restore Peter to his
friends, to restore Peter to himself, to restore Peter to
his calling. This conversation in front of
the other disciples was very necessary. That they would actually
hear from Christ’s own mouth that Peter was fully restored. That he was no longer a second-class
citizen. He was no longer on the outs
as it were. There’s only one thing that will
rescue Peter. A shepherd’s conference. That’s
what he needs. A shepherd’s conference. And
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that if you can
only show up to that deal that’s held at the mothership annually,
where people flock across the country in droves. I’m not talking about that Shepherds
Conference. As great a blessing as that has
been to me in my life throughout the years, gathering with other
pastors in great numbers, I would be tempted to tell you about
the first Shepherds Conference, the first one that I ever went
to. I’m not kidding you, it’s a notebook that’s about that
thick, about four inches thick, that we had to lug around all
week. And back then, Shepherds Conferences for seminary students
were mandatory. You had to go and sit in the
Shepherds Conference. But if you’ll notice, oddly placed apostrophe. I’m not talking about the shepherds
conference that is for all kinds of shepherds across the world.
I’m talking about the shepherd. I’m talking about the good shepherd. I’m talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ and I’m talking about the very first shepherds conference. The conference that Jesus Christ
had with his beloved Apostle Peter. In order to take it in
context, would you look again at John chapter 21 and we’ll take
it at verse 1. After these things, Jesus manifested
himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He manifested
himself in this way. Simon Peter and Thomas called
Didymus and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee
and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said
to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, we will come
with you also. Then they went out and got into
the boat and that night they caught nothing. But when the
day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples
did not know it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, children,
you do not have any fish, do you? They answered, no. And he said to them, cast the
net on the right hand side of the boat and you will find a
catch. So they cast and then they were
not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it
is the Lord. So when Simon heard that it was
the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped
for work, and he threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples
came in the little boat, for they were not far from land,
but about 100 yards away, dragging the net full of fish. So when
they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid,
and fish placed upon it, and bread. Jesus said to them, bring
some of the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went
up and drew the net to land full of large fish, 153. And although
there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them,
come and have breakfast. None of the disciples ventured
to question him, who are you, knowing that it was the Jesus
came and took the bread and gave it to them and the fish likewise
This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples
after he was raised from the dead so When they had finished
breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of John Do you
love me more than these? He said to him Yes, Lord, you
know that I love you. He said to him, tend my lambs. He said to him again a second
time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him,
yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, shepherd
my sheep. He said to him the third time,
Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because
he had said to him the third time, do you love me? And he
said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love
you. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. On this particular occasion,
we don’t have to listen in by satellite. We don’t have to live
stream this Shepherds Conference. We are invited in, both men and
women, young and old. You don’t even have to be a shepherd
to attend this Shepherds Conference because it’s recorded for all
time. Jesus bids Peter to come to himself and he says, I want
you to attend this little shepherds conference. Now if you’ve ever
been or if you’ve ever tuned in to one of the big shepherds
conferences, you’ll know that they are broken up into sessions. And then there are sessions outside
of the sessions, breakouts. But there are these great big
gatherings. And essentially that’s what Jesus
does here. He breaks up this shepherd’s
conference in order to encourage his attendee, Peter, and he breaks
them up into these sessions. I wanna tell you about this passage
though before we jump headlong. In the course of this passage,
Jesus is querying Peter, asking him repeatedly about his love
towards the Savior. And Jesus initially asks him,
and you know that there are a number of different words that can be
translated love in the scriptures. There is agape love, the higher
kind of love, a warmer, more intense love, a dignified love,
the higher form of love, if you will. And then there is phileo.
