Outline
Ⅰ
In the Lord's recovery today, there is the urgent need for shepherding.
Ⅱ
To shepherd is to take all-inclusive, tender care of the flock—John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28:
A
Shepherding refers to caring for all the needs of the sheep.
B
All the sheep need to be well provided for and well tended to.
Ⅲ
Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of our souls—John 10:9-17; Heb. 13:20-21; 1 Pet. 5:4; 2:25:
A
As the good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly—John 10:10-11:
１
He laid down His soul-life, His human life, to accomplish redemption for His sheep that they may share His zoe life, His divine life—vv. 11, 15, 17.
２
He leads His sheep out of the fold into Himself as the pasture, the feeding place, where they may eat freely of Him and be nourished by Him—v. 9.
３
The Lord has formed the Jewish and Gentile believers into one flock (the church, the Body of Christ) under His shepherding—v. 16.
B
God brought up from the dead "our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant"—Heb. 13:20:
１
The eternal covenant is to consummate the New Jerusalem by shepherding.
２
The eternal covenant is the covenant of the new testament to gain a flock, which is the church issuing in the Body of Christ and consummating in the New Jerusalem.
C
As the Chief Shepherd, Christ shepherds His flock through the elders of the churches—1 Pet. 5:4:
１
Without the elders' shepherding, the church cannot be built up.
２
The elders' shepherding should be Christ's shepherding through them.
D
As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being—2:25:
１
He shepherds us by caring for the welfare of our soul and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our inner being.
２
Because our soul is very complicated, we need Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, to shepherd us in our soul, to take care of our mind, emotion, and will and of our problems, needs, and wounds.
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.Heb. 13:20 Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant.
Christ was our Redeemer in His death on the tree. Now He is our soul’s Shepherd and Overseer in the resurrection life within us. Therefore, He is able to guide us and supply us with life that we may follow in His steps according to the model of His suffering (1 Pet. 2:21). According to verse 25, Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Our soul is our inner being, our real person. Our Lord, as the Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, shepherds us by caring for the welfare of our inner being and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our real person. (Life-study of 1 Peter, p. 190)
Today’s Reading
Christ our Shepherd takes care of the needs of our soul…He is the Shepherd of our soul, our inner being. We all have a spirit, and the spirit is our inward organ. But our being is a soul,…our mind, emotion, and will.Unbelievers are wanderers in the soul, and they do not have a shepherd to take care of them. But our situation is different in that we have a Shepherd who takes care of our soul. Not only do we have the Lord’s life within us, but we also have Him as our Shepherd. He is now shepherding us in our soul.
Consider this matter of the Lord’s shepherding according to your experience…Where is the Lord’s comfort, in our spirit or in our soul?…Many times we speak of turning to the spirit, perhaps expecting that when we turn to the spirit, everything will be all right. Actually, even after we turn to the spirit, many things may not be all right. From experience Peter knew to say that Christ is the Shepherd of our souls. Therefore, Peter does not tell us in 1 Peter 2:25 that Christ is the Shepherd of our spirit or of our body; he clearly says that He is the Shepherd of our souls.
Because it is our soul that suffers, it is our soul that needs the Lord’s shepherding. It is not our body that needs this kind of care, nor is it mainly our spirit. It is our soul—our mind, our emotion, and our will—that needs the Lord as the Shepherd.
In our experience sometimes we just do not know what to think about. We do not know where to direct our thoughts. This is an indication that our mind needs the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd. I can testify that many times in this kind of situation the Lord Jesus has been a Shepherd to me. As a result of His shepherding, our mind is directed and set in the right way.
Our emotion, being complicated, is easily upset. This is especially true of the sisters’ emotion. Therefore, we need the Lord Jesus to shepherd us in our emotion. His shepherding comforts our emotion.
Our will also needs the Lord’s shepherding. As human beings, we often find it difficult to make the right decision. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to make a decision. Unbelievers have no one to lead them and guide them in making decisions. But we have a Shepherd to lead us and guide us. The Lord’s leading and guiding are primarily related to our will. As the living Shepherd, the Lord continually directs our will…The Lord is truly the Shepherd of our soul. He directs our mind, comforts our emotion, and leads and guides our will.
According to my experience, there is a difference between leading and guiding. Leading is related to a destination. Suppose you are driving from your home to a certain city. A road map may lead you to your destination. But once you arrive at that city, you will need a guide, someone to direct you to the exact place where you want to go. In the Bible some verses speak of the Lord’s leading, and others, of His guiding. On the one hand, the Lord will lead His people to the Holy Land. But once He has led them there, He will guide them to Mount Zion. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 190-192)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 2