The apostles were a pattern of the glad tidings that they spread, and Paul shepherded the saints as a nursing mother and an exhorting father, imparting to them not only the gospel but even his own soul and life; we need to shepherd the saints in a similar manner.
In the Gospels and in other Epistles and Revelation we see the pattern of the Lord Jesus who, both in His earthly and in His heavenly ministry, shepherded people to make them His flock, and in Paul’s epistles and in the book of Acts we see the pattern of the apostles.
We all need to learn from the Lord Jesus and from the apostles to shepherd people for the carrying out of God’s eternal economy.
The Lord Jesus in particular is a good pattern, and if we read the Gospels we are amazed to see that He didn’t just feed the crowds, heal many sick people, and preached to many people gathered together, but He intimately took care of many of those whom He met.
He even went out of His way to care for some in particular, not because they were very important in society but because they were hungry, thirsty, sick, and needed life.
The Lord Jesus didn’t come as a Judge but as a Physician to heal us, recover us, enliven us, and save us; we were sick, ill with all kinds of diseases, despised, sinners, and hopeless, but the Lord came to us personally.
For example, He went purposely through Sychar to gain the Samaritan woman, cherishing her by asking her to give Him something to drink, and nourishing her by flowing the living water into her (see John 4).
The Lord Jesus didn’t condemn the adulterous woman caught in the act and accused by the Jews, but He forgave her sins judicially and set her free from her sins organically (John 8). He went to Jericho just to visit and gain one person – Zaccheus, a chief tax collector, and His preaching was a shepherding to him (Luke 19).
The Lord cherished the parents by not rejecting their children but receiving them, loving them, and laying His hands on them to bless them (Matt. 19). Even on the cross, the Lord had mercy and saved the robber who was crucified with Him and confessed (Luke 23).
Now in His heavenly ministry the Lord is the High Priest shepherding the churches, and He cherishes the saints and nourishes them so that the churches would shine bright as the testimony of Jesus (see Rev. 1:12-13).
The Lord Jesus right now is in His heavenly ministry the great Shepherd of the sheep, and as such a One He shepherds us, His sheep, to consummate the New Jerusalem according to God’s eternal covenant.
And as His sheep, the Lord comes to us even in our lowest estate to rekindle our love for Him, and He commissions us to shepherd His sheep. We are the Lord’s sheep, but even as He shepherds us, so we can shepherd others.
Learning to Shepherd the Saints as a Nursing Mother and an Exhorting Father with an Intimate Concern
We need to learn from the apostle Paul to not only preach the gospel but also be a particular kind of person; he was a pattern of the glad tidings he spoke, and he reminded the saints saying, “you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake” (1 Thes. 1:5).
Paul likens the apostles both to a nursing mother and an exhorting father; the apostles were like mothers and fathers to the new believers. They regarded the newly saved believers as their children, and they were fostering these dear ones.
Just as parents care for their own children, feeding them, exhorting them, and raising them up, so the apostles cared for the new believers.
What we see in 1 Thessalonians 2 in particular is the fostering of a holy life for the church life. In 1 Thes. 2:1-12 we see the care of a nursing mother and an exhorting father, and in vv. 13-20 we see the reward given to those who foster believers in such a way.
In the church the most important thing is not what we do but our person; our person is the way, and our person is our work for the Lord, for what we are is what we do (see John 5:19; 6:57; Phil. 1:19-26; Acts 20:18-35; Matt. 7:17-18; 12:33-37).
When we care for others, we need to take Christ as our person and follow the pattern of the apostles to be like a nursing mother and an exhorting father to the ones we care for, fostering them for their growth in life.
We need to follow the pattern of the apostles to pay attention more to life than to work (John 12:24; 2 Cor. 4:12), for our work is actually our person being expressed, and our life should match our work.
Paul shepherded the saints as a nursing mother and an exhorting father (see 1 Thes. 2:7-8, 11-12). He yearned to impart to the saints not just the gospel but even his own soul, for they became dear to them.
Even more, Paul shepherded the saints in Ephesus by teaching them publicly and from house to house (Acts 20:20) and by admonishing each one of the saints with tears even for as long as three years (vv. 31, 19), declaring to them all the counsel of God (v. 27).
He was a pattern for us all in our shepherding as a nursing mother and an exhorting father. Have we ever shed tears before the saints and with the saints? For us to shepherd others, at certain times we need to shed some tears, for we are so much concerned for their situation, that we weep with them and for them.
If Paul, who was such a great apostle, shed tears for the saints, how much more we, who are learning to shepherd others, should be full of an intimate concern for the saints!
We need to have an intimate concern for the believers who are in our care, being tender-hearted and caring for them in love (2 Cor. 7:3; Philem. 1:7, 12).