When I say lower, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t warm and affectionate
because it’s usually the word that’s used to describe family
love. It’s a warm love, it’s an affectionate
love. When Jesus asks Peter if he loves
him, he uses agape. Peter can never go there. Throughout
this entire interaction, Peter never says, I love you, agape,
Jesus. Peter knows that he can’t bring
himself to make that claim. And in the third occasion, when
Jesus asks Peter about his love, Jesus uses that other word. He uses the word phileo. Peter,
do you even love me? Do you even have a warm kind
of family affection for me? Let’s look at these three sessions.
Listen in, if you would, to the Shepherds Conference, the very
first Shepherds Conference. where the Good Shepherd is encouraging
his attendee. I want to take you to, first
of all, session one. Session one is a love for Christ
is seen to reveal itself in the discipleship of new believers. A love for Christ reveals itself
in discipleship of new believers. Look at verse 15. When they had
finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
John, do you love me more than these? Breakfast had finished. There
was a purpose to breakfast. Jesus wanted to remind them that
he is the God of all providence. And not only this net full of
fish, but even this meal that they are enjoying was from God’s
own hand. But now Jesus turns to the purpose
of this gathering. It wasn’t just a meal. And it
refers to Simon Peter as Simon son of John. This is how he was
known. It was his popular name. Not Cephas, not Peter as Jesus
had given to him, but Simon son of John. And that mere mention of Peter’s
natural descent in a sense had to distance Peter from the Lord.
Jesus is looking at him as just a guy, but a very particular guy. Jesus isn’t degrading Peter in
doing so, isn’t keeping him at arm’s length, he’s just reminding
him of who he is. He’s a man and really nothing more. And he says to this man who had
fallen so horribly, do you love me more than these? If you’re
familiar with the Greek language, that little word these, it leaves
itself undefined. And because of that, we have
to really think through what Jesus might even be referring
to when he says, do you love me more than these? It’s possible that he could have
been even gesturing towards the boat, the fish, the net, the
fishing poles. Now I know a lot of men in my
day, they wouldn’t even let you touch, and they always give the
fishing pole a lady’s name, right? They wouldn’t even let you touch
Agnes. I know a lot of men that are
very affectionate and very protective of their fishing gear. When Jesus
says, do you love me more than these? It’s certainly possible
that he gestures towards the boat. It doesn’t say that, but
maybe even with all of that, he was including Peter, your
livelihood, your way of life. Do you love me more than this?
Was he really just rebuking Peter for a fishing trip? I don’t think so. And so we look
for another possibility. And he looks around and he says,
do you love me more than these, these friends of yours that you
just happened to get to come along with you on this fishing
trip? Remember, this was his deal.
He was the outfitter. This is his gear. This is his
rig. It’s his craft. It was his idea. And it’s possible that Jesus
looks around and says, Peter, do you love me more than these
men? Do you love me more than you love them? But I think there’s a third,
and there’s a much better answer. Jesus, when he says, do you love
me more than these, he says, do you love me more than these
other disciples love me? Do you really love me more than
they do? Well, that sounds like a really
provocative thing to ask someone, except that it was Peter himself
who had made such a boast. When Jesus first broke news of
his passion, Peter said to him in Matthew 26, 33, even though
all may fall away because of you, I will never fall away. And that had to pretty much incense
everybody around him, all of the other 10 apostles who were
listening in on Peter’s boast, that he actually loved Jesus
more than anybody else and would be more true to him than anyone.
When Jesus asked him, do you love me more than these? He’s gently recalling that boastful
moment. He’s gently recalling whether
he would still profess to actually love Jesus more. We do this all
the time, don’t we? We tend to compare ourselves
and one-up ourselves, at least in our own heart and mind as
we look around. Truth be told, we don’t know.
We don’t know exactly where someone is. We don’t know about their
prayer life. We don’t know how God is using them. We don’t know
everything that there is to know about them. We do know ourselves and how wrong it is to boast,
how wrong it is to put ourselves above others. So Jesus not only
says, do you love me more than these? At the heart of it, he
says, do you love me? And I’ve already pointed out
that Jesus uses that word for the higher type of love. It’s
the love of Deuteronomy 6.5, remember, the Shema. part of
the Shema, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and all your soul and all your might. Do you love me, Peter? Peter knew
that he couldn’t answer that question in the affirmative.
