Manifesting Our Love for the Lord
I. By Learning to Recognize the Way the Lord Manifests Himself
- John 21:1, 4, 7, 12, 14 (cf. John 20:14-16; Luke 24:13-35)
- A. The blessing of faith in the indwelling of the Invisible One -
John 20:29; 1 Pet. 1:8;
2 Cor. 5:7; Matt. 28:20
- B. The Lord inwardly manifesting Himself - John 14:20-22
- 1. By His indwelling in our spirit - John 14:23; Rom. 8:10-16
- 2. By coming to us in our own mistakes - John 21:3
- 3. By coming to us in our disappointments - John 21:3-5
- a) Manifesting Himself in our honest confession of the real situation
- John 21:5
- 4. By seeing the results of what the Lord can do - John 21:6
- 5. By being reminded of former dealings with the Lord and His call
on our lives
- John 21:5-8, 11 (cf. Luke 5:4-11); Heb. 10:32-39
- C. Our responses to the Lord's manifestations
- 1. Being desperate for the Lord because of failure - John 21:7-8;
Rom. 7:22-25
- 2. The sobering effect the Lord's manifestations have on us - John
21:12-14;
Phil. 2:12-14; Rev. 1:17-18
II. By Learning to Inwardly Follow Him as the Present, Invisible, Resurrected
One in Our Spirit - John 21:19, 22
- A . By spending time feasting with the Lord - John 21:12-15; Rev.
3:20
- B. By losing confidence in ourselves - John 21:15-17; 2 Cor. 3:4-6;
1:8-10; Phil. 3:3-8
- C. By feeding the lambs and the sheep - John 21:15, 17
- 1. Being fed and feeding - 1 Pet. 2:2-5; 1 Cor. 3:1-2
- D. By shepherding the sheep - John 21:16
- 1. Shepherding by our experiences of the Lord - Acts 20:28; 1 Pet.
2:25; 5:1-4
- E. By experiencing the cross - John 21:18-19; 2 Cor. 4:10-12
- F. By not being controlled by our reasoning- and considering-mind
- John 21:20-23;
- Phil. 2:12-14; 2 Cor. 10:3-5
- G. By enjoying the inexhaustible and unsearchable riches of Christ
"one by one"
- - John 21:24-25; Eph. 3:8