Ⅲ
In order for us to follow the Lamb and go on to maturity to become the firstfruits, we must be faithful in service in the Lord's commission to give God as food to the members of His household so that we may win Christ as our reward in the coming kingdom—Matt. 24:45-51:
A
God has a household and a household administration, an economy, to dispense Himself as food to the members of His household for His expression—1 Tim. 1:4; 3:15; Eph. 2:19.
B
God has set faithful and prudent slaves over His household as household administrators, stewards, channels of supply, to give His people food at the proper time—Matt. 24:45; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; 1 Cor. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:10; Phil. 1:25.
C
Give them food refers to ministering the word of God and Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church; Christ as the life-giving Spirit is our food, embodied and realized in the word of life—John 6:57, 63, 68; Acts 5:20:
１
In order to enjoy the Lord as our spiritual food so that we can feed others, we must pray over and muse on His word, tasting and enjoying it through careful considering—Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:15; Ezek. 3:1-4.
２
We must devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word—Acts 6:4; 2 Cor. 3:6, 8; John 7:37-39; cf. Heb. 7:25; 8:2.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 24:45-47 Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Truly I say to you that he will set him over all his possessions.The household spoken of in Matthew 24:45 refers to the believers (Eph. 2:19), who constitute the church (1 Tim. 3:15). To give them food is to minister the word of God and Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church. We all must learn how to minister the life supply to the household of the Lord at the proper time. [In] Matthew 24:46-47…to be blessed is to be rewarded with the authority to rule in the manifestation of the kingdom. In the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord will set the faithful slave over all His possessions. This will be a reward to him. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 705)
Today’s Reading
In Matthew 24:45-51…the Lord charged us, commissioned us, to minister something to His household, that is, to the believers in the church…At the proper time we have to minister food, the life supply, to the Lord's people. Do not say that others have a gift of teaching to teach you the Word of God and minister spiritual food to you but that you do not have such a gift…All of the Lord's servants received the gift for their commission.Whoever serves food knows the proper time. If you are serving food every day, you have to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner…In like manner, whenever we meet together, this is one of the proper times, the appointed times, for you to minister the proper food to the Lord's folks…If I did not labor adequately in the Word and came to speak to you, I would just be ministering to you “a cup of coffee and some doughnuts.” To cook a nourishing, good breakfast requires your diligence. According to the context of this parable, the faithful one is the diligent one. Faithful here equals diligent, and slothful equals lazy. We must be diligent in seeking the Word so that we could prepare to serve good food when we come to the meeting. The eating time is the proper time, and the meeting time is the proper time. We have the proper time on the Lord's DAY morning, on the Lord's DAY evening, Tuesday evening, and Friday evening. The meeting times are the proper times when we all have to minister some portion of the life supply to our folks, to our fellow believers.
To care for them is simply to feed them, to minister food to them. To the sinners the proper food that we minister is the gospel of Christ. The nurses in the hospitals know that they must serve the patients with different meals. Different food is ministered to different patients to meet their specific needs. It is the same with us. The entire earth is a hospital, full of sickness and full of all kinds of sick people. The church in a good sense is also a hospital, full of sick people. Therefore, we have to minister different words to them at the proper time…The believers, the churches, and even the more all the sinners are around you. It is your duty, your obligation, to minister food to them. If they are sinners, you have to minister the gospel of grace to them as the food they need. If they are believers sick of something, then you need to minister some word from the Bible that suits their condition, either to nourish them, to heal them, to strengthen them, or to wake them up…When you enter into your office, you must realize that this is one of the proper times to minister the proper food of the gospel to the unbelieving ones. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move,” pp. 514-517)
In several verses the writer of Psalm 119 tells us that he mused upon God's word (vv. 15, 23, 48, 78, 99, 148). To muse on the word is to taste it through careful considering. Thus, musing is a kind of enjoyment. I can testify that most of the enlightenment I receive comes by musing on the Word early in the morning. As I muse on the Word, I think about it with much consideration in a detailed way. (Life-study of the Psalms, 2nd ed., p. 461)
Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msgs. 63, 67