Not only toward the new believers and the young ones, but toward one another in the church life we need to be full of tender-heartedness, full of love, and full of care, admonishing one another from house to house so that we may shepherd one another and perfect one another.
In 1 Corinthians Paul was like a father disciplining his children; he identified a few problems, and he shone some light on them.
He was like a nursing mother or an exhorting father who, even though is put in the position of disciplining a child, she/he does so with a heart of love and with a right spirit, and the child knows that his parents love him.
Children can tell whether or not their parents love them, so the believers in Corinth dealt with the problems pointed out by Paul, and Paul commended them for this in his second epistle.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn to shepherd the saints as a nursing mother and an exhorting father, having an intimate concern for the young ones, the new ones, and for all the saints. We want to learn from the apostle Paul to care for the saints, shepherd the saints, and have an intimate concern for their situation. Duplicate Your heart of love in us, Lord, and give us Your intimate concern and care for the saints. We just want to cooperate with You, the great Shepherd in our spirit, to shepherd the saints according to God!
Being Willing to Spend and be Utterly Spent to Shepherd the Saints for the Church
The apostle Paul had an intimate concern for the saints.
For example, he met Onesimus, a runaway slave, and saved him through the gospel, and then he sent him back to his master Philemon, telling this one that Onesimus was his child whom he has begotten in his bonds, and he is even his very heart.
We need to learn from the pattern of the apostle Paul to have such an intimate concern for those we care for.
We need to come down to the weak ones’ level so that we may gain them. If someone is weak, we should also be weak for him and with him, so that we may minister Christ to him and shepherd him to grow in the Lord (2 Cor. 11:28-29).
If someone is stumbled, we need to burn for him, coming down to their level so that we may gain them for the Lord and back to the Lord (1 Cor. 9:22, cf. Matt. 12:20).
Even more, we need to be willing to spend what we have (our possessions) and spend what we are (our very being) for the sake of the saints (2 Cor. 12:15). We need to follow the pattern of the apostle Paul to love the ones under our care and spend what we have and even what we are, our own being, for them to grow in life and go on with the Lord.
We all need to learn this crucial lesson: to receive grace to spend what we have and be utterly spent for the saints and for the churches.
If we do this, if we offer ourselves to the Lord over the saints in such a way, we will be a drink offering over the sacrifice and service of the saints faith; we will be one with Christ as the wine producer, sacrificing ourselves for others’ enjoyment of Christ (Phil. 2:17; Judg. 9:13; Eph. 3:2). Amen!
We need to realize that the church is not a law court to judge people, a police station to arrest people and enforce the law, or a prison to hold people prisoners, but a home to raise people in love, a hospital to heal people and recover them, and a school to teach and edify people (Eph. 2:19; 1 Thes. 5:14; 1 Cor. 14:31).
May we all pick up this burden of shepherding and enter into it. May we come before the Lord and participate in Christ’s wonderful shepherding, so that there may be a big revival in the recovery.
When we not only see the high peak of the divine revelation and live the God-man life but also practice shepherding by living the shepherd’s life, we will enter into a new revival, a revival that will eventually bring the Lord back.
Today the Lord in His heavenly ministry is shepherding us, and we need to cooperate with Him and be like a nursing mother and an exhorting father, being willing to spend and be utterly spent to shepherd the saints for the church.
Lord Jesus, we want to participate in Christ’s wonderful shepherding today so that there may be a big revival in the Lord’s recovery. Make us willing, Lord, to spend what we have and even what we are for the sake of the saints. May we be like a drink offering, sacrificing ourselves for others’ enjoyment of Christ. Oh Lord, we give ourselves to You to just cooperate with You in Your heavenly ministry today. Make us the shepherding ones, those who shepherd the saints according to God by allowing Christ to shepherd them through us.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 383, 498-499 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking Christ as our Person and Living Him in and for the Church Life (2018 spring ITERO), week 6, The Apostolic Ministry in Cooperation with Christ’s Heavenly Ministry.
- Hymns on this topic:
# But I, I will most gladly spend / And be utterly spent on behalf of your souls. / But I, I will most gladly spend / And be utterly spent on behalf of your souls. / If I love you more abundantly, more abundantly, / Am I loved less? (Scripture songs)
# Shepherd the flock with tender, loving care. / Shepherd by life and one another bear. / Christ shepherds us by searching for His sheep / And brings us to Himself, our pasture sweet. (Song on, Shepherd the Flock)
# I’m thankful that God has placed me / With you to build up His Body. / Christ in you is the hope for me! / You also need Christ lived in me. / I live, if you stand firm in the Lord. / You live, if I stand firm in the Lord. / My going on is for you, / Your going on is for me, / Not sep’rate entities, / I need you saints desp’rately! (Song on, I’m thankful that God has placed me)
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