And so he responds to the question, but he responds sheepishly and
only partially. He says nothing about his comparative
love. He says nothing about his ability,
his own innate ability to love Jesus more than even these friends
of his did. He says, Lord, yes Lord, you know
that I love you. And he calls upon Jesus’ omniscience. He calls upon Jesus Christ as
God who knew his heart. But Peter hadn’t always thought
in those terms, had he? He’s appealing here as he does
to Jesus’ omniscience. But in fact, when Jesus, as I
said, broke the news of Peter’s impending denials, Peter flat
out challenges Jesus’ knowledge of his heart and of his future
devotion. He says, I will not deny you. You don’t know what you’re talking
about, essentially, is what he implies. But here, that’s gone. All that confidence, all that
arrogance, all that blasphemous boastfulness is gone. He knows
that Jesus Christ knows his heart, and he appeals to that and to
that alone. You know that I love you. But Peter uses a different word. Peter uses that more basic word.
You know that I have warm affections for you. You know that I like
you. I really like you. I love you in that sense. Peter
was humbled. Peter had been brought low by
his recollection of his recent fall, his threefold denial of
Christ, The last thing that he’s going to do is stand before his
Savior and make any more boast. You know my heart. You know that
I have warm affection for you, Christ. And Jesus takes him to task.
If that’s so, Peter, he said to him, Tend my lambs. Get out of the boat. Leave your
nets. forget the fishing, and he gives Peter a fresh new
charge and commissioning into ministry. And he says, tend my
lambs. The only other time that this
word tend is used, it’s used of, remember the parable of the
prodigal son, where the prodigal son was sent out to feed the
pigs. That’s the word. Bosco and It
basically just paints the picture of feeding Whatever it is that
you’re commissioned and sent to feed but in this particular
case Peter is commissioned to go and to feed the lambs and
The way that you feed the lambs is not the way that you slop
the hogs It’s not even the way that you feed the sheep as we’ll
see in a moment lambs require great care great tenderness,
perhaps even a bottle fed with milk. The little, weak, immature
lambs. And what Jesus has in mind here
for Peter to consider is those who are weak in the church, the
weakest and most spiritually immature members, the new converts
or those that are just weak in faith, come alongside them. They need to be nourished. They
need to be fed. They need to be cared for. They
need a shepherd, Peter. As one pastor said, the office
of the shepherd is regarded in this Shepherd’s Conference under
three different aspects. The first is the simplest and
humblest. This is the most basic form of
ministry. It’s children’s ministry, but it’s not just children’s
ministry. It’s basic discipleship. Discipleship of young men. Discipleship
of young women. It’s taking people that next
step. Remember when we looked at Titus.
