Ⅱ
To shepherd the flock of God is to watch over the souls of the saints, being one with the Lord as the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls in His care for the welfare of their inner being and in His exercising His oversight over the condition of their real person—John 21:15-17; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:1-6; Heb. 13:17:
A
For the sake of the flock, the elders must enjoy the Lord every day as grace and truth so that they may be dispensers of grace and truth—Eph. 3:2; 4:29; 1 Tim. 3:2b; 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; Titus 1:9.
B
For the sake of the flock, the elders need to buy the oil every day (Matt. 25:3-4, 9), to pay the price to gain more of the Spirit, by buying the truth of God's economy (Prov. 23:23), buying gold refined by fire that they may be rich toward God, buying white garments that they may be clothed with Christ by living out Christ, and buying eyesalve as the anointing Spirit to heal their blindness (Rev. 3:18).
C
For the sake of the flock, the co-workers and elders need to be faithful and prudent slaves, taking care of the Lord's possessions and investing their spiritual gift by giving the food of the word of God, the full gospel of God's economy, to the sinners, the believers, and the churches—Rom. 1:1; Matt. 24:45-47; 25:22-23.
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. 2:25 For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Peter was so impressed with [the] commission of the Lord [to shepherd His sheep] that in [1 Peter] he tells the believers that they were like sheep being led astray, but they have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer (Christ) of their souls (2:25). Christ’s shepherding of His flock includes His caring for their outward things and also their inner being, their souls. He takes care of the things concerning their souls by overseeing their souls. Christ indwells us to be our life and everything, but He is also overseeing, observing, the condition and situation of our inner being. He shepherds us by caring for the welfare of our inner being and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our soul, our real person.
Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock of God among them so that when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, they, the faithful elders, will receive the unfading crown of glory (5:1-4). (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” p. 448)
Today’s Reading
To be filled with the Spirit in our soul requires that we pay the price to deny our self in every aspect of our living. How much we deny the self determines how much room we give to Christ and how much oil we buy. In our daily life and in every matter, we all need to pay the price by denying our self to gain more of the Spirit as the oil. As a result, Christ will make His home in our heart, spreading Himself into all the parts of our inner being. Eventually, our being as the vessel to contain Christ will be completely filled with the Spirit as the oil.We have Christ in our spirit as the lamp, but our soul as the vessel may be filled with many useless things. We need to pay the price to throw out all these things. The more we empty our vessel in this way, the more Jesus as the oil comes into it. The oil is in our spirit, waiting to invade and penetrate our mind, emotion, and will. If we afford an opening in our soul, the oil will come in. The more we empty and unload our vessel, the more room we will afford for the divine oil to fill us. Christ is making His home in our heart until we are filled unto all the fullness of God. To be filled is to have the oil in our vessel. This is our need today. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, pp. 545-546)
Matthew 24:45 tells us the way to serve; it is to “give them food at the proper time.” Give them food refers to ministering the word of God and Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church. Our speaking in the meetings and our visiting people in their homes to minister Christ to them is our giving them food. Toward ourselves, we must deny our soul and follow the Lord in spirit, and toward others, we must learn to always minister the word of God and Christ as the life supply.
A young person should not make an excuse and say, “I cannot feed others; I need them to feed me.” The Lord will not accept this excuse. If the young ones enjoy the Lord and experience Him day by day, they will have some riches that they can minister to their parents. When a young sister comes home from a meeting, her father may be in need of food, and the next day at the breakfast table he may be in need again. At such times there is no need for the young sister to teach her father. She can simply pass on to him something of the nourishment of Christ that she has received. This is to give food to a member of the Lord’s household at the proper time. Such a sister will also be able to feed her classmates at school and even her teachers. She will even be able to speak something in the church meetings and feed the whole congregation. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, p. 228)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” chs. 4, 11; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” ch. 13