Titus chapter two paints a very fascinating picture. That every
one of us is to be in the process of being discipled. Reaching
our hand up to someone. someone stronger in the faith,
someone more knowledgeable in the scriptures, someone more
seasoned, spiritually speaking, were to reach up. But Titus 2
also presents the picture of reaching down. Reaching down
to someone who hasn’t had the same opportunity for discipleship
that you have, hasn’t walked with Christ as long as you, doesn’t
know the scriptures as well as you, were to reach up and were
to reach down. It’s discipleship, it’s basic
Christian discipleship that Jesus is talking about here. That’s
the first thing that he admonishes Peter to do. Take note of the
little ones, the weak ones, the needy ones in your midst and
feed them. Bottle feed them if you have
to. Give them whatever material you can to take them that next
little step. Session. 2. Session 2 of the
original Shepherds Conference, Jesus is encouraging his attendee
not only with the love for Christ that reveals itself in discipleship
of new believers, but session number 2, a love for Christ reveals
itself in shepherding God’s flock. Look at verse 16. He said to
him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said
to him, shepherd my sheep. The second question that Jesus
poses to him is almost identical to the first, except Jesus now
has made his point about this whole issue of comparing himself
with others. And he no longer puts that to
Peter, do you love me more than these? He just asked him, do
you love me? Peter had to sit for a moment
and sort through the question that Jesus had now put to him,
not once, but twice. This sincerity of his love, his
affection for Christ, not in comparison to anyone else. Do
you, Peter, love me? And he said to him, Yes, Lord,
you know that I love you. And he appeals again exactly
the same way. But he shrinks again from even
Echoing what Christ had just asked him. Can you imagine do
you agape me Peter? Yes, Lord. I Phileo you Peter knew his heart Peter knew
his limitations Peter knew that his Savior knew the depths of
his being So Christ says to him shepherd my sheep That’s a great
reminder for anybody in ministry. They’re not my sheep. They’re not your sheep. It’s
not your church. It’s God’s church. They’re God’s
people. They’re God’s flock. And with that Jesus lays on the
apostle a second element of the shepherd’s duty. Not only those
little lambs that need to be held and bottle fed, but there
are other sheep that require shepherding. And that really
constitutes the entirety of the church, doesn’t it? Every single
person, every single one of us at various times needs guidance,
needs encouragement, needs admonition. We need the guidance of a shepherd. What he points to here is to
all of those members that he would come across that were more
experienced. They had made profession of faith.
They had received some training. They had begun to grow in grace. They had begun to become what
God would have them to be in the world. And yet, from time
to time, as that old hymn, Prone to Wander, Lord I Feel It, that’s
what sheep do. They wander off. They get into
all kinds of trouble. They don’t even have to go looking
for trouble. Trouble finds us, doesn’t it? The word here is a beautiful
word. It’s poem in Poimano, to shepherd. And so often when it’s translated
in the New Testament, it’s translated about Christ as the shepherd,
Christ the good shepherd. But the word is a beautiful word.
It’s a rich word taken from the actual shepherding of sheep. We have it on a number of different
occasions applied to those who would take care of Christ’s flock
here on earth. Only one time is it translated
as pastor and that’s why I don’t prefer the title. There’s certainly
no distinction in scripture made between an elder and a pastor.
We spent no little time this summer studying that issue. He
says that an elder is supposed to get down and get with the
flock and shepherd them. This is the admonition in Acts
20, 28. Be on your guard for all yourselves, for all the flock,
among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd
the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. This is the
admonition of Peter himself. Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter
5, shepherd the flock of God among you. So what this shepherding implies
is far more than just feeding. We’ll see in a moment another
element of this calling, but there are some, and I know many,
that look at ministry as only preparing a good message for
Sunday morning. That’s only part of a pastor’s
calling. That’s only part of what a shepherd
is called to do. He is to be skilled in the Word.
He is to bring meat and not milk on Sunday morning. But he’s supposed
to care for souls. He’s supposed to care for people.
He’s supposed to be in their lives, caring for them and praying
for them, counseling, walking with them. And so this is everything
pertains to shepherding, guiding them, guarding them, protecting
them from trouble from the outside. As one said, seeking out the
lost, gathering the scattered, watching over and defending against
wild beasts and robbers, feeding, watering, leading, all of those
things. It is to shepherd means that
we are to promote, as one said, to the utmost of their ability. It’s everything in you, by every
means within their reach. Not only preaching, but teaching,
one-on-one discipleship, phone calls, emails. They’re to promote
within their means, by every means within their reach, the
spiritual good of all those committed to their care. That’s what a shepherd is supposed
to do. And Jesus looks at this man who
very likely at that point thought that he had washed out. Why not
go back to fishing? It was his livelihood. It’s what
he knew. It’s what he had done. It’s how he would eat and live. If not for this conference. What is shepherding? Godly pastor
John Brown Puritan said they must besides take a particular
oversight of their flock, and looking into the conversation
and behavior, it’s not talking about the dialogue that you have,
how do you conduct your lives? Look into their conversation
and behavior, applying themselves accordingly in admonition, exhortation,
comfort. If a shepherd knows if any of
his people be riotous or profane, he must rebuke them. If any are
out of the way, admonish them. He must hearten them that be
in a good course to go on still. And must comfort them that languish
under their sins, temptations, and fears in a word. Deal with
everyone as the cause requireth. Every single sheep in the church
is to be shepherded and cared for. And so for those who are
called to the task to shepherd the church, God’s church, they’re
to have a constant mindfulness that this is the institution
nearest the heart of God. This is the institution for which
Jesus Christ Himself died. This is the most glorious, the
most precious, the most graced institution on the face of the
earth. It’s the church of the living
God. It’s the gathering of God’s flock, God’s people. And we’re
to live in perpetual view of that truth. That elders, shepherds
exercise a watch care, a loving oversight of God’s flock. Session three. Jesus Christ has called Peter
into his presence for the original shepherds conference to encourage
him not only with the love for Christ that reveals itself in
discipleship of God’s children a Love for Christ that reveals
itself in shepherding God’s flock But thirdly a love for Christ
that reveals itself in the nourishment of God’s people Look at verse
17 He said to him the third time,
Simon, son of John, do you love me? Jesus Christ uses a third, a
different word this third occasion. Peter had denied the Lord three
times and on this third occasion, Jesus calls for an affirmation
of his professed love for the Savior. Only Jesus changes the
word. He stoops, as it were, to Peter’s
level. And Christ uses Peter’s own standard. Let’s see if you’re really even
fond of me, Peter. Do you really have this warm
and affectionate feeling for me, Peter? And like any of us, no doubt
Peter is human. That’s what we love about him,
right? Is he’s exactly like us. Peter was grieved. It was heartbreaking. He couldn’t help but remember
that coal fire where he sat around and denied the Lord Jesus Christ
not once, not twice, but three times in front of sworn enemies
of the Lord. He was grieved. His heart was
broken. He had made testimony and Jesus
wasn’t taking it at face value. He wasn’t receiving his proclamation
of faith and love. But not only was Jesus questioning
him more than once, that would be grievous enough over and over
again to have to answer the same question but now to have Jesus stoop and
to use His Word. Peter wasn’t making any more
rash promises. Peter wasn’t boasting about his
own ability to stand before the Lord when everyone else fell
and failed. But the idea that now this lower
level of love wasn’t even received at face value, that Jesus was
questioning even that, was grievous to Peter. Peter knew how greatly
he had sinned against the Lord. And so he says humbly, Lord,
you know all things. You know that I love you. And He gives the most complete,
fullest reply of any of the three. But no longer does He say, yes,
Lord, enthusiastically. He just uses two little words
that translate in our English as you know. Two different words. One speaks of divine knowledge,
and the other speaks of Observation, like a scientist would do. You
have observed my life. You’ve seen the testimony of
my life. You’ve seen it all. Not only
that coal fire where I denied you, but now this coal fire where
I stand before you and I tell you, Lord Jesus, I love you. Jesus Christ knew exactly what
goes on in the hearts of men. That should be a comfort and
a conviction to us at the same time. Peter, in Peter’s case,
he’s learned about boasting. He’s learned about these grand
plans that he has that he’s going to set forth. And he shrinks
back from that and simply appeals to Jesus’ omniscience and his
experiential knowledge, you know me. And with that, Jesus makes the
third commissioning statement of Peter. He’s there to put Peter
back in ministry. And he says to him, tend my sheep. And so there is this buildup,
right? There are these different phases.
Not just discipling God’s children and shepherding God’s flock,
but in this particular admonition, this is the admonition to nourish. He uses the same word that he
used for the little lambs, but the sheep don’t eat milk. There’s a buildup here. There’s
a climax that we come to. And this is the third element
of ministry. Sheep are difficult creatures. They need to be shepherded. Lambs
need to be cared for. But this one is the hardest of
all, isn’t it? Because this is food for the
spiritually mature. This is food for those that,
if they don’t think they know everything, it’s pretty close.
And they’re careful. And they’re fastidious. And they
scrutinize, and they are careful. They are good Bereans. They do
take the Word, and they do delve into the Word. They read it all
week long. And to them, the shepherd is
supposed to come. And He’s supposed to bring something
to eat, something that will nourish their souls. Not some pablum,
not a group of stories. He’s supposed to bring to them
the very Word of God and to digest it and to present it for them
in a way that it can encourage their hearts and challenge them
to go on still. We’d like sometimes a church
of little baby lambs, wouldn’t we? We’d like sometimes a church
where all we do is shepherd, all we do is do counseling. And
I’ve suggested that I don’t even know, maybe that’s just my particular
calling, I don’t even know how you would do one without the
other. I don’t know how you would do pastoral ministry without
the ability to preach. I don’t know how you would preach
without the ability to do pastoral ministry. They go hand in hand. It’s the most difficult part
of a shepherd’s office, a shepherd’s calling to feed God’s people.
One pastor said it this way, every shepherd of Christ ought
both to be able to feed his people with his saving truth rightly
divided and applied to every one of them according to their
several conditions. Which is no less necessary for
cherishing and increasing their spiritual life than their ordinary
food and season is for their bodies. Can you imagine skipping
your meals all week long? That’s what it’s like to not
be nourished from the Word of God. So this feeding, this feeding
and tending the sheep, feeding Christ’s flock, is to take them
to the Word of God and to lead them along in maturity towards
the goal of Christ’s likeness. That’s what shepherding is. And so Jesus here. Very effectively
in the shepherds conference. Restores Peter. And he does so
by the simplest means. He doesn’t ask Peter to sign
a doctrinal statement, if you notice. He doesn’t test Peter
and press him and say, are you gonna be more courageous next
time? Not just wildly flailing about
with your sword, but are you gonna stand with me when the
fires get really hot next time? He doesn’t say that. He just
says, Peter, do you love me? Do you really love me? Tend my lambs, shepherd my sheep,
Tend my sheep. Peter had made some colossal
mistakes. He’d blown it from a human perspective. And as Jesus restores Peter to
that place that he had placed him in to begin with, Jesus Christ
had commissioned him. The only thing that he asked
Peter about is his love. 1 Corinthians essentially echoes
that, doesn’t it? If I speak with the tongue of
men and angels but do not have love, I become a noisy gong and
a clanging cymbal. Just noise. If I have the gift
of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, if I have
all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions
to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do
not have love, the profits mean nothing. As one pastor said, true qualification
for ministry is not a high profession of courage and zeal over others. It’s not loud talk or even a
readiness to fight, but loving, patient, usefulness to the souls
of others. and diligent care for the sheep
of Christ’s flock. What an incredible conference
we’ve had a privilege of listening in on. Would you humble yourselves
before the throne of grace? Merciful God, we plead with you
for the grace to see this through as you would have it. Lord some of us may never shepherd
a flock. We may never actually do the
care and nourishing of little baby lambs. We may never do the
work of shepherding. We may never preach and teach
God’s Word as a shepherd should. Lord we can pray We can plead
with you that you would provide for us what we need, even as
that first century church so desperately needed this apostle.
Lord God, we pray that you would so work in and through us. Give
us a care for Christ’s church. Give us a love, a practical love. Lord God, Our greatest desire
is to see those who do not know Christ come into His fold, come
into His flock. Lord, if there are any here who
do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd, Lord God,
we pray that you would bring them to repentance and to a vibrant
faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s in Jesus Christ’s name that
we plead. Amen.